#i worry i’ve said a little much even with this but oops! who knows

[myhsterie]

guys i have a fun little secret :)

i read the fnaf script back in october 2022 at my work :)))))))

& i get to see a test screening a month before it releases :DDDDD

i am bound by an NDA to not say anything about the script but what i CAN say is that many of your theories are wrong :P but i think that was expected

will come back to this when it fully drops so i can compare and contrast earlier versions with the final product! i will have had access to two (2) previous drafts of it so there will be lots to discuss

[mypoisonedvine]

𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢 || dieter bravo x camgirl!reader (part three; finale)

read 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙩 (part one) and 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙢 (part two) first!

𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 || he can't believe you're really here— now he has to just try not to blow it... figuratively speaking.

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 || 5.7k

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 || smut (18+ only; unprotected sex, oral f receiving, multiple orgasms/overstimulation [for reader], creampie), sex work (however dieter technically does not pay the reader for sex, just her flight to visit him c:), mentions of covid-19 pandemic, soft dieter being soft, emotions!! lots of 'em!, extremely sappy/fluffy ending (oops?)

He wasn’t sure who he was more worried would get recognized: you, or himself.

It was his idea to go out to dinner first, in fact he’d insisted on it.  Going out to dinner in times like these was a bit iffy, but thankfully the place had outdoor dining and you’d both already tested negative— for more than just the virus…

It was a beautiful evening to eat outside, but it made him even more anxious that any passerby might know him either of you from your respective works; so far, no one had said anything though.

As he watched you take a sip of your sparkling water, he realized that he hadn’t had a crush on anyone in a long, long time.  He hadn’t had sweating palms and a racing heart and a dry throat over someone since probably high school.  By the time he was in his BFA program, he was so focused on his craft that he didn’t find himself worrying much about that sort of stuff— and if he wanted to get someone into bed, it didn’t seem like much to stress over.

This was different.  This wasn’t an issue of getting you to sleep with him, although he certainly hoped you wouldn’t renege on the intentions you’d stated before— this was about getting you to like him, maybe even (as he would’ve put it back when he last had a crush) ‘like like’ him.

“Was your flight okay?” Dieter asked compulsively to fill the silence, proud of himself for thinking of something to say.

“Still good,” you nodded.  “You asked me that when we first got here.”

“Right,” he sighed, “sorry.  I forgot.”

“It’s fine,” you laughed, setting your glass down on the white tablecloth.  “I’m nervous, too.  But in a good way.”

He smiled.  “Yeah— I’m just really excited that you’re here.  And it’s still kind of weirding me out that you’re… you know, real.”

“It’s definitely trippy,” you agreed.  “When you see somebody over video chat a lot, they look sort of surreal in real life.”

“Are you… speaking from experience?” he wondered, lowering his voice a bit.

“Yeah— but not this kind of experience,” you clarified.  “I’ve never met anyone from my work before— I told you that.”

“Right, yeah— I believe you,” he assured.  “Have you ever flown overseas just to meet someone before?”

You laughed, looking down for a second.  “No, I haven’t,” you answered, “but this isn’t the first time I’ve been, you know, wined and dined by somebody…”

“Well, I figured this wasn’t your first date,” Dieter scoffed.

“No, I mean— well, yeah,” you hummed, “but I, um… before I started camming, I was actually a sugar baby.  So I’ve had my flights paid for before, is what I mean.”

He widened his eyes a little, but nodded— hoping to look more intrigued than overwhelmed.  “Oh, wow, that’s— I don’t know a lot about that, honestly…”

“I was about to ask if you’d ever had a sugar baby before,” you smirked, “guess not.”

“Yeah, no,” he shook his head, “not my— not for me.  Not before, I mean— is that what you want?”

He got a little nervous that you would only want that— a relationship built on money.  He was more than happy to drop some cash on you— he’d offered to pay for everything for you on this trip, it only seemed fair when you had to come all this way— but he got a sick feeling in his stomach imagining that that was all you wanted from him.

But then again, he just said he didn’t know a lot about it, maybe it wasn’t like that… he just felt like it was another performance, and that was the last thing he needed from anybody.

“O-oh, no— not with us,” you answered quickly, blinking a few times, and he sighed with relief.  “I mean, it was nice— it wasn’t all old guys and crazy finance douchebags like people think,” you explained with a laugh, “but it was… it was hard work, in its own way.  ‘Cause another misconception is that it’s sex in exchange for money and gifts— it’s not, not the way I did it at least.  Those guys wanted the ‘girlfriend experience’... that’s the most profitable thing, whether it’s online or in-person.”

Dieter cleared his throat; can’t blame them, I guess…

“But, you know, they didn’t have the time for a genuine relationship, so it was like giving that emotion but never receiving it,” you continued, “and that was exhausting.  Not to mention most of them had other girls involved… I’m not a jealous person, but you know, that’s obviously not what I want for myself in the end.  So I switched to camming, worked out well with the pandemic and everything…”

“I’m sure,” Dieter agreed.  “So, um… maybe this is kind of a forward question, for a first date, but… what do you want for yourself in the end?”

You seemed to get a little more shy, then.  “Well…” you began softly.  “Despite what you’ve seen me do, I’m a pretty traditional girl.  I want a serious relationship, I want a lifelong commitment, I want… a family, probably.”

It was hard not to feel a lump in his throat when you said that, even if his emotions were conflicted at best.

“I mean— that doesn’t have to be you,” you rushed out, “I’m just saying… that’s the end goal.  I have a lot of time for that, in my opinion.”

“No, right,” he agreed.  “So then, I guess the obvious question— and probably a much easier one— is what’s your goal for tonight?”

You raised an eyebrow.  “I already told you my goal for tonight.”

He swallowed thickly.  He remembered your last message before getting on the plane pretty clearly: boarding now. hopefully i can get some sleep but i’m pretty wired ngl. just thinking about getting there and jumping your bones. i want you to fuck me so hard i can’t walk (or think) straight.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded at all if you just took me straight to the hotel,” you smirked, “but dinner is nice.”

“Yeah, I— I thought about it,” he admitted.  “But… can I be honest?”

“Always.”

“I wanted this to be more than just… that,” he said.  He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to tell you, but he hoped it wouldn’t bother you too much.  Thankfully, the gentle smile creeping up your face seemed to indicate that it wasn’t particularly offensive.

“So, what do you want this to be?” you pressed.

“We can figure that out as we go,” he offered, “we should get to know each other better— for real.  But that night that we stayed up until three just talking after what was supposed to be a one-hour call—”

He saw you smile even wider as you remembered it.

“I haven’t felt close to anyone like that in—” he began, but it all stopped as the waiter suddenly appeared from thin air.

“Your tortellini, ma’am,” he said as he set your plate down in front of you, and you offered an intrigued ‘ooh’ as you examined the dish, “and your langoustines alla busara,” he finished as he set Dieter’s food down.

“Thank you,” you offered the server with a polite nod, but Dieter could only muster a hum— he was a little miffed that the guy had managed to interrupt such an important moment.

“Anything else I can get for you two?” he asked, looking back and forth.

You looked over at him to check first, before shaking your head and replying, “No, I think we’re alright.”

“Excellent,” he beamed.  “And— can I just say one thing?”

You both paused, not sure what to make of that.  “Uh, sure,” Dieter decided, since the waiter seemed to be looking at him.

“I loved you in Hunger Strike,” he said excitedly; Dieter tensed up, wanting to look at you to gauge your reaction but suddenly too afraid of what he’d find.

“Oh, thank you,” he mumbled out, “that… means a lot.”

“I mean, it really moved me,” the waiter insisted, even though Dieter just wanted this interaction to end promptly.  “You were so— I’m really not trying to intrude, but is there any way I can get your autograph?”

Then he looked at you, and he couldn’t quite read the expression on your face— amusement, maybe, with a hefty dose of discomfort as well.  You looked away and took a long sip of your drink.  “Uhh,” Dieter choked, looking back at his adoring fan, “you’ll get my autograph when you bring the check.”

Seeming to realize that he had gone too far, the young man straightened up and cleared his throat.  “Right, uh— enjoy your meal.”

Scampering away, he left the both of you behind, along with all that tension he’d created.  How come he got a escape a situation that was his own fault, and Dieter was stuck here wondering if you would be upset that he didn’t tell you who he really was— or if you’d reveal you were a crazy stalker-fan the whole time— or if knowing he was famous would change your interest in being with him (if you even had any)?

“I’m… sorry about that,” Dieter finally offered to you, and you started to smile.

“Don’t be,” you chuckled, “it was kinda funny.  Do you usually react so… badly, to that kind of thing?”

He coughed a bit.  “No, I— are you not…?  Do you know—?”

“I saw the movie, Hector, I don’t live under a rock,” you admitted.

“Oh.”  Not sure what to say next, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind: “What did you think of it?”

Shrugging, you answered with a simple ‘eh’.  There was a pause before he began to crack up— and then you did, too. 

“So, I’ve been worrying about all you finding out about my career for nothing?” he assumed, and you nodded.

“I didn’t recognize you right away,” you explained, “but I put it together before we planned all this.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” he wondered.

“I mean, I didn’t think I needed to, really,” you shrugged again.  “It’s just your job.  I was ready to talk about it if you brought it up— if you wanted to vent about work or something— but you never did, so I figured it must not be relevant.”

“Does it… change anything between us?” he asked nervously.  “Do you feel weird about going out with a movie star?”

“Mm, I don’t know about star…” you smirked, making him laugh again— and that was the part that was the same as always.  You still made him laugh, and now that the two of you were really talking again, it felt just like that night that you talked for hours— but even better.

When the plates were cleaned and the bill was paid, the two of you walked back to his hotel— he’d picked this place in part because he could see it from his window.  But that brief walk back was one of his favorite parts of the night so far, only because he’d slipped his arm around you, and you leaned into him: in that moment, he felt more normal than he had in a long time— and yet, at the same time, special in a way he’d never felt before.

~

“I tried to clean up in here, but—”

“Isn’t there housekeeping for that?” you wondered.  

“Yeah, but… I’ve had the ‘do not disturb’ sign up for the past week,” Dieter explained.  “Didn’t want anyone to come in while we were talking…”

“Right,” you smiled, finishing your examination of the room and turning to face him again.  The door shut on its own; you were looking at him with every light in the room reflected in your eyes.

He stepped closer to you, and wrapped his arms around you, and— why were his palms so clammy?  “I don’t think I’ve been this nervous to kiss someone since… since maybe my first ever kiss,” he recalled, and you laughed softly.

“Yeah, me either,” you whispered back, and he ran his hand over the curve of your hip.  “Who was your first kiss?”

“Uh, Sandy something… Brendan, I think— no, Brennan… Sandy Brennan.  We sat next to each other in History class in seventh grade,” he recalled.  “What about you?”

“I mean, unless you count a peck or two from my kindergarten boyfriend,” you chuckled, “my first real kiss wasn’t until high school— Gregory Cho.  But I wasn’t that nervous… actually, I was sort of ready to get it over with.”

“There was someone I was really nervous to kiss in high school, too,” he recalled, “but that was… different.”

“Who was it?”

That name was much easier to recall.  “Alex Brooks.”

“Was she super pretty?  Or popular?” you pressed, wondering what had him so nervous, what made it different.

“Both,” Dieter replied quickly.  “And… he was captain of the basketball team.”

You didn’t react strongly, but he still noticed it.

“Is that—?” he began to ask.

“He sounds like a real catch,” you smiled.  “Was he a good kisser?”

“Yeah,” Dieter laughed, “for a high schooler.  I guess things don’t feel as special now as they did back then— just some decent making-out in someone’s dad’s truck was the coolest thing, now it’s like— it’s all right there, you don’t have to…” he trailed off, but started a new sentence.  “I mean, even you— I’ve seen every part of you, but I just really met you for the first time.  And somehow I’m so afraid to kiss you.”

You were still smiling, but it changed, and you reached up to rest your hand on the back of his neck; it made him shiver in the best way.  “If you’re afraid, then it must still be pretty special.”

You kissed him, after all that; he would’ve felt bad for making you wait, if he wasn’t so fully engrossed in kissing you back and pulling you closer and breathing in deeply against your skin.  

For a long time, that was all it was— just one, amazing kiss.  Just his lips on yours and the gentle dance of trying to go further without going to far; just your hands holding tightly onto his shoulders as he gripped your waist through the dress.

You started to pull him across the room by his shirt— towards the bed— and broke away to speak; he tried to chase your lips for more, but stopped when you bit your lip and rested a finger on his chin.

“You haven’t seen every part of me,” you corrected him— even though he barely fucking remembered saying that after a kiss like that.  “I mean, my body, sure, but… not who I really am.”

“Then show me that,” he pleaded.  “That’s what I want— you, everything.”

You smiled wide and kissed him again, the two of you toppling onto the bed together.  

He’d been thinking about doing this since the moment he saw you: pulling up the bottom of your dress so he could pet your thighs, enamored with the smoothness of your skin.  “Baby,” he purred when he caught sight of your panties— what little there was of them.  The lace just gave him a glimpse of what was beneath, a tease of your perfect little cunt.

“God, I need you so bad,” you groaned as you pulled him down for another kiss; he’d been hard since you wrapped your arms around him, and he could swear he was already throbbing by the time he rocked his hips against yours.  “Fuck— feels even bigger than it looked…”

“Maybe your computer screen wasn’t big enough,” he joked, making you laugh lightly before another moan came out when he rocked down on you again.  “What do you want, beautiful?”

“You… you know what I want…” you panted, wrapping your legs around his waist.

“Humor me,” he encouraged, moving in to kiss your neck— and loving the way you squirmed under him.

“Want— want you to fuck me,” you whimpered, “want you to make me— fuck— yours…”

He groaned deeply as he rutted his hips into yours harder, finally taunting you to the point that you had to reach down and start opening his pants.  “So eager,” he mocked playfully, as if he wasn’t going to ravage you the second you were done getting his cock out.

In fact, he almost tore your dress as he pulled it down to expose your chest, barely finding the time to appreciate the view of your tits before latching his mouth onto them.  “Oh fuck,” you gasped, and he smiled around the pert nipple in his mouth; these had seemed sensitive from the way you toyed with them as you touched yourself, but it was heaven on earth to confirm his suspicion himself.

“Want me to make you mine?” he prompted again, voice muffled by your delicate skin in his mouth, and you whimpered as you nodded.

“Yes— please—” you begged.

“Not sure I can do that,” he warned, and you gave him a confused look.  “You’re already mine, you told me yourself.”

You giggled, arching your back slightly as the tip of his tongue drew circles on you.  "I did say that, didn't I?"

"Mhm," he confirmed.  "Hard to forget."

"Well, m'still yours," you offered, "but I need you right now, I'll do— fuck, anything, just—"

"You don't need to do anything," he assured, looking up at you as he moved his mouth from your breast down a little lower, "just lay back and I'm gonna take care of you."

You bit your lip and nodded.

"Second I saw you I wanted to kiss you all over," he sighed.

"Well, I've got a couple ideas of where you can start," you smirked.

And yes, he would love to start there, but he needed to do his best not to rush this.  So, smiling up at you first, he began his journey.  His lips and tongue explored your body on his way down: a kiss here, a lick there, a playful bite when he felt extra naughty.  "You're so fucking beautiful," he mumbled against you.

"Yeah?  You too," you sighed.

He didn't think of himself like that— handsome, maybe, certainly aware of his better angles, but beautiful felt strange.  But he liked it, especially when you said it.  Especially when you said it while he was slotting his face between your legs.

It was even prettier up close, and the smell was fucking intoxicating: tangy and musky and sweet, heady, earthy, human.  And he knew you'd taste even better.

So he dove right in.  Maybe he should've started with your clit, that would've been the obvious choice, but his instincts led him to just slide his tongue right into your hole.  If nothing else, it certainly seemed to take you off guard, and you gasped as you grabbed onto his hair with both hands.

"Baby, fuck, that's— oh god, you can't imagine how many times I thought of this," you admitted, breathing heavy already.  He smiled against you, then gave you one big lick from the furthest down his tongue could reach all the way to the very top— all while holding fierce eye contact with you.  "Fu-uuuuck," you choked, dropping your head back just as your eyes rolled up.  "That's so… just do that again, please…"

He did it a few more times, noticing the way you seemed to get more impatient with each one, until your hips were chasing after his tongue.  "Stay still, baby, don't you trust me to do this right?" he purred, holding tighter on your hips.

"Yeah, I just— been so long," you whimpered.

He just did his best to find what made you scream the loudest and keep doing that— you were so sensitive, he just had to press his tongue down flat on your clit and move it in circles and you’d start shaking and sobbing and begging.  He moaned into you every time you tugged on his hair, having to rock his hips against the bed to appease his attention-deprived cock.

"You're… so amazing," you panted, "I— fuck! Oh god, I can't remember the last time someone—"

You never finished your thought, because he started fucking you with his tongue and you were too busy moaning his name, but he couldn't believe what a waste it was that nobody was eating this pussy on a regular basis.

"Gonna— oh fuck, yes, gonna come," you warned, "I… I'm gonna come so fucking hard…"

You started shaking, and he started fighting to keep you as still as he could so his work wouldn't be interrupted.  For a second he wondered if you were already coming or not— but then you made this noise, and your cunt clamped down on his tongue, and you cried out his name; it was perfect, it was the most beautiful moment he could ever imagine.

When it became too much, you went from tugging his hair to pushing him away with it, and he grinned up at you with a breathy laugh.  “Fuck, baby,” you whimpered, and he saw the tear streaks on your temples and cheeks.  He traced one with his thumb before kissing you again— deep and hungry, letting you taste yourself on his tongue.

He hummed when your hands reached down to work on getting his pants off— eager and shaky, he certainly related to that.  As soon as your hand wrapped around his cock, he moaned, just from that.  He was almost embarrassed about it, until you bit his lip in playful encouragement.  "Does that feel good?" you purred.

"Yeah— your hands are better than mine," he laughed breathlessly.  

"How about this?" you raised an eyebrow, swiping your thumb over his slit, and he groaned as he rocked into your touch.

"God, baby…" he groaned.  As good as it felt, he found the strength to grab you by both your wrists and pin them down by your head.  You grinned, struggling just a bit, and moaned as he slid his cock against your soaking pussy.

“Don’t tease me,” you begged, “feels like I’ve been waiting forever.”

But he wasn’t teasing you— he was psyching himself up.

Believe it or not, he actually felt pretty nervous about this part.  Not for a lack of experience— for the entirely opposite reason.  Dieter had been with a lot of people, and for the most part, it was all… the same.  It all blended together— he only remembered those people from when he was a kid because he was a kid, and his romantic encounters were so few and far between.  He could remember details of his various partners from the last few years— Crystal who had a clit piercing, Marvin who begged to be choked, Cameron who seemed to enjoy giving him a blowjob even more than he enjoyed receiving it— but this, the actual sex, it was generally pretty interchangeable.  

So, he was worried that after all that build-up, after all the yearning and fantasizing and talking, that this would be the end of it being special— and you would just turn into a hook-up with a slightly more interesting backstory than the rest.  

As valid as that fear was, it was far from enough to stop him now, not when you were looking up at him and tightening your fists as he kept you pinned and silently begging for him with your eyes.

He had to let go of one of your hands to guide himself inside, but he interlaced the other with your fingers while he did it— and then, with one strong push, he was fully within you.

“Oh my god,” he gasped, “you feel… different.”

You raised an eyebrow, chuckling a little.  “Uh, different than what?”

Than everyone else.  “I— I don’t know,” he breathed, “I’m not making sense.”

“Not really,” you agreed with a laugh.

“Hard to think straight right now,” he defended.

It wasn’t just that you felt different— it was that this felt different: being with someone he really cared about, that he wanted to impress, that he wanted to see after this was over.

Someone that he never wanted to let go of.

“You feel so fucking perfect,” you whimpered, “fuck, don’t stop— feels so good—”

One of the benefits of making you come on his tongue first was that he knew it wouldn't be that bad if he didn't last too long now— though that wasn't why he did it.  In fact, this was rarely his issue, if anything sometimes he struggled to finish for unclear reasons.

But even if he could get away with finishing quickly, he wanted to make this last as long as he could.  He never wanted this to end, actually.

As he found his pace— not too speedy yet, but with a bit of his eagerness showing— he kissed you again, deeply and hungrily.  He wondered if he'd ever done this before: kissing during sex.  He felt like he probably had, and yet he couldn't remember it— maybe that said more than anything.

This, on the other hand, was very memorable.  He slid his arms under you when your back arched, he held you tight and close and drank in every one of your moans through that kiss.

For how many times he’d pictured fucking you, he never really imagined it like this… and he thought he’d imagined it every way before.  But he realized that he’d mostly imagined it a bit kinker— you riding him, or him fucking you while you were bent over the table in his room, or 69’ing or something.  This was passionate, and sorta slow; this was his hips grinding on yours with every thrust so he could keep rubbing your sore clit; this was making love, he realized— if it wasn’t, he couldn’t imagine what was.

“I— fuck, baby— think I’m gonna come again,” you warned him with the most beautiful whiny sob.

“Fuck, already?” he smiled, and you nodded feverishly.  

“Just… don’t stop, please, just like that— fuuuuck!” you choked, and he gasped every time your walls clenched down on him.

“You’re so fucking perfect, fuck,” he grunted, moving a bit faster and not letting up on the pressure from his pubic bone on your clit, even when you actually screamed under him.  “You’re so amazing, oh god, I—”

He heard it before he said it: I think I love you.  He stopped himself before blurting it out— maybe he’d tell you after, but he wasn’t so far gone to forget that this wasn’t the right time.  You’d think he didn’t really mean it, that it was just the delirium talking from how incredible you felt, but he knew it was so much more than that.

He shut himself up by kissing your neck— not too hard, but plenty to leave a mark, and make you squirm in the process.  Your hands wrapped around his back and your nails dug into his skin, but he couldn’t even feel the pain of it, he couldn’t feel anything but the sticky, resplendent heat of your body.

“So much fucking better than the goddamn dildos,” you said suddenly, and he laughed against your skin.  

“Do you miss all those people watching you come?” he wondered.

“No, fuck no,” you panted, “there’s nobody else but you.”

He couldn’t help but fuck you faster when you said that— you should’ve known better than to stroke his ego that way.

“Fuck!” you sobbed.  “Hector, baby, you’re so— oh god, I don’t know if I can take it—”

“Shh, you can,” he promised, “you can do anything, you can come for me again—”

“Oh fuck, I— I might,” you admitted shakily, “but then I’ll— I’ll fucking pass out or something.”

“No, you’ll be okay,” he promised, cooing at you softly.  “You’ll be so good for me, I know you will— just come for me one more time, baby, tell me what you need to come again.”

“I… just a little time is all I need,” you answered, voice breaking.  “I swear I’ve never— I’m not usually so— fuck, it’s just you—”

“I know,” he assured, loving the way you babbled praises but worried it would distract you from coming again; and if you didn’t soon, there wouldn’t be time before he lost it.  He was already barely able to keep his composure just from how beautiful you looked like this, let alone how you felt.  “I know, just let it happen, I know it’s right there for me— just come for me, beautiful—”

You dragged him down into a sloppy kiss, and he felt it— those incredible pulses inside you, waves of slick coating him until he felt sticky all the way down his thighs; your sobs were more precious than anything he’d ever heard.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he praised, fucking you even faster now as your head fell back limply.  “I can’t h-hold back anymore, I need to—”

“I know,” you said to him this time, “it’s okay, please— want you to…”

“You still— oh my god…” he choked, losing his train of thought for a moment.  “You still want me to come inside you?  Wanna be full?”

“Yes,” you whined, “yes, baby, please— wanna be so full of your come, I want everything—”

"Fuck, okay," he agreed, gasping as he tried to keep up his pace despite the growing pressure inside.  "I'm really fucking close…”

“I’m yours,” you told him again— and then he went from ‘really fucking close’ to ‘already fucking there’.  He came inside you with a long, whimpered groan; his head dropped onto your shoulder while each pump filled you, trying to catch his breath but feeling like he’d never find it again.

Admitting he loved you during sex wasn’t a good idea, but saying it immediately after wasn’t that much of an improvement.  Now, though, he was too exhausted to keep his mouth shut.  “I think I love you,” he blurted out suddenly.

For one incredibly long second, you didn’t react at all.  You looked up at him, and he hesitated to even look back because he didn’t want to see anything less than ecstasy on your face.  “Oh,” you said, “cool.”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he anticipated, good or bad, but it wasn’t that.

“Let me know when you know,” you suggested.

“No!  No— I know,” he insisted, reaching up to hold your face, “I know.  I love you.  I think I did even before you came here, but… it just seemed so crazy.  We don’t know each other as well as we should for that, right?  But I feel it— I feel something that I just can’t explain—”

“Hey, slow down,” you laughed, “I feel it too.”

The way you smiled at him, resting your hand on his chest— was he glowing?  He felt like he was actually glowing.  “Good,” he decided.

“Let’s get to know each other better, then,” you announced.  “Start from the beginning, the whole thing: parents, siblings, school, favorite movies, worst dates, hot dogs or hamburgers—”

“No, you start,” he pouted, “you’re more interesting.”

“Me?  Please, I’m just your average camgirl titty streamer, don’t worry about it,” you scoffed.

“And I’m just some lame old Oscar winner,” he shrugged.

But both of you talked— all night, actually.  You never fell asleep, he was never even that tired— you kept him so full of energy he didn’t even notice how long it had been until the sun started to come up.  And then you kept talking at breakfast.  And then you fucked again, and talked some more after; he knew it had to end, eventually, but he didn’t even want to think about it.  He didn’t want to think about you going home and letting something so perfect end.

He told you just as much on the last night— assuming you didn’t switch your flight home to a later day again.  You’d just been laying in his arms after another bout of passionately desperate fucking, both of you half-asleep but not wanting the separation of even just unconsciousness, and he blurted it out.

“Don’t leave,” he pleaded under his breath.  “I don’t want you to go.”

“I know you don’t,” you returned softly.  

“I don’t want this to end.”

You were quiet for a while, turning over on your side to face him, tracing your fingers over his chest gently.  “It doesn’t have to end, just because I leave,” you mumbled.  “I know it’s crazy, but we can be together, even if we’re not… together.  I mean, I’m certainly not gonna be with anybody else—”

“Me either,” he said quickly, before he could change his own mind with the doubts— the voice in his head that said he could never settle down because he’s too fucked up.  “I only want you.”

“It’ll suck, being far away from each other— but you’ll be back Stateside eventually, right?” you assumed.

“God, I hope so,” he sighed, “if the world doesn’t end.”

“If it does,” you whispered, moving in closer, “I hope it’s tonight.  I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else but here.”

It was a romantic thought, but as he kissed you, he realized he’d never wanted the world to end less than he did right now.  He never longed for an apocalypse or anything, even on nights that his doubts and anxieties made him yearn for oblivion just for himself, but just now he could’ve cried thinking about everything falling apart tonight.  Whether it be by fiery explosion or a quiet, instant disappearance, he couldn’t let armageddon happen now— now that he had you.  For the first time, he saw himself having a future, in a way he never had before.  Existing as a ‘celebrity’ meant being on the edge of irrelevance at any moment, knowing this could all go away overnight and you’d just be ‘that guy who was in that thing that one time’.  

But this time, he stood on a precipice of something wonderful, of something natural, and it was the most beautifully terrifying unknown.  It was tomorrow.  Tomorrow, you’d get on the plane; tomorrow, you’d leave, because the world wasn’t going to end tonight.  But his life was going to start tonight, and he didn’t have to face it alone anymore.

[kiwiraccoon]

Never Again

Gang member Mingi x reader

Word Count: 1335

Summary: you and Mingi fight, and when you run away an opposing gang member catches you in the alley way on your way out and tries to force drugs down your throat. Mingi, on his way to get you back, sees and loses his shit but calms only once you say his name.

Notes: MDNI, cursing, angst, fluff, drugs forced, attempted kidnapping, gang violence, gang related topics

“That’s it!” He yells throwing his phone down to the couch beside him trying to release some anger without breaking anything. A habit I helped him break.

“Oh that’s it? Alright fine.” In the heat of the moment I gather just my phone jacket and keys and start to walk out the door hoping he might say anything to stop me.

“Fine.” He says with the anger shaking his voice. If I were anyone else he would have said more and if this were a drug deal he would have either beat them to a pulp or used that brand new gun I got him and ended it before it got worse.

Instead of saying anything more I leave our apartment, his apartment and head straight for the elevator. In my fit of anger I can’t even comprehend the time. It’s dark out that’s all I know, and being in a relationship with a gang member I should know to never go out alone at night, but my clouded judgement does nothing but push me further out the glass doors.

The empty streets do nothing to clear my mind, and the damp air does little to help my breathing calm. “So fucking stupid!” I curse under my breath kicking a pebble with my heeled foot. “All of this over a damn drug deal that they don’t have enough information on! That’s it! God forbid I fucking care. My bad I didn’t know I shouldn’t fucking worry that the love of my life could die. Oops. Fucking ridiculous.”

My whispers to myself add to the silence of the night around me. That is until I get pulled into an alley way not far from the apartment, “what the fuck!?”

“Shut up!” A gruff voice says from behind me pulling me in close to their chest and holding me so tight my lungs struggle. He slams me against the brick wall and pins me against it. His face is covered by a mask but his eyes I can see. This black that makes my skin crawl.

“Who the fu-“

“Shut the fuck up!” He says again with so much anger that I think he’s the one who just had a break up argument. Instead of covering my mouth he grabs something from his pocket and through my hazy vision I can just make out that it’s small and held between his fingers. He raises it to my mouth and tries to shove it in but I do that best I can and bite his fingers hard.

He curses and drops the pill to look at his fingers to see blood. “You bitch.” I go to say something but in a second he is thrown off of me and air is brought back into my lungs. My vision is so blurry from tears and anxiety that I can’t see what is going on and I’m so afraid that my hearing has gone silent. 

I slide down the wall and just let sob wreck through my body. I let out all my anger and fear and say the one name I wish could save me now “Mingi.” I continue sobbing into my hands whispering his name and saying my apologies for walking away.

Someone tries to pull my hands away and I freak out thinking the man won and came back to drug me again. “Baby I’m here. I’m here. It’s me baby. I’m here for you. Come here.” His strong arms pull me into him and instantly know who it is. He waists no time in picking me up and carrying me away to what I hope is back him.

He continues to whisper sweet nothings to me and hold me close occasionally rubbing my back while his other arm holds me up by my thigh. I cling on to him as if my life depends on it and refuse to open my eyes and face reality. 

“We’re home baby.” He whispers and slightly let’s go to see if I will drop from his hold but I hold on tighter. “I’ve got you baby.” He holds on tight again and carries me to what I assume is our bedroom until I hear the sound of the shower. “Come on let’s get these off.”

I finally let him set me down on the counter but I keep my eyes closed shut, I don’t want to open them and find out all of this was just a drug induced dream. As soon as my clothes are off he picks me back up and I feel that he is still fully clothed. Under the water I realize this is reality and open my eyes to see the shower wall and let out a sigh of relief. “I got you baby. I won’t let you go.”

“Your clothes.” I say and notice my voice is weak from all the emotional distress.

“It’s okay. I’m going to set you down okay?”

“Okay.” He sets me down and turns me to face away from him. Mingi washes me hair with care and makes sure to massage my head just the way I like that calms me down. He takes some time to place kisses on my head and shoulders telling me he loves me and that he’s here.

“Mingi?”

“Yes baby?” He asks finishing washing out the conditioner from my hair.

“I’m so sorry.” I say and turn around the hug him tightly around his waist. He doesn’t hug back at first from the shock of my words.

“What?” He pulls me away to look in my eyes and push any stray hairs away from my face. “Baby you have nothing, absolutely nothing to be sorry about.”

“But I-“

“No. I don’t care what you think in that beautiful head of yours, you did nothing to be sorry about. That motherfucker took advantage of you and tried to fucking drug you. And I was so worried about my pride and ego that I was pushing you away and it led to this. If anything I’m sorry, but he should be the most sorry. He should rot in hell. He would be there if you didn’t say my name. I was seeing red.” He pulls me back into him and hugs me tightly. “I’m so sorry baby. Let’s get you dried off and in bed, okay?”

I let my tears fall as I nod and let him pull me out of the shower to wrap a towel around me. He sets me down on the counter again and leaves for a few minutes to change his clothes and grab some for me. He comes back in a large black t-shirt and sweat pants and dresses me in my favorite hoodie of his along with underwear. He brushes my hair just the way I like and wipes my face clean with my products. After he’s down he moves us to the bed and cuddles me close.

“It’s not your fault.” I say into the darkness still clinging on to him and nuzzling into his chest.

“Yes it is. If I did-“

“No Mingi. It’s not anyone’s fault. Couples fight, we fought. But neither of us knew what would happen so it’s not our fault. Please don’t blame yourself. Please.” I beg and sit up to face him. In the darkness I can just make him out and can see that he is looking at my every move.

“Fine but never again. We won’t fight again, we won’t walk away again, and this won’t happen ever again. No one will ever touch my baby ever again. I will protect you with my life at all costs, okay?”

“Me too baby.” I say and stick out my pinky finger, “promise?”

“Pinky promise.” We lock fingers and then he pulls me into a kiss, on that has my using his chest to hold my self up and his hand in my damp hair holding me close.

“I love you Mingi.”

“I love you more than you will ever know.”

[knockyasocksoff2022]

It Counts

Sicktember 2024 - Prompt #10 The Sniffles (TM)

Words: 1,642

Pairing: Nakajima Atsushi / Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

POV: First person (Atsushi)

Atsushi’s Perspective:

The single light fills the bathroom with a warm glow, colouring my reflection orange in the mirror. I take the temperature reading device out of my mouth before it can start to beep, so as not to wake Ryuu.

Sure enough, no fever. Perfectly normal. It’s just the weather change giving the tiger, an animal taht prefers warmer environments, a bit of trouble. I’m being dramatic.

‘Spoilt brat! Since when did you become such a hypochondriac? Such weakness will only bring everyone around you down.’

The thought startles me, it came from somewhere deep inside my mind, the part that never really left the orphanage, that sometimes I fear never really will.

As quietly as I can, I walk back to bed. The entire flat has heated floors, but it still feels a bit cold. I know it’s just me because Ryuu sleeps, unbothered.

Still, if there’s any chance I even could be sick, I should sleep on the sofa. Just to be safe.

‘You selfish person, why didn’t you move to the sofa when you felt tired earlier? You’ll get him sick and then he might die!’

My mind's scolding confuses me. Am I sick or not?

-

The sofa is comfortable . . . normally when I’m sitting or cuddled against Ryuu, but now the discomfort is familiar. I drift to sleep, scolding myself for worrying about the neck pain.

–

“Huh?”

I think Ryuu said something to me, but I don’t really wake up until he starts the coffee grinder. The sound grate sound my ears.

“I said: Good morning, Jinko.”

“Oh.”

“May I ask why you are on the sofa?”

Crap! I can’t tell him. I mean, it’s not like I’m even ill. I don’t need him freaking out.

“Uh, I got overheated last night, so I came out here.” My voice sounds way too deep, almost guttural.

He raises an eyebrow, pouring the ground coffee into the coffee maker without looking. “Mmm, interesting, seeing as you’re wearing a jumper.”

Oops.

“Well, the jumper and blanket were too much, but the jumper by itself was fine.” I know I’m only digging myself deeper, but what else can I do? I can’t have him fussing over me when I’m not actually ill.

“Nice try, Jinko. As much as I enjoy you’re morning voice, you are clearly congested.” He trunks his back to me before I can retort. 

Ah, well, there goes that. I sigh, feeling the mucus shift unpleasantly in the back of my throat. I stand, crossing the living room to the kitchen, to make breakfast.

“Peppermint, or Lemon and Ginger tea, Jinko?” He trunks around, holding up two bags.

“Ryuu, stop. It’s barely the sniffles.”

“Tea is proven to help with symptoms like sore throats and congestion.” He explains.

“I know that, but I’m not-I don’t need all that. I’m fine, just- please don’t. Let me make my breakfast. I’ve got to pack my lunch too. I have to be at work at 7:00.”

“Nakajima Atsushi . . .”

My full name. That means he’s about to try and convince me (and it’s about to work). I cut him off.

“No, I don’t even have a fever. I’m not sick enough for this.”

“For what, Atsushi, a little tea? You drink tea all the time, what’s so special about it today?”

“I, uh- you don’t need to make tea for me.”

“Of course not, nothing I do for you is “necessary”, Jinko. I am the sick one. I am the one who requires care, Everything I do for you is because I want to. I know you are perfectly capable of making tea, so are you going to do it yourself?”

I won’t. He’s caught me.

“Well, Atsushi, will you?”

I can’t. It’s not right.

The way he’s looking at me . . . I have to give him so explanation. 

“I-I don’t deserve it,” I whisper. It feels pathetic to say it even if the words are air-horn loud inside my head. “I’m sorry, sorry for troubling you.”

His eyes narrow, faint brows furrowing, and he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. I did just what I didn’t want to do. I made trouble for him.

He exhales heavily, then speaks, “Don’t deserve it, hmm? Well, tell me then, Jinko, how sick do you have to be before you do? Why do I deserve all you do for me?”

What? What is he saying? Of course, he deserves it.

“Because you can’t help it, and I love you!” My voice breaks. It hurts a bit. 

Weak.

He exhales again, “God, Atsushi, do you hear yourself? I can’t help it? Of course not. But neither can you. You didn’t decide to become ill. You-”

“But I’m not ill, not really. I don’t have a fever, it doesn’t count.”

His eyes widen. He stands frozen for a second, then he’s hugging me, hard, face pressed into my neck, nuzzling me.

“No, Ryuu, stop, you’ll catch-”

He ignores me, “Is that what you think?”

“Yes! Now please back up!”

“If it doesn’t count, then why shouldn’t I hug you?” He asks, “If it doesn’t count, why shouldn’t I do this?” He comes close again, lips nearly touching mine. 

I shove him away, barely falling back as I do. I might now be very ill, but for Ryuu, even small things can turn bad.

“Just because you have no measurable symptoms doesn’t mean that you aren’t feeling poorly. Yes?”

I sniffle, I can’t help it anymore. “Y-yes.”

“Now, which tea would you like?”

“Um, Lemon and Ginger, please.”

“Alright, go back to bed. I’ll bring it in.”

“Ryuu, I have work.”

“Sleep would speed up the recovery process.” He argues.

“I want to go to work, I feel well enough. And work would distract me.” It’s true, I’m barely congested. I don’t even have a headache.

He looks at me with slightly narrowed eyes, scanning me up and down, then nods, “There’s no need to tell you that I trust you Jinko. If you say you’re fine, I believe it, but at least allow me to make you proper breakfast and pack your lunch. Try and get a few more minutes in while I do so. You’d be no help at work if you allowed yourself to get worse.”

I can’t argue with that, as harsh as he may seem, Ryuu always knows what will knock sense into me, it seems. I suppose that’s why we’re dating.

-

True to his word, I have plenty of time to dress for work when Ryuu wakes me.

“But, Atsushi, you are not wearing that ridiculous get-up, not today.”

He hands me a stack of clothes before returning to the kitchen to finish breakfast.

I unfold the stack. It contains my usual colours, with slightly different components. Instead of my usual capris, there’s a pair of soft, black joggers (the fashionable kind with the thin ankle elastics), an undershirt and a soft, white T-shirt (it’s long on me, so it must be his) Lastly, a black cable knit jumper to complete the outfit. There are throat lozenges in the pocket.

I leave it off for now, knowing my elevated body temperature I might overheat, but after a second of debate, I stuff it in my bag. Just in case I can’t take the office’s air con as well as usual.

Ryuu’s breakfast is delicious, and I eat almost all of it.

-

I blow him a kiss as I get up. He catches it, then hands one of his black lunch boxes. It feels heavier than it should. I give him a questioning look.

“Soup.” He explains, looking me over with a frown.

“Really, Ryuu, I’m alright.”

“Where’s the jacket?”

“I’ve got it right here, in my bag.” I open my satchel to show him, “See.”

“It’s windy out today, put it on.” 

Chuckling at his antics, I do. “Happy?” And I hand him back the bills from his pocket. “I think you left these.”

“O, that’s for cab fare. It should cover your trip there and home.”

“Ryuu, you don’t have to, the train is perfectly fin-”

He places a finger over my lips, reaches behind me to the coat hooks for a scarf, and fastens it on my neck.

“The station is blocks and blocks away, you don’t need to walk today. I’m sure you’ll get your steps in adequately at work. There. Now you may go. And you had better tell Dazai-san that you can’t fight today. If I see you, I’ll drag you straight back home.”

“Yeah, yeah, Ryuu, I will.” I blow him one last kiss before putting on my mask and heading out the door.

–

Of course, I get funny looks for showing up in a cab, and my outfit, but it’s mostly forgotten when they see my mask. Thankfully, Dazai-san steps in to keep Yosano-sensei, and Kyouka from worrying too much, as much of a hypochondriac as he is, he seems to understand not wanting attention. 

I’m glad for my jacket, the office feels colder than usual today.

-

By lunch, I feel better. Kunikida-san put me on desk duty, even when I instead he didn’t, but he said it hardly mattered since we had no field cases today. Judging by the amount of paperwork from our latest cases, that’s probably a good thing. 

Despite only filing papers all day, my appetite has come back. The tiger heals wounds instantaneously, but she takes a bit longer for things like this, so I’m not surprised. I’m starving.

It looks like Ryuu anticipated that I would be feeling better, just like always, even when he chides me he has more faith than I have in myself sometimes. 

The lunch box contains all the ingredients for chazuke, arranged carefully, minus the tea, which is in the thermos. That must be why it felt heavy. For some reason, seeing the lunch box makes my chest feel warm. It’s nice. Is this how Ryuu feels when I care for him? I can only hope so.

As I pour the tea, I can only think that maybe my burdens aren’t as big as I think they are. Maybe sharing my burdens isn’t always so terrible. Maybe sometimes sharing can make them smaller.

Either way, Ryuu’s double portion of Chazuke is wonderful.

[ghostofskywalker]

Hello!

I was wondering if I could request the prompts "you're an idiot" and "shut up and kiss me already" with echo???

Thank you so much and I hope you have a good day/night!

hi! sorry this is like light years late but thank you for requesting!

words: 607

summary: You spend a quiet morning with the love of your life. 

Time Together

clone troopers masterlist || request a winter ficlet!

You never thought you would miss working for the GAR, but right now you were. You certainly weren’t nostalgic about the abysmal pay, the long hours, or the difficult tasks, but the routine was definitely something you wished could return. Now, running away with your lover and his brothers meant that you no longer had to sit and toil away at a datapad for a cause you were told to believe in, but you also really never got time away from everything else. If something attacked in the middle of the night, there was nothing you could do but get up and fight.

And even though nighttime ambushes didn’t actually happen all that often, morning like this were still incredibly rare. If you didn’t have the night shift, Echo did, and vice versa. You either went to sleep together and then woke up alone, or you were joined in the middle of the night and had to pull yourself away from warmth of his body when it was time for you to watch over the ship.

Now though, you were pleasantly surprised to still feel Echo’s presence beside you as you opened your eyes. The Marauder didn’t exactly let too much natural light into the sleeping chamber, but you could just tell that it was morning, and you found yourself snuggling closer to your boyfriend, inadvertently waking him up as well.

“Hmmmffff cyare,” he said, his voice gravelly from sleep. “What’s going on?”

You wrapped your arms around him and pulled him closer. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“What?”

“I want to stay here for a while.”

“And what if I don’t?” He was joking, you could tell that from the air of humor in his voice and the smile on his face. But it would be fun to mess with him a little.

“Then I guess you’re being kidnapped.”

“You think you could kidnap me in my own bed?”

All you did was snuggle closer. “Yeah, and it looks like so far I’ve been successful.”

You tilted your head up so you could see Echo’s face, and he rolled his eyes playfully at your comment. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

You just smiled. Considering just last night you had called him the same thing for not liking the fruit you considered your favorite, it was a fair tease. “Oh, just shut up and kiss me already.”

That was a request Echo was never going to refuse, and soon his lips had landed on yours. Your bodies were close and your hearts were closer, making this moment a serious contender for the most perfect one of all time.

Or, you did until a voice interrupted you. “You two couldn’t keep it under control until you were alone?”

Okay, maybe you had forgotten that some of the others were also sleeping in the other bunks at the time. It was Hunter who had spoken, and you turned around to see him staring down at you and Echo. He must have been coming back from watching the cockpit at night.

You looked apologetic. “Oops.”

Hunter snorted before shaking his head. You knew he was full of osik, so you weren’t too worried about anything past a little teasing. “Just go eat breakfast you two,” he said. “I’m too tired for this.”

Echo leaned closer to you and placed a soft kiss on your cheek. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

You smiled as you kissed him quickly. “No it certainly doesn’t.”

You may not have gotten to spend all day in bed like you wanted to, but at least you get to spend more time with your cyare. 

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[sickeningly-sweet-letters]

Can you do a Yandere x reader post where the guy (Yandere) is just beyond delusional. Kinda like in Lolita where he thought she was coming into him when she was doing thee EXACT opposite

Can you do one where he pretends he talks to the reader in his head & also actively stalking them. Maybe even thinking about/ planning to kidnap them

hey! unfortunately i haven’t read or seen lolita and i sorta just went with your idea of them being utterly delusional to that point and decided to make this a sort of bratty, delusional yandere-

uhh so yeah, this may not be exactly what you wanted but i hope you still enjoy it though! thank you for requesting ^^

okay so wow, im so so sorry! i went through a rough time and i’ve been busy studying so im sorry i’m just finishing this now! i have no idea if this is even good or coherent since i’ve had this in drafts for months 💀

i just hope this was at least - little worth the wait! thank you again and im sorry for taking ages ;;

🌻 delusional yandere x gn reader!

- a delusional yandere who thought your meeting was straight up from a romcom or other meet-cute story, they fell in love at first sight! that goes for both of you, right? oh, you dropped your handkerchief! they wished they could slip their number in there when they picked it up for you!

- they played it real smooth when they complimented you they did not and jokingly teased you as they said they’d give your handkerchief back if you gave them your number… well that went well, huh? you were so cute when you played hard to get! don’t worry! they’ll see you around again! they’ll walk laps around this area daily until you cross paths again!

- your luck ran out when you two were at the same coffee shop, they noticed you and lit up like an excited puppy as they ran up to you and just straight up cut in line to order a drink with you. aren’t they so nice when they offered to pay for both of you- wait why’d you push them away? they were being nice! what the hell?!

- they pouted as you just left them again but.. god you were so damn hard to stay mad at! this is just a test, right? don’t worry, they won’t give up! they won’t stop until you finally give in. and hey, they actually managed to follow you this time!

- they bumped into you again as you left your house the next day, for whatever reason, they seemed to just be walking next to you and chatting away as if you two were besties.. they acted all cute and whined when you told them to screw off.. come on, darling! at least let them walk you to the bus stop- oh you walked away..

- hm.. they somehow thought this was just you saying you wanted to talk at home instead of now. but they knew where you lived now for sure! surely you don’t mind if they investigated your home, right? you were basically asking for it after you left them behind again!

- they did the best to get inside and ended up breaking a doorknob… oops? but they were so cute that you’d forgive them later, right? come on, darling.. you looked at them for two seconds longer, you gotta like them at least a little! they waited outside your door and started daydreaming about all the movie cliches.. maybe a little too much.. they figured that it’d be cute if they went and picked you up and walked you home?

- they were giddy as they walked around the block just to act like they were passing by again at the end of the day.. darling~! you’re going back home too? what a surprise! why don’t you hear me out? we live in the same area! you can’t run away from me again, aha! can’t you at least give me your number? pretty please? i’m not above sneaking into your house, you know! they giggled, thinking that their little daydream was a masterplan of sorts.

- they froze up when they realized they missed you.. dammit! where did you go?! they panicked and ran all over the neighborhood and spots they knew you frequented and- who is that man you’re talking to?!

- how could you do this y/n?! how could you?! didn’t you have something special? why?! what does he have that they don’t?? y/n.. y/n.. that man is a fucking bastard! don’t get near them, my sweet y/n! they’ll get rid of this fucking vermin for touching their innocent, precious darling-

- you screamed as they suddenly tackled the man who was just asking for directions from you..

- but they did it! oh, my darling! my darling y/n, are you okay? why are you looking at them that way..? do you not like blood? but you knew this was necessary! y/n- don’t run! don’t run from them! Y/N! DON’T RUN-

- they ran after you after dropping the scissors they used to stab that man, desperate to get you back.. unfortunately for you, seeing a man get stabbed is rather distracting and you tripped.. giving them a chance to catch up to you, and they started panicking and looking all over for any injuries- wait- your hand! you scratched it- oh no- oh no oh no oh no oh no-

- they began to panic as they say your hand bleed from a small scratch.. they used a handkerchief to cover your hand and they insisted they take you home- y/n, darling.. don’t look so scared! they’ll wipe the blood of them, so don’t look at them like that! just. come. home. with. them.

- they giggled as they managed to drag you back home, and they treated your wound tenderly, even kissing it better.. aren’t they so thoughtful and kind? darling! praise them a little for all their effort! they even found all the keys and locked the doors for you! you’re safe now, darling! no more disgusting pieces of shit can even see your sweet face!

- haha… this is.. they should stay here! y/n, won’t you let them stay? no- of course you want them to stay! you just need to get used to them.. they’re strong enough to protect you! don’t worry about a thing, darling!

- why are you struggling? you’re gonna hurt yourself.. you’re lucky they took first aid! but they’re gonna have to tie you up if you keep doing that! please be nice.. this is a good thing! the two of you are together now-

- and for the first time, they may see a bit of clarity as you slapped them but… no. you’re just playing! even if you wanted to hurt them, you wouldn’t! they might even let you hurt them, if they’re honest. but they cant let you go! absolutely not! have you forgotten how scary and dangerous it is outside?

you

are

not

leaving.

- they spent too long waiting for you.. you need to adapt to your new life darling.. don’t look so dejected! this is the start of your happy ending with them! how romantic, right?

you know just how dangerously delusional they are, it’d be best if you indulge them a little. even if it means waiting years for them to snap out of their delusions.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Happy Sunday~ Here are today’s replies.

anxiously-sidequesting asked:

HIIII I haven't said anything in a while but I wanted to say I LOVE YOUR TWST ART (well all of your art actually)!!!!! It's very chef's kiss 🤌🏾 and I hope you have a good day ❤️

Ahh thank you so much!!! <3 This is so sweet of you, I’m very happy to hear that!

Anonymous asked:

🤖👑

Hey! It’s the OruVil shipper! Don’t worry this ask doesn’t need to be answered but I just thought I’d let you know after all these years (I last had a major active blog in around 2011-13 WOW) I’ve actually started one and it’s thanks to you!

I’m over on WrithingDepth shooting out my twst HC’s and little one shots, I’ve yet to drop any OruVil and the blog is pretty new but I’m an older tumblr user with a full time job and nice anon lifestyle so if you guys ever just wanna hmu for a chat me and partner spend a lot of time discussing HCs and world building as well!

I’ll most likely link up the OruVil fic eventually there too.

Have a great day!

After some thinking I decided to actually post this ask for anyone who could be interested to read your work. Anything Ortho-related is so underappreciated, and after the discussion we had via asks a couple of weeks ago, I think it’s only fair to share in this specific case.

I am very excited to hear it whenever people get inspired to create unapologetically self-indulgent content. I honestly think this is one of the most important things one could do creativity-wise, and having people to share this self-indulgence with is truly amazing. Thank you so much for sharing with us <3

furubatsu asked:

I feel like you may have answered this before, but if so I can't find it. Also I'm a sloppy whore for the childhood friends to lovers pipeline SO!

Thoughts on Jack/Vil? While I agree Vil probably lost his virginity to Rook I can see these two being eachothers first Kisses (for "practice" reasons, of course) and maybe even awakenings? I love your analysises so I'm really curious about your take on these two.

HONESTLY? A GOOD PIPELINE!

We do have one post about Jack/Vil, and it’s a hc post, but it’s 8 months old oops. But I still stand by everything I’ve said there lol so you can check it out of you haven’t already.

Jack and Vil could easily be each other’s first crushes, and honestly a handsome polite boy who doesn’t even watch TV is probably the best candidate for a young star that is Vil to have a first attempt at kissing with. It would also be a nice contrast to their other first time, because even though they were on the same page when they were younger, now Vil is the more experienced one of the two, and he’s probably going to enjoy guiding Jack as they do it. Well, if Jack gets overwhelmed, horned up and feral, there won’t be much guidance going on, but in theory lol I feel like Vil is the “oneesan” type partner in this ship.

Anonymous asked:

My only reason to genderbend twst is that it's literally an excuse for Riddle always end up into someone's plsuh chest (same could be said for Idia and all the tiny chest gorlies)

Honestly no other reasons are needed lol this one is good enough. It’s like big boobs just keep following Riddle everywhere, they torment her, they abuse her, they suffocate her… or maybe it’s all in her head? What if she is just way too obsessed with it? And yes, being literally suffocated by Floyd’s chest has absolutely nothing to do with it lol

And Idia constantly gets to feel like a vn protagonist, but the vn itself is very cursed. Where are all the nice ladies, why is everyone so dangerous and scary?? Delete the game and get a refund ASAP-

(Meanwhile Lilia’s out there just… hunting…)

[spoops-inliyue]

| Intentionally or not

Character(s): Tighnari

TW: None

Genre: Fluff

Notes: Gender neutral reader || Enemies to lovers (closer to rivals to lovers) || Secret Santa piece for @falconflight123 <3 Hope you like it and please tell me if you’d like me to make any changes || I’ve made my own lore for the Teyvat equivalent of secret Santa since they don’t have Christianity and such 👍 || My intention was not for this to be near 6k words oops

Secret santa was a new custom that originated in Sheznaya, a game of sorts that was played within a celebration for the Taritsa, in a way similar to that of Liyue’s rite of descension for Rex Lapis and yet much more of a homely celebration. The customs of Sheznaya were of little importance to those in other nations just as the rite of descension was of little importance to the people of Sumeru but it was a celebration backed by the Harbgingers so naturally became one of great interest to anyone with connections with the Fatui and from there to the ordinary people of Teyvat.

While few outside of Sheznaya celebrated for the sake of the Taritsa, they had taken a liking to the games that they played for the celebration in the colder months and few in Sumeru could resist the allure of the understanding of something new.

You were not part of those few.

So, here you sat amongst various other forest rangers, some you were familiar with, some you’re convinced that you have never seen in your life and appeared out of nowhere but such was the usual since many of them ended up staying out on various missions in the forest for extensive periods of time.

Never by anyone’s say, just because they had decided to stay there for a while. It would certainly never be by the say of the person that you had somehow been assigned as your partner for secret Santa.

You stared down at the piece of paper in your hand, the name written in Dori’s familiar script - not that you were surprised, seeing as she was the one who had decided to host the event most likely for the easy chance of getting a few million mora - and stared at it for a few seconds more, hoping that - somehow - the letters would float off of the paper and rearrange themselves. To whose name, you didn’t know and nor did you particularly care.

Adamantly avoiding looking at the paper now, you quickly walked over to the pink haired merchant who had handed you the paper to you in the beginning.

“Dori.” The girl in question turned around with a knowing smile on her face.

“Yes, my dear friend and dearest customer?”

Ah, she was having too much fun with this.

“You already know what I’m going to ask.” You held the paper up to her, frown on your face and eyes glaring at her carefree expression.

She giggled, spinning around gleefully on her floating lamp. “Don’t worry. Tighnari’s just as annoyed about it as you are!”

With the way that she said it, you would have thought it was the best news, a reason to jump for joy and sing and such. It only served to cause your expression to turn incredulous. “And that’s a good thing why? Like, come on, there’s people that have come here from Inazuma for archons’ sake and you put me with him?!”

You scoffed at her still unchanging glee. “If anything, I would say that’s more reason to give us different partners for this! Come on Dori, I can’t be partnered with him and have to get him a gift!”

“Come ooon~ This is a great chance for you to finally settle your differences!”

There was no part of what she was saying that made sense to you. “By arguing over what to get for 2 weeks and hiding the fact that he’s who I’m getting a gift for?” She was smarter than this, you knew that for a fact, so why was she suddenly proposing the most bizarre idea that you thought you’d ever heard from her?

“By finding a way to deal with me forcing the two of you to get along.”

“To deal with what-?” She didn’t even give you the chance to finish asking before she had disappeared to float in front of the gathered group who were all busy trying to find their partners for the exchange.

“Participants!” Your friend clapped her hands and stood up on her floating lamp. “Now that you all have your partners’ names, it’s time to introduce to you the two rules we’ll have!”

She held up her pointer finger, “Rule one! No letting your exchangee know who you are until the 24th when we’re giving our gifts!” She held up her second finger, “And rule two! I won’t hear any complaints about your partners! I’ll be keeping a close eye on all of you,” the ‘as potential customers’ part was a given, “and anyone who doesn’t get along with their partner will be disqualified and will have to explain to their exchangee that the reason that they aren’t getting a gift is because they wouldn’t grow up and get along with their partner.”

Your jaw hung open in disbelief. “You’ve got to be-“

“You know, it’s not going to work out for either one of us if you decide that you’re going to start hiding from me when we’re supposed to be working together for this.”

Your lips pressed into a line and you took in a slow breath through your nose, fighting internally to bite back a snide response to his condescending tone.

“I was trying to find a way for us to switch partners. Make this whole process easier for us and such.” You turned to smile tensely at the ranger who stood with an equally displeased expression on his face. “Same principle with research, isn’t it? Don’t work with someone that won’t cooperate with you-“

“I feel that it would be more accurate to say that you won’t cooperate with me in this case; but that principle becomes void when neither you nor someone that you can get along with have the necessary skills or experience for a given type of research.” His tone gave away the fact that he was already more than annoyed at you and you hadn’t even gotten to exchange pleasantries yet. “You don’t know the other forest rangers as well as I do so you’ll learnt struggle to find your exchangee - as Dori calls them - an appropriate gift.”

Working with him would be really convenient if not for the fact that he was the person you were supposed to give a gift to.

You had no response to that that wouldn’t have Dori seem the two of you too volatile in each others company to be permitted to continue taking part in the exchange, gritting your teeth still with your same tense smile on your lips and narrowing your eyes at the Fennec hybrid. “If you know them all so well, then we’ll be done quickly.”

>> — - >

At this rate, you were definitely not going to be done quickly.

You’d been at this for hours now, from the minute that Tighnari had returned from his patrol up until the sun had set and still going. You still had a week left but, realistically, you only had the meat 3 days; the two of you both being swamped with work in the forest for the rest of the week what with ensuring that accommodations for those that couldn’t stay in the city - that Dori was so graciously paying for as the main benefactor for the event but you were providing - didn’t see any issues. These were the only days that you were both absolutely certain that you both had.

A free day that you both would have wanted to spend doing anything else with the back and forth that was really starting to grate on your ears and have you give up on the entire exchange really ruining your mood for what you were certain would be the entire week.

And it wasn’t even important for you! You weren’t ready to spend several more hours arguing over a gift that you weren’t even going to be getting for the first people whose name you saw on the list of participants for the event.

Curse your pride for stopping you and curse Tighnari for being the reason that you wanted to give up.

It only made it worse that both of you were doing everything to ensure that the other wasn’t doing more work and therefore being the “more cooperative” of the two of you despite the fact that you had yet to have found a single suggestion out of either list that you both agreed on, argument after argument ensuing as you reasoned why one gift was suitable or another wasn’t.

Again, with everything you were doing being for someone that you weren’t even assigned. Maybe you should actually buy him a gift. Just for the sake of all of this not being a waste of time.

It was tiring for the both of you.

“Hapasiya wouldn’t want us to buy her incense, she likes having it made herself.” You crossed off incense from the list that Tighnari had compiled for the person that he was to buy - or make - a gift for. While he’d gone on about you not knowing many people, Hapasiya was someone that you were certain you could buy a gift for with ease.

If only yours was the same.

“Come on, you’ve heard her talk about the importance of connecting with yourself before you can connect with anything else, especially after the first incident when she connected with the false god’s vessel. Think, maybe.”

You tapped Tighnari’s head and he swatted your hand away which came with an annoyed flick of his ears though no reprimandation and reminded to back off of his hair and ears. “She’s still meditating in the forest, she doesn’t see any need for any material possessions so she would have little use for anything else. Receiving incense from a friend or as a gift could help her make it more meaningful and give it a stronger connection with her.”

He put dots next to all of the material items that you had written on your own list for Hapasiya - which was most of them, much to your dismay, as he placed the dots on the paper from the moment that he had started talking up until the moment that he stopped.

“Hapasiya’s fond of keepsakes that she can keep in her home, wouldn’t it be better to buy her something that she could keep forever rather than something finite?” You circled Tighnari’s entire list, save for the first three suggestions - all of which were clothing of some form that you were both still on the fence regarding, “Don’t most people tend to get really anxious about using up gifts?”

You heard his earring make a little twinkle as the pieces hit against each other when Tighnari’s ears twitched and then quickly flattened against his head before he rolled his eyes while still looking at the papers on the table with furrowed brows. Your hand balled into a fist as you recalled the fact that he did that to block out sound.

A deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and your fisted hand relaxed. Whatever, he would have to listen to you anyway for the sake of the exchange.

“You know what? How about we try and figure out what you’re getting, first? You might be more cooperative then since it’s someone that you don’t know,” he asked but, despite it being phrased as a question, there wasn’t much room for you to decline his idea as he swiped the papers off the table and folded them up quickly before putting them off to the side.

You threw a pillow from your seat at the man’s face. “You don’t know him either!”

>> — - >

“He works for the Yashiro commissioner, when would he possibly have the time to keep up with anything that you have to use consistently and long term?” The dark haired forest ranger took a hair tie from his wrist, something that you’d realised a few months prior that he would keep hidden - whether intentionally or not - under his gloves, and tied his hair up, exposing his undercut but getting his longer hair out of the way while he crossed at least 4 of your suggestions off of the page. It was good to know that you weren’t the only one getting fed up.

“Oh, I don’t know Tighnari, maybe in the same way that he manages the Kamisato household consistently and long term-“

>> — - >

“Hapasiya likes to have her hair short, you might as well buy her scissors rather than oils for hair growth.”

>> — - >

He’s working for and living with one of the richest clans in Inazuma, what would he do with any form of travel permits to anywhere? They could probably just buy the whole transportation system.”

>> — - >

“That just seems like something you would buy for yourself. It’s an exchange, you don’t get to keep what you buy.”

>> — - >

“Didn’t you used to own one of those when we were studying in the Akademia? Aw, feeling nostalgic?”

>> — - >

“Didn’t someone once try and give something like that to Alhaitham?”

Your eyes widened as they recalled the memory, “Haha, they did! His face was hilarious, he didn’t know if it was genuine or a prank so he just walked off with it after just standing there for 5 minutes. He’s always been terrible with people.”

>> — - >

“I remember these weird grabby things were really popular when they first brought them over from Fontaine.”

Tighnari leaned over to see what you were talking about, reading the name on your list and nodding in realisation. “I asked my dad for one once and he gave me such a weird look and asked me what I needed it for. I was too embarrassed to tell him that I was too scared to climb the taller trees to get to the Sunsetias.”

You looked at him incredulously. “You were? You wouldn’t think that now, look at you.”

>> — - >

When your bickering and insults had turned to light banter and then laughter, you didn’t know, but you’d been at it for hours and your energy was long depleted.

The two of you stared blankly at the now fully crossed out sheets of suggestions that you had compiled, nothing, not a single thing from any of the several lists that you had made for both your and Tighnari’s exchangees managing to get an agreement from the both of you. A lot of laughs and old memories, sure, but no concrete agreements on what you would each be getting.

The soft chairs that you were sitting in were starting to feel very ideal for sleep as you both ignored the sun coming up and light filtering into the room, eyelids heavy and ready to drop the both of you off into a dream.

“Should we just buy them clothes and move on?”

Tighnari yawned, lazily meeting your gaze with his cheek leaning on the back of his chair, “No, it would seem inconsiderate and just embarrassing if we got them the wrong sizes.”

You waved your hand vaguely, body limp on the chair and unwilling to move. “We’ve bought clothes for Hapasiya before.”

“Exactly why it would seem inconsiderate and you don’t even know how this Thoma fellow looks, much less his size.” He yawned again which pulled a yawn from yourself.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He hummed in agreement, prompting another one of many eye rolls from you, though your annoyance now didn’t even reach half hearted.

“Should we just go to the market tomorrow to look around then? Might have better luck in person?”

You waited for a second but were met with silence as a response, something that confused you since he’d been talking to you for the past several hours and now decided to finally shut up. You couldn’t deny that during the most recent of those hours, you would have found yourself rather upset to have had him stop talking.

Still, you were unwilling - and too tired - to look over to see what he was doing that had him so preoccupied that he couldn’t say anything in response to your perfectly logical idea.

“Tighnari?”

Still nothing.

“Come on, what are you four? A bit childish for you to be ignoring me-“ the opportunity to tease him and catch him with his little focused expression that you would never admit that you used to love to admire when you were still a student gave you the energy to turn around and you were met with the sight of the forest ranger fast asleep in his seat, ears shifting slightly to listen out for any danger.

“Hah, great.”

You sighed softly at his vulnerable state, reaching into your bag to pull out a shawl that you had taken out with you invade it had started to rain and got cold, draping it over him and eyeing him for a moment longer when he snuggled into the fabric before settling back into your chair to sleep yourself.

You weren’t going to think too much on the fact that he wouldn’t be asleep if he wasn’t comfortable or didn’t feel safe. It only made sense for him to feel that way seeing as you’d known him since your days in the Akademia as a student and your classmate.

It was weird to think that he was so comfortable now though, to think back on the laughs and jokes of only a few minutes prior when the two of you couldn’t even stand each other's presence a year ago.

It was a constant mental battle with him while you were still studying there while he tried teaching you and helping you catch up whenever you missed days - as your dutiful roommate who was constantly above you in the class and was assigned to tutor you, something that he wasn’t about to decline given his reputation as the ideal student.

If only he actually cared about what the teachers, beyond his own, thought about him. Maybe then it would have actually been helpful when he tried to help rather than decidedly deeming that you were being uncooperative on purpose - though you couldn’t lie that it was annoying being tutored by one of the three golden boys in your gear in the Akademia and you may have spent your fair share of time complaining despite still managing to understand the content from him - which made him decide to belittle you even more that he already had with his routines and expected work and spoon feeding you your lessons like you were still a child which only made you seem more uncooperative as you tried to tell him that you already knew the content and that he was wasting your time and his.

Or maybe if either of you had liked each other at all in the first place. That probably would have contributed to making everything harder while the two of you were studying.

>> — - >

“Come on, wake up. Collei got worried and brought us pita pockets to eat.”

You stretched out your limbs, bleary eyed and able to see very little save for a mop of dark hair and a blob for a face in front of you until you blinked several times and rubbed your eyes. “What?”

You recognised the voice by the sigh and became aware of Tighnari being the one that was in the room and after that the smell of the pita pockets that you still needed to ask Collei to give you the recipe for.

“You slept over and Collei’s made us both breakfast. You’ll want to eat and then go and change so we can go out.”

You nodded your head with a yawn, dismissively waving your hand at him and taking one of the pita pockets from his hand, all the while ignoring the fact that he was seeing you in your newly woken up state which was nothing close to a good look on anyone.

“When did you decide that we were gonna go out? I said the same thing yesterday but you were asleep.” You leant against the chair before deciding that you felt too awkward just standing there and eating and used your free hand to help Tighnari tidy up a bit, picking up your shawl which you realised was covering you rather than Tighnari as you had left it yesterday, and shifting the chairs back into place.

“I heard you, I was just too tired to respond.”

“…” you stared at him blankly for a second and then shrugged.” At least I still get the credit for the idea.”

>> — - >

“Finally, we’re done and I can be free of you.” You stretched your arms above your head and heard a satisfying couple clicks from your shoulder as you left Sumeru city and decided to sit by one of the nearby streams to take a break.

You’d rushed to your house after waking up so that you didn’t have to waste so much time trying to look around for the gifts but you’d underestimated how much time it was going to take the two of you all together. You were going to start appreciating your legs more and also being more aware of judging a vendor’s items while you were standing right in front of them.

“Why were you acting like that before?” Tighnari asked, almost randomly, as he moved to sit beside you, Hapasiya’s gift in hand while the gift for Thoma laid beside you. In the end, you did decide to actually buy the man a gift while you planned to buy Tighnari’s gift after he’d gone home. Or rather, you had to buy a gift or it would seem weird that you came up with the idea and came out to the market and then didn’t buy anything.

You would just have to explain why you had bought this stranger a gift but apparently the whole celebration was very big on good will, not that Tighnari was showing you any with the borderline accusatory tone of his voice.

“Like what?” Your response came in the form of a question, confused. You were sure you weren't looking at him any differently than you had been the day before. Perhaps a little more awake?

“Like you hated my very existence? It was weird to me because we were able to get along just fine last night. ”

Is that how you looked at him? That was how you figured he looked at you.

“And you didn’t?”

His tail bristled behind him and his lips pulled down into a confused frown. “No? When did you ever get that impression?”

It was your turn to become even more confused as you looked at him like he’s grown an extra head. “I mean, I acted like that because you acted like that. It’s been like this since the Akademia when you were constantly being a condescending prick about tutoring me.”

“When was I ever condescending?” This seemed to just be the two of you taking turns to become more and more confused each time you spoke.

“You’re literally doing it now! Listen to how you’re talking!” You gestured wildly and vaguely to his entire being.

“How I’m talking?”

“Uh, yeah? You talk like you’re always right. You always have. You’ve been practically on par with Alhaitham since day one.” You gestured again vaguely with your hands to help indicate your referral to the past.

“You were the one who was always being uncooperative.”

“You think I wanted to cooperate with you when you taught me the content like I was eight years old?” Folding your arms over your chest, you fixed him a look of annoyance and disbelief though less than usual with the memories of how you spoke last night still fresh (ish) in your mind.

He mimicked you in this, folie his own arms and looking at you in the same way that a mother would look at her child whenever they were pushing their luck with what she would allow them to do. An oddly specific comparison but it felt the most accurate as it popped up into your mind.

“I did that because I figured you were being uncooperative because you were studying the content yourself and didn’t want me reteaching it to you because you’d always said that you knew what I was trying to catch you up on and I decided to do less so you wouldn’t have to be doing a bunch extra work during the sessions that the teachers allocated for us.”

You threw your hands up in the air and let them hit against your thighs when they fell back down. “You couldn’t have said something about that?”

“It was difficult to have done so when you hated being near me. You think I wanted to talk to you when you were looking at me like you wanted to throw me out of the Akademia yourself?” He copied your phrasing and your disgruntled tone.

“So this has all just been a bunch of misunderstandings?” You decided to summarise the entire issue, feeling like your world was falling apart around you as a result of your stupidity as the words left your lips.

Tighnari groaned at the realisation while you laughed pityingly at both him and yourself. How such a thing could have slipped past of of the Akademia’s star students and a student that was studying at the same level as him was so beyond the both of you that it was embarrassing but Tighnari’s consciousness of the emotions of other people had come about during his training as a forest ranger rather than during his somewhat reclusive upbringing or his time studying amongst a bunch of egotistical students in the Akademia who knew nothing that went beyond their educational intelligence.

“You know, ha, this is really annoying actually because I really like- liked you before the whole tutoring thing.” You put off your pause between the present and past tense as a slip of the tongue despite the way that your heart thudded in your panic at what you had almost said.

He went quiet at that and you turned your head to see him looking at the ground with an expression that you couldn’t quite decipher. “Nari?”

“Well, since we’re coming clean-“ his smile was one that reflected your pitying laugh from before though clearly directed at himself, “I liked you during the whole tutoring thing, despite how annoying you were. It was a refreshing change from the likes of people such as the other scribes who valued intelligence above all else while you really were just trying to get through the years without getting involved in all of their superiority nonsense. They gave me a headache every time they spoke.”

You both laughed at that, the atmosphere comfortable despite your embarrassing, though only to yourselves, confessions.

The silence that followed made your heartbeat sound embarrassingly loud to you and you were certain that Tighnari would hear it. It was that thought that spurred you to say something that had been on your mind since the realisation that your entire silly little rivalry was because of a bunch of misunderstandings wrapped up in more misunderstandings.

You put your hand over his and smiled at him despite your nerves.

“Then how about a second chance? For the both of us?”

“I think that’ll be the best course of action.”

The rustle of what sounded like leaves above you saved you from an awkward silence and the two of you looked up to see a branch with a small white flower on it.

Tighnari groaned again, his ears pressing against his head as he covered his face specifically with the hand that wasn’t under yours, a gesture that made your heart do a little dance.

“What? What is it?”

“Mistletoe, one of the-“

“Traditions for the celebration-“ Now you remembered it. How could you not when everyone had been hanging it around so often that you’d been commissioned to take a bunch of the stuff down?

You looked back up to the plant, specifically so that you didn’t have to look at Tighnari for fear of your face burning up even more and spied a small ring of purple around at the very top of the branch.

A ring of electro energy.

“What the-?” Tighnari looked up at the confusion to see what you were looking at and you managed to spy his flushed cheeks that he had been covering.

“Dori.” “Cyno.”

“Cyno?” “Dori?”

“Wait, what does Cyno have to do with this?”

“He said something about the two of us needing to get along since we worked with each other.”

“Dori said the same thing. Fairly certain this goes beyond the realms of us getting along though. By either of their standards. Scratch that, this is definitely

something Dori would do.”

There was no way the two of them were working together, what with Cyno being the general mahamatra and Dori being the type of merchant that she was and yet somehow their plans had aligned perfectly for the both of them.

You both laughed again, something that you felt you wouldn’t mind getting used to, and you looked back up to the mistletoe and then down to the forest ranger who had his head cocked to the side and ears twitching in confusion at your contemplative expression.

“So, do we just leave the mistletoe there or-?”

Tighnari laughed, a sound that had your heart warming and a smile reaching your face before your own laughter joined his.

He stood and reached his hand out to you to help you up which you gladly took. “We should return the mistletoe to Dori before she charges us for it.”

And both of your laughter returned anew.

>> — - >

The rest of the week leading up to the final day for the exchange you spent with Tighnari, starting anew with your impressions of each other and becoming surprisingly close. You’d known each other before of course but never to this degree.

“You’re not half bad under all of the fluff and the sarcasm, y’know?”

“Hah! I’m the one who’s not half bad?”

You leaned back a little to get a better look at him, grinning with brows raised in a condescendingly questioning manner, meeting his unimpressed but still smiling face but you couldn’t hold your expression as well as he could and soon you were laughing, giving in to the urge and smiling freely.

Tighnari was smiling more naturally himself and you felt your gaze soften as he turned his head to look at the setting sun. He was so pretty.

His lips were upturned and eyes soft, and it was difficult, when you were seeing him like that, to stop the butterflies that fluttered in your stomach and the way that your heartbeat sped up just that little bit.

You thought back to the gift that you had decided on for him, an album that you had compiled yourself of the various flora decorating Sumeru. You knew that he had all of that information stored away in his head somewhere and amongst various messy notes but he could do with some organisation.

You’d stayed up for several hours ordering your own notes so that you could make it and had to commission a few people to get you all of the samples which you pressed and dried to put into the book, each page coming with its own bookmark that had a little summary of what the plant can be used for which slotted into a flap on the page.

Was it excessive? Perhaps a tad bit but you felt that it was worth it now, seeing Tighnari so relaxed. Maybe you could never keep that expression on his face permanently but you may as well try.

>> — - >

The day of the exchange was the first day that week that you didn’t spend with Tighnari, obviously not about to risk him seeing a gift different from the one that you had bought with him and then putting two and two together to realise that you’d lied about who your exchangee was or he would see it as a second gift - given that you had bought the gift that you had gotten for this Thoma fellow with you - and realise that you had gotten someone else a gift. Either way, it wasn’t ideal for him to see it.

Not that he would pry or anything but he was someone who valued honesty so you preferred not to have him know until the last second.

“Well, seeing as everyone’s here, time to find your exchangee and give them your gift!” And with the sound of Dori’s voice, the last second was now.

People were quick to try and find their given person for the exchange which made you glad for Dori’s extra expenditures to find a large venue though you were certain that she definitely got it all back and then some out of all of this.

However, you could still see very little as you searched for Tighnari, somehow not catching sight of the familiar pair of ears above the crowd or hearing the clinking of the vials that he kept on his person. No, you had to turn and bump right into him to find him.

“Oh! Tighnari, there you are! Did you find your exchangee?” You held the gift behind your back.

He looked almost sheepish as he spoke, a light flush on his cheeks, “I have now.”

You looked around you, only to see that he was clearly talking to you and your eyes widened in surprise before you covered your face with one hand, feeling the heat coming from your cheeks, and giving up on hiding his album.

“And I’ve just found mine.”

“Did Dori set us both up as each other's partners and secret santas?” You just nodded, unable to come to terms with the situation.

“This has to be against the rules of this whole exchange.”

And just in that moment, the merchant in question appeared with a smile and her hands on her hips. “Hey, following the rules is your job here! And you’ve missed one.”

You gave her a look before following the direction of her finger upwards, your gaze landing on a familiar white branch which had your cheeks heating up once more.

“Dori-“

“Nope! You got away with it once but you won’t be getting away with it a second time! You know the rules.”

Yup, you knew alright. It was the reason that your heartbeat had sped up and your gaze was looking anywhere that wasn’t the mistletoe but, when your eyes met Tighnari’s, it was clear that he wasn’t faring any better.

You would have found his blushing cheeks and flattened ears adorable if not for the fact that you were a bit preoccupied with your own flusterdness.

“I mean- if you’re alright with it.”

You heard the rapid swishing of Nari’s tail before any verbal response from him and his hands cupped your cheeks to pull you in for a kiss, his lips pressing to yours sweetly but with a hint of embarrassment that you hoped was washed away when you reciprocated the kiss and your hands found themselves on top of it.

Your breathing evened out and you could deal the smile on Tighnari’s lips up until the two of you jumped away from each other at the cheer that you headed from the other participants which reminded you that you had an audience.

Do not repost or claim. Only reblog 💛

[bunnimew]

Plan Your Naps

Rating: G Fandom: Rise of the Guardians Characters: Jack Frost, Bunnymund, Toothiana, North, Sandy Tags: Humor, Characters Play Dungeons & Dragons, Author does not play Dungeons & Dragons Summary: For @rotgsecretsanta 2022 Prompt 55

It's hard enough DMing a game when one of the players keeps losing their dice and making everyone wait, but it's even worse when...

On AO3 here.

“Okay,” Jack said. “Roll for damage.”

They sat in relative silence while they listened to Aster picking up his dice and rolling them on the table. There was the telltale rattle of a pair of D10s skittering across wood finish, then a dip in sound as one of them stopped suddenly, and finally the impressive cursing of an Australian man growing more and more distant. 

Tooth’s voice, caught halfway between worry and amusement, came over their combined speakers. “Are you okay over there?”

“Yeah,” Aster called from… somewhere. It wasn’t like any of them could tell when they were only doing audio for this Dungeons and Dragons session. “One of ‘em just rolled under my chair. I’ll find it.”

“Probably,” Jack joked, sarcasm heavy in his tone. He folded his arms on the table, over the map in front of him. His laptop sat pretty far away, making room for the notebook that kept track of their campaign and his dice tray next to it. “You know this is the kind of thing a dice tray is for, right?”

“I’ll put it on my Christmas list,” Aster grumbled, barely audible. He might not have meant for them to hear that at all. Oops.

“It’s okay,” North soothed. His tone was kind, at odds with what he said next. “I am sure we didn’t need his help, anyway.”

They shared a laugh while Aster continued to look, then laughed harder when they heard a dull thump from his mic and a new round of cursing. 

Jack shook his head even though none of them could see. “You guys need all hands on deck. I mean, maybe you’ll get lucky, I’ve seen crazier stuff out of you, but this giant isn’t low level, so…” 

Jack had taken care to make it a hard, but not impossible, enemy to beat. He’d even considered Aster’s usual luck with dice in calculating the giant’s health. They would need his help. 

…If he ever found his other D10 again. 

The rattle of a re-rolled die came over the speakers, and then Aster’s voice, clear and close. “Eight and six.”

“Awesome,” Jack said, writing fourteen down in his notes and subtracting from the giant’s hit points. “Glad to see you actually contributing.”

North and Tooth’s raucous laughter nearly covered Aster’s indignant reply. “How is it my fault if the dice hate me?”

North quieted his laughter just long enough to say, “Maybe if you didn’t throw them on floor so much?”

“You know what?” Tooth said, barely keeping her laughter in check. “If it would make you roll higher, I will buy you a dice tray.”

Even Jack had to laugh. “You might have to get him a new set, too,” he added. “This one probably has too many bad memories of carpet and rabbit fur.”

“I’ll have you know,” Aster said pointedly, “I keep my floors incredibly clean. And my babies don’t shed that much.”

“Of course, of course,” North agreed consolingly. Then he snickered again, which ruined the whole effect.

“Okay, okay,” Tooth interrupted. “Let’s get a move on. We don’t have all day. Who’s next?”

Jack consulted his notes before answering. “Alright Sandy, your turn.”

Sandy never talked much, and his proficiency with sign language was their primary argument for why these sessions should be video. Sandy had insisted that audio was sufficient though, and that he could just type his responses if the words were too much for him. 

Dead silence from his mic was a little unusual, though. 

“Sandy?” Jack tried again.

“Sandy?” Tooth repeated, concern in her voice. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” North said comfortingly. “Right, Sandy?” But there was still no answer. “Maybe just AFK,” he continued after a beat.

And then they heard the tiny snore. 

“Oh em gee,” Jack said, just before Aster cried out.

“He’s sleeping!”

“Are you serious?” Tooth asked, disbelief all over her voice.

“He takes nap,” North said, tone flat, “while we die by giant.”

Jack snorted a laugh and had to cover his mouth to prevent the harsh sound from getting to his mic. “Maybe we can wake him up?”

“Sandy!” Tooth cried as if she really needed to throw her voice over the speakers. “Wake up!”

“Sandy, don’t leave us like this!” Aster yelled through his mic.

“Sandy!” North shouted desperately, like this was a real emergency.

There continued to be no reply. The silence stretched. They heard another little snore. 

“Does anybody, like…” Jack asked awkwardly, “live near him? And can go, I don’t know, poke him or something?”

"I could, but I would have to put on pants, and I'm not going to do that." Tooth said. "I would rather lose this campaign."

Aster snorted. “Did not know you felt that strongly about pants.”

“No, I’m with her,” Jack said quickly. “Down with pants.”

“So what do we do?” North asked.

“Um,” Jack answered uncertainly. He hesitated long enough to hear another soft snore come over the speakers. “I guess we pause here until next week?”

“I guess we have to,” Tooth replied.

Aster’s grumbling floated through the speakers, again soft enough that he probably didn’t mean for them to hear. “And you say I don’t contribute.”

North laughed again. “Sandy would roll higher than you in his sleep, my friend.”

“What?” Aster yelled. They all heard his hands hit the table. 

“And that is my cue to head out,” Jack said hurriedly. “Talk to you later. Bye!”

He waited just long enough to hear a chorus of goodbyes from North and Tooth, and one accusatory, “Coward!” from Aster, then Jack hit the disconnect button and sat back in his chair.

With a shake of his head and one last disbelieving laugh, Jack said to himself, or rather to a Sandy that couldn’t hear him: 

“You have got to plan your naps better, Sanderson.”

[bonesandthebees]

Alright Askers, grab your weapons we’re going out to hunt! (/j don’t actually go looking for the comment).

No but seriously that’s unbelievably rude and clearly written by someone who has never written anything in there life, let alone something as good or as long as your fics because when you’ve gone through the effort of writing something like that you don’t just go and point out ‘flaws’ in other people’s work (and really it’s just their opinion because a lot of your works have bittersweet endings, which is what makes them good in my opinion but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, especially for fan fiction). If they can think of a (subjective) ‘better’ ending, that can go and write their own damn story.

Anyway, I always like the endings to your fics, long or short, a lot of the Askers here do too. That’s why we always come scream at you. Don’t let one person with bad ao3 etiquette ruin your day.

P.s. I still need to read the QSMP hunger games thingy and I’m so excited, but I just straight up haven’t had the time yet. Also, I’ve seen the movie and it was good, but the book has been laying on my shelf for at least two months and I feel like it’s giving me a side eye every time I walk past.

P.s.s It snowed here on Wednesday. Like decent snow for once. And now the entire public transport system is struggling because most of it has yet to melt because of the cold. (This never happened it feels like it’s been at least 5 years since we’ve had snow this decent.)

-🌲

yeah I mean more than anything my issue with the comment was just that they decided to put it in my comments. like, you can have whatever opinion on my stories you want to have. but if you disliked it that much, go talk about it with your friends. don't put it in my comments where I'll literally get an email notif for it.

but thank you spruce I can always count on you guys to reassure me about things like this <3

and don't worry it didn't ruin my day. it just pissed me off for about 10 minutes which is when I made that post (which has now, uh, breached containment a little bit I think. oops.) I understand that this fanbase is young, and many of them genuinely haven't learned ao3 etiquette yet. not everyone is constantly on tumblr or twitter and knows what's going on on the author side. the commenter seemed to genuinely think I wouldn't see the comment, which makes me want to give them the benefit of the doubt that if they knew I would literally get an email with that comment in it, they wouldn't have said that. of course I don't know that for sure, but that's what I'm choosing to believe for now.

ooooo whenever you read my fic lmk I had a lot of fun coming up with the story and everything for it :) also you should definitely read tbosas book. I finished it last week and it's SO good. I really enjoyed the movie, but I enjoyed the book even more. it gives you so much insight to be able to hear coriolanus' internal monologue at all times

YAY FOR SNOW!! NOT YAY FOR STRUGGLING WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORT :( hope things get fixed with that soon!

[hollandorks]

saved

matt murdock x original female character

chapter four

Summary: Fleeing from an abusive relationship, Grace St. James goes to the only place she still has a friend: Hell’s Kitchen. She’s forced to live in her car and beg for a job from the law firm Nelson, Murdock, and Page all the while making sure her past doesn’t catch up to her. Enter Matt Murdock: cocky, handsome, and willing to let her live with him for free until she can afford to get a place of her own. Grace is drawn to Matt in a way she’s never been drawn to anyone, causing sparks to fly as they inevitably grow closer and closer.

a/n: God, I love this fic. I’ve already written almost 60k words for it. The bad news is that those words are all in the middle, and technically there’s a huge gap between this chapter and most of what I’ve written...oops? But don’t worry, the hyperfixation is still going strong! 

Series Masterlist

word count: 4304

But Matt had no idea that, a handful of hours later, Grace would come face to face with Daredevil.

Grace was having a good day despite the phone call with her mother, so of course it was only a matter of time before things came crashing down. 

It was her fault, she supposed in a brief moment of clarity, for not taking the taxi all the way back to Ryan and Jess’s. She hadn’t wanted anything to lead back to Hell’s Kitchen. She knew that Dean’s influence reached far, and she wouldn’t put it past him to have someone monitoring taxi companies. So even though she had paid in cash, she’d had the cab driver stop just outside of the neighborhood so she could walk the rest of the way. 

But she’d also stayed too late in the bookstore, her bag now weighed down with five battered paperbacks, and night had thoroughly fallen in the city by the time she had decided to head back. 

That was her fault too–she already was trying to spend as little bit of time as possible in her car at night. So she’d stayed out later than she should have and, well…

Well, now she was being cornered by three men. 

The first man had catcalled her from the stoop of a building. She’d casually crossed to the other side of the street, just in case. Then the second man appeared from the shadows. One followed her on each side of the road, hemming her in, cutting off escape. 

She cursed quietly to herself and took the next turn. She’d go around if she had to, take the long way home. 

That was when the third man had stepped out, right in front of her, pretending to bump into her while the other two caught up. 

As soon as she realized what was happening, she darted into an alley. And of course her luck had continued to worsen–it was a dead end. Her heart kicked into high gear as she realized she was thoroughly trapped. She still had the knife, but it was buried at the bottom of her bag along with her keys and anything else that could be used as a weapon. She didn’t have time to dig it out, though she shoved her hand inside her bag anyways and started to feel around. 

Grace was accustomed to fear, but only when it came to Dean. She’d never known when the violence was coming with him. It had always come unexpectedly. 

Knowing it was coming was so much worse, she decided. 

Especially because she had a feeling that they weren’t just going to hit her. 

“Think you can just ignore me?” the first man, the one who had catcalled her, said as he prowled closer. He was shorter than the others but much more muscular. She saw a thick scar on one side of his neck. 

“I don’t have any cash,” she said softly, proud of how steady her voice was. 

“She thinks we want her money,” the man said over his shoulder to the two others. They all laughed. 

Grace thought she was about to be sick. Maybe that’d be a good distraction, she thought distantly. Throwing up on their feet. Maybe it’d even put them off enough to stop them from getting what they wanted. 

She refused to think the word. 

She gripped her bag more tightly and watched as they slowly got closer and closer. Her heart was in her throat. 

“Come on, baby, let’s have a little fun,” said a second man, taller and thinner than the one closest to her. His eyes were half-closed. He licked his lips. Grace shuddered at the sight. 

“I don’t really feel like having fun,” she said but the words came out strangled. 

The first man lunged. Her head cracked back against the bricks. Pain exploded behind her eyes. 

Fight, she told herself, making herself remember all of the classes she’d taken for a situation like this. Fight back! 

Because she was used to pain. Used to maneuvering with fuzzy vision. Used to working around what hurt. 

The man popped a couple of buttons on her work shirt. Finally, her mind caught up and she swung her fist. It connected with the man’s jaw with a sharp, satisfying crack. She hit him again before he could recover. Her knuckles split and pain lanced up her arm, but it was worth it. 

It felt good to be the one throwing punches for once. It felt good to fight back. 

The man cursed and swung clumsily. Grace ducked under his arm and tried to run, but the other two men grabbed her and hauled her back. 

She screamed, long and loud. It tore out of her throat and burned on the way out but there was no way anyone passing by couldn’t have heard it. 

“Shut up,” one of the men snapped. He slapped her across the face so hard she tasted blood. Two of them held her by her upper arms. She struggled with all of her might, vision darkening at the edges, her feet lifting off the ground as she fought against them. 

There was a muffled thump, so quiet she barely heard it, but it was enough to change the entire atmosphere in the alley. Everything went still and quiet. 

“Oh fuck,” one of the men breathed. They released her so suddenly that she fell right on her ass on the concrete. 

Grace scrambled to her feet.

There, at the end of the alley and wreathed in yellow light from the streetlights beyond, was a man. 

Not a man. 

A devil. 

The three men who had seconds before been trying to hurt her were now backing away. All three of them had their hands raised as if in surrender. 

They were scared shitless of whoever or whatever was at the end of the alley. 

He was dressed in dark red. As he tilted his head, Grace saw the two small horns adoring the mask that covered most of his face. 

“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the men said. They were still backing up, putting Grace between them and the devil. But there was no way out–not for them, and not for her, either. 

“That’s not what it sounded like to me,” the devil said. His voice was a low growl, all gravel and smoke and rough edges that screamed danger. Grace shuffled back a step, twice as afraid as she had been minutes before. At least she had known what to expect with the three men. They had wanted violence and she had understood that perfectly. This man or creature or whatever he was was utterly unknown, foreign and all the more fearsome because of it. 

“We’re just–having some fun,” said another of her attackers. His voice was pitched high with pure fear. 

The devil started stalking slowly towards them, a predator toying with its prey. 

Run! Grace’s instincts screamed. But there was nowhere to run. The alley was a dead end. The only way out was past this dangerous man with the devil’s countenance. Every line of him was dangerous. 

They were all trapped. 

The devil struck. 

Grace couldn’t help the scream of terror that erupted. She threw herself down, arms over her head, cowering away from this man who looked like he could and would kill her. 

But the blow never came. Instead she heard muffled grunts, cracks of bone, the sounds of a fight happening right behind her. 

Grace used the distraction to make a run for it. One of her attackers went sailing past her. He thumped against the side of a dumpster and slid down, unconscious, maybe even dead. She couldn’t tell the difference. 

Another of the men–the short, muscular one who’d ripped her shirt–went running past. He shoved her out of the way as he went, knocking her to her knees. They barked with pain as she scraped them on the asphalt. 

There was a blur of red, Grace rolling out of the way at the last second, and then the devil was hauling the man backwards by his collar. 

Grace heaved herself up from the ground. She darted back the other way but tripped over something on the ground. She managed to catch herself in time before she went sprawling to the ground again. It was the tall, skinny one who had licked his lips. He was unconscious, splayed out on the ground, a trail of blood trickling across his face. 

Was he dead, too? 

The devil was holding the first man by the scruff of his neck when Grace turned around. 

“Did they hurt you?” he said in that low, rough voice. The sound of it was like sandpaper on her skin. She shivered at the sensation. Her breaths came in short, panicked gasps. 

Her attacker was shaking his head but the devil’s grip was unrelenting. 

“Please don’t hurt me,” Grace whispered. Her whole body trembled with fear. She was starting to think that maybe she shouldn’t have ever come to Hell’s Kitchen. It seemed like there were much, much worse things on the streets than Dean Bennett. 

“I only hurt bad people,” the devil said. He sounded almost…offended. “Did these men hurt you?” 

Grace took a breath to steady herself but didn’t answer. She couldn’t. 

The devil tilted his head down to the man he was holding. “Did you hurt her?” He shook the man roughly. 

The man’s hands scrabbled for purchase, legs scratching against the asphalt as he tried to get free. “No, no I swear, we were just having some fun! That’s all!” 

“Lie,” the devil growled. “Try again and tell me the truth this time. Trust that I’ll know if you lie. Did you hurt her?” 

The man choked on a sob. Even from several feet away, Grace could see the devil’s gloved hand tighten on the back of the man’s neck. The man cried out, then relented. “Yes! Alright, yes, we were going to hurt her! She hit her head and Joel slapped her around but that’s it, I swear!” 

“What were you going to do to her?” the devil asked. That low growl sent another shiver down her spine. 

“We were just going to rob her, that’s all!” 

“Stop lying.” The devil’s free hand struck the man’s head. 

He cried out. “We were gonna share her!” 

Another animalistic growl from the devil that had Grace’s heart hitching. She couldn’t look away, couldn’t move, could barely breathe. 

“You were going to rape her,” the devil said. He spat out the words like a curse. 

The man’s next words were choked off as the devil wrapped his other hand around his throat, hauled him up, and smashed him against the bricks. The man’s feet barely touched the ground as the devil snarled something into the man’s face, too low for Grace to hear. He was holding the man up with one hand fisted in his shirt and his other forearm braced against the man’s neck. Grace could see, even with the suit, that the devil was all powerful muscle. A predator, through and through. 

The man whimpered and then the devil was hitting him, over and over and over, even after the man’s body went limp. 

Finally, the devil let the man drop to the ground. He was breathing heavily, his shoulders shaking. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. 

“You’re safe now,” he said, the rough edges of his voice a little softer now. “It’s alright. I won’t hurt you.” 

Grace was still trembling. “Who–who the fuck are you?” she finally managed to choke out. 

She thought maybe he frowned. He turned more fully towards her. “You don’t know who I am?” 

She couldn’t help her snort, though it was edged in hysteria. “Obviously not. I’m not–I’m not from Hell’s Kitchen. I just moved here.” 

The devil made a thoughtful noise in his throat. The sound humanized him, made her realize he was a guy in a suit, not an actual devil. “They call me Daredevil. I look out for people around here.” 

The name rang distant bells in her head. But the impact against the bricks, or maybe the adrenaline in her system, made it hard to pin down exactly why the name rang those bells, why it seemed familiar. 

“I–” She wasn’t yet convinced that he wasn’t going to hurt her. But he stayed still, several feet away from her. He’d taken out three grown men with ease. Men who’d been scared shitless of him. The men who had almost–she still didn’t think the word–they had known who this devil was, had been scared of him. He could have hurt her several times over already, but he hadn’t. “Thank you,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. The words were stilted on her tongue from her unease. 

Daredevil tilted his head to the side. “You’re bleeding,” he said softly. He stepped forward. It was pure instinct for her to stumble back a step in answer. “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “I swear.” The sound of ripping velcro. He slid one of his gloves off. “I’m just a guy,” he said as he stepped closer. Grace held herself utterly still even as her heart thrummed with fear and something else she couldn’t name. “Let me check. Please.” 

Slowly, so slowly she could have run if she’d wanted to, Daredevil eased forward until his bare fingers gently took her chin. He inspected her head, lightly probing where it had hit the wall and where her split lip was bleeding. Grace barely breathed. 

Up close, she could see the deep maroon color of the armor he was wearing. It looked almost like kevlar or leather or some combination of the two. His mask was, indeed, devilish, the eyes made of glinting red glass that seemed familiar, somehow. 

“How hard did you hit your head?” he murmured. Grace shivered again and was finally able to name that other emotion, tangled up tightly within the fear. 

Fascination. 

“I didn’t black out, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said. His bare hand was gentle if a bit calloused. The longer he stood there, quietly inspecting her injuries, the more convinced her body became that he wasn’t actually going to hurt her. She could see, too, that he was holding himself very carefully away from her. Even though he was close, he had made sure to put space between their bodies, made sure not to crowd her. 

“Good,” he said. “You should probably ice it, to be sure. If you feel any nausea or–” 

Grace interrupted with a small smile. “I’ve been concussed before, don’t worry. And I have–have roommates.” It was a half-truth. She didn’t live with Ryan and Jess and Max, but they were close enough that it counted. “They can check on me.” 

“You should get home,” Daredevil said with a dip of his chin. “I’ll make sure no one bothers you.” 

A spike of fear at the words. “You’re–you’re going to follow me home?” She wasn’t sure if she was more nervous that a man dressed as the devil would know where she lived or that he would see that she lived in a car. 

This seemed to take him aback. “I…realize how that sounds now.” A soft laugh escaped him that eased her nerves even further. “No, I won’t follow you home. I promise. I’ll just…keep an ear out.” 

“I’m not sure I can trust you,” she said but her tone was light. The more the fear drained away, the stronger her fascination grew. Was that normal, she wondered, to immediately trust someone dressed as he was? Or was it some sort of trauma response, something broken within her brain? “How do I know you won’t follow me?” 

“You don’t,” he said. “But I swear I won’t.” He moved back a step and tugged his glove back on. “Ice that,” he said. 

“I will.” Grace stared at him a minute longer, then started down the alley. She paused just before she stepped out into the light of the street. “Thank you,” she said and turned to face the devil once more. 

But he was gone. 

– 

The next morning Grace woke with a splitting headache. The lack of decent sleep had only made it worse, she was sure. She’d first had to explain her injuries to a very concerned Jess, then had taken a long shower, then spent three hours laying in her car searching for everything there was to be found about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. 

All of that, her late night on top of the lingering imprint of the bricks in that alleyway, made her feel like she was having the worst hangover in existence. 

Somehow, she made it to work. She was slightly early again, mostly because her headache had woken her up before her alarm. 

Matt Murdock had beat her there again. 

“I thought I might see you in here early again,” he said after she announced herself. He held out the same black mug she’d used the day before, his own chipped mug in his other hand. He was already out of his suit jacket, tie already loosened. She tiredly thought that she liked when Matt Murrdock was a little rumpled.

“You’re my favorite,” she said with a sigh as she took the warm mug between her hands. 

“Me or the coffee?” Matt said, eyebrows raising above his red-tinted glasses. 

“Oh, the coffee, definitely,” she said with a laugh. “Thanks, by the way.” She quickly fixed it with cream and sugar and took a sip. 

“Long night?” Matt said as he took a sip of his own coffee. He seemed content to lean against the wall while she unpacked her bag for the day. 

“Yeah. When were you guys going to tell me about Hell’s Kitchen’s vigilante?” she said. Did she imagine it, or did Matt choke a little? He went almost unnaturally still. 

The door to the office burst open and Foggy came striding in. “Good morning, Grace St. James!” he said cheerfully. “Oh, and Matt.” 

Grace laughed even as she winced at how loud his voice was. “Am I in trouble?” she asked. 

Foggy was rooting around in the cabinets in the kitchenette. “Huh? Trouble?” 

“You said my full name. Made me think I was in trouble or something.” She shrugged and sipped more of her coffee. 

“Oh!” Foggy laughed. “No, I just like how it sounds, I guess.” 

Matt was shaking his head and smiling into his mug. 

“So, what’d I miss?” Foggy asked as he dumped coffee grounds into the coffee maker. “Why is everyone showing up early all of a sudden? What is this, a professional workplace?” 

“I was just asking Matt when you all were going to warn me about the vigilante running around,” Grace said as she set her laptop on her desk. She pressed the power button. The display was still dim from her late night searches. She turned the brightness back up to daytime levels. 

There was no mistaking it–Foggy did choke. He coughed to try and cover up the sound. 

“Uh–Well, I honestly thought you knew,” he finally said as the coffee maker started percolating. 

“I didn’t have any idea,” Grace said. She raised an eyebrow. “I’m not from Hell’s Kitchen, remember? The vigilante definitely wasn’t in the welcome packet.” 

“Yeah, but–He’s kind of famous. Helped take down Fisk and all that. Twice. Saves people, helps the little guys, etcetera.” Foggy shrugged. He shot a look towards Matt, who still hadn’t moved from his position leaning against the wall. 

“Wasn’t that you guys? Fisk?” Grace had searched the law firm before applying and that was their most famous case–putting Fisk behind bars. His second arrest, the FBI had been involved, but they’d still helped from what the internet said. 

“Well,” Foggy said, his cheeks reddening. “The first time for sure. But Daredevil, you know, he helped us figure some stuff out and helped catch Fisk when he escaped…all that stuff.” He looked distinctly uncomfortable. 

“Foggy hates to brag,” Matt said. “He doesn’t like showing off all the hard work he did with all of that.” Foggy shot Matt a grateful look. 

Grace studied the two of them. Foggy poured a cup of coffee before the machine finished then chugged it like his life depended on it. 

They were interrupted by Karen’s arrival. She seemed relatively cheerful, too, though much less loud than Foggy. 

“What’s going on?” Karen asked as she hung her jacket and purse up. She swept her tousled blonde hair over one shoulder. “Looks like I’m missing a meeting or something.” She smiled. It was so full of warmth that Grace returned it unconsciously. 

“Grace was asking us about Daredevil,” Matt said. His eyebrows went up, peeking over the lenses of his tinted glasses. 

Karen paused. “Daredevil? What about him?” 

Grace felt herself flush. The attention of all three of them was focused on her. “I didn’t know about him,” she said again. “Figured someone maybe could have warned me there was a vigilante running around.” 

“Why?” Karen said as her attention sharpened. “Did you…see him?” She and Foggy shared a glance. She wondered if they were all friends with the vigilante or something, since he’d apparently helped them get rid of Fisk. They seemed…protective, almost. 

“Yeah. I was…almost mugged last night. He saved me.” Grace chewed the inside corner of her lip. She didn’t want to say what had actually almost happened. She was still pushing that down and away to be examined at another time. 

“He saved my life, too,” Karen said. “Years ago. More than once.” 

“Really?” Grace perked up. She hadn’t encountered any of that in her digging the night before. There was a ton of information about him out there, though. Think pieces, police reports, headlines of lots of newspapers, some written by Karen. But none of them had mentioned him saving Karen. There had been a whole section on a fake Daredevil, a man named Ben Poindexter who had apparently dressed like him and killed a bunch of people. There was even a forum for people to report sightings of him where they also posted stories of being saved. 

“Yeah, he’s alright.” Karen lifted one shoulder in a shrug. But she was smiling. “We’re fans, to say the least. Are you okay, by the way?” 

“Did you get a good look at who attacked you?” Foggy added. Matt remained silent. 

“I’m fine, really. Like I said, Daredevil saved me. Got there just in time.” Grace snorted as she remembered her scream as the vigilante had charged. “He scared the shit out of me, though. Like I said–I had no idea someone like that was running around. Some guy dressed in red leather with devil horns showed up out of nowhere then ran at me. I thought I was going to die for a second.” 

Karen smothered a small laugh into her hands while Foggy sighed. 

“Yeah, he has that effect,” Foggy said. “I think the horns are meant to intimidate, or something.” 

“He was nice though,” Grace said. She thought of his gentle touch on her face. How he’d reassured her over and over, talked carefully to her so she wouldn’t be afraid. “Once I realized he wasn’t, you know, about to send me to Hell.” 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Matt said softly. 

They were saved from further conversation by two cell phones ringing in tandem. Karen and Foggy both stepped into their offices to answer the calls while Matt remained where he was. 

“You should get some pepper spray or something,” he said softly. 

“I took self defense classes. I actually punched one of the guys last night in the face a couple of times.” She didn’t know why she felt defensive. 

The line of Matt’s jaw went taught. His knuckles were white around his coffee mug. “You have to be careful,” he said after a minute. “Self defense classes are great and all, but what if Daredevil hadn’t shown up?” 

Grace swallowed and looked down, grateful he couldn’t see the blush on her cheeks. He was right, she knew, but it still stung. She didn’t want to be seen as weak and incapable anymore. She’d spent years of her life filling that role with Dean. It was one of the reasons she’d liked the self defense classes so much. And it had felt good to hit those men who were trying to hurt her, even though they had overpowered her easily. At least she’d fought back. 

Several defensive retorts passed over her tongue but she bit them all back. Matt meant well. And he probably knew, better than anyone, what it felt like to be defenseless, to have to be extra careful. “I’ll order something online,” she finally said. 

Matt nodded slowly. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said again, more firmly. 

Thankfully, the firm had a busy day and there was no more talk of Grace’s adventures the night before. She wanted to pester Karen with questions about the vigilante, but never had a chance. 

By the time the work day was over, Grace’s head felt like it was splitting in two, and even four cups of coffee was doing nothing to help keep her awake. 

She half-stumbled back to Ryan and Jess’s, waving off the offers for someone to walk with her. It wasn’t that far from the firm, after all, and it wasn’t even dark yet. 

Ryan and Jess were both busy, Max with his grandparents, so Grace was able to languish in the shower for a little longer than normal. By the time she was done and ready for bed, it was dark out. She crawled into her car, bone-tired, and fell asleep much more quickly than usual, not even bothering with dinner. 

That night, she dreamt of red glass eyes and bruised knuckles and calloused fingertips.

Next Chapter

taglist: 

@zaminoo @yanna-banana @thetrinitytest​ @bellal1 @harry-bowie-mercury​ 

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Order #4: Kisaragi Clients.

Welcome to Canzanilla Cafe, can I take your ooooorder~?

Huh?

Oh!

Ah!

Oop! I detect controversy! What’s going on?

N-No problem Maya. Just a little surprised to see our guests here today.

Yes, I’m equally as surprised to see you, Mr Kurafto. Of all people I expected to be taking our order today, I didn’t expect it would be you.

But it’s certainly not an unwelcome surprise. Good to see you pardner!

Good to see you too Otori. Still grateful for what you did for us back during the Fugitive incident.

Yeah...about that...Sorry if it’s insensitive o’ me to ask, but...How have you and Makoto Naegi been since then?

I’m fine...relatively...Boss still hasn’t really recovered but...we’re doing what we can for him?

Something tells me that I shouldn’t pry, but I REALLY want to.

It’s personal...I’ll tell you later.

Ok, well...Who might the two of you be? I don’t think I’ve seen you around the place. Do you work in a special department or something?

No, that’s not it. This is Teruya Otori, and this is Rei Mekaru. They work for the Kisaragi Foundation.

Kisaragi...?

The Kisaragi Foundation are their own separate organization, but they do similar work to the Future Foundation that involves them hunting down criminals and rescuing people in danger.

The main difference between our two groups is that the Kisaragi Foundation are a little more...heavy handed. They don’t have the same code of honor as the Future Foundation, and they’ll achieve their goals through whatever means they deem necessary.

Huh...So, Future Foundation is like Martin Luther King, while the Kisaragi Foundation are like Malcom X?

Good analogy, but there is more to it than that.

Huh...

What’s wrong?

Just thinking Kuripa.

You’ve always besmirched the Future Foundation’s policy, but the Kisaragi’s sound like they’d let you get away with that. Why don’t you work for them instead?

Well, there is a few reasons. Even if my methods are deemed necessary and allowed, there’s a limit to what I they can do for me.

Also, the chairman of the Kisaragi Foundation, Tsurugi Kinjo...He and I get along like two wankers who support different football clubs.

Plus...Kisaragi Foundation doesn’t have Makoto Naegi.

Aaaww.

That’s not important right now. Sorry for our rudeness, I just wasn’t expecting to see you two here today.

The feeling is mutual. We came here for a meeting with the chairwoman. I wasn’t expecting we would encounter you, or a place like this.

Hey! What do you mean “a place like this?” It’s a café, have you never seen one before?

I know what a café is...

Come on Rei, don’t act like that. It’s disrespectful to the bartender.

With that said, sorry, no pressure or anything, but these drinks had BETTER be good.

No pressure indeed. What’s got you so uptight?

Ah...It’s just...can you imagine how difficult it was for me to keep Rei from running back to her desk!?

We come all the way out here, and as soon as we finish our consultation, she wants to jump right back to working.

What? But it’s Christmas! You deserve a break!

Exactly! And look at her! We’ve only been here for a couple of minutes and worry is already written all over her face!

*sigh* Teruya...

Well, Future Foundation have told me that they’re relatively busy around this time of year. The reason Kuripa’s working at this place with me is because there are minimal competent people they can spare. I’d imagine the Kisaragi Foundation also have a lot to handle.

Yeah. Plus, given that Rei here is second in command of the whole establishment, it’s only natural that she has a lot on her plate.

Still, I agree with Otori. You deserve a holiday just as much as anyone.

And you’re already here anyway, so why don’t you let us mix a couple of drinks for you? It’ll make you feel a lot better.

Think of it as a way to unwind.

Thanks...Seriously though, Rei is probably the only person I know who needs to LEARN how to relax.

Anywho, if we’re orderin’ whip me up a large latte with extra cream and extra sugar please!

Why am I not surprised?

Don’t judge me~

And how about you Ms Mekaru? What are you in the mood for?

Coffee please. No milk, no sugar, medium please.

Well that’s...mundane.

Yeah, can’t you have a little more creativity?

You drink that boring old coffee all the time as well. Wouldn’t you at least TRY something else?

Tch...You three should start a band called Green Hair and Bad Attitude.

Well sorry for looking out for you!

I know, I appreciate it, really. But I really do just want a regular coffee. I need a boost of caffeine tonight.

Fine, I’ll get right on that for the both of you. 

*A few minutes pass and Maya brews both Teruya’s latte and Rei’s coffee. She brings the tray back to them and places it down on the table.

Here you go. Boring coffee and diabetes latte, at your service.

Those can be our stage names for Green Hair and Bad Attitude.

Are you actually going to start that band!?

*Rei takes a careful sip of her coffee, while Teruya takes a big gulp of his latte. The latter licks the cream off his lips and smiles.

Aah! The perfect amount of sweetness. You have my seal of approval.

Arf Arf Arf!

Oh for goodness sake, you’re SO LAME!

I have to agree. This is a well made coffee. Strong, rich and bitter at the same time, all of them balancing just right.

I’m glad you both liked your drinks.

...Yeah...Thanks...

Something wrong ma’am?

No, it’s fine. I’ve just...been giving what you said to me earlier some thought.

Oh?

I’ve been...reflecting on my weaknesses lately. There’s still a lot of areas that I can improve upon.

It’s been stressing me out and...I’m worried that stress has been rubbing onto the rest of you as well. For that, I am sorry.

All: Uuuuuuuuuggggh...

Wh-What!?

Sorry Rei. It’s just...I STILL don’t think you understand what Teruya meant.

Huh?

See? He gets it~

Rei. It’s Christmas, and you’ve been working yourself down to the bone these last couple of months. You’ve even been sleeping in the office lately!

In a way, you’re right. Your stress is getting to me, but it’s not rubbin’ off on me. I’m just WORRIED about you, so I thought I’d take you out for some drinks after today’s meeting.

But even though we’re here, yer STILL thinkin’ about work! My feelin’s are gon’ go from concern to panic in a sec!

I think we’re already there. Your dialect is going nuts dude.

Oh! Sorry...

*Teruya composes himself.

My POINT is...If you’re constantly under stress like this, it’s only a matter of time before you burn out and collapse. Then what the hell are we gonna do?

Exactly. You clearly know just how much the Kisaragi Foundation relies on you. Tsurugi may be the chief, but I don’t think he could truly run the organization by himself. If you go down, what’s gonna happen to everyone else?

I...didn’t think of it like that...

You know, I was raised by my grandparents in Italy. They were old farts but...I knew they still cared about me.

I was a pretty hyperactive kid, and I was always leaping into problems without a plan...To be honest, I still do that. But, mi nonna had a saying she would always repeat to me when things got rough.

“Disconnettersi per riconnettersi”

Disconnect...to reconnect...?

Exactly.

I’m not one to sit around and do nothing, but if you work hard and play hard, you gotta rest just as hard. And YOU lady, need more rest than you think you do.

I...I see...

You get it now?

Yes, I understand. And on that note, I must apologize.

It was...Maya, right? I apologize if it seemed like I was disrespecting your establishment earlier.

I didn’t really understand the appeal of places like cafe’s or bars before now. Now I know better. You’ve created a place that serves as a refreshment for both the body and the mind. Thank you for opening my eyes.

Aw, you’re making me blush.

Heh...The thought of the Ultimate Professor needing to be taught something is funny to think about.

I have always had a habit of putting work above everything else, so I never really understood why it was that people would go out to bars during weekends or after work. So this is why you and Setsuka enjoy such places?

Well, yeah...and nah. It really comes down to who’s behind the counter.

Speakin’ o’ which, I gotta give you guys my thanks. Wouldn’t’ve been able to change Rei’s mind without ya’ll. Here, I’ll leave you a tip.

Don’t mention it.

Buon Natale Kisaragi Foundation!

*Teruya leaves a big tip, as he and Rei make their exit.

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

wip whenever

Thank you so much @friend-of-giants for the tag!

This is a draft of a thing I’ve been working on for the tescheer event. It’s a prequel to my fic. Behold, kid Ravonna meeting Hjaldir for the first time, because I’m just too eager to write Hjaldir hihihi. He’s the nord Ravonna talked about in the first chapter, in the boat scene! --> but I didn’t get to edit this, so it’s pretty rough

***

He remembers first meeting her like it was yesterday. He was a lost soul, with nothing left to lose when he came to this tavern one faithful night, right after leaving the pirate crew for good. He came with the intention to drown himself in alcohol and sorrow, but was greeted by a little girl, squinting her eyes at him.

“Are you a bard?”

“Something like that. This gave it away?” he pointed at his lute strapped to his back.

She nodded.

“Ravonna, leave the man be!” the bartender said softly from behind the counter. “Sorry about her, she tends to be quite talkative. Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you. And don’t apologize. She didn’t bother me at all.” He turned to her. “Ravonna, eh? That’s quite the unusual name for a nord girl like you.”

“Well, Endryn gave me this name. Named me after his aunt. She was a mercenary who got to meet the Nerevarine!”

“Now that’s something!”

“What’s your name?”

“Hjaldir. At your service!” He bows to her politely.

“Well, that’s quite the usual name for a nord like you, isn’t it?”

“Ha! I suppose you’re right.”

“You don’t have to be so stiff. Relax, I’m not going to ask you to sing a song.” She sits down next to him and sighs. “I can see when a person is tired… Sleepy-tired, but also tired of life.”

“How do you know that?” he asks, eyes now getting wider. The kid has more emotional intelligence than he’d expected.

“You see a lot of shit when you live in a tavern, believe me.” She says, looking truly like a tired adult. “See that guy over there? At first you would think he’s doing fine, but he’s wearing a mask, you know? He’s nervous. He’s got that feeling after eating spicy meat wraps. But not because he actually did that and his tummy hurts. He’s like that because he’s in love with the blacksmith, a bosmer who has lots of tales from Valenwood.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Absolutely nothing! Except that he’s married.”

“Oh. Oh.”

“But don’t worry, I won’t pressure you into telling me your life story, although it seems like an interesting one. I hope you’ll stay with us for a bit longer.”

***

OOPS my hand slipped and now the nerevarine has ties to this story? I don’t even know if this will be canon in my fic! I had no idea what I was doing, I believe I was posessed by the writing gods, BUT, I love the idea that my nerevarine had a thing for a mercenary. Badass girlfriends!

I’m never too sure who to tag, because I’m always afraid that I annoy people with so much tagging. This is definitely not mandatory, but I’m going to tag some of my readers to tease them and if they also do some writing and want to share, they can most definitely do so! @kiir-do-faal-rahhe @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @thelavenderelf (I see you, Aurora, and I’m definitely going to binge your fic once I have the time! <3)

[dogmomwrites]

Find the Words!

Was tagged (a week ago oops) by @ghost-town-story to find some words! I then pass it along by tagging other people, so here's a soft tag for @elijahrichardwrites, @writingpotato07, @blind-the-winds, and @saltysupercomputer. As ever, if you can't find one of the words, you have to add a fun fact about your WIP, character/s, or your writing process! Thanks for the tag!

Your words are pass, back, learn, help, and end

My words were stay, morning, dream, and reflection

Stay (taken from Castle)

“Come on!” he yowled, and Storm couldn’t back down.

They hit Old Tom as he stood up and knocked him back a step, but the older cat was tough, and shoved back, bowling them over. He smacked Ilian’s shoulder and leaped straight up into the air to kick Storm in the face. It was a solid roundhouse, and Storm flipped over twice before landing on his side.

“Stay down!” he ordered the gray tom, who was too dazed to do anything but obey.

Ilian, fluffed to twice his size and tail lashing so hard it struck his sides, charged Old Tom head on. Old Tom tensed as if to brace for impact, but as soon as Ilian was close enough, he hopped to the side. Varin had been about to attack from behind and landed right where Old Tom’s back would’ve been, except the green tom wasn’t there. Varin hit the floor and Ilian hit him.

Old Tom sat on his haunches and knocked their heads together. When Ilian tried to attack him again, he launched himself forward, grabbed the pale cat, and rolled forward, bringing him down on the stone floor with a yowl.

“If I hear any of you have so much as toed the line,” he snarled at the three, who had had enough of the fight and began backing away, “I will teach you a lesson you might not walk away from.” If he’d had a full tail, his sides would be bruised from it beating him. As it was, he had to focus on not lashing his tail, as a wiggling rump would take away from his intimidating stance.

Ilian, Varin, and Storm turned and bolted as one.

Morning (taken from Castle)

“We’ve been attacked by enchanted wolvins,” Lukalt said, annoyed enough that he was almost snapping at him. “Every single one of these is twice the size of a regular wolvin. Most are even bigger. We don’t know when they’ll attack again, or where, and we have no defenses, no ways to keep them out. We’ve already lost a lot of people, and two of them are still buried under all of these bodies waiting for us to get them out, so would you stop joking and please take this seriously?”

They were both quiet for a moment, then Mickey said, “That bruise...you were awake when they attacked?”

“They woke me during the fight.”

Blue grimaced for him. “That’s a rough morning.”

“Little bit, yeah.”

Dream (taken from unnamed WIP)

Your compliance is out of character, Doctor Krauss’ voice said as if from a dream.

You’ll see my fight, don’t worry. Just give me a minute, Aaron’s voice responded.

You promised me a fight, Aaron…I’m very disappointed in you. But it’s nothing to fret about, no. I have plans for you now. We’ll be seeing each other again soon, Aaron. Very soon.

Aaron didn’t remember curling up this time. All he knew was General Reyex was suddenly holding him and he sobbed against the big man’s shoulder. He could hear the low rumble of Reyex’s voice as he spoke in soft soothing tones, but he couldn’t make out any of the words.

I’m going insane, Aaron thought, and was vaguely surprised when the mental voice didn’t sound like Krauss. “I wanna go home,” he said aloud, only half aware of it. “I wanna go home. Get me out of here. Please.” Please. Get me out of my head.

Reflection (taken from Castle 2)

“Because when a foolish human walks into a dragon’s mouth, the dragon generally eats them. That’s just how it goes.” There was more rustling as she shifted. Her eyes caught the light of their stones, reflecting it back like a cat. “Although now that I’ve been awoken, I haven’t been able to get back to sleep. And I’m quite hungry. Yes, positively famished.”

There was a hiss to her voice now, made all the more sinister by how soft it was. As one, they stepped back, away from her and towards their only escape.

“Make ye decision, wyrm.”

“How many are you?” she asked, and they heard her sniffing. “Three, is that it? That’s not enough. Tell me, are all those small cats still around? Perhaps there’s enough of them to take the edge off my hunger.”

“Ye have killed enough of those cats,” Nightwish said. “Ye will nae kill any more.”

“Is that so?” Her eyes glittered in the shadows. “Would you protect them? Would you fight for them…die for them?”

“Aye.”

“So noble. Maybe I’m feeling up to a little scuffle, then.” The dragon’s sudden hiss echoed, and the cave was filled with the sound of her movement.

[heaven-s-black-box]

The "Wright" verdict- Mikayuu

Return to File

Recovery date: May 10th, 2020

Description: Crossover AU

Notes: This is an entry from the Mikayuu 2020 bingo records. Click here for the next entry.

Word count: 469

Back to directory

Mika stood awkwardly in front of an office door. On the other side, he could hear bickering between two people. Would they really be able to help him? He’d seen them in the papers quite a bit, and they never failed their clients. But really, they sounded much less professional than they looked. Taking a deep breath, he raised his fist to knock. Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind him.

“Hello!” He turned around, “Can I help you?”

It was a young girl with brown hair. She was wearing a blue cap and top hat. A magicien? Is that why this place was the “anything agency” and not a “law office”. He jumped when she asked if he was okay. He’d been staring at her for a while. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the door opened.

“Hey Truce! Welco- Oh, Hello!”

“Hi?” Mika was at a loss. What is going on? “Is this the Wright anything agency?”

“Yep!” Both girls cheered. The one who’d opened the door had red hair and her outfit was almost blinding. How does someone wear that much yellow without getting washed out? The girl in blue spoke up, “So how can we help you?”

“Athena! Let the client in,” a boy called from inside. 

“Oops!” The girl in yellow said.

 She stepped aside to let him in and pointed him towards a couch. The two girls followed him in and sat with him. They were joined by a young man, probably a little older than Mika, with brown hair gelled up in the strangest style. He was wearing a red vest and Mika wondered if they were fans of the signal samurai. Although the show was old enough that they probably didn’t even know who they were. The only reason he did was because it was his mother and uncle’s favorite show.

“My name is Apollo Justice,” the man in red said, he extended his hand and Mika shook it. “This is Athena,” the girl in yellow saluted him, “and this is Trucy,” the girl in blue tipped her hat to him. “Our boss, Mr. Wright, is out right now. But Athena or I would be happy to take your case.”

“Thank you. You see, my boyfriend is being tried for murder and I’ve seen this agency in the paper and thought I’d see if you could take his case.”  He held his breath waiting for an answer. There were plenty of other offices he could go to, but he had a feeling this was his best bet.

Trucy smiled, “We’ll look into it!” 

“Don’t worry, “ Apollo said, “We’ll find the truth and get the proper verdict.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!” He let out his breath and smiled. Everything would be fine.

He couldn’t wait to tell Yuu.

[rhinojulie]

My Lesson from Stoneys Rocking Country Last Night and Made Up Dancing Rules

Last night I was at Stoneys Rockin’ Country.

A nice cowboy guy asked me to dance.

We were dancing…and he said ‘oops, I’m sorry, I messed up.’

I said ‘you can’t mess up dancing. You can’t do it wrong as long as you’re having fun!’

I don’t think he agreed lol.

Back when I was first learning to two-step, I would have guys stop me in the middle of the dance floor and tell me I’m doing it wrong.

They were obviously not good at living in the moment.

I’m all for ‘hey, let’s try this, and if you turn this way when my hand goes here, then we can do this cool move and it’s fun!’

But ‘you’re doing it wrong’ or ‘i’m doing it wrong’?

Nah.

We can’t do it ‘wrong.’

What’s the purpose of dancing?

To have fun.

When I like the song, I always have fun dancing.

This podcast episode is NOT for all of you who are like ‘um, Julie, you’re wrong, obviously there’s a right way and a wrong way to dance.’

This episode is for all of you who are like ‘wait a minute…I literally make up the rules for my own life…and as long as I’m having fun dancing, I AM doing it right!’

And learning new things is fun, but I still can’t do it ‘wrong’ as long as I’m having fun! I’ve been practicing doing things that feel good.

Letting go of how things look to other people or what other people’s expectations are of me. At a recent conference there was a live band and one of my formerly ‘dreaded’ things happened. A dance circle. Just so you know where I’m coming from, I never even shook my booty even a little bit before I turned 25. You know the movie footloose?

Yeah. haha. That was me.

So when I first went dancing with some friends, I LOVED the idea of it, but was SO worried about whether or not I was doing it right.

They taught me some moves, but still… a dance circle was a nightmare for me haha.

So I was at this conference we were all dancing to the music and then the crowd parted and the dreaded dance circle started.

This is not a story where I was awesome and went in the middle and crushed it.

This is a story of my friend Cathey who continued to do her own thing outside of the circle.

I was honestly mesmerized by her moves.

She doesn’t drink so everything she did was 100% her normal every day self.

As she danced, one thing became clear to me.

The reason that her moves were so awesome.

She was dancing for herself.

She could not care less about what anyone else was doing…she had the largest most awesome smile and was absolutely crushing it.

And by crushing it, I don’t mean she was doing anything fancy.

She was just being 100% her.

And it was inspiring.

I've been thinking a lot about what I’m put on earth to do.

And I think that one of the things I’m here to do is show you that you can dance YOUR way and you can’t do it wrong.

You can’t do the dance of life wrong.

One of my exes had the moves memorized but he had no rhythm. (no judgment here haha, I didn’t care)

Even though I LOVE dancing and we met while dancing, he NEVER wanted to go out dancing.

But every wedding we went to, he trotted me out and showed off for the crowd, edging the others off the dance floor.

And yes, we DID make quite a spectacle.

I’m talking flips and that move that Baby did in that one movie where she ran and did a headstand off his shoulders as he held her hips… But he didn’t dance for pleasure…he danced to be seen of others.

How many of us are missing the dance of life?…We trott out memorized dance moves to be seen of others.

We learn more moves and train harder, not for pleasure of the moves, but because we want to impress others.

Ew.

It’s so much more fun to ask ourselves ‘what do we want to do?’

This World has so many exciting and amazing things we can do for work.

So many things we can do for pure pleasure.

So many things we can learn.

So many people to meet.

So many cultures to experience.

What would I do if no matter what I chose to do and no matter who I chose to be…everyone who matters thinks I’m awesome? (side note…the only person who needs to think you’re awesome is you…and the rest will happen naturally…)

I had another boyfriend who loved dancing but thought he wasn’t good at it.

(Not enough characters left, listen or check out the full story on my Rhino Julie FB page for this part of the story)

It’s a great journal prompt: What moments in life can we enjoy more fully if we let go of the made up rules of others.

We are all different…we all have ways that we want to show up and things we want to do.

But no one else can make your rules for you.

You have to make your own.

If it feels good to you, check out my private online group at www.rhinojulie.com …

In the private group I make live courses on making your own rules for business, relationships, money, weight loss and life in general. I share things I would NEVER share on the interwebs and enjoy the camaraderie of the like minded souls in the group. We are all learning, growing, and busting out of the pre-programmed lives that were set up for us by others.

Check out this episode!