#i was planning on doing a drawing but never got around to it (whoops)

[styllwaters]

What happened to Earth's other (somewhat) sapient species, like Crows, Dolphins, Octopi, etc? Were they destroyed along with Earth or did they end up with their own "uses"/eventual escape?

Genizix took some of Earth's species for experimentation during the war, but the majority were destroyed. The remainder still exist today in specialised animal sanctuaries dedicated to preserving them. All are critically endangered.

Some species with a high degree of intelligence (like those you mentioned) were exposed to Genizix's biotechnology in order to increase their 'sapience'. Not many were successful, but there are a few survivors which can be classified as sophonts. Selma is one of them - she is a leopard seal whose bloodline originated from early Genizix experiments involving brain surgery, genetic modification, and selective breeding. She has a number of health issues and a reduced lifespan, but that doesn't stop her from doing what she loves.

[jazzyblusnowflake]

Alright, we've had Nuzi headcanons. We've now had Vuzi headcanons... Let's heart it, you're Violent Biting Biscuits headcanons, N x Uzi x V... Or if you'd rather complete the set, eNVy headcanons. I am curious of both. (Your headcannons are just super cute)

Holy hecc, I'm so sorry for answering these asks so late but i'm gonna be honest- I just never think anyone likes my writings or ever reads them XD

okay then lets see- my ViolentBitingBiscuits headcanons- i will put eNVy for the next ask because someone else asked for it too and they wont all fit here lol.

My NUziV headcanons ovo<3 :

[once again these are only the drone versions, the human versions aren't involved / also i may add some 🔞🔞🔞 ones this time lol >:3 also uhhh apologies in advance but this one is long as all hell so....um]

K we know the drill, they are all together- hopefully in the future- even if any of them dies i'm gonna pretend i do not see 🙄 deadass gonna treat this like the jjba fandom- my faves are ALIVE AND WELL SHUT UP ARAKI-

Okay so there's some things that we have already mentioned in the previous headcanons- ill try to not repeat them unless they are necessary but ill also try to treat this as its own post and lightly repeat them real quick too-

N and V started out fighting over Uzi, and Uzi obviously was mostly into N at first- but after a while i guess Vs advances got to her- especially since she was- in a way- so desperate for attention/affection, so it felt a little overwhelming to her but in a good way. they very obviously flirted with her which got them silently treating it as a challenge- and Uzi being Uzi obviously loved the attention she got out of it- opting to let this just... kinda continue lmao. she didn't expect to let it go far enough for her to end up with both of them but here we are XD

We slightly touched this topic before about V but to reiterate- all of them have different levels of trauma that they all deal with and currently V has gone through the worst of it, both having to endure Cyn's torture in her mindspace and also having to watch N get slaughtered in front of her and possibly even having a hand in it. She fears losing people that mean to her so she became avoidant with a difficult personality to guard whatever's left of her. It took a really long time for her to decide to be with the two and to protect them and not run away from her feelings for anyone or anything. but some days its still difficult for her so sometimes N and Uzi have to literally trap her into a wrestling cuddle pile or something to get her to just... exist, without feeling like the whole universe is weighing her down. N and Uzi want her to know they are there to protect HER from those inner demons too.

sometimes the cuddle piles end up with N and V once again trying to get Uzi's attention lmao which ends up with them being a little too horny on main- whoops :) - everything starts with a little nibble here, a small bite there - maybe some pillow fights and climbing over eachother or holding one another down in different positions- aaaand then they wake up a few hours later with Uzi having regrets cuz these two are horny as f-

ANYWAY- N is probably the most patient of the 3, and although he usually never breaks up fights because he trusts the other two to handle their own problems without him needing to mom them, sometimes Uzi and V go a lil too far and he gets very tired of dealing with this kind of behavior. he never blows up at them- but he usually goes away to take a breather- sometimes hanging out with Thad or the other drones- and during this time Uzi and V kinda feel bad- but then they would think of stuff like maybe planning dates or getting food for him, draw stuff on cards and etc- or go around trying to find gifts to make him happy<3 sometimes they might add some extra kisses and unwinding sessions in the end as an extra treat :p N always forgives them obviously, he just needs some guys night out every once in a while or something lmao-

Getting close to Uzi became an excuse for N and V to get closer to eachother too. ironically, it first started with them bantering about who is better at what- but then it turned into unironically flirting and teasing eachother- but after a while they realized their relationship isn't going to ever be the same as what it was back in their old days but its also something completely new, so they become more willing to accept one another and explore their newer dynamic.

they all love being coddled and pampered every now and then. Uzi and V may not outright admit it- but they really do too. so they take turns with who they put in the middle of receiving affection :p

N and V are VERYYYYYY over protective of Uzi. to the point that they wouldn't even let the doctor [for tech repair obviously] check Uzi or touch her in any way when she had a small virus case lol. Khan had to pay the poor doctor extra for that.... deciding to leave his daughter in her room in a cuddle pile of two murderous demons that have glowing cat eyes every time he comes in the room smh.

V and N really like cuddling Uzi and sticking their hands under her clothes. or sometimes just flat out sleeping or cuddling naked. its less of a sexual thing and more so to do with the fact that the two MD's have higher body temperature and a less efficiant body for cooling- since they have a more compact torso and a lot less oil and coolant fluids going through them [since they need to consume it continuously] and having a bunch of working nanobots and nanites shoved into them to turn into weapons/wings/etc- and Uzi- although having the AS- is still very much less in need of cooling due to still having a more efficient body design for a "exoplanetary worker unit", with a still functioning cooling system inside that doesn't necessarily need extra oil to make it work unless under stressful conditions.... even if she probably does have worms and fleshy tentacles inside her now lmao. But either way Uzi's body is still a lot colder than the others so she's usually shared in the middle and at this point Uzi cant even be embarrassed when they slide their hands under her clothes and grab her wherever smh..... although V also does it as a semi possessive thing so there's that pfft. she was especially handsy after that doctor left XDDD.

Yes Uzi has very much in fact ended up at the medical/tech repair unit multiple times because N and V have sometimes ended up being a bit too much for her to handle- and the doctor [a character yall shall meet later] has absolutely had it. She had to literally sit the 3 down, explain to them their body differences via scans and the damages they may cause Uzi and it was basically the robot version of having "the talk" with your child- and Uzi wanted to die there and then.

Uzi sometimes just tells the two to drink blood from her- the first time they wanted to share oil they were scared about accidentally causing Uzi to overheat- but after a few times of trying it, they continued doing it more frequently either by kissing and regurgitating or taking turns to bite Uzi or vice versa. N and V typically don't use one another's oil because they already have high usage as it is, it wouldn't be efficient. admittedly N and V always have concerns when it came to biting Uzi- but somehow they found out Uzi actually enjoys it a little when they do it and well...they get ideas lmao- they just make sure to lick her indents clean with their regenerative saliva to make the AS work as little as possible on Uzi's body.

N really enjoys seeing his partners smooch..... for study purposes ofc lmao- actually he uses his visor to take pictures sometimes- let the man be a little horny in peace smh. and don't worry Uzi and V know all this- they just wanna tease him a little bit :p

Uzi and N usually chit chat while they are in the bed until they fall asleep- but V prefers to just hug Uzi on the side listening to them while they talk until she falls asleep too

they love going around in human based areas with shops and stuff to find books to read together or any other fun human stuff they can find- maybe table top games? lol- V goes for the sports stuff. she kinda wanna try hitting something with a bat...

[okayyyy so tumblr doesn't let me write any more XD i def have more ideas but oh well. also ill save the eNVy for another ask that i have in my inbox so you'll get that soon too :p]

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #8

"The Wellsington Hotellsington"

I'm glad Hazel's parents seem chill. They're not strict about "No sleepovers" or anything. They seem more involved than Timmy's (and holy cow, they're better at interactions with their daughter than Chloe's were with her).

Yeah, it's not like I ever doubted (because I loved Chloe's mental breakdown drama), but this and the dino episode are really cementing just how bad Clark and Connie were with parenting, sdkfj.

If Chloe tried to play with her parents at the museum, they'd totally shut down her giddiness and drag her into a lesson on naming or drawing dinosaurs. She'd seem hyped, but... Timmy would know. Timmy always knew.

I miss Timmy "will stay with you for an hour while you have a total breakdown" Turner... I miss the fairy step-siblings. Where's my boy?

... That is actually really interesting that I can't give Hazel a 50-years-of-frozen-time backstory. With Chloe, she blatantly raised herself on Fair Bears and I had a lot of other characters who got their lives screwed up by failing to emotionally mature or physically progress... but Hazel missed all that, so she's got Regular Childhood. And barring what I just said, I'm usually writing Fae in 'fics that span hundreds of thousands of years. Having such a limited timeframe to work with is... a new experience for me here.

Whyyyyy did Hazel and Jasmine not know who Wynn (sp?) is if they've been in the same class for weeks? (Hazel's over 100 wishes and mentioned weeks had passed during "Teacher's Pal"). Does this kid not talk to them? I thought they sat near Hazel, by the door? I'm pretty sure if I go back and look, this kid is 1 or 2 desks to her right.

Dev, don't you have better things to do than stalk Hazel and eavesdrop? This kid has issues. Tell me more.

I'm really glad we have a Dimmadome bully and not a Buxaplenty bully. Fingers crossed that Remy broke the abuse cycle, and also... the Dimmadomes are 100% known for butting into everything. I complained that he shouldn't stalk, but... he's a Dimmadome. Of course he's wandering around waiting for his chance to jump in for a line and brag about stuff.

"Hazard" is a very funny nickname for Hazel. Dev should keep calling her that.

This kid has insecurity issues about... his house? And/or being outclassed, but it's the house that seems to ruffle his feathers. The one thing Dimmadomes are known for is their big buildings. Hmm. Something's going on here...

I was going to make a joke about how Jasmine apparently didn't come over to Hazel's house despite their plans to play together, but Jasmine made it for me. Apparently she HAS been over and is sus. sdflkj.

Wynn is super nice. Hazel is being a creep sdkf.

Whoops, so much for the roof garden. Also, I like how the founder picture for the hotel is just Hazel in disguise.

His parents aren't at his party, huh? I see where this is going...

Either this kid's got a fairy - but he doesn't have brightly colored items or pets we've seen - or something is keeping him riding the border without tipping into miserable. We never got a canon reason why Tootie didn't have a fairy, though it's implied she can't keep her mouth shut and would endanger Fairy World. I wonder if those recording devices following him around are getting in the way, although that's probably not likely.

OR he's lost a fairy (similar to Remy gambling Juandissimo away), which would be hilarious. Imagine him getting a fairy and he's like "I don't want this. I have money."

I'm thinking he's got enough of his heart set in his pride and his things that he's finding enough joy to keep afloat, but I'm keeping an eye on him. Now that I'm thinking about it, Kevin Crocker with a fairy would've been funny. Then again, I kind of gave him Foop as a buddy... and even though he's the deadest kid inside, he was still pretty cheery.

Dev, however, does NOT give me cheery vibes. I'm sus.

Actually, I do not trust Fairy World to be functioning the same way it did in the old days, considering that enough time has passed for Cosmo and Wanda to retire and Jorgen to notably age. There WAS a fairy shortage in Season 10 - and so few Fairies left by Season 7 that they couldn't even fill the stadium when Timmy summoned them - so... hmm. Is he getting Cookie, who was actively looking for a godkid a few episodes ago?

If Fairy World's still under the same protocol it used to be, Jorgen's the only Temporary Fairy on-call, and we HAVE seen him introduced. Hmm...

I'm wondering if this is gonna be a Juandissimo comeback? He's got experience with rich kids, he IS a notable fairy from the early seasons (all the seasons), and he even loves bratty kids who don't listen to him to the point that he couldn't hold a job after losing Remy (because he was crying too much) and ended up defying Da Rules to return Remy's memories. Now that Wanda and Cosmo are so friendly in this portrayal, it could be really interesting to throw him in the mix again.

I liked when Cosmo showed him the "guest room" in "Jerk of All Trades" and then threw him in the freezer. Give me more of that.

This would be very unlikely since it's literally a deleted part of an early script, but... do I dare dream we see the return of "Juandissimo is terrified of only one person and it's Cosmo, whom he refers to as Wanda's cunning and calculating warrior husband?" That would be great! My dream. :)

I like how Cosmo in the OG series tolerated Juandissimo, claiming that he would tell him to stop flirting with Wanda, but he won't because he likes eating Juandissimo's food too much. 10/10 dynamic. It's so underrated; Cosmo's hilarious.

I'm loving early-vibe Cosmo and Wanda... do I DARE dream of a return with early-vibe Juandissimo? My super kind and polite boy who gets invited to at least 4 parties at Timmy's house, makes a point of letting Wanda talk to Cosmo before she makes decisions involving them alone in a room, and runs away at top speed when he clocks Wanda as not being able to consent to hanging out with him (because Cupid's love arrow?) Seasons 1-7 Juandissimo, my beloved... :')

I miss him.

My vague understanding is that this show is ongoing, probably multiple seasons if it does well, so I don't think they're wrapping it up at the end of Season 1... but if they did, I could definitely see a "Hazel gives her blessing for Cosmo and Wanda to go to Dev" plot, which would be an interesting direction (since we never got that kind of closure with Timmy and I doubt they'd do a share program plot twice).

It's kind of a shame we didn't get a separate reboot with the share program- That might've been better received than Season 10. Sparky could've been a shared fairy. Alas.

Okay, the chandelier in the helicopter being an inconvenience is a nice touch.

I'm dead (So are the animals).

Mmmm, the classmates are dunking on Dev for being "not cool." He's not even liked? Seriously, someone call Juandissimo- This kid is catnip for him.

[abitofboth]

even more owen carvour hcs because I’ve got brain worms or something

he got his ears pierced when he was younger, and even though he rarely wears them now, he’ll put studs in every now and then just so the holes won’t close up.

he’s a bit of an insomniac. sleep doesn’t come easy to him and he can spend hours just tossing and turning. half the time he’ll just give up and find something else to do- read a book, go over mission plans, sit at the window with a cigarette and watch the world go by.

a shakespeare snob through and through. he has a quote ready to go for every single situation possible and he doesn’t care how many eyes roll every time he whips one out.

he’s semi-decent at drawing. not the best, but he does have a sketchbook he uses in his downtime that he’ll draw whatever’s in front of him in.

he learnt how to hot wire cars when he was bumming around as a kid. every time he gets the chance to steal a car on a mission it’s like he’s 13 all over again, filled with the thrill of not getting caught.

he thinks mrs mega is maybe the best woman alive. her and her antics entertain him endlessly and he adores how much she loves curt. he hasn’t met her many times, but every time he gets the pleasure of staying at the safe house he finds himself wishing he had a mum like her.

he has a soft spot for barb. every time curt makes a mean passing remark about her he’ll smack him across the arm.

he’s thought about (more often than he’d like to admit) running away with curt. taking them both far from the danger and secrets and living life quietly as just the two of them. (and a cat. his fantasy definitely involves him being with curt and owning a cat. he has two hands for a reason!!)

he never got to meet tatiana before he was in his cunty villain era, but if curt and owen would have found her before the fall in their prime time I just KNOW that they would have been the ultimate team (I literally drew it hehe). owen and tati would have been bitchy best friends and I don’t even doubt it for a second.

he and curt have had so many “romantic” patching up sessions after missions. before they were officially together, there were so many uncertain gentle touches and lingering caresses where they both wish they could say and do more. the moments when there’s been some serious blood loss and things that would normally remain unsaid start slipping out are the moments when the two start realising that they might just feel the same way about each other. (I also literally wrote this hehe :P)

in a similarly trope-y way, there have been so many ‘Whoops! Only One Bed!’ situations. before they got together owen loved being able to sleep curled up right next to his crush (he hates the term ‘crush’ btw), and then after they got together it just gave him an excuse to spoon him all night long.

curt snores. owen hates it.

he can ride motorbikes and he can do it well. he loves when curt rides behind him and clings onto him with his arms around his waist. he drives extra fast to sate curt’s adrenaline junkie tendencies (and he loves the way curt laughs out of pure joy right next to his ear).

if he finds himself being tortured, as spies do, his go to is pretty much get so cocky and smarmy until it pisses off the torturer so much that owen can find an opportunity to overpower them and fight back. works like a charm.

once, he was captured and had his head forced underwater and was threatened with being drowned to death. the whole experience fucked him up for a good while.

regularly gets curt to light his cigarette for him while he’s holding it in his mouth.

every injury the fall gave him is a painful reminder of curt. even years down the line, every time a scar smarts or his knee plays up he’s filled with too many emotions to name.

he doesn’t actually remember a whole lot of the actual fall happening, it’s all very patchy, but he has vivid memories of curt’s horrified face getting further and further away from him as he got closer to the floor.

he learnt how to play an old family violin when he was a kid, and he’s gotten a little rusty over the years but he can still play a pretty tune on one.

he loves late night walks through cities. he thinks it’s the best way to really get to know a place. plus, it’s like he can hide in the shadows for a few hours and be someone other than owen carvour.

he’s a bit of a lightweight when it comes to booze. it doesn’t take many drinks to get him tipsy, and he’ll be full on drunk before you know it. curt can handle alcohol much better than him and has had to drag him away from bars more times than he can count.

he’ll frequently stop to fix curt’s tie and collar if they’re in disguise. everything needs to be perfectly in place or he thinks curt’ll look sloppy and give them away.

when they’re more into their relationship, owen starts buying in coffee to keep in his flat, and curt starts taking tea bags back to america with him every time he visits the uk.

spicy, be warned

post fall he tried sleeping with someone else but he could literally think of nothing but curt the entire time. he was never eager to try again.

if he’s in a submissive mood, he will go nuts if you call him a ‘good boy’. ‘my good boy’ is even better.

if he’s pent up he’ll just unashamedly jerk off in the shower whether he’s alone in there or not.

if he’s feeling particularly decadent and has the time, he’ll touch himself with a cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of wine in his hand.

shotgunning. he’ll take a drag and kiss it into curt’s mouth. they both think it’s hot as fuck.

if truth serum is something at their disposal, he's definitely used it during sex.

[zzzykiek]

Play it Sweet

2p!Alastor x Human Diabetic Fem!OC

TW: toxic workplace, noncon touch, manipulation

2P alastor Originates from: https://www.tumblr.com/anic-mj/627521842542936064/2palastorblueberry?source=share

No Smut this chapter, but Minors still DNI please. Enjoy!

5_____________________________Close Observation. 

Al lets you go. (No, come back!) He spins into the shadows. (What? where?)

You feel his lips ghost over your ear. “Miss me?” Al had, in mere seconds, transitioned to his human form without so much as a sound, appearing behind you, which causes you to jump and drop your towel. (Well, that's not the way to defend yourself.) He begins laughing at your startled state. “I hope you don't mind, but I perused your wardrobe and picked out your outfit.”

“You were gone for like two seconds, how the…?”

He skips towards the door and turns in a flourishing bow, “Power, my sunshine, I do have an image to uphold, after all.” 

Crossing your arms, you can’t help but reveal a tad bit of snark as you remind him, “Al, I've wiped your tears away multiple times. Why do you feel the need to show off for me?” 

“That is e-exactly wh-why.” His features soften as he breaks eye contact. His hands search desperately for something to cling to before landing on the lapels of his coat. 

He didn't need to explain any more. You immediately understood his line of thought. The idea of this powerful being desiring to impress you sends an unexpected spark through your body as you let your gaze begin to admire his own outfit choice for the day. A royal blue suit with a white linen shirt underneath. (I feel like one of those cartoons with the hearts coming off of them…)

He hooks a finger under your chin. “Keep looking at me like that and we will be late, my sunshine.” You are helpless to hide the shiver caused by him calling you that little nickname. He smiles wide and then leads you out to show you the outfit he had chosen. Black slacks with a royal blue chiffon top. Your favorite hair clip was sitting there as well, a bright enamel and rhinestone sunflower. “I couldn't resist that piece…It m-made me h-happy.” He admits while nuzzling into your hair.

“It is my favorite for a reason.” You respond wistfully, looking over as he rests his chin on your still bare shoulder, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Al,” you draw out his name playfully, “If you hold me like this, we will be late for sure.” He sighs and plants a tiny kiss on your neck, which sends sparks through your whole body before he slowly removes himself from the embrace.

Finally dressed, he helps you tie the bow at the neck of your blouse then runs his fingers through your hair, twisting and clipping half of it into the sunflower. You look at yourself and adjust the sleeves, your eyes falling on the very obvious bite mark from the morning's activities. 

“Sadly, it is best to keep that to ourselves, for now anyway.” He winks at you and pulls the kerchief from his breast pocket. He ties it around your wrist while he leans in to whisper “By the end of the week, there will be no doubt that you are MINE.” His growl at the end makes your body react as your free hand grabs at his coat. He laughs, planting a kiss on your now concealed wrist. 

Glancing at the clock you groan, “I guess we should go.” Grabbing your purse, you spot the printed itinerary you never showed Al last night. (Whoops, got a bit distracted I guess.) With a giggle, you pass it over as you both get in your car. “Guess you should look at this so you're a step ahead of Cliff, considering I never put a copy on his desk.” You cringe a tad knowing that was going to bite you in the butt later. 

“I will take the advantage, but we won't let him know that. For all he will know, you decided to wait and print them this morning.” Al glances at the plans and lets his free hand rest on your thigh, a move that doesn't seem conscious on his part. Humming in approval he hands the page back to you. 

You sneak a look over at him with no attempt to hide the mischievous look plastered on your face. “I fully expect you to go off script though, Al.”

 

His smile widens farther than it probably should as he turns his torso towards you, leaning his elbow on the dash. “I-I think you c-can read my mind sometimes.”

 

You almost choke at the irony of his statement. “I was thinking the same thing last night. Guess we just make a good team.” Tandem chuckles fill the car as you pull into the library parking lot.

You can already spy your boss leering at the two of you arriving together. His scowl deepens as Al opens your door and helps you out of the vehicle, before linking arms and escorting you towards him.. 

“Clifford! Wonderful morning! I am so excited to see the detailed workings of a library. I understand it's more than just books.” Al offers his unoccupied hand to your boss, who quickly sets his jaw into a smile and heartily shakes it. 

“And I am equally excited to get our little library’s important work highlighted.” Cliff grits out, ready to turn the conversation in his favor. (No way I am going to allow that.) 

“Of course it's not just for our little library, sir! Al’s segment will help bring awareness to libraries all over the United States!” You finish your statement with both arms clasped around Al’s and a slight hop. Al shoots over a glance of appreciation at your enthusiasm. 

“Oh of course Sunni, but I can't help but be proud that our community will be the ones to share their voice.” (Why does he always have to call me that….)

 

“I couldn't think of a better voice to share!” Al says, obviously referring to you, causing your cheeks to flush. 

“Well of course! I wouldn't have picked just anyone as my PR manager!” 

“The best choice you could make, sir.”

 

You choke back a laugh at Al’s efforts to beat Cliff at his own game. You add the nail in the coffin by cutting in before your boss can respond. “Gentlemen, I do apologize for not getting the itineraries out yesterday. I caught some small tweaks that needed to be made, let me get them printed and we can begin the tour! Al, you can keep your bag in my office when you are not needing it.”

“Perfect! Lead the way, darling.” 

Cliff moves and opens the front door for you, smirking as Al is forced to let go of your arm as you make your way through the doorway into the lobby. You can see the eyes of a few of your coworkers ogling Al as he walks behind you, hands gripped tightly on the strap of his bag now that he isn't holding your arm. You catch a glimpse out of the corner of your eye of him smiling but avoiding eye contact with everyone as you move through the establishment. Arriving at your office, you hang your purse on a hook and indicate its twin for Al to hang his. 

Al takes in the decor of your office, noting the vase of sunflowers that are at the end of their days. Cliff enters and comes to your side, placing his hand on the back of your chair. You feel a quick prick of static, indicating Al’s complete dislike of the current situation. After fussing with your computer for a few moments, the printer comes to life spitting out your plans.

PR Visit - Evening Tea 

Day 1

Tour and relevant staff introductions -Clifford and Sunnifa 

Library arrangement and basics -Sunnifa 

Open observation - no specific staff needed 

Debrief - Clifford, Sunnifa, and Heather

“Who is Heather, dear?” Al asks after reviewing the document. 

“Our assistant director. She has been a librarian for longer than anyone else here, making her a great resource for your interviews. She won't be in until this afternoon though.”

“Excellent! A veteran of the craft. I will have to plan a double length interview with her, getting history through first hand sources is always preferred.” 

Cliff snorts. “She is hardly worth your time Al, we need to get the view of the relevant community out, not the tales of an old timer.”

“Nonsense!” Al actually looks hurt by his statement. “I would have never attained my current standings in radio without speaking with every veteran broadcaster I had the honor to meet. Studying the history of—and the science behind—radio broadcasting is how I got to the point I am today! As I said, nothing beats first hand experience. Speaking of, I know Sunnifa has been working in Libraries for 5 years now. Where does your experience lie, my good man?” (Wow, he really knows what he is talking about)

“Well this is my second year in Libraries, but I have been working for the people since I graduated.” Cliff hooks his thumbs under his lapels like he just gave the most impressive statement.

 

“Hmm, well I'll save the rest of my questions for our interview. I do believe we have a tour to do!” Al turns and offers you his arm.

“Indeed we do! There is a surprising amount of ground to cover here.” You happily slip into his offer. “Cliff, sir, I will let you lead the way for this. I will fill in any additional info as needed.”

Cliff is all too eager to take the reins of the tour. Cliff is in his own element, presenting all the physical facets of the library. (He is doing better than I expected.) He didn’t even skip over the history of the building. (I guess he figured that would impress Al) While Cliff is engaged in his show, you can't help but catch all the looks and whispers pointed at Al and you. You know most of the staff are under the impression there's some sort of thing going on between you and Cliff, despite you clearly stating otherwise. Seeing you on another's arm has rumors and questions swirling. You catch Al glance at you, questioning the reaction of those you pass. You flick your eyes to Cliff and see the understanding smack Al in the face as he snarls, pulling you closer to him. His voice from this morning echoes through your brain “MINE.”

You're brought back to the present by a rush of floral smelling breeze. There’s a skip to your steps as you pull Al out onto the roof. Full of pride, you announce, “This is my personal project!”  Releasing Al, and you bound ahead to dance into the massive rooftop garden. “Good morning my plant babies!” Excitement drips from your greeting as you run around and connect with each plant.

 

“Sunnifa!” Your boss's voice is demanding. He hates the way you treat the plants like sentient beings, even though they are to you. “We are in the middle of a professional tour.” 

“How can you curb her happiness sir? The view is simply exquisite!” Al is not looking at the garden when he says this. “Besides, plants are such an important part of life on earth. Did you know plants can hear you? It's been proven that talking to plants helps them grow!”

“Of course it does.” Cliff grumbles under his breath. You return from the other end of the roof, features downcast in response to your boss’s stern voice, with no clue of the exchange you missed. “Sorry, sir.” You see Cliff go to speak before Al cuts in.

“Whatever are you apologizing for, darling? This garden is breathtaking!” He picks a blueberry off a bush. “You could feed an army with all you have growing up here.” He tosses it in his mouth, humming out a complement to the taste. 

“Well that's kind of what we do.” Your explanation is cut short as Cliff steals your spotlight.

“It is our biggest philanthropy endeavor! This garden is open to any hungry member of the community!” As he finishes his show, an obviously homeless older man comes out from the stairwell and begins pulling blueberries off the nearest bush. Cliff doesn't hide his grimace toward the new guest well.

“Hi Mr Stu!” You go over to the gentleman. “The cucumbers are ripe, and I just refilled the ranch in the community fridge. I know it is one of your favorites.” A small smile graces the gentleman’s face as he answers in a very hoarse voice. 

“How do you remember details like that? Especially about little old me.”

“I just do, Mr Stu; I just do.” You respond in a sing-song voice, playing with the rhyme of the statement. 

Cliff interrupts. “Well, we should be moving on to more relevant items for Al here to feature”

“Nonsense! This is prime content right here.” He softly walks over, approaching Stu with an air of respect. “Al, pleasure to meet you, quite a pleasure. I am a reporter for a popular radio station which will be featuring this library in an upcoming special. Would you mind sharing your story regarding this fine establishment and its staff?” Al nods to you. Stu’s expression first holds an air of worry, but he relaxes at the encouragement of your genuine smile. 

“I would be honored, sir.” He shakes Al’s hand.

“How about we plan an open lunch tomorrow, and Mr. Stu can bring some other members of his community to speak to me.” Al’s eyes sparkle as both of you catch Cliff's look of absolute disgust.

“Al, as nice as that offer is, I was hoping to take you out for lunch tomorrow with the board.”

“Oh well we can do it Thursday, then. Knock out all the public interviews in one day. Does that work for you, Mr. Stu?”

“Oh, I can do whatever, I have nowhere else to be.” He shakes Al’s hand again, shooting a glare at Cliff before pulling All closer and dropping his voice. “Don't let that jerk fool you,” 

“Oh, I have already seen right through him.” Al gives him a reassuring squeeze of the hand as he straightens back up sharing a knowing nod. “Thursday it is then! Bring as many friends as you can! I will make sure everyone leaves well fed and happy.”

You can tell your boss is ready to explode and you're not wanting to deal with that right now. “I could stay up here all day, but we should make our way back to the inner workings. Ms. Heather will be here any minute. I know you were excited to meet her, Al.” 

“That's my girl! On top of things as always.” The flash of desire in his eyes as he focuses on you makes your skin crawl. (Ugh, I didn't shift things back for you dumbass) Both Al and Stu sneer at your yelp from Cliff grabbing your healing wrist to Lead the way to the elevator. (Why the hell are you squeezing so tight!)

As Cliff hits the button for the lobby, you see Al’s eyes flit between the stairwell and the elevator panel and can already anticipate his question. And you answer in a melancholic tone. “We had some trouble with our garden visitors making a mess in the elevator.” 

“I am happy to help the community, but they get the level of respect they show.” Your boss’s tone lets you know not to say any more on the subject (for now). An awkward air settles as the elevator closes. “Sunni, we will have a moment to speak on the rest of these plans while Al meets Heather.” His voice is gruff and annoyed. You feel Al’s hand brush against your arm asking if he should step in.

“Sure, sir. Best to be on the same page” your uncomfortable but confident. You know it's not actually going to revolve around your plans. Al leans back against the wall of the elevator humming to the light tune playing from the speaker above his head. 

“How long have you been in the radio biz, Al?”

“I've aspired to be a host all my life! My mother found me a toy microphone for my sixth birthday and I have been hosting my own shows ever since!” 

“How about professionally?”

“I hopped in immediately after graduation! My town's local station took me in for an internship. I started hosting on my own about… seven years ago. Joined KMFDM three years ago and hit the ground running to bring The Evening Tea to life!” Al beams proudly at his story. You had gotten lost in his voice while listening. 

“Is your radio show all talk or do you indulge in music as well?” 

“Well I have been told people can listen to my voice all day, but my vocal cords would hate me if I did that, so I play a mix of old time jazz, it always boosts my spirits.”

“You don't seem old enough to be familiar with jazz.”

“Oh, my mother loved a good old swing around the living room. Those tunes take me right back there.” 

“I see.” You can feel Cliff stiffen at the idea of this oddball youngin’ liking his music. Thankfully, the door opens, and your wrist gets released from his grip. You dare not completely escape his grasp at the moment as he hooks your arm with his and pulls you out of the elevator. Al’s footsteps quickly follow, a slight static embedded in each one. (I am used to this Al, though I guess I shouldn't be.) 

You try to turn and catch his gaze, but Cliff pulls you forward, almost taking you off your feet, jaw clenched and eyes searching the office. “Heather! We have a special guest! Sunnifa got us some media coverage from a national radio broadcast. Al, I’ll let you do your thing while Sunni and I take care of some last minute details.” You catch Al’s gaze giving him a smile to let him know you can handle yourself. Al turns and you recognize his signature introduction to Heather as Cliff drags you into his office. He is fuming.

 

“What's the matter sir?” You pull your sweet, innocent voice out that you know causes him to go soft towards you. 

“This host is getting under my skin, I understand you have known him for a while, but I do worry his focus is not going to show what we want in this broadcast.”

“What we want, sir?” You play the hurt kitten very well. It is the only way you have kept your boss in check. 

His shoulders drop. “I know you love the garden, but it's hardly the focus you brought Al here for.” Cliff holds onto your shoulders and gets very close to your face. You catch his eyes dropping to your lips. (Shit, can he see where Al bit me this morning? Or is he just being his creepy self? Or both…? It’s probably both.) His form stiffens. “I also have to ask. What exactly is your relationship with Al, hun? You seem awfully close, for him being merely a business contact.”

“We haven't seen each other for two years, Sir, and my personal connection with Al is hardly any of your concern. He came here for business first and foremost. It is not like you are my father vetting my date for prom.” He hates you acknowledging your age difference by referring to him as a father figure, and you know it. “I have full confidence in Al and his skills to bring this broadcast to life. He will make sure he has all the information he needs. We have nothing to hide here do we, sir?” You let your tone drop, letting him know you could sense his desire to hide Stu and the homeless from the other staff and patrons. 

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Of course not, Sunni.”

“You know I don't like being called that.”

Cliff sets his hand on your hip and steps in so close you can feel his nose on your cheek as he practically growls into your ear. “My apologies, sunshine.” Your stiff form attempts to recoil and you sputter at him stealing that name from Al, tears welling up at your lower lashes. Before you can respond, Heather's voice breaks the tension. “Eh-hem, am I interrupting something?” Her tone is firm and dripping with concern. You feel Al’s static, and know he just witnessed your boss's little stunt as well. Cliff moves faster than you have ever seen, stepping back as if he never invaded your space to begin with. 

“Not at all, I was simply sharing how excited I am about this opportunity.” 

You quickly exit the office, letting Al wrap his arm around your waist while nuzzling your cheek from outside of Cliff's view. Your body finally relaxes, and a few tears fall as you recover from the confrontation. Heather is quietly reprimanding Cliff; she has had her suspicions about Clifford’s attraction to you, but this is the first she has caught him acting on anything. Al meets your eyes, knowing not to say anything about what just happened, his look of concern and rage softening as he runs his fingers through your hair. You sigh and lean into his touch, forcing your boss’s voice out of your mind. (Talk Al; I need to hear you)

“Wonderful lady! Reminds me of my mother. She has invited us to lunch if you are up to it, my sunshine.” Gently leaning backwards, he reads your face before allowing you to answer.

“Of course, Al. I told you Heather is the backbone of this library. She dotes on all of her staff like a loving mother, puts us in our places too.” You laugh and look over as the conversation in the office reaches its end with Heather exiting and quickly embracing you. 

“Sunnifa, are you alright, dearie? I swear Clifford needs to go back to etiquette school! Unlike this wonderful gentleman; I am surprised you’re letting him grace us with his presence. I would be locking this one away for myself!”

 

“Oh Heather I think you have that quite backwards.” Al’s arm returns to your waist as he gently guides you closer. You don't even think of it as you rest your head on him. 

Heather claps. “Ohh, Suniffa, no one deserves such a gentleman more than you. You deserve some happiness in your life. I expect you can supply that young man.” 

“How have I done so far, sunshine?” Al looks down at you.

You can feel your face burn at the implications Heather is tossing out, but you can only answer truthfully.  “I have never been happier.” A look of surprise flashes in Al’s eyes before he redirects his attention back to Heather. 

“Ohhhh! You will have to tell me all about things; come on we are going to lunch. Cliff will hold down the fort!” Heather ushers you toward the staff exit as you see Al look over his shoulder and can only imagine the look he gives your boss. 

[atom-writings]

Sleepy cuddling with Ivan :3c

(HWS Russia x Reader) Sleepy Affection!

(Gender Neutral) Scenario ~ A/N WAIT THIS IS A A THOUSAND WORD.S WHOOPS. UM. IM NORMAL ABOUT RUSSIA (LYING LYING) I HAVE NOT BEEN DREAMING ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS (LYING I AM A LIAR I AM LYING)

Trigger Warning: None, just Fluff!

Meteorologists had predicted a large snowfall. While you had told Ivan that you would leave before it got too bad, that plan ended up dead in the water. Or more accurately, dead in the snow. Before you knew it, the ground nearly rose to your knees. That’s fine, right? It’s really no problem, staying with your boyfriend. That was… until the power went out… along with the heat.

He tugged on your shirt lightly, rubbing the collar between two of his fingers. In the background, the fire crackled quietly. The scent of a warm fireplace nearly drowned out your boyfriend’s faded cologne. He always smelled faintly of roses, something close to what you’d find in your grandmother’s home.

Months earlier, you recalled him mentioning that he had lived in this home for centuries. Which, to be fair you could’ve guessed. Normally it would be nothing more than an annoyance, how it creaked and groaned keeping you up at night. But now, its ancient architecture meant you two had nothing to worry about. The fireplace meant you two could make it through the night in comfort.

So there you two lay. A short distance away from the fireplace cuddled up on an old mattress he had dragged downstairs. On top of you lay layers of quilts and ratty old blankets, all of which smelled of must and people you’d never meet. 

“Крошка? Are you still awake?” His voice startled you out of your thoughts.

“Yeah…”

“Why?” He readjusted himself, sitting up and facing you.

“W-Why? This isn’t the ideal situation to sleep in, Vanya.” You replied, looking up at him in confusion. He paused for a minute, lost in thought, before reaching out and holding your shoulder tightly.

“I understand. We just have to get through one night. I am sure your hotel will have the power back by then, and you will be alright.” 

He laid back down, “Will you let me warm you?” 

A light pink rose to your cheeks, and you rolled to look away from him. Sure, you had been plenty affectionate with each other before, but nothing like this, “If you’re fine doing so… aren’t you cold too?”

“Of course. But I have been cold many times before,” Ivan responds as he presses himself against your back, “Besides, I cannot help but be slightly delighted by this arrangement.”

“You’re happy about this?” Your tone rises.

“As I said, only slightly. It reminds me of many nights I have had before.” He wraps his arms tightly around your waist, drawing you closer. You can feel his hot breath on the back of your neck, along with his eyes resting intently on you.

“I would have thought that an immortal would try to ignore any memories. Don’t they just make you sad?”

“Sometimes, yes. The world has changed very much. But I try to not let that bother me. It is all about looking on the bright side. Years ago, I could not have been seen with you. But now…” Ivan leans forward, laying his head in the crook of your neck. “We can be here… together.”

Smiling to yourself at his sudden affection, you begin tracing light patterns on his arms. Quickly, you hear him sigh, muffled by your neck.

“Be the romantic all you want, I still want our power back at least.” You joke.

“Really? I do not mind.” 

“Psh, of course, you don’t. But I’m a little used to the comforts of modern life.” He returns your playful tone with a smile.

“I enjoy this. It reminds me of nights spent with my old family. We would have to sleep like this often in the winter as well.” Although he smiles, you can hear his tone drop.

Although you had been dating for almost a year now, he rarely talked about his family. You had gathered that he had sisters… at least one… and maybe a brother at some point. There were pictures of this home, filled with people, placed everywhere throughout the home. Yet, they never seemed to be the same people. And anytime you would become curious as to why he would brush your questions off.

“Your family?”

“We never had much money. I was lucky to receive this home from the Tsar many centuries ago. It protected us well.” He lets go momentarily, just to grasp for your hand as his voice falters. 

You wiggle out of his hold, turning around to face him. His eyes soft, lost in memory, suddenly transfixed on you as you grabbed his hand. He leaned into your touch as you caressed his cheek and squeezed his hand tightly.

“It’s nice to know you have happy memories with them. Whenever you mention them usually, you seem so sad. I can’t stand to see you like that.”

Ivan closes his eyes, relaxing his tense face. “Those are not happy memories. It makes me sad to think about those why we had to huddle in those winter nights.”

“Then why did you bring it up?” Your face turns to concern as you begin running your hands through his soft, silvery hair.

“Because I am not sad right now. Regardless of how it reminds me of my old family.”

“H- Why? I know I would be upset if I were you right now.”

He opens his eyes, staring intently into your own, “Because I have done this with my old family,” he smiles lovingly, “and now I have done it with you.” 

As you look up at him in confusion, he simply draws his quilts tighter to the two of you. Grinning, he continues, “I did not think I would ever do this again. It means that even in this world I do not always recognize, I will still find my new family.”

Bringing your hand, still tightly holding onto his own, up to his face, he kisses your knuckles lightly, “You will be my new family. We are together here, like I was once with my family, and that is all that matters, любимый.”

Despite the intense emotionality of what he just declared, his face betrayed nothing but peace. “V-Vanya…” you pause, “I love you.”

“I love you too. While you sleep, I will make sure you are safe.” He put one hand behind your head, pulling you forward to kiss your forehead.

“Thank you, my love.” You say before closing your eyes, leaning back into his chest.

“Сладких снов,” he whispers, before falling asleep to the crackling fire himself. With you safe in his arms, everything felt just as he had wished it to be for centuries.

[godisaturtle]

Waywardtale seems really interesting so far, can I get some more details?(please info dump if you have time I love it when people infodump)

OK THIS MIGHT BE A BIT MESSY BC IT'S AN INFODUMP

Also I have the designs for a lot of characters! Still working on them 💔💔

EXPLANATION!!!!!!:

So this whole au revolves around Charlie, and she falls into the mountain instead of Chara, so it's like, if Chara never fell

And she's totally freaked out by the whole situation with the monsters because she was one of those homeschooled kids where their parents won't teach them things they don't want them to know, so she has no idea who or what the monsters are. Sooo she kinda kills a few monsters out of panic-- smaller ones like froggit?

But Toriel takes her in because she feels bad and also because that's just what she does

Charlie gets used to it a bit, but still has a weird grudge, especially for the people outside of the ruins? But she also doesn't exactly know who they are, not really

So flash forward a bit, they're now angsty teens and the Dreemurrs leave to New Home because the ruins are getting way too out of shape

However, Chalrie and Asriel had a huge fight, and turns out she's developed some sort of small agoraphobia? So she ends up staying in the ruins. They would've taken her with them but she didn't wanna go because she was worried about what else might've been out there

And so Charlie ends up being the new Toriel, taking care of the ruins and what not. Yknow knock knock jokes the whole shabang, but she doesn't exactly have the same bond as Toriel and Sans. Every time she hears a knock knock joke she's like "your jokes fucking suck" and Sans is like "I think they're humerous" ba dum tss and then she's like "that was awful....tell me another". Just more of Charlie needing someone to keep her company so she doesn't go absolutely insane

But the difference in this is, humans aren't really interested in the monsters rn since the whole Asriel and Chara thing didn't happen

So no one's coming down to the mountain

And Error is like "this is a waste of space???? They're literally doing nothing it's so boring" and so he starts messing up stuff in the universe to be like "oh, whoops looks like it's defective and it's totally not my fault"

Ink ends up visiting the au one day in the ruins when he's fixing whatever Error had done and Charlie finds him and she's like "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU" and he's like "NOO NO NO I'M SAFE I PROMISE LOOK" and draws some stupid looking doodle, which is probably the worst way to plead your case

They talk for a bit, be it begrudgingly, but he has to calm her down somehow. And then he finds out she's been alone all this time and decides to become her friend to keep her company. Error finds our and is like "YOU'RE RUINING MY WHOLE PLAN ARE YOU SERIOUS" His jealous rage gets the best of him for sure, but also just normal rage, and he attempts to destroy the universe

Again

And again

And again

And it's not really working

And that's all l've got

Just Ink being friends w her and distracting her from the fact that Error is probably trying to blow up that au

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

*submits this and passes out*

HERE IS THE FIRST HALF OF THE FIC THAT HAS TAKEN OVER EVERY LAST ONE OF MY LIFE OBLIGATIONS FOR THE PAST WEEK AND A HALF

I STG I DID NOT MEAN TO GET THIS INVESTED BUT

@ckhalloween22 spoopy season Elimetri for the “monstrous transformations” prompt, as promised!!! Chapter 2 will hopefully be up later this week!

Fun fact: I actually made that moodboard ages ago (like...early 2021??? Purple Hawk did not even exist yet :O) and just never got around to posting it. Mainly because I was planning on posting this long list of vampire/werewolf headcanons to go with it, and I just...was too lazy to, RIP. But now there’s a whole-ass fic to go with it, so it seemed like a good time to post it XD

Spoilers ig that there are in fact werewolves in Chapter 2 lmao

Hopefully this will be on AO3 soon!!! Just gotta like. Recover from binge-writing this entire 14k-word fic in a few days, whoops. Y’all this was originally gonna be a one-shot and then it turned into a MONSTER (no pun intended) and now it’s a two-shot XD

Anyways enjoy the exact kinda angsty nonsense that I have been using as Daydream Scenarios for months now to entertain myself before I go to sleep. I never thought they would leave my head, but here we are.

ALSO @lizziefanconfessions I vaguely remember you saying you liked my vampire!Elimetri content, so. Come get fed!!! Highkey went all out with this one XD

EDIT: Chapter 2 is HERE!

Nocturnal Chapter 1 - Before Daybreak

There’s a strange smell coming from the hallway.

Demetri clutches at the lavish bedsheets. He should feel spoiled, but he knows it’s just another taunt.

He’s willing to bet Terry Silver has 15 identical guestrooms, all lavishly furnished. Each costing maybe 3 thousand dollars—or more.

A reminder that Terry Silver has enough money to do whatever the hell he wants. Even kidnap teenagers. Even…

Demetri’s hand drifts to the sores on his neck. They still hurt like a bitch.

He tastes the air again. There’s so much more than there used to be, and it’s unnerving. Lacquer. Candle wax. Velvet. Carpet cleaner. Marble. Stonework.

The one in the hallway is new, he can tell that much. Different enough from the olfactory default he’s gotten used to. Now if he could just tell what—

He chokes on his breath.

It’s Eli.

He’s not sure how he knows. Perhaps he’s always been able to recognize it, on a subconscious level. But every scrap of his fucked-up body is suddenly certain.

Eli, leave! Just fucking leave! Demetri wants to scream into his bedsheets.

When he screamed at Silver that his friends would come for him, he was bluffing. Always bluffing. He didn’t want any of them anywhere near this place, Eli least of all.

And yet here he was, strolling in on some convoluted rescue mission and about to get himself killed. Or…worse.

Eli’s scent draws closer. Demetri wants to shout a warning, tell him to get out of here…but with dear old Terry’s cronies and guards and henchmen behind every decorative statue, calling attention to his best friend’s presence would be about the most morally reprehensible thing he could do.

A discordant clicking fills the room, and Demetri realizes Eli must be fiddling with the electronic padlock.

It won’t take long to hack. Unfortunately.

The door swings open, and Demetri forgets how much he isn’t supposed to want this.

Eli’s face is glistening with sweat, scar flaring up red the way it sometimes does when he’s out of breath. Long hair—down, undyed—is plastered to his skin.

He must not have wanted to stand out. He must have insisted on being the clandestine part of the operation.

The one who found Demetri.

He drinks in everything about Eli Moskowitz—wiry limbs, track pants, gray jacket, blue eyes, panicked face. All things Demetri was convinced he’d never see again.

“Demetri.”

Eli whispers his name. A tactical maneuver, meant not to alert any hostile presences nearby.

Nonetheless, Demetri gets the feeling Eli wants to shout.

“I—”

There are too many things he wants to say. I missed you. You shouldn’t be here. I just want to hold you. Get the fuck out. I need you. You’re in danger.

“You need to leave,” he manages. He sounds raspy, unsure, and probably desperate. Fucking pathetic.

“Not…without you?” Eli’s brow furrows in confusion. “I’m rescuing you, asshole.”

Demetri shakes his head, eyes wild. “No—no, you have to stay away from me. You have to. You—”

Eli’s scent is overwhelming now. Something vaguely bringing to mind Mrs. Moskowitz pulling fresh-baked hamantaschen out of the oven.

Tantalizing.

And Demetri wants it. All of it.

“You’re not making any fucking sense!” Eli is scowling, and Demetri shoves the hunger down.

He slides off the bed, starting to back toward the wall. “He did something to me,” he gasps out. “Silver. I don’t know what, but now I want—there’s a part of me that wants—”

There’s a part of me that wants to kill you.

He can’t say it out loud. It wouldn’t be his first thought of Eli that never makes it into the spoken world.

“Demetri.” Eli slowly moves toward him, as though approaching a scared wild animal. Not that far off the mark, really. “What happened to you? What did he do?”

Demetri’s back hits the wall. He realizes with a prick of dread that there’s no way to run to the door without Eli intercepting him.

“Please.” His voice is barely a whisper. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Whatever it is.” Eli is as calm as ever—a jarring change from his usual demeanor. “We can figure it out. Just let me get you out of here.”

He shakes his head. “I can’t. I can’t go. Something’s wrong with me. I don’t—I don’t know what I’ll do out there.”

Eli steps closer. Demetri’s about to be cornered.

He knows he’s sick in the head, for letting this happen when he knows the risk.

Eli’s blood could be on his hands. A beautifully, terribly layered statement.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what he did to you.” Eli’s voice hardens.

Panic sears through him, and he feels like he’s on the verge of collapse. The hunger is hissing at him to pounce, to slice a hole in Eli’s neck…

Shut the fuck up.

Not Eli Moskowitz. He’ll tear through the rest of humanity if he has to, leave a trail of carnage wherever he goes…but he’ll be damned if he ever lays a hand on Eli again.

“Hey.”

Eli doesn’t break Demetri’s gaze. Another step. Demetri holds his breath.

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

Eli doesn’t sound scornful or dismissive when he says it. Not like the way Demetri spat it out in the comic book store, all those months ago.

He only seems worried.

“You should be,” Demetri says. “I’m not the same. I’m not who you remember, I’m just…” He struggles for an appropriate metaphor.

“I’m just corrupted data.”

“That’s not true.” Eli smiles. “I come in here, and not 10 seconds later you’re freaking out and fussing over me doing some reckless shit you’re not cool with. That’s exactly who I remember.”

Slender fingers wrap around Demetri’s wrist, and he gasps.

Eli’s hand is warm. Not in a burning way, but…a cozy way, almost. Like coming inside on a rainy winter day.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Eli says cheekily. “You have a mental breakdown every time your mom puts too much coriander in the shawarma. One time you stepped on Heracles’s tail and prepared an apology soliloquy. Like, ooooh, I am quivering in terror.”

Demetri laughs, and Eli looks at him with a fondness that makes him ache with longing.

It’s then something clicks.

Eli’s close enough to see Demetri’s teeth, now honed to unflattering points. He’s felt Demetri’s skin, which now looks and feels like a bedsheet left by an air conditioner.

He has to know by now what’s going on.

Why is Eli still here? He’s smart enough to run. At least Demetri hopes so.

Eli’s hand slides down his wrist, slowly weaving their fingers together. It’s the type of soft gentleness Demetri hasn’t experienced for a long time.

And it’s enough to make him shatter.

He crumples into Eli and erupts in sobs. His hands knot into gray fabric, clinging to it like it’s the only thing left in the world.

Strong arms wrap around his back, hands tracing circles along his spine. He almost wants to laugh at the irony.

It’s always been Eli who needs this. When the panic attacks or the meltdowns hit, or when the world just gets to be too much, Demetri holds him until he feels safe again.

Now Demetri’s on the inside of it all, frantically trying to stabilize.

“Shhhh. It’s okay.” Eli’s voice slides out in a soothing whisper. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Demetri shakes, and Eli holds him tighter. Everything about him is warm and steady and secure, and the anxiety and sheer terror of the last several days finally starts to drain away.

“Please let me take you home.”

Demetri knows he shouldn’t say yes. He nods anyway.

***

“So he held you down and…” Eli trails off.

“Drank me.” Demetri shudders at the memory. “Bit a hole in my neck and started gulping down my bodily fluids like they were Mr. Pibbs.”

“Ew.” Eli scowls at him. “Bodily fluids? Just say your blood, dude. I don’t need that mental image.”

Demetri scoffs, bumping Eli’s shoulder. “Still gross, either way.”

“So…what then?”

He freezes, going rigid as the image of snakelike red eyes boring into him comes trickling back. “He, um…”

A thin arm snakes around his neck, and Demetri feels Eli’s hand on his shoulder. A couple quick squeezes, and Demetri can breathe again.

“I guess I was kind of out of it by the end. My head felt all fuzzy. I remember someone dragged me into that room, and then I started feeling…hungry. And I could smell everything.” He turns, smiling weakly. “I could even smell you coming to get me.”

Eli smirks. “Do I smell good?”

“You smell amazing.” He nudges his friend’s side. “An absolute snack.”

Demetri leans into Eli as he laughs. His hand roams up his chest, clutching at the hand still squeezing his shoulder.

“‘Metri.” Fingertips brush against his neck, and he winces at the sudden pricks of pain. “Do they still hurt?”

He sighs. “Not as much as they did, but…yeah.”

“I can get a cream or something. My mom’s got a whole cabinet full of that shit.”

“I don’t know if it’ll work on undead skin, but I guess it’s worth a try.”

Eli walks out of the room, and Demetri is alone with the moonlight streaming through the window. He reclines on Eli’s bed, letting out a long breath.

It’s 3 am now. At least a few more hours before Demetri has to figure out what the fuck he’s going to do about his mom and Heracles. About his Tech Town shifts. About Miguel and Sam and Chris and Nate and Mr. LaRusso and everyone else who he can’t go near ever again.

That was supposed to be Eli too, but he was a stubborn fucker. Getting a redwood tree to budge would be easier.

He stretches out his arms, and his hand hits something plush. He turns, smiling.

He didn’t notice when he first came in, but Raptor Reynaldo, the stuffed hawk he won for Eli at a carnival when they were 7, is perched on his best friend’s pillow. Demetri spent an hour getting the damn bird out of a claw machine, and he’s been a scowling Eli Moskowitz bedroom presence ever since. Eli got his mom to sew a stupid red mohawk onto Raptor Reynaldo’s head during junior year, and he still hasn’t gotten around to taking it off.

Edgy idiot.

Despite himself, Demetri grabs the bird and pulls him in. It’s nice to have something soft to squeeze. Gets some of the tension out, at least.

Besides, maybe Raptor Reynaldo’s ridiculous new hairdo will pop off and go flying across the room. Perhaps into the garbage.

“Demetri.” A tired voice from the doorway. “Please don’t tell me you added Raptor Reynaldo to your legion of the undead.”

“Mmmm. I tried.” Demetri smirks. “Little hard to suck cotton stuffing, though.”

The bed compresses next to him. “Okay, sit up. I need to put this on.” Groaning, he reluctantly complies.

As Eli coats his fingers in some type of unpronounceable soothing lotion, he looks at Demetri with narrowed eyes. “Are you…are you going to let go of Raptor Reynaldo?”

Demetri scoffs. “Make me.”

Soft fingers brush his neck, and his eyes slip closed. They rub gentle spirals and curls, careful to never press too hard.

Demetri has no earthly idea whether the gel Eli picked is actually helping or not, but his best friend has a warmth that he could drink in forever.

His stomach tightens, arms tensing around the plush hawk. He grabs at his shirt and squeezes, trying to banish the thought of how badly he suddenly wants to grab Eli.

Get the fuck out of my head.

He’d sooner run full-speed into the sunrise than hurt Eli again.

“See if that helps.” Eli’s fingers slip away, and Demetri wilts in disappointment. “You want me to kiss your booboo better?”

“Oh my god, Eli.” The taller boy snorts out a laugh. “What am I, five and a half?”

“You sound pretty offended for someone cuddling a stuffed animal.”

“How could you!” Demetri does his best to sound aghast. “Raptor Reynaldo understands me, Eli.”

“I’m sure he does.”

Before Demetri can process it, Eli is swooping in and pressing warm lips to his bitemarks. The fragility he felt earlier comes rushing back.

It’s almost cruel, he thinks, Eli taunting him with what he can never have now. Not that Eli even realizes he’s doing it.

Tears threaten to leak out of him again. He gathers his resolve and holds them back.

Not twice in one night. He needs to have some standards.

“Fuck.” He leans his head on Eli’s shoulder. He feels he’s allowed that sort of small pleasure, at least. “What do I even do?”

“About…?”

“About everything. What the hell do I tell my mom?! ‘Oh, hey, sorry, I need to drop out of high school, can’t go to college, and have to work graveyard shifts at Ralph’s for the rest of my life?!’ And I know fucking Silver’s up to something, too. Betting he bribes the Hunter’s Guild not to go after him. And now he can tell all his buddies in there that there’s a new vampire on the loose. Oh, boy!”

“Demetri,” Eli murmurs into his hair. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you ever again. You know that, right?”

The scent of Eli—so torturously close—wraps around him. Something dark roils up inside Demetri, like a snake making its way through his intestines.

“I shouldn’t even be here with you.”

His voice is breaking again. Humiliating.

What’s even left to break?

“Says who?” Eli demands.

“Uh, says every piece of vampire lore since the dawn of time? I’m a resurrected corpse with no soul.”

“Like you would ever be cool enough to pull off the ‘resurrected corpse with no soul’ descriptor. You’re like…an anxious zombie with less skin falling off.”

Demetri laughs, and some of the stones in his stomach lift. “Then it makes even less sense why you’d want me around. You can’t get into an Ivy League if I eat your brain, Eli.” He jabs at Eli’s temple, and the shorter boy scoffs.

“Oh, please. You’d spend so much time worrying about eating my brain that you’d never get around to actually doing it.”

If he was wondering before, he’s sure now. Eli has no intention of letting him go.

In better circumstances, he’d be flattered. Ecstatic, even. But as of this moment…

If he wants to run away—if he wants to put as much distance between himself and Eli Moskowitz as possible—he’ll have to do it by himself. If he wants to keep Eli safe, there’s no way in hell Eli’s going to help with it.

Eli’s loyal. He’s stubborn. He’s reckless. He’s an utter pain in the ass.

And when Demetri loses him again, it’s going to gut him a thousand times harder than the last time.

He has to leave. He knows this. Anything less would make him deplorable.

The embodiment of the very monster he’s turned into.

After all, who is he to put his own happiness above Eli’s safety?

“I can get the spare blanket,” Eli says. “You can stay here tonight. We’ll…I don’t know, we’ll watch the Star Wars prequels and make fun of them. Get your mind off shit for a while.”

He uncurls himself from Demetri. As he stands up, Demetri grabs his wrist, pulling him back.

If he doesn’t say something now, he might never get the chance.

“I love you.”

Eli turns, eyes bright with shock. “You what?”

“I love you.” His voice trembles as he repeats it. “And every second, I’m so fucking scared that I’m going to lose my grip on this…thing Sensei Targaryen made me into, and I’m going to hurt you. Or kill you, I don’t know. And it’s destroying me.”

A moment of silence. Demetri feels like a clogged drainpipe about to burst.

Then Eli steps back and sinks onto the bed beside him. Wiry arms wrap around his neck, and Eli presses their foreheads together.

“You don’t have to be scared,” he whispers. “You won’t hurt me.”

“How do you know?” Demetri’s voice croaks as he says it, and he feels another sob rising in his throat.

“Because I trust you. Well, I mean…”

Hesitation. If Demetri still had a heartbeat, it would stop.

“Not with Raptor Reynaldo’s hair—I see you over there, giving it the stink eye. Basically everything else, though.”

Despite everything, Demetri laughs again. How strange, he thinks, to be the one who needs to be distracted from his misery by stupid jokes. Stranger still that Eli learned the tactic from him.

Warmth fills his stomach. All those years of his inane comedy routine to get them through the hellhole of middle school and high school, and it’s the first thing Eli pulls out when he’s hurting.

Then again, how could it be any other way?

Demetri was always the one who looked like he had it together. Making wisecracks, rattling off Doctor Who fan theories, steering lunchroom conversations toward Dungeon Lord so Eli wouldn’t notice people staring. Eli was the one who broke easily, and Demetri was the one who put him back together. And when Demetri’s own defenses finally did give way…

Well, it’s not like Eli was around to see.

And now Demetri’s fraying apart like the world’s flimsiest pipe cleaner, and the only model Eli has to pull him out of the darkness again is the only one he ever saw. The only one he knew, for years and years and years.

Demetri’s.

Something about the thought soothes him.

“You’re the strongest person I know.” Eli’s voice grows serious again. “You never gave up on me when I gave you every reason to. You were the only one who got all the squabbling rival dojo kids to see any damn sense. You see the best in people even when they treat you like shit. And some pony-tailed fuck isn’t going to bite you one time and make all that go away. I’m not abandoning you.”

“But…Eli, I…”

“We can work with this. I know it sucks balls right now, but you’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure you’re okay.”

His eyes blaze, and Demetri chuckles. “Is that a threat?”

“It might be. Don’t make me follow through. I—I…” Eli chokes on his words. “I won’t let that fucking asshole take you away from me. Not now, not ever. Get used to it.”

Eli takes a breath, and Demetri feels it ripple through his entire body.

“I love you too, Demetri.”

Demetri is still processing this when Eli closes the space between them.

Eli kisses like a hurricane—a whirlwind of ferocity and passion and power, and Demetri’s stomach may as well be swirling right toward the eye. The gales are howling in his ear, and he could swear he’s being lifted off the ground.

He’s not sure if vampires can actually do the bat shapeshifting thing, but if they can, he imagines this is what it feels like. Swooping through cool clouds, wind rushing across his small, lightweight body, starlight shining on his wings, a world of sparkling lights below him and eternal stars above.

It’s the best thing he’s ever felt.

Nonetheless, he holds back. He doesn’t give in to Eli’s vigor all the way.

He’s terrified of how far he might go if he does.

So as Eli kisses him like he’s dissolving, he returns it slower—gentle, steady, slightly tentative. His hand slides up, cupping the side of Eli’s face and rubbing his cheek with a cold thumb.

How funny is it, Demetri thinks, to have their old roles so drastically reversed. He remembers again of when he was the abrasive one and Eli was the timid, fragile one.

There’s a thump, and Demetri pulls away to see a stuffed beak glaring up at them from the floor.

Eli lets out a cry of despair. “No! Raptor Rey!”

“Now you’ve done it.” Demetri shoves Eli’s chest playfully. “Look what you’ve done to our only son.”

Eli sticks his tongue out—a tongue that Demetri now knows tastes very nice. A little bit like the Chinese food leftovers he had for dinner.

“You were the one who dropped him!”

Demetri sighs, leaning off the bed and scooping up the stuffed bird. When he puts Raptor Reynaldo back on Eli’s pillow, he pointedly faces him toward the wall.

“There. We don’t need to soil his innocent eyes.”

Eli snorts. “You’re such a fucking dork.”

“Yeah, but you love me.”

It feels strange to say it. Demetri likes the sound of it though.

He scoots across the covers, wrapping long arms around Eli’s waist. Something giddy rises in his chest, briefly overpowering any of the dark impulses still churning around down there.

“You love me,” he says again.

“That’s what I said.” Eli jabs him in the chest accusingly. “What, did Silver bust up your hearing or something?”

He swats Eli’s hand away and pulls him in, stealing another kiss. “You love me,” he hums against his lips.

“Ugh. Don’t let it get to your head.”

Demetri grins. “You love me.” He lets his voice adopt an annoying singsong cadence, and Eli groans. “You love me, Eli Moskowitz.”

He kisses Eli again, and the other boy leans into it. Demetri’s grin grows so big his face hurts.

They slump onto the bed, Eli sprawled on top of him. His arms lock down on either side of Demetri’s waist, effectively caging him in.

Apparently, Eli’s taking precautions to make sure he can’t dart away like a scared rabbit. He wants Demetri to stay that badly.

The thought is strangely flattering, if frustrating.

“You love me,” Demetri whispers in between kisses. Because it’s true. Because he can. “You love me, you love me, you love me.”

If he hadn’t already risen from an early grave, he’s sure he would have died of shock by now.

They end up a tangled mess of limbs and blankets, Eli’s head under Demetri’s chin. He feels Eli trace his chest with one hand and his arms with the other, and for a moment, everything seems like it’s going to be fine.

Demetri kisses Eli’s hair. “I’m sorry I got bloodstains on your hoodie.”

His tears have blood in them now. It’s such embarrassing edgelord nonsense right out of a middle school scene kid’s poetry. Nonetheless, it’s a sad reality he’ll now have to make do with.

Hopefully in a way that doesn’t involve ruining half of Eli’s closet.

Eli only laughs, taking it in stride. “Oh, that? Please. I have like fifteen others just like it. Went out and bought a shit ton when I stopped wearing polos.”

“That’s just as well. You looked a little dorky.” Demetri kisses his head again. “I miss the sweaters, though. Those were cute.”

Eli snorts. “I can’t wear those around you. Do you know how much of a bitch it is to clean blood out of knitted shit?!”

“Well, then, don’t make me cry. Extra incentive to make sure I’m not sad! That, and. You know.” He snickers. “You love me.”

Eli groans again. “God, shut up. Smug asshole.”

He shuffles against Demetri, turning his head slightly. Moonlight glows off his skin, washing it in a sleek silvery-white.

Demetri’s stomach contracts.

Eli’s exposed neck suddenly looks a little too clean. A little too…unmarred.

He shoves the impulse away. Nonetheless, the reminder worms into him, putting the stones right back in his chest.

“It’s dangerous, you know,” Demetri murmurs. “Being with me. Being around me at all.”

“Mmmm, don’t fucking care.” Eli pushes a hand into Demetri’s hair, gently twirling a strand around his finger. “I stole a venomous snake from a zoo, Demetri. I also backstabbed a literal war criminal who could probably make my death look like an accident. And I may have survived rabies. I can handle danger.”

“This isn’t the same.” Demetri shakes his head. “People will hunt me. Maybe…maybe forever. And if they find out we’re together, they’ll hunt you, too.”

Eli scoffs. “Yeah, I know, genius.”

Demetri looks at the boy wrapped around him. Cozy, comfortable, completely relaxed.

Perhaps putting a tad too much faith into Demetri’s Vampire Hunger Regulation Abilities.

He takes a breath. “I don’t know if I’m going to keep being…me. I could still hurt you. Without…without even meaning to or wanting to or anything.”

Eli has no idea what he’s getting into. Not really.

Demetri at least owes him that out.

“I know.” Eli presses into his chest. “But that’s my decision, isn’t it? You can’t make that for me.”

“Maybe not, but you have to know it’s ill-advised to—”

“You’re not getting rid of me,” Eli cuts him off sharply. “Stop trying.”

“Just…if I get worse…” He rubs gentle circles along Eli’s back. “You need to—”

He can’t finish. He should tell Eli to run, but the words won’t come out.

“We’ll worry about that later.” Eli pulls him closer. “Just…let me try and help you. You shouldn’t have to go through this alone.”

“Okay.” Demetri exhales, fingers brushing through light brown hair. “Okay.”

***

A disgusted shout fills the cool night air as Eli’s arm flies over the boat railing. Two bright spoons plummet from his hand, plopping into the starlit ocean.

His eyes lock on them until they sink out of sight, lip curling.

Demetri nervously taps a finger against the railing. “Is that the last of them?”

Eli turns and walks over to the unzipped silverware pack, lying on the deck a few feet away. He crouches down, peering inside.

Demetri can sense his heartbeat slow down a little as he relaxes. “Yeah. They’re all gone.”

He reclaims his spot next to Demetri, staring out at the inky water with a furrowed brow. Demetri inches closer to him, pressing into his shoulder.

He sighs. “You know, Moon wouldn’t like this shameless environmental degradation you’re causing.”

Eli rolls his eyes. “Silver’s a naturally-occurring metal. It’s fine.”

Demetri pulls his lips into an exaggerated pout. “Oh, Eli, the bottom-dwellers are weeping at your disrespect! What, you want the giant isopods to break their teeth trying to eat metal?!”

“If an isopod breaks all their teeth eating metal, I think it’s like…natural selection. The species’ll manage.”

Eli leans into Demetri’s shoulder, and Demetri feels him tense up.

“I couldn’t let that shit anywhere near you.”

Demetri’s hand inches across the railing, finding the other boy’s. He weaves them together in a fluid movement that has become second nature.

“You know I wouldn’t dissolve in a puff of smoke, right?” he murmurs. “I’d probably just get a nasty burn. A little antiseptic and I’d be right as rain.”

Eli grunts disapprovingly. “No one says that anymore. And do you know for sure you wouldn’t turn into smoke?”

“Well, if silver evaporates us, that would’ve been helpful to know earlier.” He throws an arm around Eli and jostles his shoulder, earning a reluctant chuckle. “Someone could’ve chucked one of those $4000 ladles at good old Terrence when he showed up at Mr. LaRusso’s door. Would’ve solved at least half of our problems.”

Truthfully, Demetri shouldn’t have even known what was going on at the LaRusso residence. He should’ve been gone from their lives weeks ago.

But, of course, his attempts to freeze out the dojo have been a resounding failure.

It was easy enough to have his Tech Town shifts “keep interfering” with daytime practice, but people weren’t about to let him get away with bailing on every single social event. The house parties, the game nights, the pool hangouts…eventually nothing short of working 60 hours a week could account for missing all of them.

And by “people” he means Miguel. It was always Miguel.

Another beautiful spectacle of irony, he thinks. That’s twice Miguel Diaz has nagged him not to quit karate…although he likes to believe his reasons are a little better this time around.

Still, the guy missed his terrible puns more than Demetri was anticipating. So to the nighttime events and get-togethers he went, attached at the hip to Eli and wallowing in the strange melancholy of being surrounded by friends who loved a version of him that didn’t fully exist anymore.

“So let me get this straight.” Eli’s voice brings him out of his thoughts. “Terry Silver just…rings Mr. LaRusso’s doorbell, says he ‘hears he’s having vampire problems,’ hands him a box of antique silverware, and then fucks off?”

Demetri shrugs. “That’s what he told me. Sensei Toxic Waste Scandal loves his little mind games.”

Eli wrinkles his nose. “How did he even carry the box without hurting himself?”

“He has minions, Eli. I’m sure they help haul around all the garlic and stakes and crucifixes and anything else he might need to antagonize his many vampire karate rivals. Guy seems good at making enemies, so I’m betting he has at least 15.”

Although Eli forces a chuckle, it quickly gives way to a concerned frown.

“Did Mr. LaRusso know? About you being…”

“Not before that, no.” Demetri sighs. “But it wasn’t exactly hard for him to put two and two together. Me never being out in the sunlight anymore. Only showing up for movie nights and pizza parties. Not eating many of the snacks. Not using that Pizza Hut garlic dip anymore. Making some excuse to leave if someone got a cut. Not…smiling with my teeth for group photos.”

He winces. Eli clutches his hand a little tighter.

“Word gets around.” Demetri shrugs, trying his best to look indifferent. “The whole dojo knows now. Don’t know why they’re still protecting me, to be honest.”

“Because…they care about you?” Eli knits his brow.

“For now.” He lets out a tired breath. “Wait until I accidentally do something creepy, and someone ‘spills’ the garlic dip. I don’t know. They’re going to figure out I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“You’re not.” Demetri feels Eli’s thumb brush against the back of his hand, and his skin flutters.

“Not…” He looks away. “Not according to Silver, I don’t think.”

“What do you mean?”

Eli’s voice is suddenly terse with worry—the exact kind of concern that would be much better spent on the land of the living.

“Don’t you get it?” Demetri turns back, giving him a morose look. “That’s why it was so easy to rescue me. He let you. He figured I’d go crazy eventually and try to eat everyone, and then Mr. LaRusso would remember who swooped in like a knight in karate armor and gave him the very MacGuffin he needed to save the day. You know, the…vampiric Excalibur. Good way to get Mr. L in his debt, I guess.”

“But…Sam’s family’s already pretty rich.” Eli sounds dubious. “Don’t they have their own fine silver?”

“It was probably more a symbolic thing. But I mean, who better to know what kind of silver is actually lethal to vampires than…vampires?”

A silence falls over them. Demetri stares down at the lapping waves below, following the curves in the moonlight.

Eli presses closer to him, and he drinks in the warmth.

“He was wrong, though. You haven’t tried to eat everyone. You haven’t touched anyone.”

His voice is soft, hopeful. Demetri can’t stand to crush it.

But he knows he has to.

“Not yet.”

“Do you need to feed again?” Eli’s tone is casual. “Because you know, Sam and I could just scam another blood bank—”

“And is that okay?!”

It comes out with more ferocity than he intends.

“Probably more okay than draining our friends? Or…random people on the street?”

Demetri looks up to see Eli’s lips slightly apart, the way they always are when he’s genuinely confused.

“But people need that for blood transfusions. Aren’t we like…indirectly killing them or something?!”

Eli snorts. “Yeah, well, you also need it to not die. Why are you any less important?”

“Because I’m a blood-sucking monstrosity with evil dagger teeth?!”

“If you’re trying to sell me on how horribly undeserving of life you are, you should stop using the coolest possible descriptors for yourself.”

Demetri rolls his eyes. “Not my fault you’re turned on by everything even slightly morally-depraved.”

“Hell yeah I am.”

Eli brushes a kiss against his cheek. Demetri smiles at the boat railing, the edges of his unease ebbing away.

“Cheer up.” Eli bumps his shoulder. “Mr. LaRusso’s not an idiot. He wouldn’t have given us that box to get rid of if he thought you were gonna go on a rampage.”

“Hmmm.” He squeezes Eli’s hand, trying to push down the growing worry. “Maybe that’s his mistake.”

“I think the only one here who doesn’t trust you is you.”

And just like that, Eli is giving him the doe eyes again.

Curse this kid’s faith in him. There’s no way he deserves it.

Still, he can’t help but be grateful.

He kisses the side of Eli’s head. “Thank you. I love you.”

Another silence passes over them. Demetri closes his eyes, letting himself hear nothing but the ocean and the wind and feel nothing but Eli’s heartbeat.

Steady. Slow. Relaxed. Unafraid.

It’s one of the only things that can calm him these days.

“Nice of Yas to help us rent this boat,” Eli pipes up after a while. “Must’ve had to really pull some strings to get the guys to give it to us at 2 in the fucking morning.”

“And nice of her to check if the silver’s real, too,” Demetri adds. “Growing up in the most bougie part of Encino has its perks.”

Eli glances behind them, and Demetri follows his gaze.

The boat cabin is lit up, giggling trailing out of the windows and weed smoke wreathing through the cool night air. Whatever Yasmine and Moon are doing, the girls seem to be having a lot more fun than them.

“You wanna go upstairs?” Eli asks.

Demetri smiles. “Read my mind.”

His boyfriend shoves him playfully. “Don’t I always?”

He clicks his tongue. “Goes both ways, love. Didn’t need fabled vampiric mind-scanning abilities to get access to yours, though. Memorized the keycode ages ago.”

For a moment, Eli looks thrown off.

“Can you read minds?”

“Ha! No.” Demetri snorts. “I’ve already got the enhanced strength and speed and rapid tree-climbing thing. They had to give us some nerfs.”

“Oh, yeah. Otherwise I know you’d take over the world.”

Eli ducks out from Demetri’s arm and turns to the boat cabin, pulling his boyfriend along.

“You know…” Demetri plants his feet in the deck, gaze straying toward the empty silverware box. He lets out a long, weary breath.

“That won’t be the last time that happens. People are going to keep trying, Silver and whoever else.”

Eli scoffs. “I knew what I was getting into, Demetri. I’m not stupid.”

“I know, but are you sure you want to—”

“Yes, idiot. For the millionth time. I…” His voice cracks slightly. “I meant what I said, you know. The night you got turned. No one fucking touches you. And if they try…”

His eyes darken, taking on a sheen that Demetri used to dread. The kind of No Mercy look that’s still hardwired into him.

“I’ll end them.”

“Oh, I know.” Demetri chuckles. “If I know you, you’ll do your damndest. But I suppose not everyone has a giant karate trophy to back up that kind of claim.”

“Not a bad weapon, either.” Eli smirks. “All else fails, I can smash them over the head with it.”

“Oh, that would be a sight.”

Eli laughs, and Demetri pulls him in. He plants a lingering kiss before smiling against his lips.

“Have I ever mentioned that I love you?”

Every time he says it, he means it a little more.

***

“It’s a terrible idea, Eli!”

Eli rolls his eyes, pulling Demetri out the back door. “Come on, man. I’ve done the math. If we stay on the west-ish side of your house, the sun won’t touch you.”

“But—”

“You haven’t seen sunlight in...what? 3 months now? That’s depressing.”

“Fine.”

Demetri’s loathe to admit it, but it doesn’t turn out to be a terrible idea.

The sunrise is gorgeous, all rich golds and peachy pinks. It glints off his neighbors’ windows and bathes the street’s murky trees in a soft glow.

Of course, Demetri hides behind Eli the entire time, clinging to his arm with pale, freezing fingers.

“See?” Eli weaves their hands together. They’re intertwined more often than not these days. “Told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Like seeing daytime again?”

A deep yearning stirs inside Demetri. His fingers twitch, suddenly wanting more than anything to poke out of the shadows.

He kisses Eli’s shoulder. “Yeah. Thank you.”

They stand in silence for a while, watching the sky go from light gray to orange-rimmed to blue. The yearning only tightens its grip.

Before the change, he never had a preference for day or night. You could watch TV or play Crucible Control or read comics in either. But now…

He realizes he missed the sunshine. He missed the fluffy cotton clouds that he and Eli used to watch at recess, lying on the grass next to the playground. He missed the sound of birds, as much as he once complained about them waking him up at ungodly hours.

Sharp pain seizes his toes, and he jumps back with a hiss.

“Shit.” Eli’s brow furrows. “You okay?”

He sighs, glancing down at where the house’s shadow has started to rescind. “Yeah, yeah. Just wasn’t paying attention.”

“You want to go inside?”

Demetri shakes his head. “We can spare a few more minutes.”

They back up, sitting against the wall. Demetri drinks in the growing morning, wondering how he convinced himself he was content to never see this again.

“Dude.”

Demetri frowns. “What?”

“Are you crying?”

He notices the wet sensation around his eyes a few moments too late. His entire body burns with embarrassment.

“I…” He does his best to sound nonchalant. “…have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Look at me, Demetri.”

“No. Fuck off.”

He feels Eli’s hand on his cheek and swats it away. “Leave me alone,” he grumbles.

Vampirism is already bad enough without him bawling like a 4-year-old because the sky turned blue. As in the color it had been Demetri’s entire fucking life. This is beyond humiliating.

Eli reaches for him again. He turns away, only for his boyfriend’s other hand to slip from his own and shoot up to catch Demetri’s cheek.

“Hold still, moron. People are gonna freak out if they see you leaking blood out of your eyes. They’ll think it’s some shit from The Exorcist and douse you in salt or something.”

Demetri lets out a defeated sigh, letting Eli brush gentle thumbs across his cheeks. “You’d better not use this as blackmail.”

“First of all, I’ve got better shit for that.” Eli pauses to wipe off his fingers on the grass, creating what will inevitably end up looking like a squirrel crime scene. “Second of all, like.”

He gives Demetri a searching look as he continues to gather up the tiny, blood-filled droplets. “It’s okay to be upset about this, man. It sucks. I mean the teeth are badass and I’m kind of jealous, but yeah, I mean…shit’s hard.”

Demetri hums thoughtfully. “You should bribe your dentist to file your teeth into little fangs. What with all the hair dye and the tattoos, what’s asking your parents for a few more hundred bucks?”

Eli laughs, giving him a look so soft that he’s now at risk of crying more. Absolutely unfair, not to mention counterproductive.

At some point, Eli pauses, hands resting on Demetri’s cheeks and scarred-knuckle thumbs in mid-swipe.

“I’m glad your eyes didn’t change,” he says suddenly.

Demetri blinks at him. “Huh?”

“I thought they’d turn red or yellow or something. But they’re still green.”

“Are they?”

He chuckles. He’d wondered here and there how different he looked now, but it wasn’t as though his house’s mirrors were going to be much help figuring that out.

“Yeah, like…” Eli inspects him through narrowed eyes. “Slight gold-ish tint, but that’s it. Thank god. I’ve always liked your eyes.”

Demetri’s face goes hot. “Can you stop saying cute stuff for like…10 seconds? You’re making me too flustered to function.”

“No chance in hell, asshole.”

They settle back against the house wall, fingers entwined again. The morning continues to crawl in, and Demetri knows they’ll have to go inside soon.

Regardless, he’ll drink up every nanosecond of daylight until the time comes.

Demetri takes a long breath.

“I told my mom.”

“What?” Eli turns, eyes wide. “What happened? What’d she say?”

He chuckles. “She was…surprisingly unsurprised. I guess it checks out, her growing up in Orestiada and all. All the folklore and whatnot was right next door. She just never put a lot of stock in it. Woman of science, as you know.”

He smiles weakly. He never knew his dad, but he imagines he has Ms. Alexopoulos to thank for most of his good traits.

“I kind of had to explain why I wanted to drop out of school and get an online GED,” he adds, grimacing. “And even before that, um…well, I couldn’t hide this forever.”

He pulls up his flannel sleeve to uncover a crisscross of burned skin, seared into his upper arm. Eli winces.

“Shit, right. What did you tell her happened that night, anyways? No way you’d come home roughed up and she wouldn’t throw a fit.”

“Said we got jumped by some Cobra Kais. It’s the standard explanation for being a victim of violence in the Valley these days.”

“You’re lucky she didn’t look too much into it.” Eli traces delicate fingers across his skin, brushing over the branded crucifix. “On your bad luck arm, too.”

His right arm. The one Eli broke what seems like a lifetime ago.

“God.” He laughs. “It really is.”

“So is she…okay with it?” Eli bites his lip, giving Demetri’s bad luck arm a small squeeze. “Not just the crucifix burn, but like…everything.”

“Seems like it.” Demetri chuckles again. “She did a garlic purge as soon as I told her. Said she was actually a little relieved because she was worried her skordalia had been really shitty lately. I mean, I told her she could still eat it, but she was adamant that she intended never to touch a clove of the stuff again.”

“So she didn’t disown you, then.” Eli laughs. “Thank god.”

“Well. It’s not like I came home and told her I want to re-decorate our living room to look like Mrs. Hasapi’s. Now that is a disownable offense.”

Eli snorts. “What even is your mom’s beef with her?”

“Oh, none, really. She just thinks her armchairs look like they were unearthed from the local landfill.”

They both laugh for a while, leaning into each other and taking in the neighborhood coming to life. Eli rests his head on Demetri’s shoulder, letting out a small sigh.

“I looked into some online colleges, by the way. They’re not bad. UMass has a pretty good online CS program.”

Demetri doesn’t allow himself to indulge in Eli’s hopefulness.

“Oh, yeah?” he mutters forlornly. “And what tech company needs night watch guys, may I ask?”

Eli shrugs. “You could do contract work. Just charge people independently to fix their shit. Might be a pain in the ass to get customers at first, but you’d probably make bank eventually.”

Demetri purses his lips, thinking.

“I…guess it’s not a completely unreasonable idea. But you know you don’t have to do all that for me.”

“Yeah, I do.” Eli’s thumb rubs along the back of his hand. “I love you, stupid. And you’re too busy moping and crying blood everywhere to do it yourself.”

He beams.

He should be used to Eli loving him by now, but he doesn’t think he ever will be.

***

So I was joking with some friends in a discord server before S5 dropped that maybe the reason Dem wasn’t in a bunch of the trailer scenes was because he got kidnapped by Terry Silver and/or turned into a vampire and can’t be in direct sunlight and then it just kinda. Became a fic. Against my will. Like I do not at all have the time to write this AND YET.

Also, yes, Demetri did indeed fight off his vampire impulses just by being like “hey fuck off” and then they did. And that’s on the power of gay love <3

I am an evil god who loves writing Demetri angsting and having breakdowns because if the show will not let him McFucking Lose It, then I will <3 <3 Peace and love on earth!!! Anyways, if Eli’s a lil bit more gentle with him than usual here, that’s why. Boy is Going Through It to the highest degree.

Enjoy the abundance of “I love you”s here, because these idiots are not going to get there for several more chapters of the road trip fic XD Kinda my first crack at writing Established Relationship Elimetri, but don’t worry!!! There will be angst and drama aplenty!!! I am putting them through horrors >:3

This goes with this, this, and this!!! Most I was able to work into the actual story except for the last one :P Also Raptor Reynaldo is from this post!!!

[oogmonster]

Hahaa my bad, didn't mean to kill the vibe. Dont worry though, I'll be pushing everything relating to this moment as far out of my mind as possible for years until I look back and realize I was cool and funny as fuck and you were just wrong.

Yeah sorry man, didn't mean to talk over you, it's just that you've been spewing so much garbage for so long that my brain is physically tearing itself apart by the seams. If I don't stop you now, I might actually end up in a million cartoonish little bits on the floor

Hahaha, yeah I know we haven't talked in a while. I made it that way so that I don't have to think about you anymore. I didn't plan on explaining it to you, because you're a difficult person to be around to begin with.

I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

I can't say any of that -- being direct is difficult for me, you see -- but lately I've seen you as unworthy of my time.

In my case, being nice about it is destined to be misconstrued as tolerance. Being mean about it will only solidify the false perspective that demonizes me and the people I align with.

I do my best to stay silent these days.

Haha, yeah, sorry I got too passionate -- I should calm down. It's just that you got into this thing I really like, and I love when people want to learn things I know about, and --

Oh whoops lol, sorry I was half asleep. Yeah I didn't really mean that message, where I told you about how somewhere out there -- in those infinite versions of the world -- I hope we ended up together.

The message that never got sent. I thought I knew better. Maybe I should have, just to be satisfied with erasing you from my mind, but I couldn't help my nature.

Of course, it's no problem, I understand. We were on a break -- partially, at least, because I was new to sex -- you said so yourself. You chose someone close to me to spend the night with instead. I still comforted you in the event of your grief. I don't miss you anymore -- you barely even cross my mind -- let alone come up in conversation.

I do my best to stay silent these days.

I'm sick of it.

I've masked such beautiful and powerful emotions for so long.

Fuck you. Be upset at me. If everything I love about myself is something you hate about me, so be it. We'll both be loud.

I love you. I don't care if you don't feel the same, or don't want to talk anymore. I need you to know before this stupid fucking rock gets consumed by the sun that I love you.

I will not stifle my beauty for your comfort.

I respect your boundaries with surgeons precision, but asking you to even remotely respect mine makes you upset?

Pathetic!

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Nobody holds you accountable, and that's because I do my best to stay silent these days.

I'm sick of it. I hate you. Fuck you.

I hate this. I'm so tired. I've been fighting for do long. It's so hard to ask for help, and the world is so heavy, and I just need to be held, and and and

I love you. Please stay around. I'd choose you to the ends of time, in every instance of us.

I want to live. I want to grow. I want to change. I want to move. I want to cook and take pictures and write and make music and draw and sit outside and and and

and if we get along, you can join me if you'd like

[lesbiansanemi]

Blood Brothers

Here's Inosuke's backstory for the roleswap AU that is still being written horrifically out of order... whoops

Other installments: Kyojuro, Shinobu & Kanae, Obanai, Mitsuri, Tengen, Sanemi, Tanjiro & Nezuko

Squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth, Aoi sliced the knife across the palm of her hand, and allowed her blood to drip onto the freshly clipped wisteria. She was no stranger to pain, but that didn’t mean she liked it, and she wished Shinobu would come up with a better method of communication between them. 

Especially since Kanae died… Even though she wasn’t a demon herself, Aoi thought it would be best for them to be better connected with the loss of their eldest sister. Kanae had saved her life, Kanae had practically raised her, and she… She still couldn’t quite believe she was gone. Demons were so timeless, so ethereal, so other. It had felt impossible for Tamayo and any of her demons to die, but… 

Aoi shook her head, and pulled her hand back from the flowers to bandage the cut on her palm. That should be enough blood and wisteria to draw the attention of whichever of her sisters were lurking in the area this new moon. Likely not Shinobu, ever since she became Upper Moon Four, she was always busy, and Kanao often shadowed her. So it would probably be one of the triplets. Checking in on her was pretty much their only duty. 

After her cut was cleaned and bandaged, she threw open the shutters, and placed the bloodied wisteria in the window sill. 

Now all she had to do was wait for one of her sisters to arrive. 

“Aoi!” Two tiny, clawed hands scrabbled at the window sill. “Aoi! It’s me! It’s Sumi!” 

Aoi chuckled and hurried to the open window, peering outside to see her little sister, forever too small to see inside the window, even on her tiptoes. “Hello, Sumi! Shinobu’s got you out running errands by yourself tonight, hm?” 

Sumi’s smile stretched so wide all four of her eyes crinkled. “Mmhm! She had to go take care of something for Tamayo-sama, and Kanao went with her.” 

Aoi crossed her arms and rested them in the window as she leaned out. “No Naho or Kiyo?” 

Sumi shook her head. “Kiyo is watching some boring flower drip in the lab for Shinobu, and Naho had plans with Senjuro tonight! Rengoku-san is taking them out to a little festival. He wanted to take all three of us, but me and Kiyo can’t hide our extra eyes yet…” she pouted. 

Aoi reached out to ruffle her hair. “Well, maybe you can’t be around other humans yet, but we can have a fun night together. C’mere.” She leaned over, hooked her arms in Sumi’s armpits, and heaved her through the open window. 

Sumi giggled and went limp in her hold, letting herself be hauled inside. 

As a teenager living in the Infinity Palace, Aoi had never been very strong, always spindly and scrawny, but living out here alone, gathering and farming her own food, she’d eventually packed on enough muscle to easily pick up her little sisters. 

“Why’d you leave out wisteria, though?” Sumi asked. “You only do that when you need something!” 

“It’s nothing too serious,” Aoi said as she set her down and ushered her to the table, where she’d already made tea, laced with blood and her sisters’ favorite flavors. “Just something I thought was a little odd. I thought Tamayo-sama might want to know about it.” 

Sumi squealed as she was handed her tea cup. “No one ever keeps tea back home!” she said. “It’s just blood. Which is good! But it’s not the same as your tea.” 

“Well…” Aoi lifted her own, non-blood laced, tea to her lips and took a sip. “You’re always welcome to come for tea any time you want. You don’t only have to come when I leave out the wisteria and blood.” 

Sumi shook her head. “Everyone says it’s too dangerous… Especially after—” Her eyes glossed over with tears and she sniffled. “Especially after Kanae… Shinobu doesn’t want to risk any slayers hurting you because they found out you were friendly with demons. We can’t lose another sister. Oh, won’t you just become a demon, Aoi?” 

Aoi sighed. That question was the one thing she hated about the younger girls coming by. They just never understood why she refused to turn. Honestly, Shinobu and Kanao didn’t either, but they knew better than to press. Kanae was the only one who had ever seemed to get it. “Oh, you know, Sumi!” she laughed with a wave of her hand. “I’m just not interested. And I’ve been dodging slayers for a decade now. There’s a reason I live out here in the middle of nowhere.” 

Sumi’s shoulders slumped, but she didn’t argue; by now, she seemed to have learned better. “Okay then… What was the odd thing? To tell Tamayo-sama about?” 

“Ah…” Aoi straightened up, and pointed in a vague direction to her left. “There’s a mountain several miles that way. Recently, slayers have started investigating it, but none of them ever come back down. I thought there might be a demon there worth looking into, if they’re killing slayers. Either they’re someone Tamayo-sama might be interested in, or they need to be dealt with before they start killing innocent people.” 

“There’s slayers in the area and you didn’t tell anyone before now!?” Sumi demanded with wide eyes. “What if they hurt you!? What if they—!?” 

Aoi hushed her with a soft smile. “I’m human, Sumi. They have no reason to suspect me. I’m just an antisocial hermit living in the woods. If I was in any sort of danger, I would tell you. I’m just suspicious of what’s going on on that mountain. So, do tell Tamayo-sama for me when you go home, please?” 

“Okay…” 

“Hey, think of it this way.” Aoi set her teacup down. “Once whatever is on that mountain is taken care of, slayers will have no reason to come here anymore. So you’ll be making me safer, okay?” 

Slowly, Sumi’s smile returned, and she eagerly returned to her tea, as easily distracted as any child, demon or human. “Okay!” 

---

“So…” Aoi fiddled with the hems of her sleeves. “You’re the new Kizuki…?” 

Sanemi Shinazugawa narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “And you’re the little human bitch who can summon Kizuki.” 

Aoi worried her lip, and did her best not to let her nerves get the better of her. She’d hoped Tamayo would have sent someone she was close with, even if she couldn’t send Shinobu, or at least someone she knew.  

She also couldn’t believe someone so… menacing had taken Rengoku’s place as Upper Moon Two. Rengoku might have been overwhelming, but she’d never been scared of him. But this demon already made her skin crawl. “I don’t think—I wasn’t trying to summon you, I just thought Tamayo-sama should know about all the slayers around here!” 

Shinazugawa shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll kill ‘em and that’ll be the end of it. Tamayo said there wasn’t a demon on that mountain.” 

Aoi grimaced. “But then… Why would there be so many slayers going there? And why are none of them coming back?” 

“How the fuck should I know?” he demanded. “Point me in the direction of this mountain, and I’ll figure it out.” 

Aoi’s nose scrunched up in displeasure. How old was this man when he’d been turned? His early-twenties? Mid-twenties at the absolute latest. She was older than him. It had been strange, aging and suddenly being older than the people who raised her. Catching up to Shinobu and Kanae’s ages, before surpassing them as she approached her thirtieth birthday. Despite the fact that she was mentally and emotionally older than all of Tamayo’s demons now, it was strange to wrap her head around. 

But she’d never met Shinazugawa before now, and didn’t take well to young men being disrespectful for no reason! 

“You really should watch your language,” she scolded. “I’m just trying to be helpful, and even if this wasn’t something you wanted to deal with, you shouldn’t take it out on me. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to treat people kindly?” 

Shinazugawa blinked, before he bared monstrous fangs and a murderous snarl rumbled from his chest. “Shut the fuck up! Gods above, you’re definitely one of Shinobu’s goddamn brats.” 

Aoi took a deep breath and forced out the tension in her shoulders. “Can you please just do as Tamayo-sama asked, and deal with whatever is causing this? Considering how violent you all are, I figured you’d be chomping at the bit to kill some demon slayers.” 

Shinazugawa rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. “You gonna help?” 

“Absolutely not!” Aoi shook her head. “I refused to become a demon to avoid being involved in mass murdering. And the cannibalism. And being immortal. And dying in the sunlight. Oh, a lot of things really! But the point is, no, I’m not helping you murder people.” 

“What, too damn good for murder?” he drawled over his shoulder. 

“Obviously not. I’m pointing you in the direction of people to murder. I just never had the stomach for the act itself, which I don’t think is a bad thing.” She turned her palms up. “And you’re about to start walking towards the wrong mountain, by the way.” She turned and pointed north. “It’s that one. Few miles that way.” 

Shinazugawa’s snarl rumbled louder, but he turned and marched off in that direction. 

“Have fun!” Aoi called after him. “If you don’t want to come tell me what it was, at least have someone else do it! I’m curious!” 

Shinazugawa twisted around to throw up a vulgar gesture, and continued on his way. 

Aoi huffed. Where did Tamayo find these people? And hadn’t her sisters told her that the new Upper Moon had gotten romantically involved with Kanroji? Oh, she was sure Shinobu adored having him around and sharing her wife with him. 

Every time she interacted with someone other than her sisters, Aoi grew more and more relieved that she jumped Tamayo’s ship years ago. 

Oh well. Considering it was Upper Moon Two who had been sent, the little slayer problem in her patch of woods would be dealt with quickly. 

---

Sanemi grumbled a harsh string of swears beneath his breath as he marched up the damned mountain. Why Tamayo had sent him to deal with this, he didn’t understand. Sure, if he stumbled across any of the slayers that had been cropping up here, that would be wonderful, but if something here was already killing them, he wasn’t sure if he’d actually get the damn chance. 

And why Yushiro had sent him to that goddamn Aoi Kanzaki’s stupid-ass garden instead of the damn mountain where the problem was he didn’t fucking understand. Some bullshit about keeping her involved and in the loop because she was important to the Kocho sisters, and oh what-fucking-ever! If she wanted to be involved, she could become a demon and actually live with them. 

He didn’t get that woman. When he hadn’t wanted to become a demon, he’d had some actual reasons. Why didn’t Aoi want to be a demon? Just for the sake of being human? Why? She lived alone in the woods, it wasn’t like she was engaged with human society in any meaningful way. He just didn’t fucking get it. 

Whatever. It wasn’t a demon on that mountain, but whatever it was, it was killing slayers. So long as Sanemi found something to kill here, he supposed it was worth it. He needed to get back to Mitsuri so they could finish planning the giant wedding she’d insisted upon. 

He really should have known better than to say he “didn’t care” about what kind of wedding they had when she asked… Now she and Tengen were putting together something horrifyingly elaborate. 

Maybe that was why Tamayo sent him to do this. Maybe she realized he needed a break from it all. Killing someone always helped calm him down, settled his jittering nerves. Maybe he could even bring back something for Mitsuri and Obanai to eat… It might help ease the feeling that he wasn’t doing a well enough job providing for them because he just didn’t know how to help with things like fucking weddings. 

A sword rammed its way through his chest. 

A nichirin sword rammed its way through his chest. 

Sanemi’s eyes blew wide, more from shock than pain. While this blow would kill a human, it was superficial to him. But he should have noticed the slayer approaching. He hadn’t smelled a damn thing, hadn’t heard anything, hadn’t sensed an enemy at all. 

And what fucking slayer didn’t go for a decapitation with the element of surprise? Fuck, if they had, Sanemi might have—

No, no, his body was too durable for that. A slayer decapitating him in a single stroke was practically goddamn impossible. 

He gasped and whirled around, his clawed fingers wrapping around the throat of the person with the sword and slamming them against the nearest tree trunk. 

The person— girl, Sanemi realized, as she wasn’t wearing a fucking shirt, choked as she was smashed against the tree bark and the breath was wrenched out of her. 

Sanemi fully intended to snap her damn neck then and there. Something nice and quick but that would still leave the body mostly intact for him to bring home to his fiance. Most slayers he liked dragging it out for, but this one… spooked him, and that couldn’t be allowed. 

But he halted, putting just enough pressure on her neck to cut off her airflow and keep her subdued. 

There was no way in hell this was a slayer. Never mind that a slayer would have gone for a decapitation, this girl was half fucking feral. The only thing she wore were tattered animal pelts haphazardly wrapped around her hips and waist. Nothing above, leaving her chest completely exposed, and nothing on her lower legs, not even shoes. The only other thing she wore was a goddamn boar’s head. 

What the fuck!? 

Sanemi loosened his grip, just enough for her to suck in a deep gasp. “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded. “Where’d you get nichirin? ‘Cause you’re sure as hell not a slayer.” 

She hissed. Hissed. The bitch goddamn hissed at him! A grating noise, mangled, in only the way a human throat could attempt to hiss, but that had clearly been the noise she was going for. 

“Hey!” Sanemi gave her throat another threatening squeeze before loosening it again. “I could kill your dumbass right fucking now. Answer me. Who the fuck are you?” 

Demented giggles escaped her next. “Name’s Inosuke Hashibira. And I’m King of the Mountain!” she declared. 

What? What!? 

“...Fucking what…?” 

The girl’s hands flew to Sanemi’s wrist, and she sank jagged nails into the skin, ripping and tearing with a fervor befitting an animal rather than a human. When the flesh easily healed, she growled in frustration. Frantic kicks joined the clawing, and she twisted her whole body, going so far as snapping bones out of place in an attempt to escape the grip. 

Sanemi narrowed his eyes, and let curiosity get the better of him. He wrenched the boar mask off. 

“Hey!” she shrieked. 

Oh she was a young girl. Tangled, knotted blue-tipped black hair tumbled around her shoulders, and her face was smeared with dirt and… possibly some dried blood, but that couldn’t distract from how young she appeared. She was probably about Genya’s age. 

Sanemi’s hand slipped away from her throat. 

Inosuke lunged, sword abandoned as it had slipped out of her grasp while being choked, and attempted to drive her fist into Sanemi’s jaw. He easily sidestepped the blow, and slammed his open palm between her shoulder blades with enough force she crumpled with a pained huff. 

“Alright, kiddo.” Sanemi sat down on her back, using his body weight to keep her in place despite her angry squirming. “I just gotta few questions, alright? I don’t hurt kids, and Tamayo would be pissed if I hurt them anyway. So answer me, and we can all get on with our own bullshit, m’kay?” 

Inosuke snarled and twisted to claw at Sanemi’s thigh. 

He rolled his eyes, and thumped the back of her head. “This isn’t a fight you’re gonna fucking win. Can’t you tell what I am? Or are you just fucking stupid?” 

“‘Course I know what you are!” Inosuke shouted, and fuck, did she always yell? “Demon! You’re a demon!” 

“Sure am.” Sanemi grabbed a handful of her matted hair. “I’m a Kizuki.” 

“The fuck’s that bullshit mean!?” 

Great. She didn't even know that much. “It means I’m a powerful demon. The third most powerful demon.” He bared his fangs, and let his smothering, demonic presence wash over the girl. He smothered it more often than not, even out in the wilderness like this, but if she was going to be difficult, he’d show her, exactly, who the fuck she was dealing with. 

Inosuke went still, her body going limp as she twisted her neck to stare at Sanemi with wide eyes. 

He leaned down, and snapped his jaws. 

Inosuke’s nose scrunched up in indignation, but she couldn’t completely disguise the fear in her eyes. 

“Right.” Sanemi sat up straight, and stretched his arms above his head. “Just so we’re aware of what’s going on. Now, spill it, kiddo. The fuck is going on? Where’d you get that sword?” 

“Some bastard in weird black clothes,” she said, voice sullen. “Killed him and took his sword.” 

“You… killed a demon slayer?” Sanemi said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice. 

“I’ve killed a lot of ‘em!” Inosuke declared, her previous bravado returning. “They’re in my territory, and Mama said not to trust anyone in uniforms like that!” 

“You’re the thing killing all these demon slayers?” 

“Yeah! ‘Cause I’m just that damn good!” she said with a grin. 

Sanemi’s frown deepened. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the kid. (After all, he’d been killing slayers himself at a similar age. It’d been hard, but he managed it). But… 

“Where is your mom?” he asked, though considering the sorry state of her ‘clothes’ and the fact that she was alone on a mountain, he thought he already knew the answer. 

“Dead,” she said, like it was no big deal. “But she still told me.” 

Right. So she was crazy. That was fine. Sanemi had already come to that conclusion anyway. But that didn’t mean that he could leave her out on this mountain killing slayers in good conscience. Eventually, the Corps would send those of higher rank, or more than she could handle at a time, and she’d get herself killed. 

And fuck, as heartless as he was, Sanemi couldn’t handle any more dead kids on his conscience. Definitely not dead kids because of slayers. 

“They’re gonna send more of them and then you’re gonna get your stupid-ass killed,” Sanemi said. “Stop killing them. Hell, leave this mountain.” 

“Nuh uh!” Inosuke vehemently shook her head. “I’ve lived on this mountain my whole life! It’s my territory! They can leave!” 

“Kid—” 

“Fuck you! I’m not leaving!” 

“Kid—” 

“Mama brought me here! She said this would be a good place for me! I’m not leaving!” she shrieked. “I’m not! I’ll kill all the stupid—Whatever they were! Demon slayers! I’ll kill them all!” 

Sanemi groaned and pressed his hands to his face. Was this what he had sounded like as a teenager just after his family had died? Shit, probably. 

“I’m not leaving my mountain!” she continued. “She said to stay here! She said it was safe from them! She said to never let them get me!” 

Sanemi grimaced. Had her mother been killed by slayers? That seemed the most likely scenario. “They kill her? Your mom?” 

“I don’t—I dunno…” Inosuke admitted as her head thumped against the ground. “It was forever ago. But sometimes I hear her voice! And she tells me things!” 

Not just crazy. Fucking insane. 

But she certainly believed her dead mom was telling her shit about demon slayers and dropped her off on this mountain. 

None of that changed that she needed to get the fuck out of here or she was going to get herself killed. 

“Alright.” Sanemi reached his hand down, preparing to grab her and just have Yushiro send them somewhere far away from this mountain and she could figure her own shit out after that (after all, if she’d really been living out here her whole life, survival clearly wasn’t a problem) when she sank her teeth into his hand. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” He ripped his hand out of her teeth, leaving blood smeared on her lips. “Shit! Fuck! Do not swallow that! Spit it out! Spit it out!” 

Inosuke made a grand show of swallowing the blood in her mouth, throwing her head back and gulping it down. Then she cackled, “Fuck you! Don’t tell me what to do!” 

Sanemi’s mouth dropped open. 

Tamayo was going to kill him. 

He considered punching Inosuke hard enough in the stomach that she vomited, but did that matter? Demon blood took effect immediately, didn’t it? Fuck, he really should have paid more attention to Shinobu’s annoying-ass rambling! 

He scrambled off of Inosuke, and pulled her to her feet— 

She convulsed, crying out as she practically collapsed into Sanemi’s chest. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! 

“Hey, hey! Kiddo!” Sanemi jostled her as she clung onto him, nails sinking into his skin as she fought for something to hold onto. 

He knew this was painful. His own transformation hadn’t been that long ago, and he’d been braced for it, and guided through it by Tamayo. What the fuck was he supposed to do!? This was a kid who accidentally drank his blood! Not anyone prepared for this!

“Don’t touch me!” she growled, as if she wasn't the one clinging onto Sanemi. “It hurts!” 

“Fuck, Yushiro!” Sanemi shouted. “Get me home! Now!” 

---

Tamayo stared down at the writhing, convulsing child, crying out in pain as her body twisted and remolded itself. As she went through something no child should ever go through. 

“Sanemi…” she began, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Sanemi began as he held his hands out. It was strange. Tamayo did not think she’d ever seen Sanemi sorry for anything before, seen him worried and upset and fearing being reprimanded. “She fucking bit me! And I—I—” 

“You should have been more careful,” Tamayo said gently. “But, there’s nothing that can be done about this now. You turned her, so she is your responsibility.” 

“What!?” Sanemi demanded, the usual anger creeping back to his expression. “But I—I don’t know dick about this! Give her to Kyojuro! He likes this kinda shit!” 

Tamayo narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t a request, Sanemi. You made a mistake, therefore, you deal with it. You’re not pawning her off onto Kyojuro.” 

“But I’ve already got enough shit to deal with with the wedding coming up!” he argued. “You can’t—You can’t saddle me with a fuckin’ kid!” 

“I can, and I will,” Tamayo said, letting a growl creep into her words. She didn’t like using her power over her Kizuki, not in this way, but sometimes it became necessary. “You made a mistake. Now you will deal with it. Don’t let her go through this alone. Help her, and then make sure you feed her properly.” 

Sanemi turned to stare at Inosuke’s twitching body with wide eyes, and twinges of his fear and uncertainty filtered through their blood link. 

“She’s about the same age as your little brother would be, isn’t she?” Tamayo asked as she laid a calming hand on Sanemi’s shoulder. 

Wordlessly, he nodded. 

“Help her,” Tamayo insisted as she gave him a light nudge. “You know how to do this. You were a big brother for years. You’ll be okay.” 

Sanemi took a deep breath, stepped forward, kneeled down, and took Inosuke’s hand. 

Though she could admit she wasn’t thrilled about this, especially when they had a new demon settling in already with Nezuko’s arrival, she couldn’t help but smile as Sanemi muttered awkward and stilted encouragement. 

Maybe this would be good for him. 

At the least, it would distract from his stress about the wedding. 

---

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Mitsuri squealed as she tossed Inosuke another hunk of flesh, that he tore into with just as much fervor as the other meat he’d been fed. “Once we get him cleaned up, he’ll be absolutely adorable! Oh! Oh my gods! Maybe he’ll grow his hair out and we can have matching braids!” 

“I thought… he was a girl,” Sanemi said. “She—He—They? I don’t fuckin’ know, whatever, had… you know, lady tits when we met.” 

“Well he doesn’t right now,” Mitsuri said as she passed over another strip of muscle, which Inosuke hungrily tore from her fingers, his newfound fangs shearing through it with ease. “And Inosuke does seem a bit more like a boy’s name.” 

“Kinda still has a girl’s face though,” Sanemi said. “That didn’t change.” 

Mitsuri shrugged. “Sometimes demons just switch that stuff around when they transform. Kanao decided to be a girl when she transformed. And I think Sabito decided to switch some things around. And Tengen switches back and forth all the time! He’s probably like them. We can ask, when he’s less hungry.” 

“I think… he grew up in the woods,” Sanemi said. 

“Oh, well then, I’m going to spoil him,” Mitsuri said as she patted Inosuke’s head, eliciting a pleased purr out of him. 

He really was lovely! She understood why Sanemi was so twitchy about him, given how unprepared he was to take in a new demon when he was still adjusting to this life himself, but she got the feeling Inosuke would be good for him! He’d do well to have a little brother he could take care of and dote on again. 

“I’m going to get him the best clothes,” Mitsuri said as she fed him a kidney, nearly having the tips of her fingers bitten off as she did so. “Maybe some stuff made from furs, like he’s used to! And I’m going to comb the tangles out of his beautiful hair. We can take him hunting with us. Oh! It’ll be just like having a kid!” 

The blood drained from Sanemi’s face. 

“Oh, dear, not like that!” Mitsuri said with a wild wave of her hand. “You know what I meant!” 

Sometimes she wished any of her three partners were interested in children, but she understood why they weren’t. Sure, there were the butterfly triplets, but those were Shinobu’s little sisters, and were largely self-sufficient despite their age. Then again… perhaps it was for the best that none of them wanted kids, considering demons couldn’t exactly have kids and Mitsuri wasn’t quite sure how she would deal with the disappointment of such a thing. 

Watching the Uzuis go through it had been difficult enough… she couldn’t imagine living through that herself… 

But! That did mean she would take every opportunity she could to spoil any children she came across! And sure, while Inosuke was well into his teens, he was Sanemi’s responsibility, and that made him her responsibility as well! Their wedding might still be months away, and they didn’t plan to initiate their mating bond until then as well, but it was all semantics. Sanemi was her husband already in every sense of the word, they just needed the ceremony to make things official. 

So! Inosuke was hers as well! And she would treat him as such! 

“I cannot believe I fucked up this badly…” Sanemi moaned as he held his face in his hands. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with him? He’s a fucking batshit feral kid! Am I supposed to take him with me to go mass murdering?” 

Mitsuri tilted her head. “Why can’t you?” 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to do that kinda shit with kids. I mean, I know my bonding time with Mom was a lot of serial killing, but look how I turned out. Not fucking great,” he said, before waving vaguely in Inosuke’s direction. “I’m gonna fuck him up!” 

Mitsuri held her index finger to her chin. “You know… He was already killing slayers, and like you said, grew up on a mountain. I don’t think there’s really anything for you to ruin. This is probably a good place for you to start! Isn’t it, Inosuke?” She leaned down to trail her fingers through the fur crawling down his spine. “You would probably enjoy hunts!” 

Inosuke’s head jerked up, the hazy hunger in his eyes finally beginning to fade. 

Mitsuri nudged a severed leg towards him, and stood up to press against Sanemi and lace their fingers together. “Dear… I know you’re stressed, but it will be okay. If he really was living all alone on a mountain, honestly, you probably helped him out in the long run. He can have a family here. With us. And he can meet Sen, and Mui, and Shinobu’s sisters, and that new Nezuko girl! So he can have friends his age, too! And I’ll always be here to help out with him. Obanai and Shinobu will, too. And if we really are just having a hard time helping him adjust, we can ask Kyojuro and Tamayo for help. You’re not alone in this.” She stood on her tiptoes to press a sweet kiss to his cheek. 

Slowly, the tension began to bleed out of Sanemi’s body. 

And well, if Mitsuri used her Blood Demon Art on him to help him calm down, who was going to point that out? 

---

“You know, I thought you were gonna fight me a lot more on this shit,” Sanemi said as he marched down the halls of the Infinity Palace, with Inosuke hot on his heels. “You don’t wanna go back to your mountain?”

Inosuke cackled and shoved his shoulder into Sanemi’s, like they’d known each other for years, like Sanemi hadn’t just accidentally turned him into a demon. 

Like Genya used to do when they walked together. 

“Mama says you’re good, so I’m gonna listen to her,” Inosuke said. “She’s never said someone’s good before.” 

Sanemi squeezed his eyes shut. He still didn’t know what the fuck to do about the voices Inosuke supposedly heard. Would it be better to point out they weren’t real? Should he go along with it? How the fuck should he know? 

But considering the voice of Inosuke’s dead mother supposedly liked Sanemi was making this easier for everyone, he should just go along with it, at least for now. 

Maybe he could ask Tamayo about it later. 

“And I like that Mimiko lady!” 

“Mitsuri,” Sanemi grumbled. “Her fucking name is Mitsuri.” 

“Tinsumi!” 

“How the fuck did you get further away fro—You know what, never fucking mind.” One battle at a time. Inosuke’s complete inability to remember anyone’s name wasn’t a priority, and as far as how fucked up demons could get mentally, Sanemi supposed he should take this weird version of memory loss with little complaints. 

“Don’t worry, Sanemi!” Inosuke said as he slapped him on the back with enough force Sanemi’s spine cracked, and it seemed teaching him to reign in the demonic strength was first on the docket. “I’ll take care of ya!” 

“Take care of me?” he demanded. “This is the other way around!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Inosuke said as he crossed his arms and turned his nose up. “I always take care of my underlings!” 

“You are literally under me in the goddamn hierarchy!” 

“No I’m not!” 

“Yes you are!” Sanemi hooked his arm around Inosuke’s shoulders and yanked him close, ruffling his hair as he did so, thinking very little about the old actions that came so easily to him. “You stubborn little brat!” 

“I’m not a brat!” Inosuke grabbed a fistful of Sanemi’s hair and yanked.  

Sanemi snorted with laughter and shoved him away. “Whatever you say, kid. I’ll kick your ass.” 

“You can try!” 

“I already did!” 

“We didn’t finish! I woulda won!” 

“What-fucking-ever!”

[lilywily143]

Never thought I would try this but.

Live blog of new episode!!

Last few seconds!!

Pretty Intro of course

Prom in 3071!? Long time into future

Hologram things it seems are around

Glasses girl seems to be chased by it, no wait it's Doll hurting robo's now!! I knew she could've been a murder drone with that program revealed last episode but sheesh.

Also reflection of victim in the clevor knife thrown was awesome

bugs stomped

crossing out names with prom as the title

ooof her parents are surrounded in bugs.... I think..

oh no Uzi! Guilt: Active... What a setting

"Thank you for being my friend" drawing from the drone friend she just hurt last episode. my heart

hah!! Her non stop groan all day even to a ball in the face, but is out of it went knocked by a brat.

also, that guy she took the consicnese over still has a fire head went she burnt it last flashback.

normal school for Uzi again it seems but all that program tech makes her go for it again. Oh her dad took her evidence stuff

She mad about it.

Agrument...

Nonono don't stop her from seeing N!!

Oh this is great...Dad is a chaparaone.. Popular girls shall force her to be popular .. Which includes Doll. sooo not great

so many dead human bodies..

Oh N is sad. V don't do this.

in a fancy dress Prom murder TM. Of course

holo spooky snake crab J??? Oh N

How is V sounding nicer now after the murder talk?? Oh she has to know her origins but not N

back to girls

I love Doll's voice. Didn't get that last episodes

Uzi notice wierd amount of bugs

How is Lizzy being kinda nice yet bratty??

Oh ho Doll is creepy

N is so nice

Oh V really got his head gone like the piolt and like how Uzi done that

"What's best for you even if you hate me for it." V. WHat Do YoU KnoW and how Are hYOu being DecNst?? JNfljewflakn

Prom dress Uzi!! And her weird program thing refered to by her as robo Satan !!

oh no. oil or actual blood?? So red

Oh back to repaired N. Get the suit!! "No time!" oh come on.. "Dapper in" !!yes!! fancy N shall come

bathtub of blood I think with robo parts

ooo Uzi found a vent!

"As they say in Russian. whoops I should've predicted that someone could escape out of a vent shaft using discarded mirrors as stairs." Really Doll? shes great

Go uzi go Uzi!! Oh N again!! They found each other!!

reconnect plz

Yes!! "Dapper Buddies" yes N. And Uzi Blush at her inviting N

ooo dance finally. Also, a student did a classic robot dance before a girl gave a smack to his head

"PUNCH BOWL decoraction only. You will super die." Ooo like the piolt's "dont wash your hands. Your a robot dummy"

THAD!!! BEST MOVES!! And did he wink at some boy robot? I can't tell

Oh no dad can't find Uzi at prom

"entire prom court MISTERIOSLY disappeared-" Nice Liz. Love the pink she has thou

and crap there's V. She stellar

oh no did V really somehow speand time with Liz long enough to convince her that she didn't wanna murder off screan? That's kinda sad for Liz..

oh she stopped her near attack becuase she was appinted queen of prom.

Doll. Why do you have a evil laugh?

"I'll get my dad to DOCK UR FRICKED GRAADES!!" So Liz is a teacher daughter

it is nice the audience is giving V compliments. SHe might not be used to that.

"Clap harder losers!!"

oh dad tried to leave but Doll powers..

"Not the doors..." Of course he'd say that. Mr. Cahl Doors

"I can kill everyone after??" aww V

Oh there is a fucking red x where V is, Doll seems to have it set up, and Liz is having second thoughts about the plan even with her knowing grin to Doll a bit ago. JHAFSkldbklf

Liz do something...

YES UZI AND N

"Well I'm confused" I don't blame ya Uzi

"Run, you idiot" Well at least Liz tried

Everyone is getting crushed!!

OhhhhhhHHHHHH V killed Doll's paraents!!! ok that makes sence. she was extra nuts.

Doll is taking bullets!! wait they are getting deflected

You adorable N and Uz, save the murder drone!!

Go ninja star kicks!!

door unlocked but dad is staying behind in room!!

Aww go Uzi defending her two murder buddies ^-^

but man both N AND V look shocked that Uzi lost family to their doings. Was it J and they weren't aware?

"I'm done dealing with everything alone." Happy look to N. "We move forward together or not at all!" Happy look to V. Both murderer look so happy. Go Uzi!!

AHHHHH N NOT THAT!! DON"T PUSH HER OUT OF THE WAY OF DANGER!! YOULL GET UNDER THE PROGRAM WITH THAT DAMAGE!!

AHH DAD TRIED TO RUN BACK IN BUT 180 DEGREE HEADTURNEDING DOLL STTOPED HIM NOO

Uzi still got hurt from it, and she JUST TOOK A KINFE THROUGH THE PALM!!So that's what that season 1 trailer thing was refering too

Slow walk to Doll

Aww the two drone arent under the program!

"Thank you, Lizzy!" Both of them -> "Shut up, loser" hhh so mean to N. He was just happy she had his arm..

Oooo the music & lights got epic with a stab to the dj controls

Pretty fight in prom dresses!!

N is Back to fight and of course "QUIT SAVING ME!!"

They are dance fighting, did the same missle shot twirl last episode, and grazed Doll's hair with a knife!! AHHH

explosin

Suh a short sweet moment before, "OKAY YOUR TURN"

N GOT BODY SLAMMED WITH A DECORATED TABLE!!

everything flying cus Doll

ooo she lost a bracelet with a similar look to N's poilt medalian, kick to the face, and a stab in the back of the head from V near the end! Go team!

wait the brackelt had a key thing

ah they found the room with the bugs over bodies and V said 'heh heh, nice'

so many bugs still

V is fucking eating a arm from the scene the three of them discovered!!! Oh she's so hilarious and wonderful!

"what was the point of a worker drone killing over worker droens" hmmm I don't know yet

something under a blanket!

wait the actual trailer scene where Uzi stares at oil then we focus on her mouth like she wanna lick it like a murder drone! but then blanket is off! two bodies of family

"V, u kinda suck." Go N

YEVA was the mom and fuck Doll is back and the screen went dark but yes Uzi finally used he own weird powers like Doll's for herself!! Is purple instead of Doll's red

"i'm sorry for you" wait, are the powers a curse for Doll?

Uzi's chocker? Why'd we focus on that?

Now Doll is making a helping offer??

Why is Doll looking like a hologram in red instead of J's blue ones?

SHe exploded???

"UGH I HATE IT HERE" I don't blame you Uzi

okay we are outside and we are with, I think a rando.

"Ah. That's where i left my excuse to be out here" his own glasses... goofy

WE GOT ANOTHER LANDING POD FROM EARTH I THINK!! MORE MURDER DRONES ARE HERE I THINK!!

A teddy bear flew across the screen... why

Woah rando killed by a REALLY human looking thing and their sword. It might actually be a human in a suit..

TESSA CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN is her nametag

cool swordOH J IS BACK IN FULL HEALTH

from J tossed to human thing, Keys with a moon keychain decoration

and the credits....

[lyaenidae]

Wedding night (part 1)

The ceremony has come to a close, the party has moved to the dancing room. Everyone is just overjoyed, waiting for the newly weds to join. Sakura congratulates her dad on the great job he did as officiant, asking him if he was going off of his memories of his wedding with their mum.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Kenta and Miki aren't planning on coming inside just yet. They have taken a detour on their way from the ceremony hall, enjoying their time outside alone. Their eyes aren't leaving each other and they're constantly touching, as if they need each other's presence to reassure themselves that this is real.

"You look more beautiful that anything I've ever seen in my life." Kenta says, a bit choked, emotions still running high. "You're not so bad too, I like that blue on you... But I can't wait for you to see me in my evening dress !" she answers. "You have two dresses ?!" "Yes, Saira made the second one, but she didn't tell me she was making me a dress before I purchased this one... So we just decided I'd wear both !" "Does that mean you're going to get changed now ? Can I come along ?" said Kenta, his smile mischievous.

"You could, but it would ruin the surprise I've got for tonight..." Miki answers, pretending to entertain the idea. Seeing an opening, Kenta leaned in to give her another deep kiss. But when they pull apart, he whispers : "Actually, I was hoping we could have our first dance outside, right here, in the meadow next to the place we met, all these years ago. I want to be able to savour this moment completely, if that's okay with you ?"

"Sweep me off my feet, husband." Warmed up by each other's body heat, they didn't see time pass, dancing away in the quiet night, both humming the melody they had chosen as their first song.

As they finish the choreography, they get spotted by some of their guests who call them in. To give time to Miki to change, Kenta goes in to join the party right away, his last look at his new wife telling her all that she needs to know.

Once inside, he can't help but feel so full of love, surrounded by all the people that he cherishes. It's a great dance party already and in the few minutes that it takes for Miki to change, Kenta welcomes Taku, who's finally made it to the venue, and together they light up the dancefloor. Until Kenta notices that Saira is back from helping Miki get changed. Which means that his wife should be back too. He turns around as the song changes to his favourite song.

The new dress is just as beautiful as the first one and everyone whoops and whistles when they see it. "Well, how do you like that one ?" smiles Miki when she reaches Kenta.

He grabs her to pull her closer and whispers so that only she can hear: "I love it, and I can't wait to see how high this opening on your thigh goes, as well as what's underneath it." She laughs wholeheartedly, both of their body heat increasing again.

Slowly but surely, the night draws out, until everyone but the couple has gone to bed. Alone in this room, they find each other again, never having been far from each other yet still quite happy to be in each other's arms once again.

"This ring fits your hand so perfectly." Kenta says, lost in thought. "Mmmh..." "You sound tired" says Kenta, "let's call it a night." "We can go to the bedroom if you want, but I'm not ready to sleep just yet Ken" she states, a spark in her eyes and her energy seemingly replenishing slightly.

"Let's go then, my beautiful wife." "Come on !" she takes his hand in hers and starts almost running to make it to their bed as fast as possible. But once in the comfort of their own space, in the bridal room they rented for the night, she slows down, taking her dress off very slowly.

[rjazzproductions]

The Komi Month 2023 Thread!

Welcome, one and all, to Komi Month 2023!

For those who don't know, a few years ago I decided on a whim that I'd exclusively draw characters from my favorite manga, 古 (こ) 見 (み) さんは、コミュ症 (しょう) です (Komi-san wa, Komyushou Desu, or Komi Can't Communicate in English), every day for the month of November! It was a huge success for me, as it finally got me off my butt and forced me to start consistently practice my drawing skills! And so I repeated it the next year, and last year as well! And now, here we are!

While I originally drew every day, as I've grown as an artist and my schedule has gotten much busier I've since nixed that part. Last year I was only able to produce one piece of art for the month (b/c of grad school taking up all my time and focus), but this year I've decided that I will do 4 3 2 drawings this month!

(Originally I was going to do a drawing each week, but that just didn't work out with how slow my lineart process was. Maybe next year!)

While I never had a plan in terms of what to draw for Komi Month initially (~90% of drawings were thought up and drawn on that day during the first two years), last year I introduced a theme that I want to continue this year! I had planned a whole series of drawings featuring the Komi-san cast cosplaying as Touhou characters, so I want to bring that idea back and really do it justice this time around!

I'm going to make individual posts for each week's artwork, but I'll put the links down below for easy access!

Hope you enjoy, and Happy Komi Month!

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

Drawing 1:

Drawing 2:

[godzexperiment]

yet again we got that modern verse(s) brain rot folks-

-he is very much in stories, told about him that he doesn't know about... he is vaguely aware it comes with life but opts rather not think of it

-living off an fake id only because when he first wandered into his like go to bar/club *where he plays onstage at times/is around the most people the most frequently* (some guy was like ???? 'it's so weird you got in without one? or dont have an id and that is kind of huge if you want to do lots of things especially drink' and thusly nix sought to correct said issue) but anything else? it just goes over his head... like he had nobody offering advice/no need so yeah -favorite 'defacing' of public property is elaborate chalk pastel art on buildings/pavement (he especially enjoys doing it at like 3am after an rainy day so that maybe some passerby might be like 'okay life sucks an little less' seeing it and sometimes he does it knowing it's going to rain) but he also very much does other stuff/is somebody who'll draw little smiley faces places for fun -often obtains flowers from grocery stores as an little treat for himself (how he comes by them... is not usually by purchase) and goes about like pressing them,etc to preserve them often *thusly very often has flowers he's drying/in containers around his place-live ones near the few windows etc* -does an lot of 'morally good/for the better of society' things just without considering that aspect to it all, he dumpster dives often and like yeah he does things like donate what he can,etc but it's just like the palms of his hands *something that's just that big an deal to him*

-depending, might just have something like an traffic light sat in a corner and if somebody gets to be in his space/opts to comment he'll be like you don't get to know it nearly crushed me but... 'i'm planning to modify it with mood lighting or something' -has kept track of all his antics on the radio (he can tell you which siblings he's made jokes about/that 'two thursdays ago I went off topic talking about how beautiful people are and got an text in the morning from like the owner asking me if i could have phrased motherfucking masterpieces better') in general dude still very much absorbs what he is told,etc -always has snacks+energy drinks or soda,etc in his thigh holster bag and various other things (bobby pins, safety pins, hair ties,etc in case anybody he bumps into is like 'ah shit i need x due to an issue' etc) as such often has little moments where people are like 'wow this is going to mean i dont feel silly on my date' etc and nix is just like :) that is so cool, i did an good anyways.... -usually keeps flight to his warehouse space/wherever but sometimes has scheduled moments+situations where it's just like speeding through the air+doing tricks,etc (dude loves utilizing rooftops for this- run jumping an stupidly large gap no human could make and opening his wings to glide across etc) -which wing maintenance? given how durable they are isn't like an major deal etc but some nights he just gets overwhelmed with the 'if i get paint on them? it sticks and dries but wont flake off etc???? what do I do? i don't have anybody to ask for how to handle it or to help and that makes me feel awful' -does have his fake id choices memorized but also 'i dont remember what fake birthday i gave myself' types of situation which mixes with his anxious/existent nature to lie etc whoops nor does he really have an fake history sorted (sometimes, he'll metaphor and adapt things 'yeah im the youngest out of lots of siblings- i didnt really know them though growing up' etc) -sometimes dances along to the music in his headphones; typically when he's doing late night/wee am hours grocery shopping and is 100% an kicks against the ground to glide the cart faster from point a to b (never any crashing hazard as were he to encounter another/or some display he can you know quickly stop, redirect his pathing) *he's totally done it and had some little kid wide eyed like 'i just learned cool forbidden knowledge'* -as established he does not contain much money *often spending it faster than he obtains any/usually on others+donations places etc and like you know "theft"* but he certainly keeps change,etc to put in say parking meters or an quarter to offer somebody who could use it,etc (physical currency is his vibe; also he very much enjoys claw machines at the store)

-which he also tends to despite hating being in public,etc will take time to put things where they belong/fix messes at stores if he comes across it (somebody dumped clothes here on top the soda cases and- it wont take me more than an minute to return it where it belongs) -remarkably despite clumsy accidents often especially due to traffic; has yet to end up having to brush off ems/emts and such fuss. that would be like 'hmm you already seem to be healed, not that hurt?' yeah no nix knows that would be Terrible and doesn't even go anywhere close to such places

-might foster kittens for quite some time, depending on various circumstances and overall is often prone to 'yeah this stray kitten wouldn't stop following me so now is napping in the hood of my jacket till we get to the vet'

-enjoys being on roofs when it's rainy/outside in general during stormy weather especially if it's summer rain and getting caught in sudden rainy weather doesn't bother him (if anything were he hanging around somebody and they darted to get out of it he'd just stand there like xD while getting soaked to the bone teasing them over it)

-likes walking along things like parking spot buffers, fountain edges etc and will sometimes go out of his way to do so without actually thinking much about it

[devildomimagines]

Can I request head cannons of the Brothers reacting to an MC that’s OP like Saitama? They aren’t scared of anything and because of how inhumanly strong and fast they are, they have really fast reflexes against demons that try to attack them and can handle spells/curses with a blank face. They’ll punch someone so hard, the sap crashes several feet back with a large dent and MC’s like “That was barely a punch 😐”

HAHA this is great, I wrote this as the reader is the exception but imagine the human race is the most powerful of the three realms, I think that would be an interesting dynamic to explore.

Thank you as always for your patience. I’m not the fastest at writing due to irl circumstances. Since I always write more than planned, the other brothers are under the cut. Without further ado~

Belphegor

Well chapter 16 would have gone very differently 😂

Belphie has his hand around your throat and you’re looking at him with a bored expression.

You can feel him try to tighten his grip but it doesn’t make a difference.

He knows a bit about humans and this isn’t right.

Afterwards, he still kind of thinks you’re inhuman and he’s not totally off base.

What you can do, most humans wouldn’t even come close to being able to do.

Ultimately grateful for your defensive power because then he doesn’t have to babysit you while out in the Devildom and he can drop his guard to nap briefly.

Beelzebub

“Whoops,” You shrug as you leave the scene.

Beel just watched you “push” a demon across the room after they put an unwanted hand on your shoulder.

He’s impressed and wants to know you workout routine.

“100 sit-ups, 100 pushups, 100 squats and a 10 km run.”

He immediately adds it to his routine and you can work out with him.

As workout buddies, you push and support each other to be the best.

He’d get so soft and proud of you when you fling rude lesser demons out of your way.

Asmodeus

When you peel a pushy demon off of Asmo, he goes weak in the knees for a second as he swoons.

Asmo could have taken care of the demon but watching you take care of it without any strain makes him go 😍

He never doubted you but you’re definitely physically stronger than Solomon so Asmo covets a pact with you.

Loves when you manhandle him, even just for little things like pulling him out of the way, turning him around, or grabbing his wrists to stop him from getting too handsy.

Besides being immune to his charms, he’s the first to learn that you’re immune to other spells and curses.

He tests this with getting cursed make-up or dropping a few drops of potion into your drink.

You don’t even blink and he’s enthralled, you might just be the most interesting thing to happen in his life in a long time.

Satan

Doesn’t believe it until he sees it.

He tests your strengths not so sneakily. “Hey MC, can you move this couch? I think my pencil dropped under there while I was drawing.”

Adds your skills to his thought process when creating Anti Lucifer Club traps and inconveniences.

“What if you picked up Lucifer and put him in a pit of tar?”

“What if I didn’t want to do that?”

Satan treats you as an equal, sometimes forgetting that you’re human because you can destroy a wall with the best of them lol.

Leviathan

He thinks you’re so cool. All your stats are maxed out and you do it without even trying.

Likens you to some characters he knows, then you share the human world comparisons you’ve gotten (Saitama obviously lol).

He’s obsessed with the anime and manga because he can only think of you. 

He says, “This character is just like you!” instead of the usual “You’re like this character” and it’s refreshing.

Levi asks how and why you got so powerful not for himself to get powerful though, just wants to get to know you better.

Boasts about you being the strongest human online.

When the haters question him, he asks if he can vlog with you so he can show you off.

Mammon

You made him double take when you were just as fast as him, if not faster??

Then he challenges you to races all the time, sometimes placing bets like, “I bet bathroom cleaning duty for a month that I’ll beat you to RAD.”

You take him on usually, it’s pretty 50/50 who wins and it somewhat shocks Mammon, it also makes him fall for you more. 

He had taken pride in being the fastest and here you are showing him up, but he likes a partner that can keep up and keep him on his toes.

Oh the mischief you two could get up to and make a run for it if you agree to one of his schemes.

Mammon might be stronger than you so he offers to help you if something is too heavy with the most smug grin. (Please remember he’s like top 5 strongest of the whole realm)

Totally still acts like a babysitter/big brother even if you can take care of yourself, he’s just like that.

Lucifer

Maybe the most surprised brother.

He really thought that this exchange program was going to have him chaperoning a weak human so as to not get eaten within a week of arrival.

So it’s one less headache for him because he doesn’t have to watch over you everyday if you’re fast and strong.

Then he sees just how fast and how strong and he’s taken aback.

He had never seen someone rival Mammon’s speed besides himself and the way you punched that gluttony lesser demon across the room after they loomed hungrily over you left him speechless.

You’ve earned Lucifer’s respect and he’s indirectly proud of you for standing your own in the Devildom. 

Might come to rely on you more as he begins to trust you.

[beccascribbles]

can you please do an omegaverse fic with inarizaki having an omega manager that goes into heat during a game and she tries to leave but some guys from another team stop her and harass her but the bois pull up and protect her <3

a/n - right, just a warning, i’m a big atsumu simp and this became abundantly clear to me when i was writing this... it’s less inarizaki and more miya twins (with the addition of kita). whoops

warnings - harassment (unwanted touching, sexual implications)

In hindsight, leaving the house without packing heat suppressants, or at least being aware of your own condition, was reckless of you. It wasn't your fault you had woken up late and had to rush to ensure you looked presentable by the time the twins came by to collect you. Though you would have loved to make the twins late (considering it was their fault - they didn’t have to get you hooked on a new TV show and leave the call midway through the season finale), you weren’t so keen on having any of Kita’s disappointment directed towards you. Therefore, when the twins arrived, Atsumu with a wide smirk at your slightly dishevelled self, you settled on directing a swift punch to their stomachs as revenge.

“Ouch,” whined Atsumu, rubbing his stomach with a pout. “What was that for, stupid?”

“Obviously she’s pissed off that we let her stay up late,” Osamu grumbled, also rubbing his stomach, though, instead of a pout, his lips were tugged downwards in a frown. “Although I don’t see how her terrible sleep schedule is our problem.”

“Don’t get me hooked on a new show next time,” you muttered, looping an arm through Osamu’s and beginning to pull him down the road. In your other hand, you held a cool bag with some snacks for the team. The only reason you had grabbed Osamu with your free arm was to prevent him from peeking into the bag. If he had hands free to look, he had hands free to eat the food within. Atsumu was less likely to eat the food, though that didn’t stop him from unzipping the bag and peeking inside.

“Oh, tasty!” he exclaimed, zipping up the bag and making eye contact with Osamu, whose head had turned in his direction once the words left his mouth. He was clearly pleading with his twin to reveal what was in the bag. Atsumu simply stuck his tongue out. “Why don’t ya use your nose to figure it out? You always boast about having a better sense of smell than me anyway.”

“Because I do,” snapped back Osamu, quickly becoming irritated, muscles tensing as he prepared himself to leap towards his twin. Your arm tightened around his, and you shot him a look, eyes holding a warning. With care, you let your scent wind through the air around the three of you, the twin alphas calming at the subtle shift in the air.

Atsumu looped an arm over your shoulder, pulling you closer to him, the bag you were carrying bumping awkwardly against his legs in the process. This action almost caused your arm to slip from Osamu’s, but he quickly tightened his hold. Atsumu was not going to pull you away from him. Almost in sync, they both turned towards you, noses nuzzling into the crook of your neck. You let out a slightly frustrated sigh, but let them continue scenting you. After all, when they were able to do this, they were at their calmest, and you still had a long bus journey ahead of you where keeping arguments to a minimum was preferable.

When you began to approach the school gates, you pulled out of their grasp, walking ahead of them. You began to walk faster, shooting a look over your shoulder to see the pair of them watching you with confused expressions. It was when you finally broke into a sprint, hefting the bag holding the food at a weird angle, that they realised what you had in mind. Letting out a laugh, Atsumu took off after you; Osamu quickly followed. If you had managed to get a bigger head start, you might have won. However, on this occasion, both twins pulled ahead of you, darting around a bewildered Kita and launching forward to touch the bus with their fingers.

“I won!” they declared in unison, an argument breaking out between them that you tuned out in favour of focusing your attention on Kita. Aran had already walked over to the twins, grabbing them by the backs of their jackets and hauling them away. It was this sudden movement that jerked them from their argument.

“Hey,” you greeted, giving Kita a weary smile as he reached forward to take the food from you. Together, you walked towards the bus. Kita, having arrived ridiculously early, had already packed away everything that the team would need. The only thing not within the bus was most of the team, their individual athletic bags, and whatever you had brought with you. You climbed in, reaching up to place the bag on the overhang above you. Once you had finished, you turned to face Kita. “I think we’re going to win for sure. I did some research on this team and they’ve put forward a series of underwhelming performances in official games, as well as practice matches. They’re no match for Inarizaki, especially with our captain ready to step in if the second years on court get too excited or lazy.”

The latter comment was directed towards Suna, whose head poked up from behind a seat near the back of the bus. He raised his middle finger up in response before refocusing on the phone he was holding in his other hand. You yelled over at him, “Good morning to you too.”

“Whatever, y/n,” he sighed, looking up at you once again. “Just sit down somewhere, preferably a place where the two idiots can argue over who gets to sit next to you.”

You just rolled your eyes, taking the seat you were planning on claiming originally. Kita stood in the aisle, giving you a small smile. “I’m glad you’re confident we’re going to win, especially with all the practice everybody has been putting in.”

“I know,” you grinned. While continuing with the conversation, you motioned towards the seat beside you, indicating for Kita to take it. You’d rather sit next to Kita than have to deal with the twins for the journey anyway. “Everybody has been putting in so much more effort. I swear I’ve had to physically drag Atsumu out of the gym most days.”

“He just doesn’t listen,” sighed Kita, resting his head against the headrest. “I keep telling him practicing too much is bad for his health. He even got a fever because he was practicing too hard.”

“He’s stupid like that,” you shrugged, a yawn cutting through whatever you were about to say next.

“You better be talkin’ about Samu,” interrupted Atsumu, taking the seat in front of you and turning around to face you. Osamu collapsed into the seat beside him, flicking him in the forehead.

“She was obviously talking about you, dumbass,” he quipped.

Osamu turned to you for confirmation, only to see your head resting against the captain’s shoulder. He questioned, “y/n?”

“Of course she’s asleep,” laughed Atsumu, nudging Osamu with his shoulder, previous comment forgotten in favour of teasing you. “She can’t take the late nights.”

“Keep it down,” Kita said, adjusting your head so that it was rested against him more comfortably. In response, you moved closer to him, an arm sliding around his waist to hug him as you mumbled something incoherent in your sleep. A furious blush spread along his cheeks, and he ducked his head to hide from the twins. Luckily, their attention was fixed elsewhere, on a video Suna had sent to Osamu, too lazy to get up to walk down the coach to show him. Kita let out a sigh, dropping his head to rest atop of yours. He chided, not that you could hear him in your slumber, “You should really try to sleep earlier.”

It was fortunate for you that you slept for most of the journey. You missed Osamu moaning about being hungry, and then proceeding to search up pictures of food to drool over. Consequently, you also missed Atsumu hitting his twin and being scolded by Kita, something that always made you laugh. However, Suna had got up to draw on your face, which would have been an unfortunate consequence. Luckily, it was only to shuffle back to his seat sheepishly, the sight of Kita beside you a deterrent.

“You had to fall asleep on Kita,” grumbled Suna, walking along beside you as you entered the gymnasium. You trailed behind the rest of the team, your footsteps unusually sluggish. You blamed it on your late night. “Why couldn’t you have fallen asleep on Atsumu? He would’ve let me draw on your face.”

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you didn’t,” you responded, transferring the food bag to your other hand. The weight, though it wasn’t abnormally heavy, was beginning to make your arm ache. In fact, your whole body ached. Eyebrows furrowed, you continued switching the bag from hand to hand. It made no difference. You still ached.

“You look constipated,” observed Suna, though he took the food from your grip. You gave him a thankful smile, which he waved off. “I’m not being nice. I just don’t like walking beside someone with such a stupid expression on their face.”

“I didn’t ask you to walk beside me,” you snapped, crossing your arms over your chest. They still ached, even without the bag. All you wanted to do was collapse on the bench at the sidelines.

“It’s not my fault you decided to walk so slowly today,” replied Suna, glancing over at you briefly. Something about you was off, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was probably a consequence of your late night, but even when you had stayed up late before, you were never this sluggish. Usually, you walked at the front beside Kita, or with the coaches. It was rare for you to be at the back unless you wanted to annoy him, which evidently was not the case this time. “I didn’t voluntarily choose to accompany you.”

“Leave me then,” you snapped, eyes narrowing in a glare, your scent suddenly spiking. He let out a grumble, releasing some of his pheromones in the air to soothe you. Suna hated being on omega duty, one of the reasons why he was glad you usually opted to walk at the front.

“You know I can’t just leave you,” he sighed, placing a hand on the small of your back to urge you forward. “The sooner we get to the gym, the sooner you can leave me and sit on the bench.”

That caused you to perk up somewhat, which also had the effect of pulling your scent back to its’ ordinary level. Your scent may have regulated, but the ache in your body persisted, each movement making you fight back a wince. It was with gritted teeth that you sat on the bench, and pulled your clipboard towards you. Suna gave you one last assessing look before beginning to warm up.

Your gaze was unfocused as you stared down at the words you had written on the page. They swam in front of your gaze, coming apart and then joining again in dizzying confusion. As you stared, you found your mind wandering, nose twitching as you found yourself seeking out any scent that felt comforting, felt familiar. Your head snapped up from the clipboard, falling on a pile of discarded jackets. From the pile, and wafting towards you in the air, was Atsumu’s rich scent that made you recall moments where you were held in his arms and shielded from the rain, Osamu’s that brought forward memories of laughing in the kitchen and collaborating on random food creations, and Kita’s that filled you with comfort, reminding you of his quite support.

Before you could process what you were doing, you were moving towards the pile, hand clutching the first jacket you found. You buried your nose into the material, breathing in Atsumu’s scent, a soft whine escaping your lips. Your own team, too engrossed in warming up, missed the sound. It did, however, attract the attention of the team on the other side of the net.

You were unaware of the sudden, and unwanted, attention, shrugging off your jacket and pulling on Atsumu’s. You turned your head into the collar, taking in a deep breath. Though the scent satisfied you emotionally, the joy at being wrapped in Atsumu’s scent, caused you to release your own pheromones, made you feel slightly dizzy. A sudden spiking heat rushed through you, and a quiet ‘shit’ slipped from your lips. Hurriedly, you began to head towards the exit, keeping your head ducked and trying desperately to stop sending pulse after pulse of pheromones into the gym. You figured that, once you were safely in the confines of the bus, you could send a message to one of the coaches, apologising for having to leave and explaining that your heat had suddenly started.

A large hand wrapped around your wrist, causing you to come to a jolting stop. The owner of the hand yanked you back into his chest and you let out a surprised squeak. His arm wrapped around your waist, holding you close to him as he let out a pleased hum. His nose ran along the scent gland at your neck, making you stiffen suddenly. Fear made you kick out, knocking against one of his teammates who was standing beside him.

“Get off me,” you panted, weakly thrashing in his grip, a sharp and bitter scent escaping from you. Across the gym, Atsumu and Osamu’s heads snapped in your direction. “Just want to leave. Need to leave.”

Twin growls ripped through the gym, sending shivers down the spines of many people in attendance, including the male currently holding you. All you could feel was relief. He looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with the furious twins. Their fury had caught the attention of the rest of Inarizaki, who all suddenly stood to attention.

“No need to be aggressive,” chuckled the male, though he made no move to release you. “I was just going to take care of this omega.”

“Like fuck ya are,” spat Atsumu, lunging forward and grabbing the male by the back of his shirt. His eyes were dark, expression twisted as another growl ripped from his throat.

“Get the fuck away from her,” growled Osamu, who had taken the distraction Atsumu provided to step in front of the male. The rest of his teammates had wisely backed off. One who had been about to pull Atsumu away had been stopped by Kita, his grip tight as he had pulled the man away by his shoulder. Despite the warning, the male’s arm remained around you. Despite Atsumu at his back and Osmau at his front, he had the nerve to push his nose against your scent gland and breathe you in deeply. A nervous whimper escaped your mouth, all Osamu and Atsumu needed for any last bit of restraint they had to evaporate. He muttered darkly, “I gave you a warning.”

Osamu’s hand curled around the male’s wrist, yanking it upwards harshly and twisting. His other arm went to catch you, pulling you away as Atsumu finally snapped. His arm wrapped around the male’s throat, his muscles prominent as he tightened his grip, crushing his windpipe. It was clear Osamu was frustrated too, eager to leap at the male. Yet, you were beside him, looking up at him with fear, and his first instinct was to protect you. He pulled his gaze away from the scene in front of him, scanning the gym until he finally found Kita. Kita was already walking towards you, anger prominent in the lines of his body. He took you from Osamu, letting you wrap your legs around his waist and snuggle your head into the crook of his neck as he held you. Kita left Osamu with a nod, giving permission the other man had not needed, but appreciated, to attack the male who had harassed you. He would let the coaches break it apart. Right now, you were his concern.

Kita walked from the gym, heading towards the bus. It was fortunate he was always prepared. Though he was certain you would be responsible enough to bring your own, he had packed heat suppressors in the buses emergency kit just in case. You let out a soft whine, hands curling into the material of his shirt.

“Atsumu… Osamu… Are they okay?” you questioned, needing to know. Kita let out a comforting purr, coupled with a release of soothing pheromones. The scent wafted around you, easing your racing heart, though it did little to cut through the haze of your heat.

“They’re fine,” he reassured, hand rubbing a soothing circle into your back before he placed you gently on a seat in the bus. You wrapped your arms around yourself, nose immediately pressing against the inside collar of the jacket, breathing in Atsumu’s scent deeply.

“Want the twins,” you whimpered. It was normal for you to want to be close to them. You had been with them since you were born, the three of you inseparable as soon as you were able to toddle. It was their scents that made up the majority of your nest, with the occasional addition of something Kita or Suna or another member of the team had scented.

Kita ignored your comment in favour of grabbing the heat suppressants from the bag. He turned towards you, grabbing a water bottle from where the spares were kept. Deciding it might be better for you, more peaceful and less painful, he also decided to include a sleeping pill. Kita handed them to you. “Have these. It’s heat suppressants and a sleeping pill.”

He watched as you took the medicine, carding his fingers through your hair affectionately. He gave your fingers a reassuring squeeze, “I’ll be back, along with the twins, when the match is finished.”

You nodded, barely registering his words as you let sleep overtake you.

When you woke up, strong arms were wrapped around you, holding you against a chest. You snuggled into the warmth, letting the distinct scent of Atsumu wash over you. Fingers stroked your hand softly, tracing its shape before sliding between your own. Your hand was lifted up, soft lips pressed against it before a face nuzzled into your palm. Sleepily, you looked up, blinking up at the twins. Even in your half-awake state, you could see the slight bruising that peppered their skin. Despite it being two-against-one, the male had landed a few solid hits before the coaches got involved.

“You’re awake,” cheered Atsumu, brushing a kiss to the top of your head as his fingers ran up and down your back, sliding beneath his jacket and your t-shirt to rest against your bare skin. Osamu gave a small cheer as well, a warm smile overtaking his features as he gazed down at you. That warm smile didn’t stop him from scolding you, something you were expecting from Kita and not him.

“And an idiot for not realising you were starting your heat,” he said, reaching over to give your hair an affection ruffle.

“We always know when our ruts are so you should know when your heats are,” chimed in Atsumu, ignoring the weak punch to his chest that you gave him with the hand not being held in Osamu’s.

“That’s because I always remind you,” you grumbled in response, though your anger was short-lived. The pheromones they were pumping out were so distracting any emotion but bliss was hard to feel, let alone hold onto.

“Considering how long you’ve known each other,” said Suna, deciding to add his two pence to the conversation, “I would’ve thought you two dumbasses would know what her pre-heat symptoms are.”

“You’re her friend too,” protested Atsumu, the only thing stopping him from engaging in a fall-blown argument was you in his lap. “Maybe you should have realised.”

“I did realise,” smirked Suna. In a quieter voice, he continued, “I just thought she was tired.”

“Can you all shut up?” snapped Aran, to which Kita was quick to agree, explaining that you would appreciate the peace and quiet.

That put a stop to any argument that could have broken out, both of the twins refocusing on you. Osamu resumed lazily playing with your fingers, while Atsumu nuzzled into your neck, rubbing his face against your scent gland. You let out a content sigh, finding comfort in their touch and the scents of the team wafting around you.