#includes reader inserts tbh

[fanbasetwo]

┊ ZEROBASEONE NSFW LINKS!! ♡︎

pairing: legal line of zb1 x female reader . warnings: twt p.rn links, a lot of nasty stuff tbh . [LIBRARY]

[001] — although you and jiwoong had been fighting for a few days, what were the results? better than ever. when he fingered you to make up for the argument, what could be better than you caressing his dick?

[002] — hao most certainly did not understand what you meant when you invited him to test a new s.x toy. he did understand what you meant, though, now that you were using it on him.

[003] — you were supposed to spend the weekend to ensure you had had some quality time with your husband but somehow that statement could also mean—some good fucking quality time with your husband hanbin. switching places on the counter with him eating your pussy and then you returning the favor by licking your favourite treat, his cock.

[004] — it was too difficult for you to stay apart from matthew, but the energy was evident when you two were reunited. soft caressing, gentle riding, and quick fucking with tender cuddles are all examples.

[005] — taerae was rather on the gentle side but would you complain when he punishes you for being a brat all day?

[006] — just ricky taking his favourite girl, you, in doggy style after you jokingly said that “his dick isn't enough to satisfy you” guess he'll have to prove himself then.

[007] — when your sweet boyfriend gyuvin took you against the wall after you said that you liked men who did it “rough” all the while knowing that gyuvin had been anything but rough… but guess you changed it for once.

[008] — you were completely opposed to gunwook’s idea at first, but as he demonstrated what it really included, now, you didn't appear to mind it all that much. He teased you by inserting his cock inside your underwear and rubbing it next to your pussy, getting the material so moist that it was nearly translucent and extremely sensitive.

© fanbasetwo | tumblr

[clairewritesfanfics]

do you like those fics where the premise is "all the variants are here for y/n but main mark hasnt even dated her"

i like them the most when its a right person wrong time situation on main marks part because im mean

like since highschool theyve never managed to be single at the same time and then he finds out the evil versions of him destroying shit have had her when hes never even got to try asking her out

nobody has written this specific type of thing i want to read yet, but like, the variants getting stuck in main marks dimension and he and y/n keep finding out things about the variants loves with their version of y/n thats excruciating to hear for two people whove been in love their whole lives but have never been in a place to act on it

the only variant who hasnt done anything with her is maskless who was in a very similar situation with his william. like three of the older marks were actually married to her, at least one out of those 3 had been about to have a kid with her before losing her. literally none of them have ever broken up with her of their own free will. at least one of the younger marks had only just managed to start a relationship with her before he lost her.

main mark watching these versions of himself practically swarming someone he also loves and has probably loved before he even understood it but with no right to do anything about it because hes with eve. who he does like. but he asked out after a version of her from the future told him she loved him apparently her entire life and he was her biggest regret.

main mark experiencing never before seen types of emotional pain wondering if he should have read into the eve thing as the universe telling him you were about to break up with your at the time partner just as he was getting into things with eve, or if waiting to see if youd leave them would have prolonged your relationship with them because the universe fucking hates him for reasons beyond his understanding

i would write this myself but im already stuck trying to write like 3 other long projects already. but if i did write it id probably end it as happy as possible because even though i like angst i can only stand so much.

It is truly the writer's blurse to be struck with so many fascinating concepts while juggling already existing WIPs.

( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) 

It's an amazing idea with a lot of angst potential. I have encountered a similar but not exact premise a few times, maybe not as fully realized fics but as propositional posts.

I've always loved the idea of the Marks being so obsessed and devoted that they will stop the violence in order to reminisce about their respective Readers aka Y/Ns. (Oh, and this is more of my personal preference as an Invincible fanfic writer: the Reader-sexual crew includes Maskless because, as I have once discussed in gruesome detail, when it comes to Mark it is all or nothing for me. I can't tolerate him being in love with Eve or Amber in my verses, so I can't handle him being in love with William either. I am an equal opportunity "homewrecker." VCS readers, please don't ask me more about this because I might end up spoiling some things about my future plans.)

Honestly, if you have the energy to spare, you should give it a go, it doesn't have to be multi-chaptered. It can just be a short story or a bunch of "reactions" strung together. Heck, just write dialogue for it. Pure dialogue. Maybe you can use this idea as a writing exercise, like trying a different style or POV. Something to come back to and appreciate when you want to take a breather from your long fics.

Tbh, you've given me an excuse to stop delaying and start practicing first person POV again, and I was reminded why it's so hard penning reader insert stories:

I was surrounded. I could take on one or two of them, but twelve of these murderous assholes? My best bet would be to retreat while they were distracted, but there’s one problem: you.

You were the ball in this screwed up game of catch. All eyes were on you and I doubt there was anything that would take everyone's attention off of you at the same time. Even if I did manage to steal you away in a split second of distraction, I wouldn’t be able to go very far, not with that girl version of me here.

I watched as she pulled the pink scrunchie from her hair, black Rapunzel braid falling apart as she placed the hair tie gingerly on your hands. 

You gave her a shaky smile but she didn’t seem to care.

I clenched my fists.

She was fast, faster than the rest, and faster than me. 

“Cute, aren’t they?” The me dressed in my father’s colors watched you with arms crossed. “Don’t even think about trying to take her away, Marcy will rip you apart before you get the chance to take off.”

“Marcy?”

“Long story.”

It was hilarious. Not too long ago, this guy sent my girlfriend to the ER and here we were, talking like old pals. I wanted to punch him in the face but–

“You want to kill me,” he said, not bothering to look at me. “But we both know you won’t do that in front of her.”

“You don’t know anything about me or her.”

“I know that every version of you that came here is because of her.” He finally turned to me. “We all wanted a reunion.”

“I won’t let you take her.”

He scoffed. “We’re not interested in ‘taking’ her anywhere, we just wanted a chance to see her. To talk to her again.”

My fingers twitched. I already had my suspicions but I needed to know. 

“What exactly is she to you?” I asked.

The faintest smile melted all the coldness from his face as he answered, “She was my dove.”

Time slowed to a snail’s pace as my voice betrayed me, “What?”

He met my gaze. “She was my wife.”

“Was?”

The ice returned as he turned away. “She died.” That was all. He continued staring at you, his longing obvious under that veil of composure.

I watched as more versions of me crowded you. Each one had something to show or say to you, each one looking like they have waited a thousand years for this.

The fear seemed to have dissipated from you somewhat, because you were now laughing at the words of my maskless self. He was smiling softly at you, but I could see the cracks in his expression. He looked at you like you were the world, but it was clear to me that he was searching for something.

I didn’t know what it was but I couldn’t help but release my fists, wondering if Eve ever caught me wearing the same expression.

#

I kept accidentally bouncing from third person to first to second. 😭

But it was a fun exercise!

I hope you do write about this someday because it is a great concept. Thank you for sharing it with me and our fellow fans.

PS

I must ask for clarification what you mean by "the Eve thing." Is this a reference to a specific plot point? Or just his relationship with Eve in general?

[saintsroww]

TITLE. All I Have IN SHORT. clingy!jinx X reader "I Can't lose you too." | made with WLW in mind. CROSSOVER. Arcane: League of Legends X Cyberpunk 2077 WC. 1,555 CR. official art [ Arcane: League of Legends ] this is the outside of jinx's place that i tried my best to describe lmao TALKING. first ever fanfic. send any healthy criticism, i'd love that! at first it was ripperdoc!jinx but i had no idea where i was going with this tbh so i just went with clingy jinx lmao. and apparently jackie died differently in this teehee. might seem ooc, yikes. did I eat with this one yall? lmk :( PROJECT BEGUN. 11/30/2024 this took me awhile HAH! ACT. iii

Night City was bustling with people cheering and yelling, the disruptive revving of car engines speeding down the wide streets, the cool night air whispering past your skin, your hands comfortably resting in the pockets of your pants, your right hand holding onto your keys hidden inside the pocket, and your head slightly lowered as you stride past other people on the packed sidewalk. Your knuckles carry a faint throbbing ache that you're awfully familiar with. The night sky makes the ads displayed practically on every building look more vibrant than in the daytime. Your heart felt heavy, burdened by an overwhelming wave of sorrow and distress, while your composure dangled precariously, clinging on by the slightest thread.

You slip past multiple distracted spectators watching the race in Little China, occasionally bumping into others as you make your way through the other side of the crowd. Headlights whipping by, the smell of body sweat and alcohol invaded your nostrils. Your left-hand rises from your pocket to push a bystander to the side, finally making it out of the crowd to the other side, your main focus on reaching out to someone you held dear after a hot minute of your absence.

The street life drained you in ways you knew you'd be in if it meant you'd stay afloat in Night City. As the days went by including you sending little to no messages to Jinx, backstabbers were left sniffling the ground you walk after you're done with them, biz dealing with individuals where you can't always put your guard down, foolish gangoons pushing their luck with you. Being protective of what's rightfully yours, or taking from the more fortunate, getting to the top meant having every advantage you could get, and then you'll have a better chance to get far in this line of dangerous work.

After another minute of walking alone, the sounds of the people's voices faded as you made a right turn, chip bags, bottles, garbage bags, and papers lightly blown about, all this junk on the ground was a normal sighting in this inescapable city. As you walked further into a narrow alleyway, you stood in front of a gate that stopped you from moving forward, cyberpunk lighting coming from the street lamp behind it brought the otherwise dreary alleyway into.. something somewhat lively, and homey. You can give it that.

At the end of the alleyway were colorful chalk drawings of angry cartoonish monkeys and smack dab in the middle of the wall was a portrait of a little girl beautifully drawn by You and Jinx's hands on the brick wall. Pink wires as the background, and the two words "POW POW!" written above her head were drawn in a sprite shadow font. A soft smile touched your lips, the drawing carried a heavier purpose of memorabilia after little Isha's passing, and the relationship you three shared, you and Jinx cherished it. Pulling your right hand out from its pocket, multiple keys held together by a ring jingled from your hand movements, eyes scanning over all of them to land on a basic, silver key.

Holding it between your thumb and index finger, you insert the key into the slot and steadily turn it to unlock the gate. Shoving the keys back into your right pocket, you push it open with your forearm, stepping through the gate door, you close it behind you and quickly move toward the steps, the soles of your worn-out shoes softly thud against the concrete as you walk up the short set of stairs. You halt all your movement when you stand right in front of the entrance to Jinx's place. Rock music booming in the confines of the room's four walls was muffled by the metal door firmly standing in your way.

Letting out a barely audible breath, anticipating the argument you're going to walk yourself into. You swiftly repeat your actions by unlocking the door to her place. As you step through the threshold of the doorframe, slamming the door behind your back, your eyes are immediately met with a woman's slender figure in the middle of the room, aiming a gun your way that'd gradually lower to her left side as your recognizable appearance instantly brought her eyebrows to rest from its tight frown, her wide stare softened faintly. Her expression gradually faded into something resembling ease and a drip of irritation. The lightly worn-out leather chair behind her spun, showing the urgency and haste in her movement when met with anything that could quickly lead to life or death.

"Ah, Y/N." Drawing your name out with false unenthusiasm and unrestrained annoyance that had an underlying sense of harmlessness to it. "Popping in after ghosting me for three days?" Her voice was raspy, her upper lip subtly curling upwards. Violet-red eyes holding you in your place, her head tilting a little to the side, her jagged side bang obscuring her right eye, making her dark eyebags more notable because of the pink lighting in the room. She placed the gun in her left hand on the metal table beside her, turning down the rock music playing through the phone with the same hand without delay. Her hands clasped together behind her back as she sauntered over to you, stopping her movement when she was just a foot away from you, her head leaning in a tad bit, her right hand rising to roughly press her index finger against your chest.

"Why were you gone for so long? You know I don't like it when you're gone for that long." It was heavy, the unblinking stare and the want simmering in her heart urging her to close the gap between the both of you.

"Fixer hooked me up with a job that included insane amounts of eddies but- a lot went wrong. And I…" You held it together in the first half of your sentence but you couldn't hold it together forever. Every single second you were left alone with your thoughts the morning after the job was finished, losing Jackie that night, the man who earnestly stood by you since you started doing biz, a man you trusted, the gunfight following as soon as the brief, intense, and loud burst of noise of a pistol going off, the bullet hole left in his forehead, blood seeping from it. He was gone, in such a short time-frame. You'd spent time outside of work with him, fought together, and saved each other from sticky situations- This loss on top of Isha's was a pierce to your solid heart harder than you prepared for.

Just speaking on anything relating to losing someone important to you, first Isha, now Jackie.. You had to see Jinx, after going through that, you couldn't sit alone in your apartment that felt so void without anyone occupying it other than you, and being alone with your thoughts wasn't ideal. "Ahh… I just can't lose you too, Jinx. I'd rather it'd be me in harm's way, y'know?" Your eyes heat up. Darting, staring anywhere but at the woman standing right in front of you. Your bottom lip curls in for your upper teeth to bite down on it for a moment. Tears threaten to spill out.

She's all you have left.

A palm, warm to the touch, cups one side of your face, tenderly ushering you to look at her, tugging you out of the deep pit that is the fear consuming you. Her eyes meet yours head-on, a weak, close-lipped smile adorning her lips, her bottom lip vaguely trembling, her face expressing the same pain you held, understanding well how you feel at this very moment. Her thumb moves in smooth, circular motions upon your cheekbone. You gently grasp Jinx's upper arm, the arm using the same hand that tenderly strokes your cheek.

Neither of you could stall it any longer; both of you sought solace in the only person left willing to offer an hour of reprieve: each other. It was Jinx who moved first, ending the last shred of space left between you two to wrap her arms around you into a hug. Her nails digging into the back part of your shirt, Jinx's nostrils flare when she deeply inhales the scent of your vanilla fragrance with a hint of sweat, nestling her face further into your neck. "Just… Don't do that again, Y/N…" She spoke in a hushed tone, her lips slightly parted as the tension in her body melted from the comfort of your body heat.

"It was like.. I had no one when you were gone. You didn't even send me a message."

You couldn't bring yourself to respond, skeptical that your voice would shatter if you were to utter another word again. Your arms are wounded around her waist leaving Jinx's mind empty of anything negative leaving only tranquility you unknowingly bring to her already deteriorating soul. Choosing to gently nod your head as an alternative, your right hand slithering up to lay upon the shaved side of Jinx's head, your other hand moving up to plant itself on the small of her back. "Ha… 'msorry." Your voice was feeble, your breath tickling Jinx's nape.

"Heh, deep down, you're still a softie." A full smile graced her lips, her hold on you unyielding.

[fayes-fics]

The Ballad of Blunt Pencil & Pizza Wheel

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader, modern AU

Summary: Comedy texting fic. Childhood frenemies moving in together is a great idea. Isn't it?

Warnings: None really. Swearing, references to sex, masturbation, dirty talk and spanking. Frenemies to lovers. Comedy. A fuckton of sass. Bridgerton family shenanigans.

Word Count: 3.9k tricky with text fics ngl

Author's Note: Request fill for Anon (who wanted Ben and reader to have been secretly in love with each other and get together after she has a breakup). It might be slightly unusual, but it’s what the muse insisted on as a response. Thanks to the ever-patient @colettebronte, who willingly reads my silliness, including a partial version of this nonsense. Enjoy! <3

BB: *Fraggle Rock theme tune*

Y/N: Why don't you just say hello like a normal person? Y/N: *Insert sighing emoji here* (I can't be arsed to find it)

BB: Excuse me, this is actually a very supportive message BB: I heard from El you got dumped

Y/N: And how does an 80s kids' show theme song help me with that??

BB: Have you paid attention to the opening line??

Y/N: No…? Y/N: Too busy enjoying the rocking guitar tbh

BB: Fair BB: 🎶Dance your cares away, worries for another day🎶 BB: See?? supportive

Y/N: You are so weird Y/N: And also oddly accurate. He was a total muppet

BB: It’s taken you 30 years to figure that out?? BB: Sorry to hear it

Y/N: No, just… appreciating it. Well, you Y/N: Thank you, by the way

BB: 🫶😀

—

3 weeks later

Y/N: What is the capital of Burundi? Pub quiz is getting fractious

BB: Why don't you cheat like every other team and just use Google? BB: Why bother old friends?

Y/N: Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Charisma, I didn't realise your Tuesday night was so busy

BB: Friends don't leave friends who love pub quizzes out of their pub quiz teams 😛

Y/N: You're cute when you sulk Y/N: So… the answer?

BB: I’m not Jeeves  BB: Look it up yourself

Y/N: Wow, you really are such a blunt pencil

BB: ??

Y/N: Pointless

BB: Alright, pizza wheel

Y/N: ??

BB: All edge, no point

Y/N: *has left the conversation*

BB: Typing it doesn't make it happen

Y/N: *HAS LEFT THE CONVERSATION*

BB: Neither does yelling it pizza wheel

Y/N: Don't make me call you pencil boy…

—

5 weeks later

Y/N: Pencil boy, it happened again

BB: Yeah… definitely don't like that BB: What did?

Y/N: Send TV theme…

BB: *Fraggle rock theme intensifies*

Y/N: Thank you

BB: No problems BB: Sorry to hear it

Y/N: Me too. Really thought this one would stick Y/N: He even liked my Cabbage Patch kids 

BB: You still have that shit?! BB: They are low-key terrifying

Y/N: He did turn them all around when we had sex though 🤔 

BB: Got his number?

Y/N: Why??

BB: Sort of agree with him on that. Might want to be his friend, not yours

Y/N: Shut up, Pencil Boy

BB: Pizza Wheel BB: We have to stop flirting like this 👀

Y/N: Pffft  Y/N: This isn’t flirting 

BB: Isn’t it?

Y/N: Are your clothes still on? 

BB: Well, yeah…

Y/N: Then it’s not my style of flirting 

BB: Bit slutty (supportive)

Y/N: The brackets saved you there, Pencil Boy

BB: Well aware BB: You’ll be okay. There’s someone better out there for you BB: Someone who appreciates Cabbage Patch kids

Y/N: THANK YOU. Was that so hard?

—

4 days later

Y/N: Can I call you?

BB: Yes of course BB: What’s wrong?

Y/N: Best explained over the phone  

BB: Okay. I’m here BB: Whatever you need

2 hours later

Y/N: Thank you friend Y/N: Just… thank you 

BB: Anytime 🧡 BB: I meant what I said BB: If you need it, it’s yours

Y/N: You are a great and wonderful friend Y/N: I may well do so 🧡

BB: You are always welcome here. For as long as you need

Y/N: 🫂😘

—

1 day later

CB: You invited Y/N to move in with you?!?!

AB: 😳 Surely not?!?! AB: He can only have one colossally bad idea a week and that hoodie was a choice

BB: Good evening to you too brothers BB: Hope you’re well BB: I'm fine, thanks. You?

CB: Yeah yeah whatever CB: I don't see a denial here

BB: 🤷 

AB: You fucking idiot

BB: Why? I’m trying to help a friend here BB: I thought it was a nice thing to do?

CB: It is 

AB: Usually 

CB: There’s just one problem 

AB: You are completely in love with her and have been since you were 5

BB: Pffft BB: Please…

CB: That’s your denial??  CB: Even I could do a more convincing job than that

BB: Pen would suggest otherwise…

AB: Don’t fling mud to distract AB: We are talking about your stupidity atm, not his

CB: Oi

AB: Don’t even

BB: Listen… she just got dumped for the 100th time BB: Her flatmate is moving out cos they lost their job BB: She can’t afford the rent on her own or a place by herself at the moment cos she’s still burdened with debt resettlement from her criminal asshat ex from 2 years ago BB: She needs to be in London for her job and her parents have moved to Wales BB: What would you have done?

CB: Tell her to move in with El?  CB: Or literally any of her other friends?!

BB: Well I have a spare room…

AB: So does El

BB:

AB: Memes? Really?

CB: You’re just jealous cos you can’t figure out text attachments

AB: Shut up

CB: Kate thinks it’s hilarious

AB: Leave my wife out of this

*BB has left the group*

*AB added BB back into the group*

AB: You don’t get to quit being our brother 

BB: Shame

3 minutes later

CB: Wait… What did you mean about Pen?

AB: How can you be this stupid? I paid for you to go to Eton…

*BB has left the group*

AB: Can’t fault him this time tbh

*AB has left the group*

CB: Rude…

—

1 week later

EB: I have a spare room y'know

Y/N: I’m aware

EB: So why subject yourself to Ben?

Y/N: You are all so horrible about each other 

EB: And you love to watch it 

Y/N: 🤷‍♀️🍿 Y/N: Anyway, I’m here now Y/N: He bought new bedding for me 🥹 Y/N: I didn’t have the heart to tell him I already have 4 sets

EB: I know he’s my brother and thus deserving of shit. But don’t torture him too much

Y/N: What the fuck are you talking about?

EB: I suspect he has a leeedle crush on you tbh

Y/N: Pffft Y/N: No he doesn’t Y/N: All we do is call each other names and snark  Y/N: It’s been that way since 1994. I don’t see it changing anytime soon

EB: It’s like she’s never read Shakespeare

Y/N: That’s BenedicK, not BenedicT

EB: Funny how you knew exactly what play I was referring to, Beatrice

5 seconds later

Y/N: Gen… Is Ben into me?!

GD: What’s brought this on?

Y/N: Answer the question!

GD: Why are you asking me if my ex likes you?

Y/N: Please… You fucked like twice 3 years ago and are still friends Y/N: Don’t pretend there is any trauma here Y/N: I’d really like to know, seeing as I’ve just moved in with him 

GD: You fucking did WHAT?! GD: Why?!

Y/N: I needed a new place Y/N: He was the first to offer

GD: What kind of rash reason is that?! GD: I have a spare room GD: El has a spare room GD: Dave and the gambling debts in your name weren’t bad enough…? GD: It’s like you’re actively trying to live in a Greek tragedy, I swear

Y/N: Don’t invoke that shit’s name

GD: Sorry GD: But really…

Y/N: So you’re saying he’s into me

GD: For an intelligent woman, you know fuck all GD: Even about yourself

Y/N: Why are all my friends so rude to me?!

GD: Bitch please. You are so in love with him

Y/N: I’m not

GD: Yes you are  GD: He’s always the first person you text when you have a breakup

Y/N: Yeah… cos he’s the only one of my friends who ISN'T RUDE TO ME

GD: OR you always want him to be the first to know you’re single again

Y/N: Not sure I want to be your friend anymore

GD: Fine. Give me back my Canada Goose coat

Y/N: Let's not be too hasty now…

—

2 days later

BB: Do we have milk?

Y/N: How should I know? I don’t drink the stuff

BB: Aren’t you working from home today?

Y/N: Yeah? And?

BB: You have these amazing things called legs…

Y/N: I have a block button too y’know

BB: You wouldn't block the hero who single-handedly removed 2 spiders from your room last night

Y/N: … … Fiiiiine

20 seconds later

Y/N: We, or rather YOU, could do with some more

BB: Okay. Thank you

Y/N: If you’re in the mood, I wouldn't say no to some cheesecake

BB: I’m not in the mood BB: Mostly because you are lactose intolerant and won't stop bitching about the regret afterwards BB: I’ll get you some non-dairy brownies

Y/N: What kind of flatmate are you?

BB: The awful kind who looks out for your best interests

Y/N: Urghhh, the very worst

—

3 days later

Y/N: Bennnnnnn!! BEN!! SOS!!! Y/N: ANOTHER 🕷️

BB: It’s fucking 3am

Y/N: That's why I texted Y/N: So much politer than screaming and banging on your wall Y/N: It’s not my fault you live on some kind of spider superhighway Y/N: I never would have moved in here if I knew

BB: It’s harmless. Go back to sleep

Y/N: What about if this time it’s some poisonous one that crawled from a Shein package? And you wake up to a dead flatmate?

BB: Arguably, that’s appropriate payback for your endorsement of such a horrendous company

Y/N: I don't judge you for your odd shelf of little rocks Y/N: So don’t judge me for my sparkly shoe addiction

BB: How about I lend you a rock to throw at the spiders?

Y/N: How could you?!? I don't wish death upon them Y/N: Just for them to live their lives nowhere within my vicinity Y/N: You know you would have been back to sleep by now if you had just come in here?

BB: I’m aware BB: I have no idea why I’m still arguing with you on text BB: Slightly worried what that says about me tbh

Y/N: IT’S MOVING TOWARDS ME

BB: omw

—

9 days later

KB: You guys need to stop

Y/N: What? Y/N: Why are you texting from my kitchen?

KB: Look at yourself KB: It’s not your kitchen. It’s my brother-in-law’s

Y/N: I live here too, Kate

KB: And you need to stop

Y/N: STOP WHAT?

KB: Do you see where your feet are?

Y/N: ??On the sofa??

KB: They are in Ben’s lap

Y/N: And??

KB: He has his hands wrapped around your ankles

Y/N: And?? Y/N: I get cold. He helps me sometimes

KB: When are you guys going to admit to what is happening here

Y/N: NOTHING IS HAPPENING

KB: Sure Jan

Y/N: Get back over here with the Monster Munch. I need Netflix snacks, not judgement

KB: I’m just saying… I pulled this shit with Ant and you rightly called me on it

Y/N: MONSTER MUNCH KATE

KB: Don’t glare over at me like that. Way to make it fucking obvious…

2 seconds later

*BB added KB and Y/N to a new group*

BB: What are you two arguing about?!

Y/N: Mind ya business, Pencil Boy

KB: Your lack of decent snacks

BB: Not my area. She is responsible for all junk food purchases in this household. I will not be held liable.

3 seconds later

KB: Pencil boy??

Y/N: It's a long story

4 seconds later

*AB added KB, BB & Y/N to a new group*

AB: ARE WE WATCHING THIS FUCKING FILM OR NOT?!

—

1 month later

Y/N: Gen… I fucked up

GD: What did you do??

Y/N: I should never have moved in here

GD: Yeah, I told you that weeks ago GD: Why the sudden revelation?

Y/N: He has a girl here

GD: And?

Y/N: I can hear them… thru the wall

GD: Yikes GD: Go for a walk or something

Y/N: No Gen. It's worse Y/N: So much worse Y/N: I can hear what he is saying

GD: GO FOR A WALK

Y/N: Gen help Y/N: Help Y/N: H.E.L.P. Y/N: It's turning me on…

GD: I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW ANY OF THIS!

Y/N: I had no idea he was a dirty talker

GD: I could have told you that…

Y/N: Why didn't you?!

GD: Why would that ever be relevant to our friendship?!

Y/N: You know that’s my weakness Y/N: You should have WARNED ME

GD: HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO PREDICT YOU WOULD EAVESDROP ON HIM HAVING SEX?!

Y/N: This is so awful Y/N: I don't know what to do Y/N: I’m in a quandary Y/N: A damp quandary

GD: Eww T-M-FUCKING-I

Y/N: I might as well just masturbate at this point

GD: I am hanging up on this text thread GD: I’m also off to put this phone in Dettol. Don't text me again for another few days

—

2 days later

BB: Why are you avoiding me?

Y/N: I’m not

BB: Yes you are BB: You haven't been home the last two nights BB: El said you’ve been hanging around her place 

Y/N: Ok fine. I am Y/N: This is so awkward Y/N: I… I heard you Y/N: Having sex  Y/N: I’m weirded out, okay?

BB: Shit… BB: I’m so sorry  BB: I thought you were out on a date

Y/N: It got rescheduled

BB: I'm so sorry BB: Next time I have company, I will double-check if you are home first

Y/N: Thank you Y/N: I will do the same

BB: Much appreciated BB: So, will you come home?  BB: There’s a new series of The Cleaner tonight 

Y/N: It's not real blood, you know?

BB: I know, but it looks like it

Y/N: You can't keep hiding behind me. You miss key plot points. It's a comedy show, you know

BB: Just get back here, Pizza Wheel

Y/N: Calm down, Pencil Boy I’m on my way

—

9 days later

BB: Send him home

Y/N: ??

BB: You heard me

Y/N: Why are you eavesdropping on my Tinder hookup?

BB: Don’t make me come in there and be a caveman about this. Just… BB: SEND HIM HOME

Y/N: I need sex

BB: Not from a twat like that you don’t BB: When he is out of the bathroom, I want you to send him away

Y/N: … Fine

3 minutes later

BB: Thank you

Y/N: You owe me a bloody orgasm

BB: He was likely incapable of giving you one  BB: When you are sober, you will thank me BB: And probably regret that last comment

Y/N: I regret nothing Y/N: I DARE you Benedict fucking Bridgerton Y/N: I fucking DARE you to give me an orgasm

4 hours later

Y/N: Gen Gen Gen GENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN Y/N: I know it's 2am, you are probably asleep, but I have to tell you smthg right the fuck nowwww Y/N: So, Ben went all protector shit on a loser I picked up on Tinder Y/N: Made me throw him out Y/N: I bitched that he owed me an orgasm Y/N: Might have been a bit too sassy, too many drinks Y/N: Anyway GENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN Y/N: GENNNNNNNNNNNNNNN Y/N: He stomps into my room, and god, he just…. Y/N: ARGHHHHHHHH Gen, he just took me, like respectfully, but also not at all respectfully Y/N: HE GAVE ME TWO Y/N: I am floating on a cloud. I can't feel my fucking knees Y/N: My flatmate is the best fuck I have EVER had Y/N: THIS IS TERRIBLE AND WONDERUL Y/N:  I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE Y/N:  HELP  Y/N:  PS Pls don't tell anyone

20 seconds later

BB: Stop freaking out about what just happened and come back to bed

Y/N: Ben we just…

BB: I know. Active, enthusiastic participant here BB: Don’t spiral about it. Just come back to bed BB: We can talk in the morning

Y/N: Did we just ruin everything?

BB: How is that not spiralling? BB: Get your lovely arse out of the bathroom and back in this bed, y/n, or istg I will spank it

Y/N: 😲🥵

BB: Oh I see. Hmm BB: Good to know 😜

—

5 hours later

GD: WHAT THE SERIOUS FUCK?!?!?!?! GD: THIS IS WHAT I WAKE UP TO?! GD: WHY DO YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?!? GD: CALL ME!!!!

2 hours later

EB: Why aren’t you at work today? Are you sick? EB: Did the Shein spider get you? 

1 hour later

EB: I guess it did  EB: Serves you right 😛

1 hour later

GD: WHY THE FUCK HAVEN’T YOU CALLED ME BACK YET? GD: I must have left like 10 missed calls by now

2 hours later

AB: Not to sound like a total dick, I know we’re family etc., but you are supposed to tell me if you’re taking a day off work Ben AB: Even nepo babies have some responsibilities

30 minutes later

KB: Why are Gen and El wondering where you are? KB: Text them, and also me now, too KB: I’m vaguely concerned but mostly nosey tbh

2 hours later

EB: ?????????

1 hour later

GD: Call me bitch.

2 hours later

CB: Where the fuck are you Ben?  CB: You never miss boys' night down The Ship normally?

30 mins later

Y/N: Uh hi 👋 Y/N: Sorry… Y/N: I uhh have been busy today

EB: Gen and I were ABOUT TO SEND OUT A SEARCH PARTY

Y/N: Please tell her I’m okay Y/N: I will call. Just not now

EB: Where are you?

Y/N: At home

EB: I am coming over!

Y/N: Please don’t

EB: Why not?

Y/N: Another time Y/N: I know I’m being all mysterious and shit Y/N: I will explain everything I promise

EB: Is Ben there?

Y/N: Yes

EB: Then tell him to look after you EB: I’m weirded out, you weirdo

Y/N: Oh he will  Y/N: I promise you he will Y/N: I errr won't be at work tomorrow either. Can you tell the boss?

EB: Are you sick?!

Y/N: Umm… yeah, let's go with that

EB: STOP BEING SO WEIRD

5 seconds later

BB: El, y/n is fine

EB: How is this any of your business?

BB: You literally asked for me to look after her 5 seconds ago

EB: How do you know that?! EB: Are you reading her texts?!

BB: She is showing them to me

EB: WHY!?! EB: What is this cloak and dagger shit?! EB: Did you fuck or something? Lol

1 minute later

EB: DID YOU?!?

1 minute later

EB: Y/N DID YOU FUCK MY BROTHER?!?

1 minute later

*EB added BB & Y/N to a new group*

EB: Answer me, you sneaky bitches

BB: We would appreciate some privacy at this time

10 seconds later

*EB added KB, AB, CB, PF, DB and SB to a new group*

EB: BEN AND Y/N ARE FUCKING

SB: Hello sister-in-law. Long time no chat. So lovely for us to catch up this way

EB: Don’t sass me Bassett

PF: Err okay. Why… why am I on this Bridgerton family chat?

EB: Bitch please, you are family. Well, you will be soon

PF: ??

*CB removed PF from the group*

AB: Subtle

DB: Super smooth

*EB added PF to the group*

EB: IS NO ONE GOING TO RESPOND TO THIS LIFE-ALTERING NEWS?

KB: I mean… we all knew it was going to happen

CB: Surprised he held out this long tbh

DB: He’s been in love with her since we were kids

EB: I thought he just fancied her a bit?!?!

AB: And they call ME the unobservant one?!

*PF left the group*

CB: Look what you did

*EB added PF to the group*

KB: Why did I marry into this family?

SB: I’ll take you for a drink sometime. You too Pen.

PF: ??

EB: You’re all useless.

—

2 days later

GD: *sings Where Do You Go by No Mercy tunelessly in your general direction*  GD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt-KMPvgKPo 

Y/N: Awful but also bangin cheese choon for a Sunday evening ngl

GD: SHE LIVES!! GD: El seemed to think you have been having nonstop sex since Thursday. GD: She’s also not handling that idea very well—lots of tequila.

Y/N: Not enough songs only have about 7 lyrics anymore. I miss the 90s.

GD: Avoiding that statement, huh?

Y/N: I will not dignify it with a response

GD: So that’s a yes

Y/N: 👀

8 days later

BB: I hate having a job 😘

Y/N: Me too… 😘 Y/N: I’ll be naked when you get home if that's any consolation

BB: I’m leaving now

Y/N: It’s only 11am lol Y/N: Stay there. I will see you later. It will be worth the wait. 😉

BB: You have been. BB: And I don't just mean today 😘

Y/N: 🥹 😘

56 days later

AB: Is this email for real?

BB: Yes. Yes, it is

AB: Wow. OK then AB: Congratulations

BB: Thank you. I'm very happy

AB: We can tell, brother, we can tell 

1 hour later

*KB added Y/N, SB & PF to a new group*

KB: Y/N, we meet every Wednesday for drinks. 

SB: Welcome to the fam, soon-to-be Mrs Bridgerton. It sucks; you are going to love it.

PF: Still not sure why I'm invited, but god, you guys are so much bloody fun I don't even care, lol.

10 seconds later

Y/N: Are you going to tell Pen, or should I?

KB: Naaahhh. It's more fun this way KB: Another very smart woman with a complete Bridgerton brother blindspot

Y/N: That sounds pointed

KB: You and me both, sister. You and me both.

Benedict taglist pt1: @makaylan @longingintheuniverse @iboopedyournose @colettebronte @aintnuthinbutahounddog @severewobblerlightdragon @writergirl-2001 @heeyyyou @enichole445 @enchantedbytomandhenry @ambitionspassionscoffee @chaoticcalzoneranchsports @nikaprincessofkattegat @baebee35 @crowleysqueenofhell @fiction-is-life @lilacbeesworld @broooookiecrisp @queen-of-the-misfit-toys @eleanor-bradstreet @divaanya @musicismyoxygen84 @miindfucked @sorryallonsy @cayt0123 @hottytoddyhistory @fictionalmenloversblog @zinzysstuff @malpalgalz @panhoeofmanyfandoms @kinokomoonshine @causeimissu @delehosies @m-rae23 @last-sheep @kmc1989 @ferns-fics @corpseoftrees-queen @magical-spit @bunnyweasley23 @how-many-stars-in-the-sky @hanji-emo-blog @sya-skies @urfavnoirette

[harukyuu2]

heyya !! Here to request a Rui x flirty!reader who really has rizz and maybe sometimes make Rui lowkey flustered basically the rizzler in their relationship/j but tbh I can see Rui flirting back to reader (?) lmao idk but hope you’ll see this ^_^ hcs and a mini scenario included will do! thank youu

₍^. .^₎⟆ (ominous cat is staring at your soul /insert Mizu5 picture)

LMAO ANYWAYS HAVE A GOOD DAYY ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

୨୧ "Soothing your heart up!" - Rui + Akito x Flirty!Reader ୨୧

!! - Fluff, scenario + headcanons! gn reader, cringy flirts because it was funny, reaaally cheesy since reader uses pickup rizz lines , use of petnames - Hope you dont mind i added Akito lmao

୨୧ ↷ Rui !! -

❥ Boy wont go down without a fight, seriously. You two have this thing of starting back and forths flirts until one blushes or doesnt know how to respond— thats a win!

❥ You flirt with him on public? Yeah, no problem. Dont forget he can shamelessly perform without permission at a theme park and build a robot at school, so calling you a "cutie" in public is 0 issue for him

❥ Its kinda hard seeing him blush because he pretends reaaally well. Using subtle ways— averting his gaze or throwing the attention on you. But still, he'll fold eventually, he cant help it! youre too cute for him! and he likes seeing you pout when you arent able to see him blush

"Rui..." - You call him out while he fixes a small robot with you on his side. It was lunchtime and you two were on the rooftop passing the time after finishing the meal, starting to get bored— an idea camed to your mind!

"Hm?" - He mumbled curious on what was on your mind now, turning slightly to catch a glance at the smug smile you put before throwing a pick up line

You leaned toward him, resting your arm on his shoulder while talking pretty closely with a playful smile. You wanted to laugh, but it was a bit too early for that— just yet. - "You knooww... I always say math is really confusing because it talks about X and Y but not you and I..." You drawled the words, and at the cheesy pick-up line you just dropped, you couldnt help but let out a small laugh

Rui's eyes widen slightly amused by your pick up line, but quickly hides it with a sigh and his usual smirk, tilting his head slightly to meet your gaze— the distance between you two was lacking a lot. - "Ah, that time of the day already...? Well, there's nothing i can do about it though. You always attract me with those lines, sweetheart— almost like if you were a magnet."

You hummed in amusement, leaning slightly back since Rui was looking at you pretty intensely— he didnt seem eager to let you win today. Grabbing his chin for a moment, you made him look at you more closer than he already was. Your touch lingered on his jaw for a second before letting your hand fall and returning to the flirty game

"Oh, arent you a cutie, Rui? i wonder what you are then...maybe i could say a door? Because you kept slamming me with your beauty while i try to attract you into my arms" - You giggled seeing him averting his gaze almost like if he was looking out for flirts on the air, youre pretty proud that you managed to mix up his flirt with yours!

Rui tried to think of something quick to respond with, feeling your intense gaze pressuring him to fold. Youre always so good at this— its almost unfair. He sighed, finally letting the blush creep onto his face, even if he still maintained that signature smile of his. Shaking his head, he looked at you with a much softer gaze, a product of your relentless flirting and the way you looked at him so intensely.

"Alright, alright...you win this time, dear. Didnt expect you to be so flirty today" - Rui mumbles embarassed and your eyes light up at your win!

In the end, you let him return his attention to the small robot after a quick kiss to seal your win. The rest of the lunch happens in a comfortable silence that sometimes had the sound of Rui's tools while you used your phone, you two indeed fall for each other <3

୨୧ ↷ Akito !! -

❥ There's no way you fail to make this boy blush. At the first or second pick up line he is already all red and asking you to stop because he doesnt know how to respond back. He thinks youre gonna be the death of him literally— he isnt against the idea tho...

❥ OH, and if you flirt with him on public...Hell nah, he has to turn and walk away because he is a living tomato from head to feet, you'll have to apologize to the poor baby because you make him stop working on those moments. He isnt too fond of pda!

❥ In private or chat, he's a little more confident of flirting with you— but still he loses it the second you respond back. Probably leaves a swear and gives you a quick kiss so you stop teasing him

Akito camed to your house after his usual practice with vivid bad squad finished, deciding to stay the night since he missed you. Akito decided to help you wash the dishes after dinner with your family. He got a little grossed out when his hand touched some leftover food, so in the end, he focused on rinsing them. But the soap accidentally slipped from his hand— giving you the perfect opportunity to tease your boyfriend!

"Akito..." - You called him and the moment his eyes meet yours, your signature teasing smile that he feared appeared— it was too late for him... - "What's the difference between that soap and me...? The soap falled from your hands, while i falled for you!"

A blush started to appear in his cheeks while he furrowed his eyebrows, averting his gaze to make sure you didnt just throw that in front of your family. He leaved a sigh, scratching his neck while mumbling embarassed at your cheesy flirt -

"Youre so stupid...dont you have any better cheesy flirts than that?" - He tries to make you stop, but he knows that his comment only will fuel you more with that intense gaze he is feeling on himself— he is fucked up by now, sigh.

"Hey! im not stupid, i know the twenty letters in the alphabet! Oh- i forgot to count U - R - A - Q - T, silly meee" - You drawl and cant help but laugh at his grumpy face since youre managing to make him blush a lot, what if your family appears and sees him like this? thats what he thinks, probably

Akito huffs— cupping your cheeks before you throw another cheesy line or worst, a real flirt that makes him stop working. - "Fuck you..." - Akito simply murmurs and steals a quick kiss from you

As he leaned back, catching the small blush on your face from his bold move, an idea sparked in his mind! Deciding to be playful and imitate you, he took full advantage now that you two werent in public anymore - "You always wear makeup blush, right? but now i know youre really blushing..."

You let out a soft laugh at his stupid, cheesy flirt and smirk, rolling your eyes before grabbing his hand and leading him to the bedroom to finally get some sleep. It was getting late, and you knew how hard he usually went during practice. Still, you couldnt help but say something that— for some reason, made his heart feel warm and proud

"Well, thats...something, good job Akito! Lets go to sleep by now, wont tease you with pickup lines for the rest of the night"

i repeat it— youre gonna be the death of Akito, but he isnt against the idea <3

[snakewithawitchhat]

Bill Headcanons

I have enough of these to fill up my guts whatever that means

Includes: Normal, readerxbill platonic, readerxbill romantic, freaky stuff he into

Normal

He definitely said skibidi once because he had no idea what it meant or where it came from

He would probably honest to god enjoy interacting with an iPad kid because he thinks they're fucking funny

Tea person over coffee

Probably reads books on the randomest subjects. Mostly they all have human psychology in common, though. Or anatomy.

His favorite kids movie is Wreck It Ralph, favorite adult movie is Shawn of The Dead (He doesn't believe British people are actually real and finds the movie funny), favorite horror movie is probably something really obscure and is just plain goreporn or something like that.

(In my opinion) I feel like if he had a more anthropomorphic form (legs and arms and body) it would probably be something VERY weird core or something like that. Like, extra limbs, weird ass colors, and random effects. He'd probably keep the triangle imagery, though.

Would definitely just say random ass shit to freak people out

He has a thing for teeth. Not, like, a weird thing or a sex thing. He just really thinks they're cool.

If he had an iPad... he'd spend all day either being your standard reddit user or an iPad kid.

Probably like King from The Owl House sometimes.

Speaking of TOH, he met The Collector once. He thought the kid was neat and played a few games of chess with him before leaving. Probably one of the inspirations for The Collector's insaneness

He also met The Core from Amphibia. Or at least knew the core existed.

His favorite human color is either red, yellow, or orange. It's really everything on the hot side of the color wheel tbh.

Platonic X reader

Dream invasion time-- He would SO rummage through your mind if you made a deal with him.

If you pissed him off, he'd probably jab a fork in your arm while possessing you. He wouldn't be as insane as he was with Stanford's body, though. He wants yours to work properly.

Dream demon or not, he probably had a Drea- NIGHTMARE... it was SO a nightmare... about having more fun with you if you built the portal.

Would be touchy. Not in a weird way (if you ask, he'll stop) but he'll just, like, pat your shoulder or something like that.

If Weirdmageddon 2 happens he is SO finding you and inviting you to his party. You're coming, too. You don't got a choice. Womp womp.

If one of his friends were to eat you, he'd probably be disappointed as all hell, but it really depends on how close you are with him. Besties? He'd kill that monster and resurrect you with the parts left. Just acquaintances? Who are you again?

Would still possess you even after he gets a physical form. (he likes to prank you)

Romantic X reader

Clingy bastard. If your insert is mortal, he'll be by your side 24/7 if Weirdmageddon is happening. Even if your insert ISN'T mortal.

Would be even MORE touchy.

He'd set up boundaries and be clear with his own while probably ignoring yours. (he isn't a great partner)

It's probably a toxic one-sided relationship at first. Bill is NOT a good person at ALL. He always had a goal in mind. He sees his romantic interest of you as a little thing that just ALSO happened.

Probably gets flustered by affection really easily if you're the one showing it.

He won't know much about human affections, so you'll probably have to show him the ropes.

Before you do THAT, though, he'll probably just bite you (with his freaky fucking eyeball mouth thing). Not even as a sexual or possessive thing. He just likes to bite you. It's like an awkward thing he can't control. Get too close and he can feel your warmth? Bite. Bite. BITE. It's not light stuff, though. It's always hard enough to draw blood. Purposeful or not. (It's not on purpose)

He doesn't get JEALOUS, but he does get a little insecure if you start getting infatuated with someone else.

If you're hurt from someone, you BEST know he's overprotective as fuck. Your puny mortal body is pathetic, but if you lose it, he loses you, too.

You aren't aging ever again. You aren't DYING ever again. No. He won't let you die ever. Body is giving out? Here's a new one. Forgetting...? No, he'll plant more memories in your mind. He's too late and you're dead...? No you aren't... You'll always be conscious. Whether your body is rotting around your mind or not.

Sex junk

Sadist. 100% all the way. Not even light things, like slaps. No, if you consent, he will full on break your bones.

He doesn't feel sexual gratification like humans do, so it's more of just something he'll do to either please or displease you. Whichever one, it's almost always about how you feel.

He doesn't have a dick, so you'll be on the receiving end always. Unless you REALLY want to give.

He has a giant eyeball on him. He definitely likes to watch.

Always tops because there isn't much you can do to dominate him. He'll try to let you if you really wanna, but it probably won't be the easiest.

Blood kink. That's it. He thinks it's so pretty on you. Especially if it's yours.

[gouraminnow]

If it's okay can I request a yandere sir crocodile x single mother reader. I've been thinking about what would happen if the reader had a baby, like would they take the reader and leave the baby or take the reader and the baby. If they did take the baby what would happen, would they be mean to the baby, nice to the baby, or just distance. Would they become a platonic yandere. I'm so sorry if I already sent this in, I can't remember if I did or not.

Yeah I got the first one, but dw about it lol tumblr can get weird with asks anyway.

Rambling under the cut! Not sure if you meant literal baby, child is of ambiguous age but can talk.

Hoo boy you've handed me a rough one, huh? I don't think Croc is a kids guy. But I don't think he'd be outright horrible to a small, unthreatening child- if not because of standards, but because it just isn't worth his time or energy to direct actual hatred toward. Yes, he was willing to destroy a whole country and hundreds of lives which no doubt included children, but I think that degree of faceless separation is very different from looking at a kid directly and going "Yeah I'm gonna kill this. Personally. With my hands." Vivi was 16 and Luffy was 17 iirc but one is an important opposing political figure with crucial information on his misdeeds, and Luffy... is Luffy. Idk. What I'm saying is at the very least I don't see him being abusive or disposing of the child- he does like you, and that's a pretty surefire way to destroy you and any reason you have to cooperate.

It could be a "cooperate and your child remains happy/unharmed" situation but tbh I don't wanna write that. Child abuse is a topic I'm willing to touch on in specific circumstances, mostly backstory but I don't really want to write about canon characters doing it. So I simply won't lol. Reader inserts can be held against their will and mistreated but I don't want to involve a kid in that dynamic, so if I write something where the reader is caring for a kid (such as Galley on 4th) then the yandere in question does things through much softer more under-handed methods.

Honestly? The best way I see this working out is Pre-Alabasta arc where Crocodile is still seen as a hero by the masses. There's a good chance that, at least initially, his affections start and end with you. Is irritated if he finds out about the kid after he's decided that he likes you. But you- you're a little slice of domesticity, you fit into his life rather nicely, he thinks. Plus you and the brat help round out his image as a wholesome do-gooder, don't you? A protector of the people, and a loving husband and father to boot. The... dark parts of his business all swept under the rug and kept away from you both, of course.

His dates with you are no doubt extravagant, but he prefers your kid not accompany the two of you on these. Probably prefers to shower them in expensive gifts, rather than spend much one-on-one time with them. I think he could get attached but he'd be in denial about it for a bit. He's able to rationalize the lack of time spent with them to you, specifically in public- he's a notable figure, is he not? While he's a Warlord and could no doubt protect the both of you(his pride will NOT have you believe otherwise), he just doesn't want the risk. You're an adult with full comprehension of the possibility of being targeted, so it's different. He is a good actor, though. While he doesn't spend as much time with the kid, he's good enough that they don't feel actively disliked. A bit... put out, maybe. It's possible your kid just... thinks he's really cool, despite it. Mysterious, close yet distant, someone who makes mom happy and is the reason they both have all this nice stuff, now. Which can be annoying, but stroking the ego doesn't hurt the kid's case. Liking the bananawanis would score them a couple points too...

-

"Do you think I could, um, meet them sometime? Y'know, if you aren't busy..." Crocodile raises a brow, taking in the brat sitting in a chaise lounge chair. They're leaning forward, looking hopeful- swinging their little legs in anticipation. They look comically small compared to the chair. He chuckles, takes a drag of his cigar- turning his head away from the child to exhale. "...I'm not sure if I can do that without consulting your mother first," he muses, watching the kid visibly deflate. Even if he knows the bananawanis will listen to him, that they would pose no threat if he did not wish them to do so- he preferred you to be happy. Introducing your small child to the large, imposing reptiles used as guard-dogs behind your back would be unwise. "So I'm afraid you'll only be looking from a distance or through glass, unless we can get her approval. We could always ask though, hmm?" The kid grins at him- and Sir Crocodile feels a disquieting lack of disdain.

[chrystabelleblaumferge]

ACOTAR hits the same notes for me as a show Luke Supernatural. Stuff to genuinely enjoy, but that nosedives into awfulness so fast. Yet, by the same hand, like you’ve said it’s the gift that keeps on giving—there’s always more to discuss.

For instance, a hot take that would piss so many people off:

If SJM wasn’t a coward, then for instance, Amarantha could have basically won at the end of acotar in exchange for, say, Feyre and Lucien going free. Having Tam Lin end up captured, Bonnie Janet losing, and exploring what would come of that. That’s a subversion a romance reader might not expect considering the conventions of the genre. And in the next book we get copious, kinky dubcon as, say. Tamlin slowly develops Stockholm syndrome for Amarantha as a survival response.

That would be a dark romance. It also puts the focus where it truly belongs, on Tamlin, as Amarantha’s main target and victim. Fucked up, but everyone knows very clearly that what’s going on is the bad ending and so can embrace the emotions and themes to be found in that darkness. Instead… Riceman.

I've not watched Supernatural myself to form an assessment of the show but the "So bad that it's good" element isn't there for me personally tbh. It lacks even what the most awfully infamous fanfiction "My Immortal" achieves. Unlike My Immortal, I cannot even pinpoint to any moment where ACOTAR as a whole tried to be funny intentionally or unintentionally. They take themselves way too seriously all the time and that ends up hurting the overall product especially considering the inconsistent writing of an egocentric author who thinks she's untouchable and above criticism.

As for Dark Romance, maybe that plot line you mentioned would have been a good setup for a dark romance since it is truly dark but you have to be very skilled at pulling that sort of writing as an author. We all know at this point that SJM is woefully incompetent. She wants to write complex morality yet her characters have the personality and morality depth of a puddle. Narratively what exactly even is their classic Hero's Journey arc even supposed to be? None of them even have a semblance of theme going about them and even the characters that have this potential like Lucien Vanserra, Nesta Archeron and Tamlin for overcoming them in their personal arcs end up nowhere due to authorial incompetence.

Let's be real, SJM is not only a coward. She just does not have it within her as an author to write anything beyond shallow Wattpad tier writing of 'stupid blonde blue eyed self insert' meets 'the most dark, broody magic man to ever magic'ed' and they have a tumultuous and toxic relationship that's only ideal if you were stupid and peaked in high school to still admire. The characters themselves don't have ANY maturity whatsoever since she bases it on her own black and white thinking that her main characters have to be good and people must accept that but at the same time she wants them to be 'deep' and 'thought-provoking'.

Had she had any guts or foresight of as an author, she could have easily achieved complex morality in the form of not letting Ricespam get away with shit other characters get chastised for in the most self-masturbatory way where he does villain shit but is never punished for it. I have legitimately created my own version of this shitshow through human OCs who exists purely out of spite to mock SJM's general incompetence at handling grey morality. One of these OCs start off as an ideal young teenage boy who wanted to see his elder brother who ruled over their small dukedom in the human lands achieve the greater goal of peace but in a tragic sense becomes disillusioned and vengeful once Velaris invades his lands, killed his family (his brother included) and tortured in a Velaris prison leading him to develop a severe hatred of the Fae and killing them without trial once he escapes through the help of loyal retainers.

I'm not going to bother to say that my OC is a good person when he takes no prisoners, tortures Velaris POWs and destroys Fae settlements in his former territory without any survivors. In the humans' eyes, he's naturally their hero resisting an occupation against a race that sees them as lesser. A human lord who rose up to fight for them when they are being subjugated and enslaved despite his controversial methods. But the Fae would naturally fear and despise him for being cruel to their kin and see him as evil as he does them. I'm very careful to not woobifying him and saying his tragic backstory makes all his war crimes forgivable. Yes he's a freedom fighter for humans but I also have the foresight to acknowledge that he's going to have Fae enemies naturally. Not all humans agree with his brutality either and his journey is one to reflect that Vengeance leads to an eye for an eye mentality and only prolongs the cycle of hatred amidst the fog of war and violence. He also has a road to redemption if he sees the errors of his ways, learn that just because he was traumatised - it doesn't mean he has a right to do so to others. He will still liberate the human lands, free his people from the yoke of Fae imperialism but he must realise that his cruelty makes him as much as a tyrant like Ricespam is.

Despite SJM barking all day in interviews about how traditional fantasy authors don't get it, she hasn't achieved this level of ASOIAF complex morality when it took me only 10 minutes to come up with this character concept. Your characters can be good people who do actually morally reprehensible stuff but also be redeemed in logical ways. But nooooo, we'd never get any form of depth or logic beyond "Riceman = Goodest, most feminist man to ever exist!!11"

[incenseandturpentine]

Fire Escape (Adam Faulkner-Stanheight x Reader)

Sorry for disappearing--it can (and will) probably happen again. Please take a little sweet musing that I've been slowly chipping away at over the past few weeks as a gesture of love and apology. This one is for my reader-insert crowd 'n' Adam lovers because that's all I know, tbh. Sorry if that's not your jam. Maybe I'll do something else one day, maybe I won't. Don't come for me because I write these for me and the ones who get it, get it. No smut in this one, just a study of relationships, dialogue, scenes, Adam's character, etc etc etc. Also--is it Radford? Is it Stanheight? Is it Faulkner-Stanheight? Who knows? Who gives a shit?

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Pairing: Adam Faulkner-Stanheight x Reader Word Count: 3k Rating: Mostly SFW. Makeouts included. No sex. You make that call. Notes: Friends to lovers. No use of Y/N. Gender-neutral reader. Slightly emotional. Let me know if I forget anything important because I don't do this often. Sorry about any fucked up formatting from posting on mobile. Included Track: The Haunted - The Failure

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“Don’t tell me you're one of those vegans, too.”

“Why do you care, Stanheight?” You retorted with a gentle smile.

“Because my ex-girlfriend was a vegan!” Adam exclaimed incredulously, emphasizing the last word with feigned disdain. “A feminist vegan punk…” he murmured, shoving the incoming envelopes from his tiny mailbox under his arm and flipping the metal door shut.

“She sounds like my kind of gal,” you laughed, flashing him that sly grin that melted his heart. “Also, why is it an issue? You asking me out on a date, Peeping Tom?”

Adam instinctively pushed his hands into the pockets of his threadbare jeans, thumbing at the hole in the lining. He had wanted to take you out for months now since he had moved in, but he couldn’t muster the balls to finally ask you. 

———————————————————————

His mind flicked back to those lonely nights sitting beside his open window with a cigarette in hand, hearing the faint lilt of your voice one floor up the fire escape that glistened with spider webs gently wafting in the breeze. Sometimes, you would be singing. Sometimes, speech slurring together with boisterous laughter after a bottle of wine with one of your friends and the quiet cadence of a track he always associated with you.

Even on those dragging, hungry nights waiting for his meal tickets to develop in the makeshift darkroom—faces of wealthy strangers watching over his decrepit abode with thousand yard stares—Adam could find some sort of satiation in your distant presence. As the dry-erase marker reading CALL MOM? on his refrigerator smudged and faded with time— a plea beckoning him and going unanswered—Adam found himself chasing the radiant warmth that you seemed to exude. Little did he know how much your palms sweat the first time you slipped a small flier underneath his door, inviting him to meet with a local grassroots group since you had caught him spray painting a sign in the apartment courtyard. 

He has heart, you thought to yourself. You grinned when he returned the favor, taping the time and date of a benefit show to your door a week later. You had grown to expect chugging guitar riffs muffled by your creaking floorboards when the veil between the late night and dawn was drawn back. It was an unspoken sign that Adam was chipping away at his backlog of deliverables for clients while you hunched over a cold utility knife and editorial layouts for a music magazine spread across a gouged cutting mat.

Sometimes, after a well-packed joint, Adam would sneak out of his window, silently slinking up the wrought iron steps and grabbing the edge of your landing to crouch in the corner, seemingly undetected. There was always a twinge of guilt in his gut for feeling the impulse to watch you, getting to know you in ways even you did not know, but the devil on his shoulder always stifled his better judgment. He was oblivious to the fact that you were silently aware of his presence, a small smile on the corner of your lips as you went along with his voyeuristic game. You always knew when he made his routine stops, the faint smell of tobacco momentarily drifting into your apartment window before fading when your kitchen clock’s hand struck a quarter hour later. 

———————————————————————

“I mean…” Adam trailed off, staring at the scuffed toes of his boots, “would you want to? I don't have much put away for anything fancy.”

He was right. When you finally heard Adam shuffling around in his apartment again, after four weeks of oppressive silence and knocking on your neighbors’ doors to see if anybody had heard even a whisper of where he had gone, he had reappeared ten pounds lighter with a broken foot and broken soul. He had thrown himself completely into new work. No longer did you smell tobacco on the fire escape or hear the familiar chords of industrial guitars beneath your pillow.

Until, one brisk October twilight, you came knocking with a pot full of curried vegetables and a pack of beer, asking him to explain everything about his abrupt absence and the bulky leg cast that he donned. Since then, you had been one of the few people he actually held closer than ten feet away, cracking that facade of ice-cold indifference.

“Don’t we usually toss a coin for who's apartment we’re eating dinner at, anyways?” You replied, taking a couple short steps down the stairs and leaning over the banister, chin perched on folded arms. 

“That’s not much of a date, though, is it?” Adam inquired, shrugging his messenger bag up on his good shoulder.

“Why not? It is if we say it is,” You said with a grin, reaching down to fluff the messy, black mop atop his head. The gesture made Adam’s heart thump aggressively in his chest, beating at its cage like a lashing tiger. 

Adam shoved a hand into the pocket of his bag, fingertips brushing the cool metal of a quarter and holding it between your gazes. You two were used to this routine; heads always meant his apartment, tails meant yours. Regardless of who was hosting, you always brought the food, since you had put more effort into exploring flavor on a tight budget instead of simply whipping together whatever bland pantry staples could fuel a vessel of flesh like Adam did. With a quick flick of his fingers, Adam sent the coin spiraling in the air, landing in his palm a moment later before he smacked it on the top of his other hand, revealing the ruling as a clairvoyant would with tea leaves.

Heads.

“Looks like you've got to clear off a table tonight, Stanheight,” You volunteered for him, fingertips tracing the worn lacquered wood of the banister. “What time?”

Adam paused, racking his brain for an idea to make tonight's plans stick out more than your usual meetups. A moment later he smiled, his ego swelling for thinking effectively on the spot. He looked up at you, eyes bright and boyish. “Come down the fire escape at 5:00. Meet on my deck.”

“I’ll bring the food, you bring the wine?”

“Oh, now you're speaking my language!” He exclaimed, huffing a laugh and starting the journey up the splintered stairs to his apartment, the ache in his ankle dulled by the distraction of his mental checklist and the churning pit in his stomach.

———————————————————————

Hot enamel of a heavy, worn cast-iron pot nearly burned through your cheap oven mitts as you climbed through your window and began your descent down the fire escape steps. The golden glow of a setting sun peered through pink clouds, bathing everything as far as the eye could see in a warmth that contrasted the brisk fall evening. As you rounded the corner onto Adam’s grated deck, you paused, laughing incredulously at the sight before you.

A threadbare comforter was laid out atop the cold metal, candles that were barely more than melted hunks of wax sitting atop a baking sheet in the center. Adam had taken the time to place two chipped plates and silverware next to each other, fork and knife on the wrong side laid out from a faded recollection of table etiquette. By the time you had set down the heavy pot and taken your spot on the comforter, Adam was stumbling out of his window, a large speaker in his arms taken from his stereo straining against the tether of its extension cord.

“I'm surprised you even had a romantic cell in your body,” You said as you turned to face him, watching him balance the speaker atop his window sill and pull the window down to clamp the box between its gaping maw.

“Don't get too used to it,” He replied, rotating the dial to turn up the volume of the CD he had playing in his living room. “Blink and it’ll be gone before you know it.”

“Should I consider that a red flag?” You inquired with a sly smile, knowing that the sarcasm coating every one of Adam’s words was merely a defensive shell to protect that ember of empathy.

“One of many,” He plopped down next to you, bobbing his head at the screaming guitar tones coming from the speaker as he peeked into the lid of the piping hot pot and inhaled the savory scent with a hum of approval. He was doing everything he could to hide the glances he stole of you dishing dinner onto plates in the golden sunlight, heart and gut churning in their confines. 

“Guess I'll find out in time, huh?” You teased, watching that nervous smile on his lips. He shoved a slice of tofu into his mouth to distract himself before he said anything stupid. He plucked up the two disposable plastic cups and cracked open a bottle of wine, pouring two cups and handing one to you. 

“I washed them, don't worry,” He said between bites, savoring the hot meal. “‘S good!”

You winked at him and took a long sip of wine between bites, humming the melody of the track you were familiar with and admiring his sharp features in the glow of incoming twilight. You were grateful for the moments like this, basking in the warmth of Adam’s suppressed sweetness beneath the prickling cocoon of sarcasm and vitriol.

“What made you finally ask me on a date, Stanheight?” You asked.

“What made you say yes to me?” Adam countered.

“Well,” You began, washing down a bite with another swig of wine. “At first, I chalked it up to your boyish good looks…but then, after you were gone for so long, I realized that I missed your company.”

“Hell of a company to have,” Adam shook his head, laughing over the rim of his cup and focusing his attention solely on you. His heart ached to hear your reasoning.

“You are!” You exclaimed, pointing your fork at him. “You've always been my favorite person to bring to shows, to the gallery, or to just hit the bodega when a beer and cigarette are in order.”

“Yeah?” Adam’s heart began to twist again. His chewing slowed as he focused intently on every word, each stirring up a memory that made him smile.

During his captivity, after all, memories were all he had to keep him from completely losing his grip. How you laughed as he fumbled in his canvas bag for an extra fifty cents for a pack of mint gum so he didn't smell like cigarettes at your gallery opening. How you marched him out of his apartment and down the block for falafel from a street cart that you shared at the end of a shitty week. How he always seemed to carve out a bit of extra time for you over the rest of his friends, and you for him.

“It was lonely as shit with you gone,” You mused as you looked over the wrought iron railing at the sun sinking behind brick and a kaleidoscope of glass. “I went door to door every night after work hoping someone had seen you in the neighborhood.”

Adam felt the lump in his throat sink as he looked over at you, slowly chewing, the fire escape silent save for the harsh melody of a song forgotten. His head sunk slightly, eyes wide in disbelief. Your gaze was soft, wanting nothing more than to reach out and grasp his hand with your own and pull him in for a tight embrace. 

“You went looking?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well…” He murmured, averting his gaze down to hide the heat crawling up his neck and into his face. He set his dish down and smoothed his hands nervously along the softened denim of worn-in jeans. You leaned in just a hair, encouraging him to continue. “I always joked that, had I turned up dead in some freak accident or some shit, nobody would have looked sideways at the situation, or even looked at all.”

You coughed, the surprise causing you to swallow the bite of your food too soon. You waved your hand at him as he looked back at you, sipping your wine before placing your own plate down and turning your body to face him fully. It took everything in Adam’s core to not stare at your lips, studying every soft curve of your features in the warm glow of a dying sun. You moved instinctively, reaching out and placing your hand atop his in his lap and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You’re fucking crazy if you think I wouldn’t scour every inch of this godforsaken city for you, Stanheight,” You whispered, your own stomach fighting turbulent waves as it flipped over each word. “Don’t be saying silly shit like that. Hear me?”

“Heard and reciprocated,” Adam replied with a meek smile, lacing his fingers with yours as you leaned in to rest your head on his shoulder and watch the final shimmers of sunlight paint the sky vivid hues of violet and rose. You couldn’t help but smile as you took in the smell of his cheap soap and dollar store detergent in the slight breeze. Adam tapped his fingers on the palm of your hand to the beat of the song on the stereo, absentmindedly leaning his head to rest his cheek on the crown of your head. A moment later, he paused.

“Can I kiss you?” Adam inquired softly, the question sending a jolt down your spine.

“What?” You lifted your head, cheeks flushing in the low light of the candles he had laid out before you two. Your eyes lit up and a cheeky grin flashed on your face.

“You don’t have to, I just thought I would ask…I mean, I’ve been wanting to ask you for a—” He quickly tried to brush off the question before you leaned up, pressing your soft lips against his own and cupping the curve of his jaw with a warm hand. Adam was caught slightly off guard, leaning into you and lacing his hands under the hood of your zip-up. His eyes flickered shut, heart racing as you both melted into the gentle gesture, the faint taste of spice and cigarettes on his tongue.

Your own hands slipped into soft black curls, feeling him lean back onto his elbows, refusing to break away from you. Adam smiled and let out a quiet laugh as you slid into his lap, refusing to pass up the opportunity that you had been waiting months for now in silence.

“I really thought you would never ask,” You whispered against the corner of his smile, grinning ear to ear as he craned his head up to steal small, chaste kisses of his own. Your fingertips danced down the warm skin of his neck and trailed along the weary fabric of his threadbare shirt—worn weekly since 1999, you could have guessed. His heart thrummed under your gentle touch and his own arms wrapped tight to keep you close.

“Guess I was just nervous,” He murmured into your lips, eyes heavy under his lids as they locked onto yours. “I knew I wanted to do that since I saw you spill that beer all over your shirt at the Underground.”

“Shut the fuck up!” You exclaimed, rolling your eyes at the vivid memory. You both broke into boisterous laughter, leaning your forehead against his and curling strands of his hair around your finger. “You're such an ass when you want to be.”

“Yeah,” Adam mused into the miniscule void between your parted lips, fingers curling around the soft leather of your belt and pulling your warm frame against his own. “Only sometimes when I want to get a rise out of you.”

The space between you fell silent, chaste lips melding and hesitant hands exploring soft fabric as the ring of car horns below and the strum of metal guitars filled the air. You were the first to take a step more, tracing his cheeky grin with your tongue and slipping into the warmth of his mouth. That same nervous tinge trailed slowly down the back of your spine, punctuated by the sensation of Adam’s fingers drifting absentmindedly along your frame.

“So,” You breathed as the two of you pulled away from each other for just a moment, noses touching and hands tangled. “Does this make us official?”

“Do you want it to be?” Adam inquired, eyes locked on yours to search your face for an answer. One he had been toiling around in his head for months now.

You hummed, that impish smile back on your lips.

“I'll think about it,” You whispered against him, though you already knew the answer in your mind. You both laughed breathlessly, lips colliding once more in the chilled air of that apartment fire escape.

[bratbarzal]

On Your Side (NH13) / Chapter Five

Pairing: Nico Hischier x Fem!OC Poppy Jensen*

*I say it's an OC, it's just a name and third person POV. I use minor character descriptions because I don’t get on with writing vague reader inserts/YN for long-form, story heavy fics, but I will generally try to avoid including race and body type or really any physical descriptors. I’m always open to feedback on my writing, or how to be more inclusive.

WC: 17k (holy moly)

Chapter Warnings: I tried to sprinkle some fluffy flashbacks and smutty references later in here just to lighten the mood but this is angsty!! probably cursing I honestly can't remember, and serious warnings rn mentions of hacking/gossip blogs/blackmail/cyber bullying/nudes being leaked, talia is her own warning tbh. I tried not to make a cliched ex comes in between them plot and idk how it comes across but yeah I was trying to toe the line between it being interesting/different and then going too far and not being able to write around it which is why the plot kind of fixes itself quick and is a leeeetle bit bad but there's some unresolved bitterness in that relationship for sure lmao she has a LOT 2 say!! did I mention there's angst in here? insecurity/self-doubt and miscommunication!!! in abundance!!! but!! luke is a cutey patootie in this I wrote his part with a lil smile on my face 💖 also a ridiculous conversation about huffing glue lmao

Series Masterlist

Previous Part (Chapter Four)

A/N: ok so in the grand scheme of things this is both a filler chapter and also like a pivotal point in the story to set something later up, but when I was planning this entire fic out, the only directive I gave myself for this specific chapter was insert angst. you wouldn't believe the amount of times I've written and rewritten and gone back and forth on what's in here. it's the kind of instruction only a complete melon would give themselves and I clearly just hate myself in ways that are spooky and strange to submit myself to this kind of torture.

and I hear your cries of hasn’t this fic just been angst so far??? yes!! you may be correct!! but you don’t get a rainbow without a bit of rain hun!!! grab an umbrella!!! I promise good will come of this lmao

I'm sorry this one took so long, it's the only chapter I didn't have any kind of plan or direction for obviously and I tried to come up with so many different options for the talia plot before I landed on whatever this is, but the next one I do have some scenes written out in my plan so shouldn't be as long in between. my goal has always been a chapter a week but like I said the other day work has been a lot for me the past couple of weeks so I am genuinely sorry for making you wait!!

you guys were very fun and very kind to me after the last chapter so please please please lets keep the good vibes going come chat to me about your thoughts about the fic about the weather about anything!! 💓

Nico

When Nico and Talia had first started dating, there had been an element of excitement to the dynamic. Nico hadn’t properly dated anyone in a while - had casual flings here and there, and for the most part spent his time swallowing down his burgeoning feelings for his best friend - and there was a novelty to starting something with someone new.

He had all the intentions of building something serious with her. She was fun, got on with his friends, had ties close to home that meant he wouldn’t be putting a wedge between the two of them should he want to travel back in his breaks, and sinking his teeth into the challenges of a relationship was something that actually intrigued him.

He liked planning dates, liked buying gifts to see that buzz of joy and gratitude it would elicit, and he liked the companionship - liked having someone there when he came back from a long roadie or a tough string of games. 

He liked it so much he never really opened his eyes to the fact that Talia didn’t. 

She didn’t like the dates he planned - didn’t like the restaurants he chose, the movies he wanted to share with her, the bars him and the guys frequented. She didn’t like America, didn’t like their coffee shops, thought their pastries were packed with too much sugar, their portion sizes were too large for her ever to enjoy going for lunch, always complaining about feeling bloated and sluggish after every meal. She hated Jersey - wanted to spend all her time across the Hudson, looking down on everyone she met and everywhere they went together. She didn’t make much use of the gifts he bought her - let every bouquet of flowers die a quick, careless death, said the watch he bought her didn’t go with enough of her other jewellery and turned her nose up at every effort he made to make his apartment feel more like her home. 

She wasn’t all that comforting when it came to companionship, either. Rolled her eyes when he came home aching and exhausted, went out without him on the days he was coming back from a roadie and returned home when he had long retired to his bed. She would always want to meet up with her girlfriends instead of hanging around the team, and only ever wanted to come to games if she could bring her own entourage - mostly to show off her connections and hardly ever to actually support him.

And so, despite the initial attraction, despite the excitement that first came with their blossoming relationship, Nico can only look at Talia with disinterest and frigidity now.

He barely greets her as he opens the door to his apartment, moving aside to let her in and waiting for her to trudge her small case in behind her before he closes it, leaning against the surface and watching her discard her bag and keys on the counter with familiarity.

When she turns to face him, running a hand through her hair and huffing out a big sigh, he takes in her dishevelled appearance.

Even when travelling, Talia usually takes great pride in her pristine exterior - hair blow-dried, outfit co-ordinated and steam-pressed to perfection, not a crease or stain in sight, and usually a light layer of makeup to cover the slight imperfections like the darkened under eyes and redness around her nose. This isn’t like her.

She looks like she’s been messing with her hair the whole 8 hour flight out and beyond, her eyes are rimmed-red with smudges of brown at the corners, her lips are chapped and swollen like she’s been crying, and her sweatpants don’t match her hoodie. It’s almost like she’d thrown on whatever she could find and caught the first flight out, fresh out of bed.

“What’s going on?” He cuts straight to the chase, losing all formality and courtesy. He should feel bad for his callous greeting, but she had broken up with him over text not even a month ago - she doesn’t exactly deserve outstretched arms and a warm embrace, he thinks.

“Hi Talia, how have you been, Talia? It’s nice to see you Talia.” She mocks, a frown overtaking her features immediately. “I’m absolutely amazing, thanks for caring, Nico!” Sarcasm spews from her tongue like pure venom, and his eyes practically roll into the back of his head.

Nico pushes himself off of the door, heavy footsteps leading him into his kitchen where he can make himself a coffee to get through this. His watch reads 6:05 - far too early for her antics - and rising to her nagging is only going to make things worse.

“Do you want a drink?” He asks, as he busies himself with his coffee press, unable to look at her too long without the pricks of guilt irritating him.  He doesn’t even know what he has to feel guilty about.

“I’ll get it myself,” she scoffs, venturing over to the fridge and pouring out some orange juice - her movements around his space eerily natural. She slams back most of the drink as he works out how to brew his coffee - but she sees right through him. He’s hardly ever used the press before, and he’s just doing so now to avoid her in whatever capacity he can. “I need money.”

Nico’s almost positive he hasn’t heard her right - that there’s some kind of mix up between her standard German and his Swiss - and he slowly turns to properly face her, brows slanting into a deep frown as he assesses her expression.

She has a hand on her hip, her jaw set and her eyes darkened and serious. 

“You have money.”

Talia comes from money - her father is some kind of film producer and her mother an artist, if Nico remembers correctly - and she makes good money, herself. She’s been a print model since she was scouted in some market in Munich since she was 15, has had her face plastered in ads in magazines and catalogues around the world. She’s hardly strapped for cash. She gets things gifted to her by whatever company she can get a hold of. What could she possibly need him to give her money for?

“Not enough.” Her tone is cold, her demeanour the same, and if Nico can still gauge her emotions correctly, there’s an element of blame that she is starting to shift towards him, and his whole body starts to feel tense.

“Not enough for what?”

He can’t quite tell what feeling washes over him - worry, at the thought she’s gotten herself into some kind of trouble, stress, at the thought this could be a recurring thing, and potentially pity, at the way she’s so clearly carrying the weight of something heavy - something she’s lugged all the way across the Atlantic on a long haul flight with her.

“Not enough to pay the guy who’s blackmailing me not to leak the videos that I sent to you.”

“What vide-“ he bites back, and the immediate arch of her brow tells him all he needs to know. “Oh.”

Shit.

“Oh? That’s all you have to say?” She sneers, fury in her gaze and dismay in her tone. “You’ve ruined my life, and all I get is an oh?”

“Whoa, slow down, I’ve ruined your life?”

Nico has never been one to shame any girl for sending explicit pictures - he’d been more than willing to receive them at the time - but he hadn’t ever forced her hand. He hadn’t even asked her for them, in the first place. 

She’d taken it upon herself to spice things up, as she had put it at the time, when the team had gone on the road in early December. It was just after he’d returned from his injury - a time in which he’d spent mentally distanced from her as he’d focused so much on getting back to the game, their relationship consisting mainly of not-so-passionate sex to avoid aggravating his injury and hardly of any kind of meaningful conversation - and she had thought that keeping him on his toes on a roadie would mean he’d come back more interested than ever.

If he’d been looking out for red flags at the time, he might have caught that blaring one; needing to try new things only a few months into a relationship to keep it fun and light.

He’d been in his hotel room in Seattle, freshly showered and ready to throw himself straight into bed when his phone had started to ping. It was suggestive texts at first, are you alone? And I’m thinking about you. Then it had been pictures, hands over lingerie and fingers between glossy, pouted lips.

And then videos, one after the other before he had any chance to respond - her phone set up far enough away that her whole body was in frame, touching herself while laying on his bed and calling out for him.

He had called her instead of sending anything back, and as he realises the severity of the situation, a selfish part of him is glad he did so.

“Talia, I didn’t even save those videos, and I definitely didn’t show them to anyone else.”

Nico could never. Not only for the fact that he was raised to be a decent human being, but he has a sister - if anyone ever did that to Nina, he’d tear them apart, limb from limb. 

“You’re the only person I’ve ever sent anything to.” She seems to have made her mind up, and Nico feels as if his heart plummets through his torso at the realisation. She’s travelled all this way because she genuinely believes he’s the cause of this - that he’s shared intimate videos of her without her consent, to someone who would extort her for them. “And he sent me some pictures as proof, had information about me like the address of this apartment.”

“Talia, I swear on my mother’s life, I wouldn’t do that to you - to anyone, not ever.”

Tears well in her crystalline eyes, and Nico waits with bated breath as she assesses the situation in her head. 

He isn’t a liar - he has never given her a reason to think he is one. In their time together, he had always been honest, always been loyal, and he hopes at the very least - despite her obvious distain for him now, and how little she ended up caring about their relationship in the end to cut it off in the way she did - she thought of him as kind. 

He can do nothing but be patient, let her come to whatever conclusion on her own, and it’s only when he spots the quiver in her bottom lip that he takes an apprehensive step forward, ready to console her if needed.

She practically throws herself into his arms, wrapping her own around his waist and bawling into his chest, and all he can do is hold her and wait. He tries to rub a soothing hand up and down her back, holding the other against her head as her body wracks with sobs. All he can feel is the pounding of his own heartbeat, pulsing throughout his entire body until it’s all he can hear, too.

Nico does his best to comfort her, shushing and cooing and whispering how it’s going to be alright, but it does little to help. She’s beyond relief.

“There’s a guy who said he can track whoever is doing this to me,” she sniffles as she pulls herself away. “He’s in Jersey City Heights, he’s some sort of ethical hacker, whatever that means, I’m going to meet him and he’s gonna go through my phone.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Nico doesn’t even hesitate to ask - if not to protect her, and make sure she isn’t unknowingly getting herself into an even more dangerous situation, then to protect himself too. If someone has Talia’s pictures, and she only sent them to him, there’s a possibility his phone had been hacked, and if this guy is as ethical as he says, maybe he can check Nico’s stuff, too, just to be safe.

She gives him an appreciative smile, eyes still glassy and cheeks flushed. “I’d really appreciate that.”

“I’m gonna shower, then we can go. You can grab whatever to eat while you’re waiting.” He backs away from her completely, only just able to acknowledge the ache in his muscles once the intensity of the situation has settled a little, and he just needs to stand under the steaming spray and clear his mind before he properly immerses himself in her company. 

He has a lot more than this whole mess that he needs to think about, and maybe a shower can bring him a little clarity on how exactly he’s going to explain himself to the beautiful girl whose bed he had abruptly left not even an hour ago. 

“Why are you dressed?”

Nico stops in his tracks.

When he had got back to his apartment, he’d made a little effort for it to seem like he’d been there all night. He’d gone through to his bedroom, mussed up his sheets to make it seem like he had been sleeping in them - and not with the anticipation that Talia was going to be entering his bedroom, but with her, he never knows - trying to retrace the steps of his usual routine before he goes to bed, he had closed all the blinds, had moved his gym bag by the door.

But he hadn’t changed.

Still adorned in his sweatshirt and jeans from the night before, the clothing feels all that much heavier on his body as she brings attention to it, and he quickly racks his brain to come up with a valid excuse that doesn’t rouse further suspicion.

“I fell asleep in these clothes.” As easy as the lie comes out, he doesn’t feel great saying it. Doesn’t feel like erasing the night he had shared with Poppy is for the greater good, even if it is just to Talia, but avoiding another difficult conversation is a must right now - especially when he’d already lied to her on the phone. “Was out late with the guys last night, Timo threw a party for my birthday.”

“Right,” she drags out, and when he turns back around, she casts a scrutinising glance over him, top to bottom. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“No worries,” he shrugs, genuinely not offended. She has no reason to remember his birthday. Not anymore. “Like I said, help yourself to whatever, I’ll try not to be long.” 

When he undresses for his shower, he’s thankful he hadn’t had the foresight to change in anticipation of Talia’s arrival. He probably would have donned a t-shirt and some shorts, oblivious to the visible indents on his thighs where Poppy had dug her nails in as she took him in her mouth.

His chest and torso are littered with scratches, some faint, some a little deeper, and he can’t get the right angle to see his back but he imagines they’re the same - the memory of her clutching at him as both of their climaxes approached is vivid enough for him to picture the marks she left behind.

He groans as the thought of her brings back that swirling feeling in the pit of his stomach, as he notices the blooming arousal pool there, and feels himself harden as he steps under the spray of his shower.

If his phone had been on do not disturb through the night, he could be in the shower with Poppy, instead.

He could have woken up to her in his arms, could have pecked at her sleep-swollen lips until it brought her out of her slumber, and spent his morning making up for lost time just like he had promised her last night. He could have made light work of the pleasure he had given her the night before - could have had her underneath him in her bed, tangled up in the mess of sheets and falling apart before they shared a morning shower, where he’d have held her up against the tiles and would’ve moved into her until they couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. He’d have made her breakfast, something sweet, so that as she sat and watched him atop the kitchen counter he had tasted her on for the first time not even 12 hours before, he’d press his tongue into her mouth after she had eaten and savour the flavour of strawberries that had settled between her lips.

Instead, he’s here, turning the temperature of his water down until any and all excitement in his body is dampened, and all he can focus on is the effect the cold has on all his other aching muscles.

Once he has showered and gotten dressed - and has come to the conclusion that any further thoughts about Poppy need to wait until the Talia problem is resolved and out of his hands, he finds his ex girlfriend sprawled across his couch, music playing from the speaker in the corner, and taking helping herself to a whole new level. 

Her case is opened where she had left it by the door, and she’s set herself a little vanity up on his coffee table, fixing her appearance before they leave.

She’s changed out of her mismatched sweats, has dressed herself in jeans and a sweater, and has found an extension cable long enough for her to plug in whatever hot tool she’s currently running through her hair.

“You take the longest showers in the history of man,” she rolls her eyes, not even casting a glance his way as she focuses on her own reflection in the little mirror she must have brought with her. “I do not want to know what it is you get up to in there.”

“I was barely 30 minutes, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, almost,” she runs the tool through her bangs until they flick out at the edges on either side of her face, and it reminds him of all the times he had watched her while waiting for her to finish getting ready. It makes him feel uneasy how familiar it all is, how she’s so quickly made herself at home again in his space.

He wants to tell her she needs to pack her stuff back up, that she won’t be staying here and needs to give his keys back, but the weight of the situation at hand dawns on him before he can open his mouth.

He’ll wait until they get back later, his decision depending on the outcome of their visit to her hacker friend.

As much as he doesn’t want her around, he isn’t going to kick her out with no place to go if her life is still shrouded in unsafe circumstances. 

Talia unplugs her stuff, wraps the cord around the handle of the brush she was using, and places it on a mat she must have brought with her so it doesn’t burn through the surface of the table. “Kay, let’s go.”

She marches ahead of him, picking up her bag and keys on the way out and leaving him to lock up while she calls for the elevator. They wait together in silence, his heart thudding an anxious rhythm in his chest as he anticipates the arrival of the elevator - and thankfully, it arrives empty.

He tries to distance himself from her as they enter, him standing in one corner, and hoping she takes the other, but she doesn’t quite get the memo, standing obliviously in the centre as she types away to someone on her phone and he presses the button to go to the basement.

Nico watches the numbers go down with bated breath. His floor, the next, the next one after that, and he uses any good will he has left with the universe to hope and pray it skips the floor coming up - but, as is just his luck, the elevator comes to a stop with a soft thud, and the doors open to reveal the very situation he’s been hoping to avoid. 

Jack walks straight in, eyes cast down to the phone in his hands, distractedly typing away and not even noticing the button for the parking level has been pressed before he pushes it, himself.

Luke notices straight away, halting in his movements to enter the space as his gaze flickers between the two people already occupying it. 

He diverts his eyes when they meet Nico’s head dropping as he steps in and stands beside his brother, uttering a quick greeting of, “Hey, Cap.”

Jack’s attention is captured immediately, spinning at an almost dizzying speed to face his captain, phone disregarded into his back pocket. “Schao! I thought you’d be at-,”

He’s thankfully able to tune into his perception before he carries on with his train of thought, a subtle movement in his peripheral diverting his gaze to the figure stood to the side of Nico. 

“Talia. Hi.”

“Hi, Jack.” Nico cringes inwardly at how disinterested she sounds. “Luke.” Talia had never really cared for Nico’s teammates - especially not the younger guys like Jack and Luke. She was quick to pass judgement, making comments on their maturity, or apparent lack-thereof, and wasn’t the biggest fan of how close Nico was with the pair. Didn’t like the time or attention he gave them considering the close quarters they lived in, and had always been resentful. She always claimed her English wasn’t good enough to hold a proper conversation with them, but he’d seen her enough around her American friends to know it wasn’t true.

“We’re just meeting up with some of the guys for breakfast.” Jack says, cautiously, in an attempt to fill the silence. The invitation remains unspoken, but Nico can tell in the way the younger boy cocks his head and meets his eye that he’s gauging his current situation for the morning.

“We have plans.” Talia must be able to tell what he was getting at, too and Nico can see Luke’s eyes narrow as soon as the word resonates in his head. Plans. Pre-meditated. Made before she had sprung all of this on him within the last hour or two. Panic stirs within him, and his throat itches to speak the truth, but it’s just not the right time to do so with Talia stood beside him. If he starts getting defensive, she’ll start asking questions, and the boys will have to bear witness to him skirting around the matter of Poppy. 

It’s not a good look no matter which way he swings it. He’s stuck in a thick, dark, tarry mess of not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings but making all the wrong decisions. A minefield of not knowing how to explain himself without raising a million questions on either side, and hoping one of the brothers might toe the line of the boundaries of their relationship and just straight up ask why Talia is here.

He knows he has fucked up without the way neither of them are looking him in the eye.

He knew it the second Poppy’s door had locked behind him this morning - he doesn’t need Luke refusing to meet his gaze, doesn’t need Jack’s shifting side eye to tell him he’s made a mistake. 

“I’ll text you later.” Nico says, mainly to Jack but still trying to meet his brother’s eyes with no luck. It’s an attempt to say something, without saying anything. A silent beg not to jump to conclusions about what they’ve seen - and, although he knows they wouldn’t, not to tell anyone else. Not whichever of the guys they are meeting up with, not anyone else on the team, and definitely not Poppy.

“Yeah, sure,” Jack mutters in a poor attempt to hide his discomfort, and an even worse attempt at masking his relief when the doors ping open on the parking level.

“Have fun with your plans,” Luke huffs out, his tone like a tight fist clutching at Nico’s chest despite his courteous choice of words.

“We will,” Talia forces a smile. Nico gets the feeling she isn’t as oblivious to the tension as he hopes she is.

The four of them separate into their pairs with mumbled goodbyes, Jack and Luke heading off to Luke’s car on one side of the garage, and Nico and Talia heading to his on the other, and Nico can’t even let out a sigh of pseudo-relief before Talia jumps on him.

“That was weird.”

“We broke up, they weren’t expecting to see us together.” He quickly excuses as he starts the car up, turning on the heat and hoping the soft buzz of the air will fill the silence enough that she doesn’t feel the need to talk. 

“It’s been like 3 weeks, most couples get back together after their first breakup.”

Has it only been 3 weeks? He thinks, shuddering at how little time had actually passed between her sending that text and him restoring balance to his life.

“We’re not most couples,” he shrugs, shutting that train of thought immediately as he starts to make his way out of the parking garage, ascending the ramp where the doors open up to reveal the dull beam of the winter morning sun. “You dumped me over text a week before Christmas, we’re not getting back together.”

“Oh yeah, I bet you were real cut up about it,” she jibes, sarcastically. “Probably landed straight in the bed of some desperate puck bunny more than happy to take your mind off of how awful I was to you.”

His mind immediately goes to Poppy, to last night, to her bed - and despite the complete bullshit Talia has fabricated in her head, despite how much he wants to tell her she has it all wrong, he can’t bear to twist himself even further into knots to skirt around mentioning the girl who did make him better.

“We’re not having this conversation right now.” He decides, tapping at the screen in the console of his car until he brings up the navigation. “Put in the address you need, we’re not too far from The Heights.”

The location she enters into the system is for an unassuming condo in a quiet, suburban area. The neighbourhood itself is picturesque, the buildings colourful, the paths lined with trees that seemed to flourish even in the midst of winter, and when Nico pulls up across the street, he notices the amount of families around - parents walking their kids to school and couples with dogs getting their morning steps in. It’s the last place he imagines some hacker to be shacked up, but maybe that’s the point.

He still doesn’t entirely understand the ethical part.

“It’s the one with the red brick and the balcony,” Talia points to the other side of the road as she unbuckles her seatbelt, and Nico looks over at the building as if he’s going to be able to see all the secrets stored within it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, number 414.” She shows him the messages she has exchanged with the guy, and sure enough, the address matches up. “C’mon, the sooner we get in there, the sooner we can figure this out.”

He follows her across the street, adjusting the cap he wears atop his head and making sure it conceals his identity from anyone with eyesight good enough to catch it, trying to shrug off the discomfort of the whole situation as he waits for someone to pick up the buzzer Talia relentlessly presses.

He hears a different kind of buzz, lighter, like the manual zoom of a camera, and cranes his neck to assess their surroundings as they wait, before he catches sight of the device in the top corner of the porch, facing directly onto them.

He hears the click of a lock as soon as his eyes make contact with the thing, and cautiously tries the handle on the door until it pushes all the way down, letting them into the building. 

The door to the ground floor condo is open, and stood in the entrance is a guy no older than 20, dressed in all black with dark, beady eyes framed by wire-rimmed glasses. If Nico could find it in him to see the humour in the situation, he’d laugh at how he looks like Luke - a mop of curly brown hair, tall with a slim build and ever so slightly poor posture.

He straightens up as the two of them approach, Nico keeping Talia behind him as he assesses the safety of the situation. If they’re being lured into some kind of trap, he could definitely take this guy - he can’t even maintain direct eye contact, never mind manage to subdue a man of Nico’s stature.

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing someone, Talia.”

He’s soft-spoken, his voice ever so nasally, and despite the fact that he’s talking to the girl behind him, his gaze has settled on Nico’s chest.

“My name’s Nico.” He introduces himself, holding out a hand to shake. He thinks he can write him off as a threat, for now, and if making him feel comfortable encourages him to help them, he wants to put him at ease. “

“I know who you are.” He doesn’t shake Nico’s hand. “I’m Myles. Come in.”

Myles doesn’t wait for the two of them, marching back into his place and leaving the door open for Talia and Nico to enter and close behind them. 

Nico isn’t surprised by the space - from his brief encounter with the resident so far, it fits him to a tee; neat, impersonal, furniture that looks fresh out of a catalogue. He follows him over to the corner of his living room, a PC set up with several monitors that he can’t tell are on until they’re standing straight in front of them.

Myles throws himself down into the large swivel chair, spinning until he’s facing the two of them and crossing his arms over his torso with disinterest. “So, nudes?”

Straight to the point. Nico can’t exactly be mad at it.

Talia steps out from behind him, handing her unlocked phone to Myles. “The messages started last week, just after New Years. Straight to my number, not in DMs or anything, but the number doesn’t even come up for me to call it from another phone or anything, just says unknown.”

Myles takes her phone and plugs it into his setup without even looking at whatever she has opened on it, and Nico watches as the screens come alive with mirrors of the device and some other apps that launch as soon as it connects. 

“That’s more helpful than you think, they have to use an app to be able to anonymously text you, makes it easier to identify them.”

The way Myles talks is monotonous and detached, but the way he works is anything but. His fingers move quicker than Nico’s eyes can track on his keyboard, typing away at whatever as different things flash up and leave his screen. It like something straight out of a spy movie.

“So we can find out who it is just from that?” He asks, arms folding over his chest as he watches in almost-awe.

“Not exactly. If it is a hacker, I could identify their signature. Doesn’t mean I could identify them, but we can work around it potentially.”

Talia throws herself down on the couch behind them exasperatedly, sighing loudly and making her displeasure known. “You told me you could track them down, that’s what I’m paying you to do.”

“I told you I could help you, I didn’t say I could specifically track anyone, that’s not how this works.”

“How does it work then?” Nico asks.

Myles wheels his chair to the side to make room for Nico to get closer, and starts walking him through the process, pointing through the different apps he uses and explaining how he uses them. One deciphers which app the person used to message Talia. Once that’s been deduced, he uses another to enter a backdoor into that app’s servers, perusing through them until he finds the account that sent the text, making sure the date, time and then content line up. Once he’s found the account, he can see the other texts sent from it, and a gallery spreads across two screens, with maybe hundreds of pictures, videos, messages and transactions all to or from that same account.

“You’re telling me you have the power to do all this and you don’t use it to like rob banks or something?”

“Ethical hacker, clue’s in the name.” Myles shrugs. Nico looks back to Talia, her jaw set as she picks at her nails out of boredom. It’s probably taken about fifteen minutes for this guy to work an absolute miracle, and she looks like she couldn’t care less. “We use all this information, and the access I have on the server, to shut this dude down and cut his con before he can do it to anyone else.”

“Whoa whoa,” Talia shoots up, “Won’t that make him mad? Make him just post all the photos?”

“I doubt it,” the hacker comments, bringing up a couple of the photos on the screens, some of Talia, some of another girl, making Nico divert his eyes. “They’re not even real.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Excuse me?”

Talia and Nico both question at the same time, leaning in to get a proper look to confirm what is being told to them. The other pictures Myles had brought up, the ones of other girls, are actually kind of the same. The same poses, the same backgrounds, the same outfits, or lack thereof, just different faces and different hair.

“They’re called deep fakes. Photoshop, essentially.” He has that aloof tone to his words again, and Nico can’t quite believe how simple it seems for him to say. “They put a bunch of your pictures into an AI generator and give it instruction, like put this face on a body posed like this or wearing that. I’d assume the video they have is the same.”

“How is that even possible?” Talia gasps, pushing herself forward and snatching the mouse from Myles’ grasp. She clicks into what she assumes is the video, and it starts playing before she can think better of it, thankfully without any sound. 

It’s Talia - that much is obvious from the initial close up of her face - but Nico doesn’t recognise anything else about it. He doesn’t recognise the room she’s in, the bed she’s on, the things she’s doing. He’s never seen this before. It’s definitely not one of the videos she had sent him, and when he looks closer, he realises the little moles on her ribs aren’t even there.

None of it is real.

“You said he sent you the photos? You didn’t realise they weren’t the ones you took?” He can’t conceal the bite in his tone, his brows furrowing as he looks at her in disbelief. She’s flown out here, disrupted his peace, blamed him for blackmailing her, and she can’t even recognise what is or isn’t her own body. 

“They looked real, I-,” Her shock disappears as quickly as it had come about, her mood shifting and a glare all of a sudden being directed at her ex boyfriend. “I wouldn’t have accused you if they didn’t look real, Nico.” She snaps, frowning at him like this is his fault. “You have no idea what it’s like to be threatened like that, I won’t have you blame me for panicking.”

Slivers of guilt seep into his subconscious, and he takes a deep breath, diverting his gaze uneasily and letting out a big sigh.

He knows he should be a little more compassionate, but there’s panicking, and then there’s this.

She had accused him of ruining her life.

“What about the rest of it?” Nico asks, “Like how did he get her number or have my address? You said he had other information?”

“He did,” Talia nods, looking over to Myles.

“The address he probably got when he got your number, and he could have got that from anywhere. Could be something as small as you ordering something online and the store having a data breach, or clicking a link that shared your IP address, and getting your phone information from that.” Myles starts his typing again, keeping a tight grip on his mouse so that it can’t be snatched again. “I could probably find out actually, they’re pretty easy to spot, do you clear your history often?”

“I wouldn’t even know how to do that,”

“Perfect,” Again, his fingertips work at lightening speed, and Nico watches as instagram opens on one of the screens. “Yeah, a DM sent to you from… Devils_tea. You opened a link to a shared drive to upload some pictures, the drive probably had malware and the pictures have location metadata.”

Nico rolls his eyes, that small ebb of pity washing almost completely away, and before Talia can stop him, Myles carries on. “Some of the pictures you sent them are the ones they used for the AI photos, look your face in this one is the exact same as this photo they threatened to leak.”

Nico recognises these photos. The ones that had been plastered all over social media when their relationship had leaked. Pictures of them back in Switzerland, on a weekend trip to Ibiza, selfies of them in his apartment, and even a picture of the two of them with his parents back at his family home in Valais.

He has been far too oblivious to Talia’s games for far too long, he realises. 

Of course she had been the one to leak everything - who else would have had those photos - but he hadn’t even considered it would be her; she had faced the harshest aftermath for it, why would she subject herself to all the subsequent grief that came with people knowing about their relationship?

Thank God for this guy’s lack of social cues, Nico thinks, or he would never have known that for as long as they had been together, she had been violating his revered privacy and trust.

“Nico, that wasn’t-,” Talia’s panic is evident, wide eyes, trembling hands raised in defence, “I must have been hacked,”

“Actually, there’s no-,” Myles begins to interject, fingers working again to fact check, but Nico doesn’t need him to validate what he already knows.

“Shut up,” Talia snarls, with a finger pointed at him, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, we’re done here.” She reaches forward to snatch her phone back, yanking out the wire that connects it to his monitors and throwing it onto the desk. “We’re leaving, and if you think I’m paying you anything, you’re deluded.” 

Talia marches past them and straight out of the condo, slamming every door she possibly can behind her. Nico can only cringe as the sounds of her stomping footsteps echo until they fade out - until she’s probably outside and waiting for him back at his car.

“Doesn’t she want me to shut this thing down?”

“I’ll pay you.” Nico sighs, reaching into his pocket for his phone and trying to push down the feeling that arises when he’s met with a blank lock screen.

Poppy hasn’t messaged him. 

Not that he deserves for her to make it easy, to let him off the hook and pretend he hasn’t royally fucked things up with her.

“If you stop him, does he still have all the photos? He could still release them?”

“Yeah, but they’re pretty easy to validate as fakes, especially when you have the source material. I don’t think this guy is sophisticated enough for a full blown hack into her phone for the real thing. I couldn’t find evidence of any breach of her cloud or her device.”

Nico nods, but the information does little to quell the anxiety that squeezes his chest in a vice-like grip. 

This whole morning has been nothing but a giant waste of his time. From the second his eyes opened, to this moment right now, he’s made nothing but mistakes.

Not putting his phone on sleep mode before he and Poppy went to bed had been a mistake. Taking Talia’s call had been a mistake. Not waking Poppy up had been a mistake. Leaving without a note, without a text, leaving at all - it had all been one error after another, and all he has left to do is face up to the fact.

He can’t do anything to dwindle the panic rousing in every fibre of his being, the scarring marks left by torturous lashings of regret that whip at his skin.

He’s never felt so ashamed of himself, in such disbelief at his own decisions.

Why didn’t he just wake her?

She’s the most level-headed, acceptable person he knows. She would have understood. He hadn’t had a reasonable explanation at the time, and he doesn’t really have one now - but she would have accepted it, whatever he could have told her, she would have listened, waited until he could give her more.

He needs to see her, to explain, before it’s too late.

If he thinks about the feeling settling in his stomach, if he can compare it to anything, it’s like running from a blazing inferno of doubt and insecurity, licks of fire racing to catch up to him, the soles of his feet pressing into the sizzling ground - and Poppy is the cool embrace of safety.

She is light cracking through a window he just needs to break through to make it out.

If he can get to her quick enough, if he runs, and runs, maybe he’ll make it before he’s jiggling at a red hot handle that won’t move, won’t give, won’t budge.

If he can just talk to her, maybe the morning from hell will be outweighed by the days of resilience, weeks of efforts, years of loving her in whatever capacity, and the promise of something better.

He just needs to get rid of Talia.

The car journey back to his apartment is carried out in a deafening silence. She had tried to talk to him when he’d made his way out of Myles’ condo, when he had found her waiting by his Mercedes with crossed arms and a sour look on her face, but he’d told her he didn’t want to hear it, that they’d deal with it in private.

He hardly wanted a showdown with her in the middle of the street.

And so, she sat in his passenger seat, jaw set, glaring out the window and letting out the occasional huff or puff for attention that he wasn’t entertaining.

The elevator ride up to his place had been the same. Silent, filled with the type of tension you could cut with a knife, and all he could do was ignore her continued petulance and take deep breaths to calm himself down. In through his nose, out through his mouth, overlooking the way she tapped her foot in his peripheral vision, and almost audibly rolled her eyes every few seconds. 

“Would it have killed you to defend me in there?” She scoffs as soon as the door closes behind them in his apartment, “You just let him accuse me of all that stuff and completely invade my privacy!”

Nico screws his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose.

He can’t blow up, can’t stoop to her level. He won’t feel good after the fact. He knows how Talia operates, should have known she’d immediately play the victim card, and he isn’t falling into the trap of arguing to the point of being in the wrong.

He’ll say something he regrets and she’ll use it to her advantage, somehow.

“You asked him to go through your phone, Talia.” He sighs, making his way over to the kitchen and getting himself some water. Chugging at it does little to soothe the burning feeling prickling at the back of his mouth, or the itch of his tongue to spit out a scathing retort. “He’s shut down the guy behind it, he can’t message you or anyone else with any more threats, you should be happy.”

“I should be happy?” She follows him wherever he tries to get away, crowding his space and jabbing a pointed finger into his arm. “You have no idea what I’ve been going through this past week. I thought my career was over! How was I supposed to know it was fake?”

“You didn’t even look at the pictures-,”

“Because I was panicking! I was upset, you can’t expect me to be able to recognise what’s been photoshopped when I’m scared like that!”

“But you can fly straight over here and pin the blame on me for ruining your life? You weren’t too upset to point the finger, Talia,”

“Don’t be an asshole, Nico, it doesn’t suit you.” 

“I’m being the asshole? You don’t even care about the trail of destruction you leave behind you, do you? You send private pictures of us, of me, of my family to random people online who you don’t even know, for what, Talia? For money?”

“I don’t need their money-,”

“So it was just for the attention? You get to parade our relationship around like it means nothing more to you than a title, and once you get your fifteen minutes and a few more instagram followers, you just jet back home and dump me over a text?”

“Oh my God,” she cries, flailing her arms dramatically, following him yet again as he makes his way into his living room, picking her stuff up after her that she had discarded here before they left and throwing it into her travel bag. “Stop playing the victim, for Christ’s sake, you’re hardly heartbroken over it. I know for a fact you’ve been hooking up with someone, one of the girls messaged me that they saw you leave a party with her on New Years!”

“So that’s what this is?” Nico snaps, pointing to her, to her stuff, “You think I’m moving on so you fly back out here and spring this bullshit on me, try to make me feel bad?”

“You have some nerve, Nico,” Talia scoffs, folding her arms across her chest and levelling him with a darkened glare.

“I have nerve? You’re the one who broke up with me out of nowhere and think that you can just march back here and make demands, Talia, blaming me for something that was entirely your own doing.” He’s getting sick of walking on egg shells around the topic. If she hadn’t have been messaging people she wasn’t supposed to, this would never have happened - it’s no one’s fault but her own, and as harsh as it may be, he wants to wash his hands of the whole thing. “Calling me in the middle of the night, telling me I ruined your life, saying I need to give you money?”

“Out of nowhere?” Of course she would only pick up on that, he thinks. “My God, you are so self-absorbed.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you think that dating you is easy?” She questions with a measured step toward him. “Do you think I want to spend my life waiting around for my boyfriend, only for him to only ever come home grumpy,” another step, “Or whiny,” and another, “Or too tired and achey to do anything? And that’s when you do come home at all and aren’t half way across the country with the communication skills of a candle. It’s a constant uphill battle trying to get even a second of your attention, Nico, so God forbid I tried to gain some kind of advantage from being with you.”

Her words are starting to cut, but he tries not to react, tries not to bite back. He can count several ways in which she gained an advantage being with him, just off the top of the head - a girl like Talia is never shy of attention. Her courting gossip blogs and sending them private information is probably just scraping the barrel of the ploys she made for exposure while she was with him.

“I didn’t break up with you out of nowhere, I put up with you and the whole circus that comes with you for months, but God, is it exhausting being with you.”

“You knew what you were getting into, Talia. You knew my job, knew my life.” They had met initially through mutual friends - hockey friends of his back home, even - and she has other friends who happen to be wives or girlfriends of athletes. She can’t say she came into the relationship completely oblivious to the downsides of dating a professional player.

“Not really,” she shrugs, “All the other guys can find some sort of balance, but not you. All the other girls get a proper boyfriend, someone who spends time doing what they want to do, who sticks up for them when their psycho fans start to turn on them, who doesn’t keep them hidden away like some dirty secret.”

“That isn’t fair, I can’t control that stuff, Talia, it’s not my fault.” He wants to point out that she was the one engaging in their gossip and riling them up, but he can’t keep harping on about something she refuses to acknowledge. He doesn’t have the time, patience or energy for it anymore.

The initial ‘leaking’ of their relationship had caused their first major fight. Fans online had somehow - although Nico can now hazard a guess as to how - found out about the two of them, had dug into Talia, her background, her family, her job, and had found some pretty toxic posts on her social media. They had been old posts, and she had told Nico that wasn’t the kind of person she was anymore - and he had no reason not to believe her, had never seen or heard her act in the ways she had online in what she called her misguided youth - but someone in the PR department at the Devils had cottoned onto the topic, and had warned Nico of speaking out in her defence when the pitchforks started to raise.

He’d told her he supported her, but he couldn’t do so publicly - not without upsetting people within the organisation he had worked so hard to gain the respect of - and she had told him she understood. They hadn’t been together that long, it would have been a little unreasonable for him to put her above his work in the ways she was expecting, but she clearly doesn’t see it that way, now.

“Maybe not, but if I’d have known that being with you meant having my life invaded, my career ruined, I never would have followed you back here, Nico.” She sounds more solemn now - regretful, even - and as deep as her words cut, she says it like a piece of advice, “I just hope whatever poor girl you’ve got tangled up in your mess this time knows what she’s getting herself into.”

“And what’s that?” His throat feels tight as he speaks all of a sudden, his resolve in defending himself fading, and he tries to gulp down whatever lump is forming there but the feeling doesn’t budge.

This is what she’s good at.

Turning the tables. Reducing him to uncertainty of himself, of his actions, of his memory of their time together.

“A one-sided relationship with a guy who will never be able to put her first.”

There’s a point in every game he has ever had the misfortune of losing, as the seconds count down in the final third, where he has to come to terms with the fact that there’s no possible way for him to win. It’s sort of comparable to the way his insides churn when he’s on a plane and it drops into descent, like his body is falling at a different speed to his surroundings, or the feeling he gets in his gut when he’s hiking, and he dares to take a peek over the edge of whatever mountainside he’s trekking up, where his body can predict the fall, and his mind has set on there being nothing he can do about it.

This feels like all those feelings.

“Whoever she is, and I know she exists, she doesn’t deserve that. It’s not fair.”

Nico’s heart pounds in his chest, echoing and thrumming in his ears until all he can hear is the beat reverberating, ricocheting around his skull.

He can put Poppy first.

So many parts of their lives are intertwined, it would be so easy to make it work. They work together, they live close, he speaks to her more than he speaks to anyone else in his circle. They’ve spent more time together as friends than he has with any other girlfriend he’s had.

He’s wanted her for years, of course he can do it.

Except, deep down, he knows he can’t. Being in a committed relationship with someone is an entirely different ball game to a friendship, no matter how close he and Poppy have been over the years.

He knows there’ll come a point soon into the season where he has to knuckle down and focus, can’t let anything or anyone distract him, and he’ll close himself off. It’s what he has always done. He gets in his head, starts to carry too much weight that he can’t shift until that final buzzer blows - and he can only hope that it happens with his team in the playoffs. Winning, thriving, succeeding. And for that to happen, he can’t prioritise anything other than the game he’s already dedicated his life to, his training, and most importantly, his team.

It isn’t about what he wants.

What have you done? He thinks, his chest aching.

Talia is right.

Poppy doesn’t deserve that.

She doesn’t deserve him only being there in the physical sense, if she even gets that at all. Doesn’t deserve him getting snappy and stressed, doesn’t deserve him not being able to give her time, or give her attention or affection like he wants to, or like she’s worthy of.

“I need to go.” He manages to choke out with a shake of his head, shouldering past her to pick up his jacket - needing to be out of this conversation and away from Talia. “Leave the keys, I don’t want you here when I get back.”

He needs to see Poppy.

He never should have left her - he wishes with everything in him that he had soaked up the time he had with her before everything came tumbling down around him. And somewhere deep within him, there is a fragile, wilting piece of hope that clings to the belief he can make things right. He just needs her to hone in on it. If anyone can reach into the deepest cracks of his insecurities, can show him he’s overthinking things and everything is not as hopeless as he has made it out to be, it will be Poppy.

Poppy

The first time Poppy had ever fallen asleep beside Nico was at a movie night in Jack’s old apartment he shared with Ty Smith. Jack had invited more people round than could reasonably fit in their living room, and so everyone was smushed in - each chair and every inch of floor space used to its full capacity. 

Nico had attempted to save Poppy a space, to give him credit. He had scowled at each of his teammates who tried to throw themselves down in the tiny slot beside him - prime space, corner of the comfiest couch, facing the tv directly, a small table to the side where one could keep their drinks and snacks - only, by the time Poppy got there, he had barely gotten away with man-spreading to make room, so the small section of the couch between Nico and the arm rest had become her designated spot.

It was cosy, to put it nicely. He had to swing his arm over the back so that she wasn’t being assaulted by the hard dig of his shoulder with every laugh, and her closest leg was pretty much on top of his for most of the film.

She’d known the guys for almost a year - had been working in media, attending every game, home and away, and had integrated herself into the group pretty closely - and she felt pretty comfortable around everyone.

It wasn’t the kind of dynamic she had anticipated falling into when she first got the job with the Devils. She was supposed to start getting serious about her life - cracking down on mingling with co-workers and throwing herself into new social circles, and focusing on building a career for herself, climbing through the ranks and attaining the kind of success and happiness she could shove in her family’s disapproving faces - but the guys had charmed her.

Jack had been somewhat relentless in his pursuit of Poppy’s friendship. He rarely took no for an answer when it came to inviting her out. He was new to New Jersey - a much younger player in a slightly older team - and his rookie season had been rough, so it came naturally to Poppy to want to provide comfort. She introduced him to some of her friends, showed him her favourite spots close to his apartment, found him a decent barber, picked up extra fruit whenever she went to the farmers market near her parent’s house and took it over to his and Ty’s place when she came back home so she could mother him into having his 5-a-day as if he didn’t have access to the best nutrition coaches in the country. Despite her best efforts, Jack had weaselled his way under her skin in the way only a brother could.

Nico’s charm was entirely different.

Nico’s charm came in the form of convenience at first - in the oh I live that way, I can drive you and I have some time, I can do some media stuff for you type of way. Convenience blended into companionship - I haven’t eaten either, we should go for lunch together and I’ve been wanting to watch that movie, do you want to watch it with me?

It turned into grabbing food together, even on days neither of them were working - breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, even coffee or sometimes drinks if they could meet up with the rest of the team. It turned into him spending time at her place, whether it was helping her paint her apartment, putting up her new wardrobes, or just binging whatever crazy long series Poppy had decided to start over from the beginning - she provided him with a sense of familiarity and calm he couldn’t really find in anyone else he had met in his time in the states. She became his person, his home away from home, away from home.

And he became hers. 

There wasn’t as much she had to escape; her job not as strenuous, the expectations of her not as high, but when things built up for her - when her mother became overbearing, or her latest endeavour into a relationship crashed and burned - Nico was there. He’d make sure she had a distraction, made sure she was looking after herself, and, in turn, would look after her as well. He made sure she got home safe on nights out, or when they returned from a roadie and landed late - he would always make sure to see her off into the comfort of her own home before he went back to his own. 

And that first time she’d fallen asleep beside him, he’d done the same.

He’d wrapped an arm around her to make her as comfortable as possible for as long as he could, and when the movie had finished - when her face was burrowed into the side of his chest, soft snores falling from between her lips - he gently drew her back to consciousness with his hand stroking at her cheek.

She’d been a little startled, hand shooting up to wipe at her chin and thankful she hadn’t been drooling on him - although with the easy smile he was giving her, she had thought he of all people wouldn’t have minded. 

“Movie’s done, do you need a ride home?” His voice had been low and soft as not to worsen her apparent disorientation, and his hand was still lingering by the side of her face.

She had nodded, blinking away her sleepiness, and working her way up from the couch and onto her feet, stretching out her muscles as Nico did the same.

The two of them bid their goodbyes to the rest of the guys, made their way together to Nico’s car, and he had driven her back to her apartment, chatting on the drive about work and training. 

Poppy had been cramming to prepare for her interview for the Foundation at the time - had been getting herself seriously worked up, staying up late, getting up early, barely allowing herself any time for anything fun - and Nico had seen right through her. 

He’d stopped her before she got out of the car, had held her hand, rubbing at her knuckles with his thumb, and had told her that she should get some proper rest, and that she was going to absolutely rock their world in her interview in a few days time. And, knowing she was going to ignore any instruction he gave to make herself some decent dinner and go to bed early, had ordered her favourite Japanese takeout to be delivered a good half an hour after she got inside, with a text that followed telling her to sleep straight after she had finished.

She’d never expected to drift asleep with him on Jack’s couch - had never expected to open her eyes to the sight of his looking so warmly back at her.

And she hadn’t expected the same thing this morning, because, as her eyes drifted open to the intrusive light peaking through the cracks in her curtains, it wasn’t the first time she had woken up.

The first time had been to subdued movements, a slight groan of her bed frame, and the soft pattering of footsteps leading away. It had been to a hushed voice, the creak of her bathroom door, the flush of a toilet and the uttering of a name she had hoped she would never have to worry about again.

Talia.

The rest of his words had been uttered in his own language, but that she could understand.

She had acted purely on fight or flight instinct, laying back and pretending she was asleep - although as soon as she did, she regretted it, her mind racing at the million and one other possibilities she could have gone with. Sitting up, waiting for him to come out and asking him what was going on being the most rational.

But when had she ever gone with the most rational thought?

She tried not to react as she felt his presence, felt the soft press of his lips to her skin, or the placement of her bunny in her arms. Tried not to follow him as soon as he departed her bedroom, beg him to come back and whatever was going on could wait until the proper turn of the morning. Tried not to get up and go after him when the click of the lock to her main door echoed throughout the empty apartment.

And she tried not to cry as she laid in bed, overthinking herself back to sleep, thoughts racing to the point of exhaustion, and hoping when she woke up again it had just been a god-awful dream.

But it hadn’t.

The spot beside her in bed is empty, not even a crease in the pillow to prove he was ever there - only the t-shirt of his she still adorned, the one that when she takes a deep inhale, still smells like him, and the distinct aching between her thighs.

She finds more evidence of their night together in the bathroom, where she undresses herself with sore muscles and glances in the mirror to see the spattering of purple marks forming on her chest and neck. Her fingers trace over them lightly, her fleeting touch bringing vivid images forth of his lips pressing to her skin, practically able to feel the pressure of her flesh being nipped and bitten again.

He had been so attentive to her - so in tune with what she needed and wanted, and so ready to give her whatever that may be. He’d been gentle at some points, and purposeful at others, and every little thing he did, he did it with sweet disposition.

The kind of man who treats a girl like that doesn’t just leave her in the dead of night with no good reason, right?

Her mind races despite her body going into auto-pilot throughout her morning routine. Her shower is over in the flash of an eye, she strips her bed, starts her laundry, makes herself some tea and gets herself dressed - all the while weighing out all the possibilities of what could have taken him away from her, and what she would be able to understand. 

That quickly turns to her imagining the worst, and a tight, constricting feeling starts to consume her chest. 

There isn’t a single part of her apartment she can get away from the thoughts buzzing around her brain - her kitchen marred with the memory of what had happened on the counter, her couch, her bedroom, her bathroom - all carrying distinct memories of Nico that she needs to bench until she knows the truth.

She mistakenly thinks her escape might lie in her phone. There might be a text there waiting, explaining everything and relieving all the anxiety that has welled up in her very core.

Nia’s warnings from the night before don’t ring quick enough in her mind as the screen comes to life, the immediate barrage of notifications flooding in.

2 missed calls from Mom

Mom: Just calling to remind you of proper table etiquette in case it has slipped your mind, I won’t have you embarrass me in front of a Lyon.

Mom: Cutlery going from the outside in, hold your wine glass by the stem and dab with your napkin, don’t swipe!

Mom: Also let the man tuck your chair in and pay the bill, this 21st century woman nonsense is very unbecoming!

Mom: And I don’t want to have to bring this up but for the love of God, Poppy, have some class. I don’t want to hear mutterings of your promiscuity at the next luncheon.

Whoever taught her mom to text deserves a prison sentence, she thinks.

Tucker Lyon standing a girl up and ghosting her attempts to contact him is what’s unbecoming, not her trying to pay her half of the meal.

She can picture her mother as she reads the texts, sipping on her Manhattan on the couch in the great room, her dad already having retreated to bed at that time, and her having nothing better to do than sit and stew on her daughter’s sex life.

If she knew what was really going down last night, her mom would probably have a conniption.

Knowing she’ll no doubt be getting a call later that evening, Poppy swipes away at her text thread with her mom, immediately checking the notifications she hasn’t long received from her best friend.

Nia: hey if you happen to release yourself from Nico’s wandering hands at all today me and Kelsey are grabbing breakfast by my work!!

Nia: if you need refuelling we’ll be at Marco’s at 9 😘 

Perfect. Therein lies her escape. Breakfast with her best friends, where they can hopefully talk her down from the ledge she’s precariously placed herself on.

A catch up with her girls, and then she can distract herself with work.

Poppy: I’ll be there!!

“Hasn’t he text you or anything?” Nia asks, covering her mouth as she chews on her breakfast bagel, the three girls sat around a table inside their favourite cafe close to Nia’s office.

When Poppy and Nia had first moved in together, they rented an apartment in Hoboken, not too far, and their tradition of grabbing breakfast at Marco’s carried on despite Poppy living further down the river and working even further away in Newark. 

Kelsey had lived in Manhattan at that time, but she stayed over so often with the other girls that she practically spent majority of her week there, and so Poppy and Nia’s routine became hers.

Poppy had given the two of them a brief rundown of her night with Nico, a safe-for-work version of events, all leading up to the mysterious early morning phone call and swift departure.

“Nope,” she sighs, swiping to refresh her messages as if she hasn’t put her phone on loud just to be alerted when he does reach out.

“Have you text him?”

“Nope,” she repeats, putting the phone down and leaning back in her chair, running a hand through her already messed up hair. She’s going to have to throw it up if she wants to look any sort of presentable when she gets to work later.

“Is he usually this pathetic at communicating?” Kelsey asks, manicured nails swiping at a bunch of Sweet’n Lows like she’s trying to play Tetris with the packets. 

Kelsey hasn’t met Nico before, not that Poppy can remember.

Despite considering her one of her closest friends, their personal lives have never quite intertwined like that - not like hers and Nia’s.

In college, things were different. They were coming into their own together, figuring out just what they wanted their personal lives to be, and so Kelsey, Poppy and Nia would all share pretty much everything, just to have someone there to validate their feelings.

But that changed once they graduated.

Kelsey moved in with her boyfriend, Liam - who just so happens to be Poppy’s idea of hell-spawn.

The kind of guy her mother would probably love.

Liam worked on Wall Street, couldn’t go five minutes of conversation without talking about stocks or investment funds. His native language was risky money moves and belittling remarks, and he treated Kelsey like an accessory to parade around in public and discard in private.

Poppy had tried a few times to open Kelsey’s eyes to the way that it was, but it soon became apparent that she had to let her friend make her own mistakes, and some parts of their lives didn’t have to cross over.

They broke up around Thanksgiving, and Poppy had tried with all her might not to show her relief, but it has made her somewhat resentful when it comes to other relationships - like no one can be happy if she isn’t.

She knows it isn’t malicious, but she restrains from letting Kelsey all the way in, all the same.

“Not really,” Poppy lies, not wanting to clue her in on the Big Freezewhere he didn’t speak to her for months on end. It doesn’t entirely help her case. “I just don’t get why he’d sneak out to see her of all people, he told me they weren’t ever that solid, that he wasn’t happy with her.”

“Ooh, what if she’s pregnant?” Kelsey is entirely oblivious to the horrific realm of possibility she has just opened Poppy up to, evidenced by the casual chuckle and subsequent sip of her coffee. “Maybe she’s back to baby-trap him.”

Poppy thinks she would have to flee the state.

Nico is a family guy - if Talia is pregnant, he’d force himself to love her again, if he ever even stopped, for the sake of their gorgeous brown eyed, floppy haired baby, and push Poppy to the side just like he had before. And she’ll have to watch him from the sidelines, yearning for what she had just managed to touch the tips of her fingers to before it was violently yanked from her grasp. 

Maybe she’d have to flee the country even - move somewhere remote where she doesn’t even have the chance of being reminded of hockey, let alone of him.

Somewhere with no coffee shops that she’d enter, and the smell of fresh pastries would remind her of all the breakfasts they had together. No railways, where she’d be reminded of his love for model trains every time she came across the tracks. No weird club music that he loves so much, or dorky wizard franchises he chastises her for never having seen.

Maybe Antarctica. They only have penguins there. No real civilisation that she knows of. No brown haired, dark eyed Swiss Gods with deep, honeyed voices that make her knees weak and dimpled smiles that do even worse.

She wouldn’t be able to cope with losing him like that, living her life in an endless mental cycle of what ifs and maybes.

“Kelsey, I beg of you to read the room,” Nia chastises, swatting the girl on her arm before taking Poppy’s hand in her own. “Don’t listen to her, she just wants us all to be single at the same time.”

“Sue me for wanting to have fun! It would be just like college, you and me full-body plunging into the dating pool. Imagine the chaos, Pop, you don’t wanna be tied down to a guy hung up on his ex right now.”

“Dating pool?” Nia scoffs, turning to glare at her, “You’re hardly dry from your last relationship.”

“I’d rather be a grape than a raisin, Ni.” Kelsey chides back, and Poppy can’t help the twitch of her lips at the horrific comparison. 

“You’re really gonna listen to a girl who says that?” Nia asks, unable to mask the glint of humour in her eyes, and Kelsey bites back a smile, too.

Despite the ache in her chest at the thought of any of it - of Nico leaving her this morning, filling her up with empty words and false promises, potentially knocking up an ex girlfriend he is still secretly hung up on even though he told her otherwise - she manages to crack a full smile.

“You are terrible at analogies, Kels,” Poppy tries to hide the grin behind her cup, sipping at her tea and letting the warmth of it soothe the pain in her throat. 

“I’m trying to encourage you to be a strong, independent woman here!”

“She is a strong, independent woman,” Nia defends, “She also happens to be a chronic over-thinker with a deep seated fear of confrontation.”

“I don’t fear confrontation.”

“Then why are we here chit-chatting about hypothetical scenarios when you could just text him and ask what’s up?”

“Maybe ‘cause that’s scary?” Poppy scoffs, only half joking. “What am I supposed to say, hey I just so happened to eavesdrop on your private conversation before you fled my apartment this morning, and despite me not understanding most of it, I definitely heard you mention someone, so could you just let me know if your gorgeous model ex girlfriend is pregnant with your perfect specimen baby?”

“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out, you don’t even need us.”

Poppy rolls her eyes.  

She could text him. Could be casual about it, a good morning or even an are you okay? Those don’t warrant the alarm bells she’s afraid of raising - the ones that blare out with the siren sound of run, this girl is unhealthily attached to you already!

But she doesn’t want to be the pathetic girl chasing after the guy sending her clear messages that he doesn’t want her.

It’s easier said than done not to overthink the whole thing - not to second guess everything he had said, or everything she had done last night.

She feels like she had rushed things. It was so impulsive, so charged, and after spending the majority of her week away from him, she just hadn’t been able to help herself. And that makes her feel like a hypocrite. She had told him that night he had first kissed her that things between them had gotten intense. It had been the whole reason for spending a few days outside of each other’s company, and in the first possible instance, she had thrown herself at him.

It was desperate.

And maybe that scared him.

It sure as hell scares her.

“I don’t know what to do,” She groans, throwing her head into her hands and scrunching her eyes shut to try and drown out the endless doubt. 

She feels two hands rub at either sides of her back, “Listen, Pop,” Nia is the first to attempt to console her, as always, and Poppy holds her breath for the harsh reality check she’s about to throw her way. “You know I am the one person who would usually be trying to convince you to cut your losses and run when it comes to guys who are no good, but this is Nico. I’ve watched the two of you ignore your feelings for far too long to let you get in your own way, now.

“And you’re forgetting I saw him last night, before you got there, there isn’t a chance in Hell he would have left you like that without a good reason. I don’t for a second think he’s still hung up on her.” Nia casts a side eye to Kelsey.

The only problem is that Poppy isn’t sure there’s a reason good enough. Not when it comes to Talia. Not when the memory of those months of radio silence is still so fresh for her.

“I have to go to work in a building where his face is plastered everywhere, Ni, I can hardly forget his entire existence until he deems me worthy of an explanation. Who leaves after a night like that without even a note or a text?”

“An idiot,” Kelsey mutters around her drink, rolling her eyes when Nia sends her another death-glare.

“I’m not asking you to forget, I’m telling you to wait.” Nia frowns, but her tone remains consoling and warm. “You need to stop letting what this thinks,” she flicks at Poppy’s forehead, “Get in the way of what this knows.” She points to her chest on the left side. “You know him. You know how much he likes you.”

She does.

She knows Nico, she trusts him.

She can only judge him based on his actions so far - the ones that tell her that he cares. He leads with his heart, it’s his most attractive attribute. He’s gentle and loving and she needs to focus on those things over anything else.

“Ugh, corny,” Kelsey drags, and despite her repeated efforts to discourage her, Poppy knows she isn’t being entirely serious. “If he has any non-stupid hot athlete friends though, I’m first in line when the two of you kiss and make up for double dates.”

Guilt pricks slightly at Poppy’s chest - for making her recently single friend sit here and listen to her complain about something so monumentally small compared to the breakdown of the long-term relationship Kelsey had just endured. Even if it was perceivably toxic.

“You’d make such a good WAG, Kels.”

It’s a poor attempt to make up for it, but it seems to console her friend all the same, a giant grin breaking out and flashing her perfect pearly whites.

“I know.”

Poppy tries to distract herself with work. Tries to make her way through her inbox of seemingly never ending emails and her list of ever-growing tasks. She types up lengthy responses, puts together a presentation, makes a bunch of phone calls she’s been putting off for God knows how long, sorts all her invoices out - she even sends a fax. In the year 2024. It’s her most productive work day she thinks she’s ever had.

She zeroes in on the ground every time she moves through the building. Ignores the pictures that line the walls of the Rock, pushes down the memories of all the times she’s walked these very halls by Nico’s side, and she thinks she’s done just about enough to clear her mind for the time being.

She hasn’t thought up some heart wrenching scenario in at least an hour by the time she’s wrapping up for the day.

She’s making her way back to her office after dropping some files off for Elaine when she catches sight of a mop of curls over the top of the chair by her desk.

Luke is sat in her chair when she enters, swivelling around and staring at the ceiling.

“You’re gonna make yourself sick doing that, you know.”

“You’re such a mom,” he scoffs, standing up and clearly trying not to sway, “You ever tried having fun? I think I saw a glue stick on a table out there,” he points through the door into the wider office space, where there are a few, less private cubicles and a common area. “We should go sniff them, let loose a little.”

“Is that why you’re here on your day off? To huff glue?”

“Yeah, I don’t get to let loose enough. Being a rookie in the NHL is hard, Poppy,”

“Bummer for you.” She pouts, mockingly, swerving past him as he rounds her desk and sits on the other side, flicking at the bobblehead version of his older brother that stands by her computer. “If you’re chasing a high can you do it with one of the other departments, it’s not a good look for the Youth Foundation.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.”

When Luke had first joined the Devils, she hadn’t expected that she would warm to him the way she has - but, surprisingly enough, considering the fact they’re brothers, their relationship recently has started to mirror her and Jack’s.

Luke is funny. He’s sarcastic and a little silly, and it can be nice to have him around when work gets a little stressful. He doesn’t let the pressures of his own career outweigh those of hers, and, despite the gap in age, she actually enjoys his company.

But he never seeks her out like this.

Their interactions have always started through other people. Group conversations that dwindle to just the two of them, or he usually accompanies Jack to bug her and carries on when Jack’s ever-so-busy schedule takes him elsewhere.

She can’t think of another time he’s just shown up in her office alone.

Especially on his incredibly rare day off.

“Why are you actually here?” She asks, casting a suspicious but half-playful glare his way as she starts to pack up her things. 

“Came to see if you wanted to join us for dinner.”

“Aw Lukey,” she reaches over her desk to pinch his cheek, “I’m flattered and all but I’m a little too old for you.”

“Ha ha,” he swats her hand away, “Us. Me and Jack. Maybe a couple of the others if they’re free but you can pick where we go if you make a decision quickly, we were thinking a steakhouse.”

She narrows her eyes at him, expecting him to crack a joke about her being old, but he just looks back at her awaiting a response. “Why?” She drags out the question, her movements stopping completely.

“Maybe ‘cause humans need sustenance to live? What do you mean, why?”

“Why would you want me to tag along on your bro date?”

“Don’t call it a bro date,” Luke cringes, “Just remembered you were working today and we were in the area, don’t know why you’re being weird about it.”

“You’re being weird. You guys never let me choose where we eat. Don’t you remember that time we grabbed dinner when you guys drove me home and Jack told me to stop being a pussy about my seafood allergy ‘cause he wanted sushi.”

“Don’t blame me for the crimes of my brother, Poppy, he was obviously joking.”

“I had to eat tofu, Luke, I don’t find that very funny.”

“Are you coming or not?”

“That depends, how do you have your steak?”

“Well done.”

“Oh! Then absolutely not.”

“Remind me never to try to be nice to you again.” He scowls as they make their way out of her office, and she locks up behind the two of them.

“Gladly, it’s creeping me out.” She grabs at his elbow before he can carry on, stopping him in the otherwise empty common area where she knows no one is around to listen in. “Is something going on, seriously?”

Luke rolls his eyes, but she knows him well enough that it’s only done in an attempt to avert from her gaze. 

Bingo. He’s hiding something.

“I just thought you might want some company.” He shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets and twisting his lips to keep from saying much more.

“Why?”

If Poppy wanted to spend her life getting a straight answer out of people for a living, she’d have become an interrogator. What is it with these guys and their inability to answer a simple question?

“Jack said you left the party last night with Nico.”

Poppy’s eyebrows scrunch so close together that she can feel a deep crease form between them. What on earth does that have to do with asking her to dinner? Or being overly nice to her?

Unless-

“You’ve seen him?”

“This morning.”

“Oh.”

All of her efforts from throughout the day seem to have been for nothing - an immediate rush of insecurities flooding her mind.

Where did he see him? What did he say? Was he okay? Was Talia there?

She feels like she can gauge an answer from the way Luke looks. Sheepish, almost, like he doesn’t want to say something he knows will hurt her feelings.

She had to have been with him. He wouldn’t just show up to her office like this if it wasn’t something that would seriously hurt.

She wishes she wasn’t the kind of person who did this - who filled in the gaps of conversations and always came out with the worst possible outcomes - but she can’t help it. She’s been doing it all her life, and there’s rarely ever an instance where her instincts have led her astray.

She knows it’s some weird part of her mind protecting her, but she needs to do something here. Nia’s words from earlier ring like a warning. Don’t let what her brain thinks get in the way of what her heart knows.

Her heart knows Nico wanted her. Knows Nico liked her. Knows Nico wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

She needs to figure things out for herself and stop running, stop letting her mind fill in the gaps of a situation it can’t even comprehend to begin with.

She reaches her arms around Luke’s shoulders, stretching up on her tip toes to pull him into a hug before rubbing her knuckles into his curls, affectionately.

Luke Hughes is sarcastic and silly, and he cares enough about her to not want her to be alone if she’s going through something.

“Thank you for the offer, Luke, but I’ll be alright.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods, a tender smile tugging at the corners of her stubborn lips. It takes over her face, eyes glinting fondly and cheeks warming. 

“Yeah, you can walk me to my car if you’re that worried about me though.” She loops her arm through his elbow as they make their way to the parking lot, and when they get there, he makes sure she’s in her car and has set off before him and Jack leave.

As if her day can’t get any worse, the elevator in her building is cordoned off with tape and a sign when she gets home, and she has never regretted moving up a floor as much as she does when she’s trudging up 6 flights of stairs.

She’s exhausted. Emotionally and physically, and she just wants to throw herself into bed and pretend the last 24 hours were a terrible dream.

Only, as she rounds the final corner to get to her door, any hopes of that go straight down the pan when her eyes land on Nico, standing in front of her door with his hands buried in his jacket pocket.

He looks tired too - hair messed where he’s no doubt been taking his cap on and off for however long he’s been stood here, running a hand through the tresses until they’re all askew. 

His shoulders are slumped, and he doesn’t even greet her with that pretty smile he usually gives her.

His lips do curve up a touch - limp and half-hearted, not even enough for a dimple to form - but it doesn’t provide the comfort she had thought it would.

She feels anxious. A culmination of the day’s emotions washing over in one go. Sad, regretful, nervous, disappointed - all things she shouldn’t be used to feeling when it comes to Nico, but are all too familiar when she takes the last few months into account.

“Hi.” She gives a weak smile of her own.

“Can we talk?”

She wishes he’d have just said hi, back. That might have relieved the tightness in her chest just a little.

Nothing good ever comes of can we talk?

He steps aside as she approaches, maintaining a safe distance as she opens the door and enters her apartment.

The Nico from yesterday might have brushed past her, the graze of an arm or a lingering hand, but this Nico doesn’t. He barely even meets her eye.

He closes the door behind himself, watching as she discards her bag and keys to the console table on the side, and while she’s turned away from him, she tries to let whatever emotions need to come out cross her features where he can’t see them.

She needs to be cool about this, she thinks.

If she doesn’t get her back up, doesn’t get agitated, she won’t scare him off.

“Are you okay?” She asks once she’s turned to face him, not liking how he stands unmoving by the door. He hasn’t made any effort to settle in - his jacket still on and his hands still hidden in the pockets.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

She realises now that she can get a good look at him that the expression he wears is one of shame. Guilt. Apprehension. She needs to be careful and toe the line before he gets consumed by it, she realises.

She steps toward him a little, and he doesn’t back up - not immediately, not obviously - but he hardly welcomes her approach, either.

She doesn’t like feeling this way when it comes to talking to him - feeling uneasy and unsure, but there’s a part of her that’s tired of having to prompt him for answers.

He had been the one to leave this morning. Why can’t he just come out and tell her why?

“I’m alright,” she shrugs, not wanting to scare him off with the truth. “Super tired, though, can we sit?”

She wonders if he thinks about the same things she does as they make their way to the couch. Wonders if he can feel the scratch of her nails on his torso, or the brush of her lips against his, as they sit in the spot where not even 24 hours ago, their bodies had been intertwined.

He doesn’t sit right beside her as he normally would, and she finds herself missing the way his thigh usually brushes against her own.

She doesn’t know where to start or what to ask, and so she basks in the silence for a little - finding comfort in the fact that, despite the mess they’re currently in, they aren’t quite at the end yet.

But a part of her feels it coming.

She’d known it this morning if she lets herself listen to the rational voice in her head. As soon as she’d heard him say her name, as soon as he’d left, a part of her knew that was it, and maybe if she’d let herself believe it at the time - hadn’t talked herself down and convinced herself she was being irrational - she could have protected herself from all the ways this is going to hurt.

“I’m sorry.” He says, and when she looks up, he’s looking down where his large hands are now clasped together in his lap.

“For what?” She manages to choke out.

“Last night, I,” she digs her nails into the palms of her own hands to stop herself filling in the gaps as he figures out what he wants to say, but it’s no use.

He’s sorry for last night.

Last night, he made a mistake.

Last night, he was drunk, he was confused, he was just looking for something or someone to keep him occupied.

“I care about you so much, Poppy.”

That sentence shouldn’t be the one that fills her with dread, but it is.

“You’re my best friend, and I love you,” he does look up as he says this, eye meeting hers in an attempt to convey his honesty, but she sees more of the truth in his glassy gaze than she hears in his words. “This morning, I panicked, and I just needed some time to figure out what I want.”

No, no, no.

She’d rather he tell her what actually happened than do this. Than pretend he left because he doesn’t want her.

“I love you-,”

“You said that, already.” She can’t help the bite in her tone as she prepares herself for the hit. The I love you, but.

“You’re so important to me. Being your friend, it’s like it’s what keeps me sane lately.”

She chews at the inside of her cheek as she feels the tears start to well at her lash line.

“Poppy, I don’t want to mess up what we have,” he shakes his head as his gaze drops, dark eyes darting to focus anywhere but on her own, pleading and watery as she watches him slip away. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You don’t think this is hurting me?” She feels weak as her voice breaks, “You don’t think this is already messy?”

She reaches out to take his hands in hers, digging in to unclasp them, to try thread her fingers through, but he doesn’t make it easy.

“Nico, I love you, too, you know I do, we can figure it out, you don’t have to run away from me.”

It’s a desperate attempt and she knows it is, but she needs to know she tried. When she’s sobbing into her pillow and crying herself to sleep tonight, she needs to know she didn’t just let him go without a fight.

“I can’t give you what you want, I can’t be in a relationship, I’m no good at it.” 

Regardless of what she had told herself earlier, about taking what he says at face value, and trying not to fill in the gaps like she does so often with everyone else, she can’t help herself. When he says, I can’t be in a relationship, he means with her. He can’t be with Poppy. He would be no good with Poppy.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I told you-,”

“No, you said before that you’ve wanted this for as long as you’ve known me, you don’t just wake up and change your mind, not after-,” Poppy starts to feel panic building within her like a flipped over sand timer. Rising and rising until she starts to feel nauseous, getting harder with each second not to jump to conclusions. 

The voice inside her that tells her he got what he wanted and decided it wasn’t for him sounds caustic and bitter, and if she hadn’t wound herself up so much about this whole situation over the course of the day - the past week, even, or the months before - she might have been able to fight off the way it so easily convinces her.

“I have to put the team first, it doesn’t matter what I want, I have to focus on them, on hockey.”

She’s too caught up in her own emotions to notice how weak he sounds - glassy eyes unable to catch the glint in his. All she can hear, all she can see, is the minute hints of a cover-up - that she isn’t getting the whole story, that he’s lying to her, and that the excuse he’s giving is cowardly.

He still hasn’t mentioned the call, hasn’t mentioned Talia, hasn’t explained why he left her, why he didn’t say anything, why he didn’t come back.

“And you didn’t know that before?” She scoffs, pushing herself up off the couch and stepping away from him, “I can’t believe you would do this to me.” She wipes the tears from her cheeks as soon as they fall, but she can’t rid her skin of the feeling that they were there, her flesh damp and sore.

“I know we took things a little too far last night, but that doesn’t mean-,” She almost thinks he notices how bad that hurts her, referencing the night they shared as a mistake - an instance where they got carried away, and not where they followed through on years worth of built up tension and adoration for one another. She doesn’t even have to fill in the gaps, this time. Took things a little too far is clear enough. “We can still be friends. I want to be friends.”

“Friends?” Poppy jeers in disbelief, turning completely away from him now and missing the tears that drop from his own cheeks - missing the way his chest cracks and stretches open in a last ditch demonstration of his vulnerability, his desperation not to lose her completely. “You should go.”

“Poppy,”

“I can’t,” she tries so hard not to cry, knowing she won’t be able to stop, but the words come out in a choked sob, and her voice carries on in the whiney way she always hates. “You told me you wanted more, you said I was yours, and I’m supposed to just act like it never happened? Just accept you didn’t actually mean the things you said?”

“I meant them,” he says, defiantly, so sure of himself that it makes her head spin. “I wouldn’t-,”

“No, you didn’t. You’re a liar. You were either lying then, or you’re lying now. I don’t know which is worse. I can’t be your friend. I can’t pretend like you can that I don’t feel the way I feel.”

“Please, Mohn,” His fingertips just manage to reach out to land on her forearm before she shucks him off, wincing as if his touch has pained her.

“Don’t.” She takes an immediate step back, arms crossing over herself as a defence mechanism, body language screaming at him to go away, and she watches his pleading eyes drop to her arms just as she feels the cold of the metal there - so in tune with her every thought despite his denial of their true connection. Her arms move before her mind can make the decision, before it can remember what even sits on her skin, and her shaking fingers fumble to unclasp the jewellery adorned on her wrist. “You should take this back.”

Nico shakes his head, stepping back and away from the outstretched hand that holds her gemstone bracelet like it’s an actual danger to him. “No, that’s yours, Poppy.”

“I don’t want it.” She knows she’s the one that’s lying now. She wants the bracelet. She wants him. She doesn’t want him to leave. She wants to be his friend over being nothing. 

But she doesn’t want to hurt.

Looking at him hurts.

Remembering last night, remembering their kiss, the things he has said, the things he has done, it all hurts, and she can’t keep hold of a constant reminder of the pain, can’t wear it on her person at all hours of the day just to know deep down that the man who gave it to her will never want her the same way.

“I want you to leave.”

“Please,” he begs again, head tilting as devastation floods his features, brows pushing together, tears welling at the corners of his eyes, “We need to talk about this-,”

“No, you were right, we went too far, it was a mistake.” Her voice breaks as she says things she knows she doesn’t mean, but he’s already put it out there, so she doesn’t see the harm in echoing his own opinions. “There’s nothing more to talk about.”

She can’t look at him anymore, and so she drops her gaze to his hands, stepping and reaching forward and forcing him to take the bracelet from her before she rounds the couch and heads to the door.

If he isn’t going to give her the whole truth, she isn’t going to entertain part of the story, and she needs him gone so she can give in to the way her body wants to fold in on itself.

It takes him a minute to gather himself, but she refuses to look his way, waiting by the open door to her apartment and staring at the floor in front of her until his shoes appear.

“I do love you, Poppy. I’m leaving because I don’t want to upset you any more than I already have, and I’ll give you space if that’s what you need, but I’ll be here when you want to talk about this. I mean it when I say I can’t lose you.”

 She doesn’t say anything. She can’t say anything.

There’s a stabbing pain that’s building and building in the centre of her chest, and she doesn’t even think she can breathe in his presence.

He clasps a hand around her upper arm, and leans into her, his lips pressing a firm kiss into the crown of her head, and he lingers there for a moment before he retreats. 

She manages to push the door closed behind him, the click of the lock louder than ever, and waits a good few minutes in silence before her body is wracked with a silent sob.

The one time she had tried to be brave and fight her own intuition, and this is where it gets her.

So much for Nico wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @alwaysclassyeagle @bunbunbl0gs @idgaf-if-youre-here @youflowerr-youfeast @thearchersstuff @bellsdi0r @wonderheartz @jjgsunflower @butterflies35 @kenziepickle @josierosie @laheyxlover @mrsmattytkachuk (sorry if your tag hasn't worked btw)

[yarameijer]

Lovely day we have (bullsh*t it's gonna be like 35° C out later noon and I'm one more tantrum away from a mental breakdown), just caught up w the latest AR chapter. Loved it btw. My favourite parts tho were when Goenjii (lmao the suggestions for words had his name as toenails) was making an appearance through little thoughts and gestures, waiting for how the team will react to him as an ally.

Also, leave my boy Tenma alone for just a chapter </3, the kid's had enough. On another note, his Raimon rlly oughta start looking for the best therapist Takuto's money can get. Heaven knows he's even more fcked up than before.

Lastly, Raimon watching a horror movie. Who reacts how?

Love ya, and happy belated bday I think? Have a nice day!!

It's gonna be a very nice 21°C here 😈☀️

ajdsbifsdghd toenails lmao, I can't wait until we get more of his side of the story, it's the sole part we haven't really heard much of so far. But to be honest it also needs to be kinda subtle, like, I don't want to leave my readers wrong-footed because of the story flow completely changes suddenly? So I guess I'll just write that one step at a time. Toe the nail between keeping it interesting but also active, y'know? And other characters will play a role too- sure, Gouenji really started off on the wrong foot with Raimon, so he'll have to put in work, but he shouldn't have to foot the bill alone either, I mean the Resistance also had their foot in it. Anyway, like I said, I have to tread lightly when writing this but honestly I think with some work I could really nail this part!

Also, leave my boy Tenma alone for just a chapter </3

No :)

Tbh I'm pretty curious how Raimon will react to Tenma after this, they've seen him do stupid stuff before but not like this. It's gonna be interesting I think. And also if Endou and Kidou keep up their behavior, of course!!

Lol horror movie reactions, hm. Let's see...

All I immediately think of is Kariya talking all big before the movie but freaking out the whole time but also claiming he's not scared even though EVERYONE can tell he is.

Shinsuke would just hide his face whenever something scary happens.

Tsurugi, hm, I feel like he wouldn't actually appreciate all the needless screaming and blood? He's not really scared but he just thinks it's unnecessary.

Surprisingly, Hayami is actually a fan of horror movies because watching horror is very distracting and he can't get anxious about his own life.

Hamano on the other hand tries to keep a brave face but is internally freaked out.

Akane loves horror movies and nobody knows why and nobody is brave enough to ask, either.

Shindou is that awful person who constantly critizes the movie because ''that's dumb, why would you do that'' or ''that's unrealistic because in reality x and x'' or ''blood has a much thicker viscosity than that'' or coming up with strategies about what he would do in that situation that become more and more elaborate and the worst part is they would work.

Kirino isn't super affected and instead tries to handle Shindou. ''That's ridiculous!'' ''We know, Shindou.'' ''That would never work.'' ''We know, Shindou.'' ''No, like, what they should do is... [insert plan] ...and then just hit him over the head with the empty can.'' ''We are never letting you get your hands on ammonium nitrate and lighter fuel, just for the record.'' ''But have you considered-!'' It's a full-time job, really.

Midori and Nishiki compete to see who freaks out first. That includes throwing popcorn at each other during jump scares, trying to smother the other with a pillow, and one very memorable occasion when blood was dripping from the ceiling in the movie and Nishiki dripped water on Midori at the same time. Needless to say, they're not allowed to sit next to each other again.

To be honest I think the others would just have semi-normal reactions to horror movies.

Eventually Endou (and Gouenji continued that rule) banned horror movies after the team decided to try their hand at imitating them one too many times.

Also nope, you're right on time, it's my birthday today. Thank you!! 🥳

[darkcommet]

You know, as a fanfic author one of my favorite things is fan commentary. I genuinely do love it. Even when it’s critique’ing my work because, honestly, that’s so fair.

If you comment on my story an opinion or a question or a little remark like, “Hey, saw you used (…) as an allegory for (…)” I will nine times out of ten respond to you because I genuinely enjoy talking to people who get pleasure from my stories.

That being said… I recognize I’m a flawed author and can work to improve the quality of my work. Which includes not only better proofreading (hate to do it tbh) but also the writing of inclusivity of people / cultures / lifestyles / etc. that aren’t my own. I welcome feedback. I welcome a “hey, just so you know (insert commentary)” because at the end of the day it does absolutely help me as a writer. And while I do try to be respectful there are a lot of things I’m not going to get 100% right because I don’t have those experiences. And I’m open and willing to take criticism / feedback/ guidance.

HOWEVER… there is a huge difference between feedback and malicious commentary. I can handle malicious criticism. I grew up in an emotionally abusive home. Whatever nasty / malicious comment you can come up with as an anonymous entity on the internet means fuck all to me. And I don’t say that as a weird deflection or overcompensation. I know I’m flawed, I know I need to grow and practice and evolve as an author… but at the end of the day you aren’t a grandparent, a parent, a close friend, or a lover. I don’t know you well enough to have a true emotional connection to you and because of that 90% of whatever hateful, mean, malicious commentary you say isn’t going to stick or affect me.

But at the end of the day writing and consuming any sort of fan works (in this case fanfiction) is supposed to be fun. Not everyone understands how to give actual constructive criticism, and I’m saying this as an English Lit and Creative Writing major who was taught how to give constructive criticism. But I’ve seen a lot of people on this app, AO3, FF.net, and Wattpad say horrible malicious things to authors.

Today I saw someone post on a COD x Reader fic saying the author’s writing was shit. They responded saying their native language isn’t English… Like???? Excuse me??? That author shouldn’t have had to defend themselves over not being a native English speaker because that shouldn’t have been a comment someone felt comfortable giving.

And I know I have no control over other people. I’m not posting this for anything other than to rant and possibly delete later… but I will defend other fanfic authors as ling as they aren’t heinous people. So, this all being said, author to reader, one reader to another…. PLEASE touch some grass and get a hobby. Breathe some fresh air. Read a traditionally published book. To for a swim. Literally anything to give yourself a better way to vent your negative emotions… because attacking someone trying to get a little joy out of their life is whack-a-doodle behavior.

[ponpuriitx]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑.

One shot! Neptune x reader.

summary: Life was tough, and with the spawn of your new job you encountered a really interesting fortune teller machine.

Tag list: @head-in-the-icloud and the anon who’s name I don’t have :c

Warnings: not any tbh, just a fluff and lots of love to Neptune!

Notes: This character is not mine!! It belongs to @head-in-the-icloud, you can check her work for more of Neptune!! And mostly because I wanted to write for her characters, they’re so cool and their art style?? Chef’s kiss tbh. This story may not be too good, just late night thoughts and silly writing. Anyways, enjoy!!

Life was tough, really tough. Prices were skyrocketing and the money you had was little. So it was little to anyone’s surprise that when you got the job at the Pizzaplex you were relieved to the core.

Who could’ve blamed you? The job payed thirty bucks the hour, for other people it wasn’t much but for you it was plenty. So when the day came you dressed up, cleaned your hair and was ready to go.

When you arrived to the Pizzaplex you were met with lots and lots of families, some kids running around and a group of teenagers. You stood there not knowing what to do, until a bot came over and started talking to you. “Welcome to the Pizzaplex! A place of Joy and entertainment. Would you please follow me?” You weren’t surprised since this place was known for its immense success and incredibly advanced technology. But it amused you seeing it finally in person.

The bot started to walk rather fast for your liking, making you jog sometimes because of the slight speed it took. While he was moving he started to blurt out the terms and policies of the building and what the staff was ordered to do. When he finished he gave you a map of the building, while indicating which parts were the employees only. Including the employees changing room and uniforms, so giving it a smile and walking away you decided to go over there and change.

You already had a list of tasks that the bot gave you once you entered the building. So at least you weren’t lost in most of the things to do, “let’s see, uh cleaning the bathrooms, taking gums and stuff out of the tables, cleaning some stuff at the arcade etc etc..” you thought to yourself while walking down the hallways to fulfill other tasks.

You did a pretty good job you could say, the bathrooms were really cleaned and the tables were set too. Although It surprised you the the amount of gum and some stickers stuck below the tables at the place. Guess some kids don’t want to stand up and look for the trash can. Now, you checked again your tasks list and saw the “cleaning the arcade” with a little list below of the things you had to clean.

In the arcade, you looked around to see all the colorful lights and the various games that were installed. No wonder why this place was so popular, it was big as hell! Surely kids could see this like heaven. “Okay now..” you said to yourself before going in and reading some of the machines you were supposed to be cleaning. Some of them were really neat and some of them had some dust on them, probably because they were on the corner.

Walking around the place, you stopped over your shoes and looked besides you. It was a somewhat big machine that had Neptune written in the top of it. Looking at it, you saw the big animatronic sitting in the middle and the arms in the sides. It amused you, and you couldn’t hold yourself into seeing what it was about. After all you were very curious yourself, so you took out a coin out of your pocket and insert it into the machine. Watching with intense curiosity when the head of the animatronic lit up and a “hi :>” popped in it.

You cracked a smile and said hi in a low tone, the animatronic seemed to scan you for a moment or at least that’s what you thought since it stood there watching you for a few seconds before a card popped in a small compartment of the machine. You took it and read it “A lot of fortune is coming to my way huh?” You quoted taking a look back to the animatronic who now it seemed to look at you.

You smiled at it, while putting the paper on your pocket. “I’m going to come back for you in a sec.” You could’ve sworn you saw its head move before waking away with a smile to clean other machines, it amused you and you really liked fortune tellers since you were a child. You didn’t really know why you just enjoyed them.

You walked around the arcade finishing your tasks from the other machines and going out of the arcade to finish up the others too. But while you were doing one you got the opportunity to talk with Freddy a little, I guess to introduce yourself better and he welcomed you to the Pizzaplex. You were of course first taken really off guard since The Freddy Fazbear the face of the whole Pizzaplex chain was talking to you. But he was really a nice guy, definitely someone you saw that you could talk at least. You didn’t met the other animatronics of the band, but you thought they might as well be nice too.

Of course the little chit chat didn’t last long thanks to a couple of families that wanted to take pictures with him along some of the children fighting to get his attention which you thought it was pretty cute and funny. You said your goodbyes before going back to your tasks and finally finishing them up by the time the store announced its closing, you smiled and went to the arcade before going to check out.

You came back to the fortune teller machine, you put a coin inside before he lit up and a card was deposited in the compartment. You took it and read it “Try to not worry about the money, the best things in life come free.” It said, you giggled at this

“Not trying to be rude, but with this economy I think I do have to worry about the money.” You looked up and you were suddenly taken aback when the animatronic moved his head to the side in sign of confusion. Mimicking your expression almost right away in his face-ball, your sight changed to one with curiosity at this. Okay so he can mimic expressions, noted. You could’ve stayed longer but your thoughts were distracted at the sound of the speaker saying “The store is now closed.” Meaning that it was definitely time to clock out, made sure you had your things on you before moving to the exit but not before waving a goodbye to the machine as you went to check out.

After this encounter, you decided to make this a regular thing. You clocked in, you did your tasks and you went to the fortune teller machine. But you started to notice that slowly, the papers started to get a little bit more personal than just random fortune telling. You started to get papers like “remember to eat” mostly when you skipped your lunches without knowing it, but how could he know when you did it? And “Are you okay?” Questions when you were feeling a little down, you didn’t know if it was because he could sense it or if you were obvious. But you shrugged it off telling him that you were okay and that there was nothing to worry about.

But strangely, that day was the day that you got sick. You got sick when you woke up in the morning and you had to call in to tell the staff management that you couldn’t come. That was for three days before you could recover, and when you did you received a little pep talk by Freddy when you arrived to the Pizzaplex on how you should keep an eye on yourself and how you should stay more cautious. Since you were still trying to beat what was little left from the cold you had you forgot to visit the fortune teller animatronic that day.

But it felt strange to you that all the time you were working you felt a pair of eyes on you if that was even possible. But when you turned around to see if anybody needed help or if there was even someone there, you were met with.. nothing. Nothing on sight. Maybe you did really needed to take a look on your lunch and stop skipping them.

That day felt strange, but when you arrived home was when you realized that you didn’t visit your fortune teller that day. You felt guilty, but also you felt a little curious about the feeling of being watched. Maybe it was just some random staff bot who was wondering around and it looked at you doing your job. Yeah, that had to be it.

So when the next day came, you made sure to try and do your tasks a little bit faster so that you could go to the machines and talk a little with the animatronic. Now that you thought of it, you didn’t really knew his name, so you decided on now refer to him as Neptune since that was the big name written all over the top of the machine. Figures too thanks to his planet-like appearance, you took a look at your clock before realizing that it was already lunch time. So this time you wouldn’t skip it, leaving one of the brooms aside and taking the lunch that you actually had time to pack that day. It consisted of a sandwich and a chocolate milk box that you bought from the cafeteria at the Pizzaplex.

Looking for a quiet place to eat, you felt the pair of eyes looking at you again. You tried to shrug it off by thinking of some random staff bot looking at you, so looking forward you were able to find a spot. It was a room that had employees only written on the door, the room looked pretty old and worn out you took a wild guess it was because there hasn’t been a lot of human staff since the great technology that this place had they really didn’t need them.

So you sat on the chair besides the table and decided to eat there. Checking your phone and scrolling through social media for a while now. But the feeling of being watched only intensified when your eyes were on the screen, so you looked up and you were suddenly shocked to see the planet-like animatronic looking right at you. “Jesus christ-!” You said before catching your phone from almost falling since it slipped from your hand.

“You can’t be scaring people like that!” You scolded, it really took the soul out of you seeing him so suddenly in front of you. “I thought you couldn’t get out of that machine since, well you’re always there.” You watched as the animatronic took a card out of his pocket and hand it over to you “I can get out, and move around with it too.” You read

“Well that explains it.” with a sigh, you left the card on the table trying to clear up your thoughts about what just happened before feeling two cold hands make their way to your cheeks. Holding them while the animatronic looked deeply at you, with worry you could’ve sworn. One of the other pair of arms handed over another card meanwhile the upper couple of hands were kept on your cheeks.

“Are you alright? I haven’t seen you around the last few days.” it read. You smiled at this but also felt a bit guilty by not coming to visit him. “Yeah, I just got sick. I’m sorry if I worried you.” You tried to smile it off, but you felt the pair of hands leave your cheeks as the animatronic sat next to you. “You aren’t much of a talker, can you even talk?” The animatronic moved its head to the sides, so he couldn’t talk? Well that explained the cards. You didn’t mind, as long as he could communicate someway it was okay for you.

Then, the animatronic pointed at the sandwich which was now long forgotten in the table. You chuckled at this taking it and taking a bite out of it for Neptunes satisfaction. You watched by the corner of your eye how his fingers were trying to really slowly get with yours. You smiled and drew your hand closer to his, and slowly intertwined your fingers with his and holding hands after. It was very peaceful, just how you liked it. When you finished your sandwich you stood up, noticing how Neptune shot you a concerned look for both of your hands.

“It’s okay, we can stay like this. I really don’t mind.” You reassured, watching how he nodded and stood up too. Since lots of the families were already leaving and the places you had tasks left to do were completely alone, you managed to do your tasks with Neptune by your side. It was funny how he watched with curiosity how you did some of them. It seemed like it was going to be a long night.

But even if it was, you didn’t mind any of it as long as you had your fortune teller besides you.

[ofherpinkways]

Hyper Fixation

Cod characters x horror fan reader (GN bf/gf :) )

Summary : they ask one small question horror movie sending you into a complete hyper fixation and happy rant about all your favorite scary movies

(A/N: tbh this is mainly for myself so I can finally spill out my bottled up horror movie rants,plus this is based off interaction I just had with a friend on Snap. Our babies will be referred to as "they/them" since i wanna include everyone 🤍🩰🧸 might do a pt2)

You loved horror movies and let it be known to all. Everyone at the base knew it and it was what you were known for even to those who didn't know you fully . Often referred to as the "Horrorjunkie"

Your dorm was filled with horror movie posters,props from iconic classics and of course you had a bunch of those mini polaroid posters of all your favorite horror movies. Your body is covered in horror movie themed tattoos of all the well known villains and other scary themed things. Your left hand was covered in one giant tattoo that made it look like you were a skeleton. All of your causal/civilian clothes were the Steven Rhodes t-shirts and hoodies.

God forbid anyone lets you pick the movie during movie night . It was gonna be scary obviously. This night you picked Sinister (2012) forcing everyone in the common room. It only got worse when few of your teammates confessed they've never seen it. There you sat grinning wildly knowing the whole movie play by play. Having the ability to mentally time each up in coming jumpscare in your head laughing and smiling to yourself prepared for each scare ,glancing up at them wanting to see their reaction. The infamous lawn mower scene had just happened causing everyone but you to jump and yelp a little , instead you laughed and smiled happily at their reactions finding the whole thing amusing.

Fast forward weeks later,you were sitting on the couch scrolling your phone with " " (This is where you insert whoever you want lol). You both got bored after a while, you move and lay your head onto their lap "wanna watch a movie?" you ask looking up at them "I'll pick" you sang dragging the words smiling . They laughed smiling back "and what horror movie has the honors of your picking today mmph?" they remarked . You sat up and playfully huffed with fake offended expression on your face , putting your hand to your chest "Now who said it was gonna be a horror movie ?" you replied holding back a giggle

"you get called "horrorjunkie" for a reason " they said with a chuckle. You crossed your arms smirking "Touche", you grab the remote and start looking through the horror movie collection on Netflix " How about The Strangers ?" you ask looking at your partner . "Again ? we've watched like ten times already,why do you like it so much?"

you gasped "how could I not love it? its's such a classic !, and the timing of its release ! It was something never done before ! it scared the shitout everyone making them fear being in their own homes,making them worry when answering their door and the simple fact it was based off a true event?!?! absolutely sickening" you explained in a fast and excited manner.

And that's how you both spent the rest of your night and ranting about each of your beloved scary movies along with the cast,the directors ,the lore,the meaning and messages behind them, the remakes and sequels all of it

Going on about Scream 1996 flapped over and changed horror forever

Going on about Radio Silence was doing a great job on honoring Wes Craven on his creation of the Scream movies , as they keep the franchise

Why the Evil Dead franchise was so loved

Breaking down and explaining all of Jordan Peele movies, explaining the meaning,how their connected in way,why Jordan writes the way he does, why it's better to show and not tell

Giving off examples of movies that were clearly inspired of Peele's work

Talking about Ethan Hawke is perfect for horror movies

How his performance in The Black Phone shocked and scared everyone

Even though they may not get horror movies the way you do. They love the way your eyes lit up,love hearing the excitement in you voice, loving how animated you became when talking about horror movies. They enjoyed how happy the movies made you so they sat smiling up at you the whole time as you talked for what seemed like forever but they didn't care

[twit-ter-pa-ted]

Apple of My Eye

pairings: vinsmoke sanji x gn!Reader, straw hat crew x gn!Reader

warnings: can be romantic or platonic, can be opla/animanga (but more on animanga), everyone finding out in one fell swoop (thanks to reader), honestly a self-insert, includes the whooolee crew!!

overview: a headcanon wherein sanji has heterochromia, an optic condition where a person has two different colored eyes. moreover, you can't seem to get over those eyes.

a/n: this was inspired by and dedicated to a tiktok (@/drayiskewl) i saw tbh. got love at first sight w the idea. enjoy!

Sanji was cooking while you watched, feet swinging as your seat was too tall for them to be able to reach the floor.

He seemed to have been quite engrossed in his cooking, as he only noticed your staring once he was finished.

"Hm? Anything I can do for you, lovely?" He wiped his hands on the 'I like big buns and I cannot lie' apron the crew had gotten for him on his birthday (partly as a joke, though Luffy gifted it wholeheartedly).

You curiously tilted your head to the left. Wordlessly, he mimicked your action.

Your hand then lifted reluctantly, getting closer and closer to his face. Sanji never had a problem with people getting touchy with him, much less you getting touchy, so he decided to let things play out to see what you would do.

Though, being on the same boat as you for god knows how long surely didn't help him in predicting what you would do next.

You brushed your fingers through his hair, specifically brushing aside his fringe adorned over his eye.

"H-Hey, wait a minute – " His cheeks turned pink while you stared in adoration at his mocha-iceberg eyes.

He tried to take your hand's gentle grasp off his hair. His fumbling came to a stop as he looked at the smile on your face as you looked at his eyes.

He chuckled, almost nervously as if easing himself into the fact that you were seeing his blue eye.

He initially didn't intend to hide it, attempting to casually slip it into conversation if it ever came up as a topic, but it never did. So he figured it didn't matter whether the crew knew or not.

"What, you like them, sweets?"

You grinned. "Yeah-huh. They're pretty." You leaned back onto your seat.

"Well, if I'd known, I'd have constantly pulled back my hair." He humorously pushed his hair back.

"Sanji! Give me food!" Luffy came marching into the kitchen with the demand, then his eyes widened as he saw Sanji's. "Woah! Sanji, is that really your eye?"

He practically jumped on the chef as he kept Sanji's usually hidden eye open to examine it.

"Do you really have to ask that – ?"

"It looks so cool! Can you teach me how to do that? Ooh, food!" He spotted the recently cooked food while Sanji was speaking. His attention quickly averted from the cook's eyes to his dishes.

" – Hold on, Luffy!" Sanji stepped back to bring his foot down onto the captain's head.

"Ow!"

Usopp and Chopper barged into the kitchen in a panicked manner. "Sorry, Sanji! We looked away for one second – woah!"

It was almost as if there were stars in their eyes. "They're so mesmerizing…!"

You chuckled, looking at Sanji's eyes again. "Aren't they?"

Chopper opted to jumping on the counter, though quickly changed his mind as he thought what Sanji's reaction could be to that, so he changed into his human-hybrid form and quickly took out a flashlight and a magnifying glass to examine his eyes.

"I've never seen anyone with this before!" He seemed to be the most fascinated so far. Or perhaps it was just in his nature as a doctor to be curious about it.

Sanji's eyes widened as they darted between you, Usopp, and Chopper. "S-Stop staring, would you?!"

Usopp let out an exclamation. Chopper suddenly recognized that he had jumped into Doctor Mode before thinking and snapped out, returning to his normal, smaller form.

He and Usopp then each grabbed a hold of Luffy's shoulders. It was their turn to keep Luffy out of the kitchen, after all. "S-Sorry!"

The other half of Luffy's body stretched and lagged behind, considering the Straw Hat didn't want to leave, yet soon came hurling out the door and towards the pair that pulled him.

A whack soon sounded as Luffy inevitably collided with the top half of his body, and Usopp and Chopper.

While Sanji started to bake a dessert for the ladies, Franky entered the kitchen. "Hey, curly cook, is the food ready? The ladies and the skeleton are hungry."

"It's almost done, give me a second."

Franky nodded in understanding, then sat on the seat next to you.

"Hey, could you give me some cola?" He requested from the cook.

"Yeah, as long as you promise to leave my kitchen after." Franky let out a small laugh and raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" You smirked towards Sanji who sighed just as he had reached for the cola bottles in the fridge, already knowing what you were scheming.

"Yeah? What is it?" He prevailed curiously. You reached to push Sanji's hair back again when he approached the counter to set the cola bottles down.

Your smile widened as you looked at Franky's fascinated stare. "Don't they look cool?"

"Oh! I never knew your eyes looked like that. Super!"

Sanji couldn't help but chuckle, never getting used to the crewmate's silliness. "Thanks, Franky. I'm afraid I'm still gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Aw, but why can they stay?" Franky whined, pointing at you.

"Because it's them. I don't really have a choice," he jested before leaning back to smoothly avoid your swinging hand.

Franky laughed as he left the kitchen with the cola bottles.

Sanji quickly finished making the desserts. While settling the plates on the tray, you tugged on his sleeve to catch his attention.

He hummed to acknowledge your attempt. "What is it, darling?"

You held your hands up. "Hear me out – "

One of his curled brows rose with curiosity, then your hands went up to his hair.

You tied his hair up, it currently being long enough to barely settle into a man bun.

Sanji chuckled at your antics, yet went along with it. You searched around and found Nami's mirror, facing it to Sanji. "What do you think? Good?"

Zoro, seemingly recently done with his workout session (though his sweat seemed to have dried) with his towel over his shoulder, passed by and lightly chuckled through his nostrils before Sanji could reply.

"Hmm? I'm in the kitchen?" He asked himself, seemingly unaware of you and the cook being there.

"Yeah-huh," you replied. Zoro only seemed to notice your presence then.

"Nice eyes, idiot cook."

Sanji rolled his eyes and set the mirror down. "Quiet, moss head."

"You look like a broom." Zoro cocked his chin towards Sanji's hair, then smirked. "Broom head."

You couldn't help but chuckle.

Nami entered as if searching for something, or someone.

Her brows shot up when she saw Zoro. "Zoro, I thought you were going for a shower? Luffy was looking for you and I told him you headed to the bathroom. He got there and talked to no one for a solid ten minutes."

"I was gonna go take a shower," he clarified. The room was silent for a moment, waiting for his explanation as to why he was here.

Everyone should have expected his answer – "I got lost."

Your eyes widened, "How do you get lost on your own ship?!"

"Idiot!"

"I can't believe you!"

Still, Zoro waved dismissively before heading back the way he came from.

"That's still not the way to the bathroom…!" Nami shouted after him, but the swordsman had left through the doors. Nami's palm met with her face. "Oh, he is hopeless."

Sanji brushed the situation off and went back to arranging the food.

"Oh, Miss Nami, I'll have the food out in a minute." Nami finally looked at the cook, who was now looking at you to see if it was alright if he were to untie his hair. He did once you gave a reassuring gaze.

Nami's mouth slightly went agape as he approached the cook, pushing his hair back to see if she had seen it correctly. "Hey. Sanji, I never knew your eyes looked like that. They look…!"

He was holding one of the desserts as Nami started complimenting him. You quickly lunged to grab the dessert off his hands when he suddenly collapsed.

You and Nami looked over the counter to check if Sanji was alright. He was, he just became struck by the sudden compliment.

"…I didn't even finish complimenting him."

Food had been served by you by the time Sanji woke up again.

He was surprised to see that you had gotten him to sit at the table and waited for him to wake while the crew ate. You had tied his hair up again.

"Oh! You have such pretty eyes, mine almost flew out of my skull!" Brook exclaimed once everyone had realized he had regained consciousness. "But then again, I actually don't have eyes anymore. I'm all bones! Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

Luffy, Chopper, and you were the only ones to chuckle at the skeleton's joke. Robin let out a small chuckle as well, "But how come you've been crewmates for so long, yet you didn't know Sanji had different-colored eyes?"

Luffy somehow grinned while stuffing his mouth full of food. "I didn't ask."

Nami sighed and shook her head. "In case you hadn't noticed, our captain just has a tendency of inviting anyone into the crew."

Zoro nodded in agreement. "It's true. Just look at the cook."

Sanji's brows almost uncurled in fury. "What does that say about you, First Mate?!"

"I must admit," Robin crossed her forearms and prompted an arm to sprout from the top of Sanji's head, its hand brushing his hair out of the way. "they do look…"

Luffy nabbed the cook's food from his plate before Sanji's face planted onto them as he once again fell unconscious.

"…Pretty."

[littlestarbigsky]

masterlist + requests💫

fic requests are open <3

always taking requests for headcanons/rambles/blurbs <33

anything nsfw or requests that make me uncomfortable in any way will be deleted.

i don’t do reader inserts

ships i write atm: stevepop, cherrycola, chetcherrycola, marbit, darryxpaul, ponyboyxjohnny (qpr or romantic) might add more not sure yet lol

i typically write fics in the order that they come in, but sometimes i just have an idea for an ask right when i get it

i'll close fic requests if i get backed up or if i'm not able to write much, request status is always listed on this post <3

note: whenever i post wips or snippets of my fics, i will always link the full fic when i finish and post ;)

fic masterlist

a few identifiers:

🩵 - includes the curtis gang as kids

🩷 - not a full fic/blurb

💚 - not fully sfw

‼️ - content warning

ponyboy

ponyboy having a nightmare & breathing problems ft. soda comfort

darry helping ponyboy with a breathing treatment

five times darry helped ponyboy sleep and one time pony helped darry🩵

pony and curly after pony gets into a fight (papercut)🩷

some heavy ponyboy angst‼️

sodapop

sodapop sickfic (with darry and ponyboy)🩵

soda and the stars (5 + 1)🩵

darry and pony helping soda with his knee

mama comforts little soda after he fails a test🩵

darry

opening of the outsiders from darry’s pov

matthews family helping darry when ponyboy gets sick

parry angst - the socs prank darry

parry comfort at football practice

pony calls darry “dad” accidentally🩷

johnny

johnny meeting the curtis family for the first time🩵

little blurb about johnny and mama curtis in the winter 🩷

two-bit

two-bit and molly going to the curtis house when their parents are fighting🩵

dally

mama curtis cleans dally up after he gets jumped

curtis brothers

darry and soda angst after soda drops out

lil darry helping toddler ponyboy when he’s sick🩵

darry gets hurt at a football game🩵

soda washing ponyboy’s hair (water trauma pony)

soda has appendicitis

soda after darry and ponyboy die🩷

pony is sick for the first time since their parents died

curtis brothers coming out to each other

pony and soda help darry with his chronic back pain

darry and soda find out about pony’s water trauma

pony has a migraine

qprpbj

johnny helping ponyboy with his asthma

helping johnny after his physical therapy (recovery au)

chetcherrycola

cherrycola teen parents - kat wakes up in the middle of the night

cherrycola after a rumble

chetcherrycola when soda has a chronic pain flare up

chetcherrycola after a rumble

chetcherrycola when cherry has a bad period🩷

chet has a migraine (ft. my chet lore)

chetcherrycola showering💚

cherry finding out she’s pregnant

chet and cherry help soda on the anniversary of losing his parents

chet and soda help cherry with her morning sickness (pregnancy au)

chet has a stomach bug

how chetcherrycola met

chetcherrycola mermaid au !!

stevepop

darry catches stevepop being cute

stevepop being cute after darry catches them🩷

stevepop getting drunk

stevepop ft. soda having an asthma attack

steve taking care of lactose intolerant soda with a tummyache🩷

stevepop baking (and making a mess)

steve and soda crash prom

marbit

two-bit comes to marcia after a rumble💚

two-bit comforts marcia after she gets a bad grade (and jumps into her pool)

bevcherrymarcia

bevcherrymarcia waking up together <3

all fics and wip snippets are also posted under my writing tag !!

tbh these are organized in a way that makes sense in my brain i’m not sure if anyone else is gonna get it lol