#in all fairness these guys are all pretty young ish

[lucrativesoul]

Welcome Home

summary: you finally graduated college and are home free for the summer, planning to spend as much time as possible with your best friend. what you weren't planning for, however, was the incredible sight of her older brother, Leon, who had drastically changed after all those years. you had never thought you would fall for your best friend's brother.

pairing: leon kennedy (re2) x fem! reader

word count: 9.3k

warnings: smut, bathroom sex, public sex, fingering, dom(ish) leon

a/n: guys, thank you endlessly for 300+ followers, 250+ reblogs and all those likes! i'd like you all to take a moment to read this, apologies... i absolutely love writing. I've been writing for ten years! crazy. i do it for fun, and because i want to put out the content that i want to consume and i want to be that outlet for people who don't write but want to consume, that is just as fair! a while ago, while writing this, my laptop gave me a scare. i'm realizing now that its a 5 year old macbook, which, in apple timeline, means it might be on the way out at the blink of an eye. if you are feeling generous at all, i have created a ko-fi. it is absolutely not necessary, because i'm not doing this blog for money, but if you really love my work and want other ways to support me, it's there. i will never be upset at no donations, but i made it in hopes that i'm on this blog for a long time. so sorry for the rambling, i really hope you guys enjoy this one, and i will be back soon for a fifth fic. love u!

No matter how many young adult fiction books you read, how many love story tropes you think you have seen, there was just one that seemed so unreasonable, it was almost laughable. Because, after all, you spent way too much time with this person to ever even see him as attractive, it had never even crossed your mind. Come on, your best friend’s brother? The boy who was so ungracious, messy, impolite, and had a crude, childish sense of humor? It was just unrealistic.

Until… It was realistic.

For all your life, you looked at Leon Kennedy as the young, bumbling boy who tripped over his own two feet at any given opportunity, ready to make jokes at inappropriate times and constantly worked overtime to barge in when you and your best friend were hanging out. He was only two years older than you, but his personality read the same age, if not, younger. Boys will be boys…

You always knew that college would change a person, and you can’t deny that about yourself, but it was so hard to look at the people you were closest to and imagine that they, too, changed with college. Your best friend was still the same person you knew since middle school, and all those years that you knew Leon, he had never changed, until he left for college himself. You were confident in knowing that when he came back, he would be the same exact person, just… older.

You could not have been more wrong.

“These days could not go by any faster.” Your best friend whined to you over the phone, a daily routine between the two of you. “I need you home ASAP, Leon is driving me crazy. He’s being so loud.”

Yep, that sounded pretty in character for him. “I know, just five more days, and I’m home free, forever. I wish commencement wasn’t even happening at this rate, I’m wasting away here.”

You were finishing up your last days as a college senior at a school that was a thousand miles away from home. The scholarship opportunity was incredible, and you could not say no to this offer. Your best friend chose to stay local, which you inwardly criticized, but would never say to her. You knew her parents could have afforded to send her here, who needs that big of a house for a family of four anyway?!

Commencement was set to happen on Thursday, and it was currently Sunday. Your own parents had flown in to watch you walk the stage, and while you knew your best friend would have dropped everything to come as well, her school chose to hold theirs on the same exact day. Figures.

“I miss you guys. The summers I came home just weren't enough. I have to say, I’m so glad this internship bullshit is over. It feels like I haven’t ever even lived with you.”

You heard her groan on the other line. “I know! It’s so stupid. Why would a program even make it so you could only intern in the summer? Don't they know you are only in your twenties once?!”

You laughed at her remark, gazing off as you continued the conversation. Classes were over and exams were concluded, at least you had a healthy pile of books to go through to pass the time. You decided to worry about the logistics of taking them home at a later date.

There’s something so innocent about getting lost in the world of young adult romance. Some would say it makes their own lives dreary, coming to the conclusion that they could never live out these fantasies in the real world, but to you, it felt real anyways. It only made you happier. It puts some optimism in your life.

The comfy plane read you chose was about a high school girl, absolutely smitten over the five-years-older brother of her best friend. This type of thing, you thought, just seemed too… fairytale, to be real. In no world where you knew someone as a child could you grow up and think they were an object of fantasy. You tried picturing you and Leon in this situation. Never!

Admittedly, you haven’t seen Leon in like 4 years. The last time you saw him, it was right before you left for college, and your major requires summer internships which leave a very small window for home visits. You never crossed paths during those times. From what your friend tells you, he’s rarely home now, he must have migrated to a new group of friends in college and found other passions. Good for him, you thought, you wish you could say the same, but you needed the income from whatever job you landed from your internship.

He was never really a tiny boy in high school, he was of a pretty average build and rivaled some of the football players, but he was not an athletic kid. You can’t imagine him changing that much more, your best friend never talked about him like that, obviously, so, you only had to imagine after the last time you saw him.

From your own personal standpoint, it was just impossible to believe in this best friend’s brother trope. You shut the book and closed your eyes, willing the plane to start moving faster.

As soon as your plane touched down, you whipped your phone out to send a text: As soon as all this shit is put away, I’m coming straight over.

Predictably, less than three minutes later: YES!! All nighter, we’re 14 again. I have drinks in the fridge.

Willing yourself through all the pleasantries of coming home, promising other relatives you would be by in a few days when you are settled, you merely threw your suitcase down into your room before dashing out to your car, knowing the route to your best friend’s house even with your eyes closed. 

A tight, running start hug was the intro you both needed as a fresh start to the summer.

“Please tell me you are home for good now, they aren't making you do any more summer internships?”

You laughed as you followed her into the house. It felt like it’s been forever since you’ve been in this large house’s lived-in walls. “No, thank god. I’m officially done. Except for job hunting, but I’m putting that off for as long as I can get away with it.”

“Agreed.”

As you followed her up the steps to her room, snacks and drinks spilling over your arms, a loud cacophony rang out through the house, coming from the garage. “What the hell is that?” You stopped short, listening to it through the closed door.

“Wow, that’s how I really know it’s been forever since you’ve been here. I’m so used to it now. It’s a band that Leon is a part of. The ‘rents loaned out a car space in the garage.”

Wow, you thought, multiple things to dissect here. One: this has been going on for some time now, and you never knew. You didn’t blame your friend for not bringing it up, it wasn’t weird to not mention a new hobby of her brother’s. Two: Leon apparently knew how to play an instrument. You couldn’t recall anytime seeing him play anything, and he had never expressed an interest in singing, so that was difficult to digest. Three: their parents would give up a car space just for them to do this. They still had two car spaces left in there.

“God, it’s really been that long, huh? I’ll have to get him to spill all about this whenever he comes out.”

You heard a groan from in front of you on the stairs, and you hopped up to be beside her, headed to her bedroom. “If you can even catch him. He’s like a slippery snake. Plus, he’s so private, I don't know what happened to him. Anyway, you should come over tomorrow night and pregame with me and the girls, cause…” 

She droned on, and while you still had half of your brain paying attention to her, you couldn’t help but think about that sentence she just said. Leon’s different now? The slippery snake part didn’t make many waves, you weren’t surprised that a man in his mid twenties didn’t want to be bothered, but you didn’t expect a whole new personality to come out of him. What happened while he was gone? Or, what kind of epiphany did he have?

“Oh, my god, look at this, too. I totally forgot to send you this. I’m so mad you missed it!”

Your best friend shoved a phone in your face, and you took it, grateful for the mental topic switch. It was a group of four girls and five boys, your old friends, standing along a cliffside in bathing suits. You assumed this was the cliff jumping extravaganza you heard about over the phone a couple weeks ago. And, yes, you were also mad you missed it.

“This looked like so much fun, I haven't seen all of them in forever. Maybe we can convince everyone to do it again soon.” You looked up and smiled as your friend laughed. You looked back down to the photo. “Who is this?”

She leaned over you as you zoomed in on a man in the top right, his lower half covered by a girl bending forward for a photo, but you could tell he was incredibly toned. His hair was pushed back with water from the lake below, and a broad smile graced his features. You sensed familiarity, but you had never met this person before.

Your friend scoffs. “Girl, what? That’s Leon.”

“What?!” Has it really been that long since you’ve seen Leon in person? Now that you look at it again, yep, that’s definitely him, but why does he look so different? Thinking back, it wasn’t often you spent time with him around after he graduated high school and went to college. You saw him probably even less than you visited home during your college career, and honestly, it has probably been years since you’ve seen him at all. “He looks so… different.”

“Like I said, I don’t know what happened. Maybe he won’t recognize you either.” You handed her phone back to her. Maybe, you wondered, but you doubted it. Nothing about you changed at all. You woke up every day waiting for a magical overnight nose job and five month glute progress from the gym that you didn’t go to, but it never happened. 

The night carried on, the strange questions about Leon’s college whereabouts pushed to the back of your mind. It felt so good to be back home. The summer was only just getting started, and with the buzz running through your system, you couldn't feel anything except excitement.

“I’m out of water, fuckkk,” You moaned. Your friend giggled at you. 

“Go get some. And don’t fall.” If you were any more sober you would have glared at her for this, reminding you of the time you drunkenly took a tumble down her stairs, but right now, it was only a funny memory as you totally didn’t have an iron grip on the railing as you walked down.

The rest of the house was dark and quiet now. You remembered her saying her parents were somewhere else, so you hadn’t seen them at all tonight, and there was no longer heavy music coming from the garage. You instinctively turned your head that way, like it would magically start up again.

You stumbled over to the refrigerator, yanking it open and hearing all the bottles clink around on the door. It took you a second to collect your bearings, but after a few more seconds, water was located, and you let your eyes readjust to the darkness as you shut the door. A figure in the darkness made you yelp.

“Goddamnit, you scared me!” You placed a hand over your beating heart.

A deep laugh floated through the air at this, but you were still partially blinded. “Hey, you. I’m sorry, I thought you were my sister.”

Leon. 

You blinked hard a few times, willing the night vision to return, and a little bit of your drunkenness away. You took a hard look at the man in front of you, as good of a look as you could. You only saw a silhouette, a dark shirt, hair over his forehead, and he was taller than you, wider, stronger. This was not the Leon you remember from high school.

“Leon. It’s so nice to see you.” You tried your hardest to sound normal, but surely he already knew what the two of you were up to.

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Slowly, your vision was returning, and his facial features were becoming prominent. Eyes. Mouth. Smile. “Congratulations on graduating, back home for good now?” 

“Yeah, yes. Thank god. Thank you.” You could now tell you were fumbling over your words, and suddenly wanting nothing more than to go back upstairs. “I’ll be here a lot more often now, so get used to me.” You walked around him back to the stairs, listening to that low chuckle that you got out of him. God, you really needed another drink.

The night and next day bore on with nothing too important left to remember about it, as long as you were in the confort of your home town again getting fucked up with nowhere to be, it was a great time as far as you were concerned. 

Though, despite continuing to drink that night and waking up a little unsteady the next morning, you couldn’t shake that brief encounter you had with Leon. You could barely see him in the dark, but you could already tell he looked different. His build was wider than the last time you saw it, he even looked a little taller. He had only ever been maybe an inch above you, but since he disappeared to college, it looked like he went up at least five. Or maybe you were shrinking. 

You were mad it was so dark and you were on the edge of tipsy and drunk to be able to clearly see him. You saw him in the photo of the outing at the cliffside, but you really didn't want to believe that was him. He was almost… sexy.

Which was crazy. You had never thought of Leon like that. Yes, there was some sort of novelty to having a crush on the only consistent older man in your life whom you weren’t related to, but whenever you came face to face with him, it was just normal. You felt nothing, he was just there. 

But this… this could change everything. Was he actually attractive now? God knows you weren’t the best at being normal around people who you thought were attractive, and that could make things infinitely awkward with being around your best friend so often. And your best friend, what would she even think? You can’t confide in her to tell her you might think her older brother is hot. This was all messed up. This is not how you wanted summer to start.

–

A few days had passed with no rift, and your momentary crisis left with no memory. You discovered, though, as much as you couldn’t wait for summer to roll around so you could be free of your duties, your days were much more boring than you had anticipated. With your past summer internships, you were always busy, and had one or two days a week to rest at most. But now, with the summer sun high in the sky and no requirements of you anymore, you were at a loss of anything to do other than sit by your best friend’s pool, baking in the heat.

“They’re having some start-of-summer party going on in one of the campus houses tonight, are we down?”

You didn’t move your head nor open your eyes as your friend spoke to you. “Yeah, sure. It will be more of a time than drinking with just us.”

She sighed. “You can say that again.”

You pushed yourself up off the chair. “I’ll be back, don’t drown.”

You listened to her sarcastic response as you went inside the house, needing a moment to cool down, and to refill your drink. As you slid the glass door shut, you were greeted with the sound of loud instruments, reminding you of the first night you came here once returning from school. Leon must have had his bandmates come over some time while the both of you were outside, as you don’t remember hearing this, or seeing anyone else. You ignored it, and stalked past the door, headed upstairs to the kitchen.

The music stopped, a door opened, and chatter became clearer without the barrier. You didn’t know who else Leon could have here, you didn’t know his friends, and you were suddenly too aware of the bikini you had on. Whatever, you soothed your anxiety, I look good.

“Oh, hey.” You turned around at the strange voice, not recognizing the person standing at the stairway, headed towards the kitchen. “Now it’s a party.”

“Dude, gross.” A more familiar voice followed quickly behind the quip, and Leon’s head became visible as he climbed the stairs. “Sorry.” He spoke now to you, visibly doing his best to keep eye contact with you. Now you could really feel your half-nakedness. 

“Doesn’t sound like you guys are making much progress out there.” You joked, turning your head back to where you were filling your water bottle. You heard Leon’s friend laugh, making a remark along the lines of blaming other people in the band, but you unintentionally tuned him out.

“We’re trying.” Leon was closer to you now, and when you turned, his friend had disappeared, probably into the bathroom. Leon was grabbing drinks from the fridge, and the two of you were separated by the kitchen island, sunlight illuminating both of you.

His hair was a shade darker than you remembered it being, still blonde, but almost brown. It came down to touch his ears, and the pieces of bangs on his forehead were clumped together with sweat. He had on a gray tank, the ones with the arm holes that go down to your ribcage. His arms, god, those arms–

“Doing anything fun out there?” He walked around the island, even closer to you now, getting cups from the cabinets. 

You shook your head. “Just trying to become a leather couch while I’m still young.” You fixed the top of your water bottle back on, but didn’t move from your spot, taking the chance to talk to Leon.

“That’s the spirit.” He placed the cups down on the counter and leaned on it, clearly standing around to talk to you, too. You noticed a bandage wrapped around his right hand as he crossed his arms.

“What happened there? Start scrapping with the wrong people?” 

He lifted it and looked at it, like he just realized it was there. He laughed softly. “This might sound gross, but it's just a callus that burst open the other day. Right when I was used to holding drumsticks all the time.”

You sighed a gentle laugh. “Doesn’t that hurt, still using it?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I just didn’t want to start touching shit and get it all gross again.” He set his hand back down. You took the silence to ask another question. 

“When did the drums start? That was never a thing as far as I can remember.” He looked down, slowly nodding his head, as if trying to piece together memories of what his life was like the last time he saw you.

He sighed. “I kind of picked it up during college. I thought it was a lot of fun. I knew a lot of guys at the time who were in a bunch of different bands, so they had access to all these instruments, and I tried a bunch, but the only one that stuck was drums. I guess it’s easy and I like it only because I still can’t read sheet music for the life of me.”

You smiled softly at his explanation. Looking at him in the daylight, now, you can see the old him in his features. He grew into his face, his cheekbones slightly more pronounced, and his dimpled chin fitting perfectly into his jawline. His eyes were soft, yet tired. Still the bright blue you remember them being.

“Are you any good?”

He smiled fully at this, looking back up to you. “Of course. I know it sounds like ass right now, but we’re trying out some new stuff. But, and maybe I’m just biased, I think we have some really solid potential.”

You shrugged, a grin still present on your face. “I’ll have to see it to believe it.”

Leon stood up now, grabbing the cups and the still tied together 6-pack. “I agree. We’re doing a local show next Wednesday night. I’m always inviting my sister, but she doesn’t like going alone, and the rest of your friends don’t like that bar.” You smiled at this. Sounds typical of your friends. “Maybe she will come if you will. And, uh, if you’re still with that guy, he can come, too.”

Your brow furrowed at this. “Guy?”

Leon shrugged. “Oh, well, she told me in passing that you were with some guy last summer. From around here.”

You paused to think about this, nearly forgetting your whole past trying to rake your brain for a memory. It then hit you. “Oh, shit, yeah, that was definitely just a summer thing. He was…” A douche, conceited, horrible at sex. “Not the best. I’m not seeing anybody. And definitely not while school was in. I was way too busy for that.” 

He nodded, standing up a little straighter. “Well, that’s good. And fuck that guy.” You giggled at his support. “I think you should come. I’d be happy to see you there.”

And, oddly, for the first time ever speaking with Leon, your stomach did a flip that only ever happened when you were talking to someone whom you liked. It caught you off guard, and your words caught on your throat.

You nodded quickly, using the opportunity to take a deep breath in. “Yeah, I’ll be there. I’ve got the time to, now.”

“Cool. I won’t disappoint, I promise.” With that, Leon bounded back across the room and down the stairs, opening and shutting the door to the garage. You sighed deeply. You didn’t like the feeling that was creeping up inside of you.

Putting your newfound conundrum aside for the night, you resolved to let loose and get back to enjoying the summer the way you had intended to. You were almost tempted to stick around and listen once his band got started with the music again as you were on your way outside, but decided against it, as your friend would surely be asking what took so long. 

Part of you wished Leon had gone to this little party tonight, considering he knew all of your mutual friends, but he was never the party type before this, and it seemed that college did not change that much either. It would make sense if he had a gig coming up, they must be preparing, but you didn’t picture him to be much of a perfectionist. Maybe that changed as well.

–

“Why are we going to this again?” Your friend asked as she followed you out of her house, locking the door behind her. She seemed awfully quick to keep up with you for complaining about doing something she doesn't want to.

“I don’t know, it gives us something to do. Leon asked me to come. Now you’re coming with me.”

“What? Why did Leon ask you to come? He doesn't ask me.” The two of you slid into her sleek black coupe. 

You shrugged as you fastened the belt. “I saw him the other day when I was here, I came in while we were out by the pool. We were just talking. And he said he does invite you, by the way, but you never go.”

She was the one to shrug this time. “Maybe he does. You think there will be hot men here?”

“We’re both hoping.” You half-assed the response, but you already knew the answer was yes. You could never tell her you think Leon is attractive now. You had been mulling it over the past few days, ever since you spoke to him, and you had no choice but to confirm it. He really, really grew into his body. You could even push the curiosity aside to wonder what it was about college that changed him like that, you were just thankful it happened.

Your local bar looked just as you remembered, dark and looming from the outside, people filing in and out simultaneously. It was much busier than you had ever seen it, but the show was most likely the reason for the sudden influx in customers.

The crowd was a thick mass, and you had trouble even spotting the stage when you walked in, but once you and your friend had found a nice little corner, vacant of bodies, and conveniently found a third mutual friend to stand by, the room seemed a little less stuffy.

You absentmindedly scanned the crowd, people hoarding in front of the stage, waiting to be the first to break open the mosh pit, presumably, people in the back drinking idly and chatting, almost like they don't even know a show is happening this night. You found yourself looking for Leon. He was in the building somewhere. You wished you could have told him you were there, but what good would that have done? He wouldn’t have come out to say hello, there were preparations to be had back there.

God, shut up already, you willed at yourself, annoyed at the mere fact that you couldn’t stop thinking of Leon.

Admittedly, you thought of that first scene more often than not recently. The muscle shirt, ribcage exposed, thick arms, sweet smile and bouncy cheeks with a strong jawline, the vision came to you during the day, at breakfast, while you were scrolling your phone, late at night, when the moon was your only company. 

You wondered what he would look like tonight. You were so anxious for him to step out on stage. Would he see you?

Your friend stumbled sideways into you, knocking you out of your monetary stupor. People were now starting to crowd in, hence the bump, and you were assuming the start of the set was about to happen.

On cue, the lights went darker, the roar of the crowd exploded, and people rushed on stage and took their places. Your eyes were instantly drawn to Leon, who, from what you could only see from the backlight so far, had on another muscle shirt. It made your legs feel like jelly.

The lights went on, and after a brief introduction from the front man who was holding a guitar, they started. Leon was right, they were pretty good when they weren’t rehearsing new material. You knew this wasn’t the type of music your best friend was into, but to your surprise, she was bopping away with your other mutual friend, both of them holding drinks. That’s probably why.

Turning back, you could see Leon clearly under the lights now, which were strobing in and out, flashing different colors and patterns. His hair was pushed back this time, exposing his forehead, and looking brand new. You liked the way it looked on him, it made him almost look older. Everytime a strong beam of light would shine down on him, you could see the glistening sweat on his skin, his face. He was so focused on hitting the beats, and succeeded everytime, and you were so enticed by it.

This was a side of Leon you never thought you would see. It was so clear, standing in the crowd watching, how much he belonged up there. He looked so confident, every move was made with ease, no hesitation, and you could feel yourself melting.

It was like a headrush, you didn’t think you would enjoy it this much, but clearly, every moment took your breath away. Yes, you were looking at Leon the whole time, but who could really tell?

Soon enough, the show ended, and the crowd was applauding for what felt like ten minutes as the individual members left the stage, thanked everyone, hopped down to talk to others. You were interrupted with your people-watching when your friend grabbed you by the elbow to let you know she was headed back to the bar for more drinks, and you absentmindedly nodded while you turned back.

You caught the back of Leon, dipping behind the stage into the back of the bar. The tips of your fingers tingled with… something, some emotion you couldn’t read… and you let your body take over as you weaved through the crowd, headed to the back.

People bumped you and yelled in your ears as you squeezed in between them, paying them no mind, on a mission of your own.

After a few seconds, you reached a hallway, a few people lingering by the bathrooms, and you spotted someone, you recognized him as the frontman, dipping behind another doorway, chattering loudly to people behind the wall. Times like this, you wished you had decided to down some liquid courage.

You stalked slowly over to the doorway, seeing flashes of shadow as people walked by, unsure if you should hang out or go in. Most likely, you weren’t welcome, it was probably for performers only, but you couldn’t help it, you continued inching closer, drawn in by an unseen force.

As you took another step inward, a figure rushed out and crashed right into you. 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, bathrooms are that way if you’re looking for them, this is restricted access.” You looked up at the man you walked into, you didn’t know who it was. 

“Oh, um…” You backed up a step, and though he was making moves to walk around you, he was waiting for a response. “I was actually waiting for Leon… the drummer.” You added in the title, just in case this was a man who worked at the bar with no affiliation to the band. But, to your relief, he nodded.

“I’ll get him, just chill over there, ‘kay?”

You dumbly nodded and backed up again. The hallway was lit with fluorescents, the bright white kind, but it was still dark, with the walls and floors looking slick with condensation. You opted not to lean up against them.

“Hey, you’re still here?” A voice snapped your head back over to your left, and you saw Leon walking towards you. “You didn’t leave with the rest of them?” He must have seen your other friend there as well.

You shook your head. “They’re still here, I think. Just getting drinks.” He nodded. “I told you I would come.” You held your arms out in a here I am gesture. He laughed.

“I’m so glad. I didn’t see you while I was up there, but… I do tend to just tune everything else out when I play.”

“You did great. You were really good.” You spoke, almost breathless for no apparent reason. 

He smiled softly, his eyes holding contact with yours. “Thank you.” His hair was now starting to fall back into place on his forehead, his face was still red with exerted energy. Your eyes wandered, without your permission, his arms were shining under the hallway lights, still sweaty. You looked away, but he saw. “You look great tonight.” His voice was low, and a twist went straight down your abdomen.

You smiled back. You briefly looked down at your outfit, simply a short skirt and loose band tee. “Thank you. It’s nothing.” 

“I like it.” He looked back into your eyes, and you found yourself lost for words. He broke eye contact for a second, turned around and looked into the back room where, presumably, the rest of his bandmates were. He turned back to you. “You know,” He looked down, and took a step forward towards you, slowly, as if to test the waters. You stayed put. “It’s been so long since I saw you last. I almost didn’t recognize you the first night you were at the house.” You grinned at the memory. You were also equally stunned to not know Leon had changed so much. “Not that you weren’t before but… You’re beautiful, now.” 

Your stomach sank at his words, and with his new proximity to you, it caused you to have to look up at him. You felt a strong shiver course up your body.

“I really… I didn’t recognize you. You look so different, too.” You whispered, knowing he was close enough to hear you. “I didn’t even think it was you at first.”

He simply stared at you for a few more moments, taking in your words, and the way you looked in front of him right now. You were suddenly self conscious, but his gaze seemed to tell you that he liked whatever he saw.

“I… don’t want to back you into any corners here…” He looked down, still not meeting your eyes. “But you’re giving me a… vibe. And I’d rather fuck around and find out than never know if I don’t try.”

You stood up straighter, coming closer to meet his face, his eyes finally touching back onto yours. “What kind of vibe?” You had to say something, anything, because you could barely comprehend this situation right now. Leon was catching a vibe from you? Could he tell that you were looking at his body? Could he tell that you thought he became very sexy?

He tilted his head a little further, and his brow bone cast a shadow over his eyes, darkening them. Another shiver down your body. He shrugged. “I think I just… think you are incredibly attractive, now.” His eyes darted down your body for a quick second before resuming their previous place. “And I want to know if you want to just try it out. Just once.”

You took a quick, silent breath in. He must have been picking up your messages, even though you said nothing and only spoke to him once. Was that one conversation that powerful? Was it the hint you dropped about not being with that guy anymore? Was this something he just knew he was going to attempt as soon as he saw you? You didn’t know, and you really didn’t have the time to think it over.

You reached up and placed a hand on his chest, slowly taking the shirt on his body in your hands, pulling him closer, but with no force. His eyes darted up behind you, and he turned his head quickly one more time. He saved you the trouble, and dipped his head down and kissed you hard.

You sighed instantly, fully gripping his shirt and dragging him in closer to you, pushing your body against his as you could feel him move towards you at the same time. You were exploding, you didn’t know what to do with the rest of your body, and could only bring your other hand up to his bicep, where he then palmed your waist. He pulled back after a few seconds.

“Follow me,” His face was flushed, and when he turned around, you were very quick to follow. He maneuvered the two of you through the back room, where people still were congregating, but none of them paid much attention to the two of you. You passed by his other bandmates, and when he turned the corner, he pushed open a door, and ushered you inside. It was a bathroom. “This is the best I can do right now.”

Instead of replying, you simply grabbed his face in both hands and pulled him in. The room was dark, you could tell from under your eyelids as you felt the heat of his face on yours again, and you were at least happy for that, you weren’t too sure you wanted to see the state of the bar’s bathroom at this moment.

His hands found solace again on your waist, thumbs rubbing circles, and fingers teasing along the waistband of your skirt. Leon pressed himself further into you, sandwiching you in between him and the wall, and the stark difference in temperature between the two caused another series of shivers to run up your body.

Leon’s mouth left your lips, now wet and slick with his saliva and yours, and traced them down the length of your jaw, along your neck, nipping at the tender skin, making you sigh and arch your back, increasing the contact of your bodies. Your hands dragged along his sturdy shoulders, reaching around and locking your arms behind his neck, holding him in as he worked your neck, and as his hands started to move. You kept breathily gasping as he bit underneath your jawline, fingertips caressing your jutting hip bone, dipping lower, causing ripples to erupt in your core.

He had positioned his hands now to take purchase on the hem of your skirt, full intentions of pulling it up, when he released his lips from your neck and his face was back in front of yours. 

“Sorry that this is all we have.” His voice was low, and you almost didn't hear it over the static of the bar music softly coming in through the speakers. “We can wait if you want.”

His hand was still positioned on your clothing, and you didn’t let go of him even a little bit. You could only look up, your head already touching the wall behind you. “Where’s the thrill in that?”

Under his shadow, you saw his lips quirk up slightly, he breathed a laugh, and dove back in to kiss you. You threaded your fingers through his hair, slightly tugging, hearing him groan at the sensation. The hand that was ready to hike your skirt up did just that, and his other was gripping your thigh, lifting it higher so he could slide himself right in between. 

He made himself comfortable pressed against you, and you could feel his erection growing through his jeans, giving himself some sort of friction, and you pushed back, earning another groan through your still connected lips. You dropped one of your hands from his hair and traced down his bicep, and into the large hole of his shirt, relishing in every ridge that his ribcage and abdomen had to offer. His skin was so smooth, you knew you would never be able to get enough.

He backed away from the kiss briefly for another moment. “If I never saw you that day you came inside, half naked… in my house looking like that…” He continued to grind himself into you as he spoke, earning noises from the both of you. “Who knows how long I would have to wait?” The hand on your thigh crept upward, leaving a wake of shivers in its path. His palm was flush to your bare skin, reaching the joint of your thigh and hip, and he squeezed the flesh of your hip, digging his thumb into the sweet spot, making you squirm. You clawed at his back, you didn’t even care if it hurt him. You were sure it didn’t.

Leon hovered his mouth over yours, not connecting, but enticing you, and you could only look up at him through a foggy gaze. His hair had now fallen back over his forehead, streaked with sweat, but you hardly minded the way it was touching yours, you wanted him closer. It was impossible how, through the shadow he cast from the light behind him, you could see his blue eyes so clearly, pupils blown, the way he was looking at you made you want to drop dead.

You couldn’t wait any longer, you didn’t even have words to say back to him, you just needed to show him what you thought, how you felt, you just needed him. Your hands came around the front of his body again, not losing contact the entire way, and grasped desperately at his belt, needing to pull out his girth, needing to have his cock in your hands, mouth, in you.

You gasped, trying to form words, but his presence was so dominating, you almost couldn’t. “Leon…” You breathed, and your fingers couldn’t work the clasp fast enough. “Let me…” Finally, it slid open, you pulled the two ends of the belt apart, and made quick work to free his dick from its constraints. Your knees buckled, and you started sliding down the wall.

As you were about to hit the ground, his hands hoisted you back up from under your arms, and you could have whined, the frustration growing, the time only growing in between you getting to have him in your mouth.

“No, I’m sorry,” He grunted as he pulled you up. He put both hands under your thighs, and you gasped as he suddenly picked you up, you wrapped your arms around his neck for balance. “You’re not getting on this floor for me, we’ll save that for another time.”

Another time. Fuck, just those words alone had you melting in his grasp, his strong hands and arms holding you up, walking you around the corner of the bathroom and shutting the two of you in a stall.

“But, you already started this for me, so,” He had you pressed in between himself and the wall once again, one of his arms was still holding you up in the air, legs wrapped around his torso. He tried to separate himself as much as he could to pull his cock out, you reached down in between the two of you to help him, pulling the waistband forward so he could pull them down.

Your breath caught as he pulled it out, a solid, thick length, rock hard, and you were suddenly so mad he wouldn’t let you suck it, because, fuck you would have sucked the life out of him at just the sight of his dick. 

Once he was free, he stroked himself a couple of times, causing himself to moan, and shit, you almost did, too, and he went back to the hem of your skirt, pushing it up over your hips, exposing your small underwear. He eyed them for a moment, humming in acceptance, before sliding them sideways and exposing your aching pussy to the cool air. You, in contrast, were overheating in this bathroom, but now that you were free, it felt so nice, and it felt even better when he ran his fingers along the length, in between your folds, pressing into your clit to watch you squirm again under him.

You sighed loudly, moans slipping out with your breathing as his contact with your heat felt like heaven, your head leaned back and hit the wall, but you didn’t care, you couldn’t feel it, you felt nothing but Leon’s fingers right now.

“Fuck, you’re so wet already,” He was breathing heavily, and you choked out a whimper when he slid one of his fingers in, and it wasn’t stopped with any friction. You also couldn’t believe how wet you were, but then again, you would jump hurdles to be able to suck his dick right here and now, so it must have gotten you worked up. “You feel so good around me.” He mumbled, practically groaned out, sliding in a second finger with ease, the slick sounds becoming louder as he worked you open, and while it felt so good, you just needed him to fuck you already.

“Leon…” You kept whining, unable to say anything else, mind fading, only wrapped around the feeling of him pleasuring you, fingering you, loosening you up for him. “Please, Leon…” You moved your hips, trying to signal to him to pull his fingers out, but he resisted, his hand following the movements of your hips, only going deeper, causing you to squeal when he went as far in as he could.

“Stay still, take it…” Now he pushed himself back against you, finding your lips again and kissing passionately, trapping his fingers inside you, and when you felt them move inside of you, you couldn’t help but squirm against him. His tongue caressed your lips, the inside of your mouth, and your tongue as he was so entwined in kissing you and in fingering you to the edge, his other hand gripping relentlessly at your ass.

After what felt like forever, he backed away, strings of saliva connecting your mouths, his eyes darker than ever, and you, breathing heavily, working to regain composure. He slid his fingers out, a small hiss escaping your lips with the emptiness.

“Fuck,” He sighed, and he looked back down in between you two. He adjusted his grip on your thigh and ass as he used his now free hand to line the tip of his cock up with your entrance, you felt a throb hit the core of your pussy at the mere sight, and you instinctively tightened when he teasingly dragged the tip along your lips, not giving you what he knew you wanted.

You sighed frustratingly, and couldn’t help it but to reach down and wrap your own hand around his dick. The sudden contact made him gasp, but he caught your hand and prevented you from piloting the moment.

“Just relax…” You didn’t need to look up to hear the smile painting his face, and as much as you wanted to protest, you knew he had the upper hand. This time. “You’ll get it, just be patient.” He drew a couple more lines into you, with your hand still trapped under his on his cock, which you could feel it throb every few seconds, and he finally pushed the tip into you.

You whimpered, whole body going slack, and you drew your hand back from his dick to find closure on his shoulder, steadying yourself as he slowly pushed himself all the way in. He had to stop every other second to collect himself as well, jaw tightened, hands gripping bruises into your hips and legs, a long, deep sigh once he was bottomed out.

He brought himself closer to you, relishing in the feeling of you being wrapped around him, unmoving, and he had his face in the crook of your neck, as if to ground himself from the feeling. Your body was shaking slightly, and you could barely breathe with his weight on top of you, but it all felt so good. His skin was slick, sweat coating anywhere that wasn’t exposed to the air, and your hands drawing deep scratches into his shoulder blades.

“Fuck, fuck…” You felt Leon’s lips moving against your throat, and his breath was hot, you could tell he was desperate to move inside of you, but he was still. “You’re so tight, god…” His lips moved up to place gentle kisses along your jawline, and your head rolled to the side to give him more access. He stayed there for a second, teeth grazing your skin, and after a while you were ready for him to start moving.

You picked your head up and turned sideways, forcing him to look directly at you, wasting no time in reconnecting your lips, and, while continuing to kiss you, he slowly slid out, and pushed himself back in.

The both of you were glued to each other as he continued to thrust in and out, your hands gripping impossibly hard on his shoulders, thighs shaking, breaths choppy. His eyes never left your face, he was watching your expressions so closely, you had no control over whatever was happening to you, you could barely breathe, you were so focused on the feeling that Leon was delivering, you simply ceased to acknowledge the setting you both were in.

“God, Leon…” You choked out in between gasps, head hitting the wall over and over, trying to helplessly grind your hips into his when he thrust up, but you had no energy to move against him. He took the initiative, and every time he would plunge into you, he would stay there for a beat longer, and make sure your previously ignored clit was getting the friction it needed, which made you whine even louder.

His breaths were so heavy, spitting out ‘Fuck’, and ‘Oh, shit’, and ‘So good’ every few seconds, letting his train of thought loose as he let himself go, and lost control of the pace.

One of his hands let go of your thigh, and it landed along your chin, forcing your head down to look into his eyes. “How does that feel, hm? So hard to move in you, so tight.” His voice was a broken mess, just breaths, essentially, but it was all you needed to spur you on. 

You simply nodded, knowing the words were nowhere close to coming out right now. Even if you tried, it would be a mess of moans and gasps. You could feel him so deep inside of you, hitting that point to split you open, your pussy was endlessly wet, enough to fuel a whole round or two, and he let you know.

On another thrust, he pushed himself in and sat there for a moment, your moans spilling out without reserve, you both tensed as the unmistakable sound of the creaking door was heard.

Leon took his right hand, free from holding you up, and laced it over your mouth, silencing any sounds of pleasure that you had left in you. 

You were both stiff, eyes wide, and he had his head swung in the direction of the noise. The footsteps approached the counter and turned the sink on. If they were to walk around the corner, they would see Leon’s legs under the door, and could have easily walked in, considering he didn’t shut it all the way, it was just stopped by his body behind it.

He slowly turned his head back to face you, you couldn’t move due to the weight of his hand, and you wanted to writhe under him so bad, feeling his cock throb still deep inside of you while you both were still. Tears were practically forming in your eyes.

He locked eyes with you, and without a sound, mouthed the words Be quiet.

He kept his hand clamped over your mouth, but he slowly adjusted your position so he could slide out of you at a snail’s pace. Your eyes widened in surprise, not expecting him to move, and you used all of your remaining energy to hold yourself together, being overcome by the pleasure while also staying conscious of the person who was still at the bathroom sink. You were glad there was still music playing outside in the bar, and the sink was still running, because if it were dead silent, they definitely would have been able to hear the wet sound of Leon pulling out, and fucking back in. 

He held eye contact with you while he continued to do this, holding you so tightly to make sure nothing made any noise,and a devilish grin broke out onto his face. He was enjoying every second of this. 

He was basically getting off on the idea of pushing you to your limit, forcing you to obey what he asked you to, even if it would benefit the both of you rather than just one. If Leon were shameless enough, he could have told them to fuck off, but instead, he held you here, silenced you, yet drove you to the fucking brink just to watch you fall apart. It made you want to cum right then and there.

After what felt like ten, twenty, thirty minutes (fifteen seconds), the sink shut off, a moment of silence, and the door creaked open again. Leon took his hand off your mouth and you both sighed deeply. While holding you still, Leon leaned back to look through the door to confirm you were alone once again.

“You were barely holding it together, I thought we were going to get caught.” He said on another thrust into you, bringing your faces closer once again. You swallowed hard, instinctively choking back moans now.

“Y-you… you were making it hard…” Gasps, again, as Leon was determined to make everything he asked of you difficult.

He brought himself closer into you, and spoke lowly. “Good,” With swift moves, his free hand was around your throat, holding your head back, and he was relentlessly bouncing you up and down on his cock.

The pressure around your throat and the pressure building in your core at his movements was all overwhelming, your hands were cutting crescents into his bicep from your nails, but he hardly took notice, he was so busy moving the both of you as well as keeping an eye on your face to watch how you were responding to his movements, he was too preoccupied.

The slick sounds coming from your pussy were evidence that the situation was much more of a stimulant than you ever expected, and the sound alone brought you so close to the edge.

“I bet you loved almost getting caught.” He groaned out, his movements stuttering, and you knew he must be close as well. “I bet it was driving you crazy, having to shut up while I gave it to you. You took it so well.” Your eyes nearly rolled to the back of your head, mouth open, you wouldn’t even be surprised if you were drooling at this point, Leon had all the power now.

“Leon,” You whispered, no energy for your full voice anymore. He understood.

“Take it, baby.” He thrust harder and harder, pressing you flat against the wall, the tip of his cock hitting all the deepest points. “I’m almost there, you feel so good.”

“Fuck, Leon,” If you could grasp any harder against his arms, you just did. “Fuck, I’m so close.”

“You got it, come on, cum for me.” He pressed his forehead into yours, grinding into you on the inward thrusts, making you fall apart in his arms. A few more thrusts, grinding a few more times, and a squeeze to your throat had you gasping in a silent scream around him, panting wildly letting your orgasm loose. 

He fucked you all the way through it. “Shit, that felt so good, fuck, I’m gonna cum,” You watched him as he chased his own, sweat beads dripping down his face, his hair coated in it. His hips stuttered one more time, and as he released his seed into you, he buried his face into your neck, whimpering and biting again. 

He pulled out of you, and it wasn’t missed by either of you the way his cum dripped out of you and onto the floor. You cracked a small smile when you heard him breathe a laugh.

“I’m sure that’s not the first time this bathroom has seen that.” He looked back up at you, breathing heavily, arms shaking from holding you up. You tapped his arms, hoping your legs were strong enough to stand on your own. He lowered you slowly, making sure you were stable before letting you go.

“I hope that’s what you wanted. I might have gotten ahead of myself.” He was still standing in front of you, neither of you made moves to leave the stall. You leaned against the wall for support.

“I would have stopped you a long time ago if it wasn’t, Leon.” He smiled down at you, breaths steadying out. He nodded his head.

“Coming to the house any time soon?”

You laughed out loud this time. “I’m sleeping over this weekend.” 

He smiled wider at the sound of your laugh. He leaned in and kissed you again. “Can’t wait.”

[redflagshipwriter]

Halfa Cass 9 pt 2

masterpost

The office, as it were, was a dank garage that stunk of dogshit no matter how much Danny aired it out and what he cleaned. Dust motes hung sullenly in the air.

Danny blew some of them out of the way of his workbench and grimaced as he wiped it clean-ish. The dust settled on the rough concrete underfoot, because effort was nearly pointless and he should probably give up immediately.  He heaved a sigh and looked around. God. It was depressing to be here with enough time to think. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a project to start up yet. His contact was supposed to show up today with a new request. 

He fiddled with his tools as he waited, making sure everything was well-maintained and organized. There was a glut of scrap material for him to use. The local gang had people collect it for him. Danny spent a while sorting it, figuring out what was usable and what was genuinely trash. When that was done he thought about ducking to the corner store to get more cleaning supplies to make being in the garage less painful, but if he wasn’t available when the guy came, well. 

It wouldn’t be good, that was all.

They didn’t know about Jazz. Probably. He was pretty sure that the gang had no concept that he was connected to anyone else in Gotham. He wasn’t on her lease and he didn’t have any kind of legal ID. 

When they’d had to make a break for it, they hadn’t had enough money for everything. As soon as they were stable enough, Danny would ghost this gang and get a new ID. They would set up somewhere else and he could get some kind of unrelated degree so that nothing about them would ever flag as the Fenton siblings. 

There was a bang from upstairs. Danny fixed his slouch a little so that whatever machismo dickbag came in wouldn’t think he was challenging them or whatever. He waited as footsteps thudded down the wrought metal staircase. 

“Mechanic,” called a man that Danny didn’t know. Cocky. Light colored blue jeans, bright orange tennis shoes that were probably expensive.

“Morning.” He nodded genially as his contact came into sight. The new guy was young, weedy, and had a hungry look to his face. Not as in underfed- ambitious. He’d topped his casual look off with a black muscle shirt that showed he didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. He had a little mustache that looked like a mistake.

“I’m Brick.” Brick looked around the garage and sneered a little. Fair enough. It was gross. “The boss liked the bazooka. We need two more of those.”

Danny cringed internally. ‘I really hope they’re not imaginative enough to start misusing those for anything beyond theft. I don’t have enough of a money stash for Phantom to confiscate my tech back yet.’

He dodged eye contact and nodded, wiping his hands with a shop cloth just to have something to do. “Right, I can do that,” he said. “It’ll take a couple of days.”

Brick took a big step forward like he was playing a game. “What if it didn’t, though?” He stared a hole through Danny.

It took a couple of seconds to realize that Brick was trying to be intimidating. 

“It’s gonna take a couple of days,” Danny repeated, trying to avoid sounding like he was mouthing off.

Technically speaking, yeah. He could bang those out today. But they didn’t know that. They were paying him by the day and he didn’t want to flood the streets with too much ecto tech.

Brick scowled at him, but let it go. “And you’re sure that shit can’t work on people?” he demanded. 

Danny kept his face still, because grinning would give him away. “Very sure,” he said blandly. It was true. It might knock a human back, but ecto tech didn’t act on living matter. 

As long as this dumb gang didn’t start a territory fight with a local ghost, he hadn’t really introduced anything too harmful into the local ecosystem.

Brick looked pissy about this. “I’ll be back in two days to check in, nerd.” He turned on his heel and stomped away, up the stairs.

Danny waited for him to be fully gone before he snorted. “Nerd?” he repeated under his breath. “Yeah, sure. I’m the nerd, shiny shoes.” He snickered and started to assemble what he would need. “Brick- who are you kidding, string bean?” He mocked his contact quietly as he got to work assembling a matter displacement cannon. 

[batsplat]

do you know why vale seems to have a soft spot for pedrosa?

there's not any single one reason, I don't think, but here's are a few contributing factors that come to mind:

history! in large part because of the honda link, dani's the alien he's known the longest... valentino was the number one honda rider at a time at which dani was honda's rising star. photo on the right is from the 2001 honda celebrations at the last race of the season (when dani was sixteen); from oxley's valentino rossi: all his races: "that night vale celebrated in style at a raucous honda victory party, where he taught honda youngsters daijiro kato and dani pedrosa how to drink". they've known each other forever! valentino was getting teenage dani drunk! quite natural to be fond of someone you've seen grow up like that, even if they are being moulded to be your next big rival

circumstance! the way it basically works with valentino is that if you want to have a feud with him, you generally need to have a title fight with him when you’re already ‘established’ rivals (ignore marc, that’s its own thing, 2015 is a freaky season). biaggi and valentino were enemies headed into 2001 and then were worse enemies, he was cool with sete in year one but not year two, mostly *wiggles hand* the same with casey and jorge… feuds aren't build overnight. valentino and dani weren’t ever really direct title rivals - closest they got was 2006 and 2008, but in both cases valentino probably didn’t see dani as his main problem that year. there wasn't really any competitive necessity for valentino to get nasty... also with one or two notable exceptions, valentino did kinda have dani handled in their actual wheel-to-wheel fights, which let’s face it probably didn’t hurt

yapping! so this is just a theory but it’s one I believe strongly in. you know how valentino loves to talk, right? the thing about pressers and podiums is that you're always going to have a few regular attendees, if you will, corresponding to the front runners in any given year. now, unfortunately for valentino, there were periods of time where almost every other regular attendee was someone he had pretty active beef with. that doesn’t mean he always avoided yapping at them, but relatively speaking you want a guy you can build up some good repartee with to pass the time. dani was his guy… less complicated than casey and jorge, plus dani is polite enough to go along with it and maybe even enjoy chatting to valentino (it’s been known to happen). pressers can be boring and at podiums you're still full of adrenaline, valentino wants to share a joke with someone! my completely unscientific sense is that valentino does this a lot with dani around 2008-ish to 2012, then for two years marc is the number one yap victim, then for a while it’s a bit…? oddly valentino does seem to chat quite a lot with jorge in 2015... he likes to throw in a quirky behavioural pattern sometimes to keep you guessing. anyway then in 2016 he is Actively Ignoring two of these men so vale goes!! hi there dani!! and takes it from there (though the field is more mixed up post-2015 so he becomes more of an opportunistic yapper). in general, valentino will chat to pretty much anyone with A Few Exceptions, but he does usually have a bit of an order of preference

dani’s personality! now, obviously dani is very much capable of feuds, but he’s not that naturally combative a character. valentino generally needs a competitive justification for beef, though some personal animosity can help too… but he never really hated any of that trio of young riders to come through. valentino's known dani forever, he’s been around dani a fair bit because of their respective statuses in the sport, dani isn’t going out of his way to pick fights with valentino, so no reason not to get on! he does clearly quite like chatting to dani and seems pretty fond of him even towards the start of the alien era, at a time in which it was broadly expected that dani not casey would emerge as vale's primary challenger... god knows if the relationship would have soured if dani had assumed that mantle (probably at least a little lol) but failing that, valentino does just seem to quite like him. y’know, sometimes it’s like that

They Have Also Had Their Disagreements, But There Hasn’t Been Much Cause For It To Escalate Further. these disagreements have tended to be over racing standards, where dani is generally in the ‘you people are all insane’ camp and valentino is generally in the ‘ah it’s fine’ camp (though, obviously, there is nuance here… cf vale also criticising sic over the le mans 2011 incident that left dani with the broken collarbone). generally, they don't get into direct conflict over it, more of an underlying difference in positions (hey, aragon 2013 is an example)... but there’s been dani’s suggestion that valentino’s sepang 2015 stance is inconsistent with his generally laissez faire approach, and also some other isolated little scuffles over the years like say 2017 aragon (see below). pretty small scale stuff in the grand scheme of things and if you've been on-track rivals for that long it's kinda inevitable you'll eventually disagree about some stuff, but perhaps worth bringing up

went through all of the alien combos in my head and these two slot in just behind dani/casey as probably the two most consistently beef-free inter-alien relationships? dani/casey gets extra credit for surviving The Teammate Test. but, y'know, the thing about valentino is that he's a sociable, outgoing guy... he likes talking to people... he's actually interested in them... he's a decent conversationalist, easy to get on with, all that stuff. so if you expose valentino to this nice fella who at most was like... perhaps a bit more reserved towards the start of his time in the premier class (partly due to his mentor's approach), but really was generally pretty chill... well, if valentino isn't given any reason to hate dani, then default state is that he won't. good on them etc

[katnisspeetaprim]

Slice Of Life Part 1

Jeon Jungkook/Reader

Summary: Your and Jungkooks first meeting and first date.

Warnings: idol!au, non Korean reader, store worker reader, fluff, kissing.

Word Count: 1821 M.list

2018

The first time you and Jungkook met, was when he wandered into your workplace at 2AM. You worked in a small 24 hour store and the place was always dead this time of night, so you perked up when someone walked through the door, happy to have someone to speak to.

‘Hello! Welcome.’ You cringed at how cheery you sounded for how late, or early it was. You couldn’t really make out the face of the man who just walked in, considering he was wearing a hat and also a mask, though from what you could see he looked quite young, maybe 20 ish?

To your surprise, he turned to you and bowed slightly, saying a quiet hello. You watched as he picked his items and walked to the counter. Various snack and drinks, along with tubs of ramen littered the counter, one tub almost rolling off which he clumsily caught.

‘So that will be 40,000 won please.’ You couldn’t help but raise your brow in shock when he pulled out a black card for such a small amount. You wondered how rich this guy was to be able to have something like that at such a young age, though you kept quiet. He went to take the bag from you but hesitated.

‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you Korean is very good.’ A smile grew on your face, not expecting the compliment.

‘Oh thank you! I’ve lived here since I was 12.’

‘Ah very cool! I bet it was scary, moving country so young?’ The stranger sounded genuinely interested, which only made you happy to share your story.

‘I guess so. My step dad is Korean and he got a good job over here.’ You explained.

‘So good that you have to work in a convenience store?’ He chuckled, but realised right away that that may have been a little insensitive... ‘Sorry.. I didn’t mean it like that...’  You held up your hand to stop him apologising.

‘No it’s ok. I don’t really have a relationship with them now, so I’m supporting myself how I can.’ You smiled warmly, hoping to make clear that he hadn’t offended you in any way. The man nodded as he looked over your smiling face. There was an awkward silence as you shuffled from one foot to the other.

‘Was there something else I can help you with?’ You asked, feeling a little intimidated under his gaze. He looked as though he was contemplating something.

‘I’m sorry if this is too forward, but you are very pretty.’ Your eyes widened and you felt a blush creep up to your cheeks. You brushed some stray hair behind your ear as you laughed.

‘Um thank you.’ You looked up. ‘I wish I could return the complement, but I can’t see your face...’ You glanced up at him, hoping he got the hint. He looked away, and you could see his eyes were cast down, like he was weighing up his options, before he slowly lowered his mask. Your eyes widened again. Stood in front of you, the man you’d been kind of flirting with, was Jeon Jungkook from BTS.

‘Oh, wow yeah. Definitely handsome.’ Was all you could manage to say. He smirked at your response. Jungkook was well aware of how he looked.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Y/N’ You try to say with confidence, pausing for a moment after. ‘I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know yours...’ You didn’t want to make things awkward, but you wanted to be transparent with him too. It was only fair. Jungkook looked down, still smiling but almost like he was disappointed.

‘I’m sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear..’ You trailed off, hugging yourself sadly.

‘Ah no, it’s not that. If you can talk to me like a human, that’s all I want.’ He spoke quickly , not wanting you to feel offended by his actions. You gave him the biggest smile you could muster.

‘I can do that.’ He grinned back at you.

‘Would it be alright if I came back here to talk again sometime?’ He asked hopefully.

‘I’m here every week night!’

After that night, Jungkook started coming in every other day just to see you. You enjoyed seeing Jungkook and not just because he was some famous idol. You felt a genuine connection with him, and you only hoped that he felt that way too. You wanted to ask him on a date, but you also didn’t want to over step and boundaries he may have. Maybe it was best to see how things play out for now, possibly just ask for his number and go from there.

Turns out you were worried over nothing. He ended up making the first move and asked you out to dinner. You said yes. Obviously.

Jungkook had insisted on picking you up for your date so you stood waiting on your front porch, fidgeting nervously as you checked the time yet again. He was late. By almost half an hour. You had text him to see if he was on his way, but received no response. At this point you were sure you had been stood up.

You sighed and looked down sadly, swallowing the lump in your throat as you took in your outfit. You had chosen a flowy blue, knee length dress and simple hair and makeup, not wanting to seem over the top for the first date.

You were in the process of unlocking your front door so you could wallow in self pity, when you heard the sound of an engine suddenly pulling up.

You turned just in time to see Jungkook jumping out and running up to you.

‘I’m so sorry I’m late! We ran late at practice, then we had to go to a meeting, and THEN  I couldn’t find anything to wear and the traffic...’ He was rambling, desperate to explain. You smiled softly, realising he had tried his best to get there.

‘Jungkook, it’s fine. You’re here now.’ He sighed in relief when he heard you speak. ‘Thank you. I promise to make it up to you.’

This place was way out of your comfort zone. You had been worried about being over dressed, but now you felt under dressed in this place. You tried to distract yourself with the menu, but your face paled when you saw the prices, plus there weren’t many vegetarian options either...

Jungkook was oblivious to your concerns as he spoke animatedly, not that you wanted him to notice. You just wanted to have a nice night together.

‘I’m ready to order. How about you Y/N?’

‘Umm-‘ You hesitated for a moment, eyes raking over the menu once more.

‘I think I’ll just get a salad and an eggplant and seaweed side dish.’ He frowned at your choice.

‘Salads? Are you sure that’s all you want? I’m paying if the prices are an issue?’ He didn’t want to assume you couldn’t pay, but he was aware that this place wasn’t within everybody’s budget.

‘No please, I don’t want you to pay for me.’ You waved your hands dismissively. ‘Plus it’s not that.’

‘Are you sick?’ he asked, concern filling his features. You smiled at his caring nature.

‘No. I’m a vegetarian and there just aren’t many options is all.’ You watched he face fall as you explained.

‘Ah right.’ He sighed and his shoulders sagged. ‘I’m sorry Y/N. I should have asked about that.’

‘No honestly it’s fine! I don’t mind eating salads, I swear!’ You tried to make him feel better, but it didn’t really work.

‘This is probably the worst date you’ve been on huh?’ He looked down sadly. The last thing you wanted was for him to be upset. You leaned across the table and gently placed your hand over his.

‘not even close. Really, I like being with you.’ He stared at your hand resting on his for a second, before turning his hand upwards to hold yours with a smile.

‘What do you say we get out of here? We can get takeout and go back to your place to eat?’ You raise your eyebrows playfully.

‘My place? That’s a bit forward, don’t you think?’ You smirked at him, causing a deep blush to form across his face.

‘NO! T-that’s not what I meant, I swear! There’s just 6 other guys at my place who won’t leave us alone...’ He stuttered out, causing you to laugh, putting him out of his misery.

‘I’m kidding! I know what you meant.’

After that, you both got up and left, ignoring the strange glances from the waiters as you walked out the door. Not long later, you found yourself spread out on your sofa, surrounded by various boxes of takeout.

‘This is definitely more my scene.’ You sighed contently as you finished your slice of pizza. Jungkook had removed his jacket, leaving him in a dress shirt that clung to his shape perfectly. You couldn’t help but admire him.

‘I’m glad I could get something right.’ He chuckled, stacking up the containers on the coffee table. You gently shoved his arm.

‘Stop that! I’ve had a good time tonight.’ He grinned at you as he leaned back, arm spread across the back of the sofa. You shuffled up next to him and nestled yourself under his arm.

‘Hi there.’ He smiled down at you.

‘hi.’ His hand came down to brush across your shoulder, causing Goosebumps to appear on your skin.

You looked up at him and caught his eyes boring into you. Without warning, he leaned down and kissed you. The action took you by surprise, but you excitedly returned his kiss. You bought your hand up to cup the side of his face as you made out with open mouth kisses.

You pulled back for breath and rested your forehead against his.

‘I didn’t expect that to happen, not that I’m complaining.’ He joked, pulling you close.

‘Yeah.’ You nodded with a blush, smiling wide. Your fingers ghosted over his chest.

‘What are my chances of a second date?’ You pretended to think for a second.

‘I’d say about 50/50.’ You smirked before giving him another quick peck.

‘Ah, I see how it is.’ He laughed.

‘OH SHIT!’ He suddenly exclaimed when he caught sight of the time.

‘What!?’

‘I didn’t realise how late it was! I need to go, early schedule tomorrow.’ He was disappointed, but he couldn’t risk being late in the morning.

‘I understand. I had a great time tonight.’ You stood and walked him back to the door as he put his jacket back on.

‘I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?’ You nodded in agreement as you pulled him into a tight hug. ‘See you soon.’ He whispered in your ear, before planting a kiss on your cheek. As you watched him drive away, you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling like an idiot.

[banamine-bananime]

just listing some of my headcanons (mostly appearance/demographics) because i like listing things and i’m procrastinating hard

caboose - 18-19 in 2552. went straight from hs graduation to basic to sim training to blood gulch. he was gonna do a program where the UNSC provides a hefty scholarship for completion of an engineering degree with a few years of service upon graduation, but got enlisted instead through a combination of paperwork being confusing for bureaucratic nonsense reasons, paperwork being confusing for deliberate predatory we-need-as-many-people-for-cannon-fodder-as-possible reasons, and him being confused by any paperwork. 6'7”, ~250 lb, very muscular and not thin but not quite chubby either, very mixed but mostly latino and arabic ethnicities, thick fluffy 3A chin-length dark brown hair that's always in his eyes, round face with cute fuzzy eyebrows and aquiline nose. him and tucker (and kinda donut and perhaps sarge) are the only motherfuckers here with a stable happy childhood. uses-no-specific-label queer cis dude.

church - we know church is 5 in blood gulch lol but it think he thought he was like 23-ish/jimmy was around that age. in jimmy's body, 5'10, ~230 lb, chubby and "normal" level of muscularity for someone who has a somewhat active job but doesn't work out much, untidy thick straight black hair that's like 2" grown-out from a buzz, face passably similar to the director if you squint but not really (e.g. shorter/squarer face, eyes hazel instead of stupidly light green). epsilon projects a similar bodytype but would probably default to a young-director-ish face if he had to make one. i think he would at some point consciously change it around if he were doing a face with any regularity. bisexual and nonbinary and will probably never fully acknowledge it but she can have some pronouns as a treat (from tex or in her own internal monologue) sometimes.

tucker - 18-19 in 2552. went straight from hs graduation to basic to sim training to blood gulch. enlisted because he was a “fuck around without any motivation or particular goals in life” kind of teenage dirtbag who was like “oh hey predatory recruiters absolutely dominating every career fair in Covenant-war-era earth. i’ve heard being in the military is very sexy and exciting and makes you a chick magnet so sure sign me up”. 5’4”, ~110 lb scrawny guy in blood gulch -> ~135 still pretty skinny but more muscular later. 4C hair with a grown-out buzz from basic in blood gulch becoming locs when it's long enough. *takes you by the shoulders very seriously* repeat after me, his eyes are BROWN. and the only acceptable other option is when they’re turning gray as in a body horror way, gray as in your body becoming something uncanny to you, gray as in the horribly blinding cold light of unfathomably vast stars lightyears away from anything you’ve ever known (read lazarus left the tomb btw. treat yourself). very handsome face in a boy-next-door-looks-very-sweet-until-he-opens-his-mouth kinda way. an only child or had like one older sibling he wasn’t very close to by the time he enlisted. i think of him as a bi cis guy but i enjoy trans hcs.

kai - 20 in 2552. 5’2”, ~200 lb, fat and top-heavy hourglass and broadset. a little muscular (it’s not immediately obvious) as she was always athletic and basic training helped, but she’s made more for endurance (body by “dancing 7 hours and walking home across town drunk and sleep-deprived”) than strength. thick upper-back-length black 2C hair that she sometimes dyes streaks in or ombre (usually brown highlights but she mixes it up). broad face and nose, big adorable eyebrows, life-endingly cute eyes and smile. alternates between no-makeup all-leg-hair realness, and full femme glam for funsies with 5 sets of fake eyelashes trying to take flight (at least three of them are inevitably going to be Just Fucking Gone by some point in the party). pansexual ipsogender intersex gal (tbh the original reason i headcanoned her having mosaic turner’s is the colorblindess [x-linked recessive traits are rarely gonna show up if you have 2 X chromsomes vs having one, so i was like, “hey her retinas could be some of her XO tissues, and with mosaicism, fertility isn’t uncommon, so it doesn’t contradict her having had abortions”] and then years later i thought about it harder and was like wait she has achromatopsia and that’s autosomal. biology nerd fail moment. but anyways she’s intersex.)

tex - her body is modelled after allison aged 33 (when she died), but bigger stronger faster idealized-by-memory-and-wanting-her-to-be-invincible-to-the-point-of-looking-more-like-she’s-on-gear-and-photoshop-than-a-natural-body. 6’2”, body looks like ~220 lb of muscle and low-body-fat (but not like, cut for bodybuilding competition level of low-body-fat), but being made largely metal, she is heavier. whereas allison was like 5’9”, 170 lb, serious-crossfit-competitor kind of build but nowhere near as built as tex. face looks very similar to allison but just… weirdly airbrushed look and looks… sharper. harsher features. more intimidating. but she’s got this crooked smile that looks kinda like a smug smirk but also like she’s not laughing at you exactly, she’s just vibing with you and the inherent comedy of the absurdity of life. but when she’s Not Smiling it's the kind of expression you start backing away from expeditiously. i think of her having shoulder-length hair she wears in a ponytail but i do love short-hair tex dearly. gnc butch gay/bi (mostly attracted to women, uses both labels) cis woman who uses any pronouns.

wash - around 31? in 2552 (would put him being recruited to pfl at about 26 which feels right for being able to slide into the Goofy Innocent Rookie role but also plausibly have achieved a pretty high non-commissioned officer rank). 5’6” -155 lb, functional muscle with a build in-between lean and stocky (“otter” as a label keeps coming to mind). i don’t have a super settled facecanon but picture him as either white or mixed white and east asian. he has not changed his bleach-blonde crewcut since he was 17 and the shock of allowing himself to change it now might kill him. gay ace trans man.

carolina - 29 in 2552 (actually the youngest among the high-ranking freelancers. she would kill (jk) to protect this secret). she did the whole 4 year military academy to commissioned officer training thing and had a couple years of normal UNSC service before unfortunately getting wrapped up in her dad’s mad science pet project. 5’8”, ~150 lb, leanly muscular. i think of her having natural red hair she dyes bright red but i love a black-haired carolina too. we’ve seen her face. straight trans woman (transitioned as a preteen). i know, i wanted her to be in the wlw club, too. unfortunately every time i try shipping her with a woman she’s like “meh. thinking about my weird khaki man.” and i’m like oh. sorry about that affliction.

sarge - 62 (?) in 2552. 5’6”, ~200 lb, stocky and solidly muscular barrel-chested slight-beer-gut old dude. chinese-american. if you somehow catch him without his helmet he’s got wraparound reflective shades so good luck ever seeing his face (he’ll tell you it’s classified). another eternal crewcut guy but his is shorter than wash’s. bi and definitely a robofucker tbh. he is cis or trans depending on what’s funnier in any given circumstance.

grif - 24 in 2552. worked in honolulu a couple years after hs graduation until kai was old enough (17) he felt he could leave. did a year at university before realizing he’s smart enough to be admitted to cornell but not to get the scholarship he realistically needs to not be in crushing debt on graduation and also there’s not nearly enough regimentation to college life to prevent him from rotting in bed paralyzed by Problems. went through basic and stationed on the doomed outpost. that Whole Thing happened and he was reassigned to sim troopers. 5’8”, ~300 lb, fat and a little bit strong against his will from an involuntarily active job (he has valiantly resisted picking up cardiovascular conditioning. he works very hard on unfitness). he’s kinda cute in a “hasn’t washed his face in 5 days and his peachfuzz/stubble patches combo is very uneven but you caught him smiling for 2 seconds and oh no it was VERY charming” way. thick 2C dark-brown hair that’s a few inches long, wears it longer later. gay trans guy (because his little sister is named “younger sibling of the same gender” so like… also lmfao how unfortunate for kai that her name, which she did not choose, misgenders her big brother. like 😭 god it is very on the grif siblings brand of “hello so the circumstances we have been put in mean that my existence [kai]/how i have to leave you here to protect my own sanity [grif] is actively making your life much harder. i am ashamed of this, let us never communicate about it ever. i love you so much.”)

simmons - 23 in 2552. tried to do university several times and had to drop out for mental health reasons (a very polite way of putting “rapid spiral into absolute disaster every time”. it leaves room for giving him the benefit of the doubt that this was a proactive “ah i should take care of myself and this is not working for me :) #selfcare #therapy” decision. this is not benefit of the doubt that anyone who knows him would extend.). I go back and forth on whether to roll with the “suspiciously specific denial of being in a unit that was stranded and had to eat their dog to survive” thing or just say he was assigned straight to sim troopers. 5’11”, ~160 lb, wirey build and has to be standing at attention or else he holds himself so awkwardly. i pretty much go with the Standard Ginger Simmons Fanon Face but light brown hair also feels right and i think his hair should be very short. i really like when people draw his prosthetics very industrial/bare mechanical frame not trying to imitate biological form, just whatever’s functional. Red circle eye, hell yeah. bi and i used to firmly believe “this guy has to be cis because there is NO WAY he would have the hutzpah and willingness to put self-authenticity over doing what he’s Supposed To Do. we’ve seen how he deals with anxiety. he would just be white-knuckling his way through dysphoria to this day” HOWEVER i have really come around to trans simmons

donut - 19-20 in 2552. i see him taking a gap year or two to work on the farm and think about what he wants to do with his life (not productively introspecting on his deeper desires in life and what would allow him to fulfill them, god no, of course not. daydreaming unrealistically. obviously.) before enlisting. i think his upbringing was fairly happy but kinda weird and a bit insular within a small community of some Beliefs and possibly homeschooled. not like exactly Fundie Christian America as you might assume with that background; american subcultures have changed enough over 500 years that this is one of many totally unrecognizable to us. like it has some roots in Fundie Christianity and homesteading-from-a-weird-reactionary-tradfamily-can’t-trust-the-gubernment-place and some in Hippie-dippiness Spirituality, not-actually-a-cult-but-sometimes-you’ll-hear-him-say-things-he-thinks-are-normal-and-you’re-like-ummmmmmmm. (Idek how that headcanon started. i think i was just like so how DO you build a guy like donut). he’s 5’10”, ~185 lb, sturdy build, i don’t think people would consider him chubby but definitely not thin. his face and hair looks like he should be on a 1960s white america boyscouts poster but like, goofy about it. i think of him being mostly white but some latino heritage he’s curious about but was not raised connected to (hence wanting to learn spanish). acearospec and gay (he’s like…. mostly asexual and aromantic but it’s complicated. he is barely aware of being gay let alone ace or aro. he just fully makes up what he thinks sexual attraction and romance are and assigns it to random feelings/experiences). cis dude or nonbinary.

[jimmy-johns-was-taken]

Omg so platonic ofc masky x daughter reader

Idea is he got a gf pregnant when they were super young, made mistake of just leaving. Daughter now 15 ish is caught up with slender and shit unfortunately, prob at the mansion short term 😭 headcanons on how he may act or even how he’d reconnect?

Its an idea ive had for so long, i imagine the mother was terrible and its a factor in her getting mixed up with the creepypastas if youd want to use that info at all

Y’all I love Platonic Dad Tim. Like I really do these ask are always so sweet and creative :)

Thank you for requesting

Platonic Dad! Tim

So one day, Tim knocks up this random girl

And never hears from her again

So, he just goes about his life

However, 17 years later, a new person pops up in the mansion

And she has an uncanny resemblance to Tim

Everyone notices, but nobody says anything

But the look? The resting bitch face? attitude? Brian bet money that you were Tim’s kid

See, when you first arrived, you were in a stolen sports car

Troubled young life, you got yourself into plenty of trouble, and had ended up running away, stealing a nice Camero as you went

You wrecked it, but it wasn’t anything you couldn’t fix

Slender found you, took you in, etc

And now you were here

You had your fair share of issues, like everyone else

But it was clear that some of your alined with Tim

Tim doesn’t pay you much mind at first

But then, y’all get paired up for a mission together

And at some point, someone fucked something up, and you went batshit on the target

Beat the hell out of him with a rock, the closest weapon in your reach

Tim noticed and told you that you did good, and that’s when he noticed

You had his eyes

Since then, he takes on a bit of a father role? It took a while, getting close, but very slowly you guys bonded

You didn’t trust him at first

Y’all do lots of father bonding stuff

He teaches you how to grill, you put stupid Snapchat filters on him, etc

You try to fix up your car, struggling a little

So Tim helps

It works great, it just takes a while

So it never gets confirmed that your his child, but it’s pretty obvious

[rebouks]

Having read/reread Somnium this past week/two-ish... I have some theories about Wyatt.

Every character we create has a bit of us, our experiences, and our biases. On that same note, I think every persona Wyatt has projected contained a bit of truth, but also a fair bit of fabrication. Of all the characters in Somnium, I think he had the worst childhood. It's really a miracle he's alive and not completely batshit crazy. And it's understandable why he learned to shut down emotions from a tiny age.

But Wyatt is AND isn't who we've seen. That nerdy, awkward doofus Courtney got to know, there a bit of truth there. But he exaggerated it for her. The absolute psycho that everyone shied away from... There's a bit of truth there, but I think also a fair amount of embellishment. If you're gonna be surrounded by homicidal thugs, then by all means, be the craziest one in the room. The one person that everyone is wary of. When he had his years alone in Mt. Komo (aka his purgatory), it was the first time his survival didn't depend on acting FOR someone else. He could just BE.

Wyatt says he isn't wired right and that he's emotionally faulty. But is he really as bad off as he thinks or is that what he's always been told? Obviously empathy is not his strong suit, but we've seen him: jealous/envious (others' relationships), selfless (letting Darien & Brynn go), appreciative (Oscar's help), petrified (to the point of throwing up), kind (to Ichiro, Mayo, and Brynn), and managed to (while sweating) mumble an ILY. All of which are normal emotions. He tried to make amends where he could. He adopted a cat ffs. A street cat that now has the poshest looking cat bed I've seen lol And the last time he choked someone was out of passion and (somewhat righteous) anger, not emotionless calculation.

I think who Wyatt was (and thought he was) is fading away, however damaged his past left him. I don't think he'll ever be a soft guy/touch to the world at large. Only a select few will be privy to that side if him. But I think his true nature is finally being revealed. Or am I reading him wrong? Enlighten me, Becca!

Ohhh you've read him remarkably well indeed! I truly love Wyatt's character, he's so complex and he really did have a nasty childhood.. on the surface I'm sure it looked like he had everything he ever wanted, but that's faaar from the truth.

I think he's only just realised that he's not actually a psychopath at all, he just kinda learnt how to be one as a coping mechanism when he was very young, so young that it almost seemed like reality in the end, even to other people! (There's a reason it seemed so genuine ⚆_⚆) I suppose in a way he lied to himself for so long it became reality. Ask Bruno.. he's still convinced he's a psycho! 😅

I rlly think smth shifted the moment he became suspicious of Oscar tho, and whilst at first he was intent on protecting the "family" and doing the "right" thing, the more he thought about it, the more he realised how done he was. No one listened to him, no one respected him, but he knew he was right! It was like he realised he'd never progressed from being a small child, pushed out of the way and ignored, even when they're begging to tell you something important! Arturo wasn't interested, so instead.. he had to pay. Wyatt didn't want to be loyal to him anymore! At the time, he didn't help Oscar n' co. just to do the right thing, he wanted to fuck his father over more than anything, so.. still pretty self-serving in a way but he's had a loooot of time to think since then and it's been so intriguing watching the slow shift in his mindset.

He's everything he's ever been, pretended to be and everything he never was, all bundled up into a ball that he buried deep inside; only when he was free did it all start to unravel.

I adore the examples of humanity you've picked up on tho, all those tiny hints we got that maybe he's not completely devoid of emotion after all... He's still Wyatt, but he's also Kaito too.. he's intelligent, he CAN be kind - to the right people, tho he definitely struggles with empathy - he's jealous, possessive, ambitious, confident, not confident at all 😆 he doesn't know, actually.. maybe we should check back in on him in a little while lmao

Hurray for the truly grey man!

Also.. I kinda started putting together a lil timeline of posts/moments that I thought were pivotal to his slow lil journey but this is long af as is so I'll work on that and post it separately 👀

[megaman-r]

Hello! Welcome to my rather extended effort to make a classic-style-ish Mega Man game. My name's Nevi, my main is @afniel, and I'm here to be everyone's problem. I used to be tracking progress for this on Twitter, but we all know how that went, so now I'm here instead.

First, the top 3 questions I tend to get:

What is this?

A fan game, created in the NES style. Well. Eventually it will be. Making a game is not a quick or easy task.

What's it about?

When I was young, I always thought it was boring of Capcom to not give Roll her own game. I got older and I still think that, but I've also thought other things along the way, like, why do these games always raise such alarming existential questions and then completely forget they happened? How long would it take to learn a functional amount of music theory? Is it Metool, Mettaur, or Metall? Whatever they're called, why aren't there a lot more of these little guys in the games?

Basically, I'm giving Roll the game I always thought she deserved.

Can I play it?

Currently, there's really nothing to play. I've got the basic engine functioning quite well and a good chunk of the visual assets finished to a working degree, but refining everything, getting the gameplay as tight as it needs to be, and making sure nobody's AI breaks or sucks is a pretty big job.

That all said, my first real roadmap goal is to have a single-stage playable demo. While I don't have any notion of a release date for that, I am working steadily towards it, so please stay tuned!

The rest of the FAQ is long and maybe less interesting, so I'll stash it under a cut to save you a little scrolling.

The Game Itself

Is it going to be girly?

Probably not as girly as you're imagining, if you're asking that. After all, there's still explosions, boss fights, insta-death spikes, a ton of weapons to choose from, and quite a lot of shooting. Just because the main character is in a dress won't change the core feel of the game, nor will it be easier than other MM games.

Also, a thing being girly isn't bad anyway. It's just a style.

What makes this different from any other MM game/fangame?

Fair question! I'm going to be a little secretive about it though and just say 'choice.' It's a thing that the MM series isn't known for giving players, outside of what order you want to explode the robot masters. I think it could be more interesting than that.

That said, the mainline classic MM games don't have a whole lot to distinguish them from each other, and they're still fun and each one of them is someone's all-time fav game, so even if it just ends up being Another MM Game, that's still not a bad crowd to be in.

Are we fighting Dr. Wily? What's the plot?

:)

Some of that will come with the eventual demo release. The rest will be on full release. I don't want to spoil it up front, you know?

You will get to see some familiar faces for sure, I'll say that much.

Will this game be accessible?

I want it to be! I think games in general have a lot of work to do to become more accessible to disabled gamers, and as a disabled gamer, I want to try and do my due diligence in that.

It is playable on both keyboard (not comfortable) and controller (a lot more comfortable), and while the controls are fairly simple, there is already a fully-functional option to switch between classic MM style down+jump to slide, and MMX style dedicated single button slide.

Remapping buttons is somewhat beyond the scope of the engine I'm using, which is unfortunate, and all the more reason for me to learn something more flexible like Godot.

I'm trying to choose palettes for things that should be eyestrain-friendly. Flashing will be kept to a minimum in the default game mode, and I plan on having a sensory-friendly mode with no flashing whatsoever and certain other effects lessened/changed/removed. Of course, I can't guarantee that certain patterns won't affect sensitive people regardless, but I'm going to give it a good try.

Depending on how easy the game engine makes sensory-friendly mode, it may end up being a separate download version, but I hope not, that's just not as good.

Alternate difficulty modes are also something I want to do! I just haven't looked at implementation yet, but it should be pretty easy.

Game Development Stuff

What are you using to make MMR?

The engine itself is in Pixel Game Maker, which is kind of an underdog DIY game engine and if I'd really been thinking I'd probably have started it in Godot or something, but I'm already here and honestly, I like how it works, so I'm keeping it. The assets are entirely made in Aseprite, and the music is entirely Famitracker, with a little use of Audacity to make sure tracks loop properly and to get things into the right format.

Very few visual assets are taken from the games directly, mostly some enemies and most of the sound effects (because those are not something I want to try to recreate using only Famitracker—I only have so many hours in a day).

How NES-like are we talking, here?

I'm aiming for NES-like in the way that Sonic Mania aimed for Genesis/Master System-like: the style matches, the limitations are mostly observed, but certain limitations are disregarded when it would be extremely awesome to do so.

Some examples: I'm very fastidious about color palettes per tile and per minor enemy sprite; I'm less fastidious about color palettes onscreen at a time and color palettes per boss sprite. I'm not trying to replicate the sprites-per-scanline flicker. Number of frames per animation isn't something I'm really considering as long as it looks visually appropriate. I'm sticking with 2A03 music, except for where I mean business, and then I may whip out the VRC6 channels instead.

So no, this wouldn't run verbatim on an actual NES, even if you recoded it in 6503 Assembly, but you would be able to get quite close.

How did you learn to make pixel art?

Well, when I was a wee little neurodivergent child, one of my favorite hobbies was making tiles and characters in MS Paint and building big collages out of them. I made a lot of beehives, for some reason...

Then I became a medium-sized neurodivergent teenager, got really into RPG Maker 2000, and the sprites and tiles were not to my liking, so I started editing them and eventually making my own from scratch.

I'm now a fairly normal-sized neurodivergent adult, and making pictures out of little dots is still a lot of fun, especially with a harshly constrained palette. Doing NES-like graphics just kind of comes naturally after all that.

How did you learn to make music?

Honestly? I just began throwing myself at it. My first attempts were unabashedly bad. When things didn't make sense and I couldn't get them to sound right, which was all the time, I looked them up. Starting with general chord theory was what really made it begin to click. The first thing I composed and kept was the Lagoon Stage music, and not coincidentally it's been through the most refactors as well. Coming from an art background where I'm very used to the Ugly Painting Stage of any given piece has definitely helped with patience, too. The important thing is to just keep beating your head against it. It's frustrating, but you only learn to make music by making music.

Every track on the OST represents about two days of feverishly slamming notes together for four-six hours a day, preceded by one-four whole months of tapping and humming random things until one of them ignites something in my brain that goes, "Oh, I know how the rest of this should go!"

How did you learn to code?

Well, honestly, I didn't; PGM is a visual scripting engine, so everything pretty much looks like flowcharts, and the number of functions is kind of constrained. Every object in the game is a state machine, so that's pretty much the paradigm I understand. I could not code my way out of a paper sack in any actual language.

That being said, I do understand the core concepts of what programming is, and most of that I learned by watching Retro Game Mechanics Explained on YouTube until I suddenly understood what 6502 Assembly was all about and everything else just kind of made sense. I don't know either! It's a little weird. But it did work, so I can't complain.

Is this related to [Other Fan Project]?

Nope, it's not part of or related to any other fanworks. I'm a solo dev working on just this one project right now. (However, if you're making a classic or MMX-style game and need pixel art assets, I'm open to talk about that! Please note though that I do not work for free.)

Your robot master has the same name/concept as [Other Fan Character].

Sorry if that's the case! There are so many really stellar MM fan characters out there that a little name/concept-sharing is basically unavoidable. No infringement is intended, no profit will be made from this game, and I'm uninvolved enough with the general fandom at large that I can pretty confidently say I didn't even know about your character. Take it as a case of Great Minds Think Alike, if it happens.

Do you have anywhere else I can keep up with this?

I sure do! I've got a Discord specifically for it where I toss a lot of WIP sprites and such, and that's where eventual playtesting will happen too if you're into that sort of thing, and a Trello that I don't always remember to update, but it exists at least!

Mega Man R Secret Gamedev Clubhouse Discord

Trello Roadmap (when I remember to update it...)

What's the pixel art in your banner?

That was just me greebling at random for practice and funsies. The full image isn't used anywhere as-is, but I did end up using some parts of it in the tiles.

[mutagn]

𝐌𝐈𝐘𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐎 𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈 𝐀𝐍𝐃: 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘.

changed the whole layout of my day just to get on and make this post. anyway below the cut i'm going to outline all of the things i'm stealing from usagi's source material, usagi: yo.jimbo, to add to his 2003 characterization. i AM going to be pretty picky because i think it's fair to say that the character in 2003 is not exactly the character from the yojimbo comics - this is just to help flesh him out a little. bear in mind that usagi is canonically around 16 when we're introduced to him at the battle nexus tournament, so things will have to be adjusted from his canon proper in order for his age in the show to make sense. tws for death/death of a parent, murder, other various gritty samurai things.

usagi was raised as the only son of a village headman, though he did not spend much time at home. he loved and respected his father, and, later, was granted leave from his training to travel back to his home village and pay his respects at his father's grave.

at age 3, typical for most young boys being trained to be samurai, he was given his first wooden katana to train with. he learned to fence very quickly.

eventually he was sent, along with childhood friend/rival kenichi, to train at the dogora school of bushido. while travelling there, a group of dishonourable students set about attacking an old man (he's literally a lion) in the street. the old man held his own and beat the students despite being vastly outnumbered. usagi, enamoured with his technique and style, set about trying to convince this man to become his sensei instead.

the man (lion), katsuichi, initially refused to train usagi - until usagi convinced him by standing outside of his house, morning and night, for days on end, through rain and sun, displaying his tenacity and determination. he is so annoying i love him

usagi was katsuichi's only student, but he was mischievous and sneaky enough to make this poor guy feel like he had a whole class. stole a sword from a dead soldier once. nearly got his hand cut off trying to return it. just usagi things

around here is usagi's first foray into the battle nexus; he's 13, still training, and about to beef a fully grown dragon

when usagi 'graduated' at age 15 he was brought to a fencing tournament hosted by the dogora school and won the fuckin thing because of course he did. the last bout of the tournament was up against kenichi, who did in fact attend dogora school and became its top student. upon winning this tournament, usagi was gifted the daisho he uses still today; the katana, yagi no eda (willow branch) and the wakizashi, aoyagi (young willow).

the guy that intervened and stopped usagi getting his hand cut off for the thieving thing up there turned out to be the daimyo, mifune. he was in attendance at the tournament and was like. i gotta get this kid on payroll

so he did

im not giving this child a son. i just don't think that would be fair to anyone involved. jotaro i love you though good luck out there kid

it's just hit me now that they call usagi a 'ronin' during his introductory episode which means all of the trauma must have happened before he turned 16. this is the most miserable i've ever been

i won't even sugar coat it man ninjas were hired to assassinate mifune and killed his wife and son. this sparked a big war in which mifune was killed by a barrage of arrows on the battlefield. usagi had to perform his final duty, i.e cutting off this guy's head and burying it somewhere secret to save it from desecration

oh also one of usagi's closest friends goes turncoat that battle and runs away. dw though usagi murders him for it later!

happy 16th birthday usagi. do you want to go to the battle nexus tournament and get a boyfriend. cool

now we're all caught up. he's going to kill gunichi soon-ish. at around 17/18 i figure. after the events of samurai tourist.

[hallowedmuses]

discord chat: friendly feast

SUMMARY: Nadia, Murmur, and Honesty meet and befriend a hungry new entity native to the Empty. TRIGGERS: Mentions of torture, depression, PTSD, and trauma WRITTEN WITH: @offallenfeathers (Seir, Murmur, Honesty), @ofbrokenhalos (Courage, Zophiel, Devour), @hallowedmuses (Tenacity, Nadia)

SEIR & HONESTY: Seir was having a good time at this party. After Dagon's speech, more than a few people had congratulated him and Tenacity for their new-ish roles as the right hands to Dagon's kingdom. For Seir, he'd been a right hand before a long time ago, and even this role, he and Tenacity had been doing it for months before it had been celebrated. They didn't mind. He still enjoyed the party regardless. They drank and had conversations with a few different groups before they made their way over to the tables where Honesty, Courage, and Zophiel were waiting for them. "What's on the menu for today?" he asked as he looked over the table's massive array of food.

Honesty had gotten up already to greet her brother. She slipped around Seir and beelined for Tenacity. "Ten!" she said excitedly before throwing her arms around him. "Congratulations on the new position. I missed you."

TENACITY: "I don't know but I know I'm on the menu for tonight," Tenacity giggled. He was still delightfully buzzed which is how he liked to be. He beamed as his sister threw her arms around him in greeting. He hugged her tightly and didn't let go for a while. He'd been to the Empty a handful of times now and he was hoping the more times he was here, he'd remember hugging her like this instead of cradling her dead body on the battlefield. It was getting easier to push those images away and remember the newer ones in their place. "Thank you," he smiled and finally let her go. He'd been a Right Hand before but working for Dagon's kingdom was a different experience than working for Levi's had been. He had good teachers though. "I missed you too. Are you guys enjoying the party? We planning on doing a little dancing later?" He asked the troop as he did a little shimmy.

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Up until this point, Zophiel had largely dominated the conversation with a discussion about his latest artifacts search. Courage tried to keep up but he got lost somewhere in the words. Zoph seemed excited to talk about it so Courage nodded along thoughtfully like he understood what was going on. He was a little relieved when Tenacity and Seir showed up at their table. Courage was already overstimulated so he didn’t get up to hug his brother, but he did offer a wave in greeting. “Hey, man, congrats,” he smiled. He wasn’t really sure what Tenacity’s new position entailed, but his brother seemed happy so Courage was happy for him. Dagon seemed like a fair person to work for even though Courage didn’t really know what her job was either outside of the help that she provided in the Empty. “Dancing?” He looked out onto the dancefloor. There were a lot of people there and they were all standing pretty close together. Too close. “No, I don’t think it’s for me.”

Zoph raised a brow when Courage remarked dancing wasn’t for him. He remembered Courage used to love that sort of thing and he was pretty good at it. But a lot about Courage was different these days. Everything about him seemed more reserved so Zoph didn’t question it. “I might bust a move or two with enough drinks,” the young angel grinned.

SEIR & HONESTY: Seir smirked when Tenacity said he was on the menu. "You absolutely are." Seir kissed his cheek and squeezed his ass for good measure. He watched carefully as Honesty got up to hug him, making sure it wasn't too much for his lover.

Honesty held the hug for as long as she could. She hadn't been having a bad time exactly. Seeing Zoohiel had been nice since this was the first time she really got to see him since the war. She didn't know half of what he was talking about, but she asked a lot of questions to try to educate herself on his interests. He seemed more than happy to answer. If Tenacity hadn't shown up, she was sure he wouldn't ever stop talking. She shrugged when Tenacity asked if they were enjoying the party. It was a little overwhelming, but she liked not being alone. She glanced at the dance floor along with Courage. She knew what his concerns were. Even sitting here made her feel a little on edge, but she was managing. If someone she knew was there it'd be a little easier. "Maybe?" She answered. "I don't think I really remember how to dance though, but I could try to relearn it."

TENACITY: Ten smirked at Seir's friskiness. He had a lot to look forward to tonight but until then he was going to do his darndest to make the best of this party. "Thanks, brother," he smiled at Courage. "It feels good to be doing stuff again." Tenacity hadn't experienced the same torture as his siblings but he definitely experienced stagnation while life moved on around him. All three of them were now trying to figure out how to integrate themselves.

He noticed Courage's hesitation about dancing and it pulled a bit on his heart strings. Courage had been always been sort of a spitfire. Ten remembered how his brother used to eat, drink, and be merry with the others in his unit. By the end of the night he usually had everyone on the dancefloor and was leading them in festive circle dances. Tenacity didn't push the matter onto his brother any further though. Tonight wasn't the time or place to push anyone out of their comfort zone. They were out of their zones just by being here. "That's fair," he smiled. "My dance moves are a little outdated, but Seir here is a trailblazer from what I hear. He taught me the Cupid shuffle. Have you guys seen that one?"

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Courage nodded when Tenacity remarked that it felt good to be doing something. "Yeah, I get what you mean." He was still struggling with what his purpose was now or if he even had one but it was nice to be doing something that wasn't an endless battle sequence or drowning. He was still trying to figure out what he even liked doing these days and he supposed learning who he was again was a good enough purpose for now. "Cupid has a dance?"

"Oh! The Cupid Shuffle!" Zophiel perked up. "That's advanced stuff." Zoph had a touch of the ADHD so following songs with instructions was advanced for him. "Definitely one of those work your way up to it songs. The macarena though?" He gave a chef's kiss. "That's a nice one."

"Macaroni? I thought that was a food. It's a dance too?" Courage questioned. Too many words looked the same but meant different things. It was like learning about cream pies all over again.

SEIR & HONESTY: Honesty nodded along with Tenacity and Courage. Having things to do helped. It also just helped to have people around. She had to be particular about which people they were, but she felt like there was less chance to be hurt if someone else was around to help her keep the darkness away. The darkness wasn't always about a lack of light either. Belphegor had given her a home where she was allowed to keep the lights on at all times, but even then there could be so many shadows, and more lights only created more shadows. Sometimes, she would just sit in the corner and shine a flashlight in every direction to make sure the Void wasn't in there.

Seir gave a nonchalant smile when Tenacity said that he was a trailblazer. "I've made some moves in my time, but we'll hold off on some of the advanced moves for later on. The Cupid Shuffle is a great dance to start with."

"Cupid Shuffle?" Honesty repeated. She tried to imagine what that entailed. She pictured in her head the way that Cupid used to follow Belphegor around before the war. She still did follow them around, but it was different back then. She seemed to move more in unison with them like they were a unit now that Belphegor understood their feelings for her. Honesty felt a little more nervous about the dance when Zoph said how hard it was. She might've still been willing to try it, but not with so many people around. If they were all doing the same dance and she messed up, it might throw everyone off.

Seir saw the look on Honesty's face and shook his head. "Zoph, don't go scaring them off of a dance just because you can't pay attention. It's actually really easy, Honesty. They have children do it in schools. The song itself tells you how to dance to it. I'm sure Zoph can do it too if he tries. Maybe helping Honesty with it will help you do it," he suggested. Zoph was a good kid, and he tried to help where he could despite his hyperactive nature. Seir hoped his helpful nature might get him to focus for some time. "Or maybe you'll hear the song, and you'll be able to help Zoph with it." He shrugged. There was no telling with these kids.

"I think I wouldn't mind it then if it's not too hard. I can follow instructions pretty well." She was sure she could follow the group in doing it too if it was as easy as Seir made it out to be.

Seir nodded. "Then we'll try it at least once. If it's not for you, we don't have to worry about it. We'll find something for you to groove to." He chuckled when Courage called the macarena macaroni. "Macaroni is a food. It's a noodle in a U shape. It's also an old term we used to use for being fancy and stylish, though I don't recommend using it like that anymore. It's mainly just for the food now. What Zoph mentioned was the Maw-caw-ray-nah. It's also a simple dance. Dummed down it's basically just moving your hands to different parts of your body to a beat and then shaking your ass. The song Macarena doesn't come with instructions. It's actually a song about a girl who cheats on her boyfriend when he got drafted to the army, but the meaning isn't as important as the fun beat of the song and the dance that's easy enough for anyone to pick up. In most cases, you can actually dance the macarena to any song. With some practice, you could even dance the macarena while you're doing the cupid shuffle. The Cupid Shuffle is all feet, and the Macarena is all hands and hips."

Honesty shook her head. "I think just one of them at a time would be better for now."

TENACITY: "Hmmm, that you did," Ten grinned as he remembered dancing with Seir at Vamiel's wedding and then again at Cuphegors. He certainly could move. He chuckled when Zoph remarked that the dance was hard. "If Lucifer can focus enough to learn a few dances, you can do it too," he promised the crew. He nodded with his head toward the dancefloor where Lucifer and Mazikeen were absolutely showing everyone up. It appeared that Lucifer's pride trumped his ADHD. He sighed pleasantly when Courage brought up macaroni. "Seir's also great at making that," he nodded. It was a good comfort food. "We can have some the next time we spend the night here." He wouldn't have minded trying either of the two dances at their disposal. Seir's hips didn't lie and his feet glided on the floor like butter so Tenacity was sure he'd have a great time watching and participating no matter what. "If I had to put money on it, I'd say the Cupid shuffle. Might as well do something named after a friend."

COURAGE & ZOPHIEL: Courage glanced between Seir and Tenacity. He’d forgotten quite a bit. Mostly, he couldn’t figure out if they’d started dating before the war, during the war, or if this was an after thing. He supposed in the end it didn’t matter. The way they looked at each other told him enough. He chuckled when Tenacity remarked that if Lucifer could do it, so could they. Courage glanced at what he now recognized as Lucifer on the dancefloor. His form was much different than what Courage remembered, but the personality was very much the same. Lucifer tended to be all over the place unless he was passionate about something. When Courage knew him, that something happened to be rebelling. Now, it appeared that something was dance. “Macaroni sounds nice,” he nodded. “But that dance…the macarena…sounds like a strange thing to make up a dance to. I’d rather see this shuffle.”

Zophiel rolled his eyes when Seir told him not to scare everyone off. He’d given them a fair warning that he wasn’t good at dance so if he stepped on Seir’s toes he wasn’t going to feel too bad about it. He was mostly just glad to see that his friends were willing to try something. So much about the dead was different these days but they seemed eager to learn and Zoph liked eager learners. “Cupid shuffle it is then,” he concluded. “Should we see if some of the other Virtues want in on this?”

SEIR & HONESTY: Honesty watched as Lucifer and Mazikeen danced. She didn't really know much about Mazikeen. As much as people tried to keep her up to date on what she missed, it was still hard to keep track of it all and who everyone was. Even Lucifer himself looked different now, and it wasn't always easy to recognize him in a crowd without someone pointing him out or him doing something to make himself stand out. The biggest difference right now though was how his face didn't seem to carry the weight of the war while he was dancing. She didn't know if it was the person he was dancing with or if dancing was just fun for him. Probably both. He looked like he was having a good time at least. She wondered if she'd ever get to that point of ease. She felt a little jealous of them for a multitude of reasons between the ease and joy they seemed to have and also just the comfort they seemed to bring to each other. It made her sad and guilty to think of Gabriel and how she'd pushed him away. Maybe if she had just pushed past her fears, she could've had what they were having too, but she knew that wasn't a possibility. Like relentless weeds, memories of torture overgrew thoughts of potential happiness. Dancing turned into the back and forth of battle, and someone was on the ground bleeding. She stared at the mental illusion silently until a question was presented to her. She didn't entirely hear it, but she looked up to try to figure out how to respond. "Hmm? Yeah." She nodded. "What?"

Seir had been a little more aware of the conversation, but he'd also been keeping an eye on the three virtues he was with to stay aware of if any of them needed help distancing themselves from certain triggers. He'd noticed Honesty getting quieter and her eyes losing focus during the conversation, but he hadn't wanted to startle her by drawing attention to it. There was no need to make her feel bad for getting a little lost in her own head. "We were just talking about inviting some of the other virtues to join our dance training."

"Oh," Honesty refocused herself. Dancing with family wouldn't be so bad. At least she hoped so. "That's a good idea. Maybe they can help teach us too?"

Seir shrugged. "Sure." It wouldn't hurt anything whether they were dancing with them or helping him teach the class. "Maybe we can call Beel over too to help Zoph learn the steps." He wondered if the boys focus would be better or worse with Beel teaching him, but it would've been entertaining to watch. He would've suggested Dagon too, but he imagined she'd be pretty occupied tonight.

TENACITY: Tenacity noticed when Honesty's eyes glazed over. Or rather, a more accurate thing to say would be that he could feel the numbness wash over her. That was the strange thing about being a depression demon; he could feel those things in others now. If he was going to be cursed with feeling, he would've preferred being cursed with feeling the whole spectrum of emotion like Dagon. At least then he would know and feel other's happiness too. There would be balance.

He was glad when Seir disrupted her thoughts and brought her back to the present. When she zoned out like that, she looked more...dead. It reminded him of the way he'd found her body after the initial blast following Belgirel's death...so many bodies. He blinked the image away as he grabbed a glass of champagne and discretely knocked back a mystery pill (well, a mystery to everyone but him) with his drink. "I hear Humility is a phenomenal dancer, but she won't admit it." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, my goal is to get her to own it by the end of the night." He chuckled when Seir mentioned looping Beel in on the dancing too for Zophiel's sake. "That's not a half bad idea," he agreed. He looked around to see if he could spot any of his siblings or Beel. They all appeared to be scattered around the ballroom. "I see Milly and Prue over there," he replied as he stood up. "It looks like Charity's talking to Beel so Seir you can probably grab the two of them. That leaves Nessie, Patience, Abby, Dil, and Chastity. Does anyone see them?"

COURAGE: Courage nodded his agreement that their siblings could probably teach them. If they made it out onto the dance floor tonight his family was big enough that he wouldn't feel like he was surrounded by strangers the whole time. It was less suffocating that way. He grinned when Ten mentioned getting Milly to admit she was a good dancer. In the time that Courage had been dead, his siblings leaned very deeply into their Virtues. This left them pretty stagnant and unable to really live. They'd been untethered from their virtue thanks to Gabriel's help but they still needed some prodding at times to step out of their comfort zones. He needed some help doing that too. Maybe they could brave their fears together tonight. "I'll help," he agreed. He looked around to see if he could spot any of his siblings. "I see Dil and Patience. Dil might take some convincing but I think I can get him. I'll meet you guys back here." Courage got up from the table and started crossing the room to go talk to his brother.

ZOPHIEL: Either Seir was out to get him or out to make his night. Zoph wasn't sure anymore, but he didn't object to bring Beel aboard. He'd never object to that. "Milly could probably outdance Lucifer if she wasn't too bashful. And the funny thing is Lucifer would probably be immensely proud of her for doing it." That was probably half the reason she didn't. He looked around the crowd. "I see Abby. She's going to take some work to convince too." Abstinence didn't just abstain from sex or drinking or what have you. Sometimes she abstained from fun. But Zoph was sure he could convince her to join. He finished off the rest of his drink before excusing himself from the table to talk to Abby.

SEIR, HONESTY, & MURMUR: Seir paid attention to the way Tenacity tensed. It looked like he was managing okay so far, albeit with drugs and alcohol, but he wasn't overdoing it yet. Seir let him be, though he gave his side a squeeze to let his partner know he was there for him, and he could always come up with some excuse to get him out of there if he needed him to. Thankfully, both Honesty and Tenacity seemed to come out of their harsh disassociations. "You're going to need all the luck you can get if you're hoping to get Humility to admit that," he chuckled. "Maybe try baby steps, and just get her to not look down on her own dancing at first." It was a lot to expect her to be as proud of herself as they all were. He started looking around the room for the other virtues along with Tenacity. Tenacity was right that Charity was talking to Beel. They were eating at another table. It was a shame that Zophiel didn't have to invite them himself. That would've brought it's own humor, but they would've been waiting ages for Zoph to be able to get his words out. "Alright, I'll be right back." He tilted Tenacity's chin up to give him a kiss and a gentle ass squeeze before making his way over to Beel and Charity.

Honesty kept a lookout for her other siblings too. "I think I saw Chastity going towards one of the private rooms with her boyfriend." Given that her sister was the representation of chastity, it was hard to imagine they were getting up to anything inappropriate to witness, even with her tie to her virtue being broken from what it was, but Honesty didn't want to risk being wrong about that. She also just didn't want to disturb their private time together. "I don't see Nessie, but I'll walk around and see if I can find her. Maybe she's outside in the garden." Despite having a plan of what she was going to do, she stayed in place while everyone went their separate ways. It was only once the last person had walked away that she got up. It felt darker somehow when she wasn't with people she knew. The crowds around her felt like waves she had to wade through. She shivered from a cold that didn't exist and wrapped her arms around herself while she looked for her sister. Nessie turned out to be hard to find in the crowds. She kept walking until there was a twinkle of light in the darkness, a pair of voices that had only recently become familiar to her, but their sound guided her outside through the garden. There was a path of straw that led straight to Murmur and Nadia. Honesty felt relief, forgetting her quest to find her sister, when they seemed to brighten up the space around her, even as they argued.

"I told you it wasn't going to fit under that branch," Murmur huffed as he picked up the decapitated head of the straw goat. The goat looked more like a giant table now.

NADIA: The demon grimaced as Murmur picked up the head of the straw goat. "That branch was stronger than I thought it would be." She glared at the tree for having the audacity to decapitate her goat. As her eyes focused away from the gnarly branches, she spotted Honesty approaching them. A witness to their bumbling attempts. Now, that was embarrassing. "Hey Honesty," she waved. "This isn't what it looks like. Normally, we're experts at goat relocation," she explained. "I think Cupid just put in a few more trees to spruce up the place for the event," she snorted at her own joke and turned to look at Murmur. "But, there are silver linings..." She pulled at her satchel where she kept her snacks and some other important items. This time, she pulled out a paper-mache snake crown and a sash that read 'Kingdom of Sloth' in the Kingdom's colors. She handed the sash over to Murmur before placing the satchel next to the nearest, non-offending tree. "It's easier to get the accessories on now."

MURMUR & HONESTY: Murmur rolled his eyes when Nadia glared at the tree. It wasn't the tree's fault they'd run into it. He turned the goat's head around and lifted it up over himself to put on his own head. The goat head was massive, and he disappeared in the straw. He couldn't see Honesty as she approached, but he could hear Nadia. He giggled within the goat head. "Hehe, hay." His hand peaked out from the side of the goat's head, just below the ears, so he could wave at Honesty too.

"I . . . don't really know what this is supposed to look like," said Honesty. She remembered Nadia had told her about the goat tradition they had in the land of the living. They apparently had a tradition of burning the goat, but she thought they'd decided against destroying it. "Maybe the problem isn't that you're not experts at goat relocation, and more just a problem of you two working together."

The goat head moved up and down as Murmur shrugged. "I think I work well with her. She just doesn't work well with me." Despite that claim, His hand that was outside of the goat caught the sash Nadia put in his hand. He climbed out of the goat. He looked back at it with a little disappointment. "It's too bad we don't have a reason to use it as a Trojan Goat."  Honesty looked at Nadia for help understanding what he was talking about while Murmur transformed into a raccoon. He carried the sash in his mouth while he climbed up the goat. He put the sash over the goat's neck. "Okay, but how do we get the head to stay on again."

NADIA: She was the picture of offended when Murmur claimed that the issue was with her. "I'm sorry only one of us is a stubborn old goat and it's not me or straw boy over here." She patted the goat's straw leg. "We're too young." She recognized the confusion on Honesty's face when Murmur brought up the Trojan Goat. “It’s a reference to an old battle story,” Nadia explained. “The Greeks were trying and failing to enter this one city called Troy for the better part of ten years. In a last ditch effort they constructed a huge wooden horse, hid some soldiers in it, and left it at the front gates of the city. They acted like they were retreating so the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night, the Greek soldiers crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army. It's a solid battle strategy but honestly if the goat was made of wood and hollow inside, I think I'd just put snacks in it." She grinned up at the goat. "I bet it would hold a lot of snacks."

She was a little jealous when Murmur transformed into a critter and scurried up the goat. She always wished she had that ability but she wasn't a full blooded fallen angel like he was. She glanced at the goat head and then back up to where Murmur was seated. "I know a few spells to mend it but I'm going to need you and Honesty to hold the goat's head in position and preferably straight because I need both my hands."

MURMUR & HONESTY: "All I'm hearing is that I'm very mature for my age." He shot a wink in Honesty's direction, but she didn't seem all that enthused about it. "And you wish this guy was more stubborn." He patted the goat's side. "Maybe if he was a little more stubborn about holding himself together, his head wouldn't have fallen off." He knew it wasn't really the goat's fault. They shouldn't have kept pushing it when it's head got caught on the branch, but neither of them were really taking the blame here.

Honesty felt curious about the story Nadia was telling. There were so many minute details that just sounded like they had to be exaggerations. After ten years, an army's best strategy was to construct a horse and hide in it, and that idea somehow worked. She felt like she would've cared more about how dishonest of a tactic it was in the past, but she didn't have that tie to her virtue anymore. Sometimes she forgot that wasn't there anymore. She knew that Gabriel had done something related to disconnecting the virtues, but she also felt like her virtue had been ripped out of her sometime during her torture. Her virtue had been both a blessing and a curse, but it was also both of those things to have it gone. "And the Trojans didn't find anything suspicious about the fact that the Greeks just . . . stopped fighting to build a horse?"

"I think they had a bit of a pride thing going on," Murmur cut in. "They were so sure that nothing could get to them behind their impenetrable wall, it probably just didn't seem like the Greeks could really do anything to them with a horse, and they thought they were deserving of a prize or something like that. It's kinda like how the Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable. You could probably ask Athena for more about the Trojan war though. She knew the guy who had the idea for making the horse."

"What's a Titanic?" She felt like she was constantly out of the loop, but the only way to get in the loop was to ask a ton of questions.

"It was a ship. A really big one. They thought it was unsinkable and then drove it through cold waters, and it got sunk by an ice burg that it ran into. There's a whole movie about it. The main guy looks like Lucifer used to when I was a kid. The Trojan War has books and movies about it too if you want to get into those."

 Honesty nodded. She'd have to remember to look into those things later. "Okay, I can help with that," Honesty agreed. She picked up the goat head and started lifting it towards its neck. Murmur reached down to help pull it up and they shifted it into place. "Is that right?"

NADIA: "Oh, yes, very mature. Like moldy cheese," she remarked in the driest tone that she could muster. She patted the straw goat. "You take that back! He's perfectly fine. We just need to bring him in for a little surgery. It's fiiiiine." She turned to the goat. "You're going to look great." They'd get this goat fixed up as good as new for his photo ops.

"I think I'd be a little cocky too if after ten years you still couldn't get through the walls I built. But yeah, it wasn't their smartest move and it cost them their city." She nodded when Murmur mentioned that Athena would be a good firsthand resource. The nice thing about all of them being immortal was that you could always find someone who was actually there to give you the story. "Oh, I love the Titanic. We should watch that one the next time we're here. We can invite Cupid and the other virtues too because they'll be mad if they missed a rewatch of that one."

Nadia moved a good distance away to get a far away perspective of the goat. "A little more to the left..." She gave them a thumbs up as they shifted the head into position. "Perfect. Hold it right there." She hiked up her dress and shimmied up one of the massive goat legs where she positioned herself at the point where the neck met the rest of the body. "I missed the last few leg days..." she breathed as she did her best to anchor her legs and free up one of her hands. She recited a spell that sounded entirely made up but surprisingly it worked. The hay around the neck spread upward until it was interlaced and intertwined with the hay from the neck. It looked almost like the hay was crocheting itself back together.

Once the work was done, Nadia jumped back down and landed safely on her feet. "There," she grinned. "Good as new." She brushed her hands on her dress to smooth out the skirt and get rid of some of the hay stuck to it. "We just need to put the crown on and move it the goat to that clearing over there," she pointed to the patch of cobblestone near the entry to the party. "And he'll be ready for pictures." Thankfully, there were no more trees for the goat to lose its head on between their current location and the cobblestone patch.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "So I'm a blue cheese then. You just don't have the class to enjoy me," he said proudly, holding his head up high. Honesty didn't really understand what cheese had to do with a class, but the interactions between the pair were entertaining. Everything after death tended to feel so dreary, but Nadia and Murmur were so full of life and energy. It made her feel like she had a little more of that too. She held back laughter as they continued to argue. "He's not perfectly fine," Murmur countered, "but you don't have to sound so offended by it. He can have flaws." He turned to address Honesty. "If you're going to be around Nadia, you'll find she does that a lot where she gets overdefensive if you say something negative about someone or something she likes, especially if it's about Beel." He looked back at Nadia to make sure she didn't take that as him being harsh. "Not that defending people you care about is bad, but assuming the people you care about are perfect and have to be seen as perfect might end up hurting you and them." He just didn't want Honesty to get caught in a situation where she might offend Nadia by being too honest about how she felt and hurt her new friendship. He knew that the virtues were no longer bound to their virtues like they used to be, but he didn't know how much of that still stuck with Honesty regardless. And more importantly, saying all of that made him feel like he'd sound smarter and more mature in front of Honesty too, thereby adding to the evidence of his maturity to prove Nadia wrong. It wasn't like that stuff came from his own head. He'd just heard other people say things like that, but Nadia didn't need to know that.

Honesty hadn't really thought that deep into Nadia's defensiveness despite what Murmur thought. "But the goat can't speak for itself. It might not be alive, but I think it was nice of you to defend it when it can't. It seemed like Nadia wasn't implying that it was perfect because it had no flaws. I think she felt like your words had a negative connotation, and she can correct me if I'm wrong to assume that she was only defending that the goat is perfectly fine even with its flaws. She just doesn't want you to look down on its flaws, especially when it can be fixed." She looked back at Nadia. "But I'll try to be aware of what I'm saying about the people you care about. Courage always tried to get me to be more aware of how my honesty can hurt people." She didn't so much as remember having talks with him about that as much as she remembered a sort of feeling about it, a desire to live up to his expectations about not being confined to her virtue. She wasn't anymore, but the cost had been far greater than she imagined.

Murmur saw the distant look in her eyes. He fidgeted and looked uncomfortable with situation, so he tried to force the conversation onwards. "Yeah, I guess you have a point. Sorry. Maybe we could have a massive movie watch like at a movie theater. We could invite anyone who's comfortable with the themes of the movie. Just give out a list of potential triggers before they come in. The Titanic might have more than a few considering it was a tragedy of a ship sinking. A lot of people died, and there was a lot of panic of the passengers. It might not be safe for viewing."

Honesty had to be aware of her own triggers, and she could think of how scenes of a ship sinking might terrify her. "Maybe it'd be okay as long as there are people there with us." She wanted to see the film, and she didn't want to be held back from being a part of things just because they might scare her. She couldn't just avoid her triggers all the time. She shifted the goat's head into place as Nadia instructed and with Murmur's help. Once Nadia was done, Honesty took a step back to admire the work. Murmur held his hand out for the crown, so he could put it on top.

NADIA: "You're right. You are like blue cheese...an acquired taste," she replied as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Lucky for you, I have a refined palate." She raised a brow when Murmur felt compelled to warn Honesty of her defensiveness. She hardly thought any of her comments thus far warranted that kind of warning. She was aware that the people she cared about were flawed. But despite their flaws, they were trying their best. Did she agree with the way her dad handled the secret about Belphegor? No. Did she understand why he did what he did? Yes. Her dad's choices always held some kind of logic to them. She was just sure if others took the time to understand that logic, they wouldn't be so rude. Of course, she didn't go out of her way to pick fights about it. Most people understood that it wasn’t exactly polite to air your grievances about the Prince of Gluttony to his daughter. The only time she really pushed back was when someone else deliberately started pushing first. "Murmur, darling," she began drily. "Social etiquette says that if feel compelled to warn someone about my sensitive feelings, you should do it in private." How the public perceived her was none of her business. She didn't want to be a part of this conversation. "Thank you, Honesty," she smiled as the Virtue tried to salvage the massive bag that Murmur just fumbled. "That's exactly it."

She nodded her agreement that some of the thematic elements of the Titanic might be triggering. Most of the movie was just the love story between the two main characters, but the last quarter of the movie was pretty graphic. “We can post a list of triggers so people can decide if it’s for them. Declan, I think, was already working on something like that. He’s got them posted to the inside covers of books and DVDs.” He might’ve already compiled the list for the Titanic which would save her and Murmur some time. “We can also come up with a list of alternatives. The movie isn't really as important as hang out with friends is. I think the theater is booked out for the next few days though.” There was an approval process for larger watch parties. “The Lost Boys are watching the Fast and the Furious franchise.” She remembered because she’d been trying to convince Lette to come. “But I think they’ll be done by the end of the week.”

Nadia handed Murmur the crown so that he could place it on the goat’s head. The smaller straw goat that Belphegor made for Nadia was currently seated beside her satchel and it was wearing the same costume. “Perfect,” she beamed. “I’ll take front if one of you wants to take the back. We can move him into position and then get something to eat. All of this exercise has made me very hungry.”

MURMUR & HONESTY: "So you admit you like me then?" Murmur grinned. He knew most of the time that his relationship with Nadia was complicated. They weren't related, not even in the sense that Beel and Nadia were related, but they had similar experiences. Murmur hadn't been that much older than her when she was born relatively speaking, so they'd grown up together. They were like siblings to an extent, and they had all the arguments that siblings tended to have, leaving outside people questioning whether they actually liked each other or not. Sometimes he himself questioned it too when the teasing and arguing got especially out of hand. "Sorry," he apologized.

Honesty felt a little uncomfortable getting caught in the middle of their argument. It wasn't just because of their fighting but the topic of it. Again, it felt like a reiteration of what she'd been told before about how she needed to be careful about how her honesty affected people. Murmur seemed to have trouble with that too, but being a creation of honesty, she could understand why he would feel the need to say what he did without going behind Nadia's back to say it. It made her feel nauseous thinking about it. She wished she didn't have that connection to the virtue, but it was her name. She didn't know how to not be her name, even if that name hurt her. She didn't even know what else she could be called. Maybe she could ask Lucifer about it. He'd changed his name after all.

"I think that's a good idea," Honesty agreed as she came out of her own head. A ship sinking sounded like it would involve drowning, and she knew a lot of people in the Empty had trouble with that, herself included. Having lighter alternatives would be good for them.

As Murmur took the crown and put it on the goat's head, Honesty picked up the back half of the goat. "It might be better if I carry it, so you two don't argue over it. Maybe Murmur can just keep an eye out for any obstacles.

"Aye aye, Captain," Murmur said with a salute still in the form of a raccoon on top of the goat. It was a good lookout spot.

NADIA: "Hmmm, yes, but probably not as much as Ruby does," she winked. Did she think Ruby and Murmur had a crush on each other? No. Maybe. The behind my father’s back friendship was very Romeo and Juliet of them, and Nadia was a thousand precent sure Cupid would agree with her. Just like she was a thousand precent sure Dagon would tell her to leave it alone. Still, after Murmur had just dragged her personal business up, Nadia didn’t feel too bad bringing his personal business up. She nodded and waved a hand at his apology. They were even.

Nadia worked with Honesty to get the goat into position. It was much easier now that there were fewer obstacles. Once the goat was settled, Nadia stood back to admire the work. “Alright, gang.” She pulled out her phone and motioned for Honesty and Murmur to come stand beside her. “Selfie time. We did the hard work. We should be the ones to take the first photo with the goat.” Nadia would tag it on her socials and that would be all the invitation that the others inside the party would need to come out and take a photo.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "A win's a win," Murmur grinned. He could tell that Nadia was trying to insinuate that something more intimate was going on between him and Ruby, but he wasn't really bothered with it. Her dad never really liked him, and Murmur hoped that rumor would spread if only to make him a little more annoyed. Even if he wasn't annoyed, that would show growth on his part, and Murmur felt like that would make Ruby happy too. It was a win win situation, so he let Nadia roll with it. "But yeah, of course Ruby likes me more than you do. She has better taste." He stuck his tongue out at her.

Honesty relaxed a little more as their arguing became less uncomfortable and more sibling-like. It made it easier to work with the two of them to get the goat in place. "Selfie?" Honesty asked as she moved forward in the direction Nadia indicated. She knew what photos were now, but she didn't know all the terminology associated with it. She wasn't sure how a selfie was related to photos.

"They're just pictures you take of yourself," Murmur explained.

Honesty nodded. "So if you take pictures of others, they're otheries?"

Murmur giggled. "They are now." He reached down to her hand and made her hold up two fingers. "That's a good pose for the selfie."

Honesty frowned at the hand gesture. She didn't understand it, but she tried to fit it to her interpretation of it. There were three of them, so she held up three fingers and smiled for the picture.

NADIA: "Oh, is that what you tell yourself? Okay, honey." She grinned. She enjoyed teasing him about partners. Nadia had plenty of siblings, but Murmur was the closest thing she had to a near sibling relationship as far as she'd seen. Of course, her observations were based on how her uncles and the Spiritus family behaved.

"Otheries, I like that," Nadia agreed. She got the camera ready as Murmur helped Honesty come up with a pose. Honesty held three fingers, Murmur had his original pose of two, and Nadia opted for the middle finger so now they were posing as 1, 2, and 3. Nadia snapped the photo before relaxing into a more natural state. She showed the photo to Murmur and Honesty for approval before positing it to all her social media platforms. "There. That should be enough advertisement for our friend here." She patted one of the goats legs. As she did so, her tummy grumbled. She really was hungry.

"I've got some snacks in my satchel back at the tree base," she replied as they started walking back that way. "We can finish those off and then we can head down to the kitchen for more. I can show you guys the escape tunnels in and out of there." They weren't really escape tunnels. They were just utility corridors for the staff to use, but thinking of them as escape tunnel was cooler.

DEVOUR: For countless millennia, he had been bound by the chains of his tyrant sibling, the Void. But now, finally, he was free. Several months had passed since the Void’s death. Sadly, the Empty didn’t transition to one of his kin after that. Instead, the power passed to his sibling’s killer, Belphegor. He had no idea what a Belphegor was so instead of introducing himself to them, he stayed on the fringes of their society, watching from afar as they went about their daily lives. It was a strange and foreign world to him, but he found himself fascinated by it nonetheless. He wasn’t sure what to make of them yet. They seemed to care for their people, but it was hard to say whether that benevolence extended to those who were not the Children of God.

His plan was to observe from the shadows until he had figured them out, until he had a better understanding of their customs and their ways. But fate had other plans once he learned there was to be a celebration tonight. It had been so long since he had participated in anything remotely resembling a celebration. And there was the promise of food, something he had not tasted in what felt like an eternity. He was always starving. He could feed and feed and feed and still that hunger was never satiated. He’d been made with the inability to taste which wouldn’t have been so bad if he wasn’t keenly aware of what he was missing. Once, long ago, before he was locked away, he’d been introduced to the concept of taste. It was only one instance when he actually tasted something, but he’d been craving that high ever since. Perhaps he’d find it again at this party tonight.

At first, he observed the party from the treetops, taking in the festivities from a safe distance. This was fairly easy for him because, you see, he was nothing but inky shadows. He had no form and blended perfectly with the darkness. As the night wore on and the partygoers grew increasingly raucous, he found himself drawn closer and closer. He watched as the speeches were given, the music played, and the people danced. And then, finally, the moment he had been waiting for: the announcement that it was time for food. He crept closer to the door, his shadowy form blending seamlessly with the darkness. He watched as the people walked past him, their arms loaded with plates and bowls of steaming food. He was almost drooling at the sight of it all. But he dared not venture too close. He knew the risks of being seen, of being caught. And so, he remained in the shadows, stealing bits of food whenever he could. He retreated out the door as soon as he thought someone noticed him. Thankfully, no one followed but it was too close of a call. He’d been too bold for his own good.

He was just about to retreat into the forest when he noticed a group of children moving some kind of object across the garden. They weren’t doing a very good job of it. He debated just leaving them to it but then one of the children mentioned having food in her bag. And then, miracle of miracles, said child actually left her bag unattended. It was an open invitation, and he could not resist. As the children slipped away, he dropped from the tree and made a beeline for the bag. He rummaged through it frantically, his hunger driving him to madness. And then he found it: the snacks the little girl had mentioned. He tore into them, devouring the contents of the bag with reckless abandon. So reckless it seemed because he did not notice nor hear their little footsteps as they made their way back to his tree.

MURMUR & HONESTY: "I tell myself the truth," Murmur confirmed with a nod. He was pleased as they all had different poses. If someone looked at the picture, they probably wouldn't understand what it meant, mainly because it didn't really mean anything. He looked up at the goat once they finished the picture. "I hope the people here join in the game." It would've been nice to see them getting into an event like this, but even if they didn't, everyone coming to see the goat would be nice too. Belgirel had put in a lot of work on this too. "What kind of snacks did you bring?" he asked Nadia as they started walking back. She was lucky that he hadn't stolen any of her snacks already. Luckily for her, he'd been distracted by the goat.

Unluckily for her, something else had gotten to those snacks first. Honesty was the first to notice. She was hypervigilant, and half the time after her death, she was always scared of the shadows and kept thinking she saw something in them. Only this time there was something really there. She didn't scream, scared of drawing its attention towards them while also just being frozen with fear. Instead her hand reached out to grab the person nearest to her, which happened to be Murmur. Her hand tightened around his, nails digging in. It looked so much like the Void. She didn't know what to do or how to react.

Murmur felt Honesty's reaction before actually seeing the creature. He sucked in a breath from the pain of her nails. "Ow." He grimaced. He tried to pull his hand away, but she was locked on tight. She wouldn't even look at him, and she looked like a deer in the headlights. He waved a hand in front of her face, but she was still staring straight ahead like her life depended on it. He followed her gaze, and at first he didn't see anything. He thought the tree was just casting a dark shadow until he saw how much the shadow moved. "What is that?" he asked. He took a step forward, but Honesty wouldn't let him get out of her arms' reach.

NADIA: She was certain that at the very least people would want to take pictures with the goat as they left the party for the night. It would take a few parties for this trend to take off fully, but eventually the goat’s attendance at parties would be almost mandatory and expected. She patted it one last time as a farewell before they started walking back toward the tree. “I got all kinds,” she grinned in response to the question. Her bag was spelled to go deeper than expected. “I could probably put a candy factory to shame. But I’ve also got savory treats in there if you’re in the mood for something salty. And I’ve even got a bunch of stuff for the dead to eat in there.” Nadia couldn’t eat those, but she always came prepared. She managed to cool off a few meltdowns in Dagon’s kingdom just by giving the person snacks. She figured the same could apply here so she always made sure to carry snacks for the dead too. Food was always a good comfort tool.

Unfortunately, it appeared someone was already helping themselves to a good dose of comfort. Nadia didn’t really stop to think before she reacted. This was mostly because she assumed the big ol’ blob stealing her snacks was Belphegor. She’d seen them phase through the Empty and there were rumors that they could do other things with their form so it wasn’t an outlandish assumption. “Belphegor, you thieving banshee!” She made a beeline for them. “There better be some snacks still left in there for us! It was hard work curating all of that!” She stopped abruptly as soon as she was close enough to register their energy and realize her mistake. The massive shadow of darkness eating her food wasn’t Belphegor. It was…it was…actually she didn’t know who or what it was. Her breath caught in her chest as she stared at it and it stared at her. “You, uh…I…um…hi?”

DEVOUR: He looked up from his precious horde of food only when the shouting started. One of the children was heading right for him. He recognized her. She was a frequent visitor of the Belphegor. It looked like she thought he might’ve been the Belphegor. She realized she was mistaken fairly quickly given how much her strides had slowed down. She looked at him and he looked at her. There was terror in her eyes, and he did not like it. Just behind her, he could see the two other children that had been with her. They also looked terrified of him. His form sagged a little at the thought. He’d spent most of his life in fear of one thing or another. Mostly, he feared his brother’s temper. The Void was gone now, but some of his other siblings were just as testy. He found it hard to be around them. But he was also too afraid to be here with these strangers.

He still remained as inky blackness but the darkness that was his form shrunk little by little until it was not so intimidating. He pulled his shadowy hands out of the satchel and gingerly held out a turkey leg to the child. It was the only offering he could make. He’d eaten everything else in the bag. Perhaps if he gave her this last bit, she would let him go free. He didn’t want to harm them, but he also didn’t want to be taken prisoner either. Not again. Never again.

MURMUR & HONESTY: Murmur was a little scared. Honesty's reaction to this thing was really what scared him more though. He knew that she'd been through a lot. He'd never seen the Void, but he'd seen some of the powers Belphegor got after killing it. What this thing was doing was pretty similar to those powers. He didn't think it was the Void, at least not at its full power. He was pretty sure it would've already tried to kill them if it was, but it was clearly something similar to the Void. That didn't mean it was as bad as the Void though. Since it wasn't attacking them, Murmur felt like it must've thought that attacking wasn't its best course of action. Murmur pulled his hand away from Honesty's so he could step towards it with Nadia. At the very least, it wouldn't have been right of him to let Nadia go towards it alone.

Honesty wasn't as open to believing this thing might not have bad intentions, and she didn't have Murmur's level of curiosity. There had never been anything good that came from the Empty before Belphegor saved them. She couldn't stop Murmur from moving forward, but she hid behind him as he approached the being.

As the creature shrunk down, it furthered Murmur's belief that the being meant them no harm. If it lived here, he guessed that it had probably been hurt by the Void too. Maybe it was one of God's or the archangel's creations that got sent in here like the other dead. It seemed almost as scared as Honesty was, and the offering it gave was most likely an attempt at self preservation. "It's okay," Murmur assured it. "We're not gonna hurt you."

NADIA: Nadia’s heart pound in her chest as she observed the being. It was like looking into the being that she could only describe as intangible night. There was a saying out there that if you gaze into the abyss long enough, it gazes right back at you. Nadia could feel it’s gaze upon her but it did not make her feel cold or scared. It made her feel sad. Darkness couldn’t posture but everything about the way this darkness held itself suggested that it was more afraid of her than she was of them. She tore her eyes away from it only for a moment once she felt the warmth of her friend at her side. He seemed to understand that this creature did not mean them harm.

Her features softened as the darkness shrunk to something that was more human sized. After a brief moment of contemplation, it offered her a turkey leg as a boon. Nadia nodded to her friends, indicating that she was okay. She extended her hand to take the offering. Sure, this creature could be playing a trick on her, but she didn’t think it was and she was going to trust her gut on that. If she was wrong…well, it was a big mistake to harm a Duchess of Hell. To her relief, the darkness did not pull her in or harm her as she got closer and took the offering.

“T-thank you,” she stammered and took a respectful step back toward her friends. She stared at the turkey leg for a moment before biting into it. “Hmmm, it’s still good,” she smiled and gave the creature a thumbs up. “I…are you still hungry? My friends and I…we were just about to go down to the kitchens to eat.”

DEVOUR: The hesitation was clear on all of their faces. They did not know what to make of him. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to make of them either. He was relieved when the little raccoon boy said they weren’t going to hurt him, but could they be trusted? It looked like they were trying to determine the same of him. The smaller of the three beings seemed to indicate with her head that she believed him. Still, he fought the urge to jump backward as she stepped forward. Their fingers brushed together as she took the turkey from his hands and they both stepped back in unison, giving each other space and distance. He observed her as she tasted the meat. Would its flavor determine his life or death? He certainly hoped not. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to taste the meat. It smelled divine though. But the food in the bag was tricky. He’d been able to taste some of it, but not others. He had similar experiences at the party too while he was loitering in the shadows. Anything meant for the dead had no flavor to him. But the stuff of the living? Now that…that was blissful.

He was pulled out of his reminiscing when the youth made a strange gesture with her hands. He didn’t really understand it. Was she signaling an attack sign to the other two? They made no move to come after him. Still, he’d taken too many risks today. He was about to make a run for it when she asked him if he was hungry. He was always hungry for more, it seemed. He’d been down by the kitchens before. Mostly late at night when no one was around. There was a lot of food there but much of it was in its raw form, and he had yet to learn how to get it from its raw form to its final delectable and truly complete form. But he imagined with a party this big, the kitchen was overflowing with complete, intricately made meals. He supposed one more risk wouldn’t hurt.

With some effort, he willed his form to shift into something that resembled a child of God. He borrowed a lot of features that he’d seen on the beings that called themselves Lucifer and Asmodeus. The darkness that was him took on the shape of a tall and strikingly handsome man. His chiseled jawline was framed by a neatly groomed beard that added to his rugged yet sophisticated appearance. His hair became a light blonde color, worn in a tousled style that gives him an air of effortless cool. He spent a lot of time observing and practicing this transformation just in case he ever needed to blend in. All of that practice paid off because the transition was very smooth.

What he failed to practice was speaking in their tongue. He opened his mouth to form the words that he wanted to say, but they came out as nonsense at first. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I…I don’t want to impose…” he spoke. The words were accented strangely. He’d have to keep practicing to sound more like them. “But food is always appreciated. I haven’t tasted anything like this in many millennia.” He paused to look at the satchel in his hands. It was completely bare now. He held it out to her. “I’m sorry…” he apologized in a voice that sounded both ancient and young at the same time. “I’ve eaten everything here.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: What the hell was wrong with these two? Both Nadia and Murmur were so close to this thing, and Honesty couldn't make sense of it. They didn't know what it was. It came from the Empty, so she would've thought they wouldn't be so ready to trust it. It could've been an act to lure them in. She shook her head back at Nadia in contrast of her nodding. No, this was not okay. She tried to will her into seeing that, but it didn't seem to have any use. She waved her hand across her neck when Nadia invited the thing to come eat with them. Even if she wasn't terrified of this thing, she was sure plenty of the other guests here would be.

Murmur wasn't so unhinged where he couldn't see the dangers of what they were doing. This . . . creature was something from before Belphegor. They didn't really know if it was a danger or not, but it didn't really seem like it wanted to harm them. He tried to give Honesty a look to reassure her that they were being complete idiots about this, but she didn't look reassured. "We don't have to take you down there," Murmur added, to both reassure the creature and Honesty. He didn't think it wanted to go near big crowds the way it was lurking in the shadows. "We can just grab some more food and bring it back up."

As the being began to shift into something else, Honesty took another step back while Murmur stared in amazement. So it wasn't just some sort of mindless creature then. Realistically, it wasn't like this was what their natural forms looked like, aside from Nadia. It wasn't that unlikely that this thing could look like a person too. He was kind of hot, at least in Murmur's eyes. Honesty was still terrified of him. It didn't matter that he'd changed his form. It made it feel more like a trick to her, and like he was using that to get closer to them. His words scared her more. They sounded wrong and not entirely real. "Are you going to eat us?" she asked, scared that he might actually be willing to eat everything and everyone if they didn't get him more food.

"I mean only if you want to," Murmur added with a smirk, unable to help himself. Honesty smacked him on the side of his head.

"He doesn't mean that."

NADIA: Nadia could see the nervousness written on Honesty’s face. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous too, but she knew hunger. She lived in a kingdom devoted to it. If this creature was going to eat them, it would have done it already. It was hard to convey that through looks alone though so Nadia placed her hands behind her back and opened her palm. She pushed down on her open palm with her thumb and a sigil that was previously invisible lit up. That same sigil appeared on Honesty and Murmur’s palm. It connected them mind-to-mind like a magic walky talky. It’s all right, she spoke mind-to-mind. If anything goes wrong, we’re only a few paces away from the party and there are a few hundred ways I can contact my dad. It’ll be a million against one in a manner of seconds if this thing tries something. Besides, it wasn’t like Nadia was going to allow herself to be lured into the woods. She wasn’t Gretal. They’d stick to their home territory, at least for now. If things went well and she made a new friend here today, she wouldn’t rule out exploring his home later.

He kind of reminds me of a spider, She observed as the creature became confused and scared of her thumbs up gesture. You know, one of those ‘they’re more afraid of you then you are of them’ situations. Her eyebrows rose as the being began to change its form to look more palatable to them. Man, that’s not fair. Even he can shapeshift. He’s kinda hot though so I’ll forgive it. Apparently speaking didn’t come as easily for him. It sounded like he had cobwebs in his throat. It sounded like he hadn’t spoken in a while. She wondered if he was the only one of his kind or if there were more. “I’m told that’s a common experience here,” she replied apologetically when he said that it had been a while since he’d tasted anything like this. “But we’re hoping to change that.” She took her satchel from him. He truly did seem sorry for eating all of it. She believed him.

She tried to keep the conversation light and pleasant. If you treated people kindly, they usually returned the favor. “It’s all right. I’m glad you got some joy out of it. Food’s always been a comfort of mine. Like Murmur said, we can bring some up here if you don’t want to go down to the kitchen.” Being in the kitchen would bring them closer to the party, which would be safer for the trio but perhaps this being wouldn’t feel as safe. She gave Murmur an exasperated sort of look when he began flirting with the being, but her features turned more jovial when Honesty smacked him. You deserved that, she told him. Also, you’re like a twig with two berries. A snack more than a meal.

DEVOUR: This form was strange to him, but it would appear that at least two out of the three found comfort in it. Perhaps the third would warm up to it. He certainly was. It would take some getting used to, but he needed the practice. He pondered the offers presented to him. "I would like to go with if that is okay," he replied in his strangely accented voice. “I have been to the kitchen before. I..." he shook his head. "I do not understand it. I have watched but..." he shook his head. He did not understand the process whatsoever. "Will you show me?" He wanted to learn their strange methods. Perhaps he could replicate them so that he'd no longer have to steal. Of course, he'd still have to make these delectables in private. There were more than a few of his siblings who would shun him for trying to be like these three. He did not know what they would do to him, but some of them were as harsh as the Void.

His eyebrows bunched in confusion when one of the children asked if he was going to eat them. “No, you don’t taste like anything,” he replied to the dead one. Much like food made for the dead, the dead themselves tasted like nothing. The Void had fed the souls to him once and out of desperation, he took them. But he had no desire to do so again. The act of eating them was too tedious and there was no pay off for him in the end. He hadn’t tried the living, but why would he when there were so many other things he could try and so many other things that they could show him? “You…” he cleared his throat, taking long pauses between words. “Have shown me great kindness. I…” He hadn’t experienced kindness in a very long time, and it made him emotional. “I do not wish to offend you.” Confusion shown on his face when one of the children replied that he could eat him if he wished. He did not understand the offer. “If eating one another is a custom in your culture…you may eat me.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: Honesty appreciated it as Nadia performed a spell to let them speak in each other's minds. She didn't really feel comfortable talking in front of this creature as they were. She hadn't known how much it could understand, and she was scared to say too much in front of it. She still didn't really feel like it was all right like Nadia was saying. Things can go wrong so fast though. When she'd died, there hadn't been enough time to save everyone, including herself. All it took was the right injury, and people could die in seconds. And we don't know what this thing is capable of. What if it's as strong as the Void was? What if we die before anyone gets here? I know you guys will just end up here again, but me? I'll just disappear. I'll be in the dark again.

Murmur could tell that Honesty was really scared. He put a hand on her back and started rubbing it comfortably the way his moms used to do when he was scared as a kid. Like Honesty had said his moms had been one of the ones who died after death. They were gone now forever. He didn't plan on letting that happen to Honesty too. Well, we'll just make sure that doesn't happen then. Like you said, if we die, we'll just end up here, so I'll protect you. Knight's honor. He would've saluted, but he didn't want Honesty to feel like he was giving too much of their conversation up to the creature. And besides, if you're worried about it's power, Belphegor shouldn't be too far away either. If it takes something of a similar power to defeat him, they should be able to. And they can hear us everywhere, so they should be able to get to us quickest.

Honesty relaxed a little. She was still nervous about all of this, but Nadia and Murmur were right that all of the strongest people they knew were not that far away, and she'd experienced a few times just how much Belphegor could hear. She wondered if they already knew about these creatures, but at least for now, she trusted Nadia and Murmur to keep her safe. She still planned to keep a safe distance from the creature. "You can come with us," Honesty agreed, deciding that it would be better to have the creature closer to where help could come for them if they needed it.

"Yeah, we can show you. Nadia's an expert on it. She's been working with Belphegor to help the dead be able to eat things they can taste again." He could cook too, but he was average at it, and he hadn't tried to cook the food for the dead, so he wasn't experienced with it like Nadia was.

Honesty was more relieved by the fact that she wouldn't taste like anything to this creature. It still didn't mean this thing wouldn't try to kill her, or her friends. It also could've been lying. Since death, she couldn't tell as easily when people were lying, and this thing felt even more like a mystery. Her fear and paranoia over this thing also clouded her judgement. She was overly cautious no matter how she tried to look at things.

Murmur was the opposite. He grinned as the creature offered to let him eat it. "We do eat each other a lot in our . . . culture, but you're not going to offend me if you don't let me. It's more of a . . . reciprocated thing. We only do it if both of us want to do it to each other."

NADIA: She gave Honesty an empathetic look. She could understand why the Virtue was hesitant. She had more to lose here than they did. She nodded her agreement when Murmur reassured Honesty that they wouldn’t let anything happen to her. If anything happens, the two of us will fight and you run toward the party and alert the others. Sure, people would be upset with her and Murmur if they died but they’d both just end up here in the end and that wasn’t so bad. She was glad when Honesty eased a little. Nadia couldn’t read emotions, but something about the being before them and the way it held itself felt genuine to her.

“You’ve been to the kitchens before?” Nadia hadn’t noticed this being there before. It must have been pretty stealthy or perhaps it just showed up when she wasn’t around. Either way, he was kind of growing on her because he had a lot in common with the people of her own kingdom. They, too, were also stealthy in manners of food theft. She nodded her agreement when Murmur called her the expert. “It’s my day, night, and weekend job,” she grinned. She was going to be running a few cooking classes here and she wanted to invite Honesty, but she didn’t want to do it in front of this creature. It felt rude and like she’d be excluding him. If he wanted to, she could probably teach him how to cook too, but it would have to be off the clock. If Honesty was afraid of him, other people would be too so she couldn’t have him come directly to her class. She’d figure something out eventually. “Come on,” she gestured with her head for everyone to follow her. “I’ll take you guys down the staff entrance so we can avoid the crowd.” She began walking toward the side entrance.

She snorted as Murmur continued to flirt with the being. “He means that in a non-violent way. It’s a pleasurable feasting. But before we get too deep into the customs of our culture, perhaps we should know your name. I’m Nadia, Duchess of Gluttony, and these are my friends Sir Murmur and Lady Honesty. What do we call you?”

DEVOUR: The child who was dead seemed to be the one that was most afraid of him. He did not blame her. If the Void was willing to torture its own siblings, he could only imagine what it did to strangers. He shifted on his feet. Perhaps he should’ve given the turkey leg to her. Maybe if he learned to cook, he could make something for her too. He didn’t know why he felt compelled to apologize for the Void, but he did. “I—only a handful of times,” he lied. He went to the kitchen almost every night. But he didn’t know if it was wise to admit that. He wasn’t sure what a job was but from the glowing recommendation that the young male child was giving on behalf of the smaller blonde child suggested that food was her specialty. She had the air and confidence of an expert.

“Thank you,” he remarked as they agreed to let him join their expedition. He was nervous and excited all at once, but he minded his position and kept his distance from the dead child of God. He did not wish to cause her further distress. He listened to the beings describe their customs. “A pleasurable feasting?” He wasn’t sure he understood. “Is it because you regenerate?” He’d seen some of them get injured before and the wounds closed up fairly quickly. Still, he wasn’t sure that was too pleasant. He nodded when the young girl, Nadia, introduced herself. “Nadia, Duchess of Gluttony.” He tested the name on his lips. “Sir Murmur.” A nod at the gentleman. “Lady Honesty.” He nodded but did not meet her eyes for he did not want to see the fear in them. He tilted his head to the side in an expression of confusion when he was asked what he preferred to be called. “I am the absence of taste. Or, perhaps, I was once.” It was what some of his siblings wished he would remain. But he’d tasted from the fruits of their trees and he could not go back. “I’m not sure what I am anymore. You may call me as you see fit.”

HONESTY & MURMUR: Honesty still wasn't fond of the idea of just abandoning Nadia and Murmur to their fates. She didn't want them to die for her, but she also didn't want to experience what would happen if she died again. She didn't think she could talk Nadia and Murmur out of this though, so going with them seemed like the best option.

"And you didn't get caught?" Murmur asked, impressed. He was usually pretty stealthy himself when he tried to be, and it was a quality he admired. It was actually pretty surprising to him that Belphegor hadn't caught onto him. He wondered if Belphegor even knew he existed. He knew that Belphegor could hear just about everything in the Empty, so it was hard to imagine that they wouldn't know about him, but he'd never heard them mention this guy. Of course, maybe they were worried about reactions like Honesty's. It was probably best not to worry anyone about it if they could. "We do regenerate, but that's not what it's about." He could tell that this guy wasn't going to understand them if they were too subtle about it. He was kind of like how Belphegor used to be. "We don't so much eat each other as we do . . . taste each other. There's certain parts of our bodies that feel good when you touch them in the right spots in the right way. You can use your hands to do it, but using your mouth, and more specifically your tongue, on someone lets you taste them while you're making them feel good. If you do it right and make them feel good enough, they'll make a fluid that you can either swallow down or spit out at your discretion. If you want to try it out sometime, I'd be happy to try it with you and show you how it works. I could bring some food, and we could try-"

"Okay, that's enough of the sex education," Honesty snapped, glaring at Murmur. She already didn't want to be around this thing. She could only take so much of hearing Murmur flirting. She didn't really care about him explaining what sex was, but making her hear about him with something that seemed so much like the Void made her nauseous. She wanted to get this over with, and she could do without Murmur being so horny. He just shrugged and bowed when the creature addressed him, tossing a wink in his direction. Honesty still looked frozen as she was addressed. The creature avoided eye contact with her, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She was looking for any sign of deceit or harm. There wasn't any, but she was too scared to stop looking.

"The absence of taste?" Murmur asked. That had to be a strange experience, and it looked like he was tasting now, or he had been before they took food away from him. "But if you care a lot about food, maybe your name could be eating related." He liked the idea of getting to name someone. "Her dad's already Gluttony. But there's not many similar ones I feel like you could make names out of. Gorge? I don't think I like that one for you. It just feels like I'm calling you George with an accent. That's boring."

NADIA: She got the vibe that he’d been to the kitchen more than a handful of times but she didn’t say anything. If he really did manage to go undetected that was pretty impressive. As long as he remained harmless, she didn’t plan to snitch on him. Now that she knew he made visits to the kitchen, she’d leave some stuff for him when she could. “Murmur for the love of Hell…” she sighed and rubbed at her temples. He wasn’t just flirting anymore. He was straight up propositioning the man. Thankfully, Honesty cut him off before he could go any further though Nadia wasn’t sure how much further one could go without offering a demonstration right then and there. “At least you offered him food beforehand.” That was the nice thing to do when you wanted to eat someone out. You had to make sure they ate first.

She smiled and nodded at the man encouragingly as he repeated their names back to them. It was interesting that he had no name himself. He was a construct. But then again what was a name if not a construct to begin with. “Murmur already thinks you’re a snack, so Snack is a good one. But it sounds a little too close to snake and that’s my mom’s mascot.” Dagon wasn’t her mom, but it felt too complicated to get into that right now. She paused for a moment at the door to the staff entrance. “What about Devour?” she asked as she swiped her card to unlock the door. She entered the well-lit corridor and motioned for the others to follow her in. The sounds of the party could be heard one floor above them, and she found that to be soothing in its own way. It was like being part of the crowd without being overwhelmed by it. “That’s how we found you and it’s a pretty badass name too.”

DEVOUR: He was quiet for a moment as he debated what he ought to say. Some of his siblings would've demanded he say nothing. They very well could cut his tongue out for just talking to these three. But these children were disclosing information about their families so perhaps it was safe to tell them about his own. If he bothered to look deeper within himself, he might've allowed himself to see that he was also telling them this information because he wanted to keep them safe. There was an innocence to these Children of God that he had not seen in a very long time here in the Empty. Innocence did not last long here. If he did not tell them what lurked in the shadows, it was possible that the shadows would find them unguarded. "It's possible my siblings know where I disappear to, but if they do they haven't said anything," he allowed.

He listened intently as the young male, Murmur, described this pleasurably feasting. To taste one another but not eat each other sounded like quite the test of wills. "Ah, I see. So the goal is to get to this fluid? That is the meal?" Fascinating. It sounded like both the feaster and the feasted received some kind of reward in the end. All of their food so far tasted phenomenal so what must their fluids taste like? "Yes," he grinned. "I think I'd like to try."

He kept up his pace with the children as they walked toward an entry point he hadn't seen before. He wasn't sure what a snack was but it sounded like a kind of food he wanted to try. He wasn’t sure what a snake was either. “So, you are not a Child of God?” he asked when Nadia mentioned a mother. The Children of God had no mother, and she radiated an energy that was different from the two beings before her. What was she?

As she door opened, he could hear the sounds of the party above them. Walking down the corridor was an experience he knew he’d struggle to put into words for Echo later. It was like being a part of the party…a part of their mysterious world. Their music was so beautiful even when it was muffled. And based on the fragrant smell of food just up ahead he knew she was leading them down the right path. “Devour…” he repeated the name. “Devour.” He nodded after a moment. “You may call me Devour.”

MURMUR & HONESTY: When Murmur had asked him about not getting caught, he'd meant that he hadn't been caught by the staff here or by Cuphegor themselves. Honesty had understood what Murmur was asking too, but the creature's response made it seem like getting caught was more of a concern with their siblings than with the rulers of this realm. "You have siblings?" Honesty asked. She'd known that he gave off similar energy to the Void, but she hadn't considered the idea of them being siblings. That would've made her more scared if it didn't sound like he was concerned about his siblings doing something to him. "They aren't . . . around, are they?" She glanced around, but if they blended into shadows so easily, she was scared she wouldn't be able to see them easily.

"What are they like?" asked Murmur. "You said you were the absence of taste, right? So what are they? What was the Void?" Murmur had a lot of questions, and so did Honesty. Thankfully, they didn't throw out every single one they had all at once. They both knew too many questions could be overwhelming, but Murmur was more than a little excited by his answers. He wasn't perturbed by Honesty or Nadia's reaction to his explanation of eating out. He personally felt like he was being helpful by explaining it to they guy. It sounded like he experienced so little of life, and as much as Murmur wanted to hook up with him, he didn't want to feel like he was tricking him or trying to push him into something he didn't understand. He was like a virgin. He probably was a virgin if he didn't understand eating out. "The goal is mainly to make each other feel good, but the fluid, cum, is the signifier that you are doing that." Murmur grinned as he agreed to his offer. "Great! I'll show you a great time after we get some real food in you."

Honesty had to hide her face in her hands from the embarrassment of being around Murmur when he was like this. At least for now, it distracted her from her fear of the creature they were traveling with. "How are you just like Andras?"

"I learn from the best?" He answered with a grin. "He'd be proud of me." Honesty didn't feel like that was really a good thing here. "Technically, neither of us are children of God," he said as he indicated at himself and Nadia. "Her mom and dad are at that party, and my moms are . . . well one's basically dead, and the other one is double dead, but we're basically like . . . children of the community. There's more than a few people who look after us as if we were their children." He smiled when Devour seemed to like then name they'd picked out for him. "And how do we call you, Devour?" he asked, though he wasn't asking about his name. "You don't have a phone, right? Is there a way we can get in contact with you when we want to see you again?"

NADIA: She stiffened slightly when he mentioned his siblings. The way he spoke about them sounded a little bit like the way Ruby spoke about her father. Her sister also did things in secret with the hopes that her dad wouldn’t find out because she was afraid of what he might do if he did. It sounded like Devour held the same fear in regard to his siblings. She held onto her questions as Honesty and Murmur asked their own. Devour already seemed a bit skittish. If they went into interrogation mode, they might scare him.

She bit back her laughter when she saw Honesty’s secondhand embarrassment for Murmur. It was kind of sweet. At this point in her life, Nadia had witnessed Murmur embarrass himself so much that she hardly felt embarrassed on his behalf anymore. If you think this is bad, you should see him hit on the wood nymphs, she giggled through their mind connection. “If you’re still feeling a little hungry afterwards, just let me know,” she grinned innocently. She could feed him any which way he’d like. Maybe one day they’d show him the buffet that was an orgy.

She nodded her agreement when Murmur explained that neither of them were Children of God. “We’re more like…the Grandchildren of God though I wouldn’t even claim that title.” They were asking Devour a lot about his history, so it was only fair to exchange some of their own. “I’m from a subspecies called Lilim. We’re the children of fallen angels who mated with a being called Lilith. Depending on the strength of our angelic linage, some of us end up here in the Empty when we die so you might see a few of them walking around. Like Murmur’s mom, my biological dad’s is frozen in a state between life and death. And my biological mother hasn’t been seen in centuries. But my adoptive parents are here. The party we’re having is for the person that I, really we, choose to consider mom.” She knew she wasn’t the only one who considered Dagon in that way. Honesty had mentioned that she’d felt that way about Dagon too when she was alive. And Dagon cared for Murmur pretty similarly too. “Her name is Dagon. She’s got the snakes in her hair. She took over Belphegor’s position as the Demon Princess of Sloth. And the person that I choose to consider as my dad, his name is Beelzebub. He’s the Demon Prince of Gluttony. They’re very nice. I’ll introduce you sometime.” Nadia had enough sense to know that none of her family members would be too thrilled with the risk that she and the the others took on today but once they got to know a little bit about Devour she was sure they'd like him.

DEVOUR: “I have seven, but they are not here currently. Most of them do not venture into your territory.” Though there was talk of changing that. The dead were not native to this land even if their God placed them here. And after being under one oppressive being who kept them locked up, some of his siblings weren’t too keen on sharing land. They wanted their home and land back from the perceived colonizers. He hoped they wouldn’t do anything. They were vastly outnumbered. And having observed some of the older Children of God and the power they held, Devour could already tell that the fight would be bloody. He didn’t have it in him to fight after centuries of torment. He just wanted to eat. “They, too, are the absence of things such as sound, light, smell, touch, form, happiness, and thought. The Void…” his voice flattened as he tried to control his fear. “It was a pit of cruelty and the absence of empathy.” And I’m glad that it’s gone. He was afraid to say it out loud for fear that even in death the Void might hurt him. But his eyes showed enough.

He nodded when Murmur elaborated on the goal of the activity. “I look forward to trying your cum and I will repay the favor.” He was surprised when Nadia offered him seconds. He did not know why these beings were so generous to him, but he appreciated their kindness. It had been such a long time since anymore cared to be kind to him. “Thank you,” he replied with genuine gratitude. “I will.”

As they moved forward down the corridor he listened to the Children—Grandchildren—of God explain their origins. Fascinating. One was the offspring of two Children of God and the other was the offspring of a Child of God and another being. “Lilim. Yes, I believe I have seen a few.” He tilted his head to one side as she described how she’d chosen her other family. Community children. That was a new concept to him. He didn’t know it was even possible to designate familial roles to someone who wasn’t your family. Granted, for most of his life he didn’t have anyone except his siblings, but that was changing now that the Empty was free from the Void. He glanced up to where the party was still ongoing. So, this was for their chosen mother. And their chosen mother was someone who was taking over the Belphegors previous position. Things were making sense now. He’d seen the snake haired woman in the Empty a lot and she did appear to be close to the Belphegor. “Dagon. I’ve seen her too. She and the tall blonde one…they are prescriptive.” He thought they might’ve seen him more than a few times, but he always fled before he or they could confirm anything. He considered her offer as they stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. “If they are like you then yes, I would like to meet them someday.”

His brows knitted in confusion. “Phone?” He wasn’t sure what that was. There were no easy ways to reach one another here. The only people Devour really had to talk to were a handful of his siblings. “The Void cut off most ways of communicating here though The Empty can get you to me. But before I tell you how, I need you to promise me one thing.” He looked at them with upmost seriousness. “I’ve seen the wardings at the edge of your land. You must promise to stay within them. You cannot seek me in the forest. Do you understand?”

HONESTY & MURMUR: "Seven?" Honesty asked with horror. One of the Void was enough, but the idea of seven of his kind sounded terrifying. She was a little relieved to hear that they didn't venture into their territory, but it didn't make her any less scared of them. Devour had come all the way out here after all. What if the others did too?

Murmur found himself more intrigued by the list of Devour's siblings. "You and the absence of sound seem like you'd make up Nadia's dad together. He's always hungry, but he's so quiet when he moves that he scares her mom all the time without even trying." It was hard to imagine how some of the absences worked though. The absence of form sounded a little like the demons of hell who didn't fall from heaven and weren't born from Lilith. They didn't have full forms outside of Hell and could only go to earth if they possessed someone. "The absence of happiness sounds like Dagon's whole kingdom. They're all severely depressed too." He didn't think they couldn't experience happiness, but they were deprived of a lot of it. "And the absence of touch sounds like Valefar. She's not exactly my mom, but she took me in after I lost my moms. Whenever she touches someone or something she cares about, it turns to gold, so she tries not to touch anyone." It didn't stop some people, like his mom or Nadia's dad, from getting turned to gold though.

"And we already have the absence of thought right here," said Honesty as she patted Murmur's head. "Are you sure this isn't your sibling?" She felt like it had to be with how much he kept opening his mouth to say the worst things. It felt like a bad idea for him to be talking about Dagon's kingdom like that. He didn't seem to learn anything from how he'd talked about Nadia just a few minutes ago. Both Honesty and Murmur got a little quieter when Devour mentioned the Void. Murmur knew the Void was a sensitive subject for Honesty, and he watched her to make sure she was okay. For Honesty, her empathy outweighed her fear of Devour. She could tell by the way he talked that he must have had a horrible time with the Void too, even though it was his sibling. "But the Void's gone now, and it can't be cruel to us anymore," she said reassuringly to both Devour and herself.

She felt like she was going to be sick as Nadia also offered herself up as a meal for Devour. "Nadia, not you too. . ." she sighed.

Murmur couldn't help giggling as Nadia joined in with him on the offer. "I look forward to tasting yours too."

"If you want to kill me now, ceasing to exist doesn't sound that bad at the moment."

"She doesn't mean that." Murmur put his hand over her mouth, worried that Devour might take her seriously. He didn't think Devour wanted Honesty to die, but he could tell that the creature struggled to understand them and might take her words as a genuine request that would make her happy. Devour seemed to be doing most things that he thought would appease them.

Murmur could tell they were getting close to the kitchen now. The smells of cooked food were so strong. He'd eaten already, but his tummy still rumbled. "Asmo?" he asked, assuming that's who the tall blonde person was that Devour was talking about.  "Or maybe Raphael. Or Ramiel?"

"Not if it's someone perceptive," Honesty muttered. She didn't remember a lot of what he'd been like before the war, but he didn't seem all that perceptive now. She mainly just heard him whining about how his best friend wouldn't come see him. "But I doubt he's going to know which one it is by their name anyways." How was Devour supposed to know who was who.

"Oh right," Murmur nodded. "Does he look like this?" He changed his form to look like Asmo, "or like this?" and then he looked like Raphael, though only for a moment before he was back to himself. It felt unnatural being in those forms. "Yeah, they look like this." He held up his phone. "I could give you mine and then-"

Honesty snatched his phone out of his hand before he could hand it off. "It's honestly too complicated to explain right now." It wasn't her only reason for stopping the hand off, but it really was complicated. She practically had to take a whole class on how to use those things, and she still didn't really understand them.

Murmur frowned. He tried to grab his phone back, but Honesty kept it away from him. He planned to steal it back when she wasn't paying attention, but he was perplexed by Devour's demand that they make a promise about not going into the forest. "No, not really. Why can't we go in the forest?" They would've already struggled to get through Belphegor's wardings keeping them in, but he wanted to know what they were supposed to be avoiding.

NADIA: She raised her brow at the mention of seven other siblings. That was definitely a lot more than expected. She wondered if Belphegor knew about them. They had to given how connected to the Empty they were. She didn’t know how much they knew but she knew this was an opportunity to gather more information for them. Perhaps if they collected enough history, the consequences of their actions tonight wouldn’t be so bad. “Are there anymore creatures out there like your siblings and you?” she asked.

She smiled and nodded her agreement when Murmur remarked that Devour and the sibling that was the absence of sound were similar to her dad. “It’s pretty funny,” she grinned when he brought up how that combination of things often led to her dad scaring the shit out of Dagon. She gave a look that conveyed I mean, he’s not wrong when he remarked that Dagon’s kingdom sounded like the sad guy. “They’re on the mend though,” she threw in. Perhaps his sad sibling would find something to bring him joy too. Maybe they could help him. “That’s how our parents got stuck in that state between life and death. They’re frozen in gold,” she added for context.

She bit back a laugh when Honesty remarked that they had the absence of thought here with Murmur. “You beat me to the joke by like half a second,” she giggled. Her smile faultered when he brought up the Void. She got the sense that despite being the Void’s sibling, he did not have a good time under the Void’s rule. “I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, Belphegor isn’t anything like that. They struggle to understand some things about emotion from time to time, but they are not cruel.”

Her smile returned when Honesty started complaining about the flirting. “I’m being hospitable,” she grinned. She nearly choked on how sincere Devour’s promise was that he looked forward to the activity. It reminded her a lot of Belphegor before they had Asmo’s grace. She was pretty sure if she could just get Devour to meet with Bells, they’d get on swimmingly. But for now she at least got him to agree to meet with her parents. “They’re very much like us,” she grinned. “I’ll let them know and maybe we can set up lunch one day. My dad loves any ol’ reason to cook.” He might not be pleased with this one but he’d understand.

She wasn’t surprised Devour had seen Dagon around. She spent a lot of time in the Empty with Belphegor and their twin. Nadia couldn’t help the pang of jealousy as Murmur began to change his forms to try to pinpoint who the other person was. That was a talent Nadia did not possess as a half breed. But that wasn’t Murmur’s fault so she pushed the feeling away. “Preceptive sounds like Raphael. They’re an Archangel. They along with my mom have an ability to read emotions. Sort of like the opposite of the Void. I imagine my mom must’ve felt your hunger and thought you were my dad.” If he kept hiding in the shadows while he was hungry, he probably ran the risk of Dagon’s snakes coming at him because they thought Beel was messing around. Or Dagon might bring it up to Beel that he was being weird hiding in the shadows. Nadia smiled at the confusion that might cause.

Nadia gave a tiny applause at the quick speed at which Honesty snatched the phone from Murmur. Death had not dulled that reflex at least. Phones were a hard concept to pick up and there were still a lot of security risks. They’d have to go with some of the older methods of communicating. “We can leave you food with hidden messages at a designated drop off spot. One of my Knights did that with his sister after the war and it worked out for them.” She raised a brow when he remarked that they had to promise to stay away from the forest. Nadia wasn’t going to lie. She’d gone down to where the wardings were. They were pretty impenetrable. “I’ve heard my parents talking about what’s beyond the wardings. They said something about God’s wasteland. Creatures that he scrapped. Is that what we should be avoiding?”

DEVOUR: “There are all manners of creatures here, but none quite like my siblings,” he replied. He had yet to meet any that were more than beasts. He listened as Murmur related his siblings to things that were similar in his own world. It would appear their lands were not all that different. “The intangible is known to do similar things,” he remarked when they brought up the quiet footed sneaker. “But I do not feel his energy here tonight,” he assured them. It saddened him to hear about an entire kingdom that lacked a certain degree of happiness like his own sibling. He hadn’t seen that particular sibling in a very long time actually. He wondered if perhaps the Numbness was dead. “I’m glad to hear they are healing from their troubles.” If the Numbness was alive, perhaps they would heal too one day. His brows furrowed in concern when they brought up the Child of God known as Valefar. “And what of her favorite food? Does that turn to gold too?” That sounded heartbreaking.

He chuckled when the small one joked about Murmur possibly being one of his siblings. “He still has too much forethought to truly be the thoughtless,” he replied though he did not meet her eyes as he spoke. “The thoughtless would not remember they even met with you once you are no longer in his presence. He’s harmless as long as you keep your wits about you. Though, I don’t think you’ll see him much. He will likely never be able to follow the path here without getting distracted.” His eyes finally met the small ones when she remarked that the Void could no longer be cruel to them. He nodded softly before averting his gaze once again. His attention turned to Nadia as she began her defense of the Belphegor. He wasn’t sure what to think. “The Void seemed to believe they were kindred spirits…” he remarked. His sibling had been obsessed with the Belphegor, but if they truly were Kindred then the Belphegor would’ve have just continued the Void’s torture cycle. They hadn’t…at least not yet.

His brows rose when Honesty asked to be killed. Up until this point, she seemed very frightened of that possibility. He nodded in confused understanding when Murmur remarked that she did not actually mean it. That was a relief. He had the stomach for a lot of things, but violence was not one of them these days. “Will you get in trouble?” he asked when Nadia remarked that she would set up lunch and let her parents know. He did not want any of them to be brutalized for his transgressions.

He observed Murmur attentively as he changed from form to form. He knew most of these individuals could manipulate their forms, but he rarely saw it occurring. Most seemed to stay in one stable, comfortable form. “Raphael,” he nodded in confirmation. “They were the other.” He was utterly fascinated when Nadia explained why it felt like those two were staring right at him when they looked into the shadows. “Empaths,” he marveled. “I did not know such creatures existed. And they are close with the Belphegor?” To have something be the antithesis of everything his brother was and to have those people be the closest to the Belphegor. Perhaps there was merit in what Nadia was saying about the Belphegor. Still, he couldn’t shake all of his fear. Meeting the Grandchildren of God was one thing. He could downplay the encounter to his siblings if they found out but meeting the Belphegor was both frightening and hard to downplay.

He glanced briefly at the thing called the phone. He was going to examine it when Honesty took it away. Apparently, there was a learning curve to it. He trusted her judgement on that front. He nodded in agreement with Nadia’s idea about hidden messages in the food. “There is a small creek near the edge where our lands meet yours. It’s still within your boundaries. You may leave food there and I will come to collect it and meet you appropriately. Should you need me more urgently, you may place your wishes and manifestations in the pebbles near the creek and toss them into the waters. The Empty will carry the message to me,” he instructed. “Your parents are right. There are creatures in there that are dangerous, but none more than some of my siblings. I do not wish to frighten you. Not all of us are like the Void, but there are some among my ranks who do not like the noise. You must promise me you will never go into the woods,” he urged again. It was clear that their promise was perhaps more important to him than any food they might have to offer.

HONESTY & MURMUR: Devour's response was both a relief and a concern for Honesty. She was glad that there weren't too many things out there like the Void, but that didn't mean the other creatures were any less dangerous. At least the others didn't seem to be here either.

"Dagon will be glad for that." Murmur didn't think Dagon would've been happy about someone else sneaking up on her, so he hoped the intangible kept their distance. "Yeah, it's a slow progress, but the same goes for most of the people here. We're trying to get them all help, but you can't expect progress that fast." It was possible some of them wouldn't actually improve at all. Some of them had to be kept asleep for the fact that they just couldn't handle being awake. "It's a little complicated." Murmur rubbed the back of his neck and frowned as he thought about how to best explain it. "She can eat, and a lot of the food she eats is really delicious, but the way her curse works matters more on how much she values something or cares about it. She likes a lot of foods, but she doesn't really . . . care that much about them. I know you haven't had a lot of food you could taste, but back where we're from, we have these things called comfort foods. They're not necessarily our favorite foods, but they're foods that usually make us feel good, and, well, comforted. They might be different foods at different times too depending on your mood, so for Valefar, she tends to be careful about what she eats. I don't think she really has favorite foods anymore. Once it becomes a value to her, it does turn to gold, and she can't eat it anymore. She usually eats something different every day, so she can't form attachments to the food." It didn't stop that from happening sometimes though. He'd seen her get halfway through a meal before it turned to gold. She didn't feel like eating for a while after that. "Luckily, it's not like she has to eat. If she doesn't eat, it doesn't hurt her, and she can find other things to comfort her, like shopping. Or she'll just spend some time with her siblings. She can't touch them, but it keeps her from feeling to lonely just to be around them."

Honesty felt sympathetic to Valefar as Murmur explained her condition. She had heard about Valefar's curse, but while it had sounded sad originally, she hadn't really thought that deeply about it. To not be able to be touched by anyone you cared about did sound lonely. She couldn't recall what Valefar had been like before she died, but she imagined the change to not being able to touch anyone you loved was a hard one. She hadn't considered the fact that it didn't just extend to people either. You couldn't get comfort even from food from how Murmur described it. Honesty had been picking on Murmur a lot, but this also made her aware of the fact that he could never have gotten so much as a hug from her either. She wasn't going to give him a hug herself, but she felt bad for him, at least until Devour said he had too much forethought to be the thoughtless, and Murmur gave the most prideful grin. "Maybe a distant cousin then," she allowed.

While Honesty was uncomfortable when Belphegor was around, it wasn't because she thought they were personally like the Void. It was just because they carried its energy. "From someone who has been around them both, they're nothing alike. When I was alive, Belphegor was a healer. They still are. All the Void knows how to do is hurt people. Belphegor might not have understood a lot of their own emotions or others, but they always tried to understand. They've been spending so much time trying to help everyone here in the Empty, and if you want to see how loving they are, just watch them with Cupid."

Murmur thought about it for a moment. Would they get in trouble? Probably. Valefar tended to get more upset about those kinds of things than Dagon and Beel did. She'd probably give him a stern talking to, but it wasn't anything too bad. "They might give us a lecture about talking to strangers from the Empty, but it's not like we aren't adults. We can make our own decisions. We used our best judgement to figure out you don't mean any harm, and we didn't get hurt, so no harm no foul, right?" he shrugged. If they had gotten hurt, that might've been a different story. "We'll be okay. Even if they do get mad at us, they're just looking out for us because they love us."

Honesty nodded when Devour asked about Belphegor being close to Dagon and Raphael. A lot of her memories weren't entirely there anymore, but there were some things she remembered. Because of how close she'd been to Dagon, it was easier to remember the other two. "Yeah, a lot of the healers are empaths. Belphegor was kinda the odd one out on that, but it didn't stop them from being one of the best healers. Raphael's one of their older siblings, and Dagon's their best friend."

Honesty recalled the creek he was talking about. She didn't usually get that close to it. Something about the water was off-putting to her. It had a similar energy to the Void, and sometimes she felt like it was watching her. It didn't help that it was at the edge of the boundaries Belphegor had made, which made it feel even spookier. She wasn't sure she'd be too keen about going there again, but if Dagon and Beel were there, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She would've felt a little safer that way. She was getting a little more used to being around Devour too. He was starting to feel less like a monster and more like a person. It seemed like he did care, and he didn't want them doing anything dangerous either.

Murmur was curious how the water would get the message to Devour, but he thought he might just get to witness how it worked when they'd go to do it. He wondered what kind of creatures were out there. Surely if Devour was so nice, maybe some of those creatures would be just as nice too. He was excited by the idea that he might get to meet some of Devour's nicer siblings too. If they looked as good as Devour did, he didn't think he'd mind too much if some of the meaner ones roughed him up a little either. It sucked that he wasn't supposed to go into those woods. Being told not to only made him want to do it more.

"We won't," Honesty promised, and she meant it. She had no reason to ever want to go out of the safety she had now. "After today, they'll probably treat us more like Zoph and have someone keeping an eye on us at all times, so we don't do something like that."

NADIA: She nodded, grateful that there weren’t too many beings out there like him. The last thing the Empty needed was more things that could hurt the people here. Granted, seven siblings was a hefty number. That was the same amount as the Demon Princes of Hell. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. If Belphegor let them meet with Devour a few more times, maybe they could get a grasp on the level of power of these beings.

She smiled when he voiced concerns about Valefar’s ability to eat her favorite foods. He’d fit in very well with the Kingdom of Gluttony because they, too, were concerned about that. Her smile faded a little bit when Murmur began to describe the limitations that Valefar’s curse placed upon her. “We’re working on finding a cure for her curse, but we haven’t had much luck. In the meantime, my Uncle Asmo gave us these,” she pulled out a plastic skeleton hand from her satchel. “It’s not much, but we use them to give Valefar assurance and high fives.” She demonstrated by patting Murmur’s shoulder with the skeleton hand. “And sometimes to annoy her.” She used the pointer finger of the skeleton hand to give Murmur a wet willy. “It’s the least we can do,” she giggled.

“Too much forethought to be the Thoughtless. Amazing. Well, at least you still have object permanence, dear,” she grinned at Murmur. She nodded her agreement to Honesty’s defense of Belphegor. “I’ve never met the Void, but I grew up with Belphegor, Bells—that’s what we call them. They’re genuine. A little cranky at times, but I think that’s cause I overwhelm them. Still, I know they love me. Our family fucked up and kept a lot from them about the Void. For a while, I didn’t think Bells or my mom would forgive any of them, but they did because family is important to them. The wellbeing of this place is important to them. Keep watching and you’ll see,” she promised.

She took his question into consideration. There was a likelihood that they would get in trouble, but she didn’t think it would be terrible. Belphegor could ban them from the Empty, but she would wear them down in time. Being banned might be a fitting punishment for her and Murmur but it wasn’t really fair to Honesty to lose her friends after having lost so much. It wouldn’t take too much work to get Belphegor to see that and relent. “Yeah, I’m sure there will be consequences, but they’ll be mild. We were stupid but we were smart about it,” she reasoned. “I don’t really like keeping secrets from my dad. It’s better if we come clean to them than if they find out by another means.”

She smiled as he marveled at the ideas of empaths. She could see that it appealed to him that there were beings out there that were the opposite of the Void. “They’re Belphegor’s top advisors,” Nadia said proudly. It was proof that Belphegor and the Void couldn’t be Kindred. The Void would never surround itself with empaths. “And Belphegor’s wife, Cupid, she’s the angel of love. Her existence makes love of all kinds possible.” She didn’t think the Void was capable of love, but Belphegor was not only capable of it, they were married to it.

Nadia tried to visualize the creek. It took her a moment, but she was able to recall its placement. She nodded at Devour’s instructions. Pebble messages in case of emergency and food for all other messages. They could do that. She wasn’t surprised that not all of Devour’s siblings liked the new arrangements. In a way, the dead did not belong here, but they hadn’t chosen this as their final resting place. God had. However, in Nadia’s opinion, if they weren’t meant to be here, the power of the Empty would’ve gone back to the next in line in the Void’s family, not to Belphegor. “We’ll keep our distance from the woods,” she promised. “Are there any particular siblings of yours we should absolutely steer clear of?”

DEVOUR: He listened to Murmur describe Valefar’s affliction. It sounded terrible and extended far beyond the reach of just not being able to eat her favorite meals. It sounded like a truly awful existence, like one of the Void’s designs. “I do not understand,” he replied. “Why would their Father God make them like that?” Devour’s knowledge of God was limited. The Void had ensured they had very little information about God or his children. All that Devour knew was that the Children of God existed and at some point they started appearing in this realm in droves. It was not long after that that all of them became enslaved by the Void. He observed the plastic hand as Nadia pulled it out of her satchel and explained the sentimental value behind it. “I’m sorry, I ate the other.” He seemed to get smaller, as if he was afraid he would be punished for his transgression. The hand which he’d eaten had no flavor and he really had no way of making up for what he’d done. Thankfully it appeared that his transgression did not seem to sour her mood.

He tilted his head as he observed the two teasing the young male. Their words could be construed as harsh, but their delivery wasn’t. He did not really understand their bond for he did not have a similar relationship with his siblings. His siblings words and their delivery of those words were always matched in cruelty. He listened quietly as the two provided their testimonials about the Belphegor. Perhaps they were right. The Void’s judgment couldn’t be trusted. The way it saw things was always twisted. Perhaps it saw more of itself in the Belphegor than was actually there. The Void was no healer nor was it capable of forgiveness when you wronged it. He nodded his agreement. He would have to keep watching and see for himself.

He appeared relieved when they remarked that their punishments would be mild. He had a hard time imagining that, but they seemed confident in their answers. It would appear that they were raised to be honest despite knowing that there were consequences to that. Someone out there either made them feel safe enough to be honest or scared enough to never lie. He hoped it was the former rather than the latter. “I apologize for any trouble, mild or otherwise,” he offered.

He was surprised when Nadia brought up that the Belphegor was married to an angel that represented love. He had a hard time wrapping his head around that one. The Void would never marry a love entity. He was pretty sure the Void had no idea what love—platonic, familial, or romantic—even was. It seemed obsessed with the Belphegor, but Devour did not think that was love so much as it was a claim of ownership. “My sibling would have never been capable of such a thing. You’ve given me much to sort out,” he agreed. “You can tell them I mean no harm. If, after this, they wish me to stay off their lands I will do so.” He wasn’t ready to swear fealty to this new ruler, but he wouldn’t disobey their wishes.

He nodded, satisfied with their promise to keep away from the woods. He thought about her question carefully. He had conflicted feelings when it came to many of his siblings, but it still felt wrong to talk ill of them. Instead, he decided to just provide information. “The darkness does not like all of the light and color you’ve brought with you. The odorless finds the smell of this place overwhelming. The incorporeal longs to have substance, but I don’t think there’s anything in your lands that can give him what he wants so he’s likely to stay away. They are not always terrible, but your world is overwhelming to them,” he explained as gently as he could.

HONESTY & MURMUR: Murmur squirmed when Nadia put the skeleton hand in his ear. He snatched it away from her before smacking her on the back of the head with it. Honesty took it away from both of them. "He didn't originally make them like that. Val used to be able to touch people just fine. She actually was very touchy. She loved physical affection." Honesty wasn't there when Valefar's curse first started though, she didn't exactly see what happened, and Dagon didn't tell her all of the details.

Murmur didn't know all of the details of the curses either. He was just a child when he started, but in the midst of the trio, he was the only one alive when Valefar's curse started. His mom was one of the first of Valefar's knights to rush to her aid when she'd turned the first person to gold. They hadn't actually known what was going on or the fact that simply touching her would condemn them to a life as a golden statue. They'd simply thought their prince was under attack. For a while, they still didn't understand what happened. A lot of them thought it might've been a delayed result of the fall. Some of them thought that one of Valefar's enemies put a curse on her. Being a child who'd lost his last remaining parent, he was confused during a lot of that time, and it wasn't until Lucifer's curse came to light that Murmur really started understanding it. "God's a lot more like the Void. He didn't care about them. He just wanted to punish them for disobeying him. They went against him, and he made them suffer for it. He's not a good guy, but I guess he's gone now at least."

Honesty still had some reservations about Devour. She wasn't going to say she trusted him completely, but she was more relaxed around him now. "It's okay," she nodded. She wasn't really scared of whatever kind of discipline they might receive from Dagon and the others, though she was worried about how her siblings might feel. She had kind of disappeared after walking away from the group. "I'm sure they'll appreciate that." Like herself, she didn't think Belphegor would necessarily believe that statement on its own, but Devour's actions would speak louder than words. "I think as long as you don't scare the residents, you should be okay." Honesty frowned at Devour's description. She felt almost bad for them. They didn't choose for anyone to be here, and she knew what it was like to feel so overwhelmed, but the Empty was a big place. there was plenty of room for everyone.

NADIA: She gave Murmur her most offended scowl when he smacked her with the plastic hand. She was about to go rummaging for the other plastic hand so she could do battle when Devour remarked that he ate it. "It's alright," she assured him. "We have a reserve back home." She'd find one that Val already turned to gold and enact her vengeance upon Murmur with that one.

She nodded along when Honesty explained what Valefar was like before the curse. Nadia didn't know that Valefar because her aunt had been afflicted with the curse since before Nadia's existence. She did hear stories though that suggested Aunt Val was very affectionate before everything. "He's an awful being." Her voice shook with emotion, not just for the curses God had dealt out but also for the unforgivable things he'd done to her dad too. "If there's anyone that's Kindred to the Void it would be Him."

Her features softened once again when Devour apologized for the trouble he felt he was causing them. He apologized quite a lot for things that weren't his fault. "Don't worry about us. We'll be okay. Are you going to be okay when you leave here?" The Void was gone but he still seemed like he was afraid of something out there. He was choosing his words carefully when it came to talking about his siblings which was fair. Nadia was also choosing her words carefully when deciding what to reveal about her family.

She nodded when he remarked that his siblings were overwhelmed by their world. "My mom gets like that too sometimes. She picks up more than she wants to with her abilities and it can hurt her or others." Nadia had been instructed to not tell anyone under any circumstances just how Dagon's depression manifestation was being kept in check nor how she was able to get in and out of the Empty freely. But she could reveal other things. "We have wardings designed to create safe spaces and quiet zones for people like her." Nadia touched the door frame to the kitchen and activated the warding in question. "Maybe my family can find something that can help damper the effects of our existence on your kin." That way maybe Devour's family would be less cranky and he wouldn't be so scared. "You don't have to decide now though." He'd only just met them. She was sure there was a lot of trust building that still needed to happen before he fully believed in their benevolence. "It's just food for thought, I guess," she grinned. "And speaking of food..." she pushed the doors to the kitchen open. "I'm starving. Come on, let's see what we can find." / END

[yourmotherstrashmouth]

hi!! i saw your matchup guidelines today and i was hoping they’re open — if they are, could i request a matchup for chainsaw man and/or jujutsu kaisen?

my nickname is sylve, i use he/it/she pronouns, and i have no gender preference! i am also a minor. my mbti is entp (i THINK) and my enneagram is 2w3 :). oh and my zodiac is pisces! i show my love through quality time and physical affection, and i prefer to receive quality time over everything else.

for a physical description, i’ve got short reddish-brown hair that i put in a half-up half-down style. i’m pretty short (5’1” ish ;;), i wear glasses, and i’ve got brown eyes. i’m also fair-skinned with noticeable dark circles under my eyes dkshdj. i’ll try to send a picrew as well if it works — if not i’ll just send it separately ^^

as for my hobbies & likes, i’m super into video games, writing, drawing, listening to music, making characters, and collecting stuff! i love collecting plushies and cute things, and i won’t hesitate to tell you all about my interests if i’m given permission to. i love zoology and biology - they’re so fascinating to me and honestly i love animals in general. i also love sweet things and any good iced tea/coffee or boba! and i really like places where i can just let loose and have fun with some close friends, so think like an arcade, carnival/fair, amusement park, bowling alley, etc.

on the other hand, i’d have to say my dislikes are really any stressful situation. meeting new people or being in an unfamiliar environment is so awful, especially when there’s a lot of focus on you. another dislike i have is when people generally lack empathy/understanding :(

personality-wise, i’m very passionate about what i love!!! i’m also easily excited. i try to be friendly and easygoing since i want to be approachable! and i love to make people smile and laugh, so there’s that. i tend to be really talkative with people i’m close/comfortable with. i also have the habit of being a perfectionist and being pretty sensitive. ;;

sorry if this is so long — but thank you for your time and i hope you have a great day!

i match you with...

Itadori Yuji and Power!

Song: Shower - Becky G

Itadori is definitely an outgoing person in my opinion so I think he would be perfect for you.

Whenever after begging Gojo to do so, you go to an amusement park, he goes on every ride with you and protests whenever he can't sit next to you on the rides.

He wins all the prizes he can at shooting games to give them all to you and also treats you with boba after.

Your relationship is made of plushies, boba and coffee.

Sometimes you stay awake all night to play videogames drinking just a few cups of coffee so you can focus on your games.

Nobara complains about your eyebags the next day and gives you a cucumber under-eye cream to treat them.

He always holds you, you guys are never too far away from each other.

Song: Sexy Naughty Bitchy Me - Tata Young

If you guys are going at the arcade, I'm joining- sorry, personal notes hahah.

Anyways Power is surprisily good at winning arcade games and gets a lot of tickets for the best prizes.

She's the type of person to do a lot of crazy things, so you'll never get bored.

You make fun of Denji because he can't get a strike at the bowling alley.

Has a sweet tooth, in fact her teeth look like shit.

You should get her and take her to a dentist, but she's like too scared to go though she fights with a chainsaw demon by her side which she compares with the dentist's tools

[breakersmansh]

1 Iuchar 2566 EB/ July 1, 2023

Hey everyone. How was your day?

My day was pretty cool. Jewish Sabbath. Earned some free food from a Catholic parish. Slept. Ran into a guy who looked and sounded like Kurt. At the parish. Went to a library and partied all day with the librarians. Got reprimanded for trying to include/ represent Reaper’s interpretation of Boston accent on a Zoom call. Printed out a Feb 13, 1991 article about Reaper’s city, from when I was in the womb. Invited Joe, Kristin and Reaper to my 32nd birthday party. Played around at a beach. Received some alcohol, although hesitant to drink it because I think Brigham Young’s a cool dude. Enjoying/appreciating my adult freedom, right now, I suppose. Looked up the word Catholic in Webster’s dictionary. One definition of the word says liberal, like tolerant of many points of view. Reaper’s pretty Catholic in that sense. There’s a haunting bust of Pope John Paul II here in the middle of Boston that gives me chills. Not in an anti-Catholic way. Running with the idea that Boston is like Irish Catholic Utah, I don’t know that the warnings this city gives are as clear or fair as they could be. I tried to accentuate the warning tonight to make it fair for tourists. Just set up some art. Hard to miss the Catholic message now, for those who are meant to see. Hope Reaper enjoys his quest to have a CrossFit ish body, to whatever extent he feels capable of pursuing that. Looking forward to St. Patrick’s day. Hanukkah will be hard to let go of, but I love Reaper more. I love him so much, and the bond we have is more important to me than Hanukkah. I genuinely hope Reap and his dad enjoy the birthday invitation I made them. Love you dude. :)

[nimbus-cloud-90]

Hey sheepoles, I've got something I hope you enjoy:

Prologue-ish:

“Well, this sucks,” I say to myself as I shoot all of the birds that landed on my property. I know they’ve never said anything about animals catching the thing but I like to be careful about stuff, and this is no different. And like I expected anything different they sprung up and flew away like it was no problem.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “THIS IS THE BIRD APOCALYPSE! HITCHCOCK PREDICTED ALL!” and while I appreciate your creative thinking folks, that’s not what’s happening. And to be fair that’s what I thought at first too, y’know the birdpacolypse. Being a duck hunter and all, I thought the gods were finally getting their revenge against me for interrupting the ecosystem with my guns. But it happened to the whole world, so that theory ended pretty quickly.

Things just won’t stay dead. Animals, humans, and all of the tiny bercerita crawling on your skin right now, are staying alive, and aren’t dying. At first I thought it was the usual god temper tantrum, which usually lasts about half a year if you do what they ask. But this has been going on for two years now, and there has been no signs of it letting up.

Wait, are those birds coming back-

Oh shit.

Chapter One:

A God Said What?

So that’s why I’m now busy putting hydrogen peroxide on my scratch wounds. And of course, we can’t regenerate or heal, no matter how extreme or miniscule the injuries are. We had to figure out how to cope with that alone. And modern medicine only scratches the surface of the problem.

“Hold still Jake.”

“Mom.” I groaned like some of the things out there.

“What were you thinking, going out this time of night?”

“It’s barely sunset thou-"

“It’s still too dangerous out there!” She shouted, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Mom, I’m sorry.” I say and hug her tightly, my pride falling despite my best efforts.

“I just wish you were a little more careful about this.”

“I know, I just-” She pulled away, and put her hands on my shoulders as she stared into my eyes.

“J, you know that trying to keep you safe isn’t a punishment right?”

“I know Mom, I know.”

“Who knows who they’re coming for next, infact who knows when something happens to you and this curse that has been afflicted upon our land is gone, and then-”

“Mom, Mom, MOM!” I say and grab her face gently, “Listen, I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying right here, with you.” She sobs even more and falls to the floor, face in her hands as she cries harder. I get on my knees and continue to hug her.

And that was my breakfast for this morning.

——————————

There are three figures inside a fancy hall, watching the events of the Earth on a gigantic glass globe.

“Is this because of the party?” A voice as light as air asked.

“What party?” The figure said, unconvincingly and rather defensively as well.

“Oh. my. Me, you guys are so fucking petty.”

"Look we just wanted one day-"

"You mean Death wanted one day, and you want to be able to get away with your bullshit like you did once upon a time." A bold and fiery voice said.

“Oh, fuck you Phenoix.”

“Hmm, you know what I’ll pass on that offer.”

“Why you little-”

“Shut up!” Windy said and seemed to be listening around them, “Okay, so, the other gods are looking for you again.”

“Oh Me damnit.”

“Yep, so I’d start hiding if I were you.”

“YA THINK!!!” The raspy voice successfully yelled and took off.

“So….how long until the gods find and punish him again?” The one that’s Phenoix asked.

“I’m going to say a millenia.”

“It’s probably going to be something shorter, like a century or something.”

"Whatever it is I'll be laughing the whole time." Windy said and breathlessly laughed manically.

——————————

Mom went to attempt to go to the store today so I’m alone for the first time in a few months.

Then out of nowhere a blue fire started on the floor, in the middle of the room, on the fucking carpet, ‘Shit it’s been too long since I’ve done this.’

"Excuse me?"

‘Oh, hello young lad, I have a favor to ask of you.’

"Why?"

‘Good question, you’re going to do something for me.’

"Again why?" The voice whined and groaned, and complained about the growing intellect of humanity and their need for questions.

‘Okay so, you’re going to have death stop their pity party and have them do their fucking job and kill people.’

"WHAT!?!?"

‘Yep, and I’d leave a note for your mom before you go.’

"WHAT!?!?"

‘Okay, buh bye then!’

"NO WAIT WHAT!?!?" And just like that the fire went away, no burn marks whatsoever on the carpet, and the voice was gone.

What the fuck just happened?

——————————

“J, I’m home,” I heard Mom’s footsteps walk into the kitchen counter, “I see you’re finally taking the gods seriously.” Looking at all of the books strung across the table, most if not all of them have to do with gods seaking out mortal help.

“Something like that.” I mean, she’s not wrong.

After the fire thing I did some research and there were two possibilities, one, I’m insane and a bit schizophrenic, or two, one of the gods put me on a quest like they used to back in the olden days.

Like they did with Dad, before the whole no deaths thing.

“Honey, it’s getting quite late, you should probably sleep.”

“Oh, okay then.” I don’t feel like arguing with her so maybe I am a bit tired.

——————————

As I slept I entered into this weird coma dream-like state. Y’know, where you can feel everything you’re experiencing but still understand you’re in a dream. I saw a beautiful pink tinted meadow with a tall golden tree. In this fantasy world I walked closer to the tree, noticing the blue, red, and yellow flowers and fruit growing on its branches. I stood on one of the tall roots and almost ate one of the fruits, but someone put their hand on my shoulder and said, “Yeah, I wouldn’t.”

I then jumped back in fear and almost fell off of the root, but a hooded figure, with seemingly long nails steadied me before I stumbled back any further, “Who the fuck are you?!” I asked, adrenaline still flowing in my veins.

“That’s not important, what is important is you have to do this.”

“Do what?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t play dumb with me.” I just sighed, “Look, my dad is going to be pissed when he finds out what’s going on, so for the sake of everyone on this planet, please take up this quest I’m begging you.” I didn’t answer, I stayed silent. “Give yourself a couple of days to think about it then, okay?”

I felt the winds rustle the leaves on the tree.

“Looks like dad’ll be home soon so I’m just going to drop this call.”

“What?” And then just like that I was back inside the house, in my room, alone. Except for one white flower on my chest. It looked like a rose. I brushed my finger against it, ‘Eat these if you need me okay?’ The voice at the tree as the blinding moon shown through my window.

So a god begged me to go on a quest for them huh?

__________

Well there it is, I hope you enjoy it.

Also: @computerglitch306 @shadie-cat behold my glory.

[lowkeywannakermit]

you mentioned you like the shadowhunter chronicles, so thoughts on clary and jace?!

okay firstly… thank u so much?!? for caring ab what i think? or at least being somewhat curious??? mind boggling truly…

eehhhh… i did not like the whole “they’re not siblings… and then they actually are siblings… but no they’re not” situation, but other than that i actually love them both and love their characters. the way that they had their whole “i know we’re maybe siblings… but i still like u :/“ moment did make me want to throw up a little bc come on guys, like, just ignore it. pretend it does not exist… how r u not embarrassed? but i’ve moved past that lol. (to be fair they were both young and stupid and their prefrontal cortexes were not fully developed so maybe their choices were… somewhat[?] justified…? maybe…?).

i think clary is an interesting character just because she is kind of the typical “i’m different” girl which at first i didn’t like, but as the character grows and changes, that becomes less prevalent. i like her intellect and her fierceness and her wit. i also love her relationships and interactions with the other characters, specifically magnus and jace.

jace, i have always liked. at first i did think that he was kind of weird, just in the way he was kind of an asshole in a teasing way and he was the “all that” boy and he kind of got away with anything, which was annoying and fairly stereotypical. however, he is so loyal and he cares so much about everyone all the time. pretty much i like them both a lot now that i’ve read all of her books and seen them grow and change from being like 16/17-ish to being adults so i like who they r now.

[megalony]

Close call

This is a Sonny Carisi imagine that was requested by the lovely @musicistheway and I’ve had it in my inbox for quite a while now but didn’t have the inspiration until now to write it. Sorry it took so long but I hope you like it, and I am hopefully doing a follow up part.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr​ @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss​ @sj-thefan​ @omgitsearly​ @luckytrashgooprebel​ @scarsout​ @deaky-with-a-c​ @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac​ @vousmemanqueez-blog​ @jonesyaddiction​ @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms​ @saint-hardy​ @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls​ @mrsalwayswritex​ @rogerina-owns-me @hellsdragon​ @im-an-adult-ish​ @crazylittlethingg​ @allauraleigh @onceuponadetectivedemigod​ @ceres27​ @thereisa8ella​ @qardasngan

Masterlist

Summary: After Sonny arrests a gang member, he gets a call from his wife, the gang have broken into their house and their newborn baby is there.

Enjoy.

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

"Okay, we've got another rape and assault on our hands."

Those words flooded round the squad room and told everyone that their shifts just got interesting and were going to end on a hectic note. Their shifts had started four hours ago and now they were getting right into business since the morning had been pretty slow all things considered.

For the past week, there had been a gang going round the streets, picking on young women who were alone. They had gone from merely assaulting them to actually raping them and they had attacked four women so far, now this made it five.

"The same gang again?" Sonny rubbed his hand over his eyes to liven himself up a bit.

The long shifts they were on were starting to take a toll on him, especially since he had a three-month-old baby girl at home so when he finished his shift, night-time was the only time of day he had to spend with her. That consisted of Sonny going straight to her for a cuddle and a chat when he got home, spending some time with (Y/n), then waking through the night to tend to Lilah.

(Y/n) had tried to talk him out of it, she was on maternity leave and tried to get up during the night to feed and settle Lilah so he could sleep but Sonny wouldn't let her. She told him that he needed sleep because he was at work but he knew if he slept then he wasn't getting the precious time he wanted with his daughter.

"I suspect so, it's the same MO. Two guys this time, grabbed her on a quiet side street where there were no security cameras and attacked her. She managed to scratch one of the men so when the rape kit comes back his DNA should be under her fingernails and we match it to one of the suspects."

Sitting down at his desk, Sonny took a large gulp of his coffee before he tipped his head back and closed his eyes for a few moments. He had been desperate to get back home to his wo girls all day since the moment he turned up to work.

Sonny didn't realise how hard he would find it to leave Lilah at home and come to work. Whenever he had to settle her down from his arms he felt like he wanted to cry, it wasn't fair. He wanted more time off from the team so he could be with her and (Y/n).

When he opened his eyes he found his focus zooming in on the picture frame resting on the corner of his desk.

The first time he held Lilah.

(Y/n) loved that photo due to how cheesy his smile was and that she could see the tears on his cheeks. He had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows and the buttons undone so Lilah could rest against his chest and get skin contact with him.

"Carisi, Rollins go grab Leon our main suspect and get him here to be interviewed."

Sonny heaved himself from his chair and sluggishly followed Amanda, clipping his badge onto his belt and holding his jacket in the crook of his arm as he walked.

"Lilah keep you up last night?" Amanda glanced her eyes over to Sonny when they were sat in her car. A smile formed on her lips when she watched his eyes soften yet light up at the same time and a lopsided grin formed on his lips. The pair of them could always have a conversation about anything and everything even when they were at work and what they had to do for a living.

"Yeah, she's got a bad chest so (Y/n)'s taking her to the doctors today. But you know, I spent half the night in the rocking chair with her on my chest and I just wanna go do it again."

For the past few days Lilah had been having a bad cough and crackling breaths so (Y/n) had gotten a doctors appointment for her to be checked over. It hurt Sonny during the night when he heard her crying in a gritty, deep way and then turning into coughs that were so meek since she was a baby but they somehow cut right through Sonny's heart.

But when he sat and rested his little girl on his chest and slowly rocked the chair with his heels, he felt peace flooding through him in waves.

It didn't take them long to reach the usual hangout spot for the gang they were pursuing in this investigation and to their amusement, all five members of the gang were there. Stood and sat around a bench in the broken down park that was mainly used as a meeting ground for the gangs and people desperate to buy drugs.

This was the part of the city Sonny didn't like, where they would find places for kids that were used for illegal reasons and for the low lives to try their luck against the system. It didn't sit right with him because of Lilah, if he and (Y/n) lived in this area where would they take her? Where around here was safe for young kids?

"Hey Leon, how you doing?" Sonny smiled as he and Amanda slowly approached the gang. He kept his hands deep in his pockets and nudged the side of his blazer to show off his badge, just in case any of them got any funny ideas.

"What can I do for you, officer? Brought me a pretty girl to play with?" The boy who couldn't be older than twenty two at the latest, gave a sickening grin and pulled up the joggers he was wearing. When his eyes flashed over to Amanda she rose a brow at him and jutted her hip so he could see the badge. Not that he would care, she could see that he wasn't going to think or see her as a detective.

"How about an alibi for this morning, can you manage that?"

Amanda placed her hand on her hip as a sigh passed through her lips, this was going to be easy to get him down to the station but not easy to get him to talk unless it was bullshit that passed through his lips.

"I was out and about with my boys."

"Ahh... where did you get the scratches?" Sonny pointed to Leon's lower arm and the one on his neck that had dried blood around it which they could take for a sample to be sent down to the lab. Their victim had scratched the man who had attacked her and this seemed much too big of a coincidence.

"My girl gets feisty, you want her name?"

"Yeah I do, and I want the three of you to come with us for a chat." Sonny pointed to the two other boys sitting on the bench with him. He knew for certain that the other two boys weren't the ones they were looking for.

Leon was the main perpetrator, the one doing all the assaults and was now escalating to rape. The two next to him were starting to join in but the two younger ones at the back weren't involved, they were new to the group, they wouldn't be trusted quite yet to join in their crime spree. They only needed the main ones to come in and be questioned because if they didn't have good alibi's and the DNA from Leon and possibly one of the other boys matched, then their case was solid.

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

"Am I free to go?"

The smug look on Leon's face was lighting a fire inside Sonny making him want to be jury and judge rolled into one just so he could convict him. It was clear he had done it, his attitude, the look on his face, the weak and useless alibi that wasn't going to hold up in court. But what was more infuriating was that Leon seemed happy about what had happened to the victims even when he was saying he didn't know them or what had happened, he was slightly smiling when he looked at their photos.

Before Sonny had the chance to respond through gritted teeth and say he might be able to go soon, his head turned when the door opened. Finn poked his head into the interview room and with one little nod of his head at Sonny, the tables drastically turned.

"Until next time, detective... Carisi." Scraping his chair along the floor, Leon stood to his feet with such a sickening, toothy grin that made Sonny clench his fists.

But the smile faltered when Sonny also stood up, his hands shoving into his pockets as he slowly walked backwards until he was stood in front of the door with his back leaning against it. His hips arched out and his back bent to rest on the door, showing off his slender, tall figure. It was clear that Leon thought Finn's nod was to let him go, when in reality it was the total opposite.

"Well... you see Leon, I can't let you go just yet. Those scratches on your arms and neck means whoever did that had your DNA under their nails, and your DNA has come back a match for the blood and skin under the victim's nails. That's enough for us to charge you so I guess you're staying here."

The smug look on Leon's face turned to one of anger and hatred, his pale skin started to turn a darker shade of red as his chest puffed out like he was gearing up for a fight that was never going to happen.

"You want that lawyer now?"

"This is a set up! You're lying."

The moment Leon lashed his hand out, Sonny grabbed his wrist and clipped his cuff around his wrist, hearing the gritting sound of it locking around Leon's wrist. In a split second, Sonny grabbed Leon's shoulder and spun him until his front hit the one way glass to prevent him from even trying to fight when he tried to lunge. Both hands were then cuffed behind his back before Sonny walked him out of the room.

"Why don't you wait in holding until we get you a lawyer."

The tiredness Sonny felt earlier had washed away a few hours ago and was replaced by a burst of adrenaline and the swell of pride in his chest. That meant that their case was strong, they needed the victim to ID Leon and one of the other boys and then the ball was officially rolling and they could call Barba in for the next steps.

"Carisi..."

Olivia's lips curved into a small, tight-lipped smile since there were still suspects in the squad room but when she looked at Sonny, she dipped her head in the direction of the drink station in the corner of the room to show him who had walked in.

It was unmissable by the rest of the team the way Sonny seemed to melt and grow brighter at the same time when his eyes set on his wife standing in the corner of the room leaning against the coffee counter. But it was the little bundle she held in her arms that had captured all of the squad's attention.

"Hey sweetheart."

A warm smile flooded (Y/n)'s face and her eyes intently followed her husband as he rounded the corner and advanced over to her. His arms were around her in an instant, warm, comforting and tight yet gentle at the same time to protect the life she was holding in her arms. His warm lips pressed to the top of her head and she could feel his hand rubbing up and down her lower back before he slowly pulled back to look at her.

He didn't have to say anything for (Y/n) to know what he wanted.

Looking down at her chest, (Y/n) gently moved Lilah a bit higher up in her arms before she extended her girl over to Sonny.

"Ooh, hey there gorgeous. How's my baby?"

Sonny couldn't help how wide his lips curved when he reached for Lilah, it was just the effect she had on him. He gently held her sides and took her weight from (Y/n), moving Lilah so she was resting against his chest instead with her head just under his neck. His hands moved to cradle the back of her head and under her bum to support her weight before he slowly turned his upper body side to side.

He loved how she instantly seemed to snuggle closer to him, her ocean blue eyes tiredly peeking around to see where she was, curiosity and wonder filling her orbs.

"She's got an infection so we've got meds to give her but she'll be fine." (Y/n) smoothed her palm over the back of Lilah's head before she moved to Sonny's side so she could rest her head on his upper arm and cuddle into him.

Sonny pressed his lips to the top of Lilah's head and moved his hand to brush her cheek. He felt his chest tingling when her ruby lips parted in what seemed like wonder, showing her bare gums before her small tongue moved to rest against her lower lip like she was waiting for a lollipop.

The small action made Sonny chuckle and when he stroked his index finger against her lips, it tickled as she started to move her lips and kiss his finger. He let her dab her gums around his finger and drool onto his hand because she presumably thought his hand was a pacifier.

"Rollins, look who's here to visit."

Amanda could see the proud look on Sonny's face and the beaming smile on his face showed he wanted to show off Lilah to them all. Sonny had kept the pregnancy a secret from the rest of the team right up until (Y/n) rang and said she was going into labour, that was the first time any of the team- apart from Olivia, knew anything about his personal relationship. He had then brought Lilah in when she was a week old to meet the team but other than that it was simply a few photos they had glanced at.

"Oh Carisi she's a stunner." Amanda gently brushed her hand over Lilah's head where there were a few wisps of blonde hair beginning to grow. It was sweet so see this side of Sonny, he was very chatty and talked about his sisters, his growing up with his parents and he would chat about (Y/n). But now he had Lilah to beam about and this was amazing to see him so different than he was on the job.

"Course she is." Sonny continued to gently rock her up and down against his chest, watching as she reached her hand out to bat at Amanda for attention.

"Finn..." Olivia motioned with her hand for him to come over to her as she took a few steps towards her office to be out of earshot of both the rest of the team and from the suspects in the lock up unit. "We've got Leon in custody, set the other two back out on the streets, I don't want them trying to plan anything in here. Get surveillance on them."

The three of them looked pretty cosy in the lock up unit in the back corner of the squad room and Olivia didn't like it. They needed to be kept separate or at least out the way of Leon while he waited for a lawyer and got his remand or bail set out when Barba arrived. Nor did she like the way Leon was sending daggers over to Sonny and Amanda.

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

"Okay, run me through the second attack, the motive, the injuries, evidence..." Barba waved his hand out in front of him to indicate that he needed to know the same details as they had just explained about the first of the four attacks the gang had committed. He perched himself on the edge of the desk behind him and took a large sip of his coffee, waiting for them to walk him through it.

Sonny did a quick scan through of the victim's examination photos that logged her injuries before he leaned and passed them to Barba so he could see what she had gone through. She may not have been raped but they had sexually assaulted her and she had been beaten up.

Sonny's eyes darted down to his side and he ruffled his hand in his pocket to grab his phone, a flash of worry sparking through his eyes when he saw that it was (Y/n) ringing him.

He had told Olivia this morning when he arrived twenty minutes late that he might need to take a call from (Y/n). He'd been up most of the night with Lilah since her cough had gotten worse and she had a temperature. It had taken everything in him to let (Y/n) persuade him to come into work and she said she would ring if there was any change.

"Sergeant, I..."

"Go ahead." Olivia nodded when she saw Sonny pointing to his phone, she knew what it was like to have a sick child and need to be on hand in case there was any news.

"Hey sweetheart, how is she, is everything okay?"

Taking a few steps away from the team, Sonny leaned his hip against his desk and rested his hand on his free hip. He couldn't help the worry that was rattling through him, either she was going to tell him that Lilah was better and he didn't have to worry or she would say that they might need to go to hospital because she had gotten worse.

(Y/n) hardly ever rang Sonny at work unless it was an emergency, she always texted him.

"Sonny... s-someone's in the house."

"What?"

He couldn't breathe. Who was in his house, what was she talking about? Why was she whispering so quietly that he had to put his finger in his ear so he could listen to her better? Why was her voice trembling like there was someone there shaking her by the shoulders?

"Sweetheart talk to me, who's in the house with you?"

"I don't know, I- I think they were in the holding cell yesterday... they-" (Y/n)'s words halted and a small squeak left her lips when she heard the sound of glass smashing downstairs. Her body was trembling making it harder for her to keep the phone pressed to her ear and keep Lilah quiet in her arm.

Sonny heard the distant sound of something breaking and it sent a shiver down his spine. Someone (Y/n) may have seen when she was here yesterday had decided to go and break into his house! They were trying to hurt or terrorise his family.

"They keep calling your name, d-did you arrest someone? They said you made a mistake... Sonny they know about Lilah, t-they're shouting, a-asking where's the baby."

Leon.

His boys had been let out yesterday because they had no evidence to arrest them or keep them in custody. Finn said they had surveillance on them in case they tried to assault someone on their own without Leon. But they were in his house! They were in Sonny's house frightening his wife and trying to harm his little baby girl.

No! Not my daughter!

"Where are you sweetheart?"

"The bathroom."

(Y/n) had been downstairs in the lounge when she heard the glass window in the kitchen door being broken and voices shouting at her. The moment she heard the windows being broken and the door banging open she had gone into the hallway and shut the dining room door so the kitchen and dining room were closed off. She then clicked the lock on the old door before hurrying upstairs to get Lilah.

She knew it wouldn't be long before they got out and tried to find her but she had to try and hide. But there was nowhere for her to hide unless she wanted to be in the wardrobe in her and Sonny's room but it wasn't that large and they would easily find her in there.

The bathroom was the only room upstairs with a lock on the inside and that's what she needed right now.

"No sweetheart they'll know when they see the door shut they'll break the lock easy. Just give me one second okay, I'll stay on the phone I promise."

Sonny didn't realise he's started to shake with rage until he ran back over to where the rest of the team were still focusing on the victims like they were the only ones. Now it was Sonny's wife and daughter who were the newest victims and he couldn't have anything happening to them.

"They're at my house!"

Sonny's sudden outburst confused everyone in the room, their eyes narrowed and the conversation quickly came to a stop. What was he talking about? Who was at his house? The paramedics, a doctor, was something wrong with Lilah?

"Carisi, do you need to go home to your family?" Olivia turned to face him, concern etched into her voice. She knew he had been worried this morning but now his state was erratic. He was shaking, his face was turning red and the savage look in his eyes was unnerving even for her.

"No- those two little shits Darren and James have broken into my house! Leon must have told them it was me who arrested him, (Y/n)'s hiding in the bathroom she's on the phone they're shouting- they know about Lilah!"

"I'm sorry who are we talking about, who's Lilah, a witness-"

"My daughter!" Sonny snapped his jaw at Barba like a crocodile before his panicked, wide eyes turned to desperately look at Olivia for advice or some kind of order. She had to know what to do or Sonny was going to go home with his gun in hand and shoot both of them for even trying to hurt his wife and little baby.

"She's only three-months old, we gotta go." Amanda jumped down from the desk she was sitting on and grabbed her car keys. They had to go now, they couldn't stand around and plan a strategy.

"Finn, get hold of IAB this could be a hostage situation so we need backup, Carisi go with Rollins but you play by the book, let Rollins take care of the boys when they're apprehended your focus is (Y/n) and Lilah. Nick you come with me, Barba you might need to come along for this.”

"Go! Baby, baby I'm still here, we're all on the way we won't be long. Talk to me." Sonny pressed the phone back to his ear as they all proceeded to rush out of the squad room, him and Amanda running ahead to get to the car.

"Sonny they're breaking the door downstairs." (Y/n) managed to keep her voice to a whisper but it was croaky due to the tears flooding down her face causing her throat to feel tight, especially with how shallow she was breathing.

"I need you to leave the bathroom and shut the door, try and block it with something, a towel behind the door and pull it so it jams then they'll think you're in there. Go into Lilah's room, leave the door half open and get in the airing cupboard."

In Lilah's room there were built-in cupboards into the wall, three to be precise and the bottom one was the largest.

While (Y/n) was pregnant Sonny had re-done them so that the the bottom cupboard had a rail in to hang clothes up in, the middle one had small boxes in containing nappies, towels and bed linen and the top one was a storage one for toys and the added bits they had ready for when Lilah got older.

If (Y/n) jammed the bathroom door then they would assume that's where she was and would try and break it and focus on it. Then if she left Lilah's door open they wouldn't presume she was hiding in there and if she got into the bottom cupboard it would save time so they could get there and she could hide until it was safe.

"O-okay- Sonny they're coming up."

A brutal cry left (Y/n)'s lips, she couldn't help it. She may be older than those boys but they had some sort of weapon each which they used to break in. They were going to try and hurt Lilah, they were shouting and raving, saying that Carisi needed to be taught a lesson so they were going to hurt her and Lilah.

(Y/n) knew she couldn't fight them off with Lilah in her arms and she couldn't hide Lilah to fight them in case they hurt her and then tried to find Lilah.

"Go, just go and hide now baby go!"

It felt like (Y/n) was in some sort of video game being chased and she was about to get caught.

When she opened the bathroom door she could hear them grabbing the railing to propell them to hurry up the stairs. As quick as she could, (Y/n) shut the bathroom door, trapping the very end of her slipper between the door and the wooden frame to jam it. She didn't have time to get a towel and try to keep it more secure like Sonny suggested.

Her feet skidded against the carpet and she could feel Lilah starting to whimper against her chest from how tightly she was held in (Y/n)'s arms and pressed against her. The moment she reached the cupboard, (Y/n) bend down and shuffled inside, pulling the door shut but leaving it ever so slightly ajar for air and a crack of light.

"Rollins fucking go they're reaching her!" Sonny slammed his hand down on the dashboard and his foot that was rapidly tapping against the floor booted the fabric beneath him and broke the seam revealing the car wires.

"I am!"

"Shh, baby shh please." (Y/n) quietly whimpered the words beside Lilah's ear, cradling her daughter just a little too tightly against her chest and shoulder. She would end up smothering her if Lilah tried to cry, she had to keep her safe. "Sonny-"

The phone dropped from (Y/n)'s hand and her arms cocooned Lilah against her tighter when she heard Lilah's bedroom door being slammed open.

Slowly leaning forward, (Y/n) laid Lilah down with trembling arms, placing her in the corner of the cupboard behind the hinges of the door. She grabbed a blanket that was hung up and tucked it around her before moving a small pile of onesies up against her to block her in the corner before putting another blanket very lightly over her. She didn't want to suffocate her or make her too warm and make her temperature and chest worse but she had to hide her.

When (Y/n) heard footsteps pounding towards the cupboard, she took her chance and thrust her weight onto the door so it swung out and collided with whoever was stood in front of it.

She heard a successful clout, a cry and growl of pain and a round of curse words which she took as her queue to scramble out of the cupboard and try to run. Her legs had turned to jelly and all the tears she had cried caused her eyes to sting and her vision to keep blurring in spots.

A scream left the back of her already raw throat when she felt hands clawing at her back and arms like savages trying to get her. (Y/n) did her best to thrust her elbows into the person's stomach and kick her heels out but it wasn't working. Her body aimed for the door but it was as if she was running on a treadmill, seeing her goal in sight but forever staying in the same position.

A cry flew from her lips when her legs were kicked from beneath her and she fell onto her front. Her nails dug into the carpet to pull herself away and her knees burned against the floor as she tried to hurry.

In the back of her mind she prayed that they wouldn't look back in the cupboard and realise that Lilah was hidden in there. (Y/n) needed to be the distraction from that, something they would focus on and try to get her so that Lilah would stay hidden until Sonny got here.

"We've got you now, that detective isn't going to come and save you."

Those words sent shivers running down the base of (Y/n)'s spine before her eyes snapped closed and her body coiled in on itself when one of the boys grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her forward. Her head collided with the banister ahead of her and the boy's weight landed on her lower back and hips like a ton of bricks had landed on her and severed her body in two.

(Y/n) could feel and hear a static buzzing in her ears and the blood rushing to her head making her feel like it was going to burst.

"Get off- leave me alone!"

A croaked cry left (Y/n)'s lips when she felt one of them trying to pull on her jeans but the more she writhed and with how snug fitting they were, it was proving a struggle. She tipped her body so she could manage to get onto her back so she could try and fight him off her before the other one moved beside her and grabbed at her neck. It was clear they didn't know what they were going to do, they were doing whatever came to mind, whatever they decided they wanted to do.

It was getting harder for (Y/n) to breathe with the hands clenching her windpipe and her panicking, tight lungs but she continued to struggle.

When the boy leaning over her got a little too close, (Y/n) tilted her head forward as much as she could manage and thrust her forehead into his nose. It caused her vision to blackout and her head loll back against the floor with a thud but it made him let go of her neck to cradle his face.

"Where's the baby? Be a shame not to visit her too." The boy trying to yank down (Y/n)'s jeans stopped for a moment, suddenly remembering that Lilah must be here too somewhere.

"Not here." (Y/n) spat just as she heard Sonny's voice booming through the house and it was like an Angel's voice serenading her and letting her know that everything was going to be okay.

Her hands reached out to scratch at the boy's face, trying to claw at his eyes to get him out the way before she moved towards the stairs. If she led them down then Sonny and the others could apprehend them and then she could get back to Lilah and make sure she was okay.

"We're coming in, nobody move stay where you are!"

Sonny held his gun out in front of him and made a beeline for the stairs, he knew (Y/n) was still up there and the dining room door was busted at the hinges and the lock was broken and hanging off. They had barely touched the living room before heading up to find (Y/n) and Lilah. Sonny had to get to them now and get them out.

"Sonny-"

The scream that followed made Sonny shiver and come to a halt just as he reached the third step on the stairs. He aimed the gun up but when he looked up, he scrambled to speed up the stairs two at a time to get to (Y/n). She was crawling at the top of the stairs until one of the boys gave her a kick, sending her toppling down the stairs sideways.

Collapsing down harshly onto his knees, Sonny's arms reached out and he laid his front on top of (Y/n) to stop her from falling any further and taking him down like a bowling ball.

The moment he looked up at Darren hovering at the top of the stairs, Sonny aimed and shot a bullet into his left shoulder to send him down to the floor and stop him from trying to go anywhere or do anything.

"Rollins!"

He didn't have to say anything else for Amanda to squeeze past the couple, climbing a few steps at a time to pass them before she went to get James and stop him from going anywhere.

"Lilah, s-she's in... the cupboard." (Y/n) could barely get the words out, her head was spinning, her body felt like it was about to roll down the rest of the stairs and give up on itself and everything was aching and pounding in pain. She wanted to see Lilah was alright and in Sonny's arms and then she just wanted to go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare to find it all just a bad dream.

She could feel Sonny gently moving her so she was no longer about to fall, his arms cradled her to his chest, his lips smothered her forehead with a thousand kisses. He was slowly swaying them side to side as Nick and Olivia bypassed them on the stairs.

"Lilah..."

"I've got her, (Y/n), she's here and she's okay." Nick bent down at the top of the stairs only moments later to show her the wailing, croaky babe in his arms who was cuddling up into his chest for comfort. Her little face was blotched bright red, her parted lips were spluttering coughs and wails and she was constantly wriggling and moving from fright and discomfort.

But she was okay.

"It's okay baby, you're alright now. I'm here, I've got you."

Sonny had his arms wrapped around his wife and his daughter just a few feet away in his colleague's arms. They were alright, he just had to get them to a hospital to have them checked over.

That was a close call.