#if i can rope my friends into a doc. that might happen

[fightclubgayporn]

do you have anything like a doc of information abt sdau? i think it looks really interesting and id love to know more about it + the characters :D

OH ANON YOURE SO SWEET. tbqh i should make one. but context is it was made as a collaborative effort between me and my friends like. 2.5 years ago so its not just my baby. but i really do want to get like. the basics at LEAST down so that people understand the vague plot/vibes.

tl;dr? a bunch of superpowered young adults are just so bad at having interpersonal relationships (more detailed but still basic vers under the cut)

(ps: ive written some stuff about these guys! a lot of its on my ao3, noalarmz! fair warning some of it sucks. i also wrote rubbing alcohol for a creative writing project, and i think it fucks. alcoholism tw)

the characters: (ica)rus: has wings that can burst into flame, but its not like something he can. turn off. so its basically a self-destruct button. strict moral compass, wants to stop vernon, acts as a kind of "hero" for the city. very self-destructive in their pursuit of justice, and overly self-sacrificial (vernon thinks he's selfish for this. it's a whole thing.) vernon valentine: has sound manipulation powers, also deer antlers. dead set on killing narrator and replacing her. very fucked up from his ex girlfriend (who they killed. um) and projects a lot of that + their need for control onto kan. basically he's a very awful toxic friend and also causes problems around the city to get narrator's attention narrator: a very, very old, near all powerful person, but nonetheless, she is still human. her power is complete matter manipulation, meaning she can regenerate her body, being functionally immortal. shes mega op, but she Isn't Actually a god (vernon thinks she is though) she has absorbed a intangible Presence into her mind known as Underscore, which is basically omniscience itself. it fucks her up a little bit. líf erling: a time traveler who travels non-linearly through narrator's timeline. they have a very tragic romance together, due to the fact that when underscore enters narrator's mind, she becomes aware of her own death, which puts um. a strain. on the relationship. kan komarov: he has telekinesis on any non-sentient objects, barring himself! he has. attachment issues. and latches onto vernon HARDSTYLE. is it platonic? is it romantic? is it sexual? you decide. he would basically do anything for them and is fully committed to his plan to kill narrator. kris(ten) clark: a childhood friend of kan's! her power is that she can create purple crystals from the palm of her hand but they do not have good control over it so. oops they did crystallize their friends arm once. which weighs on her. she really cares about kan, so is willing to tolerate vernon, but eventually they just cant take it anymore and leave. better at escaping the cycle than kan is printz o'harte: rus's closest friend. he has emotional telepathy, meaning he can sense everyone's emotions At All Times. which is um. a tad overwhelming. he builds robots to help rus. oops looks like kan has a crush on him (much less intense than his. Emotions for vernon but yk hes got a lil crush <3) he also has been in communication with narrator, because they understand the whole. my mind is loud all the time thing cato crux: she had electric powers! note the past tense because she is DEAD!! she's vernons aforementioned ex, and while they were together, they worked together, trying to take down narrator (kan is kind of her replacement) but uh. then narrator decided to contact cato. and cato realized that she wasnt a god. and vernon, feeling betrayed and hurt and angry, uh. killed her ass. sad! eve singh: stretchy limbs. childhood friends with kan and kris. she and kan were roommates for awhile, until kan met vernon and drifted away from her. she still resents him for this. cherry sinclair: childhood friends with eve, kan, and kris. they're the friend who lost their arm to kris. they dont blame her, but she sure blames herself. they have control over metal, which is helpful in making their own prosthetics.

oh man thats already so much. heres the basic plot beats though

rivalry between rus and vernon established, they clash

during a confrontation, kan becomes interested in printz

kris realizes how Awful her situation is, and that kan has begun to be terrible also, runs away

kan goes into a MAJOR DEPRESSION even more reliant on vernon now, his interest in printz increases cause he wants to replace kris

printz entertains this on rus's advice, so that he could collect information on vernon through kan. this works.

kan is heartbroken AGAIN. sad.

he goes into a manic episode and burns down his old elementary school (it was abandoned but still)

the climax. kan and kris reunite, he apologizes and starts to realize the hold vernon has on him (still loyal tho)

vernon thinks theyre being betrayed again and goes to attack kan

sensing this, printz stops him, giving rus a chance to swoop in snatch vernon into the air.

they decide to sacrifice themself, and his wings burst into flame, killing both himself and vernon.

somewhere in there, narrator also dies i forgot how i gotta ask eloise (she made narrator)

heres where the timeline diverges a little? but in the Good Ending kan and kris are able to heal from their fuckups and become normal friends again, and kan and printz are able to explore the idea of a relationship outside of the confines of their established roles

in the other, kan is so devestated from vernon's death that he starts hallucinating vernon's ghost, jake english/fight club style. this ghost convinces him to dig up vernon's corpse and, using some remnant of narrator, he brings them back to life. but yk. vernon is all fucked up now, dependent on kan and broken by the experience of death. eventually kan realizes that vernon a) was bad for him and b) is not the same vernon who came back and asks kris to. dispose of them. she happily obliges

BONUS SHIT:

if you ever saw me draw a pink haired guy w nice tits and his gamer girlboyfriend, that's aj (pink) and quinn (gamer) they're only vaguely canon to sdau and were originally escape room 2 ocs (yes, really)

in high school (pre transition) kan was a pretty popular youtube cosplayer named Kotdere (kot- from the russian word for cat and -dere from. dere tropes in anime) when he disappeared off the face of the internet there was a lot of confusion

during this time he had an online gf. that was quinn. quinn goes on to be like. the jerma of this universe and gets a hot of streamer boyfriend (aj)

eve gets a girlfriend, victoria! she made those like. true crime/unsolved mystery vids. eve helps her make one on "the disappearance of kotdere?? what REALLY happened"

narrator's story is really beautiful and crazy and i did not at ALL make it so def def def ask @/lovelyisthedawn about her <3

vernon/kan is evil yaoi and vernon/kris is evil yuri. you agree

some ship names (not necessarily rom just relationships)

vernon/kan: high and mighty kan/kris: rock kandy vernon/kris: punkrock printz/kan: palm to palm cato/vernon: tyrannicides narrator/líf: ragnarok probably missed some these are the ones i remember </3

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Cars 2 Rewrite

Gooood timezone, my lovelies!

This is your host, Cecil, speaking! Now- some of you have been asking about my Cars universe, especially when it comes to the second movie so I will explain! Though keep in mind - not everything's getting covered here due to a mix of spoilers, and well, I want to make this a long-term thing; gauge who might stick around pfft. I like receiving attention on my posts, so I know I'm not talking to a wall hahah but anyway; this is going to start off with the plot!

The characters are human, not cars.

Rewritten Plot

Following Lightning's wins in the Piston Cup series, things have greatly settled. Lightning McQueen is returning to his home in Radiator Springs - after having finished a race back in the LA Motor Speedway - and he's looking for a little TLC. Though it seems fate has other plans as his best friend and potential crush - I mean, companion, of course - somehow ropes him into accepting the World Grand Prix races across Europe. In an unexpected turn of events, Lightning and Mater found themself caught within a tangled game of lies. Now, they're playing spy... but things are about to get a whole lot harder. In ways they didn't see coming.

While this rewrite doesn't currently seem like much, this was a project created by me and my partner, so!

Read below the cut for further information!

Important Characters (Note: This will only include four characters and some are purposely being redacted in order to maintain the suspense)

Lightning McQueen

Lightning's role plays out a little differently within this piece, to say the least. The World Grand Prix seems like a dream come true, and he gets to spend it all with his team and his totally just a best friend, Mater. Now having a proper family, he feels as if he'll be able to do anything and win against Francesco Bernoulli, but this trip is going to be like no other. Following an incident witnessed by himself and Mater, Lightning is being thrown into the world of spies.

Benjamin "Tow" Mater

Mater is Lightning's best friend and confidante. Getting invited by Lightning to the World Grand Prix will certainly be an exciting adventure, and if sparks happen to fly between them - well, that's their own business, thank you very much! His eagerness is sure to make this a fun time, and he'll never leave his crush's - buddy - side no matter what! ... even if it means accidentally being thought to be a spy.

Finn McMissile

Finn McMissile... the best agent CHROME has ever seen. Being brought into a case about a dangerous camera which is not all it appears to be, but of course he and his trusted agent Shiftwell; not to mention the American spy's decision to help them in all of this. Though an unexpected case of mistaken identity leads to them bringing the wrong people into this... and really, what's the worst that could happen?

Holley Shiftwell

Holley's only supposed to be a techie. She's not a field agent by any means, but when she's paired with Finn McMissile during a mission - and now they've got the American with them but things aren't entirely as they seem. The weapon remains out there, and it might cost people their lives...

Changes within the Rewrite

Doc Hudson is alive during this! I couldn't bring myself to kill him and I thought his appearance in the World Grand Prix would make the storyline a lot more interesting

Lightning does willingly invite Mater to the competition. It felt so odd in the canon when he didn't and that just wasn't going to fly in this version

Lightning/Sally will not be part of the fic. I am deeply sorry if you enjoy this, but I took things a different route when the idea was first created

Spoilers? Lightning witnesses the death of the true American spy; of course, Mater is also a part of this

Lightning is more of an active participant because my partner and I said so. I can't explain more than this... but you will find out! Don't worry about a thing

Headcanons

Lightning has ADHD! He just does. I can see him getting the bout of zoomies at random hours and he's always forgetting something before leaving for a race

He's also trans. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

Mater is autistic. He's so neurodivergent. It makes me stim to be honest

Doc fired Harv after the first movie. They would've clashed so hard if they'd been forced to work together

Lightning used to love spy movies when he was young and it's part of the reason he decides to get involved

Mater has experience with fighting. He's going to knock someone lights out, and that's all you're getting for now

Doc and Finn have something going on. Unofficially, lmao

Sally is a lesbian. There's another unrelated idea I made where she gets together with Holley

Doc definitely has (metaphorical) adoption papers for Lightning

Lightning has driven the Hornet, but always under Doc's supervison

Doc used to own livestock guardian dogs and now he doesn't have any pets, but I think he'll get another one soon because why not

More is going to come later! I have so much to share about this universe, but right now this is what you're getting pfft I hope you enjoy though!

[harveyhawkscripts]

[M4A] Penn's Advice for a New Reporter [Hylian Listener] [Totk] [Slight Totk Spoilers]

AN: So, funny story. I have contracted Bird Brain for the reporter pelican. Here’s a short script just to test the waters and clear the remaining writer’s block fog. Feel free to let me know if I need more practice with his character. Penn is hard to, well, pin despite all of his available dialogue. If you like this, however, I’d be happy to write for Penn again some time! Soar long, friends! 

One more thing! I may do more of these shorter fandom scripts between my original character scripts, just to keep the creative juices flowing. I'm thinking Beastwars Dinobot next :)

Google Doc

Usage:

- Okay for monetization

- Please credit me as Harvey Hawk :)

- Tweaks, improv, and pronoun changes are okay! Just please do not rewrite the script completely.

Synopsis: The listener is a new reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette. As they prepare for their first assignment, they meet a Rito named Penn who offers to give them some advice.

Key:

[SFX and Action]

(.) Short Pause

(...) Longer pause

(Voice instruction)

Word Count: 686

—

[Fire crackling] 

PENN:

Hey, you're a fresh face around here. I bet you're here for the new issue, huh? It's a good one. My partner and I chased down the big story. It turned out – well, I'll just let you read it yourself.

(.) Wait, you're a new reporter? That's great! Welcome to the Lucky Clover Gazette! I’m Penn, eye-in-the-sky and seasoned journalist.

(.)

Nice to meet you. By that look on your face, I’m guessing you’re not sure where to start. Reminds me of my partner when he first started out. How about I show you the ropes? (.)

Leave it to me! I’m always happy to take a fledgling reporter under my wing. Why don’t we sit by the fire for a while and I can give you some tips and tricks.

(.)

Great! Just stick with me and you’ll have a front-page article in no time.

(.)

Me? I’m headed to Foothill Stable. I’ve heard chirps and warbles of strange happenings in Eldin…

(Softly) Not to mention rumors of her…

Huh? Nobody! Forget I said anything; I shouldn’t be flapping my beak if I don’t know for sure. So, um, what got you interested in reporting?

(.)

You needed a new job after the Upheaval? What did you do before?

(.)

The castle library! So, you must’ve seen the Upheaval firsthand! It’s a good thing you’re alright; I heard some civilians were injured.

(.)

Phew! So no one was badly hurt. It’s a shame about your job, though. But hey, maybe this can be a new start for you! You get to travel to some spectacular places in this job.

(.)

Oh, yeah. Akkala is especially beautiful this time of year. One thing at a time, though. Let me give you some advice to get you started.

(.)

The first thing you need to remember is to always listen, and not just to people. Listen to how the wind picks up, listen to your gut, and especially listen to little birdies.

(.)

Oh yeah. Why do you think people say, “a little birdie told me”? It’s because they’re the best sources of information! They typically fly higher than us Rito, so they see a lot of what goes on down below. They’re up to date on the latest rumors, and they spread information quickly between regions. If you want a fresh scoop, always ask a little birdie.

(.)

My second piece of advice is to look up!

(.)

Hahah, that’s some enthusiasm! I didn’t mean now, buddy. I just mean in general. Plenty of people miss what’s above them because they’re looking forward - or sometimes backwards. Take the time to properly observe your surroundings, and you’ll notice something that would have gone over your head. Which leads to my next point…

(.)

Look down!

(.)

Heh, love the hustle, rookie! There's nothing there, though. Not now, anyway. I just mean as you look high, you should also look low. You never know what you might find. The point is to search places that are often overlooked. 

(.)

I do have one last tip. Have confidence in your work. You may not get the scoop you’re looking for every time, but don’t let that discourage you. Every truth uncovered, every person helped means way more than having your article featured on the front page. At the end of the day, we do this to bring justice and truth to the good people of Hyrule!

(.)

(Flattered) Have I? I mean, of course I’ve been helpful! I’m sure you appreciate the help, new as you are. My partner also needed me to get him started, and now he can chase down a lead like no one’s business. I’m sure with enough practice you’ll be at our level in no time!

(.)

Oh yeah, I can tell. You’ve got that spark in your eye. 

(.)

No problem! 

Anyway, I better get pecking away at my new assignment. The last time there was trouble at Foothill Stable things got… weird. Who knows where this next lead will take me?

(.)

Anytime! If you ever need guidance, just come to your pal, Penn. I’d be happy to lend a wing to a fellow reporter.

(.)

Soar long!

[Wings flapping]

END

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Silver Trail Christmas by Nik James

Caleb Marlowe #3

 Caleb’s friend and ranching partner, Henry Jordan, races into chapter one carrying news that requires immediate attention quickly setting the stage for upcoming events that will impact the two of them, their friends, and their future depending on the outcome of the story. Old and new issues and enemies rear their heads with surprises, twists, turns, and hardship to face before the last page. Great addition to the series!

 What I liked:

* Caleb: left abusive home at sixteen, survived on his own, met someone who changed his life, varied job history, tracker, sure-shot, quick-draw, fights for what is right, true friend, helps those in need, building a new life on his ranch, sweet on Sheila

* Henry: good friend, ladies’ man, trouble-magnet, eloquent, tease, nice guy, has potential, eager to find out what will happen next in his life

* Sheila: Doc Burnett’s daughter, raised on the East Coast, educated, adapting to the West, strong, adaptable, friend to many, openminded, sweet on Caleb

* Paddy: orphan living with the Rogers family hoping to be taken in by Caleb

* Bear (big dog) and Pirate (horse): Caleb’s friends that are more than animals

* Doc Burnett: educated, wise, helps all, war surgeon, would like for him to find someone someday, too

* Curious about Belle Constant – owner of saloon and associated businesses…think there is more to her and her story than we might realize

* Red Annie O’Neal: independent, wears men’s clothing, Sheila’s friend, carries the mail, travels a lot, strong, capable, intriguing – hope to see more of her in the futur

* Bass, Duke, and Tex: longhorn trail herders that met hard times, good men, honest, hope they show up in the next book

* The plot, character development, pacing, and writing

* That most of the bad guys were dealt with…though there are a few remaining and no doubt other troubles to be faced in the next book

* The positive hopeful ending and hoping that Karma hits a few more for what they have been up to

 What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like…some rather reprehensible characters and acts perpetrated by them

* Having to wait for the next book in the series

 Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Definitely

 Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 5 Stars

     BLURB

 In this riveting historical western, feared gunslinger Caleb Marlowe is out to save his partner from the ruthless ambition of the town's railroad-obsessed power broker. For years, Caleb Marlowe has been following a hard trail. But fate finally seems to be smiling on him. The ranch he and his partner have been building is ready for a herd of longhorns, and a ghost from his troubled past is about to dance at the end of hangman's rope. With winter descending on the Colorado boom town of Elkhorn, Caleb's future looks bright. But in the wild West, a man's fortune can turn with the speed of a mountain storm. When his partner is jailed for murder, his herd taken by rustlers, and his ranch nearly destroyed, Marlowe knows someone is trying to run him off. His nemesis, Elijah Starr, has been pardoned and hired by Judge Patterson--the local power broker--to build a railroad, and they are two men who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Marlowe stands alone against a gang of hired killers. The stakes could not be higher, and the cards are stacked against him. A final shootout is coming, but in Elkhorn no one--especially Caleb Marlowe--goes down without a fight.

[oh-boy-me]

I just read both the australia and museum post and the chaos levels are top tier, but like imagine the chaos that ensues if lord diavolo discovers about amusment parks and immediately just buys tickets to disneyland. Lucifer is basically the dad trying not to loose his children(lord diavolo included). Lord diavolo wanting to ride a loopy rollercoaster and just having the time of his life! (Also I highkey see diavolo ordering lucifer to make a disneyland in devildom tbh) Also mouse ear headbands!

This..... this took forever

Hey there anon!  Sorry it took literally a year to answer this!  If you’re still into Obey Me, I hope this was a pleasant surprise.

Also for the first time ever a scenario post is being put under the cut for length purposes.  This scenario is 2.6k words Jesus

Please note that the last time I went to Disney was in 2015, so anything that’s newer than that is taken from the extensive reading of Disney advice blogs I read in preparation for this post.  Anything older than that is likely from experience.

Also, I tried my best to keep this spoiler free for the attractions that can be affected by it.

--

So the Devildom DOES have the concept of amusement parks.  I slept on this ask for so long that we’ve learned about Devil’s Coast.  It seems to be more akin to a smaller-scale theme park, though.  Small-ish.  I’m used to NYC idk what constitutes as small.

Something like Disney World is on such a larger scale!!  When Diavolo heard about that, he knew they had to go.

They are going to Disney World in Orlando because it’s the only one I’ve been to.

Lucifer is REALLY getting tired of these field trips, but there would be no weird animals, and there would be no sobering lessons on global extinction events at a family-friendly amusement park.  He.  He can handle this.

Solomon has actually been banned from all Walt Disney theme parks.  We’re talking blacklist-level banned.  He’s barred from ever entering any Disney park ever again.  However, this was back in 1976, so this must be, like, his son or something, right?  There’s no way this is the same guy.  Thought the security guard who let him in.

What did Solomon do to get banned?  When asked, he only gave a curious hum.  “Yeah, I wonder.”

The place is split into four parks, so they’ll spend one day in each.

Barbatos continued to flex his power as the only one in the group with a brain cell, being sure to get them all fast passes.  He even set time back just for the passes while they were booking the rides they wanted to cut the lines for, so if they don’t get used he’s going to be very snippy.

Also for convenience sake this is taking place in an AU where everything is the same but COVID doesn’t exist to shut down some rides and attractions.

Day 1: Hollywood Studios

MC and Simeon basically have to coerce Lucifer into letting everyone run free instead of making them all line up with a walking rope all day.  He relents on the condition that everyone checks in periodically so he can at least know they haven’t killed anyone.

Nobody will check in except for maybe Beelzebub and those at Purgatory Hall.

Levi immediately gathered his fellow Star Wars fans (which basically meant calling over Mammon Belphie and Asmo and then pulling in two unsuspecting people suddenly given the title of “Star Wars fan”), and made a beeline for Galaxy’s Edge.  There’s a LOT to do there and damn it if he wasn’t going to hit all of it.

First up for their group is the interactive Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run.  They fail the mission.  Levi’s pretty pissed, but everyone agrees that it was fun nonetheless.  They really felt like they were doing a mission in the Falcon!  Plus, the gameplay element was totally up the alley of most of this group.  Simeon does feel a little nauseous from Luke’s jerky steering, though.

Did you know that Diavolo loves Toy Story?  He does.  He’s very much enjoying the Slinky roller coaster with Barbatos.

Barbatos would rather be spending time at the shows and performances, but oh no god forbid we don’t get an autograph from Doc McStuffins.  Lucifer please come find him and save him.

Lucifer somehow wandered into the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.  He wants out.  Barbatos please come find him and save him.

In general, Lucifer isn’t a fan of these sorts of places, so honestly he’s just hiding from the others and waiting for today to be over.  Barbatos told him that there are parks that don’t revolve around rides and characters, and he’s holding out for those.

Luckily for them Diavolo wants to do LITERALLY everything, and that does include the shows, so Barbatos and Lucifer can have at least some fun today

Levi, Asmo, and Beel are about to start their relay for getting character autographs when Satan shows up out of nowhere and starts dragging everyone over to the Tower of Terror.  Solomon bars all attempts to flee on a certain Avatar of Greed’s side.

The line to the Tower is so long, and honestly?  Satan feels like the ride didn’t live up to the literal hour they waited to get on.  Like yeah it was fun, but way too short.

He voices those thoughts, and Levi, who Satan knows is afraid of heights, is pretty fucking livid and drags him to Rock n Rollercoaster as revenge.  Satan hates roller coasters.

As for the others, Asmo and Luke have a lot of fun on the thrill rides.  Mammon and Simeon do not.  Beel is a little spooked by them but still manages to have fun, while Belphie and Solomon think they’re alright.

Eventually, Simeon gets too sick to move, and they assign him to Luke.  They say it’s because he’s too short to ride some of the rides (even though he’s literally not, screw you guys.)

Barbatos messes with time a lil bit so they can enjoy the Fantasmic Show and Fireworks to wrap the day up.

Levi is very jealous of Diavolo’s Doc McStuffins autograph.  Somehow Asmo has Buzz Lightyear’s number.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Satan is vibrating

He literally instantly sprints to the Kilimanjaro Safari.  And good for him; that’s something best done while the sun isn’t high up.  The whole gang actually agrees to check that one out, and while Satan isn’t thrilled to be within 50 feet of Lucifer, he’s glad Simeon is there because he remembers how his presence lured animals out in Australia.

Simeon also finds himself pulled along the trails by Satan and parents watch in horror as a gorilla gives him a friendly pat on the back.

If you didn’t know, Animal Kingdom is divided into the two continents of Asia and Africa, as well as the secret eighth continent Avatar (2009).  Diavolo heard great things about the Flight of Passage ride, but he totally forgot to tell Barbatos about it, so they’re stuck on a three hour wait line now.

Levi takes Luke on the Everest roller coaster because Simeon saw it in the distance and looked like he was about to cry.  Levi wouldn’t shut up about how the yeti effect needs to be fixed and Solomon had to explain that the effect literally couldn’t support itself.

Simeon, having escaped a roller coaster for the first and only time on this trip, grabs lunch with Lucifer and Solomon and they enjoy the Lion King performance together.  Solomon’s the only one of them who’s seen the movie, but the others still found it fun.  Solomon keeps making up random plot points that don’t exist, though.  Remember when Simba was captured by pirates?

Mammon found the Bugs Life show very scary.  Normally Asmo would laugh at him, but he’s afraid of any bug he’s never seen before and at least Mammon was afraid of the things that were supposed to get you.  They agree that bugs are still not their friends.

Satan has many things to say about the Dinosaur ride and most of them aren’t good.  Belphie thought it was pretty ok, though.  Lucifer can’t believe there was a sobering lesson on a global extinction event at this family-friendly amusement park.

Diavolo is still in line.  Barbatos abandons him.  He accompanies Luke to the kiddie fossil thing and actually finds it more tolerable.  Oh yeah that’s the other secret ninth continent, Dinoland.

Beel and Belphie spend most of the day together at the various petting zoos.  Belphie comes back knowing more than he ever wanted to about conservation.  He thought Rafiki’s Planet Watch was going to be about watching other planets, not this one!

Asmo gets very interested in the costumes of the performers, as well as the parrots in the bird show.  He could probably make some really colorful designs with those as inspiration.

Nearby, Mammon runs into Kevin and squawks in surprise.  The zoo staff spend the next two hours trying to find the bird that escaped.

Diavolo says the ride was worth it, don’t worry.

Honestly this park has a lot of stuff that wouldn’t translate well to a funny scenario post so this part might be a little short compared to the others.  I can only talk about a zoo for so long.

Anyone remember the Honey I Shrunk the Kids 4D show?  Apparently it closed in 2016 to make room for more Star Wars stuff.

Anyway, at the center of it all there’s the Tree of Life, which is really pretty all day.  Lucifer is thrilled to have a decently obvious meet-up place, too.  They get to catch the brief awakening show at night.

They’re very bummed to learn the Rivers of Light show isn’t happening anymore, so Levi pulls it up on his phone so they can watch it in spirit.

Then Satan learns about the Wilderness Explorers badges and the others spend the rest of the time preventing too much collateral damage over the fact that nobody told him.

Day 3: Epcot

Finally, Lucifer thinks.  Boo, Luke thinks.

Beel didn’t expect this park to be that interesting to him (he’s much more into the wonder and immersion of Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom), but then he learned about the restaurants.  China, Norway, France, Mexico, Germany, Morocco, Italy, Japan, Canada--Canada?  Huh.  Canada.  There’s so many different restaurants from so many cuisines to try, and yeah he knows that it’s definitely not the same as going to the place and it’s overpriced (sorry Lucifer), but it’s all right there.  He makes certain to take MC on a deluxe Epcot restaurant tour.

Oh yeah MC.  That’s the first time we’ve heard from them in a while.  They’re doing whatever you want them to I guess.

Levi buys so much from the Japanese gift shops that he has to go back to the hotel for a bit to drop his bags off.

Satan and Diavolo aren’t much better, but their stashes are more varied.

Also, Diavolo found Mouse Gear, and bought everyone a pair of ears.  Lucifer says that everyone has to keep them on because it’s what Lord Diavolo wants, but he is by far the most upset about them.  Mammon snaps a picture and Lucifer throws his DDD into the lake.

Asmo and Belphie decide they’re gonna take it easy this day, and they nab Solomon and Barbatos for some exhibition hopping.

Luke finds Mission Space and please father no Simeon thought he was safe he thought he was safe here no please

Aside from that, though, Luke honestly finds this part of the park boring.  He’d have been more interested in these attractions elsewhere, but as a kid he’s in Disney for roller coasters and Mickey Mouse.

Simeon is very grateful that Luke doesn’t have much that he wants to do, because it means that he can enjoy the Gran Fiesta and Living with the Land boat rides and have a single moment where he doesn’t feel like he’s about to be sick.  He’s not even afraid of the rides; he just gets motion sick easily.

Asmo makes sure to see the Chinese acrobat show, and Mammon catches that with the show-hopping gang since there isn’t much he wants to do here either.

Epcot has alcohol and Solomon hasn’t been able to drink in ages so he really wants to spend some time doing that with MC.  No demons allowed, thank you very much.  He doesn’t hold his liquor as well as he’d like you to believe, but he just gets really talkative when drunk so it’s ok.

Epcot is a nice day to take a breather and Lucifer and Barbatos definitely needed a breather before tomorrow.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

This is the day Diavolo has been waiting for.  The crème de la crop, the best park for kids and kids in a future king of the Devildom’s body.

Also I feel like now is a good time to mention that this probably isn’t a reasonable order of events because I don’t remember the map layout of these places idk Disney city planning

This time.  This time, Levi, Asmo and Beel are gonna get those autographs, dammit.  Levi doesn’t even know who half of these characters are but hell if he’s not getting their autograph.

Mammon actually really loves the mascots too, but he’s embarrassed about it so he’ll only try to get one if he can use the guise of MC wanting one.  MC, please help him out

Belphie isn’t big on rides, but he does have a soft spot for the more retro ones like Dumbo and Seven Dwarves.  And like I said before, Beel loves Magic Kingdom for its wonder.  So Belphie is perfectly happy being led (read: piggybacked) around by Beel today, because their favorite attractions match up pretty well here.

Actually, Beel’s favorite Disney movie is Lilo and Stitch, but.  RIP Stitch’s Great Escape ride 2004-2018

Diavolo and Lucifer take a moment to enjoy the Carousel of Progress, and they reflect on how much the Human World is always changing and how much about it they still don’t know.  It really does make them think, like.  Grandma found the VR games at Christmas!  The Devildom doesn’t have grandmas!

Mammon is terrified of the Haunted Mansion ride, and Satan has literally never felt so much schadenfreude in his life.

Mammon’s afraid of most rides to be fair, but he likes water rides, so Levi eventually takes pity on him and they go on Splash Mountain together more than once.

The Peter Pan ride broke down

Luke wanted to go on Space Mountain and Simeon was the only one around, so.  RIP Simeon ????-2021

Diavolo was That Guy.  If you know, you know.

Beel accidentally spun the teacups way too fast.  Not even Solomon got out of that one unscathed.

Following that, Solomon manages to drag Barbatos onto the Jungle Cruise while Lucifer is busy.  What is Lucifer busy with?  Riding the Buzz Lightyear shooting ride over and over until he hits every single target and gets a perfect score at a Disney ride, something that is normal to want and possible to achieve.  Anyway, Barbatos finds it really charming and Solomon finds it a nice break that he didn’t know he needed.

While looking for a food place that sells water for a reasonable price, a kid runs up to Asmo asking for a picture and autograph.  He’s kind of confused, but goes along with it to make the kid happy.

Turns out, Asmo’s so naturally charming that they mistook him for a prince.  Other groups see that family and follow suit.  Mammon eventually catches wind of it and shows up to charge a fee.  The parents are pretty sure Disney doesn’t charge fees like that, but their kids really want a pic with Asmo so they hand over the two bucks.  (“Oh it’s so low” come on Mammon’s not a dick to children.)

And that’s the story of how Mammon and Asmo ended up in Disney Jail.  You’re very much not allowed to pretend to be a cast member and then charge money for it.  Lucifer has to bail them out as their “guardian,” and as punishment they aren’t allowed to opt out of It’s a Small World.

Small World isn’t that bad imho, and those like Diavolo, Satan, Simeon, and Levi would like it a lot.  But Lucifer has been playing parent all day, Belphie does not like the noise, and Solomon has literally been on this ride at least fifty times.  Very mixed feelings on this one, but it feels fitting to end with that and a fireworks show.

All in all though this wasn’t the worst trip Lucifer’s been on (cue everyone applauding for some reason).

Barbatos by far had the least fun of them all because for four days he was stuck in a park where the mascot is a fucking rodent and he wasn’t allowed to annihilate Mickey Mouse where he stood

“Disneyland Devildom when” “Lord Diavolo, no”

Masterlist

[gallavictorious]

Outsider POV Gallavich Fic: Captive Look

For a while there this spring, I was mildly obsessed with the CO in 10x03: you know, the good-looking guy who seems so completely unfazed by finding two armed inmates stabbing an old man, and then for whatever reason doesn't report it? (He can't have; Ian's parole wouldn't have happened so soon after something like that.) I also really dig his beard... Anyway, IMDB identifies him as Raymond and I've had this short little piece about him and his interactions with two certain dumbasses sitting almost finished in my draft doc for months and months and months, so... you're welcome? 2882 words, to help pass the time until the new episode!

You can read it below or on AO3.

---

It's half past eight on a Thursday when Raymond catches sight of them across the bar at South Side Social. He’s there to celebrate his baby sister’s birthday, familial obligation overriding personal preference, but after an hour of politely chatting with her increasingly wasted college friends over obnoxiously rustic-only-because-it’s-trendy food, he’s ready for a break. Catching Tina’s eye, he mimes lightening a cigarette; she raises an eyebrow at him and smirks. She’s a clever kid, his sister – the first in their family to go to college – and she knows him only too well. Knows, for instance, that he gave up smoking years and years ago.

Offering her a rueful grin, he gets up and gets out and spends the next few minutes breathing in Chicago’s poisonous evening air. It’s December, but unusually warm for the season, and somewhere underneath the dusty stink of exhaust fumes and concrete there’s a faint trace of melting snow.

On the way back to the table Raymond stops at the bar to order another beer, and that’s when he spots them, just three feet away. Two men in their mid-twenties, casually dressed and apparently in the middle of a not-very-serious argument, complete with waving hands and mock-scoffs. It takes a moment for the vague feeling of familiarity to click into actual recognition, and when it's does it's not so much their faces as the way they pause to look at each other.

It's not the sort of look you see a lot, especially not in prison.

So, well, he’ll be damned. It’s Milkovich and Gallagher. Cellmates, lovers, and occasionally a goddamn pain in his ass. Released, as improbable as it sounded, within days of each other less than half a year ago, and now laughing over drinks in a half-way decent restaurant in downtown Chicago. It’s not the sort of place he’d expected to find them in – but then again, there’d been a lot of unexpected things about that pair.

Not them hooking up, necessarily, not once they’d ended up sharing a cell; trading sexual favors for protection (whether voluntarily or not) was common enough. Frowned upon in theory, of course, but in practice –

Well. You didn’t have to like it, but it was what it was. Idealism didn’t survive long at Beckham. Raymond himself had never harbored any grand notions about the redemptive potential of his work, but he’d seen his fair share of fresh-faced new CO:s have their illusions crushed after a week or two caught between the often violent offenders who despised them, the indifferent malice of many seasoned CO:s, and the stifling drudgery of the American penal system in general. Not Raymond, though: he did his job, did it well, and went home and didn't spend waste moment of thought on it. You did what you needed to do to pay the bills; no need to dwell on it.

So no, Gallager getting in bed, quite literally, with Milkovich hadn’t been a surprise. The nature of their relationship, though...

Sure, it wasn’t unheard of for inmates to fall for one another, or for established couples to end up in prison together. Didn’t happen a lot, and actual homosexuality was still more likely to get you beat up than laid, but yeah, it did happen. What, in Raymond’s experience, never happened was having to people look at each other the way Milkovich and Gallagher sometimes did, whenever they thought no one else was watching: there was a kind of wonder to it, both staring at the other like they’ve been handed a goddamn gift and couldn’t quite believe their luck.

Particularly on Milkovich’s face the look was baffling.

Ever since the young man arrived at Beckamn he'd moved down the gray corridors and among the yellow-clad crowds like a man born to it. Raymond supposed he was; his father Terry had spent much of his adult life in the very same prison, as had a great many brothers, cousins and assorted associates. Though Raymond didn't know any details, and didn't really care to know them, he'd bet dollars to donuts that Mickey Milkovich's criminal career had had both an early start and a sense of inevitability to it. Various stints in juvie, followed by a real prison sentence for... attempted murder, wasn't it?... followed by a widely publicized jailbreak and an eventual and far less publicized return to Beckman.

Milkovich was tough enough to make others back down when he had to but smart enough not to start any unnecessary fights, not with the other inmates and not with the ones set to watch over them. Knew how to work the system, too: how to get things in, get things done, which guards could be bribed. Raymond didn't play that game himself, but he wasn't getting paid enough not to turn a blind eye when others do. And Milkovich had been pretty smooth about it, especially since his return; careful not to cause a stir.

Gallagher, on the other hand... He'd been the kind of inmate Raymond would've been seriously worried for, had he been inclined to worry and had Milkovich not been there to watch his back and show him the ropes. Not because Gallagher struck Raymond as even remotely helpless, but he so very obviously did not belong in prison, and so very obviously did not really have a clue about what was what in here. The nastier inmates would have eaten him alive long before he'd had the chance to navigate the intricacies of prison politics and find the friends needed for protection. He'd have ended up someone's bitch, or ended up in the infirmary, or dead.

But he'd ended up with Milkovich, and as unlikely as it had seemed at the time, that had worked out. (There were moments when Raymond wondered about that, wondered about them: apart from the looks, there were little touches, too, casual things that spoke of a familiarity far beyond what they could possibly have developed in their short time in a shared cell.)

That wasn't to say that their relationship had been all rainbows and lollipops, and it sure as hell hadn't been fun for everybody. They’d driven half the cellblock insane sometimes, as well as occasionally one another. Other prisoners had complained about their bickering and their fucking (though never officially complained, because you didn't, not unless you wanted to go looking for your teeth in the shower drain), and Raymond recalled vividly the time when not one but both of them had gotten roped into Chester Russom’s endless quest to spend the rest of his life behind bars –

He'd been passing by the infirmary when he'd heard the screaming and come running. Hadn't been surprised, exactly, to find what he found, but that didn't lessen the urge to smack both Milkovich and Gallagher on the head for being so damned stupid.

Neither of them had seemed particularly concerned about getting caught stabbing another inmate. In fact, they'd fallen over themselves to take the blame, which Raymond might have taken as an unselfish attempt to save the other – if he'd been a complete idiot and if the two of them hadn't been sniping at each other all the way from the infirmary, to the point where he felt like his head would explode.

“Imma murder you two if you don't stop talking,” he said, glaring at them as they sat chained outside the small office. Thankfully, they did stop, looking neither at him nor at each other.

Raymond waited for a moment, deliberating.

“What did Chester promise you?” he eventually asked. Gallagher might have agreed to help the old man out of the goodness of his heart, but Milkovich sure as hell hadn't.

Neither man answered. They were studiously avoiding looking at each other.

“You're not going anywhere until you tell me,” Raymond warned them. “If I have to leave your sorry asses chained to this bench all night that's no skin off my back.”

“We needed a break,” Gallagher offered eventually, reluctantly. Milkovich gave a little snort at that, but – wisely – kept his mouth shut. “So we thought that if one of us got sent to solitary... “ He trailed off, shrugging half-heartedly.

Oh, for the love of God - ! “Why did both of you have to stab him if the goal was to get one of you to solitary?”

Again, there was a protracted silence, and somewhere in it – in their earlier insistence that each of them had been the first to stick the shiv into Chester – Raymond could just about make out the shape of it.

“You are both idiots,” he said, moving to uncuff them from the bench, making a decision. “Come on, let's go.”

“Wait,” Gallagher said, not rising. “You're not reporting us? What about solitary?””

“You don't get a damn reward for stabbing someone, so no, you're not going into solitary, you're going straight back to your cell – where you will hand over all contraband you've hidden there.”

“Now, wait a minute – “ Milkovich began, but he faltered when Raymond fixed him with a hard stare.

Raymond had no illusions about intimidating this particular inmate, but Milkovich really did know how this worked; knew better than to ever be friendly with a guard, not even the ones he bribed – but knew when not to push too.

He had kept their hands cuffed for the walk back to the cell, which was policy, but was him making a point too. While there were extenuating circumstances – primarily the fact that Chester had asked them to stab him – by all rights they should be going down for this, and Raymond wasn’t one hundred percent sure why he wasn't letting them. Save himself the paperwork? Yeah, sure. Why not? As good a reason as any.

“Now, am I going to have to search the cell or will you give it up voluntarily?” he asked once they'd made it to the cell. “You make me look, I won't be too careful with your shit.”

A lot of the guards would be deliberately careless when they tossd a cell, either to prove a point or just for the hell of it. Raymond usually didn't bother with that sort of power trip bullshit, but he was prepared to make an exception if these morons proved stupid enough to give him any more trouble. He was already cutting them considerable slack here, and neither of them have the brains to appreciate it.

They had shared a look, and then Milkovich gave an imperceptible nod. Without a word they set to bring forth an array of cigarettes and foodstuff, little things that would have been commonplace and unremarkable in the real world but was made precious by its scarcity on the inside.

Raymond wasn't naive enough to believe they actually gave him everything they'd got in there, but enough of it to inconvenience them, which would have to do. He grabbed the the items, then fixed them both with a firm look.

“Either of you cause me any more trouble, I'm taking your books,” – he pointed to Gallager, then to Milkovich – “and your pens and paper. You think you have it bad now? Imagine sharing a cell and having nothing else to occupy you.”

He had hoped to God he wouldn't have to make good on his threat, though. The other prisoners would probably riot if they have to put up with more of ´bickering from these two.

“I catch either of you with a shiv again, you'll be fucking sorry,” he continued. “Talk it out, or agree not to talk, or whatever. Split the cell into his and his, I don't give a damn. But sort your shit out.”

Maybe they had, maybe they hadn't; the point became moot just a few weeks later, when Gallagher was released. Milkovich had soon followed him – and how exactly that had happened, Raymond still didn't know, because there was no way in hell anyone actually thought releasing that one back into society was a great move – and that had been that. For now, at least; he fully expected to see Milkovich again. Guy like that wasn't going to quit, and sooner or later he'd get caught and find himself back behind bars. Rinse repeat, until he got himself killed or locked away for good.

Only now here Milkovich is, but in front of a bar rather than behind them, and with Gallagher right by his side, laughing like they'd never stabbed a man just to get away from each other.

Raymond hesitates. There's some small part of him that actually wants to step up and say hello, and that throws him a little. He's got a rule about never getting emotionally invested in the fates of the inmates; that way lies nothing but heartbreak, because most of those who find themselves at Beckman will find themselves there again and again, for longer and longer. Don't abuse the prisoners, but don't care too much either: it's been Raymond's private policy for the past five years, and it's worked out so far.

Except now he's actually considering chatting with a couple of convicts, just 'cause he really is a little bit curious about how this unlikely pair is doing.

But nah. Forget it. His rule aside, it'd be pretty uncool to intrude on their evening out. They're free men now – kind of – and having a CO check up on them can't be high on their list of wants. But before he can move away, they both look his way; sees him. Recognizes him, too, from the way they freeze.

Okay. Call it fate, then. “Hello,” Raymond says, going for neutral good and a little nod; I come in peace.

A beat. Milkovich is eyeing him with a wariness he doesn't bother to conceal and it's Gallagher who speaks first:

“Officer Reese,” he says, managing a polite smile. “Hi.”

Raymond notices the way they glance down at the beers they technically shouldn't be having.

“I'm not your PO,” he assures them. “I don't give a damn if you drink. Might want to take it easy, though,” he can’t help but add. “Getting shitfaced is a quick way to get into trouble.”

Milkovich opens his mouth, but after a quick glare from Gallagher he closes it again. Probably for the best; Raymond can’t imagine him playing even remotely nice now that he doesn’t have to.

“Didn’t mean to interrupt your evening,” he says. “Looks like you’re doing all right.”

“Yeah, yeah, we've got jobs and... “ Gallagher pauses to glance at Milkovich again, as if asking his permission. Milkovich rolls his eyes but says nothing, and Gallagher turns his gaze back to Raymond. There's a real smile on his face now, small, but filled with something akin to disbelieving delight: “We got married. Couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh, wow. Congratulations.” Raymond isn’t quite sure what surprises him more: the fact of their marriage, or the fact that he is genuinely happy for them. Maybe he’s getting soft in his old age… Or maybe it’s just that there’s so very few happy endings for those who find themselves at Beckman, whether as inmates or as guards, that they need to be treasured whenever you find them.

“Ian!” someone calls across the room, and Gallagher turns his head to look at a blonde woman gesturing wildly. “Where are those drinks?”

“Shit,” Gallagher mutters. “Better get this to Tami before she has a fit.”

Another smile, and Gallagher is gone. Milkovich, however, lingers, seemingly debating whether to say something more. Curious against his will, Raymond does his best to look approachable. Evidently, it works, because Milkovich clears his throat:

“You’d reported us when we stabbed that old fucker in the infirmary, Ian wouldn’t have gotten his release.” He pauses, looking uncomfortable, then forces out: “Appreciate it.”

Raymond merely nods. Maybe he should say something about being glad taking a chance on them had paid off, that he is glad to see them doing well – but he’s pretty sure Milkovich wouldn’t much appreciate the sentiment.

“Your boy doesn’t belong in prison,” he says instead.

Milkovich face immediately collapses into a scowl. “Well, I didn't fucking put him there,” he growls.

But Raymond isn’t intimated; just hold his gaze. “Gonna keep him out of trouble then?” Gonna stay out of trouble, he doesn’t ask, but Milkovich isn’t stupid, so he'll hear it all the same.

Milkovich still glares, but something in his eyes seem to soften ever so slightly. “You betcha. Won’t have anything on us ever again,” he promises ambiguously, with a cocky grin and one eyebrow raised.

When he walks away, swagger in every step, he is every bit the unrepentant gangster – but Raymond keeps his eyes on him and sees the way he relaxes as soon as he stops next to Gallagher. Reaches out to touch him lightly on the arm, catching his eye. That same wondering smile on both of their faces.

Raymond thinks that maybe he won't actually see either of them again.

He is glad of it.

[gt-ridel]

i’d LOVE to hear more about your borrower au!

Oh, okay then! Thanks for the interest! :D (Putting it under a cut because it ended up being WAY longer than I thought...)

There isn’t a whole lot to it. I just have a very basic idea of what could happen. Partly because I’ve only played through the beginning of Half-Life one (I attempted to stream it, but my internet connection isn’t strong enough). Everything I know about the series comes from cultural osmosis.  When I finally play the games all the way through I’ll have a better idea of things that could happen in the AU. For now what I have is... Barney is a third or fourth generation Borrower who lives inside of Black Mesa.  A long time ago some Borrowers were kidnapped and experimented on by the company, but some escaped and managed to hide long enough to start families and such.  Barney has never seen anything outside of the facility. As far as he knows, the whole world is concrete and steel and hiding from giant creatures that WILL cut you up or torture you if you are caught.  As far as most of the humans in Black Mesa know, Borrowers are just this funny little story people tell to freak out the new guys. “Yeah there’s totally tiny rat people running around in the vents. It’s true! My friend Dave’s friend Tom saw one once! Some kind of messed up experiment that got loose.” New guys tend not to believe it. People who have been around long enough to know what kind of shady stuff Black Mesa is into are a bit less skeptical. Very few people have ever actually SEEN one though. These Borrowers are next level paranoid. (Totally justified) Barney is living on his own. It’s safer to live alone or in very small groups. Less chance of taking other Borrowers down with you if you are caught.  He’s claimed a few offices as his territory and scavenges for scraps in them. Mostly I think he eats those gross cockroaches that are always running around (safer to hunt than to steal) but when he needs something non food related, the offices are where he goes.  Gordon is fairly new to the company. He recently graduated from MIT, and is currently working on a big project (you know the one).  He’s temporarily staying in the level three dormitories just so he can basically run off to have a shower and a snooze before getting right back to work every day. Once the project is over, he’ll return to commuting from home. He’s heard the stories about Borrowers, but Dr. Kleiner assures him it’s just a prank people like to pull, so Gordon puts it out of his mind pretty immediately.  One day Barney sneaks into one of the offices to snag some rubber bands (INVALUABLE stuff). This scientist seems to work very long hours, but he’s pretty sure they’ve left for the night. While he’s climbing up his rope to get back into the vent, he gets spooked by the sound of a giant human opening the door.  Barney has never in his life been seen by a scientist, and in his panic, accidentally slips and gets his leg tangled in his own rope. He’s trapped right out in the open at the mercy of some mad scientist! Gordon isn’t a mad scientist, but he sure is a surprised one when he returns to his office with a fresh coffee in hand and finds a tiny man on his desk.  Is he seeing this because he’s been working to hard? Had to much coffee? Hasn’t seen the sun in weeks? But no mater how long he stands in the doorway blinking stupidly, the tiny man is still there.  Barney feels like he’s going to drop dead at any moment, but he tries his best to at least LOOK calm in the face of death.  He gingerly lifts a hand a waves. “Uh, h-hey Doc.” He says with a wobbly smile. “Uh... Hi... tiny... man on my desk?” (Yeah Gordon talks in my AU) Gordon approaches, still in shock, and when Barney flinches back violently, he flinches too. Gordon gently untangles Barney from the rope and introduces himself. With no immediate means of egress, Barney feels like the only thing he can do is chat with the giant, trying to keep things light and friendly. No need to get the scalpels and the cages.    Gordon is of course curious as heck, and whatever he was supposed to be working on is completely shoved to the side in favor of talking with Barney all night.  Much to both of their surprise (Barney’s more than Gordon’s) they actually end up really enjoying each others company. They share a granola bar from Gordon’s desk (one of the best things Barney has every eaten) and a bit of coffee (Not good at all, but not the worst thing he’s been forced to drink). Over time, Barney finds himself coming back to visit the weird human whenever he’s alone in the office.  Gordon is very concerned about Barney’s diet. He eats cockroaches and scraps from the garbage? When was the last time this man had a vegetable? (Barney: What the hell’s a vegetable? What’s a fruit? Are you swearing at me?)  These discussions leads to other troubling revelations. Barney is in constant danger. He’s never been outside of the facility. He doesn’t even know there IS an outside! Gordon’s heart is thoroughly broken on the borrowers behalf, and he offers to take Barney with him when he goes home at the end of the month. Barney doesn’t exactly understand, because he thought humans just lived in the dorms. But the more Gordon talks about the outside, the more Barney is captivated by the idea.  It is absolutely 100% insane, but... But maybe he could live in a house with Gordon? Not have to worry about hiding. Not have to worry about starving. Get some of that fresh air he’s been hearing about.  It takes a little while, but eventually Barney caves, and the two start excitedly planning for the big move.  First Gordon has to finish his project, and Barney has to pack up everything he owns (which isn’t too much, but still a job).  On the day of the big test, Barney is waiting in Gordon’s office, filled with anxiety and excitement.  He waits... And waits... And waits... The lights flicker. Is something wrong with the power? Is... was that a scream he just heard out in the hall? Was that a gunshot?! What’s happening out there? Is Gordon okay? Barney decides maybe it would be safer if he waited for Gordon back in the vent. But just as he’s about to climb in, he hears something huge scuttling through the metal tunnel.  Suddenly a... THING bursts out of the vent and lands clumsily on the desk in front of him, scattering giant pieces of paper filled with Gordon’s writing, and shattering the desk lamp.  He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s staring at a headcrab that has been following his scent all through the ventilation system. (Do headcrabs have noses? I don’t know. But it tracked him somehow)  Barney runs and the creature goes crashing after him. Barney is forced to dive for the floor (not a deadly fall for a borrower, considering their incredibly light bodyweight. But still scary!) He’s backed into a corner while this unnatural thing closes in on him. He’s going to die. He’s going to die and he’ll never see Gordon again and they’ll never escape this place and- A figure bursts through the door, covered head to toe in some kind of armor. It races forward, crowbar in hand, and swings at the creature, smacking it away from the cowering borrower. The figure slam it’s weapon into it again and again, long after it’s stopped moving. All that is left is a pile of twisted flesh and yellow viscera.     The towering figure then turns to Barney, and his heart is suddenly trying to claw it’s way up his throat.  He stands to run, but it’s too late. Swiftly, roughly, a giant gloved hand reaches down and snatches the Borrower up. The glove is covered in alien gore, but that is the least of his worries. He can’t tell who the human is behind the heavy helmet, and even if he could, he can barely breath for fear, let alone speak.  The figure examines him, then walks over to the desk and sets him down carefully.  The figure falls heavily into the seat, and with arms that suddenly look too heavy for it, lifts the helmet off its head.  There in front of the borrower sits Gordon Freeman. Pail, sweaty, shaking, and so, so relieved that Barney is alive. He’s seen a lot of people die today, and was nearly sick with the idea that Barney might be among them.  Their plan has been complicated. Leaving Black Mesa isn’t going to be as easy as just hiding in Gordons pocket and walking out the door. Now they are going to have to fight their way out.  In game mechanics don’t translate very well to real life, and I don’t think the HEV suit actually has pockets and holsters that let you carry tons of weapons and stuff. I think they settle on having Barney ride along with him inside the helmet. It’s not super safe (and I imagine it would be pretty gross what with the sweat and everything) but it’s the best option they have.  That’s all the story I’ve got. I’m not sure how it ends, or if/how we get to HL2 from this, but still. Maybe at the end they just get to go home and live a peaceful life together away from Black Mesa. That would be nice. =p   So, uh... Yeah! That’s the idea so far. ^__^;;   

[wordsoflittlewisdom]

Watching bop again

I kinda forgot Cass was at the roller derby game. Love how all the characters are connected

Why does Roman’s voice...sound like that

Boss Bitch is weirdly nostalgic now

I like that the whole roller derby team is wearing like. team jackets. and harleys got her whole fringe sleeves thing going on

YES LOVE WHEN SHE THROWS THE NECKLACE AWAY

The chemical plant blowing up as fireworks was a very Harley choice

“So I’ll start where I fucking want” four minutes ago

huntress huntress huntress huntress huntress

I read somewhere that this huntress and Montoya scene was one take and they just changed the lighting to show the change

romans middle name being beauvais is probably the clearest clue they could have given that he was from a rich family

Love that Renee finds the necklace and knows Harley and the joker broke up. I like this idea that superheroes/villains are kinda like celebrities in this world

The egg sandwich scene is great what more can I say

Love that there’re cars and people just living their lives in this city

It’s a crime that we never see Harley wear this glittery fanny pack

The music is really good in this

It’s neat how the line between her narration and her dialogue is blurred, like how she’ll say the first part of something in narration and the second part in dialogue

Huntress’s little flute theme

And Montoya knows Cass; c o n n e c t i o n s

Montoya’s been going after Roman, too

And now we’re flipping back to the bertinelli massacre and diamond

Even if the whole missing diamond plot isn’t that unique, everything’s woven together so neatly

And now Dinah and Renee are on the phone about Cass and the diamond

It’s all connected

Harleys whole “I’m here to report a terrible crime”—she could have just run in there but she wanted to be Dramatic

I do wish the vocals were a little louder here maybe?

Big fan of this fight choreography

Harley pausing on a frame where she’s making a weird face before rewinding to explain about the diamond—it’s so rare to ever get to see women like. making weird faces in movies. All the women in his this are gorgeous but they don’t always have to be; they look beat up after fights and get dirty and make weird faces and it’s great

Dinah singing? Exceptional

“Loans, liquidity, laundering” ah yes the three L’s of illegal business

I unironically listen to Black Canary’s man’s world.

I like that everyone just calls Dinah “Canary”

“I’m all on my lonesome. It’s great” Harleys even an unreliable narrator when she’s just talking

I’ve really never seen a movie that feel like it’s from the female gaze visually as much as this one—all the rings and earrings, the hair, the makeup, it feels like what women might fantasize about dressing like

Dinah yelling “you motherfucker!” While beating some creeps up is quality

What time of day is it? Dinah would probably be leaving early in the morning, but I Refuse to believe that Roman would be awake particularly early any morning

She either canary is leaving her nightclub singing gig in the late morning/early afternoon or roman is still awake from the night before and is going to go to sleep soon

Cass and Dinah in the same building. (Bernie voice): I am once again talking about the connections

I’ve riffed on this before but i refuse to believe that Roman can drive

This Dinah and Renee scene establishes character, backstories, and moves the plot along all at once

Jesus some of ewan mcgregor’s acting in this is painfully bad

I love that Cass has a big bomber jacket and longer, looser shorts

Jurnee’s abs wow

The lights from behind the hands with the eyes behind Harley, who’s surrounded by people and then Roman and Victor emerge from the back, whispering to each other? Beautiful

One of the grievances roman has against Harley is “constantly interrupting him, like I’m doing right now”

Harleys “you’re really not as complicated as you think” bit is almost satirical of this cult we’ve created of “complicated” white male movie villains who have massive fan followings (cough cough joker)

Interesting that Roman holds the knife to Harleys face but hands it off to Victor to do that actual cutting

Someone handed Roman a bowl of popcorn

Harleys pocket tampon

It’s diamonds are a girls best friend yeah babey!

The male backup dancers are wearing muzzles/masks (Roman has one too for a split second) is an interesting flip on the way women are typically the ones being silenced, as well as Harleys desire to silence the men around her and be the one telling and controlling her own narrative

“Hey! you’re that singer no one listens to!” “Hey! You’re the asshole no one likes!”

Harley with her glitter gun

Harleys reaction when the sprinklers go off is perfect—Margot makes her feel like a living cartoon

This cell block fight scene is a showstopper

I like that cass doesn’t immediately want to stay with Harley. It gives her some agency in a story where she’s mostly just following the curveballs life throws her

Harleys little stare straight into the camera when cass admits to eating the diamond

Harley at the grocery store really emphasizes that she’s a total weirdo

I think I heard somewhere that the pic of child Harley with the nuns is a pic of young Margot??? Not totally sure though

Cass not knowing who the joker is goes with the whole supers are like celebrities thing—cass probably follows a whole different group of them (like how most kids follow different celebrities than their parents)

Huntress huntress huntresssss

“Give me number 32. Mild”

This kid in helenas flashback doesn’t really look like she’s grow up to look like Mary Elizabeth Winstead

This filming in this flashback has so much style

Helena practicing in the bathroom mirror with her drawing and her multiple bottles of travel mouthwash

We’re in the scene where Roman makes the girl dance on the table and oh god it’s so uncomfortable

No no no no no not this hate this

Alright that nightmare’s done

“and that’s why you should never pay federal income taxes”

Harley offering to bring cass to Roman after hearing doc say “business is business is interesting

OH ITS HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT TIME

Dinahs car is yellow because it’s...canary yellow

Roman putting on the mask is cool and all but he’s just gonna have to take it back off to get changed

This Harley vs Renee fight is fun because they keep mirroring each other—they’re fighting each other, but they’re really on the same side

The way the women all kind of circle each other at first and don’t immediately get along

Cass popping up with the gun also gives her some agency—she’s at the end of her rope with the diamond and being betrayed by Harley

“I am nOT THE CROSSBOW KILLER”

The way Huntress sounds so uncertain when she says “...and now I’m done” Mary’s acting really popped off

Roman’s a bitch but I like his outfits

Helenas little smile when Harley says “you just killed his BFF”

I love how excited Harley is when they all agree to work together

Roman’s giving his little speech in the back of a pickup truck?

When all the guys turned around with masks on I got chills

“I love this chick she’s got rage issues.” “I DONT HAVE RAGE ISSUES”

Huntress stabbing the guy while going down the slide is peak cinema

This set lights up as the scene progresses and reveals more

I love love love that Helena is genuinely caring towards Cass and recognizing that children shouldn’t have to go through trauma like her

“When the fuck did she have time to do a shoe change?”

THE HAIR TIE YEAH

Forgot to mention this but it’s a stroke of genius for this place to be called the booby trap

Love me some canary cry

“Told ya she had a killer voice”

Harleys chase was a real group hurrah—the canary cry cleared the way and pushed her forward, Huntress towed her, Renee gave her the gun with one bullet

Cass and Roman are just sitting in the back seat. That must have been an awkward car ride

Cass pulling the gun away from Roman when he tries to shoot up at Harley when Harleys on top of the car is elite

Damn this is one foggy pier

When Harley starts with “your protection is based on the fact that people are scared of you” you expect her to say that it’s wrong or something but she says “I’m the one they should be scared of” this movie messed with tropes so much

That also includes the whole “one bullet” thing—Harley misses with her one bullet, and you don’t really know what’s gonna happen next

“I took your ring”

You can pinpoint exactly when Harley and Roman realize what Cass did

I’d put the entire taco scene here if I could

Renee moving the drink away from cass shows her caring side—she doesn’t want a kid to get into alcohol and make the mistakes she did

“Does she always talk like the cop in a bad eighties movie?”

Harley and Cass stealing the car is a fun way to show that she may be on the side of the good guys sometimes, but that doesn’t necessarily make her one

“Woman” by Kesha

Wow the outfits in this scene are iconic

I mean they are in the whole movie but I especially like these

Cass riding around with Harley and a hyena, wearing cute outfits and learning the ways of chaos

Harley got her sandwich!

The credit art for this movie is cool

Especially how they represent each character

In conclusion this is still my favorite movie

I know I’ve been kinda absent recently, but watching this again has really reminded me how much I love it. I got really busy but I’m going to Make An Effort to be a contributing member of the bop fandom again.

[astudyinfic]

Spooktober 2021 

Day 7 - Mermaid

Fandom: Cut & Run

Also on AO3

~ ~ ~ ~

"Who's idea was it to steal a pirate ship anyway?"

To be fair, Ty was pretty sure there was no conscious decision to steal the ship. It was just one of those things that happened while on shore leave. This wasn't even the first pirate ship they commandeered, though, he thought the first probably shouldn't count as it was more a misunderstanding where they boarded the wrong vessel and were halfway out of port before realizing it. And then, they just had to keep going because the crew of any ship with that flag on it was not going to be understanding.

Besides, it was an upgrade from the one the government had given them.

"Let's blame Doc," Ty offered, knowing that he would get the main share of the vote if he didn't give an alternate answer first. They always blamed him for things, like it was his fault he was cursed.

Cursed being their word. Blessed was the way Ty chose to look at it.

"Sure, blame the one that saves your ass," Kelly muttered from his spot at the back of the ship, watching in case anyone was following.

Ty snorted and leaned against the railing, looking down at the water. "You aren't the one who saves my ass and you know it."

They did. They all did. Ty had his own version of a guardian angel. One that was far colder, far more deadly. There were bets on how long it would be before his guardian got bored and killed him. Most of them put it at about two more weeks. Not many people could stand Ty for much longer than that.

"Okay, let's not fight. We need to get out of here before they catch up with us." Nick had been the voice of reason for as long as they could all remember. He'd tried to talk Ty out of his alliance but Ty Grady was a stubborn bastard and would do whatever the hell he wanted, regardless of what people told him. "Ty, any sign of him?"

While Kelly was looking out for the pirates, Ty was in charge of watching the water. "Not yet. So, either we are in the clear or he's taking care of things."

"Either works as long as we can get out of here and fast."

They'd been on a crew together for five years and knew the ins and outs of working with one another on deck. The six of them were a well-oiled machine.

Seven if they counted Ty's...angel.

Fog grew thick around them as the shore faded from view. "Ty! You've got company!" Eli shouted at him, manning the sails as he did so.

A head bobbed above the water and stared up at Ty, eyes narrowed and disapproving. "Beaumont. What did you do?"

"Hey, beautiful," Ty purred. "How are we looking?"

Zane sighed. "Three ships tried to follow you. You're clear now though." His grin was downright predatory and Ty almost felt bad for the crews that probably had no idea what happened until it was too late. Zane was a force to be reckoned with when angry, and nothing made him angrier than someone threatening Ty.

A whistle from behind them made Ty laugh. "Glad you're on our side," Digger exclaimed. "Three ships? Not even Doc could cause that kind of damage that fast."

"I could! I just haven't had reason to try!"

Chuckling at his friends, Ty turned back to Zane and tossed a rope down. "You have time to stay for a while? If we're in the clear, I've probably got a few hours."

Instead of answering, Zane pulled himself on board. The black scales of his fin glittered the same as his eyes and Ty's mouth went dry at the sight. As Zane dried, his fin split down the middle becoming very human legs.

Very naked human legs. And everything else.

"I'll be in a bunk!" Ty called, hauling Zane to his feet and tugging him towards the stairs below deck.

"Zane, if you feel like killing him, you might be doing us all a favor." Nick smiled as he said it but Ty was pretty sure he was joking.

Zane looked Ty over from head to toe, unconcerned that he was standing there nude in front of everyone. "No, I have other plans for him tonight."

Ty ignored all the horrified groans from his friends. They'd tease him tomorrow but it would be worth it to have Zane with him tonight.

[fallingappleshurt]

Secrets To Save You

~~chapter description because I forgot last time~~~

Tubbo is dying and his only hope is Techno getting supplies for a healing potion in the Nether

Eyyyy bad description but I did chapter two eyyyy and I bet the docs formatting got messed up eyyyy

TW: Swearing but nothing to bad

Chapter 2: Into Fire

Techno always found the fourth ring to be somewhat depressing, it was dirty and broken, the sidewalks and roads eventually morphed into dusty gravel then dirt. The houses were small and in shabbley, garbage and junk crowded parts of the road and the fence that was supposed to separate the rings from the forest had kinks and rips in the mesh. Nature still managed to push through, bushes hiding yards from view, flower pots on window sills.

Even with the fence keeping the forest out there were actual trees in the fourth ring, some leaned over the fence, vines creating cover along the edge. The people seemed happy at least, he passed a rinky treehouse, filled with shrieks and giggles. An open nearby window let a soft melody drift out into the street.

He would have appreciated it more if his head didn’t feel like it was about to explode as he rushed down the street

Skeppy lived in a little scrappy house, one of the windows was busted and the door creaks every time it’s touched but it was a good cover for what was underneath. Skeppy had hollowed out a huge space underneath that was hidden by chests, it was basically a secret basement. It had mini farms and stolen goods, Skeppy was good with his hand and could make just about anything. He’s been running a racket.

Techno knocked lightly on the door, he heard shuffling inside then the door squeaked open and Skeppy poked his head out, he had redstone dust against his cheeks.

“Who- Oh hey Techno, what’s up?”

“I need help,”

“Never a dull moment with you, what do you need?”

“I need to go to the Nether.” Skeppy raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Did you hear about the attack in the second ring?” Techno asked, Skeppy nodded, “My little brother’s friend got withering poison and I need to get potion supplies.”

Skeppy’s face dropped, he opened the door all the way, “Come inside,” Techno stepped inside and found himself sitting at Skeppy’s shitty table, tapping his fingers nervously along the scratched wood.

“What all do you need?” Skeppy asked, digging through one of the chests along his wall.

“Nether wart, blaze rods, and blaze powder,” Techno listed off, hoping the Captain hadn’t forgotten anything.

“I only have nether wart,” Skeppy said.

“Do you know of anywhere else I could get it?”

“Without stealing or for a reasonable price? No, sorry man.”

Techno groaned, jamming a hand in his hair, “I need to get this stuff, Tubbo’s life depends on it.”

“I still might have something that could help- would you be willing to go to the nether?”

Techno blinked, would he? He wanted to help Tubbo but there he had only read about the Nether and it’s creatures years ago, a hellish, hot, burning landscape with danger at every turn. The mobs were loud and explosive, some could fly and shoot fire, or that could actively hide and breathe in lava. He didn’t want to go in there, he had no idea how to handle, even with all of his training.

Then he remembered Tommy.

He remembered that Tommy was going to lose his best friend if he didn’t do this. Tubbo had his whole life ahead of him, he was a smart kid and Techno knew he’d go far and do great things, both of them would. Those two had been side by side for years, they were a part of each other. It was never just Tommy or Tubbo, it was Tommy and Tubbo.

He couldn’t do that to them.

‘You could die!’’ The other side of him reasoned, he shoved it aside. He had to do this, for Tommy and Tubbo.

“Yes,” He rasped, Skeppy grinned then walked over to his mattress, pulling a bag out from underneath it. He tossed it at Techno, who dumped it’s contents onto the table, papers and pens scattering everywhere. He grabbed one of the folded pieces and opened it, revealing a detailed map with bullet points along the side and in the margins.

“If you’d let me explain before dumping all of my stuff everywhere, these are maps around the Nether, one to get a portal I have in the woods, one on how to get to different regions of the Nether and notes on what to do or avoid. Do you know how to navigate the Nether?”

“Not in the slightest,”

Skeppy laughed, “You’re so bad-”

“Just tell me what to do-”

“Let me talk, so when you first get in there don’t step on anything that glows, it’ll either burn you or break. Just try and stay anyways from any mobs, you’ll see a lot of these pig things but as long as you have something that looks like gold on you then you should be fine.” Skeppy shoved the papers around until he found a yellow pin.

“Wear that on your shirt and they should leave you alone. For the rest of it, just follow the map and try not to get set on fire.”

“What about the fortress?”

“I’ve been in the fortress once before and it was absolutely terrifying, the blazes had these weird sticks that fly all around them and they will spit fire at you so watch out, they usually are in their own little boxy areas. The only real advice I have is try not to get set on fire.” Skeppy said, shrugging. Techno sighed, shoving the papers back into the bag.

“Thank you-”

“Oh, you’ll need this for the portal, to start it up,” He handed Techno a piece of metal and flint, tied together, Techno pocketed it.

“Thank you-”

“It’s whatever- oh wait let me grab the nether wart,” Skeppy jumped up, pushing one of his chests to the side, climbing down a rusty ladder as Techno continued to clean up the maps. Skeppy emerged from the gap and tossed a small pouch at him.

“There you go,” He paused, “Good luck, and you know the drill, you never got that stuff from me.” Skeppy grinned, Techno snorted, shouldering the bag and opening the door.

“Of course, I’ve just met you, it’s Skippy right?”

“Haha, very funny-”

“Later Skippy-”

“Techno-” Skeppy’s retort was cut off by Techno closing the door. He didn’t know much about the Nether but he knew he needed a weapon so he headed back to the apartment to get his sword. The walk back was uneventful though there seemed to be less people, and guards milling about. Techno chalked it up to the commotion in the second ring.

Coming into his neighborhood, he climbed up the rusty stairs to their apartment and opened the door. Inside Wilbur and Tommy were passed out on the couch, a bandaid was on Tommy’s cheek and he didn’t see Phil anywhere, the coast was clear.

Techno slipped into his and Phil’s room, putting the bag of nether wart under his mattress, he grabbed his sword from under his bed. Running his fingers along the sheath to clear the dust then adjusted it to his belt.

“Where are you going?”

Techno turned and saw Phil in the doorway, he froze. He couldn’t tell Phil he was trying to sneak into the Nether, he didn’t even like Techno going to the duels so him walking into what was essentially hell would have been a no go.

“Tommy told me what happened, is this for Tubbo?”

Techno nodded, he didn’t like lying to Phil but he didn’t want to worry him either, well, more then he already did.

Phil sighed, “You aren’t gonna be able to earn enough money for hospital care in one night,”

Techno blinked, realizing he had an out, he didn’t have to tell Phil what he was doing, not directly, just tell him that he was going to help Tubbo.

He swallowed, “I can try,”

Phil looked down, after a moment he said, “Be careful, okay?”

Techno nodded, he stepped forwards and placed a hand on Phil’s shoulder, Phil put his hand on top of Techno’s. “Of course.” Then as quietly as possible, he walked out of their apartment and back towards the fourth ring, dodging the few guards and walking along the fence until he found a big enough opening.

He had only been in the forest once before when he was younger and it had not gone well. He shuddered and pushed away the memories, pulling out the map of the forest, and started in.

The edge of the forest had garbage and junk littered around, a few animals poking at it or climbing on the bits of metal sticking out of the dirt. Further in however the garbage started to recede and foliage looked more lush, the tree rustled as squirrels ran along the branches.

Techno pushed vines out of the way looking at the trees for Skeppy’s landmark, at the heart carved into the roots, turn left and keep going until you reach the mountain. He scanned the surrounding trees, hoping to see the mark but coming up short. He walked further, stepping over roots and flowers, trying not to disturb the foliage. It wasn’t night yet but if monsters were nearby then he didn’t want to alert them.

Techno wandered a bit further until he looked down and saw a little heart carved into the root of a sycamore tree, after checking the directions again he turned left and continued on. The terrain started to get rockier and steeper, tree roots bent out and tangled and more noticeable then ever. The dirt changed into stone as he approached a small craggly mountain, checking over the map again he couldn’t find any other directions besides ‘look for the cave thing- you know what you mean’.

Of course Skeppy would write something like that.

Techno looked up and down the mountain, trying to see if there were any openings or caves when he spotted one halfway to the peak, groaning, he started up the cliff side, not bothering to avoid any plants in his path this time.

This turned out to be a bad idea because he stepped on a patch of leaves and vines and immediately fell into a hole. He lay flat on the ground for a moment, contemplating his life.

After he finished his internal scream fest he pushed himself to his feet to try and find a way out of this stupid hole, only to look up and see an inky wine colored arch in the wall and a nearby chest covered in dust.

Yeah this seemed like something Skeppy would make.

Techno got up, dusted himself off, then checked the chest, finding it was empty besides a thing of rope which he left alone. He pulled out the flint and steel and spent the better part of ten minutes trying to light the damn portal before finally getting a solid spark.

The portal shook then violet tendrils crept from the edges and twinged together. The portal swirled loudly and Techno threw himself in before he could change his mind.

He stumbled into what he could only define as literal hell.

The air was hot and somewhat sticky, everything was either bright orange or a dark red. Monsters shuffled around, grunting and groaning, a high pitched wail sounded in the distance. Lava dripped from the ceiling and pooled into sluggishly moving puddles, he could feel it’s heat even though he was a safe distance away.

He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, digging through his bag he found the nether map and started jogging deeper into the rough red realm.

Techno followed Skeppy’s landmarks, a really gross looking blue tree, a deep hole that led directly to a lava pit, and avoided a very dark and foggy biome then continued straight.

He was starting to give up hope when finally he saw a large dark brick structure over a sea of lava, he looked around and saw the path Skeppy used to get to it. A little tunnel in the rock that led to a part of the fortress that was stuck in the wall.

He hopped onto the top of the structure and immediately felt uneasy, like someone was watching him. He walked along the top until he found an opening and climbed in, drawing his sword, the halls were empty but you could never be too careful.

Techno wandered down the hall until it opened into what seemed like a courtyard of sorts. Broken and rotted creatures walked along the railings of the fortress, unbothered by his presence. A breathy hiss drew is attention, a blaze, or what he thought was, hissed at him.

The blaze chucked a fireball at him, he dodged back then ran forwards, slashing at the monster. He caught it once before it flew up, screeching, Techno dodged another attack and swung in an arch, clipping the blaze. It howled again before bursting into smoke, dropping two merigold rods on the brick.

Techno shoved them into his bag, not sure on how many to get, on one hand he wanted to leave but if it wasn’t enough then the whole trip would have been pointless and they would lose Tubbo.

A breathy hiss made the decision for him as he ducked away from a fireball, then charged at the approaching monster, it was better to over prepare then under prepare.

Techno fell into a rhythm of sorts, slashing, stabbing, and dodging. The thing about the duels was that they made him feel alive but also dull, it was the same thing almost every time; some dumbass with a cocky attitude and little to no sword skills, it was easy.

Fighting the blazes was different, they were unpredictable- chaotic, deadly.

They didn’t have any rules to play by, only going on pure instinct, not bothering to try and banter to entertain an audience. It was new, fresh, dangerous, he got used to the fire just barely licking at his skin. It got his heart pounding and lungs aching- it was almost fun.

After what felt like seconds but had to have been at least an hour he had 14 blaze rods. He shoved them into his bag then ditched the fortress, rushing back out the way he came. He ran until he reached the blue biome again and stopped to break.

While waiting he saw a lanky black figure standing by one of the trees, he squinted at it. It looked familiar, Techno knew he had read about it before but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

Then the figure started screeching and ran at him. Techno jumped then lashed out and got a solid blow but was thrown back against a tree, shaking his head he slashed the creature across the chest then stabbed it. It’s jaw unhinged, it howled, staring at him with wide purple eyes then disappearing in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a blue ball.

Techno picked up the ball, looking it over, after realizing he didn’t know what it was and therefore probably had no use to him, he chucked it behind him and started back towards the portal.

Only to be farther back then before, he yelped, looking around frantically. What the hell just happened?

Then it hit him. He remembered reading about Endermen and their strange relationships and reactions to humans. He also remembered Tommy telling him about these weird, rare blue balls that they dropped that could teleport you if you threw them; he had learned about it in school and wouldn’t stop talking about it for a week.

He realized those could be pretty useful, especially in the Nether, then set out to look for more of the lanky creatures. After about an hour he had fought multiple but only managed to get three pearls but that was still better then nothing. He slipped them into a pouch on his belt and continued back to the portal.

Once out of the Nether, after getting over the wave of nausea, he used the rope in the chest and climbed out of the hole. After sloppily covering it up he ran back through the forest, to the rings. The moon was starting to dip towards the trees and he realized he had been in there all night and that would make the trade off harder but Techno still had time.

He climbed back through the hole in the fence and headed towards the Captains house, cutting through yards and possibly trampling a few flowers and other things. He made a pit stop at his apartment to grab the Nether wart and dropped off his sword. He ran to the edge of the second ring and skidded to a halt outside the house.

Techno knocked, quietly but quickly, until a scruffy looking Captain opened the door.

“Techno?” He asked, “What are you doing here-”

“Let me in, I got the stuff,” Techno said, pushing his way in, the Captain closed the door.

“What stuff?”

“The potion supplies,” Techno set his bag down on the table, the Captain’s eyes widened.

“Wait you actually got it? How?”

“Don’t ask questions you aren’t prepared to hear the answers too, just take them.” Techno set the pouch of nether wart on the table then proceeded to dump out all of the blaze rods.

The Captain didn’t move, he stood there staring at the materials.

“You got everything else?”

The Captain nodded and Techno smiled, heading towards the door, he was exhausted.

“Good to know, I hope to see Tubbo soon.” Then he left, closing the door, heading back home, where he drank half of his body weight in water then collapsed into bed.

He hadn’t heard much from anyone in Tubbo’s family for three days. Everyday Tommy would come home from school and report that Tubbo was still missing. Techno would bite his lip and hope that the Captain would be able to make the potion. He had avoided stopping by to cause less suspicion.

On the fourth day, a Saturday, someone knocked on the door. Tommy was in his room, Phil was reading in the living room, and Wilbur refused to get off the couch so Techno answered the door.

Tubbo stood there, looking up at him holding a plate of cookies and a folded note.

“Oh! Hey Techno! These are for you guys, they are from my mom!” Tubbo said, pushing the plate closer, “And the note is for you, from my dad.” He added quietly, “Said it’s a secret.”

Techno took the plate, smiling softly, after finally finding his voice; “Thank you, come on in for a minute.” And pulled Tubbo inside. He set the plate down and pocketed the note.

“Hey Tommy, come here for a second!”

“What is it?”

“Just come here!”

Tommy’s door opened and he stepped out, “What’s the big idea-” He trailed off upon seeing Tubbo, who waved.

Tommy stood there, in shock before launching himself across the room and bowling into the other boy, shrieking.

“Tubbo! You’re okay!” He said, wrapping his arms around the other.

“Yeah!”

Wilbur got up from the couch and Phil followed to greet Tubbo, ruffling his hair, and telling him they were so happy he was okay.

After the room had settled, Tommy immediately drug Tubbo into his room, asking him what the poison was like. Phil warned Tommy to be careful in case Tubbo was still healing and Wilbur warned Tommy to not touch any of his stuff.

Techno stepped away and looked at the note.

‘Please bring Tubbo home tonight then talk to me- Captain’

The vagueness of the note made his stomach turn, the whole rest of the day Techno worried about stupid things like ‘what if the potion only worked temporarily and Tubbo was still in danger? What if a guard saw him doing all the very illegal actions he did last night? What if Sparkles reported him?’

When Tubbo said he had to get going, Techno offered to walk him back, then still proceeded to worry the whole rest of the way there.

He followed Tubbo inside his house when the Captain pulled him into the kitchen and gave him a hug.

Techno stood shocked, blinking, before awkwardly returning it. The Captain had never really seemed to like Techno, he was never mean, just always seemed on edge. The Captain pulled away, eyes shining.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” He said, “You saved my son's life, without that potion he would have died- thank you.”

“It was no problem,” Techno said, scratching the back of his neck nervously, “I care about the kid a lot and he helps keep Tommy out of trouble, so it was the least I could do.”

“The least- oh nevermind, I still want to thank you for risking your life for him and ask you a question.”

Techno nodded hesiatinely.

“Does anyone else know about what you did?”

“Just one other person, but trust me he won’t tell anyone.”

“Okay, I had an idea, potions are in high demand so I was wondering if you wanted to do a little back alley selling,”

Techno raised an eyebrow, “How so?”

“You would get the ingredients, I would make the potions and sell them off then we would split the money. And I know that we aren’t that close but this could help both of our families, if you are willing to.” The Captain offered his hand

Techno considered it, “I don’t want to be doing any of the hand offs-”

“No that would be all me, all you have to get is gather the ingredients!” He assured, Techno sighed then took the Captain’s hand.

“It’s a deal.”

[thegreatbigfourmain]

Dancing With Dragons

He knew something was wrong the moment he came to his senses. His entire body trembled with pain as he was forced to awaken from his blissful and painfully unaware sleeping state. The sound of beeping monitors and the soft echo of shoes tapping on hard floors rose once his eyes opened. Moments later, a doctor was there to greet him and inform him they were at the hospital, yet still on base. The battered-up brunet saw a glimpse of himself in a mirror given by a nurse. His hair was matted and dirty, his body stitched and bandaged. 

It took the doctor a moment before telling him that not only was he being sent home on an honorable discharge, he also had a terrible accident. It wasn’t losing his men or killing civilians, as one would assume. The tragic loss was the left stump that was now his leg, bleeding through the bandages. His green eyes widened at the sight. No words left his lips as his entire body shut down. As a result, the doctor pumped his IV with morphine to cause the soldier to rest. However, the shock never truly left him.

In all honesty, he wasn't too proud of going off to the Marines like he had. He thought that if he left his art scholarship and went to the army, his dad might actually be proud of him. And for a moment, the old man was. With his buzz cut and high rankings through bomb tech and military tacticians, he had been put in the hand of his squad. His father was proud of him every day.

Yet, it only took a single bomb to set back everything. He came home taller with lean ropes of muscle, a haircut and a foot gone. The looks of sympathy were worse than the disapproval. He spent months in the hospital and physical therapy, though it did nothing to help his mental state. His hair grew out back to the long length it had once been and he could actually walk in a straight line with his prosthetic, yet he still felt as weak as he was all those years ago. Even as a twenty-seven-year-old man, he still looked to his father for approval and now only saw that same disappointment.

There wasn’t anything he could do to change that’s man mind. 

***

Today, Hiccup Haddock the Third found himself outside a small dance studio recommended by his redheaded, Scottish doctor. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. 

The brunette sighed, looking down at the floor of the car.

“You ready?” his best friend asked from the driver’s side.

The man grumbled, “No. Take me home.”

Jack scoffed and turned off the car as to not waste the gas. Hiccup knew what that meant; a lecture from good ole’ Jack Frost. 

“Doc said it was going to help your coordination and that this girl was a good friend of hers. She’s not even going to charge you! What’s the worse that could happen?” the white hair male asked.

Hiccup gave him a look, “I fox trot myself into falling on my ass?”

Jack narrowed his eyes, “Get out of the car and go get better or so help me I will pull you out myself.”

The brunet rolled his green eyes before opening the door and lifting his legs awkwardly out of the vehicle. He slowly stood up, only to bend down and look back at his buddy. 

“Two o’ clock right?” 

“I’ll be here. I promise,” Jack said with a smile. The veteran closed the door and with a sigh, wobbled his way toward the dance studio. He was still slow in his walk and looked stiff. He refused to use a cane as it only furthered his disappointment and loss of his normality. Besides, it was mostly the pain that bothered him rather than his appearance. 

Everything inside him screamed that this was a bad idea.

His father had ingrained in him that real men don’t need help. Then again, he wanted a lot out of his fishbone of a son that didn't have much to give in the first place. 

Hiccup walked up to the door as the colorful fall leaves crunched under his boots. He wore a pair of dark jeans and a button up dark green shirt with a warm leather jacket over it. Now that his hair was long, he used a ponytail to tie it back. It showed off more of his sharp jawline and many, many freckles.

He hesitantly knocked on the door. 

Many thoughts swirled in his mind at the moment. Dr. DunBroch could have at least showed him a picture of her friend to ease his nerves. If she was cute, then this would most definitely end badly. If she wasn’t attractive to him, then it still probably end with him falling on his ass. 

With an awkward turn on his good foot, he only waited a second before heading back to the sidewalk. Hiccup was at the ready to pull out his phone to call Jack to turn around.  

Hiccup dialed Jack's number as the autumn wind tried to penetrate through his thick jacket. He hated the cold. The worst part of being out in the desert was the nights. It was always freezing. 

He brought the phone up to his ear, his other hand in his jacket pocket. 

As the phone rang, he heard the door behind him open.

“Hi, I’m Rapunzel. Are you Hiccup?” 

He turned to see who called his name. The person before him made his eyes widened. Oh this is bad. This is very, very bad. 

She was beautiful. 

She was a petite woman who wore a strapped rose pink dress that brought out the pink of her cheeks and the spring green of her doe eyes. Her hair was held up in a messy bun of golden strands. There was no makeup on her face to taint the natural beauty she possessed. Her lips were in a natural pout as she waited for him to answer. 

He gulped, ignoring the voice that yelled at him on the other end of the phone line.

He decided this was much worse than what his imagination concocted in his head. The last thing he wanted was to be exposing his flaws and handicap by falling all over the place in front of a beautiful woman. Warmth flooded his cheeks to the tips of his ears. He gave her an awkward smile, hanging up the phone and putting it in his pocket. Hiccup took a couple of careful steps towards the door, though he still wobbled a bit. 

The brunet stopped to take a deep breath, his smile gone from what he was about to say. His green eyes filled with a bit a self-loathing, but mostly embarrassment. 

“Umm, hi. Yeah, I’m Hiccup. Dr. DunBroch referred me here, but I think it would be best to continue going back to physical therapy. This dancing thing isn't for me. I was never coordinated, even before my accident. I'm sorry if I wasted your time.” 

He could see her face fall when he told her that he wouldn’t be taking her class. It seemed like she was almost looking forward to it. No, it couldn't be that. Injured veterans are charity cases. She was probably just trying to validate herself through some civic duty to a soldier. Just another person to pity him.

These emotions made Hiccup turn around. He couldn’t take looking at her hurt face any longer. He closed his eyes tightly at how stupid he must have sounded. He took out his phone again while walking stiffly towards the sidewalk once more.

All he heard was a soft “Oh, of course. No worries” from her before the door closed behind him, leaving him out in the autumn wind.

Haddock you asshole, he thought to himself. 

He called Jack again.

“What?” 

“I’m ready to go home.”

“You didn’t even go to the class, did you?”

“This is stupid. I want to go home.”

“Your doctor said this was the best chance you have to walk normally that’s faster than therapy. You can’t just walk away because you’re uncomfortable!”

“I can figure it out myself. And I’m not walking away. It just isn’t for me.”

“I’m not picking you up.”

“Then I’ll walk.”

“Are you crazy? You can barely walk as it is! No offense.”

“How is that not offensive?”

Hiccup was about to utter something to his supposed best friend when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. It made him turn around, his phone still up to his ear with Jack barraging him. 

The petite blonde stood behind him, out in the cold with her dance outfit on. 

She smiled at him and handed him her card. “Here. It’s my business card,” she explained. 

“I know you may not want to now, or ever. But if you ever do want to have a session in the future, I just wanted you to know you have other options. I may not be a licensed physical therapist, but I do know a few things about dance,” she joked, letting out the most melodious giggle Hiccup’s ever heard. 

Her words were almost lost on him because he found himself looking into her green eyes now that they were closer. They were green like summer grass. He felt like he was getting lost in all that was simple about her. That’s what it was. She was simple, uncomplicated and without drama. His whole life had been a series of problems and complications. Hell, his name was Hiccup: he was a mistake and a problem within itself. Even his own occupation was full of bomb techs, guns, drills, training and war mechanics. When he got home it was hospitals and surgeries, family issues and planning. She seemed so simple.

Hiccup reached for the card and, in doing so, gently brushed his fingertips with hers. That short contact caused jolts of electricity to run up his arm, followed by a bright crimson blush flustering his face. 

“Oh, th-thank you,” he muttered out. She gave him one more heart-stopping smile before spinning around in a dancer’s fashion and going back into the building. 

“Hiccup? Hic who was that?” Jack’s voice finally registering into the memorized brunet. 

“Th-that was my instructor. Sorry Jack, I gotta go. See you at 2,” Hiccup rapidly uttered before stuffing his phone once again into his pocket and following the direction of where the blonde beauty went. 

When he did catch up to her, she was beginning to put her speaker away and looked like she was closing up shop. Hiccup cleared his throat before knocking on the open door and entering. 

The blonde glanced towards him, tilting her head to the side a bit like an adorable curious puppy. 

“Hiccup?” 

He chuckled at that, whether it be to hide his incredibly nervous emotions or because the way she said his name was on the rapidly growing list of what he enjoyed hearing from her; her giggle being the first. 

“I, I’m sorry about before... This is all so foreign to me,” he started. 

She placed the speaker aside and began to walk towards him, Hiccup doing the same until the pair met in the center of the room with only their reflections in from the ballet mirrors to accompany them. 

“Well, If you’re up for it, I don’t mind helping you get un-foreign to it,” she grinned, her smile never failing to clench the inside of Hiccup’s chest. 

What was this girl doing to me? 

“What the heck, let’s do it.” 

What did he just get himself into? 

[thatsgay-writes]

Waverly Earp x Reader

Summary: You’re part of a werewolf community in Purgatory and your mate is Waverly.

Warnings: Light cursing?

(Your wolf form and jacket that everyone in your pack wears. I made Waverly and Champ break up earlier, like before episode 1, because I've only watched 5 episodes so far and don't know when they break up.)

Being mated to a human wasn't an impossible thing, uncommon at most, but being a wolf with the alpha gene being mated to a human was never heard of. When your a pup, for the first 5 years of your life you go to the pack hospital to look at the newborns in hope of imprinting. You never imprinted on any of the wolfs and that scared your parents into thinking you were mate less. Which was not a good thing considering that you were next in line to lead the pack and needed to continue the bloodline, alpha's never birth the heirs no matter the gender. It wasn't til you went out into town the first time that you imprinted, on Waverly Earp. Your parents had no idea what to do, you had a mate now but they were human and wolves weren't supposed to reveal themselves unless absolutely needed. Of course, there were whispers all through Purgatory about your pack and how they all thought you were a cult or something, some even thought you were wolfs. The leather jackets and walking into town to get food and beer in groups of three probably didn't help. The only people who knew about werewolves were Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Against your parents wishes, you did befriend Waverly in high school and had been acquaintances since you graduated. Giving each other the occasional nod or quick hi in passing or when you went to Shorty's with your friends to get a drink.

You had just heard that Waverly's Uncle died, of course only three days after Champ breaks up with her, and that Wynonna might be coming back to town. So after alpha training, you snuck out. You went to Shorty's when you knew Waverly had a break and went up to the room that was now just hers. You knock on the door, quietly but firmly. "Waverly?" You say, hoping she hears you or maybe she's asleep. You knock again before putting your hand on the door knob, which is unlocked. Your eyes widen in surprise that the door is unlocked and against your better judgement slowly turn the handle to open the door. You frown at the sight of Waverly curled up in her bed, tear stains covering her face. You knew that you should probably leave, so she didn't wake up to see you in her room staring at her but your wolf would kick you if you did that. You walked towards the small bathroom in the room and wet a face cloth. You walk back over to Waverly and softly start wiping the tear stains away. Waverly does end up waking up, slowly, but you focus on your work instead of freaking out. "Y/n?" You give her a small smile before finishing up wiping her face and laying the face cloth out to dry. You go back to where you were before and crouch down again. "Yeah?" "Why are you here?" You let out a sigh at her question. "Well I heard about Champ, an absolute idiot by the way, and your Uncle, and that Wynonna might be coming back to town. I thought you could use a friend right now." Waverly gives you a smile and grabs your hand, causing your wolf to go crazy. "Come on, I know crouching like that isn't comfy." Waverly says motioning to her bed. You raise your eyebrow in surprise and confusion. Waverly rolls her eyes, "What your here and I haven't had anyone to cuddle with in a while and I'm grieving." You roll your eyes but get into the bed with her, making sure there was a obvious amount of space between the two of you. Waverly, of course, completely ignores the space you tried to leave and rolls over onto you and lays her head on your chest. You feel like your heart is beating out of your chest and your wolf is yelling at you to mark her. When you wake up the next day, still in bed with Waverly, you know your screwed. You swiftly but quietly get out of bed and put pillows down to take your place. You try to sneak back into camp but get caught by one of the guards on duty. "Y/n? Where have you been? I have to take you to your parents." You groan, knowing your about to be in a whole ton of trouble.

You did get in trouble, it would have been better if you had spent the night with a random person but spending it with Waverly made it worse. You weren't allowed out the house for the whole day. To say you were bored was an understatement. The next day, when your finally free, you immediately go to find Waverly to apologize for just disappearing. But when you get to the room, it looks ransacked and Waverly was no where to be seen. You run out of the room and run to Gus's house and see blood on the floor. "Shit." You mumble, trying to think of where the Earps could be. The Homestead, you thought before running out the house again. You have no idea why they would go there but it was the only place you could think of. You make sure no one is around before changing into your wolf form. You take off in a sprint and almost trip when you see whats going on. Wynonna is sitting in front of Waverly in a protective manner, Peacemaker no where to be see, and a revenant aiming a gun at them. You also see a black van coming but it's going to take too long. You decide that this is one of those life or death moments when your allowed to reveal yourself and you figure it's okay since the Earp's know about revenants anyways, so they should be able to handle the idea of werewolves.

So you dart forwards towards the revenant and right before he can fire a shot, you tackle him. You and the revenant roll around some in the dirt fighting and by that time the black van had fully pulled up with Dolls getting out with his gun drawn. "Don't shoot!" Waverly yells at him, she doesn't know why but something about the wolf is familiar to her. You are finally able to get your mouth around the revenants throat and "kill" him. You step off of and away from the body once your completely sure the revenant is taken out. You look over at Waverly and Wynonna to see that Waverly got the rope off of her neck and that Wynonna had retrieved Peacemaker and was pointing it at you. You looked behind you to see a guy who was also pointing a gun at you. You walked away from the body slowly, making sure to stay in the middle of the three people, and nudge your head towards the revenant looking at Wynonna. She seems to get what your saying and moves forwards slowly, still not fully trusting you. You would have bowed your head to show that you meant no harm but it was not known of alpha's to bow to anyone except elders or the previous alpha. You also would have transformed back to human form too but your wolf was experiencing too much adrenaline from fighting after so long. You let out a howl of pure adrenaline and one that signified that there needed to be a meeting after Wynonna shot the revenant. Your howl caused the man behind you to tense, like he expected something to happen.

You finally felt your self calm down and didn't know if you should super reveal yourself or not. You decided that if you did, you would be in trouble but at the same time you could finally be completely honest to Waverly about what she was to you and how you had actually developed feelings for her over the years. You felt your bones start to shift and slowly felt yourself stand back up to normal height. "Y/n?" Waverly said in confusion. Wynonna and Dolls looked at Waverly confused, guns still drawn. "Umm, surprise?" You say chuckling nervously. "How? Who? What?" Waverly says walking up to you and doing a few laps around you before stopping and standing right in front of you. By now, Wynonna and Dolls had put their guns away and were watching the scene before them unfold. "You're a... wolf?" "Werewolf, technically." You correct her, rubbing the back of your neck. "And I thought revenants were the only thing different in Purgatory. Damn, was I wrong." "I know you have questions, which I can totally answer but I feel like there is one more thing I should tell you." Waverly looks up at you confused, causing you to feel even more nervous. "Well besides the fact that I am in love with you and have been since junior year..." You say causing everyone's mouths to drop in shock. "Your in...?" You interrupt Waverly, "Please let me finish. But yes, yes I am. You are also my mate." Waverly, having common knowledge about wolfs, mouth drops even more. "Mate!?"

[debbiechanclub]

Best Two Out of Three, Part 20

Holy Toledo how is this Part 20? Wanna hear something dumb? I have all the parts in a Word doc on my laptop and that m’fer is 80,356 words long and 149 pages. In 11-point font. This thing is a whole ass novel, wtf is wrong with us XD

Wanna hear something even dumber? @what-does-mine-say was deadass consoling me like this shit is real life while I was writing this part. And I think that’s all the intro it needs.

*cries*

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 20/26

Pairing: ...recalculating...

Word count: 5.9k

Warnings: Language; angst. So much angst.

My tiny tag list: @freshlysqueezedmox @gabbynorth98 

Catch up on previous parts here.

“So I kind of want to try something new tonight.”

Callie bounced on the balls of her feet as she and Britt stood in the middle of the ring at Daily’s Place. She had a match that night—a Dark match against Penelope Ford—and she was both excited and a little bit nervous. It was the first match she’d had in two-and-a-half months, since her match against Alex that she’d lost by disqualification. Knowing that, she felt like showing off a little.

“Oh yeah?” Britt asked. “What were you thinking?”

“Well, I’ve been wanting to show that I can be more technical than just throwing hard punches and kicks, and I don’t really have a submission move in my arsenal… so I was thinking of trying out the octopus hold?”

“Oh yeah!” Britt proclaimed. “That’s a good one. Have you worked on it at all? Because I honestly haven’t tried it.”

She nodded. “A little. But it’s been a while.” She stared at the mat, her thoughts growing distant. It had actually been Alex who’d shown her how to do the octopus hold, back when they’d first started becoming friends. Callie wasn’t sure how Alex would take it if she used it tonight. But she also didn’t really care.

“Well, I’m down to try it if you’re comfortable,” Britt said. “Just tell me what to do.”  

Callie shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. “Okay, cool. It’s actually pretty simple for you. All you need to do is pick me up like I’m going for a tilt-a-whirl. But instead of swinging through for the takedown, I’ll keep one leg behind your head and lock the other around your leg.”

Britt nodded. “Alright. Sounds easy enough. You want me to just stand here?”

“Yeah, I’ll run at you.”

“Okay.”

Callie took a breath to ready herself, and then she rebounded off the ropes and ran at Britt. Britt picked her up just like she was supposed to, and Callie locked her legs around her head; but when she swung around and tried to hook her left foot behind Britt’s left leg, the momentum caused Britt to lose her balance and they both went tumbling ungracefully to the mat.

“Whoa!” someone suddenly shouted. “What the hell was that?”

Callie looked toward the entrance ramp as she and Britt untangled from each other. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment when she saw who it was. Matt Jackson.

“It was supposed to be an octopus hold,” Britt said as she pushed herself to her feet.

“Ah,” he returned. “Well, that’s a relief. I thought it was a terrible attempt at a hurricanrana.”

He leaned against the ropes and sent Callie a teasing smirk. She narrowed her eyes at him. “If I wanted to learn how to do a hurricanrana I’d ask Nick, not you.”

Matt clutched dramatically at his chest. “Ouch, Callie. That hurts. But, lucky for you, I’m feeling generous today.” He ducked through the ropes and walked toward her. “Plus, I know you know I’m a better teacher than Nick.”

He offered her his hand, that cocky smirk of his still in place. She pursed her lips; but she slid her palm into his and let him pull her to her feet.

“Well then what did we do wrong, Professor Jackson?” Britt asked.

“Finally, some respect,” Matt commented. Britt and Callie both ignored it. “Well, if that was supposed to be an octopus hold, you need to catch her as she’s coming around,” he explained. “It looked like you didn’t do that, which is why she pulled you down to the mat.”

“Oh.” Callie’s cheeks tinged pink again. “Yeah, that’s on me. I might have forgotten to mention that part.”

She expected another snarky remark. But Matt just grinned. “Well, now you won’t forget again. Here—try it on me.”

Britt stepped out of the way; but Callie froze, suddenly nervous. What if she screwed up again? When it came to wrestling, Matt was the last person she wanted to look like an idiot in front of, even more so than Adam. But she trusted him, and she wanted to get this right.

He looked at her, waiting. She bounced off the ropes and ran toward him. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his head just as she had Britt; but when she swung around, he caught her with his left arm and squatted down, cradling her against him. The added support allowed her to bring down her left leg and hook her foot behind his calf; her right knee remained hinged over his neck. She caught his right arm and pulled.

“Ah, okay,” he grimaced and tapped out—on her butt. Callie untangled her limbs from around him and fell to the mat. “That was good,” he complimented. “It actually hurt.”

“Thanks.” She arched a sly brow at him. “And is it normal for the opponent to tap out on your butt?”

Matt’s eyes widened. “Oh. Did I do that? Sorry, I couldn’t tell.”

Callie playfully rolled her eyes at his grin. He’d known damn well what he’d done, and he wasn’t sorry at all. “Uh huh,” she returned as she got to her feet. “I’ll let it slide this time, Professor Jackson.”

He gave her a wink. It happened so fast that Callie almost missed it. “Alright, try it on Britt now.”

They ran through the move a few more times, and once they were confident executing the hold from a run, Matt showed them how to do it from a standing position. Twenty minutes later, Callie felt more than ready to use it in her match that night. And she’d even admit that Matt was a good teacher—but maybe not better than Nick.

“Well, thanks for the lesson Professor Jackson,” Britt said. “But I’m starving now.”

“No problem,” Matt said. He gave her a wave as she ducked through the ropes; but even though Callie was hungry too, she didn’t follow her. She and Matt both watched as Britt walked away. As soon as she disappeared down one of the entrance tunnels, Matt asked, “So are you still staying at her place?”

Callie glanced sheepishly down at the canvas. She and Matt had texted back and forth throughout the week, but they hadn’t talked about Adam or their “separation.” They’d talked about anything but: what they were up to on any given day, memories from their time together on the indies, funny things they saw online. And Callie had enjoyed it; it had been a nice distraction. But, now that they were face-to-face, she wasn’t surprised that he wanted an update on the situation.

“No,” she revealed. “But not because Adam and I worked it out. I felt like I was starting to overstay my welcome with Britt and Cole, so I’m staying at the hotel here between now and Thursday’s episode. But after that... I don’t know.”

Callie frowned to herself, realizing just how pathetic that sounded. After tonight, everyone else on the roster would go home to their families and houses; and she’d still be in Jacksonville, living alone in a hotel room for the next five days. She knew she could probably just go back to Virginia; no matter their issues, she doubted Adam would put her out. But her pride kept her away. She didn’t want to go crawling back to someone who she wasn’t sure even wanted her anymore.

“So you and Adam still haven’t talked at all?” Matt asked.

She shook her head. “Not since last week’s Dynamite. And that wasn’t a productive conversation.” She fidgeted, hoping he wouldn’t ask her to elaborate; she really didn’t want to get into her late-night confrontation with Adam and Alex. Thankfully, he seemed to get the hint and left it alone.

“Well, did you have any plans for tonight?”

She looked back at him, a deer in headlights. “Not really. Why?”

He shrugged, casual. “We’re going out to dinner like usual after the show, and I thought I’d see if you wanted to come with.”

Callie’s eyebrows arched at the invitation. Those dinners were sacred. At least, they seemed to be. “With you and Nick and Kenny?”

“Yeah,” he returned, visibly amused by her shock. “Why not? We’re friends.”

“I’m friends with you and Nick,” she corrected. “Kenny… not so much.”

“It’ll be fine,” he breathed. “Besides, I won’t be surprised if Kenny bails. He’s too busy chasing after Alex.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Him and Adam both, it seems.

“So… you wanna come?” Matt asked.

Callie chewed the inside of her mouth, considering. She knew she couldn’t avoid Adam forever. But dinner with the Bucks—and even Kenny—was more appealing than any conversation she and her estranged boyfriend could have.

“Sure, why not?”

* * * * * * * * * *

“So, we’re totally going out tonight, right?” Chuck asked.

“Affirmative,” James said. Trent nodded, his mouth full of food. Alex, however, didn’t say anything. She was too engrossed with her phone.

“Alex.”

She looked up. All three of them stared expectantly at her from across the table. “Oh, yeah,” she reflexively agreed. “I’m down.”

Chuck smiled. “Cool.”

The three of them started talking about where they should go, but Alex tuned them out, her thoughts turning inward as she looked back down at her phone. Her conversation with Cash last Saturday hadn’t just ended because Kenny had sent her one of the most adorable pictures she’d ever seen. She looked over their texts now, ruminating.

You should have texted me, she’d sent him back. I should have texted you.

I know, he’d replied. We’ve both made emotional mistakes. But I want to move forward, Alex. With you.

I’m worried we can’t. Everything is so fucked.

Let’s talk at Dynamite next week. I don’t want to do it over the phone.

Okay.

After that, they’d texted here and there throughout the week—he’d sent her screenshots of stupid things fans said to him on Twitter and more pictures and videos of his dog, she’d sent him silly little updates about how she was filling her time being stuck at the house. It was almost like things were normal between them. But Alex knew they were far from normal. And, depending how their conversation went today, she might need a few drinks with the boys.

“Hey, guys.”

Alex looked back up as Adam suddenly joined them. She locked her phone and put it face down on the table as she exchanged a glance with Chuck. Word had gotten around about what was going on with Adam and Callie; Alex had heard their names whispered more than once since she’d arrived at Daily’s Place. Adam must have picked up on it. He looked tired. She could only imagine how he felt.

“Hey, man,” Trent greeted. “How’s it going?”

“Wondering what the hell I’m doing here,” Adam returned. “I don’t have a match at all, on Dynamite or Dark. Kenny does. He’s wrestling Dark Order with Matt and Nick.”

Alex’s frown deepened. Kenny had mentioned that to her. She hadn’t known what to make of it then and still didn’t know what to make of it now.

“Well, come out with us tonight,” Chuck offered. “It’ll be better than sitting around doing nothing.”

Adam paused to look back at him. “What?”

“We’re going out for drinks after the show. You should come with.” He snapped his fingers, suddenly thinking of something. “It’ll be like that thing I’ve seen on Twitter. What was it?”

“Cowpals,” James provided.

“Yes!” Chuck proclaimed, an excited smile on his face. “It’ll be like Cowpals.”

Adam went back to his food. “That’s not a thing.”

“Oh, we’ll make it a thing,” Trent said.

A corner of Adam’s mouth quirked up. But the smirk was gone as soon as it appeared. “Well, let me know when and where, I guess. I’m probably gonna drink anyway, so might as well do it with y’all.”

“Will do,” Chuck said—just as Alex’s phone let out a chirp. She tried not to seem too eager as she picked it up off the table and looked at the screen.

Hey, if you’re free I’m in our locker room.

Alex stared at the text. Now or never.

Alright, I’ll be there in a minute. She hit “send” and grabbed her plate of half-eaten food as she stood from the table. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said, and she walked off before they could ask any questions, threw her plate in the trash, and went out the door in the direction of FTR’s locker room.

She tried to keep her mind blank as she walked, tried not to anticipate what Cash might say to her, but it didn’t stop her body from overheating with anxiety. By the time she reached his locker room, her heart was beating so hard that she worried it would burst from her chest. Her palm was clammy as she knocked.

“Come in,” he called from inside. She opened the door. He stood when he saw her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she returned, and she crossed the room and hugged him.

Cash wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The familiar scent of his cologne filled Alex’s nose, and she was transported back to that night at Adam’s house, as they’d hugged in the hall in the dark. She remembered how she’d felt then, like she’d known exactly what she wanted. She wished she felt that way now.

“I’ve missed this,” Cash said. He rubbed his hand over her back in slow circles. Alex relished in the feel of it.

“I have, too.” She pulled back and looked at him in question. “Is Dax…?”

“He knows what’s going on. He won’t interrupt us or anything.”

She nodded. He took her by the hand and led her over to the couch. He didn’t let go after they sat down, their knees touching.

“Thank you for coming,” he said.

Alex looked down at their hands, watched and felt as he rubbed his thumb over her skin. “I’m surprised you wanted to talk,” she said, her voice small. “I haven’t exactly given you reason to want to.”

Cash squeezed her hand. “I shouldn’t have told you choose that night, Alex.”

She flicked her eyes up to meet his, stunned. Of all the things he could have said, she’d expected that the least.

“I shouldn’t have told you to sleep somewhere else,” he went on. “I was hurt, and it was a knee-jerk reaction. I’m sorry. We should have talked it through right then and there. We should have slept in the same bed.”

Alex’s eyes stung. It tugged on her heartstrings to hear him say that; she’d been aching to hear him say those exact words, and now that he had it was like a weight had been lifted from her chest. But it didn’t make the situation any easier. “I’m sorry that I hurt you,” she said. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t, sweetheart. I know.”

She frowned. But you don’t know what I’ve done since.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said.

Alex glanced away again. She wrestled with herself, debating whether she really should tell him what she was thinking. But, in the end, her conscience won out—no matter how badly she knew the truth would hurt.

“Um, when I saw you walk into the hotel with Callie last week, it stung. And I know you just went out as friends; I believe you. Callie said the same thing. But, in that moment, I didn’t know what to think. I just saw what I saw, and I got jealous. I felt like I was the furthest thing from your mind. And on top of the shit with Dark Order it was just too much and I… I stayed with Kenny that night.”

She had to tell him. For the sake of honesty, she had to. He let go of her hand and ran his palm over his face. Her heart pounded in her ears.

“Did you sleep with him?” he asked.

“No,” she said.

He went quiet. Contemplative. When he spoke again, there was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before. “So what are you saying? That you want to be with him?”

Alex’s brow furrowed. “No. I’m saying exactly what I said. I was hurt and jealous when I saw you walk in with Callie, so I went running to Kenny. It was an emotional decision. But it felt like you’d already moved on.”

Cash cut his eyes at her. “Are you serious? Do you really think I’d do that to Adam? To you?”

“I don’t mean moved on with Callie,” she clarified with a breath. “I mean in general. I mean, you went from saying you wanted to talk to me to fleeing the arena without so much as a word. And then on top of it you went out drinking with my friend instead of trying to talk to me.”

“You could have just as easily texted me, Alex. And I would have told you that it was nothing.”

“I know I could have,” she admitted. “I’m not saying I’m blameless in this; I know I’m not. This whole thing has been a clusterfuck of jealousy, and mistakes, and miscommunication.”

Cash shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Maybe everything is just too fucked now.”

Alex’s heart dropped into her stomach. With those seven words, just like that, the mood in the room suddenly shifted. There wasn’t hope or forgiveness between them anymore. There was a wall. A dead end of her own construction.

A tear rolled down Alex’s cheek and she wiped it away. A thought lingered on the tip of her tongue, and she couldn’t swallow it down. “Do you think things would be different right now if we’d talked it through that night?”

Cash didn’t look at her as he answered. “I did. But now I’m not sure.”

Alex’s chest constricted. There was nothing left to say; more words would be the casket that put her six feet under. She stood from the couch and walked to the door on shaky legs. As she gripped the doorknob, she looked remorsefully back at him. There was one last thing she had to say.

“For what it’s worth, I do think things would be different if we’d talked that night. But I don’t blame you for thinking otherwise.”

Cash looked up. Their eyes met one last time—his full of hurt, hers regret—and then Alex forced herself out the door.

* * * * * * * * * *

She went through the rest of the afternoon in a daze. She was there but not fully present. Trapped in her thoughts. Listless. Apathetic. And it damn near got her injured again.

A third of the way through the show, Alex, Trent, and Chuck had accompanied Orange to the ring for his interview with Tony Schiavone about his win over Chris Jericho the week before. But Jericho had interrupted. After Jericho had challenged Orange to a ridiculous Mimosa Mayhem match at All Out—which Orange had accepted—the rest of the Inner Circle had surrounded the ring and attacked them. Alex hadn’t reacted quickly enough, and Trent had literally pushed her to safety. It had been a shock to her system, and she’d watched helplessly from the floor as Inner Circle laid waste to her friends and drowned Orange in champagne. Now, as she followed Chuck and Trent through the entrance tunnel to the back, carrying a defeated and embarrassed Orange between them, all Alex wanted was to go back to the hotel, take a hot shower, and go to sleep. She didn’t want to go out anymore. She just wanted to crawl into bed and forget this day had ever happened.

“Alex.”

Someone caught her arm as she crossed through Gorilla. She looked up. Kenny stared down at her, concern etched into his blue eyes. Alex blinked; she’d walked right by him, completely unaware. He was in his gear. His match with the Bucks against Dark Order must be next.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she returned. “They waterboarded Orange with champagne, not me.”

Kenny pursed his lips. “I don’t mean that. You seemed a little… out of it out there. What’s going on?”

She glanced after Chuck, Trent, and Orange as they disappeared backstage. Alex didn’t want to do this with Kenny. Not right now, in the middle of Gorilla, in front of Matt and Nick and a ton of other prying eyes. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to do it at all.

“I said I’m fine, Kenny. Alright?”

She pulled away from him and tried to go after her friends; but he caught her again. She bit down on her jaw in frustration as he stepped in front of her.

“I know that means you’re not,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

Alex let out an agitated breath. “It’s just been a shitty day, alright? But you’ll be happy to know that it’s officially over between Cash and me.”

She looked away, feeling that tightness in her chest again. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, much less so sarcastically. But maybe it was good that she had. It was her raw emotion. Kenny should feel it.

He moved his hands to her shoulders, gently gripping, his fingers pressing into her skin. “Alex, I’m confused. You spent the night in my bed last week. The way things have been between us… I thought that was what you wanted?”

“It was,” she breathed. “When I woke up with you that morning… it was what I wanted. And when I hugged Cash ten minutes ago, before everything fell apart, that was what I wanted. My heart has been in two places for weeks, and there’s nothing fucking left, Kenny.”

She stared up at him, weary and broken, the truth laid bare at her feet. Kenny searched her eyes, just wanting to understand—

“Hey, Ken, we’re up.”

He closed his eyes at the sound of Nick’s voice. “Alright,” he breathed. He looked back at Alex. “I’m sorry. I promise we’ll talk about this later, okay?”

Alex drew in a steadying breath. She wasn’t sure she would want to talk about it later, but she nodded anyway. “Yeah, okay.”

He gave her a squeeze, and Alex watched as he turned and disappeared down the entrance tunnel, a hollow feeling in her gut.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie had told Matt she’d meet them at the restaurant. She’d taken more time than she’d expected getting ready before she’d left, carefully applying her makeup and styling her hair. Even Britt had commented on how much care she was paying to her appearance just for dinner with Matt, Nick, and Kenny. Callie had brushed her off, claiming that she just felt good after winning her match against Penelope. But even she hadn’t fully believed herself as she’d said it.

Unsurprisingly, they’d chosen T.G.I. Friday’s. Callie spotted them through the window as she walked toward the building; Nick saw her and waved. When she got inside, she slid into the free spot in the booth next to Matt, across from Nick. Kenny was typing away on his phone, oblivious.

“Hey,” she greeted. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“No worries,” Nick said. “We’ve only been here like five minutes.”

Matt smiled at her. “I’m glad you came.”

She smiled back. “Thanks for inviting me.”

She opened her menu and started looking—she was starving—when Nick cleared his throat. Callie glanced up. He was staring expectantly at Kenny, still engrossed with his phone. He nudged him with his elbow.

“What?” Kenny looked up, startled. “Oh, hey, Callie,” he said, and went right back to typing.

“Are you writing a novel there, bud?” Matt asked.

Kenny glanced up just long enough to shoot him a sarcastic glare. Matt looked apologetically back at Callie. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if to say it was fine.

“Congrats on winning your match tonight, by the way,” Nick said.

“Oh, thanks,” Callie smiled. “It felt good. Congrats on winning yours, too. I’m sure Alex appreciated your extra effort after the bell, Kenny.”

The air seemed to thicken as Kenny looked up at her snide comment. She didn’t need to elaborate—they all knew exactly what she meant. After Kenny had put away Dark Order’s Five with a One-Winged Angel, he’d grabbed a steel chair and nearly powerbombed him on it; Matt had pulled the chair out of the way just in time. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that he’d tried the stunt to avenge Alex for last week. In fact, he’d seemed to wrestle that whole match angry. He definitely looked angry now.

“I don’t know; we haven’t talked about it,” he evenly returned. “Actually, I think Alex is out drinking with your boyfriend right now.”

He set his phone down and opened his menu. Callie’s eyes narrowed. This was going to be a long dinner.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Okay. You, me, darts. If I win, you show me your boobs.”

Adam watched as Alex playfully rolled her eyes at Trent’s suggestion. She was a shot of Jose and a beer-and-a-half deep and feeling it; he could tell by the lazy smile on her lips. She always got that smile when she drank.

“And if I win?” she asked.

Trent looked up, deep in thought. “If you win… I’ll pay for your next set of gear.”

“Deal,” Alex immediately accepted, and she grabbed Trent’s wrist and pulled him over to the dart boards, a satisfied grin on his face. Adam shook his head as they went.

“Y’all are weird,” he said with a drink of his nearly empty beer.

“Oh come on,” Chuck returned. “You’ve known Alex longer than us. You were probably acquainted with Mariposa years before we ever gave her a name.”

He shook his head. “No comment.”

“That’s guilty,” James quipped.

“Yeah, it is,” Chuck smirked in agreement.

Adam drained the rest of his beer to hide his grin. He almost hadn’t come out with them tonight—he was surprised they’d still wanted to at all, after what the Inner Circle had done to Orange—but he was glad he had. If he hadn’t, he’d just be sitting in his hotel room, ruminating. About how his relationships with his girlfriend and his tag team partner were falling apart at the seams, about how he wasn’t sure who his real friends were anymore. Buzzing on whiskey and with nothing better to do, he’d confronted FTR back at the arena about what they’d done to Ricky Morton last week, about how Dax had faked a leg injury the week before that—and they’d completely turned it around on him. Something about how it wasn’t personal; how they’d needed to know if they could trust him after all the nasty things Matt, Nick, and Kenny had said about them; something about how he’d always been stuck in their shadow. They weren’t wrong. And with a tag team gauntlet match next week to determine who would get a shot at Adam and Kenny’s championships at All Out, Adam wasn’t sure he wanted to give Matt and Nick yet another opportunity to eclipse him.

“You guys want another?” James asked.

“Yeah,” Chuck said while Adam nodded. “Put it on Trent’s tab.”

James pointed at him as he stood from the table. “Was already planning on it.”

He walked off, and Adam’s eyes drifted to where Alex played darts with Trent. She stood close to him, her fingers laced behind her back, and just as he was about to throw his dart, she tilted her chin up, pursed her lips, and blew into his ear. He flinched, and she let out a loud laugh as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to say something in her ear. Alex pushed him away, a flirtatious grin on her face, and Trent turned back to the board and threw his dart.

“Trent certainly seems to like Mariposa,” Adam remarked.

Chuck scoffed as he glanced over his shoulder. “Are you kidding? He loves her.” He turned back around. “It annoyed me when I had feelings for Alex, too.”

Adam went stiff. He reflexively reached for his beer only to remember he’d finished it. He gripped his empty glass anyway, just to have something to do. “Too?” he shot.

Chuck met his question with skeptical eyes. “Come on, man. I recognize that look.”

Adam shifted in his seat. “I don’t know what look you’re talking about,” he said—but Chuck didn’t buy that, either.

“Sure, you don’t,” he dismissed.

Adam bit down on his jaw and glanced toward the bar. James needed to get back with the beer, already.

“Look, I get it,” Chuck went on. “Alex is your friend, and your relationship status is complicated right now. And so is Alex’s,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Plus, there was that time Callie hit her with a chair because she thought you two were screwing around. I don’t think I’d want to prove her right, either.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Is there a point you’re trying to make?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I’m just saying; I recognize that look.”

James returned with a beer pitcher in hand, and not a moment too soon. “Trent was feeling generous,” he smirked as he set it on the table.

Adam grabbed it and refilled his glass. The way this night was going, he might need a whole pitcher to himself before it was over.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex almost hadn’t come out tonight, but she was glad she had. If she hadn’t, she’d just be laying in her and Chuck’s hotel room, replaying her conversation with Cash and all of the decisions that had led up to it. The boys had no idea what had happened; she didn’t want to tell them, didn’t want to talk about it. Thankfully, they’d been too preoccupied with what had happened to Orange and the upcoming tag team gauntlet match to ask her why she’d been so spacey all day. She hoped it stayed that way. She just wanted to forget about it.

“You do realize you’re about to lose, right?”

She pursed her lips at Trent. “We haven’t been scoring properly.”

“But I’ve gotten more closer to the bullseye than you.”

Alex just took another sip of her beer. Trent squared up and tossed his final dart. It stuck in the single bullseye.  

He gave her a cocky smirk. “I’d say that’s a pretty definitive victory.”

“Congratulations,” she slyly returned.

He rubbed his hands together, basking in his win. “So, where do you want to do this? The bathroom? Actually, no—I can wait until we get back to the hotel. I want you to be as comfortable as possible.”

Alex stepped close and put her hand on his shoulder; he reflexively put his on her hip. She frowned apologetically up at him. “Oh, Trent. Mariposa made the bet, but it’s Alex’s body.”

His head fell back. “Goddammit,” he breathed.

A wide grin broke out over her face. “Come on, I need a refill.”

They walked back to the table. Adam sat alone with a nearly empty pitcher of beer, his phone in his hand. Alex gave him curious look as she sat down across from him.

“Where’re Chuck and James?”

He glanced up at her. “Oh, they went to buy shots and a round of pool on Trent’s tab.”

“What?” With that Trent hurried off to the other side of the bar, leaving Alex alone with Adam. She reached for the beer pitcher.

“Want more?” she offered.

He shook his head. “No,” he said, and so she emptied it into her glass. “So, did you lose?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she answered. “But he’s not seeing anything.”

Adam shook his head again, a smirk on his lips. “You’re a tease, you know that?”

“I take that as a compliment, thank you very much.” She grinned at him as she reached for her purse and pulled out her phone. She’d put it on silent and thrown it in her bag as soon as they’d arrived, keeping it out of sight and out of mind; but she couldn’t avoid the temptation any longer. She was expecting to see a whole lot of nothing—but she had a text, unsurprisingly, from Kenny. Her pulse started to race as she read it.

I’m sorry that you’ve felt torn in two the last few weeks, Alex. It kills me to know that I’ve been a cause of it. All I want is for you to be happy, no matter what that means. I understand if you need some time and space. I’ll be here. You have my whole heart.

He ended it with a red heart emoji. A chaotic mix of emotions battled within Alex as she stared at it—anger, frustration, love. She couldn’t tell which one of them would win out in the end.

“Is everything alright?”

She looked up at Adam’s question. “Yeah,” she noncommittally answered as she slipped her phone back in her purse. “It was just a text from Kenny.”

He arched a brow. “You’re not gonna answer it?”

“No,” she returned. “Not right now.”  

The atmosphere grew awkward and she took a sip of her beer. Alex didn’t think he would ask; he couldn’t ask without opening up the floor for questions about his personal life, too, and she knew he didn’t want to talk about his any more than she wanted to talk about hers.

But she thought wrong.

“Do you want to be with him?”

Alex glanced across the bar. It didn’t look like the boys would be coming back anytime soon, so she obliged him. “The answer to that question seems to change every day.”

He nodded. “I guess it’s the same for Cash?”

She looked down at her drink. “Well, Cash pretty much closed the door on us today so. No.”

If Adam was surprised to hear that, Alex couldn’t tell. He had a quiet, introspective look on his face, like he wasn’t sure what to say. No—like he had something to say but wasn’t sure he should. She turned the tables on him before he had the chance to spit it out.

“What about Callie? Is that how you feel about her?”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he admitted.

Alex let out a frustrated huff. She propped her elbow on the table and leaned her head in her hand, tired. “Why?” she asked. “What happened? Did you fall out of love, or something?”

He stared at a spot on the table. “I don’t know if I fell out of love so much as her insecurities just became a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Alex froze. She gripped her drink harder, pressing her fingertips against the glass. Her voice came out nervous as she asked, “A self-fulfilling prophecy about what?”

Adam’s eyes met hers, vulnerable and blue. Obvious. “You know what, Alex.”

Alex’s heart leapt into her throat. This wasn’t happening. Not here, not now, not after all the other shit she’d already gone through. What was he thinking? She couldn’t deal with it. She couldn’t.

“I’m gonna go make sure Trent doesn’t kill them,” she said, and she grabbed her purse and hurried away in panic, pretending that her oldest friend hadn’t just admitted that to her.

[revengeoftheantichrist]

Anti-Christ Superstar

Warnings: Drug use

AO3

Chapter 1: She’s with the band

Friday night in Camden was bad. Friday night in Camden behind the bar was worse. Tonight, was hell, you were sure the devil invented this job to torment people. Your bar was a club and music venue for all things alternative. And tonight, you were graced with the presence of the new-ish kids on the scene. Satanic Panic had taken the alternative world by storm. They were on their second world tour, for their album ‘Fire and Reign’. They were playing your venue tonight and the place was jam packed. You didn’t even know you had the capacity for all these people, but here you were, taking order after order. You weren’t surprised at the turnout. The atmosphere of the room truly was electric, and you had felt it once before. You remembered seeing them for their Hawthorne tour at Leeds festival a few years ago, when they were fresh faced and very new to the scene. The way they managed to control the crowd of the smaller stage was quite magical, better than some of the bands that played the main stage. You weren’t surprised at their success; the music was good and the whole band was eye candy for people of all ages. However, you wished they would go be successful somewhere else, not in the place you worked, a venue what you thought was far too small for them now. You were just about to take a new order, before the manager pulled you back. “Y/N come with me,” he said, pulling you to the backstage area, you could barely hear him over the loud music and people. “Everything okay?”, you asked. “well…” he hesitated, “How goods your bass skills?” he finished. You gave him a confused look, “what the fuck are you on about?” He let out a sight. “Look, the bassist for the band just dropped out last minute, they clocked your bass in the locker room and asked if you could play decent… I said yes and they need you ready for stage in like… 15 minutes,” he said, looking at his watch. “Josh! My bass is pink and sparkly it’s not gonna fit the aesthetic and were flooded with thirsty people out there,” you whisper-shouted. “Okay great! You’ll play then,” he said, looking more giddy than necessary. Before you could shout at him, a velvety voice interrupted you. “So, is this our replacement for tonight?” You turned to look at the source, Michael Langdon, lead guitar and vocals. The face of the band. His perfect eyebrow was raised as his baby blues looked you up and down, sizing you up to see if you were fit for the task. Your manager spoke, “Yeah, this is Y/N just give her the instructions and she’ll do fine, I’m off to cover her shift now, have fun,” he waved at you before almost skipping to take over your post. You were left alone with Michael, at a loss for words. “C’mon, lets go, we have a concert to play,” he grabbed your wrist and dragged you along with him. You couldn’t believe this, you though you might be hallucinating, the heat of the venue getting to you. You pulled your phone out of your pocket to snap a picture, to prove to yourself and your friends that this night really did happen. Michael was too busy barking orders to the side to notice the picture had been taken. You finally got to where the other two bandmembers were standing. They looked up from their conversation and smiled at you. “The pink bass yours?” asked the blonde on, this was Xavier, the drummer of the band, his little cross earring glimmered at every concert. Upon a closer look you realised the cross was inverted. How very on brand. You nodded in reply, still trying to come to terms with the situation. “Oh cool, we’ve never played with a girl before, you better be good,” the brunet laughed. This was Duncan, the other guitarist. He had the good boy gone bad vibe to him, a rebel from a prim and proper family. You looked and him and pointed to your nose, “nose is a bit crusty there,” you said. Duncan laughed and wiped the white powder, sniffling a little, “thanks”. “Are you all quite finished?” interrupted Michael, looking annoyed at the interactions. The rest of the band just rolled their eyes. “10 MINUTES!” someone shouted. “Am I getting paid for this by the way?” you asked, not wanting your talents and time to go unrewarded, you were here to work after all. “Of course,” Michael snapped, “We have 10 Minutes before we get on there and we’ve never been late, here’s the set list, I’m sure you’ve heard our shit before if your working in a place like this,” Michael shoved a piece of paper in your hands. “shouldn’t be too hard to keep up, now, this is Rin,” he pointed to a blonde woman, “She’s the techie that’s gonna get you set up. Other than that, just follow my lead and stand on the right side of the stage,” he finished. That was a lot of information to process at once. “I’m Y/N by the way,” you finally introduced yourself to everyone, while holding your hand out to Rin. The support act was coming off stage as Rin gave you a quick rundown and set you up. You had worked here for months and yet there was still so little you knew about the stage. She told you exactly where to stand and where not to stand due to pyrotechnics. All you could do was nod, the reality of what you had been roped into hadn’t hit you yet. You were pulled away by Michaels death grip, it was time to go on. You took a deep breath, the nerves beginning to hit you. Michael was adjusting his leather trousers. Duncan was making sure his docs were tied tightly, not having a repeat of the last tour where he tripped over the laces and fell face first into the crowd. Xavier stood next to you, he noticed the look on your face and put a reassuring hand on your shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Hey, look, its gonna be fine. You know deep down inside how talented you are, otherwise, you would have run for the hills. This is a really weird situation so just give it all you got okay,” he gave you a little pep talk. “Thanks, I really needed that,” you smiled, patting the hand that was on your shoulder. “Can the pair of you please shut the fuck up, were going on now,” Michael snipped. “Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning,” you snapped back, not appreciating the attitude boy wonder was giving you. He opened his mouth to speak, but the lights lit up the stage and the crowd started to go insane, ready for the band to come out. You tried to control the nausea you were feeling, walking to your designated section of the stage. The crowd was massive but thankfully, all eyes were on Michael. You pulled the strap of your bass on, adjusting it so it would be comfortable for a long night of playing. You didn’t even know if you had the stamina for it. Michael had stopped talking to the crowd and Xavier started on the drumbeat. You looked back at your friends at the bar, your manger giving you a thumbs up. You began to strum in time with Xavier, setting the beat for the song. You thanked your lucky stars that you had just removed your acrylics a few hours ago. Michael’s and Duncan’s guitars came in, completing the intro to the song. Michael’s voice finally joined in. It was as if the room had immediately been put in a trance. You had been on the other side of the feeling before, being on stage with it was almost the same. Instead, it felt like your fingers were playing on their own, separate from the rest of you. You closed your eyes and embraced the feeling, letting the music and Michael’s voice control you. You opened your eyes and were met by Michael’s intense gaze, you just smiled at him, before looking back to the crowd and winking at your friend in the crowd. You still felt Michael’s eyes on you. The lights transitioned, indicating the song change. Michael and Duncan were back to back, in their competitive duet piece in the song. The crowd was going crazy at the performance. You looked back at Xavier and grinned at each other; you were surprised at how much you were enjoying yourself. Time seemed to fly, before you knew it you had played the final song of the set. You were finally out of your daze and got a good look of the room around you. Everything seemed so much brighter on stage. Duncan came over and gave you a high-five. “Thank you, London,” Michael began, “It’s been great performing for you all tonight. I want to say a huge thank you to Y/N over here for filling last minute, we wouldn’t have been able to perform without her,” he said, gesturing to you. A sudden shyness hit you, hearing the crowd cheer for you. You smiled and waved, giving them a little bow. The band finished with their messages, before walking off stage to a cheering crowd. “Oh my god,” you whispered to yourself. “There’s no god here,” Michael whispered in your ear. “Personal space Langdon,” you replied, glaring at him. A short woman with dark hair walked towards you. “This is Ms. Meade, our manager,” introduced Duncan. You held you had for her to shake, “Y/N”. She shook your hand, “the people on social media are loving you, you know that? We haven’t had this much of a positive response to a bassist since the one a few years ago. What was his name again? …. Eh, I can’t remember,” she shrugged. “This is so surreal,” you said to yourself, lightly patting you hot cheeks. “I need a spliff after this.” “Ask and ye shall receive,” Xav said, holding a rolled one out at you. You smiled and took it, “you are My favourite person on planet earth right now Xav,” you said, bringing out your lighter. You walked out to the smoking area, chatting away with Xavier about the strange day you were having. You heard Duncan snicker behind you, not knowing he was laughing at the death glare Michael was giving Xavier. Xavier and you scrolled through the twitter and Instagram tags of the concert. Meade was right, you seemed to be getting a lot of attention on there. You DM’s were blowing up too, from friends, family and total strangers on the internet. Within a span of a few hours, crazy fans had found your social media and followed you everywhere. If you hadn’t had been stoned, maybe you would have panicked a little at the sudden attention. But that was a problem for sober you. You went back inside to, Meade, your manager and the boys having a heated conversation. “Ah, Y/N so nice of you to join us,” said your manager. Meade just rolled her eyes, interrupting him before he could go any further. “Look, I’m gonna cut right to it kid. The people love you and we don’t have a bassist for the rest of the tour. You’ll be fully paid and accommodated for. If you don’t like it, Josh over here says your free to come back here any time. We’ll even throw in your own bus for you. How’s that sound?” You brain barely processed what she said. They wanted you permanently, your mouth was gaping like fish. “C- can I read the contract at least?” you asked. She shrugged and pulled out a wad of paper, it had to be thicker than the bible, your eyes widened. “Is there a TL;DR version of that?” “Nope,” they all said in unison. “We need to know by tonight, we leave for Europe on Monday, so you have Saturday and Sunday to pack and tie up any loose ends if you choose to do so,” she said. You looked around the room at the band members. Duncan and Xavier looked happy to have you, grinning at you. Michael however had a sour look on his as face, as if your very existence was offensive to him. You smiled to yourself, the thought of you just being near him and irritating him for a few months was enough to convince you. Getting on his nerves was already becoming a favourite pastime of yours. “Pen?” you held out you hand. Meade handing you heavy and expensive looking black pen. You signed your name onto the contract in blood red ink, not looking at the contents of the contract. “Welcome aboard Y/N, you’re officially a member of Satanic Panic.”

[sunflowersunshinevol6]

Punkinhead (spooky mini series)

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Warnings: horror, drug usage

Summary: On a camping trip with their friends, Harry and Y/N awaken an evil unlike any other.

Friends to lovers, spooky series

Part One

1963

Hellen jumped, woken by the sound of her Father's drunken screams. She tip toed to the door of her bedroom. 

"Bout as smart as them cows you're supposed to bring in! An' ya couldn't even do that!" Hellen winced, hearing her father's hand come down across her brother's cheek. Hellen watched her brother stumble, only to be yanked back up by her father. 

"I'm sorry Pa." He whimpered. 

"Know wha? You're gonna keep watch over them cows tonight. Give that scarecrow a break." Hellen heard her brother take in a sharp breath, struggling against their father's hold.

"No Pa! Please-"

"An' maybe Punkinhead'll take ya off my hands! Only need one Scarecrow right?!" Hellen watched her father grab a lamp and some rope, dragging her brother behind him. 

Hellen put her boots and coat on quickly. Surely he was kidding about Punkinhead. Punkinhead wasn't a real thing. He didn't exist. Twenty minutes later she heard her Pa come back inside, slumping into his chair. She waited until she heard his soft snores before sneaking out into the night after her brother. 

It was windy, the pumpkin patch was eerie at night, like little goblins waiting around, ready to strike at any moment. She shined her flashlight up where the scarecrow should have been. In it's place her brother, shivering in the cold.

"Abel!" Hellen shouted. She held the light between her legs, reaching up to try and untie him. 

"He….he's coming." Able wheezed. His eyes were wide, staring at something in the distance. "He's coming for me." 

"What?!" Hellen shouted, but she could feel it, the chill on the back of her neck. She looked up, Abel's eyes were red rimmed and filled with fear. He looked down at her. 

"Leave." Abel gasped. "Go Hellen!" Hellen kissed her brother's cheek before turning away. 

The wind howled and as she ran a piercing scream, blood curdling and filled with agony shook the night. Hellen glanced over her shoulder. What she saw would haunt her for the rest of her days. 

Present Day

“I can’t believe you invited her to go with us.” Kennedi rolled her eyes as she hoisted her gym bag over her shoulder. She stood in the lobby with her boyfriend and their friends. Her dig was aimed at him though, Harry, her boyfriend, who had a female roommate she was not fond of. 

It wasn’t that she was afraid Harry would sleep with Y/N. No, that would never happen. It was more so the fact that they were so close and she was so weird, yet Harry fawned over everything she did. Like she was the greatest person ever….it was annoying.

“Y/N is my best friend Ken. I can’t exactly leave her behind.”

“Yes you can,” Kennedi hissed. “You’re not joined at the hip.”

“I think Y/N’s cool,” Niall interjected before Harry could say anything. “She looks like she could kick my ass.” Niall had liked Y/N from the moment Harry introduced them. She was more on the punk alternative side with ripped leggings, diy vests and a plethora of band t-shirts. Let’s not forget her Doc Martens that were entirely kick ass by themselves. Kennedi rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever Niall, you would.” Kennedi turned her attention back to Harry. “You live with her. You see her everyday. Do you have to invite her everywhere? That’s all I’m asking.” she wrapped her arms around Harry’s waist. “Don’t you want to be alone with me?” Niall rolled his eyes when she bat her lashes at Harry. God she was annoying. 

“We will be alone baby,” he kissed the tip of her nose. Niall smirked at the way Kennedi’s face fell, annoyance furrowing her brows. “She’s my best mate. I can’t leave her behind.”

“You can, you just choose not to.” Kennedi pouted. Harry sighed, dropping his arms. “I’m sorry.” she said quickly. “I just...I worry sometimes.” Niall wanted to be sick. She played Harry so easily. He knew the real reason Kennedi hated Y/N was because she knew Harry. Y/N was first, all the time, and that pissed her off. Harry could deny it all he wanted. But everyone knew.

“Look. I gotta go home, but Y/N and I will meet you guys here bright and early in the morning so...be ready to go.” Harry kissed Kennedi once more before leaving the gym. 

Harry skipped steps as he made his way up to the flat he shared with Y/N. They had met three years ago when Harry had moved to the states for school. She needed a roommate and he needed a place to stay. Though it had taken a couple months for them to get used to each other, it was true, they were practically joined at the hip at this point. 

“Y/N!” he shouted, kicking the door shut with his foot. Their dog, Scrappy, bounded up to him. They weren’t sure what he was, he had been a stray, living outside of their building when they found him. Maybe it was weird for friends that lived together to have a pet. But they did. 

“Hey boy,” Harry knelt down, scratching behind Scrappy’s ear. He could smell food cooking in the kitchen and hear what sounded like Iron Maiden, from the kitchen. 

Y/N was cooking something Thai, a red bandana around her head, keeping her bangs out of her face. “Hello love,” Harry said, sneaking around her towards the cupboard. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. Anyone watching them would think they were a couple, but they knew better. 

“Hey. I’m making chicken teriyaki. Know you’re not much for meat but-”

“No, no,” Harry interrupted. “It’s good.” He filled a cup with tap water, leaning against the counter. “You ready for tomorrow?” he asked, knowing full well that the answer was no. 

“You sure I can’t just stay here? I mean, then my mom won’t have to come take care of Scrappy and I won’t embarrass you in front of your friends.” Harry studied her. Y/N was gorgeous, her humor was dark, but she was such a good and caring person. He hated that people judged her for the way she looked, especially his friends.

“Y/N you don’t embarrass me,” he said, grabbing two plates for her and another glass for her to drink out of. “You’re always home. You never go out….I think you could have fun. Kennedi is...tricky,” he said, unable to find the right way to say it, “but Niall is great. You’ll love Elenore and Gigi. Maya and you could get along really well...Louis , Liam and Zayn, they’re fun.” He took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “I want them to get to know you. To like you as much as I do.”

“Harry,” Y/N said, turning to look at him. Harry was extremely close. Their noses almost brushing as she looked up at him. She’d had feelings for him for a long time, but she knew he would never date her. Guys like him didn’t date girls like her. She was lucky just to be his friend. “I don’t want you to think you always have to invite me.”

“I don’t. I’m asking you.” he poked his lip out, giving her puppy dog eyes. “Please.”

“Harry.” Y/N said, trying not to smile. “Don’t.” he wrapped his arms around her, placing his chin on her shoulder. “Don’t give me that look.” he fake whimpered, giggling at the end and hiding his face in her shoulder. “Okay. Okay.” she laughed, tugging at his arms. “Get off me.” she smirked. “Like I could say no to you anyway.” 

That night Y/N crawled into bed, burrowing into the blankets. 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to be friends with his friends. She was a loner, granted she had a couple of friends of her own, she preferred her own company. That was until Harry entered her life. He was sweet and fun to be around, he didn’t care how much she liked horror films or if she preferred the pit at a rock concert to front row tickets to see Ariana Grande (she’d gone, much to Kennedi’s dismay.) Harry just fit. He was her one ‘normal.’ Her one piece of consistency. But she hated feeling like she was holding him back. 

“I’m going to have fun tomorrow.” she sighed, looking at the ceiling. “I’m going to have fun on this trip.”

It was a grave. Six feet deep, already laid out in front of her. The cemetery was dark, wind howling around her. The headstone was blank. She stepped forward, fear gripping her belly, she looked down into the grave-

Beep. Beep. 

Y/N’s eyes snapped open. Her body drenched with sweat. She threw her hand over her face, groaning. Why did she agree to get up at six am. Why did she agree to this. 

Harry was already awake when Y/N came out of her room. Dressed in sweats and an oversized Meat Puppets t shirt, her hair tossed into a messy bun. Harry was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, phone in one hand, cup of coffee in the other. He was shirtless, his basketball shorts hanging low on his hips. He smiled up at Y/N, pointing at a plate of eggs and toast on the table. 

“Made you breakfast.” 

“Thanks.” Y/N smiled, sitting down. Harry watched her as she scratched her head, stretching her arms up before digging in. He smiled to himself. He thought she was always prettiest like this. No makeup, baggy, comfy clothes, hair out of her face. He could watch her all day. It was moments like this, when he was alone with her here, he would pretend they were more. He would pretend she was his wife and this was their home. He would never tell her that, he didn’t think she could ever like him as much as he liked her. That’s why he was with Kennedi. He needed to get over it. Y/N was his friend. Only his friend.

Y/N could feel Harry’s eyes on her. She cleared her throat, looking up at him. He was watching her with such intensity, she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “Harry?” he blinked, looking at her. “Might want to get dressed. We gotta leave in like an hour.” she smiled softly, watching his cheeks go red. 

“R-right.” he stuttered. Y/N watched as he downed the rest of his coffee.

“You know, you could have gotten into the back seat after we picked everyone up.” Harry said as he pulled the van up to the gym. His friends were waiting outside. Y/N rolled her eyes, tapping away on her phone. 

“And let the princess see me sitting next to you? God forbid.” Harry’s jaw twitched but he didn’t say anything. He knew she was right. If Y/N was sat up front by him, Kennedi would blow a gasket. That wasn’t something Harry was looking forward to. He had hoped maybe on this trip they’d get to know each other. Maybe get along. But he was doubting that seriously.

“Harry!” Kennedi squealed, she hopped into the front seat, pressing her lips to Harry’s. Her eyes flickered to the backseat, disappointed to find Y/N wasn’t watching. She would get it through her head this weekend though. Harry was hers. And she wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of that. 

Y/N took her head phones out as the back door opened and Harry’s friends clammerd in. The one named Niall sat beside her. “Hi,” she did her best to smile at him. 

“Hey,” he gestured to her phone. “What are you listening to?” he asked. 

“Oh,” she held out an earbud. “Black Flag.”

“No shit.” Niall sounded impressed. “Lemme listen yeah?”

Harry couldn’t stop glancing into the rearview mirror. Niall and Y/N sat closely together, talking and whispering to each other. He felt the weight of Kennedi’s hand in his but also the raging jealousy. He wanted to be back there with Y/N. 

About an hour into their trip Harry pulled up to a rundown gas station. As he pulled in an old man and his son came out of the building. 

“Everybody out! Stretch ya legs!” Harry shouted. Niall let Y/N go first, before hopping down out of the van after her. He stumbled slightly, reaching for her hand as he righted himself. 

“Careful there,” Y/N smiled. Niall reached out, gently grabbing her waist. Y/N felt herself leaning up, eyes closing softly-

“Y/N!” Y/N’s head turned sharply. Harry was glaring at her and Niall. “Can I talk to you?” Niall smirked, letting her go. 

He was gonna get through to both of them by the end of this trip. It amazed Niall how blind the two of them could be. I mean, he didn’t even know Y/N but could tell she had some major feelings for Harry. 

“What’s up?” Y/N asked as Harry pumped the gas. Harry looked down at her, trying not to let his irritation at Niall show. 

“What’re you and Niall doing?” Y/N raised her eyebrows. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Just….just be careful please. I love Ni but-”

“Harry.” Y/N cut him off. “Harry this is what you wanted. For me to get along with your friends. That’s what I’m doing right?” Harry huffed, looking away. “Harry you’re not my boyfriend….you can’t tell me you want me to be friends with your friends and then two seconds later get mad when I do.” she glanced over his shoulder. “And Kennedi’s watching….Look I don’t want any drama okay.” Y/N turned away quickly. Just as  Kennedi was walking up on him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"You alright babe?" She asked. Harry nodded.

They got in the van and continued on their way. Louis and Zayn passed around a joint. Y/N talked with Gigi and Maya. They were sweet and Liam was adorable with Maya. Harry stayed up front with Kennedi. He hated hearing Y/N's laugh and not knowing what she was laughing at. He hated that she was having fun without him. 

"Hey! Hey!" Gigi crawled over Y/N's lap, pointing out the window. A sign reading 'Grover's Pumpkin Patch' was passing them by. "Come on Harry! Let's stop!" 

"We haven't even gotten to the cabin yet." Kennedi complained. Gigi rolled her eyes. 

"So? We can take some with us to carve." Kennedi huffed, crossing her arms as Harry made the turn towards the pumpkin patch. Y/N took Niall's hand as they made their way down the dirt path. An old house sat at the top of the hill, the wood rotted and flung apart. An old woman came out to the porch as Harry parked in front of the house, everyone filing out of the van.

"Welcome to Grover's Pumpkin Patch. How can I help ya'll?" She had thin white hair and coke bottle glasses, crows feet withered around her watery blue eyes. Her gingham dress blew gently in the breeze. Harry stepped up, shaking her hand. 

"Hi! 'm Harry. We were wonderin' if we could get some pumpkins?" She smiled, her eyes meeting Y/N's, there was something about the woman that put Y/N off though. She wasn't comfortable. 

"10 dollars. You each can pick one." Harry grinned, reaching into his pocket. "Just stay away from the Scarecrow." She pointed over their shoulder. A scarecrow stood in the middle of the field, with a jack o lantern head. Kennedi snorted. 

"What's that supposed to be?" Harry pinched her side and the woman narrowed her eyes. 

"That is the alter to Punkinhead." 

"Punkinhead?" Y/N repeated. "Who's that?"

"He's a demon. He fetches souls for the Underworld. If you done someone wrong they can summon him, and he won't rest until you're dead." Y/N's blood ran cold, the dream the night before flashing once more in her mind. 

"Sounds scary." Kennedi said sarcastically, "lets go Harry. Get the stupid pumpkin so we can get to the cabin." She tugged on his arm as the group followed them. Y/N lingered by the old woman. 

"It's true you know….you seem like you have sense." Y/N nodded. 

"I should….I should go." 

"Godspeed."

"Kennedi." Y/N said, her voice shaking with unease. "I don't think you should do that." She looked to Harry, hoping he would say something to his girlfriend, but he only glanced at Y/N and pursed his lips.

Kennedi had made her way straight to the Scarecrow. The old woman had annoyed her and she was gonna show her. She wasn't afraid of anything, especially not some stupid story. 

"Kennedi." Her eyes flickered towards Y/N, she looked genuinely terrified. "Don't." 

"Ooh." Kennedi said, her tone mocking as she grabbed the scarecrow's head. "Is Punkinhead gonna get me?" She yanked the head off the scarecrow, throwing it to the ground. Y/N shivered at the noise it made on impact, squishy as it split apart. Kennedi hopped down from the post, wiping her hands.

"Kennedi." Niall scolded. She rolled her eyes.

"Come on. I don't believe in stupid horror stories. Punkinhead is about as real as the Boogeyman." She nudged Niall hard in the shoulder as she yanked Harry back towards the car.

Y/N stood rooted to the spot, staring at the smashed pumpkin. A chilly breeze swept over her and her stomach was churning.

"She shouldn't have done that." She finally said, turning to look at Niall. "I have a really bad feeling." Niall shook his head, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, turning them back to the car.

"I don't like her either Y/N but you shouldn't worry. Punkinhead is just a story....an urban legend." Y/N looked back at the house as they got into the car. The old woman stood on her porch, still watching them. As they made eye contact the feelings grew. Y/N didn't know what it was, but something bad was on the horizon.

Hellen went back into her house. She went into her bedroom, kneeling down she ripped up the floorboard and pulled out an old book. She brought it to the kitchen, slamming it on the table. 

"Stupid kids. They'll learn." She growled, flipping through the pages. "Here it is." She said, stopping suddenly. 

"Cross my heart and hope to die, please keep me blinded from the sight. When Punkinhead appears tonight. Appease the soul, save the right, bad blood will feed this patch tonight."

[amoosewritesfanfic]

A very happy birthday +18

[+18]

[Dabi X female reader]

[Warnings: smut, aphrodisiac, drugging, drinking, flirting, light bdsm, panty stuffing, creampie, choking, throat fucking, hair pulling, hickeys]

[Synopsis: you were in the middle of a job when you met the villain Dabi... but almost everything was blur up until you woke up bound with no recollection of how you got in this situation.]

-

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Not to mention this bar was often frequented by other villains so any extra information you could get was always helpful when you relayed the information to the higher ups.

"Seeing such a pretty girl here is almost criminal ya know?" A voice spoke, your attention was shifted from the drug dealer you were tailing to the man behind you.

When you turned to look at him you almost jumped out your seat, those painful scars being held together by staples and those beautiful cerulean coloured hues staring at you.

Of course you knew Dabi, he was apart of the League of Villains... Hawks just so happened to be infiltrating them.

A job that suited him.

So your question was, why was Dabi here? You had heard there was some important meeting of sorts.

"You flatter me, is there something I can help you with?" You replied with a soft chuckle.

'Act natural.'

The first thing you were ever taught in this kind of field was act like you usually would. Don't go raising suspicions it would get you killed faster.

"Can I get the pretty lady a drink perhaps?" As he spoke he lifted his hand to push a few stray hairs out of your face, your gaze shifts from those bright blue hues to his hand.

"I'm not opposed to getting a drink as long as the gentleman buys it." As you spoke your gaze shifted to his face again as he ordered two more drinks.

"Of course~" he hummed.

"So what brings you here?" He asked handing you your drink once it was set in front of you.

"Just having a night out, figured I have a few drinks as a treat." You lied.

"Hmm and you're all alone too? No friends wanting to go out with you?" You nodded your head at his question.

"Yeah, sadly my coworkers can be pricks but I'm use to it by now." You answered before taking a sip of your drink, it tasted a bit stronger than usual...

"Your friends are assholes for leaving such a pretty lady alone~" he teased his eyes trailing your body.

"Do you come here often?" He asked.

"Uh... no no not all the time, I usually go to other bars." You said in a small hum as you took another sip of your drink.

"Other bars huh? So you bar hop? We could do that if you want."

"No, I don't bar hop in one night. Although it would be fun to try one day." You felt like you were floating, what was in your drink...?

You couldn't think straight.

"Why not right now?" He hummed leaning in to kiss your cheek.

You couldn't push him back your arms were starting to feel like jelly.

"You don't look so hot princess~ lemme take you home." As Dabi spoke you couldn't respond... you were starting to black out.

He drugged you?

Dabi drugged you. You weren't being cautious enough and he drugged you.

The trip was a blur you were falling in and out of consciousness.

-

By the time you had woken up you were bound to a chair, your arms above your head and your legs spread and bound to the legs of the chair.

You were tugging and pulling trying to get out of the blinds but it was not possible for you.

It felt hotter than usual in the room you were in and you didn't know why.

"Oh, so our dear pro hero actually woke up." Dabi spoke.

You didn't talk.

"You were so talkative at the bar y/n what happened?" As Dabi spoke he lifted your chin, the sensation sent shivers up your spine.

But your reaction had him laugh.

How did he know your name? You didn't give it... and you made sure no one knew you're an underground hero...

"Surprised? You shouldn't be. Someone figured out it was you. They remember seeing you around the Blue Diamond club..." he lifted his hand and ran his finger through your hair before tugging your head back forcing you to look up at him.

"So I did a little digging and I found out who you were honestly you were smart but not smart enough Y/N." He grinned as he noticed your cheeks becoming flushed.

"Are you feeling hot? It seems the drug is working rather effectively, I'll have to give the doc a pat on the back for coming up with this idea. We were gonna kill you but after the doc convinced us that we could use you..." a pause.

"Well we couldn't say no." He grinned bringing his free hand to cup your cheek as the pad of his thumb ran along your bottom lip, which parted slightly.

Why did you part your lips?

You almost immediately pursed your lips together.

You glared at him.

Your body was getting hot, but more so between your legs. It felt like your body was tingling all over, your body begging for some kind of stimulation.

Dabi let go of your hair and your face and trailed calloused fingers down along your throat and over your breast, giving your chest a few gripes causing you to moan quietly.

Usually this kind of thing would never happen... but because of how sensitive your body was feeling you couldn't hold back.

He let out a chuckle as he watched your face become redder by the second.

"What a dumb little hero~" he cooed as his one hand cupped your chin again, bringing his lips against yours making you moan quietly.

His tongue trailed along your bottom lip which got you to part your lips again, his tongue immediately sliding into your mouth.

His tongue rubbed against yours as his free hand groped your breast before he started to untie your legs, leaving your arms hanging.

Once your legs were unbound he lifted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist, kicking away the chair.

"If you're a good little hero I might just give you a treat~" he cooed against your lips, the feeling of his lean body pressed against yours gave you goosebumps, his hands pressing against your ass only added to the sensitivity.

What did he give you... usually you are able to bite back moans but you couldn't... your body was being too honest.

"Did you figure out what I did to ya? Hmm?~♡" he hummed biting at your neck, it made you whimper and buck your hips a little.

"N-no... you fucking gave me an aphrodisiac." You snapped.

"Oh and you're really enjoying it ain't ya?~" he teased as he pulled down your shirt exposing your breasts.

"F-fuck you..." you grumbled.

You were pissed off but God your body was in heat, the feeling of his tongue trailing along your nipple made you moan, tilting your head back a little.

All he did was chuckle as he groped and sucked on your breasts, the one thing you could feel was his erection poking at your cunt.

"You know, I've been watching you for sometime... you're really cute~ I'm thinking about making you mine~" he hummed, looking up at you as he moved down trailing kisses along your stomach and down to your navel, bunching your skirt up around your waist.

He had spread your legs to ensure you didn't strangle him.

"L-like hell..." you moaned, your voice betraying you almost immediately as he lapped his tongue over your panties, tasting your arousal through them.

"The way your body is reacting is saying otherwise princess~ if you're mine, we won't kill you... because after we used you to your fullest potential... well the rest of them were gonna butcher you and send pieces of your body to your bosses~" as Dabi spoke he nipped at your clit over your panties making you moan quietly.

His fingers hooked around your panties pulling them down exposing that pretty little soaked cunt that was ready to be devoured by him.

"Look at that... your pussy is quivering~ begging to be touched~" he teased blowing on your cunt making your hips buck a little.

He chuckled as he gripped your thighs, shoving his tongue into your cunt, it made your hips buck again and it earned a very needy moan.

Your head tilted back a little as you tugged at the ropes holding you up.

His tongue swirled around, rubbing against every inch of your hole that he could manage, somehow he had managed to find your g-spot and he knew that he found it because of how your legs tensed up and your moans changed in pitch.

His thumb was even rubbing against your clit as he ate you out.

With a few more licks and a few hip bucks from you, you moaned out as you started squirting your love juices all over his mouth.

Which he lapped up happily, drinking in your essence.

"Hmm~ delicious~" he hummed licking his lips as you looked down at him, your cheeks flushed but you had a smile on your face.

Why were you smiling?

"You tasted so good~" he hummed as he stood up keeping your legs around his waist now as he kissed you deeply, he reached and unzipped his pants.

His cock springing out and hitting your cunt which had you whimper against his mouth.

His tongue running along your bottom lip sensually.

Your legs pulled him closer as if asking him to fuck you.

What was going on with your body... it was reacting on it's own?

This had Dabi grinning against your mouth, his hand guiding his cock to your hole.

With a grunt he thrusted himself into your hole making you moan.

His hands reached up to unhook you from the hook holding you up, your arms wrapped around his neck as his fingers threaded through his hair as he kissed you.

His hips bucking up against yours, the sensations of his cock hitting your sweet spot over and over making you moan, it made you tug at his hair too.

"Look at you... you're moaning so good for me baby~" he cooed licking your neck before he started sucking on your neck.

Leaving marks on your skin.

"F-fuck... you're fucking me so good~♡" you moaned out.

You fell so fast just from an aphrodisiac, what would your boss think?

"You look so good...~ fuck... especially with your flustered expression~♡" he groaned as his hips picked up pace.

It was driving you insane.

Your legs tightened around his waist as your pussy tightened around his cock.

"Oh? Cumming so soon~" he cooed rocking his hips faster, you tugged at his hair and moaned into his neck.

He let out grunts and groans as you came, but he didn't stop moving his hips.

It only took a few more thrusts and a few harsh gropes for him to give one final thrust into you so he could cum.

"I-its so hot.. its filling me up...~♡" you moaned against his ear making him chuckle.

He didn't pull out, he carried you over to a table which you had no clue was there.

"We ain't done yet baby~" he cooed as he laid you down on your back, he had removed all your clothes leaving you completely naked. His fingers trailing along your skin leaving goosebumps in their wake.

"Ah fuck... you look so good with my cock inside you~" he hummed as he brought his thumb to your lips and you almost immediately ran your tongue along the pad of his thumb causing him to groan a little, his hips bucking into yours making you moan.

"Fuck... I wanna feel that pretty little mouth.

He pulled out of you, watching his cum drip out of your cunt. He looked extremely smug about it, but he didn't stop there, he had picked your panties up and slowly started shoving them inside you, stuffing your pussy with the panties.

"What a cute little pussy stuffed to the brim for me~" he teased.

He moved to the other end of the table, pulling you over to the edge.

Your head hanging off the table his cock almost immediately lining up with your mouth.

"What a pretty little throat~" he cooed running his fingers along your throat, you shivered a little at his touch but opened your mouth, lapping your tongue over his tip.

He groaned a little as you started taking his length into your mouth, he cursed under his breath.

The way you took his length made his body feel more excited.

You tasted your mixed juices on his length and it made you bend your knees a little as means to spread your legs.

Once you had taken as much as you possibly could without gagging on his cock, he couldn't help but wrap his hand around your throat and his other hand got tangled up in your hair tugging at it as he thrusted into your throat.

It made you gag and choke but it didn't stop the male from thrusting into your throat.

It had you tearing up and drooling which ended up covering your face.

He pulled back letting you breath for a moment, your drool dripping down his cock, before he thrusted back in this time going at a much faster pace.

At this point your hands were between your own legs, you were getting off, rubbing your sweet little cunt and he didn't stop you but he stopped you when he noticed you were about to cum.

It made you whimper against his cock.

His hips smacked against your face as he picked up the pace, with three harsh thrusts down your throat he finally came, squeezing your neck as his head tilted back in pleasure.

"Theres a good... fuckin' princess~ swallowing every single drop~" he teased as he slowly eased his cock out of your throat allowing you to swallow, but he kept his hand around your throat.

Once you were done he let go.

Allowing you to sit up.

"Are you gonna stay with me?~ I'll make sure you're treated like a good princess~" he cooed cupping your cheek, you leaned into his hand, nuzzling his hand.

You nodded.

No why did you nod...?

Your mind wasn't focused, you were in a state of arousal.

"That's a good response~ but fuck this is one great fucking birthday gift~" he cooed.

And God knew you didn't regret it in the end...

You loved it... you loved every single minute of it even in your slightly drugged out state

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[This is a belated birthday to our crispy boi Dabi XD ]