#i’m sure this has been said before but i’m gonna say it again dammit

[reinanova]

i would quite literally sell my soul to get an audiobook of six of crows/crooked kingdom voiced by the shadow and bone show cast of the crows

[ohtobeleah]

Oh Chute // Bob Floyd

Summary: For some reason you’d never know, yours and Jake personal Heaven becomes a check point for the friends you left behind. One by one the Daggers come through on their way to their forever life after death.

Warnings: Mentions of death. Blunt force trauma. F-18 accident. Bob Floyd Angst.

Word Count: 2.5k

Author Note: This is a spin off Series to Bruises. Masterlist Tagged below.

Bruises Masterlist | Life After Death Masterlist

Name: Robert Floyd: Age: 36 Cause Of Death: Blunt Force Trauma sustained via fall.

***~***~***~***~****~***~***~**

“Where the hell am I?” Robert Floyd had no idea where the hell he was. One minute he was in the cockpit, sitting behind Phoenix like he had done for years, and then? He was in a field somewhere in the middle of nowhere. His head hurt, a lot. But when he came to with a mouth full of dirt he knew something had to be wrong. Very wrong. 

“Oi.” Jake Seresin loved golden hour. It was his favorite time of the day. When the sun would kiss the horizon and leave a beautiful golden hume across the fields that seemed never ending. Rolling plains of green lush fields that were all his, all yours. Your own silence of paradise. 

“Hotshot!” Jake snapped at the Boxer whose hair stuck up along his spine. His bark was just that, all bark and no bite. “I’m gonna get your vocal cords clipped if you don’t cut it out man.” It’s an empty threat that the Boxer dog has heard a billion times before—and it always seems to fall on deaf ears. Hotshot kept barking in the direction of where he’d sensed danger looming. “Dammit—!”

Jake stood from where he was crouching to fix the broken wire on the fence that bordered what he could only assume was another property. Someone else’s slice of heaven. He hadn’t ever seen what was beyond the rolling hills, but he didn’t care all that much. He already had everything he ever needed and more. 

“Hello!? Is anyone here!?” 

“Huh?” Jake frowned when he saw it, a figure dragging a parachute across the field in his direction. “Ain’t no way—“ Jake shook his head and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. He pocketed the gloves he’d been wearing and took a few cautionary steps closer to the figure that grew closer and closer. Until he knew for sure who he was seeing: 

“Floyd?” It comes out a little bit questionable and albeit hesitant because Jake isn’t sure why exactly he was seeing Bob on his property. “Bob? Is that you?” He calls out again. “Oh fuckk—this can’t be good.” Jake says that last part to himself, he knows that the only people here are already dead or figments of his imagination. 

Bob freezes in his tracks, it had been a few years since he’d heard that unforgettable voice. It’s Jake, it’s Hangman. Bob can only just make out the blonde hair and the stupidly symmetrical physique, but regardless of the distance he knows it’s Jake Seresin. Oh crap. He’d fallen asleep before training hadn’t he? He was asleep in the red room right this very second, dreaming of a friend he lost not too many years back. 

“Hangman! Oh my god! What are you doing here?” Bob asks all the while he’s back on track, walking towards Jake as he makes his way over. Hotshot is already a mile ahead and at Bob's feet in no time, wagging his tail and licking Bob's hand. A welcome fit for an old friend. “Hey buddy, hi!” 

Like Jake said, all bark, no bite. 

“Uh, I—“ Jake knows he should probably approach this conversation carefully. If Bobs here then there’s only one real explanation as to why. He’s dead. “I live here.” Jake rubs at the back of his head as he assesses Bob's reaction. There’s hardly a flinch. “This is my home man, and you’re a long way from yours.” It doesn’t make sense, why was Robert Floyd in Jake's own personal afterlife? He didn’t understand the lore as well as you but even this was making his brain itch. Surely you’d know why? 

“What do you mean you live here?” Jake can see the confusion all over Bob's face when he finally does reply. He can also see the blood creeping out of his nose. Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. “I just ejected, my chute got tangled—“ Jakes standing there with his arms crossed just waiting for the lightbulb to turn on. Bobs a smart guy, he should be able to connect the dots. “Hang on, you died.” Bob's frowning while he looks up at Jake once again. “You died years ago. Does that mean?” 

“Dead doesn’t mean done Bob.” Jake just smiles, he still wasn’t sure why Bob was here or what happened to bring Bob here, but he was thankful to see an old friend. “You might of—“ Jake doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Bob is cutting him off. Nope. Nope this can’t be happening. Bobs not dead. He’s just asleep. 

“I need to get back.” Bob just shakes his head in disbelief. “I uh—I’m dreaming, yeah.” It’s his way of processing what’s happening. “I’m dreaming, yeah, yeah no I fell asleep in the rec room didn’t I?” There’s a silence that lingers in the field while Jake just looks at his old colleague, god he didn’t look a day older than the last time Jake saw the WSO. 

“Sure pal.” Jake just sighs while the two men hug for what feels like the first time in a lifetime. He can feel how fast Bob's heart is racing. “Why don’t you come up to the house? I’ll fix you something to drink.” It’s the only thing Jake can think of to help settle the clearly distressed soul. Bob nods, he doesn’t know what else to do. He’s tried to wake up a few times now but damn this dream really feels real. 

“Jake, is this real?” Bob nearly sobs while the two men walk back up to Jake's truck. He’d driven up to the border fence a little while ago. “Am I dead?” Jake contemplates how to handle this situation, but he settles on a little humour to take the edge off. He always did love fucking with Bob. 

“As a doorknob dude.” Jake chuckles softly all the while Bob just stands there in disbelief. “You probably hit the ground hard too.'' Jake can see the colour draining from Bob's face as he takes his helmet off in the passage's seat. It’s then he sees the blood pouring out of Bob's ears. Damn. The ground must have been really hard. Jake remembers that feeling all too well. The thud, the snow. But for Bob it must have been so much worse. 

“Oh god.” 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~**

“Honey!” You heard Jake's boots against the hardwood floor before you saw him. He’s got that all too familiar walk that lets you know it’s him. Not that it would ever be anyone else, but right now it did sound as if there were a few extra footsteps present. “You around?”

“I’m in the kitchen with Ellie!” You cooed back. Bouncing softly while you waited for your tea to steep. “She’s just gone down for a—“ Before you could even say that your daughter had just fallen asleep against your chest in her wrap, you were rendered speechless by the scared silhouette behind your husband. “Bob?” 

“Hollywood?” Bob was in more shock than you were. “Oh okay yeah now I’m definitely dreaming.” He steps past Jake and into the kitchen to give you a hug that was all too welcomed. You send your husband a frown of concern over the WSO’s shoulder and Jake confirms what you think you already know. 

Robert Floyd was dead. He’d recently died or was dying as you spoke and he was in denial about it. 

“Uh—Bob honey I’d say it’s good to see you but I don’t think you belong here.” You cooed with a soft expression plastered across your face. As much as you loved seeing an old friend you knew for certain that if Bob was dead he needed to get to his own forever home before he got stuck between the land of the living and the land of the dead. “What happened? What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“I’ll get you a drink man.” Jake adds all the while you and Bob sit down at the dining table in the kitchen. He finishes making you your cup of tea while he listens to Bob explain the last thing he remembered before he was waking up in the middle of Jake's back paddock. 

“It was just a simple training session.” Perhaps the denial was beginning to wear off, you could see how shaky Bob's hands were while he played with his cuticles and looked around the kitchen. “Something was wrong with our altitude gauge, Phoenix couldn’t keep the nose and before I knew it we were punching out.” It all happened so fast. “I pulled my chute.” Bob explained all the while his heart began to race as realisation set it. “But it wouldn’t untangle—“ Your heart just broke, Jakes too. He couldn’t imagine free falling from the sky like that—even though he kinda did. “I think I hit the ground before I could pull my secondary.” 

“Bob, do you know where you are?” It was the softness in your voice and the love you held in your eyes that made Jake fall a little more in love with you. He did everyday. Not a day went by where he didn’t fall more in love with you. “Do you hear anything? See anyone?” 

When you had died, all you could hear was Jake begging you to stay. The sunset was so beautiful and the homestead was so peaceful and nothing seemed to hurt, you just couldn’t stay. As much as it pained you to turn your back on the faded image of the love of your giving you CPR, you had to see what was inside the home you now shared with that very same man. He’d come racing up the driveway not a few months later. 

“I think I’m in a hospital somewhere?” Bob could hear a beeping sound, like a heart monitor reading his pulse. “I don’t remember it hurting, dying that is.” Bob let his chin fall as Jake handed him a glass of water, remembering that the weapons system office didn’t drink in life so he probably wouldn’t in death. “We all missed you, both of you, so much.” It was a beautiful thing to hear, even after all this time. You knew Jake missed his friends and hoped they understood why he did what he did. He had to be with you. If he couldn’t in life then death would have to do. 

“For what it’s worth?” You looked to your husband with an all knowing smile before you rubbed your thumb on Bob's hand to sooth his worried soul. “We know, but we’ve been happy this whole time.” 

“I understand why you both did it, you know.” Bob added as he sniffed. “Rooster was so mad for so long but I always understood.” It made Jake's heart sink into his stomach, but hopefully he’d get the chance to say he was sorry one day. “Am I really dead?” 

“I’m sorry Bob.” You didn’t know what else to say. “If you wanna come into my office with me I can probably help you figure out where you’re supposed to go from here?” You offered. “I’m not even really sure why you’re here and as much as I’ve really enjoyed getting to see you again, but, you can’t stay.” 

“Where do I go then?” Bob asked softly and all the more confused. “I don’t know what I’m doing?” 

“What’s your perfect world man?” Jake asked as he leaned back on the kitchen countertop. He had his, you were all Jake Seresin ever needed. “Your idea of heaven? Your forever home?” Your little girl was his forever dream. “Surely there’s something—“

Robert Floyd was silent for a moment, he thought about where he’d want to spend the rest of his forever life. 

“I had this old drum set when I was a teenager.” You caught the glint in Bob's eye, he could hear the music playing. “My dad owned this old instrument shop that had pretty much everything you ever needed in it, drums, electric guitars, pianos, even clarinets.” 

“If that’s where you wanna go Bob then I’m sure that’s where you’ll end up once you step outside our door.” You could see the gears turning in your husband's mind, he was trying to figure out why Bob was even here. It was so random, so out of the blue. Were all his friends going to come through one at a time? Was this how things worked? Did they all miss him so much they couldn’t pass on without saying goodbye? 

“I’m not ready to go yet.” It was as genuine as ever. Bob was just scared, he didn’t know how to feel or what to say. All he knew was that he just needed a minute to figure out if this was real or if he’d just fallen asleep in the rec room. “Could I maybe just sit here for a while?” 

“Yeah Bob.” Oh how you’d missed your friends, the people who cared the most. “Yeah, take all the time you need.” 

“You can go, if you want—“ It was the softest of voices, the most calming of lullabies. Bob could hear her right in his ear. “I’m right here, you aren’t alone, so if you need to go, you go, okay?” Phoenix cried as Bob turned around in his chair to look over his shoulder. He saw the image clear as day. He was in a hospital room being kept alive by machines and tubes. 

“Who is it?” You asked as Bob saw his final moments play out right before him. He never wanted that, to end up on life support. Bob had always told the people who mattered most to him to pull the plug if he ever got to that point. Phoenix must have listened.

 “It’s okay, you go, say hi to Hangman and Hollywood for me.” 

“Nix—“ Bob smiled at the thought of his front seater. He hoped wherever his heaven was that hers wouldn’t be far away. “She says to say hi.” 

It felt all too real when you looked over to your husband. These were his people more so than they ever were yours. He’d known them for years and left them all without saying goodbye. Now was his chance. 

“I really did miss you Bob.” Jake sighed as he walked across the kitchen with heavy steps. His hand came to rest on the WSO’s shoulder, bringing a comfort Bob didn’t know he’d missed so much. Jake loved you so much, that was clear to everyone who knew him once he lost you. For some it was easier to accept than others. Bob only hoped that if Rooster got a chance to stop by on his journey into the forever that he wouldn’t hold his grudge. “But I couldn’t say, every breath I took since she left felt like such a waste on me.” 

Bob looked at you, and then looked back up at Jake. The blood from his ears had begun to fade. There was no more pain. Bob was simply Bob. And he could hear the drums as clear as day just outside the front door. It was his time to go. 

“I’m just glad that you guys got your happily ever after.” Bob chuckled to himself. “Even if it was in death.”

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***

Tags 🏷️ @americaarse @blindedbythelightt @tayl0rhuynh @athenabarnes @imaginecrushes @whyareallnamesgone @mjmaximoffbarnes @amiets2 @mads-weasley @gabbyella @ephemeralninon @xoxabs88xox @pedrohoe04 @starkleila @je-suis-prest-rachel @clancycucumber230 @maisie-rebloging-blog @callsign-barbell @obiwankenobis-lap @some-lovely-day @paperbag333 @callsign-magnolia @jhiddles03 @hardballoonlove @shanimallina87 @seitmai i @abaker74 @missemrose @starset21 @kmc1989 @phoenix1388 @emma8895eb @tsofo26 @itsmytimetoodream @angelbabyange

[smolkiwi98]

DAY TWO : COCK WARMING WITH STEVE HARRINGTON

I sadly had to drop doing the whole month of October due to my job

WARNING! 18+ ONLY! MINORS GO AWAY! cock warming, "fingering", mentions of orgasm (obviously), intercourse (again obviously), not proofread, and I think that's it. ENJOY!

All day Steve has been locked away in his office doing paperwork, and you were getting very needy. Steve has been going to his office every day for about two weeks now. He explained to you that there’s a very big meeting coming up that must go perfectly. You understood that, but dammit you needed your boyfriend! He’s only touched you once and it was very rushed and not at all enjoyable. You told him this at dinner and all you got was “I’m sorry, Baby. I’ve been stressed about work. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.” That was last week, and he never made it up to you. You would use your toys, but the batteries died, and it wouldn’t really feel the same since Steve was much bigger than your toys.

Tonight, you decided that two weeks was enough, and you were going to get what you’ve been wanting. You were going to wait until he came into the room for bed, but once the clock hit midnight you knew he wasn’t coming to bed. You let out a frustrated huff and got up from bed. You were in your favorite silky night shorts and the tank-top to match…not to mention Steve loved it too. You walked to his office and opened the door. His one rule was to knock, but you were too aggravated to care. Steve turned in his chair when he heard the door open “How many times do I...” He began, but you were quick to interrupt him” I have had it with you.” You started. All Steve did was give you a confused look, “You’ve been ignoring me for two weeks now. Two weeks!” Steve tilted his head slightly to the side “Baby, what are you talking about?” He asked. You looked at him in shock and let out a small chuckle “Yo-You don’t know what I’m talking about?” You questioned “Steve, you haven’t touched me in two weeks.” You said in a smaller voice “I’m starting to feel like you care more about your work than me.” You finally admitted to him. Steve let out a small sigh. He knew he was spending too much time on his work; he had a feeling this would happen…but he just ignored it.

Steve looked at you with this guilty look in his eyes, “I’m sorry.” He said, “I have been working too much and I know I’ve been ignoring you.” He sounded defeated. It made you happy, but at the same time you felt like you overreacted. You crossed your arms and looked down at your feet not sure what to say. Steve stood up from his chair and walked over to you and placed a hand on your hip and the other under your chin to tilt your head up, “Let me make it up to you.” He whispered before giving you a small kiss. That small kiss was enough to make butterflies fill your stomach. “I just have to finish this one thing.” Your face immediately dropped at his words, “Seriously, Steve?” Now you felt stupid for even believing him. All he did was give you a small smirk and started to back away pulling you along with him. Steve sat back down in his chair and patted his lap, confused, you took his offer and sat on his lap. Steve wrapped his arms around you and began to kiss your neck. Almost instantly Steve found your sweet spot making you moan. He started to slowly lick up your neck, biting it, sucking on it leaving little marks. This made you very needy and wet very quickly. You tilted your head to the side and began to grind against him, making him groan against your skin.

Before it could get even better, that amazing feeling stopped within seconds. You looked at him confused and upset and the only look he had on his face was a stupid smirk, “Steve this isn’t fucking funny.” You said getting ready to get up from his lap, but he was quick to keep you still. “You think I’m gonna leave you all needy?” He questioned “I can feel how wet you are through those thin shorts of yours.” He said while slowly bringing his hand down to rub you through your shorts. All you could let out was a whimper and gave him pleading eyes, “Please, Stevie.” You said in a weak voice “I want y-you.” All Steve did once again was give you a smirk. “I’ll give you something, Princess.” He said in a soothing voice, “But you gotta let me finish my work.” He explained. You were so caught up in him touching you that you didn’t notice he had taken himself out of his pants. You looked down and then back up at him. He could see how desperate you were to have him.

Not breaking eye contact, Steve moved the fabric of your shorts and panties to the side and lifted you up. Once he slowly slipped into you, all you do could was let out a gasp. It’s been so long since you’ve felt him in you. To finally feel him deep inside you. You put your hands on his shoulders and started to slowly lift yourself up, but Steve was quick to stop you. You whined and looked him confused, “I said I was going to give you something, but I had to finish my work.” He explained, “So you’re going to sit still like a good girl and let me finish my work.” His voice was sweet, but you knew he was also being a little stern. Steve raised an eyebrow, and you just nodded your head, “Good.” He said kissing your cheek and turning back to his desk.

It's been 10 minutes and you couldn’t stop whimpering. Every now and then Steve would rub your back and slowly adjust in his chair which made you moan softly in his ear. Steve laid his head back against the head rest and looked at you, he brought his hand up and brushed some of your hair out of your face “I think you’ve been good, yeah?” You quickly nodded your head. Steve chuckled and put both of his hands on your waist and started to move you back and forth making you grind against him. This made you a little more needy. Finally, you stopped him and lifted your hips and then slid back down on him. Both of you moaned. Seems like Steve needed this as much as you did. You had the perfect rhythm going until you got closer to your orgasm. You started to get shaky and little sloppy, Steve noticed this and gripped onto your hips tightly holding you still and started to thrust up in you, making you moan louder than before.

You threw your head back and squeezed your eyes shut as Steve got a little slower but started to thrust into you harder. “Come on, pretty girl.” Steve grunted “I can feel you squeezing around me.” All you could do is moan in response. It’s been so long you couldn’t really think. Steve lifted one of his hands up to your head and gripped your hair, pulling you forward so he could put his lips to your ear “Cum for me.” He demanded. His voice was so husky, and the small breaths afterwards made you go over the edge. You dug your nails into his shoulders gripping onto his shirt as you came around him. You were panting and twitching, but Steve was busy chasing his own high. You could feel him twitch inside of you, Steve put his head on your shoulder and gripped your waist tighter and tighter as he finished.

The two of you sat there for a minute or so catching your breath and snuggling together. “How about we go get cleaned up and watch some movies.” He suggested. You gave him a sleepy smile and nodded you head, “I’d like that.” You said while laying your head on his shoulder. Steve gave you a small kiss on the head and slowly lifted you off him, making you wince a little. He got you to stand up while he situated himself and stood up himself. Once he was up, he picked you up bridle style and walked to the bathroom. He ran a hot shower and helped wash you up and then tended to himself. After the shower he got the both of you dressed and grabbed some blankets and pillows and went to the living room to watch whatever was on tv until the both of you fell asleep.

[tsukimino]

Kenzan Substory: Izumo no Okuni

We’re back, and since Ishin now has an official English release, it’s time to move on to other things! Without further ado, below the cut is a complete English translation of Kenzan’s Izumo no Okuni substory – better known as the substory in which Kiryu Kazumanosuke inadvertently invents kabuki. 

[Kiryu walks toward the temple at the east end of Rakugai; right in front of the doors, he runs into a trio of rough-looking swordsmen. Their leader confronts Kiryu.]

Swordsman: Huh?! Is that Miyamoto Musashi? We’ve finally found him! 

[The leader reaches for his blade.]

Swordsman: That’s as far as you go! Die! 

[A fight ensues. Naturally, Kiryu trounces his opponents, but when the fight ends, he’s crouched over and breathing heavily.]

Kiryu: (Was that all of them…?)

Swordsman: He’s hurt! Finish him off now! 

Kiryu: (Shit…! I’ll just hide somewhere until this blows over…) 

[The screen fades to black. When we return, Kiryu has found a hiding spot of some sort in an enclosed, dimly-lit space.]

Kiryu: Hah…! Hah…!

[The camera pans over to reveal a woman standing nearby.]

Okuni: Wh- what the!? What happened to you? 

Kiryu: It’s nothing… 

Okuni: That’s not nothing at all! Those injuries – they need attention! 

Kiryu: Sorry. I’m being chased. Would you mind if I stayed here for a bit? 

Okuni: Chased, huh? 

[We hear muffled shouts on the other side of the wall.]

Swordsman: Where is he!? Dammit! Find him! 

[Kiryu falls dramatically to the floor at Okuni’s feet.]

Kiryu: Ugh…

[The screen fades to black.]

Okuni: Hey, now! Hang in there!

[When we fade back in, Kiryu’s lying on the floor in a set of unfamiliar clothes. Okuni is standing around with a trio of men, having a conversation of some sort.]

Kiryu: Where am I…? 

Okuni: Well, maybe now’s the time… 

Lead Actor: What are you saying, Okuni-san?

Clown: You said we were gonna put on a play like no one’s ever seen! You were so excited!

Okuni: Quiet! This is all happening because your acting won’t cut it!

Heartthrob Actor: H-hey! We’re doing our best! 

Lead Actor: That’s right! We’ve come up with all sorts of things, and you’ve hemmed and hawed about all of them! 

Okuni: But in the end, you haven’t been able to pull any of them off, have you? When you’re all talk, you can say anything you like!

Lead Actor: …

Okuni: If you’ve got time to complain, you’ve got time to rehearse! 

Lead Actor: Y-yes…

Okuni: Ahh, good grief…

[After the actors leave, Okuni looks down at her guest.]

Okuni: Oh, you’re awake?

Kiryu: What’s this outfit…?

Okuni: We couldn’t take care of your wounds the way you were, so we took the liberty of changing you out of your clothes. And besides, if you walked out of here in those bloody rags, they’d find you right away. 

Kiryu: I see… Thanks. 

Okuni: But I can’t guarantee that they won’t find you if we stay here, so…

Okuni: I’ve got it! 

[A full cutscene begins: Okuni grabs a brush and attempts to start painting Kiryu’s face.]

Kiryu: Hey!

Okuni: Sit still!

[Kiryu turns his head away again.]

Kiryu: Hey, quit it!

[Okuni grabs him by the chin and forces him to look at her and stay still. Kiryu finally stops acting like a petulant child and sits (mostly) still while she paints. When she’s finished, she stands up and gazes down at her work.]

Okuni: How’s this? 

Okuni: Ah, it came out pretty good! Now nobody will even know it’s you. 

[There’s a shout from off-screen.]

???: He’s here!

[The swordsmen from before rush in, blades drawn. One of them bends down to inspect Kiryu.]

Swordsman: What the hell? What’s with that getup? 

Okuni: Darn, they saw through it after all. 

[Kiryu grabs an umbrella and stands up. Just to be extra dramatic, he begins to speak without turning to face his would-be assailants.]

Kiryu: You guys sure are persistent… But I can’t let loose in here. Let’s take this outside. 

[Kiryu pushes his way through a set of curtains; the men follow him while Okuni reaches out in a vain attempt to stop him.]

Okuni: Hey! That’s the way to… 

[Of course, Kiryu stomps out directly into the middle of a stage, where we finally catch a glimpse of him in full kabuki face-paint, wielding his umbrella as a weapon. Four enemy swordsmen surround him with their blades drawn and ready.]

Kiryu: You’re gonna break more than just a leg!

[A battle begins, in which Kiryu gives the men a thrashing with his paper umbrella.]

[Afterwards, as he stands in the middle of the pile of bodies, Okuni starts clapping for him offstage.]

Kiryu: Sorry about that – I’ve caused you a whole lot of trouble. 

Okuni: Trouble?! Far from it! Look at that!

[Okuni gestures toward the crowd. The place is packed, and everyone’s cheering enthusiastically for his performance.]

Okuni: Thanks to you, the crowd’s going wild! 

[We fade to black again, and when we return, Kiryu’s in the backstage area once more.]

Okuni: I never imagined I’d see so many happy playgoers. It was one last fond memory – thank you so much!

Kiryu: Last?

Okuni: Yeah, it’s time for this troupe to call it quits. Attendance has been way down, lately. 

Kiryu: You’re bound to have times like that if you’re in this business long enough. Isn’t it a little soon to be giving up?

Okuni: We’ve tried a bunch of different acts, but in the end, the only thing a little troupe like ours can do is rehash old material, and young actors these days think that’s tedious. They get bored. We’re always squabbling, and I’m getting sick of it. 

Kiryu: …

Okuni: If we only had a performer like you… 

Okuni: Oh, don’t worry, I’m just kidding. 

Kiryu: You really want to keep this theatre going, don’t you? 

Okuni: Huh? Well, it’d be nice if I could, but…

Kiryu: Well then, mulling it over on your own’s no good, right? 

Okuni: But those guys still don’t know the first thing about acting… 

Kiryu: Now, I’m just an amateur, but wouldn’t you say it makes for good theatre when everyone’s in step? 

Okuni: In… step? 

Kiryu: Have you ever taken them seriously? From your point of view, they’ve got a long way to go, yet, but those players must have their dreams riding on you. That’s why they’re here now. 

Okuni: …

Kiryu: You can quit anytime – but before you throw in the towel, try putting more trust in your players and talking to one another. 

[We fade to black yet again. When we return, Kiryu’s back in his usual running-around-town outfit.]

Kiryu: (That troupe’s gonna be just fine – after this, they’ll carve out a path for themselves. I should hurry up and get out of their dressing room.)

[The screen fades to black once more. The three actors from before are standing together, mid-conversation.]

Lead Actor: But what a surprise! That fight scene was amazing! 

Clown: Right, right! And that makeup was fantastic! A real transformation! But kind of strange, too. 

Heartthrob Actor: Totally! I’ve never seen such a strange-looking actor before!

Lead Actor: A strange-looking actor…? Or maybe a kabukimono…*

Heartthrob Actor: Hey, why don’t we try making a play out of that fight we saw just now? We’ll call it “kabuki”! 

Clown: Fantastic! Just a sec – let me go tell Okuni! 

Lead Actor: Huh? But she’s already said that the theatre… 

Clown: Let’s give it a shot! That performance was amazing – she’ll definitely get it!  

[We return to Kiryu, who’s standing outside the temple again. A notice pops up saying that Kiryu received 10,000 EXP. Before Kiryu can bumble off to intervene in anyone else’s problems, a guy waves to him from the gates.]

Actor: Hey, you! Hold on a second! 

Kiryu: You’re one of the actors... What do you want with me? 

Actor: I wanted to say a quick thank-you. 

Kiryu: Thank me? What for?  

Actor: For getting Okuni’s spirits up again! Your acting inspired her – and us too, of course! 

Kiryu: Oh yeah? That’s great. 

Actor: Yeah! Your work was cutting-edge! Amazing! We’d never seen anyone act like that before! 

Kiryu: Uhh, that wasn’t really acting… 

Actor: I was completely enthralled by your performance! I’d love to know your name. 

Kiryu: ……Kiryu. 

Actor: Kiryu-san, eh? We’re gonna come up with a new play based on your performance! And we’ll make a fresh start with Okuni. 

Kiryu: Sure. Good luck. 

Actor: Thanks! For now, our troupe’s going to keep playing in this town. …Oh, hey, Kiryu-san! Could you stop by the stage once in a while? 

Kiryu: Huh? 

Actor: You’ll be a real crowd-pleaser if you come out, and we’ll help with the production. And I think it’ll make Okuni really happy! 

Kiryu: Uh, but I…

Actor: Yeah, it’s perfect! Just show up whenever you like – it’ll be great! 

Kiryu: Wait, but…

Actor: How does five percent of the proceeds sound for your performance fee? I’ll talk it over with Okuni! 

Kiryu: Uh, but I’m…

Actor: Huh!? Five’s not enough? Ohh, I’m in a real bind, here… I can’t go any higher than that… Would you settle for five percent – please? 

[Kiryu is then given a choice.]

> My art doesn’t come that cheap!

> I don’t need your money. 

[Kiryu can pick the first option, but when he does, the actor won’t accept it.]

Actor: Uhh… Please don’t say things like that. 

[The game then dumps you back on the choice screen, where Kiryu has to pick the more magnanimous option to proceed.]

Kiryu: Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll help you, but I don’t need your money. 

Actor: Huh!? But that’s no good…

Kiryu: I’ll help you out for free instead – it’ll be a parting gift as you all set out on the next stage of your journey. 

Actor: Really!? Thank you so much! Everyone’s gonna be thrilled! Well, whenever you feel like it, let me know! I’ll always be waiting right here. Oh – but when I say “always,” I mean only at night. We don’t perform during the day. 

Kiryu: Okay, got it. 

[End of substory.]

—

Translation Notes:

*Reader, I’m going to be honest with you: this section of dialogue between the actors is basically untranslatable in a way that retains all the significance of the original, because it involves a lot of wordplay that doesn’t really have an equivalent in English. The three players talk about Kiryu’s performance admiringly, and they note that his appearance and behaviour were like nothing they’ve ever seen before. So far so good, right? But the specific term they use for his performance is kabuku (かぶく): a verb that means “to slant” but that was also used to describe the act of dressing and comporting oneself oddly. It’s this term that leads them to conclude that Kiryu himself looked and acted like a kabukimono (傾奇者): a term derived from the verb kabuku that refers to gangs of rowdy, flamboyantly-dressed swordsmen – mostly ronin – who ran around making trouble in the early seventeenth century. It’s from this last term that one of the actors comes up a name for the new style of play they want to put on; they’re all so impressed by Kiryu’s wild appearance and his rowdy sword-fighting performance that they decide to replicate it in their own work and call it kabuki. (This theatrical term seems, in fact, to have been derived from kabukimono, so Kenzan’s writers weren’t just pulling things out of their asses.) 

This wordplay is difficult to replicate in English because while we have kabuki as a loanword, we didn’t nab any of the other terms in this chain of associations – sure, I could’ve said that Kiryu looked “kooky” or something because that sounds a bit like “kabuki,” but that term doesn’t carry the historical significance that kabukimono does.  

—

Izumo no Okuni is a real historical figure who’s said to have invented the theatrical art of kabuki, which exploded in popularity in the early seventeenth century. As this substory suggests (and as you probably already know), kabuki is known for its flashy costumes and especially for the white makeup and bold lines with which performers’ faces are painted. Initially, the performances were heavily dance-based and were put on by women; Okuni’s own company consisted (in contrast with what we see in Kenzan) entirely of ladies. By 1629, however, lady actors were banned from the kabuki stage out of concern for the potential morally deleterious effects of female kabuki troupes’ often ribald performances. Of course, this didn’t put an end to the art – it just meant that men (often younger men) were left to play women’s parts instead, and while the ban was later lifted, kabuki performances generally remain all-male affairs to this day. 

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

Our Angel of Brahma, pt. viii

Me: I gotta slow down on updates to finish this semester with a bang. Also me: WRITING MORE!!

@ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @ananxiousgenz @gwenlena @demonic-panini @the-private-eye

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING BEGINS. BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): It doesn’t feel real. Charlie he was just– he was just here last month. Ugh. I feel like a slug. Whatever Iris has been dosing me with I can’t stand. It’s making me sick. I need to eat. I can’t stomach anything though. I am hungry. But I can’t bring myself to eat. It is a vicious cycle. Iris bothered me again about trying to eat, and when I made the comment that I would sooner die from choking on vomit than starvation, they shut up and walked off. Serves them fucking right.  Mrs. Camilla gave me my comms back. She… hugged me. Embraced me. If there was anything left of me, I might have cried.  But there’s nothing of me. Nothing left to me. My revolution is dead. My parents are dead. Charlie is… dead. (SHAKING GASP) SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS. 

SOUND: COMMS BEEPS AGAIN. RECORDING BEGINS. BARID (REVOLUTIONARY): Say that again.  IRIS: Excuse me? BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): Say what you just told me, again.  IRIS: Okay… I said, “You can continue to lie here, that’s fine, but I will drag you into tomorrow. And the next day, and the day after that.”  BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): Why? IRIS: Why? Because you have to?  BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): No, I don’t. You won’t let me go out and do dangerous things, you don’t acknowledge me throughout the day. I don’t have any friends left or any family left. You don't care about me. You feel obligated to stay because of a loose promise you made with my dad.  (A LONG, DRAWN OUT PAUSE OF SILENCE. BABIES LAUGHTER CAN BE HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND) IRIS: Baird… I have never met someone say something, so… egregiously, arrogant, ignorant, and downright selfish. You don’t think I care about you? You don’t think I give a shit about you? I’m hurt. I’m truly hurt.  I’m sorry I can’t bring back the dead. I’m sorry I’m not dead. I’m sorry your best friend is dead. I’m sorry I’m sticking around because I do give a shit about you. I’m sorry your parents are dead. And I’m sorry I can’t be your fucking parent.  (IRIS LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY) Is that what you want? You want me to be your fucking parent?  BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): No. IRIS: Then what the fuck do you want from me? And don’t tell me you want me to go away. Cause I’m not going anywhere. You’re all I have left, dammit.  BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): I want… I want… (BAIRD’S VOICE CRACKS) I want my mom– (BAIRD BEGINS TO SOB. IRIS SIGHS) IRIS:  Oh– come here.  (FABRIC RUSTLING. BAIRD CONTINUES TO SOB) I’m sorry, Baird. That was– uncalled for. That was mean. I’m sorry. I forget your just a kid, I’m sorry. BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): You– you keep saying– saying that. IRIS: I know. I don’t think there’s anything else I can say… Oh, you poor mess. Where’s your comms? I have something I need you to hear now, and I want you to be able to listen back to it when you need to. (BAIRD PASSES THE COMMS OFF TO IRIS) I’m not going to be your parent, Baird. I promised Cyrus that I would look after you because he loved you. I’m going to look after you because I need you. Cyrus gave me hope when I had none. He made me believe in the revolution. I thought I would die before I lived to see past forty. But here I am. Three more years. And I don’t know what’s gonna happen to Brahma. Our future is uncertain. But that will always be.  My hope for you, Baird, is to get you to where I am. I want you to see past forty. I want you to be alive. And the only way I know to ensure that, is if I drag you into tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. If you die, what becomes of Charlie’s legacy? What about your parents’?  I know you can’t think of finding the light, or a will to live right now. And I know you hate me. That’s fine. You can hate me for the rest of your life, I’m still going to be here to make sure you live longer than me. Your voice is going to outlive all of us, Baird. Charlie believed that. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.  (IRIS SIGHS) I love you, Baird. I can’t be your parent, but I hope you’ll let me take care of you. We’ll take everything together, one day at a time. One step after another. That’s all we can do right now. (BAIRD WHEEZES AND COUGHS. THEY SNIFFLE) BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): Okay… okay. Iris? IRIS: Yeah? BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): I’m not a kid.  IRIS: No, you’re not.  BAIRD (REVOLUTIONARY): And Iris? (IRIS HUMS) I think I’m hungry.  IRIS: Then let’s eat. Shall we? SOUND: COMMS BEEPS. RECORDING ENDS. 

- How many times did Baird listen back to this recording? How much did it stick with them? Because clearly in the Decade recording, Baird is feeling better. They’re alive. He’s somewhat(?) thriving (as much as he can on Brahma). This recording would explain why though in that recording Iris is still around. This recording was the start of a mutual agreeance.

- Even if Baird is dead today, Iris and Charlie did it. They got Baird’s voice out to someone else. (HOW???) And I’m going to do my part, and I’m gonna get it out even further. 

- UPDATE: Frannie’s friend emailed me with a list of every documented Baird in the galaxy born within the last 60 years. Half of them are already dead. I don’t know if this Baird is dead today. The New Kinshasan Threat was almost 30 years ago? It’s very hard to keep track of when Baird and the others all made these recordings. I’ll keep the list just in case, but if what Baird said is true in the first recording “Belief” then I probably won’t stand a chance to find any records of them anywhere. 

[ladylovesloki]

Something Real: Chapter Two

Pairings: Loki X Reader

Warnings: Language

Summary: Readers house has another visitor.

Still not sure where this is going but I’m glad people are enjoying it. I hope you all like part two as much as you liked part one 💚🖤

~~The following morning~~

BANG BANG BANG

WHOOSH. BANG!

“Y/N!” You hear Thor’s booming voice in your home.

“Ughh fuck’s sake…” you groan.

You roll out of bed, fatigued from all of the tossing and turning and lazily walk out to the living room.

“Thor..it is too early for this..what is the problem?”

“The problem? Why is my nephew messaging me in the middle of the night that I need to come here immediately? That you are in terrible danger?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m in danger just mildly inconvenienced.”

“What has happened? What danger did Vali speak of?”

Vali huh, that’s not surprising. Little shit.

“Look Thor, it’s a lot to explain.”

“Ah hello brother..”

God dammit.

Loki walks into the room with a stupid smile on his face, dressed in his Asgardian clothes.

Thor looks at him in astonishment at first and then rage.

“What is this?…Brother..you didn’t..”

“No brother I did not fake my death again..your Loki from your timeline certainly did meet his end by Thanos’ hand..I am from a different timeline..in fact the last time I saw you, you and your merry group of morons stopped me from taking Midgard..”

Thor shakes his head in confusion, “so you never went back to Asgard after your defeat?”

“No brother, I escaped with the tesseract before you could remove me from Stark Tower.”

“Norns..the multiverse..it’s real?”

“Very..look, I have been through enough in the last few weeks to last me a lifetime, I just want to find a new home. I used this device to get here..” he holds out the tempad.

Thor shakes his head again in disbelief, “this is unbelievable..” he looks at you, “the children? They saw him then?”

You nod your head sadly, “Vali accused me of lying to him, Narfi has been cautious.”

“Sounds like them..alright brother..what will you do now?”

Loki shakes his head, “I don’t know honestly. I didn’t expect to find a timeline where I had children..”

You didn’t hear the twins step in the room, “you don’t want us?” Narfi’s sad voice asks.

Loki whips around and kneels before Narfi, “oh my boy, I said I did not expect it not that I didn’t want you. This was certainly a surprise but a happy one I promise you, I never thought I would have children..”

“Alright guys, I’m gonna make us some breakfast and we can talk some more.”

You prepare the food while Loki, Thor and the boys sat at the table and Loki told his tale of how he got to our timeline, being careful what he says since there were children at the table. 

You finish the food and everyone quietly eats, Vali breaks the silence..

“So..what now?..are you gonna stay here?”

Loki looks to you to answer.

“Um I don’t know bud, we have a few things to talk about still.”

“Like what? Dad’s home..we can be a family now..” Narfi says hopefully.

“Oh…guys..I..” you stutter.

Loki takes the moment to chime in, “boys your mother and I need some time to decide on all of that, but I don’t want you to worry. I’m not going anywhere..”

He looks directly at you when he says that and to be honest you don’t know how to feel about it.

“Uh oh…mom..I think it’s happening again…”

You look at Vali, “burst?”

Vali nods his head almost frantically.

“Ok..up up up! We can make it out the back door to the backyard!”

You roughly pull Vali out of his chair and out the back door, running with him in your arms to the middle of the yard. Thor comes running behind you and took Vali from you, “get back y/n!”

Thor places Vali down and you step back as far as you can, you bump into Loki’s chest and his hands reactively go to your shoulders.

“What’s going on?” He asks concerned.

“His magic, sometimes he gets these bursts of magical energy that he can’t control.”

Narfi steps in front of you, watching his brother with a concerned face.

Loki steps around you both and walks to Thor and Vali.

“Move Thor.” He shoves Thor out of the way and kneels in front of Vali putting his hands on his son’s tiny shoulders.

“Close your eyes. Reach for your power. Don’t let it control you.”

Vali closes his eyes and whimpers, “I can’t”, tears start streaming down his face.

“You can. You are a son of Loki. Now focus.” He can see a green pulse starting to form around Vali, he is slowly losing control of the power inside of him.

“It hurts.”

“I know my son, breath. Focus. I can see the pulse of your magic, feel that pulse inside of you. Can you feel it?”

Vali scrunches his whole face, “yea..”

“Ok you need to seize control of that power, keep your eyes closed and take a deep breath”, Loki takes his hand and places it against Vali’s chest and takes his own deep breath, “breathe out” releasing his own breath helping his son along. “Envision the pulse of your power around you, envision it getting smaller and smaller. Bring it back into your body.”

Vali is putting so much effort into controlling his power he’s starting to sweat. His body must be so overheated because his jotun form is starting to creep across his skin.

Loki sees this and immediately changes his own form, placing his cold blue hand on his son’s neck.

“That’s it my boy..focus..breathe..don’t let it control you..”

You see Vali take deep breaths and the pulse around him slowly starts to get smaller and smaller. 

You see his skin start to go back to it’s pale complexion, Loki’s doing the same.

Vali opens his eyes, his breathing a little labored, “wow..I’ve never been able to control it like that before…”

“You have a great power inside of you, If you would allow me I would love to teach you how to control it.”

Vali looks over to you, “please mom! Please! Did you see what I did?!”

“I did baby, we still have to talk about where we go from here ok?”

He looks down dejectedly, “ok…”

Loki gets his attention, “hey..we will figure it out alright..”

Vali nods his head and walks towards his mom and brother.

“I’m tired..” Vali leans his body against you.

“I’m sure you are baby, why don’t you go lay down for a bit.”

He yawns and nods his head, “ok..”

He goes inside and Narfi follows behind him, still a little weary of the new presence in their home.

You walk up to Loki, “thank you for helping him..it’s been such a struggle.”

“If you would allow it, I could teach them both how to control their power. They need a teacher.”

“They have a teacher”, you reply.

“Who?”

“Gorm” Thor responds.

“Gorm?! That is who you have training my sons?”

“There was no one else after Ragnarok Loki, we did the best with what we had left!” Thor defends.

“Well that’s over. I will be taking over their studies.”

“Whoa whoa whoa..you don’t get to show up and just decide who’s going to be responsible for teaching my children. Thor’s right, we did the best we could with what we had.”

Loki takes a moment and calms himself, “my apologies, I have overstepped. I know this has not been easy for you, raising children alone is hard, but raising children with magic? I’m so sorry I wasn’t here..”

You take a breath, “it’s not your fault.. you sacrificed yourself to save your brother and your people..I’m gonna go check on the boys.”

You go inside leaving Thor and Loki in the backyard.

“Tell me about her.” Loki says to Thor, not making eye contact with his brother. His eyes are staring at the door you just walked through.

“She is….a force.. and a wonderful mother. You loved her very much.”

“The children love her, I hope I have not disrupted their lives..all of this in an effort to learn my place in a time I don’t belong.”

“Brother, your place is by her side, with your children..you should discuss this with her.”

“She will never see them as mine! They will always belong to that other variant!”

“So prove to her that you want to be here for her and the children..you fell in love with her once, you will do so again.”

“I do not wish to speak of this anymore, I’m going to check on the children.”

Loki walks away from Thor and goes back inside, he walks to Narfi’s room first and knocks. When he doesn’t hear a response he opens the door slightly but finds it empty.

He closes the door and walks to Vali’s room, the door was cracked open slightly so he peaked inside. He sees you sitting on the bed, your back leaning on the headboard with Vali’s head laying in your lap fast asleep and Narfi was sitting next to you, his head leaning on your shoulder. Loki was about to walk in but then he heard Narfi ask a question that stopped him..

“Is daddy gonna stay?”

.. “I don’t know baby.. do you want him to?”

“I think so, he helped Vali with his magic..”

“Yes he did.”

“Do you want him to stay mommy?”

You take a second..Loki can hear his own heart beating.

“I don’t know, I want what’s best for you two and for him too. He’s not from this time, he doesn’t know me..I just want you both safe and happy.”

“I love you mommy.”

“I love you too baby.”

You kiss Narfi on the forehead and then Loki walks through the door, knocking softly as he walks in.

“Hi.” He shyly smiles.

“Hi.” You smile back.

“I..just wanted to check and see how you all were..I don’t want to intrude..”

“No it’s ok” you look down at Narfi, “come on lets leave him to get some sleep.”

You all walk out of Vali’s room to leave him to rest.

“Why don’t you go read your book so I can talk to your dad..”

“Ok momma”, he grabbed his book from the living room coffee table and went outside to read in his favorite spot in the sun. You can hear him greet Thor who was still outside.

You and Loki sit on opposite sides of the couch facing each other.

You start, “so…what now?”

Loki nods and then looks at you thoughtfully, “I understand if you don’t want me to stay in your home but I would like your permission to be around Narfi and Vali. I plan on staying on this timeline..permanently.”

You give him a long stare, “I don’t know Loki, if you disappear again..it would crush them.”

He quickly shakes his head at you, eyes starting to fill with unshed tears, “no..I wouldn’t leave them, I would do anything within my power to stay with my family. Please…the boys, Thor..you…you’re all I have.”

Again you’re looking at him as if you are trying to detect any falsehood.

“If you fake your death or try and kill a powerful being with the equivalent of a butter knife again I will find you and kill you myself. No matter what timeline you try to run to.”

Loki smiles at you, reaches into his pocket and pulls out the tempad.

He continues to look at you but his smile soon turns serious as he uses his magic to set it on fire. You watched in amazement as the device turned to ash in his hands.

You turn your shocked gaze to him, “why?”

“Because I want to prove to you that I will not leave you or the children again. From the moment I stepped into your time you all became my priority. My glorious purpose. I will live the rest of my days protecting you and my children. I have no use for the tempad any longer, I believe I have finally found a place to stay and to be at peace…If you’d allow me..”

A hopeful feeling starts to bloom in your chest. He makes it so hard to not love him.

“You can stay, we’ll go to Val tomorrow and let her know you’re going to be staying here. We’ll let the boys know at dinner later”

“Why would we have to inform her exactly?”

“Oh your brother didn’t tell you?”

He shakes his head causing you to laugh.

“He abdicated the throne to her, she’s King of New Asgard.”

He looks at you for a moment and then jumps off the couch and storms outside.

“Thor!”

You just hysterically laugh, having Loki here is going to be very interesting to say the least. You doubt you’ll ever have a dull moment again..

Tag List: I hope I got everyone 💚🖤

@thomase1 @bellajg21 @tiredbut-here @laliceee @silverfire475 @thecrazytealady @clockblobber @lokisgoodgirl @asgardianprincess1050 @skymoonandstardust @chantsdemarins @ariacraigggg @ms-ried @abagaillaufeyson @javagirl328 @simplyholl @vividredrose-blog @lilibet261 @lokidbadguy @sirimiripetrichor

[paperficwriter]

"The Second Floor" (Metal Bat x Garou)

I figured I'd go ahead and start doing some cross-posting here...I don't know if I'll post everything here because not for nothing but I get harassed more here than Twitter, which is saying something.

Regardless, here I am, coming back to my roots. It's my take on what all has been happening in the main comic, so a bit different from the 'Monster in my Bed' universe. Enjoy!

Cut is for length, not for content. AO3 link and tags in the reblog.

“Alright, so…here it is.”

Badd opens the door to the second-floor apartment, stepping inside of it to let Garou pass. He’s glad, then, that he came up before and gave it a good cleaning, got the windows open, the place aired out a bit. That was the first time he had been back inside since his parents died, and even though his uncle had straightened it out and made sure there wasn’t anything left for Badd and Zenko to have to take care of, the place had felt…strange, like it had been put into some kind of suspended animation for the past eight years.

Badd watches as Garou wanders around with the kind of caginess that Tama had when they brought her home the first day. There’s a wariness to his movements, and…did he just see his nose twitch. “This is the main room,” Badd says. “You can see the kitchen right there.” He nods at the window cut into the far wall, showing the small, sunlit space with a full-sized fridge, stove and sink. “The door across from that’s the bathroom…s’got a bath, though it might be small for ya. Then there’s a bedroom.”

Garou looks down at the squat table in front of an old television—already old when Badd was a kid, when he would come up here and pretend he was a squatter if there wasn’t anyone living in the apartment. “It’s gonna be a tight fit,” Garou finally says in his cold, rough voice. “But I guess I’ve lived in worse places.”

A flash of anger rises up suddenly in Badd’s belly like the gas on the old range had been turned on in a rush of blue flame. “Now, listen—”

“I guess I’ll take this front room, though.” He scratches the inside of his ear with a pinkie finger. “Just don’t wake me up when you’re cooking.”

“Wait…no, dammit, I’m not living here!” A warmth travels across his nose and pinks his cheeks as Badd stuffs his hands in his pockets. He’s not wearing his hero uniform today, but a bomber jacket with a tiger on the back and jeans. “This place is just for you.”

Garou looks surprised, white eyebrows going up and then back down. He starts wandering around again, somehow even more suspicious, touching the walls, opening the cabinets in the kitchen. Badd follows him.

“I got a couple of things…some basic stuff. Noodles, sauce, some canned stuff. There ain’t much in the fridge ‘cause I didn’t know what you liked other than…meat. Though I did get ya some of what was on sale at the supermarket.”

When he says that, Garou has his spiky head shoved into the fridge, taking out the wrapped packages, eyes gleaming. Badd can’t help but grin a little because he has the kind of expression he’d expect to see if he left him a basket full of candy and not a couple of strip steaks…

After a quick inspection of the bathroom and then the bedroom, which has a desk, an empty bookshelf (what the hell is going to go there, Badd wonders—this is Garou living here, does he even know how to read?), a dresser and a rolled up futon, the former Hero Hunter turns to Badd. His gold eyes are narrow as he steps up to him. “What’s the catch?”

“Huh?”

“You said you’re not living here. Is the old man paying you? Or are you going to start charging me rent or something?” He says it like he’s expecting Badd to tell him he needs to start selling his organs downtown.

“What? No!” Badd growls and cracks his socked toes against the soft wooden floor. “I don’t need any damn money, alright?! I live downstairs in the apartment under this place! The first floor!”

“Why do you have a spare apartment?”

“My folks bought the place like this and used to take tenants…anyway, it don’t matter! Do ya want it or not?”

It’s a little weird, but Badd only realizes after he’s said it that they actually haven’t discussed at all or not Garou wants to live here. Because initially, the conversation didn’t even happen with him. It happened with Bang, at a cafe, after Badd’s patrol but before he had to go pick up Zenko from piano practice. “You want me to let Garou come live with us. Are you serious, old man?”

Bang had picked up the tab for their tea and a few small desserts, and he was eating a pastry and taking a stupidly long time to answer Badd. “I am. He doesn’t seem…comfortable, living with me. Not that we haven’t mended some of what was broken between us, and I wouldn’t ask you this if I didn’t think it was safe.”

“Maybe he’s uncomfortable because he doesn’t think he can get away with being him when you’re watching.”

Bang shrugged, sipping his tea. “I think you two will have more in common with each other than he does with me. It’s good for young men to spend time together. They grow from mutual experiences.”

What planet was this geezer on?! “There is no way I got anything in common with that guy! And if it’s about age, why not one of the other heroes?!”

For a moment, Bang took a breath, like he was gathering his words. Then, finally, he said, “You two have the most shared history at this point. And I have caught him watching the news about your hero work from time to time.”

Badd didn’t know what to say about that. He didn’t know what to say when they parted ways, except that he did have some space and so long as Garou didn’t do anything to make him regret it, he could stay there. And he still doesn’t know what to say now, because Garou is staring at him like he’s still waiting for this all to be taken out from underneath his feet.

Finally, Garou shrugs. “Sure. Whatever. It’s better than being stuck up in that place above that smelly dojo.”

The tension in Badd’s shoulders lessens immediately. Even though he should be dreading the fact that Garou has decided he will be living above him now, having to deal with him thinking that he was trying to con him out of something was worse. And at least if he’s there, maybe Badd will be able to catch him if he tries anything…

When he tries anything, Badd mentally corrects himself. Because he will. He’s sure of it.

Once he’s handed him the key, Badd walks back down the same set of stairs that he ascended. At one point, before his parents bought the place, the stairs would just lead to different levels of the house, and the landing where Badd has left his shoes would be the foyer. Now, there is a door that leads to his apartment with Zenko. He’s about to open it when he feels a prickle at the back of his neck and—

Badd jumps back from the door to shoot his gaze at Garou, who is watching him with catlike eyes from his upper floor, leaning over like a burglar. “Oi!” Badd growls. “What’re ya doin,’ punk?!”

“What? We’re neighbors now, right?” Garou has a sly smile. “I can’t check out what my neighbor is up to?”

Nevermind, Badd thinks as he goes inside of his apartment and closes and locks the door. Probably nothing could be worse than this.

It’s quiet, for a while…and Badd almost thinks that Garou has changed his mind and decided to run out. He comes back from his hero work and hears nothing from upstairs, and at one point he asks Zenko about it. “Have you heard anything from Garou?”

She’s working on her homework at the table where they eat dinner, as Badd cooks. He’s cut up some bell peppers that are softening with onions, and there’s some beef browning in a cast-iron skillet. They’ll have it with rice. “Yeah,” she says. “I hear him go out before I go to school and you leave for work.”

“Huh?! Only then?”

“Is that weird?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve been working day shifts since he started living here. Don’t you think he would be going to his job too?”

That’s true. He figured that if Garou was going to do something, it would be under the cover of night, now that everyone knows who he is. Badd grabs the pan handle and gives it a shake that’s maybe a bit too aggressive, because two green slivers of pepper escape onto the stove top. “There’s no way a guy like that’s got a job,” he mumbles.

Zenko puts her pencil down then and he hears her sniff the air. “Big bro…something smells funny.”

“Eh?” He frowns. Zenko’s always liked his cooking…but then he realizes there’s a tickle of something else…acrid and burning…and there’s a haze outside the window. Could that be coming from— “Stay here!”

Making sure to move his pans to other burners, Badd runs to the door and opens it into the landing. Sure enough, there’s more smoke in the hallway, and he leaps to the top of the stairs in one bound. “Garou! What the hell’re ya doin’?!”

When there’s no answer, Badd acts on instinct and punches a hole in the door, tearing his way through it. The apartment is cloudy, although the window in the kitchen is open. He darts in to look through it and there’s Garou, perched on a section of the roof, holding a skillet with something on fire in one hand and his phone in the other. “This recipe is bullshit!” he curses, and he seems like he’s about to throw the pan probably into oblivion but then he stops, showing a degree of self control that Badd didn’t expect.

So there he is, just pouting, the flames going out slowly…and Badd has to laugh. It’s not like there’s any damage to the apartment other than the smoke, so…

Garou’s eyes snap over to him. “Hey! Shut the hell up!”

“Okay, okay…you just…look like you’re having a hard time.”

“I followed the stupid video. It’s not my fault.”

Badd turns on the water and watches as Garou crawls back in the window and puts his pan under the running sink. Whatever it was, it’s charcoal now. Badd could leave him to it to figure out what else he’s going to eat, but…Garou looks so pathetic and angry, instead he finds himself asking, “You want to come down for dinner? I’m making bell peppers and beef. I usually end up havin’ enough for a few nights in case I gotta work, so…there’s plenty.”

Garou doesn’t reply for a second, and Badd prepares himself to get shot down, probably with some snide remark. But then, there’s a high, strange noise that ends in a sort of warbling grumble, and Badd realizes it came from Garou’s stomach. Garou puts his hand over it like he can push the noise back in. With his long fingers over his abs, Badd realizes for the first time how thin he is, and, sure, he’s lean with all those muscles but…then he recalls the report from the fight in the woods between that gang of heroes, Genos and Bang, the one that mentioned him being found in a shack.

And other than that kid…he was all alone.

“Well,” Garou says loudly, with an exaggerate shrug. “I guess I’ll try it. It can’t make me any sicker than this would…”

Any sympathy Badd was feeling evaporates like the water hitting the hot pan. “Ya know, you could starve for all I care.”

“Nope, you can’t take it back now.” As Badd goes into the bedroom to open the other windows in the apartment, he hears a sharp, “What the fuck did you do to my door?!”

“Shut up! I thought you were burning the house down! I’ll fix it!”

When they get back downstairs, Zenko has already set a second place. Badd returns to the stove, grateful he had the foresight to move the food so it wouldn’t burn up too, and he finishes getting the rice done as he carefully listens to Zenko and Garou talking.

“Do you remember me?”

“Yeah, how could I forget? You were the dumb brat who tried to butt in the middle of our fight.”

“Who’s dumb?! I got you all to stop, didn’t I?”

“Okay, maybe you have a point. What’s that you’re doing?”

“Math homework. It’s Advanced Geometry.”

“Ugh…what do you need that for?”

“I want to be a veterinarian!”

Badd is ready to interject if Garou makes a smart-ass remark, but then he hears him go, “Yeah, guess you need to work really hard for something like that. Better give it your all and not quit school like I did.”

“I am!”

Did he really say that? It was…surprisingly thoughtful. Did Garou really drop out of school? They’re about the same age, and Badd just finished the year before, so…it would make sense.

Then, he hears Garou laugh. “Unless you’d rather just do something that doesn’t require any level of intelligence, like being a hero—”

“Alright, I��ve got plates of food here, so why don’t you shove this in your mouth, eh?”

Garou smirks as Badd puts down the plate of food in front of him, but when his eyes settle on it, he really does get quiet. With a quick ‘itadakimasu’ he’s stuffing his mouth like someone is going to take the plate away from him. Zenko and Badd exchange glances before beginning to eat as well.

Badd continues watching him out of the corner of his eye. How is it that the longer he interacts with him, the more he questions everything he thought he knew about him?

It doesn’t feel like he’s trying to trick him either…

After dinner, Badd walks Garou to the door. “I’ll fix the door this weekend. So just…don’t do anything dumb, yeah?”

“Like what? Leave it unlocked?”

“Okay, goodnight, smartass.”

It isn’t the last time that Garou eats some of Badd’s cooking (and to his knowledge, enjoys it). In the days to follow, Badd notices there are less leftovers in the fridge over the subsequent nights after he’s made a big meal. If there are three plastic containers, the next day there are two. If two, then one.

Is he seriously breaking in and stealing food?! Can ’t believe I was beginning to trust that guy…

He heads upstairs to confront him about it, but when he opens the door he nearly runs right into Zenko. She trips backward and lands on her rear. “Zenko! Are you okay? What are you doing?”

Then, he sees the empty container in her hands. She’s clutching it to her chest. “Nothing!”

“Are you…giving him food?”

Zenko stands back up, her nose in the air. She always does that when she’s trying to meet his height, to match his energy. “So what if I am? Clearly he’s terrible at cooking. Recently all he brings home are convenience store foods—”

“How do you know that?!”

“I say hello to him! Like a good neighbor!” Zenko crosses her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you say hello to him more? He’s your friend!”

The desire to fire back that no, he is absolutely not his friend, tickles his tongue, but Badd stops himself. Because he doesn’t hate him like he thought he would. But he doesn’t like him either, so…he takes the empty container from Zenko. It looks like it’s been practically licked clean… “It’s fine. I’ll…put some extra servings to the side so he gets a bit of everything.”

Garou doesn’t say anything for a while, and Badd wonders if Zenko has told him that Badd knows now that he’s feeding him. One evening, though, he’s about to take the trash out when he sees Garou coming down the stairs. He’s got the leftover box in hand. Badd nods at him. “Hey.”

It’s the first time he’s gotten to take a long look at Garou in a while. He’s different from how he was when he first arrived—softer, his brain supplies first, comfortable, less starved. There’s still that same air about him, like he’s prowling, ready to pounce, even if his form of attack is just to quip. Now, though…his body looks lived in, stretched out a bit.

Badd is surprised at how he kind of likes that look on him.

“I think this was my favorite,” Garou says, without any greeting of his own. This was a honey garlic stir fry he made with chicken and mixed vegetables.

“I hadn’t made it before. I’ve been trying some new recipes.”

“Mm.” Garou follows Badd outside as he goes to deposit the bags of garbage at the street. The fireflies are out, the late evening easing in and bringing with it a cool breeze. “How do you even…” He shakes his head. “There’s so much in it.”

Badd realizes he’s still talking about the dish, and at first he’s about to talk about all the steps he took to sauté the chicken and thicken the sauce before tossing it all together, but…instead what comes out is, “You could come down and watch. Maybe help a bit.”

A distant cicada starts buzzing. It fills up the silence, and Badd is grateful, because it’s taking Garou a while to answer. Finally, what he gets is, “…sure.”

The agreement is not nearly as surprising as when he actually knocks the next evening, ready to get started.

After a few weeks of dinners, Garou is about to head back upstairs when Badd asks him if he wants to give breakfast a try. “Broaden your horizons a bit. We could do some eggs, pancakes—”

“No,” Garou says quickly. “No mornings.”

Badd frowns. He’s really wanted to believe that Garou hasn’t actually been up to something, ignoring the fact that he’s gone before he and Zenko get up and always home by the evening. He’s even walked home with Zenko from school a couple of times. But… “Why?”

It’s like a door between them closes, and evenings of cutting vegetables and talking about hero movies and things that normal people might bond over disappears. “None of your business.”

Badd can’t let that slide.   

A few days later, Badd switches his hero patrol day with Genos so he can see where Garou goes when he thinks he’s gone. It works out perfectly since Zenko wanted to sleepover with one of her friends from class, and he gets up early without having to worry about coordinating it with her school day. Sure enough, Garou rises before the sun, leaves the house and starts running towards the east end of the city.

Badd takes off after him, dressed in a nondescript sweatsuit with his hair down. Granted, he can’t exactly be as covert as he’d like to be, because keeping up with the human monster requires jumping from building to building lest he chance catching up with him. They run for almost a half hour, so far that it’s almost out of the city entirely. But then Garou stops, shoves his hands in his pockets and walks into the konbini at the corner. There’s only one other person shopping and an old woman is stocking some drinks towards the back. Badd watches as Garou walks around behind the counter and into the back room.

When he comes out again, he’s got his hair wet and pressed down as much as he can get it, and he’s wearing an apron. From the rooftop across the street, he can’t hear what’s being said, but Garou and the old woman exchange words. She’s smiling and patting his arm, and as she disappears to get more products, he takes his place at the register. If Badd had never seen him before, he might believe it’s someone else—a cute guy with a serious face, who could even be someone’s boyfriend.

Garou has a job…and Badd feels like a complete asshole.

There are a few things he learns on his phone as he heads back to the house: the neighborhood where the konbini is located is small, largely made up of senior citizens. It wasn’t affected by the battles that had happened those few months back…in fact, it hasn’t been affected by any villains in years. It’s not even on the patrol map that’s used by the lower-tier heroes, let alone the S-class ones like him.

One article catches his eye about some kids who had been playing in the road when a moving van cut a corner too fast. They were saved by a mysterious man who dashed in and grabbed them so quickly no one could get a look at him. One of the kids, however, said he had “wolf ears.”

Subtle, Badd thinks.

For the rest of the afternoon, Badd sits in front of the couch without actually watching what’s on television. He thinks about the Garou he was convinced he knew before, and the Garou he’s coming to know now. And that Garou is the one that is making something tug in his stomach, an invisible thread that is coming out and trying to get to him.

When Garou comes home that night, he walks into Badd’s apartment, more than a bit doggedly. Badd has left the door unlocked for him now for…how long, he’s not sure. There’s that pulling sensation again…why does Badd want to give him a hug and welcome him home? He’s been working all day behind a counter miles away.

“Hey.” Badd gently elbows him as Garou washes his hands at the sink. “Listen, sorry if I was pushy a few days ago, askin’ what you were doing and all. You were right. It’s none of my business.”

Garou squints at him. “Did you hit your head today?”

“What?! No!”

“You don’t apologize for anything ever. Weirdo. What’s your deal?” With his hands occupied, he uses a foot to kick Badd in the ass. He’s grinning at him, though, so Badd can’t actually be mad. Instead he runs his hands through his own hair and grabs Garou’s fingers just as he finishes drying them. “Ugh, gross, I just washed these!”

Badd laughs. “What’re you, fuckin’ five? Think I’m gonna give you cooties?”

“Nobody wants to find your nasty gooey hair in their food!”

“It ain’t gooey!”

Garou stares at him for a minute, and his smile softens in a way Badd has never seen it do. “Actually, yeah…you wore it down today.” He starts soaping up again. “Not bad.”

In his stomach, Badd feels a fluttering like wings. Not butterflies, something bigger, more important. “Heh…thanks.”

They start cooking after that in silence. The quiet isn’t awkward, though. It’s warm and comfortable, a blanket they are sharing between them.

On the weekend, Badd comes home from a morning patrol to see that Garou’s door is open. It’s the first time he’s actually seen him reciprocate the availability that Badd has put forth. Not that he’s ever pressured him too—Garou seems like a man who needs his privacy—but then he’s also rarely there during the day and…

Before he can think better of it, he’s walking up the stairs.

Garou is sitting in the living room, facing the television and watching some kind of sentai show. The first thing he can’t help but notice is that he is very shirtless, his pale skin smooth and light in the sunshine coming in from the window. Once again, he notices how Garou has softened considerably since he’s come to live there with them; there’s a little roll of plushness that’s developed at the base of his stomach, and where the angles of his muscles once seemed sharp, like they would cut you if you touched them the wrong way, they’ve smoothed a bit.

Badd catches himself staring, even moreso as Garou lifts a wrapped taiyaki to his mouth. There’s a red bean filling, and it crunches in his teeth, warm and fresh. Badd realizes he’s never seen Garou eat something sweet before. Come to think of it, whenever he’s offered him dessert, Garou has turned him down…

Seeing him like this, it’s almost as though he’s kind of vulnerable.

He doesn’t want to spoil the moment, but he also doesn’t want Garou to suddenly catch him sneaking up on him. So he announces himself with a little clearing of his throat. “Hey.”

Badd expects Garou to jump, but he doesn’t. Instead, he puts down the taiyaki, turns off the TV, and pivots so he can nod at him.

Now, Badd thinks. Tell him now. “You got a minute?”

“Sure.”

Badd leaves his bat at the door and walks inside, sitting down beside him. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”

“Ready to kick me out?” Garou jokes, but then his face changes when Badd puts his hand on his wrist. His pulse quickens under his fingers, and his eyes seem to adjust, blinking slowly and catlike.

“No. I want ya to stay. Now maybe more than ever.” Badd takes a breath, trying not to feel totally scrutinized as Garou watches him. “I like ya. Not just…as a neighbor, either.”

Garou’s chest rises so much that his shoulders go with it. He doesn’t pull away.

“And I’ve been tryin’ to figure out how to tell ya. It’s hard, y’know?” He uses his free hand to rub the back of his neck. His voice is rolling into that delinquent drawl that comes out when he’s working. “And that ain’t all. I gotta tell ya, one day I—”

“Yeah, I know.”

Badd’s eyes move up from where they had been focused in on the table, on the point of contact between his tan skin and Garou’s wrist. “Which part…?”

“All of it.” Now it’s Garou’s turn to search the room for everything but Badd’s face. “Knew you followed me that day. Knew you weren’t just…being neighborly for a while now. And I knew you were outside a couple of minutes ago.”

Badd’s face flushes, but worse than that his heart twists uncomfortably. Is Garou about to let him have it for creeping around on him? Or, worse, is he going to let him down and tell him he doesn’t like him that way? “Guess I wasn’t doing a good job hiding it.”

Garou chuckles. “No, you weren’t. But…” He finally does meet his eyes, and the gold there is bright, like sunshine through honey. “I don’t mind.”

“Really? Do you—”

“Yeah.” Garou cuts him off, and the way he sets his jaw makes a very clear message: I’m not spelling it out for you.

Badd takes a long breath. “Why didn’t you just say you got a job?”

“I don’t know.” Garou sounds annoyed, but not with Badd. He scratches his belly. “Everything about me is changing. I don’t recognize myself anymore. And if I said it out loud to someone it would mean that I have to admit that it’s happening, that I can’t get away from it. But…” He mrrrrs like a grumpy animal. “I don’t hate it. I guess.”

Badd nods. The hand that’s been on Garou’s arm moves to his hand, the cool skin there. Garou has pretty nails…he’s never noticed that before. “If it helps, you still seem like a huge jackass to me. Same as ever.”

Garou makes a short cackling laugh, a genuine one, and Badd grins at it. “Oh good. I’m glad.”

They look at each other, and Badd finds himself staring at Garou’s mouth. But instead of leaning towards it, the way everything in his body wants him to, he picks up the last pieces of the taiyaki and lifts it up to him. Garou is wary again, like that first day, but then he slowly parts his lips and takes a bite of it. The pink tip of his tongue picks up a scrap of a crumb, and Badd waits until he’s swallowed to bring the treat back. This next time, Garou takes the rest, and his pink lips brush Badd’s fingers—linger on them—and then he finishes it.

This time, Badd doesn’t ignore the tugging, the pull of gravitation, the magnetic drive that brings them together to meet in the middle. And that’s where he stays with Garou, longer than he ever believed could be possible.

[flashthescalesian-art]

Silence (a.k.a Jax has rejection sensitive dysphoria)

Jax has ADHD, and I also have ADHD, so of course I had to dump my RSD issues onto Jax too because traumatizing my OCs is how I cope when something is bothering me. I’m not gonna go into detail about my personal issues (I’m okay, just struggle-bussing it through life), but sometimes no matter what anyone says, RSD still manages to convince you that you did something wrong when someone stops talking to you. (Bob belongs to @thehannalyzer, btw, he’s not mine. (Also, I’m not trying to make any commander mentioned out to be a “bad guy” or “mean”, just so we’re clear on that. This is from Jax’s RSD-clouded POV, I’m not bashing anyone else mentioned))

—————

“Something’s bugging you,” Blazer said in lieu of a greeting when he walked into Jax’s office and leaned on the desk with both arms, one hand supporting his chin as he stared at Jax. 

Jax avoided eye contact and tried to pretend he was busy working. Go away. 

“Hey, genius, you and I both know you hate paperwork, so there’s no way you’re so focused that you didn’t hear me.” Blazer grabbed Jax’s datapad and pulled it out of his hands before setting it facedown just out of Jax’s reach. “You gonna talk to me or do I need to make you talk?” 

Jax glared up at Blazer. He looked genuinely worried, if annoyed, and Jax instantly felt guilty. What am I doing? Why am I pushing him away when he’s not even someone I’m mad at? Sighing, Jax rubbed a hand down his face, trying to stay composed enough to explain what was going on in his head. “The others are barely speaking to me. Or, it feels that way, anyway.” He shrugged. “I dunno if I’m just overreacting or if they’re actually ignoring me.” 

Blazer frowned sympathetically as he absently rubbed the scar on his chin with one finger. “Okay. Are they just busy? It’s not like things have been quiet for anyone lately.” 

Jax shrugged again, a lump forming in his throat. Force-dammit. Can’t talk about osik without crying. No wonder the others see me as a baby still. “I don’t know. A couple of them said they’re busy, but others… I haven’t heard from a few of them in weeks.” His eyes stung, so he scrubbed at them with one hand. He felt Blazer’s hand rest on top of the hand that still held his stylus for his datapad. 

“Who haven’t you heard from?” Blazer’s voice was gentle, so gentle. 

Jax couldn’t look at him. “F-Fox. And Bob. And— and Bacara and Neyo.” 

“Well, you told me that Thorn’s been worried about Fox too, so I doubt he’s ignoring only you if his twin is worried about him. Plus you mentioned that Thire sounded worried.” 

“Was that supposed to be reassuring?” Jax asked bitterly. 

Blazer gave a soft sigh. “Yes and no. It’s not a good thing that Fox seems to be ignoring Thorn and Thire too, but it does mean that it’s probably nothing to do with you, if that’s what you’re upset about.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Jax mumbled, still barely holding himself together. “Even if Fox isn’t mad at me, that doesn’t explain everyone else.” 

Blazer squeezed Jax’s hand. “It is possible that Bob is avoiding talking to you since that fight you two had. It might be good if you don’t talk to him for a while anyway.” 

Jax instantly felt guilt wash over him like a wave, so he buried his face in his arms on the desk, pulling away from Blazer. “I don’t wanna talk about that. He hates me, and I don’t even know what I did wrong.” Sure, Bob had sent multiple apologies after the fight, but that was nearly a month ago at this point. Jax hadn’t really responded since he wasn’t sure he believed Bob, and after a month of silence, it felt even harder to believe that Bob didn’t hate him. 

“So what if he hates you?” Blazer’s voice took on a fierce tone that seemed to color his words any time Jax mentioned that he thought Bob— or any of his brothers, really —hated him. “You don’t need his approval or attention. Same goes for Neyo and Bacara. If they don’t wanna talk to you, that’s their issue, not yours. You didn’t do anything to them.” 

Jax simply wanted to melt into the floor. He knew Blazer meant well, and some angry part of him agreed with Blazer, but he couldn’t shake the little cadet voice wondering why his older brothers didn’t seem to want to talk to him, or why he always felt like they looked down on him. Just the thought of never speaking to any of his older brothers again made that little voice cry out in agony. “But I don’t want to lose contact with them,” Jax whimpered into his arms. 

“If they’re not gonna put in the effort, why should you?” Blazer asked, his raspy voice nearly a growl now. 

Jax felt tears escape, so he pressed his face harder into his arms. “Because I love them,” he whimpered, feeling pathetic. 

He heard the soft thunk of Blazer’s vambraces on the desk, then footsteps that stopped at his side. A hand rested on his shoulder. “You don’t owe them anything. If they don’t want to talk to you, that’s their choice. Don’t let them drag you down. If they don’t think you’re worth the effort, then it’s not a relationship worth stressing over.” Blazer’s voice was much softer now. 

Jax tried to take a breath, but it came out as more of a sob. “But what did I do wrong?” It didn’t make sense that his older brothers would just stop talking to him, so he had to have done something to make them want to stop talking to him. Right?

Blazer grabbed Jax with both hands and carefully guided him out of his chair and onto the floor before pulling him into a tight hug. Jax didn’t have the energy to resist, so he simply buried his face in Blazer’s shoulder. “If you can’t think of anything you did wrong, you probably didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes it’s not your fault when people don’t want to talk to you anymore.” 

“It still feels like it’s my fault,” Jax choked out, clinging to Blazer. 

Blazer simply held him tighter. “I know. I’m sorry.” 

Jax could only cry harder.

[mycoolwritingcorner]

Fault

Written for Sailor Moon LGTBQ+ Week.

Day 2: Argument.

Usagi hasn’t heard anything from Mamoru since he went off to college. The bun-headed girl is sure she drove him away. Can the guardian of fire convince her otherwise? And what truths may she reveal in the process?

@smlgbtqweek

----

“Oh, Miss Hino, hello.” Mrs. Tsukino said, confused why the raven-haired girl had shown up at her doorstep.

“Hello Mrs. Tsukino. Is Usagi home? She was supposed to meet us at the shrine but she never showed.” Rei asked. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but, despite the protests of her friends, Rei was done letting it happen. She was gonna pull Usagi out of here whether she liked it or not.

“She is… she’s been hiding in her room a lot lately.” The elder Tsukino said, a look of worry crossing her face.

“May I see her? I think I may know what’s wrong…” Rei said, which was basically a lie as she definitely knew what was wrong.

“By all means.” The mother said, letting Rei in.

Rei made her way up the stairs and to Usagi’s door. Something was already off though… the sign Usagi kept on her door, a sign that Rei had always found adorably charming (even though she’d never admit it)... it was gone. Rei knocked on the door, not even sure what she would say when she saw her. That didn’t seem to be an issue, however, as Usagi wasn’t answering.

“Usagi? You in there? It’s Rei. Open up, bun-head.”

Nothing.

“You didn’t come to the shrine today… again. You know if you keep skipping these study sessions you’re gonna fail out of school.”

Nothing. 

“I mean, not that I really care, but it’d be pretty embarrassing to serve under a queen who didn’t even make it through high school.”

Nothing.

“Dammit Usagi! Open up! This is when you’re supposed to tell me how mean I’m being!”

Nothing.

“Alright, fine! I’m coming in!” Rei shouted, before throwing open the door. Saying the bun-headed girl’s room was messy would be an understatement. It was all but destroyed. Usagi’s bedding, all of which was covered in illustrations of bunny rabbits, was strewn across the room, along with her stuffed animals, volumes of manga, and various other knick-knacks. It took Rei a second to even notice Usagi, who was sitting at her desk in front of a piece of paper, with a pen in hand, “There you are. Jeez, what happened in here?”

“Every… day…” Usagi said softly, not looking up at Rei.

“What?” Rei asked, making her way toward Usagi, being careful not to slip on anything.

“Every day… I’ve written him a letter every day… for three months…” The blonde said, her voice betraying that she had clearly been crying.

“Oh, Usagi…” Rei said, making her way up to the desk and looking over Usagi’s shoulder, to see that the girl had been reduced to writing illegible scribble at this point.

“I mean… I know he said he wouldn’t be able to contact me at first but… just one letter? Just something to let me know he’s thinking of me? That he hasn’t run off with some girl he met in America? Is that so much to ask?” Usagi asked, still not looking at Rei.

“No… of course not, it’s-”

“It’s my fault.” Usagi said, stopping Rei cold.

“... What? What do you mean it’s ‘your fault’? How is it ‘your fault’ that your boyfriend is scum?” Rei asked, not pulling any punches.

“What?!” Usagi exclaimed, finally turning around and facing Rei, “What are you talking about?! Don’t call him-!”

“He has never treated you right! And now he runs off to America and can’t even be bothered to write a letter? I’ll call him whatever I wanna call him!” Rei shouted, her blood boiling.

“You don’t get it… I was always so whiny, and childish, and annoying… I mean, just look at my room… no wonder he would be glad to get away from me… and then when he does, I flood his mail with letters… He…”

“He’s worthless!” Rei shouted as she had not been the fondest of Mamoru for quite some time, but now she was finally able to express some of that disdain.

“Stop saying that! Look at me! Why would he settle for me?! You say it yourself all the time, I’m dumb, and a klutz, and a crybaby, and-”

“SO?! Who cares if you are all those things?! It’s still on him, not you!”

“How can you say that?! How does that make any-?”

“BECAUSE EVEN IF YOU ARE ALL THOSE THINGS I STILL LOVE YOU!” Rei blurted out, unable to stop herself from finally revealing her true feelings. A moment of silence hung in the air, Usagi staring at her wide-eyed before the raven-haired girl finally spoke again.

“I love you because you’re a klutz… and a crybaby… and childish… because those are the things that make you you.” Rei said, taking the other girl’s hands, “And if he doesn’t feel the same way… that’s on him, not you.” 

“You… love me?” Usagi finally squeaked out, looking up at Rei.

“... yes.” She said, pulling her hands back, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’ll go.”

“No, wait!” Usagi pleaded, grabbing Rei by the wrist to keep her from leaving, “... for how long?”

Rei simply looked away in silence, unable to meet the smaller girl’s gaze, “Years… look, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dropped that on you, I just-”

“Please don’t apologize.” Usagi said, moving her hand from Rei’s wrist down to her hand, “... I guess that explains why you’re always so mean to me. It’s because you liiike me.” Usagi teased, a bit of life coming back to her face.

“Yeah yeah, look, we don’t have to talk about-”

“Did you mean all that stuff you said? Y’know… about loving me because of… all that stuff?” Usagi asked timidly, removing her hand from Rei’s and averting her eyes to the ground.

Rei paused for a moment, before gently placing her thumb under Usagi’s chin, directing her face back toward her, “Yes. Every word of it.”

Usagi threw herself into Rei’s chest, wrapping her arms around her and clinging on for dear life, “Can you… can you just hold me for a bit…?”

Rei blushed a bit, not quite sure how to respond, “Usagi, I-”

“Please?” Usagi squeaked out, her face still buried in Rei’s chest.

Rei simply looked down at her, before wrapping her arms around the smaller girl and holding her close, gently stroking her hair, “Okay… okay…”

…

Once Usagi calmed down a bit, Rei stayed with her until she was sure she was going to be okay. It was then that she finally stood up to take her leave.

“Alright, well… I should get going…”

“Okay Rei… and don’t worry… I’ll be at the shrine tomorrow.” Usagi said with a weak smile, standing up as well to see her out.

“You’d better.” Rei said with a smirk, “And about that other… thing… we don’t have to talk about it again, it doesn’t have to mean anything, we can just-”

“But what if I want it to?” Usagi asked, once again stopping Rei in her tracks.

“I… what?”

“What if…” Usagi began, fidgeting with her hands, “What if I want it to mean something?”

Rei smiled as she looked into the smaller girl’s eyes, “You have… no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that. But you’re… well… vulnerable right now. And I wouldn’t want to take advantage of you.”

“But you’re not! I-”

“Listen.” Rei said firmly, “After some time… if you still feel that way… I would be more than happy to try.” She said, lightly squeezing Usagi’s hand.

“Hmmm… okay.” Usagi said, planting a quick kiss on Rei’s cheek, before pulling back with a smile, “I suppose I can wait a bit.”

Rei blushed lightly from the kiss, already regretting the whole ‘give her some time’ thing as Usagi led her out of the house, but she knew it was the right thing to do.

After they said their goodbyes, Usagi simply watched as Rei left, a small smile appearing on her face.

“Y’know, I really like that girl.” Her mother said, glad to see Usagi finally come out of her room.

“Yeah… me too.”

----

So yeah, if you couldn’t already tell this is meant to be kind of an alternate take on what happened during Stars.

Anyway, that’s day two! I’m fully aware the ‘argument’ part of this fic wasn’t very long but... look, I tried, okay?

Please come back tomorrow for Day 3: Vacation! I’ve got something cooked up for the ChibiTaru fans so if that includes you you definitely won’t want to miss it!

But until then, please let me know what you thought! Comments, reblogs, likes, etc. are much appreciated!

And until next time, take care everyone!

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #72

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. The following is a continuation of yesterday's Brain Curd - read that first!

Postal Fred raised his hand. “Can I go first?”

Cody gave an affirmative hand gesture.

“I’ve been doing good lately, mostly, but I had a setback. You remember that guy who kept putting the wrong amount of postage on everything? A couple days ago, he came in, and I tried to stay calm, but it was too much to take. The label said it was for a three pound box with dimensions of twelve by twelve by twelve, but it was a four-and-a-half pound box with dimensions of twelve by ten by thirteen!”

“What happened?” Cody asked, with all the patience and grace of a kindergarten teacher.

“I did what I believe any self-respecting postal worker would do. I followed protocol and told him this was insufficient postage and that he could either pay for a new label here or go back home and print one with accurate numbers.”

The group snapped in applause.

“That doesn’t sound so bad, Fred.”

“Exactly. That’s when it got bad. He started arguing with me, saying no one was going to notice ‘one pound’ and that the size was ‘close enough’ and that the price difference was ‘nothing’. I told him, hey man, we can’t bend the rules to save you a dollar, we’ll go broke, and he started throwing coins at me, saying, ‘Fine! Fine! Let me buy a stamp to make up the difference! I don’t have time for this, I’m a busy man!’.”

Fred started crying, and put his face in his hands.

“That’s not how it works!”

Roberta put her hand on his back to comfort him. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

He hugged her tightly, burying his face into her abdomen. Government Man thought it looked very uncomfortable, since Roberta had very defined and firm abdominal muscles.

Cody waited a moment to see if Fred had anything more to say. “Thank you for sharing,” he said, before moving on to someone else. Pablo raised his hand and Cody gave him a thumbs-up.

“My bakery has been attacked once again by the Yeastie Boys. They smashed the back window and unlocked the door, then came in and took all my honey and left several gallons of homebrew mead. I think what gets to me the most is all the questions: like, if they didn’t have honey, how did they make the mead? And why do they leave things behind like that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Richard half-raised his hand. “Was the mead any good?”

“I don’t know, I don’t drink.”

“Do you… do you have any left?”

“The police took it as evidence.”

“Dammit.” Richard crossed his arms. “They’re just gonna drink it themselves.”

Pablo continued. “Last time they left behind the best croissants I have ever tasted. I’d think about hiring these crooks if I knew who they were. I just want them to stop stealing my ingredients! I couldn’t fulfill a large order for cornbread because I had no honey. I’m in danger of bankruptcy.” He sighed. “Anyway, that’s all that’s going on with me.

Cody looked around and set his eyes on the theater usher. “Deborah, do you have anything to share?”

“Not really… Honestly, once I stopped trying to stop Charlie from sneaking into the theater, things went back to normal. I’ve just been living my life again. It’s nice.”

The group snapped in applause. They sure liked doing that.

Cody turned his gaze. “Richard?”

“Nothing new to report this week. The plumbing business has been reasonably stable.”

All eyes were on Government Man, now. He didn’t like it.

“Government Man,” Cody said, “How much can you share about your adversary?”

He swallowed. “My adversary is… classified. But I will tell you this: He is always one step ahead of me. I have never seen him and yet he knows exactly how to manipulate me. He has impersonated my coworker. He has escaped my grasp. He has infiltrated my dreams. I have not slept a full night since our first encounter. All I want is for things to be how they once were. For things to go back to normal. Everything used to be so easy then - go here, go there, shoot that, cuff him, follow that car… I’m trapped now. Trapped in this diabolical plot.”

Government Man leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I don’t feel like myself anymore.”

Cody put his hands together and leaned forward. He spoke softly. “Things can be okay again. You just have to let him go.”

“I cannot do that. I cannot let him get away.”

“You don’t have to. But you need to stop thinking about him at every moment, or else he wins. Because if you don’t get the rest you need, Government Man, you won’t be able to stop him.”

Government Man’s weary eyes met Cody’s.

“Find any sort of healthy distraction you can. Maybe get a new plant for your garden.”

Government Man took a deep breath and let it out.

[xxrainshadowsxx]

Interpersonal Chapter 11

Dealing with the fallout of him opening his mouth. Also they get to be cute for a while because I'm a sucker for that.

“What in the ever-loving hell are you thinking?” you squeak, your voice several octaves higher than usual.

“That this is going to come out. This way, we can at least control how,” he says calmly as he starts to dress himself. “My PR team will release a statement, and we’ll be subject to media gossip for a few weeks, but you knew that. But since we’re saying something, it doesn’t give anyone else the chance to out us before we’re ready.” He walks over and runs his hands over your arms. “Trust me with the public stuff, okay? I said I’ll protect you, and I will. And the first thing I’m doing is getting you out of here.”

You take a deep breath, but nod, and both of you hasten to finish getting dressed. No sooner has he gotten his jacket in place when there’s a pounding on the door. “Dammit,” he grumbles. “Stick by me, keep your head down, and don’t say anything,” he orders quickly before pulling you into his side, arms forming a protective shield around you.

He opens the door, and sure enough, both his lawyers and his PR team are there, demanding answers from the both of you, but you keep your head down just as he says, eyes never leaving the floor, and allow him to lead you away. His entourage follows, drawing the attention of most everyone else, but he gets you to the front of the building. Only then does he turn to them.

“I’ll say more tomorrow. I’m leaving for the day,” he snaps, and with that you take your leave. He’s driven himself today, and the same car that he’d taken to your house over the weekend is waiting for you outside. You gratefully climb in.

“That wasn’t fun,” you comment as he gets in next to you, to which he winces.

“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s gonna be like this for a couple of days. You think you can handle it?” He gives you a pleading look, and you just smile and nod. That was always going to be your answer, because he was worth every second of scrutiny.

“I have you. We can get through anything,” you reassure. He leans over and gives you another kiss, which you relish. Yes, with him, you could do this. It wasn’t going to be fun, but you knew it was going to have to be the price to pay. He was worth it.

You expect him to take you home, but he takes you to his mansion instead. You don’t mind; you’re eager to see more of the place. He seems to read your mind. “Want the tour?” he asks after the car is parked.

He shows you around, but it seems more than half of the house goes unused. It’s sad that he’s stuck alone in this giant place. However, you stay silent until the two of you get back to his bedroom.

It looks mostly the same as last time you were here, though there aren’t any clothes tossed haphazardly on the floor anymore. There is one addition, however, that catches your eye.

It’s a picture in a frame on his nightstand. You pick it up curiously. It’s of the two of you, arm in arm, at that gala a few weeks ago. It seems a lifetime away. “Where did you get this?” you ask.

“That’s the one that’s been floating around online when there were a bunch of articles wondering if we were dating back then,” he grins sheepishly. “I found a copy and had it printed over the weekend.”

“Why did you never clarify we weren’t dating at that?” you wonder. “Surely it would have been less of a headache?”

“Full disclosure?” He comes over and slips an arm around your waist. “Because I wanted to be dating you at that point. By not denying anything, I was allowed to still have hope. I don’t know if you can understand how hard it was for me not to tell you or kiss you that night.”

“I wanted to, too,” you whisper. “I would’ve let you if you tried.” With that, you snake your arms around his neck, pulling him down to press your lips against his, slow and sweet.

You’re both smiling by the time you pull apart. You glance at the picture again. “I look really uncomfortable in that. We should take a better one. Gimme your phone?”

He quirks an eyebrow at you, but hands the phone to you. You have him sit on the edge of the bed before kneeling behind him, resting your chin on his shoulder and hugging him with one arm. You hold the phone out with your free hand and snap the picture. “There. Much better,” you decide as you look it over.

“You’re surprisingly calm considering everything that’s about to happen,” he murmurs. “I’m impressed actually.”

“I’m calm because I’m distracting myself and not allowing myself to think about it,” you explain with a sigh, flopping back on the bed. “I don’t think it’s really hit me how much attention this is going to get. I avoided it after the gala. Be honest, how bad is the press going to be?”

He lays down next to you and almost absentmindedly pulls you into his chest as he thinks over his answer. “My guess is that it’ll be pretty nasty for about a week, then they’ll get bored and find something else to turn their attention to. It would have been worse if someone had found out instead of us saying something, that much I can guarantee.” After a moment, he turns to you with a look of faux annoyance on his face. “You’ve put me in a very bad position, you know that?”

You can’t help but laugh at his expression. “Why? Because you couldn’t keep it in your pants?” you tease.

“Well, kind of,” he rolls his eyes, but he’s still smiling, so you figure you can continue to get away with your teasing. “But I’m referring to the fact that I’m going to have to hire a new PA now. I’m not looking forward to it.”

You actually hadn’t thought about that. “So, I don’t know if this is my place, but I have a requirement that I wanted to talk to you about in regards to that,” you say slowly, watching his face closely to see how he’ll react.

Thankfully, he seems open to the idea. “Yes?”

“Don’t fuck this one.” He blinks once, then bursts into a fit of laughter, hugging you even tighter.

“I can promise I won’t fuck the new one,” he eventually manages to get out once his laughs have died down. “I’ll tell you what. I'll get a guy. Would that make you feel better?”

“You could fuck a guy just as easily as you could a girl,” you shrug.

“Touché,” he acquiesces. “But either way, I’ve told you I’ve never felt this way before. I don’t plan on throwing it away.” He snuggles his face into your neck; you’re quickly learning that physical touch is one of his primary love languages. “You’re going to be stuck with me for a very, very long time if I get my way,” he says, his voice slightly muffled.

“I think I can put up with that,” you hum, slowly scrunching your hands through his hair because you know he loves it when you do that. You’re both silent for a long time, so long that your eyelids have closed and you’re fairly certain he’s already fallen asleep, but his voice breaks the silence, proving you wrong.

“Stay with me tonight?” he asks, his voice thick with sleep.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you promise, and you mean it in the double sense of the words. Of course you would stay tonight. And you planned to stay, just as he did, for a very long time.

The next morning found you waking to a very loud and highly annoying blaring alarm. You raise your head from where it had been resting on his chest to glare at his phone that served as said alarm clock, but you couldn’t figure out how to make it shut up.

Miraculously, he was still somehow sleeping through the noise. You guess he’d become deaf to it after a while. You start shaking his shoulder to wake him. Even with that, it takes several moments before he blearily begins to open his eyes.

“Wh-what is it?” he manages to get out around a yawn.

“Turn it off, Oncie,” you complain. He finally reaches over to do so, but gives you a strange look as he does. It’s only then that you register what you said. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” you wince. “I know you don’t like being called that.”

“Yeah. I usually don't,” he says slowly as the blaring of the alarm finally stops. “But for some reason, I don’t mind when you say it. It’s confusing me a little.”

You say nothing, but can’t stop the thrill of glee that runs through you. Instead, you just roll off his body so he can start getting ready, but he grabs you and pulls you right back.

“You woke me up half an hour before I usually get up,” he mumbles sleepily before you can question him. “I’m not going anywhere yet.” You settle back down on his chest, now armed with the knowledge that if he can sleep through that alarm for half an hour, he is officially the world’s heaviest sleeper.

Sure enough, half an hour later when the alarm goes off again, it takes another several shakes before you can pull him into any form of consciousness. When he finally does wake up, he stretches like a cat before making his way to the washroom.

“You wanna come shower with me?” he calls before sticking a toothbrush in his mouth. You make a mental note to bring some of your own toiletries soon; you have a feeling you were going to be staying the night often.

“I usually shower at night,” you say as you sit up and stretch your back out a bit yourself. “And honestly, I was planning on going home for the day. I don’t think I necessarily need to shower for that.”

He pokes his head back into the bedroom, now looking extremely confused. “Why would you head home?” he asks. “I know it won’t be fun, but we do kind of have to give a statement today. You said you were okay with that?”

You blink at him a few times, just to make sure you heard him correctly. “Yes, but I didn’t realize I’d have to be around for that,” you protest, your voice sounding oddly strangled. “I thought it was just going to be you saying something, and then we’d spend the next week avoiding people.”

“And that’s exactly what we’ll do.” He comes back into the room and sits on the bed across from you, taking your hands into his. “You don’t have to say or do anything. I just want you there so we can present a united front, so we can prove we’re in this together. But if you really don’t want to come with me today, I’m not going to force you.”

You chew on the inside of your cheek as you mull it over. Unfortunately, his point was incredibly well-thought out, and you couldn’t think of any way to reasonably refute it. But that didn’t mean you were going to look forward to it. “Fine. I’ll go,” you give in with a sigh. “But you owe me big time.”

He gets a wicked, meaning-laden grin on his face. “I can think of several ways to pay you back,” he promises, then kisses your cheek with a loud smack before returning to his shower.

You shake your head slightly, but also can’t help the small smile on your lips. You hope he didn’t realize how endearing he was, because he could use that to get anything he wanted from you. It was utterly infuriating, but in the best way.

You decide you might as well get dressed, so you stand and head over to his dresser. Your clothes from yesterday were folded neatly on top. He’d lent you a T-shirt, the same one from the morning after your first night together, for you to sleep in, but you pull it off now to get dressed. Yes, you definitely have to start leaving some of your things here, or you were sure you’d be wearing the same thing two, three days in a row, and that would be enough to draw eyebrows from anyone you ended up working for.

He finishes his shower just as you finish getting dressed. He comes out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, thick dark hair still glistening with water. Fuck. You couldn’t not stare if you had tried.

He pretends not to notice until he reaches his closet and pulls one of his countless green suits from its hanger. “It’s not polite to stare,” he teases.

“Then don’t look so good,” you shoot back, not missing a beat. He finishes getting dressed himself and turns back to you, an odd expression that you can’t quite read on his face.

“You really like the way I look?” he asks, any hint of teasing gone.

Good Lord. His family must have done a number on him growing up. Underneath the bravado he projected, he was an incredibly damaged man, desperately hoping that you weren’t going to turn out like everyone else in his life. And you were very much looking forward to being that exception.

You walk over to him and take his face between your hands, forcing him to look into your eyes. “Yes. I love the way you look,” you promise before kissing him quickly. Along with physical touch, it seemed as though words of affirmation was his other major love language. You were more than happy to provide. “Now let’s go tell the world, shall we?”

He covers your hand with one of his, looking far more comforted. “Yes. Lets.” He leads you back through his mansion to the garage, and takes you to the office.

The second you walk in, people start staring at you. Part of that was probably because of your hasty retreat the day before, and part of it was probably because his arm had found its way around your waist, and for the moment you didn’t think he had any intention of moving it any time soon. Your face is already starting to burn up, but he successfully ignores everyone and keeps a level head as you make your way towards his office. His calm helps keep you from panicking.

You’re not expecting it to be empty, and sure enough, his lawyers and his PR people are waiting for you. He scowls when he sees his lawyers. “Why are you here?” he growls. “Her NDA issue has already been settled. We have nothing more to discuss as far as that is concerned. Get out.” The two of them look affronted, but duck out of the room, heads together, whispering conspiratorially. You have a shrewd suspicion they’ll find more to complain about soon.

He sighs and sits in his usual chair. You look for one you can take for yourself, but he pulls you down to sit next to him. His chair is large enough to fit both of you, but only just; you’re practically plastered to his side.

“Sir,” the man who you’re fairly certain is the head of PR (despite being his PA for several months, you haven’t dealt with PR much face-to-face) begins. “One of the employees noticed your… connection to your PA yesterday and said something to the press. There are now rumors circulating of inappropriate conduct in the workplace. While we’re working to find the perpetrator, we must advise against any kind of relationship with this woman, for the sake of the company.”

Damn. They were talking about you like you weren’t even in the room. You don’t blame Onceler’s knuckles for going white on the edge of his desk before he addresses them. You’d be furious too if anyone talked about him that way, so it’s almost sweet to see how angry he’s getting on your behalf.

“First of all, you’re going to talk about her like a person, not a goddamn object if you want to keep your jobs,” he hisses. “Second, you don’t get to control either of our personal lives, so here’s what we’re going to do instead.” His tone is measured, but you can hear the anger simmering beneath the surface. Underneath the table, you grab one of his hands, offering him what peace you had, though your own nerves were shot as well. It seems to work though; some of the tension leaves his shoulders as he continues. “You’re going to release a statement confirming the rumors. You’re also going to say that she is no longer working for the company, and that nothing inappropriate happened while she was an employee. And that is going to get run by me, before it gets sent out. Understood?”

Some of them look like they want to argue further, but after a tense minute, one by one they all slump under the furious, unyielding look he’s giving them. “Understood, sir,” the head of the department says in a defeated voice before they start to leave.

“And I want an ad put out for a new PA!” Onceler calls out after them before they can exit the room. The second the door closes, his gaze softens and he pulls you onto his lap.

“Well it’s done,” you murmur. “And now we wait?”

“And now we wait.”

You didn't have to wait long. As early as the next day, there were online articles, news stories, and magazines that seemed completely captivated by what you considered to be something very normal. So you happened to meet someone you liked and decided to date him. Nothing newsworthy about that.

Still, it was the most surreal experience of your life to go to the grocery store one afternoon and see your own face staring back at you from a tabloid cover. You'd actually grabbed that magazine and started to read that story, but quickly stopped when it wasted no time calling you a slut, saying you only got his attention by throwing yourself at him, for his money of course.

After that, you didn't leave his house much. He was wisely keeping you away from the paparazzi and most of the other articles, and you didn't want to risk any members of the press finding out where you lived and getting Henry dragged into this yet again.

But spending long hours cooped up in that giant house meant you were bored out of your goddamn mind. Onceler was desperately trying to help, cutting his hours, coming home for lunch, even doing his best to remember to text you during the day, but it wasn't enough. You thought you might go mad, were it not for one thing.

The time you did have with him became your sanctuary. Every kiss was worth a thousand magazine stories questioning your integrity, every touch of his fingers worth a thousand stares from shameless others.

Your ultimate reward came late one night a little over a week after everything had come out. You'd sat down to watch a movie with him, but hadn't even made it five minutes in before you were straddling his waist, grinding your hips down on him, and engaged in a full-blown make out session.

He pulls his lips away from yours, so you just move to kissing along his jawline and down his neck. You aren't interested in anything that doesn't involve putting your mouth on any point of this man's body that's in reach at the moment. So when his own mouth moves up to your ear, it takes you a minute to process that he's actually whispering words into it. "Move in with me."

When the words do register, you reluctantly pull away, because unfortunately, they carry enough weight to require a conversation. "You want me to move in?" you ask, just to clarify you weren't hearing things.

"Yeah. I do." Okay, you absolutely weren't hearing things. "You're over here all the time anyway. And if you feel like you need your own space, I have the room for that." He starts kissing right below your ear. "Move in with me," he whispers again. 

You force yourself to pull away once more. "I'm still stuck for a few months on a lease I signed," you murmur. "And it would be really mean to Henry to just drop on him that he suddenly now has to pay the entire rent."

"Let me buy you out of your lease," he offers with zero hesitation. "Hell, I'll even pay the guy what your rent would've been the rest of the year if that's what it takes."

You couldn't even pretend like you weren't tempted by that. Despite the relatively short time you'd been together, you'd known him longer than some of your other relationships. You did want to move in with him. But words from those articles floated to the front of your mind unbidden. Gold-digger.

"I don't know," you say hesitatingly. "I told you, I'm not after your money, and that's an awful lot to spend on me…"

He shuts you up with a kiss. "You didn't ask for it. I offered. There's a difference," he insists. "I want to do this for you, for us. Let me?"

You don't have any arguments after that. "Okay," you agree, and with that word he kisses you as hard as he can, genuinely delighted.

The press could fucking talk about you all they wanted. You had each other and you knew the truth, and you were the only ones that mattered. You had him, and that was all you needed.

[dragonmasterkaylz]

Cute & Nerdy- Dean Winchester x Nerd! Reader

Warning: I’ve never done an ‘x Reader’ fanfic before so don’t judge. Don’t like, don’t read.

It was no surprise that Dean Winchester had a crush on Y/N. She was cute, a great hunter and she had no problem being herself. They first met her in a Vampire Nest and, to their surprise, she wasn’t scared. She was smart and she obviously had a plan. By the time the brothers got there, the Nest was cleared out.

“Holy shit…! Are you a Hunter?!”, Dean asked. Y/N nodded and said, “And these Vamps were pretty stupid. They didn’t search me for any knives, or even my gun”. Sam smiled and said, “Well, good job”. She smiled back and then put her weapons away before saying, “I hope I see you both again~!” Dean hummed and said, “She’s cute…”. “Aww… someone’s gotta a crush”, Sam teased. “Shut up!”

And Sam turned out to be right, especially when she started living with them. He quickly found out that she was a nerd and that made her even more attractive. Usually, he wouldn’t have a problem asking a girl out… but this was different. “Dude. You’re in love with her”. Dean gave his brother a look and said, “No, I’m not!”

The door to the Bunker opened and Y/N ran down the stairs, humming to herself. “Woah! You look different!” “Yup~! I decided to dye my hair F/C. What do you think?”, she asked. Sam smiled and said, “I think it looks great. Fits your whole aesthetic. Dean?” The older Winchester just nodded and said, “Looks great…”. But inside, he was screaming. ‘She’s too goddamn cute!’

“Also, I have a side job at the nearest Comic Book Store”. Dean choked on his drink and said, “You do?” Y/N nodded and said, “We need to get money in somehow. I know it’s not much… but it’s something”. “That’s very responsible of you Y/N. Thank you. We really appreciate it”, Sam said. She giggled and said, “The owner even gives me some of his product to be put around my room. Isn’t that awesome?”

“No! No, it’s not!”, Dean shouted as he stood up. “It’s obvious that this man wants to get in your pants!” She blinked in confusion. “Why would he do that? I mean, I’m not exactly—!” He stood up and grabbed her arm before walking out into the hall. “Smooth Dean, real smooth”, Sam mumbled to himself as he tried to find a case for them.

The two walked into the ‘Dean Cave’ and Y/N asked, “What’s going on with you?!” “Okay, you listen to me. It’s obvious that this man finds you attractive and is trying to get into pants by bribing you with things you might like. And that’s dangerous!” She frowned and looked down, then he lifted her head up. “Look, I’m not saying you should quit. But— dammit!”

He walked away from Y/N and rubbed the back of his neck. “Dean, what’s going on with you? You’ve been acting strange lately”. “Because I like you Y/N!!! That’s why!!! And… the fact that other men look at you with lust in their eyes, just pisses me off. But, you don’t seem to notice!” She walked up to him and said, “Maybe because I don’t care about them…”. “What are you talking about?”

She giggled and her cheeks turned pink as she grabbed his flannel and pulled him in for a kiss. Dean’s eyes widened in shock, but then he slowly kissed her back, pulling her close. Once they broke apart she said, “And you call me blind”. He stroked her cheek and chuckled. “I suppose I am. I love you Y/N, I really do”. She smiled and said, “I love you too, Dean”. Then they hugged each other.

“Okay… when’s your next shift?”

“Tomorrow. Why?”

The next day, Dean walked into the Comic Book Store and Y/N waved at him as she sorted out the comic books. He looked at the Funko Pops, when the Owner asked, “Can I help you?” “Yeah, you can…”, Dean said before walking up to him. “You’re gonna leave my girlfriend alone. Or else”. Then Y/N hugged his arm. “Damn… your girlfriend sure has a—!!!”

Dean punched him and shouted, “Look at her like that again and I’ll put holes in your knees! Understand me?! Do I make myself clear?!” The owner nodded as he felt blood run out of his nose. “Asshole”. Dean then walked out of the store and said, “You be careful, okay? I think he gets the message. Call me if anything else happens”. She nodded and kissed him, before saying, “Thank you, sweetie”.

END

[constantvariations]

V9C7

I am postponing writing a very delicious scene so y’all better appreciate this ;P

Post Ep: these last 3 eps are going to be carrying so much weight but at least we might be working towards Ruby’s decaying arc

Okay, totally random thought while I was watching the OP (I always watch OPs unless they’re particularly awful. It’s a compulsion idk) but I think it’d be hella cool if the blacksmith was Alyx. Whether the real Alyx isn’t the one who made it out or she came back for whatever reason (not dying ever is appealing to some, I hear), it’d be a neat twist

I’m not into 3d animation, so I can’t say a whole lot, but are the textures supposed to be this... weird? Last episode I said Jaune’s house looked like a ps2 game and it just keeps going

“I’m late! I’m late!” Okay, that’s a decent Alice in Wonderland nod. Not overdone or wink wonked, which can be annoying to those who don’t know the joke (man, I should watch Shrek again. The first two movies are masterpieces)

Wait, was that a dammit? Jaune canonically swears now. Huh

“Right on time.” It’s obviously not a time loop so what does this mean? Did the time fruit do more than just send him back in time but gave him even more of a spotlight in Wonderland? He’s a rusted knight, he’s the white rabbit, he’s murbling like he’s the mad hatter; what next, is he gonna be Jesus?

“Hurry! People are counting on us.” Uhhh people counted on you to fight the jabberwock and y’all bailed like frightened horses. I wouldn’t count on you with my fingers, much less my life

PAPER TOWNS MY BELOATHED

Okay, so we’re being hit yet again with the “what are you” question, which wouldn’t be weird if it wasn’t just our protags being bombarded with it. Surely there are some critters who venture over into new areas? Or perhaps new life occurs every now and again? The repetition has been annoying for a while, but it’s venturing into just plain silly “-so that we may serve you.” What. Why. Kill me

While I do like the designs of the paper stars, I’m really not digging the vibes. Sorry stars, you will never be the plupples from the Hot Daga

“Paper pleasers” I hate that I actually like that pun

Why is the team reacting so negatively to the stars being named after them? That’s genuinely fucking sad. Yet another instance of the show zooming by actual trauma for a cheap gag

Dude has spent who know how many years without a genuine personal connection, has been spending that time exploring the area and gaining its people’s trust, AND has shared his home with these people, yet when they talk to him about anything Wonderland related, they act like he’s saying he’s going to make them into shoes or something while having the audacity to be disappointed that he doesn’t have a solid lead on getting out. These girls are deplorable

Why are RWBY so lackluster about doing literal life-saving tasks while Jaune follows a hunch? You’re Hunters, that’s your job. Quit acting like life in Wonderland is beneath you because you don’t understand it jfc

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different visual styles in a single show before. There’s the standard 3d, the color silhouettes (solid and textured), some microsoft paint scribbles, a few 2d stills, and now this children’s book style. Feels like an identity crisis

I understand Jaune’s perception of the tree, but I really don’t like how he overrides the autonomy of the villagers. If they’re literally willing to self-mutilate in order to leave, that’s probably a sign that you should let them go

Love how Weiss’s interest in Jaune disappears the moment he shows signs of mental illness. Gives me the warm and fuzzies *smash cut to me barfing in a dumpster*

“Because I can actually protect these people!” That is definitely a response to trauma that fits well with this narrative. Let’s see how MKEK fuck it up!

Jaune kills 2 jabbers in like 0.0003 seconds. Why in the everloving fuck did y’all have to run before?

I’m just realizing this is the first fight I’ve actually paid attention to. No idea why, but every fight previous my eyes have just glazed over. But I gotta say, I think the camera is way too close to the action. There’s definitely some interesting choreography going on but it’s hard to get a grasp on where everyone is at any point, and the bland environment isn’t helping. Go watch John Wick for some pointers

Unsure as to why Ruby is a) the only one apparently traumatized to the point of nearly 180-ing her character and b) why it’s specifically Crescent Rose/combat that triggers her. MKEK know how to throw bones but they can’t dish out any real substance

Someone please give that creature a cough drop or something because I cannot understand a word this fucker says

I thought Neo’s semblance was illusions? Pretty sure it’s called Imagination, which definitely implies it’s not a physical shifting ability. So, if the jabber-Neo had taken a bite of Ruby, would that mean Neo is chomping down? Would Ruby get stabbed with semblance glass? Or did the writers forget their own rules again?

ONCE A FUCKING GAIN WE ARE INTERRUPTED LITERALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEONE ASKING IF RUBY IS OKAY. WE ARE SEVEN EPISODES INTO A TEN EPISODE SEASON GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT

This “don’t ask me because I’m a leader” bit is really strange coming right off the several minute conversation about finding leads to getting home where not one person even looked at Ruby. Like, this was a request for supporting a platitude not a demand for a plan

“Why do I have to be the one to always pick people up?” First of all, no one asked you to, so jot that down. Second of all, bitch you have never been the sole sally sunshine, nor were you the only one helping others with emotions. Yang picked up Blake in V2, Jaune reassured YOU back in V4, Weiss talked to Yang in V5, Qrow comforted YOU in V7 and his main source of kindness was Clover (rip good boy). You’ve had your moments but don’t act like you’re the only one pulling emotional weight

Also, this voice acting is making me laugh I cannot take this seriously whatsoever

Why in the hickory dickory fuck is Blake hiding behind Yang and YANG WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE YOUR SISTER IS A FUCKING THREAT

In this scenario, it does make sense why Jaune’s the one who snaps, but holy cannoli batman I cannot stop thinking about how much better Yang would’ve been in this position, especially after the group split in V8. Sure, that conflict was contrite to begin with and its resolution unmemorable (did it even resolve? I’m not subjecting myself to V8 again), but it’d be so much spicier if the family divide grew in absence

Skipping right past Ruby’s breakdown to focus on Jaune’s. Huzzah. At least his is more interesting and grounded than hers

Genuinely impressed with Luna’s voice here. Dude should go bananas more often

I am once again asking if the team knows about Penny or if Jaune’s been keeping that juicy bit to himself. The way the camera focused on his mouth made it seem like he was about to confess, but it was a tease. I got narrative blue balls over here man, get on with it

Wasn’t it usually Yang who tried for positivity in dark times? Or did that get left at Beacon too? Blake’s supposed to be the realist, which maybe that’s what she was trying to do here but considering her track record I doubt it

And R leaves WBY behind! Please let this mean we can FINALLY focus on her shit and not cut away from it? And they better bring the cat back or Else

[lakes-writting-rambles]

#1-2 mlb x sdr2 crossover

words: 2458

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

( Ibuki pov ) 

Ibuki wanted to talk to Hajime, he seemed nice. Maybe he’d like Ibuki’s new song! She doesn’t know, but hey, worth a shot.

“Yooo~ Kaz, have you seen Hajimee?” - Ibuki says, zir kinda expects him to know something. 

“Nope” - Kazuichi says with a pop. Ibuki thinks it’s funny - “I’ve been looking for Miss Sonia this entire time. He’s probably Chiaki and Nagito, though.”

“Hmm... makes sense. He IS Chiaki’s best friend, or at least Ibuki thinks so…”

“Wait, isn’t Nagito friends with Miss Sonia?” 

“Yup-!” - Ibuki says replicating the pop Kazuichi added to his “nope’ earlier. - “They chat a lot about books. Once Ibuki saw them discussing a book with a weird title and wanted to join in, but they said they weren’t sure Ibuki’d like it-”

“Hate to interrupt ya, but shouldn’t we search for them before lunch ends? We’re taking so long, Miss Sonia might be an old lady by the time we find her! Not like she’d be any less gorgeous, though! I’m sure Miss Sonia will look great no matter what.” - Ibuki has turned herself out at this point, Kazuichi has stars in his eyes and is practically drooling.

Ibuki sees Akane in the distance and heads towards her.

( Hajime pov ) 

Nagito seems to be fiddling with something, he seems distracted. There’s a strange beauty to it, just seeing him in his “natural habitat” like that - ‘he’s kinda cute… wait no, shut up- this is literally the first day- I’m not an elementary school girl. I’m just looking forward to befriending him, that’s all.’ - as if sensing I was thinking of him, he turns to look at us. He is wearing a warm smile, the one that seems to ease any type of anxiety.

As we head towards him, I see that he hasn’t touched his food. “Nagito- what the hell- why haven’t you eaten anything…”

“Oh! Hajime, even scum can tell it’s rude to eat before everyone is at the table!”

“You don’t have to worry about that, you know… Hajime and I said we were gonna chat, you should’ve just started eating…” - Chiaki looks lost in thought for a second, she’s doing that little pout thing she always does. - “Doesn’t matter now, anyway. Let’s just eat.”

( Nagito pov )

‘Chiaki really is a lifesaver, huh… I feel as if it were up to me and Hajime this would’ve become awkward really fast- them again! Not to bundle him up with someone as disgustingly bad at everything-’

“Hey… Nagito?”

“Hmm?” - Now that I'm able to actually take a good look at him… he’s really pretty… His somehow spikey hazel hair fits so well with his light-green almost yellow eyes, he seems to be well built… ‘Wait…- that’s so creepy- why am I like this- just make conversation like a normal person-’ 

“I was wondering… can you show me around the school?” - Hajime said, while shoving the rest of his food down his throat, kind of a funny sight. 

“Oh, I could never do a proper job at showing you around! I would forget to show most things and I’m sure Chiaki would be more than happy to accompany you-”

“Well,, uhmm,, she’s kinda…” - Hajime points to his side with his head. Which then leads me to realize that Chiaki fell asleep at some point and that likely time flew by faster than I could account for… I glance down at my plate and see that it too reflects the time that went by. 

“oH- right- how did I not notice that… Truly fitting for scum like me…” - As I finish saying that, Hajime looks slightly uncomfortable. ‘Dammit, I did it again. Great job, Nagito, you’re making such a good impression.’ - “Of course, I can show you around! To be trusted with such a task… I really am lucky…”

“Oookay… then I'll wait for you to finish eating.”

“Oh- no! I’m not even hungry anymore, let’s just go.” 

Hajime looks a bit uncomfortable as if he wants to say something about it, but then he shakes his head- I’m assuming he brushed the thought off. - “If you say so…” 

He gently holds Chiaki and takes her off his shoulder, resting her head on the table - she doesn’t wake up, which is impressive, honestly. ‘If Hajime were to do that to me, no matter how gentle he’s being, I'd wake up within a second! And it has nothing to do with how amazing he looks nor does it have to do with his kind personality hah… yeah… no…’

( Hajime pov )

Nagito starts giggling, cute- why is he giggling, though? 

As I finish putting Chiaki down, I back away and look Nagito in the eyes. He seems kinda far away… I probably shouldn’t mention it- I’ll just play safe and try to get the “tour” going- - “So… let’s go?” - I try smiling, and hope I don’t look like a dumbass. 

( Nagito pov )

‘Pr- no. No time to stare, just don’t be a fool and show him around. This is the only time he’ll get a first impression of the school, no openings for screw-ups.’

“...Well- you’ve already been to our class and the cafeteria, so I guess we can just go ahead..?”

“Yeah, sure, sure”

‘I’m so socially inept it should be a crime. He’ll hate me by the end of this for sure…’

We walk in silence for a bit, I’m not sure if it’s comforting or not, but no time to think about it, we reach the infirmary.

“Okay, so- here’s the infirmary- as you might have guessed i come here quite often… heh…” - he looks at me a bit concerned - “there is most medication and a way to treat most injuries, just nothing too serious, though - like, if you get hit by a car and break both of your legs they can keep them stable until you’re able to go to a hospital.”

“That was so weirdly specific I’m even scared to ask-”

“Has that never happened to you..?”

“...No?”

‘Of course.’

( Hajime pov )

After the tour, we had a relatively normal day of classes. I mean, this class is borderline insane, so as normal as that can get-

As I walk back to class to pack my things, I keep replaying our tour in my head… can’t help but pity him, even though I know it’s wrong. 

‘Was the tour awkward? Yes… Did I understand anything about the place? Not at all… But Nagito was pretty nice showing me around like that- and I hope I didn’t make anything awkward because holy shit how was I supposed to react?? I get a freaky accident once in a while- but just in these few minutes we spent together there was so much information to unpack- wow-’

Nagito didn’t seem like an average person from the start, but I didn’t expect for his life to be that miserable… if getting hit by cars is normal for him, then I don’t even want to know what would be considered… well- not.

Compared to him, even my worst moments seem really monotone - of course, my issues are simply me being a little bitch, as always… but I don’t know, it bothers me- even if I know I shouldn’t compare my misery to others’. 

Putting my things in my bag, I feel my phone vibrate.

-

Natsumi :

< what the fuck, man

Natsumi :

< i fucking told you you can count on me 

and my fucking brother just gets home and tells me 

all this shit???????

Natsumi :

< i’m not even confused, just mad 

You :

I knew you’d react like that - that’s why i didn’t say shit. >

And i didn’t even tell your brother- just said i know you >

and he connected the dots

Natsumi :

&lt; ah

< still, man

< you could have told me, yk? thought we were 

friends

You :

I’m gonna sound really stupid but i actually just forgot to >

tell you

Natsumi :

< PFFT you can’t be fuckingserious 

< you absolute moron

You :

bYE. I gotta go home, belittle me later&lt;3 >

-

Before she can reply I turn my phone off, only feeling the vibrations and knowing I’d have to deal with that soon. 

Since the school is relatively close to my house my parents decided I should walk, only taking me in the morning because it overlaps with their jobs’ schedules. I try to distract myself while heading home and that’s when I see an old dude trying to cross the street and wait… sHIT IS THAT A CAR HEADING TOWARDS HIM??????? WHY WON’T IT FUCKING STOP-

‘Shit shit shit shitshitshit-’

“MISTER, LOOK OUT.” - I scream as I run towards him. Luckily I’m able to grab his hand and pull him out of the street just in time.

‘Holy shit??????? I just did that- am I insane?????????’

“...Are you okay?” - I ask him while trying to calm myself down. He’s wearing a red shirt with what looks like palm tree leaves on it - he also has beige cargo shorts and sandals. 

“Indeed, I am. Thank you so much, kind young man.” - He walks away in the opposite direction, and I’m left wondering if he hit his head when I pulled him.

( Nagito pov )

Going home… a bitter experience. No one’s there to keep me company, just an empty space with nothing to do.

And it’s obnoxiously big too - I thought of buying another, smaller, apartment, but I can’t help but feel as if that would be disrespecting my late parents’ wishes, or killing them again, in a way. At least the money I got can keep a few people in their jobs… With no other family near, or alive, for that matter, the government judged that I should stay home because of my health issues. 

‘Maybe I should invite people over more often… but then again, I wouldn’t want to subject them to spending time with scum… Let’s start with something small, like a text message or a phone call, maybe-’

-

You :

Hey, Chiaki - can you maybe send me Hajime’s number? >

You :

If it isn’t a breach of his privacy, of course- haha trash like me >

couldn’t impose that on you-

Chiaki Nanami :

< yeah, sure, no problem

Chiaki Nanami:

< “hajime<3”’s contact

< there- sorry about the name, couldn’t bother to 

change it :/

You :

Thank you so much, Chiaki! :) >

-

And with that, I turn my phone off and keep heading home. - “Maybe I shouldn’t walk alone- I’m prone to get lost, after all…” - and as I finish processing that thought I see an old guy getting mugged. 

‘There we go. I knew it was too lucky of me to get Hajime’s phone number… should I do something about this? Hmm…’ - As I look down, I see a rock… maybe the size of a fist? - ‘Maybe if I throw this it’ll hit the mugger on the head and he’ll leave the old guy alone… Welp- here goes nothing-’

As expected, when I throw the rock, it hits a light post nearby and ricochets back aiming toward the guy’s head. He falls to the ground, and the old guy looks around as if searching for the origin of the miracle rock - then I notice a cane on the ground, that supposedly belonged to the old man, I head towards it.

“Is this yours..?” - I say, grabbing the cane.

“Yes… thank you so much, young man.” - He smiles, turns around, and leaves.

��I wonder what kind of bad luck will befall me after this…’

( Hajime pov )

When I got home, I noticed a text from an unknown number and Natsumi sent me like, twenty messages, half of those are just her calling me a pussy - I decided to just check the unknown’s question for now. 

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< Hello! I asked Chiaki for your phone number, hope 

it isn’t bothersome.

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< By the way, this is Nagito Komaeda from your class, wouldn’t

I expect you to remember scum like me, though hah…

You :

oh! hey nagito! it really doesn’t bother me, really-! >

You :

I forgot to ask for any means of contacting you, sorry - just got kinda > 

caught up in everything that happened today- 

You :

after class, i helped some old man in some really weird clothes not die crossing 

the street- the driver was about to hit him?? 

You :

and they weren’t even going that fast- >

You :

anyways- sorry about the rant lmao- i get kinda too comfortable typing- >

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< Don’t worry about it! 

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< Also, was that guy wearing a red button-up shirt? I doubt it’s 

the same guy, but knowing my luck it might as well be haha!

You :

oh shit- yeah- it was red and had like white palm trees on it- >

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< Yes, yes! Precisely the same shirt!

You :

Did you see me doing that shit? pfft- must’ve been quite a sight- >

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< Nope, I didn’t see that. 

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< But I did help the same guy out, if you can even call it that - he was 

being mugged and I threw a rock at the mugger.

You :

DUDE- ARE YOU CRAZY???????°¢³°¬{¢{£ >

You :

THAT COULD HAVE ENDED SO BAD >

You :

sorry- sorry- tho, really- you shouldn’t have done something so dangerous- >

+ 33 1 99*****77 :

< Didn’t you jump in front of a car?

You :

just because i’m stupid doesn’t mean you have to be as well >

You :

is that even proper english-? >

You :

who cares- anyways- >

You :

i’m a dumbass, man- do not follow in my footsteps&lt;/3 >

-

I close the conversation, remembering I have to actually set my stuff down, no one’s home yet, and they probably won’t be for a while. 

Going upstairs to my room, I notice that my door is open - nobody even cares to check my stuff and I’m pretty sure I didn’t forget to close it. - ‘It was probably the wind…’

Opening the door I notice a weird box on my desk - ‘This was definitely not here before- did my parents leave me some sort of gift..?’

I opened the box.

Some weird pink/red-ish light starts flashing on my face.

A huge-headed bug appears, kinda looks like a ladybug(?)

“wHAT THE FUCK-”

( Nagito pov )

I got some signal after almost being murdered in an alleyway - my driver arrived and I was able to text Hajime when I got home.

I reread the last messages he sent me - he seemed really worried, he’s such a good guy.

Entering my room I notice a weird octagonal box - ‘Maybe it flew in through the window… seems a bit too heavy, but who knows…’

As I open the box, I notice a silver ring before a weird light flashes from it.

What seems like a black cat with green eyes appears from it… - “Huh.”

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

chp. 0 > chp. 1 pt 1 > chp. 1 pt 2 > chp. 1 pt 3

[yubel198]

Axol and Garcello being bros

((this is mostly just dumb ideas I have that focus around my favorite Manga Artist and favorite smoker. Some are for Friendships in Death, some for The Demon of TAS Corp, some for the Revival AU, let’s begin))

*Axol and Garcello are chilling on a bench*

Mario: *runs past naked* I’M SO DRUNK I CAN BARELY SEE!

SMG4: DAMMIT MARIO PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!

FM: JAYWALKING!

Garcello: 0_0; u-uhm... Axol? did you just see-?

Axol: it’s a typical day in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Garcello: you mean this is normal???

Axol: oh yeah

***

Axol: *working on a drawing*

Melony: *sleeping on the couch*

*Garcello screams and runs in*

Garcello: WHERE’D MY BROWNIES GO??

Melony: you made brownies?

Garcello; not the kind you can have Melony.

Axol: *realizes* you made pot brownies??

Garcello: .... yes...

Axol: oh god, who could’ve taken them?

*Bob, Swag, and Mario are higher than kites*

***

Bob: so, you want to learn the way of the rap?

Garcello: uh, Bob, I had a music career before this. I’m just goofing off.

Bob: goofing off? *gets real close, whisper voice: the hood life ain’t no game Garcello*

Axol: oh my fucking god.

Garcello: ugh, why don’t you and I have a rap battle then?

Bob: bring it on.

*Headache, Nerves, Release and Fading later*

Bob: .... okay, you’re good.

Garcello: told you.

***

Axol: don’t give Toad any candy, he’d a sugar fiend.

Garcello: noted.

Toad: *going through sugar withdrawal* I NEED MY FIX!!

Axol: no.

Garcello: .... *gives him some gum*

Axol: dude!

Garcello; wait.

Toad: *chews, realizes spits it out* I THOUGHT THERE WAS SUGAR IN THERE!

Garcello: Nicotine gum’s sugar free.

Axol: pfft

***

Axol: okay, if you weren’t dating Chris, who would you go for?

Garcello: um...

Axol: imagine we’re all single, no one’s dating, who would you go for-

Garcello: Tari.

Axol: damn, you didn’t even hesitate.

Garcello: .... *looks away, blushing* .... and you.

Axol: wait what?

***

Axol: oh come on Gar, I wasn’t that drunk last night.

Garcello: you were flirting with Melony

Axol: so? she’s my girlfriend

Garcello; you asked her if she was single.

Axol: ....

Garcello: and then you cried and clung to me when she said she wasn’t.

Axol: *sweats*

Mario: you are gay

***

Axol: just be yourself.

Garcello: be myself? Axol I have a day to win Chris over, how long did it take before you guys started liking me?

Desti: couple weeks

Spudnick: six months

Fred: Jury’s still out.

Garcello: see Axol? “Be myself,” what kind of garbage advice is that?

***

Niles: so lemme get this straight, you’re dating Chris, yet you also like both Tari and Axol?

Garcello: *rubs his arm, embarrassed* y-yeah...

Bob: Did I hear that right? Garcello has a thing for both Axol and Tari?

*Bob’s been filming*

Garcello: *pissed as he realizes* Bob you better delete that!

Bob: no way, this is going online!

Niles: .... AXOL! BOB’S TEACHING MELONY BAD WORDS AGAIN!

Bob: !!! wait-!

Axol: YOU SON OF A BITCH!

Bob: oh crap!

***

Swag: hey Garcello

Garcello; yeah?

Swag: I find it ironic how you and I both know a guy named Chris.

Garcello: well Chris is a common name Swag.

Swag: I guess.

Garcello; though, your Chris just goes by Gordon on my phone.

Swag: ??? I don’t get it.

Chris Gordon: this is so you don’t confuse me with your boyfriend right?

Garcello; exactly.

Swag: lol you gay.

Axol: *outta nowhere* says the guy married to Sonic.

Swag: shut up.

***

Axol: you sure you wanna be Chonked?

Garcello; oh yeah.

Axol: *sighs* alright. *does the moves* Chonk-No-Jutsu!

*Garcello gets Chonked*

Axol: success!

Chonk!Garcello: *squee*

Mario: Luigi look I found some dinner

Luigi: MARIO WHAT THE FU-?

***

*Garcello and Melony sing Fading while Axol sits on the speakers*

***

Axol: shall we~?

Garcello: we shall~ oh Mario!

Mario: what’s up?

Axol: that old guy just stop your spaghetti.

*they see the old man hobo making off with Mario’s food*

Mario: ... Mario’s gonna do something very illegal

***

Axol: Mario get out of the garbage.

Garcello: why? that’s his home

Axol; *wheezes*

Mario: Mario wants to die.

***

Axol: let’s see how this can go.

Garcello: *has his guitar* want me to start Mario?

Mario: oh yeah!

Garcello: okay then. *ahem* *plays guitar* when I’m through with you, they’ll never find you’re body, and even if they did... all they’d find would be teeth. *grins*

Mario: 0_0 .... *plays guitar* I shit my pants

*both Axol and Garcello double over in laughter*

((that’s all I’ve got for now))

[racerchix21]

Love and Other Emotions

Word Count: 1330

Summary: Wheeler finally tells Danny how he feels, asks for help and causes the fans to lose their collective shit but oh well he’s got a hot boyfriend and good friends

A/N: Part of the Pure Brat Chronicles (starts with Punishing the Pure Brat)

Warnings: Excessive cuteness and fluff

Work Text:

“You love me? Like love me love me, the no one else for you kind of love me,” Danny softly asks his voice breaking,”cause I love you too, Wheels.”

Yep this right here was Heaven with his boyfriend who loves him back, Wheeler is absolutely positive this time. “Yeah baby boy. I couldn’t love you more if I tried. I think I’ve loved you since I met you when we were kids. I just didn’t know what exactly what it was I was feeling. Watching you get your heart broken by men that didn’t deserve you killed me every single time but I knew that I didn’t have any right to get upset about it when you weren’t mine.”

Having his boyfriend say something like that pulls at Danny’s heart and he can’t help but swoon at the idea of Wheeler claiming him long before he actually did. Not that he was also a little frustrated that he had to get his heart broken multiple times and all because Wheeler is a stubborn bastard. “Babe, can I ask you why you waited so long to finally tell me? I was single for a couple years before we really truly started this arrangement, if you’d said something 3 bad relationships ago I wouldn’t have been opposed to being yours.”

“I was afraid that you didn’t feel the same and that you’d walk out of my life because I was in love with you. I know it sounds dumb but I didn’t wanna hurt you anymore than your less than stellar boyfriends had. The only kind of pain I wanted to cause you was the kind you begged for and then I wanted to give you the entire world afterwards, forever. For the rest of our lives, baby boy.”

Getting Danny settled back against his side and his focus back on the movie, Yuta runs his hand up and down Danny’s arm thinking about the days events. Even after punishing Danny, Wheeler knows that he and Danny have a whole ‘nother slew of issues when they head to work including finally telling the important people in their lives. Danny still needs to apologize to Regal and Mox too but that can wait until Wheeler’s talked to both of them himself because he has to make sure that he’s still gonna have the BCC’s backing when they go public.

Wheeler gets so lost in thought of what had happened only hours before that feeling Danny attempting to burrow further into his arms, he startles. “D, what are you doing huh pretty boy?”

“Cuddle me, dammit Yuta. I want cuddles and you aren’t paying attention to me and I don’t like it,” Danny whines pushing at Wheeler’s arms again. “What are you even thinking about? You look kind of troubled about something and please don’t lie to me about it,” Danny’s voice changes and suddenly he’s looking at Wheeler with concern filled eyes completely ignoring the movie still playing on the tv. It scares him how quiet his boyfriend’s gotten and he’s hit with the sudden urge to fight whoever’s troubling Yuta.

Figuring out how exactly to explain the thoughts running through his mind, Wheeler pulls Danny a little closer and kisses him on top of the head. “Danny, how would you like if we went public with our relationship? I wanna be able to take you out to dinner and show you off. I’m not gonna tell anyone about the more intimate parts of our relationship just that I’m the lucky bastard in love with Daniel Garcia the biggest brat in All Elite Wrestling.”

“Okay, but what will everyone in BCC say? I don’t wanna mess up your relationships with your mentors,” Danny says emphasizing the your as if Regal and the rest of the group don’t treat him like family too.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, baby boy. I’m gonna talk to Mox and Claudio tomorrow and see if they’ve got anything to say about us going public. Maybe one of them will have some advice or something to make it easier for us to finally let the world into our little world. But Daniel if you aren’t comfortable with it, we won't do it, because your comfort and safety are the most important things to me.”

“Let’s do it, but will you let me say sorry to Mox and Regal first? I know I shouldn’t have gotten mad at either of them for trying to help me. I’m sorry Wheels and I promise I’ll try to do better next time. If I need something I promise I’ll ask you before acting like a brat,” Danny says grinning and giggling towards the end.

“Okay baby boy you’ll apologize to Jon and Regal tomorrow morning over breakfast then I’ll talk to the guys about us. Now off to sleep Prince Charming it’s been a long day and I want all the snuggles with you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Mox, Claudio can I talk to you guys real quick?,” Wheeler asks catching up with 2 of his mentors.

“Yeah, what’s up Yuta,” Mox says spinning around to look at Wheeler.

“It’s about Danny and I don’t wanna say anything to him yet, but I wanna tell the world about us. He’s still freaked about the whole leaving JAS thing and I’m afraid that if we do go public that Sammy and the merry band of dipshits will say something. I’m supposed to protect him and what if he starts to realize that he was better off with them? I can’t lose hi-,” his voice cracks and he can see the look of understanding on both their faces especially Claudio’s. Wheeler is almost positive he knows what’s going on in the Swiss man’s mind and it terrifyingly gives him comfort.

“Wheeler, I can’t say that I can exactly understand what you’re going through with your fears because I can’t but I do know the feeling of exposing your relationship to the world. I know what it feels like to expose something so personal in this business and the terror you feel because not everyone in this industry is okay with guys being open with their sexuality. I was so afraid of the reaction when Seth and I told everyone about us given that he had a guaranteed shot at a world title. We worked for an angry old man that wasn’t okay with anyone talking about sexuality let alone being openly gay. I was terrified that old man would take Seth’s championship chance away but I knew that I would fight the world and everyone in it to protect him just like I know you’d do anything to protect Danny,” Claudio says with a hint of frustration and anger.

“How’d you do it though?,” Wheeler asks with intrigue.

“Easy, they had Roman and I. Jamie and Joey would’ve done anything for Seth if it made him happy and Claudio did make him happy still does I’m sure. Rome and I would’ve burnt the world down for our little scumbag brother and I knew they’d do the same for Renee and I. The girls backstage were fucking terrifying and I’m sure they could’ve made that rat bastards death look like an accident if they’d needed to,” Mox says with a smirk at Claudio, “Weren’t they? Wasn’t it Natty that threatened to whoop you if you harmed a hair on Seth’s pretty little head? Or was it Naomi and ‘Mina?”

“All 3 of them did, but to get back to what we were talking about you’ve got me and Mox. I know that Bryan and Regal will have your backs along with Kenny, the Bucks and Eddie. You know Eddie wouldn’t let anyone fuck with you and honestly I wouldn’t put it past him to be able to murder a man and make it look like Winnie the Pooh did it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wheeler waits a couple weeks before posting this on Twitter and letting the fans lose their minds.