#i was watching the q&as today i like the one where the doctor admits

[infectedpaul]

im just obsessed with them okay

[tryan-a-bex]

Secrets

Read on AO3 

“Hello, Anya,” Dream gazed softly down at the little girl who’d just entered The New Inn with her parents. “What are we working on today?”

“Anya has to write a story!” she exclaimed, settling into the booth where Dream usually tutored her in language arts.

“Ah. And do you know what the story will be about?” he asked, sliding in across from her.

“Penguins!”

“Of course. How will your story start?”

“One day, Anya and Papa went to the aquarium,” she dictated slowly, clumsily printing the words in her notebook. “A…”

“Q… U… A…” Dream continued prompting, as she laboriously spelled the long word.

Hob slid into the next booth over, bringing the drinks Loid and Yor had ordered. 

“You wanted to talk to me?” he smiled.

“Yes,” Loid began. “We want to apologize for taking advantage of your babysitting services. We’re usually not such irresponsible parents. That first time, when she ran away from Franky…”

“Not to worry,” Hob winked, “you were obviously otherwise occupied.” He enjoyed the lovely blush that spread across Yor’s face, and was that a matching one on Loid’s?

“Then the next time, we were in the park together, and there was a car accident. I’m a doctor, so I went to assist, but I asked Anya to wait for me on a nearby bench. When I came to look for her, she had already headed over here to find you.”

“It was no problem!” Hob insisted. “Better here than watching a car accident being cleaned up! That could have been traumatizing!” It was a better excuse than Anya’s “Papa had to work” or Loid’s vague “Something came up,” at the time, Hob thought, but it still didn’t explain why Bond left Anya’s side, nor did it really cover the cut on Loid’s arm.

“Yes,” Yor picked up the conversation, “and last time, when I brought Anya so early on a Saturday, my coworker had an emergency and they called me at the last minute. I’m sorry, I was so tired I didn’t really notice how tired you were as well.”

“Anya had a lovely visit with Dream and his sister, who was visiting that day!” Hob brushed off all their apologies. Even though he’d been 85% asleep at the time, he still remembered Yor’s sharp alertness, the way she was watching behind herself as if for danger even as she thrust Anya at him. He was pretty sure the only true part about that excuse was that work had called her in at the last minute, and he wasn’t interested in speculating about her work—not since that first day they met, when she vaulted over a table and he saw his life flash before his eyes. He abruptly decided he was going to call them out, just a little.

“After all, all families have secrets.”

“Oh, no, no, we’re just a normal family!” Yor protested, thereby confirming Hob’s suspicions. There was nothing like a protestation of innocence to confirm guilt. Loid, meanwhile, wondered why Hob had just as much as admitted to them that he and Dream had secrets as well.

“Yes, of course,” Hob agreed. Their secrets were none of his concern, and he wasn’t even sure why he’d brought it up.

At that moment, Dream and Anya joined them from the other booth, Anya tucking herself under Loid’s arm and Dream taking Hob’s hand under the table.

“We were just talking about secrets,” Dream disclosed, “and we heard Hob mention them as well. Anya has decided that there’s something she would like to tell her parents.” Hob smiled warmly at Anya, glad that she’d finally decided to share the secret he and Dream had discovered by accident. 

Anya leaned forward to look at both parents and said solemnly, “Anya can hear your thoughts.” Loid and Yor reared back, identical looks of horror on their faces. Then Hob watched as comprehension began to sink in and they started nodding as pieces fell into place.

“So that’s why you watch Bondman all the time!” Loid exclaimed.

“And why you are never upset when I come home with blood on my clothes!” Yor added. 

“And why you kept trying to get us to kiss!” Loid continued.

“And why you always seem to know what Bond wants!” Yor declared.

“Anya also knows about Operation Strix,” Anya said, and Hob watched Loid and Yor exchange a worried glance. Oops, they probably didn’t want him and Dream hearing about that one.

“Now, Anya,” he reminded her, “your parents have secrets that aren’t yours to share.”

“Dream can help!” Anya protested. Hob looked curiously at Dream. It wasn’t like him to get involved in another family’s affairs. Dream nodded.

“This is one that aligns with my realm, Hob.” Now it was Loid’s turn to look questioningly at Dream. 

“Well, if we’re going to share secrets, maybe we should go somewhere more private,” Hob suggested.

The two families adjourned upstairs to the kitchen in Hob’s flat, where he nervously made them all tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. He put a tin of biscuits on the table and took the chair beside Dream. Loid began.

“I’m not sure why I should trust you, but Anya does, and well, I guess if she’s a telepath that does explain why she’s such a good judge of character. Will you exchange secrets with us, as a pledge of trust?” Hob glanced at Dream, who nodded solemnly. Apparently this was very important to him. Hob nodded back and took a deep breath.

“I’m immortal,” he said, “I don’t age, and I can’t die.” Loid and Yor looked shocked again. Then Loid looked at Anya.

“I begin to understand why she started this sharing of secrets.”

Dream let his eyes grow dark and starry, a hint of his robe fluttering around his chair.

“I am Dream of the Endless, Lord of Dreams and King of Nightmares. I am the Prince of Stories and Master of the Dreaming.” Loid and Yor looked truly stunned this time, Hob thought. That would stroke Dream’s vanity. Not that he didn’t deserve a little awe, he was rather impressive even with just a touch of his less human form peeking through. Loid cleared his throat and smoothed back his hair. 

“Yes, well. I can see why Anya thought you might be able to help! I’m afraid I can’t compete with that! Dreams… if you know our dreams, you probably know our secrets already too.”

“Yes,” Dream confirmed, “but Hob does not. I would ask you to speak them aloud, for his sake.” Loid nodded.

“I am a French spy. The French government does not desire war with the English at this time, so I was sent here to ingratiate myself with a powerful politician who is using his influence to promote war between our countries. Operation Strix is our plan to enter his inner circle though our children—his son Damian is in Anya’s class.” He shook his head wonderingly at Anya. 

“You knew all that, didn’t you? So much weight for such a small child to bear.” Anya nodded at him, took a bite of her biscuit, and leaned comfortably against his arm. Yor leaned forward and picked the story up.

“I am an assassin for England, and our goal is also to prevent a war. When Loid asked me to marry him and become Anya’s mother, neither of us knew the truth about each other. 

“It actually came out fairly recently, shortly before we met you, in fact. I received a dossier from my boss directing me to find and kill the spy, Twilight.” Yor and Loid exchanged a very warm glance, and Hob suddenly realized that Loid must be Twilight.

“It took some time for me to find Twilight. He is the best spy of our age. Imagine my surprise when I finally tracked him down, and he was my very own husband!” Loid chuckled and took over the narrative.

“Imagine my surprise, after we finished tucking Anya in bed, when my wife came into the living room and put a knife to my throat!” He took Yor’s hand as she blushed furiously again.

“Well, then Loid and I had a long talk, and we decided that we are both on the same side—no war. I explained to my boss about Twilight, not revealing who he is, of course.”

“Anya doesn’t like war,” Anya added. “War is scary.” Hob thought sadly about all the second hand memories she’d probably seen of war, never mind whatever it was that had brought her to Loid and Yor’s family. Surely, “no war” was a good goal.  But how did all this relate to Dream’s realm? He turned to Dream, who was already preparing to speak.

“One of the scientists under this warmonger you speak of is dreaming of experimenting with changing people’s sleep. He wants to prevent his enemies from sleeping, or torture them with nightmares, or brainwash his own lackeys in their sleep. This line of research cannot be allowed to continue. If he loses the support of your politician, his work will be discontinued.”

Anya jumped down from her chair and walked around to take Hob’s hand as Loid, Yor and Dream leaned in to start making plans. Hob led her into the living room and settled on the couch with her to read The Little Endless Storybook together again (after meeting Del and Joe, it was her current favourite).

“Will they stop the war and keep the children safe, Hob?” Anya asked, when the story was done.

“I hope so, Anya. They are all very good at what they do, so I think they have a good chance. I really hope they do.” She settled against his arm with a sigh.

“Good. Anya is happy.”

Next chapter

Notes: Part one of A world where children won’t have to cry

I’m not 100% sure I stuck to Spy x Family canon, or Sandman either for that matter. But that’s okay. 

“There are secrets in all families” is attributed to Jane Austen in Emma. I’m familiar with it from the Liaden Universe series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 

The Sandman x Spy x Family: First: Space Buns; Previous: Halloween

[storiesforallfandoms]

fatherhood ~ zac efron

word count: 1519

request?: yes!

@kellysimagines​ “Can you make one where the reader and zac have been together for 13 years (since Hairspray) and the reader is a youtuber and they have a daughter who is 8 months old and the reader asks him questiones about him being a dad and stuff with the baby with us and we also answer fab questions on how we keep our relationship so good after so many years and stuff? :)”

description: in which they decide to do a q&a about their relationship and parenthood

pairing: zac efron x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist

“Wanna go to mama?” Zac asked as he held our eight month old towards me. She thought for a moment before pulling away, cuddling close to her father.

“I’ll remember this,” I told her, playfully narrowing my eyes at her.

I adjusted my camera to make sure it was perfect one last time before finally hitting the record button.

“Hey everyone!” I greeted the camera. “It’s (Y/N) and, back by popular demand, we have Zac!”

Zac smiled and waved at the camera. “Hey everyone.”

“And today we are also joined by the most adorable girl in the whole world, Dani Efron.” I looked over to see Dani was more interested in her socks than the filming. “You guys have been asking for a Q&A with Zac and I about parenthood, so I decided it was time to give you what you’ve been asking for.”

Dani squealed to herself before reaching for one of her toys on the floor. Zac bent over to pick it up and pass it to her. She smiled excitedly and began to play with it.

“I asked you guys to tweet me your questions regarding Dani, the pregnancy, the birth - but nothing too r rated - and about myself and Zac. I picked a couple, and now here we go,” I continued to explain.

I picked up my phone and opened the first question. “Okay, question number one says, Pretty cliché question here, but what was your guys’ first reactions when (Y/N) found out she was pregnant?”

“Shock,” Zac answered first. He began to laugh once he said it. “I know that’s also cliché, but it’s the truth. You told me you were pregnant and I remember just like...not knowing what to do.”

“I really wish I filmed your reaction now, but I was afraid it wouldn’t go well,” I admitted.

Zac and I had been together for nearly 13 years when I found out I was pregnant. Neither one of us had talked about marriage and kids seriously at the time, we were both comfortable with where we were in the relationship. We had talked about eventually wanting kids, but we were both still young and still focused on our careers.

I took a pregnancy test shortly after the second period I missed. When it came back positive, I went to the doctor to make sure and sure enough, it came back positive as well. I was so scared to tell Zac because I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be. I didn’t think he’d be mad, but what if he wasn’t ready? Was I even ready?

He was shocked, as he had said. At first I thought he was going to pass out. I didn’t think he was even breathing. The longer it took for him to respond, the more anxious I got. When he finally spoke, my heart began to flutter.

“Holy fuck, I’m gonna be a dad!”

He had lifted me into his arms and held me tightly, happy tears running down his face. I kissed him for so long after that, and we were just happy.

“I was pretty shocked as well, but I had an idea that I was because I had missed two periods,” I responded. “I had myself convinced it was like a medial reason, though. I was so sure I wasn’t pregnant.”

“I suppose it was about time for us to have a kid, we have been together for years.”

Dani threw her toy onto the floor and immediately exclaimed. Zac chuckled and placed her on the floor, letting her crawl around after her toys.

“The next question is, What was it like being pregnant?”

“That’s a question for you,” Zac laughed.

“I’m aware,” I said and playfully stuck my tongue out at him. “At first it was basically just like having a persistent stomach bug, but once Dani actually started growing it felt...just weird. It was like this constant reminder that there was something inside of me growing. And when she’d start to move and was like...baby size if not getting to be baby size, it was this weird realization that she was actually there. That she actually existed. It was all just this weird sensation in general.”

“You went through so much while you were pregnant,” Zac admitted. “I will never be able to say I’m tough ever again cause I am no way tougher than what you went through.”

I couldn’t help but blush at this. I had been hearing this praise for over a year, but I would never get tired of hearing the compliments.

“Ah, I expected this one,” I said as I looked at the next question on my phone. “Is marriage next for you guys?”

I looked over at Zac. I quickly took in his appearance to make sure I wasn’t about to get a surprise engagement. I loved Zac, and of course I’d say yes, but I wasn’t ready to be proposed to while filming a video.

Noticing my look, Zac merely chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I’m not gonna propose right now. When I do it, it’s going to be private and intimate. No one will even know it’ll have happened until after we’re married.”

I couldn’t help but smile brightly at his response. “I like that idea.”

Zac held his hand out towards my phone. “Let me pick the next question.”

I passed it to him and he scrolled through the list of questions I had saved. “Oh, I like this one: Did you guys have any other names picked out for Dani? What were they?”

“Well, we decided not to find out her gender until after she was born,” I explained, “so we had many almost names picked out for her.”

“I was adamant on Josh, just because I liked that name a lot,” Zac said. “And Theodor, I thought that was a cute and proper name.”

“I vetoed Theodor because the last thing we needed was people making jokes about us naming our kid Ted, for obvious reasons,” I said, playfully nudging Zac. “I tried to convince him to choose Troy instead.”

“I vetoed that one immediately.”

“As for girls, the only other name we had besides Danielle was Isabelle, but that’s because I’m obsessed with the Mortal Instruments series and Izzy is my favorite character. When she was born, though, we just knew she was a Dani.”

At the sound of her name, Dani looked up at us from the floor as she sucked on her toy. I couldn’t help but smile at my baby girl before quickly sweeping her up in my arms and placing kisses all over her face. She squealed in response, but I could hear the giggles in between them.

Dani stayed up in my arms through the next few questions before getting bored and wanting to play on the floor again. Zac and I decided to wrap it up after one last question.

“I think we’ll leave that there,” I said into the camera. “Thank you guys so much for watching. If you liked this video, give it a thumbs up and maybe I’ll do another Q&A some time in the future. Hit the subscribe button if you haven’t already, and if you have make sure you turn on notifications so you know every time I post. See you guys next week!”

I covered the camera with my hand before turning it off, my usual outro. Once I had the camera off, Zac stood from his chair and stretched his arms out.

“I don’t know how you film these videos,” he commented. “My body feels so cramped up right now.”

“I think I’ve just gotten used to it,” I responded as I stretched my legs out.

Zac picked Dani up in his arms and began to playfully rock her. “I got to talk about my favorite girl, so I’d have to say the cramped up body is definitely well worth it.”

Dani smiled, her single tooth slightly visible from behind her little lips. Zac kissed her cheek as he walked around our house with her, Dani more than content with being in her father’s arms.

I couldn’t help but smile to myself at my little family. I loved Zac more than words could ever say, and I didn’t think that love could get any stronger until the day I saw him holding our beautiful baby girl for the first time. He had been there for me through the entire pregnancy, and had been such a great father towards Dani. I couldn’t have asked for a better life partner than him.

Noticing my starring, Zac raised an eyebrow at me. “What?”

“Nothing,” I responded with a shrug. “I love you is all.”

He smiled back at me and responded, “I love you, too.” In a higher pitched voice, he moved Dani in front of his face and added, “And I love you, too, mommy.”

I giggled before standing from my chair. I walked over to the two and kissed Dani’s chubby cheeks before kissing Zac more sweetly on the lips.

[imagining-supernatural]

The Fifth Check-In

Part 23 of Seventy Percent

Series Summary: When you left on your trip to Vegas, you’d planned on letting loose for one last weekend before heading back to reality and getting your affairs in order so your best friend wouldn’t be left cleaning up your mess when your cancer finally ended your life. What you hadn’t counted on was waking up married to a celebrity who has a knight-in-shining-armor complex, connections with an oncologist, and amazing insurance…

Chapter Summary:  You have a panic attack on the day you get another round of test results back

Word Count: 1,744

Warnings: The Magicians season 5 spoilers right off the bat. Skip the first few paragraphs if you don’t wanna be spoiled!!

“Look, all I’m saying is that Quentin should have lived and that was a shitty ending.” After stating your opinion, you sat back in the chair and waited for Brenda to respond.

She finished writing something in a chart and nodded over at you. “But the whole season was kind of culminating to that ending, wasn’t it? Quentin had Eliot right there the whole time, but it wasn’t Eliot. They were so close, but couldn’t be together. Then, when the Monster is finally gone, they still can’t be together.”

“Okay, but sacrificing himself like that? God, Q’s been suicidal his whole life and having him basically commit suicide, but wrapping it up with a nice bow of martyrdom is probably the worst way they could have handled it. This is fucking fantasy. You think the writers could have found a better way to keep the angst and tension of keeping Eliot and Quentin apart rather than, you know, killing the character so many people who struggle with depression can identify with like that. Make one of them stuck in another world. Have one be sent back in time or something.”

Brenda regarded you with narrow eyes, taking in your words.

Conversations like this were the reason she was your favorite nurse in the hospital. Both of you shared interest in so many TV shows that it was an instant connection and she would constantly come fill out charts in your room for the company.

“I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

“Mm, well, I have all the time in the world lately to mindlessly scroll through posts online. I never thought I’d miss being able to go out to, like, bars and shit.”

“Well, once you recover from your surgery in January, you’ll be able to do that again.”

You nodded and absently picked at the hem of your shirt. Mid-January was one month away. Yesterday and this morning you’d been run through the gambit of tests and you’d be meeting with Dr. Chowdhury later today for the results. In the three weeks since Thanksgiving, you’d gotten so weak you could barely walk up a flight of stairs without having to pause in the middle to catch your breath. You hoped to God that meant the treatment was working.

If this treatment wasn’t working, there likely wouldn’t be any reason for you to stay in the clinical trial.

Would there be any reason to stay in New York if that happened? When you’d made the deal with Sebastian to stay married and get treatment, you’d agreed that once the treatment was over, you’d get a divorce. But things had changed, hadn’t they?

Brenda got a page and left the room in a hurry, giving your thoughts more space to multiply.

Had things changed enough?

And if you were kicked out of the clinical trial, was it fair to Sebastian for you to stay? You’d known each other almost exactly three months. That wasn’t enough time to expect someone to endure watching your cancer kill you in the last few weeks of your life.

Of course, you hadn’t even known him a full twenty-four hours before he was offering to fly you to New York, offering his home to you, and offering his medical insurance.

The cry of a child down the hallway drew you from your thoughts enough for you to recognize the beginning of a dark spiral. Without thinking too much of it, you pulled your phone out to call Sebastian. On the first ring, you realized he was probably shooting a scene and wouldn’t be able to answer. On the second ring, you decided to just leave a short voicemail. Nothing too worrying.

And on the third ring, he answered. “Hey, Y/N.”

“Oh, hi. I wasn’t expecting you to answer.”

“You called at a good time. Just finished shooting for the day.”

His voice alone was enough to help lessen the tension that had gathered in your shoulders and you found yourself relaxing further back into the recliner. “Wow, short day. What’re you going to do with all of this free time?”

“Thought I’d grab some food and relax until you called. Did you already meet with Dr. Chowdhury?”

“Not yet.” You shook your head, even though he wouldn’t be able to see you. “I’ve still got another hour and a half ‘til the appointment.”

“You nervous?”

You let out a snort of laughter. “A bit, yeah. And by a bit, I mean I’m overthinking everything way too much right now.”

“Talk to me, baby. What’s on your mind?”

“Besides the ever-present worry that the tests come back bad? I don’t know…”

“Y/N…” he prompted.

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes. As if that would make your thoughts easier to bear. “If this treatment isn’t working, what happens then? I-I-I… God, I know I sound like a broken record, but if the results aren’t good, I’m out of options and I can’t help but worry. I mean, what? I go back to Utah and try to make myself accept that I’m going to die? It took me a while to wrap my head around that earlier this year. I don’t know if I can do it as… as peacefully as before. Peacefully isn’t the right word, but I can’t think of it right now. I just… Seb I need the results to be good today. I need good news. I fuckin’ need it.”

“Hey, sweetheart, there’s no—”

“At the very least I need to stick around long enough to see the new season of The Magicians. I’ve put in far too much time looking up fan theories online to die before it airs.” You were rambling. You knew it. But you couldn’t stop. In fact, you just kept talking faster and faster, tripping over your words. “And have I ever told you about when I watched the finale of the last season? I was crying so much that when I left my room to get ice cream, Jasmin told me she could hear me crying all the way from her room. Like, fuck, that can’t be the last scene I see of The Magicians. That would be far too cruel of a joke for the Universe to play on me.”

“Y/N, breathe.” You did as he said. He waited for you to take a few more breaths before speaking again. “Baby, where’s all this coming from? You were fine this weekend before I left, weren’t you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I was. But now it’s here and this is the last round of these tests like this. The next time I have tests run, it’ll be to see if I’m ready for surgery. Not to see if the treatment is working. These are the last progress tests. And, historically, I haven’t had much luck with those. The first round of tests with Helen showed that my cancer was more aggressive than my doctor back in Salt Lake thought. Then there were the tests before you left for that week of interviews when we found out it was even more aggressive than we thought because it hadn’t shrunk any. Then—”

“Hey, baby, baby.” Sebastian cut off your recap of bad luck. “I know. I know there’s only really been one round of tests that didn’t give you bad results. Trust me, I know how scary this is. I’m fuckin’ terrified too.”

In a soft, meek voice you asked, “You are?”

“I am. I don’t want to lose you, and there’s nothing I can do at all to change the outcome of any of this. God, I wish I was with you right now.”

I don’t want to lose you.

That was the first time he’d said anything about seeing a future with you, besides a few offhanded comments about next year. Sure, it was a loose interpretation, and it was something people said at times like these, but it still made your heart calm down a bit.

“I wish you were here too,” you admitted quietly. Something about hearing him admit that he was scared calmed your nerves. “Can… can I call you and put you on speaker when I meet with Dr. Chowdhury? I know it won’t be the same as you holding my hand but…”

“Yes, please. I was about to ask that, actually.”

Relief flowed through your body. “Thank you, honey. I didn’t want to go through alone. I’m glad you had a short day today.”

“Mmhmm.” He agreed.

“Anyway, I should probably let you go for now. Go grab some food and head back to your room.”

“You sure? I can stay on with you. I can multitask.”

A smile forced itself onto your face at his offer. “I know. And I appreciate the offer, but I’m coming down from that little panic attack and I think I’m going to fall asleep. So you get your food and I’m going to take a nap while this machine keeps pumping toxic chemicals into my body. I’ll talk to you in an hour and a half.”

Your leg was bouncing faster than your heart was beating. Or was it the other way around?

Either way, you were nervous as hell.

“So, to be on track the tumor has to have shrunk at least twenty percent, right?” You asked Dr. Chowdhury as he looked through your file. “That’s what you said when we changed the treatment. Twenty percent by now, and another fifteen percent before surgery?”

He nodded. “That is correct. Dr. Abara agreed that if your tumor shrinks at least thirty-five percent since your previous scans, your chances at having a successful surgery are much higher than if it does not shrink that much. Considering how you have reacted to the treatment thus far, twenty percent is a fair amount.”

You blew out a long breath and heard Sebastian shifting on the other end of the phone.

“So?” you asked Dr. Chowdhury, gripping your phone so tightly you were scared it might break. “Where am I at?”

“Your scans show that the tumor is twenty-five percent smaller than it was at Thanksgiving.”

He was smiling at you and Sebastian was saying something, but your brain couldn’t process the news that quickly.

Twenty-five percent? More than anticipated? Good news?

“That’s… that’s good news, right?”

A short bark of relieved laughter came through the phone speaker from Sebastian as Dr. Chowdhury nodded. “Very good news.”

“Holy shit.”

You could hardly believe it.

Good News!!! And I would apologize for ranting about The Magicians, but I had EMOTIONS that needed a VOICE and this was the time and place, apparently. Anyway, I was rereading this and saw the line about being able to go to bars and shit in January and just laughed a bit. Ah, the world before COVID. I miss those times. So, do you guys think the treatment is going to continue to work? You think the surgery will happen? And if it does... what happens after Are they gonna stay married? 

CHAPTER 24: THE AIRPORT

[the--sad--hatter]

Mischief & Madness - Chapter 3 (Loki X Reader)

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Loki/Reader (No physical description of reader other than female presenting)

Warnings: LOKI, Angst, lots of violence, graphic gore, extreme cursing, anxiety attacks. 

Summary:

Living in New York has its ups and its downs. Upside - You have a cushy job at Stark Industries. Downside - You wind up getting yourself kidnapped by The God Of Mischief.

All you wanted was a decent cup of coffee, now you’re stuck on the otherside of the universe with a sociopath who has only begrudgingly not murdered you.

To get back home you’ll have to work with Loki, and probably stop trying to stab him.

To regain his power, he’ll have to work with you, and probably stop trying to slaughter you.

When Mischief and Madness collide, chaos ensues. Even if you survive this, the universe probably won’t…

Masterlist 

Chapter Three

As soon as the doors opened Natasha sauntered out of the elevator, leaving you to trail after her. The first person to notice and acknowledge you was Vision, who drifted over and held his fist out to you.

 “I have garnered from watching the interactions of the team that when a friend is victorious it is customary to offer them your fist so that they may bump it.” He explained, pleased with himself.

 You shifted your coffee to your non-dominant hand and accepted the proffered fist bump, cooing under your breath at his adorableness.

 “There she is, my favourite lil genius!” Sam crowed loudly, jogging over to sling his arm around your shoulders.

 “Excuse me? Is she the genius who pays for everything?” Tony squawked, offended.

 “Shush, let me have my moment.” You scolded.

“You did very well today.” Wanda said softly, and you had to look around for a moment before you spotted her on the couch, sandwiched between Clint and Steve.

 “Yeah, I had Friday pull the footage so I can watch it on repeat.” Clint sniggered ecstatically as Sam swept you over to the seating area.

 Something cold touched your wrist and you looked down at Bucky who was splayed across an armchair. He didn’t say anything, just caught your eye and gave you a firm nod of approval.

 “What kind of coffee is that?” Tony demanded, snatching the cup from your hand and taking a sip.

 “Gimme a break, I took an impromptu and unwilling flying lesson today.” You scoffed, snatching it back.

 “But I caught you!” Peter exclaimed, wiggling in his seat like a proud puppy who’d successfully performed a trick.

 “Yes, yes you did. Three cheers for Spiderinfant!” You scoffed, letting Sam push you onto the couch next to Steve.

 “I agree, congratulations are in order for the young ones and their part in todays battle. Were this Asgard, we would feast for days to honour them.”

 “Let’s go to Asgard then.” You stage whispered to Peter.  

 “Alas, I have just returned from Asgard and I have much news.” Thor admitted heavily.

 “Lay it on us, how much did Loki screw up Asgard?” Tony asked.

 “While masquerading as my father Loki ruled Asgard fairly and justly. He built monuments to himself of course but the people did not seem to mind. I suspect many of them knew it was Loki in disguise but choose to continue the charade. Indeed, Asgard is peaceful and prosperous.” Thor admitted, befuddled.

 “Huh. How about that? The would be King was actually fit for the job. Maybe we should have just given Loki the planet.” You sniggered.

 “Joking. Obviously.” You quickly added when you were subjected to numerous hard stares.

 “So what’s the bad news?” Steve asked, getting back on track.

 “The Enchantress Amora began causing havoc in Asgard, that is why Loki came here to find a weapon to stop her. She has been captured, though only barely. I believed Loki was acting in Asgards best interest until we went to the Vaults and the tesseract disappeared.”

 “Loki has the Tesseract?” Steve asked sharply.

 “I do not know. The Tesseract was in the vault. It disappeared before our very eyes and we know not where it has gone.”

 “Friday, where’s Loki?” Tony snapped out quickly.

 “He is on the balcony reading about childhood trauma and the effects it can have in later life.” Friday responded.

 “Who gave Loki a book?” Steve sighed.

 You sunk down in your seat guiltily, refusing to meet Natasha’s eye.

 “I did. Thought he might learn something.” The redheaded Russian said blithely, covering for you.

 You put your hand up nervously.

 “You can go to the bathroom, you don’t need to ask.” Clint whispered, shaking his head slightly at you.

 “Good to know, but… What do you mean The Tesseract disappeared. In all the years it was studied on Earth it never acted on it’s own. Someone had to have taken it, somehow. There’s only one person we know of who can do anything similar to that, and he knew where it was. It had to have been Loki.” You suggested.

 “Agreed. Friday, up the security on Loki and around the tower.” Tony instructed, taking your suggestion seriously.

 “I will guard Loki personally.” Thor said sagely, picking up his hammer.

 He didn’t really wait for an agreement, just stomped out onto the landing and stepped over the edge.

 “Love that guy. Knows how to make an entrance and an exit.” You snorted.

 “You’ll get used to it.” Steve assured, patting your shoulder.

 “Will I? Because as fun as today has been, I don’t really see myself hanging out with you in much of an Avenging capacity. Feel free to invite me to Pizza Parties though! And by feel free, I mean do it or I’ll subscribe you to every penis enlargement scam on the net.” You warned.

 “You wanna tell her?” Steve asked Tony.

 You looked between them, teetering between curious excitement and nervous fear.

 “Tell me what? Tell meeeeeeeeee!” You demanded.

 “Wanna hang out with us in an Avenging capacity? Pizza parties included.” Tony asked giddily, looking quite proud of himself.

 “All of our scientific minds are also out on the front, fighting. We think it would be beneficial if we had people working full time on tech, communications, weaponry etc… People we can trust. We already know you, we like you, we trust you and you’ve more than proven how capable you are.” Steve added.

 Proud of you, Tony was proud of you, not himself. You were being extended a coveted invitation to…

 “So you want me to be your ‘Q’?” You clarified.

 “Yes.” Steve agreed, rolling his eyes when you and Tony gaped at him in surprise.

 “I’ve seen James Bond.” He said flatly.

 “We’re offering you a job Princess. We want you to move into the compound upstate and work for The Avengers full time. You wouldn’t be in the public eye so you would be safe, and yes you will have your own lab. All the toys and funding you want.” Tony explained.

 “Barnes and I have worked out a training schedule for you, not that we’re expecting you to go on missions.” Natasha added, smiling over at you smugly.

 “We picked you out a room next to mine.” Wanda said excitedly.

  “I stopped Tony from making your room pink, but I couldn’t talk him out of the Canopy bed.” Sam snorted.

 “That beds awesome. If you don’t want it, I’ll have it!” Clint offered enthusiastically.

 “Banners at the compound now, setting up your lab equipment.” Steve added, explain the Doctors absence from the meeting.

 “Wait, you’re taking her upstate?” Peter piped up, near pouting.

 “Relax kid, we’re not locking her up, she’s not going from Sleeping Beauty to Rapunzel. You can still have playdates.” Tony assured.

 Throughout all the excitement you had remained uncharacteristically silent, something that started to dawn on everyone.

 “Uh, I… My coffee is cold. I’m going to make a fresh one.” You muttered, getting stiffly to your feet.

 “Princess?”

 “Just give me a minute, please. I’ll be back.” You said briskly, high-tailing it towards the elevator.

 “Well done guys, you scared her off.” Sam grouched as you slipped into the elevator, trying not to hyper-ventilate.

 It was a more than generous offer, it was a dream come true. But you couldn’t help but wander back to your lab in a daze, trying to untie the knot in your stomach. This was literally the biggest thing to ever happen to you, being invited to work with Earth’s Mightiest. You’d have access to resources and tech beyond your imagination, you could work directly with Tony and Banner not just for them. You could have a hand in saving the world, changing it, improving and saving lives.

 So why were you sat on a chair with your head in your hands and trying not to cry?

 “Princess, your heart rate is elevated and you are showing signs of distress. Is everything ok?” Friday asked, her volume lower than it normally was.

 “And there is your greatest fear, laid bare. You can’t stand the thought that your death will be as meaningless and unimportant as your life.”

 “I’m fine Friday.” You answered numbly.

 “The genius in a tower of people smarter than her, brushing shoulders with champions and knowing she will never be one, surrounded by greatness but unable to achieve it herself.”

 “Should I inform Mr Stark you need him?” She prodded.

 “You hate that you are insignificant, that you will never rise above the mediocrity that is so prevalent in your race.”

 “No. I don’t need Tony. I don’t need anyone.” You replied coldly.

 You knew what was wrong now. You were scared. Scared that you’d have the chance to be something more, to be important and that you would blow it. It was easy to hope for something but when that hope came to fruition it wasn’t easy to follow through.

 What if you weren’t as smart as they thought you were?

 What if you messed up and someone got hurt?

 What if you crumbled under the pressure?

 What if you let yourself down?

 What if you let Tony down?

 What if you got what you wanted and realised it wasn’t what you needed?

 What if you didn’t fit in?

 What if they realised the same thing everybody else always inevitably did, that you weren’t likeable?

 What if you got thrown out and lost everything?

 You were so consumed with what ifs that you didn’t notice that Friday hadn’t answered you. You only looked up when something you couldn’t quite put your finger on let you know something was wrong. You looked around the lab, on alert, searching for what was wrong, when you heard it.

 Or rather, you didn’t hear it. The lab was full of equipment and machines that were always on, humming and whirring, the white noise of machinery. It was silent now though, and now that you realised that you could see that all the blinking lights were off.

 “Friday?”

 There was no response, and a chill ran down your spine. You pulled your phone from your pocket and frowned at the black screen. You raced towards the elevator, knowing full well what you’d find and you were right. There was no electricity in the building, or anything in the building. Something had drained all the power.

 Which meant…

 “Hello Vænn.” He hissed, right behind you.

 Loki’s cell was useless.

 His fingers closed around your elbow and you were forcibly slammed into the nearest wall. His green eyes glinted in the darkness and something sharp and cold pressed into the tender flesh over your thrumming pulse.

 “Is that a dagger at my throat or are you happy to see me?” You laughed breathlessly, without humour.

 “You bested me once, I can not let the insult pass, nor risk you doing it again.” He explained almost amicably.

 He was so close you could see the flecks of gold and emerald in his eyes, and the regret as well. It almost distracted you from the sharp pain in your neck until you felt something damp drip down your skin. The dagger was so sharp it had started to slice through your skin even though he’d made no move to injure you yet. His gaze flickered down and he watched the thin rivulet of blood roll down your throat.

 “You’re hesitating.” You accused him.

 “Are you so eager to die?” He threw back.

 “Just wondering if that connection I felt we had was in my imagination, because after our moment on the balcony I thought we were friends. And friends don’t slit friends throats.” You told him, half joking-half imploring.

 His eyes darted across your face like he was searching for something, some kind of sign about what to do. Or maybe he was just relishing in your terror and you were projecting.

 “I was King. I had the throne and the power. The people adored me, even if they didn’t know it was me. I had everything and it’s lost because of you. You took everything from me and taking your pathetic life isn’t an even bargain but it is all you have, so it is what I will take in recompense.” He hissed, his eyes brimming over with darkness and hate.

 “Loki, don’t. Please don’t kill me.” You whispered softly.

 “For someone with so much pride, you do beg so prettily, sweet Vænn.” He whispered back, his tone hard where yours had been gentle.

 There it was again, that word. What it meant was still beyond the reaches of your knowledge but it hardly seemed pertinent right now, with the tower shrouded in darkness and your blood painting your skin.

 They had to know Loki would be free, The Avengers had to know. If you could just stall long enough, distract him, you could survive. You could beg some more, play up to the pathetic mortal gig, wait for someone stronger than you to come and rescue you.

 “You can try as hard as you like to lay the blame with me but we both know you were never really King, you were a bastard prince playing pretend.” You snarled.

 You didn’t want to die, but in the end you were still you, and you didn’t want to snivel and beg. There was no point in surviving if the price was being unable to look yourself in the mirror.

 Thunderous crashing above you made you flinch, unwittingly slicing your own skin a little more. The entire tower shook and for a moment you thought an Earthquake had struck New York, but everything soon became clear.

 “Loki! Stop this at once!” Thor roared, his booming voice reaching you a split second before he came crashing into the lab, the hammer swinging in his hand. When he saw you, half hidden behind Loki and blood beginning to stain your shirt, his eyes widened. Which begged the question, if he didn’t know Loki was about to kill you, what was he demanding that Loki stop?

 There was one final crash as the ceiling above your head collapsed, plaster and concrete raining down on your lab in a dusty explosion. Instinctively you hid behind Loki, using him as a shield and forgetting about the dagger that he thankfully pulled away in time. When the dust cleared you realised he wasn’t even paying attention to you, his eyes fixed on the centre of the lab. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Thor raise the hammer but you couldn’t care less.

 Levitating off the ground, smack in the middle of your lab, was the Tesseract. Blue light shone from it, casting a glow over everything it touched. It was… mesmerising. Utterly entranced by it you stepped forward in tandem with Loki, unaware you’d put yourself between him and Thor. Thor was yelling something but you couldn’t make it out, it was like you were underwater, separated from the world and drowning in blue light. The only thing you could clearly hear was your own heartbeat, slow and steady, calmly pulsating as you walked towards the Tesseract as the light got brighter and brighter.

 And then the floor dropped out from under your feet and swirling blue light was the only thing left.

A/N - Aaaaaaand we're off.

I think it's setting itself apart from MMYM. I feel like Princess and Kitten, while both sassy af, are quite different, and this Loki is a little bit different as well. I could be wrong though, so, thoughts?

Ngl though, I am already digging the Princess/Loki dynamics.

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[flutteringphalanges]

Summary: It is public knowledge that Zoe Van Helsing is the last of her blood line. Not to mention that, in a sense, Count Dracula is too. However, after an unexpected night of passion, both their lives dramatically change when Zoe becomes pregnant. Two unconventional parents, one extraordinary pregnancy. What could go wrong?

Rating: M

Pairings: Zoe Van Helsing/Dracula implied Agatha/Dracula

Read on FFN and AO3

A/N: I can’t believe I updated TWO stories in ONE day! This is a first for me in a long time lol! Sorry for being overly excited. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Feedback is greatly loved and appreciated! -Jen

                                                Chapter Seven

Zoe no longer winced at needles. After being diagnosed with cancer, she was so used to being pricked and prodded she barely batted an eyelash. As her oncologist drew yet another vial of blood for testing, she sighed softly to herself and gazed upwards at the clock. This appointment was cutting way past her lunch break and in her current state, food was rather important. Particularly when it came to her mood.

"We'll send these down to the lab, but as I said earlier, you're still in remission." Dr. Elliott commented, discarding the needles into the waste container. "Have you felt off at all? I mean, I realize you are pregnant and symptoms can be hard to distinguish sometimes."

"I'm fine." The scientist said with a small smile. "The last thing that sent me vomiting was a block of old cheese I left in the back of the fridge." Absentmindedly, a hand traveled to the small swell of her stomach. "And my obstetrician says the twins look good development wise."

"That's wonderful news!" Her doctor smiled, scribbling something down on her chart. "And their father must be excited as well. You've never brought him in before, I'd quite like to meet him."

Now that made her wince. She envisioned Dracula walking into the cancer ward asking bizarrely specific questions about the various blood bags destined for patient transfusions. Zoe swallowed, mustering up the courage to tell yet another lie in this web of who and what her twins were.

"We aren't together." She said slowly. "It's a complicated situation."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I shouldn't have even brought it up." Dr. Elliott nearly stammered. "It wasn't any of my business. I was merely curious…"

"It's quite alright." Zoe assured her, forcing a smile. "Really, you're not the first. And honestly, it's for the best...all things considered."

"I suppose that's what's important." The oncologist nodded, setting the chart down beside a computer. "Well, that's all I need from you today, Ms. Van Helsing. You know the drill, if you have any concerns or any odd or new symptoms start to arise, please contact me immediately. Especially with you being pregnant, we don't want to take any risks. If your blood results show something, we'll give you a call."

"Okay." The scientist nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"It was good to see you again, Zoe." Dr. Elliott smiled, reaching for the door handle. "And congratulations again on the little ones. Being a mum is worth all of the troubles."

Zoe smiled but said nothing as the doctor left the room. When the door closed behind her, she inhaled deeply and ran a hand through her hair. Though she meant well, the woman really had no idea what was in store for the scientist. Not that the mother herself had much of a thought either. Rubbing her bump gently, she glanced once more at the clock. Time for work, and what a day, she knew, it'd be.

                                                             XXX

"Maybe someone else should go in with him, you know?" Jack suggested, trying to keep up with Zoe's long strides. "With you being pregnant and all? What if he hurts you?"

Hours had passed since Zoe's doctor visit and the sun had finally sunk over the horizon. As they had discussed, Dracula had held up his end of the bargain and voluntarily entered the Jonathan Harker Foundation. The scientist, of course, had yet to catch sight of him, but knew well enough that Dr. Bloxham and some approved escorts-as chosen by both her boss and the lawyer, were waiting patiently in a secure area.

"He's not going to harm me," the scientist assured him. "Trust me, he wouldn't dare."

"You being sure of that doesn't outweigh the risks." The younger man continued to counter. "Zoe, please." He took the woman by the arm causing her to stop in her tracks. "Don't do this."

For the briefest of moments, a small part of her considered the idea of telling Jack. Admitting that the father of her children was not a stranger, but the vampire Count Dracula himself. But she knew doing so right now was in neither of their best interests. She hated being deceptive. Despised it even. Yet she accepted the fact that she must.

"I'll be okay, Jack." Zoe said gently, pulling away from the doctor. "I am more than capable of handling myself. I've done it before. "The scientist gazed towards the closed metal doors that led into the room where the Count sat freely–without any sort of restraints as per agreement, and sighed. "Interesting yes, but dangerous…" She chewed on the inside of her cheek, choosing her next words carefully. "I'm probably safer in there with him than anywhere else."

And without looking back to gauge Jack's reaction, she slid in her key card and entered the sterile space. The room was rather empty in the sense that not much was in it. It sort of reminded her of those interrogation rooms from crime shows. Unlike last time, there was no prison but a simple metal table with some chairs.

Zoe blinked, the bright light somewhat irritating as she took note of the others in the room. Three burly men stood in the back, their eyes fixed on the scientist. Attached to each of their hips was a strange looking device. A stun gun of some sort she figured. But more importantly, there, sitting rather comfortably in the center was the vampire himself.

"Ah, Dr. Van Helsing." Dracula greeted as the woman ventured over, taking a seat. "I was beginning to worry you wouldn't show up and I'd have the misfortune of talking to someone else. Glad to see I can rest easy."

"I apologize if I kept you waiting." She almost had to force the words out. "I was held up with other things. You've been treated well I assume?"

"Well, no one has threatened to burn me into a crisp like last time." The Count smirked, folding his arms over his chest. "I'd say that is an upgrade. Now, enough about me for a moment, Zoe-can I call you that since we'll be working together after all?"

"I suppose…" She muttered, frowning slightly. "...That would be appropriate."

He seemed to smile at this. "If you don't mind me being intrusive, I wanted to ask how your oncology appointment went today. A little birdie told me you had one and considering your condition-congratulations by the way." The way he smiled as he spoke made Zoe's skin crawl. "Well, I thought I'd be polite and ask. We are working together now."

"Fine." She said through clenched teeth. "But you aren't here to discuss me."

"Do something to provoke him. Perhaps he'll make a move and one of the guards will dispose of him properly."

Now standing alongside the three men was the familiar spirit of Agatha. Her blue eyes gave a piercing stare in the vampire's direction. Zoe chewed on her bottom lip, trying not to focus on her late aunt.

"Is everything alright, Zoe?" Dracula asked curiously, snapping the woman out of her trance. "I believe we were on the topic of discussing me rather than you-which is rather unfortunate on my end." His fingers laced together over the table. "I was told you needed another blood sample from me. That the other one went...missing." His tongue briefly darted out as he licked his lips. "I must admit that's rather clumsy on your department's part."

"Yes, well, things happen." Zoe interjected feeling the heat rise up the back of her neck. "But getting another one shouldn't be a problem now will it?"

"Only if you take it yourself." The vampire smirked, chuckling lightly. "You did a good enough job last time...even if it did go missing."

"Serpent." Agatha hissed from her spot in the room.

"We'll be more vigilant this time." The scientist promised with a frown. "That's a guarantee."

                                                        XXX

Zoe couldn't help but grimace a little when Dracula slid his nail over his wrist, slicing through his flesh like fresh butter. She could feel his eyes watching her as she carefully collected the sample, handing it off to a tech that had entered the room.

"Open." She commanded, holding a long cotton swab. "I need your saliva."

"Aren't you worried I might bite?" The vampire teased, opening his mouth as the woman threw him a look. "Adventurous, but aren't all Van Helsings." Zoe continued to be silent as she handed off the Q-tip. "How's your pregnancy fairing? From what little I've picked up from my time here, you don't talk to others much about it."

"My private life and work life are separate for a reason." The scientist finally said, taking a step back from the Count. "And I'd like to keep it that way, especially with you. Here." She sat back down in her seat.

"So what exactly do you plan to do with all of the DNA you took from me?" Dracula asked curiously. "I certainly hope not to attempt to replicate me. Though, an army of vampires might be of use to the government. A race of super soldiers the likes of which the world has never seen." He laughed at his pitiful joke.

"As we expressed before with your lawyer, we merely want to understand you. Humanely. And if you keep cooperating like you are now, things will remain easy." Zoe inhaled deeply. "And if you are curious about the results, I would be more than happy to share with you what we learn as we go along."

"Science is fascinating, isn't it?" Dracula mused, his eyes traveling down to the woman's stomach. "Really makes you ponder about the little things in life."

It was as if he wanted to rely to the world who the father to the twins residing in her belly were. The way he pushed at the boundaries of it all. Zoe tried not to tense up as his dark eyes met hers. They were a team now, in more ways than one. And whether she liked it or not, the expecting mother would have to make it work.

"I think we're done here." Zoe said standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Count Dracula."

She turned on her heels as he called out something to her. Whatever it was, it fell on deaf ears. Exhausted, she made her way out of the room. Thankfully, it seemed Jack had already left for the night. The last thing she needed was to go over today's events with him. Some soup, a movie, and a fuzzy blanket sounded like the closest thing one could reach to Heaven as Zoe headed towards her car.

"You seem to be in an awfully big hurry."

Zoe turned around and bit back a groan as Dracula came into sight. Gone were the guards and any sign of human life. Just the scientist and the vampire alone in the parking lot under the dim street lights.

"Go away." She mumbled. "I've had enough of you for one night."

"I did as you asked." The vampire replied simply. "A thank you would suffice."

"No, what you nearly did was give away the fact that I not only tampered with important evidence, but I conceived not one, but two babies with you!" Zoe hissed under her breath. "So I won't be thanking you."

"Ah, hormones, I read they were raging during the second trimester." Dracula commented, shaking his head. "Don't worry, I honestly don't take it personally. When you come to your senses, you'll realize that in the end, you are the one being ridiculous about this."

"Ridicul-"

Suddenly, a sharp pain ignited from Zoe's lower abdomen. The amusement fell from the vampire's face as the scientist let out a sharp yelp and grabbed the spot. Stars flooded Zoe's vision and they weren't from the sky. Someone called out her name, the word sounding distant as darkness began to swallow her up. A pair of arms caught her before she hit the ground and as the world started to fade, the look of horror etched on Dracula's face might have even been comical. If it weren't for the two, fragile little lives within her.

[heartofether]

Season One Q&A - Part One TRANSCRIPT

[You can listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts, or go to our “Listen” page if you’re on desktop.]

VAL

Hey, there. Just wanted to let you all know that after we recorded our season one Q&A, we decided that because it ran so long, it would be a much better listening experience if we cut it into two parts. So, what you are listening to right now is part one. If you asked a question and you don’t hear it in this part, I can guarantee you it will be in the second one. Thank you all so much and enjoy the Q&A!

[MUSIC PLAYS FOR A FEW SECONDS]

LUKA [AS THE MUSIC FADES]

Hello everyone, welcome to My Brother, My Brother, and Me.

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

[THROUGH LAUGHTER] An advice show for the modern era. I guess, should I just try it and then if it sounds really bad, like, I’ll immediately back out?

VAL

Yeah, you can try.

LUKA

Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Heart of Ether season one Q&A! [THEY HUFF A LAUGH.] How are you feeling today, Val?

VAL

Feeling great. [BEAT] Was that it?

LUKA

That sounded like something.

[THEY BOTH LAUGH.]

LUKA

Should we introduce ourselves? I don’t know.

[PAUSE.] Um. I mean, probably.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

That would be good. [BEAT] Do you want to go first? [THEY LAUGH.]

VAL

Yeah. Um, my name is Val. I’m the writer and producer of The Heart of Ether, as well as the voice of Rosemary Quinn.

LUKA

Woo!

VAL

You’ve probably heard me say that several times at the beginning of episodes by now.

LUKA

[SMALLER] Woo!

VAL

So—

LUKA

Cheers.

VAL

Cheers.

LUKA

And— [THEY LAUGH.] Who am I? My name—nope. I’m gonna start that sentence over.

[THEY BOTH LAUGH.]

LUKA

And I’m Luka Miller! I play Irene, and I make music—no, I don’t. Yeah, I do.

[MORE LAUGHTER.]

LUKA

[CONT.] I do the music for the show.

So, we got a lot—I sound so disinterested. I’m not, I promise. I’m just trying to be cohesive.

VAL

[OVERLAPPING, THROUGH LAUGHTER] You’re fine, you’re fine.

LUKA

So we got sent a lot of very good questions. I’m going to moderate, I guess. Moderate is the worst word I could use—

VAL

In quotation marks.

LUKA

“Moderate” in quotation marks. There’s two people here, and I’m asking the questions. Interviewer? Question mark? That’s fine.

VAL

[OVERLAPPING] Wow, that’s so fancy.

LUKA

Okay, so, I was going to save my question for last, but I think it’s actually a good intro question. 

VAL

Okay.

LUKA

So starting right off the bat.

VAL

Okay.

LUKA

This is a question from me. Are you ready?

VAL

[SOMEWHAT NERVOUSLY] Yeah?

LUKA

So you bring this up in an episode, and I felt the need to ask it to where there was an answer. I think it’s Episode 7? If it’s not Episode 7, it’s not—that’s going to look really bad on me.

[VAL LAUGHS.]

VAL

It’s fine, it’s fine.

LUKA

Every time I think something happened, I say it’s in Episode 7.

[THEY BOTH LAUGH.]

LUKA

Um. Who was Irene’s anime crush in middle school?

VAL

See, you’re the one asking me that, but you’re the one who knows her name. ‘Cause I haven’t seen this—’cause we talked about this. We had a discussion about this, but I don’t remember the girl’s name.

LUKA

Okay, ‘cause I was—okay, ‘cause here’s the thing: I know who we kind of agreed on when we first had the conversation, but I was wondering if we had, like, settled on it.

VAL

I hadn’t given it any additional thought. I mean, I guess like...haven’t watched an anime in long enough to like, come up with a cohesive thought about who it would be.

LUKA

Um, the original answer was Bishamon from Noragami. [PAUSE] Because—

VAL

I—

LUKA

[CONT.] Because that was my, uh— [WHEEZE] Uh, can we edit that out?

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

That’s a joke. You can leave it in, but like— [THEY LAUGH.] I am exposing myself a little bit here. She’s kinda sexy.

VAL

I mean—you know what? I think that’s an acceptable answer.

LUKA

Yeah?

VAL

Like, I think that’s solid.

LUKA

Okay.

VAL

I can’t think of anything better.

LUKA

Okay. I just figured the people needed to know, so I wanted to throw it in there.

VAL

[OVERLAPPING] Now the people know.

LUKA

The people know.

Okay, so, the next ten questions are all from the same person. Shoutout to Jes.

VAL

Truly a homie.

LUKA

Jesse Smith. We love you. The light of my life. I feel like this just sounds like I’m just talking to some random person, uh—Jes is everything. We love Jes.

[THEY BOTH LAUGH.]

VAL

Jes, um—

LUKA

We know Jes personally. It’s not weird, I promise.

VAL

For context of the show, Jes is voice of Dr. Michaels in Episode 7. Kinda forgot that happened, not gonna lie.

LUKA

Yeah, Jes—Jes in the show. Cheers. Good for them.

VAL

Cheers.

LUKA

I wonder if Jes will ever be in the show again.

VAL

Wow!

LUKA

Probably—[DEADPAN] Never. They won’t.

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

Alright, number one. You’re gonna hate this question.

VAL

Okay.

LUKA

“Do you have an estimation for the season two or season two trailer release date?”

[VAL SIGHS.]

VAL

That’s a great question. [BEAT] No.

[LUKA LAUGHS.]

LUKA

The answer is soon.

VAL

Soon. I don’t have any exact dates or times for you.

LUKA

It’s written.

VAL

Season two trailer is written. The actors have read over it. Will not say who those actors are.

LUKA

It’s been cast, though. Everything is set up to get it recorded.

VAL

Yeah. Also, while trailer is technically very close to being ready, I do not want to give you guys trailer and then you have to wait, like, seven months for season two or something crazy like that. Like, I wanna wait a little bit.

LUKA

Yeah, but we do have a few things that will be going up—

VAL

Yeah, that’s true.

LUKA

[CONT.] —in the few—in the next coming weeks. 

VAL

That’s true.

LUKA

Um, some of which are very exciting. I will not—

VAL

Some of it’s still being planned.

LUKA

Shh. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. But, exciting things coming before trailer.

VAL

Yeah, so, trailer will be coming hopefully soon, but you will also have plenty of bonus content besides trailer to look forward to. 

LUKA

This one is fun: “If the main cast of characters was in D&D, what class would they be? Additionally, do any of them actually play D&D?”

VAL

[THINKING] This one’s gonna take me a moment.

LUKA

I think—oh, I was gonna say something, but that was gonna be really dumb. Valencia Wizard. 

VAL

I think you’re right about that. I think Valencia Wizard makes a lot of sense. Dorothy, also, I guess in that case.

I think Irene would be a Druid, and that’s primarily just because forestry—

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] Forest School.

VAL

[THEY CHUCKLE.] Yeah. Forest School.

Carol would be—I think Carol would just be a Fighter. Just like, a basic Fighter. I can’t think of anything better for her. Uh—me forgetting every D&D class.

Hold on, I have one: Aden would be a Bard.

LUKA

Mmhm.

VAL

And he would exclusively play Mitski songs.

LUKA

[THEY CHUCKLE.] Good for him.

VAL

Good for him.

Phoebe, I think—Phoebe might also be a Wizard. But she might—I dunno, she might also be, like, a Sorcerer? I feel like that has an energy, but I’m not sure.

LUKA

I have a suggestion.

VAL

Okay.

LUKA

You can say no.

VAL

Alright.

LUKA

Holly maybe Ranger.

VAL

I was going to say Holly Barbarian, but Holly Ranger makes a lot more sense.

LUKA

Yeah?

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

This is specifically—[CENSORED BEEP TO HIDE SPOILERS.]

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

I think makes—I think, uh, it makes sense to me.

VAL

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So, I—wait, what would Rose be?

Maybe Rose would also be a Bard? I think Rose would either be a Bard or a Monk.

LUKA

Ooh.

VAL

Like I feel like Monk has vibes.

LUKA

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you think any of them actually play D&D?

VAL

I feel like Irene has at least tried to get into D&D at some point. 

LUKA

I—

VAL

Aden definitely does, um—

[THEY BOTH CHUCKLE.]

LUKA

I think Irene went to, like, one D&D club meeting in college.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

Tried to learn it, and then felt bad about herself because she couldn’t remember the rules, and then didn’t go again.

VAL

That makes a lot of sense, yeah.

LUKA

This is not from personal experience, but it’s darn close.

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

Anyways—[THEY LAUGH.] Um, number three. Well, number four, but number three off of Jes’s list.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

“Has Irene had any pets in the past? If so, what were their names?” Other than, um—well, I guess he doesn’t count. Because he’s not her cat.

VAL

Yeah. Sir Griffin the Third was Irene’s cat in spirit. Like, not actually, but it was borderline just co-parenting at a certain point.

I feel like it would make sense if at some point, in like, her initial grieving process, she tried to get some sort of pet for her dorm. So maybe she had, like, a fish? But then she got really upset when the fish died, and like didn’t have the heart to get another one. I feel like that makes sense?

LUKA

That makes sense to me, and it’s very sad.

Okay, so num— [STUTTERING FOR A FEW MOMENTS, THEN] We’ve talked about this question a little bit.

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

[CONT.] I’ll preface that. This one is not—this one I cannot say Val did not see it before we started it, because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut about it, because it’s really funny to me.

It says, “Irene kin list drop?”

[PAUSE.]

VAL

Okay—

LUKA

And now, we’ve had a bit of a discussion about it, but I think there’s room for a lot more.

VAL

There’s room for a lot of improvement. Um, Moomin from Moominvalley.

LUKA

Mmhm. Abandonment issues.

VAL

Abandonment issues.

I have a really awful thought.

LUKA

What?

VAL

The tenth Doctor.

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] Now—

VAL

[OVERLAPPING] Reason being, Rose!

LUKA

Abandon—Rose, shaking hands with abandonment issues, tenth Doctor, yeah.

VAL

Yeah. The venn diagram—

[THEY BOTH LAUGH.]

LUKA

[THROUGH LAUGHTER] So, so far, we have Moomin, the tenth Doctor—

[MORE LAUGHTER.]

VAL

Um...we kind of—we kind of talked about this. I feel like—because we all know Irene really doesn’t like Twilight, but I feel like she has consumed Twilight at some point. Like, whether she saw the movies, or read the books out of curiosity, she knows Twilight. She just doesn’t want to admit it. So I feel like some inner part of her does identify with Alice Cullen.

LUKA

Yup.

[MUTTERS] Can I say that? Is that allowed?

VAL

What is it?

LUKA

I was gonna say Duck Newton.

[VAL LAUGHS.]

LUKA

Does that make sense?

[VAL SAYS SOMETHING INDISTINCT IN RESPONSE.]

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] Alternatively, Juno Devine. 

VAL

That’s also really good.

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] I think Juno Devine, maybe.

VAL

Juno Devine has an energy.

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] There’s a fine line between Duck Newton and Juno Devine, and Irene’s treading it.

VAL

Yeah. So, um, Irene Gray kin list: Moomin, tenth Doctor, Alice Cullen, some mix of Duck Newton and Juno Devine. That feels—

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] That feels pretty answered to me.

VAL

That feels good.

LUKA

Okay, number five: “What was the most fun episode to record?”

Now, this is—personally speaking, we did not sit down—like, at first, it was sitting down and being like, “Oh, we need to record this specific episode.” And then we got ahead on certain episodes that were recorded, and then had to go back in and fill in chunks.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] So I don’t think it’s necessarily, like, what episode—

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

[CONT.] Because it was not all done at once for any of them.

VAL

Yeah. And that’s difficult for me, because the episodes that I remember recording the most aren’t the ones that were the most fun.

LUKA

[WITH DREAD] Yeah.

VAL

They were the ones that were the worst to record. Cough cough, Episode 12, cough cough. [THEY LAUGH.]

LUKA

[STRETCHED OUT] Yeah.

Um—I mean, I can talk about something I think was fun—

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

[CONT.] —but was simultaneously bad.

VAL

Yeah?

LUKA

Um. You had this realization after the fact, but that every single scene in Episode 12, by the time we finished it, had to have been re-recorded at least once. 

VAL

Some of them several times.

LUKA

However, on the first take of—I think we ended up—no, we didn’t re-do Episode 11.

VAL

I don't—

LUKA

Like, I re-recorded “howdy, motherfucker” a decent amount of times, but other than that—

VAL

[OVERLAPPING] Yeah, and I’m sure—yeah, sorry, sidenote to that: you guys will at some point receive a compilation of just Irene saying “howdy, motherfucker” a bunch of times.

LUKA

It was not my highest moment, I will say that.

[THEY BOTH GIGGLE.]

LUKA

But Episode 11, the—when we went to record it, I had had surgery about two, three days before?

[MORE LAUGHTER.]

LUKA

[CONT.] Not, not on like, my arm or like, even like, my internal organs, but on my mouth. Like, in my gums.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

And so that was a whole process. Um, like obviously, we’ve left the question.

[THEY BOTH LAUGH.]

LUKA

We’ve left what was the most fun to record. But the entire time we were recording Episode 11, I was holding half of my cheek down, because if I laughed, I was going to tear my stitches. Could we have waited? Yes.

VAL

Did we?

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] Don’t be like us. [THEY LAUGH.]

VAL

Learn your lesson now.

LUKA

Um, I’m trying to think of, like, my most fun.

VAL

I guess...I don’t know. 

LUKA

For me, it was probably recording with either Ayla or Cass. So maybe, either, what, 3 or 4?

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

[OVERLAPPING] That feels like it happened six years ago.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

I don’t remember. Um, recording with Cass was a lot of fun.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

I’ll say that. So, what, Episode 3?

VAL

That makes sense, yeah.

LUKA

If that’s the wrong number, I’m gonna get dragged. [THEY LAUGH]

VAL

No. You’re right, you’re right.

LUKA

Okay. Um, I think Mitski scene—

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

—and Cass and I trying to record while her cat scratched at the door, which, that’s Frank.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

Um, we—when there’s pause in the bloopers of me going, “Frank?” It’s ‘cause he was scratching at the door, trying to get in.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

Good for him. Alright. Uh, “what was your favorite line of the season?” Well-

VAL

This one feels pretty easy. Are we thinking of the same line?

LUKA

I mean probably.

VAL

Yeah, it’s probably “Howdy Motherfucker.”

LUKA

Yeah. I personally already, and you can cut this out too. I’m sorry I’m giving you more work but it popped into my head—

VAL

It’s okay—

LUKA

It popped into my head—actually you know what would be funny? If, um, I give this whole lead up to it and then you leave it in, and then you bleep out when I say the line.

VAL

Yeah?

LUKA

That would be really funny.

VAL

Okay, yeah.

LUKA

Um, I was gonna say this and then I realized that it’s not, um, in season one. But because you sent me first drafts for season two, my favorite is [BLEEPED OUT SPOILERS]

[LAUGHTER]

VAL

That is really good.

LUKA

So that’s actually my favorite line.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA 

And it’s just bleeped out, I think that would be funny.  Anyways.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

“Howdy motherfucker.”

VAL

“Howdy motherfucker” is probably the highlight of the season.

LUKA

My alternate one is, “Well damn, Carol I don’t wanna die here.”

VAL

Yeah. [LAUGHING]

LUKA

Because of the meme that someone made edited over That 70s Show. “Damn Carol—”

VAL

I think about that—I think about that a lot.

LUKA

It’s actually one of my favorite things. [TAKES A BREATH] Um, “what are you most excited for in the future of the show?”

VAL

Um, I’m really excited to get to make merch for the show. Which, you know, we don’t really have anything officially to tell you guys yet, but we are, we are working on stuff. So generally for the show-

LUKA

Teehee.

VAL

I’m really excited for that. But also there are some very exciting moments in season two that I am super looking forward to people getting to hear.

LUKA

I’m really excited to start recording for season two.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

I think also specifically because there’s a lot of new, like, actors.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

And just having read, like, the first drafts of the first two episodes, the difference in like Irene interacting with Aden and Carol versus the characters that she’s, like, interacting with in the first two episodes of season two is, um, wildly different. Um, very excited to get bullied by other actors, I guess.

VAL

Season two just: Irene bully club.

LUKA

It is. Actually, you know what, you don’t have to listen to season two that’s it. [BEAT] Moving on.

“What is Carol’s favorite band?” I was—I don’t know why but it popped into my head Mumford and Sons.

[LAUGHTER]

VAL

See—hmm.

LUKA

Or like, Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood.

VAL

Kelly Clarkson’s an artist. Am I allowed to answer an artist instead of like—

LUKA That makes, yeah, yeah. I don’t think Jes is gonna drag you—

VAL

Am I allowed to say Jimmy Buffet?

LUKA

Yes?

[LAUGHTER]

LUKA

Yeah you can I guess.  I mean if you really want to. If you wanna commit to that—

VAL

I don’t think I can, actually, hold on, I’ll edit this out, I genuinely can’t think of anything. I’m trying to think of something that’s like borderline southern but like not all the way southern.

LUKA

Florida Georgia Line.

VAL

I almost said The Mountain Goats but that feels too queer for Carol.

LUKA

Mmhmm. I feel like maybe she listens to Keith Urban.

VAL

That makes sense.

LUKA

Like I know you said borderline country and that’s straight up country, or maybe like- oh my roots are showing- um Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban.

VAL

Yeah

LUKA

Uh, what’s his name, Luke Bryan… One off naming all the country men my mother used to listen to- aw what if my mom listens to the QnA?

[LAUGHTER]

LUKA

I’m sorry, mom! Does that—

VAL

I can’t think of a better answer. I feel like, okay. Honorary answer, outside of all of the country stuff, I do feel like Carol would like Elton John.

LUKA

Yeah.

VAL

Like, just a little bit at least. Vibes. Yeah.

LUKA

Yeah. Give her credit, give her credit.

VAL

I’ll give her some credit.

LUKA

Okay. Now this one is prefaced with “This is by far the most important question.”

VAL

Okay?

LUKA

“Does Carol have horses?”

VAL

She lives in an apartment.

[LAUGHING]

LUKA

Jes, Jes is very dedicated to horse girl Carol.

VAL

Where would she put them? No Jes? Jes message me after this comes out and tell me where would Carol put them?

LUKA

I, I think you can really tell um the difference between this list of ten questions from someone that we talk to every day, versus probably the way the tables are gonna turn as soon as we move on from this chunk of questions. But, no, Jes, please explain.

VAL

Yeah. No, my messages are open.

LUKA

Okay, number ten, from Jes. Last one.

VAL

Okay.

LUKA

“How long has Aden collected knitted cats, and does he have a favorite?”

VAL

I think he’s been doing it for a couple of years. I think it’s a combination of cats that he has tried to knit himself and cats that he has found at thrift stores, yard sales, wherever he can get his hands on them.

And I think his favorite is one that he made with an eye that’s, like a little bit lopsided? Like it’s a little bit off, but he’s so attached to it because it took him so long and it was like the first he ever made, and that’s his favorite. Yeah.

LUKA

Yeah, that sounds right.

VAL

And its name?

LUKA

Oh, you’re really, you’re putting pressure on yourself. I thought we were gonna move on, but no please, tell us the name.

VAL

Its name is Pearl. That’s not a funny name, that’s just a name.

LUKA

I mean that’s good enough.

VAL

That’s good enough!

LUKA

It’s funny if you let it be.

VAL

Someone will make a joke about it.

LUKA 

Alright, we’re moving on from Jes question, we can’t be mean to the question askers.

Okay. So this is from megnotmargaret on tiktok. Now, the first question on here, I remember looking at it, and I was like, oh, well this question’s gonna be answered by the time this comes out, however there are a few things that I wanna bring up in regards to it. So the question was, “Will we be getting any bloopers?”

So the answer is obviously yes. But. I felt there were a few things that needed to be brought up. There are bloopers that we can’t find. There are specific bits of bloopers that we know exist, and when we were looking through the audio to get our bloopers out, we could not find them. So—

VAL

Also, due to like remote recording, we had some really funny excellent bits in there, like some really excellent inside jokes from recording, i.e. “vegan garlic,” that just couldn’t make it in because we didn’t record the conversation happening.

LUKA

One of my favorite ones is the clip of you in the bloopers going “uh—hello?” But you can’t hear the other end of it.

VAL

Cause—let me give the context for that. Basically, we were recording episode twelve. It was Cass and I on the call, doing Rose’s part. And while I was recording this really serious Rose monologue, Cass started singing to herself on the other end of the call, and I got really confused.

LUKA

Cass said: I’ve never seen the mute button in my life. Don’t know her.

Um, also one more thing that I wanted to say about the bloopers before we move on, because I think at some point we had it in our heads that we were gonna clarify, like at the beginning of the bloopers, but we didn’t, the clip of me saying “blah blah blah blah blah, next time I cry, I’m gonna get Helen out.” Helen is the name of my microphone. I felt the need to give a little bit of context.

VAL

Yeah.

LUKA

I do have a new microphone, it is no longer Helen, but she lives on in spirit.

VAL

Rest in peace, Helen.

LUKA

Rest in peace, love. You never got to—no I’m not gonna try and do the joke. There’s nothing in my head. The joke is—I was gonna explain the joke but… we’re recording this on Michael right now, so that’s the joke.

VAL

Yeah.

VAL [ANNOUNCEMENT, OUTSIDE OF THE CONVERSATION]

Look forward to part two coming out in two weeks. Thank you for listening!

[thefreakymunson]

“Anything for you”-CorpsexReader

(Not sure if this is what you wanted, but this is where it went lol)

There had never been a time where you felt as well cared for as the present. Having an immune compromised boyfriend wasn't anything new to you, however, the world had gotten scary lately. Headlines rang out left and right of new cases in your city every day. Symptoms were changing, and the up coming holiday season was making everything even scarier.  

It wasn't that scary until one day you woke up with a sore throat and a mild fever. You felt the tingle in your throat and started coughing, and that's when Corpse's head popped up off of his pillow to look at you suspiciously.

"You okay?" He rubbed your lower back, "You need some water?"

You shook your head and absent mindedly rubbed your throat, as if it would help. You thought back over the days, trying to remember if you came into contact with anyone, however you didn't think so. At least not directly, or on purpose. Your mind immediately flew to corpse, who had a pretty bad immune system, and felt the panic rising inside of you.

"I'm okay," You said softly, voice hoarse, "I just think that maybe I should get tested, what do you think?"

"It probably wouldn't hurt anything to make sure," He frowned as he sat up in bed, the sheets sliding down to pool around his waist, "Let's get dressed and we'll go, okay?"

"Corpse, you don't have to go with me. I'll be fine. I don't want you to be exposed to any more germs." You said, but he held his hand up in protest.

"No. You're going to the hospital, and I'm going with you." He said as he stood up from the bed, shoving his feet into his slippers, before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.

In no time, you were dressed in a pair of leggings and one of his hoodies, tucking your hair inside the hood. You pulled your mask up over your mouth and nose. You were sitting on the couch, shivering slightly, when he walked in, mask covering his face and the car keys in hand. Corpse never liked to leave the house, so it showed how much he was concerned about you when he didn't think twice about tagging along with you.

When you arrived at the hospital, you were told that only you were allowed back in the hospital room. He would have to wait outside. You could see the anger in his eyes, but he held back. They let him sit with you in the waiting room, but when your name was called, he had to stay seated. Stupid covid rules.

You were checked into the triage, and then immediately taken back to a small room with a bed and the normal accessories. You had to admit, you were a tad bit scared sitting back here by yourself. Hospitals made you uneasy and the fact that you were alone was enough to heighten the anxiety.

Your phone dinged, showing a message from Corpse that read, 'You k?'

You smiled to yourself and replied back, 'Yep, I'm k. Scared. You k?'

The three dots bubbled, signaling he was typing back, just as the door opened and in walked the nurse. You told her your symptoms, had your fever checked, the usual. And then came down to the dreaded test. The nurse instructed you to lower your mask and tilt your head back and she quickly inserted the long q-tip that felt like it touched the bottom of your brain. You winced as she twirled it for a few seconds, tears filling your eyes. You felt horrible and yet they just had to torture you some more. But it was quickly over, and she withdrew it from your nose, closing it up tight in a test tube.

"It'll be back in a few," She cleared her throat, "Just hang tight, okay?"

You nodded and picked up your phone, reading the two new text's. One said, 'I'm sorry baby' and the next was 'what room number?'

You looked up at the sign out side and then texted back 'Room 203. Why?'

It was a few minutes before the door opened again and you expected to see the nurse. Instead, the door opened to reveal Corpse standing there, his mask pulled up to just below his eyelids and his curly hair askewed.

"Corpse-"You shook your head.

"No, it's okay. The front desk let me back as long as I wore my mask," He shook his head as he walked closer to you. You leaned forward, resting your head on his chest, feeling his arms wrap tightly around you. You felt horrible and now your nuse burned ontop of everything.

"How'd you get them to let you back here?" You looked up at him, meeting his stare.

"I told them you didn't like hospitals, that they made you nervous." He shrugged, "She was understanding."

You laid your head back down, closing your eyes against the harsh lightning in the room. He stood there, holding you against him, for a few minutes before the there was a knock on the door and the nurse stepped in. She glanced at Corpse for a moment, before clearing her throat and turning her attention to you.

"You're negative," She said, "However, you do have a pretty bad sinus infection. The doctor has ordered you some antibiotics and a doctors note to stay home for the next three days, okay?"

You sighed in relief, as well as Corpse. It was great that you didn't have covid, but it still sucked that you were sick. The nurse handed you the paperwork, and you were free to leave finally. Thankfully, you weren't there that long.

"Do you need anything from the grocery store? Or Wal-Mart?" Corpse asked as he held your hand.

You looked over at him in the drivers seat, and felt your heart swell with so much love in that moment. He had always been the type to avoid public places, grocery stores being the bane of his existence, however; for you, he would do anything. He would go anywhere. He truly loved you, and it showed in these simple yet meaningful actions.

"I just want to go home and take a bath, if that's okay?"

"Of course, baby." He said as he brought your hand up to his lips and kissed your knuckles.

You were back home and within thirty minutes, Corpse had ran a warm bath for you, which you happily slipped into. He flipped the lights off and opened the bathroom's blinds only a tad bit to allow just enough light in so you weren't in complete darkness. You had expected him to go into his studio and edit a video, however, when you opened your eyes, you were sort of surprise to see him sitting on the floor beside of you with a laptop in his lap and a USB drive connected to it.

"You don't have to sit in here with me," You said softly, noticing he had only one side of his earphones on.

He glanced up at you and pft'd you, "Yeah right. I'm not leaving you while your sick. You'll fall asleep and that heightens the risk of you drowning. No.'

"Isn't the floor cold, though?" You laughed softly.

"A little," he nodded, his fingers clacking away on the keyboard.

He didn't have his mask on now, leaving him bare faced for you. You were always taken back by just how handsome he truly was. The messy tuft of shaggy black curls, his sharp jawline. His profile was just as beautiful as the rest of his face. You stuck a dry hand out and ran your finger over his jaw line, and then up to his hair, running your fingers through the silky strands. He smiled softly, but kept working. You would have much rathered him join the bath, but knew his work was important as well. You would get to cuddle him later. For now, you sat in the quiet darkened bathroom in a comfortable silence. Closing your eyes, you felt the aches and pains slowly disolve into the warm water. Corpse was right, you did fall asleep for a few minutes. He kept a watchful eye on you, finishing his editing on a video in about forty-five minutes. He glanced over at you as he dipped his hand in the water, noticing it had cooled down quite a bit, and that wasn't good for your fever.

"Hey, babe." He said softly, cupping your jaw in his large hand, "C'mon, you need to wake up. The water is getting cold."

And as he brought you out of your sleep, you had noticed the water was in fact pretty chilly. He grabbed a towel from the dryer that had been quietly buzzing around behind you, helping you stand up. He wrapped you in the fluffy towel and whisked you into the bedroom. He cursed himself for letting the water cool down, noticing the slight shiver you had as you got dressed. Thankfully, your hoodie was warm and the sweat pants helped warm you up quickly.

"What do you want for dinner?" You glanced over at him, "Neither of us have eaten anything today."

"No, you need to lay down. I'll fix us something." He shook his head when you started to protest, "No. I'll order something. You want some soup? Or Chinese?"

He laughed when your eyebrows lifted at the mention of Chinese, feeling your tummy start to grumble.

"General Tso chicken me, please." You wiped your nose with a Kleenex as you sat at the head of the bed, "And a egg roll."

The two of you ate, crashed onto the bed and turned the Crunchyroll app on. You knew Corpse had a hard time sleeping, but he still liked to be next to you while you laid in bed. He often times just watched television while you slept, drifting between watching whatever was on, and then staring at you. He was flipping through the titles when you seen your favorite anime pop up, Tonikawa. The meaning behind the tale was quite soft compared to Corpse's taste in anime, there was no gore or fighting. Just a silly love tale. However, it was your favorite. With a poochy bottom lip, you looked up and gave Corpse the best puppy-dog eyes you could. He laughed and pressed 'play' much to his distaste of it.

"Thank you," you said a few minutes into the epside. You rested your head on his chest and felt his hand begin to rub your back under your shirt, his warm hand heating your skin up too, "For taking care of me today. You've been the best nurse."

"Anything for you," he said softly, "I love you, you know that right?"

You nodded sleepily, feeling the effects of your bath still lulling you to sleep. Sleeping was your favorite thing to do when you were sick. You felt Corpse's lips press to your forehead, leaving a soft kiss there, as you tucked your head under his chin and moved closer to him.

"I love you too, Corpse." You said softly as you closed your eyes, hoping to feel better tomorrow.

[valdomarx]

can you tell us about captain stevens and doctor potts' first kiss?

5 kisses that weren’t and one kiss that was

1.

Stevens has been complaining for weeks about the SHIELD-issued exploding pens. Apparently they have the unfortunate tendency of going off in agents’ pockets. Eventually, Potts gets fed up of hearing about it.

The next time has has a quiet few hours, he throws together a prototype pen gun with a delayed charge. It’s not his most elegant work, but it’ll get the job done.

When Stevens comes to the workshop to bother him some more, Potts hands him the pen gun and hopes it will be a sufficient distraction that he’ll be left in peace for a few minutes longer.

Stevens’ eyes go wide. “Is this-”

“Yup.”

“You made it for me?”

Potts shrugs. “Yup.”

“Potts, I could kiss you.”

Potts answers without thinking. “Yeah, okay.”

Stevens stops. Blinks. Squints at him. “Wait, what?”

Potts realizes what just came out of his mouth. “I said HAHA NO WAY,” he covers. Nice. Subtle. Smooth.

“Oh. Okay.” It’s odd, but it seems like Stevens looks genuinely disappointed for a moment.

–

2.

Stevens has gone and gotten himself stranded in Siberia. He was supposed to be investigating a top-secret hydroelectric dam the Soviets were building there, but last night he sent Potts a garbled radio message about how he’d had to stay behind and protect a group of defectors.

So Potts did the obvious thing and stole a SHIELD cargo plane.

Director Carter was going to give him hell for it, but he didn’t have time for formal requisitions when Stevens was in trouble.

The weather conditions in Siberia are abysmal and Potts can barely see where he’s flying through the thick snowy clouds. But he has his radio and he manages to zero in on Stevens’ position.

“Captain Stevens,” he calls over the transceiver. “I heard you and some friends needed a lift.”

“Potts!” Stevens’ voice is crackly over the radio. “By jove, it’s good to hear your voice. I thought we’d be stuck here in the snow until spring.”

Potts smiles despite himself. “Do I get that kiss now?”

“Potts, if you get us all out of here I’ll kiss you anywhere you’d like.”

Potts nearly loses control of the plane when he hears that, but he pulls himself together enough to land and take on Stevens and the men.

It’s probably just as well there are too many people around for him and Stevens to be left alone, or he might say something he’d regret.

–

3.

“I need a DNA sample. Now.”

Potts isn’t in the mood for niceties. He’s halfway through a very exciting experiment which could actually combine strands of different DNA together, but to continue he urgently needs more human samples. Stevens had been the nearest warm body.

Stevens waggles his eyebrows. “You want saliva, blood, or something else?”

Potts glowers. Stevens never takes his scientific projects seriously. “Saliva,” he says curtly.

“You wanna collect a sample yourself?” Stevens is grinning like he thinks he’s hilarious.

Potts has a million things to do today, and trading barbs with Stevens is nowhere near the top of his list.

“A cheek swab will be fine.”

He grabs Stevens’ jaw, a bit more roughly than is strictly required, and shoves a q-tip into his mouth.

–

4.

Potts hates going undercover.

They’d got a tip that someone was planning a heist at a fancy Vegas casino tonight, and Stevens had insisted that he needed Potts in the field to deal with the casino’s electronic security system.

Which, fine, but he doesn’t see why their cover has to involve playing craps, of all things.

He tugs at the hem of the stupid tuxedo Stevens had made him wear. He feels distinctly out of place among the rich glitterati of the casino. All he wants is to go home to his nice, quiet workshop.

Stevens, looking annoyingly elegant in his black tie, swings an arm around his shoulders. “Come on, baby,” he says, waving a pair of dice in his face, “give us a kiss for luck.”

Potts scowls.

Stevens leans in close to his ear. “Potts, sweetheart, you’re supposed to be playing my arm candy, remember? Try to at least look like you aren’t repulsed by me.”

Potts’ scowl deepens. But he relents and takes Stevens’ hand, dropping a quick kiss onto his knuckles.

Stevens rolls snake eyes.

–

5.

People think that working for SHIELD is glamorous and exciting, but there are some parts of the job they don’t put in the employment brochure.

Stevens pushes open the door to the workshop and the snarky comment Potts had been about to make dies on his lips when he catches sight of him.

Stevens is slumped, his face is grey, and his eyes look vacant.

“Oh, Jesus, Stevens.” Potts pushes what he’s working on aside and goes to him. “Rough mission?”

Stevens nods but doesn’t say anything.

Potts knows that there aren’t any words that will help. So does the only thing he can think of, which is to pull him into an awkward hug.

Stevens freezes, and for a minute Potts thinks he’s mad a bad miscalculation. But then Stevens throws his arms around him in return and hugs him tight.

Potts rubs comfortingly circles into his back and pretends he can’t hear Stevens sniffling.

When Stevens eventually lets him go, his eyes are red and puffy. Potts reaches up and carefully wipes away a stray tear with his thumb.

Stevens gives him a small, sad smile and turns his face into Potts’ hand. He presses a kiss into his palm.

“Thank you, Potts,” he says quietly, “I needed that.”

For once Potts can’t bring himself to say anything mean in return.

–

6.

“I’ve got a present for you.” Potts bounces on the balls of his feet. He’s been working on this for months and it’s finally ready.

“Yeah?” Stevens raises an eyebrow. “What kind of present?”

Potts very carefully takes the watch from its case and straps it round Stevens’ wrist. It looks like a regular wristwatch. “Try that button there,” he instructs.

Stevens taps the button on the side of the watch and gasps when a flat circle of light bursts from his wrist.

“What is it?” Stevens asks, turning his wrist and looking at it from every angle. Three translucent rings surround a blue center with a shining white star in the middle.

“It’s a light shield,” Potts tells him, feeling rather proud. Hard light holograms were decades ahead of current technology and he’d poured his heart and soul into that device.

Stevens pokes the shield and his jaw drops open when it blocks his touch.

“It’ll deflect knives, bullets, most light munitions. And when it’s not deployed it’s indistinguishable from an ordinary watch.”

“Potts, that’s amazing.”

Potts glows. “I wanted to keep you safe,” he admits. “For when I wasn’t around. We both know you get into no end of trouble when I’m not there to look out for you.”

Stevens taps the button to retract the shield and leans over the desk.

“You’re amazing.”

Potts has to hide his face behind a clipboard so Stevens won’t see him blushing.

Stevens puts a finger on top of the clipboard and pushes it out of the way. “It’s true. You’re always looking out for me.”

Potts can feel his cheeks glowing. “Someone has to.” He waits for Stevens to start teasing him.

But Stevens smiles at him ever so softly instead. “Then I’m glad it’s you.”

“Oh,” Potts says, coherently. He looks down when Stevens places a hand on top of his own on the workbench. “Oh.”

Stevens leans in closer. His eyes are the most fascinating shade of blue. “Thank you. For everything. For being you.”

“You know,” Potts says, too distracted to feel self-conscious, “you still owe me that kiss.”

Stevens grins. “Always keeping score, huh Potts?” he teases, and Potts is about to object but then Stevens grabs him by the tie and pulls him in for a most enthusiastic kiss.

When they break apart, they’re both breathing heavily. “Are we even now?” Stevens asks with a twinkle in his eye.

A huge, stupid smile spreads over Potts’ face. “Not even close,” he says, and leans in to kiss Stevens again.

[ikesengoficss]

tehe I liked this one

Jonah, Sirius, Edgar and Harr giving you a piggy back when you break your ankle and he needs to get you to the doctor!

Sirius Oswald

oh dear, he thinks the second he hears the pop, then the crack admit from your ankle. And his heart is breaking when your face suddenly crinkles in pain, and you’re biting your lip to stop yourself from calling out and crying. 

“Where does it hurt?” he asks, gently inspecting your ankle. It’s swelling, and turning an awful black and blue.

You put on a very brave front, even laughing a little at your clumsiness, but he can see by the way you every so often blink rapidly, you’re trying to push back tears and hide the pain. 

Sirius chuckles as he cups your cheek. “What am I going to do with you, little lady?”

You’ll be confused at first when he bends down in front of you, until he finally tells you he’s giving you a piggy back ride. 

A piggy back ride from Sirius is something you’d never refuse, even if it’s in unfavorable circumstances. 

He has nice, long legs, so he gets you to the infirmary very fast, but the whole time there, he’s talking to you to keep you distracted from the pain.

“Luka taught me how to make cookies today.”

“Would you like to hear something ridiculous Fenrir and Ray did earlier?”

“Did you know flowers have a language?” 

Your whole healing period, he is very attentive towards you, always making sure you are comfortable and that your foot is elevated, being iced or heated when necessary. 

At night, when the two of you are alone, he’ll hold your foot and press little gentle kiss to where it’s bruised from the break, his lips lingering just a little.

Jonah Clemence

the darling queen is a panicking mess when he hears the defining crack of your ankle snapping when you trip down the stairs, 

your ankle twisting from slipping in your heals, being the cause of it. 

And he is horrified with himself that he didn’t catch you in time, or even just grab your arm to stop you from falling down.

In retrospect, your injury doesn’t come from falling down the stairs, actually, but the twist in the heal itself. Either way, he is blaming himself and truly mortified as he thinks, what kind of a boyfriend am I to not stop my own girlfriend from breaking her ankle?!? 

He wipes at an involuntary tear that slips down your face from the stinging pain. You’re not far from the castle, but waiting for a carriage will only add to unnecessary waiting whilst you’re sitting in pain, and he could easily get you there quicker by carrying. 

“Come on, get on my back!”

“Wha— Jonah!”

“Let me carry you! I promise I won’t drop you, so just do as you’re told.”

You roll your eyes, but give in to him, carefully getting onto his back as he kneels down for you. He wraps his arms around your legs and makes sure you’re holding on tight.

He’s not really running but he’s walking at a very quick pace, a look of determination amongst his doll like features. You rest head against the crook of his neck.

Though these are certainly not favorable circumstances, it feels nice to receive a piggy back from Jonah, something you don’t see him really ever offering. Even with how eccentric he is.

A bright, pink blush tints his cheek as he feels your soft lips against the bare skin just below his ear, and your warm breath as you whisper a simple, “Thank you.”

“Hmph— no need to thank me!” he says, bouncing you a little more up his back. The castle is just ahead now. “I’m only doing what a man must do for his lady!” 

Edgar Bright

Edgar wasn’t there when you fell and broke your ankle. It was one of his men who came rushing to him he was taking a leak and asked that you were to be watched, panting and frantically telling him what happened.

And let me tell you, he is fuming— not at you, but at his men for not keeping a better eye on you, as he specifically said to watch you while he’s gone for a moment. Poor man thinks I can’t even go to the bathroom without something happening.

He has a rather sadistic smile on his face as he tells the soldiers he will see to them momentarily. 

With help, he’s getting you situated on his back, and he’s booking it to Kyle. He can tell you’re in a lot of pain, though you try to hide it by burying your face in his back. But Edgar isn’t dumb,

and besides, he can feel the little bit of bare skin on his neck becoming damp. his poor, precious girl

“What am I going to do with you, silly girl,” he chuckles to lighten the mood. “Hold on tight, MC, we’ll be there soon. Just hang in there!”

He holds your hand the whole time as your foot is getting wrapped up. He can see the sorrowful look on your face; the way you mourn the freedom of your movement is… cute to him, though he feels terrible. 

He chuckles and ruffles your hair before pressing a tender kiss to your forehead. “Don’t fret, MC, you’ll be up on your feet and injuring yourself even more in no time!” 

Harr Silver

Oh boy. Oooohhh boy. Oh fucking boy. Harr was not prepared for this. And like Jonah, will be absolutely kicking himself for not keeping a better eye on you. 

I mean, you’re an adult, he doesn’t need to— but you were climbing a tree in attempts get closer to a birds nest, he should have probably been watching instead of letting his focus stray elsewhere.

Now you were in a heap on the ground, your dress a over your head, torn and dirty, and your ankle horribly sprained.

Using magic on injuries can be dangerous at times, so though he contemplates using it to heal you, his intuition tells him it’s best to get you to the doctor at the red army instead then trying to cure it himself. 

Chances are you got a concussion too after your fall, you’re a little dizzy and very out of it. “MC. Wrap your arms around my neck.”

He carefully lifts you from the ground, slumping over slightly to properly situate you on his back. He takes a careful hold of your legs, keeping them wrapped around his torso. “Don’t let go, ok?”

The whole way, he’ll be constantly asking if you are ok. He’s really concerned for you, and worries this might effect whether or not you’ll want to come back and visit his home—though of course it won’t. 

And once he has finally got you to Kyle, he’s going to be holding your hand blushing furiously because of PDA and trying to comfort you as you’re getting your foot wrapped up. So expect some awkward pats on the head, or looking into your face to ask, “You’re not in any more pain, right?” blessed boy, best boy

~~~~~~~~~~~

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[roxinova]

Quarantine Q&A

• Are you staying home from work/home?

Yes! Despite working with disabled, I caught an upper respiratory and stayed home for 2 weeks until they opened testing facilities. By the time I was tested and got the all-clear (negative for Covid-19), there were no hours available at work because most of mine were day habilitation (everywhere is shut down), and the only hours left are supported living (at home support), which isn't enough hours to spread across all employees. Which is okay with me because I am high risk anyways, prior to what my job entails (history of thyroid issues, heart issues, pulmonary embolism; doctor thinks I'm developing adult-onset asthma from allergies).

• If you’re staying home, who’s with you?

Two room mates, a spouse, three step children, and 6 animals (dog, cat, guinea pig, and three rabbits).

• Are you a homebody?

I'm an ambivert. I have moments where I am social and love going out, and moments where I want to just stay in. This has been a rollercoaster for me. I was unemployed and stayed shut in for 2 months to recover from health issues from being treated like dirt at my previous job, that I willingly quit, and then had just landed another job, and only worked for about a month and a half before the quarantine, and now I have not been working for a month again. I admit that now that I am cleared and tested negative, I have gone out for 2 drives to get some local business foods (family run coffee shop and family run food cart), gone for a drive with music on, and even went for a hike today! Luckily Alaska is spaced out enough that I can do that. Not everyone has the luxury.

• What movies have you watched recently? What shows?

I almost never watch movies or shows. I bought a Studio Ghibli box set to replace one taken from me years ago and did a marathon of those. I am going through The Office and Parks and Recs again. But I'm not big on TV.

• An event you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

I'm flying down in Aug to buy a house, and celebrate my birthday... I guess buying a house is a nice birthday gift to yourself, right? See if this is over by then...

• What music are you listening to?

Lofi Bojack

• What are you reading?

Currently nothing. Finished Girl on a Train right as the pandemic started.

• What are you doing for self-care?

I finished 2 art projects (diamond art), bought some faux fur yarn to knit a blanket, did soap, lip balm, and lip scrub making with the step kids, did perler beads with the kids (Super Mario), I'll be repairing my computer, possibly fixing a few Xbox controllers, hanging out with the pets and friends online, gaming (Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Animal Crossing, FFVII Remake, FFXIV; hoping to finish Nier and Horizon), some drives and music, and if I buy that tablet I've been eyeing... I'll do art again. I *did* plan on early retirement, so I have plenty to do to keep myself busy, and have been dipping into things that were on the list.

Photo: @chaosblackfire @gaggle-of-dorks-ffxiv

Tagged by: @vylette-elakha

Tagging: @captainkurosolaire @the-handsome-rogue @gaggle-of-dorks-ffxiv @astralyehga

And anyone else who wants to!

[akitokihojo]

In Between: Chapter 9

Here we gooooooooooo! Chapter 10, the final chapter, is in the works. So, hold on to your butts, shit’s getting real y’all!

Previous chapters can be found in my fic masterlist, as well as on AO3 and ff.net.

-----------

Kagome grimaced, leaning over the counter to get a closer look at the bruise on her face in the mirror. Her cheek and part of her under eye were painted scarlet and purple, the intense darkness of the wound saved for the very side of her cheekbone where he'd hit her hardest, shaded navy and shadowed slightly with swelling. Swiveling her head, she pulled her damp hair away from her face, analyzing the cut just outsider her hairline. It was angry and tender, especially whenever she made any sort of facial expression, but it was easy to hide beneath her waves so long as she left them untamed. The marks on her neck, though, were an entirely different story. The splotchy bruising marred a portion of the center and the sides of her throat. She was grateful the marks weren't as dark as the one making up her left cheek; he was hitting her over and over in that spot, whereas on her neck he was controlling his strength so as not to choke her completely. The mauve and rouge colors blended and lined where his fingers had squeezed, hardly sensitive and serving as nothing more than a reminder that he'd had her pinned.

"You okay?" Inuyasha asked from the open doorway to the restroom.

"Why does it look so much worse today?" She moaned, lightly poking her cheek to test the soreness of it. She winced, instantly regretting her stupid action.

"It's usually worse the day after. Here." He held out a cloth-wrapped bag of frozen peas. 

"Thanks." Kagome smiled, happily planting the icy vegetables on the side of her face.

"Come on, I need to get a bandaid on your cut before you start oozing all over my clean floors."

"It's not bleeding, I can do it." She grimaced again.

"Shut up and sit." He pointed behind him to the couch, watching as she rolled her eyes but followed his order. Pulling open the cabinet beneath the bathroom sink, he fished out the small first aid kit and followed her out, sitting on her right and setting the box in front of him on the coffee table.

Kagome dropped the bag of peas on her lap to pull her hair over her shoulder, using her right hand to keep it held back just behind her temple. There was no need to clean the wound since she'd taken a shower less than an hour ago - her third shower since they'd finished cleaning the apartment, and second since they'd woken up this morning. While she was handling the situation well enough, it was understandable that she'd want to try and "wash" the violation from her skin. Carefully, Inuyasha applied some ointment to the cut with a q-tip, spreading it out evenly before grabbing a small butterfly bandage from the box.

"I'm surprised you have those. It's not the most common type of bandaid to see in someone's house."

"Pfft," Inuyasha scoffed, applying the bandage securely and ignoring her little wince. "I'm a cop. I'm a reckless cop. And I've got just enough demon blood to avoid the constant visits to the hospital for a scratch that'll disappear in twelve hours. Put the peas back on your face. How's your head?"

"It's okay." She shrugged, leaning fully back into the cushions of the couch as she did as he said. "I'm more concerned about my face."

"Is it sensitive? I've got some Ibuprofen."

"No, the way it looks!"

"It's not that bad." He tried to comfort

"Are you kidding? I can't go to work like this, I work with children!" Kagome flailed her free hand in the air in exasperation, giving Inuyasha a look like her ailments were common sense.

"Well, it was stupid of you to still plan on working in the first place! You need to take time off!" The half demon argued.

"I can't just take time off, Inuyasha!"

"You literally never take vacations, you've probably got P.T.O. up the yin yang!"

"It's not about how much time I have accrued, it's about the lack of notice I'm giving! I'm a teacher!"

"With a teaching assistant!"

"She can't make teaching plans!"

"It's a preschool, Kagome, have her recite the ABC's and give the kids some coloring books!" He rolled his eyes so hard his head lolled to the side. Kagome scoffed.

"These are vital learning years in a child's life, I'll have you know!"

"Fine, go to work." He shrugged, leveling his expression, a hint of arrogance in the cock of his brow.

"Hello! Have you been listening? I can't go to work!"

"Then it sounds like you need to take some damn time off, you idiot! Two weeks, just for cushion!"

"Two weeks!?"

"God, you just keep arguing." He drawled.

She threw the peas at him. "And tell them what? "Hi, I can't come into work because I've caught the fourteen day flu."" Kagome mocked, holding her finger-phone to her ear.

"How about, and bare with me because this is pretty out there, a family emergency." Inuyasha spread his hands out like he was drawing a rainbow in the air above his head.

"What?"

Inuyasha chuckled hopelessly, shaking his head as he picked up the wrapped-up peas and gently held them to her cheek. "Man, this knock to the head really isn't helping you think straight, is it? A family emergency." He reiterated. "Say you have to fly out because your grandpa's in the hospital and you'll keep them posted, call again in a week and let them know things are worse than you expected. Boom, two weeks covered and no doctor's note needed."

"That's-" Kagome looked slightly stunned, blinking as the tension in her brow faded. "That's actually a good idea."

"Imagine that." Inuyasha nodded.

"God, you're so full of yourself." She snagged the frozen vegetables and pushed the half demon away, ignoring his cocky laugh as she rolled off the couch to grab her phone from across the room. Before she could open her email to prep her excuse, Inuyasha's phone rang right next to her, Koga's name illuminating the screen. She tossed it over to him, unable to hear what the normally-boisterous wolf was saying on the other end, only able to gather that it must have been semi-good information being fed through the line from the way Inuyasha didn't ignite in curse words but only nodded and responded with a simple "okay."

Hanging up his phone, he looked over at Kagome from his spot on the couch, sighing out before speaking. "So, they may have caught your attacker from last night."

Kagome sealed her lips, trying to swallow the nerves that suddenly began to inflate.

"They need you to pick him out of a lineup."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

She hadn't imagined having to see that man again so soon, and the thought was intimidating. She figured it would be through a two-way mirror, just like the interrogation room she sat in last night, and he wouldn't be able to see her, but what if he picked up her scent? What if he gave her that thin-lipped smile like he'd already done so many times? 

"Will you be there?" Kagome asked.

"I can't for this one." He hesitantly admitted, looking half-ashamed. "I saw his profile in the system last night. I know what he looks like. They haven’t specifically told me I can't yet, but I already know Kagura won't let me ten feet near that room. This is just so no one can say I influenced your answer."

"Got it." She breathed with a nod, completely understanding the logistics behind it. "Then, alright. We've gotta do what we've gotta do."

"Come on," Inuyasha stood, walking around the room to gather his necessary belongings. "Let's get this over with."

SVU Precinct

Sango sipped her piping hot mug of coffee, ignoring the sting on her tongue so she could get the caffeine rolling through her system. It had been a long night and she'd only been able to doze off for a quick power nap in the cot room before her busy mind and restless legs demanded she move. It was hard to be still when they had a criminal detained, even more so when he was playing smug and abiding by his right to remain silent. Not once had he asked for a lawyer since they sat him in the interrogation room, though. As fishy as it seemed, it could potentially end up working out in their favor. No lawyer means they had room to play a little dirty.

She looked up from her half-drunk cup as Inuyasha's silver hair caught her peripherals. He walked in at a leisurely pace, dressed down in a thin, maroon hoody with a plain, white tee underneath, loose jeans making up the lower portion. The guy practically lived at the station with how busy he liked to keep himself, so seeing him dressed in his civilian wear was on the odd side of things for her. What was even more odd was how soft his features appeared as he shifted his body to let the woman behind him step in front, his hand not touching, but hovering at the small of her back to keep her near.

It was a suitable change for him, and one she hoped he got to permanently adopt this time around.

Sango rose from her seat, hoping the coffee would hit her sooner rather than later, her muscles feeling heavy and sluggish. Inuyasha's ember eyes landed on her instantly, and he led Kagome down the hall of desks to meet her.

"Hey, thanks for coming." She greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." Kagome responded with a pleasant shake of her head. The thick bruise on her cheek crinkled slightly with her controlled grin, the smile appearing crooked so as not to anger the blue and purple mass. Her black, wavy hair was brought to the front of her shoulders, curving and covering most of the marks around her throat, and the only evidence of the nearly-shielded cut on her temple that would catch one's eye was the redness just outside of the swelling that traveled towards the outer tip of her eyebrow. She was wearing a charcoal pullover hoody with the brand name stitched across her chest, the bottom hem hugging the hips of her dark blue jeans.

"I'm glad to hear it, though." There was a brief pause before she continued. "So, I'm sure Inuyasha told you, but we have to have you pick the perp out of a lineup. Think you remember his face well enough to do that?"

"There's no way I could forget it." Kagome said earnestly. "Shouldn't be a problem at all."

Kagome was confident, but Sango couldn't help the pang of guilt she felt that a man's face was so unwillingly etched into her mind. She wondered if she was troubled with nightmares of his brutality as she slept last night, or watched him leap at her whenever she blinked. The way she held herself seemed calm and nicely put-together; there was no evidence of fear or lingering anxiety written in her body language, and Sango couldn't help but think this woman was fantastic at putting up a front in response. But that wasn't it. If Kagome was hiding behind a facade, Inuyasha's protective demeanor would give it away. She'd worked with the half demon for long enough to understand that he feeds off of the reactions of those around him; those he's closest to. Especially victims. If they wanted to shy back, he'd give them shelter behind his broad shoulders. If they were nervous, he'd compensate with his surety. Kagome was temporarily living with him, so it would be entirely too exhausting to keep up a lie all hours of the day until this mess was put to rest. And Inuyasha was undoubtedly synced with the woman at his side, standing close but not smothering, there for assistance if necessary but allowing her to stand tall without a crutch. If she was even slightly nervous, he'd pick up on that emotion like it was broadcasted clearly on a billboard. Sango watched him stiffen a smidge as Kagome took another step forward, a silent indication that she was ready. He was the nervous one.

Sango took Kagome's arm to guide her towards the back, letting Inuyasha know they'd return shortly as he plopped down in his own desk chair to wait. They walked through a small curve in the halls, coming up on an open room, greeted by Hojo and Kagura as they entered through, simple pleasantries exchanged as Hojo did his part to make sure Kagome was as comfortable as manageable. They stood before a two-way, illuminated from the opposite side, the room they watched completely empty aside from Koga standing next to a door on an adjacent wall.

"Koga's going to let them in through that doorway. Everyone will be holding a number, so if you see the man that attacked you, I want you to tell me which number he's holding, okay?" Kagura instructed. Kagome nodded, a note of hesitation finally crumbling her stature.

"He can't see me, right?" She asked, walking up to the window, placing her fingertips on the metal frame at the bottom of it.

"No, he won't be able to see you at all." Hojo steadily affirmed. Again, she nodded. They all stood there silently, giving Kagome a moment of composure. Her brown eyes didn't shift from the brightly-lit room they looked in on, and as she took in a deep breath, there was no more sag to her body, even her chin raising a hair. Hojo gave two deliberate knocks to the glass, and Koga turned to push open his door, ordering the row of men to enter without bark to his tone.

As each man passed through, Kagome quickly studied their faces, all looking slightly similar to the next. She immediately disqualified numbers two and three as they appeared for their five o'clock shadow. The man she'd been attacked by had such feminine features, she didn't think it'd be possible for him to grow facial hair. Number four walked through, shortly followed by number five. Neither were him. As soon as number six walked in, Kagome tensed considerably, her fingers gripping the frame.

"Number six." She announced, watching the man saunter to his spot, the number held just in front of his navel. His nose was slightly crooked, the bridge an off shade of magenta, green and yellow outlining and expanding to the inner corners and beneath his eyes. There was a cut on the side of his head that she swore was twice the size when she'd given it to him, little, angry nicks decorating the skin around the wound. That was her doing. That was the memento she was glad he was stuck with, even if his demon blood hastened his recovery. It didn't matter. She wasn't the only one currently standing marked.

"Give it one more moment." Kagura said, lightly placing her hand on Kagome's shoulder. As soon as all ten of the men were in the room - some detainees, some cops in disguise - and Koga had closed the door, she spoke. "Take a look at all of them. Are you sure?"

"Number six." Kagome stated again, more fervency in her tone. "That's him. He was the man at the coffee shop and he was the man that broke into Inuyasha's home."

Hojo gave six steady knocks against the window with the knuckle of his middle finger, and they watched as Koga emptied the room, the smile on the accused criminal's face growing wide and thin as he was personally led out by the wolf demon.

"You did great, thank you so much for your help." Kagura smiled.

"What happens now?" Kagome asked, turning around to face the lot of them.

"We interview him. Now's the time where we press him for any information he can give. He's our link to Naraku, so we're a step closer to tracking him down, and we're going to make sure this guy works with us." Sango replied assertively.

"Once we catch Naraku and trials begin, he'll be present. You'll have to testify against both of them." Kagura added.

"I'll do whatever you need."

"Good." Hojo grinned, watching Kagura walk off and in the opposite direction of the main office, lightly patting Kagome's upper back to lead her out the door. "Let's get you out of here."

"Wait," Kagome stopped in the center of the hall just outside the room, staring intently into the detective's blue eyes. Her determination took him back a bit as his fingers flinched away from her spine. "What's his name? I deserve to put a name to the face."

"It's Byakuya." He answered after a small moment of hesitation. "His name's Byakuya."

She swallowed the information, biting her bottom lip as she glanced to the floor, then darted her brown-eyed gaze back to him. "Thank you."

They walked out into the main office where Inuyasha sat, tapping his claws impatiently against the lining of his desk, his leg bobbing like a wind up toy bound tight. He jumped up at the sight of Kagome, quickly crossing the distance to meet her more than half way as she greeted him with a smile, her fingers loosely gripping the cloth of the arm of his sweater.

"Was he in there?"

"Yeah." She nodded curtly.

"Good, time for the interrogation?" He asked the detectives behind her.

"You know it." Sango replied.

"Let me see that fucker."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Hojo stepped in front of him, halting his path.

"Come on, I just want to look. I'm not gonna do anything." Inuyasha drawled.

"Why do you want to see him so bad all of a sudden?"

"Well, I had plenty of time to think out here and I've decided I'd get some nice closure if I got to see this man, too.” The half demon feigned innocence, the smile curving his lips only serving to disturb the detectives before him.

"No." Sango crossed her arms, planting her weight on one hip. "No way. You're gonna punch him."

"Just once!"

"Get out of here!"

"I can break him faster than you guys!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you can!"

"I just have a few words for him!"

"Well, write him a letter and we'll make sure he gets it!"

"Let me through!"

"Go home!"

"I should be part of the interview process! It's a good tactic to bring it down to a personal level, and he could potentially start talking faster!"

"You know damn well you can't do that! You aren't on the case, Inuyasha!"

"So!"

"You'd compromise everything!"

"No, I wou-"

Kagome reached up, gently flicking Inuyasha on the tip of his white ear, watching the appendage jerk to the side in response as his entire body froze and his voice completely hitched in his throat. He didn't look at her, his eyes stunned while facing his coworkers. "Come on," She spoke, her tone simple and level. "It's time to go, Inuyasha. You're in the way." She spun around on her heel, traveling to the door, only stopping to wait for her companion.

Sango blinked, covering her mouth to block the amusement she knew was written so clearly on it. She sniffed and cleared her throat, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible as she noticed her partner struggling to do the same, his lips pressed into a tight line. Inuyasha straightened, his body language no longer radiating defensive but slightly awkward and put off, scratching his temple as was his particular ism, and fixing the sweater over his shoulders to line up neatly.

"So, I'm gonna go." He raised his brows, pressing his own lips together. A small popping sound came as he released them and continued. "But it's only because I don't want to hear shit from you two. Got it?"

"Yup, sure, got it." Hojo nodded, a smug expression foiling his casualty. The half demon squinted his ember eyes in a meager challenge, spinning around and allowing his silver ponytail to fly behind him, following after Kagome and promptly exiting the office.

—

Sango unbuttoned the ends of her dress shirt sleeves, rolling her left up above the crook of her elbow, then swapping sides to roll up the right. She looked in on the man beyond the two-way, his pasty forehead dampened with sweat, the fine, ungroomed hairs of his bangs sticking to his skin. It was an effective tactic of theirs to spike the thermostat in the room. It was one thing to make them mentally uncomfortable with loaded questions, it was another to increase their physical discomfort - all around aiding in their quicker crumbling. On top of that, Koga had gone through and removed some of the bulbs in the overhead lamps before throwing Byakuya to sit alone in the room over an hour ago, the setting dingy and humid and uninviting.

Perfect.

Hojo approached, his button up and tie entirely removed as he prepared for their routine in his black tee shirt. He faced his partner, the back of his right forearm held out to her. "Good cop."

"Bad cop." She winked, tapping the edge of her right elbow to his.

"How long do you think it'll take to crack him, doc?" Totosai asked from the sidelines. Miroku observed the perp before them. Byakuya was tapping his foot against the flooring at a steady pace, his lips curved down in disapproval, his chest raising as he heaved a heavy, throaty sigh.

"Hard to say until he starts talking. He hasn't said a word since he's been apprehended. My guess is he's testy. He's secure, but he's guarded. He hides behind his rooted confidence. Find his weak spot and he'll give. Or potentially snap."

Sango spared Miroku a brief side glance, smiling softly when she noticed their chief wasn't looking. His face was serious, violet eyes captivating her gaze as he discretely mouthed the words, "Be careful."

Hojo stepped through the entry first, expression straight, holding the door open with one hand and a notepad in the other as Sango followed through. It was incredible, she'd been told, how fast her demeanor could change; how she could step into any roll necessary for the part. Next to Inuyasha, who'd rightfully earned his place at the top as lead detective in the precinct - despite his unorthodox practices - she fell just below him for her strong abilities to make perps fold. She was versatile in her tactics, adaptable in the room, and justifiably a force to be reckoned with.

Byakuya tilted his head upward to face the two detectives, his skin glowing beneath the yellow light from the slimy-looking film of sweat on his cheeks. Without the slightest hint as to what anyone should have expected, Sango crossed the room, curved around the corner of the table and demanded the criminal to stand. He did nothing but stare at her, thin brows pinching together audaciously. Again, she told him to stand. There was no degree of malice in her tone, no aggression, no attitude. The order she spoke was with the sincerity of a ship's captain. What she said would be heeded no matter what, and as he chose to ignore her once more, wrists bound close together in his lap with metal cuffs, she flicked her foot around a leg of the chair and kicked it from beneath his seat.

He fell to the ground, clambering up to his feet with dangerous chuckles mixed with growls brushing past his thin lips. Sango made sure the chair was out of reach from him, turning to push the wooden table to the far wall and out of the way. Hojo stood back, leaning against the wall at the very edge of the mirror, his face unchanged.

"You don't want to talk, you don't get to sit."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall in back of him.

"You're not looking too good there, woman beater. You tired?" She baited, closing some of the distance between them, stopping with just a couple feet to spare.

Byakuya ground his jaw forward, the muscles at the joint flexing as he brought his teeth back where they belonged. 

"Had a long night?"

His upper lip twitched.

"Hitting girls take a lot out of you?"

His head shifted slightly as Sango took two small steps forward, damn near in his face now, eyes slanted dangerously as she spoke again.

"Or was it the pounding she gave you that wore you out?"

Again, he scoffed, this time hard enough for spittle to fly from his mouth as he dramatically rolled his dark eyes. "I'd hardly call this a pounding."

"Really?" She feigned curiosity.

"Have you seen her face? I'm sure the marks I left have set in nicely."

"Sure, she's looked better. But there's one small detail you're neglecting. She's human. She, like most of us, get bruises from bumping the corner of a table.”

"What of it?"

"Well, you're a full-blooded demon. Your kind is difficult to harm and heals at a ridiculously fast rate, and yet..." Sango took an obvious glance at his wounded face and gashed head. "You're looking pretty worse for wear."

Another eye roll, this time swiveling his head to the side to face the neighboring wall instead of her.

"What's even better is once we lock you in a cell, you'll be labeled a woman beater. A lot of men in there don't take kindly to that."

"What, because a bruised septum and a cut on my head is clear indication of my crimes?" Byakuya chuckled. "How the hell would anyone know?"

"Oh, I'll make sure of it." Sango grinned, cocking a brow. "You think I don't have pull beyond these walls? You think one slip of the lip to the right guard wont spread your little secret of assault like wild fire? You'll have an awful rep before you're even indicted. The moment men see you walk through those doors, you'll be targeted. Your prissy, feminine looks will be scarred and bruised, and your ego will rightfully be smeared in the dirt. Your broken nose will stay this way, because everyone in there will want you to hold onto the little trophy Kagome gave you. Out here, you think you're something big, don't you? You think you're invincible because you hurt an unsuspecting girl, right? You're nothing. Not out here and definitely not in prison, and you'll have plenty of reminders coming your way for years to come."

"You're not allowed to threaten me! I know my rights!" He hissed.

"Who's threatening? I'm only trying to be informative. Hojo, did you hear me threaten Byakuya?" She asked with a smile, irreproachably. Hojo shrugged and shook his head, grimacing as he pretended he didn't hear a thing.

"You guys out there, knock twice if you heard me threaten him." Sango called to her coworkers watching in. Nothing. She turned back to the perp before her, raising a shoulder as she dismissed his accusation. 

"You're all corrupt!"

"What, are you mad now? Are you mad because a woman's in charge? A woman's in your face and you can't do anything about it?" She badgered, finally beginning to raise her voice.

"You don't know shit!"

"Don't I? Enlighten me, then!"

Byakuya stared at her, violet eyes flickering over every inch of her face, studying as his chest rose with an unsteady inhale. As he dropped his breath, he let out an incredulous chuckle, shifting his sights to the side.

"Or, is the only way you know how to teach a lesson-"

"God, woman beater, woman beater!" He drawled, unamused, bobbing his head from side-to-side. Byakuya stood up straight from the wall, leveling her challenge. "Is that all the material you've got? Look, if you think this has anything to do with the "reputation" you're giving me, you're sorely mistaken." He'd made quotation marks with the index and middle fingers of both chained hands, lifting them between their bodies so she'd see.

"Is that so? So, what did it have to do with?"

"Is that a loaded question?" He smirked.

"No, a loaded question would be me asking how much Naraku paid you to attack her." She watched his conceit fade. "I was fishing for you to admit it yourself."

His discomfort notably increased as his Adam's apple bobbed with the thick swallow. He moved to step away from Sango, to create some space, but she clutched the front of his shirt and yanked him back, slamming him against the wall.

"Did I say you could move?"

"Sango-" Hojo calmly warned, dropping his pad of paper on the discarded table as he apprehensibly stepped up beside her. "Ease up a bit."

"What? No." She smiled, shaking her head, the collar of his tee still balled in her fist. "He's obviously the type of guy that likes being told what to do. All I gotta do is smack him around a little to show him who his new boss is, and he'll break."

"This isn't the way to do it. He's talking now, let's just keep the conversation going." He held up his hands, trying to break the two apart. Sango brought her other hand up to grab Byakuya securely, bringing his body forward only to crush him back against the wall, his head colliding with the cement.

"Here's what's gonna happen, princess,” She spoke low, leaning closer to hover inches from his face. "You're gonna tell us everything we want to know, or I'm gonna give you a glimpse of what you have to look forward to in prison! Got it?"

"Sango!"

"Get the fuck off of me!" Byakuya growled.

"Or what? What are you gonna do?"

"It's not even ground-breaking that you know who he is, don't act like you have the upper hand!"

"But don't we? We have his lackey in custody, and he's seconds away from giving us what we need." She patronized.

"Like hell!"

Sango stepped back, the hint of an arrogant grin pushing the corners of her lips up as she crossed the floor and grabbed the discarded chair, dropping it down in the center of the heated room. Hojo created his own space, backing away to the table's new home, his fingers landing on the notepad but not picking it up. She silently commanded their perp to sit with the shift of her eyes that dragged from his body down to the seat. His expression was clearly ambivalent as he stayed put, thin lips twitching, eyes untrusting, sweat crawling down the side of his face.

Finally, he moved, squatting into the uncomfortable chair that only worked to further unease him, eyes inside and out of the immediate area focused on him as one of the remaining working lamp lights flickered in and out three times before going back to burning yellow.

"So," Sango began again, pacing around the room to stand before Byakuya. "How much did he pay you?"

He rolled his violet eyes, cocking his jaw out and in, a small popping sound heard from the grinding motion. 

"Alright, we'll make this easy. We'll come up with scenarios and you can just confirm or deny. Ready?"

No response.

"You're having trouble paying your bills. Or, better yet, you're an addict - that explains the sweats you've got right now. Jonesing. Craving. Your blood must be boiling, poor thing. You met Naraku by pure coincidence, and he offered you money in exchange for your assistance. You had no idea what you were getting yourself into. Money means drugs, so you took the bait."

"No." He plainly refuted.

"You're right, that doesn't make sense. How would Naraku have even a dime to his name right now? It's not like an asylum-escapee could hold down a normal retail job. Unless he's selling-"

"No."

"What about blackmail?" Hojo asked, his tone kind and approachable. "You don't seem the kind of person that's capable of concocting something this dangerous just for the hell of it. I can see there's more to you, and if he's holding something over your head, now's the time to tell us. We can work with you, Byakuya."

"You don't know shit about me." He dismissed with a sneer. "I'm not in this for money, I'm not into hard drugs, if anything I'd be the blackmailer in this scheme considering the way this man's twisted mind works, and I have the sweats because you assholes turned the heat up to eighty-five fucking degrees!"

"Doesn't feel hot in here to me." Sango shrugged.

"So, you're saying he asked you to do his bidding and you agreed? Just like that?" Hojo inquired.

"Basically."

"Did you aid him in the murder of-"

"Oh, here we go again!" Byakuya rolled his head back and around dramatically, landing on his bony-looking shoulder as he laughed. "History's repeating itself, and you're about to chalk up the whole story of how Naraku's some sort of serial killer, aren't you? Don't bother!"

"What do you mean?" Hojo and Sango glanced at each other from the side.

"He didn't kill anyone!" He shouted, fervency in his beliefs, eyes glowing in his defensive hunch. "You guys had nothing, nothing, and you were only able nail him down by planting incriminating evidence that didn't exist!"

"You don't believe he's a criminal?"

"That's not what I said. He's broken some laws here and there, he's built a record. He's just not the criminal your system has painted him out to be."

"A murderer." Sango stated, crossing her arms where she stood.

"Exactly."

"How do you know anything about Naraku? What makes you so sure?" Hojo pulled up a chair, opting now to sit across from Byakuya, sparing five feet's distance between them.

"Let's just say we have history." The demon shrugged, sitting back in his seat.

"That's not the answer we were looking for." Sango declared.

"Well, that's the only answer you're gonna get, sweetie."

"Try again."

"Go fuck yourself."

She grabbed a chair for herself, swinging it around to straddle beside Byakuya who leaned away as she neared. "Big talk for a guy in your position. See, here's the thing, considering you aren't cooperating but have confessed to your affiliation with Naraku, you could be pinned for everything he's done, and the potential is strong here."

"Aside from the assault, you don't have a thing on me."

"How about aiding an escapee?"

"Alright, you've got one thing." He smiled. "I'll do my time."

"How about stalking on two accounts?"

"So he took a few photos. Big deal."

"How about the murder of Abi Phoenix and her unsuspecting mother?" She delivered with more vehemency.

"Now that's where I have to stop you, because he hasn't-"

"He shot her mother in the head and tortured Abi all night until she bled out, you piece of shit! And before you defend his innocence again, he personally left his DNA on Abi by biting her thigh! We have the strongest evidence necessary to prove it was him!"

"Do you have an eye witness?"

"We have his saliva!"

"DID SOMEBODY SEE HIM!?"

"Yes! You! Apparently, you're the only person since his escape that has had any personal contact with him! You seem to know his every move, so you must have known he murdered the two women! Maybe you even helped him! You think the men in prison will be hard on you for brutally attacking a woman, wait until they find out-”

"You're making shit up!"

"We have to work with what we've got, don't we!? This is what you could be indicted for! This is the fire you're playing with, Byakuya!"

"He didn't kill anybody!"

"Sure, he did! He did, and so did you! How strong do your roots run, huh? Did you help him back in the day, too!"

"You mean the crimes you incorrectly pinned on a mentally unhealthy man!?"

"I mean the murders he committed on women and children! He killed a little boy! He kidnapped and murdered him in the backyard of his family's cabin!"

"Our family hadn't been to that damn cabin in three years, and Naraku hated that fucking place!"

Sango's mouth hung agape as she straightened her back, allowing this new information to bleed through. His cheeks went a sickly pale, neck tensing as he stared at her, the hollow of his throat emphasized with his discomfort.

"Our family?" Hojo spoke, leaning in slightly with an air of caution. Their perp was breaking, sweat dripping from his jaw line and soaking through his dirty, white shirt. He was nervous, a noticeable pulse pumping at the side of his neck, breathing elevated and heavy.

"So, you're related. That's how you know so much about him." Sango said.

"So fucking what!?" He spat defensively.

"That doesn't make sense, though. We have both yours and Naraku's DNA in the system and neither were matched to one another." Hojo said, brows furrowed as he reached for an explanation.

"Use your fucking brain, dumbass." Byakuya responded, his confidence raising as he embraced the now-exposed truth. "We aren't biologically related. Naraku was adopted."

"You're his younger brother."

"Ding, ding, ding! My parents thought themselves sterile since they were two clashing breeds of demons. They tried and tried and tried to get pregnant until a professional diagnosed that their contrasting biologics were too unstable an environment for a fetus. Hell, for semen. My mother's uterus was a war zone, you see. So, they adopted. They got my brother before he could even talk and it was a nice few years before I came around. I was deemed the "miracle child," and my brother was officially in the shadows from that day forward. He didn't take it to heart, though. He was... indifferent, I'd say. Indifferent to almost everything, really, but if there was one thing he hated, it was being still. If the house was too quiet or he ran out of things to do, he'd grow irrationally angry; he always had to be doing something stimulating. My brother's mentality began to slip when he was around, I don't know, ten or eleven. I was young, only seven, but I still remember the depthless look in his eyes when he first hurt an animal. Sure, I thought it was terrifying. How could a person do that to a cute, little bunny, right? It didn't take me long to realize Naraku wasn't a normal person, though. He never showed a hint of remorse when he did something wrong, was the biggest pathological liar you'd ever meet, either lacked or neglected control over his behavior, but still managed to be the most suave motherfucker around. That guy could manipulate the pants straight off of someone, but he was so charming not a single person batted an eye. Not even me. He was arrested several times over his teen years for animal cruelty; not the best hobby he could have picked up, even I can admit that. But not once did he ever target people for his twisted gimmicks. Not to mention, the last few times my family went up to that stupid cabin in the woods, Naraku lost his absolute shit! And I wish I was exaggerating! He'd break things, and scream, and curse, and kick, and punch holes in the walls, and demand to go home the entire fucking time. He wouldn't sleep while we were there, and he'd wander off into the woods and disappear for hours on end, which clearly wasn't a good thing considering what he was notorious for. So, we stopped going. Simple as that. Who knows why the hell he hated the place so much; probably because there's hardly anything to do in a secluded area. All I know is, it doesn't make sense that he'd ever willingly go back."

"He was arrested in the woods near the cabin."

"Fake."

"The little boy's body was dug up in the backyard."

"That doesn't mean he did it." Byakuya shook his head. "Hell, my father was more likely to kill a kid before Naraku ever would! He and my mother treated him like he was nothing, even after paying good fucking money for the adoption! I didn't want the limelight! I didn't want my brother to be treated as he was just because I was the one sperm that survived her fallopian tubes' ruthless defenses! For all I care, they caused his mental instability or whatever personality disorder he was diagnosed with! They threw him out on the street when he was seventeen! They kicked him out and moved so he wouldn't be able to find his way back! I was the only one that thought he deserved a little leeway! He wasn't right in the head and wasn't getting any sort of therapeutic help! How was he supposed to cope!? He was accused of all these murders, and it drove me crazy how that ugly, half-breed cop pinned all this false evidence on him like all psychopaths are bad! They aren't! There's this stupid stigma placed on psychopaths, that they're all murderers, but they're not! My brother may lack empathy, but he's not stone cold! He has a heart! He's never done a single bad thing to me! Not once! He lied about a lot of shit he did as a kid, but never once placed the blame on me! He was a good older brother!”

"No, not all psychopaths are killers." Sango spoke. "Not all killers are psychopaths. You're right. But you're brother-"

"YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!" Byakuya heatedly rose from his seat, cutting her off as he kicked his chair away and raised his cuffed hands to strike. She jumped back, but Hojo was on him before anything could happen, spinning Byakuya around and pinning him against the cement wall. He was gasping for air, struggling to escape the hand Hojo gripped his untidy, black hair with, body weight applied to his core so he was effectively restrained.

Sango held up her hand to the two-way mirror, knowing someone was probably preparing to break up the scene in case things were about to get messy, which she wanted to prevent. That couldn't happen yet. He was finally talking, and if they ended the interview now, the next time around would be twice as difficult. So long as Hojo could calm the detained demon, they could continue.

"There's no need to get angry, alright? Take a deep breath. That's it. One more. Good." Hojo soothed, backing off of Byakuya as his temper diminished. He took the liberty of grabbing the thrown chair and placing it where it was before, allowing the demon to sit and wind down as the tension in the room dwindled.

"He didn't kill anybody." He stated again, staring at the floor. "Abi's just a casualty in your half-demon's twisted game. He wants Naraku back in that hell hole so bad, it's pathetic."

"And how do you suppose he got the saliva sample?"

"Oh, please. Like that's even real. All you guys have to do is say you got it, and the system would take your word for it."

"What if we showed you the proof?"

"Then I'd insist you attained the DNA from his stay at the asylum and planted it.”

“Why would they have his DNA?”

“Who knows, but it’s a possibility.”

"You're very adamant in your opinion. You're incredibly loyal to your brother. It's understandable that you'd fight for him now that he's free; even going as far as running his errands." Hojo leaned in from his seat again, playing up the empathy.

"He's been through enough. I don't blame him for wanting payback." Byakuya's knee started bobbing up and down, growing faster as he tried applying more weight into it to get it to stop. "He justifiably hates Inuyasha, and I'm on board with anything he has planned for him."

"So where does Kagome land in all of this?" Sango asked, her tone notably softer than any other time she'd spoken before.

"Just like Abi, she's a casualty." He smirked. "My brother can be... obsessive. He started following her to spike the half-breed's anxiety and paranoia, but then it evolved into something more. He had a reputation given to him by Inuyasha, kind of like how you tried to pin one on me, so he's decided to live up to it. Polaroids. Polaroids, everywhere. Quite frankly, it was annoying, but who am I to tell him how to get his revenge? In all honesty, though, Kagome deserves the backlash she's getting if she's choosing to stay with the guy."

"I thought he's never targeted people before." Hojo posed.

Byakuya shifted uncomfortably, handcuffs jingling as he brought his sweating palms closer together. "Well, yeah. Before now."

"That's a pretty big leap. And you were ready to kill for him?"

He half-scoffed, half-chuckled. "I was actually under strict orders not to kill the girl. He wanted her maimed, really. He wanted Inuyasha to see the damage he was inflicting."

Sango sunk into her chair a little lower. It made sense. Kagome had mentioned he wasn't cutting off her air supply when he choked her. He was only trying to leave his mark.

"And you still believe he didn't hurt a single living being, human or demon, before this?" Sango tried.

"God, are you not listening!? Your corrupt officer framed him!"

"But why?" Hojo asked. "For what reason would Inuyasha have an innocent man put in prison?"

"Probably because these crimes were really taking place, but you guys arrested the wrong man. Inuyasha seems prideful. Like the kind of guy that doesn't like to admit when he's made a mistake. He couldn't take the embarrassment since this was such a high-profile case, so he made sure all signs pointed to Naraku."

"Don't you think that's a little too coincidental? I mean, Hakudoshi's body was pulled from your family's backyard. If Naraku was falsely accused-"

"Planted. He was planted. Keep up."

"How could Inuyasha have had the time to plant Hakudoshi's body? We have tapes, plenty of eye-witness proof, that proves Inuyasha was here, at the precinct, interrogating Naraku the entire time most of the searches for evidence was happening. The only time he went on the field was when we drove up to the cabin and unburied Hakudoshi."

"Then he had a buddy working with him. All of you have partners, who's his?"

"I understand your stance on this, I do. You want to believe your brother. You probably feel like you even have to because of everything he's been through. There's guilt gluing you to Naraku's side." Hojo said, allowing Sango to pick up where he stopped, instinctively knowing they were riding the same wave.

"But you're looking at this all wrong. Believe us when we say we want to help you. We are not against you here. You need to think of us as deforesters, not landscapers. We're in the business of uprooting every fine piece of grooly evidence, not planting it. Inuyasha was here, and we can show you. Abi wasn’t just some casualty, she was the link that pointed to your brother's arrest. Hakudoshi was innocently slain. He was a little boy. You think your brother doesn't deserve this treatment, but what about Hakudoshi? What about all the other innocent people killed by Naraku? What about them?”

Byakuya’s deep eyes pierced the ground at his feet, face contorted and wet, stray hairs sticking to his cheeks and neck, breathing unsettled as he clasped his hands together but couldn’t seem to hold them steady. He began shaking his head, the rhythm small and barely noticeable, allowing his mouth to part, a drop of sweat flowing over his upper lip and meshing into the line where it met the bottom.

“Show me.” He whispered. “I want to see every piece of damning evidence you have.”

—

The room was sitting at a more comfortable temperature now, the thermostat adjusted accordingly and a water bottle delivered for Byakuya as he sat in the room alone once more. The table was put back in the center, his arms resting against the wood as he stared down at it, waiting.

Sango and Hojo reentered with manilla folders in their hands, choosing their seats opposite Byakuya and placing their items on the tabletop.

"Sorry it took so long." Hojo said.

"Just show it to me." He mumbled.

Sango opened the folder she held, dragging out a glossy, black and white, overhead photo of Inuyasha questioning Naraku almost exactly nine years ago, six days from the date, the timestamp printed clearly in the bottom, left corner. She placed that in front of Byakuya, turning it around so it was right-side up for him. The next was a photocopy of an incident report where evidence was found at Naraku's apartment, dated and timed only eighteen minutes apart.

"In the video, Inuyasha is trying to get Naraku to admit to Hakudoshi's disappearance. No one knew he was dead yet. He was consistently pressing him to get him to reveal his location. He was trying to save the boy. At the same time, Naraku had given just enough information to get a warrant to search his home. Detectives found polaroids on the walls of women and children he'd stalked, women and children that had active missing reports out for their safe return."

"That doesn't mean anything. The time on Inuyasha's picture could have been photoshopped in." He argued.

"You can believe that all you want, Byakuya. You can bathe in your denial for all I care, but this is it. This is the proof you asked for. Inuyasha was in this station, locked in a room with your brother for hours, all while other investigators searched his place. How could he have planted anything?" Sango asked, her frustration slowly hiking.

"Well, where was he before the interrogation began?"

"Arresting Naraku."

"And before that?"

"Oh my god." She could tell it was a never-ending cycle, the huff from her nose heated like a dragon's.

"Look at this!" Hojo instructed, his tone striking critical for the first time. He opened his own folder, slapping down image-after-image of the scene they'd walked in on at Abi Phoenix's residence. Pictures of her mother's lifeless body, of Abi sprawled on the floor, slightly decayed, closeups of her brutally-inflicted wounds, the contusions on her neck, the bite just above her knee, her dark hair matted in dried blood. "See that mark on her leg? That's where Naraku bit Abi! That's where he left behind his DNA! She was murdered by your brother!"

"Bullshit! What reason did he have to get revenge on Abi? They had no affiliation with one another, they-"

"She was his girlfriend nine years ago! She was the reason he was arrested!" Sango interjected.

"That doesn't make sense!"

"When she was questioned by the police, she told them the last time she'd spoken to Naraku, he'd said he was heading to his family's cabin with his nephew!" Hojo yelled.

"No, that's not right! Naraku didn't have a girlfriend, and he doesn't have a nephew!"

"Think about it!"

"I'm telling the truth!" Byakuya shouted, slamming his fists against the table. "He's never been able to hold down a relationship in his life! Hell, he even told me he finds the opposite sex repugnant and never felt any desire to be with them - sexually or what have you!"

Hojo sat back in his seat, the heat fading from his expression, though his lips pressed into a flat line as he allowed Byakuya's words to settle, to cool. He nodded, shrugging his brows as he spoke again, this time more levelly. "Think about it."

"E-even if he did have a girlfriend, we don't have a nephew - he doesn't have a nephew." He shakily said, eyes widened with unclarity. Hojo pulled another photo from his folder, placing it on top of the others in the center of the table. The little boy stood with a bright smile on his face, white hair falling over his shoulders as he held a large basketball between his hands.

"This is Hakudoshi. He was eight years old and his body was discovered in the backyard of your parents' cabin."

"Inuyasha worked for hours to make Naraku slip, and a warrant was finally issued for us to search the premises. He was young, and terrified, and alone when he was killed. You want justice for your brother, but what about him?" Sango added, watching Byakuya's shoulders tremble from the applied guilt.

"You honestly didn't know?" Hojo inquired.

"No, o-of course not. I always believed him when he said he was set up, I-I thought I knew him better than anyone." He replied, the breath heavy against his lungs.

"I find that hard to believe."

Byakuya's violet gaze instantly redirected away from Hakudoshi's image, colliding with Hojo's skeptical, blue eyes.

"You mean to tell me you had no idea what pictures were inside the envelope you handed Kagome?"

"H-he didn't let me see them. The envelope was sealed when he gave it to me, I figured they were the same old thing." He hastily opposed.

"Well, it was; you're not wrong there." Hojo smiled incredulously. One of the remaining items in his folder was the very same envelope, slightly wrinkled, pointed corners of polaroids poking out from the opening. He dumped the contents on the table, tossing the empty envelope down beside it all. "Same old thing, same old Naraku! These are old photos he managed to keep of past victims! Look at them, Byakuya! Take a look at all the people he's stalked throughout the years!"

He did so, spreading them out, confused, taken aback, not knowing what to say anymore, studying, looking through and stopping as he spotted the silver-haired little girl he remembered from third street. Bile was rising into his throat as his stomach twisted and lurched in his abdomen. The temperature was normalized in the room, but his cheeks felt clammy. She'd gone missing when he was nine. Naraku used to babysit her for a little cash. He remembered the sirens blaring as they raced around the bend to her house, he remembered the police coming to their door to question his parents and then moving on, he remembered the incessant rumors about her dad spreading throughout the neighborhood community, the pain he would see on her mother's face when she watched little children walk by, the hint of envy as they went to elementary school - something her daughter would never do. And he remembered them eventually moving away.

"What-" His breath hitched as his nerves began getting the better of him, fingers shaking against one another. "What do you want to know?"

"Is there anyone else working with you two?" Sango asked without hesitation.

"No."

"How did you get Inuyasha's spare key?"

"I have a detachable eye, it's disgusting but one of the quirks of being a mixed race of demons. Stole a uniform from one of your cops and my scent was masked enough to blend with the mess of detainees you have in this building. Set up the eye, saw his combo, came back and got it. I got lucky finding the key in the locker; I was beginning to think he didn't have one."

"And Kagome's?"

"Her landlord is a dumbass with multiple masters in an unlocked office in the basement."

"Your parents, we never located them." Hojo stated, waiting for Byakuya to fill in the gap.

"They live upstate on a ranch. They're fine."

"And your brother," Sango leaned inward, maintaining a careful tone. "Where is he?"

He hesitated, eyes slowly shifting back and forth between the two detectives. His throat clenched, and he didn't know what to do. Naraku was still his brother. How could he turn his back on him after everything - no, that was all a lie. Naraku was the one inflicting pain, not the other way around. He was a serial killer. 

The thought felt acidic on his brain.

Still, as he opened his mouth to speak, his throat clenched and held his voice captive. He tried again, to tell the truth, to give up the headache-inducing charade, but his abdomen tightened like a shockwave had coursed through the surrounding muscles.

What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? What was right? What was wrong? He was going to be doing time in prison anyway, maybe if he willingly took the fall for his brother, Naraku could start anew.

That wasn't the way it worked though, was it? His brother had grown obsessed with Inuyasha, obsessed with his revenge. He was going to kill again whether Byakuya took the fall or not. His brother was sick.

He deserved a chance.

But he was going to kill.

"I," Byakuya's bottom lip trembled as he hung his head, staring at the wood between his forearms. "I want a lawyer."

Two hard knocks against the mirror behind them rang heavily throughout the dense room, effectively ending the interview.

Inuyasha’s Residence

Inuyasha stomped around the apartment, huffing and puffing as he made sure the windows were secure for the fifth time and counting, rushing out of view for his next task. Kagome sat on the kitchen counter, watching him travel through with his ever-prominent scowl, propped with one hand just behind her butt while the other held the strawberry she nibbled. She knew it would be irrelevant to point out how repetitive he was being. She knew how this time of the month spiked his blood pressure, and with Naraku still on the loose and his teammates hardly communicating anything with him, there was very little comfort in tonight's new moon.

She could hardly blame him. She'd tried calming him down a few hours ago, but he had every right to be high strung. If Naraku has been stalking the two of them for months now, there was a huge probability that he knew of Inuyasha's human night. Not that it would provide an inkling of consolation for the irritable half demon, Kagome couldn't help but hope Naraku had spent his time being more focused on her. He could rob her of every secret she hid from the world, just so long as he didn't take this one from Inuyasha.

He walked into the kitchen, stopping close by, ember eyes dulled with anxiety, staring at her legging-clad legs that dangled from the marble counter. Even though he wasn't looking at her face, she gave him a congenial smile, one she hoped would express her empathy for the situation at hand. With a tense sigh, he turned around and she knew he was about the repeat the entire process all over again.

"Hey," She extended a leg out, barely skimming his thigh with a toe but serving to halt his path nonetheless. "You've got it all, Inuyasha. Everything's locked up tight. We're gonna be perfectly safe."

"One more time." He grunted, still not looking at her.

"No more times." Kagome scooted her bottom closer to the edge of the counter, reaching her foot out to nudge him in her direction. He was reluctant. Rigid. Strained. She nudged him again and he finally gave, glancing at her with an unamused expression as he stepped his left foot back to open his front to her. Using the leverage she was granted, she pinned his hips between both ankles and pulled until he gave her what she wanted and came to stand between her knees.

"What?" He grumbled.

She grabbed his hands and gently placed them to rest on the tops of her thighs.

"Kagome."

She shushed him, the sound quick and gentle, tenderly raking her nails up and down his bare forearms. He huffed again, the sound clenched in his throat, but he didn't try to pull away. Kagome dragged her fingers up to the crook of his elbow, tickling slightly from the way he twitched, secretly enjoying how sensitive his skin became when he was on the brink of transforming, traveling up to his biceps and going inside the hem of his tee so she could skim the faded edge of the tattoo on his arm. He was beginning to ease, beginning to soften, his thumbs rubbing back and forth over the material of her leggings. Kagome leaned in, placing a small and playful kiss on his chin.

"I don't have time for this." He said. It was gruff, but wasn't the least bit convincing. He never moved away. In fact, his hands had moved up to her hips, thumbs now meshing between her pelvis and the softness of her thighs.

"You can check the locks as many times as you want, but it won't stop the sun from setting and I know that's what you're really trying to do."

"Don't get all philosophical on me."

"Then relax. Everything's gonna be fine."

"Not if he tries anything."

"Who says he will? Nothing has happened in the previous months on this night, right? Maybe he doesn't even know."

"I can't take that chance, Kagome. You know I can't take that chance." Inuyasha rebutted, shifting his head to the side, glaring at the drawn curtains of the closest window. "If anything happens tonight, I won't be able to protect you as well as any other night."

"I'm not worried."

"Well, you should be." He said earnestly.

"Well, I'm not! Look - hey, look at me!" Golden eyes shifted, landing on the bruise that had settled into her cheek. The last she'd seen it, which wasn't all that long ago, it was a nasty mixture of green and yellow, outlined with sprinkles of purple. It was healing, but he still stared at it as if it were freshly-inflicted and the bane of the Earth. "I trust you. Nothing will stop me from trusting you, not even the moon. Get that through your thick skull, Inuyasha, because I'm really not worried. And if it makes you feel any better, I'll double check everything for you so you can stop second guessing yourself. Alright?"

He rolled his eyes, giving her a small shake of his head as he ground his jaw outward.

"Alright?" Kagome tried again, this time with a little more fervency, moving her hands to grip the slant in his shoulder muscles, giving a warning squeeze so he'd take her seriously.

"Alright, alright. Whatever. It's your funeral."

"Make sure The Black Parade plays at it." She teased.

"That's not fucking funny." Inuyasha groaned, leaning down to bury his face in the curve of her neck. She wrapped her arms around the nape of his, welcoming him, allowing him to clutch her tighter than normal as he hissed a curse and shuddered. Through the curtains, Kagome could see the night resting in, the orange and pink hues of the sunset vanishing completely.

His hearing dulled incredibly, making him feel stuffed up, his equilibrium swaying slightly as he gathered himself against her. Tucking inward even more, he felt a swarm of gooseflesh travel over his body like tiny electric shocks thieving away his supernatural gifts. Everything was bland suddenly. Plain. Limited. He hated it. It was unsettling to be this vulnerable.

He felt the tips of her fingers caressing over the bumps of his spine at the base of his neck, and he finally blinked open his eyes. Her inner thighs were relaxed alongside his hips, her mouth pressed to the shirt on his shoulders, the hot exhales leaving her nose seeping through the cloth and gracing the skin beneath. She was being so patient, tender, as if the transformation was something painful for him. Of course it wasn't, and he was sure she was well aware. It wasn't the first new moon they'd spent together in all the years they've known one another. Still, that never stopped her from waiting him out, never saying a word until she was sure he was adjusted.

Inuyasha sighed defeatedly, stepping back and standing tall, unable to hide the way he avoided looking at Kagome. Maybe he was sloppy, or maybe it was because he was human for the next twelve hours or so - truth be told, probably the former; he couldn't blame everything on the night of the new moon, no matter how overwhelming his emotions became. -  but his shame was evident, as was his lack of confidence the darkness had graciously provided. He believed her when she said she trusted him, he had no reason not to, but that didn't stop him from thinking she was stupid. So fucking stupid. He had a horrible feeling pooling in the pit of his gut, bubbling, churning wildly, heating his core like his demon blood used to, and it put him on edge.

It had been six days since Kagome was attacked; six days since he initially failed to provide her the protection he promised. If something happened tonight while they were under the same roof and he failed again, he didn't think he could live with himself. But that was selfish, wasn't it? He was only thinking about the way he felt. She wasn't worried, wasn't scared, wasn't even bothered by the diminishing marks on her face. Yeah, she was stupid and he would argue that until the day he died, but she was also way more intuitive than he was. If her gut wasn't telling her to tread carefully, then maybe it was just his human emotions and the effervescent need to protect that was fooling him into thinking something may go wrong.

Kagome pulled Inuyasha's ponytail to the front of his shoulder, combing the stark black ends she'd always expressed she loved so much with her nails. He still hadn't looked at her but, god, did he want to. The sooner he looked, he realized, the sooner she'd stop her ministrations. Selfish, yes, but that's a degree of greed he could accept within himself. She shifted her head, he could see in his peripherals, and her hands slid up his neck, fingers gently massaging the lobes of his ears, the feeling foreign and slightly weird. He didn't stop her. Instead, he subconsciously leaned into it, effectively blowing his cover. There was mirth in her brown eyes as he caught her gaze, her smile scrunching her nose, and her fingers fumbled to the tops of his ears, still rubbing, still foiling his act.

"Move," She said, a giggle on her breath. "I've gotta check the house since you clearly didn't do a good enough job."

"Punk ass." He grunted, stepping out of her way. Kagome grabbed a strawberry from the bowl beside her and put it in his eagerly-accepting mouth before hopping down from the counter and working her way from window-to-window. She pushed up on the borders, making sure they were all stuck securely by the locks, readjusting the curtains she'd pushed aside and moving onto the next. Lastly, she checked the the door, unlocking and re-locking so Inuyasha had the satisfaction of the bolt clicking into place. 

"Everything looks good to me. What about your gun?"

"Loaded and on me."

"You can't sleep while wearing it." She grimaced.

"Makes sense since I'm not sleeping." He shrugged, discarding the top of the strawberry in the trash.

"Oh, that's right. It's the all-nighter. I'll stay up with you.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no need.”

“Four eyes are better than two.”

“You can’t stay up. You’re practically an old lady with how early you usually fall asleep.”

“Just because you have the unhealthy habit of doing it all the time, doesn’t mean I don’t have it in me!”

“I don’t need to sleep as much as humans!”

“And I’ve been reserving my energy just for tonight!”

“Bullshit! Ten bucks says you don't make it past two am."

"Twenty says you're the one that falls asleep first." Kagome challenged, laughing as he chucked a strawberry at her.

--

Her eyes were heavy as she watched one of the lesser-rated episodes of The Twilight Zone, making sure the volume to the chilling opening theme was low enough that it wouldn't disturb the sleeping man at the other end of the couch. It was surprising that he'd given in to the fatigue, despite how much she'd hoped for it from the beginning. All it took was some simple caressing and he was a puddle on the sofa, melting and dozing off until he couldn't fight it anymore, and she silently thanked his human night for making the guy substantially more sensitive than he’d ever willingly admit to being. Even under the illumination of the television, the black and white contrast bouncing off of his even skin, he looked peaceful. His scowl wasn't dominant, his brows were relaxed, and his lips were slightly parted as he steadily breathed in contentment. For his added comfort, she'd happily stay up all night. Plus, it would be fun to rub it in when he woke up that he owed her some money since it was hitting four-forty in the morning and she was still conscious. 

She leaned forward, minding that the motion was controlled to not alert Inuyasha, going for her glass for a sip of flat soda, fully relying on the small intake of caffeine to perk her up for the few remaining hours she had. As she reached, her phone vibrated against the coffee table, claiming her undivided attention as her hand snagged the device instead. It was the god-awful hours of the morning, who in the world could have been texting her?

The number was unfamiliar, though the area code was the same as her own. She opened the message, a chill rushing down her spine as she read the text three times over.

Kagome, is this still your number? This is Kikyo. I need your help...

The last time Inuyasha had spoken to her about his ex was when he was standing in her living room, telling her the truth she had been resistant to hear for so long. He was naturally worried about Kikyo's wellbeing, considering she'd disappeared from his place without a trace while fighting her addiction, and though he seemed to be masking it all well - maybe for Kagome's own sake - it must have been eating away at him. But why would she message her and not Inuyasha? What could she possibly do for Kikyo that Inuyasha couldn't?

Her phone buzzed again in her palm.

I'm sorry for texting at this hour. I don't know what else to do...

She needed help. That's what she'd said, she needed help. She was last seen in an unhealthy state, what if she never fully got better? What if she relapsed?

Even worse, what if Naraku knew about her too?

It's okay, I'm up. What's wrong?

It was only a small moment before Kikyo replied. Kagome couldn't help the sturdy beat of her heart thumping against her ribcage as she waited.

I got into some trouble, I can explain later. I think I'm by your apartment, will you pls meet me?

Yes! Where, exactly? Are you okay?

It made sense that she didn't know Kagome was currently staying with Inuyasha.

Near the old cafe and pancake house. Idk if you're still in contact, but I don't want Inuyasha knowing. Don't tell him.

She swallowed thickly, glancing over to his sleeping form. A guilt instantly washed over her. How could she not tell him? He's probably been so worried, so afraid. If there was anyone that deserved to know, it was him. Why wouldn't Kikyo want Inuyasha knowing? He would do anything to make sure she was safe. 

Nonetheless, it was her choice. She needed to respect that, didn't she? Maybe if she met with Kikyo, she could convince her to come back to Inuyasha's. Then it would be right on all accounts. Wouldn’t it?

The thought of the two of them together made it feel like a large, dense rock was dropped into her stomach, causing it to sink. It wasn't important, though. Her feelings weren't important right now. Kikyo was in trouble. Choosing not to help to spare her from the sting of jealousy was the worst thing she could ever consider. There was more than just herself involved in this. On top of it all, Kagome desperately needed to get to Kikyo before Naraku targeted her too.

Stay there.

She hit send. Stared at the virtual keypad beneath her hovering thumbs. Then began typing once more.

I’ll be there in ten.

As carefully as possible, she unfolded her legs from beside her, glad she was too comfortable to change from her leggings when they sat down to watch T.V. hours ago. As her bare feet met with the throw rug, she slowly rose, freezing as Inuyasha readjusted his position. Kagome stood in a semi-squat, her quads burning from the power pose as she waited him out, letting him settle, holding it until he gave that heavy sigh of deep sleep she’d been impatient to hear, then fully extended her legs in relief. She took every step with the intention of silence, clutching the notches of her shoes in her hands and deciding it’d be safer to slip them on in the hall. His car keys, thankfully, weren’t attached to an obnoxiously large set of keychains and rings like hers were, so folding her fingers around the three keys attached by a belt clip was easy to do while preventing a loud jingle that would no doubt wake Inuyasha. At a time like this, she legitimately didn’t know how to express how grateful she was that he kept his work set separate, as well.

Unlocking the door, though slow, was simple. The small scrape the chain gave hardly disturbed him, and the bolt was slid open right as a commercial flickered on the tv, so it masked the sound. Kagome twisted the knob, cracked the door enough for her to slide out, and pulled the door shut. She wouldn’t be gone for long - thirty minutes at the most. He’d, of course, be pissed when she got back, but seeing who she was with would hopefully provide some cushion. She had a legitimate reason for leaving.

As she got downstairs, Kagome dropped her canvas shoes to the ground without worry, sliding her feet in and adjusting the heels and tongues as necessary as she stumbled outside and to Inuyasha’s car. The vehicle came to life as soon as she twisted the key in the ignition, and she slid the seat forward and adjusted the mirrors as quickly as she could. She glanced at her cellphone one last time before driving off, checking to see if she had any other texts from Kikyo. Nothing. It wasn’t anything too abnormal for the woman, she was never very good at responding. Nonetheless, at a time like this, an “okay” or a “thank you” would have been nice.

The roads were dark as she stepped out of the car, sunlight still a couple of hours away. The street lamps were few and far between near her apartment, the neighborhoods slightly sketchy. She’d parked behind the coffee shop she used to frequent, venturing around the corner and to the front. The pancake house Kikyo mentioned was most likely the mom and pop shop a half a block down, but as she made her way closer, she realized there wasn’t a single sign of life around.

Kagome pulled up their texts, sending one saying she was here and waiting for a body to pop into her line of sight, but as the seconds ticked away, an uneasy and dreadful sensation made home in the pit of her abdomen. Something was wrong. Something was coming. She could physically feel the undoing taking place. It was getting increasingly difficult to swallow, to stand still, and her eyes were flickering over the streets around her until something told her it was time to go. Now.

Never in her life had she felt more like a sitting duck.

Kagome spun around, speed-walking her way up the street and back to the car, relieved when it was in view. Clicking the second button down on the remote, she unlocked the door so she could slide right in, but as she latched onto the handle and yanked it open, a powerful force slammed it shut, ripping the lever from her grip. The light from within had turned on from the initial open, bringing the face beside her into comprehensible view.

“Long time no see,” Onigumo grinned, the charming glimmer in his ruby eyes as evident as the day she’d first met him. “I’ve missed you so much, Kagome.”

“Shit!” She hissed, instantly running in the opposite direction. She’d made it three steps before a sharp yank to her hair stopped her in her hurried tracks, yelping more from fear than pain. He walked forward, holding her captive with the fist full of locks, pressing his torso flush against her back, curving his calloused, scratchy fingers around her throat, her head firmly tilted back to rest on his shoulder. His breath stank as he chuckled, the sound malevolent all on its own.

Naraku moaned, kissing the bruise on her cheek, his chapped lips lingering in place before the click of their separated moisture rang in the night. Kagome shuddered, gasping with every touch. 

“Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

[auroraphilealis]

Too Tense to Be Undone (5/7)

Too Tense to Be Undone (5/7) | Dan’s never had an orgasm before. Despite being in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend for three years, he’s just never been able to finish. The doctor’s don’t know what’s wrong with him, so Dan’s mostly put it out of his mind. Until his gap year, when he starts talking with AmazingPhil, and accidentally admits that he’s never come before. Phil’s happy to help with more than just convincing Dan to post YouTube videos, if Dan will just give him the chance. | Phan | Explicit | Slight Friends with Benefits, Pining, Eventual Smut, Very Explicit Smut, Dirty Talk, Flirting, Getting Together, 2009, Skype | 6,992 Words This Chapter

You’ve probably noticed the chapter number change again. When I originally started this fic, I had 4 chapters outlined. When I first started posting, I had 3 written. @imnotinclinedtomaturity, my wonderful friend and beta… incidentally inspired an extra 2 chapters that were totally unexpected, and not suggested to me until after I started posted. Normally, I wait to finish a fic before I start posting, and then I come up with what I think is a doable posting schedule. I chose every other day for this fic in the beginning because I was convinced I was done with it. But now, as you can tell, the plan has gone completely out of the window.

Last night, editing chapter 5 turned it into an 18K chapter that I realized I was not going to be able to completely fix by today, thanks to just how many re-writes I did. This fic has come to mean SO MUCH to me, that I couldn’t just leave it as is and post anyway. So I decided to cut the chapter in half at actually really perfect spot, and then inform you guys of two things.

1. The fic is 7 chapters now, but I’m PRETTY SURE it’s going to end there

2. My posting schedule has gone completely out of the window and I can’t promise when the next chapter will be out. I CAN promise that the whole thing is written, and that by the end of the next two weeks, you will have the whole thing, but I don’t want to promise I day things will be posted to give myself wiggle room to give the fic exactly what it deserves in terms of editing.

Thank you guys so much for all of your continued support. The fic isn’t quite over yet, but I’m so certain you’ll be happy with how I’ve sent the whole thing up, and it’ll be worth it in the end!

(previous chapter) (ao3 link)

**

They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Dan had barely finished drying his hair when Phil returned from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, and interrupted what Dan was doing to lean in and kiss him. His body was pliant against Dan’s, soft and tender in that same way he’d been in the while they were bathing, as if Phil had just figured out how to be soft, and wanted to shower Dan in the attention.

Needless to say, it took a long while to straighten his hair, and an even longer time for him to get dressed. A few times, he nearly gave up on it, his cock growing more and more interested with every kiss, every touch, every caress of Phil’s hands against Dan’s skin. Somewhat to Dan’s disappointment, Phil seemed determined to make the rest of the day sweet, though, and every time Dan tried to make the kisses hotter, tried to draw Phil in, tried to get him to let Dan touch something other than his back and hips, or even to touch Dan more than just the careful grazing of his skin, Phil drew away with a soft little laugh, and smiled at Dan.

With plans to film a Q&A later that night together, Phil stripped his bedsheets and started them in the wash after he dried his hair as well, leaving Dan alone just long enough to finish straightening his hair. Dan got dressed while he was at it, pulling on a pair of trackies he’d brought, and a t-shirt of Phil’s. The fabric felt warm against Dan’s skin, a reminder that Dan could do this now, and that Phil was his. It made Dan feel like he belonged, and the smell of Phil on the clothing comforted him too.

By the time Dan wandered downstairs in search for Phil, Phil was already in the kitchen making breakfast.

Breakfast, of all things.

Dan had been expecting a bowl of cereal and some orange juice at most. He’d expected having to make his own breakfast, and sitting in Phil’s lounge with him while they ate in silence. He’d expected something more calm, maybe a bit flirty, but instead he was getting this, and Dan wanted to drown in the affection he felt for Phil just then.

The unmistakable scent of pancakes had already taken over the kitchen. Phil was humming a happy little tune, another surprise Dan hadn’t been expecting. He’d never seen Phil quite so… carefree. This Phil was a little closer to the AmazingPhil persona Dan had gotten used to - the quirky, funny guy who smiled constantly and made weird noises. For so long, now, Dan had almost exclusively seen the sexy, confident Phil. Which was attractive. There was no denying that.

But now, now he was getting the Phil that was amplified for his videos - the striped down version who was - raw and cute and human.

It was nice. It was sweet. It made Dan’s heart lodge in his throat, and left him feeling overwhelmed with love for the man that until just a few hours ago he hadn’t been sure he could have.

Dan watched Phil cook for a little while, stood in boxer shorts and a t-shirt, smiling a little with each sway of Phil’s hips. Dan couldn’t stay away for long, however, and he found himself moving towards Phil so that he could wrap his arms around his waist, and rest his head on Phil’s shoulder.

Just like when Dan had done this in the bathroom, Phil yelped in surprise and jumped a little, but settled into the touch far faster than before, like he was getting used to it, and Dan loved that. Dan loved that Phil was slowly becoming more and more comfortable with the more romantic, affectionate touches that Dan wanted to engage in for the rest of his life.

He knew Phil was far more comfortable with sex, but this? This was Dan’s forte. This, Dan was going to force Phil to get used to. Because he knew that Phil would like it, and he knew that Phil deserved it.

Phil had never been loved before. Dan hoped that he’d get to love him for the rest of his life.

“Smells good,” Dan murmured into Phil’s back. Phil hummed back, the sound soft, sweet. Dan could feel the low rumble against his lips. “Thanks for cooking.”

“Anything for you.”

The words, a repeat from last night, sounded so fucking sincere that Dan closed his eyes, momentarily overwhelmed, and hugged Phil tighter. Phil seemed to relax further into the touch, and went right back to humming happily, a little off tune, but cute all the same.

Dan grinned and pressed his cheek to Phil’s back. He didn’t let go of Phil until Phil was finished cooking. There was nowhere he’d rather be at this moment.

“Come ooon,” Phil whined playfully when he piled the last pancake onto the plate. “I’m famished! We can cuddle later, Bear!”

The promise was enough to convince Dan let Phil go, and help him to carry the hefty amount of pancakes from the stove, to the table.

Breakfast was… a scene. Phil served them on two plates, but he pushed them so close together that Dan was practically sat in Phil’s lap in order to eat. Not that he was complaining. There was golden syrup, butter, and some sugar, but for the most part, Dan was far more interested in kissing Phil than eating his breakfast.

It was up to Phil to doctor their pancakes. Dan kept giggling and leaning in to press their shoulders together, joking about how they’d both been idiots for the last few months, and how happy Dan was to be with Phil now. There were whispered I love you’s and soft little kisses, sticky with a combination of syrup and sugar, and it was good.

Dan fed Phil bites from his fork and jokingly stole them from Phil’s lips, golden syrup ended up on Phil’s thighs and thick on Dan’s cheek, where Phil leaned in and kissed it away. Their smiles were warm and heartfelt, and with every movement together, Dan felt his body spike with a feeling of such absolute and overwhelming affection that he wished he never had to leave Phil’s side.

“I wish I never had to go home,” Dan whispered as the thought occurred to him, nuzzling Phil’s nose with his own, eyes half closed.

“One day,” Phil whispered against Dan’s. “One day, we’ll get our own place together, and you’ll never have to leave.”

Phil kissed him then, lips gentle against Dan’s. It sent a flash of warmth through him, a warmth that settled in his core and reminded Dan of just how special Phil thought he was. The kiss felt like a promise, it felt like love. When Dan pulled away to find a blush on Phil’s cheeks, he was reminded of the fact that this wasn’t easy for Phil - none of this, probably. Not the feelings, not the affection, not the cuddling. Phil had never loved before. He’d told Dan.

And yet here he was.

Phil didn’t do romance. Or at least he hadn’t before. But when he spoke to Dan, and the way he kissed him, Dan knew that Phil felt for him just as much as Dan felt for Phil. So Dan might have to teach Phil how to do the whole romance thing. Okay. Fine. Dan didn’t mind. Already, Phil had gone above and beyond anything Dan had ever had before. While Dan’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend had been nice, it had been nothing like this.

Already, Phil was trying harder than Dan’s ex ever had. Although Dan had done all he could to make his girlfriend happy, and made every gesture he could to show it, his ex had so rarely done the same for him. Sometimes, Dan had thought her feelings were nothing more than words, which, well, was probably true if the end of their relationship was anything to go by.

Buthere Phil was, making Dan breakfast, and touching him like he was something precious. It was worth more than any words his ex had ever said to him.

Phil might not know how to do romance, but Dan thought he was doing pretty damn fine as it was, and that… meant everything to Dan.

As they continued to eat, Phil kept getting a little bit of sugar on the corner of his lips, and Dan would repeatedly reach up to swipe it away. Their gazes would catch at the movement, warm and impossibly intense, and Dan would find his heart racing in his chest like this was the first time they’d ever touched. He just couldn’t deal with the fact that all of this was real. The way Phil looked at Dan...it was something Dan had never seen before Phil.

It was a level of affection, attraction, adoration, that Dan had never felt before. Once, Phil reached up and stroked the pad of his thumbs against Dan’s cheek, eyes glowing and almost disbelieving, but everytime, they leaned in close, drawn together like magnets, and pressed their mouths together for a gentle kiss.

The draw was impossible to ignore. Their lips would brush, and tingle, coming together and pulling apart, motion becoming familiar as they did it again and again, Dan opening his mouth to let Phil in, and Phil kept taking, always but keeping the kiss slow and powerful. It sent shivers up Dan’s spine, and caused him to let out soft little moans that weren’t so much lust filled as they were sensuous.

Dan didn’t know how Phil was doing it, but Phil knew how to make Dan feel like this casual physical affection was enough. With his ex girlfriend… this had never happened. It was sex, or nothing. This level of intimacy…

Dan never wanted to let it go.

It took three hours to finish breakfast. Phil got up only once good naturedly to move his laundry over from the washer to the dryer, anxious and excited to film a video later on, but other than that he stayed by Dan’s side the entire time, joking and teasing him, their legs pressed tight together, and Dan constantly leaning into Phil’s space.

It was the best breakfast Dan had ever experienced. It was leagues different from the times he’d go out with his ex to cheap diners and ordered pancakes, far better than the awkward conversations and the menial complaints about school and classmates. Dan much preferred giggling with Phil and talking about anime over hushed whispers of the newest school drama that Dan had pretended to be interested in solely for his ex’s benefit.

Eventually, breakfast did end, though, cascading into lunch and turning into more of a full day meal rather than anything else. Between the two of them, they ate more pancakes than Dan wanted to admit to, but he figured they deserved it after everything they’d… been doing. Dan’s body was definitely all for it, only sated after he’d eaten half a stack all on his own, with Phil shoving a couple more bites into Dan’s mouth, just because.

After a quick clean up, they moved to the lounge, Phil pushing Dan down onto the sofa and insisting that he sit still while Phil went and found a movie for them to watch. Dan didn’t have it in him to argue, curling up on the sofa with his head resting on the armrest, mind a little fuzzy with a mix of happiness, a full stomach, and afternoon sleepiness. He let his eyes slip closed for a moment, smiling as the events of the day began to sink in properly.

Dan was just now realizing how lucky he was.

Phil Lester was his. And he was Phil Lester’s. Giggling a little, Dan snuggled down further into the sofa cushions, just trying to soak everything in. It seemed almost unbelievable that the decision to let Phil attempt to help Dan reach orgasm had evolved into this. The cuddles, the affection, the expressions of love, and the promise that one day, one day they’d live together. That Dan would never have to leave Phil’s side again… it was. Nothing short of a miracle. Dan didn’t know if he’d ever get used to the idea.

But he’d try, because this was something he never wanted to lose.

When Dan finally opened his eyes again, beginning to wonder where Phil was, he found Phil standing in the doorway, watching him. His expression was completely unreadable.

“What?” Dan asked, embarrassed. He forced himself to straighten up, thinking maybe he’d made Phil uncomfortable, but Phil quickly shook his head.

“Nothing, I… I just can’t believe you’re here.”

As Dan turned his gaze back to look up at Phil, a little surprised at the confession, Phil stepped forward, an uncertain look etched on his face. He was wearing a hesitant smile, and for a moment, Dan could see the part of Phil that Phil was desperately trying to hide; the one who didn’t know what he was doing, who wasn’t used to being in love, and who had absolutely no fucking clue how to show it.

All Dan could think was that Phil was doing just fine.

“Me either,” Dan admitted, trying to show Phil that Dan was just as vulnerable right now, just as happy and a little unsure. “But I’m glad I am.”

Phil laughed. The sound was a little breathless, just this side of shy, but it made his face light up and his eyes gleam with affection, and that was all that Dan really needed. He smiled as well, and stood, arms open, begging for Phil to come and hug him. Phil, who’d only just a moment ago seemed unsure, stepped forward without hesitation and walked to Dan’s side, instantly enveloping Dan in a hug.

His arms were warm. The way he held Dan was… tight. Like he never wanted to let go. He crushed his face into Dan’s hair and Dan’s head into his chest. Phil kissed Dan, just because he could. Dan felt his whole body light up, and, unable to help himself, kissed Phil harder still.

“Mm,” Dan hummed. Phil chuckled, the sound a vibration against Dan’s lips. Tilting his head a little to better catch Phil’s lips, Dan drew them into something a little bit more, something drawn out and perfect and, if Dan was being honest, a little arousing as well.

So, kissing Phil made Dan horny. That wasn’t all that new. Kissing had always been a sure fire way to get Dan’s body ready. But with Phil, Dan wasn’t embarrassed by the fact. Instead, he felt safe. While his ex used to make fun of him, even get annoyed if she wasn’t in the mood, Dan knew that Phil would never hurt him like that.

No, Phil didn’t say a word, not even a joking comment, about the way he could feel Dan’s hips undulating into Phil’s, arousal clear as it pressed alongside the seam of Phil’s jeans, and that put Dan at ease. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt free to just be. Dan was so used to having to hold back, to apologize for things that were just natural, or just him, but Phil… Phil just seemed to understand.

Even more, he was almost sure he felt a hint of Phil reciprocating.

Phil pulled away from the kisses before Dan was ready, nuzzling his nose against Dan’s. Before he could move out of Dan’s space, Dan reached down and took Phil’s belt loops between his fingers, and yanked the other man closer, pressing their lips messily together once more.

The kiss was… a bit more intense than the others. Dan hadn’t intended it, but it was hard not to get carried away when he was kissing Phil. And besides, Dan really wouldn’t mind going another round. Phil hadn’t exactly said no that morning, though he’d kept everything thus far a little more innocent… But Dan hoped that by showing Phil how much he wanted him, how much he craved him, that Phil would stop treating Dan like he was glass.

Using his purchase on Phil’s trousers, Dan drew their hips together and allowed himself to grind a little more insistently against Phil. He could feel that Phil was growing interested as well, which was a positive sign. Relaxing a little bit more into the kiss, Dan let Phil take control, not even minding too much when Phil slowed their kisses down.

He did, however, mind when Phil let them peter out into sweet little pecks, before ultimately pulling away.

Dan couldn’t deny that he was disappointed. A very large part of him wanted to jump Phil right then and there, and just… well, make the most of the short time alone they had together.

“I wanted to watch a movie with you,” Phil whined when Dan pouted at him, his eyes wide and pleading, despite the arousal Dan could see in them.

A movie? Really? Sure, it sounded nice, but it was nothing compared to the idea of Phil filling him up again, nothing compared to the idea of being pressed together so tight that Dan could pretend he and Phil were one person. Besides, could Phil really blame Dan for wanting to go another round when Dan had gone eighteen years without an orgasm?

Phil, however, seemed much more hesitant about the idea. As he took in Dan’s expression, he bit his lip, eyes searching. Dan did his best to look not only put out, but enticing. After a moment, Phil sighed, and leaned back in to Dan’s personal space.

Their foreheads touched, and Phil pinched his eyes shut, an expression that Dan hated to see on his face. Phil looked so torn, and Dan didn’t understand. The idea that he was causing that level of pain for Phil, though, was too much for him to take. Opening his mouth to speak, fully intent on placating Phil, reassuring him that it was fine and Dan didn’t mind if he didnt want to have sex right now, but Phil cut him off before he could.

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Phil murmured, “It’s just that… I guess I’m just… It’s always been about sex for me, but it’s not this time. And I wanted...” he continued, trailing off as his cheeks blossomed with an embarrassed flush.

Dan’s eyes were wide, and he peered up at Phil, whose eyes only squeezed shut tighter as he frowned.

Fuck. Dan hadn’t meant to make it about sex. Cuddles were good too; in fact, Dan loved them. They were more than Dan ever could have asked for, especially considering there had been a time when Dan had thought sex was all he was going to get out of this - either a one night stand, or a friends with benefits deal that Dan wasn’t sure he would have been able to say no to. It was just… Dan was really enjoying the intimacy of sex with Phil.

Dan had never had an orgasm before, but the part that had always affected Dan the most wasn’t the lack of orgasm, but the inability to experience it with a partner, to share that pleasure together, and just… enjoy each other.

While sex had been nice, pleasant even, before, now it was just… really, really intimate.

But as the thoughts cascaded over Dan, something else nudged at his mind. Phil was 22, and he’d never been in love before. Phil was 22, and while Dan had gone 18 years without an orgasm, Phil had gone 22 without love. How had he gone so long without the physical intimacy that Dan craved so much, the physical intimacy that came from so much more than sex? Of course Phil didn’t want to have sex right now.

He was reveling in the feeling of blatant, romantic affection that he’d never had before, and Dan suddenly felt like the biggest ass in history.

“Phil, I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...it’s okay, if you don’t-”

“I just want to hold you for a little bit. Please,” Phil blurted out before Dan could finish his sentence. Inhaling sharply, Dan found himself staring at Phil’s closed eyelids in complete and utter stunned surprise.

Dan’s ex… had never really wanted to cuddle. Not like this. Not the way Phil wanted to. By the end of Dan’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend, they only ever really saw each other if they were at school, or sneaking off to have sex. Dates… dates had stopped not longer after Dan had admitted he’d loved her, and she’d seemed to realize that she didn’t have to try so hard anymore.

Something in Dan told him that it wouldn’t be the same with Phil.

As Dan stared at Phil, Phil’s eyes slipped open, and he stared at Dan with that deep blue gaze that was so uniquely Phil that Dan thought he was going to drown in his eyes Phil’s gaze was searching, so open… so desperate.

Dan’s tongue felt glued to the top of his mouth, and he was unable to respond.

Phil inhaled sharply, pressing his forehead harder against Dan’s, like he wanted nothing more than to be close to Dan, before speaking again.

“I’m never had something like this. I’ve never felt this way before. I just want… to wrap myself up in it, I guess,” Phil finished lamely, lips quirking up in a self-deprecating smile that was Dan’s signature, thank you very much.

Dan didn’t have the words to express what the words meant to him. He didn’t have the words to explain that he understood, and that he wanted that too, and that was just as good as sex, so… he leaned in and said what he couldn’t articulate out loud with a kiss instead.

Despite the slow burning desire in the pit of Dan’s stomach, and the slow burn of arousal that shot up his spine everytime he remembered last night, or god forbid that morning, Dan was overjoyed to hear Phl admit that he just wanted to cuddle, that he wanted to experience that kind of closeness with Dan without the need for sex and pleasure.

Phil was perfect. He was everything that Dan hadn’t realized he’d needed, everything that Dan hadn’t realized he was missing, and now that the words were out in the open and expressed in a way that only Phil could express them, Dan felt relieved. He hadn’t realized he’d needed to hear Phil say that until just that moment.

Sure, Phil had made it quite clear he enjoyed the cuddles from his actions alone that morning, but there had been a part of Dan afraid that in the end, everything would result back into sex and Dan would be caught up in this vicious cycle of just being what Phil was used to, rather than so much more. So to hear that Phil wanted both, that he wanted to experience so much more with Dan, and that he wanted to keep that ball rolling rather than giving in to their mutual lust all the time, that was… amazing.

Besides. The fact that Phil had said all of that aloud felt like a huge step to Dan. Phil came off as more of an actions kind of guy, so for him to be willing to verbally open up to Dan like this… well.

It was something special.

The very thought of it made Dan laugh into the kiss, giddy with happiness. Phil made a muffled sound of confused protest, and tried to keep kissing Dan, but the laughter kept bubbling up inside of Dan until he had to pull away from Phil.

Dan pressed a hand to his lips, and smiled up at Phil, only to find Phil smiling back at him.

“What was that for? Why are you laughing?” Phil asked, chuckling a little, eyes wide and confused.

Rather than answering, Dan leaned back in and pressed one more chaste kiss to Phil’s lips.

“I’m just happy,” Dan whispered, unable to stop the sudden influx of laughter, eyes crinkled up in affection. “I’m happy, and I just want to hold you too. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life curled up next to you.”

The words were cheesy, and yet Dan meant every word of them. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest, a tiny sliver of it nervous and afraid that Phil would reject him for being so open and honest about his feelings, but the larger part of him aware that Phil would never, ever, make fun of Dan, and that Phil would never, ever reject him.

No. Today had proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Perhaps some would accuse Dan of being naive, but Dan… well, Dan thought he could trust Phil. After all, he’d put all of himself under Phil’s power last night, and Phil hadn’t taken advantage of him.

Phil’s eyes were glowing when he looked at Dan.

That was all the answer Dan really needed.

With one last sweet kiss, Phil pulled away from Dan in search for the DVD he’d dropped somewhere between the doorway and Dan. For his part, Dan curled back up on the sofa to wait, and laughed at the way Phil moved around his lounge with no clear cut idea of where the case had gone. Meanwhile, Dan could see it hiding under Phil’s coffee table, which kept him amused but unwilling to tell Phil where it was.

Flushed and frustrated, Phil eventually moved back over to Dan and kissed him playfully, shoving his fingers through Dan’s fringe and asking him “please tell me where it is?”

Unable to deny Phil anything when Phil’s hands, his lips, were on him, Dan gave in and pointed under the coffee table with little to no more resistance.

“Thank you,” Phil whispered, and kissed Dan again.

Dazed, Dan watched Phil lean over to retrieve the unreadable case, and move to put the movie in. At the movement, Dan found himself staring at Phil’s bum, and the soft curve of it pressed against his jeans. Dan licked his lips, and was unable to drag his gaze away again until Phil stood back up.

Trying to pull himself back together, Dan shook his head, hoping to rid himself of his blush and the warm feeling in his chest flirting with Phil brought him, Dan settled back down on the sofa and got settled so that he could cuddle with Phil.

Once the movie was in the DVD player, Phil grabbed the TV remote, and returned to Dan’s side. This time, he sat down on the sofa next to Dan, close enough that their thighs were touching, and lifted his arm to press along the back of the sofa, softly nudging Dan’s shoulders.

The feeling was casual, but affectionate, and made Dan warm all over. He had flashbacks to pulling the same move on his ex-girlfriend on their same date, but it was more awkward, more forced, more contrived. This, though… this was good. It was perfect.

Grinning, Dan dropped his head onto Phil’s shoulder, and allowed himself to sink into the giddy, warm feeling that was trying to take up residence in his bones.

“So what are we watching?” Dan asked, wanting to distract himself a little bit from the utterly overwhelming sensation working its way through him. Rather than answering, Phil hummed, and fiddled with the TV remote.

Dan watched, fascinated, as Phil fast forwarded through what looked like a bunch of DIsney adverts, before the title screen came up.

“Wall-E?” Dan asked, nearly vibrating in his seat.

“Obviously!” Phil teased, rolling his eyes. “You did say it was your favorite Disney film,” he explained, and dropped an easy kiss to the top of Dan’s head.

It really was, and Dan could remember mentioning that to Phil, he just hadn’t expected Phil to remember. It had been a kind of throw away comment, so the fact that Phil had held onto it, been interested enough in Dan to want to remember it, made Dan’s heart swell and the entire situation feel more real.

Dan couldn’t help wondering what else Phil remembered. He’d have to ask, sometime, try and dig into Phil’s secrets and embarrass him, all the while finding out just how enamoured Phil was with him. The thought was an exciting. Dan moved to settle more comfortably against Phil as Phil pressed play and the movie began.

Phil shifted his arm from its casual position on the back of the sofa, to Dan’s actual shoulders, and pulled Dan in closer.

Dan practically purred at the touch. He wanted to remain like this forever.

In a way, Dan got his wish. They stayed pressed together just like that for the majority of the movie, giggling together over cute scenes, and more than occasionally leaning for a sweet kiss that always magically turned into so much more.

They just couldn’t seem to stop making out. It was something about the newness of being together and the incredible sensation that kissing seemed to bring.

They didn’t take any further than that, though. Dan didn’t push it, even if a small part of him wanted to, and neither did Phil. Phil sometimes carded his fingers through Dan’s hair or massaged at his scalp, pressed a few kisses to the top of his head and his forehead, but never anything more than that, and Dan just kind of… basked in it all.

He couldn’t believe it was happening. Phil was a natural at the affectionate touches, but that didn’t surprise Dan all that much. Phil was a touchy feely kind of guy, so it made sense it would translate well outside of sex. Dan just… couldn’t believe he was here.

Twelve days ago he’d thought he was just going to get an orgasm out of all of this, and eight days ago he’d worried that Phil was just going to use him and throw him away, but now?

Now, Phil was holding onto Dan like he was something precious, and Dan was staring up at him in awe, because Phil had said I love you. Phil… was in love with him.

Dan was Phil’s first love.

And hopefully Phil’s last, too.

God, he hoped he didn’t fuck this up.

They were so caught up in each other that they almost missed the fact that the movie had finished. Dan might love Wall-E, might think it was the best Disney movie to date, but Phil was better. Phil would probably always be better - better than any movie - so Dan could hardly be blamed for focusing more of his attention on making out with Phil, joking with Phil, curling into Phil.

Still, it was kind of embarrassing to be jostled apart at the sound of the credits rolling, and both Dan and Phil jumped apart with a surprised laugh.

They popped in a second movie, this one a title that Dan didn’t recognize (not that he cared), and spent the entirety of that one making out, too. By the time dinner rolled around, Dan’s lips were numb, and his body a warm flush of arousal that he couldn’t quite shake.

Actually eating dinner, though, was another affair.

This time, Dan ended up sat actually in Phil’s lap while they ate a pizza Phil that had ordered in. They didn’t feed each other this time so much as they just kind of messed around, kissing and flicking each others’ noses on the sofa while they tried to eat. Phil made funny faces and crossed his eyes at Dan, giggling when it made Dan groan and shove him in the shoulder to get him to stop.

The TV was on but neither of them were much paying attention to it anymore, far more concerned with their own little conversation in the tiny bubble that was currently their entire world. There was the small trade of personal secrets, tiny memories that hurt more than either of them seemed willing to admit, as they sat together, just basking in each other’s presence. There was something more intimate about the lateness of the hour, the fact that they’d rolled straight over into 9 o'clock already, that brought out their inner thoughts, and allowed them both to open up to each other even more than they ever had in the past.

Dan was living for it. He was living for the gentle caresses of his lower back, the reassuring smiles, and the promises that Phil would fight every monster in Dan’s life - including his brain. They both knew Phil couldn’t fix Dan, couldn’t save him in every way, or take away the past or foresee the pains of the future, but the fact that Phil was ready to stand at Dan’s side and fight along side him was enough.

Dan did his best to promise Phil the same, but he wasn’t the linguistics major, and he found his ability to form words had dissolved into nothing more than promises that Dan would never leave Phil’s side.

They were promises that were true, but not beautiful enough to comprise how much Dan meant them.

It was a little dramatic, when neither of them knew what was going to come their way in the future. But right then, they needed the hope, and Dan would do his best to keep that promise.

Eventually, dinner did come to an end, however. They didn’t eat as much pizza as Phil had ordered, not as much as they’d had pancakes that morning, but they did demolish a good portion of it. They shoved the rest in Phil’s fridge for tomorrow morning - or, if Dan had hisway, a post sex 3am snack - and headed upstairs to do the collab Phil was very much so committed to filming with Dan while he was here.

The energy between them shifted as they both switched into a more productive, creative mode. Dan plopped down on Phil’s floor with a pencil and paper to start writing down questions to ask Phil and Phil collapsed on top of his bed, head hanging off backwards next to Dan’s shoulder as he started searching through the twitter hashtag they had set up earlier.

“Here’s a good one,” Phil said, and Dan started writing.

There were hundreds of questions, far more than Dan or Phil had really expected, many repeats from multiple sources, or different questions from the same handles. They did their best to keep things mixed up and not take ones only from one user and not limit the chances of others, but it was difficult to narrow the questions down. Eventually, Dan decided to take notes of a few questions that Phil and he both agreed might not actually end up in the video, but had the potential for funny answers - most notably, “Why do you always make cat whiskers on your face?”

“Have you ever done that before?” Dan asked, laughing hysterically at the way Phil had read it out with the most confused tone of voice Dan had ever heard. Phil let out a strange squeak, and shook his head, lips turning up as he started to laugh too.

“No?” he replied, rolling onto his side as the laughter became more hysterical. “I don’t know where that came from, but now I’m thinking we should draw some on our face for the video.”

Dan jotted the question down when he was able to get his laughter under control, and then dropped the pad of paper to the floor.

“Okay, that’s enough questions. Now come here for a minute,” Dan insisted, and climbed up onto the bed to kiss Phil. They ended up on their sides with Phil’s fingers stroking over the skin of Dan’s hip, and Dan’s hands bunched up in Phil’s shirt in order to drag him closer still. Dan felt starved for Phil’s touch, and he knew it was a little bit ridiculous - they’d spent all day touching, and Dan couldn’t handle a few moments away from Phil?

He just couldn’t help himself, moaning loudly against Phil’s lips when their kisses grew more heated, even deeper than they had been all day. That seemed to be the worst decision Dan could make, because Phil pulled away instantly afterwards, eyes shining with mirth.

“Daaaaaan,” Phil whined, playful. “Stop distracting me, we need to fiiiiiilm. If you behave yourself I’ll make it worth your while,” he added with a wink, grinning seductively even as he pulled away from Dan and left him cold and abandoned in the middle of the bed.

Dan groaned at the teasing, but rolled off the bed as well. He knew how much Phil wanted to film with him, and Dan was really excited too, he just… really liked kissing Phil.

“Fine. But you better give me the best orgasm ever or I won’t forgive you,” Dan complained reaching up to fix his hair in an attempt to make it look less like he’d just been making out with Phil.

Phil’s grin only seemed to widen at the words.

“Dan, I’m pretty sure I already have. Aren’t I the only person to ever successfully get you off? No one’s ever gonna can top that but me.”

Dan’s cheeks flushed red. He gaped at Phil, mortified that Phil would bring that up, and leaned over Phil’s bed to pick up a pillow.

“Shut up!” he moaned, chucking the soft object at Phil’s head as roughly as he could. He missed, and while Phil yelped and attempted to dodge the flying object, it went awry and landed on the bed. Dan groaned as Phil started to laugh, and shoved his face in his hands.

“I hate you,” Dan complained, even though he knew it wasn’t true. Despite the deep flush on his cheeks, Dan knew that he was irrevocably in love with Phil.

Strangely quietly, Phil rounded the bed and surprised Dan when he wrapped his arms around Dan’s shoulders, dragging him into a hug. Gently, Phil pressed a kiss to the top of Dan’s head, and despite the fact that he was still kind of laughing, said, “I’m sorry. I love you.”

Dan couldn’t stop the fact that the words, and the touch, made him smile.

“Love you, too,” Dan snarked back, rolling his eyes, but holding Phil tighter nonetheless.

The hug ended before Dan was necessarily ready. Phil’s arms retreated, and though he offered Dan another soft smile, Phil pulled away and pointed towards Dan’s luggage case.

“I think we both need to get suitably dressed if we’re going to film.”

Groaning, Dan stared down at the pajama bottoms he’d pulled on that morning, and regretfully started to peel them off his legs. He might as well look his best for a video he was going to appearin on Phil’s channel. Once Dan had stepped out of the pajama bottoms, he reached behind himself to pull his shirt over his head, only to hear Phil whine behind him.

Tugging the fabric all the way off, Dan turned to Phil with a quizzical look.

“You looked so hot in my shirt,” Phil bemoaned. Surprised, Dan stared for a moment, before a cocky grin lifted the corners of his lips.

Dan had failed pretty pretty spectacularly in the past two days of unraveling Phil properly, so to know that wearing Phil’s clothes got to Phil, Dan figured he’d do it again. As soon as possible. Tonight if he could.

With a wink, Dan promised Phil as much.

“Maybe I’ll wear your clothes more often then.”

Phil moaned again as Dan moved to his luggage bag, and started to shuffle through out for a more appropriate filming outfit. He rolled his eyes at Phil’s complaining, but Dan secretly loved the distressed sound, and the fact that Phil liked seeing Dan in his clothes. It felt like another level of intimacy that Dan was glad to have now. Before, he hadn’t been able to wear his ex-girlfriend’s clothes, and since they were so young, she never went beyond wearing Dan’s sweatshirts, and that… wasn’t quite the same.

With one last wistful sigh as Dan tugged a black shirt over his head, Phil got to working changing out of his shirt, though he was luckier than Dan and was only wearing a pair of boxers other than that. Dan sneaked a glance over his shoulder to see Phil stripping out of his shirt as well, and yanking on a pair of black jeans. A little sad that Phil was covering up all that wonderfully pale skin, Dan pulled his gaze away, and yanked out a pair of jeans for himself.

Once both boys were dressed, Dan retrieved Phil’s bedding and tasked himself with making the bed. While Dan straightened the covers, Phil set up his camera - something that made a combination of terror and excitement curl in Dan’s belly. He was about to film with Phil. ith AmazingPhil. Not only that, but Dan was getting a chance to see firsthand how Phil filmed.

Up until now, Dan had really only had his own frame of reference for how to go about filming, so to see Phil going through his own process was rewarding, comforting, and a learning experience. Phil’s method was much the same as Dan’s, proving that Dan was not quite as much out of his league as he’d originally thought he was.Even the things he didn’t know were somewhat stylistic or easy to learn.

Finally, Phil settled down on the floor next to Dan, handed Dan the paper where Dan had scrawled the quetisons, and set the camera to start recording. Dan’s heart launched into his throat, but he grinned instantly as the excitement started to properly flow through him.

This was it.

They were doing this.

Together.

[halloweendailynews]

A new Halloween movie is finally upon us, and it was well worth the nine-year wait, as director David Gordon Green and his co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley have delivered one of the best horror sequels ever made, in a timely story of unresolved trauma and the return of The Bogeyman.

I’ve watched Halloween 2018 three times as of this writing, and I enjoyed it more with each viewing, and so after a few weeks of thinking about it, it’s time to dive in to my full review. In this case, the following does contain quite a few spoilers, because, honestly, you’ve had almost a month to see the film. (If you’re reading this for my recommendation as to whether you should see the film, just know that I highly recommend you go see it right now. …And then come back here and read the following review).

Let’s start with the score, the most visceral link between this new film and director/composer John Carpenter’s 1978 original Halloween. Carpenter’s new score for the 2018 film not only brings updated versions of the classic themes we all know and love, but also channels all of the best parts of other classic Carpenter soundtracks. By the time Daniel Davies’ electric guitar first screams in the film, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

The first thing we hear over the studio logos is a dark, intensely foreboding intro. The revisited themes are all familiar but now have a new, relentlessly driving urgency, hurtling viewers toward an epic, inevitable climax.

My favorite track from the 2018 soundtrack, “Prison Montage” creates an atmosphere of complete dread for what’s about to happen, while on screen shots of Michael boarding the bus transporting the patients of Smith’s Grove Sanitarium are intercut with Laurie Strode seeing The Shape for presumably the first time in 40 years from a distance. And there’s the haunting voice of Dr. Loomis (voiced by Colin Mahan), not the voice of Donald Pleasence that we remember, but a more weary and hollow, distorted recording of the Loomis we once knew, absolutely resigned to the fact that “It has to die.”

From the opening credits to Laurie Strode’s eventual reunion with Michael Myers, the film does an amazing job of subverting our horror-ingrained Halloween-obsessed expectations while at the same time paying significant homage to the very tropes that the original Halloween created 40 years ago.

And how can fans not love all of the Easter eggs, so many loving references to the entire Halloween franchise?

P.J. Soles, who starred in Halloween ’78 as Lynda, has a classy off screen cameo as the voice of young Allyson Strode’s unseen high school teacher, and the devil costume worn by Oscar, played by Drew Scheid, is a callback to the she-devil costume memorably worn by Samantha, played by Tamara Glynn, in Halloween 5.

And Laurie Strode’s bedroom, where much of the finale takes place, is itself an exact recreation of the Doyle house bedroom where the first film ends.

We knew from the trailers that the Silver Shamrock masks from Halloween III would make an appearance, and it was indeed amazingly surreal to see, this being the first time that Season of the Witch has been acknowledged in any way since “Mrs. Blankenship” was featured in 1995’s The Curse of Michael Myers (Curse writer Daniel Farrands told me that “Mrs Blakenship” is “Minnie Blankenship” in this interview).

And of course Allyson’s asshole boyfriend Cameron Elam, played by Dylan Arnold, is the son of longtime Haddonfield asshole Lonnie Elam, who bullied poor Tommy Doyle in the first film and was last seen getting scared away from the Myers House by Dr. Loomis.

Those are just a few of the many shout-outs to past Halloween movies that are featured all throughout Halloween 2018, which only enhance the film’s re-watchability.

And speaking of doctors, let’s talk about Dr. Sartain, played by Haluk Bilginer, who we told you would be a new Loomis-like character following Nick Castle’s Q&A in February. I’d still say that Laurie is really the “new Loomis”, but Sartain serves as sort of an abbreviated, extreme version of what these new filmmakers see as likely happening to Dr. Loomis, at least to some level. Loomis was admittedly obsessed with Michael after just 15 years with him, and Sartain is certainly obsessed with him after (presumably) close to 40 years with him.

And while Sartain’s twist is definitely the biggest WTF moment of the film, even that in itself is a bit of an Easter egg too, isn’t it? Halloween is easily the crown jewel of all modern horror franchises, but it has a long history of WTF moments throughout the last four decades, some that have been eventually embraced over the years (Halloween III), and others not so much (The Man in Black), but Sartain’s WTF moment is not really that huge when compared to all of the others. And you have to admit, you did not see that coming. (We were all expecting Ben Tramer Version 2.0, right?)

On repeat viewings, you’ll notice more of how Sartain allows, almost urges, journalists Aaron and Dana to provoke his most notorious patient, and on the eve of his transfer to a new facility where the doctor does not want to think about Michael being. And there’s the odd coincidence that the transfer takes place on the night before Halloween. And you will rightly wonder just how much of what transpires next was part of Sartain’s plans all along.

This is my favorite portrayal of the Laurie Strode character ever put on screen. In a career-defining performance that more than anything honors the legacy of one of the greatest survivors in movie history, Jamie Lee Curtis has never been better. This is a heartbreaking portrait of a woman who has never fully developed into a whole person because of the horrific events that happened to her on Halloween night in 1978. And when it starts happening again, 40 years later, her worst fears, and at the same time a chance at rewriting her own narrative’s ending, are realized.

As Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson, Andi Matichak is very much the modern version of what Laurie was in 1978, instantly likable in her everyday manner, understandably questionable of both sides of her mother and grandmother’s strained relationship, looking beyond the today that her friends live in to try to find her place in a larger picture, very much on the verge of adulthood.

And The Shape? James Jude Courtney’s portrayal does exactly what he told me he did (read our interview here), channeling the space created by Nick Castle in 1978, inhabited by Dick Warlock in 1981 and all the other actors since, to tap into the essence of the simple, focused, violent existence, rather than humanity, of Michael Myers. It’s all there, from the head tilt to the walk, and when fused with Nick Castle’s recorded breathing and cameos behind the mask, it makes for a damn perfect portrayal of The Shape.

Michael has never been deadlier, creatively brutal enough to evoke memories of Rob Zombie-directed kills, and yet silently cunning, the trickster that creatively displayed the dead bodies of Laurie’s friends for her to find in 1978, who enjoys terrorizing his victims as much if not more than actually murdering them. And he’s back to being a random source of tragedy, the kind of tragedy that we see hitting random people every day on the nightly news in real life in 2018.

The subtle yet ever-present social commentary threaded throughout the film is another tribute to Carpenter, but also a testament to the decades old truth that horror always reflects the current fears of the audience.

The new mask, an aged update on the original, created by a team led by Christopher Nelson (read our interview here), Vincent Van Dyke, and Justin Mabry, is haunting, soulful, and creepy as hell.

Over the years, I’m sure the biggest criticism about this film will be that it is essentially a remake of Halloween H20 , which it is, though I’d say it is much more a third version of Halloween II, and in a franchise that has already done this disregarding of previous chapters, it’s yet another choose-your-own-adventure option to take following the first film. No matter where you place it in official canon, it’s undeniable that Halloween 2018 is one of the best sequels in the franchise, and I’d say one of the best sequels, period.

A totally entertaining tribute that honors 40 years of Halloween, Michael Myers is back, and Haddonfield has never felt more like home.

Halloween 2018 is currently in theaters.

[Read our interview with Rhian Rees on the fear and female power of Halloween 2018 here.]

[Read our interview with James Jude Courtney on playing Michael Myers in Halloween 2018 here.]

[Read our interview with Nick Castle on reprising Michael Myers in Halloween 2018 here.]

[Read our interview with Christopher Nelson on making Michael Myers’ mask for Halloween 2018 here.]

I think the new film will ignore everything after Part 1. Laurie is the new Loomis, claiming for 40 years He’s coming back. Then He does.

— Halloween Daily News (@HalloweenDaily) September 17, 2017

For more Halloween news, follow @HalloweenDaily.

'Halloween' 2018 Brings Michael Myers Back Home [Review] A new Halloween movie is finally upon us, and it was well worth the nine-year wait, as director David Gordon Green and his co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley have delivered one of the best horror sequels ever made, in a timely story of unresolved trauma and the return of The Bogeyman.

[eene-fangirl]

Premonition: Never Too Ed Chapter 2 [An Ed, Edd n Eddy Fanfiction]

Edd cringed feeling the warm rays from the sun hit his eyes. He groaned, slowly waking up. Rubbing his eyes, Edd wanted no more then to return to sleep. He had no desire to do anything today. As much as Edd couldn’t stand the thought he had to take a day off from school. His heart wasn’t in it.

Lying back in the comfortable pillows Edd noticed he didn’t have a headache from the night before. At least sleep helped get rid of it. Though he knew it wouldn’t be gone long.

Sniffing the air the scent of pancakes filled his nose. Chocolate chip pancakes. He could also faintly hear Casey. She sounded cheerful. Best to distract her from the the awful events occuring right now.

Edd opened his eyes.

He was in his bedroom.

Edd sat up, confused. He was dressed in his striped pajamas instead of the clothing he was in last night. Did Eddy’s parents decided to take him up to bed so he could be more comfortable?

It was five minutes to seven now. He had the privilege to sleep in but Casey’s laughter was beginning to concern him. After ignoring his daughter last night Edd felt that he needed to be with her this morning.

Exiting his room, Edd noticed the door to the guest bedroom was open. It did not look as if anybody had slept in there.

He walked down the stairs. Something felt all the more off. The TV was on. Jeopardy was on. Eddy always watched Jeopardy in the morning.

That’s when Edd heard a voice.

Eddy didn’t sound that much like his father, did he?

It was like one of those suspenseful movies. Edd’s heart pounded as the TV grew louder along with the voices.

Edd could have fainted when he walked into the kitchen.

There was Eddy enjoying a plate full of pancakes and drinking coffee, laughing with Casey.

“E-Eddy...”

Eddy briefly glanced at him upon hearing his name. Then he completely turned around looking alarmed.

“Double D? What’s the matter?” Eddy asked with clear worry in his voice.

Edd couldn’t speak. His hand grasped the counter. He was waiting to wake up back on the couch cuddling their wedding picture. This all didn’t feel real. Unless yesterday wasn’t real.

“I-I just had...” Edd stuttered trying to gather his thoughts. “Had a horrible nightmare. You- you...”

Eddy walked over holding his arms. Casey also looked alarmed, watching her parents curiously.

“Are you feeling okay? I thought you just wanted to sleep a bit longer.” Eddy said, quietly. He placed his hand against his cheek seeing if he was feverish. Edd leaned into the touch, needed to feel Eddy’s body. To make sure he was there and that he was not imagining all this he touched his hand. It was warm. He was there.

“I’m fine,” Edd was relieved, wanting to cry. How could his imagination create a world in which his beloved died?

“Are you sure?” Eddy asked him. “You want me to drive Casey to school? The Monday traffic is always horrendous.”

Monday? Yesterday was...

“I-I’ll go change.” Edd smiled at his daughter, reassuring her that everything was okay. He thought he was going to have to take the day off today. Edd was looking forward to that. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved or scared. The events from the day prior did not feel like a dream at all. They were so real.

Eddy was still by his side. He had a hand on his back as they walked up the stairs. “Edd, are you sure you’re okay?”

No. Edd nodded.

Just then his cell phone went off. It was only his planner telling him that he had a meeting in a half hour. Edd was scared to let his husband go. The sorrow, dread and anger that he felt were all still there.

“I gotta go. Nazz’ll be waiting if I don’t get...”

“Nazz?” Edd questioned.

Eddy looked all the more bewildered at Edd. His hand clenched around his even tighter. “Nazz is the new receptionist. I told you that.”

Edd nodded. “Right. I just... forgot...”

Eddy kissed his cheeks and went off to work. Edd watched from the window until Eddy’s car disappeared.

Once he was dressed and had his own satchel packed with his supplies Edd drove off to his daughter’s school. It was the same morning traffic, usual line up, along with parents arguing with crossing guards. Edd couldn’t get his mind off yesterday.

“Did you study your spelling words?” Edd asked Casey.

Casey looked at him as if he were crazy. “Daddy and I studied them on the couch last night. Remember?”

Edd blinked. No. “Yes, that’s right.”

“I’ll see you at Uncle Ed and Aunt May’s after school!” Casey called to him when she exited the car.

Edd gasped. “Casey, don’t forget your... lunch...”

Casey came back and did the same motion with her fingers and whistled.

Now Edd was deeply bothered by yest... the dream.

He arrived at Starling High School right when the bell rang. His boss give him a look making Edd’s discomfort worse. The man made him nervous. He didn’t know if he was the only one out of all the teachers. That’s what he missed from his old job. Having a cheerful boss who was so understand was the highlight of working at the elementary school. That’s where he wanted to be right now.

His class was all settled in. Now he felt the Monday morning vibe. Most of them were asleep.

“Okay, um... class, we have a lot to learn,” Edd announced trying to distract himself in anyway he could. He looked through his bag for papers.

He found the quizzes. They were not marked up. Yesterday they were... or... he had no idea anymore!

The class took their time with their quizzes. Instead of teaching Edd waited for them to finish and give them to privilege to have a study. Maybe he should go to the doctor to see if something was wrong with him.

“Turn in your quizzes,” he announced once the bell rang.

Glancing at each paper the answers looked very reminiscent. Edd joked to himself that it wouldn’t take long to grade the papers. It didn’t lighten the mood so well.

“Thank you, Mr. McGee.” His student placed an apple on his desk.

Edd stared at the apple. “Didn’t you give me an apple yesterday?”

She turned, confused. “Yesterday was Sunday. We weren’t here.”

Edd’s eyes lowered, staring into the desk. “Correct.”

Edd’s headache returned by the end of the day. He drove off to the market needing to buy food anyway. At least that was something distinct compared to the nightmare. However, while driving, Edd thought back to Officer Kevin’s words. Eddy died in a...

Edd gasped immediately stomping on the brakes when a car rushed passed honking its horn at him. Oh, he didn’t stop for a red light. What....

It was a mix of relief and anger when a cop car pulled up behind him sounding its alarm.

Groaning, Edd prepared his license.

“Quite a stop,” The voice said.

“My apologies, I...” Turning to meet the cop it was Kevin. “Oh, hello Kevin...”

Kevin’s face immediately brightened. “Double D! How are you? Are you okay?”

“Um... yes, I was distracted,” Edd answered, glancing at his side mirror.

“As long as you’re okay. How is Eddy?”

Eddy was killed on the highway yesterday. He died instantly. “Fine.”

“These Monday’s always catch up with you, don’t they!” May beamed when Edd picked up Casey from their house. She carried their youngest, Ed Jr, as Casey ran around with Ed and May’s twins, Jenny and Alexander. Ed was also playing with them. He rolled around in the grass as the children toppled on him.

“Come along, Casey. I have to start dinner!” Edd called out. He sounded more frustrated which alerted May. Edd opened up his trunk placing a couple of plates Ed had borrowed from he and Eddy.

Casey said goodbye to her friends and placed her bag into the car. Her socks where covered in dirt and her pants were also stained. Normally Edd wouldn’t be so annoyed but with today’s events he was fuming.

“You should have asked us to come to the park yesterday,” Ed said. He had tossed his son of his shoulder, playing around.

Now Edd gripped the trunk of the car. “Park?”

“Yeah. Eddy took Casey to the park yesterday. He texted me, yesterday,” Ed explained.

Edd turned his head to look at his longtime friends. “Did I call you yesterday?”

“We talked to Eddy,” May answered, a bit confused.

“No! Me!” Edd’s frustrated voice rang out. “Did I leave you a message?”

Ed and May looked at each other, concern etched in their faces. “No.”

Edd angrilly sighed. He adjusted his groceries inadvertently knocked a bottle of wine out of its bag. “Shoot!” Edd cursed himself.

Ed put his son down and walked over to his friend. He put a comforting hand on Edd’s back. “Double D, is everything okay?” Ed asked quietly. He squeezed harder and continued, “With you and Eddy?”

“... Yes...”

Returning back home Casey did her homework as Edd cleaned the house. There were no messages this time. The laundry was in a pile. A load was finished.

Edd hung up everything on the lines outside. It was windy as the clean sheets waved around. Edd had to admit it was calming. Taking a deep breath he looked up at the cloudy sky. It was just dream.

Taking a step back Edd tripped and fell on the ground.

Is hand touched something wet when he went to pick himself up.

Flies buzzed all around. He smell of a rotting, dead crow filled Edd’s nose.

“Oh!” Edd whimpered. He sprinted back into the house. He opened the sliding door only to leave a bloody hand print behind. “Filthy, filthy, filthy!” Edd uttered.

“What is it, father?” Casey asked, alarmed.

“It’s nothing! I’m okay. Could you please wash off the glass?” Edd asked immediately scrubbing his hand clean from the blood and germs that had been manifesting the crow. He spent at least twenty minutes at the sink until he felt his hand was clean. Edd grasped the counter taking a deep breath. He just wanted to go to bed.

Putting on a rubber glove Edd went back outside, picked up the putrid crow and threw it into the garbage.

What was going on?

Eddy returned home not too long after the incident with the crow. Edd was relieved, kissing him and giving him a hug.

He didn’t even have dinner prepared yet. As Edd stood in the kitchen he listened to Eddy helping Casey with her homework. They laughed and joked around. Edd sighed. What was he doing wrong?

He family was quiet as they sat at the table.

Edd didn’t know what to say. Glancing at Eddy he also looked as if he were struggling to say something. The sounds of forks hitting the plates was the worst sound any family could listen to. Looking back on this morning Edd never told Eddy about the nightmare. Should he? Or would it only alarm him further?

Edd was first to go to bed, feeling completely drained. Although he was ecstatic that Eddy was alive, something else bothered him. He’d felt this strange mood for some time now. All his life Edd stuck to routine. He liked routine. But change scared him. Were things going to change in the near future?

A mere hour later Edd heard Eddy crawl into bed. Some time passed before Edd heard his husband snoring. Turning over Edd was face to with Eddy’s sleeping face. His hand smoothed along Eddy’s hand. The man flinched in his sleep, turning his back to Edd. Feeling his heart swell, Edd just went to sleep in hopes for a better day.

[mangled-dreams]

Dealings with a Devil (Part 14)

Dealings with a Devil (Part 14)

Reader X Darkiplier

You, Reader, have made a deal with what you believed to be a fantasized version of your favorite YouTuber’s alter ego, Darkiplier after he’d visited you in a dream. You believed Darkiplier to only exist in your dreams and on Markiplier’s YouTube channel, but by some impossible way he’s real and he intends on collecting on your debt to him.

“When I was a young boy, my father took me in to the city to see a marching band...” Is that Black Parade? Who's playing My Chemical Romance? These are the question you have as you wake up with the mother of all headaches. Your neck is burning and your whole body is just a living embodiment of pain and discomfort.

You whine and groan as you try to sit up. When that didn't work out you settled for rolling over to your side. At least you managed to do that. Hesitantly you peek open one eye, but the blinding light of the sun quickly makes you regret that attempt. Groaning you roll over again with much difficulty.

You have vague memories of  Dark attacking...no... no that's not right. Dark wouldn't bite you... he wouldn't hurt you. No, Anti had been there, he'd been in your house. Your eyes fly open as you force your body to sit up, sweeping around your room for evidence of your attacker.

“You're awake.” Dark's voice greets you as you turn to the bed room doorway. Relief sweeps through you and tears dribble down your cheeks.

“D-Dark?” you whisper, your voice is so horse and foreign it scares you for a moment. “Wh-where is A...Anti?” you ask trying to keep from sobbing. You'd never known fear like that before. You'd hoped you could talk Anti out of whatever he was planning, but then...

Just thinking about it makes you cringe. You curl into yourself, attempting to protect yourself form his attack, from his teeth. You can't help the cry that you make as phantom hands grab at you. Dark is there in an instant. He's hesitant to touch you so instead he tries to talk to you.

“Dove, it's me. Can you hear my voice?” Dark asks really wanting to touch you, but he uses his exquisite sense of self control to keep his hands in check. You shutter and draw your knees up to your chest.

“Why? Dark, why weren't you here?” you ask lifting your head a little to look at Dark. You can see the impact your words have on him. The look one his face is one of pure agony.

“I came as quickly as I could, I...” He can't even try to close himself off from you. He's never had anyone depend on him like you had been while Anti held you captive in your own home. This place you are supposed to feel safe and protected became your prison.

“I'm sorry, dove. This is my fault, I failed you.” Dark whispers. It's the closest he's looked to guilt that you've ever seen. It tugs at your heart strings. Dark isn't the type to admit his mistakes like this.

“Hey, Dark, look at me.” you say softly, uncurling enough to reach out to him, touching his arm. Dark looks to you a little confused. “It's okay, you came. I'm not dead...I think, so you didn't fail. Underestimating people is something a lot of individuals do. I did it too. I tried to talk him down from hurting me anymore. I thought I could reach him.” you say.

“I know, dove. You are much better than I.”

“C-can I lay next to you? I don't feel good.” you say. Before you even have a chance to take it back Dark has you in his arms again, his back propped up with pillows. You close your eyes and force what Anti had done from your mind.

In the next few days you go to your doctor's office, telling them you'd been attacked a bitten by a mugger. Your doctor takes some blood and it comes back that your white blood cells are elevated. He says that's probably due to a possible infection and prescribes you some antibiotics to take to prevent and kill any infection Anti may have created.

You're brothers start walking you to and from work after hearing your story of being attacked. Dark even sticks around a little more after Anti's appearance. You try to do your best to convince him you'll be okay but he refuses.

“Dove, there is something you and I need to talk about.” Dark greets you as you enter your apartment, today Anthony is with you. You blink and feel your face flush as your brother lays eyes on Dark for the first time.

“Who the fuck are you? Why are you in my sister's apartment?” Anthony asks, well yells stalking up to Dark as he stands from the couch. Dark doesn't seem in the least bit intimidated by your brother and his best attempt to appear bigger.

“Tony, please don't curse at him. That's rude and Dad would smack you for it.” you say trying to relax a little despite your brother. “Dark, I didn't realize you'd be here so early.” you say softly, taking off your jacket and hang it up.

“I thought we might go out for dinner tonight, dove.” Dark says barely acknowledging Anthony. You can see Anthony ready to go at Dark for ignoring him.

“Dark, please don't be rude to my brother.” You sighing as you stop next to Anthony. “He's an ass, but he is my big brother.” You add softly.

“My apologize dove.” Dark says before squaring with Anthony. “My name is Dark, I am dating your sister.” You and Anthony have the same look.

“Really?” you both ask. Anthony gives you a confused look as you shrug at him.

“What?”

“How do you not know if you're dating someone?” Anthony asks turning to face you.

You shrug again. “I'm sorry, we never really classified it and... wait! You never asked me out!” you say pointing a thin short finger at Dark.

“What? You didn't even as my sister out on a date?” Anthony asks easily switching sides. You are his baby sister after all.

Dark doesn't seem as amused at you are at the situation. “I did not think it was needed. I informed you of my intention from the beginning.” Dark says watching his words effect you.

You blush at his words. He's not wrong so you can't fault him or deny it. “W-well, it'd still be nice to be asked out.” you fumble unable to meet your brother's gaze.

“What intentions? Do I need to get Dad?” Anthony asks completely unsure what is happening.

You shake your head vigorously. “No! You do not need to get Dad!” you say a little too loud.

Dark smirked, chiming in to your dismay. “I would rather enjoy meeting your father, dove.”

And with those few words you are now sitting between Dark and Jackson with your mother across from you, Anthony beside Dark, and your father staring Dark down from the other side of the table. This would normally make you very happy to have your whole family together for a dinner, but not under these circumstances. You're pretty sure your father is having a mini heart attack at the thought of you dating.

Not one has talked in about five minutes and you know someone is going to ask a stupid question that will result in you becoming embarrassed. So, you clear your throat as quietly as you can before looking at you father. “Dad? How was work today?” you ask trying to ease the tension.

“It was good.” he responds. You sigh. Three word responses are never good in your family.

“How did you two meet?” you mom tries addressing Dark and yourself.

“Ah, by chance really.” you start unsure how to tell them that Dark isn't exactly a human being.

“One might say in a dream.” Dark says smirking. You are actually shocked at his attempt at humor.

“What does that mean?” Jackson asks.

“You sister is a very enchanting woman.” Dark supplies honestly. You mother awes across the table, obvious taking it the romanticism of his response.

“You sure you got the right girl?” Anthony asks looking between you and Dark as if you'd both grown third heads.

You elbow him in the side. “Hey! I take offense to that. I can be quite charming.” you say smirking.

“How long have you two known each other?” Your mother asks continuing on with the Q&A portion of the night.

“Two years.” You supply honestly. Your mother looks at you with shock.

“You've been dating my daughter for two years and we're just now meeting you?” you father nearly explodes. You quickly shake your head no.

“No, Dad! No, we only recently started dating.” You say quickly.

“She is correct. Only recently has our relationship changed.” Dark supplies calmly. You smile at him, thankful he's going a long with you.

“What do you do for a living, Dark?” Your father asks, you don't rightly like the way he says Dark's name.

“Daddy, please, be nice.” you say softly.

“I am an enforcer of sorts.” Dark responds. “I work for a private security company.” he adds shocking you. Is that what he really considers is life to be like? You try to hide your own shock.

“Private sector, hm?” Your father mutters. “Can you provide for my daughter?”

“Daddy!” you hiss angrily. You hate this part of your parents meeting a boyfriend, hell even just a male friend. Especially with your father.

“Yes, sir. I can provide quite well for her.” Dark responds calmly.

Anthony takes his turn to butt in. “You said you told her from the beginning what your intentions were towards her. So enlighten us; what are you intentions towards my sister?” You feel mortified by the question. Of course Anthony would do this too you.

“Anthony mentioned that, I'm quite interested as well.” Jackson adds as all eyes focus on Dark then to you.

Dark doesn't even attempt to lie or even just fib a little. Nope, not Dark. He goes right too it. “She's is perfection, and I plan on being at her side.” Dark says with complete conviction.

“Do you plan on marrying my baby girl?” Your mother asks earning a wide eyed stare. She frowns at you, the one that tells you to stop being rude.

“Yes.” The whole evening took a turn to the weird after that. You could have sworn everyone gave a breath of relief at Dark's answer and suddenly he's the golden child of the table. You simply sit there with a look of confusion and slight insult on your face.

What the actual fuck is going on?

Part 15