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denwritesandcries · 2 months

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Later you'll laugh about this – H.C

Pairing: loser!hazel x fem!reader

Summary: Later you would say that you only got into this stupid situation because of a cotton candy. PJ and a cotton candy. A goddamn cotton candy you bought for Hazel Callahan.

Word count: 4,3k.

Content: cursing, fake dating, pining, kinda angst, insecure!loser!hazel, toxic situationships, dialogues. lots of dialogues, reader having a beef with pj, idiots in love.

Note: This fic is supposed to have 3 chapters, I didn’t mean it to be so long but I couldn't stop adding new things to the story and now it's a series cause it got out of control. So basically, Hazel is a loser and the reader is a loser for her. That's it. That's the plot.

English is not my first language.

Coming across Hazel's sad face pressed against the precariously clean table you always sat at in the cafeteria, with her puppy eyes seeming to wander forlornly every damn day was becoming really depressing.

“I… I simply don’t understand.” Hazel starts and you let out a tired sigh when you turn your head to follow her gaze and find PJ gesturing to Josie in the lunch line, because of course she would be talking about this. Again. “It’s been weeks since the game and she just acts like nothing happened between us.”

Stella-Rebecca squeezes her shoulder in solidarity and you all exchange a knowing look without her noticing. None of this is really new, but it's getting more and more painful to watch now.

“I thought she liked me too, but lately she’s just acting like…”

You sip your juice audibly, absentmindedly nibbling on the straw in the box: “A bitch?”

Hazel gasps in alarm, “I wasn’t going to say that!”

You notice Sylvie stifle an incredulous laugh next to her as Isabel scolds you with a slap on the shoulder.

“Ouch! 'M sorry, Haze, but we've talked about this before.” You say gently, brushing aside a strand of dark hair that has fallen on her face. “PJ is a bitch. She's a bitch to everyone who's not Josie and especially to you, it's always been like this. You can do better.”

“Like who?” she whines and you huff.

Maybe it might seem a little rude the way you're talking now, but Hazel is your best friend and you've been having this conversation for months, even before the fight club, and it seemed impossible to give her any advice and talk some sense into her head. After the game with the big fight against Huntington and your group of friends grew, things only got worse, because now there are finally more people to hear about her longtime passion.

It turns out that there is no one to listen to you about your long-time passion for her.

It's ridiculous, sitting here next to your best friend, listening to her talk about another girl. The girl she likes.

Still, all you really take into consideration is the way her eyes shine against the sunlight streaming in through the windows, the way her hair falls in thick, unruly locks across her face, the way she rolls up her sleeve of the colorful jacket wrapped nervously around her wrist and the dreamy, yearning tone of voice with which she speaks so desperately about what ails her.

Isabel turns her attention to Hazel, looking almost apologetic: “Y/N is right. You have a crush on her since, what, third grade? And she’s being a bitch with you even after you guys made out in front of, like, the entire town.”

Annie leaned on her elbows to join in the conversation, holding a half-bitten apple in her hand indignantly: “She’s literally acting like a straight guy!”

Everyone at the table looked at her at that.

“What? It's true! She’s giving all those confusing signs: sticking her tongue on your throat after barely apologizing for calling your mom a whore, being nice with you for a while and then getting right back to her bitch act without giving you a word about it.” Annie rolled her eyes, “Aren’t gay people supposed to be more mature than that or whatever?”

Hazel shrank even more in place: “Guys, please.”

“Girl, what are you even talking about—”

“You could, you know…” You rest your chin on your palm, “Ask her what you guys are.”

Hazel seemed to suffer in anticipation just imagining this, “I don't want her to move further away and stop being my friend by insinuating anything. I just wanted her to be nicer.”

You shrug, looking away from her tiredly to unwrap your grilled cheese, “Then I’m afraid everything will stay exactly as it is, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, way to show some self-respect, Haze.” Annie added sarcastically.

Hazel dropped her weight back against the table, putting her face in her hands dramatically and you silenced everyone when you saw Josie and PJ coming towards the table, pulling Hazel a little closer and putting your arm around her back to push her away when PJ sat on the other side of her.

You change the subject quickly and you choose to ignore the look Isabel and Brittany exchange as Hazel gratefully leans into your touch.

“Why are you whining like that?” PJ asks, looking disdainfully at the scene. “Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

You thought you could get through the rest of the day, or at least your lunch, without any more arguments, but that unfortunately doesn't seem to be the case.

“Leave her alone, PJ.”

Hazel sighed, finally sitting up straight to cast a disgusted expression at the tray in front of her.

“I would,” she said, “but now my fries are all cold and limp and the texture gives me shivers.”

Already feeling another nasty comment coming, you decide to interrupt quickly, shrugging: “I’ll trade you for my grilled cheese.”

Hazel immediately brightens: “Really?”

You can't regret your impulsive decision when she looks so cute like this, pushing the package towards her and giving a little smirk in response to PJ's annoyed look.

“Yep,” you highlight the P at the end of the word, “I'm sure.”

Mind you, it's not that you hate the girl exactly. It's just that you hate the way she treats your best friend, which makes you not like being around her most of the time.

And maybe – just maybe – you're a little bitter, because you make a point of giving her a smug look from across the table to the sound of Hazel's excited exclamation of 'you're the best!'.

Your lunch goes without a hitch other than your sad fries and Isabel's eyes burning holes in your head and you're happy to remain quiet and listen to your friends talk for the rest of the time.

Isabel still looks thoughtful when the bell rings and everyone starts to leave for their respective classes. Luckily, the two of you shared the next period, so you could just go ahead and ask her if she had anything to say.

…Which ended up not being necessary, as Isabel pulled you aside with Hazel as soon as she said goodbye to Josie while you looked at each other in confusion as you were suddenly practically dragged through the hallways under Hazel's protests because that was definitely not the way for her to go to class – and your own too because, damn, the cheerleader had a surprisingly strong grip on your arm.

“Isabel, what the hell are you doing?” You ask, perplexed and worried, narrowly avoiding bumping into a random kid carrying a stack of books.

“You know, Hazel, about your problem,” she blatantly ignores you, “if you want PJ to actually choose to be with you and ask you out for real, you could, like, just make her jealous.”

You don’t know why you’re hearing that, “What?”

Isabel shrugged, “It worked for me and Josie, and we know they think kinda alike.”

Hazel stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, interested: “I’m listening.”

“Oh man.” You groaned.

Your head is hurting just at the concept of such an absurd idea, with the three of you standing in the empty hallway, talking about some crazy plan.

“Josie only made a real move on me when she saw me getting back with Jeff,” Isabel grimace in disgust as she recalled, “She got all tearful and jealous when the group broke up and I started ignoring her. That made her act.”

Hazel seemed to drink in every word of what she said, nodding her head at the reasoning as Isabel explained it as if it were the most logical thing possible.

You leaned your head against a locker behind you, crossing your arms around your body defensively. If Isabel brought you along for the conversation, it's because you're definitely part of what she's planning.

“And you didn’t bring this up when we were all arguing about it because…?” You asked.

“I would have said something sooner, but you two were so busy having a moment that I didn't want to interrupt.”

You gave the finger to the sound of Isabel's laughter and Hazel dismissed what she said with a gesture, even though you noticed how red her face turned.

“This is so stupid.”

“It’s brilliant!” Hazel grabbed your shoulder, shaking it excitedly, “It might actually work! What do you have in mind?"

Isabel shrugged, “You just have to, like, get someone to make out sometimes and show it to her face.”

“Like…?” Hazel asked, not understanding what she was getting at.

But you did.

“Like her,” she pointed at you.

“Oh.”

Oh, no. No, no, no, no.

“Oh, but no freaking way!” you exclaimed, face burning with embarrassment, “Don’t bring me into this. It’s not my problem!”

“But didn’t you want to help her?” Isabel asked, sounding too innocent and you realized that this was what she had been planning from the beginning.

“Yeah, with advice!”

This is stupid. This is really so stupid. You should have been in class for a good few minutes now, paying attention to anything on the board and counting down the remaining hours so you could put it all away and leave, because it was Friday, there were no club meetings to be at and it was your movie night with Hazel. That shouldn't change.

“No, she’s right.” Hazel walked in between you, shaking her head in denial: “It’s not happening. I thought about, like, flirting with someone in front of her, maybe making up a date or something.”

“PJ’s not gonna buy this. You, suddenly showing up with someone new? Very desperately obvious.” Isabel pointed out, “Besides, just flirting with someone probably won’t hold her attention long enough.”

She was right. Isabel was painfully right and you knew it. You two, by the way Hazel's expression changed. By the way she seemed to be seriously considering it.

“But I,” she stammered, “I can’t just ask someone to do that for me and use them like that.”

You took a deep breath, “Thank you!”

Isabel cast one last glance between you, before finally raising her hands in yield, “Well, it was only a suggestion. It's just that you guys already act like a couple anyway so I thought it would make more sense.”

She turns and resumes her walk down the now completely empty hallway – only now do you wonder where the hell the monitors were –, leaving you and Hazel standing there like idiots with distraught expressions, before shouting over her shoulder:

“At least it would be more convincing!”

Your movie night starts late and turns into a sleepover because you all got detention for being so late to your periods and now it's too late to be worth going home anyway, so you stay.

In all the years you've known each other, you've slept at Hazel's house more times than you can count as much as she has at yours, you know this huge place inside out. It's like your own home too. There's nothing weird about curling up in her ridiculously large bed, wearing an old sweatshirt you left there and a pair of sleep shorts she lent you, pulling the covers up so they wrap around you perfectly, and getting as close as possible with her laptop between you, playing some animation on it. Is not strange. It's familiar, it's recurring.

Except it isn't.

There's a tension, a slightly awkward silence that has hung between you since you left school and were alone for the first time since that conversation, that damn conversation, that leaves you nervous and upset with the expectation that something horrible is about to happen and change everything between you. Because Hazel seemed too quiet and thoughtful for someone who wouldn't do anything.

God, you don't like this, this stillness and how it affects you. You don't like how you can't help but notice the way her shoulder presses against yours every time she takes a slow, deep breath, how warm and soft her arm feels where it touches your skin, and how comforting is the weight of her chin resting on your shoulder. You hate it even more to see the soft features of her face illuminated by the blue light of the screen, making you squirm nervously because Hazel is all you can focus on.

And the thing you hate most, without a doubt, is the fact that she must not have noticed any of these things, nor your behavior in general. There's no reason to do it, nothing should be strange to her. Because she doesn't like you that way.

You don't pay attention to a single minute of the movie until it's over and Hazel is moving to turn off her laptop, snapping you out of that trance you've put yourself in without realizing it. She gives you a smile and stretches her arms above her head, tired.

The two of you exchange a few words as you get ready for bed, getting around the elephant in the room, and then you're in bed again, this time without any lights, Hazel staring at the star-decorated ceiling and you with your back turned to her, fidgeting for what feels like the thousandth time and trying your best not to make things even more awkward. Anyway, you can't sleep, even with the tiredness of the day and you know she can't either.

“Hey,” Hazel calls out to you in the darkness, her sleepy voice suddenly startling you. “It was, uhm, really crazy what Isabel suggested, right?”

“Yeah,” You replied hesitantly, turning to her to see what she was getting at: “But you can’t stop thinking about it.”

She hums in agreement to her statement and turns to you as well, keeping her eyes on the sheet.

“It’s just that it seemed too good to pass up the opportunity, you know?” Hazel's hand traces meaningless patterns on the fabric, “As if in those fanfics and books where these things happen, the couple always ends up together and, I don't know, I guess I just felt like I was finally going to give a step and do something about it.”

The way she looks so upset and frustrated breaks your heart and you resist the urge to move even closer and take her hands in yours, seeing Hazel sad feels terribly wrong no matter how many times. You want to help solve her problem. You wish the problem didn't even exist in the first place, but man.

It would be so, so much easier to just be a good friend and support her if you didn't have these stupid feelings bottled up in your chest. Make crazy plans, smile and wave and encourage her to chase the person she wants. It would be enough.

“Things will work out, Haze.” You say it instead, because saying whatever is going on in your head right now might just make everything worse.

“You're right,” she turned around again, gesturing with her hands nervously: “I probably wouldn't even be that good of a girlfriend anyway. I wouldn't know how to plan dates or give gifts, or act all cool and smooth when I'm with her. What if I'm too embarrassing? What if she found me too annoying and ended up breaking up with me?! I think that would be worse. Being romantic seems so hard.”

“I think it should be something unconscious if it’s with someone you really love,” you shrugged, playing with a loose thread on your clothes, “But, no, you’re not like that. I mean, I think you'd be more of the kind of girlfriend who makes thousands of kind gestures to show that she cares without even noticing it, like, writing notes, opening doors, bringing flowers or something. At least I’d like to get flowers, I don’t know.”

Hazel turned her head to you, meeting your gaze hesitantly, with eyes so bright and hopeful that your heart swelled so much it could pop out of your chest at any second.

"You really think so?"

"Yes." You sigh, “Yes, I’m sure.”

The weekend had been relatively peaceful, with you having returned home by the morning after a very bad night of sleep that you spent mainly staring at the ceiling with Hazel sleeping next to you, the rest of the day passed in a blur and now it was Sunday night.

Sunday night and you and your friends were all gathered at the city fair, some event organized purely because there weren't many other ways to entertain yourself living in a small place like that, but there was a lot of junk food and stupid games to spend your money on, so of course everyone always went to it.

Everyone except Hazel, apparently, since she's late and you and your friends are all gathered together, waiting for her. Oh, and there's a cotton candy almost melting in your hand from where you're leaning against Brittany's fancy car.

Later you would say that you only got into this stupid situation because of a cotton candy; PJ and a cotton candy. A goddamn cotton candy you bought for Hazel Callahan.

“Hi, lads!” And there it is the source of your teenage angst.

One look and you know there's something wrong with Hazel. You haven't seen her since that night, but she seems a little distraught, panting and with her hands resting on her knees from running up to you.

“Finally!” Sylvie exclaims, fixing the beanie over her head, “The fair started already, I want to go before they take all the good prizes from the game stalls.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you guys here,” she waves awkwardly and the group dismisses without further comment, you all heading towards the colorful event.

You walk beside her, noticing how nervous and distracted she looks, eyes focused on the floor and hands twirling the rings between her fingers. She doesn't seem to have noticed your presence.

“You're late.” You say, without the expected bite because you're honestly more worried than angry right now.

She squeaks in fright, making some of your friends look over the shoulders to check on you. She recovers quickly, however:

“No, I'm Haze.”

You let out a nasal laugh at the completely adorable, stupid, and alarmed expression on her face. Of course she would answer something like that.

“Here,” you hold out the candy toward her, trying your best to appear indifferent. “I got you one before the line got too long.”

Her jaw dropped a little before breaking out into a shiny smile: “Oh, you've got my favorite!”

You shrug, “Just don’t let anyone throw it away this time.”

“I won’t.” Hazel swears.

She seems to be strangely close to you as you walk together, shoulders side by side, your hand would probably brush hers if it weren't properly hidden in your pockets and Hazel still has that nervous look of someone who has something to say.

You turn your head to her when your friends decide to stop on a stand, frowning and placing a hand on her arm gently.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” You ask and she gulps.

“Yes, uhm,” she clears her throat, shifting her weight from one leg to the other, “It’s just that I really wanted to ask you a favor.”

For a moment you don't even think twice about it, leaning back on her playfully.

"A favor? You know I don't do anything for free Haze,” you smirk, patting her on the shoulder, “Win me a stuffed animal or a goldfish and maybe I'll consider it.”

She doesn't smile and respond wittily like you expect, instead she looks even more shy, shrugging her shoulders as if she wants to disappear and folding her hands comically with the cotton candy behind her back.

“Look, I know we’ve already talked about this, but please.”

Oh, so it's about that then. Seriously.

“Haze,” you sigh.

“Please,” she repeats, “I just need you to—”

And that's when things derail out of your control.

“Guys,” Josie waves, pointing to the others, “let's go before Sylvie picks a fight with the stand dude.”

You hadn't even realized how long you spent standing around talking, but now PJ is staring at you, looking somehow uncomfortable.

“Are you done flirting there? We have more things to do, you know.” She points indifferently.

Hazel looks pleased for a moment, a determined look covering her face, which makes you suddenly nervous. A determined Hazel is an impulsive Hazel.

You clear your throat, “We weren’t.”

PJ rolls her eyes at your response and then she approaches, with Josie watching the exchange hesitantly before taking a step back and resigning herself to returning to her girlfriend, lucky girl.

PJ is too close, in a way that makes that bitter, unfair feeling come back to you, she reaches out to grab Hazel's cotton candy, just like she did at the last fair you all went to.

Except this time Hazel stops her from doing it.

“Hey, don’t.” She takes the candy out of her reach easily, looking upset, “Y/N gave it to me.”

"So what?" PJ protests angrily, “You act like she's your girlfriend or something.”

Oh god.

Hazel looks deep into PJ's eyes for a moment and whatever she was looking for in her expression, she seems to find exactly what she wanted.

“That—”

Oh my fucking god, this was exactly the opportunity Hazel had been waiting for. The opportunity to make an impulsive decision that may or not ruin your friendship.

“—Is because she is.”

You look at her in alarm, grabbing her free hand and squeezing in warning, which perhaps wasn't a smart choice of action for what you wanted to avoid.

“What?” PJ flicks her gaze between you and your hands repeatedly, as if she didn’t expect such a turn of events, “What?”

Hazel lifts her chin and pulls you closer, as if challenging her indignation, but you see the exact moment her breath hitches as you open your mouth to question all of this, her eyes meet yours, nervous and pleading, begging you to just play along.

And then, because that girl in front of you is annoying as fuck, because your best friend is convincing you with her sad puppy eyes, and because you spent 8 dollars on some stupid cotton candy, you stay quiet and let PJ think whatever she wants.

“Fine,” she huffs and turns around, “Whatever.”

You feel Hazel trembling slightly against your grip and she sighs audibly in relief when PJ finally leaves.

“Dude,” her shoulders slump tensely, “Thank yo—”

“Dude?” You repeat in disbelief, dragging her behind the nearest empty corner, “What the fuck were you thinking about?”

Hazel flinches at the sound of your screams, letting go of your hand instinctively, the false confidence from seconds ago immediately disappearing.

“I panicked!” she exclaims.

You inhale deeply, “Haze, I told you not to get me involved in this.”

“I know, I'm sorry,” she looks away, completely embarrassed and you notice that she inevitably dropped the candy along the way as she reaches her hands out to grab both of yours. They're cold and sweaty against your skin.

You know she didn't mean any wrong and you can't stay mad at her anyway.

“Why didn’t you talk to me again before making a scene like that?” You ask, as softly as you can.

"I was trying! That's what I was going to ask you. I—” She lets out, “Ineedyoutobemygirlfriendforawhileplease!”

It came out too quickly and all as if it was a single word, but you're sure you didn't get it wrong.

Hazel keeps talking to stop you from protesting – which is exactly what you were about to do –, letting go of your hands and gesturing:

“I had even prepared a speech to convince you that it was actually a good idea, seriously! It would only be for a while, just a little. But I was desperate because earlier Stella-Rebecca told me that Josie told Isabel that PJ is interested in that short cheerleader who just joined the club and I wanted to cry because I'm losing my chance and wha—”

“Haze, sweetheart,” you interrupt, grabbing her shoulders to stop her, “Slow down, okay?”

She mumbles another silent apology, squeezing the rings between her fingers and you don't know what to do. There's a warm feeling in the pit of your stomach from when Hazel pulled you close earlier, almost protectively, when she stated that yes, you two were a thing, and for a moment you think about being able to have moments like that with her every day, in her acting like this around your friends and you showering each other with affection all the time and a yearning in the back of your mind to show her that you could actually be a good partner for her.

“It was… it was pretty ridiculous, my speech,” she begins again, “I was going to say something like 'come on, don't you want to think about this a few years from now and be able to laugh and brag about how you were the one who helped put together your friend with her crush like that?'” Hazel chuckles awkwardly, “But I think it sounds too arrogant.”

Hazel tugs at the sleeves of her sweater anxiously when you don't answer, it's been getting a little cold lately and she's wearing the sweater you gave her for her birthday last year. You feel yourself giving faster than you could think.

“You know I wouldn’t ask that to hurt you, right?” she questions hesitantly and you instantly know it's true. “I just wanted to show that I’m worth it.”

You sigh, defeated, “You’re worth it, Haze.”

Hazel looks at you hopefully as you take her hand, intertwining your fingers and pulling her into the crowd.

"Let's do this." You agree.

Screw it. Maybe you'll laugh about this later.

#hazel callahan x reader #hazel bottoms #hazel callahan x you #hazel callahan imagine #hazel callahan #bottoms x reader #bottoms 2023 #bottoms movie #bottoms hazel #denwrites

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the-s1lly-corner · 4 months

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CRP characters crushing on the reader 2/2

Placeholder opening here, check part 1 for the other characters! i dont usually write for zalgo because my take on him is... so... yeah... and hard to write for him, but the idea of this intangible godlike entity that can warp realities falling for someone is horrifying

Characters: Jane, Jeff, Ticci Toby, Nina, Bloody Painter, Zalgo

Notes: reader is GN but post mainly focuses on the canon characters, admin uses any pronouns for nina so if you see the pronouns swapping that's why!, heavy hcs for Zalgo and his part isnt really open for "it gets better and you guys get together" no his part is just... horrifying

CWs: zalgo is zalgo; ie non human entity does not follow human morals and is kind of... toxic and horrifying

JANE

I need you guys to bare with me because this blog has always been hc/au heavy with how I write characters but between all the main crps, Jane is probably the most likely to just.. be a normal person 90% of the time, so the chances of you and her meeting during a normal day is pretty high. She's closed off so you don't even notice that there's feelings developing on her end. If there is a difference it's just her being slightly more affectionate and open to you. She becomes even more protective of you, can you blame her? You've heard of the rumors about her family... She doesn't deny her feelings if you ask her, though, so it's a clean confession when the time comes instead of it just being spilled or forced out.

JEFF

He's so full of himself that he approaches you without thinking anything through because he's so confident that you're going to just fall for him. Makes a lot of jokes with you, some darker than others. Flirts with you up front because once more, he's so confident that you're into him that he doesn't take a moment to consider that you would reject him. Probably takes rejection the worst, at least out of the characters on this list. And that's on being on the run since your mid teen years, he didn't interact with many people because of that. "Oh you dig me" as you slap his arm because he said something dumb.

TICCI TOBY

Very similar to the other proxies, watches you from afar but he decides to interact with you sooner than the other two. He's wary, because he doesn't want to humiliate himself or screw anything up but he's so so so desperate to meet someone new who's in his age range so he's doing his best to appeal to you. Sometimes slips up because he's trying too hard. He can pester you and get on your nerves, but he doesn't mean anything wrong by it... usually.. You outright ask him if he has a crush on you and you can see him internally scrambling for something to say. It's actually a little sweet. Probably the most normal out of them all asides Jane, at least by Creepypasta standards.

NINA

Oh she is so upfront about her feelings for you! Makes you small trinkets and keepsakes with random stuff she finds. Very quick to approach you as well and make a friendship. Very chill if you don't end up returning their feelings, and more than happy to keep up a friendship with you if you want that. A yapper, too, so they have a habit of keeping you by keeping a conversation up and alive longer than others would. Custom kandi for you as well, with your favorite colors and some stuff they know you like! As an aside, Nina is a "cringe fandom enjoyer", so you guys can get into the same things and be cringe and free together! Not related to this post but have it as a bonus!

BLOODY PAINTER

He finds himself drawing you more than he draws his other subjects, and honestly its a little frustrating. You start finding some of his papers laying around. He approaches you so he can try to get even more accurate with his art, having the real thing as a reference is much better than relying off of memories of you wandering around town. Once the initial tenseness dies down, you might be able to get a few words out of him while he's drawing. "Muse of an artist" trope, a lot of the things he makes are dedicated to you in one way or another. His art is the only real tip that there's something going on, because otherwise he's good about swallowing and hiding his emotions.

ZALGO

Bonus character, Zalgo would literally alter the universe if he could to ensure that you're there and his. He can manipulate media, and create creatures.. I mean in my au he's literally the reason half the creepypastas exist... I WAS going to make a joke that he makes a stand in to act for him, but he's so into you that he can't stand the idea of someone else being with you... doesnt matter if he was living vicariously through it. Genuine psychological horror elements here with him warping the world around you in an attempt to get your attention and to get you to come to him. Technical cosmic / otherworldly horror (?) because he's something that transcends just about everything in universe. Simultaneously everywhere at anytime all the time, there is no real way to get away from him. Horrifying stuff.

#creepypasta x reader #creepypasta x you #creepypasta imagine #jane the killer x reader #jane the killer x you #jeff the killer x reader #jeff the killer x you #ticci toby x reader #ticci toby x you #bloody painter x reader #bloody painter x you #zalgo x reader #zalgo x you

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hunnitastic · 1 year

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🌸~Kisses and Confessions~🌸

||art by @/partycoffin ||

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Wally Darling x GN!Reader

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||Work is also available on my ao3 account ||

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Third person p.o.v

It was a lovely day in the neighborhood. You were sitting outside playing julies complicated hop scotch game while frank stood by reading a hook. Right now you were shockingly winning even though you couldn't understand a lick of the rules she came up with. "Gosh darn it! How am I losing to you so quickly?" Julie complained as she stomped her foot in anger. Frank looked over and scoffed. "Julie if (y/n) is so confused by your rules and yet still manage to win at this game then don't you think maybe you ought to change the rules and make it more playable?" He spoke keeping his eyes peeled to his book. With you hands placed proudly on your hips you let out a victory laugh. "Hahaha! Well, looks I win Julie! You owe me that cake now!" You beamed in joy.

Julie threw her hands up in defeat. "Arg! Alright fine you win!" She cried out loud and playfully slapped your arm. You let out a chuckle and patted her back. "Hey frank how long did it take for us to finish the game?" You asked looking over at the other who was very well invested in his book. "Approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes." You blinked in awe. "Wow it felt way longer then that!" Julie nodded in agreement.

As the 2 of you cleaned up the sidewalk and proceeded to doodle with colored chalk you looked up and saw wally strolling down the sidewalk, hands rested behind his pockets. "Hi wally! Wanna join me and Julie for some chalk art?" You asked as you waved your arm. Wally stopped looking down at your little drawings. He held back a chuckle seeing a doodle of frank looking like an angry monster. "Those look really good. I particularly like this one of frank looking mad." Wally hummed as he pointed at the drawing. "EXCUSE ME?!?" Frank yelled as he scrambled to look at the drawing. "I do not look like that! Julie!" Frank yelled some more. "How did you know I was the one who drew it?!" "Because (y/n) doesn't draw me like that!" Frank and Julie argued as you and wally watched them bicker back and forth.

"So you up for some drawing?" You asked holding up some chalk. "It seems fun but I'm afraid I might have to pass." You cocked your head to the side. "I'm on my way to howdys shop to grab a few things." "Oh! Sorry to keep you waiting then! Go on and head to the shop, oh and tell howdy I need some more glitter glue please? Julie used up all of mine for Sally's last play" you spoke with a pout.

Wally softly chuckled and nodded his head. "I'll be sure to let him know." He hummed getting ready to head off. "I'll see you later then (y/n)." Before you could wave goodbye you watched with wide eyes as wally lifted his hand, pressed it against his lips and sweetly blowing you a kiss with a wink. Your face flushed a bright red and your heart skipped a beat as you watched your neighbor walk away.

Since...when did he know how to blow a kiss? You don't ever recall barnaby ever teaching wally how to blow a kiss. And barnaby usually teaches wally a whole bunch of things. Perhaps you'd have to ask barnaby yourself.

"Me? Teaching wally how to blow kisses? Nope sorry little bud but I never taught him how to do that." Barnaby hummed looking down at uou as you walked beside him. Holding a hotdogs in his hand. "Really? So...you mean he learned how to blow kisses all by himself?" You asked slightly surprised by this fact. "I guess it is kind of shocking isn't it? Little wally learning how to do something without my help this time! My buddys growing up" Barnaby spoke as he faked a sob causing you to chuckle. "Might as well start getting used to it. Once wally learns something new he'll be doing that non-stop for days." You blinked slightly confused. Who would blow kisses every single day?

That sounds absolutely ridiculous!

Oh wow barnaby was actually right. As each day passed wally would continue to blow kisses to every neighbor he ran into. He'd blow a kiss at Eddie as he passed by delivering his mail, He'd blow a kiss to howdy after leaving the store and even blowing a kiss to frank while he was out catching butterflies. But for you, it was completely different. Wally wouldn't just blow kisses in your direction. Whenever he greeted you he would grab your hand a place a soft kiss on your skin. Whenever he'd pull away he would never let go of your hand. He'd firmly grasp it between his fingers. His thumb rubbing in slow circles over the top of your hand in a soothing notion. You didn't mind of course. It was rather nice to be greeted with a kiss on the hand. Especially when it's someone you fancy over.

Day by day you'd gotten very used to the casual greeting of the platonic hand kisses. But today was much more different than it was before.

You were at poppy barn helping her make sugar cookies for julies little tea party and sleepover that was going start in the afternoon. As you were busy mixing the dough poppy plopped down on a chair next to you. Dusting the flour off her apron with her feathers. "Thank you once again for helping me dear." You shook your head with a smile. "Aw it's no problem poppy! I always enjoy baking with you. It's much more fun than staying at home." You hummed as you begun to roll out the dough. "I'm looking forward to what the others will bring to the tea party!" Poppy nodded in agreement. "I believe frank told me he was going to bring lemon custard." Your mouth watered-down you heard the word 'lemon.' Frank had always told you how rich custard was and it seems today you'll finally be able to try it!

"Wow that sounds yummy. I hope this time Julie has actual tea instead of fruit punch. Last time she added too much sugar! I didn't get a wink of sleep that night either!" You huffed while cutting out cookie pieces. Poppy let out a chuckle, flinching when she heard the oven ding. "Oh! The first batch is done!" She got up and grabbed her mits and pulled out the pan of freshly baked cookies. "Now we need to wait for them to cool and then we can decorate them!" Poppy sung, her feathers ruffling in excitement. You smiled as you proceeded to place the next batch of cookies onto another tray. You hummed a sweet tune looking forward to the party and sleepover later tonight.

As the hours pass, and after you helped poppy stack the cookies on a bigger tray, you rushed home to get your sleeping bags and dress in another more casual outfit. Once you made sure you were neatly dressed and had everything you needed you quickly ran back to poppys barn. The two of you happily walked towards julies hose together. Chatting about you've been up to. You even brought up how wally has been greeting you with hand kisses. Poppys eyes widened. "Oh does he now. I know the dear likes to blow everyone kisses these days but I dont believe I've ever seen him be as gentlemanly with anyone else other than you (y/n) hun!" Poppy chirped. You lightly blushed looking at the ground. "Oh I'm sure he's just trying to be more neighborly. I am still pretty new to home after all!" You stumbled over your words.

Poppy squinted her eyes leaning her head down towards your level. "Perhaps it's something more than just wanting to be more neighborly hmm?" The bird teased. You chuckled and shook your head. "Oh stop! I'm fairly sure wallys just trying to be nice" you softly spoke thinking about what poppy had just said.

Could wally possibly...be doing more then just trying to be friendly towards you?

As the two of you reached julies house you noticed you were the last ones to arrive. Uh, you didn't think baking cookies would have kept you that long. After setting down the tray outside in the back on a neatly decorated table you noticed wally talking with howdy and barnaby. Your face wanted up when you made eye contact with your little crush who begun walking your way. Your heart fluttered once wally was a few inches away from you. "U-uh hi wally! Nice to see you at the tea...party....today-" you paused as you noticed wally leaning forward.

He lifted his hand and cupped your cheek. Tilting your head to the side wally softly pressed his lips against your cheek giving you a gentle loving kiss. Your eyes widened and face flushed a bright red. A few seconds passed before wally pulled away holding both of your hands, intertwining your fingers with his. "Hello (y/n), I'm glad you were able to come today." Wally spoke in his casual monotone voice. You couldn't manage to stare at your neighbor in the eyes. "O-oh wally, I couldn't pass up the chance to spend some time with all my friends!" You stuttered feeling wallys soft grip on your hands. You glanced up looking at the others droopy eyes and sweet cat like smile. "Ahahahaha-" you let out a nervous laugh. Wally tilted his head to the side. "Is there something wrong? You look rather nervous." Wally asked leaning closer to your face. You shook your head. "NO, NO, NO of course not! I'm all good!" You exclaimed out loud.

Good going (y/n), way to make yourself look like a fool!

Throughout the duration of the teaparty wally didn't seem like he wanted to leave your side. At the table while the others mingled over sweets and tea, wally scooted his seat close to your seat, your shoulders brushed up against each other. You listened to julies story about how one time her and frank where chasing butterflies and frank ended up rolling down a hill. You chuckled as Eddie held back frank from tackling julie to the ground for bringing up the story while poppy and howdy panicked at the scene.

As soon as night time fell and everyone cleaned up outside the rest of the gang set up their sleeping bags in the living room. Of course some furniture had to be moved around to make enough space for poppy, barnaby and howdy to all fit in. But once everything was set up, Sally rushed to set up a pillow fort for her special puppet shadow show. She's been working on it for days just for this special occasion and she's been very eager to show off her skills!

Crawling underneath the fort and finding a comfortable position to sit in you waited for the show to start. You chatted with howdy about his day. He told you about his massive shipment he received early in the morning that took him hours to stock up on the shelves. You promised him next time you'd be there to help. A moment later Sally crawled underneath the fort, a big flashlight in hand. "Ok guys! I finally found my flashlight! Now, gather around as I tell you the tale of a princess and her knight who saves her from a big scary dragon!" Sally exclaimed waving her arms up in the air as she plopped down in the ground.

Just as you were getting comfy in your spot, you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist. You looked behind you to see wally staring right at you with his usual droopy eyes. "Are you excited for the shadow puppets (y/n)?" He asked pulling you closer resting up against his chest. You were thankful it was ŕatger dim under the fort else wally would gave been able to see you blush like crazy. "U-uh yeah! Sally's been talking about it all week, I've been looking forward to...it..." you slowed your speech when you felt wally lean down rubbing his cheek against yours. "I've been looking forward to it too. I'm glad I get to watch it with you" he softly hummed pressing a kiss against your cheek once more.

You were extremely confused on how wally started to randomly become very touchy with you. You didn't mind it at all! Really, you enjoyed it but you still didn't know if wally saw you as something more then just a neighbor. Which it slightly frustrated you not knowing if he reciprocate his feelings back. Perhaps maybe after the shadow puppets show you'll talk to wally privately to finally ask.

You adjusted yourself in wallys grasp while the others crawled into the fort, while poppy slightly struggled she currled up behind wally. You looked over and patted your lap motioning for poppy to rest her head on your lap, which she gladly did. You hummed softly patting her head as the phppet shadow show began.

In the middle of the little show wally would sneak kisses in between. One kiss on your cheek, one kiss on the crook of your neck, one kiss at the back of your neck etc. You couldn't help but shiver with every kiss given. It distracted you from focusing on Sally's play that you flinched when she let out a loud "ROAR!!" Startling both you and poppy. Well that definitely woke you up. "And after the prince destroyed the dragon, he took his princess by the hand and rode happily into the sunlight. The end!" Sally finished with a bow.

Everyone clapped while julie hooted and hollered. "WHOOPIE! HOORAY!" she yelled furiously clapping. You let out a chuckle. "That was really good sally! I'm impressed you managed to learn shadow puppets so quickly." Sally proudly grinned. "Why thank you (y/n)! I bothered howdy for days as practice!" Howdy nodded his head letting out a chuckle. "I'll admit it gave me something to do during slow days. You've gotten really good the first time you showed me sal." howdy spoke before yawning.

Julie clasped her hands together, Startling frank who glared at her. "Alright I think its time for all of us to hit the hay!" The others nodded in agreement while yawning in synch. You let out a yawn as well and stretched your arms as wally finally let you go from his grip as you each crawled to your sleeping bags. "Julie why must you insist on sleeping next to me?" You heard frank complain as he settled in his blankets with julie snuggling up beside him. "Because frank! I like sleeping next to you!" Julie sleepily sung while rubbing her tired eyes. "But Julie do you not recall the other times we had a sleepover and you kept repeatedly hitting me in the face while you were sleeping?" Frank grumbled while julie let out a weak laugh. "I pinky promise I won't hit you at all! And if I do then next sleepover I'll sleep next to (y/n)" you snapped your head looking over at the two. "Hey- what!? But I don't want to be slapped in the face by Julie! She hits hard!" Frank smirked as he settled in his sleeping bag. "Trust me, I know." He ended with a snicker. You let out a groan laying your head down on your pillow waiting for the others to fall asleep.

A few hours had passed. You opened your eyes and peeked around the room seeing the others sleeping peacefully while frank was being squished to death by Eddie and julie. You smiled before looking over at wally. You reached out about to tap his shoulder when you paused. You began to grow nervous. You never had to talk about your feelings to anyone before other than poppy at times let alone wally. Would it be a good idea to talk to wally? What if he didn't feel the same way? What if he brutally rejected you? The fast racing of your heart got your nervous shooting up. You shot up out of your sleeping bag and quickly, yet quietly, ran out of the living room to the backyard.

You sat on the swing set outside. Lightly swinging back and forth. Shivering at the cool air that hit your skin. "Agh...what am I thinking? He's just being nice is all..." you looked up at the night sky. Staring at the stars that twinkled brightly. "Wally probably thinks I'm weird..."

"I think you're very lovely (y/n)."

You flinched hearing the sound of wallys voice coming from behind you. You jumped off the swing stumbling as you turned around seeing wally standing a few feet behind you. His figure luminated by the moonlight. Drowned in a soft light glow.

'He looks so beautiful...' you thought to yourself.

"OH-UM...wally I thought you were sleeping hehe" you nervously laughed fidgeting with your fingers. "I couldn't really sleep. What's got you up at this time of night neighbor?" He asked walking forward standing much closer infront of you. Your face scrunched up as you looked down at the ground. "Well...I uh-...the same with me. I couldn't really sleep either" you lied while rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet. Wally tilted his head to the side. You could feel his eyes piercing right through your lie. "Hmmm is that right?" He asked resting his chin in the palm of his hand while his arm rested underneath. You slowly nodded your head, refusing to make any sort of eye contact with your crush. "You seemed rather tired during Sally's shadow puppet play. I saw you yawn many times."

You hitched your breath.

"You seemed to sleep peacefully a few hours ago before you woke up so suddenly. Are you sure it's because you couldn't sleep and its not something else?"

Your face flushed red as the embarrassment grew. He watched you sleep so he most certainly knew that not being able to sleep wasn't an excuse. You looked up finally feeling defeated when you gazed right into his eyes. You let out a sigh and shook your head. "No...it's not because I couldn't sleep." You turned around wrapping your arms around yourself. "What seems to be bothering you friend?" Wally asked. You cringed at the word 'friend'. "Well...I just...wally I-" you struggled to find the right words to say. Wally patiently waited for you to speak. You let out a shakey breath before you finally found the courage to confess.

"Well..you see..these past few days you've been...er...doing certian things that make my heart flutter. At first you only blew kisses, not just to me but to the others as well. Hehe I was rather impressed you learned how to do that without barnaby teaching you. But, later you've been giving just me all kinds of kiss. Fist it was in the hand and then it was on the cheek, my neck and- ARG" you slapped your hands over your face feeling more embarrassed than ever. "Wally... I'm just confused if you...see me as just your neighbor or as- something more. I can never understand what you do or say." You mumbled into your hands.

Wally walked up behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders and carefully turned you back around facing him. He reached up and slowly removed your hands from your face before cupping your softly. His eyes staring right into yours. "Silly (y/n). You're so sweet and kind," he begun, his thumb softly stroking your cheek. "I love all my friends the same but, you're much more different then they are." His smile widened when he saw your eyes light up. "I only begun to notice it a while after you moved to home. But I very much adore everything about you." Wally could feel your face heat up between his hands. "I don't think there's anything about you I could ever dislike. To me, you're the most wonderful person I've ever met." He finished as he went and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on your forehead.

A smiled painted its way onto your lips as you reached up and softly grasped his hands with yours. Your heart skipping a beat as you leaned into the kiss. All of your nerves suddenly disappeared. You pulled wally into a hug. His body going limp yet he didn't seem to mind it at all as you squeezed him tightly.

"I love you wally..."

"I love you more (y/n)."

While the two of you were outside having your moment the others had woken up and watched the entire thing go down behind a window. Julie happily stimming from excitement while slapping frank on the back. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!" Frank let out a grumbled grabbing julies hands and placing them down by her sides. "It was very much obvious that these two had a thing going on. However I think wally may have been a bit TOO obvious." The others nodded in agreement.

As you pulled away from the hug you glanced over and noticed the other peeping from the window. "HEY!" you yelled causing them to scrambled and fall. Poppys feathers flying in the air as she squawked. You shook your head and let out a chuckle. "We sure do have some crazy neighbors don't we?" You asked as the both of you began walking back inside. Wally nodded in agreement. "But I enjoy their company very much." He leans down to give you another sweet kiss on the cheek.

"But I enjoy your company most of all~."

||THE END||

[[OUAGH I hope I did a good job here. I tried to add as much fluff as possible so it ended up being pretty long. My apologies. But with this story finally out of the way ill be able to work on requests in about a week or so! Thank you all for the support! It means alot to me♡]]

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stargirl1nlude · 7 months

Text

I Only Have Eyes For You

LINKS TO DONATE IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINE: LIST HERE

Cop!Ellie Williams x Fem Drug Dealer!Reader

Summary: Ellie Williams is a cop, a damn good cop at that, but after spotting you at a party she isn't so sure anymore. You consume her thoughts and drive her insane, but for some reason she can't help but chase you.

Warnings/Notes: Mentions of drug dealing, reader is feminine presenting, modern AU, no outbreak, suggestive themes?, most likely inaccurate terminology for police work (I'm sorry), most definitely unrealistic situations, reader is possibly some kind of unearthly being??, Ellie is assumed to be older than reader, if this does well they'll be multiple parts and like future smut

Enjoy!

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Ellie hated house parties. She hated all these fresh out of college students still acting like they were at frat parties and having to deal with noise complaints. Tonight however she was showing up under a different reasoning. She had been given a series of anonymous tips that there was an up and coming drug dealer in the area and with one of these parties going on she was hoping to catch her person.

At the sound of banging on the door and bright red and blue lights coming from what could only be a cop car, the party goers had all dashed out the back door leaving you by yourself in the now abandoned house. "You've got to be kidding me" you mumbled to yourself as the front door opened up and in came the awaited police officer.

"Stupid fucking kids" Ellie sighed as she stepped over and around the solo cups that littered the sticky floors before making her way into the living room where a girl stood, facing away from her. "Hello?" Ellie called out to the girl from the large entryway of the living room.

You took a deep breath before thinking out what you were going to do. Pulling down your lacy plum colored tank top to expose more of your chest you turned around with a charming and slightly seductive smile "Hi there officer, anything I can help you with?" You asked, trying to keep calm as the woman approached you.

"Yes actually, are you the owner of this house?" Ellie asked, her hands shoved into the sides of her uniforms bullet proof vest. The house felt eery with none of the other people in it, the fact that whoever owned the place wasn't big on cleaning either didn't help.

"I am not, I'm so sorry, but is there anything I can help you with?" You internally slapped yourself. Why on earth would you ask that? You had one goal, to get out of here without getting caught and here you were just asking to get interrogated. In a better attempt to keep calm, you kept that little smile and looked over the cop before you, not failing to recognize that she was most certainly attractive.

Ellie took a deep breath. What kind of hosts would abandon their house at the sound of a singular cop car? These kids clearly hadn't grown out of college yet and it was making Ellie's job increasingly difficult. "Yeah sure. The station has been given a series of anonymous tips on drug deals going on in the area and I was hoping to maybe get a lead at one of these parties" Ellie responded, her tone serious and stern as she looked down at the other woman, she too noticing the other ones beauty.

"Ah, must be a hard job" You answered, just making conversation at this point. Your goal now was to either seduce or talk your way out of this so with a bite of your lower lip and an innocent look up at the officer before you, you started to execute said plan.

"Not really" Ellie responded, staying serious but noting the way you acted, she knew what you were doing but didn't mention it, filing that thought away as a simple 'she might be who I'm looking for, or at least know who I am looking for'. "So, have you taken or sold any drugs tonight?" She asked, getting straight to the big questions.

'Fuck' you thought, this cop was no nonsense. "I would never." You lied straight through your teeth. "You can even pat me down if you don't believe me." Why did you just say that? You were on a roll tonight that's for sure.

"Well it is a part of protocol." Ellie noted, slightly to you but mostly to herself "Alright this will be quick, arms out" She said sternly, gesturing for you to hold your arms out by your sides which you did and she felt along them before moving to pat down your torso, back, and sides. She then knelt down slightly as she moved to feel down your legs, making work down your calves through the flared jeans.

"Could've just said you wanted to cop a feel." You joked slightly, trying your best to keep with your plan as you saw her stand back to her full height.

"Let's keep this professional, yeah?" She responded as she looked back down at you. "You're clear but I am going to need some form of ID." She continued, it was late and the last thing she wanted to do was be here, desperately wanting to get back home and pass out.

You sighed internally at that. This officer could NOT see your ID. If she ran it through the system she would definitely see you'd been convicted of drug related crimes before and you'd be on the radar for this mystery dealer that the police department had been after. "I'm so sorry but I don't have it on me." You said in a more sultry tone, stepping an inch closer, putting your chest further on display for the other woman.

"You don't have any form of identification on you?" She asked, eyebrow raised in suspicion. That previously filed away thought being brought to the forefront of her mind as she took a step back to create that distance between the two of you again.

"Well I might but do you really need to do this? I mean my pat down was clear so why run my ID?" You said, a slight pout on your lips as you took another step forward running your hands up the sides of Ellie's arms.

"It is standard procedure." She stated, swallowing thickly as she felt your hands on her. "Do not touch me, I could arrest you for fraternizing with an officer on duty." She said sternly but she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy your touch, maybe as far as wanting it to continue.

As if reading her mind, you ignored her request, bringing your hands up to the muscles between her shoulders and neck, massaging slightly. "You wouldn't do that." You whispered, leaning completely into this seductive role, having a strong feeling that you could win over the cop. "So tense." You muttered lowly, kneading the knots in her shoulder muscles.

Ellie suppressed a groan at the relieving feeling of your skilled hands on her sore muscles. "You know this is extremely inappropriate behavior?" She responded, however not telling you to stop because it felt too good to ask for you to stop now.

"I know but it would kill me to leave you in this state, all tense and sore." You said back, whispering your words seductively into her ear knowing it would break her. You skillfully continued to massage the area in calculated circles.

"I could arrest you." Ellie mumbled but was yet to make any action to do so, not even attempting to grab the handcuffs from her holster as she let you continue your movements on her shoulders, trying to keep the relaxed noises in her throat at bay.

"You could, but don't you want this?" You whispered, your voice that of a temptress. A true siren in disguise as a human, luring Ellie away from her job to in turn benefit yourself and leave unscathed whereas Ellie would be in a worse spot on her case.

Ellie let a small groan slip, blushing slightly for having done so. She needed to put a stop to this but she just couldn't, it felt too good. "I am on duty right now." She said in hopes of reminding you but in all actuality it was more to remind herself not to fall for this and to stay on task.

Choosing to ignore that comment in hopes of finally slipping away from the cop you made a risky move. "Come back to my place." You whispered in her ear, your voice sultry and smooth, warm breath fanning down Ellie's neck. Your hands having moved to the back of her neck to massage there instead, your actions seeming almost to perfected, like each one had it's own specific reasoning.

"I cannot, I am working" She had almost entirely given in, showing her want for you as she relaxed into your touch. Her words saying something completely different from her body language and truly her own thoughts. She almost craved this touch and when you dropped your hands it solidified this thought.

This had worked almost too well, You dropped your hands back down and took a step away from Ellie. "Fine then, see you officer." You said charmingly as you left her with one final touch on her shoulder before making your way out, hips swaying slightly as you walked through the front door.

Ellie knew she should have stopped you, should have arrested you and brought you back to the station but she didn't. "Fuck" she said to herself as she rushed to the front door, exiting the house to try and find you on the street but you were gone. Completely gone, having disappeared into the night without a single trace.

Ellie was going crazy.

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a/n: First fic!! please if you would be so kind as to tell me what you think, that would be so helpful! this is a thought that has been playing through my head for like weeks and I thought "huh might as well step out of my comfort zone and share it with the world" so that has brought us here and idk I'm pretty happy with it

#ellie williams #ellie tlou #ellie the last of us #ellie x fem reader #ellie williams x reader smut #ellie x reader #tlou ellie #x reader #tlou #the last of us #fiction

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tbcanary · 10 months

Text

for arrowfam week day one: "ghost" and "grow"

(set sometime around ga vol 7, but not exactly accurate based on current timelines within the run. suspend your disbelief with me for a sec.)

There’s a girl sitting at Mia’s desk.

Not that that’s unusual, or anything. Mia might come from a family of famous caped crusaders, but the vigilante business doesn’t exactly pay well enough for Ollie to foot all of her bills in the heart of Star City. She has roommates – two of them, actually, girls who have known each other since college but needed a third while so-and-so is studying abroad for a year, blah blah blah – and they’ve been known to sneak in to use her desk so that they both aren’t stuck studying at the kitchen table like they’re in the opening scenes of a Dickinson novel or whatever.

The point is, people sit at Mia’s desk sometimes. It happens, and normally it wouldn’t bother her, even coming home from work this late. Even after she spent all evening cleaning up the cafeteria in the community center after some kind of Bean Incident none of the kids would blab about, no matter how much she tried to wheedle it out of them.

Anyway. That’s not what bothers her. The thing that bothers her, actually, doesn’t hit until the girl looks up at her. The hood of her sweatshirt falls back from her head, revealing a shock of bright pastel hair, and Mia doesn’t know anyone with that hair color but –

But she knows those soft brown eyes. She knows that dimple in the left cheek, accompanying the uncertain smile.

“Lian,” she says. “What. The fuck.”

And then she slaps a hand over her mouth, and the laughter spills between her fingers despite her best efforts. “I mean, shit, I shouldn’t — goddammit, Roy is going to be so mad at me for cussing, but I —what?”

“Um.” Lian shrugs. It is her, after all; her voice sounds exactly like Cheshire, somehow, but the way her eyes crinkle at the corners is all Roy. “Hi.”

Mia stumbles into the room, sets her duffle bag to the ground with a thump that feels more like an earthquake. She drops down onto her unmade bed and stares – not bothering to hide her astonishment, her disbelief – at Lian, somehow so much older, somehow exactly the same.

“If I’m being haunted, you legally have to tell me,” Mia insists.

Lian shrugs. The toes of her sneakers drag against the floor as she kicks her feet, hands gripping the sides of her seat. “Nope. Not a ghost.”

Well. It’s not as weird as it sounds, probably. Roy had come back, and Ollie had, too, hadn’t he? But Mia… Mia had been there when Lian died. Sort of. Or at least, it was her not being there that had done it, and she’d done everything she could to find a loophole, but there had never been one. Nothing. She’d been gone; it had sat in Mia’s stomach like a weight, like a rock she’d swallowed and couldn’t spit back out.

“Clone?” she tried.

Lian shook her head. “Mm-nn.”

“Hallucination.”

“Nope.”

“Prank?”

“Only from the universe.”

“Alternate dimension.”

“Maybe.”

“Well,” Mia said.

And then she swallowed.

And then her breath came out in a flurry of hysterical giggles again, a fountain she just couldn’t stop, and she dropped her face into her hands and let the flood come, let it pour out of her chest like an open wound.

“Fuck,” Mia hissed. “I—Fuck me. God. Lian, does Roy, does your dad know?”

Lian hums her confirmation. “He’s on the roof. He and Uncle Connor brought me to see you.”

“They’re…?” Mia pushes off the bed and stomps over to the window. She throws open the glass and leans out, looking upward.

Sure enough, a grappling hook arrow is hooked into the brick of her building with a rope dangling down. That must be how Lian got in. Mia should really start locking her windows, but it’s just so much easier to make a quick escape that way instead of going out the front door.

She doesn’t give a fuck about the neighbors, so she shouts as loud as she can. “Hey! Assholes!”

Two heads peek over the edge at her, one with shaggy red hair and one with a series of blonde braids. Connor, at least, has the decency to wave. Roy just raises an eyebrow at her, like she’s the one inconveniencing him.

Ugh. Brothers.

“What the fuck?” she shouts. “How did she get so tall?”

Roy snorts, and it echoes off the building next door. “Blame the multiverse, or something!”

“I can hear you,” Lian offers.

Mia waves a hand. “Shut up, I’ll deal with you in a minute. The adults are speaking.”

Lian huffs, and Mia can practically hear the eyeroll. As if she doesn’t get enough crap from the kids she works with all damn day, now she’s got a bratty teenager who’s going to be expecting a cool aunt she can come play hooky with, or whatever kids do. Mia wouldn’t know; she didn’t exactly have aunts and uncles to set an example.

“Can you at least come down here and walk me through it, instead of sitting around like two old farts at a chess tournament?” Mia demands.

On the streets below, someone must take offense to their big family reunion. Mia hears the distant – but distinct – sounds of someone telling her to shut the fuck up, lady! from the sidewalk.

Star City. Gotta love it.

“Fine, fine,” Connor says. He’s still smiling, though, and she watches as he pulls a rope arrow from his quiver. “Give us a second. Arsenal’s not as young as he once was.”

Roy lets out some kind of offended comment at that, Mia’s sure, but she doesn’t pay him any attention. Instead, she turns to face Lian again and all but tackles her, trapping her head in the bend of an elbow and ruffling her hair as she squeals.

“And you, you little brat,” Mia says, holding on tight as Lian laughs and tries to wriggle free, “are going to tell me everything.”

#arrowfamweek2023 #arrowfam week #mia dearden #lian harper #arrowfam #EHHHH WHO NEEDS CONTINUITY.#this is only a stretch because roy is here. bc based on [REDACTED] he may not be when mia shows up #ASSUMING mia shows up #but i'm going to IGNORE all of that #in favor of mia and lian #roy harper #connor hawke #fic.tb

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musings-ofthe-unamused · 1 year

Text

The 11th Harbinger's Right Hand

Pairing: Childe x Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: This is one of my more popular series and I can see why! Read all of it here

Tartaglia aka Childe aka the most annoying man you have ever met is a nuisance. Unfortunately for you, he’s also your boss. It wasn’t your first choice to be placed under him. It wasn’t your first choice to be a Fatui at all, yet here you were, three years into the job and two years under the battle-obsessed psycho.

There was a mission. It was supposed to be a simple in and out transaction securing some much needed information. It was a direct order from Pierro, the head Harbinger. He decided it was a two person job but instead of choosing another more than capable harbinger, Childe chose you . To be fair, he didn’t really get along with his coworkers.

“I cannot believe you trashed the place!” You hissed, leaning away from him.

Tartaglia sighed. “Stop moving. I need to clean the cut.”

“I wouldn’t have a cut if you decided to keep your cool.” You stopped fidgeting. “What are you going to tell Pierro?”

“Nothing.”

You scoffed. It might be easy for him to do that, but not you. One wrong move, and suddenly you’ve been relocated and never heard from again. You end up dead. That couldn’t happen. You had a family to take care of, as did most of the people who joined the Fatui did. If Childe decided to do this, he had better have the best plan ever that would guarantee your life.

“Ok. Suppose we did do that,” You took the bandage he was holding out and wrapped it around your hand. “How do we go about paying for the destruction? Or for the information we lost?”

“I can handle it.”

“How?!”

***

You should’ve known that whatever plan Childe came up with was going to be insane. What you didn’t expect was for him to drag you to a Harbinger meeting. You stood awkwardly behind him, watching with cautious eyes at everyone conversing. No one had seemed to pay any close mind to you yet. It didn’t quell your nerves. They should’ve noticed a random lowly Fatui lurking around a confidential meeting. You tried not to listen too closely to what they were saying. Knowing too much information always led to a bloody ending.

“Childe,” Pierro’s voice was deep and demanding. It sent shivers down your spine as he glanced over towards you and him. “How was the mission?”

Childe smiled, tilting his head and crossing his arms. “A success, of course.”

That brat.

“And the information?” Pierro turned his attention back to his papers.

“I will have it all compiled in a report by the end of the week.”

“Good.”

If you weren’t in front of the most dangerous people in Teyvat, you would’ve slapped the bright red color right out of his hair. Instead you bit your tongue and slithered backwards as the attention shifted to another topic. If you were careful enough, you could sneak out of the meeting without being caught. It seemed your boss had this all handled anyway. You weren’t needed here and you didn’t want to be here.

You didn’t know how Tartaglia would get the information he lost. You didn’t care, either. You just wanted to go home. This was all so tiring. He treated everything like a game. He could afford to do that. He was strong and powerful. You were just you. Maybe if you left now, the worst that would happen is him having you pay for the next meal. Just as you were about to open the door, you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“Comrade!”

You sighed and turned around. “Do you need something?”

“Why are you leaving?” His smile and light tone was so infuriating.

“Because,” You shrugged. “You seem to have everything figured out.”

He pointed over his shoulder. “I need you to talk to him for me. Get some cash.”

You looked to where he was pointing. Pantalone . He was the ninth of the Fatui Harbingers and acted as the funds for everyone. He was no doubt the richest among all of them. Him giving another Harbinger money was no problem. Him giving you, a Fatui member he didn’t even know, money? That was more difficult. You scowled and turned towards Tartaglia with your arms crossed.

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” You accused.

He shrugged. “I think it’s about time you get to know the Harbingers.”

“ Why? ”

“Because you’re my right hand man. And I think it’ll be entertaining to see you squirm under their intensity.” He let out a short chuckle.

You frowned. “Tartaglia, please. Act your age for once.”

“Are you insulting your boss?”

“Maybe.”

“You do know I’m a Harbinger, right?”

“You do know you’re a really annoying harbinger, right?”

“And who won the last time we fought?”

“You did. But I had to spend three days caring for your wounds because you’d decided to pull out your delusion.”

“Just go talk to Pantalone before I get mad.”

“Fine.”

He would never get mad. He rarely does. What he really means is “go talk to Pantalone before I force you to train for an unreasonable amount of time”. With your previous tactics not working, you decided it was best to just listen to him. You slowly walked over to the ninth Harbinger, your hands clasped in front of you. Pantalone was talking to Dottore, one of the Harbingers Childe told you to avoid. You gulped nervously. Their attention turned to you.

You felt small in their presence. You weren’t necessarily short, but it felt as if giants were staring down at you, their eyes burning holes into your heart. There was no way you could do this. They were way too intimidating. Dottore let out a laugh, leaning forward.

“Hello, little mouse. Are you lost?”

“N-no..Dottore, uh, sir.” You sunk into yourself. “Um. I was wondering if I could talk to Mr. Pantalone?”

“Me?” The man in question chuckled and patted your head. “Will do. Dottore, let’s continue this conversation later.”

“Goodbye, little mouse.”

“Now then,” Pantalone smiled. “Care to introduce yourself?”

You bowed slightly, trying not to make eye contact as you introduced yourself. “I work under Childe.”

“I see. Well then,” Your name rolled off his tongue sending a jolt of electricity down your spine.”

As you explained the situation, you saw him grow more amused. You didn’t quite like feeling this small. It was evident how powerful and intimidating he was just by how he was staring you down and you felt nothing but fear. HIs features seemed soft and kind, his smile gentle and understanding. His eyes, however, seemed to be staring into your being. As if he was trying to find out everything about you.

“So you need help fixing Childe’s problems.”

You went to defend your boss but found you couldn’t. Instead you sighed and nodded. Pantalone hummed and gently lifted your chin with his fingers. You felt your face immediately combust into a bright red as he gazed at you from under his glasses. He tilted your head from side to side and he clicked his tongue.

“Poor thing.”

“Wha-“ You felt your voice break. You coughed and tried again. “What do you mean…uh, sir?”

“Is that man putting you to good use? It seems like you’re just dealing with his antics.”

“I wouldn’t say he’s-“

“Work for me?”

“Huh?”

The gloved hand that held your chin so gently moved up to caress your cheek. He had a bemused smile on his face as he watched your brain malfunction at the excess use of touch. If this was a tactic to get you off your guard and to his side, it was almost working. A rich, handsome, smooth talker wants you to work for him? And he has a higher position than that redhead with no charm? It’s as if it wasn’t a competition.

“I’ll give you the money. More, if need be. What do you say?”

“Mr. Pantalone-“

“They decline.”

A hand grabbed Pantalone’s wrist, and an arm wrapped around your waist. You let out a small help as Tartaglia pulled you to him and pushed the other Harbinger away. You looked to see his face twisted in a scowl. Shit . This was not something you wanted to deal with or be in the middle of.

“Now, now. Let’s play nice. No need to manhandle them.”

“There’s no need for you to try and recruit my workers.”

“Uhm,” You pushed away your boss. “I think we need to-“

Pantalone’s smile stretched out. “Childe, I don’t think you’re in the position to have an attitude. Your lovely assistant here tells me that not only do you need money, but you need to gain the information that you lost. You’re supposed to turn in the report by the end of the week, yes?”

“You told him that?!” Tartaglia turned to you and hissed.

“You never told me what to say!”

“It seems that he’s causing you trouble, my dear. Aren’t you tired of it?”

“That’s enough . We’ll figure this out ourselves.” He grabbed your hand tightly. “We’re leaving.”

He dragged you away. You tried turning to bow but was tugged along instead. You have never seen Tartaglia act like this and you weren’t exactly sure why he was. He was the one to have you talk to Pantalone in the first place. If he was upset for that, then you were upset to even be put through this in the first place. After you unwillingly followed him to the side of the building, he turned towards you.

“What were you thinking?!”

You snatched your hand away from him. “What were you thinking?! You just humiliated me in front of the richest man in Snezhnaya! Not to mention, one of the most powerful.”

“You were about to go to his side!”

“There are no sides, Tartaglia! And frankly, I would probably feel much better under him than I do with you!”

A growl left his lips as he grabbed your shoulders and slammed you against the wall. You blinked once and then huffed, trying to keep your composure. Fear was making your heart pound but you tried to not let it show. You glared up at Tartaglia as he leaned down, his breath brushing against your face.

“I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to.”

“Am I?”

I am a Harbinger . I have more power than you can ever fathom. You are not Pantalone’s plaything. You don’t belong to any of the Harbingers. You only belong to me . Is that clear?”

You clenched your jaw. “Yes.”

“Say it. Say you belong to me.”

You wanted to kill him about right now. But you were also terrified. You wish you could’ve just run away when you had the chance. Now you were stuck in something that was going to end in nothing but bloodshed. So you did what you always do. You complied.

“I belong to you, Tartaglia.”

#fanfic #genshin imagines #x reader #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #childe x reader #tartaglia x reader #genshin childe #genshin childe x reader #genshin tartaglia x reader #genshin tartaglia

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fullofpossibilities · 10 months

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Adopted Au Headcannons for R!Leo

So this is very heavily based off of the Adopted Mikey Au and the Adopted Donnie Au done by @tblsomedoodles so if you don't know the basics that would be a great place to start. (They also gave me permission to write these headcannons to thank you again!!!!).

Basically, I was at work, and absently thinking about their Adopted Aus, and thought, "who would adopt R!Leo (otherwise listed as Blue) if he went missing in another dimension?" And first some reason the first person that popped into my head was 2012 Donatello, so this is that train wreck.

Keep in mind that Blue is, like, 3-4 yr. old in this au, and happened to get sent to the 2012 universe after being attacked in the sewers of his own dimension and doesn't go back to his home dimension until right before the Rise show starts.

Purple is R!Leo's comfort color (since it reminds him of his twin) so I can see Donnie being the first person he would latch onto.

-It helps that the reason Blue is in this universe would be a highly coincidentally timed portal on 2012 Donnie's end that transported both Leo and the mutant attacking him to the sewers nearby

Donnie goes to investigate the energy surge that happened during the fight and finds Blue, saving him from either the mutant that had been attacking him prior to the portal or the krang who might have been the reason for the portal in the first place, haven't decided yet. Donnie takes him home to patch him up, and gets imprinted on by a very lost, confused, and scared Blue who just wants his twin but hey this stranger is wearing Purple's colors so he must nice, right?

Blue obviously gets most of his sense of humor and energy from Uncle Mikey. They love to skateboard together and play pranks, usually involving a lot of messes to clean up. Both get into food competitions, where whoever can throw together the weirdest food combination and eat it without throwing up wins (Donnie always gets upset when they do that though, worried about Blue's health).

Uncle Raph is probably (read definitely) the most protective of the uncles, and even though he isn't the sensei, he still helps teach Blue how to fight. He'll introduce him to Chompy and show him to use the pinball machine, and if anyone accused Raph of going soft he'd slap their head then go get Blue for their scheduled nap (because Blue will only sleep if someone else is there). Blue likes that Raph is so big, because it reminds him of Red (even if Raph is bigger than he remembers Red being), and naps with him are the best (but he'll never tell his dad that). If I do include the fact that Blue gets plushies that remind him of his brothers like @tblsomedoodles did in their au, they were made/knitted by Raph (once again, something he'll never admit, he just claims he found them randomly)

Uncle Leo, of course, is the sensei, but they still interact outside of training. Out of all the uncles, Blue probably looks up to Leo the most, resulting in another "Splinter Junior" situation, but between Leos, and less copy but no less "hero worship." Leo is like the Jupiter Jim or Captain Ryan of Blue's childhood. Leo will introduce Blue to Space Heroes, and the two will spend hours basically fan-boying over the show.

Obviously Blue is closest with his self-assigned dad, Donnie. Donnie is the reason that Blue gets so interested in medical practices and chemistry, and Donnie has a lot of practice (cough Mikey) with grabby hands in the lab, so he knows how to keep an eye on Blue while still working in a way that lets Blue stay in the lab during the day if he wants to. Blue thinks his dad is the coolest guy ever, being able to make whatever he wants (He built such a cool car! and Metalhead was awesome!) and fixing anything that breaks (like his toys). He learns sarcasm by watching his dad talk with Uncle Casey, and boy was that something that Donnie will always regret (second only to the fact that Casey also seemed to be trying to teach Blue how to flirt). (side note: this would be in a universe that did not emphasize a lot of romance. While all of that drama still happened when they were teenagers, the only couple that I MIGHT have as canon in the Au would be Raph/Mona, because it was the only ship that didn't have some kind of problematic background). When Blue decides that his dad hasn't slept enough, he'll go and sit on his lap, and just start to fall asleep. In an effort to make him comfortable, Donnie will try to move him to the bed, and when he tries to go back to work, Blue will latch onto his arm and refuse to let go, forcing him to stay "just until Blue falls asleep." Leo walks in ten minutes later to the father-son duo practically dead to the world on the bed. On the other hand, if Donnie doesn't want to be disturbed by anyone, Blue will make it his personal mission to keep the uncles out of the lab.

It's unclear when exactly Donnie became Blue's "dad," it just happened one day with Blue walking into the room, half-asleep, and asking his dad (by his now new title) if he had seen his blanket/plushies. Donnie, understandably, freaks out internally (and later externally) but can't deny that something in him was both happy and sad: happy because he had grown attached to the little tot; sad because he knew that a time would come when he would have to send him back home (dealing with alternates has left Donnie with the very real realization that this is probably a another little Leo, especially after hearing Blue talk about his brothers). Among the infinite possibilities of universes, though, that would take some time, so maybe it would be ok for the kid to call him that? He'd ask for advice from his brothers and April, and all of them, while equally cautious, would encourage him to let it happen because dangit they're attached too (although Leo would be the most hesitant, with his sense of responsibility).

I'd like to think that Blue learned Spanish by watching tv with April and Casey. Sure, he watches tv with his uncles too, but I can't see them watching anything that might have Spanish in them. I'm imagining that April and Casey were babysiting and both fell asleep with the tv on (thinking Blue was asleep too). Some Spanish drama came on and little Blue fell in love with the accent, so he started trying to copy it. Donnie caught on and set up a system to teach him some of the words instead of just copying the accent (he doesn't know spanish, but there are a lot of learning programs online he can hack into). It becomes a bonding experience between little Blue and the humans, since they take it upon themselves to help him learn whenever they babysit (April being more successful in these lessons than Casey).

Blue was seen as very athletic in Rise!, so I imagine that he fairly enjoys sports. Watching Casey play hockey probably kick started it, which evolved into skateboarding, basketball, baseball, football, etc. He couldn't play all of these a lot, but skateboarding and basketball (or at least shooting hoops) were fairly simple to set up and do constantly. He likes baseball and football simply for the fact that it gives him and excuse to throw a ball and run around a lot, but he doesn't play them often and prefers the other two. His uncles help set up a basketball hoop in the lair for one of his birthdays, and all he did for the next week was shoot hoops.

He thinks April is cool. Leo may be Blue's personal hero, but April is a SUPER hero. She had powers and a cool outfit, and in Blue's mind that's all he needed to label his new favorite aunt as an honest to goodness superhero (followed later by Mikey's alter-ego Turflytle). He's always following her around when she visits the lair and trying to get her to make him "fly."

Instead of the lair being attacked by the mutant/yokai that tried to kidnap and eat Blue, I imagine that the event that triggers Blue's return to his original world involving the Krang. The Krang attacked the lair or there was an attack outside somewhere that Blue snuck out and got stuck in, but a Krang would attempt to drag Blue through the portal to use as bait or leverage, and Blue's ninpo messed with the portal and sent him home (without the Krang for some reason, idk its fanfiction so fanon magic). He returns to the same place where he disappeared in his world, not that he remembers that that is where he left, and instead of Tello or Angie finding him, it would be Raphie (because I'm trying not to be too similar to the original Adopted AU, no more than I already am). The rest of the Rise show continues as normal.

Maybe if I get more inspiration I'll do some headcannons for when R!Leo reconnects with his family in the 12 dimension, but for now this is all I can think of.

#rottmnt #2012 leonardo #2012 donatello #2012 raphael #2012 mikey #2012 tmnt #Adopted Au #12Donnie adopts R!Leo #It's adorable #based on @tblsomedoodles adopted aus #seriously if you haven't read those #do so

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twoturtlesinabathtub · 2 months

Note

so I think you mentioned you were working on a new fic in your series. what all has been happening with that? any new details? I’m eagerly awaiting the next chapter :)

Yes! Fic 4 of 5 is coming along nicely—it's just been going a bit slowly, since I'm dealing with some health issues and have been prioritizing those. I'm glad you're excited haha, so here's a sneak peak at the beginning of the fic.

"You crazy bastard, you did it. You actually did it," said Chris, clapping Leon on the back so hard that he stumbled forward a step. "Welcome to S.T.A.R.S., man."

Leon chuckled, clutching tightly the new uniform that had been pressed into his arms about ten minutes before. It wasn't his favorite color—the olive drab of the pants and vest could only do so much for one's complexion—but he could do worse. He fleetingly wondered why the hell the shirt was so white. That didn't seem very practical.

"Thanks," he replied. "Hopefully it won't take long to adjust."

"Nah. You'll crush it, trust me."

Captain Marini seemed to have sensed Leon hadn't wanted to be the center of attention that day, and kept introductions brief—an unnecessary effort, really, since almost every S.T.A.R.S. member on both teams had seen Leon around the office several times over the past year or so.

The worst part had been what Enrico had said to Wesker a few minutes ago.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to snatch him up, first," Marini had remarked. Leon had been by Chris as his friend explained they'd be sharing a desk for the time being, and Leon had been able to overhear the two captains conversing, Wesker leaning against the doorframe of his office with arms casually folded. "Pretty sure we can whip him into shape fast," Enrico had continued. "I almost feel bad for yanking him out from under you." Miraculously, Leon had managed not to choke.

"A missed opportunity on my part, perhaps," Wesker had mused, and Leon had practically been able to hear the suppressed smirk in those nasal tones.

"Who knows? Maybe I can lend him to you, sometime. You know I don't mind sharing."

Chris had squinted at Leon. "That was one weird noise you just made. You had the chicken salad for lunch, didn't you? I told you it looked off," he tutted, shaking his head.

"I appreciate the offer, Enrico," Wesker had said, somehow sounding completely unaffected. "I'm sure Leon could prove flexible enough to perform well in a number of positions. You have good taste."

Leon's attention returned to the present, and he caught the tail-end of Chris saying Leon could look through any of the desk drawers he wanted, but the point man wouldn't be liable for any therapy bills that might ensue.

"What the hell, I'll even let you put up a poster," said Chris, slapping the wall next to his desk. "Except for Mötley Crüe. No goddamn Mötley Crüe. Got it?"

Leon snorted. "Got it."

"Good. And you'll want to talk to Richard soon—he loves to help the new ones out. Right, Rebecca?" Leon and Chris glanced over at the medic, who was seated near the switchboards at the end of the room; she glanced over her shoulder, gave the men a quick thumbs-up and a bright grin, then went back to studying the consoles like she could make them catch fire with her mind.

Leon couldn't help quirking a brow at his friend, even as a fought back a smile. "You're pretty excited—maybe just as excited as I am. Are you assuming me being around the office more means I can pick up even more of your slack?"

"You said it, not me," Chris replied, holding up his hands. "Besides, odds are we won't even be working the same hours very often. Bravo members usually take nights, so you're probably gonna mostly be working the graves shift—which brings me to my next point."

"Your what now?"

Chris's smile was wide and warm. "We should do something fun before your schedule's completely fucked. Jill," he said, turning to catch his fellow teammate's attention.

Valentine was cleaning her gun nonchalantly, boots up on her desk as she leaned back in her swivel chair. "Yeah?"

"You catch all that?"

"Obviously—you're four feet away from me." Jill smiled at Leon. "Good job, Kennedy." Leon returned the expression, albeit a bit self-consciously; he had to actively remind himself not to act like an imbecile in front of one of the people he practically hero-worshipped. "Knew you had it in you."

"Oh, uh, thanks. Yeah." Idiot.

"When does your new schedule start?" Chris asked, craning his neck to look back at Leon.

"Friday night."

"Perfect—plenty of time for you to sleep off a potential hangover." Chris turned towards Jill once more. "So, Harry's? Thursday? We can roll out the welcome wagon."

Jill smirked, slotting the magazine back into her gun without looking. "Like we need an excuse to get drunk. I'll ask around."

#thank you!#ask #my writing #leon s. kennedy #chris redfield #albert wesker #weskennedy #resident evil #fanfiction

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love-and-monsters · 1 year

Text

Feathered Dragon Partner

Nonbinary feathered dragon X gn reader, 11382 words

So I finished this and I did not proofread it and now I’m posting it so. I hope it scans. Let me know what you guys think. Might be kind of quiet on here for a while bc I’m trying to actually write my own novel, so. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway, enjoy.

A chance encounter at the market, a free sample, and an unfortunate injury. What do they all have in common? Why, a certain feathery, scaly friend who is quite interested in you!

Content warning for minor injury and mention of medical malpractice causing physical harm.

The Avieras Festival was in full swing, and you were ducking, dodging, and weaving your way through the patrons that packed the street so thickly it was near-impossible to find space. Most of them were in elaborate costumes, which only made navigating tricker. Some wouldn’t care if you trod on a hem or feather as you hurried by, but others would care. And they usually cared enough to spend ten minutes lecturing you on exactly how expensive the fabric you’d just ruined with your bootprint was. And sometimes they even cared enough to stick you with a dry cleaning bill, which was really the last thing you needed. So, you avoided stepping on people in general.

Festival days were good business days, generally, but you needed to find the right location to set up. Too much in the thick of it and you’d risk your wares getting knocked over by overeager or drunk patrons. Too far out and no one would be interested.

You located, after a few minutes of searching, an alcove that offered enough shade to be comfortable, and enough light to draw in patrons. As soon as you reached the spot, you snapped open your charmed bag and pulled out a sturdy roll of carpet, which you set on the ground in front of you, and your wares.

A table would have been better to show them off, since putting them so close to the ground risked them getting dirty, but even a collapsed folding table would have been hard to fit through the opening of your bag, so you let it be. The carpet sufficed, and you had two thin racks to display your best work upon. They would be sufficient to draw customer attention.

This part was the worst part. You enjoyed the crafting and the creating and not so much the selling. But, well. It was part of the job. So, you slapped the best smile you could on your face and started waving enthusiastically to the crowd. Every now and then, you’d see someone pause as their eyes snag on one of your creations and you called out to them. “Hello, ma’am! Yes, this mask will go wonderfully with your costume, see the lovely yellow, and the purple accents will bring out the richness of the color! Oh, and I have a hairpiece that goes perfectly if you’d like to bundle them together-”

You’re not bad at selling, but it does feel a lot like you’re putting up an act. It’s not like you’re not proud of your work- you wouldn’t sell your festival masks and accessories if you weren’t pleased with how they came out. But the energy required to act cheery and polite and overly-enthusiastic was ridiculously draining. By a couple of hours in, your stock was over half-gone, and you were utterly grateful. Perhaps you would sell out early and you could grab some delicious fried food and scuttle away to your home before the night got too wild.

“Well, aren’t these just delightful,” someone mused from entirely too close to you, and it took all your customer service skills to smile cheerfully instead of screaming and leaping out of your skin.

The prospective customer was leaning over your stand, gazing at your wares with clear interest. You recognized them, if only dimly. They worked as a butcher, and you’d seen them several times when you picked up food from the store. However, they’d always had their hair up and their feathers tucked away when they worked. Now, they were letting their hair hang free down their back, almost to their waist. Their skin was oddly colored, almost milky, with scales along the backs of their limbs. Plumes of feathers decorated their ears and their scaled tail. AS they shifted their weight, one of their hands resting on their generous hips, their skin caught the light and glowed in opalescence. The scales on their forehead had been picked out with some silvery makeup, making them stand out even more.

You picked your jaw off the floor and slapped your customer service hat back on. “Ah, thank you very much! You already seem fairly well-feathered, but perhaps I could offer you a small hairpin? I have some that aren’t quite so ornate if you’re looking for something lower key.”

As they leaned forward to examine your wares, you swept a critical eye over them. It was sort of a fun guessing game you tried to play with yourself, to figure out exactly what species each customer was. Most of the time, you didn’t get an answer, since it was pretty rude to ask someone casually what they were, but it was still fun. The oddest one had been a combination between a merfolk and a dragon, which had resulted in something like a human upper half, albeit completely covered in scales, and a sea-serpent tail. They’d also been a remarkably good customer, though they’d tried haggling for a better price.

This person… well, the scales suggested a dragon, but feathered dragons were rare, and even more rarely did they assume a humanoid form. Not to mention they had wings. Perhaps some sort of hybrid, then? Or maybe a harpy and dragon hybrid? You’d never seen one, though it did seem like this one should be more feathered if it really was a combination.

They cleared their throat and you hurried to focus your mind on their purchase. You could speculate after they were done. “See anything you like?”

“I believe so,” they said, their eyes flicking up to meet yours. “But I…” They hesitate, their tail curling. The feathered tufts of their ears twitch. “I…”

“Can’t decide?” you asked. It was always sort of flattering when customers felt that way- nice to know you’d been able to catch their eye with multiple pieces. Perhaps a better salesperson would have convinced them to buy both, but you figured if they wanted both, they would have bought them in the first place. You were happy to sell even one piece. “I can help you decide. Which ones do you like?”

The customer hesitated, then selected two ornamented hair clips- a pale pink and a deep sea-green. Both of them matched shades that appeared in their feathers and along their glimmering scales. Either would have been a good choice. You picked them up and held them out consideringly.

“Here, let’s see…” You held both clips up, one on either side of their face, and directed them to look into the mirror. “The pink one is a bit simpler than the green one- less feathers and jewels, see? You’ve got feathers on you already, so I don’t think you need the excess feathers, unless you’re going for an over-the-top look.” You glance over them with a critical eye. “However, the pink also blends in with your outfit a little more, so if you want it to stand out, the green might work better. Are you thinking of wearing this for daily use or just when you’re getting dressed up for a festival or party?”

“I suppose daily,” they said, tilting their head from side to side. Their eyes, bright yellow as topaz, glitter in the sunlight.

“Then the pink might be a little more lowkey,” you declared. “But it’s all up to you, of course.”

They hesitated for a moment longer, considering. “The pink, then,” they said.

“Wonderful,” you said, placing the green clip down on the table. “Would you like me to wrap this or would you like to wear it right away?”

“Right away,” they said.

“Sure! Makes sense that you’d want to wear it for the festival,” you said. “Now, your total is fifteen shen.”

They reached into their pocket to pull out their wallet and passed you a few coins. You tucked them smoothly away. “I can put it in your hair for you, if you’d like,” you added. They stared at you, yellow eyes going wide. “Only if you’d like! Some people just have a difficult time getting the clip into their hair on their own- but you can also just borrow a mirror if you would like.”

“No, I would appreciate the help,” they said. You gestured for them to turn and they did so, crouching down to allow you to reach. They were tall, so that was another suggestion they were related to a dragon. Then again, you had some gnomish blood, so most everyone was taller than you.

You gathered the silky strands of their hair into your hand and settled the clip in place. They twitched a little under your touch and their tail shuddered when you took an extra moment to stroke a few strands of hair back into place.

“There. Does it look all right to you?” you asked, offering them a mirror that was angled so they could see the back of their head. They nodded and brushed off their front as they stood.

“Thank you for the help,” they said. “And your work is quite lovely. I hope you’re finding success here.”

“That’s very kind of you,” you said. “Ah, here, take this as well!” You reached down and grabbed a small, though still pretty, tail cuff. It was designed to clip into place, with an adjustable band to keep it from slipping down the tail. You pressed it into their hands.

The feathers on their tail and ears fluffed up in surprise. “Oh- but I didn’t pay for-”

“The Avieras Festival is for celebrating feathered creatures,” you said, pressing the tail cuff on them more insistently. “Think of it as a party favor. And you’ve been quite sweet, I think you deserve it.”

Their eyes went wide and they took the tail cuff like it was a holy artifact. “Thank you,” they said. They smiled, showing off their pearly white canines. “You really are a sweet thing, aren’t you?”

With that, they reached out, affectionately patted my cheek, then headed off into the crowd. You blinked after them. You had been pretty sure you were flustering them for a moment there, so it was a bit strange to have the entire thing turned around on you. Fortunately, another customer arrived in a moment and you could launch straight back into your customer service mode.

The pace of sales picked up throughout the night. You sold out quicker than you’d anticipated, with plenty of time to enjoy the festival. You packed away your belongings in your bag and headed out to explore.

It was late evening as you headed out into the main section of the festival. The town center was full of people dressed in feathered outfits. The Avieras Festival was a celebration of avians- typically, that meant people with some kind of bird relation, like harpies, but it technically included all kinds of feathered creatures. That meant that everyone was dressed in feathers. Some people had more elaborate outfits than others, with multicolored feathers and even bird masks, but most people were just wearing feather accessories. Harpies and other flying creatures soared through the sky in an impressive array of aerial dancing. Music floated through the air with them, bright and lively.

Exploring the festival involved you getting as much unique food as you could and shoving it all in your mouth while you examined the items for sale. There were several games set up along the streets. One of them was a modified version of flight chicken, where two contestants were suspended by magic and then dropped toward the (magically cushioned) ground. The goal was to pin your opponent underneath you before you hit the ground. While most people participating seemed pretty poor at it, the matches that involved experienced partners were fascinating. There were a couple other games that were usually played in the air that had been modified so everyone could enjoy them, plus some other games that could by played just as easily by people on the ground. You tried a couple of rounds of a game like ring toss, which involved getting a wooden circle to land around a peg from several feet up, and won a tiny, simple wooden bird. You probably could have bought it for less than you’d paid to play the game, but willing it made the experience better.

After playing a few more games, you wandered over to the art installation that covered the far side of the festival. It was meant to cover the multiple traditional forms of art from different harpy flocks, from fashion to paintings, and there were even a few sphinx artifacts. A large platform toward the middle of the installation held a rotating cast of musicians and dancers. You paused to watch a group of harpies weave in and around each other, smoothly moving from dancing on the ground to in the air. A sphinx passed by, flexing her wings in time to the music. You even caught sight of what was probably an aasimar, gold-skinned and faintly glowing, examining a flight cape.

By the time you finished the art exhibit, it was getting late. Several of the games and activities made for children had packed up, and the party had shifted to more of a late-night-club vibe. Pulsing lights lined the buildings, casting a multicolored glow across the scene. It was pretty, and you did consider staying for a bit longer, but you were already exhausted from selling and walking around. As a large portion of the townspeople headed out to continue the party, you headed back to your home.

The streets got clearer the further you headed away from the festivities, though there were still pockets of people. Some of them were rather drunk. Just as you turned a corner, a group of stumbling drunks bowled into you, practically trampling you as you fell to the ground.

“Hey!” you protested, but your voice wasn’t that loud thanks to your surprise. Two of them, the taller two of the bunch, barely seemed to notice you. The third one turned and gave you an apologetic wave before being dragged off.

You cursed to yourself as you got up. Parties always brought out the asshole drunks- admittedly, you were on the small side (curse that gnomish blood) and the lighting wasn’t good here, so it was possible that they hadn’t seen you. But they still could have at least paused when they hit you!

“Oh dear,” someone murmured, and you heard rapidly approaching footsteps. Someone crouched and a slender, pale hand entered your field of vision. “Are you all right? Can you get up?”

“I’m fine,” you groused, taking their hand so they could tug you up. “Not hurt or anything- ow.” You put weight on your left leg and it throbbed. Probably not broken or even sprained, but there was going to be a very nasty bruise in the morning.

“I beg to differ,” your helper said, and you finally looked at them properly. To your surprise, you knew who they were. Their hair clip and tail clip were still secured neatly in place, right where they’d been place when they’d bought them. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” You lifted one of your hands to brush the dirt off your shirt and paused when you saw the oozing scratches along your palms. There were little bits of grit in the cuts. You winced. “Ow. Damn.”

“You should get those cleaned out,” they said. “Here, there’s a water pump nearby.” They took you gently by your wrist and led you a few feet away to a public water pump. They withdrew a pack of tissues from their side pouch and wet them before turning back to you. “Let me see your hands.”

You extended your hands out, palms up. They gave you a grateful smile and started swiping the wet tissues over the cuts.

It stung, of course, and you sucked in a sharp breath. They crooned in their throat, a gentle shushing noise. “I know it hurts, I just need to get all that gunk out.” Their thumb traced your wrist, stroking over the pulse point. You swallowed.

They took a few moments to clean it out, then paused, tilting your hand back and forth to make sure the dirt is gone. “There we are,” they murmured. “I don’t have any bandages on me, I’m afraid.”

“It’s really not necessary,” you said. “They’re just small scratches. See, they’re hardly even bleeding anymore.” You held your hand out- the cuts were still red, but no longer bleeding. They looked them over carefully, their tail swaying slightly as they focused.

“And nothing else hurts?” they asked. “You’re feeling okay otherwise?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m fine. It’s not a problem.”

They nodded, then looked around you to glare in the direction the tramplers had gone. “Hmph. Shame that festivals can bring out the worst in people. They didn’t even bother to stop.”

“No, but I’m fine, really,” you said.

They flicked their tail with a ruffle of feathers. “Yes, but you if you haven’t been…” They shook their head. “Ah, well. I suppose we should just be grateful it wasn’t worse.” They slipped their hand under your chin with a feather-light touch and tilted your head back and forth. “And at least there’s no damage to your cute face, hm?”

A warm flush rolled over your entire body. Their tone was lightly teasing, but still quite sweet, and it wasn’t like you were used to receiving flirtation like that. You stepped back, pulling your chin from their grasp in embarrassment. “I- uh. Th- thank you.”

They hummed pleasantly. “Of course. No problem.” They gave you another look over, their brows furrowing. “Ah… would you mind if I walked you home? I don’t mean to be pushy, but I do want to make sure you’re safe.”

“I think I’ll be fine,” you said, taking a step forward. One of your ankles throbbed, but it held your weight.

They looked unconvinced. “You’re favoring your left ankle. Are you certain you’re all right?”

“Probably,” you said. “It hurts, but my home’s only a couple of blocks from here. I can manage.”

They frowned. Their tail swayed back and forth. “At least let me walk with you? I just don’t want you collapsing as soon as you’re out of sight. It will give me some comfort.”

“If you insist,” you said, offering them a weak smile. They seemed genuinely worried about you, and in all honestly, you weren’t totally sure how well you could walk anyway.

They stayed by your side as you headed toward your house. A couple of times, they needed to reach out and steady you when you forgot your ankle was bad and put your weight on it. The insistent throbbing pain got worse every few steps, and by the time you were within a few feet of your home, you were practically dragging your leg behind you. Your eyes watered with the pain.

Your companion put a hand to your shoulder, encouraging you to lean against them. “Are you certain you shouldn’t see a healer?” they asked. “You look like you’re about to collapse.”

“If it still feels bad tomorrow, I’ll see a healer. Right now, I just need to put it on ice and elevate it,” you said.

“If you’re sure,” they said. They paused, still looking at you with obvious worry, then their expression brightened. “Ah, let me give you this.” They rummaged in their pocket for a moment, then pulled out a small, shimmering disc. They took one of your hands in their own, turning it so your palm was facing upright, then pressed the small disc into your palm. Their hands completely covered yours. You could feel the disc against your palm, thin but surprisingly sturdy.

“What is it?” you asked as they withdraw their hands. You lifted the disc closer to your face to examine it. It was thin, strong, and pale colored. When you turned it in your hands, a pale stream of light illuminated it, turning it opalescent. Exactly like-

“It’s one of my scales,” they say. “If your ankle is worse tomorrow, you can just say my name to it and I’ll come to help you out.”

You blinked. “Really? But- are you sure?” Scales were strange things to give away. For the magically inclined, scales could be made to always be connected to their body, even when physically separated. If you said your name to the scale, they would know you were calling for them, no matter how far away you were.

They winked, golden eyes gleaming. “Say Tazriel, and I’ll come. I like making sure good people are well taken care of.” With no further explanation, they strolled off into the night. Their pale scales made them stand out against the gloom for a while before they finally faded into shadows.

You tucked the scale close to your chest as you hobbled the rest of the way home. It wasn’t far, and after resting for a few moments, you felt better. Though when you had to rummage through your freezer get the ice out, then stack your pillows to elevate your leg, then get comfortably settled in you seat only to realize you had to pee- well, maybe it would have been better to have a little help.

You fell asleep after some time of fitfully turning and shifting in your position. It was hard to find a comfortable sleeping spot with your ankle elevated. And apparently your sleeping body had no consideration for your health, because when you woke up, your ankle was no longer elevated, but twisted haphazardly under you. When you flexed it to get an idea of how fucked you were, pain rolled up your ankle and punched you in the gut. Okay. Pretty fucked.

It took a few tries to actually stand and hobble your way into the bathroom to really assess things. Your ankle was swollen and bruised and it hurt to put weight on it. Bad. You couldn’t assess whether or not it was broken, but it was sprained at a minimum. God dammit. You’d really wanted to avoid seeing a doctor. Maybe you could just give it time? If it healed on its own, everything would be fine, right? And if it didn’t get any better, then you could see a doctor. There was no reason to go to all the trouble when you hadn’t even given it a chance to heal. Right?

Part of you was aware that you were in denial and grasping at straws. A larger part of you was willing to accept anything that meant no doctor’s visit. So you hobbled your way back to bed, with a pit stop in the kitchen to stock up on food, and flopped back down, fully intending to stay in that spot all day.

As you did so, you saw something gleaming on the covers next to you. You scooped it up and- oh, right. The scale.

You rolled the little thing over in your fingers, enjoying how the light played off of its surface. It would be gorgeous to use on one of your projects- though they’d also probably be hard to get. Most people didn’t make a habit of handing out their scales, and even if you managed to find a seller, the quantity would be pretty small. Couldn’t be yanking out every one of your scales to sell, of course.

You rotated it in your hands, recalling their words from the night before. Say Tazriel and I’ll come. Interesting. That was a little unusual. People, as you’d already said, didn’t tend to go handing out their scales. On the other hand, they had seemed genuinely kindhearted and concerned, and you’d never heard a bad word about them. Though, to be fair, most of the words you heard about them tended to focus on how pretty they were. But still, people in this town were gossips, so if anyone had a problem with them, you were sure you’d have heard of it. But you’d also never heard of them handing out their scales like candy to anybody else. Bit of a mystery there.

After a few more moments of looking at the scale and considering, you turned and set it carefully on the table next to your bed. The offer was kind, but you were reluctant to drag anyone else into your mess. Maybe if it wasn’t feeling any better the next day, you would call them and ask for their help to get to the doctor.

You spent another boring day in bed, reading a couple of books and flipping through random videos on the scrynet. It was mind-numbing, and your hands were twitching by the end of it, but you didn’t really want to get out of bed. Eventually, you fell into a fitful, unrestful sleep.

When you woke, the pain in your ankle seemed to have dulled. Cocksure and overconfident, you swung out of bed, placed your feet on the floor, and collapsed when your bad ankle rolled under you and sent waves of pain up your leg.

Well. Crap. Had it somehow gotten worse overnight? How was that even possible? You blinked back the sting of tears from your eyes and twisted to look at it. Bruises still mottled the skin around the ankle, and it was definitely still swollen, though it wasn’t quite as bad as it had been the day before. You probed the skin with the tips of your fingers and hissed. Pain. Bad enough to make your stomach tighten. Once you were actually braced for the pain, you could put some weight on it, though it wasn’t fun.

Son of a bitch. You’d really been hoping it would get better. You considered your options as you limped to the kitchen to get something to eat. It wasn’t so bad to put weight on, you reasoned. It was painful, sure, but a little pain wasn’t so bad. You could handle it.

You sat down and examined your ankle once more. Like, okay. It was probably bad, and you should probably go to a doctor. But it wasn’t like you couldn’t walk at all. That would be the point where it got bad, right? If you couldn’t walk at all. You could still keep off it for a while, for the most part, and then it would heal up. Why go to the doctor if they were just going to tell you to rest your ankle, which is what you were already doing?

(Again, there was that part of you that recognized you were just making excuses and that you really should just go to a doctor. But the bigger part of you still wanted to avoid going, and that bigger part was winning out.)

You ate and dragged yourself back to your room, collapsing onto your bed. Okay. Another day in bed. That wasn’t so bad. And you could probably try to work at least a little. You sat down for most of it. That wouldn’t bother your ankle too much, right?

Just as you were making the firm decision that you were probably fine to work, a gleam of light on your night table caught your eye.

You shuffled a little closer and reached out. As your fingertips met the light, you felt something small and disc-like. The scale. You curled your fingers around it and brought it up to your face.

It was definitely glowing. The entire thing shone like it was reflecting a strong beam of sunlight. You squinted at it, rotating it back and forth. Weird. Did scales do that often? Did it mean something? You’d barely gotten any instructions on how it worked. Maybe you could do some scrying later, see if you could find anything on scales. Though you still weren’t completely sure of their species, which might make it harder. They were probably a feathered dragon, right? Harpies didn’t really have scales like this.

The scale gleamed, sending a beam of light directly into your eyes. You winced. Was it getting brighter? How were you supposed to make it stop? You ran your thumb over it a few times, hoping to maybe trigger something, but nothing happened. You grimaced. Whatever. You could figure it out later.

As you grabbed a couple books to stash the scale under, so that maybe it wouldn’t burn your eyes out while you were trying to sleep, your mind wandered back to what they’d said. Call their name… “Tazriel,” you muttered absently as you placed the books on top of the scale. That was how they’d said it, right? It was a pretty name. You still felt a little awkward about calling them, but maybe you could stop by once your ankle was feeling better and let them know you appreciated the gesture. Yeah, that seemed the best way to handle things.

The decision firm in your mind, you settled back into bed and tried to ignore your ankle so you could fall back asleep.

You were just about to fall back asleep when the sound of someone knocking on your front door made you open your eyes. It was a polite knock, not like someone was banging down your door for an emergency. Maybe it was a delivery driver. They’d leave the package eventually.

You closed your eyes again. Only to open them again when the knock sounded once more. It was a little more urgent this time, though still not what you would consider an emergency knock. You considered getting up, but if it was a visitor, they would eventually figure out you weren’t home or something. It was fine.

The silence lasted a little longer this time, so you were settled back comfortably by the time the knock sounded again. This time, it was distinctly louder and rushed. You gritted your teeth. Okay. This person was not taking a hint, which either meant they were really obtuse or they had something important for you. But getting to the door meant getting out of bed and you were awfully reluctant to do that. The silence stretched on as you debated the finer points of getting out of bed versus staying nice and comfy.

After a couple minutes of silence, you realized the person at your door hadn’t knocked again. They’d wandered off, presumably. That was good. You could just lie back and relax and they would come back later if they needed anything else.

And then you heard the click and creak of the doorknob turning and your door- your FRONT DOOR- opening.

The indignation was enough to get you out of bed. Common sense stopped you from getting further than the hallway. You had a busted ankle- what were you going to do against a (possibly armed) thief? At best, maybe you could look so pathetic, they’d feel bad and leave.

Then your name, called in a semi-frantic voice, floated down the hall. That was surprising. Why would someone who broke into your house be calling for you? You hobbled a few steps out into the main entranceway of your house and stopped in surprise.

You knew both of the people standing in front of your open door, one more familiar than the other. The more familiar figure was your neighbor, a twitchy, if also kindly, water elemental. The less familiar figure was your savior from the other night, Tazriel. Their face lit up at the sight of you. “You’re all right?”

You shifted your weight onto your good leg and positioned your bad ankle so the swelling was not as noticeable. “I’m fine. What are you doing in my house?”

Tazriel blanched. It was hard for scaled creatures to blush, but they seemed to be trying their level best. “You called me.”

You blinked. “I did?” Almost as soon as the words had left your mouth, you remembered sliding the scale away and mumbling ‘Tazriel’ a moment before your fingers actually broke contact. Oops. “Oh. I did.”

Tazriel seemed to be regaining their confidence. “I was worried, of course, so I came by, but you didn’t answer your door. Fortunately, your neighbor did, and she said she had a key, so…” They trailed off, looking toward your neighbor. You stare at her too. She awkwardly rubs one of her arms.

“They seemed really worried, and you did tell me to use your key in emergencies,” she mumbled. She cast a shy glance sideways at Tazriel and you did not roll your eyes, but it was a near thing. Okay, they were pretty good looking, but you weren’t pleased that your neighbor was such a sucker for a pretty face that she would let them into your house.

“They’re quite kind,” Tazriel said, smiling at your neighbor, and she practically turned into steam. “They were worried about you too, once I told them what was going on.”

“Right,” you said. “So what’s going on?”

Tazriel blinked at you like it should be obvious. “You called for me and then didn’t answer the door. I thought you were really hurt.”

Oh. Actually, that wasn’t a strange conclusion to come to. “W-well, that’s very kind of you, but I’m, uh. Actually doing fine. It was sort of an accident that I called you. I’m sorry for disturbing you. But you don’t need to stay.”

They gave you a critical look, gaze roving over your body and fixing on your ankle. You shuffled it further behind your good leg to avoid their look, but this seemed to backfire. Their gaze grew more concerned. “You’re not putting any weight on your ankle.”

“I am,” you said, and gingerly placed your bad ankle on the ground. You leaned on it until your eyes were watering with pain and hoped they weren’t paying too much attention. “I’m fine. You can go back to your life.”

They narrowed their eyes, but didn’t say anything. For a moment, you were certain they were actually going to take your advice and leave, but then your neighbor piped in with, “You’ve been holding yourself all stiff since we got here. You’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you?”

You shot her a glare as Tazriel gave you a new, more appraising look. “You are tense.” Their expression grew alarmed. “You shouldn’t be standing, should you?”

“I really have to assure you that I’m fine,” you said, but Tazriel and your neighbor were already dismissing your protests out of hand.

“Last time you told me you were fine, you had such bad food poisoning you could barely keep anything down,” your neighbor said. Tazriel brushed past the both of you and into the kitchen to fetch a chair. “I didn’t find out until two days later when I ran into you at the store looking like death warmed over.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” you muttered. “And what were you going to do about it? It was food poisoning. You just have to wait it out.”

“You could have asked me to check on you. I would have done it. Or you could have asked me to take you to a doctor.”

You grimaced. Tazriel set a chair down next to you and gestured for you to sit in it. Once you were down, they crouched and peered at your ankle. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?” they asked. “This looks bad.”

“It looks worse than it is,” you said hurriedly. “I really don’t need all this fuss. I’m just going to stay home until it feels better.”

Tazriel looked up. “You’re not going to see a doctor?”

“I don’t need one,” you said, trying to sound more confident than you felt.

“You do,” Tazriel insisted. They probed at your ankle with their fingertips and you nearly jumped out of your skin. “You can’t walk on this. And it must hurt a lot.” They looked up at you and you were surprised by exactly how much concern was evident in their eyes. Their feathered ears twitched. It was ridiculous how cute it was.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” you said, but their gaze was really hard to resist. “I just… I don’t want to go to the doctor.” Before they could comment on that, you braced a hand against the nearby wall and used the leverage to haul yourself to your feet. Well. To one of your feet. The other was still being held by Tazriel. “And they’ll just tell me to ice and rest it, which is what I’m already doing! Thank you all very much for your concern, but I think I’ll be heading back to doing that, so unless there’s anything else I can help you with…” You gave a pointed look to Tazriel. They were still holding your foot. They did not let go.

“You need a doctor,” they said, enunciating every word carefully, like you were a child or hard of hearing. “Your ankle could be broken.”

Your shoulders drooped a bit. “You don’t think it’s that bad, do you?” “I don’t know,” Tazriel said. “I can��t say. Because I’m not a doctor. Which is why you need one.” They folded their feathered ears back against their head and fixed you with their brilliantly golden eyes. It wasn’t quite a puppy-dog look, though it was pleading. Come now, their expression seemed to say. I want you to be all right. Won’t you let me help you? Their thumb was also tracing circles on your calf, which was making it surprisingly hard to focus.

“It’s… I just…” Your protests died on your tongue. They were just looking at you, but it was making your head feel sort of funny. Were they using their prettiness to hypnotize you? Was that what this was? Weaponized prettiness?

“If you’re nervous about going to the doctor, I could go with you,” Tazriel suggested. Their feathered ears perked up and you cursed internally. Somehow, that made them even cuter. “I know a doctor, actually. I could take you to her, if you’d like.”

They were giving you a look. An eager look, like they were already proud of themselves for having solved the problem. But you also got the impression they were not leaving here taking ‘no’ for an answer. They were going to be leaving here with you on a trip to the doctor’s or you were going to have a new roommate.

“Eh… uh…” You tried to think of a way out of this. They’re pretty, your brain supplied unhelpfully. It’d be nice to spend more time with them. Your own mind was even turning against you. “I guess that’d be… okay.”

They beamed. The fact that they looked even prettier when they did that was like adding insult to injury. “Wonderful! I’ll need to call ahead to let her know we’re coming, but she owes me a favor, I’m sure she’ll set some time aside for you.” They scrambled to their feet and practically skipped outside. You and your neighbor watched them go.

“Lucky,” she said in an undertone.

“Lucky?” you muttered back. “For breaking my ankle?”

She rolled her eyes. “For having someone so worried about you. Do you realize how frantic they were when they were banging on my door? It was kind of sweet.”

You weren’t sure how to respond to that, so you didn’t. Tazriel stepped back into the room at that moment, sparing you the indignity. “She says we can come in whenever we want,” they said. “But we’ll have a better chance of getting in right away if we go as soon as possible.”

“Just give me a couple minutes,” you said. “I just… need to brush my teeth.” Ever since hurting your ankle, your self-care activities, otherwise known as basic hygiene, had kind of gone down the drain. No one had commented on it so far, but the longer you were in the presence of a water elemental and the perfectly polished Tazriel, the worse you felt about it.

You hobbled to the bathroom and did as quick of a spot clean as you could. Once you’d determined that it was as good as it was going to get in the time frame allowed, you pulled on some slightly-nicer clothes and headed back out to Tazriel.

Your neighbor was gone by that point, and Tazriel was waiting for you in the doorway. “Are you ready to go?” they asked, fixing you with a cheerful smile. You nodded.

“Yeah, yeah.” There was a part of your mind insisting that, despite the indignity of it, you could probably get away with slamming the door in their face and burying yourself under the blankets until everyone forgot about this doctor thing. But that would be hideously embarrassing and you weren’t sure it would stop Tazriel anyway. They seemed rather determined. “Let’s get this over with.”

Tazriel nodded cheerily, then took a step forward, holding their arms out awkwardly. You took a fumbling step back, hands up. “Hey, woah, what are you doing?”

They paused. “You can hardly walk,” they said, as though that were completely obvious. “But I can.”

You did not lower your arms from their defensive position. “You’re going to carry me?”

They looked like at you like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. “Yes, of course. I can handle it.”

“Uh,” you said, looking them up and down uncertainly. “You’re sure?”

“Of course,” they said. To their credit, they sounded extremely confident. “You’re rather small, aren’t you? I can carry you.”

You felt weirdly embarrassed about being referred to as ‘small.’ “Uh. Well.” Why wasn’t your brain working? You couldn’t string together any thoughts! “I guess, if you’re okay with it…”

They grinned and scooped you up like you were a couple of grapes. You looped your arms around their neck. It was impressive how effortless the lift seemed to them. “Comfortable?” they asked. You made a nondescript sound that roughly meant, ‘as comfortable as it is possible to be right now.’ Apparently, they could interpret that, because they took off at a slow jog.

You’d been expecting they would take one of the trains, but they ended up heading in a completely different direction than the local station. It was slightly unnerving, but they seemed to know what they were doing. You did your best to relax back into their arms. While you usually felt rather uncomfortable about having someone carry you, this felt somehow reassuring. Maybe because they were strong enough that there was no wavering of their grip or unsteadiness.

They jogged for a little while, turning down some of the main roads. People looked at the sight with some interest, though few people actively stared, which you appreciated. After turning around a few corners, they slowed down and approached a decently large building painted in white and pink. They shifted you in their arms a bit before pulling open the glass door.

It definitely smelled like a doctor’s clinic when you stepped inside, with that stinging scent of antiseptic. A few other people were milling around the room. You couldn’t get a good look at most of them, but there was someone standing in a pile of feathers in the corner. You resisted the urge to snicker. There was always someone who took a feather-enhancing potion during the Avieras Festival and then had to deal with the consequences a few days later.

Tazriel ignored the front desk and headed toward the exam area. They nudged the door open with their tail and glanced around as they stepped inside. “Doctor Gella?”

There was a moment of silence, then a middle-aged woman wearing thick spectacles poked her head out of a room a few doors down. She had an enormous set of ram’s horns sprouting from her temples and a thin tail tipped with a trident. Oh, and bright yellow skin.

“Tazriel,” she said, nodding at them. “I assume this is the patient.” She gave you a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you step into an exam room and put them down?”

The exam room was pretty standard doctor fare- a sink and a few cabinets, a machine for checking blood pressure, a couple of uncomfortable-looking chairs up against the far wall, and a bulky exam table covered in paper taking up a majority of the space. Tazriel set you down upon it and took up one of the seats. Dr. Gella gave them a pointed look. “It was kind of them to bring you here, Tazriel, but I’m afraid I can’t let you stay in the exam room while they’re being examined. Unless you would feel more comfortable if Taz stayed?” She directed the last question toward you.

“I think I can handle it on my own,” you said. Ever since you’d started smelling the antiseptic, your heart rate had picked up, and sitting on the crinkly exam table wasn’t doing it any favors. Why did doctor’s offices all have to look the same? But you’d been through this before. You didn’t need anyone to hold your hand. Tazriel nodded amiably and headed for the door.

“I’ll be in the waiting room,” they said. They gave you an amiable wink, then the door closed behind them.

The room felt a lot more confining all of a sudden.

Dr. Gella rolled a wheeled chair up to the edge of the exam table. “They’re quite sweet, but they forget the most obvious things sometimes. One of the reasons they could never work here.”

“Did they want to?”

“They were interested in one point. That’s how we got to know each other- they volunteered here when they were younger. But, as I’ve said, they’re a bit too distracted to be an attentive healer. Their knowledge of anatomy is impeccable, though. Hence why they ended up being a butcher.” Dr. Gella looked at your legs. “Ah. I see that’s the bum ankle they mentioned?”

You shifted, embarrassed. “Yeah. They told me I needed to come here, but…” You trailed off. Dr. Gella gave a half-smile.

“Not a fan of the doctor’s?” she asked. You shook your head. “That’s all right. Plenty of people aren’t. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can.”

She shifted your leg up onto the exam table and slipped off your shoe and sock. The shoe was easy, since your ankle was swollen enough that it didn’t go on all the way. The sock was a little harder, and no matter how gentle she tried to be, it still hurt. You gritted your teeth and struggled as hard as you could not to kick her.

“There we go,” she said, setting your sock next to you. “Hm.” She grimaced. “I can see why they wanted you to come in.”

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” you said, a little sheepish. Dr. Gella hummed disapprovingly.

“It’s definitely a bad sprain, at minimum. How long ago did you injure it?”

“Couple of days?” you said, shrinking back a little more sheepishly when Dr. Gella frowned.

“It might not have been that bad at first, but it’s certainly become worse thanks to not treating it right. I’m going to have to get a brace for it, and you’ll have to stay off it for a few weeks at least.” Her eyes glowed, suggesting she was using some kind of seeing-through spell. “Yes, it doesn’t look like there’s anything broken, but it’s certainly bruised and damaged and walking on it will make it worse.”

“Do I have to wear a cast?” you asked, hesitant.

“It’ll be a soft cast,” Dr. Gella said. You grimaced. “That bothers you?”

“I just… don’t like it.” You shifted in place, wincing when that shifted your ankle. “It bothers me.”

Dr. Gella smiled sympathetically. “If you don’t want to wear the cast, I’m certainly not going to make you do so. But it is my medical recommendation that you do so, as it will make sure that things heal better.”

You didn’t say anything. Yes, you needed to wear the cast. Yes, the idea of doing so made you feel sick to your stomach. You weren’t sure how to reconcile those emotions. Dr. Gella watched your expression, taking in your uncertainty, then forced a small smile.

“Tell you what,” she said. “I have another patient that shouldn’t take too long. You can take some time to think it over. If you’re too uncomfortable for it, then I can just give you some instructions for taking care of it, and if you feel better about the cast, we can put it on after I’m done with that patient. Sound good?”

You let out a relieved breath. At the very least, it got you out of the exam room so you could take a breather. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Certainly. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Dr. Gella helped you out of the room and offered you a set of crutches. Together, you hobbled back to the waiting room.

Tazriel was waiting in a seat close to the door when you stepped out. You nodded to Dr. Gella and went to sit next to them as she called in her next patient. Tazriel tilted their head, taking in your crutches and swollen ankle. “Are you done?”

“I’m not,” you said. “It’s… I’m…” You fumbled over your next words. Tazriel waited patiently. “Ugh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. Dr. Gella was right, I don’t have to know. It’s your health,” Tazriel said. “I can leave now, if you want me too, and as long as you have a way home-”

“You don’t have to leave,” you said. Talking to them was at least a distraction from both the throbbing pain in your ankle and the swirling anxiety in your chest. “I don’t like doctor’s offices.”

Tazriel nodded. “I sort of guessed. From the way you were acting about having to go.” They hesitated. “I know I probably overstepped, bringing you here, but you really did need someone to see to that ankle.”

“Yeah, you were right. I actually do need a cast on this thing.” You shifted your ankle and immediately winced. Bad idea. “But I can’t… bring myself to get one.”

Tazriel was silent for a moment, until it was clear you weren’t going to say more. “What bothers you about it?”

You hesitated. “When I was a kid, I screwed up my arm. It was a pretty bad break, from what I remember. And they put a cast on it. I complained about the cast a lot. It was tight and itchy and I didn’t like wearing it at all.”

Tazriel nodded. “Most people don’t.”

“And then, like a week and a half into wearing the cast, it started to hurt. Really badly. I complained about it, but I’d already been complaining about it so much, everyone thought I was just continuing with that. It kept getting worse, but it took another week before anyone believed me enough to take my back to the doctor. And then the doctor was really dismissive when we did go in, so it was a few more days before my parents finally got anyone to pay attention to what was actually happening.” You took a deep breath. “The cast was too tight. And there was some damage to my hand by the time they figured it out and took it off.”

Tazriel blinked, recoiling a little. You saw them sneak a glance at your hand, subtly trying to see what was wrong without being too obvious about it. “The damage wasn’t permanent, thankfully,” you said, stretching out your arm to show them. “There’s a little scar here, but after physical therapy, I can move my hand pretty much the same as anyone else. There’s a little residual pain, on occasion, but it healed well.”

“That’s why you were so fussy about going to the doctor,” Tazriel said. “You didn’t want another cast.” They curled their tail across their lap. “I… I’m sorry for dragging you here.”

“Ah, it’s not your fault,” you said. “You were right. I did need to go. And I wasn’t going to do it unless someone kicked my ass.” You glanced at the door to the exam rooms. “The doctor said I could go without a cast, if I was really uncomfortable having one on, but I really do need one. I don’t want to screw up my ankle any worse than it already is.”

Tazriel sat for a moment, their tail settled across their lap. They were plucking at their feathers. A little further up their tail was the tail band you’d given to them. It had clearly been taking off and cleaned at one point, maybe even polished because it was even shinier than when you’d had it. “You’re still wearing that,” you said. Tazriel glanced toward the band and gave a faint smile.

“Oh, yes. It’s quite beautiful. I appreciate it.” They ran their finger over it, relishing the little textural differences. “I truly wasn’t expecting a gift.”

You laughed, a little embarrassed by how warm their voice had become. “I’m sure people trip all over themselves to give you free samples. You must be swimming in them by now.”

“Sometimes,” they admitted with a sheepish grin. “I try not to accept them too often. I don’t like to take things without paying for them. It feels unfair.”

You nudged their side playfully. “Except when you’re taking from me, huh? Trying to drive me out of business?”

Their face scrunched up in a strange way. “Eh… well…” They ran their hands up and down their tail. “I had… I had a bit of an idea about that. I was hoping perhaps I could offer to pay you back… by taking you out to dinner.”

You thought for a moment. “You wanted to ask me out to dinner?” They nodded. “Why dinner?”

They blinked, like they hadn’t thought that question would be the next one. “It wouldn’t have to be dinner, I suppose. That’s just traditional. But if you didn’t want dinner, I suppose coffee would work as well? Or if there’s something else you’d like to do?”

Your brain chugged for a moment before everything clicked together. They were asking you on a date. Right? Or maybe you were reading them wrong? You’d never been good with those sort of subtleties- maybe they meant something else? Like a friendly dinner? But if you interpreted it as a friendly dinner and they didn’t, then they would be hurt if you treated it like a friendly date, right? But if you tried to clarify and they weren’t asking you on a date, that would be so embarrassing, and maybe they’d be mad at you for being presumptuous about them asking you out… You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn’t realize you were staring at them until Tazriel cleared their throat. “Er. I- You don’t have to say yes. I thought it might be charming, I suppose? But I suppose it is a little too pushy, so don’t feel obligated to-”

“No, no! I want to!” you said hurriedly. You couldn’t just sit there and let them feel bad! Although, now you were going to have to find a way to determine if this was a date or not without letting them know that you weren’t sure what you’d signed up for.

It seemed like answering in the affirmative was the correct choice, because their entire face brightened. “Really? Ah, that’s a relief. I’m afraid I’m not all that good with these sort of things- people assume I am, I think, but I’m really not used to it at all.” They gave you a particularly rough pat on the shoulder, which jostled you enough to make your ankle ache. You grimaced and they pulled their hands back, tucking them against their body. “Sorry. We can, uh. Hold off on the dinner until you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah,” you muttered. “I… suppose I should get the cast. To make sure that everything heals all right.”

They looked uncertain. “Are you going to be okay with that?”

“It’ll be scary, but I’m a grown-up. I can handle it.” Despite your words, your stomach churned. It wasn’t even going to be a hard cast, like the one you’d had as a kid, but the idea of something pressing in tight, restricting you like that… how were you going to sit through the procedure and just deal with it?

An impulse darted from your brain to the tip of your tongue before you could think better of it. “Will you sit with me when I get the cast on?”

Tazriel’s ears fluffed up and their eyes went wide. It was hard to tell if they were surprised or pleased to be asked. Or both. “You want me to go in with you?” Their tail gave one large wag before they settled it back into their lap. “I don’t know if I’m allowed.”

“If I say you can be in there, then you can be in there,” you said. “I’d just like someone else in there with me in case I, like. Freak out or something.”

They looked at you for a long moment and you were just about to rescind the offer out of embarrassment when they nodded. “Of course. I don’t mind at all.”

Their agreement couldn’t have come at a better time, because the exam room door swung open again and Dr. Gella stepped out. “There you are,” she said, nodding in your direction. “Have you made up your mind?”

You nodded. “I’d like Tazriel to come back with me. Just as, uh. Moral support. If that’s all right.”

Dr. Gella looked between the two of you with slightly raised eyebrows, but all she said was, “There’s some paperwork you’ll have to sign, but I don’ t think there will be any problem with it.”

Tazriel gave a single squeeze to your shoulder and followed you and Dr. Gella back to the proper exam room. You hopped back up on the table and signed a few forms Dr. Gella provided for you while Tazriel hovered a bit awkwardly nearby. “Now, I’m going to set your leg in place with magic and form the cast around it,” Dr. Gella said as soon as the paperwork was safely stored away. “That will make the most comfortable and best-fitting cast. But you’re going to have to try and not move.”

“I can try,” you said. The phantom sensation of being held in a vice grip, unable to pull your leg away even as it was clamped down on tighter and tighter and tighter hit you and you took an unsteady, gulping breath.

Tazriel moved closer so their shoulder was brushing against yours. Even with the high examination table, they had to bend over a bit. “Where were you thinking of going for dinner?”

“F-for dinner?” you said, distracted. Dr. Gella carefully worked a disinfectant and cleaning spell over your ankle, causing a race of cold tingles over your skin. The magic sparked and seemed to solidify as she shifted the magic to start holding your leg still.

“Hey.” Tazriel’s voice dropped a little, adopting a soothing register. “Don’t focus on that, okay? Look at me.”

You turned your head to catch Tazriel’s golden eyes. They beamed. “There you go! Now, I asked you about dinner, remember?” Their face took on a thoughtful expression. “Oh, but you weren’t sure about dinner, were you? I’m happy to go with whatever you’d like.”

“U-um.” The grip around your ankle was tightening, enough to put pressure on the swelling. It ached awfully. “I- I guess… lunch would be fine?” Dinner was too fancy, right? Getting lunch seemed much more low-key. Though, if they were asking you on a proper date, dinner would be more traditional, right?

“Lunch works,” Tazriel said amiably. “Anywhere in particular you want to go?”

“I’m not sure.” You hazarded a glance at your ankle, but before you could get a proper look at it, Tazriel was calling your attention back.

“There’s a cute little bistro near my workplace. If you have no objections, we could go there. Have you ever been? I don’t remember the name, but it’s a pale green building with ivy crawling up the side.”

“I think I’ve seen that,” you said. The grip around your ankle had stopped tightening, but the pressure was still there. You couldn’t flex it at all. Your head thundered erratically. “It looks nice. I’ve never been there.”

“I’ve only been there once, for breakfast, but they had quite a good egg sandwich.” Your gaze started to wander back toward your leg and Tazriel squeezed your hand, drawing your attention back to them. “But they’ve got a lot of variety, so I’m sure you can find something you’ll like there.”

“Uh huh,” you murmured, still distracted. The magic was solidifying into a soft cast, molding itself to the shape of your leg. There wasn’t much pain, but the feeling was still unsettling.

Tazriel licked their lips, their tail flicking rapidly. “Ah, um… Maybe you could talk about how you made this?” They swung their tail around to show off the clip still set against their scales. “It’s lovely. I was very surprised you were willing to give it to me.”

“Well, it is good business practice to make sure customers come back,” you said. “And you were a nice customer.” And maybe the fact that they were cute hadn’t hurt either. Had you actually been flirting with them without realizing it? Well, you weren’t that good at flirting when you were trying at it. Maybe flirting while you weren’t trying made you better at it. It had gotten you a maybe-date, hadn’t it?

“There we are.” Dr. Gella stepped back to examine her handiwork. “Well done. It’s all set.”

You looked down at your leg. It was booted up in a deep blue material, making one of your legs significantly heavier and more awkward than the other. You could move your leg with a decent amount of effort, but you couldn’t really flex your ankle. Gingerly, you slid off the table. Tazriel caught your arm immediately, letting you lean against their body.

“Careful,” Dr. Gella said. You couldn’t tell whether she was talking to you or Tazriel. “Your ankle’s still going to be fragile, so I’d suggest using crutches and keeping as much weight off of it as possible. I’ll write you a script for some pain medication. Take it easy for at least two weeks, then come back in and we can reassess.

“I will,” you said. “Thank you for all your help.”

She waved it off. “Of course. I’m always ready to help Tazriel’s friends.”

“Let me walk you back to your house,” Tazriel said. “Just to make sure you get back okay and have everything you need.” Their tail swayed back and forth eagerly. “And you still have my scale, right? You can call me if it gets worse or you need anything.”

Dr. Gella made a noise of surprise. “A scale, Tazriel? Really?” They paused, looking at her like they’d forgotten she was in the room. “I thought those were important to feathered dragons.”

That answered one of your questions. “I’ve never met a feathered dragon before,” you said, giving Tazriel a surprised look. They rubbed the back of their neck.

“I’m only three quarters- My grandma married a harpy. I’ve got a few more feathers than most feathered dragons.” They swayed their plumed tail back and forth, displaying the pretty feathers there. “And most modern dragons don’t hold to that old notion of scales being given to- you know. It’s convenient.”

“A seerstone is more convenient,” Dr. Gella said. You looked between them, feeling like you’d missed something important.

“What old notion?” you asked. Tazriel shook their head at Dr. Gella, who continued speaking as if she hadn’t seen them at all.

“It was an old tradition for dragons to give out scales to people they were interested in establishing a courtship with,” she said. Tazriel dropped their face into their hands. Their tail drooped to hit the ground with a dull thump. “Admittedly, courtship has fallen out of fashion, so it’s not quite as common anymore, but plenty of dragons still hold to the-”

“Okay, I think maybe you need to go home and rest,” Tazriel said, popping up from their hands and speaking much louder than was necessary for such a small room. They scooped you up over their shoulder with one arm and grabbed the crutches Dr. Gella had for you with the other.

“Be careful,” Dr. Gella said. “You don’t want to jostle their-”

“I’m always very careful,” Tazriel said in their too-loud voice. “I’ll see you another time, thank you.”

You awkwardly propped your head up from where it was hanging down Tazriel’s back. “Thank you, Dr. Gella.”

“Of course. If you need anything else, please give me a call. Just ask Tazriel for my contact information,” she said. Then Tazriel left the room and the door swung shut behind you.

You let yourself lay limply over their shoulder, ignoring the bewildered stares as you walked through the waiting room. Once you were outside and Tazriel’s embarrassed walk had slowed, you picked your head up again. “Perhaps you could give me an opportunity to walk on my own?”

Tazriel stuttered to a stop. “Oh. Yes.” They moved to the shadow of a building and carefully put you down so you could lean against the wall while they put the crutches down. “I shouldn’t have picked you up like that, I was just…” They trailed off.

“It’s fine,” you said, deciding to be polite and not call attention back to their embarrassment. Then you had a question and decided to do it anyway. “Um. So, the thing with the scale…” Tazriel immediately looked like they were considering making a run for it. “It would have been more convenient to use a seerstone, wouldn’t it? Why did you pick the scale?”

Tazriel really looked like they were hoping the ground would swallow them up, but, to their credit, they stood there and answered. “It.... isn’t used as a way to start courting anymore, but… there are certain connotations to it and there are a lot of old legends and…” They cleared their throat and stared firmly at the ground. “I was planning on asking you out. I just hadn’t quite plucked up the courage yet. The scale was more spur of the moment than anything. I didn’t want to ask you out in that moment, not when you were hurt, so I picked something that was similar, but not something you would recognize. I hoped it would maybe help me feel braver next time I saw you. And I suppose I thought maybe the scale would make it more likely for you to call me than just connecting with a seerstone.”

Well. That answered your other question. It was a date. A pleasant prickling sensation rolled through your chest. “I- I thought it was sweet,” you said, partially because it was true and partially so Tazriel didn’t look so painfully shy anymore. They smiled at that.

“Let’s get you home. And connect seerstones so we can actually plan everything out for our lunch.” Tazriel helped you get set up with the crutches and you began your slow journey back to your house.

It took a while to get back to your home, but Tazriel was a pleasant conversationalist. In fact, you were almost disappointed when they stopped at your front door.

“I’ll see you again,” they said. “Get some rest. If you need anything else, I’m available. By scale or seerstone.”

“I’ll call. I promise,” you said. “Thank you for everything.” You carefully balanced yourself on your crutches and reached one of your arms up toward them. They obligingly leaned closer. You took their face in your palm and tugged them in close for just long enough to press a kiss to their cheek.

They didn’t make a sound, but their tail and ear feathers fluffed up. “I’ll call you,” you said. They nodded rapidly. Grinning, you stepped back into your house. You needed to rest up your leg. Once you were healed, you had a date to go on.

#exophilia #monster partner #monster lover #dragon #feathered dragon #dragon lover #monster romance #monster love

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