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#it’s not even sad but it also sometimes makes me cry especially in the electric guitar solo in the middle
cursed-elo-images · 7 months
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@chad-jeff-lynne WOW LOOK IT’S JEFF LYNNE!!! He’s so amazing!!! My favorite songs he sang are his cover of “Locomotion”, and others include “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Space Oddity”, and “Yellow Submarine”. He is my favorite Led Zeppelin member!
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showmey0urfangs · 1 year
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i'm all for analyzing the fuck out of the show and would even say i rarely encounter anything that i would necessarily consider "overanalysis," just personally, because to me all interpretations are valid to some extent. like why not read into it like that if doing so creates added meaning to you if that makes sense? though of course there will always takes i disagree with or even find downright "wrong." what is beginning to piss me off though is how homophobic and gender essentialist some analysis in this fandom is beginning to feel. i'm not saying all of it is wrong or invalid but i can't be the only one who thinks people are taking it to such an extent that feels weird. acknowldging the show's commentary on patriarchy or louis being gender nonconforming is one thing but the number of people who seem very comfortable constantly referring to a gay man as "basically" a woman is getting weird to me. initially i was relieved to see people address the same subtext i was picking up on but at this point it feels like some people are engaging less in good faith analysis and more in feminization kink that's toooootally relevant to canon trust me guys
Hi there. I too have noticed this new trend for fans (usually women) to jokingly refer to queer or queer-coded men in media by feminine terms (babygirl, mother, referring to their "pussies" etc.) I'm not sure if it's a kink like you said or if it's done for some other reason, but I agree that it can sometimes become insidiously homophobic and devolves into trying to fit queer men into antiquated heteronormative roles.
It pisses me off when I see fans treat Louis like he's the sad frigid housewife and Lestat is the manly man, wolfkiller, protector and provider, who goes off on adventures and has multiple conquests while Louis sits at home crying and knitting by the fire.
I think a lot of this comes from the way Anne herself wrote their dynamic in the books after IWTV —where btw, Louis is the wealthy and business savvy one and Lestat depended on him, at least financially, but somehow by the time we see them again, Louis's broke, living in a shack with no electricity and wearing dusty clothes, while Lestat is a billionaire and a rockstar. 🙃
By disregarding Louis' storyline to solely focus on Lestat's , Anne left fans to fill the gaps with their own headcanons and apparently, that's what most of them came up with which...yeah.
We also see Claudia also call Louis a housewife in episode 5, but she did it in a moment of anger and obviously knew how hurtful it would be for him to hear that when he had spent his entire life grappling with his own sexuality and trying to comfort to a more "socially acceptable" image of masculinity — ❝the stern landlord, the deferential businessman, the loyal son--❞
To me, implying Louis is "less of a man" because he is more sensitive or less sexually aggressive is textbook homophobia, not to mention misogynistic because it implied femininity or feminine traits are less than, a weakness.
Ideally, I would love to see less of this type of narrative—especially in Loustat fics and other fan works of them. But I'm not the fandom police, so it's to each their own ig. 🤷🏾‍♀️
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missbeautyandherbeast · 3 months
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Hello! How are you doing? I just wanted to ask, are you still active and able to do Match-Ups? If so, here’s everything about me! 
My name is Aylin (It means moon halo! 🌙) I’m 19 years old. (Yet, I have the mind of a thirteen year old.) My zodiac sign is Capricorn but I’m also a cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius according to Google. I’m not a Harry Potter fan but my house would probably be RavenClaw or Slytherin or possibly even both. I’m straight and polyamorous. I’m an Ambivert! My favorite movie genres are Action and Comedy. Bonus if the movie/show includes both lol. My favorite music genres are 2000’s Pop, 2000’s Electric Pop, Rock, and jazz!! My aesthetics are Y2K and Girly Girl!
Personality: 
So, um, I’m pretty stubborn lol. I’m also very crazy and chaotic. I’m VERY creative. (I’ve written hella crazy stories on Wattpad. My friends are now questioning whether or not I actually need a therapist from how unhinged I am or not because what I write is considered “Iconic��� to them XD.) My friends say that I’m funny and to be honest, I sometimes even laugh at my own jokes and/or stories.
I’m a hopeless romantic. (I’m lonely and just need the bf of my dreams. 😭🙏) I’m an absolute crybaby when I’m feeling very stressed out and overwhelmed. I just snap. (In fact, when I was a kid, I would get yelled at and grounded for it. Thank you so much, dad!! 😃)
I also LOVEE animals!!!!! 😍💕💗✨ I would literally die protecting an animal, that’s how much I love them. They give me hope, they make me happy, I basically consider them my siblings. (I’m an only child :’).)
I can be pretty mean sometimes, but it’s not my fault that some people can be just TOTALLY unbearable. 🙄🤦‍♀️ I’m also pretty bratty at times, either because I feel like it or that person just really pisses me off. I’m really, REALLY sassy. My middle school friends could confirm that. I’m also brutally honest, at least that’s what my friends said back in middle school.
I’m VERY caring and overprotective and loyal to those that I REALLY care about and love. Seriously, I would DIE protecting them.
I KINDA have trust issues, there’s just a lot of toxic and bad people in the world, it’s almost impossible to let your guard down. Being naive got me nowhere but just sad days of crying my heart out. 
Likes:
I used to like drawing but I barley have any motivation at all now. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back at it. It’s just a lot of hard work and it gets pretty frustrating at times when you make a small or big mistake. 
As I mentioned about my crazy stories on Wattpad, I LOVEE writing!! When I was a kid, my parents used to say that I would make a really good writer because of my creativity in English assignments lol. 
I love shopping! Especially with my friends, it just makes it a lot more fun and exciting. I really enjoy hanging out with my friends and talking to them instead of through a screen.
I really enjoy listening to music! 2000’s Pop music just makes me feel really good and happy. Music nowadays is just kinda…- No. 
For some reason, I just really love waking up early and taking a walk outside. I just really admire how beautiful and stunning the early mornings look like. 
Like the turtles, I LOVEE pizza! It just tastes so good!! It’s my most favorite food ever!
Mint ice cream is UNDERRATED. I don’t care about what people say about it tasting like toothpaste, they’re being over dramatic, it tastes SOO good!!
Dislikes:
I just HATE it when people wear clothes that don’t even match at all!! Like, what confidence of yours made you wear THAT bizarre mess in public?!?! It just annoys me so much. Not only get a new brain but get a new and better fashion style. 
I absolutely hate and cringe at rap music. The only rapper that I make an exception of is Eminem. But other than that, it’s just- NO, NO, NO. I swear, all they ever say in those cringey songs is the N word and then they start talking about butts and stupid stuff like that. Maybe, you lowlife’s can actually learn to start making some REAL music instead. 
Another thing that I dislike is when people blame me for something that I DIDN’T DO or I DIDN’T START. Do they not know that there are always two sides to a story? I remember back in Kindergarten when these two little roach girls used to bully me and mock me, following me wherever I go in the playground. They were SO ANNOYING. So, I started attacking one of them because of how sick and tired I was of them and guess what? I GOT DRAGGED BY MY WRIST BY MY TEACHER TO THE STUPID PRINCIPALS OFFICE. That memory still angers me ‘till this day.
As I mentioned about me loving animals with my life, I HATE, HATE, HATE animal @buse or any type of @buse for that matter really. @buse in general is just disgusting and unnecessary. People seriously have sick and twisted minds to think that @buse is “Okay”. ITS NOT!!! It seriously needs to stop.
My father. 🤓
I really dislike pickles, ketchup, mustard, papaya, steak/beef, bacon, any cheese other than mozzarella, poptarts (They tastes SOOO fake, I’m really sorry, Donnie.😭✋) and many other things that I can’t seem to remember lol. They just gross me out SOO much, I don’t understand how people like them. 
My Body (If you don’t feel comfortable doing this section, just ignore it.):
I have VERY dark brown hair that can look black depending on the lighting and dark brown eyes (They look better and prettier when the sun hits them. 😩) I think I have a heart-shaped facial structure. I have the almond eye-type. I have a cupids bow lip. (I was actually kinda insecure about my lip when I was a teen, but now knowing that only 5% of people have my lip type made that insecurity go away!) I have fair skin as my skin color. I have “strong” nails that break, making them look ugly and unpleasant. Always annoys me so much. I do pretty simple makeup, multi-color eyeshadow makes me look ugly for some reason and I absolutely hate it.
I’m an hourglass (Yet, I hate my body with a passion.) I have stretch marks on my hips and thighs that I’m really insecure about. I also have cellulite but basically everyone has that since it’s just how your skin looks like when you squeeze it. (At least that’s what I think lol.) I also have a butterfly tattoo on the hip of my lower back.
Anyways, that’s all about me! Thank you so much for taking the time of your day to read this and give me my match-up!! (If you did.) I hope everyone reading this has an amazing and wonderful day!!! ❤️❤️❤️
♡♡♡♡♡♡
*stumbles in late*
*uncovers laptop from moving boxes*
*sets up and takes a breath*
Apparently I am still doing match-ups because here we are. BUT BEFORE THAT REALLY QUICK IT'S BEEN A WHILE HI GUYS
so... I moved across the country... from Florida to a place where NYC is at my fingertips... so that REALLY hyped my hyperfixation for my boys. Lemme tell you when I started this blog I NEVER thought I'd be this close to the city.
Anyway, hey babes that was a TON of information but kudos to writing it all down bc I could never
But Honestly, I'm gonna go with you and Mikey here!
Hear me all the way out:
Pick any version of Mikey and you guys would vibe
You've both got a creative streak and a general overall tender heart that I think would work really well together
You know this dude has seen the end of Wattpad trying to find his favorite ships (and maybe even a few about him and his true love, hoping one day it might come true)
I really think he would be someone who could understand your trust issues, and even help you through it (and while I'm on the subject on a real note: there's a difference from naive and kind. you can still be kind and open, but know there are boundaries that you should have to keep yourself safe and in a place mentally and emotionally and away from toxic people bc girl TRUST ME I'VE BEEN THERE)
Okay, so Mikey is one of those guys who would try gross foods because it's there, so you'd never have to worry about not liking something because he would eat it without a second thought
(I think it would be SO FUNNY if the one thing he didn't like was mint chocolate chip ice cream and that's the ONE thing you two can't agree on)
("I've seen you eat ten day old pizza from the floor" "And I'd do it again if I never had to eat that monstrosity of cold toothpaste")
Of course he's protective of you and your heart and doesn't want to break it, and he has some of the highest emotional maturity of the brothers and I think it would really help you guys as a couple, but also just help over all with growing up as a young adult (BECAUSE IT'S ROUGH OUT HERE SHAWTY)
You guys would do so well together
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anna-20s-world · 7 months
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"Story of my life"
Hello, my name is Anna Mae Cardines but you can call me "Anna " in short Do you wanna build a snowman? HAHAHAHAH I've been single since birth, but if you want to be part of my life, it's okay HAHAHAHA kidding. I'm 18 years old now, and I live in Arca,Pusok Lapu-Lapu City. Do you want to know about my life? What do you think my personality is? What makes me happy? What is my goal in life? If you want to know about my life, okay, we will start.
I want to share my story in life, and I hope you are motivated to continue and fight in life. I hope you will work hard for your future, especially for your family. I am a shy type,an introvert sometimes,and a responsible and helpful person who needs my help.We are eight siblings, and I am the seventh child of the family. We have four males and four females. My mother doesn't do regular work, and only my father provides for our daily needs. Sometimes we don't have food to buy. There was a time when my parents were fighting because of financial problems. 
When I was a child, we lived a simple life. We live without electricity, and we use candles to make our house light. I remember that there was a day when I imagined that we had a TV in my house. I also make and draw a cellphone by using a cartoon. I think that day I want to experience having a cellphone or even electricity. I remember that there was a time when we didn't have enough food to eat. There is a time that our food is bananas, and then in one banana, we share because we don't have money to buy one by one. 
There is also a time when my mom is finding a way to have food to eat. Sometimes I help my mom find our food, and we have more debt, especially in food. I also remember that when I was a child, I can't forget that day that me and my younger sister were watching TV in our neighborhood. We have our favorite series on TV, and then we watch outside in our neighbor's house because we are too shy to go inside their house to watch TV. Then I think our neighbor doesn't watch us outside, so they close their window. After that, me and my younger sister were sad and went back to our house to cry because we hadn't watched our favorite series. 
I remember that when I was a child, I experienced all the outside games like Chinese garter,takyan, patintero, luksong baka, etc. It was fun playing with my childhood friends, and at that time, I had no cellphone or toy. I can't also forget that there was a time when me and my childhood friends were cooking for our lunch. We cook papaya with sauce, and I can't forget that moment, even if it was simple, but for me, it is so memorable because my parents are happy that I'm done eating lunch. That day, we didn't have food in our house. 
When I was in elementary school, I was not responsible for my school, and I was always absent. I am the type of person who is shy, lonely, and has no friends at school. Sometimes I am bullied by my classmates, so that is the reason why sometimes I want to be absent. I am a child who doesn't have confidence in myself, and I always compare myself to other people. I also remember that when I went to school, sometimes I did not have snacks. 
Fast forward: When I was in fifth grade, I had my first crush. If I remember this memory, I can't believe myself that age is when I'm in love. Me and my crush are close together; we always jam and play together. The memory that I can't forget about my crush is that we are both close parents, and we are always together going home. There was a time that I was absent, and I was so kilig that time because he asked my mom why I wasn't in school.
When I was in high school, I was serious about my academics. I have a small circle of friends, and according to my grades, I always compare my grades with those of someone else. I always imagine that I want to have higher grades, even if they're 90, because sometimes my father jokes about my grades, and sometimes he compares me to my younger sister. I haven't received an award since I was in elementary school, despite having perfect attendance, being at the top of my class, or being the most.
Now that I am in senior high school, I have a little bit of confidence in myself, especially in school. I am now a responsible person, especially for my studies, and I have many friends I meet. I can't believe that now I am achieving my dream of having a 90 in grades. I am also happy that my parents and, especially, my father, are proud of me. I can't believe that I achieved my goal of getting an award. 
My goal in life is to graduate soon and to become successful someday.I also want someday that we will have electricity.I want to someday help my parents with what they need and want. When the time comes that I am rich and successful, I will help other people who need my help, especially my neighbors. The thing that makes me happy is that I will take it back to my parents; they sacrificed for me, and I want to see my parents happy.
I also want to travel the whole world with my family and eat at the restaurant that they want to eat at. I encourage you to be a strong and independent person. Everything that happens has a purpose. I hope you are motivated by my story to work hard to achieve your goals in life and to become successful someday. Don't give up, and trust God always. Lastly, despite all the struggles and challenges in life, don't give up. I know that God is teaching us how to be strong people, and I know that God is guiding us.
Thankyou for reading:))
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starchild--27 · 2 years
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i was tagged by @artemiss-moonchild and @heartcravings in two different spotify-centric tag games - so i'll just morph them~ i am also high on finishing a book right now, so yeah, it's gonna be long and full of words i have to vomit out now because my brain is buzzing xDD
shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and post the first 10 tracks,
Brand New City by Mitski ~ probably my favourite song of hers, i feel all of her music and lyrics very very much but this song...just hits different i dunno, i guess it is the closest thing i have to describe this restlessness i get sometimes
blue by keshi ~ every single word in this songs gets me and i am kinda giddy bc i bought tickets to his concert as a christmas present for my sister and me, hehe, i'm looking forward to that already ^^
Where We by Ryu Ji Hyun & Kim Kyung Hee ~ part of the OST of the drama Rain Or Shine / Just Between Lovers, it's on netflix, lee gangdu is my poor little meow-meow, i cried buckets and got wayyy more invested in this drama than i anticipated xD
I Don't Even Mind by Chen ~ it's my favourite track of his 3rd album, i like how his voice blends with the instrumental, i love how his voice is so clear, how it kinda floats over the tumbles of the guitar, it's like fog over a little creek
I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace ~ i stumbled over that one by chance not even a month ago, i knew the band existed and what their sound was like but never listened to their songs, so that one is the only one i know and what can i say...a girl feels conflicting feelings sometimes xD
Nothin' by EXO-SC / Chanyeol ~ i am really fascinated by this song because it has so many layers of sound, there is just so much going on on that track, like it sounds calm and spherical and like you are floating through a dark night, but you are driven by an invisible force, by thoughts and voices and echos. this song makes me fearless, it lifts me up when i am on the ground, it grounds me when my head tries desperately to fly away from my body, it was my no. 1 song in my spotify wrapped xD
Charmer by Stray Kids ~ ok this one is less deep xD it's just a cool, very vibey song, it really got me back into Stray Kids this year and wow it seems very unreal rn that Oddinary was a 2022 release o_o
Lithium by Nirvana ~ a classic, some would say. i can play it on the electric guitar so that's cool 👀✨️ to me this song is probably even more "nirvana" as Smells Like Teen Spirit - i dunno it captured their sound really well and i might sound very pretentious now but it is such a Kurt song, i don't know how to descibe it differently xDD
Words as Weapons by Seether ~ and sometimes a girl feels a very stubborn anger against the world and some people who have deep cuts. listening to this song is cathartic.
Universe by EXO ~ doesn't your heart just open up when they sing "I'll search the universe..."?? because to me it always feels like that, like something bright is opening up my heart, ready to search along with them (it's the way the melody just keeps rising, flying across the nightsky on that long high note)
then list 10 songs you really like, each by a different artist.
New Thing by Zico feat. Homies ~ this song... is just really, really cool. so cool. ahh. i love listening to it, it's always over way too soon xD
saudade, saudade by Maro ~ my Eurovision favourite this year, haha, their whole stage presence was so whimsical, they remained my favorites from start to finish. i just listened to the song a lot afterwards. the soft desperation in it is just everything, really.
505 by Arctic Monkeys ~ screaming crying throwing up about everything in this song. the musical built up, the breakdown, the lyrics - just ahhh everything about this song makes me go feral, especially the breakdown. i think i rarely show as much of myself to other people as i do when 505 comes on and i'm screaming "but i crumble compeltely when you cry"
Slump by Stray Kids ~ sad bop in three languages, made by the one and only Han Jisung who gave the sinking feeling you get when you realize you are somehow falling behind depsite your best efforts a sound. musical genius (but also are u ok bro?). anyway, i can do all the rap parts (in english because i am a chicken when it comes to korean let alone japanese and i really don't want to mispronounce stuff) in this song and i don't think it sounds cringy when i do it so that's what i've been up to musically these days xDD
RED by Survive Said The Prophet ~ the lyrics in this one are so great! it has such a raw power once it breaks loose, it reminds me of thunderstorms and a stadium full of people not minding the rain because the live music is just so good and everything fits, lights flashing and bass guitar and drums messing with your gut. it's full of so many different feelings that you sometimes can't tell apart but they make you want to move and run and run until your body hurts more than your heart.
Star Walkin' by Lil Nas X ~ this song is also so full of energy but a totally different kind. it's stellar, it's bright, it's almost delirious, it's testing out how fast you can run before you fall over your own feet, it's chasing the feeling of your stomach dropping when you go a little too high on the swings. it sounds really weird, but my first instinct when this song comes on is not to blink, not one second, because i could miss something at this racing pace. the verses are just floating in space, looking around, taking it all in, whereas the chorus is pure acceleration until the point where there is no more "faster", feeling it might hit anytime now but it just doesn't xD
Forgive Me by BoA ~ it's her recent comeback and i've never really gave her music a listen but i saw the teaser pics being absolutely my vibe so i checked it out and really liked it! there is nothing more to it haha. it reminds me a little of what i also would have loved to see Seulgi do on her solo album but it's not that big - both harmonize perfectly with their respective tracks.
Hurdle by Suho ~ he made theeeeee summer bop with this song, really. gosh, the way i freaked when i first heard this song xDD i took little notes about the Grey Suit album in my notebook back then so i know for a fact i was immediately obsessed with the funky bass line and the voice distortion and how dancable this song is.
Serenity by Xiumin ~ i've said it before and i'll say it again: this song is an early spring sunrise, when you woke up oddly early snd you go outside to catch the first glimpses of sunlight and the dew still hanging on the grass wets the hem of your pants, tickles your skin, the cold wetness seeping through your shoes but then the first rays of light hit your skin and the air is fresh and clear and everything feels better and new, like you have healed a little, like you can keep going with a new burst of energy now. this is how this song sounds like to me, i get that mental image everytime, dark greens and bright blues and even brighter white and yellow hues.
Checkmate by TheBoyz ~ again nothing all to deep besides the fact that this song is a total banger and i just go insaneeee over the whispering and member who-ever-it-is saying "you're never satisfied". my sister likes TheBoyz and she played it once or twice and that's how i know this song xD
list the first 10 songs played from my spotify wrapped/apple replay when shuffled!
Francis Forever by Mitski ~ this one somehow very quietly became my chanyeol-enlistment-song. it's all about missing someone, needing someone/depending on someone's presence, not in a full on desperate way (a little desperate maybe-) but in a way that is just like what the first lines say "I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do with myself now that your not here" kinda like you still need time to figure out how to handle things in the absence of something that has been very present before. it really got to me while Chanyeol was away (yk sorta-away because you really cannot get that man off a stage xD but the feeling has always been different than before) - in the end i think it's a lot about adapting after a change in the way somebody is present in your life.
Daechwita by Agust D ~ i am not the biggest BTS fan on the plant (thank god) but i have a sort of soft spot for their rap line because they simply are really good at what they do, especially yoongi. and daechwita, what can i say, simply a total vibe. i remember how i had this song and Lay's Lit right after on repeat a lot that year, they somehow belong to the same universe xDD Daechwita is all about speed and power and hot rage, Lit is all albout precision and force and a very cold attitude of supremacy - both have this very untouchable and dangerous vibe. they are neighboring kingdoms maybe, very peaceful with each other btw. they just come to destroy them haters xD
Raining by Chanyeol ~ this song it just a biiig loong sigh. it's taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly. the dark heavy piano really is like black paint in an artwork, it really gives the song that heavy atmosphere. then the sax soli are almost complaining, it's whining, it's telling you its story of misery with the heaviest sighs. this also reflects in Chanyeol's vocals, he also has this hint of exhaustion there, this song is just so dramatically done with everything, it just yk wants to have a drink and end this unfortunate day xD on some days i think this might be the best song of the The Box OST because they caught this very moody atmosphere so so well and it's not often done like that in populat music, i suppose (look i probably sound like i know what i am talking about but i really do not- xD)
GOTTASADAE by BewhY ~ again, nothing deep. my bestie sent me the song and was like "!!!! here listen !!!" and i was like "omg!!!!!!!" and then it was on repeat xDD
This Is How I Disappear by My Chemical Romance ~ so here is the thing, i knew about them for a long time but i never had this kind of "emo phase" in my teenage years but when they had their revival tour or whatever this year a lot of people i follow online suddenly were obsessing over them again, and when i like people a lot and they get invested in something, then i want to check that out too. so i listened to their entire discography in one weekend (coincidentally, the exact weekend they played in germany xDD) and This Is How I Disappear was the winner of the little favourite MCR song race i had in my head xD so yeah, i dig their music, especially this song. once again, very cathartic to listen/dance/sing to.
Snow (Hey Oh) by Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ i really like that i got this one on random! because it's the first RHCP song i actively remember hearing, probably in the radio and i was just really obsessed with it (in a way a child can be obsessed with a song it doesn't understand xD) and that just kind of lingered around and i eventually looked up the chords so i could play it on the guitar when i was 13 i think, leading to my dad showing my Californiacation and Under The Bridge and that's when i got more and more into their music in general. another weird fun fact: because i practiced the lyrics very hard back then i can now recite them in absolute inhuman speed, everytime i do it it annoys people to no end but i think it's fun xD
Shutdown by Moonbyul feat. Seori ~ (un)official sapphic anthem, let's gooo. this song is so so sexy in a very soft and casual and relaxed way. i love how their voices harmonize, i love how the melody flows, how you're just drawn into the song from start to finish. this song it somebody touching you very softly, very gently at your most secret, sensitive places. this song is knowing how to have the exact same effect on the other. it's dancing together with the smallest most minimal moves, bodies pressing impossibly close together. i just get this warm, seductive, soft, comfy, sexy feeling from this song.
Free Fall by Øzi ~ i am ascending every time i listen to this song, really. the chorus comes in like the ground beneath your feet rumbling and breaking apart, falling through the cracks. which might sound like a contradiction to what i said in the phrase before. but falling and flying are very easily confused when it's dark and you can't see the bottom. one of my favourite love letter songs <3
Tire Swing by Kimya Dawson ~ the simplicity of this song is so charming, really. it's nothing big, the melody sounds like a children's song but the lyrics tell the tale of the complicated matter that is really liking someone who is just so different from you that it's actually kinda impossible for things to work out well, at least not with anyone hurt. it's part of the soundtrack for the movie Juno (which i really like) and while the teenage romance is only a secondary part of the plot, i think this song was an amazing pick to explain the relationship between these two teenagers that lead very different lives and have to figure out how loving each other works. it's such an easy song and then again it is absolutely not.
Nothing Else Matters by Metallica ~ my dad once told me that metal musicians make the best love songs and then showed me Nothing Else Matteds as proof and, really, i could only believe him after that. i think, this song has had a huge huge influence on what i expect from a romantic relationship. it really shaped my understanding of romantic love to the point where i said (at 13 or 14) in my diary that if i ever got married it would be to this song, and i am still kind of in awe with this thought because that song remains to be very significant to me. how it's about always being together in a way, about sincerity of feelings, about trust, about getting to know the other better day by day and at some point getting to know yourself better through the other, how it's about sharing things openly, about living a life together, about having a companion like that who shows you the world you thought you knew in another light. it's about the enrichment you experience by having a romantic partner, that goes beyong anything sexual which is so often immediately associated with romantic love. and that just really left a lasting impression on me, so it's a fave ever since.
ok. this was long. and very uncalled for lol i am sorry for oversharing like that sometimes i'm just really in touch with how exactly music makes me feel and maybe i'm a little sloppy and a little too much in writing long paragraphs about it oops- ^^'
anywayyy i tag @kafkascupcake @byuns-coco @his-mochi-cheeks @cxsmicmyeon @nvwu @joon-rkive @simplypearing @xuoux @whisperingdoves if you guys wanna (feel free to pick the part you wanna do or simply ignore this tho, i am fully aware that this is a lot of time consuming text, so i won't mind at all xDD)
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Bloody Comfort
pre borderlands!Niragi x fem!reader / Niragi x fem!reader
A/N:  i feel like i only post Marvel on this blog and i missed my show so here it is, finally an AiB fic! :D also, minigame: how many alice in wonderland references can you spot? also also, bloody comfort is an awesome name for a band and if you do name your band that, i want my money. enjoy the fic! also also also i didn’t proofread SHIT so sorry for any grammar mistakes.
trigger warning: bullying, mentions of violence (nothing too graphic, i think but beware nonetheless), death (graphic. i mean, i’m not that good of a writer but still, beware), very slight mentions of nsfw, especially torwards the end, niragi (HE’S A WARNING OK), niragi having disturbing thoughts (what else is new. but fr, ok), sliiiiiight yandere niragi torwards the end. (also I tried not to describe in too much detail the bullying that niragi and the reader suffer in the fic so it wouldn’t be too sad). 
@dreamingofanisland here it is bestie! 
Niragi couldn’t pinpoint when he stopped being sad and when he started getting angry. From a suffocating hopelessness came a desperation he could only describe as feral. He often fantasized about just jumping over his desk and strangling each one of them to death but his thoughts quickly ended with Niragi envisioning himself being overpowered and beaten. He started to not only get angry at his bullies, but people in general. Things. Life.
How could so many people turn a blind eye? How could life be so unfair to give people like this the upperhand and not him? Not him that clearly deserved it? This world was backwards.
-
He knew he was fucked when he saw the bat, and although he braced for the impact he couldn’t help but fall to his knees and wince at the sickening sound that the baseball did in contact with his nose.
He just sat there and while all he wanted to do was to rip their throats with his teeth all he did was to endure a few more punches before they left with a promise that there would be more. He sat there trying not to cry with sheer frustration. His papers were scattered around, the left arm of his glasses was broken and his pristine black outfit was now covered in dust from the gravel, his hands scratched. He could taste blood on his tongue and he felt a sick satisfaction, pretending for one moment that it was another person’s blood he was tasting.
“Do you need help?”, a voice woke him from his violent daydreams. Suddenly everything boiled over and he felt an overwhelming anger rise inside of him. In a blink of an eye he was standing up, yelling at a somewhat blurry image of a girl who he towered over, even more as she shrunk under his anger. If he wouldn’t be so busy screaming profanities, he would be madly aroused.
“WHAT, HUH? CAME TO SEE THE SHOW? TO LAUGH AT ME?”, he was furious, and as he approached her, she proceeded to walk back.
“No. I just wanted to help”, she said. It seemed another flash and suddenly he could see a bit clearer. Although startled, she didn’t seem afraid of him, and was extending him a tissue. “Your nose is bleeding”, she said, and Niragi wanted to scoff at her for stating the obvious. But she was being kind. And as angry as he was, kindness wasn’t something that he could say no to. He tried his best to control his shaky hands as he took the tissue from her hands and carefully dabbed his nose, as she ducked to collect his papers, and tuck them back into his bag.
“Saw what they did to you. ‘m sorry”, she mumbled. Niragi wanted to strangle her out of sheer embarrassment.
“And you just took some popcorn and enjoyed the spectacle?”, he spat.
“I wanted to help but I wasn’t sure what to do. Would you rather if I had called someone?”, she asked. He breathed once, twice. She wasn’t mocking him, but was unnervingly calm. Something about her being calm while he was practically foaming at the mouth had him seeing red and suddenly he regret having wiped the blood off of his lips.
“No”, he said, calmly. “No, I wouldn’t. Sorry. I have to go”, he said, ripping his bag from her hands with such force that he tugged her arm with it.
“Wait! I mean what I said! I want to help!”
“You, help me? What are you going to do, huh? Be my bodyguard?”, he mocked her one more time. He couldn’t help himself, his brain got used to this. Fight or flight. His adrenaline was pumping and everytime he was around school grounds he looked over his shoulder.
“Hmmm, sorta? Not exactly but I could show you a place. A safe place”, she said. He just looked at her.
“If we get there and it’s a prank of some sort I’ll let you punch me. Square in the face”, she said.
“Are you insane? You just go around letting people punch you in the face?”, his mouth was quicker than his brains and suddenly he felt his face grow hot at the irony of what he had said. But if she noticed it, she didn’t mention.
“Let me help you”, she said.
And he did.
He followed her through a wooded area near the school grounds after walking through a hole in a fence.
He was getting ready to beat you to the punch and hit you so hard that you’d bleed as hard as he did, until you stopped until you reached a very underwhelming toolshed with a padlock.
“We’re here”, you said, and he realized that she sounded different. All this time she was on edge. ‘Of course, Suguru, you threatened the girl like, 3 times’, said the voice in the back of his head. She pulled a key from her bag and the padlock opened easily and they heavy chains fell to the ground and she pushed open the door, going inside. He hesitantly followed.
The inside is nothing as he thought it would be. For starters, it was surprisingly clean and  it didn’t smell bad. And instead of tools and brooms and leafblowers, it had bean bags, blankets, a table with a radio full of knickknacks in the corner and a chair that had clearly seen better days but looked comfortable none the less. The girl walked to a corner of the room and his eyes followed her as she closed the door, which had small sharpie drawings on it. She reached for a white box and settled it on the floor between the two bean bags, and reached inside a very small thermos to pull out an artificially blue isotonic drink and settled it down too. Then from the plastic bag he previously assumed was trash, she pulled a bag of chips.
She then patted the bean bag next to hers. “Welcome to my clinic”, she said, placing the white box on her lap.
-
After an entire afternoon of bonding over unhealthy food and an impromptu first aid rescue, Niragi learned that her name was Y/N, she was a year below and that this little world she created was her refuge from the girls in her class that picked on her.
“I found this and decided that it would be nice. No one’s using it, it’s far from everything. It’s on the Beheaded Woman’s territory”.
Niragi heard the rumors through his bullies. “One day we’ll drag you to the Beheaded Woman’s woods and fucking kill you”.  After further investigation, he learned that allegedly a girl was dragged through the woods and beheaded with a blunt axe.
“I made the rumors up. I had to make sure no one would find my safe haven”, she explained. “And once you write something in the girls’ bathroom stall, there’s no turning back. It’s out there and it’s truth”, she sighed. “I would know”.
He wasn’t the most up to date in all the gossip but she told him her story. The rumors they spread, the things they did to her. She almost seemed amused. He in turn told her his story. By the end of it, he could kill someone. She then offered him the other key to her safe haven.
“You can decorate it too. Don’t tell anyone else and make sure to lock it after you use it. Use it as much as you want, just make sure they don’t follow you, okay?”
He took the keys with shakey hands, a knot on his throat. Another type of adrenaline was pumping through his veins. When a few moments ago there were a fast white heat, coursing through him like an electric current, this was slow and almost overwhelmingly warm, like molten lava.
“Why are you doing this? Being so nice to me?”, he whispered as if it was a secret, as if this moment was another fantasy, a deer that’s easily spooked. He had fantasized about this too. A safe haven, an ally. A friend.
“Because we’re the same, you and I”.
-
You hated him. You hated him with a burning passion. What was at first an act of pity, born from the empathy you felt by seeing someone go through what you did, quickly became a friendship and like a disease, it spread to beyond your safe haven. You would spend your free time together, walk home together. You became friends. And what did he do? Exactly what he told you he would.
“Sometimes don’t you wish to disappear?”, he whispered to you once.
“Yeah. Like, run away? Yeah, I do”, you replied agreeing with him.
 ‘You’re the only one that understands me. We really are the same’, he would say. What at the beginning of your budding crush on him gave you butterflies on the stomach now made you want to throw up.
You lost your only friend. You despised the sound of music now, because every single song you heard, you shared with him. For the same reason, you didn’t enjoy your favorite movies anymore. Your bullies banded together to target you. And the worst part of all, is that you couldn’t even care. There was no silver lining anymore.
“Don’t you get furious?! Don’t you want to hurt them, make them pay?”, he said as he watched you apply concealer to a bruised cheek.
“I mean, I get angry but I try my best to not let it get to me. It’s what they want. I despise those people, I can’t get in a funk because of them”, you said nonchalantly.
But you had loved him. And now you felt like even moving around was an herculean task, like you were almost dead trying to get to safety. But there was no safety anymore.
Ironically, you started to understand him more and more after he disappeared. The anger, the hatred. How could anyone just follow their lives? When there’s people like you just suffering through yours?
Suguru Niragi was an illness, a parasite. He carved his way under your skin and into your heart, laid eggs of his hate on your veins and sucked you dry of your life’s essence. Then, after you were a shell of a human, he disappeared out of thin air, leaving you alone. Leaving you with those people. Leaving you to die.
And you were still in love with him.
-
You thought you were finally insane when it happened.
The streets were empty. Absolutely no one. You wondered for a moment if you felt so alone that your mind convinced itself that that’s exactly what had happened, if any moment now you would be locked in an insane asylum for running around and screaming until you throat got raw.
It took you two games to understand what was going on. You made sure to change clothes. Running shoes, leggings and a warm hoodie that you never let the hood down. You decided to significantly shorten your hair after you saw a man pull a young girl by the ponytail in a spades game. You loaded a backpack with food and bottles of water, anything you could find. And an axe that you took from an emergency box from the building you slept in.
It was on your 5th game that it happened. You saw people die in these games, but none of it was hands on for you. You just watched your back and hoped to win and let whoever was running this show take care of the rest. Honestly, you didn’t even wait to know if anyone even survived. You were done doing that.
When you got there, there were five people already. They banded together and whispered amongst themselves as you passed them by and grabbed a phone. Probably just a group of friends that got stranded at the same time and decided to stay together. You clutched you axe harder.
You didn’t even realize that you had zoned out until you heard hollering and four guys heavily armed walked you by. Where the fuck did they get guns? One of them let out a boisterous laugh that reminded you of someone that you wanted desperately to forget. You couldn’t even get over him during fucking Saw? That sound made your skin crawl.
Registration closed, said the mechanic voice. Difficulty: 8 of clubs. The first 5 players will be the first team and the last 5 players will be the second. One team must eliminate the others without losing any players. Both teams will be identified by the color of your screen, and will have one minute to hide.
You saw the armed guys’ screens light up red. You sighed in relief as yours did too. You made sure to keep your head down and thank whoever that not killing teammates was a part of the rules. They seemed amused and absolutely calm, and the guy with the rifle laughed again. You were shaking by now.
When the minute started, everyone bolted in different directions. You didn’t even look back to see if your teammates had accompanied you but by the sound of your footsteps crushing leaves, you were alone. You decided to go back after a while, looking around. A lamppost. Huh, lamppost it is. You leaned against the cool metal and focused on the silence. The minute had ended but they were still hunting. You didn’t come across anyone, which was good. After a while, all you could hear were distant gunshots.
You looked to the floor, only to see a shadow approaching you quick. You barely had time to dodge before a man hit you behind the head with a rock. You reacting made him lose his balance, falling to the floor and letting go of the rock. You looked at him. It was one of the boys from the other team. He had on a white button up blouse and a black hoodie. His hair had fallen over his brown eyes and he looked so scared and so alone.
This will have to do.
You didn’t stop, suddenly lifting the axe and bringing it down was like an automatic thing.
“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME? AFTER ALL I’VE DONE FOR YOU! YOU ABANDONED ME IN A MINUTE, LEFT ME ALONE IN THAT HELL!”
You didn’t stop when he started praying and then screaming. You didn’t stop when he started bleeding profusely or when the strength of your movements made your hood slide down from your head. You didn’t stop when his head got detached from his body and if you weren’t so angry, you would’ve listened tfootsteps. You didn’t stop until you had made mincemeat out of his face. Just for the sheer audacity of reminding you of him.
He looked at you from afar while you looked at the body of the boy whose skull you just had destroyed, a maniac, victorious smile on your face. You were pretending the boy was him. You really thought he had abandoned you? He would be absolutely heartbroken if he wasn’t so aroused. That’s what he always wanted to see, the instincts that you tried to push down. You were right, you were both the same. He wanted to lick that blood off of you, use it as lube to take you right there. When he first arrived at the Borderlands, when he first killed someone and liked it, he thought you would be disgusted by him. But look at you now. You were here, perfect for him, soaked in blood, feral. He’s never been so hard.
“Y/N”, he said.
“Niragi?,” you said. He ran to you, held you even when you fought back, even when you screamed bloody murder that you were going insane, begging to die already, even when you passed out on his arms. He licked a drop of blood from your neck.
“Let me take you to our safe haven”, he whispered against your skin.
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punkcupcakestyles · 4 years
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Just One More Time
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A story about enemies, neighbors and one night stands that are left in the past...
“Fuuuuuck!!!!!”
It is never nice to see a lady yell such a bad word with such passion and rage, but given the chain of shitty events of the day, you considered to have a pass, thank you fucking much. 
The heel of your very expensive shoe laid on the floor broken, mocking you under the little ray of moonlight that sneaked through the high window in the hallway. The only thing you could see besides your closed door.
Rain clattered against the windows and every new thunder made you jump a little. You knew very well that there was no one else on the hallways with you, but your heart was still jumping in your chest, and if you focused hard enough, you could see creepy figures running across the walls. 
So, you closed your eyes and rushed a little prayer as you continued to look for your stupid keys in your tiny purse as if there was any chance for them to get lost in such a reduced space. 
The cold of the night had sipped up to your body, and your drenched clothes and wet hair certainly didn’t help the matter. By now, all of the effort you had put into your hair and makeup was surely gone, and your mascara was probably building up under your eyes. A drowned, harassed rat, the lyrics to the iconic and underrated Let’s Have a Kiki, sadly fit you. 
A self-pitying sigh left your glossy lips and you decided that you might as well lean on the door and press your forehead to it, giving up to the pathetic reality that was that night. How much would a locksmith ask to come to your apartment in the middle of the night during a blackout? And, more importantly, would they take your liver as payment? Those were the important questions. 
“Are you ok?” Your neighbor’s voice rang in the air, as he opened the door to his apartment to look at you.
Of course, he would come out then, when the wet ends of your hair stuck to your skin, and you were barefoot in front of your locked apartment. Could he have come out earlier in the night when you were looking like a goddess ready to conquer the world? No, he could not. 
“Fuck off, Harry,” you muttered, not bothering to look at him. You already knew how he looked, it was always present in your mind. 
“Heeeey, I’m just trying to be nice.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were capable of that.”
“You know I can be really good when I want to.”
You knew it well. You still remembered the feeling of his body on top of yours, his hips rolling onto yours, as he fucked you deep and hard. 
“I wouldn’t know,” you gulped, refusing to give in even if your red face told another story. 
But he knew. Sometimes, when he was all alone, all he could think about was that night and the way your back arched as he had his fingers deep in your pussy. 
****
The day you and Harry fucked each other brainless, Ms. Rose’s cat died. You remembered well because it was also the third day and fifth hour of your heartbreak when you heard your sweet old neighbor’s cries and you rushed to her help, coming out of your sad little bubble for the woman that baked you cookies and knitted you a purple scarf and a pair of gloves for the winter. 
When you arrived at Ms. Rose’s apartment, Harry was already there, sitting on the battered pink couch and holding her hand as she cried timidly into a handkerchief with embroidered blue flowers. She had long quit trying to come up with words, cause every time she opened her mouth, she would just blabber and sob inconsolably, so she accepted Harry’s help to explain what had happened. 
Your brain gathered very few details of what was being said, choosing to focus instead on the boy sitting next to Ms. Rose. Harry was wearing a graphic t-shirt with light blue jeans and his hair was still wet from his shower, a stubborn curl falling over his forehead. You didn’t know why you would notice things like that in moments like this, but you did, you always did.  Especially in the morning when he would come back from his early run, and he would take off his sweaty shirt right by his door, revealing his broad shoulders and his lean body, the tautness of his chest, and the ink that spilled across his tan skin. You would always roll your eyes at him and scurry down the stairs to get as far away from him as you possibly could, pretending you wouldn’t look at him. 
So, you stood by the door because it was the safest place you could be, it was Harry-free. The air felt electric whenever you got too close to him. 
“Do you fancy some tea, Miss Rosie?” Harry asked and the richness of his accent echoed down your body. Your eyes met as he got up, and you held your breath, as Harry got unnecessarily closer to you on his way to the kitchen. You could’ve sworn he had done so on purpose, the same reason why he had brushed his knuckles over yours, the light touch of his knuckles making you shiver and look at him as he walked away. 
You needed to stay away from him, indeed. 
“It’ll be alright, Ms. Rose,” you whispered to your old neighbor as you took Harry’s place on the couch, but as the words left your lips, you had to wonder if that was true. Would everything be alright? The world seemed a little bleaker now. Boyfriends cheated. Cats died. There was no one to trust left. 
Ms. Rose reluctantly ate the cookies Harry set up for her and drank the ginger tea he had made. He sat by her other side and rubbed her back as she calmed herself down. If she didn’t, one of you might have to sleep on that couch, and you were praying it wasn’t you, cause your black dress would not do well with cat hair all over it. 
But two hours later, Ms. Rose was soundly asleep and you left her apartment as carefully as you could, walking on your tiptoes so you wouldn’t wake her up. There was no elevator in your old building, which you had grown used to and usually liked, except when you had to walk up the stairs with someone else, because you never knew what to say, and today, as you walked a step ahead of Harry, it wasn’t any different. 
“I didn’t know you had a heart,” You said, just as you turned to go up the last trench of stairs.
“I like Ms. Rose, and my mom always says that some tea and biscuits can fix anything,” Harry replied, and even though you couldn’t see him, you could imagine him shrugging his shoulders as a smirk started to tug up the corner of his lips. He liked Ms. Rose, he would come to her aid if she needed him. It was just that...
“So, you wouldn’t come if I was the one crying?” You turned suddenly, almost making him lose his balance and fall back down the stairs. 
“Would you do it if it were me?” He asked you instead, looking up to you. He was closer than you had expected, and you suddenly felt the need to step back, so you wouldn’t feel the warmth of his body, or could smell the citric perfume on his skin. 
“Of course not...” Your door was right behind you, so all you had to do was turn around and walk a few more steps. “You probably did something to deserve it,” you smirked, just as you resumed your way to your door. 
“I would consider it,” Harry said, and you scoffed in disbelief, turning around to look at him only to notice he was standing behind you, his broad shoulder blocking the little bit of sun that came through the window. Winter was coming, so the sun was starting to fuck around his day job. 
“Would you?”
“I’ve been thinking about knocking on your door these last few days, ask if you were ok,” Harry admitted.
There was a new feeling in the air. Any other day, you would have bitten back with some snarky remark, but it didn’t feel right. Harry stood too close to you and your body had become too aware of his presence. So you kept quiet, leaning back to your door with your hands tucked behind your back as you looked at him. 
All Harry had to do was say goodbye and walk a few steps to his door, but he didn’t feel like it. He could feel the air shift as well, and the electric pull that tugged him from his belly to yours. 
“So, do you want some tea and biscuits?” He offered, even though he wasn’t too sure what he was doing, or where he was going. His voice was soft, and his body leaned into the very same door you were using as support.
What if you said yes? He wasn’t even sure he had any cookies left. 
The crumbly taste of ginger and vanilla lingered in Harry’s tongue, and you sighed at the prickly lemon on his lips. You had imagined how it would be to kiss him a couple of times before when your mind would drift away from your control, but even you had to admit that kissing him in real life was better. 
Against every expectation, he was slow with his kiss, exploring your mouth as if he had all the time in the world. You had expected a hungrier kiss you, for him to bite you and make you jump in his arms so he could carry you into your apartment, throw you to your bed and fuck you. 
Instead, he was taking over every one of your senses. He smelled sweet and citric, and the cotton of his shirt felt soft under your fingertips, as you made your way underneath it. You smiled as he inhaled a sharp breath, and the kiss broke when he smiled, the muscles of his tummy tensing up at your touch. When he kissed you again, it was a little more urgent, his tongue sweeping up across your bottom lip to part them and play with your own as he kissed you deeply, the weight of his body pinning you against the door as you blindly tried to open it. His kiss was maddening, demanding, and soft at the same time, and his leg slid between your tights, spreading them apart so you could feel him everywhere. 
“What about your boyfriend?” Harry asked, grazing his words over your lips, as you managed to open the door.  Your tummy fluttered at the feeling, and you opened your eyes to look at him, his swollen lips and his dark eyes. Nothing else was on your mind.
“Do you really care?”
“I have my morals...Especially if I’m gonna see him around.”
“We broke up,” you replied, already looking for his lips again, standing on your tiptoes to kiss him once more. But Harry was quicker, and he tilted his head back and smiled mischievously at you as you pouted. 
“You’re always breaking up,” he said, which was true. 
“How would you know?”
“These walls are fucking paper-thin.”
“Really? No wonder I always hear when you fuck.”
“Yeah?” His grin grew wider and the need that had settled between your legs throbbed tightly as he tilted his head down, until his breath fanned over your skin and you could feel each one of his words drawing on your skin. “You like listening, babe?”
It reverberated down to your tummy and raised havoc in your brain. Did you like listening to him as he fucked other girls? Of course, you didn’t. But sometimes, you had to wonder...
“Where do you get them? They’re all so loud.”
“You should try it.”
“Scream?”
“Letting me fuck you. The screams are a bonus.”
“I bet they do it out of pity.”
“Wanna find out?”
You didn’t allow yourself to think things through, because if you did, the answer would’ve been a resounding no. Fuck, no. Of course not. Keep dreaming, Styles. 
Your fingers tangled in Harry’s hair as you pressed your lips to his one more time and his hands went to the hem of your dress, playing with it between his fingers as you both stumbled into your apartment. You didn’t stop kissing, not even as he kicked the door shut, and Harry took the opportunity to let his hands wander down your body, pushing the fabric of your dress over your hips and spreading his fingers across your bum to dig them on your flesh, pressing you closer to him. He could imagine the red marks of his fingers on your skin, he had dreamed of it a couple of times before, picturing you laying on his lap, with your ass sticking up and your legs rubbing together every time he spanked you. He didn’t even know why, he wasn’t a spanker. But he could do just that if you were into it. 
What had been a slow kiss was turning hungrier and demanding, your rough breathing fanning over each other skin and your nose bumping clumsily as you made your way to your couch. It almost felt like you were high. The world was blurry and unimportant, and all that mattered was the lemony taste of his lips. 
Harry sat on the couch, and you looked down at him as you stood between his strong legs, your heart racing so fast, you could hear it drumming in your ears. He helped you take off your dress, revealing your red lace panties and your black bra, which made him smile and look at you with eyes filled with lust. It was a good thing you were running out of clothes, and that you had to resort to your sexy underwear. 
“Do you wear this to hang around your house? I might visit more,” he teased. 
His hands were on the back of your thighs, and he pulled you close to him until you got no more option but to climb on the couch and sit on his lap and feel the effect of your makeout session on his growing bulge.
“Just to make myself clear,” you said. “This is not happening ever again.”
Harry didn’t care, just once was enough to satisfy his curiosity. 
As you kissed him again, you understood just how freeing a slow kiss can be. It gave you a chance to explore and remember the taste, the fire, the sweetness out of your mouths. If it was going to be a one-time-only thing, you might as well enjoy it. 
“Oh…” The little moan escaped your lips before you could even mold out a thought in your brain, and your mouth formed a perfect circle, hanging open as you looked down at Harry, who seemed fascinated, drinking up your reaction. You leaned back, to allow him to brush his fingertip down your slit, as his other hand was looped around your waist, helping you steady yourself up, as his thumb met your clit and he drew a lazy circle on it, the light pressure sending an electric current up to your spine. 
Sex was never like this.
You couldn’t stop looking at him, not as he pushed the fabric of your side to the side and started to draw smaller and tighter circles on your clit, and as he pressed soft kisses from your collarbones down to the valley of your breast, making you take a deep breath as you took your bra off. It was the only thing you could control because everything else had been taken over by Harry. He was making sure you could feel him all over your body, raising goosebumps on your skin and making you arch your back as he trapped your nipple between his lips and continued to massage your clit in fast and steady circles, only slowing down when he felt you throb for him. He didn’t want you to cum, not yet, no, he wanted to feel you lose control around his cock. 
“Fuck,” Harry moaned and a triumphant smile tugged up the corner of your lips. He couldn’t be the only one to have fun, not when the pressure of his hard cock against your ass was driving you crazy with curiosity. So, you rocked your hips on him, tightening the grip of his legs around him so he could feel you better. Every time you pushed your hips forward, your center would meet the tip of his fingers, making your walls burn for him.
“Are you gonna fuck me?” Your words were urgent and breathless because by now, a fiery need had settled in the pit of your stomach, burning down every bit of common sense that it could find. All there was left was the feeling of Harry’s fingers thrusting in your pussy, as you both ground your bodies against the other, and Harry tasted the creamy skin of your chest. 
“I was thinking about taking it easy,” he said and your eyes snapped open in surprise, looking at him as he offered you a lazy grin. But it didn’t last much more than a couple of seconds, because Harry’s thumb found its way back to your clit, toying with it as his fingers slowly pumped inside of you. He was right, you had to bite your bottom lip to not let out a loud moan at the feeling. “I know you need a good fuck.”
He was right, good fucks are very recommended for your overall health. Make you happier as well. 
“Please,” you begged, cause you could feel yourself starting to drip down your legs and all over his fingers, to ache for something more. You wanted to see him completely naked as you rode him. You wanted to hear his low grunts in your ear. You wanted to fuck him and regret it later, cause it was a fucking bad idea. 
With his arm around you, Harry easily lifted you from his lap and you gasped, giggling in surprise as he lowered you down on the couch. He was fast and rough when he pushed your panties up your raised legs and threw them to the floor next to you. His eyes were on you, looking at you as you spread your legs open, and you let your fingertips brush down your tummy and make your way between your legs until you reached your center, warm and wet for him, and already sensitive. 
You rubbed your fingers faster on your clit as he took his shirt off, and revealed the taut muscles on his chest, and the myriad of tattoos that covered his wonderful body. Then came his pants and his underwear and you couldn’t tear your eyes off of him, watching in fascination as his hard cock sprung to his belly, thick and large in all of his glory. His tip was pink and swollen, and your mouth watered just looking at it. You craved the nice stretch of your walls and the way it would hit you in all the right places. 
“Don’t stop,” Harry commanded as he saw you pulling your hand away, and you gulped, letting him look as you continued to touch yourself as he looked at you. There was a knot in your tummy, a fire that was pulsing and demanding, added by the fact that Harry was there, brushing his fingers down your thighs just as your walls clenched.  
Slowly, Harry laid down on the couch and settled between your legs, and you arched your back one more at the cool feeling of the air he was blowing against your warm center. 
“You like this?” Harry asked, even when you both knew the answer to his question. So, you didn’t even try replying, you just moaned, enjoying the feeling of his tongue sweeping and tasting up and down your slit. His fingers wrapped around your wrist and he pulled your hand away before the tip of his tongue drew a circle around your clit and lapped on it to suck it between his lips.
The feeling of one of his fingers pushing into you almost drew you over the edge, and Harry pumped it slowly, releasing your clit only to flick his tongue over it. His fingertip massaged your walls, just in the right spot to make your whole body tingle, and your tummy quiver at the touch.
Sex was nothing like this. No, it wasn’t. 
Your tummy quivered just as your legs started shaking. "Reality" was nothing more than a foreign word, and so were "control" and "restrain", because you whimpered and cried, and moaned Harry’s name as you got closer to your high. Your walls clenched around his fingers and Harry smiled in satisfaction. His name sounded fucking good coming out of your lips. 
“C’mere.”
Harry stopped, just seconds before a wave of bliss took over every thought of yours, and you almost grunted in annoyance. You felt robbed. 
But that feeling didn’t last long. 
You could feel him in your tummy. Fuck, you could feel him everywhere. You sat on his cock and he pushed his hips into yours, thrusting his cock into you easily, you were soaked. 
“Fuck,” you both moaned. Yours was more of a cry, while you adjusted around his thick, veiny cock. His was forceful and his grip around your waist became tighter, and his forehead pressed to your shoulder, just as you started to move your hips, sliding your wet pussy up and down his cock. 
“You’re so big,” you whispered desperately. Your nails dug on his shoulders and you leaned back to allow Harry to suck and bite on your nipples, while you rode him. 
Harry wasn’t soft or slow. You two were looking for your releases, and with his hands on your ass, Harry got to dictate your pace, and how fast you bounced on his cock. He was delirious, but so were you, and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and leaned down to kiss him fully on his mouth, as he continued to fill you with his throbbing cock.
“You like my cock? Like getting yourself off on it?” Harry whispered to your ear and you moaned, riding faster as you felt his finger brushing over your tight little hole. “You have a vibrator, babe?”
“No,” you said, licking your lips as you looked at him. His eyes were almost black and beads of sweat gathered on his forehead while red splotches turned his cheeks pink. “Why?”
“So I can fuck your ass with it while you ride my cock.”
“I’ve never done that,” you admitted. Now it was all you were going to think about.
“Too bad it’s just one time, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
It wasn’t much longer before you were reaching your high, and colorful spots covered your eyes. You slacked over Harry’s body and kissed him lazily and sloppily as he fucked you. When he came, you felt warm inside, his juices dripping down your legs while Harry slumped back on the couch, with his lips slightly parted and his eyes closed as he tried to recover his breath. 
You were pretty fucking sure you had imagined the whole thing. Sex was definitely nothing like that. 
****
“Wanna come in?” Harry asked you, still standing by his door and looking at you as leaned back against the door. 
“No, thank you, I would rather sleep on the floor.”
“Whatever you want, babe,” Harry shrugged and began to close the door to go back to his apartment. Was he actually going to leave you to leave out in the middle of a blackout on a cold night?
“Harry!!” You called for him and the door slammed open, revealing him and his shit-eating grin. 
“What? I’m respecting your wishes!” 
“You’re a fucking idiot.”
You have never been into his apartment before, but you called this an extenuating situation. Electricity might come back in a couple of minutes, or it might take hours, it had never happened before so you didn’t know what to expect. But it was impressively and surprisingly clean and tiny and it smelled like coffee. You could make out a guitar leaning against a window, and the shadow of a large couch against one of the walls. 
Flashes of that night kept flooding your mind, which you found incredibly inconvenient and rude of your brain. But as Harry stood by your side, your skin covered in goosebumps and you found yourself taking a step back and away from him. Just in case. 
“You ok, babe?” He asked and you nodded in response, trailing behind him so you wouldn’t against anything in the darkness of the room. “I’ll take the couch, you can take the bed. There’s clothes in my room, so you can change into anything you want.”
His room smelled just like him, and it was certainly a shame that couldn’t snoop around, or even see the colors he had chosen for his bedsheets. You changed out of your clothes as soon as you could, and put on a shirt that you hoped was clean before you went under the sheets. 
There was just one problem: No matter how much you tried, you couldn’t keep yourself warm enough to fall asleep. Your teeth clattered and your feet were so cold you could barely feel the rest of your body. It didn’t make you feel any less ridiculous, though, as you made your way to the living room, where Harry was playing with his phone while laying on the couch. 
“Harry?” You called for him and he slowly turned around to look at you, the light coming from the screen of his phone allowing you to see his face. “It’s too cold.”
“So, what do you suggest we do?” He smiled, and you wanted to swat the phone out of his hand just to spite him 
“Well, I was thinking you should give me your blankets, but I guess that’s too much to ask.”
“It is.”
“So, maybe, we can just...sleep together…like, share the bed.”
“Well, if you wanted to sleep with me again, you just have to say it.”
****
Read Part 2 here!
Hi! If you got this far, I just wanted to say thank you! You make me very happy! Any type of feedback, would be greatly appreciated, but if you don’t feel like it, it’s ok, I get it! Have a nice, lovely day!!!
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mosswillow · 4 years
Text
Synonyms - Dark!Loki x Reader.
Warnings: Dark! 18+ adult content. Smut, noncon/dubcon, stalking, kidnapping, vaginal fingering.
Summary - You’re average in every way, Loki doesn’t think so though.
A/N: This is the last part of the Synonyms series. All of them can be read alone or together. I think it’s a little better when read with the rest, especially since this is the ending but I honestly don’t care if you read just one or all or none, you do you.
This is not my best work but you know sometimes you just have to let stuff go. I’ll shrug it off and keep writing. This is a hobby that I do for fun, I try not to take it too seriously.
Word count: 1.4k
You’ve always been an unexceptional person, average in everything - intelligence, looks, athleticism, creativity. You’re not good or bad at anything, always doing what’s expected of you, nothing more or less. You graduated highschool and went to a state college for a four year degree, graduating middle of your class and landing an entry level office position in the city.
Now you spend your days at your boring 9-5, answering emails and going to meetings. Your co-workers are nice and your boss is tolerable. You should be happy but something inside you tells you there’s more out there, a life waiting for you outside of the monotony. You’ve spent your whole life on a straight line and want desperately to know what it feels like for it to twist, taking you somewhere unexpected.
It rains outside your window and you observe a little boy jump in puddles, the pure joy that melts off the child makes you smile. You’re not sure exactly why the boy puts this thought into your head but you make a spontaneous decision to go camping. You’ve always wanted to go camping and even though it’s something small, the impulsiveness of the decision makes you giddy.  You need to get out of this office and into nature. You need to jump in puddles and hike trails, to sit in a quiet place and sketch a river. You need something different. You send an email informing your boss that you will be taking the week off starting Monday and gather your things.
You’re in a hurry to get home, wanting to pick a campsite right away so that you can leave first thing in the morning. The elevator opens and you don’t see him standing in the lobby.
But he sees you.
“I haven’t seen you here before.” he steps in front of you, blocking your exit.
“I’ve worked here almost a year,” you say.
He paces around you, examining you in a way that makes your entire body tingle. He steps behind you, measuring his body against yours and brushes his hand over your cheek gently.
“How fortunate we ran into each other.”
You shudder, taking several steps away,  “I should get going.”
“I’ve been looking for a very specific set of characteristics,” He takes a long stride towards you, closing the distance until there’s hardly an inch between you.
You don’t care if you’re being rude, you step away from him and book it home, locking the door as soon as it closes behind you.
You wake up early, packing your car and heading upstate. You take your time setting up your campsite and relax for a moment enjoying the quiet.
You hear something from the woods and for a few minutes you only see shadows before he saunters out of the trees.
“Why did you run off so fast yesterday?”
Your jaw drops.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
The man strolls toward you lazily.
“I came to take you.”  
You reach for your phone and he’s beside you in a second, grabbing your wrist and forcing you to drop it. He pulls you close and smells the crook of your neck and you respond by elbowing him.
“You’re a feisty one,” he coughs.
You sprint through the forest until you can’t run any longer. You’re pretty sure you lost him, You didn’t hear him behind you as you ran and don’t hear him now.  
“Boo”
He puts his hand over your mouth before you can get a scream out.
“We’ll have to work on all of this baby, it’s ok though I’ll have fun breaking you in.”
You kick and squirm but he holds you tight, dragging you back to your tent with ease. He pushes you inside and gets on top of you, holding your hands over your head.
“Who are you?” you whisper.
“How rude of me, I never introduced myself.”
He leans down and kisses your nose and cheek before claiming your mouth, pushing his tongue in with a moan. Electricity moves through his body, leaving his extremities and dispersing into you. Your mind screams no but your body betrays you. Heat radiates from your pussy and you push your thighs together trying to tame the arousal. You relax into him and he lets go of your hands, feeling down your body. He rips your shirt open and kisses down to your breasts.
“Yes, you’ll do nicely,” he purrs.
You squirm as his mouth makes its way to your pussy. He slides a finger in you as he licks and sucks. You reach down and gather his hair into your hands, pushing him closer and grinding against his mouth, coming harder than you’ve ever come. the world fades away and you’re suspended in pure ecstasy. The straight line you’ve followed your whole life has twisted into something wonderful. You open your eyes and look down at the smirking man between your thighs.
The thing about twisting lines is that they never stay going the same trajectory, they curve back again suddenly forcing you to hold on while life crashes into another lane. You’re brought back to reality when he flips you over and enters you roughly. You cry out in pain but he doesn’t slow down. He slaps your ass and pushes on your back until your chest falls down.
“I’m Loki.” He says as he comes in you.
He gets off of you and you scramble up, covering yourself in a blanket and looking at him with wide eyes. He crouches in front of you, running a finger down your cheek.
“We’re going to have so much fun.”
You blink back tears.
“I don’t understand, why me? I’m so... average.”
Loki cocks his head to the side. You try to look away and he grabs your face and squeezes until you look at him.
“There’s no such thing darling, you’re perfect in every way.”
He reaches between your legs, cupping your pussy.
You think about running but the way he looks at you tells you that he knows exactly what you’re thinking. He silently communicates to you that running away from him again will only lead to pain.
“Sleep now.” He says.
“I’m no...” you black out.
When you wake up you’re in a car, hands bound together with Loki in the driver's seat. He takes you to Stark tower and leads you through a private entrance and up to the avengers private living quarters.
“Loki, what did you do?” Tony says.
“I found one that I liked so I took her.”
Loki pushes you onto the couch and you look around at the Avengers, all of whom sit with beautiful women. They give you sad looks and you hold back tears as you realize that nobody will help you.
“Fuck!” Tony says
“I thought we were kidnapping women?”
“You weren’t supposed to just snatch one. Now there’s a whole mess to clean up.”
“Thor just took his.” Loki says
“He has a point.” Sam says.
“Thor had that whole betrothal thing.” Tony holds the bridge of his nose.
“Touche.” Loki shrugs.
You make eye contact with a woman who stands at the entrance to the room, obviously shocked. She’s not part of this, you realize, she’s here by mistake. You mouth “run” and she takes off. Loki sits next to you and kisses your neck.
“It seems we’ve been noticed, a maid I think.” Loki yawns.
“I’ll have to send someone to take her out. It’s sad, I really liked her,” Tony sighs.
The room is silent for a moment while the weight of Tony's words flow through everyone.
“I’ll take her, I want to keep her,” Bucky announces.
“Really Buck?” Steve raises his eyebrows.
“He’s always had a thing for her, he’s just too shy to act on it.” Natasha says
“Okay, go now Bucky. I guess we have two disappearances to cover now. I'll be in my office if anyone needs me.”
Tony stands up to leave and you push gently against Loki’s suffocating embrace.
You’ve always been a fan of the Avengers, so grateful to them for everything they’ve done for humanity. You want to throw up now. You look around at the room full of beautiful women, all so different from each other and realize that Loki was right, there’s no such thing as average. All your life you’ve felt the same as every other person, unremarkable and boring. As you look around at the absolutely gorgeous women you recognize that they’re you and you’re them. You didn’t do anything to get here and neither did they but here you sit. You’re not average because everyone is, and if everyone is average then no one is.
You’re different from each other in a complex and mysterious way but also mirror each other like twins.
Synonyms.
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pink-flame · 4 years
Text
Lucky it Was Hotdogs
So! This is my gift for the @jatp-gift-exchange celebrating 6 months since the show came out. I just so happened to be assigned my friend @tmp-jatp as my giftee. Which is awesome because she’s awesome. She asked for angst and my first thought was my reputation is just going to get worse. 😂 And then I started writing, started over, changed to a different prompt two more times...had a few breakdowns but here we are! Basically all of my friends had to hear about my spiral the last couple of days so thank you and my apologies. 🙏 
T, I hope you like it! 💜💜💜
In some ways Luke thinks that it’s lucky it was hot dogs.
Of course, if he had been asked to choose a way to go back in 95 he probably would have said old and in his sleep. Or maybe he would have been a smart ass and said jumping the grand canyon on a motorcycle or playing an epic show in bad weather and having some sort of electrical incident (Reggie wasn’t the only one who had been involved in that amp incident not that he was in a hurry to tell Alex that). Contaminated hot dogs in an alley on the night of their big break probably wouldn’t have occurred to him and it definitely wouldn’t have cracked the top ten list of his requests.
But now that he’s in the future, with his band and with Julie and with their dreams once again a real possibility...he thinks the hot dogs would have been the right choice.
The truth is it doesn’t matter how tragic it is that three kids had their lives cut short at the same time it’s always going to be at least a little bit funny that they went from death by hot dog. It lets him use the tragedy as a means of teasing Julie as she bites into her sandwich and it lets Willie give Alex an affectionate nickname that’s only a little in bad taste. It lets Reggie hover behind Ray when Julie’s dad gets the grill out and clutch his stomach dramatically in a reenactment for his friends amusement. It lets Julie look at Luke like the fact that he is a ghost is mildly exasperating but not inherently upsetting, not like it would be if he was a walking reminder of a car accident or the cancer that took her mom.
So yeah, it’s lucky it was hot dogs.
Except...sometimes Luke wishes that it wasn't.
Sometimes he wishes that he had died from an illness or an accident or anything that would prompt someone to look at him and ask if he wanted to talk about it. Because...he does. Just sometimes. Wants to talk about how much it hurt. Wants to talk about how scared he was. Wants to talk about how even though being able to make music still (being able to make music with Julie) matters most it does bother him.
It bothers him that Julie is the only lifer he can touch (even though she would clearly be his first choice).
It bothers him that he fades into non-existence as soon as they stop playing.
It bothers him that he can’t even thank Julie’s dad for hosting their garage gig or show her brother that he’s holding it all wrong when he catches him strumming lightly on Luke’s guitar one day.
It bothers him that he won’t ever be anything other than what he is, a teenager with a guitar and a longstanding suspicion about the consequences of wearing sleeves while performing.
It bothers him that Julie will always be what she is now (an amazing teenage girl with a wrecking ball voice and a heart big enough to keep them with her through sheer force of will) but she will also become so much more.
An adult.
Someone with a job and a family and…
He can’t think about it.
Except he does.
Not all the time but often enough, especially at night when Alex is off with Willie and Reggie is watching tv with an unsuspecting Ray and Luke is wishing more than anything that he could find the escape of sleep.
So usually he ends up writing when he feels like this, seeking out the familiar sensation of pen flying over paper, words tumbling from the deepest recesses of his mind to collect into the shape of a song.
I know I’m being selfish
But feeling alive isn’t being alive
Feeling you breathe isn’t breathing
I just want this feeling forever
Instead I count every moment I’m stealing
“Why are you writing in the dark?” Julie’s amused voice cuts through the silence causing him to jump, a remnant of a time when he had anything to fear other than his own uncertain future.
He’s not sure if it’s a ghostly superpower or just the fact that he had been peering at his notebook from only about an inch away but it’s true, he hadn’t bothered to turn the light on and he saw it just fine.
The dark felt more appropriate somehow when he felt like this anyway.
She flips on the light and crosses the room to sink down beside him where he’s spread out on the floor. He’s so distracted for a moment by just how Julie she always manages to be (beautiful and amazing and distracting in the best way) that he doesn’t realize that she’s reaching for his notebook until it’s too late. He tries to snatch it back fruitlessly as she turns her eyes to the words he has scrawled across the page. He hopes momentarily that she won’t be able to make out his infamously illegible handwriting but his hopes are dashed when she reads out the last few lines in a thoughtful tone. He has a brief flash of affection at the realization that she must be his soulmate if she can read his handwriting.
He’s distracted from that thought though when he sees the smile slide off of her face only to be replaced with a tight frown before she turns to face him, concern shining in her eyes.
“I’m fine,” He says quickly, hoping to prevent any of his dark mood from seeping into the girl beside him.
The girl who has already known enough darkness for a lifetime.
“Every moment you’re stealing?” She quotes back to him, setting the notebook carefully back on the floor. “That doesn’t sound fine.”
He considers brushing off her concern, playing it off, claiming he’s not even writing from his own perspective anyway, that he doesn’t know where the idea came from.
He can do that because he may be dead but the culprit was hot dogs and that gives him an out to make a dumb joke and change the subject and keep things the way they are now.
And if it was anyone else he would have. But it’s Julie. And he’s Luke.
She can read his handwriting.
And she can read him too.
If he lets her.
“You know how you said your dad made you talk to someone after your mom died?”
She tilts her head, clearly not expecting this question. She answers it anyway.
“Dr. Turner,” She nods. “Three times a week for a while.”
“Did it uh…” Luke swallows hard, his throat suddenly impossibly dry considering he was pretty sure he wasn’t actually producing spit anymore period. “Did it help?”
Julie’s hand twitches in her lap and he can tell she is deciding whether she should touch him. He reaches out to toy with the frayed edge of her jeans where they burst open at the knee. The answer to whether Julie should be touching him is always a resounding yes in his opinion but he also wants to let her come to him. It hasn’t been that long since they’ve even been able to touch each other and despite how much they crave it there’s a lingering awkwardness after all the build up.
“Talking to someone?” She asks carefully. “Yeah, it did. After a while I felt like I needed space to sort through things on my own but by then I was able to talk with my dad and Flynn too.”
He nods, keeps his eyes firmly on the hole in her jeans.
“Luke…”
Damn.
He has to look at her when she says his name like that.
He raises his eyes slowly, meeting her soft ones with nerves he can’t quite place.
“You know you can talk to me, right? Always.”
Her question is so small and yet so big at the same time. Such a simple offer containing such a big promise.
Always.
Wasn’t that the problem?
His always might not line up with hers.
He could forget that fact for a bit when the band was hanging out and laughing over nothing or rocking a crowd’s face’s off or when Julie was smiling in that certain Julie way that seemed reserved only for him.
But he couldn’t forget forever.
And he couldn’t promise always.
So where did that leave him?
“Luke?”
She breaks him from his thoughts again and he pushes past his caution this time, reaching out to link her hand with his, their fingers slotting together effortlessly despite the way one of them isn’t really there.  
He isn’t really there.
Is he...real?
Luke suddenly feels a strange rush of panic, all of the thoughts he’s been pushing aside for months crashing through him at once.
He must have squeezed Julie’s hand inadvertently because he sees her flinch.
“Sorry, sorry,” He says breathlessly (not that he needs to breathe, he’s breathless, literally, he’s dead), drawing her hand up to press an apology against the skin there, his lips lingering for a long moment before he pulls away.
She’s not unaffected by his sudden actions, the way her eyes widen for a fraction of a second is proof enough of that, but she’s also determined and she doesn’t let him off the hook.
“Talk to me, Luke,” She says like an order and a request and a prayer all at once.
And he can’t deny her anything.
Not even this.
“I’m fine, I am...it’s just...I’m so happy that we ended up here with you Julie no matter what. I need you to know that ok? I just..I don’t...I don’t want…”
She waits as long as she can for him to finish that sentence but when he doesn’t seem prepared to, she leans closer, squeezes his hand, gives him that last push off the cliff he’s been teetering on the edge of for months.
“Don’t want what?”
“Don’t want to be dead.”
The words escape him in a hurried rush, one blending into another until it sounds like one long syllable of pain rather than a proper sentence. Still. He’s pretty sure the message got through.
“I know,” She says simply, her eyes sad but her touch impossibly gentle as her free hand comes up to cup his cheek. “I know, Luke, I know.”
He doesn’t realize he’s crying until she’s brushing his tears away with the delicate tips of her fingers.
And maybe he is real, at least a little bit if his eyes can still muster up the ability to leak like this and damn it why is that what he’s thinking about right now when the girl, the living girl, he loves is waiting for him to say something.
He wants to think of the perfect thing but what ends up coming out leaves a lot to be desired.
“Julie...I love making music with you. I love y...I love being in your life. But I’m dead. And maybe...maybe it would be better…”
“No,” She cuts him off firmly, gripping his chin lightly to turn his face more fully towards hers. “Whatever you think you’re about to say, the answer is no.”
“Julie…” He tries again.
She’s already shaking her head.
“I don’t care if you’re about to suggest some noble sacrifice or push me away or blame yourself for something...just...don’t.”
Any protest he has prepared dies on his lips, the slightest quirk of a smile taking their place even as a few stray tears make their way down his face.
“Ok,” He agrees simply.
Julie brings her other hand down to grip his knee as though she’s trying to keep him with her by anchoring him physically, making him part of her, making him real.
And that’s that.
It takes time.
A hundred aborted conversations with half confessions and unspoken requests for comfort and love freely given if not freely spoken.
But eventually he gets used to talking to Julie the same way he got used to writing with Julie and singing with Julie and falling in love with Julie.
So steadily he doesn’t feel the progress until one day he looks up and there’s no going back, not that he would ever want to.
He’s dead.
He can’t get around that.
He ate some bad hot dogs, and that will always be a little bit funny. It’s also sad and scary and tragic.
He’s dead.
But he’s also so alive.
He can’t promise always but he can promise as long as I’m here.
And he does.
Over and over and over again.
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Reggie//i can't let you go now that i got it
Request: your last reggie mantle imagine was soooooo cute it was.... BIG FAV i'm still grinning! could you please do one where reader and reggie have been best friends their whole lives? she's super protective and sweet to him and like? she's been in love for years but has been hiding it well?? she gets him to come away with her to college because 'screw this town' and they live together? but eventually she starts going on dates and it makes him realize he's in love with her too?? mutual love confession
hey! so before you go any further trigger warning mentions of abuse, specifically around reggie and his dad. it’s not in detail but it is mentioned a few times so don’t read if that upsets you. the last thing i want you to be is sad. i hope you all have a good day anyway, whether you’re reading this or not! (title is from Børns ‘electric love’)
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- For 18 years 
- Reggie Mantle has been the only constant in your life 
- Even when you were babies he was there 
- Your mom’s sat beside each other in baby class, cooing and awing over each other’s kids
- All while 6 month old you stole 6 month old Reggie’s toy
- And then he cried so hard he vomited on not only himself but you as well 
- Which then made you cry even louder 
- And then your mom’s were asked to leave 
- So instead
- It became a weekly thing for your mom to take you to The Mantle’s 
- While her and Mrs Mantle gossiped and drank tea 
- You and Reggie would hit each other with various stuffed toys. 
- As you got older 
- The weekly visits turned into daily ones 
- Especially when you moved three houses away from him
- You and Reggie started to see each other more than your own parents did
- Your mom still went over once a week
- But when she arrived you were always usually there
- Either stood in the kitchen getting a snack 
- Or lying on Reggie’s bed watching an awful movie he just ‘had to show you’ 
- They usually involved a hybrid of two animals
- Sometimes mythical, sometimes not 
- But in all of them they were usually taking over the world
- They also always had the same four actors in
- But despite how much you protested 
- ‘reggie? are you being serious? we watched this one last time.’ 
- ‘no, we watched molemaid last time. this is medusamaid. they’re completely different’ 
- ‘oh, sorry. my mistake’
- You actually secretly loved them 
- Because they made him happy
- You would watch in awe as he laughed at stupid jokes 
- And how his eyes would always light up at a particularly gruesome part, no matter how badly CGI’d it was
- You also listened to the countless of theories as to how ‘hurrik9’ is clearly the prequel to ‘hellhounds’ because ‘they’ve got the same main character! it doesn’t matter if they’re not played by the same person. y/n, they’ve got the same name.’ 
- You also listened to him complain about the inconsistencies between ‘werewombats 1’ and ‘werewombats 2’
- ‘no matter how much the director stands by the decision to make them turn on each other, despite the first film clearly stating that that’s the last thing they’d do.’ 
- But the thing you loved the most about it 
- Was that he was only ever this way with you
- You’d been sworn to secrecy when you walked in on him watching ‘dinocano vs uniquake’ 
- And you promised never to tell anyone about his secret passion
- Or the fact that he had a stack of notebooks filled with plots and mini scripts for his own films. 
- Reggie may have gotten popular
- But to you, he’s still the same Reggie you’ve always known.
- Whose scared of clowns but won’t admit it
- And cried when watching Edward Scissorhands but if anybody asks it was you
- And who hates hot chocolate, but its the only thing he’ll drink when he’s sick 
- He also only eats pink marshmallows in months ending in R
- And white ones every other month 
- But in December he has both...because its Christmas.
- Yeah, you and Reggie are best friends 
- Always have been, always will
- But it doesn’t stop you from wanting more.
- It doesn’t stop the longing looks when you think no one is watching 
- Or the lingering touches whenever he hugs you
- It doesn’t stop your heartbeat picking up whenever he walks into a room
- Or how you forget how to breathe whenever he looks at you
- You look forward to everyday, even if you have a pop quiz or homework you only remembered the night before
- Because he’s going to be there to make you smile
- Even if he isn’t doing it on purpose 
- You look forward to the countless of texts he sends
- No matter how weird or ridiculous 
- Like when he text you at half three in the morning to ask if birds were real because somebody told him they weren’t.
- You then got a text straight afterwards telling you that it would be great idea for a plot
- And you still answer every single one
- No matter how stupid they are 
- It’s really a wonder how you get any sleep with your phone being on loud all the time
- But it’s worth it
- Especially when you get texts like 
- ‘he’s done it again’ 
- Reggie’s relationship with his father complicated to say the least
- You remember when you were younger they used to be best friends 
- Reggie idolized him 
- And you’d have conversations in Reggie’s tree house, about how much he wanted to be just like his dad when he grew up
- But when he did grow up
- And started to develop a personality that didn’t just revolve around football 
- Reggie no longer wanted to be just like his dad 
- He wanted to be the furthest thing from him
- The first time it happened 
- Reggie tried his hardest to hide it from you 
- And for the first time in 8 years 
- You went two days without seeing each other 
- On the third day though 
- You’d had enough 
- So you went round to see him 
- But when you asked his mom if he was in 
- She lied and told you he had just gone out 
- Even though you could clearly see him trying and failing to hide on the stairs
- So you did what any normal friend would do 
- You climbed through his bedroom window 
- With about as much grace and steal as you could muster 
- Which surprisingly, wasn’t a lot
- And you gave him the fright of his life 
- ‘what the hell are you doing here?’ 
- ‘you’re avoiding me’ 
- ‘i’m not. i’ve just been...busy’ 
- ‘doing what? fighting?’ 
- ‘what?’
- ‘your eye’ 
- ‘oh yeah...that’ 
- That was when you knew something was wrong 
- You’ve known Reggie your entire laugh 
- And you know the three things he’ll always boast about 
- Girls, football and fighting 
- ‘what happened?’ 
- When he told you 
- You couldn’t believe what he was saying 
- You wanted to find Marty Mantle and give him a black eye...see how he likes it 
- But Reggie begged you not to do or say anything 
- ‘it’ll only make it worse’ 
- ‘but its wrong. he should be locked up’
- ‘who’s going to believe me?’ 
- ‘me’ 
- ‘see...it was only one time anyway’ 
- So you agreed, reluctantly 
- And you so wanted to believe it
- But then a few weeks later he turned up to school with a bust lip
- A month after that another bruise around his eye that he tried to hide behind sunglasses 
- And by the time graduation rolled around 
- Both of you had lost count of the sunglasses and excuses 
- For three years he’d been trapped in a house with a father who thought hitting was the same as love 
- And a mother who pretended it didn’t happen 
- But now college was round the corner and that meant a chance for both of you
- Or at least thats what you thought
- ‘you didn’t get in?’ 
- ‘i didn’t get in.’ 
- ‘to any of them?’ 
- ‘nope’
- ‘reggi-’
- ‘it’s fine. my dad has always wanted me to work for him. i guess this will make him happy. even if i am the cleaner’ 
- ‘reg-’ 
- ‘please go’
- That summer was the longest one of your life 
- It was even longer that the time Reggie had to get his appendix out and so you couldn’t hang out for a 3 weeks.
- For two and a half months 
- You heard nothing from Reggie 
- You text, called, DM’d and even E-mailed
- But you got nothing 
- You went round at all times of the day to try and talk to him
- And every time Mrs Mantle answered and told you he was either out or busy
- Doing homework was her favourite excuse
- And Reggie has only ever done homework when you were doing the majority of it 
- You even tried climbing in through his window again 
- But he locked it 
- So you watched every morning as he dragged himself into his dad’s car
- Wearing a stiff suit and a miserable expression 
- No matter how hard you tried to get to him before the left 
- How fast you ran or how early you got to his house
- They were always long gone before you managed to get anywhere close to him
- You missed the midnight texts about nothing 
- You missed his stupid jokes 
- You missed watching an entire room light up whenever he walked in
- You missed the way he made you feel, even if he was unaware of it 
- You even missed watching his god-awful movies 
- You just missed him 
- And when he missed your leaving party 
- That was the final straw
- At 7am the next morning 
- You shoved the last of your boxes in the back of your car 
- Said goodbye to your parents 
- And drove away
- Three houses down the street 
- Making sure your parents had gone back inside before stopping 
- You sat outside for a few minutes 
- Trying to think of what to do or say 
- You knew his mom would answer the door
- And that you’d get the same excuses 
- You also knew from the past few experiences that his window would still be locked 
- So you threw rocks at his bedroom window in the hopes that when he’d check to see what it was, he’d leave it unlocked 
- And he did! 
- You watched from behind a bush as he hung his head out the window to look around
- His brow furrowed and hair messy
- Clearly he’d just woke up
- You couldn’t help the smile twitching at your lips 
- You’d missed that face 
- Climbing the window was a lot harder than it used to be 
- Mr Mantle had taken the ladders away 
- Another reason as to why he sucked
- But you managed eventually 
- And you almost died only twice 
- Which is good 
- It’s better than three 
- You landed on the carpet with a loud thud that made him jump half way across the room
- ‘y/n. what the hell are you doing here?’
- ‘it’s moving day. and i must say i’m very disappointed at the lack of preparation on your part. have you even started packing yet?’
- ‘it’s not funny y/n’
- ‘i know. do you see me laughing?’
- ‘i’m being serious y/n. just leave’ 
- ‘no’ 
- ‘what?’
- ‘the last time you told me to leave, i listened and i didn’t see you for two months, so no’ 
- ‘what about college’ 
- ‘what about it?’ 
- ‘it starts in three days’ 
- ‘i know. and if we stand here any longer we’re going to miss it. so get packed and lets go. it’s a nine hour drive and i’m not doing all of that alone’ 
- ‘you know i can’t go’ 
- ‘says who?’ 
- ‘my dad, every single college i applied for and me’ 
- ‘listen to me reggie. you are my best friend, you have been since we were babies. there’s not a part of my life you haven’t been in. do you really think that would stop at college?’ 
- ‘we didn’t spend the summer together’ 
- ‘and it was the worst summer of my life’ 
- ‘same...but that might have been because i was spending 12 hours a day in an office’ 
- ‘rude. but i’ll take it!’ 
- ‘i did miss you though. it was weird not seeing your face everyday’ 
- That makes your cheeks heat up and you have to force the flutter in your chest to go away
- ‘it always cheers me up’ 
- There it goes again and you want to claw at your chest until it’s no longer there 
- Hope is a terrible thing to have when you’ve been in love with your best friend for your entire life
- ‘you always cheer me up’ 
- Oh dear...
- ‘i love you...a-as a friend. this summer has been the longest and most depressing for both of us. i don’t want to live the rest of my life like that. i need you reggie. so please pack your bags, say screw you to your dad and to this town and lets go’ 
- ‘what about money? where am i going to live?’ 
- ‘we’ll figure that out on the way there. just hurry up’ 
- And he did 
- You and Reggie threw the majority of his belongings into any bag you could find
- He took all the money he’d been saving out of the poorly disguised fake plant
- And wrote a nice little note for his parents 
- You also may have added a few choice words to it 
- But what Reggie doesn’t know won’t hurt him 
- And the two of you climbed into your car and never looked back
- The 9 hour car ride was the most fun you’ve ever had 
- It was like you were trying to fit the entire summer you’d lost into those few hours 
- It was filled with off key singing 
- And stories of your summer 
- His favourite being about Archie being tricked into going skinny dipping by himself
- You laughed loudly like nothing had happened 
- And cried silently because everything had 
- Thankfully when you arrived on campus, it was already night 
- So you managed to sneak Reggie into your room
- And when you nervously told your roommate 
- She just grinned at you
- ‘it’s fine, my boyfriend will probably be staying over a lot too’ 
- ‘oh, he’s not my boyfriend’ 
- ‘we’re not together’ 
- ‘...okay’ 
- She said with a knowing smile and you and Reggie shared a look
- And a year filled with adventures started
- Reggie got a job as a bartender with a little help from Veronica 
- And you started your classes 
- But nothing is ever easy 
- At least not when it involves you or Reggie 
- It turns out hiding a whole human is a lot more difficult that you anticipated. 
- It involves Reggie squeezing into your closet 
- And a whole team of people to get him to and from the showers 
- But it was also difficult for another reason
- Because it was easy to hide your feelings from him when you lived in separate house 
- But now you’re sharing a room
- And a bed 
- And every time he would wrap his arms around you 
- And pull in for a half asleep cuddle 
- You’d forget how to breathe 
- You’ve never been more excited to wake up
- Because he’d be all messy hair and parted lips with just a little bit of drool coming out of them that it would be cute instead of gross 
- And when he said good morning in the same deep, tired voice 
- You wanted to live in that feeling forever 
- But then 2nd year rolled around and everything changed 
- It all started when you moved into your own apartment 
- You knew you had to but there was a part of you that hoped you could keep everything the same 
- You found a tiny, two bedroom flat that you could both just about afford 
- Reggie was so happy to have his own room
- ‘i won’t have to sleep next to you and your freezing cold feet anymore’ 
- ‘i’ll just sneak into your bed when your fast asleep and put them on you then instead’ 
- ‘i thought we were supposed to be friends’ 
- It took a few weeks to get used to an empty bed 
- But eventually you started to sleep properly 
- And it was quite nice to have your own space again
- It meant you could study without having to listen to ‘nighthawk nightmare’ 
- Honestly, you don’t really know what the plot of that one is 
- But you’ve still seen it 7 times 
- You may be in love with him but it doesn’t mean he can’t be annoying sometimes 
- And you were happy with going back to admiring from afar
- Your heart can’t get broken that way
- In fact a small part of you thought he felt the same way 
- That one glimmer of hope you felt a year ago
- Came back all of sudden 
- And soon 
- You became aware of the lingering touches 
- And the gifts he’d buy you just because 
- He also asked what you wanted to watch for your movie night 
- And he’s never, ever done that unless you were sad or sick
- And even then, when you broke your arm a few years ago, he chose the film
- The way he looked at you suddenly felt different 
- You would feel him staring, but when you would check he would always be scrolling through his phone 
- And you’re sure the was a little bit of flirtiness in his tone whenever he spoke to you 
- But just because you think you can’t be burnt if you stand far enough away from the fire 
- Doesn’t mean that the sparks can’t jump out and get you anyway 
- Because all of sudden Reggie started bringing girls home 
- And every time you saw a t-shirt that wasn’t yours on the sofa 
- Or a pair of shoes discarded by the door
- You felt yourself die a little
- After a few weeks of this 
- Something in you snapped
- You’d spent the majority of your life pining after some boy who saw you as nothing more than a friend 
- And sometimes a small part of you thought as just an escape route
- So you moped for a few weeks before deciding it was finally time to move on
- Reggie would only ever see you as a friend 
- And that’s fine 
- The only way to move on, is to move on. 
- So you waited for the right guy to move on with 
- And there were a few 
- But none of them were right 
- Until you met Daniel 
- Sweet Daniel with curly brown hair and dimples
- Who studied history 
- And spent his days sitting in the coffee shop on campus
- For a few weeks the two of you spent your short interactions stealing glances and exchanging shy smiles 
- That evolved to small talk with flirty undertones
- Until finally he asked you out 
- And you said yes 
- And you kept saying yes to each date afterwards 
- They were fun too
- He’d take you to museum's and on picnics and at night he’d pick you up and you’d go star gazing 
- He would make you laugh when he’d tell you a joke 
- And make you blush when he’s whisper in your ear while staring up at the sky 
- But he wasn’t him
- And that killed you
- It doesn’t matter how many time he takes you to watch some unknown indie film thats supposed to be the greatest thing ever made
- It has nothing on standing outside the only cinema in town that’s showing ‘sharkcano vs tigerana’ in the freezing cold with Reggie wearing an absolutely ridiculous costumes that Reggie threw together last minute and somehow roped you into wearing too.
- But what hurt even more was watching how Reggie acted around you when you and Daniel started dating 
- He looked hurt whenever he saw the two of you together 
- And you would watch him roll his eyes whenever you mentioned him 
- Until eventually he would just avoid you all together 
- Do you know how hard it is to avoid someone when you’re living in the same 2 bedroom flat that barely gives two foot to yourself? 
- It’s hard 
- But Reggie finds a way 
- Eventually you’re more roommates than friends 
- And you really don’t know how much more you can take 
- You feel like you’re about to break 
- And Daniel can see that too
- So on Friday night he invites you to go drinking with him and his friends instead of staying in and moping 
- ‘bye, i’m going out’ 
- ‘wait’ 
- The speed of which he runs from his room and into the living room where your stood, startles you to say the least 
- ‘what?’
- ‘don’t go out with him.’ 
- ‘why not? what ever george has told you about is a lie. george does that. he once told a bunch of people that you streaked in an old people’s home and almost killed his grandmother’ 
- ‘because he isn’t me’ 
- You’ve dreamt of those words 
- Built them up in your head for years 
- But in all of your daydreams, there’s never been a scenario like this one 
- Not one where you’re about to leave to go on a date with another guy 
- ‘reggie? what are you talking about?’ 
- You need to make sure he’s saying what you think he’s saying 
- Because you can feel yourself hoping again
- And you know if he doesn’t mean what you want him to
- You don’t think you’ll be able to recover
- ‘i love you y/n. you’re my best friend, you always have been, you always will be and i love you.’ 
- ‘reg-’ 
- ‘please tell me you feel the same way’ 
- ‘i-’ 
- In your head you had a full oscar worthy speech planned out just in case this ever happened 
- But now you’re here in the moment. 
- You have no idea what to say
- ‘it doesn’t matter. just leave’ 
- ‘no’ 
- ‘what?’ 
- ‘do you really think i’m going to walk away from you after that? when have i ever walked away from you?’ 
- ‘i-no’
- ‘i love you too by the way. if you care’ 
- ‘shut up...wait really?’ 
- ‘yes i do. i’ve loved you for as long as i can remember so are you going to just stand there or are you going to kiss me?’ 
- ‘i’m definitely going to kiss you’ 
- ‘good’ 
- And he does 
- He’s standing in front of you before you can catch your breath
- His hands reach up to cup your cheeks 
- His lips part as he stares down at you 
- And you’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he’s looking at you
- Like you’re everything good and light in the universe 
- And like he’s also been waiting just as long for this moment 
- Maybe he has 
- Maybe he’s been waiting all his life for this 
- He just didn’t know 
- You feel whatever breath you had left leave your lungs
- His lips are soft against yours, but he gets his point across 
- And you’ve never been happier 
- All the heartache and tears 
- The laughter and stupid jokes 
- The 3am texts 
- The constant worrying 
- The early mornings and late nights 
- The damage to limbs from trying to fit in tiny closets
- And the scrapes on your ankles and bruising on your legs from crawling through his bedroom window 
- They’re all worth it
- ‘are you still going on your date?’ 
- ‘what do you think?’ 
- ‘good. because they’ve just released werewombats 3’
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faithinthefuture28 · 5 years
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Larry songs timeline & what it tells us about the evolution of their relationship
**These are all just my interpretations but the more I listen to the music they wrote, the more it all fits together. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS THEY’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT WRITING “AUTOBIOGRAPHICALLY” AND “FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE”
I deffo missed some songs but these stood out to me:
2013
L-Strong: Love isn’t easy (waves trying to break it) but what we have means something and it’s worth fighting for. read: love is only for the brave (Think of how much love that’s been wasted...there’s nothing i’m running from...i don’t care, I’m not scared of love) And we bring out the best in each other so lets not throw this away (i’d do anything to save it...when i’m not with you i’m weaker). 
H-Happily: I want to fight for us too bc we’re on fire and our love is powerful af. ik we have to do stunts and stuff (and if (s)he feels my traces in your hair, sorry love but I don’t really care) but what we have is insane and fuck everyone else bc you’re MINE and i’m YOURS at the end of the day (i wanna be the one who holds you when you sleep). Together, we’re magic so just be with me so happily
H-Something Great: ****this song is very straightforward so i won’t explain it much***** (i want you here with me like how i pictured it so i dont have to keep imagining... We’re better off together here tonight). Written as a longing for what could be if they dont have to suppress the relationship. (script was written...want to rip it all to shreds) Louis’ response (you’re all I want so much it’s hurting) basically says “it’s not too much to ask babe, i want it too.” This has the kind of longing that ‘wouldn’t it be nice- beach boys’ which Harry has admitted is kind of a theme song. 
L-Through the Dark: I know all this bs we’re going through is taking a toll on you and hurts you and i hate seeing you upset (you tell me that your sad...you tell me that you’re hurt and youre in pain and i can see your head is held in shame...i just wanna see you smile again) but I will do everything physically possible to protect you from any pain bb (i’d never let you fall and break your heart, if u wanna cry or fall apart, i’ll be there to hold ya). We’re going through this together and I will take on any responsibility needed to keep you happy.  I’M WILLING TO GO THROUGH HELL TO FIGHT FOR US HARRY LOVE (entire chorus basically).
L-Better than Words: holy fuck our love is amazing can’t even describe it can i just sing to you foreva love u babycakes
L-Why don’t we go there: what if...we just forgot about the world and escaped and enjoyed each others love and rode the high??? Also sex
2014
L-Ready to Run: *******Followup to Why Don’t We Go There*********** But this time let’s escape for real bc (there’s me inside a sinking boat running out of time). Like i’m ready to get out of here and it could just be us living happily ever after (this time i’m ready to run). Honestly nothing else makes sense (without you i’ll never make it out alive...wherever you are is the place i belong). I know what i want out of life and IT’S YOU HARREH (i want to be free and i wanna be yours, i will never look back). 
L-Steal My Girl: all u thirsty hoes find someone else bc Harry is MY pretty princess. Srsly ask his family. But you can still admire how he looks in those jeans. We all do. You know the ones
L-No Control: boy u fine, let’s do what lovers do IN THE MORNING. bc we can. also you own me and i am urs
L-Clouds: WE KNEW THIS WAS GONNA BE HARD SO WHY ARE YOU BEING A LITTLE BITCH (you dont like it complicated...but love is never ever simple...you are tired of all the changes, but love is always always changing). We could be great yo, just keep fighting (if we’re never coming back down, we’ll looking down on the clouds...we go and we go and we dont stop)
H-Where do Broken Hearts Go: IM SORRY LOU BABY YOURE EVERYTHING (rest of my crimes dont come close the look on your face when i let you go... the taste of your lips...is at the top of the list of things i want). H&L’s call and  response at the end is basically forgiveness and acknowledgment (come on baby come and get me out, come on baby cuz i need you now)
H-Two Ghosts: *****was written around this time according to Harry******. This is fucking hard yo. We’re drained and exhausted and idk how much more we can fight for this... (it’s not you and it’s not me...sounds like something that i used to feel). That infatuation and electricity and hope that fueled our younger selves isn’t really there anymore and i’m just tired man (we’re just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty, trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat, we’re not who we used to be...this was all we used to need). We’re empty vessels going through the motions (same eyes blue, couple more tattoos). AND WE AREN’T FUCKING COMMUNICATING (we dont say what we really mean). 
2015
H&L-Perfect: so what if... we get rid of the pressure of forever? What if we just have fun doing the stupid shit we love and makes us feel alive (trouble up in hotel rooms, secret little rendezvous, things you know that we shouldn’t do). Like we won’t be out of each others’ lives, I’m still around and we can find comfort in each other and even mess around here and there (I can be the one you love from time to time). Remember how we used to be young and EXCITED (when i first saw you from across the room, i could tell that you were curious) let’s get that energy back without the responsiblity of an adult relationship. And we can keep making art lmao (if youre looking for someone to write your breakup songs about). 
L-Long Way Down *****this song fkn hurts man. It’s overlooked a lot but shows so much insight**** We were...everything. And maybe that’s the problem? We’ve been through so fucking much, more than anyone our age should have to endure. (We've been in fire, Went down in the flames. We sailed the ocean And drowned in the waves. Built a cathedral But we never prayed) We didn’t know what we had. We were damn kids man. We weren’t prepared for all this. We didn’t know how powerful this would be. We didn’t know what it required of us. (We had a mountain But took it for granted. We had it all yeah. Who could’ve planned it). We didn’t know what to do with it, how to deal with it, so here we are. (We had a spaceship But we couldn't land it) We’re each other’s everything, but we can’t keep going on like this babe. (We found an island But we got stranded). I don’t want to leave you but being together is breaking us down. (Point of no return and now It's just too late to turn around) We thought we were untouchable. That love conquers all. Maybe, we were wrong. This is gonna hurt like a bitch (We built it up so high and now I'm fallin', it’s a long way down)
H-Olivia: I LIVE FOR YOU, I LONG FOR YOU, I LOVE YA. And i think i’ll always love ya. And I’m scared...of life without you (i get the feeling you’re walking out, time is irrelevant when i’ve not been seeing you, the consequences are falling now, there’s something i’m having nightmares about...dont let me go). But maybe just maybe thats okay, because you’re AIMH (you live in my imagination...i love you, it’s all i do). 
L-Love you Goodbye: I fucking love you and I’ll always fucking love you but i think this is the right thing to do even though it feels so wrong (i know there’s nothing i can do to change it, but is there something that can be negotiated?) We made some goddamn fireworks together though (unforgettable together held the whole world in our hands) and do ya maybe think...we can make them just once more? (if tomorrow you wont be mine, let me give it to you one last time, baby let me love you goodbye...one more taste of your lips just to bring me back to the places we’ve been and the nights we’ve had because if this is it, then at least we could end it riiiiight). ********in the interview with our FAVE Gwen Garcia, she asked if it’s better to say goodbye and end a relationship that’s not feeling right or keep trying even if your heart’s not in it. Harry responds with “I think it’s better to say goodbye...but sometimes if youre trying to protect..” Then Louis cuts him off and says “you’re going deep aren’t you”, brushing the question off as a joke but imho i think there was pain in that answer. Then Harry continues “if you’re not 100% in it, I think it’s better for both parties if you say goodbye”. And Louis adds a “yeah” at the end.********
H-Walking in the Wind: I know this is scary but i think we can do it, (you said to me do you believe i’ll be too far? if youre lost just look for me you’ll find me) I think because youre AIMH and i’m always in yours, it’ll be good for us. And look at us being mature, we’re killing it babe. We can live our separate lives and grow on our own. We dont need to make it messy and hurtful. We’re on the same page. (the fact that we can sit right here and say goodbye means we’ve already won. A necessity for apologies between you and me, baby there is none). At this point, we’re kinda part of each other right? So it’s healthy for us to be apart for a bit. (it’s not the end, i’ll see your face again... i know we’ll be alright...just close your eyes and see i’ll be by your side any time you need me). And you’ve helped me grow into the person I am, and I you, so that’s cool as hell, right? (you will find me in places that we’ve never been). We had a TON of fun (we had some good times didnt we) so i feel okay that we’re doing this (goodbyes are bittersweet) and starting the next adventure in our lives. 
H-If I could fly: I. am. yours. Louis. William. Tomlinson. (for your eyes only, i’ll show you my heart). Maybe this growth thing isn’t worth it, let me prove to you how much you mean to me (i think i might give up everything just ask me to). This is gonna be hard as shit because i’m so dependent on you (i’m missing half of me when we’re apart). I’m being honest and I’m being scared and I’m being vulnerable because I can’t lie to you and pretend I’m strong (i let my guard down, right now i’m completely defenseless). But we’re part of each other, right? (i could feel your heart inside of mine). I’ll always be here for you Lou (for when you’re lonely and forget who you are) even if for now we can’t physically be together. 
L-Home: I’ve tried, Harry. I’ve tried to play pretend (told myself i kind of like her but there was something missin in her eyes). But i was lost (i was stumblin, lookin in the dark with an empty heart) because none of it was enough, none of it was YOU (it was there i sawr it in your eyes). And then i met you and you felt the same and we’re both lost souls playing pretend who found magic in each other (but you say you feel the same, could we ever be enough?) Is our love enough to overcome everything? Maybe we can be enough. Maybe I can make this enough, let me try to make it enough for you. And if we go our separate ways, know that I’m here for you no matter what. I won’t let you be lost again. (When you’re lost I’ll find a way and I’ll be your light, you will never feel like you’re alone, I’ll make this feel like home). So go. wander. find yourself. Then when you’re ready, come home. 
 2016-2017
H- Sweet Creature: ***Harry admit that this was the first song he wrote for the album**** We aren’t in the best place rn. We’ve been fighting (had another talk about where it’s going wrong...it’s hard when we argue, we’re both stubborn). But it’s you Louis. It can’t be anyone else. (don’t know where we’re going but we know where we belong... wherever I go, you bring me home). That’s not even a question. I’m still trying to figure out who I am, but the one thing I know is that a large part of who I am is you (we started 2 hearts in one home). And aint no way I’m losing that part of myself (when i run out of road, you bring me home). It was always you. 
H-MMITH: Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready (just let me know i’ll be at the door,  hoping you’ll come around). I know I need to work on myself a little more (i gotta get better, and maybe we’ll work it out) but honestly i’m getting impatient and i want things to go back to how they were and i want to be yours again (once you go without it, nothing else would do). But I can’t communicate this to you clearly so let me just put this in a song and hope you get it (we dont talk about it, it’s something we dont do) ****Harry mentioned in an interview that he expresses himself through songwriting when he can’t say the words directly to a person because it’s easier to just write it in a song than have difficult conversations*****
H-ESNY: ****honestly no idea what this song is about but it’s something to do with them fighting and not communicating and being in a weird place before their relationship is rekindled******* edit: this could be about his stepdad
H-FTDT: I MISS YOU AND I’M TOO FULL OF PRIDE TO TELL YOU DIRECTLY JUST COME BACK INTO LIFE LOU I’M LONELY AND SAD AND EMPTY AND IM NOT FUCKING FINDING MYSELF LIKE YOU SAID I WOULD (woke up alone, played with myself where were you...we havent spoke since you went away, why wont you ever say what you wanna say) So until then I sit and wait for your sorry ass to make the first move (maybe one day you’ll call me and tell me that you’re sorry too...but you never do). Also like i have to hear from other people how you are?? (i saw your friend that you know from work, he said that you feel just fine) ANd you’re sharing OUR clothes with people?? wtf just swallow your pride and call me 
L-Miss You: OKAY BUT I CANT JUST CALL YOU BECAUSE I HAVE PRIDE TOO also my mates are trying to make me get over you (now i’m asking my friends how to say I’m sorry, they say lad give it ttime there’s no need to worry, and we can’t even be on the phone now). So i’m just numbing your absence with partying and drinks but CLEARLY ITS NOT WORKING (should be laughing but there’s something wrong...shit maybe i miss you...when i feel it coming up i just throw it all away, get another few shots cuz it doesn’t matter anyway...such a good time, i’ll believe it this time). This is weird bc like you were my everything but im trying to get used to this and it fucking sux (oh how shit changes, we were in love, now we’re strangers). And tbh, its scary af bc what if this is it (i’m asking myself, is it over?). BUT ALSO LIKE WTF U COULD REACH OUT FIRST YA KNOW (i’ve been checking my phone all evening).
H-Anna: wtf Louis how do you not see how much this is killing me. I miss you so much and seeing you on tv or in pics drives me wild bc you’re not mine. (I don’t want your sympathy but you don’t know what you do to me...everytime I see your face there’s only so much I can take...I guess it would be nice if I can touch your body). And idk if you’re replacing me (don’t know where you’re laying, just know it’s not with me) and we’re in SUCH a weird place rn how do I tell u you’re the loml (don’t know what I’d say if I passed you on the street...don’t know what I’d tell you if you asked me for the truth) so I refuse to put this song on the album and let you know this and give you satisfaction from knowing how gone I still am for you bc I have 0 idea how you feel (hope you never see this and know that it’s for you)
L-Always You: SO THIS IS ME SWALLOWING MY PRIDE STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU SAYING IM SORRY FOR THAT NIGHT... ok but fr i miss u i miss u i miss u i miss u and nothing else compares like i can travel the whole world and all i think about is how much more fun it was with you and the memories we shared and i wish i could just say thx fr th mmrs and move on but actually no thx actually fuck you for making me not able to enjoy my life without you. So like...come home? and wrap your legs around me? also lmao i took El to a gay bar in amsterdam for her bday lmao i miss u come cuddle me and i’ll tell you all about it
L-We Made It: looks like we made it, look how far we’ve come my baby. They saidd I bett they’ll never make it, but just look at us holding onn, we’re still togetherr, still going stronggg. Also to the fans, miss our single bed and the nights we talked about our dreams :-* also Andrew my man luv u
2018-2019
L-KMM: our love was youthful and exhilarating and fucking electric and i think it still can be. dont know what i’d do without you now H 
L-DLIBYH: We’re strong babe and we’ve grown and we aren’t gonna let life drag us down. I’m doing better, you’re doing better, this is what we wanted. And now any shit we go through, we’ll go through TOGETHER 
L-Too Young: Okay but looking back, that was a lot of shit we went through and we were just babies and i’m sorry for not fighting harder (i cant believe i gave in to the pressure when they said a love like this would never last so i cut you off cuz i didnt know no better) baby i tried, i tried to protect you but like it was just so much and i hate that you got hurt and i wont ever let that happen again. ALso go us for being mature and COMMUNICATING (face to face at the kitchen table, we can finally have a conversation that I wish we could’ve had before). ANd i know you’re an arrogant son of a bitch who can’t admit when he’s sorry so here let ME say i’m sorry that i hurt you darling. Like we were too young to know we had everything BUT now we’re old(er) and can realize that when we’re together, we DO have everything now and omg is this our happily ever after and we can have a daughter and name her Darcy 
L-Habit: do i need to spell it out for you iiiiii aaaaaaaaammmmmmm sssssssoooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy. But tbh i let you go because it felt right because mentally you were already out the door and i needed to give you room to grow babe. And i needed the space too (you gave me the time and the space i was out of control and i’m sorry i let you down). but like also i’ve learned i can’t escape you Styles. You’re always in my fucking heart and my fucking mind and in every essence of my being and somehow I knew that 9 years ago and it took me this long to realize how powerful this really is (guess that that i know what i already knew, i was better with you and i miss you now). Ooooh also my favorite line i wrote (took some time cuz i ran out of energy of playing someone I heard I’m supposed to be and honestly i dont have to choose anymore) like who am i kidding, im done pretending i just wanna be yoursss now
L-Defenseless: I can’t help it okay theres something about you that doesn’t let me stay away. I need you and I know that rekindling this relationship isn’t going to be easy even though it feels so so right. It’s going to be hard work (sleeping on our problems but we’ll solved them in our dreams, wake up early morning and it’s still under the sheets) and we need to communicate and solve our problems but here I am, raw and unfiltered and emotionally naked in front of you ready to lay it all on the table (not sure how to say this right, got so much to lose. NEver been so defenseless). So like this branch I’m reach out to you and you be honest with me too babe (you dont have to keep on being strong for me and you. Acting like you feel no pain, you know i know you do...I can’t get inside, when you’re lost in your pride but you don’t have a thing to prove). Be open with me. Lets talk. Let’s solve problems. Lets have an adult relationship. I’m asking for a little vulnerabiltiy babe. It’s just me. Theres nothing to be scared of
L-Walls: And here you have me in my purest form. No lies, no secrets, no insecurities to hide behind. Losing you was fucking painful but i got through it. I’ve been through hell and back and I’ve fought. And without you, I grew into the person I am. And any further growing i’m doing is gonna be with you. bc it was all for you babe. and honestly i can take anything life throws at me now. I’m strong baby. I’m fucking strong and fucking brave and fucking resilient and...fucking yours. ***** wtf is the I just hope i see you one day and you’ll say to me oh oh********
H-Golden: You are the literal sun and I’m not ready. YOU’RE SUCH A GOOD PERSON (you were way too bright for me, i’m hopeless, broken, so you wait for me in the sky). I’m scared to go through this alone, I need your comfort and your guidance (i can feel you take control of who i am and all i’ve ever known). But you’re scared to go through this with me bc you dont wanna get hurt and i’m too open so where tf does that leave us. ******this could be about coming out especially with the London AND NY secret shows where Harry added the lyric I’m hoping someday you’ll open*******
H-Adore You: You dont have to say you love me, you dont have to say nothing, you dont have to say you’re mine. I’d walk through fire for you. Just let me adore Lou. Like its the only thing I’ll ever do. read: Louis is a great person to just admire what he’s like. ALso I dont need anything back. I just dont want to hide my love for you anymore. I don’t need answers or promises. Just let me adore you. ********the music video is also basically a Louis appreciation post. He was the boy with the smile that the world took away from him. He found Harry lost and loved him and nurtured him and made him confident and allowed him to be who he wanted to be. But in doing so, Harry became big and unsatisfied and wanted to explore the world and was clearly interested in Hollywood and Rockstardom especially evident in his behavior 2014-2015. And Louis wasn’t about that life and didn’t want to hold him back. So he let him free. But they realized that they don’t work apart. Wherever they’re going, they’re going together, as the boy sails into the unknown following the fish. I see it as Harry’s version of “this one is a thank you for what you did for me” ************* I see it, I appreciate it, and I love you for it
H-Lights Up: ****fight with Louis. (What do you mean I’m sorry by the way) About coming out? About fame? (Step into the light, so bright sometimes) Either way, L is the guy driving the motorcycle in the video who makes H feel comfortable and safe until they get pulled over because SOMEONE wont let them love*******
H-Falling: What if i’m out, what if i’m someone you won’t talk about? Okay maybe I lied I do want you to claim me. Would me coming out of the closet make that hard for you? I CAN’T GO THROUGH AN IDENTITY CRISIS WITHOUT YOU LOU. I picked someone supportive and now I’m spoiled and I dont know how to be with myself. You want back in my life but what if I dont deserve it? (you said you cared and you missed me too...what i’m someone i dont want around). What if you’re better off without me? (i get the feeling that you’ll never need me again). I know youve been through so much shit because of me, things you’ve never even told me about and im afraid...that I wasn’t worth it. Am I being selfish? because either way, i want YOU (what if you’re someone i just want around). Does that make me a bad person? 
H-TBSL: ****Probably when they starting talking again but it was v casual and they didn’t really discuss their relationship yet*****. I MISS U BUT I WONT TELL U THAT and its nice to talk to u again i missed your voice but if u call me baby i will kill u bc that word has weight OKAY. Like i know you just call everyone babe and darling and sweetheart but baby is FOR ME and only for me when you wake up with me and cuddle me and if you think you have any right calling me baby without giving the luxury of being in a relationship with you then piss off because that shit hurts dude. (i know that you’re trying to be friends, know that you mean it...it’s hard for me to go home to be so lonely). ALso it’s not my fault i’m like this, you literally captured my heart when i was 16 like wtf do u expect (dont blame me for falling, i was just a little boy)
H-Sunflower Vol. 6: we were babies and i was so enamored by you and you’re so bright and beautiful and i want to watch you all day and make you smile and i want you to touch my hair and call me curly and i hope im not making you uncomfortable with my heart eyes but like how are you so perfect. I hope you think i’m cool, i’m really trying but like you’re SO FUNNY and charming and everyone loves you i hope im not embarassing myself. And now it’s like 8 years later and i think i can have you again and i want you so bad but i dont wanna seem too eager and im trying to have dignity and not text you first but like also i want nothing more than to talk to you. Do you think i’m cool now? did you like my new hairstyle? Do you think i’m funny on tour? I want everything i want to be domestic again and kiss in the kitchen and i want to cook for you and as;ldfa;sdhaf i want to buy you flowers everyday and shower ur cute face with kiss. boopx28 
H-Canyon Moon: Hell yea i got ma man back and i have a girlfriend named Jennifer ;) and we are domestic and even though I HATE being away from him for work (so hard to leave it) we have the 2 week rule yall then i can wrap my legs around him and after so so so long I’ll be h.o.m.e. Also did i tell you his eyes are so so blue like sky who i dont know her
H-TPWK: So we’re really doing this. We don’t need to have it all figured out. We can just be us. and happy. and dance. The world loves us babe. (Giving second chances, I don’t need all the answers and if we’re here long enough we’ll see it’s all for us and we’ll belong)
H-Fine Line: You’ve got my devotion but man I can hate you sometimes....We’ll be a fine line. Between what? love and hate? public and private? out and in the closet? each others’ and ourselves? Idk. But i’m going to swallow my pride (my hands at risk I fold) because no matter what, the worst possible outcome is not having you. And I never wanna go through that again. I know we have work to do on our relationship (spreading you open is the only way I know you). And there’s lot of unknown here (there’s things that we’ll never know) but what i do know is that i cant resist you (you sunshine you temptress) and i cant be without you ever again. I think it’ll be hard as hell. But when have we known love as anything but hard? And when have we known our love as anything but worth it? We’ll be a fine line baby. But i know, i knowww with every part of me that we’ll be alright. Because these past 10 years, we’ve been through A LOT. ANd it could have ruined us and made us cynical and cold and closed off. And I think at one point it did. But you know what we did? We fought it. We fought it together. Then we fought it individually. And we became BRAVE. And a brilliant man once said, “love is only for the brave”. 
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il0veyoujk · 4 years
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The secret is out.
Summary: Nefeli (14) has a secret tickle blog on Tumblr and her brother, Hoseok, finds out about it...
Warnings: None
Notes: None
This is a tickle related ff, if you are not interested in it, please keep scrolling
Lots of love Nef 💕
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I think everyone has their little secrets. Especially from their siblings. Like Nefeli had from her brother, Hoseok. The teenage girl had a tiny miny guilty pleasure, she loved tickling. And that had to be kept as a secret. But she had a bigger one. Nefeli had a blog on Tumblr where she was writing fanfics about tickling, where the members of Got7 were tickling the reader. It wasn’t a huge one, but she loved it. However, this had to be kept as a secret. No one knew about it and no one would ever know about it!
Nefeli was currently lying on her bed in the hotel she was staying with her brother and his bandmates. Being a brother of a super idol sometimes sucks. You have to follow him to every tour he was going and deal with all the crazy fans. But now the tour was over and the boys plus the 14-year-old girl were just having their holidays.
And after a long day, Nefeli had finally the opportunity to relax. They had gone to museums, restaurants, monuments, everywhere. They had walked too much and they had eaten whatever they could, so they were all too tired.
Hoseok, was with the boys in Yoongi’s and Taehyung’s room, playing video games, while Nefeli was alone in her room, writing a new fanfic with Mark and the reader.
She was lying on her stomach on the bed, swinging her barefoot legs back and forth. She was too concentrate on what she was doing to notice her brother was finally back, right behind her and reading what she was writing, with a huge grin on his face.
“What are you doing?!” he playfully yelled behind her, scribbling on her feet fastly, taking her by surprise.
“AAAAHAHAHAHA NAHAHAHA!” she screamed and fell into fits of hysterics and started kicking dangerously fast as her feet were being tortured. “HAHAHAHSEOHAHAHAK!” she yelled and he let her go.
She was lying there, panting and rubbing her feet with each other, trying to get the ghost tickles to vanish. “Youhouhouhou are mehehean” she giggled and rolled onto her back to have a better look at her brother, who was giggling along with Nefeli.
Hoseok was tickling Nefeli since... well, since forever. He is her brother after all. He knows all her sweet spots and can drive her crazy in a matter of seconds. However, he also knows that Nefeli secretly enjoys that. Truly much. Nefeli never says ‘stop’ when Hoseok is tickling her, only when she is reaching her breaking point.
His eyes fell again on her laptop screen, reading the fanfic she was writing once again and smirking hugely. The teenage girl spotted what her brother was doing and shut the screen fastly.
“What are you writing there, sunshine?” Hoseok asked as he took a seat on the bed next to his sister.
“N-Nothing Hobi, really, it’s nothing” she stuttered.
The young lad rose an eyebrow “Neffie are you lying to me?” he asked and Nef shook her head too fast to convince her brother. But she didn’t do much. “No! I am telling the truth!”
“Hm,” Hoseok murmured under his breath and jumped onto his sister, sitting on her hips. Classic way to get her to admit everything.
“Noooo, I swear! Lemme go! I didn’t do anything!” Nefeli tried to escape the upcoming torture, but it was useless. He was way too taller and older than her, nothing could save her.
But lemme tell you, Nefeli is truly stubborn when she wants. And if she wants to keep a secret, nothing can make her spit it out like that. They have to make a lot of efforts to make her speak. And there was no way she was gonna admit she loves tickling and that she writes stories about it
But let’s not forget he is her brother. He knows her since she was born and has lived his entire life with her. He knows her buttons than Nefeli herself.
Hoseok grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, with no difficulties at all, still smirking “Last change Neffie, tell me or the tickle monster is gonna get ya” he sang and started wiggling his fingers right above her bare armpit, making them look like claws.
Nefeli started giggling and trying to squirm away “Nohohohoooooo, I didn’t do anything! I was just scrolling through Wattpaaahahahad!” she lied and tried to pull her arms down, but without avail. She was trapped under Hoseok and his wiggling fingers, which were ready to attack her.
“Okay, you are asking for it,” he said as he launched his hand on her armpit, clawing on them fastly.
She burst into loud fits of laughter, thrashing around on the bed, trying to pull her arms down like a madman, but she couldn’t. Hoseok had an iron grip on her wrists.
“Aw you are so cute when you laugh Neffie” he smiled and nuzzled her cheek with his nose, which was ticklish as well. “Do you have to tell me something now?”
“NAHAHAHAHA HAHAHABIHIHIHAHAHAHA!” she laughed loudly as she felt the fingers scribbling and pinching her armpits and hollows without mercy.
It was like tiny bugs were running up and down her soft skin. Nefeli’s brother was grinning down at her in the most teasing way he could, driving her crazy. Ah, that boy was born to tease his little sister.
“No?!” he playfully yelled and gasped loudly, moving his hands to her ribs, spidering there fastly, his teasing grin still on his face “Then I guess you need to rethink about it”
All the nerves in Nefeli’s body were being destroyed one by one as Hoseok was sliding his fingers furiously up and down her rib bones, giving more attention to her sixth and most ticklish rib. She shot her now free arms on her torso, trying to protect her sensitive self, but she was just making everything worse.
Nefeli started squirming and bucking her hips in the air, trying to get Hoseok off of her and make the feeling more bearable, but nothing was working.
“AHAHAHAHAHAM NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT DOHAHAHAHAHING ANYHAHAHATHING!” she cried and grabbed his wrist, trying with all her strength to battle them off. But guess what? They weren’t going anywhere!
“Hm really? I think my little sunshine is lying to me! Now that’s not nice, I feel like crying” he smirked, not ceasing his rib-tickling.
If Nefeli’s eyes could go wide they would. She knows perfectly well what that means...
“NAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT THAHAHAHAT!” she pleaded and shook her head side to side frantically.
The young lad smirked for some seconds before he wore his sad face and rose her t-shirt, to reveal her chubby tummy, leaving her enough tortured ribs alone.
“Nohohahahaha Hobihihihi!” she giggled from anticipation as she saw her brother’s face inching towards her exposed belly.
“You are making me even sadder now sunshine” he tried to swallow his own chuckles but he wasn’t doing much. “I think I need to blow my nose,” he said and Nefeli’s eyes grew bigger in fear.
“Nohohohoho Hobihihihi noooAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” she cried and brought to the surface her loudest belly laughter as Hoseok blew an abnormally ticklish raspberry just above her belly button. He even added fake sobs to add to the torture.
Raspberries and mouth tickles in general were a huge weakness of the poor girl. They were driving her crazy. She just couldn’t stand them. No, never, for no reason at all.
Hoseok then nuzzled his face in the warm skin of her belly, blowing tiny raspberries on it, like he was actually crying. Nefeli was trying with all the strength she had inside her to push his shoulders away, so he could at least have a break, but Hoseok was going anywhere.
“HAHAHAHAHASEOAHAHAHAHAHAK!” the little girl laughed loudly and was punching the mattress as hard as she could so as she would be distracted from the unbearable sensation, but it was useless.
Suddenly the door opened widely and Taehyung rushed inside, with fear in his eyes. He must have heard the screams and the loud laughter, along with the rest of the boys.
Hoseok stopped and looked up towards his friend, leaving his sister panting on the bed hardly. Sweat was all over her face and she was tryna catch her breath. Her face was as red as a tomato and she could still feel some ghost tickles on her belly.
“What’s happening? The boys and I got really worried, I heard Nef screaming” Taehyung asked, raising an eyebrow at the panting girl on the mattress and his grinning friend.
Nefeli got really nervous. She thought Hoseok was gonna expose her just like that in front of his friend and that Tae would tickle her as well.
“Oh nothing much, Neffie is just really ticklish and I was just playing with her” he grinned, pinching her belly softly, making her flinch and giggle loudly.
She mentally sighed in relief. If it was to expose her Tickle Blog to someone, at least that someone had to be her brother. The person she trusted the most.
“Oh okay, lemme know when you are done, we wanna go out for a movie and diner” Tae smirked and exited the room, leaving the siblings alone again.
“Nohohoho mohohohore” Nefeli giggled, covering her belly and looking at the ceiling with half-opened eyes.
“Oh come on sissy, I saw that you were writing something on your laptop,” he said mischievously, as he placed his hands on her still bare sides. However, Nefeli hadn’t understood what was happening because she was looking at the ceiling. “I just wanna know what it is!”
“Nohohohohothing!” she kept giggling uncontrollably.
“Then I guess I just have to get out the secret weapon” he smirked and started squeezing her sides faster than the speed of the light, sending her into loud fits of hysterical laughter and making her squirm like a fish out of the water.
“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT THAHAHAHAHAHAHARE!” she screamed and fell back again in her franticly laughter, as Hoseok was killing her- I mean squeezing her side.
“Coochie coochie coo, Neffie!” he teased and moved to the spot where the sides are connecting with the ribs, clawing there.
Nefeli felt electric shots hitting her and every hair she had on her body tensed from the torturing sensation. And all the teasing was not helping at all. “Y’know Neffie, you never say stop. I am starting to think that you may like it!”
“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA DAHAHAHAN’T!” she yelled in between her hysterical laughter as Hoseok was kneading furiously her sides.
Her mouth had started aching from all the smiling and laughing. Her face was looking like an alive tomato and her belly was hurting. However, she didn’t want it to end. She was having too much fun, considering the great love she hides for tickles.
Hoseok just chuckled deeply and nuzzled the crook of her neck with his cute nose, chuckling against her skin as he heard Nefeli’s laughter going up at least 20 octaves.
“Neffie you are so sweet I could eat you! But I guess that’s what I have to do then!” he smirked and bend down inching towards her lowest ribs “Last chance sunshine. Tell me or the tickle monster will eat you aaaaaall up!”
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” she laughed loudly, afraid the boys would come back to check upon them.
She didn’t give the answer her brother wanted tho...
“Beep-beep! Too slow! Now you’re gonna be my meal for tonight!” he said and he fastly dive in her bare ribs, sending her in the most hysterical laughter she had ever experienced while he kept squeezing her hypersensitive sides.
Nefeli left an incredibly deafening scream and she started kicking her legs in the mattress and trying to push Hoseok off of her with all her might, her head shaking left and right like a madman.
The ticklish sensations were the most intense she had ever received all those years she lives with Hoseok and his merciless tickles. Her ribs were not too ticklish but when it comes to nibbles, they become her worst spot. More than her sides.
Nibbles were her number one weakness. She just couldn’t stand them. They are always evil, extremely ticklish and they were making her hella sensitive.
“MAHAHAHAHARCAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP IHAHAHAHAHAHA’LL TAHAHAHAHAHALL YAHAHAHAHAHA!” Nefeli cried as her lowest rib was being tortured and her sides were burning and her laughter after that went silent.
Hoseok saw that a sign for him to stop and let her breathe. He lied next to his panting sister and wrapped her in a tight hug, rubbing her sides to vanish the ghost tickles.
Soft, airy giggles were leaving her as she started calming down and catching her breath. Her face was returning to her official color and her spots were not hurting anymore.
“You know, I already know you love when I tickle you” he whispered into her ear, tickling her again, but only enough to send shivers down her spine and bring some leftover giggles.
“Hahahahahohohohow?” she asked blushing and hiding her head in Hoseok’s chest.
The young lad chuckled and rubbed her back affectionately, helping her calm down completely. “When you were mmm... around 5?? I think?? You told me you never wanted me to stop tickling you” he laughed at the memory.
Making her even shier, Nefeli pushed herself onto Hoseok hiding, her whole self in his grip. “So... Can I read those little fics of yours?” her brothers asked, poking her cheek, making her crack a smile inside his chest. And lemme tell you Hoseok loved her works.
Nefeli was so glad Hoseok didn’t judge her about her blog. She knew that there was nothing she would be embarrassed about, but she was just feeling weird about her guilty pleasure. However, she was not gonna give up what she loves. She continues writing what she wants and she keeps having fun with them till today.
Writing is a way for everyone to snap out of the world, and when someone loves writing, they never leave it. As you are writing, you explore and finally find how you want your fics to be. Guys don’t leave your dreams and what you love doing for anyone and anything. You can always improve your writing skills and not give up. Have faith in you!
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some kind of attention grabbing noise to clue you into the fact that its FIC TIME, BABES! again, mentions of self harm in this chapter, be cautious and take care of yourselves lost? confused? frightened? worry not. start here, for delicious tasty context
His home is broken. When he’d arrived at the Tudor, floating up the steps, he’d almost felt a sense of relief. No matter how bad everything is, at least he can see his dad and sister now. Even if they can’t see him, he can find a way to make them say his name, and maybe his presence will only be a band aid on a mortal wound, but they’ll at least all be bleeding out together.
But he doesn’t recognize the people in this house. They call themselves Lydia and Charles, and their voices sound the same, and they mostly look the same, but these can’t be his breathers, his family, because they hardly seem to count as one. Lydia’s only sixteen, but she looks older, sadder, the dark makeup and short dark hair a shock, when he’s only known her as fresh faced and long haired and blonde. And his Lydia used to smile, she used to tell jokes, she used to have life behind her eyes. This Lydia is functionally dead. She walks around, eyes half hidden behind hair and eyeliner, and sits quietly, hardly eats, picks at her food like she’s already accepted starvation as a viable escape method. Charles is just as bad. His father reeks of alcohol, a scent BJ can’t stand, and the gray at his temples is more pronounced than he remembers.
But worst of all, is how neither of them talk about anything that matters. He sits in his chair, at dinner, listens to Charles berate Lydia over some stupid school thing. “Mom always said high school was temporary. Ya know, unimportant,” he grates out, like he’s a part of the conversation, but no one turns to look at him. Lydia pushes her food around her plate, hardly reacts to the scolding, and that’s dinner. Two dead people, playing at being alive, neither doing an especially good job.
He goes before them, up the stairs, leaving a cold air behind himself, and he finds that he’s able to manipulate his bedroom door, though not by much, and it’s exhausting to do so. It opens only a fraction, but that must be enough to get Lydia’s attention, because she enters, pokes around, and even asks Charles about it. But he can see from the look in both their eyes, that this evidence of his existence isn’t enough. Lydia lays on his bed, in the dark, and cries for their mother, and he would give anything to cry with her. As it is, he hugs his knees to his chest, in the dark, and sits there, shaking and overwhelmed, as he listens to his baby sister softly sob herself to sleep.
He becomes well acquainted with their new bad habits fairly quickly. Charles is drinking himself into a stupor, every night, falling asleep at his desk, barely making it to work in the mornings, sometimes not changing out of his suit for a number of days, only applying cologne as needed, too busy in the bottle to take care of himself properly. That’s bad enough, but the first time he sees what Lydia does, now, it scares him so badly it’s hard to even think. She digs a shard of glass into her forearm, and it at least seems she’s not cutting to kill, but both siblings watch the red prick along the new wound in silence, until he speaks. “Mom wouldn’t like that,” he tells her, not that it matters. “You shouldn’t be doin’ that, Lyds. What if it gets infected? What if you get seriously hurt? Th’ blood’s supposed to be on th’ inside, kiddo,” he babbles, pointlessly, as she cuts deeper, sinks that glass further into her skin, and sits there, watching it, passively. Like it’s not happening to her. Like she’s watching something on a screen. Like she couldn’t care less that she’s hurting herself. “Dead Mom,” she addresses her empty room, as she often does. “If you can see this, you’re probably freaking out. This is coping. I’m coping.” She lies to the air in front of her. “You’re not,” he croaks out. “This isn’t healthy, Lyds, please..”
It’s a nightly ritual for her, at this point. She listens to music, looks through photos, and maims herself, and all he can do is watch her, trying to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid, or stupider. A week into silently stalking his own family, and he’s still not any closer to being seen, or figuring out how to make them say his name. It’s torture. He follows the two of them around the house, plays at being their shadows, and trails them places, work, school, the grocery store, wherever. It doesn’t matter. He might as well not exist.
Actually, not existing is already starting to sound pretty good.
Lydia stands up from her bed, still bleeding, and the motion of that breaks his thoughts. She crouches low, retrieves a photo album from under her bed that he didn’t know had been there. She flips through it, and has to sit down, after only a second.
“That th’ blood loss catchin’ up to you?” he snarks, before glancing over at her, and his eyes widen. She’s staring at a photo of him. Several photos of him, actually, and she flips through the album, pages and pages of him. He studies her expression, as she lands on a picture that he recognizes. The two of them, coming back from that disastrous visit to the Smallpox Hospital, on the lift, over the water. She’s nine, and adorable, and he’s sixteen and grubby, but infatuated with the two who had been sitting across from them. Adam had taken Lydia’s instamatic, and snapped the picture of the siblings, making faces, the skyline behind them.
“You remember that day, Lyds?” he tries, as he watches her brow furrow. She sighs, like she’s disappointed in herself, and closes the album, and it’s deposited back under her bed. “Mama, some of these pictures, they make my head hurt, more than my heart,” she says, softly, which he understands. She can’t remember him, all the memories she has of him are locked behind whatever mental wall this curse has created, and trying does nothing but confuse her. Maybe she can’t even see his face, in the pictures. Maybe it’s a blur, out of focus, like the moment you wake up, and have yet to rub the sleep from your eyes. That’s all he is, now, just a dream she can’t remember upon her return to the waking world.
He can open and close doors, but only barely, and it takes the energy out of him. He finds that any fire he lights still affects the world of the living, but when he tries to spell his name out in flames on the walls, all he manages to do is scare Charles into calling an electrician, about a possible electrical issue causing fires. He hadn’t even been able to spell out a “B” because somehow, this stupid curse can tell his intentions, and he hadn’t been able to physically move his arm, to form the letters he needed.
A month into living in hell, he’s finding himself feeling more and more like he’s losing his mind. He knows humans can be driven mad by isolation, but he’d never thought of what the effects on himself would be, especially since it’s not true isolation. He can go into a crowd, surround himself with people. It just doesn't matter, which is what’s making him feel so unhinged, and more than once, he throws himself into a crowd of people, and screams and kicks and thrashes, begging them to see him. All he succeeds in doing is giving a group of New Yorkers a slight chill.
But the thing that makes him the angriest is the day he finds a red headed stranger in their house. He and Lydia come in together, her just returning from a day at school, and him returning from a day of tagging along behind her, and the siblings both stop, and cock their heads at the same time, the same direction, at the sight of the strange woman standing in the foyer. Her red hair is piled in sort of a silly looking bun on top of her head, and she’s got some very intense bangs, hiding her forehead. She’s also wearing almost exclusively purple. She's scrunching her nose, examining one of Emily’s framed prints, the one of Saturn Devouring His Son, looking a bit disgusted.
“Who th’ hell is that?” he asks Lydia, and Lydia addresses the woman. “Who the hell are you?”
The woman turns to face them, and then smiles. “Oh, hello there!” she says, like they're strangers, and she’s welcoming them into her home. She lifts her hands, and rings a triangle Betelgeuse hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “You’re bringing a very interesting energy into this house, Lydia,” the stranger smiles, like that’s the only facial expression she’s got. “You don’t say. I’m about to bring the energy of a bunch of cops here, too,” the teen threatens, staring at the woman, who places a hand over her chest. “My name is Delia,” she says, finally. “Your dad has hired me to be your life coach! He says you’ve been feeling down in the dumps, lately,” she gives an over exaggerated sad face. “But I know with a little positive thinking, me and you can turn that sad aura into a bubbling rainbow one!”
“Oh my god, you should bite her,” Betelgeuse says, instantly. “You up to date on your rabies shot?” Lydia asks. “Positivity makes me foam at the mouth. I wouldn’t get too close.”
Delia cocks an eyebrow, but does move, and allows the teen to move past her, up the stairs. “I’m just here to help you gain a new perspective, Lydia~!” she calls from behind her, as Lydia storms up to her room, and she slams the door behind herself. “Unbelievable,” she growls, throwing her bag on her bed, and he echoes her. “Un-fuckin'-believable!” he agrees, pacing around her room. “What th’ hell is a life coach, even?”
Lydia kicks at her wall, her big black combat boot leaving a mark on the red paint. “I’m the one who needs help? He can’t even say her name, and I’m the one who needs the hippie to come in, and try and change my perspective? A change of perspective doesn’t bring MOM BACK!” She ends her sentence in a scream, her face going red, and then she picks up her bag, and throws it at her bedroom door. The bang it makes isn’t satisfying enough, and she whirls around her room, looking for anything else she can throw around, and destroy. He settles on her bed, and watches, forced to be passive by the curse, as Lydia storms around her room, until finally, Charles throws open her bedroom door.
“You are being ridiculous,” he hisses at her, his grip on her door knob white knuckled.
“Get out! Get the hell out and leave me alone, and take that bitch downstairs with you!” Lydia screams, a hair’s breadth away from throwing a potted plant at him. “Scream and throw fits all you want, little girl. You can’t temper tantrum your way out of Delia being here. She’s going to help you.” She lobs the plant at him, and it barely goes sailing by their father’s head. Betelgeuse watches go over the railing, and then there’s the sound of it shattering on the entrance floor, followed by Delia’s surprised, “Oh!” Charles’ expression is deadly. “You can stay in here until you’ve calmed down,” is all he says, before slamming her door, and Lydia stands there, breathing heavily. “You learned how to throw those epic tantrums from me,” Betelgeuse tells her, as she flops on her bed, and screams into a pillow. read the rest right over HERE
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violetwolfraven · 4 years
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Ghost Guitar Battle (3/3)
((Part 3 of Violet is a fucking idiot and couldn’t help herself from pursuing a random idea when she has actual requests sitting in her inbox. I’m so sorry y’all.))
Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.
I am well aware that this is corny as fuck but whatever. Also I know I tagged this as flarrie but it’s just in the background.
Warnings: depression symptoms, parent death mentions, character feeling out of control/mind control.
...
Nick didn’t know how long he was just kind of floating in darkness.
It was dark, but it was the kind of darkness where there weren’t shadows, it wasn’t night, there was just nothing there.
A few minutes could have passed or a few months. Nick wasn’t sure. All he really knew was that he was alone, just sitting there in the dark with his guitar.
Not like the stupid thing did him any good. If he tried to play, it just sounded muted. Whatever this void thing was, it didn’t have good acoutstics.
Everything in here was muted. Nick guessed it was convenient it sounded bad when he played, since he didn’t feel like playing anyway. He wasn’t bored, scared, sad, or whatever. Everything just felt... flat. It felt like he’d been sitting there forever.
“Nick?”
Wait, did someone just say his name?
Nick stood up, turning around and seeing—
“You’re Julie’s guitarist.”
“Yeah,” the guy nodded, “Hi. My name’s Luke.”
“Did Caleb get you, too?”
Luke shook his head, “No. Well, almost, once, but... no.”
“Then how are you... you’re a ghost.”
God, everything made sense now. How Julie’s hologram thing worked and why she didn’t perform at that dance. Why it seemed like she talked to herself so much lately. Why Caleb was so interested in her in the first place.
Hell, Julie had called him ‘Luke’ by mistake once. She’d been thinking about this guy.
“Yeah,” Luke agreed, “I’m a ghost. Long story short, no other ghosts can be seen by lifers when they play, so Caleb wants me under his control.”
“That’s why he came after me,” Nick realized, “I could get to Julie and Julie could get to you.”
Luke nodded, “Exactly. Only he slipped up pretending to be you. Carrie noticed and told Flynn and Julie. We came up with a plan to have me come in here and help you push him out.”
“Another ghost tried to help me. It didn’t work.”
“Wait, Willie? You saw Willie?”
“Yeah, but...” Nick sighed, “Caleb made him fade away. I don’t know what happened to him.”
“Oh. Okay. He’s my bandmate’s... he’s a friend, and we haven’t heard from him since he tried to help you. That’s why I asked.”
“Well, I don’t know. So... sorry.”
He was expecting Luke to leave, but he didn’t. He just fiddled with the strap of the electric guitar he was holding.
“So... what do you wanna play?”
“What?”
“I’m here to back you up, Nick. I can’t push Caleb out for you.”
Nick didn’t feel like laughing, but he did anyway, just at the hopelessness.
“I can’t push him out,” he said, “He’s too powerful.”
“You can,” Luke insisted, “This is your mind. You’re playing on your home turf.”
“But I’m not the one in control.”
“But you can get it back.”
“No, I can’t! I’m not good enough.”
“Not good—“ Luke cut off, sighing, “You think I thought I was good enough when I first started booking gigs with my band when I was alive?”
Nick didn’t even know what to say here.
“I was younger than you are now,” Luke said, “I was 15 when I started out. You think I thought I was as good as the bands with twice the experience and twice the recognition? No. But I acted like I did, because if you don’t at least pretend to believe in yourself, no one else will. You gotta sell yourself, Nick. Fake it till you make it.”
“I don’t think that’s how this works,” Nick muttered, “The stakes are higher than a gig.”
“This isn’t about the stakes. Don’t think about those. This is just about the music. Don’t think about the consequences, don’t worry about what’ll happen if it doesn’t work, just play. Feel the music. You’re a musician, so it’s a part of you.”
Nick still hesitated. He knew he couldn’t overpower Caleb, so what was the point?
“Come on,” Luke said, starting up a few quiet chords, “I believe in you. If nothing else, wouldn’t you rather say you tried?”
Nick picked up his guitar.
He started playing hesitantly, a sad song he’d picked up out of self-pity after Julie rejected him, before he made the mistake of getting off his butt and out of his house to give it one last shot.
He didn’t get very far in the song.
“Wha—stop, stop, stop. What was that?”
“I told you,” Nick said, vaguely irritated, “I’m not good enough.”
“No,” Luke shook his head, “No, your technique was fine. It was pretty good, actually, but you weren’t putting any of yourself into the music.”
Nick snorted, “Why do you care? We don’t know each other.”
And if you‘re close with Julie, you probably know about me as the guy who has a crush on her so why would you try to save me?
“You’re right, but this isn’t about me,” Luke insisted, “This is about you. You need to dig deeper, really connect to the music. Play something that’s you.”
Something that was him...
Nick was still hesitant to listen to the ghost his crush had a crush on, but...
He focused in deeper, and what started coming out when he started playing again was a tune something like an early 2000s pop/rock song. It was still sad, but definitely more him.
“There you go,” Luke said, but Nick wasn’t listening.
Playing guitar while feeling this deeply inside his own mind was trippy. It was almost like he could see and hear—
“I know, but what was I supposed to do, Chad?”
Nick was sitting at the kitchen table and picking at his spaghetti while eavesdropping on Ryan talking on the phone with his boyfriend in the next room.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like Ryan. Nick did like Ryan. But he still really just wanted his mom. The walls were thin here, and he could hear everything that was being said about him.
“I already told you this, but sure, we can go through it again. His mom, Amanda, is in my musical theatre program. Always shows up late and half-asses choreography. We all thought she was a slacker, but then a couple months ago she unloaded the fact that she’s a single mom and can barely afford to pay for a babysitter for her kid. She’s only in school at all because she got a scholarship.”
There was a pause, and Nick wondered what this Chad guy was saying on the other side. He wondered what Chad was like in real life. He was smiling in the picture Ryan had on his counter.
“His dad’s not in the picture. Amanda never said why, but... yeah, you can still come visit, but you should be prepared for the fact that Nick’s gonna be here. In fact...”
Nick heard Ryan sigh and felt a strong sense of dread at the change in his tone of voice.
“Amanda’s been in the hospital a week and she’s not getting any better. The way everyone keeps talking, I don’t think she ever will.”
That made Nick want to cry. Everyone kept telling him he was strong for dealing with his mom being sick, but he didn’t want to be strong. He just wanted her back, and it sounded like Ryan didn’t think that was going to happen.
“No, no grandparents. Amanda doesn’t have any family. None that she talks to, at least.”
Nick was really trying not to cry now, because... because if he thought about what would happen if his mom didn’t get better, besides how he would miss her, what would happen to him?
“Of course I want to take him, Chad. Nick is my friend’s son. He’s 5 years old and he has nowhere else to go.”
What was he talking about? Taking Nick where?
“Yeah, I know I’m a little young for this, but if I don’t take him, they’re gonna put him in the foster system. Nick’s been through enough. The last thing he needs is to get dumped with some stranger.”
If it was a choice between Ryan and a stranger, Nick knew what he’d choose, but he didn’t want that choice. He just wanted his mom back.
“Chad, I already decided. I’ll use my parents’ lawyers if I have to, but I’m taking Nick in. But... I don’t blame you if you wanna bail. You signed on for me. Not some kid you’ve never met.”
Nick didn’t want Ryan to lose his boyfriend because of him. That would be bad. They looked so happy in that picture on the counter.
Then he heard Ryan laugh.
“Okay, point made. You can meet him when you visit this weekend. You’ll like him. Nick’s a really sweet kid. Love you. Bye.”
Nick couldn’t hide his tears when Ryan opened the door and came back into the main room of the apartment.
“Hey,” he said, kneeling down to be on Nick’s level, “Hey, kiddo, it’s okay. It looks like you’re gonna be living with me for a little longer.”
“You think I’m gonna live with you forever,” Nick accused, “You and Chad. You think my mom’s not gonna get better.”
Ryan froze, then sighed, “I guess you heard me, huh?”
“Your stupid walls are stupid thin,” Nick grumbled.
“My stupid walls are stupid thin, aren’t they? Maybe the wall fairy should come fix them.”
Ryan seemed kind of discouraged with how Nick didn’t find that funny.
“Look,” he said quietly, “Nick, I know I’m not your dad. I’m not even like a cool uncle. I’m just your mom’s friend who wasn’t even that good of a friend until a little while ago. Before that, I was kind of a stupid stinky friend and that’s why she didn’t let you meet me—because she knew I was stinky and she was taking care of you.”
“She always takes care of me,” Nick sniffled.
“Yeah,” Ryan agreed, “Because she loves you. Your mom loves you so much, and that’s never going to change. It’s just that... pretty soon, she won’t be able to take care of you anymore. While she can’t, I wanna to do it for her. Is that okay?”
Nick just wanted things to go back to normal, but... well, Ryan was better than some stranger, if those were the only options.
Little Nick had been devastated when his mom died. It still made him sad sometimes that she was gone, but he had a few nice memories of her to look back on.
And plus, she’d been so busy with work and school that he’d rarely seen her, honestly. Nick had spent most of his early childhood with various babysitters until Ryan got custody.
And besides, especially since Ryan and Chad graduated and moved in together, he had more happy memories of them.
The music shifted to be less melancholy as Nick smiled, thinking of growing up with his dads. The first couple months where Chad clearly had no idea how small children worked but tried so hard to make Nick like him anyway. The confusion of them trying to navigate the system and register him for school. Moving to Albuquerque briefly after the 3 year program Ryan was in ended.
“Nick!” Chad chided, taking the bowl of cookie dough away, “You’re not gonna have any room for dinner!”
“What’s the problem with that?” Ryan asked with a smirk, “You’re a really bad cook.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Nick shot back, “You’re a really bad cook.”
It made him a little nervous when they both froze up a bit.
Nick was well aware that he’d never called Chad or Ryan ‘dad’ before. He wasn’t sure if they were even okay with him calling them that.
He just... wanted to try it out.
Chad and Ryan had taken pictures of him on his first day of kindergarten. They’d taken care of him when he got strep throat the November of 1st grade. Ryan had taught him to sing and Chad hadn’t been phased when Nick showed zero flair for basketball and instead got into little league lacrosse.
They felt like his parents, so Nick wanted to try calling them that.
Then Chad smiled, ruffling his hair, “Well, you can’t cook at all, little man, so I’d curb the sass.”
“Yeah, cause he’s 8 years old,” Ryan objected, “Still, Nick could open a cookbook right now and be better than you. I feel bad for Gabriella and all the other Wildcats’ partners. Zeke can cook so well because none of the rest of you can.”
“What, you think he absorbed the culinary ability from the whole team?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a bad cook too, Dad,” Nick pointed out.
Ryan gasped in fake offense and Chad laughed.
“Can we get pizza?”
“Oh, Chad, he’s definitely your child.”
“You’re blaming me for our kid having good taste in food?”
The tune was evolving again, into a more current style, optimistic and fun. Memories of learning the hard way that he was a really bad dancer and both him and his dads laughing it off. Messing around in their closet and stealing/borrowing old clothes they didn’t use anymore. Missing them when they went to away games or took acting gigs out of town, but being happy for them and cheering them on whenever school didn’t interfere.
Moving to California after Chad graduated and got signed by the Lakers, conveniently around the same time Ryan and Nick’s Aunt Sharpay decided to try out Hollywood and see how different it was from Broadway.
Nick was grinning now, thinking back on all those happy memories.
“What’s up, kiddo? How was school today?”
Nick dodged Chad’s attempt to hug him, “Gross, Dad, you’re all sweaty.
“Well, I was at practice all day, so... the sweat monster’s gonna get you!”
10-year-old Nick yelped, abandoning his homework to run away as his dad chased him around the house, only for them to run headfirst into Ryan and all three of them to fall to the ground.
“First, Chad, go take a shower. Second, is that my black fedora, Nick?”
Nick shrugged, “You don’t wear it.”
“I do too.”
“Not recently.”
Ryan looked like he wanted to argue, but realized he couldn’t, and that made Nick laugh.
“Shush, little man. Ask next time you borrow it. Chad, again, go take a shower.”
“Sure,” Chad stood up, “Meanwhile, you packed your things, right Nick?”
Nick nodded proudly, “Yup.”
“Great. Reunion’s tomorrow, so we’re flying to Albuquerque tonight.”
Should be fun,” Ryan added, “I think it’ll be the first time the whole gang’s in one place since graduation. Cause Sharpay missed the first year, Zeke’s flight got cancelled the second...”
“Yeah, it’ll be good to see everyone.”
Nick tilted his head, “Why’s everybody coming this year?”
As far as he knew, there was nothing special about a 6-year reunion. Or 2014. And the former Wildcats were all pretty busy most of the time, being the successful people that they were. If someone couldn’t make it, it wasn’t like the others would hold it against them.
Nick’s dads exchanged a glance and he realized they were hiding something. He wasn’t sure exactly what, but...
“What’s so special about this year?” he asked, “Don’t say nothing. I can tell it’s not nothing.”
They had another silent conversation before either of them actually answered the question.
“We weren’t gonna tell you until we got there,” Ryan admitted, “Cause it’s kind of a surprise, but you’re gonna be spending some time with Aunt Sharpay this summer.”
“Or Troy and Gabriella,” Chad added, “We made her promise she’d drive you over there if you got tired of her.”
Nick couldn’t see himself admitting he was tired of Aunt Sharpay even if he did get tired of her, but that wasn’t why he was confused.
“Why? Where are you gonna be?”
“On our honeymoon,” Chad answered, “Everyone’s in town this year is cause we’re getting married.”
They were clearly worried about his reaction, but they didn’t have to be because despite being only 10, Nick wasn’t blind. He’d seen this coming a mile away and just been waiting on when specifically it was going to happen.
“I want a little sister or brother.”
They both laughed, and Nick tried not to cringe too much at the sweat when they did a family group hug.
The chords he was strumming now felt suspiciously like some kind of love ballad, like the kind of 90’s songs that had played at his dads’ wedding. It brought back dancing with his Aunt Sharpay and various others of his parents’ friends. Stepping on more than a few former Wildcats toes, of course on accident. Kind of bitterly plotting the kind of mischief he was going to teach the others’ kids when the time came that he finally wasn’t the only kid anymore.
Of course, that brought back memories of that angsty phase Nick went through in his tween years, when he first started realizing exactly how young his parents were to have a kid his age and questioning if they ever would’ve taken him in if there was another option.
That hadn’t been a fun train of thought. The mood of the music dipped in response, corresponding to the anxiety Nick had felt about how his dads had adopted him because they felt like they had to, not because they wanted to. That phase had ended when he decided it didn’t matter as long as they wanted him now, but it had influenced how he’d acted around Lizzie when they first met.
Lizzie had been almost 4 when they adopted her into the family, an orphan like Nick who’s parents had died in a car crash. Now, of course, she was a sassy 8-year-old firecracker who goaded him into playing with her instead of doing his homework, but she’d been a lot more skittish when she was younger. And tween Nick had always tried not to act cold to her, but it wasn’t like he knew anything about being a big brother at the time and he didn’t always succeed.
The music took on a tune almost like a sadder, more complicated version of a child’s nursery rhyme.
Lizzie was a tiny person, and despite the fact that Nick had been the one to ask for a little sibling in the first place, he had no idea how to act around her.
It seemed like that feeling was double-sided, with how Lizzie seemed a little bit scared of him, so at least it wasn’t like he was the only one playing an avoidance game, here. They were avoiding each other. It was mutual.
That wasn’t to say he wouldn’t die for her, because even if they hadn’t gotten much chance to get to know each other in the month since she’d been adopted into their family, she was still his little sister. Despite the disconnect, Nick cared for her more than he knew how to say.
But he really wished he knew how to say it, considering Lizzie was crying and they were in a public place and he was just very awkwardly trying to calm her down and look for their dads at the same time.
You’d think it would be easier to spot an NBA player and a famous actor taking a break from their careers to take their kids to Disneyland.
Nick knew that in the event he got lost, he was supposed to stay in one place so that they could find him, but staying in one place was a lot less daunting when he wasn’t trying to comfort a crying 4-year-old.
“Shh, Lizzie, they’re gonna come find us,” he said, rubbing her back and trying to talk calm, “You’ll see. They’re looking for us right now.”
He didn’t say how he struggled with the thought that if it came down to it and something dangerous happened and they had to choose between looking for Lizzie and looking for him, he didn’t know what their dads would choose.
Nick shoved those thoughts down and tried to say more comforting things, but Lizzie just wouldn’t stop crying. The noise of the crowd definitely was not helping, only stressing her out more. Nick had no idea how to calm her down, except... maybe to distract her?
“Hey, Lizzie, can you tell me your favorite princess?”
Lizzie sniffled, looking up at him with way too much of a look like a kicked puppy.
“Cinderella,” she said in her tiny little voice.
“I like Cinderella, too,” he agreed, “Yeah. You know what Cinderella likes to do? She likes to dance. We’re gonna dance, okay? You can stand on my feet.”
Lizzie stood up, stepping up to stand on Nick’s shoes, and he hummed a Disney princess song, just swaying around in a circle and holding his little sister’s hands.
To, honestly, his absolute shock, it actually seemed to be working. She wasn’t crying anymore, at least, and she actually seemed to be calming down.
Nick made a mental note that princess dance parties were a good thing to do with small children.
Naturally, the guitar shifted to sound like the kind of emo music Nick was listening to in middle school, around the time when he first met Carrie and Julie and Flynn and the guys on the lacrosse team. A few bars sounded suspiciously like the showtunes his dad had showed him at that age, too, in an attempt to get him into theatre.
It wasn’t that Nick didn’t enjoy theatre, but he still preferred music to acting. He and his lacrosse buddies did do team-building parties where they watched musicals and danced and sang to them, though.
Those parties usually ended up being at Nick’s house, given that it was big and all the guys had pretty much become honorary additional big brothers to Lizzie anyway.
Also, given that Los Feliz was most known for its music program and definitely not for its sports, the guys all thought Ryan was as cool as Chad. And even though most of them had supportive parents of their own, the good half of the team that wasn’t straight seemed to find it reassuring that two gay men could be happy and raise a family together.
And despite the time conflict it created, they were all super supportive when Nick took up guitar.
The song he was playing now sounded a lot like the beginner songs he’d learned when he first discovered his flair for the intrument.
“Dude, you’re gonna get all the girls now.”
Nick laughed, “Bro, we’re only freshmen!”
“But girls like guys who can play guitar!”
“Tyler, you’re gay!”
“I still know girls find guitar attractive!”
“He’s right,” Ethan agreed, laughing, “Girls like guitars.”
“Oddly enough, boys like ‘em too,” Anthony chimed in, “I mean I know you’re straight, Nick, but...”
The thing was, Nick wasn’t completely sure he was. He knew 14 was about the age a lot of people started to figure out their sexualities, and lately... he’d found himself getting butterflies as much when Tyler actually managed to score in their games or Kai showed off his percussion skills in marching band as when Carrie let him tag along to her practices with her band and attacked every dance move or Julie played piano and sang with that amazing voice of hers.
The realization didn’t really scare him or anything. Nick guessed he’d known for a while, but just hadn’t put a label on it even in his head until now.
“I think I’m pan,” he admitted, “Like, pansexual.”
“Amen, bro,” Kai said with zero hesitation, “Girls are cute, boys are cute, nonbinary kids are cute, it’s whatever.”
Nick laughed and accepted a high five.
“Yeah, thanks for telling us,” Ethan agreed, “Not that it really matters, but let us know if anybody gives you trouble.”
Tyler nodded solemnly, “They’ll rue the day they messed with the Los Feliz lacrosse team.”
“Of course, ignoring the fact that none of us are very intimidating.”
“Oh, shut up, Chase.”
They all groaned, and Kai grabbed the TV remote to turn something on and tune out the logical person in the room.
“We lose every game,” Chase pointed out defensively, “I mean, no hate, Nick. Being pan is totally pantastic, but—“
They all laughed too much for him to finish that sentence, at which point Nick’s dads entered the room.
“Keep it down, boys, Lizzie’s asleep,” Chad scolded quietly.
All the boys apologized quietly and Kai turned the volume on the beginning of Tangled down.
“What’s so funny, anyway?” Ryan asked.
Nick grinned up at him, “I’m pansexual, dad.”
“Oh. Okay, cool. Want me to buy you a pan flag?”
“Look!” Luke exclaimed suddenly, almost making Nick lose focus and stop playing.
The darkness was getting lighter, the shadows receding. They were standing back on the stage at the high school and Nick wasn’t feeling hopeless anymore. It was still darker than it would normally be, but barely.
“You’re doing it! Keep going!”
The memories became shorter and more random, but Nick dug deep into his emotions and played harder, bringing back—
“Lizzie, you’re getting too big to stand on my feet!”
“Maybe you should grow faster!”
and
“Carrie... uh... would you want to maybe go out sometime? Like to a movie?”
“Um... yeah. Sure, why not?”
and
“God, I really feel for Julie. I remember how bad it hurt when I lost my mom.”
“You’d think she’d realize there’s no better way to channel your feelings than through music.”
“Carrie—“
“I’m just saying, we both know how it feels to lose mothers, and did Julie come to either of us for advice? No. She’s pushed away everyone except Flynn. I feel for her too, but I’m done trying to help when she clearly isn’t willing to accept it.”
and
“Carrie wasn’t helping, Nick. Maybe she meant to, but she was pushing way too hard. She of all people should know how deeply Julie feels things.”
“Flynn, I didn’t mean to—“
“I know. Unlike your girlfriend, you actually care about people.”
and
“I want a puppy.”
“I agree with Lizzie that we should get a puppy.”
“Hmm, Ryan, what do you think? Should we get the kids a puppy?”
“I think we should wait until I’m home from tour and then we should absolutely get a puppy.”
and
“She’s not bad, Tyler, just stressed out. You and the guys keep acting like she’s demon spawn, but the fact is that Carrie’s human. She makes mistakes and tries to play them off so people will keep thinking she’s perfect. She’s got the world watching her every move and I know what it’s like. It’s not easy having a famous parent, especially since she’s a performer with a radically different style than the shadow she’s trying to break out of.”
“I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m saying she said yes to being your girlfriend because you’re both popular and therefore make sense together. She doesn’t like you. I’m pretty sure Carrie doesn’t even like guys and is just too scared to come out and go after someone she actually wants. Plus, she talks down to you, like, all the time. I’m gonna stay your friend no matter what, but you have to see that yeah, maybe Carrie’s got it tough, but she’s not good for you and it doesn’t seem like she even wants to be.”
and
“This isn’t working out. I think we should to break up.”
“You think we should, or you want to break up because you have a crush on Julie?”
“What about your crush on Flynn?”
“What?! I do not have a crush on—“
“I know you well enough to know, Carrie, so cut the crap. I’m not stupid. You and me never really felt that way about each other and we both know it. We were together because it was convenient and it was easier than making a move on someone one of us actually had feelings for.
“Fine. Just try not to run back to me if you chicken out from pursuing a real, heart-stopping, complicated crush again. It’d be embarrassing to make the same mistake twice.”
and
“Julie is totally into you, man.”
“Shut up, Kai.”
“I mean not that I’d know, but she’s cute, right?”
“Shut up, Tyler.”
and
“Julie rejected me. She has a crush on the guitarist in her band.”
“Oh, dang. That’s rough, kiddo.”
“It’s fine, dad. It’s really on me. She had a crush on me for a while, but I was too occupied with Carrie to pay attention. And besides, I know high school relationships rarely last forever, so...”
“Hey, look at who you’re talking to. If you really like Julie, she’s worth one more try. You know, buy her some flowers and give it one last shot. But if she says no...”
“Respect that and leave her alone, I know.”
With one last chord, a terrified tri-tone that represented Nick’s fear when Caleb first possessed him, the shadows fully disapated, leaving Nick in a well-lit, very familiar theatre.
He wasn’t afraid anymore. He had his friends and his sister and his dads behind him, with him no matter what.
And Nick still wasn’t a hundred percent sure how that had just worked, but he could feel Caleb’s hold over him disappearing. The stage was fading not because he was getting shoved down out of control, but because he was regaining control of where his body was in real life.
“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Luke said with a grin, “Good luck.”
He poofed away, and Nick found himself in that club Caleb had manifested when he won the first fight for control. He guessed the ghost had snuck him here between lacrosse practice and curfew.
There were a bunch of 20-somethings in brightly colored costumes who seemed to be practicing a dance nearby, but none of them were paying him any mind. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Caleb was there, though Nick couldn’t feel him in his head anymore.
Whatever. He could see the exit from here, and from there he could find Julie and her band and help them beat that crazy dead magician.
Well, maybe he should go home first, and see his little sister. Find his phone and call the guys for a musical watch party as soon as possible. Definitely hug his dads, since the Broadway musical one of them was touring in was in town.
Nick knew he couldn’t tell them how he’d won a guitar battle for his soul, but he could enjoy that victory by himself, too.
19 notes · View notes
atths--twice · 4 years
Text
A Blessing Doubled
Scully and Mulder are approached separately by Rachel and Skinner. Worried that it may be bad news, they are both pleasantly surprised to find that is not the case
I have had this plan in my head for... at least a year and a half. Once I knew that I wanted Rachel and Skinner together, I had their whole relationship planned out. 
I hope you enjoy this new journey in their lives, as told through Scully and Mulder's eyes. ❤.
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Chapter One 
March 2021
Scully pulled up to the coffee shop and smiled as she sighed happily. It had been such a long since she had been out, on her own, and she was looking forward to it very much.
Turning off the car, she unplugged her phone and began to gather her things. She put on her black mask with a single bright blue butterfly, which she had purchased solely because Faith had liked it, smiling and touching it softly. She got out of the car and glanced around, looking for Rachel.
They were meeting up at her request and Scully felt a bit nervous as to why, worried that something had happened. It had only been a few months since she and Skinner had gotten married, and her request to see Scully alone had raised a red flag.
“God, I hope they aren’t moving. Or  something worse,” she said quietly to herself as she locked the car. Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the sidewalk, her hands in her pockets, looking back and forth and smiling when she saw Rachel heading toward her.
When Rachel saw her, she paused for a second and then continued walking. Scully could not see her mouth, but she knew Rachel was smiling by the way her eyes crinkled. Letting others pass by her, she finally arrived and Scully smiled.
“Hello,” she said, taking in Rachel’s stylish black coat, her hair still dark brown with burgundy highlights.
“Dana, it’s great to see you, as always,” Rachel responded, touching her elbow. “How are you?”
“I’m here. On my own. Just. Me.” She stretched her arms out and closed her eyes briefly. “I can’t remember the last time that happened.” Rachel laughed and Scully smiled. “Please don’t get me wrong, I love them both, but… time on my own is hard to come by these days and I miss it sometimes.”
“I understand,” Rachel said, laughing again, and then she sighed.
“I’m glad to see you. Should we head inside?” Rachel nodded and they walked into the shop and ordered their drinks. “I’m so looking forward to this coffee. It’s been… too long since I’ve had this luxury.”
“Well, you do live far from the city,” Rachel teased and Scully nodded, as she took some napkins from the holder and placed them in her pockets.
“We do indeed. It has its benefits, but the coffee shops...” She moaned, thinking of how easy it had been to pop out for a coffee. Was that only last year? God, it felt like a lifetime ago.
Their names were called and they picked up their drinks, Scully’s mouth watering at the thought of drinking her coffee. As they walked to the door, her phone vibrated in her coat pocket. Checking it quickly, she saw there was a message from Mulder and it caused her to stop walking for a second.
Skinner just called. Asked if he could come over and talk. Both seeking us out? 👀
Her heart dropped, immediately fearing the worst, believing they were ill. But then, she knew if that were the case, they would not choose to see them, but stay home and let them know from there.
Unless it was a different sickness…
She looked at Rachel, who did not seem upset or uneasy. Maybe they just needed a break and someone to vent to, life becoming rough at times, especially these days.
Just needing a break most likely.
She typed back and waited as she saw he was actively typing a response.
We shall see. Enjoy your coffee. Bring me back a cookie.
She smiled at how quickly he moved from the subject at hand. His worry obviously not as high as hers.
I will. Do you want a pink cookie?
She sent just as a new message came in from him.
One of the shortbread ones with the pink frosting.
She laughed softly and shook her head, waiting for him to finish typing again.
Ah, Scully. 😂 Have fun, love.
She put her phone back in her pocket and smiled, glancing at Rachel who was waiting at the door.
“Sorry,” she said, walking up to her. “Mulder texted, asking for a cookie to be brought back to him.” Rachel laughed and Scully rolled her eyes with a smile.
She did not mention anything about Skinner coming to the house, wanting to feel her out and see what she had to say. They stepped outside and towards a table, but Rachel stopped her.
“Would you mind if we walked? I uh… I…” Rachel asked. “I know you were looking forward to being here, but it’s nice out, even if it’s a little cold.”
“Okay. That would be fine.” She nodded and they left the open seating area, walking on the sidewalk and then making a right, heading toward a nearby park.
Scully was silent, her mind filling with so many questions. Her stomach felt nervous, as though something was about to happen. She sighed as Rachel pointed to a large fountain ahead of them.
“We could sit there,” she said softly and Scully nodded in agreement.
They continued on the path and then sat on the stone wall opposite the fountain, the water falling with a gentle almost comforting sound. Taking off their masks, they smiled at one another, before taking a drink of their beverages. Scully moaned and Rachel laughed softly, holding her cup in her lap.
“So good,” Scully whispered and Rachel nodded, her eyes downcast. “Okay, it’s only been a few minutes, but the curiosity is driving me crazy. Is everything okay?” Rachel raised her eyes, looking into hers and smiled with a nod.
“Yes. Everything is fine.”
“You and Skinner… Walter… you’re both okay?” Rachel smiled and nodded again.
“Yes. We’re both good.” Scully stared at her and shook her head, not believing she was telling her everything.
“You called me to meet up with you… which I’m happy about… but we don’t normally do this kind of thing. Not just us, I mean. I’m feeling a little unsure that you’re being completely honest with me.” Rachel tilted her head and regarded her. “No one is sick?”
“No, Dana. No one is sick.”
“Are you… are you moving? Did something happen and you have to move?” The thought alone made her feel incredibly sad. “I have to tell you, it would crush all of us if you did. We would understand, but…” She let out a deep breath and looked at Rachel.
“No,” she said with a sniff. “We aren’t moving. Not… well, not yet anyway. But we might… we didn’t discuss that, but we probably should.” She spoke quietly, almost as if to herself, but Scully heard and let out an exasperated sigh.
“What’s going on? There has to be something.” She stared at Rachel and raised her eyebrow, her expression serious. Rachel reached for her hand and Scully squeezed it gently. “Rachel...please.”
“I had a doctors appointment the other day.”
“Oh, God,” Scully breathed, her eyes closing briefly before looking at Rachel again. She smiled and squeezed Scully’s hand.
“I know. I was so scared. I thought the worst. I was feeling tired, nauseous… I thought for sure I was sick. I did a lot of googling and I was convinced, aside from Covid, I also had many different ailments. Many ailments. All except for one.” She smiled at Scully and she furrowed her brow. Rachel continued to smile at her and then the realization hit her like a jolt of electricity.
“You’re pregnant,” she breathed, her mouth dropping open. Rachel nodded, tears filling her eyes. “Oh my God. Rachel…” She set her coffee down beside her and pulled her in for a hug, laughing and crying simultaneously.
Rachel hugged her back with one arm, the other still holding her cup and Scully could hear her crying. She closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head as the nervous feeling in her stomach dissipated, replaced with excitement at the knowledge of a little baby for the two of them.
“I’m so happy for you,” she whispered, pulling back and staring at Rachel, her hands moving to her upper arms, smiling happily. “A baby! Rachel…”
“Uhh… well it’s actually not just a baby.” She smiled through her tears and Scully inhaled sharply.
“What? Twins?!” Rachel nodded and Scully’s mouth dropped open as Rachel laughed, wiping at her eyes. “Oh my God.” She hugged her again, completely speechless, her mind racing.
“I can’t believe it myself,” Rachel said softly, hugging her back. “But…” She pulled back and set her drink down. Reaching into her purse, she took out an ultrasound picture and smiled as she handed it to her.
Through her tears, Scully saw the undeniable evidence of two embryos. Tracing her fingers over them, she shook her head and sighed.
“Oh, Rachel.” She looked at her and they both began to cry, hugging again and laughing at their tears.
Pulling back, she looked at the ultrasound picture once more and then handed it back to Rachel. Fishing in her pocket, she took out some napkins and handed a couple to Rachel.
“Okay,” Scully said, letting out a deep breath and wiping her eyes with a napkin. “I’m gonna need all the details.”
Rachel laughed and sighed as she looked at the picture and then at Scully, her smile radiant as she put it back in her purse. Taking a deep breath, she let it out and placed a hand on her stomach.
“I… a few weeks after the wedding, I noticed I was feeling really rundown. Tired and very emotional. I thought perhaps it was the excitement of the wedding being over and still being stuck in the Covid world. Just so much to deal with, you know?” Scully nodded, completely understanding how she felt. “It’s been a year now and I thought it was finally catching up to me. I’ve tried my best to keep busy through it all, with work, patients, and other activities, but when it snowed recently… I was stuck at home doing most of the calls online. After the last call one day, I burst into tears. Like… deep down from your toes kind of tears.” She shook her head and let out a breath. Scully touched her forearm and sighed with a nod.
She knew those types of tears.
“Walter came in and tried to console me, but I was past it. I just needed to cry.”
“God, I know exactly what you mean.”
“So after I’d calmed down, I took a bath, took some ibuprofen and went to bed. I couldn’t explain to Walter how I was feeling without crying, so I just went to sleep, hoping the next day would be better.”
“And was it?” Scully asked softly and Rachel smiled with a nod.
“It was. Walter had made us breakfast and in my office there were four small bouquets of flowers set around the room. Also, a bar of my favorite white chocolate was on the desk. I was extremely touched and happy… until I looked at the calendar and realized it was nearly Valentine’s Day and I hadn’t gotten a gift for him.” She looked at Scully and shook her head. “I was so upset and… it caused us to fight. A stupid fight, really. He said he didn’t need anything and I… I love him so much and I had wanted to get him something to symbolize that and I had failed.”
“Oh, Rachel…” Scully laughed softly and Rachel smiled, understanding that she was not laughing at her, but at the situation.
“We went to bed angry and in the morning, I apologized to him, explaining why it was important to me. He listened, but still said he didn’t need a gift. He knew… knows… that I love him and a gift wouldn’t make that any less true.”
“Smart man,” Scully said and Rachel nodded as she looked at the ground, her eyes seeing something that was not there.
“We were okay after that… a little more careful around each other… almost cautious.” She sighed and Scully knew that was not the end of the story. “A couple of weeks after that, I realized I’d missed my period and I didn’t even for a second consider it might be pregnancy. Instead, I thought it was perimenopause. I was tired, emotional, had no desire for sex, and just felt… blah.”
Scully smiled and nodded, knowing how she had felt when she was pregnant. Some days she had to push past her irritability and fatigue, feeling very blah herself.
“I hated the possibilities, still not even imagining it could be pregnancy. I just… I thought I was changing and didn’t know what to say, how to face it, so I pushed it aside, pretended to be happy and like myself again. Everything I tell my patients not to do.” They both laughed softly and Scully nodded.
“But that thought process didn’t last long,” she said knowingly.
“No, it did not,” Rachel whispered. Scully laughed softly again, taking Rachel’s hand and squeezing gently. “I made dinner one night, wanting everything about it to be perfect, and instead it was a complete disaster. I was embarrassed at the amount of tears I cried because of it, it being such an inane thing. Walter tried to calm me, telling me exactly that, and I exploded. I told him I was sure I was going through the change in my life and I… Dana…” She squeezed Scully’s hand and took a shaky breath, licking her lips and wiping at her eyes with the napkin in her other hand.
They sat for a few minutes, holding hands and breathing deeply. They each took a drink from their cups, setting them back down as Rachel nodded, indicating she was ready to continue.
“We fought again, worse this time and I just… I felt terrible and I started crying again, telling him I was scared. That he would perhaps rethink our marriage, us, and I…” She shook her head and let go of Scully’s hand to rub her stomach slowly. “He came over and held me tight, telling me that nothing like that could be further from the truth, that he loved me very much, and if something was happening to me, it was happening to both of us.” Scully smiled and nodded.
“Smart man,” she said again and Rachel laughed even as her eyes filled with tears.
“He is,” Rachel agreed. “So I called the doctor to make an appointment and find out what was wrong with me. They did panels, asked how I was feeling and gave me a prescription for anxiety medication. I didn’t think it was that, so I didn’t fill it, waiting to see if the bloodwork showed any abnormalities.” She smiled and laughed, shaking her head.
“They called the next morning, asking me to come down and I was terrified that something awful was wrong. Walter and I drove down and I kept wiping my eyes, unable to stop crying.” She drew in a breath and smiled. “A doctor came into the room with a huge smile and I was so confused. When he said the test results came back positive for only one thing, pregnancy, well…” She laughed and Scully smiled, remembering that feeling all too well.
Both times.
“He laughed, seeing that he had shocked us, and said we needed to do an ultrasound to see what was going on with the baby. I think that was when it snapped us out of our frozen state. I was brought down to another room and had to get undressed for the exam. Walter came in when I was ready and I just stared at him, my shock no doubt mirroring his own.” Scully smiled, but she felt a pang that when she had first found out she was pregnant, she had been alone.
Both times, she thought again and let out a breath.
“When the technician was ready, she did the exam and within seconds we heard the heartbeat. I honestly don’t know who cried harder, me or Walter.” She laughed and Scully’s eyes spilled over with tears she had not known were there. “We could see the heartbeat on the monitor and then the technician made a noise and laughed, asking if we could hear the heartbeats. We said yes and then seemed to understand what she meant. I stared hard at the monitor and saw there were definitely two separate fluttering hearts beating.”
Scully shook her head and closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks, knowing that feeling. Every time she and Mulder had gone for a checkup and heard that fast heartbeat, it brought her to tears as they witnessed the second miracle that neither of them had ever expected.
“I never thought… I didn’t think I would ever find myself here. I told you at the Christmas tree farm nearly two years ago that I was too old and now I’m two years older. Forty five, high risk, well I suppose double high risk,” she said with a small chuckle and a sigh. “I have a lot going against me… but I’m going to be a mother. A mother to two little babies. I… God.” She covered her face and cried, her shoulders shaking. Scully put an arm around her and rubbed her back, letting her cry and saying nothing.
She watched the fountain spraying water and focused on the sound of it, letting it calm her, hoping her calm would transfer to Rachel through her touch. Her cries began to subside, but Scully left her hand on her back, moving it slowly as she wiped her eyes.
“When I was pregnant, both times, but mostly with Faith, I had moments of crying over nothing, unable to stop my tears. It was actually worse after she was born, my hormones all over the place, but…” She sighed, remembering how commercials and certain songs would make it feel like her heart was literally breaking. “But, look at Faith. Every tear and worry was worth it to bring her into this world.”
“I know and I agree,” Rachel said as she moved her hands and took a deep shaky breath. “I have my worries, but I’m so happy.” She smiled through her tears and grasped Scully’s hand again. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“Me either,” Scully said, letting go of her hand and hugging her tight, smiling happily. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and she pulled back, knowing without a doubt that it was Mulder wanting to see if she knew what he knew. “Just a second.” Rachel nodded, wiping her eyes as Scully took her phone from her pocket and read his messages.
I’m assuming you know by now. Come home and bring Rachel with you. They can pick up her car later on their way back home.
Oh, and how about you two pick up something for an early dinner? I think we could all do with a sit down meal. Make a game plan.
Or two. 😉
She smiled at his pun and glanced at Rachel before she typed back her message.
Give us another half an hour here.
Putting her phone back in her pocket, she sighed and looked at Rachel.
“Can I see the ultrasound picture again?” Rachel smiled, nodding as she took it out and handed it to her. Scully smiled as she stared at it and shook her head. “So when are you due?”
“October.”
“Ohhh… same as Mulder and Faith. We could all have one giant party!” Scully said excitedly and Rachel laughed.
“Well, it will most likely be earlier. Lots of risks to consider, so…” She smiled and Scully nodded and then she saw her blush.
“What?” she asked and Rachel bit her lip, her eyes now looking in her lap.
“It was the magic of the tree farm,” she whispered and Scully frowned, not understanding what she meant. Rachel looked up and the smile on her face was different than Scully had ever seen.
“There is a little house on the property there. Not the one full of decorations and all that, but a real house. It’s small, but it’s there, though I doubt you’ve ever seen it. When I was younger, I would visit them there on the weekends when they would come out to sell trees. Howard had it built when the kids were younger, not wanting to be away from the family and not wanting to drive home late at night after he’d been there all day.” Rachel sighed and hummed with a smile. “It’s not overly large, a two bedroom cabin style home. My parents would come out and we would stay with them and their little granddaughter. It was always fun.”
“I had no idea that was there,” Scully said in surprise.
“It’s back a ways. A chance to have their life separate, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll have to take you guys out there this year.” Scully nodded with a smile and Rachel looked at the ultrasound picture she still held. “They let us have it for a week, seeing as Christmas was over and hotels were not exactly ideal. We… we spent a lot of time, um…” Scully saw her blush again and she laughed.
“Apparently,” she teased, gesturing to the picture and Rachel laughed, her cheeks still pink.
“I was taking birth control, I have been for years, mostly because of my periods, but of course for other things. Obviously, it doesn’t always work.”
“Not always, no…” Scully agreed quietly, thoughts on her own worries and troubles with birth control.
“I’m exceedingly glad that was the case,” Rachel said and Scully smiled at the picture and then at her.
“Rachel… I am so happy for you. For both of you. I know you must have millions of thoughts constantly racing through your head… but I’m here for any questions you may have. Elise, you know her, she’s an amazing OB, and I’m sure she would be happy to see you, unless you have a doctor in mind.”
“No, I… that was why I wanted to meet with you. To ask you questions about everything. I didn’t want you to take offense… but you were…”
“Older when I had Faith? I most definitely was,” she said with a laugh and Rachel visibly relaxed. “I know and believe me, I had my fears and worries.”
More than you know, she thought, but did not voice it to Rachel.
“I’m nervous, scared, excited, worried, happy, and then nervous again,” Rachel admitted and Scully nodded, looking down at the picture.
“As most women are, but one thing I know for certain, you will be an amazing mother. I’ve seen you with Faith, how you care for her. No child, or two children, will be loved more than them.” She gestured to the picture and Rachel nodded with tears in her eyes. “The tree farm… working its magic once again.”
“I think it was New Year’s Eve. We uh, well, had some champagne… a lot of champagne, and Prince was playing...”
“Oh,” Scully said with a nod. “Say no more. I completely understand.” They laughed and Scully handed her back the ultrasound picture. “A New Year’s baby. A new year, new start, new life… lives. It seems fitting.”
“Yeah,” Rachel whispered and Scully smiled as she stood up, picking up her cup and taking one last drink before throwing it away.
“How would you like to join us for dinner tonight?” she asked and Rachel nodded with a smile.
“I should give Walter a call first, see what he’s been doing and then we could come over.” She reached for her phone and Scully laughed.
“I don’t think that you’ll find him at home. He’s actually at our house right now.”
“What? He… he is?” She glanced at her phone and shook her head. “He didn’t say anything to me about going over there. He didn’t send me a message either.” She looked at Scully and shook her head again.
“It seems that the two of you just needed to talk to someone,” Scully said and Rachel nodded slowly.
“Except, I only told him I was going for a drive,” she said softly.
“Well…” Scully said, seeing that they may need to have a talk, both of them obviously worried. “I think we should do that- go for a drive… but with a destination in mind. Or two, as we’ve been asked to bring home some dinner.” She smiled and Rachel stood up, shaking her head.
“My car is here…”
“You two can pick it up on the way back home,” she suggested and Rachel smiled with a nod, picking up her cup and throwing it away.
“Well… then I think that sounds like a great idea.”
“Good.”
They put their masks back on and Scully hooked her arm through Rachel’s as they walked back to the car, a smile on her face, beyond happy for this new turn of events, not one worry in her heart.
As they drove home, many to-go bags of food on the back seat, Scully began to think of items that could be given to them. Clothes, shoes that had never even been worn, blankets, bottles, even the crib once the time drew nearer. She smiled as she looked over at Rachel, her hand absentmindedly rubbing at her still flat stomach with a soft smile on her face.
Boxes were already beginning to fill in her mind, the items lovingly packed up for the two small babies who would use them, already so loved, with six months left as they all awaited their arrival.
13 notes · View notes
rainsonata · 4 years
Text
Doppelgänger 15/15
Chapter 15: Connect
Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none Rating: T Word Count: 6,674
Summary: It was like looking into a mirror. What happens when one’s reflection talks back and throws uncomfortable questions? El Search Party struggles to find entrance into the Demon Realm, but Dominator has a plan.
Alternative Title: Dominator fucked up and now everyone meets their alternative selves.
AO3 Link  I  FF.NET Link
— [Chapter 01] [Chapter 02] [Chapter 03] [Chapter 04] [Chapter 05] [Chapter 06] [Chapter 07] [Chapter 08] [Chapter 09] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] —
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Class Notes: 
Canon Path: Knight Emperor, Aether Sage, Daybreaker, Rage Hearts, Code: Esencia, Comet Crusader, Apsara, Empire Sword, Doom Bringer, Ishtar and Chevalier (Innocent), Bluhen   
Alternative Path: Rune Master, Oz Sorcerer, Anemos, Furious Blade, Code: Ultimate, Fatal Phantom, Devi, Flame Lord, Dominator, Timoria and Abysser (Catastrophe), Richter
Transformation Path: Immortal, Metamorphy, Twilight, Nova Imperator, Code: Sariel, Centurion, Shakti, Bloody Queen, Mad Paradox, Iblis and Anular (Diangelion), Herrscher
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2 Weeks Later
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Rune Master
Red haze from the smoke and flames clouded Rune's vision. Everything was hot to the touch. The air was stiffening from the dry wind and the ground was uncomfortably warm. There was electricity in his hair that left the fire user on the edge. His mind was going to burst into flames if someone didn't put out the fire! Dominator snarked it was all the meat he ate before being silenced by Ultimate's glares. His body was overheating, Blade kindly told him and forced him on the side while the rest of the party dealt with Rosso.
Pain struck Rune in the lower part of his abdomen, struggling to catch his breath as he dragged himself across the floor. He hugged his stomach and straightened his back in an attempt to sit up to avoid nausea. There was nothing to support his back except for the remaining tree trunk exposed by the winds. Rune poured water from his canteen over his face. The fire user shuddered from the cold water trickling down to the base of his neck. Rune tilted his head back again to chug down the rest of the water.
Dead plants and tangled weed curled up at his feet. Was Varnimyr always like this or was this caused by Rosso's presence? Varnimyr was the same as Rune had remembered. The only difference he noticed between the different Demon Realms was that this one didn't know about humans until their arrival.
They made it to the correct Demon Realm, or at least one that wasn't already occupied by another El Search Party. As they traveled up north in the Varnimyr region, Rune kept wondering if Knight and Immortal encountered the same challenges and problems as they had. The only thing Rune was sure of was that Rosso existed across their timelines.
Immortal wasn't kidding. Despite his size, Rosso hit like a brick wall. There was so much anger and sadness coming from the El Master of fire. Every burst of flame and swipe was followed by the half-demon's pained screams. What could have caused someone as powerful as an El Master to curse everything around him? If only Rune was spared enough time to look into the source of Rosso's pain…
Forcing an eye open, Rune looked up to be greeted by haze and dusty clouds. Rosso's fires have hindered his view of the stars that once dotted the eternal night sky. His friends' cries scattered in the distance as he laid himself to the floor. His fingers felt numb from clutching onto his sword until his knuckles were white.
Warm palms pressed over Rune's, applying pressure to his knuckles before letting them go. Covered in calluses, it was a wonder how those hands could pull a trigger, but those hands were also responsible for saving his life among many others in the past. Phantom sat beside Rune with one hand over his destroyer and his eyes staring into the thin winding tower where Rosso was.
"What are you thinking?" Phantom kept his voice low. His eyes darted to Rune's with care in his words, "You've been quiet."
"It took us two attempts to get to the right Demon Realm," Rune laughed without humor. "We still couldn't avoid fighting Rosso."
"I think there are some things that can't be prevented even with prior knowledge," Phantom said. "Rosso was already here before we arrived. I don't know what his goals are, but it's up to us to take him down."
"You won't kill him, will you?" Rune asked.
Rune briefly caught a glimpse of Rosso's figure before being forced to leave by his teammates. What could have pushed an El Master to cause such destruction? The El Search Party managed to reverse their previous enemies from mind control in the past, but Rosso was different. He was alive and aware of his condition. Rosso actively screamed at the El Search Party to leave, resorting to violence when his wish went ignored. There had to be a chance to save him from his poor fate.
"I won't hesitate if it means coming out of this alive," Phantom said. "There are people depending on me."
Those that didn't know him well would have taken his statement as being cold, but Rune understood. After nearly losing his kingdom to demons, Phantom had learned the harsh lesson of what it meant if one hesitated to fight back. Delaying their next action by the merest second could mean a premature death to them all. They have followed Immortal's advice to split the team into two to rotate whenever Rosso changed his battle strategies - if mindless thrashing and crushing buildings counted as such.
Rosso was not to be trifled with. Despite having control over fire, Rune had suffered burns from attempting to breach Rosso's tower. Rosso's flames were demonic, impatient, and demanding. His skin was still hot when he applied cold water to the nape of his neck and the rest of his body. They were already struggling to fight back when the half-demon was using a small portion of his abilities. Immortal warned him what would happen if they weren't prepared to give it their all.
Half of their team was out of commission from the fight outside of Rosso's tower. His sister was leading their remaining team inside to find the El Master. Rune was half-listening to the occasional messages sent between team members. He was thankful for Dominator making last-minute adjustments so they could communicate with each other over long distances. The messages were getting shorter.
"They'll be okay," Phantom noticed Rune looking back and forth between the Hamel protector and his communication. "Your job is to stay alive."
"Not making sure none of us do something stupid?" Rune chuckled.
"That's my job," Phantom broke out of his facade and smirked.
Rune's heart nearly leaped out of his chest to the sight of the blonde man's smile, unable to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. He distracted himself by examining the freshly cleaned bandages wrapped around his joints. Soaked in an herbal bath to alleviate burns, Rune was proud to say he was getting better at prioritizing himself first so he could attend to his teammates. He and Richter helped prepare the bandages while Oz and Dominator counted how many people needed elixirs. They were lucky that most of their injuries were minor. There should be enough resources for them to last for at least a week.
"You're still worried," Phantom studied Rune's face.
"I was," Rune admitted. "Rosso makes Perkisas look weak."
"Was?" Phantom made note of Rune's wording. "What else is there?"
"We're already fighting Rosso, so there's no turning back." Rune said, "We did everything we could to prepare for this moment. Even if we fail, I can at least say that we tried. I have you guys to help me."
"I think I can live with that answer." Their fingers brushed. Phantom brought his hands back to his lap and leaned his head back. "You're not afraid to die?"
"Nah," Rune laughed. "If I was, I never would have left Ruben considering how many times I almost died. Gotta sacrifice myself at least once a week, right?"
"Not funny," Phantom growled.
Phantom gave him a look as if wondering, "Really?". The blonde was going to drill holes into Rune if he kept glaring at him like that. A lopsided grin found its way onto Rune's facial features, giving his partner a shrug and cocking his head to one side to show he was joking. Rune knew it wasn't going to work, but man was he going to try.
"You know being an adventurer isn't the safest job," Rune said with a more serious expression. Maybe joking about his own death wasn't the best way to cope, especially around his friends. Old habits were hard to break. "That's why they make so much money. They do the jobs no one else wants to do. Not even soldiers want to do it."
"That doesn't mean I'm okay with you joking about your death," Phantom said.
"I know, sorry."
Rune hated how lame his response was, how hollow his words rang. He wished he could say more than that, but he couldn't take back his words. Even if he did, Rune still made light of people's feelings. How many times was he going to ignore how his words impacted others? He was supposed to stop keeping things to himself and rely on others more, yet struggled to be honest about himself without making self-deprecating jokes.
"Did Immortal tell you Rosso's weakness?" Phantom asked.
"I didn't get it when he told me, but now I can see that Rosso was not completely in control of himself," Rune said. That much was certain from his enragement, sometimes crying to an outside influence with no name. "When his shadow appeared, I saw him covering his left eye. Do you think that has to do with why he overpowered us?"
"He's also an El Master," Phantom added. "We struggled against Solace when we defied him. Did you think fighting Rosso would be easier?"
"No, but isn't it strange that Solace barely mentioned him when we saw the other El Masters?" Rune grew frustrated, "I'm sure he has a lot to worry about because of the El Lady and the state of the El, but isn't it important to wonder what happened to his friend?"
"Unless they don't get along," Dominator interjected into the conversation. With a potion in hand, the scientist had a smug expression, "Talking about others behind their backs? I can't believe I thought you were a good boy."
"I can," Oz deadpanned.
"Don't scare us like that!" Rune twisted his body to pout. Couldn't a guy get some privacy for once? He crossed his arms, "We're talking about battle strategies."
"Like your distrust for an El Master?" Dominator cackled.
"I'm getting tired of nobody telling me what's going on," Rune sighed.
"Solace probably didn't think it was something we should be concerned about," Oz reasoned. "We already have a lot on our plate as is. Don't you think he may have kept Rosso's existence away from us because he didn't want us to throw ourselves into danger again?"
"You mean this brat doing something dumb?" Dominator pointed to Rune.
"Don't pretend you don't do stupid things too," Phantom wasn't impressed. "What about that knife-wielding cleaning robot?"
"T-that's different!" Dominator protested and turned pink, "I was testing something!"
"Already done healing everyone?" Rune stiffened a laugh to Dominator's shock of being talked back by the quietest person on the team. Although they lacked in battle healers, their team compensated by having a handful of alchemists. Natural resources weren't lacking from the various plants and rocks they found on their ventures.
"Nothing a few doses of elixirs and rest can't fix." Dominator was relieved to change the subject. "Is Solace obligated to tell you everything going on in his head? I'm not sure if he knows about the fire midget being here if he was so eager to throw us here instead of coming himself."
Rune wasn't sure if Solace was as keen as Dominator claimed about sending them over to another dimension, but his words made the rune user wonder. Would Solace find a way to the Demon Realm if he knew that Rosso had imprisoned himself in a tower? If one of their teammates had disappeared, Rune wanted to believe he would have done something about it, but he wasn't so sure after meeting Solace. He and the El Master of the sun were both Rubenians, obligated by an invisible force to carry responsibilities over the El. Although Solace had deemed him as a worthy equal, Rune couldn't shake off the unwavering restlessness he felt around the older man. Solace was a reminder of what human desperation could do to a single person and those around them.
"Regardless of Solace's intentions, we need to calm down Rosso if we want to get any information out of him." Phantom said, "Someone with that kind of power would likely know something about the Dark El."
"I can't promise I won't kill the midget," Dominator mused.
"Are you trying to get us killed?" Oz forced the scientist to jerk his head down by pulling on his collar. She hissed, "Rosso may have lost his mind, but he can still hear us."
"Then there must be two of him," Dominator laughed. "Because I heard him screaming about Elesis while I was talking to the priest."
More fire? Who are you people?
Rune ran his hand over his temples, that voice again… Rosso? His voice sounded so young yet ancient, easily centuries older than Rune. The half-demon's voice echoed like a memory ingrained into his subconscious, refusing to let go and forced the leader of the El Search Party to look into the faces of his teammates. A darkened blade covered in gold scriptures, Flame brought her Claymore over her head to strike a giant demonic eye covered in thorns. Fire spun from her fingertips as she led five other people by her side.
A row of grey thorns was blocked from spawning above their heads by Ultimate, who had summoned a dozen spears at her disposal. With the help of a few demon allies, blue flames rose to form a firewall controlled by Timoria and Abysser. Fire splashed to the side as Blade made his way across to slash through the barriers protecting the demonic eye. Green wind swirled as Anemos spun around into a high-jump kick. Dozens of arrows flew from her nimble bow.
Blood shot out from the demonic eye in all directions. Its shrieks caused all to cover their ears. Seismic waves riveted over the floor as everyone dug their weapons into the ground for stability. Its thorns shriveled back into the eye's core before it stopped moving.
"Is everyone okay?" Flame checked on her teammates. "Careful, it's getting restless…"
"That eye must be a part of someone who could very well be within this tower," Ultimate stated. "Energy levels have elevated."
"I think we angered him," Timoria backed away from the flames. "I'm not sure if there's enough time to retreat for this one."
"We need to let the others know," Abysser clenched his teeth. "We're reaching our limits. Els-"
"Elsword!"
Rune opened his eyes to his name being screamed by his sister. He rushed over to meet Flame and the rest of their shabby team, clearly worn out from the last battle.
At the wake of the demonic eye's death, the earth had opened up. A fault emerged from the depths of the Demon Realm. The long narrow tower once protected by its prisoner had split open, engulfed by violent crimson flames. Once the flames had cleared, darkness cloaked a towering figure rising from the horizon.
GO AWAY!
Towering at a height that was easily comparable to Eltrion, the colossal figure was composed of a material that reminded Rune of black lava rock. Darkened wings made of the same material expanded outward for the monster to look down at the El Search Party. Red horns protruded from its forehead, matching its equally red eyes hinted with an unworldly hue of blue etched into its pupils and the rest of its body. This was Rosso?
"Is that our demon?" Devi grabbed her spear. Hunger replaced her once emotionless expression, bringing her spear pointed downward and lowering her body close to the ground. The older woman gave a dark chuckle, "I won't let it get away this time."
"Find shelter while we deal with Rosso!" Rune looked to Anemos and Abysser, "It's okay, I promise. We'll come out of this alive."
"You better," Abysser laughed. "Lu isn't too happy after he nearly took her eye out."
"Ciel and I will do our best to heal everyone in case you need to switch out," Anemos said. "Watch out for the eye. There's a lot of demonic energy coming from it."
"Not unless we blind him first," Dominator grinned.
"I can help him," Richter said with a serious expression.
"Spread out and watch your feet," Rune ordered his team. He couldn't believe the scientist could find the time to joke at a time like this. Richter too? Or maybe the priest thought Dominator meant it and agreed. "Don't rush into this battle. We only have six people active and can't afford to lose anyone."
Richter nodded. Light shone from his palms, grasping around the spears materializing in his hands. Raising one arm from the side, spears rained down from above and shattered into Rosso's left shoulder, sending the half-demon roaring in pain. Red flashed over the already reddened landscape. The priest dodged a laser blast from Rosso's eye and tumbled onto the floor.
High pitch cackling roared out of Rosso. The earth rolled as a pillar of thorns erupted from the floor. Long shadows extended beneath Oz's feet, followed by firing dark energy to propel herself into the air. Dominator and Oz moved towards the center of the battlefield, out of reach from Rosso's spiny attack. Multiple drones were set up at the base of Rosso's waist level to fire lasers around the half-demon. Orange orbs from Devi spun around in circles before consuming the rest of Rosso's remaining pillar of thorns.
"Look out!" Phantom shouted to him.
A pair of giant conal structures swung from the side. They were slow-moving, descending onto Rune and spinning counterclockwise with the intent to crush the leader of the El Search Party. The runes on his body glowed as he concentrated and released flames from his fingertips. Smoke filled his vicinity to create confusion for the towering half-demon. Rune slammed his greatsword against the dirt as a launchpad to distance himself from the strange structures that could move on their own, perhaps controlled by Rosso. He could muse about Rosso's abilities later when he wasn't running for his life.
Silver bullets flew from Rune's direction. There wasn't time for Rune to look and see Phantom sliding over with his arsenal of pistols and an oversized cannon he kept from his early teen years. The blonde wasn't taking any chances and had them fired at the eye visible on Rosso's face, red layered with unnatural bright blue rings around the pupil.
Rosso didn't like that. His arms extended from behind the cliff where the rest of his body was, clawing at their team of six and howling. The left eye glowed. Red and gray thorns erupted from the ground up, threatening to pierce into the toughest man-made armor.
Phantom cursed loudly over the chaotic fight. Blood gushed from beneath his armor, pushing forward and using the last few bullets to get in between Rosso's hardened shell. The way he limped over when he crawled to the side was one Rune was too familiar with. He had broken a few bones. The thorns were stopping him from bleeding out, but they would need to remove them eventually - if they made it out of this alive.
Rune felt his hands form into fists. This could not happen, he wasn't going to allow it! He gripped his blade, forcing himself to breathe through his mouth because of the overwhelming smoke from his own fires and from Rosso's. This was what happened when one fought fire with fire.
"Keep going!" Phantom hugged where the thorns dug into armor and into his skin, "I'll be back on my feet in no time!"
"Not in that condition," Rune glared. "You're going to Rena and the others."
"You can't defeat Rosso with only five people!" Phantom argued, "Our friends barely stunned him long enough before he found us!"
"Arguing in the middle of the fight?" Devi backflipped to land neatly on her feet and turned to wipe blood dripping down her forehead. "I can't believe you're purposely missing this opportunity to kill this demon to bicker amongst yourselves. You must think you can win this fight by idling around. Move!"
Both men silenced. Rune grabbed Phantom and tossed his weight over his shoulder, ignoring the definitely-not-taller man's protests as he and Devi ran together to avoid another line of lasers. Rosso's wings expanded as he brought his arms to the side to summon a sea of energy orbs. The orbs floated slowly like bubbles and surrounded the El Search Party. Rune stared at the orbs in awe.
Rune blinked. The orbs have disappeared. His blade clashed against Rosso's arm swinging towards him, bearing down his weight and struggling not to get pushed off the cliff. Rosso backed off when sparks flew from his hands and surprised the half-demon. Flames licked Rosso's arm and traveled to the rest of his body before disappearing. Just enough to buy him time to run to the opposite side of the battlefield.
"How many times do we need to bring down this brat to make him stop moving?" Dominator complained.
"As many times as needed," Richter said.
Metal clashed against the conal structures rising once more against Devi, who had her spear extended and her hair turned white. The wind howled as the spear user flipped her weapon so that its tip was facing the floor, bringing her feet up and jumping to the opposite side to avoid another row of thorns fired in her direction. Her girly laughter filled the silence as Devi summoned orange orbs to fire at Rosso.
A tiny figure fought beside Oz. Cladded in purple clothing to match with the dark mage, Angkor assisted Oz in opening a dimensional gate. Purple bats flew from the portal and dislocated the arm Rosso used to summon the thorns. Rosso cursed at the woman as his form began to darken and lowered his head. His eyes glowed and the battlefield shone brightly.
"Did we defeat him?" Rune asked.
Dominator frowned and looked to his screens for help before his eyes widened, "No, you idiot. He was just playing with us!"
A small body rose from the collapsed rubble. Red hair draped past the shoulders and hid the right side of the face. The body was covered in black markings and the arms were colored bright magenta, wielding a scythe over the head. Rune recognized the figure. It was the form Rosso held when they tried to break into the tower.
"Is everyone alright?" Rune checked his teammates.
There was no time to listen to a response as he turned around to duck a scythe aiming for his neck. Great, now he was going to truly lose his head as Dominator always complained. Rune held his arms up to concentrate fire into his hands and touched Rosso by the wrists. Unfortunately, Rosso was also made of fire and used the moment to raise more thorns at the red-head. Rune was pulled out from the rows of thorns summoned by the half-demon by Oz, who was quick to teleport to his side with Angkor following her.
"I should be asking if you can still run," Oz gasped. "Worry about yourself first, silly."
"Hard to when most of us are barely avoiding his attacks," Rune said. "One wrong move and we're dead."
"Only if we get hit," Richter said. "I'll bring Mr. Guardrian back to Rena. I will return as briskly as the El permits."
Rune was in awe of Richter's confidence, never letting the little things get to him. He needed to ask the priest how to do that. Once again, Rune pulled out his blade to fight. His flames were eager to show Rosso what real fire looked like. Rune weaved around his opponent, only taking a few steps to allow Rosso to slide to the side. His friends joined the macabre dance in their own rhythm, spinning new steps with their unique fighting styles.
Oz and Angkor relied on each other as a medium to summon familiars to aid them in the battle. Bats flew above their heads and struck Rosso from behind. Drones floated the area from Dominator's endless supplies of technology. Forming into a triangular formation, lasers flew into a straight line to disarm Rosso from his weapon. Devi's eyes glowed red in bloody prance, swinging her spear to the side in precise movement as an extension of the demon-loathing woman. Her attempt to cut into Rosso's stomach at the midline was only stopped by the reddened scythe armored in demonic energy.
"What a dangerous monster," Devi glared at the half-demon with disgust. "You sure you don't want to kill him, boy?"
"No, we can't do that." Rune gasped. "He was crying for help. Something is controlling him. Something is…"
Rune's voice was cut off by the sound of his own scream. His blood sang when Rosso's scythe sliced through his shoulder. Red blood dripped from his pores and he heard his name being called.
Fuck.
He had suffered many injuries in the past. Some were worse than others, so why did this one hurt the most? His brief stay in the Demon Realm had strengthened his endurance of demonic energy, but Rosso was too strong. Solace barely held a candle against what Rune had witnessed from the El Master of fire.
Was there an end to this battle? Rune grasped where he bled, fumbling through the limited cloth he had to stop himself from bleeding. If only they had a healer, he thought in blinding pain. No matter how many times he wanted to tell Rosso he was sorry for the pain, his own had made it difficult for him to see past the battle.
Phantom was already out of commission and had joined Anemos and the others shortly after he was hit by the thorns. Fighting Rosso was barely feasible with a team of six when his sister did it, but a team of four? What was going to happen to them?
Footsteps scattered all around him as Rosso swung his blade, blocked by Devi's swift blade. It was impressive how long the older woman could withstand ongoing battles with such vigor. Dominator ordered Dynamo to switch to a different install to fly higher to release a rain of laser grenades. Oz dropped her staff to pull Rune to the side.
"I can walk," Rune waved his hand away when Oz offered to help him up. "You go fight Rosso. I'll take care of myself."
"And let you bleed to death?" She scowled.
"There's only three of us left because Ain left with Chung," Rune argued. "You need to stay. Ain should be back by now."
Oz looked as if she was ready to argue back, but stopped. Glazing over the bombed battlefield with pain visible on her face, the black mage nodded, clearly unhappy about their predicament. Rune didn't like it either, but what else was there to do? Rosso had neatly cut into their defense like tissue paper.
A woman appeared within his eyesight. Rune wiped his eyes to make sure it wasn't an illusion by one of those demon plants. Ultimate? Cladded in black spandex covered in white plated armor, she bore a strong resemblance to Ultimate. When Rune was able to get a better look at the stranger, he noticed her face lacked the same depth of emotions as his teammate.
"There they are!" Immortal exclaimed.
The swordsman brought attention to himself by raising one of his many swords as a guiding beacon. Rune was too stunned to vocalize his shock about his counterpart appearing. He was greeted by Immortal's signature grin, pearly white teeth and dried lips. Richter was with him. The priest must have shown Immortal where they were, although it wasn't very hard with the lasers and thorns flying in their general direction.
Rune's gaze switched back to Ultimate's doppelganger. She must have been Eve from Immortal's dimension. Unlike her rowdy teammate, she kept to herself and was silent with Richter, who equally had nothing to say amongst the chattering party. The priest made eye contact with Rune and acknowledged the rune user with a curt nod. It looked like Richter was able to bring Phantom to safety with no complications.
Knight appeared in good health albeit his expression suggesting worn and wear from the long journey. He nodded tiredly to a person Rune didn't recognize. A petite girl whose height was only rivaled by Timoria's ("Hey!"), her pink wavy hair reminded him of cotton candy. Keeping up with cotton candy as inspiration, the rest of her attire was in various hues of pink and pastel blue. Rune noticed a large amount of energy coming from the mirror bobbing next to the girl's head as she talked loudly in the middle of a warzone.
"Sorry for being late," Richter apologized.
"We were kinda lost until Richter found us." Immortal laughed.
"Elsword lacks understanding in reading coordinates," Ultimate's look-alike stated.
"Shhhh, I'm trying to look cool in front of myself!" Immortal stage whispered.
"You mean Metamorphy isn't here?" Rune still couldn't believe they were here.
"She was, but said she had business to deal with." Immortal shrugged, "Magical girl duties, or whatever."
Rune didn't get it, but couldn't bother to ask. His mind was on his friends, who were fighting for their lives against a corrupted El Master. The sight of his counterparts and their friends should have brought ease to the tension in his shoulders, but Rune couldn't shake off the fear that they were too late. He looked to Richter for help.
"What are they doing here?" Oz looked at the new strangers with concern.
"We're here to help," Knight said. "Richter told us you were fighting Rosso. It sounds like he's been giving you guys as much trouble as he did for us."
"In all fairness, Rosso isn't a pushover, especially when angry." Immortal mused, "Funny guy with a hot and cold personality."
Rune frowned. Why was Immortal talking as if he personally had the half-demon over for tea and biscuits? Was this another one of Immortal's moments of undermining things that were worse than how he phrased it?
"Oh no, you're bleeding!" The pink-haired girl tugged Rune's arm. Her eyes watered and pointed to his bleeding shoulder. "Why are you hurt?"
"Who's the kid?" Rune looked at the girl with confusion. He would have remembered someone who dressed as strangely as the young girl if they had met before. "Are you recruiting kids now?"
"This is Laby." The girl talked. Her voice was as sweet as hard candy and had to look up to make eye contact with Rune, "Is this one of Elsword's friends?"
"Yes," Knight said with wariness. What was up with this guy? One would think he had lost a pet rabbit in a fire. Too soon? "We met when we were trapped in the Demon Realm. We came here because Laby wanted to meet you guys."
"How did you get here if Bringer isn't with you?" Rune noticed the brawler's absence.
"I think Add gave the machine to Elsword as an apology," Laby said.
"For what?" Immortal asked.
"Elsword needs to have his wounds attended to immediately," Richter interrupted. There was irritation in his tone after what he thought to be too much conversing. "That demon is still alive."
"Right," Oz looked at Knight and Immortal. "Think you can keep up with us? We need someone to create a diversion while Richter and I remove the weapon from Rosso."
"Of course," Immortal smirked. "Why didn't you say so?"
Oz rolled her eyes but smiled.
"Laby, can you help Rune with his injuries?" Knight asked.
"Of course!" Laby waved her arms out in excitement. She bounced onto her feet and pulled Rune to look at his sorry state.
"Thank you," Rune lowered his head to hide the tears. Their timing was impeccable when they were down to a few adventurers. He couldn't have imagined his next meeting with his counterparts to be at the edge of a one-sided battle. "Please help my friends."
Laby's healing was gentle and reminded him of Bluhen, who wasn't with Knight today. He thought the priest would have stayed close to the knight and noticed how tense his counterpart was when Bringer was mentioned. Did something happen between them? Rune shook his head, that was their business to deal with unless Knight was looking for a second opinion. But still…
"Don't forget we're your friends too," Knight smiled for the first time since his arrival. "You're welcome to join us after Laby helps you."
"Man, how come you get two healers?" Immortal whined, "Ow!"
Immortal rubbed his forehead where Knight had smacked him. Laby failed to stop herself giggling from the man's pain.
Greatsword pulled out, Knight had the imposing demeanor of a Velder soldier ready for battle. Nodding towards the direction of the battle, Knight gestured Immortal to follow him. The swordsman pulled out his two blades. Sleek in design and balanced, Immortal struck a pose as Sariel ordered her Nasod drones to fly into combat mode. Richter looked to Oz for the signal and the two ran into the battlefield to join their teammates.
The cathartic landscape of torn-down buildings and the ground set ablaze was enough to bring most men on their knees. However, as Rune witnessed Knight and Immortal pulling Rosso towards their blades, he saw the fire light up in their faces. The excitement of battle in fusion with fear of uncertainty. Sariel's drones weaved along with Dominator's as they roped Rosso into using his thorns opposite Devi as she harpooned her spear into the half-demon's flesh.
His strength was slowly returning when a strong wave of power flooded his vicinity. It was coming from Rosso. Even those not sensitive to the El could feel it. The corruption had taken over Rosso. Rune stood up, suddenly finding strength in his voice.
"I'm going," Rune said. "They need our help."
Laby looked up at him in confusion, but it must have been his tone that stopped her from protesting. After much arguing with the pink girl (Who would have thought someone so tiny could be so stubborn?), Rune had forced himself to be content on resting, at least until he could move his limbs without wincing. He could no longer ignore the crave to return to the fight.
It was as if all of the pain in his body had disappeared. Maybe it was the strange food Laby gave him to recover or maybe he was delirious from the adrenaline, but he couldn't let the fight go on without talking to Rosso one more time. Fire lit up in one hand and his sword in the other, Rune calmly stepped into the battlefield to face the Master of Fire. It was time to settle this once and for all.
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Metamorphy
"Ugh, I hate snow." Metamorphy sighed.
What could be so important for the magical girl to be summoned to Pruinaum? Although it was barren in demons since most tried to avoid the cold, no amount of layers could get rid of the frigid wind finding its way through her clear pores. It was a good thing Metamorphy was the nicest and most patient person in the world, otherwise, she would have been very angry to meet up with the person who was so generous to invite her to the coldest place in Demon Realm.
Sitting at the edge on top of a tall glacial structure was a tiny figure. They were a single black dot to the naked eye. When Metamorphy teleported to the figure, she was greeted by a child. She made out a pair of cat ears sitting atop of the hood they wore and the chains dangling from the back of their jacket.
"How long are you going to pretend you're a kid?" Metamorphy asked.
"How long are you going to pretend you're nice?" Paradox snarked.
"Add, you requested this meeting." She said in her sweetest voice possible. "So this better be good."
She cracked her knuckles between the grip of her staff.
Paradox wasn't shivering only because of the cold, although she couldn't understand how the literal man-child wasn't freezing from how little he wore. Light flashed for the child to be replaced with a man in a body-tight suit. His hair reached past his shoulders and nearly touched the ground.
Metamorphy shrieked when a portal opened from the side and a frozen body tumbled out. Red hair sprawled out from the roots and over the unidentified person. Their hair was so long that Metamorphy was sure it could have gone past the ankles. A red Claymore laced in black stuck uncomfortably between their ribcage.
"Add, what is this?" Metamorphy gasped.
"A body," Paradox said as a matter-of-fact. "I found her under the ice. Aren't you going to thank me?"
"She's dead!"
"Her heart is still beating," Paradox corrected.
Metamorphy flipped the woman onto her back to press her ear against the Queen's chest. A faint heartbeat fluttered weakly like a dim light on a winter night. She kneeled down to frantically tend to Bloody Queen's wounds. They needed to pull out the Claymore to clean her cuts. Metamorphy looked to Paradox for help. It took more effort than it should have to pull out the weapon. It was tempting to toss out the weapon since it was rusting from excessive use, but she also didn't want to risk losing her head to a frostbitten woman. Time froze in place as Paradox unwound time to heal the deep cut.
"What are we supposed to do with her?" Metamorphy asked more to herself than the Paradox. The time traveler didn't make a good conversationalist most of the time and she struggled to understand the brat.
"Do you want her or not?" Paradox asked, "If not, I can throw her back to the demons."
"Like hell you are," Metamorphy growled and pressed one hand over her temple. "What do you want out of this? It's not like you did this because you felt like being nice."
"Don't you have some brats to pick up from their fun little fight?" Paradox asked.
How did he know?
"You never told me what's going on between you and Glave." Metamorphy said, "Why didn't you complain when he agreed to keep the timelines together? Are you planning to mess with time again?"
"That's for me to know and you to wonder," Paradox said. Cryptic as ever, typical. "Not everything I do involves destroying time and space, you know."
"You always seem to know where everyone is too," Metamorphy made note of how the time traveler always popped up whenever they were in trouble. Even more so, he often held important information they needed for any obstacle that got in their way. "Could it be that you actually car-"
"Mention me about having feelings for you losers and I'm going to throw up." Paradox interrupted.
"Of course," Metamorphy smirked. "Then you just happened to stumble onto Elesis's frozen body and asked me to come pick it up."
"Yes, and now you have a new problem." Paradox grinned.
Metamorphy could never understand the enigmatic man. Albeit childhood trauma from the short glimpses of Paradox's past, she didn't know much of the time traveler. Maybe it was for the best. There was no point in digging up painful memories when it didn't help them in the present.
She turned to thank the man but he had disappeared. Metamorphy groaned. Why did Paradox always do this to her? The magical girl was one hundred percent sure he lured her to do the dirty work so he could take his leave. Looking at Queen's still body, she tucked some of the hair behind the older woman's ear. It was going to take time to bring Queen back to the others before checking on Immortal. Metamorphy lifted the woman and sighed. Immortal was not going to be happy about this. Her sole hope was that Queen wasn't going to wake up and dart the other direction when reunited with her brother like the last time in Velder.
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