#off to cook up some new plan for world domination

[wild-magic-oops]

The hand-holding scene is so funny with durgetash I love it lmao

[beuxwhoyouare]

Wondering

I don’t really remember much. I suppose that was always my biggest weakness. I’m part of a slug-like species of aliens known as Skreats. Our whole species thing is that they want to take over worlds by taking over the dominant species bodies and using their resources to conquer the universe. Blah blah blah I synthesized my whole life being taught that taking over hosts was my job and all I was supposed to do but what if I don’t want to?

I never payed much attention to all those logs and protocols about conquering. I just wanted to be free of Skreat expectations.

One day I left logging seminars and just hid inside my sectors pod shit hangar. I know I wasn��t supposed to but the ships are so comfortable so I just stay in there and hang for hours. Then all the alarms went off in the hangar, we were under attack but I didn’t want to get in trouble for being where I wasn’t supposed to be. I acted like I was supposed to be there and after a few more of us piled into the ship I commenced launch.

The ship was an escape pod automatically routed to vulnerable planets to conquer. We were headed to E Arth? As we tried to navigate through enemy lines we almost made it to our destination before being shot down in the planets atmosphere. I just fell and then it all went black.

When I came back to consciousness there was no ship near me just a hard cold black runway of some kind, I believe they’re known as roads. It was dark but sirens blared through the night heading towards a blaze in the distance. THE SHIP! I presumed the worst and tried to avoid being stomped on by these tall earthlings walking by me. I thought I found a good hiding place a lobby of some sort but that’s when I was spotted.

An earthling calling me and took me into the shelter of some clear glass container. He murmured words of snail and take care of. I think he’s under the assumption I’m one of these earth creatures.

For days he would give me earthy twigs and shreds of vegetables assuming that I would consume them. I admit I tried but they don’t necessarily make sense to me or my Skreat organs.

He invited other earthlings over some nights some he showed me to and others he got close to but before I could see what their interactions were he’d whisk him away to a private room away from me. But I did learn his name, Harrison.

I’d spend my days observing Harrison or the visuals he would put on his wall display of some sort. He called these things movies. So many of the ones we would watch had stories of love or adventure. It widened my desire to not conquer a world even more. Maybe that’s what I wanted to do. But I couldn’t, not stuck in my current tiny form.

I’m thankful Harrison saved me but I’ve got to level up. I decided to navigate my way out of the container, which I could’ve always done but I needed a plan first.

He was cooking his sustenance after coming back home all wet from his human secretions. With his back turned to me I leaped from the counter onto his waistband.

I consider it a species specialty that we Skreats are very pliable. I flattened out to slip under and find my way into Harrison. As I slithered towards his rounded backside, I began infiltrating and my savior began tensing up. He began to moan, mixing between pleasure and panic as he realized this was not a moment of intimacy but something else.

He began to switch hard to panic as he tried to fight my ascent but it was too late. I hauled it through so many tunnels of organs and vasculature until I got to his core. I guess you call it a heart. I began inserting my tendrils into it and began spreading myself through his bloodstream.

Pulse pulse pulse. I could feel his heart pumping and eventually I synced up with it. We were becoming one, my life purpose was finally being achieved. I had other plans though.

After Harrison took his last gasp for air, I began using my new earthling lungs. It felt like I was breathing too hard, wheezing for air that felt so foreign to me. Reading brainwaves to figure out things like movement and basic terms.

I decided to calm down and slow down. I used my new extremities and flexed my fingers as they’re called. I used them to start feeling my corporal form. Harrison’s lower back arched into a muscular bubble of a butt. I used one hand to slowly caress each curve before squeezing the firm but malleable ass. My other hand roaming across Harrison’s inflated arms and chest. He spent time pushing and pulling plates of metal and cables to get all this as I scanned his brainwaves more.

I’m sure this looked erotic to human beings but I was truly using this moment to discover earthlings.

I began to take off the coverings Harrison was wearing to see the anatomy it was hiding. So many curves and swerves I thought as I traced my host body with my hands. This body is feeling a nervous response called arousal I think.

Something is growing down below on my front area. I place one hand under the blue restraining fabric.

Firm but not hard as metal, the appendage was warm and almost inviting me to grab ahold. I used my new hand and began examining but as I examined and moved it around it felt exciting to go back and forth with it in my muscular hand. I took my other hand and explored the hole I entered through. I slid one finger in before slipping another then another one in.

Unhh

A sound came out of my mouth that I did not intend for. Is this also another nervous response? I began to give into the automatic responses and sped up. My stroking because more rhythmic and hard as I slid my hand up the hole in my backside. And before I could examine the responses another one emerged. A moan and a secretion.

First one then another then the appendage kept spurting out pulse after pulse of white viscous liquids. I was out of breathe in my new lungs. But curiosity struck again as I approached the liquid on a nearby wall. I got close to investigate and touched the sticky goo.

Maybe it’s nutritious or maybe a safety response? Hmm the brainwaves for this haven’t hit me yet. Well instincts haven’t led me astray yet. I opened my new mouth and used my new tongue to lick the wall clean. I wonder if this is how all food is acquired. Hmm.

[davinashifts333]

DATING KIM HONGJOONG OF ATEEZ PART 1:

⚫️summary; once again, first part to Hongjoong’s section in the new ATEEZ fics or requests I am taking, so REQUEST!!! & STREAM GOLDEN HOUR!! LET’s GOOOOO!! see all my fellow ATINY at the Arlington concert!!🩷🩷🩷

⚠️warnings; fluff, Joongie being Joongie, Ateez idiocies, craziness, some swearing, implied smut, etc. IF YOU’RE NOT 18, GTFO! disrespectfully.

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-dating Kim HongJoong is also becoming a mother of 6 & a sister wife to Seonghwa.

-dating HongJoong means late nights where you walk around Han River with snacks from the 24hr convenience stores & chat about your days but also, early mornings for the days off he has & has planned a full day of activities for you two.

-dating HJ is like being his best kept secret but also his most prized possession, he is so protective & loving to you, it’s weird for the boys.

-dating Joong is being at his dorm as much as possible because once he had you? he never wanted to let go, he swore he hated skin-ship but with you? nahhh. that was out the door.

-dating Joongie is like having a boyfriend, husband, best friend & confidant all in one because he is so respectful & sweet but also so serious & dominating that it sometimes scares you how quickly his personality can switch. (but it’s also hot asf because Captain?)

-dating HongJoong is being BumJoong’s bestie & little sister, when HongJoong is off on tour? you best believe BumJoong, momma Kim & anyone from HongJoong’s family is calling you & visiting you to make sure you’re doing well.

-some nicknames he would call you based on his initial vibe/aura & personality seen on camera; Baby, Babydoll, Love, Sweetheart, Darling, Little one (because he finally found someone smaller than him), Beautiful, Dove, etc.

-dating HJ is moving fast but it feeling right? like a month in & he’s flying you out to Seoul to visit him or coming to visit you (if his schedule permits because baby boy is BUSY).

-being HongJoong’s girlfriend means also being his true right hand, the person he wants to learn about everyday, the girl of his dreams, the one who he asks for advice all the time but ultimately protects with his life & the best part of all, the person who sees his true self & softest parts of him & his personality.

-dating Joongie is meeting his family early on & going on vacations with them but also becoming so close with his mom he just sits & pouts that you’re stealing her from him & Eomma Kim is stealing you from him too.

-you & Eomma Kim cooking for the fam & her loving you so much because you remind her of a young version of herself (be that you’re foreign or not, she find attributes about you so calming & similar to hers).

-dating HongJoong is a blessing & curse st the same time, let’s be real this man is a Scorpio, he is DEMANDING. but, also the sweetest & most sensitive & emotionally open person you know, he truly understands the beauty of the world, of people & is driven by passion so, if you are similar to him? he would be most grateful because he would feel so understood & like he could truly open up to you.

-dating HJ means truly learning the deepest parts of his soul, his drive, his motivation, his passion & the reasons behind all of them. him showing you & teaching you the way he sees the world through his eyes & loving that you understand & see it the same way.

-soft launching on your IG & the ATEEZ acc because you’re also a musician/artist/producer/singer (whatever) & you do a challenge with him & some other members.

-being his girlfriend would mean also being the group’s baby sister, each member loving you for a different reason & you often hang out with them but, yes your boyfriend/future husband gets jealous so he steals you away & keeps you to himself. (we all know this man is jealous, be for fucking real).

-“Ya! Jagi, why are you with Wooyoung & not me? Am I not enough for you? Wooyoungie, go away, she’s mine.” & so he does, San is already waiting for Woo in the living room of HongJoong’s dorm so you both can have alone time in his room.

-“Don’t worry, we don’t love Y/n at allll. It’s not like she’s OUR friend too.” Woo yells back as he walks off to steal Joong’s snacks he has “hidden”.

-you laughing the whole way Joong drags you to his room.

-Joong being a complete baby & softie with you despite the persona/front he puts on for the cameras.

-ATINY loving that they get to see this side through small snippets & stories on your IG/YouTube/Twitter/TikTok, etc.

-posting pics together & also him posting pics he’s taken of you on his camera/polaroid.

-being his muse, he literally has made 10’s of playlists & is working on songs that include things about you that only the members, him & you truly understand & know the meaning behind.

-being his all time biggest supporter, he DID meet you wearing a MATZ t-shirt so, it got him flustered & thinking about how you could he so calm while seeing him in person.

-yes you were ATINY before you dated, like dude, come on. who couldn’t love these 8 idiots.

-playfully arguing with Mingi over how you can’t choose between their rap styles because they’re so different & both so good.

-movie nights with the members where you & Joong end up sneaking off to be alone & they start hounding you both about not being able to keep it in your pants.

-he’s a passionate lover, so hidden marks, body to body, eye contact, multiple positions, etc. are for SURE his go to.

-he loves to be in control but whenever you do try to take control? it only riles him up more & has you walking funny for a few days after.

-your personality & aura is made up of leadership energy, dominance, bluntness, strength, etc. but, the real you is a soft & loving person, he is definitely the type to like someone like him, who looks so dark & scary on the outside but is truly just so intelligent, caring & creative as he is.

-dating Kim Hong Joong is like breathing underwater in a dream & no longer fearing anything, it’s like giving into your deepest & darkest desires & fighting no matter how hard the fight is. It’s like being worshipped & worshipping at the same time, it’s a push & pull of who loves who more but ultimately it’s so equal because you BOTH are so equal, it’s insane. It’s air in lungs that haven’t been able to take a full, clean & crisp breath in the longest time. It’s feeling so high & happy like you’re on cloud 9 24/7, 365.4 days a year & more.

-being his person, his lover, his best friend & future wife? is a dream written in the stars but only time could bring you closer. it’s poetry, passion & pain all in one but truly, a love so deep & understanding you could never consider it vain.

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A/N: I AM SO EXCITED TO GET BACK INTO WRITING, I HAVE MISSED SPILLING MY THOUGHTS & IDEAS ONTO THIS BLOG. FELLOW TX ATINY, SEE YOU SOON, even if you don’t know who I really am (my real name is NOT Davina & you’ll never know the real me BUT) LET’s STREAM GOLDEN HOUR!! MI GENTE LATINA!! LET’s GOOOO!! also, i am so close to 200 followers & I’m so excited & curious why I have so many followers but!! let’s get to 200!! (i’m at 199 rn)

[drefear]

Hail to the King

Chapter 2: It All Comes Back to You

Summary: Miguel O’Hara is the head of the biggest mafia family in Nueva York, scaring almost all of its citizens. Except you. And that’s exactly what he needs. 

Tw: masturbating (male) hints of trauma and past abusive relationship, drinking, a lil more of possessive and creepy Miguel. 

AN: I have to say I feel like some of this might be kinda shitty because it was a bit rushed, but I also hate slow paced plots, so I guess I can’t help it. Hope you like it!

You.

The world was blurry as your eyes lost focus for a bit. Nothing seemed real. You thought you might wake up and everything would be normal again. No crazy mob bosses, no blow jobs in the office, no scheduled sex, none of it.

Who the fuck was this guy?

His life was so far from any type of common man’s that you were almost impressed. Fine pressed designer suits, women on their knees during his lunch break, meetings about hard drugs. For a building so beautifully kept and full of charming people, it sure was a mystery. Was everyone just sleeping with different people throughout the day? Were they also snorting lines off of the bathroom counter or cooking meth in the kitchen? What other dirty deeds were done in this place?

Lyla knocked on your door, saying something about setting up your new phone and calendar.

“And the blue events in the calendar are strictly private for Miguel.” She added, to which you saw that- yep. That meeting was blue. You mentally slapped yourself in the face and listened to the rest of what she had to say.

“Ok, that should be it. Your new phone is set up, and it also has the company card connected to it already, so you don’t need a physical card. Miguel set me a message about your shopping spree later, but I raised the budget he gave you to an extra ten thousand. Just in case ya really need something that might cross that line. And whatever you get, I do the paperwork so I’ll just write it up as an investment, like our donations to charity.” She shrugged and turned, blowing you a little kiss as she exited the room.

Your mind assaulted your conscious thoughts once she was gone, remembering how he looked only thirty minutes ago. Head back in ecstasy, eyes never wavering from yours as he orgasmed and slammed up into that girl's throat. You shivered from the memories and stood up abruptly, needing to move around before the warmth in your core spread and created any type of physical arousal.

Your phone buzzed, seeing Miguel’s name light up the screen. Unlocking your phone, only the words ‘Come to my office now.’ showed up and your feet began to move towards your door when you stopped.

A million thoughts danced behind your eyes and you smirked, tired of him already.

‘No.’ is all you answered before exiting your office and shutting the door loudly behind you so he knew you’d be gone. You confidently walked to the elevator and tossed your hair over your shoulder. He wanted your unfiltered thoughts? Well then, he had no idea what he signed up for.

Standing in the elevator, you saw him walk out of his office as well and make eye contact with you, making you flash back to what you’d seen earlier.

In seconds, you realized something as you stood ten feet away now. He knew you wouldn’t know about the color coded schedule. He planned that little power play. He was showing his dominance, like a dog peeing on his territory. A show of who was in charge and what you were to him. A plaything.

This split second of awareness made you even more confident in your defiance, as you saw him begin to close in on the elevator. The doors began to close and you smiled, waving to him right before they shut.

The ride to the lobby was serene, like the calm after the storm. Your day had been intense to say the least. A lot of arguing, thinking, absorbing, and borderline sexual assault on your eyes. But it wasn’t a bad day. In fact, this all gave you a thrill you didn’t know you needed.

Once on the ground floor, you walked outside and waved to a taxi, getting in once one stopped. Scrolling over the list you were given by Lyla, you stopped at one stare in particular.

“Take me to Hermès.” And you were gone.

Standing in the dressing room, the whole world felt like a scene from Pretty Woman. You twirled in tight, business dresses that you thought they only wore in movies about billionaires with red rooms. The color of your favorite so far was a lightweight white dress, but it seemed a bit much for the office, so you tucked it away and decided if you needed a sexy dress for an event, you’d pull it out.

You’d decided to go on a shopping spree on Fifth Avenue, where you’d been fired the previous day, and eat lunch right where this all had begun.

Sitting at a table, you requested Peter kindly and he made his way over in an instant. “I am so sorry, it was completely out of my control! I didn’t-“ he apologized and you just shook your head.

“It’s ok. I understand now. How about you get me a white wine and we call it water under the bridge?” You requested and he nodded, fetching it with hast. It was a great meal and once you were done, you gave Peter and Gwen both a hug.

“You know, since you technically got a huge promotion, we should celebrate! Go out tonight, get some drinks?” Gwen asked and you quickly agreed. A few drinks sounds exactly like what you needed.

Now beyond overstimulated, you made your way home with around thirty thousand dollars worth of clothing.

And when you saw a moving truck outside of your complex, you remembered that you were indeed moving.

Hours of tossing shit in boxes and taping them closed, you were packed and in the moving van on your way to your new apartment. You were still reeling with this whole world and how quickly things had spun into a web of insanity.

Leaning your head back against the side of the van, the adrenaline was starting to wear off and the reality began to sink in.

Arriving at your new place, the large men brought in the big pieces of furniture you decided to keep, which was really just your couch, bed, and coffee table. Everything else was unneeded and ugly anyway. You tried to help as much as possible, but quickly opted for carrying in boxes and garbage bags you’d packed in a rush. It was over just as quickly as it started and soon, you were sitting on your floor cross legged and staring at the boxes, then glanced at the shopping bags that were full of expensive dresses and clothing. That sounded like a lot more fun than unpacking your old sweats and knickknacks.

Pulling everything out and placing it on hangers, your eyes glanced at a specific outfit you’d chosen that’d be perfect to celebrate with Gwen tonight. Pulling on a white halter dress, you enjoyed the little bits of side boob and the way the thigh had a slit that showed more skin. The light fabric made it comfortable and easy to move in, and with a quick pair of strappy heels with sparkling rhinestones all over from Jimmy Choo, you grabbed your new Louis Vuitton purse and smiled. Maybe this job would be so terrible.

Texting Gwen, you also decided to invite Lyla and Jess. Lyla agreed to come out, whereas Jess said she didn’t have a sitter for the boys and would come out once her husband got home from work. A girls night was exactly what you needed, and everything about the feeling of hopping on the train and getting eyes from a few good looking men made you hum with pride. Ignoring all of the bullshit from the past two days, you liked Gwen a lot and she’s become someone you trusted even only knowing her for about a week. She had an authenticity about her that made you feel like she was honest and brave.

Lyla also made you laugh with how she always had something to say back. Her fun loving attitude was one you almost felt jealous of, how she seemed so relaxed. Jessica had a bad ass vibe to her, like everything she did could be documented and made into a comic or story. Like some sort of legend in the making.

You wanted to be like them in so many ways, you’d have to start taking notes and learning how they seemed to be so damn cool.

Stepping off the train and hurrying towards the club Gwen suggested, you couldn’t help but smile. You’re first time clubbing in Nueva York! It was so exciting, seeing people waiting outside of the club in a long line like in movies you’d seen. Waving to Gwen, who was already on line, you caught up with her. Her outfit fit her so well, a black shirt leather jacket over a dark silver mini dress with black tights with rips in them and black platform boots with chains down the sides. She looked like a rockstar, and that wasn’t too far from the truth. She smiled wide and grabbed your hand.

“This is going to be so much fun!” She added and you couldn’t agree more. Suddenly, you felt a hand grab yours from behind and saw a familiar pair of heart shaped glasses.

“Lyla!” Gwen cheered before you even turned around fully, all hugging together. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, how’s Mr. Grumpy pants?” The blonde asked and Lyla just rolled her eyes.

“Cranky as usual, but he comes in handy for some things. Follow me.” She pulled you both out of the line and to the front where many people were giving you all dirty looks. A security guard only took a second to look at Lyla and moved the ropes for her and you to come in, not even bothering to check your ids. You looked at Gwen in surprise and she just nodded, as if telling you to keep your cool.

The club was packed beyond belief, and a girl in a bodysuit and fishnets let you to a large booth-table with velvet black couches and a large bottle of champagne on the table. “Who did this?”

“I may have called ahead and three around Miguel’s name.” Lyla shrugged, grabbing a flute of champagne and filling it with the bubbly alcohol. She handed you each one more and tilted her glass to inspire a toast. “To our new recruit in the Spider society!” She cheersed and you blushed at the attention, Gwen whooping and hollering.  The thrum of the heavy bass and heat from the moving bodies made you almost lightheaded, enjoying the free feeling from the liquid in your cup. Another bottle was brought out once Jess arrived and the four of you swayed a bit to the beat, to which you grabbed Gwen’s hand and attempted to pull her to the dance floor. Lyla followed with Jess and you all moved, swaying your hips to the rap playing in the dim lights. The flash of Lyla’s phone camera made you cover your face a little, still smiling and not stopping your dance, swiveling in a seductive motion and feeling the heat between your legs begin to rise from the feeling of the eyes around you watching. Jess nudged you and pointed to a man at the bar, a bit taller and thin in a dress shirt. You made eye contact with the man and the temperature of your chest rose once more. You made your way over to where he was, raising a hand at the bartender as you ordered a drink. He leaned over and spoke.

“On my tab.” His voice was low, eyes catching yours once more and making you feel very aware of your surroundings. A blush creeped onto your face and you tucked a stray hair behind your ear. “I’m Harry.” He introduced himself and you returned the favor,  shaking his hand gently. Big Sean pumped around you both as you talked for what felt like an hour, light conversation giving you a feeling similar to a high. It had been a while since you’d enjoyed speaking to someone like this, chemistry and familiarity.

“Is that you?” You heard someone speak from behind you and call your name, turning to face the last person you thought would be in front of you.

“Eddie?” You gasped, fear coursing through the previously hot blood in your veins, cold as ice now from this familiar face. “How did you-”

“I heard you moved here a few weeks ago and came to visit. Nothing like a friendly face, right?” You searched around for your female friends in vain, finding no one you even recognized. He slipped his hand into yours, frozen with horror as he squeezed, something you knew was actually a warning. “How about we find somewhere to talk?”

“Actually, I’m with my coworkers, now is a bad time.” You tried to remove your hand from his and felt him unrelenting, his grip tightening. “Please, not here.” You begged, pleading with him and knowing you’d get nowhere.

“There you are!” Jess’s voice rang through as she pushed through the crowd, Lyla and Gwen behind her. “We’re about to get another bottle- who’s this?” She raised a brow questioningly at Eddie, who stepped closer with a small smile.

“I’m Eddie, nice to meet you,” He shook her hand and her eyes glanced to yours, hopefully seeing the feeling of terror you were trying to show her.

“Right,” Jess pulled you closer to her and slipped her arm into yours, “well, sorry to burst your bubble, but we’re having a girls only night, so she’ll have to talk to you another time.” Jess secured her hand around your arm and smiled, knowing exactly what you needed. Behind you, Lyla had signaled security and had them coming closer, but a voice made everyone stop moving instantly.

“Actually, I think it’s time we all go.” A deep voice said from your right and you looked up to see your boss.

“How-“ Gwen asked but was quickly cut off by the glare Miguel sent her.

“I saw the videos Lyla posted and came to celebrate as well.” From his body language, that definitely was not his true intentions, but you were left in the dark as Jess and Lyla looked extremely nervous, like they’d just got caught doing something very bad.

Gwen leg the way out as Jess and Lyla followed, to which you began to walk forward with them, but a hand grabbed your wrist once more and you came face to face with Harry, who’d been caught in the crossfire of your drama.

“When will I see you again?” He begged slightly, a small smile on his lips until Miguel stood in between you two and sneered at him a bit.

“Get your hands off my employee.” His voice was dangerous, a presence only a lion would challenge. Without letting anyone interject, he dragged you out through the crowd and into the street lights. A hoard of men in black clothing stood outside with the girls, seemingly waiting for you and Miguel. You all climbed into a black SUV where all of the seats faced each other and both Jess and Lyla hung their heads, Gwen holding your hand in concern.

“What the hell was that, Lyla?!” His voice was loud, accusatory. “Are you trying to start a fight?”

“Of course not, I just wanted to-“

“I don’t even want to hear it. And you, Jess? You should know better than anyone what that could have led to!” His tone made you coward backwards a bit, Jess unwavering in her confidence.

“Who do you think you’re speaking to like that? Lyla and I were with her and Gwen, we were perfectly safe.” She defended and Lyla nodded, Gwen looking up just as confused as you.

“What are you guys talking about?” You asked quietly and as if he just noticed you were there, his eyes were cautious. Everything was silent for a moment before he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“That nightclub is owned by another mob in Nueva, a smaller one, but it would still be a problem if anything else had happened. They would think I sent spies to their club.” He added the end as an example. You looked down as Gwen rubbed your shoulder from worry.

“I’m taking you all to a different club, one that won’t cause any unnecessary issues-“

“Actually…” you started and but your lip before continuing. “I think I just want to go home. I’m too tired to stay out.” You didn’t dare look up at anyone else, eyes trained on your shinny shoes that you were so excited about a few hours ago. How did everything keep happening so fast?

The car stopped outside of your building and you got out, followed by Miguel. He tapped the top of the car and the rest of the girls were sent home. You both walked in and onto the elevator.

“I don’t need an escort-“

“This is also my building.” He interrupted you and you finally looked up at him, watching as his eyes stayed focused on the buttons of the elevator. He tapped your floor and then the top floor. Of course he had the penthouse.

You stayed soundless, the exhaustion finally hitting you and making you drag your feet. The doors opened and you glanced at him before just walking out.

“By the way.” He spoke before you could walk too far, turning to look into his eyes for the first time that night. “Next time my office door is shut, remember to knock.” The metal doors closed and the memory of him fucking into that woman’s throat was then fresh on your mind.

Miguel’s head fell back against the metal. Lyla had posted those videos of you dancing on her account and he’d seen them when she started not answering his messages, then watching how you moved your body in that adorable white  dress. And the way it moved up your thighs while you danced-

Miguel opened his eyes as the ding of the elevator sounded that he’d reached his penthouse. Walking into his dining room, he shed himself from the suit jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt, stretching his shoulders and tossing the shirt into a hamper close to his closet. Unbuckling his belt, Miguel let out a breath of relief as he adjusted himself to be more comfortable. Sitting down on his bed, he reached for his laptop and settled under the covers. Scrolling through a few documents, he pulled up his background search of you. Your photo popped up with some of your social media. Pictures from the beach, a few from birthdays, and some family photos, you seemed completely normal.

But something was off.

Miguel knew he was intimidating, it was part of his stature that made his job a little easier. You weren’t afraid of him, you kept your ground and fought back to him.

But tonight, you had fear in your eyes when you saw that guy. What was his name again? Adam? Who knows, but he saw that slight hesitation and anxiety in you that he didn’t recognize. You were scared of that guy.

He thought back to earlier in the day when he’d saw you as he was getting his normal de-stressing from one of the girls in the lower levels, something many women around him volunteered for. She’s come up and offered sex, but he just needed a mouth to fuck.

And then you walked in with that plain outfit and sensible shoes, holding your tablet like you’d been in a rush. And he couldn’t look away. You should have been the one wrapped around his dick, he wanted to hear you gagging on him as he thrusted upwards and grunted. He wanted to cum inside your mouth, not someone random woman’s from marketing. He wanted you.

Unknowingly, his hand had traveled to his boxers and he’d begun rubbing himself to the thought of you.

All he could imagine was you mouthing off to him, and him bending you over the kitchen counter in his apartment, holding one arm behind your back as the other moved to grasp anything within reach as he took you from behind. Miguel rolled his eyes back at the thought of your warm hole welcoming him as he licked two fingers of his free hand and rubbed circles on your clit until you were practically pushing him away from the intensity of your orgasm. But no, he wouldn’t let you get away that easily, he wanted to feel it around him, so he would angle his hips a little more upward, hitting that soft spot that made you arch your back into him more and let out broken moans.

As if on cue, white ropes of his own mess hit his chest and he looked down in surprise, having forgotten what his hand had been doing. He sighed and got up to rinse himself off with a softening cock and an empty mind. The single thing on his brain when he tossed and turned in his sleep that night?

You.

Gwen’s outfit

Your outfit

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 3

[jaeyong-sucker]

FOREVER • KUN

PAIRING: Qian Kun x Male Reader 

GENRE: Smut, Fluff (?)

WARNINGS: Unprotected Sex, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Praising Kink, Pet Names, Hickeys, Age Difference, Poor Attempt at Romance, (More of a Kun-centric fic??? idk it's my first time writing in years), NOT PROOFREAD

Word Count: 2,161

Summary: Kun and male reader making love. 

Note: This was supposed to be uploaded last March but was delayed for some reason. Feedback and tips would be very much appreciated. ^~^

Maybe it’s because of the cloudy, lazy weather. Maybe it’s because you looked so dashing in the warm confines of his hoodie that was big for you. Maybe it’s because he looked so hot and irresistible with nothing but sweatpants on. Or maybe the tension is just too strong to beat, that all said clothes are now discarded on the floor as want and lust takes over. You couldn’t (or have no plans to) resist as your sugar daddy pins you under him and dances his tongue with yours in a heated kiss, which he plans to take further. Who would, if it was the sexy, dominant bachelor Qian Kun devouring you right now?

Just exactly how did everything lead to this? As far as you can recall, it will be your fourth year together with Qian Kun in a few days. Qian Kun, CEO of Wang Technologies, known for manufacturing the world’s finest and advanced aircrafts. His love for flying and skydiving has influenced the company, making the products untouchable ever since it was passed down to his dexterous, meticulous hands. It all started when you, a struggling second year nursing student bumped into him in the grocery. Perhaps you were both busy looking at the aisle of snacks when you bumped each other, his hot coffee spilling on you and ruining your laptop as a result. 

Stunning was an understatement when you first saw him. Unlike all men who just shrugged off and walked away when they inconvenienced you, Kun showed you his handsome, apologetic smile as he cleaned the mess himself and even paid for all your groceries. Before you parted ways, he gave you a contact card. Sketchy? Maybe. But still, you made an appointment with his office and prepared Ten’s phone number in case something happened to you. Little did you know, Kun was looking for a sugar baby. That day gained you unlimited access to his unlimited wealth... and the start of a new relationship. 

Unlike all of the men you’ve dated, Kun did not insist on sleeping with you immediately. In fact, your relationship was far from overly sexual. Cuddles and dates most of the time. Kun helping you with your studies in practical ways, such as lending you his veiny arms when you practiced your nursing subjects. Healthy home-cooked meals made by his health-conscious ass (but that didn’t stop you from buying bubble tea). Thanks to him, you left the cram dorm and moved in with him in his modern, luxurious condo. A few vacations every year in and out of the country. A lot of advice that saved you from consequences you’re more than grateful to have not experienced. He does not demand for sex. In fact, the both of you only get intimate when you consented to. 

“Love,” he deeply moans before kissing your neck. He licks and bites the spots that make your mind go haywire, unable to process anything but pleasure and the buildup of anticipation of him entering you and rearranging your guts. Kun, being his observant and very capable self, gives the slightest almost teasing, light touches over your torso before fondling your erect nipples, only making you croak out for more. You lift your torso up in an effort to have more of his touches; Kun obviously noticed that. He knows you want, rather, yearn for something else. 

At lightning speed, your shorts are thrown into the messy floor and you feel two long, slender fingers rubbing on your rim as if begging for intrusion, which you are always willing to give. Kun lifts one of your legs over his shoulder before adding another finger to penetrate your puckered hole. You could only grunt and curse as his fingers immediately rubbed and poked your prostate, never failing to make your toes curl and breath hitch in bliss. 

One thing about Kun, he loves seeing you crumble under him. Being the dominant he is, it is his absolute pleasure to see you go crazy under him. It uplifts his ego knowing only he is the one capable to make you feel sexual pleasure and meet all your expectations and needs. He loves seeing you melt with only his slightest touch, just like right now with you tugging on his gorgeous dark locks as he continuously rubs and jabs at your abused prostate while stretching your hole for his cock. Your eyes clenched shut, toes curled hard, your never ending mewls and whimpers, your dick leaking with massive amounts of precum are such a sight to behold. Kun is more than lucky to witness this sight every day and time he wants to. 

"Does that feel good, baby," Kun kisses your forehead as he whispers with his deep, gentle, caring voice, sending tingles of pleasure all over your body. "Good boy, you're taking my fingers so well~ who's my good boy?" Kun coos as he kisses your cheek and watches you with his oh-so-loving gaze. His hands never stop playing and fondling your nipples, making you unable to talk. He knows what he wants to hear from you. He wants you to whimper and moan under him, and he gets that easily. 

"D-Daddy," you managed to croak out. Kun notices and slows down, making your mind clearer as you speak to him. 

"I want you, daddy, please!" Small beads of tears trickle down your cheeks. "Fuck me, please, daddy," you clench and unclench around his fingers. 

Kun gazes at you sweetly before withdrawing his fingers from your hole, leaving you needy and clenching into nothingness. "How do you want me, baby," he leaves kisses all over your face as he pumps his hardening cock. 

"Anything, please, daddy!" You were practically begging to be fucked. "Just want you inside me," you choked as you looked at him needily. 

Kun doesn't like you begging, unless he feels like teasing you and wants to see you cry for his cock. But today is not one of those days. "Let daddy take care of you, love~" he whispers deeply into your ear before generously lubing your entrance, then his leaking cock, knowing how wet you both want your sessions to be. 

You spend your time kissing fervently as he gently enters you. He takes his time penetrating you, making sure to hit all the sweetest spots and crevices of your hole. He whispers the sweetest praises lovingly, just like he did when it was your first; he fucks you like it’s your first almost every time. The softness of his voice and actions just make you want to surrender yourself to him and give him your fullest trust. 

Kun swallows the whiny moans you let out as you pull him by his nape for a deeper kiss. You clamp your hole tight around Kun as a signal to move; observant daddy didn’t need to be told twice. He lodges himself slowly and gently inside you, making you feel different sweet sensations as he inches deeper and deeper. Kun dances his tongue with yours and kisses you deeper, gaining more access to explore the insides of your mouth. His hands never stopped playing with the pink, erect buds caused by all the increasing arousal. Your weeping dick is not ignored by Kun as he reaches out for it before giving it the sweetest of strokes.

Having Kun plunge his cock inside you is one pleasurable moment. And him jerking you off and toying with the most sensitive parts of your body is another, making you ignore the squelching sounds of his cock sliding inside you and how awfully hoarse your voice is as you moan out loud. He doesn't mind it. In fact, he loves seeing you vulnerable under him.

His warm breath hits your sin glistening with sweat as he releases the sexiest of grunts. Kun is one who loves playing with different rhythms and he knows the best ways to make you bring out the sweetest of moans. One minute he speeds up, not giving your abused prostate a break, then slows down right after. Not painfully slow, but the slow pace where you feel the entirety of his length and girth dragging along the walls of your hole, hitting all the perfect spots inside you. 

"Such a good fucking boy~ taking daddy's cock like the good boy you are," he moans, leaving sweet kisses all over your neck. The sweet praises were oh-so-sweet, that you don't notice Kun lacing your fingers together before pinning them above your head. Beads of sweat emerge from his temple and he lets out his hot breaths and his deep moans. 

Only a few thrusts made you lose control over your body, making you surrender to Kun. His touches and thrusts make you lightheaded and dizzy, sending electric pleasure all over your body. A few broken moans escape your lips as Kun begins to bury himself deeper, harder, with your stomach bulging from every powerful thrust. 

Without breaking rhythm, Kun shifts you both to your sides and never misses hitting your abused prostate. His thrusts are consistent before they get increasingly harder. Faster. Deeper. His lips find their way to the sweet spot on your neck before giving it the most sensual of licks. Kisses. Bites. 

"Fuck, babe~," Kun coos before licking and nibbling your earlobe. "You make me feel so good~ you're such a good fucking boy~," he moans out before holding you closer and thrusts unbelievably deeper in your spooning position. "I won't ever get tired of making love with you~ and I'll do this with you everyday if I could~," he croaks as his thrusts become inconsistent and sloppy, signaling the climax he holds back.

His loving words seem to have had a direct impact on you that you burst your release after he said those sweet words. Your climax had your toe curled, legs trembling, eyes clenched shut, hands gripping the sheets and a moaning mess while Kun continued lodging himself inside you. He grunts and curses out loud, releasing his cum inside your wet heat. 

His thrusts make you cry in overstimulation as he milks every single drop of your climax. He leaves kisses all over your face as he hugs your sobbing figure close to him before everything goes black. All you remember is Kun’s arms cradling you as he whispers the sweetest praises and loving affirmations. 

The empty spot next to you wakes you up. The sweet aroma of waffles and butter brings you to your senses followed by the fragrance of brewed coffee. Kun did not need to be called for as you see his shadow approaching your room. Clad in a fresh pair of Armani boxers is your sugar daddy holding a tray filled with newly cooked waffles and freshly brewed coffee. He looks at you with the most loving gaze that never fails to make your heart flutter as he closes the distance between you. 

The next few minutes is just you and Kun quietly enjoying breakfast and each other’s presence. You always want to feel his warm body next to yours. His warm smile. His loving eyes. His goofy, clumsy side. You wish to wake up and spend your life next to him. You live for him. You want to live forever to be with him, no matter what.

Kun breaks the silence when he hums and turns you around, making you straddle his lap. He gives the widest smile as he kisses each one of your hands and leaves peppery kisses all over your face. You only think it’s just Kun being his usual morning self and the next thing he does leaves you abashed with mixed emotions causing you internal turmoil.

His eyes almost disappear as he holds out a simple golden ring accentuated with a tiny, sparkly diamond. He cups your cheek as soon as he sees the first teardrop appear in the corner of your eye. There’s no way. There is no way he is actually proposing to you right now. Overwhelmed, you weakly fall toward him before crying all over his bare chest. He could not help himself either as he cried soon after, hugging you tight in his arms and planting kisses on your head. This is not real. As soon as the tears disappeared and the both of you calmed down, he pulled away before kissing your forehead.

“Y/N, my beautiful Y/N. I want to spend the rest of my life with nobody but you. I don’t want to wait any longer. I want to be your husband, your partner, your best friend forever. My love, let’s get married on our anniversary?” 

Suddenly, the world stops. Only one word came out of you that morning. One word that sent you both to tears. One word that brought the golden ring to your finger. One word that starts a new chapter of your lives. One word that made your whole day and led to love-making.

“Yes.”

[fruitylo0pz]

Six Months

Larissa Weems x fem!reader

Warnings: Angst, hurt, death, depression (it is just dark and depressing)

A/N: This one is just sad, and I apologise. Sometimes, I will write sad things and end up breaking my own heart like I did now and I have no idea why, but here we are. I am so sorry in advance for ruining the day for anyone that reads this. It is short, but long enough for a dreadful thing like this. Again, I am so sorry. (Larissa is still alive in my head though, just imagining how it would be if she wasn't and I never want to go through that again). I promise the next one will be a lot more cheerful.

Word count: 761.

____

“Happy birthday, my love.” You wiped the tears from your face and placed the bouquet of roses in front of her headstone. It had been six months since you lost her. Six months without her gentle touch, her safe embrace and her laughter. Six months since you last got to tell her that you love her. Six months since she told you that she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with you. The hurt was just as alive. Your heart was screaming for her every day, hoping it was just some awful nightmare. But when you woke up, the book on her nightstand hadn’t moved. It was the same every morning. Her side of the bed was empty. No one had slept there, aside from the nights where you found yourself on her side to feel closer to her. You knew it would never get better. It would never get easier. How could it? She would never walk through the doors. She would never hug you when you needed it the most. She would never make you laugh.

That day had started like any other day. She dropped you off at work, and you had planned to cook for her. It would be a special night, and there was no special occasion, but you just wanted to surprise her. She worked hard, and she appreciated the small things. She appreciated you. You were so happy. You felt sick to your stomach thinking about it. The way you had been feeling when it happened. Right before the call came. The call that changed everything. The call that shattered your entire world, leaving you breathless. Leaving you empty, yet so full of feelings. So full of a sadness that drained you of every single joyful emotion. When the call came, you didn’t believe it at first, you couldn’t fathom that anything like that could ever happen. You didn’t want to. You couldn’t. Larissa was truly your entire world. She took you in and made you feel so safe, it didn’t matter that you hadn’t ever felt loved or cared for before you met her. And you knew that she felt just as happy when she found you. She had always been an outcast, and she had her fair share of hurt and disappointment. You had made it your mission to make up for every wrongdoing she had ever endured, and she loved you endlessly.

You visited her grave every single day. When you came home, you collapsed on the floor every single day. You cried out her name, hoping she would come running to comfort you. You often fell asleep on the floor like that, hugging her coat, her scarf or her gloves. You held them so tight you hoped they would somehow summon her and bring her back to you, the way it should be. You knew she wouldn’t, but your hope would never die. It could never die because that would break you completely. You needed something to hold on to. Ever since it happened, you hadn’t bought anything new for the house. You didn’t want to change anything, because you made all the decisions together. She would sometimes surprise you with cute mugs because she knew how happy they made you. It meant even more coming from her, because it was so unlike the person she was when you first met. She had appeared cold, dominant and stern. Eventually, she opened up to you in a way you knew she had never done with anyone before you came along. She had told you all her insecurities and worries, and that’s when you knew she was the one. 

Whenever you visited her grave, you would talk to her as if she was there. You knew it didn’t make you feel better, it only made you cry because she wasn’t there to listen. She wasn’t there giving you undivided attention, and a caring and attentive response. She had always done that, no matter what you told her. Her respect for you was so deeply rooted in her admiration and love for you. And now it was gone. Now you were left alone in the dark, not knowing how to navigate. Not knowing how to cope, how to spend your days or how to go on without her. You knew you had somehow managed since it had been six months, but you had no idea how you had done it. The hurt would never end. You knew that. She was never coming back, and you would never feel whole again.

[reedscafe]

Since I needed to take a quick break from UTBB (I've got some free time on my hands). I thought I might share some worldbuilding information on New Game + since that as now become my little side project I work on whenever I need a break from UTBB.

First, What is this? New Game + Is an Undertale/Deltarune AU inspired by folklore, mythology, and Grimms fairy tales. Frisk is a young child who suddenly appeared one day on a flowerbed with no memory of who they are or the strange world they’ve found themselves in. Now they must find a way to survive in this unknown world while trying to keep their soul from strange magical creatures known as “Monsters”. 

One thing to note is that it says strange new "World". The monsters are no longer underground but in another world known as [REDACTED] where their is no SUN. Only two moons that shine brightly in the sky, surrounded by a sea of stars(?).

Frisk memory loss is something common for the Humans who find their way to this world. They wake up with no memories, only with the items & magic they had before coming here.

Another concept I want to introduce is. . . Hybrids! (Thank you @Lynxgriffin for allowing others to use this concept for their own AU/Project based off of a crack theory someone told to them).

Hybrid are creatures born from both a Monster & a Human. At first, the hybrid is born looking like a Human or Monster depending on which race trait is dominant at the time of birth. but once they hit puberty, parts of their body will begin to develop to fit there more monster or human genes. 

What type of monster they turn into depends on their monster ancestry/parent (Example: If a hybrid has a canine monster parent then they will begin to develop some canine traits such as claws, fur, a tail, & even dog/wolf ears!) Same goes for if they turn more into a human.

Ether way, they will still keep some of their previous traits when they were first starting off as a Human or Monster body. Traits as in; Tail(s), claws, fangs, etc.

A Hybrids Soul is way more powerful than a regular human & a regular monster soul. There are like this because when a Hybrid is born from a combination of human and monster DNA, their soul is essentially a fusion of both human and monster energies. This fusion creates a unique balance of traits and abilities that make their soul inherently more complex and potent.

I plan to explore this later down the line in the story after the pacifist ending. . . Don't ask about how the reproduction process happens. You already know the answer to that. And, no, I will not be showing or bring it up at all in the story. This project may be dark in tone but I draw the line at "Sexual activity".

Wow this turned into a longer post then I expected! Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm still focusing on UTBB but sometimes I like to take a break and work on some of my other projects for a little bit. Should be getting back to work soon. I got something cool cooking up behind the scenes. What this is, well. . . How y'all like to see/know more a about a new character? I'm still working on the outfit design but personality & role int he story are all finished! Hope you guys like him. He's a grumpy little guy but his heart's in the right place. That's it for now. Goodbye!

[bunji-enthusiast]

𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙍𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙄𝘼

[a place where one feels safe or at home.]

• sypnosis || being in your home as lead him to personal realizations, and new simple experiences.

• Warnings || none, just fluff.

• Note || just a small blurbo! I love this man lots and I’m trying to show that one step at a time lolol. Wrote this while listening to øfdream: thelema~

Thinking.

He simply could not stop thinking about you alone, the personification of the very subconscious fighting against his own thoughts.

Domineering over the edge until they really couldn’t stop, but for some — it wasn’t something to be bothered with.

Hey hell, if the man ever had to pay the price; loyalties, trust and love. You laid at the center of it all.

Such as a dog aching to tame its hunger, no matter how much the silver collar bruised and ebbed into the very flesh of its neck—there was no stopping it.

Bunji had always found himself at your door, to find himself lapping at every inch of your essence. Feeling whole, whole that his senses were only you.

You were an ache in his heart he could never ignore, simply put.

The age-old creaking he was so used to hearing, wasn’t there anymore. Perhaps you had gotten your door fixed?

Most likely, that was the case.

Bunji peered around at the fixed environment, shirts and articles of clothing framing evidently somewhat misplaced furniture here and there. The decoration had remained unamused and unfaltered.

The smell. Oh how he loved the smell, that truly can pull something all together he’ll admit that much.

Nearby had laid bare the windows, the isolation framing them well and working as it should, yet it had seem that pores of dust and mold leaked in. Yet to where you could see the outside had allowed you to really feel the weather, which had been blue, cold and wet for quite some time now.

Bunji could see you hadn’t really paid too much attention to your own environment, straying just enough to keep it in pieces. Being a person busied with things, it would no doubt take a toll.

Even especially on someone as sweet as yourself… taking that to mind Bunji had made it a personal priority to take care of financial problems burdening you without your awareness.

Sometimes he had forgotten how his steps limbered beyond the barefoot threads of your floorboards, there was carpet laid everywhere. It seemed he had forgotten about this particular fact. Being so narrowed in focus with anything else.

Bunji lifted his large hand to focus, closing it into a fist and releasing it again once more. Surveying his surroundings and felt himself reeling with your scent was, expected.

He felt so out of place, feeding into the idea he might just taint your home with his touch. With just another step, it wasn’t a dream. It was real.

Dreams weren’t born, or planned into mind. Bunji’s own mind had already nearly died, he could not dream.

You were a dream, a very physical dream. Bunji would define you as such, if he could ever see one for the first time in a long time. That it what he wanted to understand it as.

Bunji let out a long sigh, hoping to mitigate that ministration by focusing on something else. To not be enthralled with his own thoughts, to not be left alone with them.

Maybe he could cook up something for you, he was exceptional aptitude for cooking and baking alike. Having down it for his brother back then when he had been young and dumb, freshly scarred by a world that never should treat children the way they do.

“Hope ya don’t mind.” He murmured, crossing a look at his surroundings making his way to your small kitchen area. Bunji took off his leather brown jacket, which still had a very smoky stench. He was going to have to do something about that smell.

Letting out an even longer sigh, he waved off the fumes leaving his maw. A naturally recurring statement reminding him of his status as a Deadman.

Bunji looked around at your kitchen, which luckily wasn’t a mess. He still probably would’ve cleaned it up for you anyhow, every once in a while a person needs help. Even needing company.. he was a lonely man. That is one hell of a hurtful thought, loneliness.

Loneliness can kill a man.

That being said, he wasn’t looking for friends. Looking for family to call his own. Bunji had been stripped of any honorable hope for that very thing, rightfully so.

Yet, he just can’t help but wonder if there was any reason that there were people who wanted him to be in their life. You?…

Bunji wasn’t sure.

But one thing he could understand, you can never go wrong with a bout of regaining honor to protect, protecting the life you live.

He so silently hopes you won’t turn him away.

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame: Co-op Game Play

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Rating: G Words: ~1.6k Fandom: Love Live Nijigasaki Parent Fic: Tri-Arame Time Frame: Sometime after college Events: Multiamory March 2023 & Femslash Friday Event Source: @polyamships & @femslash-friday-prompts Prompts: Games & Trio

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Author’s Note: This is my first time writing something for a Multiamory March prompt, so it is a new source of possible inspiration for me. I’ll start off with my favorite LL trio, YuuAyuSetsu, but I see some other prompts later in the month that I could use for some EmmaKanaKarin or MariKanaDia, so we’ll see how that goes. Also, the Femslash Friday prompt just so happened to be trio, which made it perfect for a dual event entry.

Also also, this chapter takes place during Ayumu’s birthday, which is actually the 1st of the month. But work kept me far too busy this week - couldn’t even finish my last planned Femslash February entries - so I had to put it off until now, which is actually Saturday the 4th in my timezone, but still the 3rd elsewhere in the world. Of course the event prompts didn’t align anyway.

Summary: Ayumu has a surprise request for Yuu and Setsuna on her birthday

---------

A wonderful aroma greeted Ayumu as soon as she opened the door.

While there was no holding back her smile as she immediately knew the source of the smell, Ayumu couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit of trepidation tugging at the back of her consciousness. Her girlfriends were cooking. Yuu and Setsuna were in the kitchen, cooking. And probably baking as well.

“I’m home!” Ayumu called as she began to remove her shoes.

“Ayumu!” Yuu and Setsuna responded in unison, their only difference being that Setsuna continued to add her respectful honorific, even after all these years.

Two dark haired women raced around the corner, into the living room and toward the entryway. They playfully jockeyed for position in one of their favorite competitions, to be the first to greet Ayumu. It was a race that was more often run in the other direction, insofar as Ayumu was usually the first to arrive home, leaving Setsuna and Yuu to start at the front door.

But today was different. Today, Ayumu knew her girlfriends had taken off from work early to prepare things for her. It was a special occasion, Ayumu’s birthday. And she knew her girlfriends wanted to do everything they could to make her feel special, loved, and appreciated. As if they didn’t do that all of the other days of the year, but still…

“Welcome home!” Yuu cried, having surprisingly won the race for a change; Setsuna apparently lost a precious second when she avoided stepping on a game controller on the floor. “Happy Birthday!” She wrapped her arms around Ayumu’s neck to pull herself up into a kiss.

“Thanks, Yuu-chan.” Ayumu replied as the two parted.

Yuu grinned and detached herself from the embrace to allow Setsuna to step in.

“Happy birthday, Ayumu-san.” Setsuna said as she followed Yuu’s prior actions to also pull herself up into a kiss. Surprisingly, she did not exaggerate her disappointment in her lose, as was a common part of their ritual. Perhaps she was just that excited for an evening of celebration? “Welcome home.” Setsuna added as she pulled away.

“Thanks, Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu acknowledged, earning a brilliant smile.

“Now, come with us.” Yuu said, grabbing Ayumu’s hand.

“We just finished.” Setsuna added, taking Ayumu’s other hand.

As Ayumu allowed herself to be led to the dining room table, she took the time to admire the decorations that her girlfriends had set up. It came as no surprise that pink was the dominate color, as well as the fact that ribbons and bows were featured prominently. There was no shortage of other cute things, some of which brought to her mind thoughts of either Yuu or Setsuna, but the majority of the decorations clearly represented how they saw Ayumu. And they knew her well.

The food was wonderful as well, leaving Ayumu feeling a little guilty in doubting her girlfriends. Setsuna in particular had improved a lot over the years. And of course, like with the decorations, Yuu and Setsuna knew Ayumu well. The two young women had even prepared special treats for the cats of the house. However, that ended up making Ayumu worry that they may have tried to do the same for Sasuke, her snake, which would result in him being over fed. Again. She made a mental note to check before they all turned in for the night.

All in all, it was a lovely birthday celebration. Yuu and Setsuna showered Ayumu with affection to an almost embarrassing degree. But eventually, they came to a point where it was obvious they had run through all of their plans.

“So, Ayumu,” Yuu was the one to speak up, “what else would you like to do tonight?”

“Yuu-san and I stand ready to fulfill whatever request you might make.” Setsuna added. “Is there perhaps an anime you would like to watch, or manga you would like to read?”

Ayumu laughed. Of course, Setsuna would make such suggestions. “Actually, there is a game I would like to play with Yuu-chan and Setsuna-chan.”

“Oh?” Yuu tilted her head. “Board game? Video game? Or…”

“Video game.” Ayumu stepped over to where she had left her purse. “I happened to see it recently and thought tonight would be the perfect time to try it.”

“Ayumu-san,” Setsuna’s tone held both confusion and mild chastisement, “you shouldn’t have to buy something for us on your birthday.”

“Setsuna-chan’s right.” Yuu chimed in. “We totally could have bought it for you if you wanted.”

“It wasn’t that expensive.” Ayumu assured. “And the gift you’ll be giving is your time playing it with me.”

The other two shared a glance, obviously not fully convinced, but not willing to push the issue further. However, Setsuna’s expression quickly changed to one of excitement when she noticed the DVD case in Ayumu’s hand.

“You want to play Mysteries of Magicks?” Setsuna bounced a little.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“I wanted to play it back when it came out. The story is supposed to be so~ good. But…” Setsuna paused “that was back when my parents were upholding their ban on anime and games and the like.”

“But you still played games in secret then.” Yuu pointed out.

“That is true.” Setsuna confirmed. “However, I had limited space to hide things back then, and much more limited time to play, so I had to be more selective about which ones I bought. When I read the reviews, one of the biggest complaints was that it was designed around local, three player co-op. It could be played solo or with just two players, but the AI that would then control the other characters was poor and frustrated many players.”

“Wait, three players?” Yuu smiled with realization. “Is that why you wanted this game specifically, Ayumu?”

Ayumu nodded. “As much as I enjoy playing competitive games with you two, or just watching you make silly bets and demands…”

“They’re not silly…” Yuu objected, defending one of her pastimes that saw her and Setsuna decide things like whose hair Ayumu would dry and brush first that night by way of making bets with each other. “They’re fun.”

“I know, I just… Sorry. You know what I mean.”

“Anyway,” Setsuna interjected “what you’re saying is that you want to play with us for a change. Is that right, Ayumu-san?”

“Yes.”

“With a game designed for three players.” Yuu added.

“Exactly.”

“So, what is this game about?”

“Oh, oh!” Setsuna was right back to her excitement. “This girl” she pointed to the picture on the front of the case that prominently featured a dark-haired girl with a fierce expression and sporting a ponytail “accidentally pulls a sword out a stone.”

“Like Excalibur?”

“Sort of, except it seems rather mundane at first until she encounters this woman” Setsuna pointed this time to an old women in robes that had various runes or holy symbols embroidered into them “who tells her that she is now destined to be the guardian of the kingdom against some great enemy that is going to attack soon. But before that, she needs to charge the sword with each of the Elements of Magick.”

“Let me guess, that includes fire.”

“Fire is the first one.” Setsuna nodded enthusiastically.

“I know who Setsuna-chan is going to play.” Yuu smirked.

“No.” Setsuna shook her head. “It’s Ayumu-san’s birthday, so she should play the hero.”

“It’s alright, Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu spoke up. “I actually thought you would be best to play the protagonist. I thought I would play her.” She pointed to a girl with shorter hair who seemed to be glowing with a gentle aura.

“She’s the primary healer of the group.” Setsuna said. “Although her fighting power is supposed to be nearly on par with the hero.”

“Like a combat cleric?” Yuu asked.

“Something like that.”

“So, who is the other playable character?” Yuu leaned in to examine the myriad characters on the cover.

“Her.” Setsuna indicated a twintailed girl. “She is a sprite mage the other two find early in their travels. She starts out mainly as a support and buffer for the team, but eventually learns high level offensive magic later on.”

“Sounds like my kind of character.” Yuu grinned. “Looks like you found the perfect game for us, Ayumu.”

“Can we play now?” Setsuna was vibrating as her gaze kept slipping over to the television.

“Of course.” Ayumu let her girlfriend take the case.

Setsuna practically skipped over to their collection of consoles, powered one on and slid in the disc. Then, with just as much excited flourish, she grabbed a pair of controllers, spun, scooped up the one she had nearly tripped over earlier, and made her way back to the other two.

“Ooo~ I can’t wait.” Setsuna practically squealed as the trio took positions onto the couch with the birthday girl in the middle. “Thank you for this, Ayumu-san.”

“I’m happy you agreed to play with me.” Ayumu replied with a smile.

“Of course! It’s Ayumu-san’s birthday. Yuu-san and I are happy to do whatever you want.”

“Although that’s not the only reason.” Yuu said. “We also just like spending time together.”

“Well yes, but…” Setsuna ducked her head slightly “I thought that part was obvious.”

Ayumu chuckled at her girlfriends’ interaction.

“Oh, it’s starting.” Setsuna perked back up as text began to scroll across the screen, giving a brief history of the world and the events leading up to where the characters would begin their adventure.

Ayumu settled back against the couch and took a moment to glance to either side. Yuu had been right. This was less about it being her birthday, and more about spending time with the two she loved most. And to share a fun, cooperative experience together. Tonight would be a good night.

---------

Author’s Note Continued: I’ll start by saying that the three-player co-op game in question is inspired by Secret of Mana. I decided not to name it as such because I realized that I may want to come back and write more about this game and I want to be free to do whatever I want with the plot and characters. The bad AI is actually something I remember from the game, which is why I only completed it with two other friends, over the course of several months, only when we could get all of our schedules to align.

Also, I realize I have written about this trio playing cooperatively before, but that has been in TTRPG settings. I wanted to take a different route this time and go with video games. But I do really like the idea of these three playing games together. I mean, Setsuna is quite passionate about video games, but Ayumu canonically is a gamer as well, though they seem to prefer different genres. And Yuu just enjoys playing whatever with her girlfriends, and making little competitions with Setsuna for silly things.

And finally, I know I kinda glossed over the meal and gift giving parts of the evening, but they weren’t intended to be the focus. I know I’ll write more about my favorite LL girls’ birthdays, so there will be no shortage of opportunities to write about such topics then. Perhaps I’ll come back and add them to this scene later when I integrate it into TA proper. I may also add in an omake bit inspired by myon concerning the cats and the birthday cake that I ended up not writing as I was running out of time and energy to post this.

[whentherewerebicycles]

mmkay the day is getting away from me a bit but that’s all right. got up at 5:30, left comments on a couple student drafts, showered/got ready, then had two meetings with students who are working on grad school SOPs. that was a nice way to start the day, as it got me up & out of my bedroom (always the biggest hurdle I face lol). then i spent some time updating my 2022 recipes document, which was fun. in five months I’ve cooked 47 new dishes! i’m thinking about doing a little project later where i write down the names of all the dishes I’d cook again on little folded-up pieces of paper, then put them into a big jar to pull ideas from anytime i’m feeling uninspired or want to shake things up a bit. i think that might help me remember dishes i really liked but don’t automatically think of when i’m trying to decide on a meal.

i feel a little bleh today but i think it’s because 1) it was such an overcast morning, 2) i am still a little bit in the funk of old job! it’s going to take some time to shake off the dominant mood of the past 10 months!, and 3) i’ve been feeling unusually socially isolated this weekend. i like lots of time alone but at certain moments the alone time can start to tip over into loneliness, especially when everyone is busy (traveling or working or with family). i’m sure the feelings are also probably exacerbated by social media... like it seems as if everyone else in the entire world has long weekend plans whereas i’m just puttering around at home in my usual routines, trying to fill empty time. but that’s ok... i’ll be back at work tomorrow, with tons of social contact with new people, and this slight gloom will pass. i think/hope work will eventually help me make friends (lots of women around my own age who share similar interests) and will at least push me to get out of the house every day. plus i only have two more months until L & A move here, and liz is such a friend-making force that i will hopefully just be able to ride her coattails into a larger social circle aha. i should also probably pick up some hobbies that will get me out of the house... will have to think on that more.

okay okay. shake off the gloom jes! the sun is starting to slowly come out so i should probably get outside. i think i’ll eat real quick then pack the dogs into the car and drive to this park/little trail system near our house we haven’t explored yet. getting some outdoor time & exercise will probably make me feel better, and then i can come home and work on my little recipe jar project if i want, or read this 70-page report if i am in the mood to work on job-related stuff, or curl up on the big couch and read six of crows. might get dinner with my sister tonight if she gets off work earlyish, but tbd!

[xtruss]

Who’s Laughing Now? China’s Shrewd Planning Paved Way for Manufacturing Dominance! The Success of China in a Number of Areas Owes to the Country’s Unique Economic System, Unlike Anything Else in the World.

— By John Miles | Sputnik International | Sunday February 25, 2024

© Sputnik/Anna Ratkoglo/Go to the Mediabank

Among the many adjectives that could be used to describe tech magnate Elon Musk, “Humble” is not one of them.

When a US journalist warned Musk in 2011 that Chinese company BYD Auto sought to compete in the Electric Vehicle (EV) space, the Tesla CEO literally laughed off the prospect.

“Have you seen their car?” Musk asked derisively, adding he didn’t see the upstart manufacturer as a competitor at all.

Some 13 years later, the more relevant question may be whether BYD should view Musk as a threat as China’s EV industry seems poised to dominate the global market.

The numbers are striking. After years of double-digit increases, EV sales in China accounted for 60% of global purchases in 2022. Last year BYD surpassed Tesla in total electric vehicles sold worldwide. One-third of EVs purchased anywhere are BYD cars.

High-Tech Innovations Drive China's Auto Sector Advances!

Now, trade barriers against the domestic sale of Chinese vehicles are the primary factor preventing BYD from dominating the US market as well, as the Xi'an-based manufacturer rolls out affordable cars unmatched by anything from Musk. That’s set to change as BYD explores assembling vehicles in North America.

How was BYD able to turn the tide so quickly? The answer lies in smart industrial planning that has allowed China to lead in the manufacture of everything from smartphones to solar panels.

As former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping pursued economic reform in the 1980s, Western leaders declared victory. Won over by the efficiency and superiority of US capitalism, China had abandoned communist dogma and would soon join the ranks of the “free world,” we were told. With the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama claimed human civilization had reached “the end of history,” with the only remaining questions pertaining to minor tweaks and refinements of the free-market system.

Those paying closer attention knew China never abandoned Marxist analysis, but rather sought a contingency that allowed the developing country to access global investment and technology. Offering cheap labor and little regulation, Beijing was able to lure global manufactures eastward, learning Western methods in the process.

Decades later China’s efforts have paid off as the country has built the largest middle class in the world. With trillions of dollars of wealth at his disposal, President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed shared prosperity as China’s guiding principle, claiming the world power will develop into a modern socialist society in the years to come.

“What does any of this have to do with eclectic vehicles?” you may ask. The answer is that China’s success in this area was only made possible by its unique economic system. China threw open the doors to global market forces in the 1980s but maintained the leading role of the Communist Party. As a result, its government is able to quickly and effectively launch new industries through the provision of grants and subsidies.

But China’s newfound financial largess isn’t the only factor at play. State ownership of the country’s largest banks allows leaders to funnel profits towards infrastructure that makes China the best place in the world to manufacture goods. Shrewd planning has allowed the country to maintain its competitive edge even as workers enjoy rising wages.

Additionally, China makes great efforts to ensure its workforce is trained to meet the needs of businesses worldwide. Apple CEO Tim Cook summed up the reason for China’s success in a 2015 interview, noting simply, “It's skill.”

“China put an enormous focus on manufacturing, in what you and I would call vocational kind of skills,” Cook said. “I mean you could take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in the room that we're currently sitting in. In China you would have to have multiple football fields.”

Understanding the magnitude of the country’s growing economic dominance provides insight into why relations between China and the United States have reached almost Cold War levels of hostility. The United States lacks the will or capability to transform its economic system overnight. What it does have is Westerners’ fear of the communist-ruled country, which it can endlessly stoke to enforce sanctions and erect barriers to trade.

It also has a ruthless military and intelligence complex capable of undermining perceived enemies around the globe. “We will coup whoever we want!” declared Musk on X (formerly Twitter) in the wake of a 2019 US-backed putsch in Bolivia that set the stage for Tesla and other Western companies to exploit the South American nation’s vast lithium reserves.

Chinese leaders have made it clear their country will not succumb to the same fate. “The US will not stop the rejuvenation of China,” said the country’s foreign minister recently, warning of the “catastrophic consequences” of US aggression.

War with China’s population of 1.4 billion would indeed make mutually-assured destruction certain. Still the question remains whether the hubris of US leaders will make it inevitable.

[kaynothanks]

Menaces And Monsters

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Summary: It was early on when you found that being cooped up in a settlement was more horror for you than the horror that was awaiting you outside the high walls. So, you packed your bags and got on the road, only to find yourself stuck in a small town with a rugged stranger on a roof and a herd of hungry dead just below.

Warnings: blood, walkers, Daryl with his longer shaggy season-six-to-eleven hair (because I feel like that should be a warning), a bit of an undefined age gap, angst :(, killing of non-walkers, reader with major commitment issues, fluff, cursing

Word-Count: + 21k

Life… Life was complicated. It was filled with pain, sorrow, thoughts, love, worry, death – but looking at the way your life had been in the past few months, reminded you of these few nights you had spent crying in your bed, feeling everything and nothing. Lately, it had been more everything than nothing. The loneliness scratching at the inside of your chest was more prominent than it had ever been before. Sure, you had been alone quite a lot of times over the years. Even before the lost souls came back to terrorize the human race.

You remembered life in the forgone world faintly. Perhaps you just hadn't paid enough attention to the things you would now give your last can of food to see for the first time. New York City at night with its flashy lights? God, you definitely had regrets. Everything you got to see nowadays was the woods or streets littered with broken cars or undead people.

Between all of your slip-ups and regrets, you could not find leaving your settlement in them. You had hated your settlement with a fiery passion coursing through your veins. The constant arguing and the constant fight for dominance, which in the end was never won by anyone. It drove you insane. So, you left – with nothing but two guns, a handful of knives, and a few cans of food that wouldn't be missed.

The loneliness you were feeling wasn't at all because you had left your settlement, nor was it that there was no one to talk to. It was the quiet. When you left, you had expected some sense of adventure, wanting to encounter something great, but it seemed like the world wanted to keep you wrapped in bubble wrap. Somehow wandering these woods alone has been easy for you. No ghouls – as your settlement had called the living dead – no people, no voices and almost no animals either, which was the reason for the unstoppable growl coming from your tummy.

You remembered one specific night at the settlement when you had prayed into the nothingness of the dark, while you listened to two men from your settlement argue about who had shot the most ghouls, that everything would just be quiet for once. You hadn't expected your wish to come true – at least not like this. You hated it, loathed it. It made you want to be one of the living dead. They had nothing to worry about. Their life was all about walking, growling, and… well… more growling.

A sigh escaped your lips when the loud sound from your tummy came back once more. The food in your backpack had run out three days ago and you were not about to eat bugs. No, you needed to go on a supply run, urgently. You had spent almost a year in the settlement, where people had been assigned their tasks and you had not gotten the job of a scout but the one of cook. They didn't care that you had no experience in that area whatsoever, neither did they know that you were in college when the world was overrun and lived off of pizza rolls and Lunchables.

You would have been so much better off as a scout. Not only were you a great shot, but you had been sauntering the dead-befallen streets on your own for quite some time before you had chosen to join the settlement. When you first made up your plan to run from your settlement, you had started speaking to different scouts, asking questions about where they preferred to go when they were going out for supplies. At least you knew not to head east, but west instead. It wasn't the best idea to cross paths with one of them, seeing as you had stocked your backpack with everything you had found and just disappeared in the middle of the night. There was a rule that they had made up, that if anyone wanted to leave, they would have to do it barehanded. No food, no weapons, and only thin clothing that did nothing to protect one from the cold of the night.

You just needed to find a few houses, maybe a town you could hopefully successfully raid. With a walking stick in your hand, that you planned to make into a weapon, you jogged in the direction of the street. It was smarter to travel on the side of the road, where the ground was even and it was less exhausting to walk for a longer period of time. At least you thought it was smarter until you heard the loud roaring of a motorcycle engine. Your heart skipped a beat, as your feet did quick work of rushing back. Well, you had the intention of stepping back to hide, but your foot caught on a root. You let out the quietest yelp you could muster as gravity took over. Your behind hit the mossy wet ground first, followed by your back as the world turned upside down for a second until your knees were pressed into the moss. You tried standing when the momentum brought you to your feet, but you lost balance and toppled over, landing you back on your back.

A defeated sigh left your mouth, your eyes staring up at the treetops and the clear sky. Grumbling, you rolled over, pushing yourself up with the help of a tree, a few curses tumbling from your tongue before you blew some loose strand of your hair out of your eyes. You checked if all your weapons were still in the holsters, ere you grabbed the relatively straight walking stick. For a second you listened quietly for any sign of the unknown traveler, but it seemed as though he had neither seen nor heard you.

You were quietly humming a song that had been stuck in your head, repeating it over and over again, until your feet started to hurt and you wanted nothing more than to take a break. Sweat covered your forehead and the dryness in your throat made swallowing uncomfortable. Groaning sounded behind you, as a dragging of feet followed. You turned around just in time to see a ghoul stumbling mere feet behind you, pulling out your knife and ending its undead life once and for all. The rotten blood you wiped on your already dirty pants, not caring a bit that you had only one other pair to change into, which, granted, wasn't the cleanest either.

By the time you reached civilization – or more like what was left of it – your shirt was soaked in sweat, the hair at the back of your neck drenched. With a sigh you shoved back the exhaustion clawing at the back of your mind, arming yourself with the gun in one hand and the knife in the other. Your eyes scanned over the town, seeing a ghoul stumble into a backstreet, without noticing you. Some cars were scattered on the otherwise empty streets and some of the shop windows were broken in. For a second you tried looking for the name of the town you were in, wanting to note the name in your journal like you always did when finding someplace you had never been before, but that thought quickly vanished, when you spotted the pharmacy, that was almost across from you.

Looking over your shoulder once more, you headed straight for it. Its windows were dirty, so dirty, you could not tell if the dead were waiting inside or not. Knife still in hand, you wiped as well as you could at the grime, peering inside, coming face to face with a ghoul that tumbled into the window. Stumbling back in shock, a string of curses flew out your mouth, your heartbeat was sent into overdrive. You had encountered enough of them to not be scared of them, but still, you could be scared by them. Shaking off the prickly feeling you mustered the ghoul. Its skin had started to rot off on one side of his face, hair had fallen out in most places and a few patches of flesh missing from his throat. Whatever ghoul did that to him, took the term "love bites" a bit too seriously.

You waited a bit, wanting to see if there were more of them inside, but none followed. So, you went off the front door, pulling it back and stepping behind it, as the ghoul stumbled out. You whirled out from behind the door, smashing your knife through his right eye, ere he could let out another groan. Pulling the knife back out, you let out an annoyed grunt at the ghoul dropping right in front of the entrance with the door closed. You waved your knife through the air, trying to get some of the blood off, before wiping it off on your pants. Your nose scrunched up, making a mental note, to find a clothing store right after. Sticking the gun and knife into the make-shift holster on your belt, you grabbed the ghoul's legs, pulling him away from the door. Inside, you walked from shelf to shelf, looking at the different labels, and even though it was obvious that someone had been in here, it was still quite stocked. You swung the pack from your back, grabbing a few bottles of vitamins, ere moving on to grab a bottle of some special deodorant. You did not care what special gadgets it had, if it masked the smell of your sweat, you were fine with it.

Hopping over the counter, you took a look at those shelves, too, searching for antibiotics and painkillers. Surprisingly, you found more bottles than you had hoped for or hoped you would ever need.

You were about to put the small bottles into your backpack when an almost silent click sounded behind you. Whirling around you lifted your knife, ready to stab whatever or whoever had been sneaking up, when you came face to face with the tip of an arrow ducked into a crossbow, that was pointed right at you. Unconsciously, your mouth opened a tat, trying to sort through everything that was running through your mind at the moment. It took you a few seconds, to actually register, that this in front of you, really was a crossbow. You hadn't seen a single person running around with one of those these days. Hadn't expected to either. And now it was being pointed at you, by a man, that looked like he hadn't seen a shower in a very long time. But then again, neither had you. Not saying a word, you let your eyes wander behind the bow and over his features.

His hair was long and shaggy, a few brown strands hanging into his eyes. You could barely make out the color, but even when hidden behind hair, you could catch streaks of a pretty blue color.

"Gimme those."

You blinked at him, shaken out of your trance of surprise. Your eyes fell onto the medication you were holding and back to him. "Um," you made, completely lost on what to do in this situation. Obviously, you could not tell him straight up "no", or an arrow would fly through your head, but you wouldn't just give up your find like that. "I… I have a gun?" You cringed at yourself.

"Now, girl."

Before you had even really registered what you were doing, you hurled one of the bottles at his head, gripping your backpack and bouncing for the door as fast as you could. Behind you, the gruff of a man let out a curse that could have made milk curdle, as the bottle hit home.

You were barely out the door when it was ripped open behind you. "Ya'd better stop, girl, or I'll shoot cha," the man grumbled. It was loud enough for you to hear, but not loud enough for any ghouls to pick up on it. "Turn around."

"Bossy, aren't you?" You retorted. If you were going to die, you were at least going fake some kind of courage. "Couldn't hang a please on there somewhere?"

"Gimme the meds."

"How about you take that fancy bow of yours out of my face first?"

"Ain't happening."

"Well, I'm not giving you the medication either."

"Ain't nobody gotta get hurt, just hand over the damn meds."

"You know what, Mr. Crossbowman, bite me," you pushed out of your mouth, not quite sure if you were about to faint from fear or because of what you were daring to say to the redneck man in front of you, as you forced your feet to work and turn your back to him again. Something in your mind was reassuring you, that he wouldn't just shoot you like that, that some part of humanity still remained in the living, even with the dead walking among them, even if it was just a fool's hope. When suddenly an arrow flew past your shoulder, stopping you dead in your tracks. "I'm going, to be honest, I somehow did see this coming."

"I ain't gonna warn ya again," he grunted as he gripped your arm, turning you back around, grabbing at the bottles.

"Hey- man-" You pulled back, pushing at him. "Let go of me or I will…I will- I will punch you." With all the might you had left in you, you shoved him away from you, although you were sure he let you. "If you want meds so damn bad, then go search for some yourself." You didn't even have a chance to protest, as he sheathed his crossbow onto his back and grabbed you again. Your eyes widened as a hand pushed against your mouth, pulling you back into an ally. Curses left his lips, followed by some muttering about a herd, as he pulled you further until you could make out a dark green ladder of a fire escape from the corner of your eye. He shoved you towards it, nodding upward.

"Climb, now," he growled, but silenced as he seemed to listen for something you couldn't hear? Was he so concerned about a few walkers groaning? "Or don't, whatever, ain't my problem," he shrugged and pushed past you.

You were left gaping after him, as he pulled himself up a few steps. "I thought you wanted the meds?"

He shrugged again, looking over his shoulders. "Easier to pry them off of yer dead body later." He turned back. "Or what's gonna be left of it."

"What… What are you talking about?"

"Herd's coming. ‘S already here, actually."

"What herd?"

"The dead, girl! Where ya been living?" Without waiting for what you were going to say, he continued climbing until he had almost reached the roof. "You coming or what?"

You looked over your shoulder just as a ghoul stumbled into the alley, following the sound of talking. About to pull out your knife from the holster, you stopped and listened as more growls were carried through the air. Listening more closely, it didn't only sound like a few ghouls, but dozens. Your gaze fell to the roof, where the stranger had vanished, as your legs started moving without wasting another thought, hastily pushing the rest of the bottles into your backpack.

The stranger was kneeling at the edge of the roof, peering over the three feet high stone, that was lining the edge, crossbow beside him. You awkwardly cleared your throat. "Why did you help me?" He grunted, saying nothing more. You nodded. "Alright then." Reluctantly, you wandered up to the edge of the roof beside him, daring to take a peek at what he was so intently staring at. Your mouth opened in complete bafflement at the scene playing out mere meters below your feet. "Oh my…" Your hand crept up to your mouth, pressing against it, scared to make even the tiniest sound, which would make this situation a whole lot uglier than it already was.

"Damn walkers changed course," the low voice declared from your right.

"You've seen this before?" You whispered back to the man, your eyes white.

"Woman, where ya been hiding this last decade?"

"Thank god not wherever you were," you huffed, eyes falling from ghoul to ghoul. "I have never seen half so many ghouls in one place."

"Ghouls?"

"Yeah," you nodded down. "You know… flesh-eating monsters. Thought it was quite fitting ‘cause… you know… they eat flesh." Eyes falling to him, you lifted your eyebrow. "And you call them-"

"Walkers."

"Yeah. That's… smart," you mused quietly. "Inventive." Whispering, you swung the backpack off of your back, getting a glimpse of the meds inside. "Were you looking for the meds because you wanted to stack up, or because you actually need them?"

You could see him eyeing you from the corner of his eye. "Ain't none of ya business."

"I'd say it is very much my business, ‘cause these meds are mine and unless you wanna get a bullet wound - which you would need these meds for, too - you might want to tell me."

"You threatening me?"

"Obviously."

He seemed to be pondering over it for a second, waging whether or whether not he was able to trust you, but then let out a grunt, that sounded somewhat like approval to your ears. "Some people are sick,"

"Settlement?" You questioned, crossing your arms as he stood, shouldering his crossbow. Seeing his brooding look at your question, you lifted one brow. "Not used to conversation? Cause just f-y-i that's how it's done." He didn't even make a move to comment. "Let's make a deal." His eyes narrowed, as he shifted from one foot to the other, letting his right arm hang beside him. "We will share. You get however many you need if we make it out of this alive."

"And whatcha gettin' out of this?"

"Alive- if you are any good at this." You pointed at his crossbow and turned away from him - showing that against all odds, you did not think him to be a danger to you, even giving him a chance to attack you, and crouched down to retrieve your water bottle. A sigh left your mouth at the lack of fluid in it, as you shoved it back into your pack with disappointment. You had barely turned back to him when a can of water was thrown in your direction. Caught off guard, you opened your hands, at last, trying not to let it fall to the floor until you were clutching it against your chest. You cleared your throat. "Thank you." Unscrewing the cap of the can, you hastily swallowed a few gulps, stopping when you noticed it was probably all that he had left. Even when there was no water left in your mouth, you swallowed once more, putting the cap back on the can, and walked up to him.

He was looking down at you with watchful eyes as you extended the can back to him. A grunt left his throat. You blinked at him. "Alright," you said, moving past him to check on the situation below again. You didn't need his help. Honestly, you didn't. You could have just bagged the medicine and fled the scene, but whatever glint was in his eyes was stopping you from doing exactly that. Also, if it was true what he said about the sick people in his settlement, you did not want to be the reason they would end up dead. He would get the antibiotics and somebody to watch his back while he was at it. "How often did you see something like this?"

A shrug of his shoulders. "Few times. This one ain't as big as the others though."

"So, what do you want to do? Wait it out?"

"Nah." He shook his head. "Ain't got the time to sit on my ass and to nothin'."

You huffed out a breath, wanting to get on with your journey already. Actually, you wanted to get on with your search for food and other essentials. "So we divert them west. Got a problem with that, too?"

"Oh yeah, smart-ass, do it then, if it's so goddamn easy."

You could not for the life of you work with him. It was impossible. Granted, two minutes ago you thought he was a half-decent guy, but Christ - you were wrong. You dug into your backpack, taking out about half of the bottles, throwing them at his feet, ere you gripped the strap of the pack. "Good luck, or whatever," you mumbled, walking toward the other side of the building, that held the fire escape which you had climbed up previously. Instead of climbing down, you threw the backpack to the roof of the building across from you. Your pulse thrummed in anticipation, as you started walking backward.

"Ya insane or omething'? There ain't no way you're gonna make that jump."

From the corner of your eye, you saw him taking a step towards you, but before he could get too close, you took off in a run. Reaching the edge, you jumped. You had done this countless times before you had joined your latest settlement. You had had all but a sharp kitchen knife and didn't want to risk an encounter with a ghoul. You were a few years younger then and it seemed a lot more coordinated, too, as your hands barely caught the other building. A low grunt left your mouth, as your feet scratched at the stone walls, trying to ease the strain on your arms as you struggled to pull yourself up. God, the time you had spent inside the settlement walls had really made you soft. You could have easily managed this jump and wider ones before. Your breathing had quickened and your heartbeat increased when you finally managed to heave yourself up. The relief you felt when your feet were safely on the roof was about the same amount as the satisfaction you got when you looked over your shoulder at the man who stared after you.

Once more you walked to the side of the building where the fire escape would be and looked down, seeing nothing but a single ghoul. A slight grin crept onto your lips as you got your knife and put the handle between your lips. Leaving your backpack on the roof, you started climbing down the fire escape. Within seconds the ghoul was lifelessly laying on the ground. You hurriedly rammed your knife into his torso, cutting downward until his insides were on display. At once you stopped breathing through your nose, the stench close to making you gag. Your face contorted by itself, as you scooped up the first bit of ghoul guts and spread them on yourself. Their rotten smell was hard to endure when they were not cut open, but now with no barrier between the foul insides, it stank like you imagined an old cadaver would, that had been left in the brooding hot sun for months.

Covered up to your neck, with a few streaks of dark red on your face, you snuck down the alley, to the grey van you had seen standing there. It would have been no problem to just act like one of the dead and stumble and groan on, but you still wanted to get the supplies you needed – without having to walk the speed of a snail.

You opened the luckily unlocked door of the vehicle and loosened the handbrake, pushing the car forward. The car kept rolling slowly beside you, as you kept pushing until you had reached the farthest building, just as a few ghouls stumbled through the alleyways. Tumbling around like one of them, you pulled your knife and quickly stabbed one of the ghouls in the back of the head, catching him before he could fall to the ground. You put his arms around you and started pulling him towards the fire escape of the building, where the car was now parked. With the ripped fabric of the ghoul's clothes, you tied his hands, so they were secured around your neck from behind, as you started climbing the green ladder. The extra weight on your back made small beads of sweat appear on your forehead, as you pushed the dead body you carried onto the roof, climbing down again right afterward.

With watchful eyes, you wandered by the ghouls, steering toward the small shops, searching for a grocery store. You didn't care that there could be ghouls inside, the stank you gave off now, too, enough to mask you for sure. The food that was left on the shelves made your mouth tingle uncomfortably, as you passed it without stopping, your tummy growling angrily. This seemed to have gotten the attention of a few ghouls that were strewn in the shop. Hungry growls and groans followed the commotion of footsteps. You let out a groan yourself, more so at the annoyance that coursed through rather than trying to act like one of them. They took in a whiff of the air, smelling for anything alive enough to take as their next meal. You stilled, your hand slowly inching towards your knife. But they did not attack. Each of them let out another short groan, ere they stumbled on.

You made sure you had a slight limp in your step as you stumbled towards the liquor shelves. Taking out four bottles with an alcohol content of over 40 %, you shoved them under your shirt and turned back to the door, where several of the dead were blocking your exit. Another annoyed sound tumbled from your lips as you stopped in your tracks. With a roll of your eyes, you gripped another glass bottle, before hurling it towards the other side of the wall. The loud crashing sound immediately caught the attention of the dead as they turned, limping away once more.

When you were back at the car, a few ghouls had started surrounding the area, dividing the large herd into smaller sections. As quietly as humanly possible, you unscrewed the fuel cap and opened one of the liquor bottles. You looked over your shoulder, making sure none of the ghouls had gotten suspicious, as you titled the liquor bottle and filled the tank with it. The rest of the bottles you squirted note the floor, making sure you were covering enough ground. After checking if the car battery was still intact, you snuck back up the fire escape, dodging a few of the ghouls while doing so. You gripped the dead body on the roof, heaving it towards the edge of the roof, over the car, ere you pushed it off. With a hopeful gaze, you watched as the body fell, hitting the roof of the car with a loud thump, as not a second later a blaring alarm sounded through the groaning and moaning.

You nodded satisfied with your work, as you oh so slowly climbed back down the fire escape. Bodies were tumbling in your direction but all of them passed by you, following the loud sound of the car alarm. As most of them went by, you looked over your shoulder, searching for the building with the foreign man, that had wanted to rob you of your antibiotics. Your eyes searched and searched but found nothing. A spark of disappointment settled into the bit of your stomach but you shrugged it off and turned back, walking straight towards what seemed to be the only clothing store in the small town.

After you had finished your business there – and had gotten your hands on another backpack to carry the things you raided – you gathered some cans of food, bottles of water, and some chocolate bars. Thank God, no bacteria could live in chocolate, its taste was a small heaven in the hell that was earth. The new backpack and the old one you placed on the street beside a building, taking out the lighter you owned, which you usually used to make a small bonfire at night, when it was freezing – and only when it was freezing, otherwise the risk was just too great. You quickly squeezed all of the supplies you had gathered into the old backpack – it was bigger and you wouldn't risk traveling with too much luggage.

The lighter was tightly placed in your hand as you pushed through the great number of ghouls, your eyes closing from time to time, as one looked at you just a bit suspicious. When you were almost at the source of it all and the blaring of the alarm was too loud for you to stand it, you stopped at the edge of the wet ground, where you had spilled all the alcoholic liquid. You flipped on the lighter, holding it for a second as you took a breath, knowing you would have to run the second the lighter hit the ground, and the ghouls would probably take notice of you. Without further ado, you threw the flame down, watching for just a moment as the lighter clinked onto the asphalt. Slowly but not too slowly you took a few steps backward, bumping into a few bodies, that turned to you with an irritated growl.

You swallowed as the fire reached the car, choosing to abandon your plans of slowness being safe, as you started to run, shoving dozens of ghouls that got in the way away from you. A loud explosion sounded, as you ducked down in an instant, scared you were going to be hit by any flying object that had been hurled off by the explosion. From still being in close proximity, as ringing filled your ears, forcing you to shake your head a few times, trying to get rid of this horrid sound. But it didn't matter anymore, as you felt an icy hand grab at your shoulder. In seconds your fingers were wrapped around the handle of your knife, spinning around in an instant, as the lifted knife pierced the ghoul's skull – and another and another. Over the shoulder of a ghoul, you could see that a few were laying on the ground dead from the impact of the explosion or perhaps from being burned to black crisps. Other dozens had caught flame, stumbling around unconcerned, but they would be down sooner or later – so would you be if you didn't get out of here right this second. All you needed to do was climb over the chain-link fence and run. As long as the fire had something to feed on – and dead bodies were amazing as firewood – it would keep burning, hopefully taking down another few of them while it was at it.

Almost completely drowned out by the high-pitched ringing, a motorcycle neared from behind you, just as you slashed at another ghoul.

"Jump on!"

You whirled around staring at the man you thought had already left you behind. Your eyes laid on him for a moment, ere you felt another hand clawing at your arm, causing you to snap out of your gaze. For once, not second-guessing your action, you swung your leg over the motorcycle, gripping at his leather vest. Remembering your pack, you lightly slapped his shoulder, wanting to get his attention. You pointed to an alley. "Drive through there, stay close to the left building."

"What? No."

You sighed. "Just do it!"

He seemed to consider it for a second longer than necessary, before making a sharp turn, already on the way to the other direction, as he followed your instruction. When he noticed the bag sitting by the building, he understood immediately, slowing down just enough for you to lean out farther, grabbing it in passing. You slipped your arms into the straps, not clipping the front shut, knowing it could become a problem if you had to get it off hastily.

You didn't know how long your rode with him, all you cared about was that he went in the direction you were heading anyways. Sitting behind him like this, gave you time to rest after a whole day of exhaustion – walking, running, fighting… carrying a ghoul up a fire escape. Your eyelids were close to dropping shut, causing you to sway forward, your forehead slightly touching the warm leather. God, he was so warm. If you had had any less self-control, a whimper would have escaped you at the body warmth you were receiving, not having had any for… well, you couldn't even remember how long it had been, so probably quite a long while. Shocked you jolted upright, as you noticed your cheek completely pressed against his back, redness rising up your neck, heating your face uncomfortably.

When you were far enough from the herd and dawn was breaking, he slowed to a stop, getting off the bike, just like you had done. You simply watched as he hid his bike in the bushes so well that even you had trouble still seeing it, ere he started to walk deeper into the woods. Were you supposed to follow? Did he even want you to?

"You comin' or are ya just gonna stand there?"

Well, okay then.

Not waiting for another invitation your legs got moving, tumbling after him. He stopped a bit further in, still, it wasn't far enough that in a crisis he wouldn't be able to reach his bike. You didn't want to admit it, but he was quite smart – or at least he knew what he was doing. You hadn't even noticed he had been carrying a duffle bag, as he set it on the ground and was off again, gathering a few sticks. Seeming so useless by doing nothing, you too put your pack down, following his lead, and picked up a few branches, which you knew would make for a good fire. Seeing the wood, you were holding he gave a nod and a grunt, throwing his on a pile, so did you. He fished for something in the pocket of his pants, pulling out a silver lighter, which he threw in your direction. "You know how to make a fire?"

You caught it easily as your head cocked to the side ever so slightly, raising your eyebrow at him. Did you seem that stupid to him? "Yes, I am very much capable of making a fire. Thank you very much." Again, you only got a gruff sound out of him, as he unzipped the duffle bag and shouldered the crossbow. You didn't even question where he was going as you rearranged the sticks and branches to a formation that would lead the fire to catch on quicker. From the ground, you pushed in a few dry leaves and set fire to them. You watched as the fire took over the leaves and moved on to the first few sticks. Before you went to your pack, you shoved some dirt and stones up to it, to ensure you wouldn't cause a wildfire, ere you used the moment alone to change into the fresh set of clothes. Inhaling the smell of the fabric you were greeted by what reminded you of something fresh out of the warehouse. Not having gone through a single washing, just… new.

From your pack, you got out a string you had tied small bells and other noisy things to, which was wrapped in a cloth to prevent it from jingling while it was in the pack. You walked up to the nearest tree, tying the string around it, ere moving on to the next tree and the next, until you were completely encircled. You sat down leaning against the trunk of a tree and once more your eyes fell shut before you could help yourself.

Dozed off for a while, you were woken by the clattering of your warning system, your knife in your hand in an instant as you jumped up – only to be met with a cursing redneck as he shook out his leg, trying to get the string off. "Wait, before you rip it!" You put the knife back on your hip, as you reached for his leg, but instead of letting your help, he shook his leg once more, managing to get free after all. He turned instantly, grumbling on about God knows what, as something he was carrying hit you in the face because of his sudden turn. You blinked in surprise, not expecting the impact on your face nor the animal smell that followed. He walked to the other side of the fire, where he had left his duffle bag, and dropped what he was carrying on his shoulders. You watched the animals drop – a few squirrels and one rather big rabbit. "Did you… Did you just hit me in the face? With a rabbit?"

"No," he grunted and you had already opened your mouth to disagree. "It's a hare."

You were dumbfounded. And in the blink of an eye, you were ready to argue with that man, whom you found to be extremely infuriating, but you kept your mouth shut. Instead of wasting more energy resenting him, you got out a can of stew that you had raided in the small town. With the knife – cleaned of walker blood – you punctured the can several times, before sticking the knife into one of the holes and pressing downward lifting the cap with little struggle. You leaned forward, placing the can at the edge of the flames, staring at it, to prevent you from looking at the stranger. Even though you were not looking at him, you could still hear as he removed the furs and guts. You had gone through too much to be disgusted by it – ten years ago, before the dead started walking this earth, you definitely would have been.

Swallowing the lump in your throat at the memories coursing through your mind, you took to rummaging through your backpack in search of the one spoon you owned. It didn't do any good the sulk at what was lost, at all the lives and people that had ended, there was no way of changing it anyway, no way of getting it back. There was simply no way of escaping. Finished with his meat, he pierced it with a sharpened stick and held it over the fire. The silence wasn't particularly awkward but for you, it still felt just a tat bit uncomfortable and the longer you tried to avoid looking at him, the harder it got until your eyes flitted to him for just a moment… and another and another.

Shaking your head at yourself, you pulled your shirt over your hands and grabbed the can. You were getting delusional, for sure. Perhaps you had gotten bitten and hadn't noticed because something was seriously off. The more often you took a look at him, the more attractive you found him. He wasn't pretty, but the roughness he wore so open on his sleeve made him seem so naturally appealing. Dirt slightly stained his face and the skin of his arms. His hair wasn't any cleaner, some of the strands at the front sweaty and cut at a length that fell to his somewhat knobby nose. The one thing about him that struck you as utterly pretty was the striking blue of his eyes that reflected the burning orange flames in front of him.

"What ya did back there," he grumbled out, turning the squirrel on one of the sticks and your eyes were on him immediately. "Fucking risky."

You opened your mouth, stirring the contents of the can that sat in front of you. "In this world, just breathing is risky."

"Yeah, well if it had gone any more wrong, you'd be breathin' no more."

And would that be so bad? The thought crossed your mind before you could stop it, leaving you with a cold shiver running down your spine. "Listen – I don't need your opinion on the way I stay alive. I am grateful that you helped me out back there, but I would have managed just fine on my own."

"Oh, yeah? You were in the middle of a goddamn herd, that you set on fire. That ain't fucking staying alive, that's just plain suicidal."

You gaped at him, straightening your back. "Alright you know-it-all, first of all, I led the complete herd away from the main road and into an ally, then I took out a fucking good portion of it with the explosion and with the fire-eating up their damn rotten flesh, there is no way they will continue their little walk-away. So, smart-ass, if you had a better idea let's fucking hear it!" He stared at you and you stared back, not even daring to blink. You were so, so sick of men telling you what to do. It had been the exact way all your life and apparently not even an apocalypse could bring men down from their ego-trips. A burning sensation entered your eyes as you still stared unblinking just like he did until finally he let out a grunt, turning his gaze away from you and focused on the cooking meat.

There was no further conversation for a while until they held out a squirrel towards you. You looked at it for a moment, until you switched your uncertain gaze to him, only to find him already looking at you. He nodded at the meat, letting out a grunt. Without questioning it further you reached for it. You didn't know if it was simply kindness or maybe even an apology but appreciated it nonetheless.

After a while of mindless staring into the flames, you took a deep breath, directing your eyes to the stranger. "So... did you grow up around here or something?"

"Nah."

"Kay."

Well, there was that.

You were fairly certain he was trying to avoid conversation as he laid down and turned his back to you. Huffing quietly, you did the same, using the backpack as a makeshift pillow like you usually did. You had no idea why but not even after what seemed like two hours of simply laying there with closed eyes, were you able to fall asleep. The stranger on the other hand seemed to have drifted off a while ago, judging by the steady breaths that were leaving his lips. Giving up on sleep, you stood as quietly as possible not wanting to wake him, as you started walking away from the little camp. You had almost reached the alarm system when you stepped on a small stick, the crack the only sound in the silence. Quickly looking over your shoulder, you checked to see if the man had woken, but he had not even stirred. More carefully this time, you lifted your leg, stepping over the string, until you were out of earshot.

Back when you still were part of the community you used to do this a lot. You weren't allowed outside the anyway unstable walls, so you used to sneak off to the weakest point and climb over it, until one day you just didn't come back. When you first joined them, you didn't know what you were getting into – by joining their community and them protecting you, you made a debt that you had to pay off by doing the jobs they assigned. Only was it a trap, because there was no way to pay off the depth. Some of the people hadn't realized it back then, but you knew right away that that settlement was out on foul play. Still, safety was enough to keep making your stay, until you couldn't take it any longer.

So, you searched for a spot where no ghoul – walker – could catch you off guard and scratched a cross into a tree with your knife. You walked back a small distance, gripping the handle of your knife as you adjusted your stance. Rolling your shoulders you lifted your hand, hurling the knife towards the tree. You watched dumbstruck as the knife flew clean past the tree. Taking a moment an almost silent laugh escaped your throat. Wiping your hand across your face, you went to retrieve the knife. You were lacking. After only a little while of not practicing anything, you were seriously lacking skills. Trying to regain your focus you executed another throw, which you thought wasn't half bad – granted this time it did hit the tree, though still way too high, and instead of the blade piercing the trunk, the handle made contact causing the knife to clatter to the ground. Frustrated with yourself you gathered the knife and walked back to where you were standing, getting ready for another throw.

"You ain't holdin' it right."

You jumped in shock at the sudden intrusion, forcing down the scream that was already making its way up your throat. "Jesus," you swore, pressing your hand against your jumpy heart. "If you are trying to kill me, I'd appreciate going in a classier way than a heart attack."

He didn't respond to your joke, only nodding to your hand. "Ain't gon' be no good throw."

"You know if you use ‘no' twice it automatically becomes the opposite," you commented, expecting to get any reaction out of him, but none came. He stayed silent and crossed his arms in front of his chest. You rolled your eyes, turning back to your target. Raising a hand, you hurled the knife forward, closing your eyes in annoyance as it clattered to the ground again.

"Want me to show ya?"

No, no you really didn't. You took the same position as him and crossed your arms, shrugging. "Go for it." Your eyes followed his every movement as he picked up the knife, waging it in his hand, first at the blade and then at the handle. He grunted, flipping the knife so he was holding the blade as he signaled you to step aside. It took him only seconds to put his left foot forward, throwing the knife without the big fuss you had been making – and he hit the middle of the cross perfectly. The pettiness you were feeling almost made you scoff. You didn't say anything as he retrieved the knife, yanking it from the wood. He stopped before you. And for just a second you thought he was too busy looking at you to hand over the knife until his blue eyes fell from yours and the knife was ready for you to take.

You got back to the throwing spot, the handle in your hand, but your eyes flitted to the men on your right as you turned it, so you were holding the steel. Lifting your hand to throw, a grunt from him stopped you. "Didn't you watch?" He grumbled, taking a step towards you and before you knew it, one of his hands was gripping your wrist as the other moved your thumb. In an instant, your breathing stopped and his heat seeping from his skin into yours was so prominent it was the only thing you could focus on. His fingers were rough, skin stained with callouses – proof of what the life had held for him. You swallowed hard as his one hand moved to your shoulder, the other gliding down your forearm until landing at your elbow. With a strong touch, he straightened your back, until he too seemed to notice what he was doing and let go of you immediately. He cleared his throat and then he did it again, stepping back uncomfortably – flustered? Maybe.

As quietly as possible you forced breaths back into your lungs, not wanting him to know the fucking weird effect he had on you. You just hadn't been touched in a very long time, you assured yourself. You were sure if an ugly walker had tried it with sensual touches, you would have reacted the same. God, you were delusional. Delusional through and through and deeply affected by years of touch deprivation. You were biased, really.

"Ya gon' throw or not?"

Snapping your head in his direction at the sudden disturbance of your inner monologue, you were left speechless and with reddened ears at the embarrassment. Holding the knife as he had shown you, you managed a relatively good throw with a relatively good aim. The blade sunk into the wood just above the middle of the cross, making you grin. Just as you went up to the tree, groaning caught your attention. Your vision focused on the single walker stumbling through the trees towards you, probably smelling humanity on the two of you.

"Try it," he said, tilting his head to the walker. Flipping the knife around in your hand you pulled back, letting it fly towards the ghoul's head – and hitting it perfectly.  "Not bad."

"Thank you," you gave back, yanking the blade out of the walker's skull before wiping the blood off on its clothes. "And for helping, too."

He grunted in acknowledgment ere he extended his hand towards you. "Daryl."

You took his hand, shaking it. "Y/N."

*  *  *

The next morning you took down the alarm system and stomped out the last evidence of a fire, taking off before Daryl had even woken. The sun was up high in the sky already and no doubt would he wake soon enough, nor did you worry much about him sleeping out in the open, after all had he woken up yesterday after hearing a twig snap. You went back up to the main road, continuing to head south, with the intention of heading west at the next crossroad, wanting to know where you were at the moment. For the good part of an hour, you were on your feet until the sound of a motorcycle driving up could be heard.

You didn't slow down your pace, not even as he drove by you and halted, getting off. Still, you walked past him. It didn't matter, you'd probably never see him again. "Hey, Y/N!" He called after you, causing you to huff. You couldn't stand goodbyes, couldn't stand the awkwardness that came with it. "Hey, Y/N- How many… How many walkers have you killed?"

You stopped at the out-of-the-blue question, turning to face him. "Excuse me?"

"How many walkers have you killed?"

You furrowed your eyebrows. "What? You expect me to keep books or something?"

He took barely a step forward. "And how many people? How many people have you killed?"

"Why-"

"Just answer."

"None."

"Why?"

"Why? Why? Because I never had to. Those are pretty fucking stupid questions, you know?" Still frowning you turned from him, carrying on with your walk. "Bye, Daryl." Goodbye. God, how much you hated that word. Hated all the looks, the uncomfortableness, and all the other unwanted feelings that came with it. And you hated how much it reminded you of all your friends, who had laid in your arms the last seconds of their lives.

He called after you once more. "You know that settlement I need the meds for? We are always looking for new people."

"Well, good luck with that then."

"Don't go acting stupid now, ‘cause we both know ya ain't."

You took a deep breath, looking at him. "I appreciate that you are kind enough to ask if I had any interest, but I don't. I really don't," you answered, crossing your arms with a shrug. "I've done the whole group thing before and it's just not right for me."

"Safety ain't right for you? A home?"

"Nope, but thank you very much for the offer." You gave him a wave. "See ya."

"At least le' me take ya a bit, I'm headin' in the same direction."

You nodded. "Alright." Scratching slightly at your scalp you stepped up to him and his motorbike. "I saw a map a while back. There should come a mile marker soon and not too far after a crossroad. Is that okay?"

He, too, gave a nod. "Yeah, I know that marker." He swung his leg over the bike, starting the motor without any trouble, and waited until you had gotten on securely until he took off. The drive was not filled with words nor was it eventful in any other way. But it wasn't uncomfortable either - actually, it was kind of nice even. And before you knew it, the mile marker - that had been sprayed with red color - had been passed and the crossroad came into view. When you were getting off the motorbike Daryl cleared his throat. "So, where you headed?"

Unsure yourself, you lifted your shoulders and let them fall. "Don't know. Ashburn maybe. Heard it's nice." Or it was nice at least. "Well… goodbye."

He grunted quietly, giving a subtle nod of his head as he looked at you with furrowed brows from the sun getting in his eyes. You had almost turned around when you saw him quickly lift his hand in a wave. A smile snuck itself onto your lips and after spending the last day surviving together, he was transformed into nothing more than a distant memory.

*  *  *

TWO MONTHS LATER

Ashburn had turned out to be quite the shit-show. The way there was peaceful actually. There had barely been any walkers and it had taken you only three days - with quite a lot of stops because you were looking for stuff to raid. While on the road you had also decided that you needed something like a safe house. Or perhaps just a place where you could stock your food and water and medicine, as your backpack alone simply wasn't big enough, and carrying too many cans of food was just too heavy if you were on your feet all day.

You had continued on to Leesburg, raiding every supermarket on the way and clearing out the houses you came across. The supplies you gathered, you placed in your "safe house". It was anything but a safe house, really. But you were standing in the middle of Leesburg and had asked yourself what the place was, where no one would ever go searching for supplies. And so, you had stocked everything into different caskets of a funeral home on the east side of Leesburg. And you had a system for it all, too. The black caskets were for medicine and antibiotics and hygiene, while the white were for drinks and the wooden ones were for food. You had made the inside of the funeral home safer, too with wooden planks and furniture pushed up against the windows, so there was no way for a ghoul to break in. While the back of the funeral home now held a bed for you and some more clothes. Some things you were missing, though. For one, weapons - guns, knives, ammunition. You had only two bullets left after an attempt at clearing out the town's library, where a massive ghoul feast seemed to have taken place. It was filled to the brim with the dead and you had taken out a lot of them already but they always just kept coming.

So, after a good night's sleep, you wheeled out the three shopping carts that you had tied together with a zip tie. You had also fastened a belt at the handle of the last one in the row so you would be able to pull it along. The first place you wanted to look for guns wasn't the gun shops, knowing they would - at least for the most part - already be empty. No, you were going straight to the shooting range on the west side of the town. Immediately upon walking inside you could tell not many people had been there - put enough walkers were and telling by how slow they were, they hadn't fed in a long time. It took you about ten minutes until every single walker was laying on the ground with a hole in their head. With a few grunts and groans, you pushed them to the side to make way for you and your carts and pulled on the belt until you were at the back, standing before the storeroom. Not only did you need a key to open the door, but also a six-digit code. You turned to the desk, letting your eyes fall to the computer and the folder cabinet, and the single locker that was standing there.

You shook it lightly hearing jingling inside. Yup, keys. Your eyes fell to the combination lock. Yeah, you did not have enough patience for that. You gripped your gun from the belt around your waist and lifted your arm before smashing the handle down with enough force to break open the lock. Letting out a steady breath you gripped the keys out of the locker and turned back to the desk, hoping to find the code written down somewhere. Your hands glid to the back of the computer, searching for a piece of paper - but you found none.

If you were stupid, where would you hide it?

You stilled, your eyes falling downward. You kneeled, looking under the desk, met with a little yellow sticky note with exactly six digits on it. 443761. Repeating the code in your head, you whirled around, quickly turning the numbers into the other - bigger - combination lock, you removed it, opening the door with the key. Looking back, you should have just tried smashing the second lock, too.

On the inside, you were screeching with happiness as your eyes wandered over the two dozen or so handguns - among them pistols and very few revolvers - two rifles and three shotguns. You loaded them all into one of your carts, going for the ammunition next. There were two whole cabinets full of them. Why in the holy hell had no one raided this place yet? Without really looking at the different types of ammo, you just scooped it onto one cart. After the range you went to the closest gun shop "Bullseye", clearing it from the two ghouls inside, and took the rest of the guns nobody seemed to want, plus a few hunting knives, and then did the same with the next gun shop until you were standing in front of a store solely dedicated to fishing.

And for once in your life, you were grateful that your dad had forced you to accompany him on his yearly fishing and camping trip. Now, you didn't learn a lot, but you learned that the knives these shops sold were sharp as hell as your dad tried and failed to fillet a trout, cutting himself quite badly in the end. You had to cut the trip short after that, thankfully, and had never gone with him since. Passing the countless fishing rods, you grabbed the few knives that were hanging at the walls and threw them carelessly into a cart. You turned around, wanting to see if there were any more knives on the wall that you might have missed, only to find eyes staring at you.

You let out a shriek, stumbling back in fright. Your heart was pounding so loudly you could hear it in your ear, as you took a few deep breaths to try and calm yourself.

Frank the Fisherman, read the life-size cardboard cutout of the round man in front of you. He wore a broad smile and a beige-colored hat and cargo shorts and a beige vest that matched his hat, whose pockets were filled to the brim with fishing supplies.

"Fucking Frank," you swore under your breath, putting your hands to your knees. You shook out your head, letting a laugh escape you at the utterly stupid situation that had passed. God, you didn't get scared by rotting dead, but Frank the cutout person had managed to scare you shitless. When you were pulling your carts back to the funeral home, you stilled, thinking you had heard the loud clanking noise of a muffler. But as no other sound followed, you stored the carts in the funeral home and barricaded yourself in there for the night.

The following day you went out once more with the three carts rolling in front of you, heading in the direction of the library. It was one of the most beautiful libraries you had ever seen, looking more like a national treasure itself. The building seemed to be from the Victorian era, with high ceilings and perfectly carved wooden decor. The inside of it was full of massive dark oak bookshelves, combined with a few other vintage furniture pieces, that were probably worth more than anything you had ever owned. And now there was no one to appreciate them. How little these things mattered when you were trying to survive.

You had almost reached its doors, readying yourself for the number of ghouls you were going to encounter upon opening those doors when the unmistakable sound of a muffler reached your ears. So, you hadn't just imagined it yesterday. The weight of the guns on you seemed to grow heavier by the second, knowing that a meeting with any person nowadays could get quite unfriendly. You put on a bit of speed, stopping in front of the library. The carts you turned around, laying them on their sides a few feet from the doors, and were about to pull open one of the doors, when the muffler came closer. You ducked slightly, intending to use the untrimmed bushes alongside the building as a shield for unwanted glances. When you noticed who it was that was driving by, you almost couldn't believe your eyes.

Before he could manage to get out of earshot, you jogged to the sidewalk and brought your hands to your mouth, to louden your voice. "Daryl!" Hoping no walkers were going to stumble onto the street because of it, you shouted after him again, until he threw a look over his shoulder. His facial expression would have remained the same if it wasn't for his eyebrows rising in surprise. He slowed to a stop, getting off the bike and leaving it standing in the middle of the street. Slightly uneven-shouldered he took a few steps towards you and you, too, got closer, till the blue of his eyes was as clear as day to you. "Hey," you breathed, the corners of your lips upturned. You couldn't believe you were actually seeing him again. "You're alive."

"Why'd ya sound so surprised?"

Because everyone else I ever met died. You shrugged, grinning. "Maybe your survival skills just weren't as impressive to me as you thought."

He scoffed - though he didn't sound annoyed or angry, but amused. "You' been here this whole time?"

"In the area, yeah." You crossed your arms and cleared your throat, feeling your cheeks heating. "Are you searching for meds again?"

"Nah," he answered with a shake of his head. "Just lookin' for people."

You lifted a brow, shifting on your feet. "So, you just drive around all day… looking for people?"

"I hunt, too."

You snorted, giving him a nod as you turned back around, starting to walk back to the library. When you didn't hear steps following, you halted, looking at him over your shoulder. "You coming, or what?" Giving a grunt, he trailed after you, crossbow strapped to his back. You stopped in front of the library, getting out your knife and putting the safety off on your gun, which was still resting by your waist. "Alrighty," you mumbled, nodding towards the door after throwing a glance over your shoulder. "Wanna help me clear it?"

He once more shifted on his feet, forehead in wrinkles as he eyed you for a moment. "Why'd ya wanna clear a library?"

Because you really, really wanted to go in and grab all the books you could ever dream of. But instead of admitting your addiction, you gave a mere shrug. "The fewer ghouls the better, right?" Your eyes trailed over his shaggy brown hair and down to the cut sleeves of the shirt, he was wearing. "Plus, I need something to keep busy." You turned away. "We can't just all spend our day driving around… and hunting." Without giving a single warning, you hurried forward, around the carts you had put there, and ripped open one of the doors. At the light reaching their undead eyes, the dead turned around, stumbling out of the building and out into the open. Jumping over the carts, you got ready for the trouble, blade already raised, as the first walkers fell over the obstacle in their way.

An arrow whizzed past you, hitting a walker in between the eyes before he could fall, silencing its hungry groans. You slashed at the nearest one and the next that fell piled on top. Arrow after arrow followed, until his supply ran out, forcing him to come forward with his hunting knife. Out of the corner of your eye, you observed his carefully planted precise strikes and the quickness he delivered them with. He was constantly moving, slashing a walker's skull and then pulling back to safety until he lashed out again. By the time the last three ghouls stumbled out of the dusty library, sweat was gathering at the back of your neck, uncomfortably heating your body, that made you want to take a dip in the river nearby. After the last body fell with a quiet thud, you pulled back, taking a few exhausted breaths, and wiped at the sweat on your forehead. There had been so many you thought you had never in your life miscounted a situation any worse. And even though you might not have wanted to admit it out loud, without him - Daryl - here, you would have ended up fleeing the scene or trying to gun them down, just to attract more. "Thanks," you spoke up, while he was gathering his arrows. "For the help." Wanting to roll your eyes at yourself, you cringed instead, knowing that at the moment he was looking the other way. It had been obvious what you were thanking him for, there was no need for clarifying anything.

"Coulda' used some kinda warnin'."

You shrugged. "Didn't think there would be so many."

He grunted.

You nodded. A second skipped by followed by the next, but he was still busy with whatever crossbow business this man usually got into, so you walked past him, opening the second door, too, as you stepped inside. The entrance hall was large. You had never set foot in a mansion but this is exactly like you imagined it would look like. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, two paintings on the wall left and right, and in the middle of it all was a giant, two-sided stairwell, with a banner hanging from the middle of it, reaching the ground. In its prime time, you couldn't imagine what the sight and feeling must have been like. Now, between all the wonder, you felt a sense of disappointment, upon noticing the situation of the stairs.

You cleared your throat and nodded as a plan started forming in your head. Walking up to the blue banner, you held the end out to Daryl. "Could you hold it still?"

He shifted his crossbow to rest on his back, as he walked up to you. "Why?"

"‘Cause imma climb it," you stated.

His head turned up, eyes running along the long stairs until he craned his head to look at where the banner ended. "Ya nuts. Ain't no way you're gonna make it up ther'." You raised your eyebrow, still holding the end out to him with an expecting gaze. "Nah." He shook his head. "Don' do tha', ya' just gonna end up hurt - or worse."

"Fine," you mumbled and turned to the banner. For a moment you thought you had seen relief flash across his eyes, which soon vanished as you started twisting the banner to use as a tow. "Never depended on the help anyway."

Daryl took a step back, shaking his head slightly before he started walking away. "Crazy woman."

You turned to look over your shoulder with a frown turning your features sour. "Don't let the door hit you on your way out!" With tightly clenched teeth you took the jump, gripping the fabric of the banner, as you swung your legs around it. Pushing yourself up with the help of your feet, your arms moved up bit by bit until your muscles were trembling in exhaustion. A grunt fell from your mouth, as you twisted your arm into the banner, for a little rest. This position was most preferred for when you would need to make your way back down again. You could just slowly lower down with the banner looped around your arms, but for now, you pushed through the straining muscles and let out an ecstatic sigh upon reaching the top.

You followed the arrows and pointers until you hit the fiction section of the library, grabbing a book card while you were at it until about two dozen books were placed on it. Wheeling them back to the staircase you thought of ways to get them down, realizing that it would have been so much easier with Daryl waiting for you down there, able to just catch them one by one if you threw them to him. Instead of doing that, you held one flat in your hand, letting it fall. It hit the ground with a loud thump that made you jump a bit. You shrugged it off and repeated the process with the 23 other books. After, you swung yourself over the railing and gripped the banner, ere you looped your arm through it. Starting to lower yourself, your eyes stayed on the floor below you, until snarls and hungry groans reached your ear. Not a second later a ghoul fell over the railing, landing on top of you. Your grip slipped as the walker hit the ground, leaving you to be caught mid-air by the sling around your arm. A sickening crack sounded from your shoulder as a pain-filled cry fell from your lips. Your breathing was ragged as you tried to regain your position. But with your left arm limp and panic in your core, you couldn't get your other hand back on the fabric. You whimpered at the not lessening strain on your shoulder, tears climbing into your eyes.

Hasty steps sounded in the hall and within a beat of your heart, the groaning of the fallen ghoul under you stopped. At least something to soothe your nerves. "Shit," Daryl grumbled as you saw him step closer from below.

"It's dislocated!" You called through tears, letting your head fall back to keep them from falling.

"Shit," it sounded again more quietly this time. "Uh…. Try wiggling. It's gon' hurt like shit, but the sling's gonna loosen. I'll… I'll catch ya."

Another whimper tumbled from your mouth, stopping the objections that were bound to rise in your throat. "Okay." As he had suggested, you started moving wildly, wiggling and turning, until your arm kept sliding further out of the sling. Your tongue was between your teeth, being bitten on furiously to keep from screaming out until a metallic tinge filled your senses. The taste only subsided, when suddenly you were falling. You shrieked out, eyes closing. But instead of hitting the floor and hearing a splashing sound, a surprised grunt reached your ears, as Daryl stumbled with you in his arms. He lowered you carefully onto the ground, reaching for your arm, but you pulled back immediately.

"Did it bite or scratch ya?" You couldn't answer, scared that if you opened your mouth terrible wails would follow. "Hey!" He snapped his fingers in your face. "Ya bitten or scratched?" You shook your head and this time when he reached for your shoulder, you didn't flinch away. "This is going to hurt like a bitch. Ya ready?" Again, you only answered with a simple gesture of your head and within the next second, you heard another crack, that made an ill feeling appear in your gut. Blackness flickered before your vision until it had engulfed you completely.

*  *  *  

Your eyes shot open, as you noticed rustling close to your ear, reaching for the knife at your belt. With the blade lifted in front of you as protection, your view became clearer. You were inside a house you didn't remember ever seeing, with a fire brooding before you in an iron trash can. Eyes wandering further, you found a figure sitting closely by you, busy with skinning… a possum? You moved to sit up but stopped at the pinching pain that shot down your arm. Your head snapped down, noticing a makeshift sling had been made for you. Clearing your throat, you made sure that you swallowed a few times, not wanting your voice to crack as soon as you spoke up. "How long was I out?"

"2 hours… give or take," Daryl answered without looking up from his possum. You thought he would continue to ignore you but were proven wrong only a second later. "Don't do that, I said. You'll get hurt, I said. And what did you do?"

You rolled your eyes, as a grin formed on your lips. "Stop being grumpy. It's lame." His eyes fell to you, wandering over your arm and up to your face, lingering on the smile until he quickly focused back on his dinner. "Thank you," you said after a while. "For helping… with the ghouls and my arm."

"Nah, you're good."

It was silent for a few moments, the fire illuminating his face in an orange hue. "What's your story?" You asked, sitting up with just a tad bit of trouble. He gave a confused grunt. "You know… how did you get here? How are you still… alive, I guess?"

"From the start?"

"Yeah," you whispered, eyes moving over his features until they fell to the fire. "From the start."

He seemed to contemplate whether or whether not to tell you his story, but then he cleared his throat. "It all started in Atlanta…"

About an hour later, your throat seemingly had tightened and even though you didn't let him see, tears had crept into your eyes. You cleared your throat, thinking over everything he had told you and despite your expectations, he was quite good at telling stories. Only they weren't stories - not really. Everything he had told you was real and to a certain point perhaps you could call it a story because it was his story. His life and the god-awful hardships he had to face to make it as far as he did. While trying to survive, you had lost a good amount of people, but it was nothing close compared to what he went through and the fact that he remembered every name that had once walked along with him and did so no longer, made your heart ache for him in ways you could not explain.

"I'm so sorry," you breathed, gaze glued to him.

"I ain't want no pity."

You gave a shake of your head. "It's not pity." Biting at the skin inside of your cheek, you thought about what to say to him, but you knew nothing of it probably mattered. "I'm just… All of it… I'm just really sorry that you lost every home you ever had," you finally said. "Not only them being taken from you - and your group in the cruelest ways, but also that those people tried their hardest to not make them feel like your home anymore."

He seemed caught off guard at what you had said but did his very best to shake it off. "Not every home."

"Right," you nodded. "Alexandria."

Giving an agreeing grunt, he took a bite from his possum, which he had cooked over the fire and forgotten about once while he was telling the story, so one side was blackened. The meat he had given you rested almost cooled between your pointer finger and thumb. "Wha' about you?"

"Uhm," you made. Memories came rushing back to you, leaving you speechless for a second. You had forgotten how much had happened in the last decade. "I, uh, I was in college when everything went to shit." You swallowed, plucking at the meat. "I was at a party, actually. First-ever college party and uhm, one of the on-campus janitors died - probably a heart attack or… whatever." Distant screams sounded in your ear, as photos flashed in front of your eyes, of screaming young adults trying to get away. "It spread like a wildfire. I mean - we had heard about a sickness a day or something before but… we were college kids. We didn't care-" You stopped yourself. God, you were terrible at telling stories and explaining things without getting carried away. "I didn't really have any friends there yet, so I ran as I saw all the…guts. I didn't know where to go either, so I ran to the only place, where I knew no people would be."

"Library?"

"Yeah," you nodded. "I lived off of apples for three days, with the dead just outside those doors, but I was safe - safe as could be, at least. Then the military came and fought off the hundreds of dead, while I was brought to a helicopter, that was supposed to bring me to a safe zone. Only the pilot had been bit, while trying to get to the helicopter and turned mid-flight. We came down in the middle of nowhere and nobody but a female soldier and I survived. I remember when I woke up, the first thing I heard was gunshots. She killed them - the other soldiers. People she had trained and served with for years." You put a piece of meat in your mouth and chewed it slowly, eyes cast downwards. "Back then I didn't understand - I thought those people were just sick. I resented her for it for so long. All while she was trying to keep me alive. She taught me everything I needed to know about surviving, shooting, and hunting. And then one day she didn't come back from a run and I went out looking for her and I… I did find her. But…" Your throat tightened even more. "Sargent Ava Wilson was my first kill." You smiled slightly - a pitiful smile, filled with sadness and guilt. "Even in death, she gave another lesson. She taught me how to get over myself and just… strike." Without wanting to get into it further, you shoved another bit of meat into your mouth. "After spending about two years with her, I was alone on the road for about another two years, I guess. Then I met some people and for a while, I felt safe. Or safer than I had in a long time." Shrugging you let your teeth graze your bottom lip. "Turned out they were bat-shit crazy and kept walker heads as trophies." One of your eyebrows twitched upwards. "Ironic that one of them fell asleep too close to one of the heads. Bit his throat out. He didn't make a sound loud enough to wake the others. Most of them died and I was really fucking grateful, that I didn't trust them anymore and slept on a tree."

"The walker heads?" He chipped in, shaking his head. "Ain't as uncommon as ya'd think." After finishing his meat, he took a heated up can and spooned up the contents. You lifted your brow at him but didn't ask further, deciding you would ask him about it another day. "What'cha do after?"

"We went our separate ways," you replied. "People came and left and… died." Giving another shrug, you finished the meat, too. "After a few years wandering, I joined a bigger group. They had found themselves a home, a safety net, a system." You clenched your teeth. "I wanted it to be real so bad. I just wanted to not have to sleep with one eye open, not have to look over my shoulder everywhere I go. Just not… fight but live," you rushed out, stopping yourself before you took it too far. "Well, and as it turns out, I'm not the type for big communities." You gave him an apologetic smile. "I went back to doing what I'm best at… surviving on my own."

"Tha' what ya been doin' for the whole time I ain't seen ya?"

"Uh," you made. "Well, I cleared out all of the houses on my way here and the trickiest was the library, so... guess I will continue clearing the area."

He pointed to your shoulder with his spoon. "Clearing's gonna have to wait."

"What?" You asked, giving him an offended look. "I'm still fully capable of kicking your ass."

He snorted - he actually snorted. "Yeah, right. You wanna test that theory?"

"What, ‘you saying I can't?" Raising an eyebrow at him, you leaned forward a bit.

"That's exactly what I'm sayin'."

Your mouth gaped open. "You, me, right now. Move that damn fire pit."

"Why? Can't do it yourself?"

"Oh, shut up," you jokingly hissed at him, knowing very well you would struggle with it until sweat came running. The corners of his mouth were turned up, as he threw another piece of meat at you, which he hadn't eaten. It wasn't one of the burnt parts and you didn't understand why he would rather eat the same old canned food, he didn't even seem to enjoy, but the thought that he had saved the piece specifically for you, made your tummy bubble up a sensation you had almost completely forgotten about.

*  * *

He had promised to stay for as long as it took your arm to heal - which would have been about six weeks, but even after six months, Daryl still hadn't left your side. Every time you questioned him about it, he said it didn't feel right, to leave you here all alone "when you were not fully healed" - you were, though. You really were. He assured you that his settlement would be more than fine without him for a couple more weeks. Then the thirteen weeks turned double and the more time he spent here, the less he wanted to leave - the less you wanted him to leave. Surprisingly, you got along well. There were disagreements, more than you could count off with the help of both of your hands, but either he brought you back something he knew you liked - like canned pudding or any type of candy, really - or you switched out the canned peaches, which he didn't like, with his favored stew or sharpened his knives.

Another rather surprising thing was this one morning, as the sun rose slowly, sending a majestic glow across the town, and not one thing disturbed the peace you had longed for, for so long. There was no growling or groaning or thudding or teeth clattering or whatever - no, instead bird twittering sounded in the trees. Summer was coming after a rather short winter and you were not complaining. Almost all of the winter was spent in one of the houses. You had brought lots of food and other supplies from the funeral home (that Daryl still was unaware of) and spent your time being taught card games or playing scrabble and Uno and just simply talking with each other. The quiet grumpy man you had met, had turned into a warm-hearted goof, that refused to let you feel cold and that had taken to preparing almost every meal for the last two months.

You were just coming back from an early supply run, that you had decided to go through with alone when you spotted him from afar loading something into the trunk of a car. A giddy feeling came over you and the lightweight of the gift you were holding was seemingly getting heavier. Your steps quieted and your pace did, too, as you ducked behind a trash can mere meters away from him. Waiting silently until he had his back turned again, you rushed forward, jumping on his bag with a shrill roar of "attack!". He jumped in shock, hand flying to his crossbow, which was already placed inside the car trunk.

"Jesus Christ, woman," he swore, turning his head to look at you over his shoulder, while you were still clinging to him like a monkey.

"You know what that means?" He rolled his eyes at your question, muttering something you couldn't quite catch. With a broad grin, you let go of him, your feet hitting the ground safely. "That means I'm leading 30 to 26. Ya' gettin' rusty, Dixon?" You copied his accent, watching as he once more rolled his eyes at you. "I got you a consolation present, though."

He raised his eyebrow at you, letting his gaze wander over your bright features. "If the present is anotha' one of these little girl's hairstyle kits, I ain't want it."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy the first two."

"I didn't," he grumbled, but a small grin had snuck onto his lips at the memory of waking up with a dozen colorful strands braided into his hair, after having gotten shit-faced drunk with you one night. "Especially not the one with that sparkly stuff tha' got everywhere."

"You mean the Princess Rainbow Glitter one?"

He grunted in agreement. "Stuff was in places it ain't had no business ever being."

You snorted and shook your head, as he pushed a few strands of his hair back, that were directly hanging into his eyes. "Well, if you disliked all my other presents so much, I guess, I'll just keep this one for myself."

Daryl eyed you for a few seconds, ere his gaze dropped to your arms, which were being held behind your back. "What is it?"

"Something I know you would have loved," you shrugged. "But I guess I'll just take it inside now." You started passing by him when he reached out for you and pulled you towards him. Letting out a yelp at hitting his chest, you fought off his hands that had started trying to pull your arms from behind your back. You let out a high-pitched shriek as he repeatedly brushed against your sides in the process, unintentionally tickling you. Both of you wore happy expressions, as he finally managed to pull your arms between the both of you, immediately staring down at what you were holding.

"No way," he said, examining the plastic in his hand. "Where'd ya find this one?" He turned the limited edition Lynyrd Skynyrd CD to face you, a grin on his face. You had found it months ago, after meeting him, when you were journeying alone once more and had taken it for yourself. It had been stacked away at the funeral home for all this time. Instead of saying all of that, you gave a simple shrug.

Staring up at him, you took notice of the lack of space between the two of you, causing you to take a step back. You cleared your throat and nodded to the car. "What were you up to?"

"‘You ever been fishing?"

"Uhm," you made. "Yeah. It's been a while, honestly."

"D'ya wanna go?"

"Sure. I'm sick of your squirrel anyway." He opened his mouth, ready to argue, with his brows drawn together, but you interrupted. "Yeah, I know, I know. When the cans run out, I'll be thankful for your squirrels."

"Damn right," he agreed, giving a nod. "You'll be begging fo' them on ya knees. And guess what."

"What?"

"Ya won't be gettin' any."

"And all of that cruelty after I brought you a present," you pouted. "Ungrateful fuck."

He forced the laugh down, which was clawing its way up his throat. "You are the ungrateful fuck. Disrespectin' my squirrels like that."

"Get in the car, Dixon," you laughed, moving towards the driver's door.

"Hold up," he called after you, following you to the left side of the car. "Ain't no way in hell you are driving."

"Why not?"

"‘Cause I wanna get there breathin'!"

You sucked in a sharp breath. "Are you insulting my driving skills?"

"I would. If you had any."

"Prick."

"Cunt."

You stared at him and he stared right back at you, both of you waiting on who would first break and let any indication of a smile slip. Your teeth were already clenched, fighting the smile, but you shook it off, crossing your arms instead.

"Fine," he sighed. "But ‘ya hit any trash cans, we're switching."

"I'll take those conditions." Flashing him another smile, you opened the car door, sitting down and pulling it closed, ere he could change his mind. With a thud, the trunk was closed and steps sounded as he walked around the back of the car to the passenger seat. Seated, he immediately pulled on his seatbelt, causing you to roll your eyes at him. "Drama queen," you breathed out, moving your seat back to be able to reach the cables that would allow you to short circuit the car. Cutting two of them with your knife, you bound the opposites together and then again, causing the motor to jump to life not a second later.

The start was a little bumpy, but the car got moving nonetheless. "Keep driving straight, I'll tell ya when to take a turn," he informed you, glancing down to the small map he had gotten from a stand in the library - you had been so smug about it when he came back with something useful from the one place, he thought to be mostly useless. He took the CD out of its packaging, making a sly grin appear on your lips. Pushing it into the CD player, he leaned back, ready to hear one of his favorite bands play again, but instead -

"Baby, can't you see I'm calling. A guy like you should wear a warning…"

"What the hell?" He frowned, hitting a button to move on to the next track, but when no guitar came blasting through the speakers, he turned to you with an offended look. "What is this?"

"Britney Spears, baby!" You exclaimed, hitting the wheel in fake ecstasy, as you started humming along to the song you barely knew.

He leaned one of his arms against the car window, slipping two fingers into the handle on the car's roof. "You're so dumb."

You laughed. "You love me-" Cutting yourself off, your eyes widened. Without moving your head, you stared straight forward, acting like you were just concentrating on the road with all your brain energy. You cursed yourself out in your head, no doubt blushing furiously on the outside. Again, you cleared your throat and leaned forward to get the actual CD, where you had tucked it into the band of your jeans. You held it out to him. He took it into his own hands carefully, like he was expecting the plastic to explode. Switching the CDs, he glanced at you from the corner of his eye.

"Idiot," he commented, lightening the tension within seconds.

"Hey, you fell for it. Not me."

Daryl's eyes lit up in seconds as some of his favorite tunes started blasting through the car. He slapped the car door slightly. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

You gave a forced chuckle, swallowing hard as the words replayed in your head. God, why were you so stupid? At the thought, your heart gave a weird unrhythmical beat, that had your breathing stuttering. The palms of your hands were getting sweaty against the leather-coated steering wheel and your throat was scratchier than the pullovers your grandma had hand-knitted for you when you were younger. What was happening?

"Ey!" A voice called. Your head snapped towards Daryl, who had taken to slapping your shoulder. "Ya' just missed the turn." Taking a glance in the rearview mirror, you indeed noticed the street sign in the far distance, telling you to go right. "Was telling ya fo' ‘bout two minutes and I ain't got no reply from you."

"I just need to-" You swallowed and stopped the car, ere you swung open the door and rushed out. A feeling was pressing against your lungs, hindering you from intaking any air. You needed… you needed… Closing your eyes you tried to breathe once more, but Daryl's confused voice crept into your ears. "I just need a minute!" Without thinking, you rushed into the trees on the left side of the street, dodging low-hanging branches while jogging away from… from what? When your lungs were aching with the strain of running, you stopped and pressed your hands against the nearest tree. With your eyes tightly shut, you counted down numbers in your head, trying to blend out the images of Ava swirling in your head. It wasn't hard to ignore those, but the stinging in your gut was not the oversee. You had cared for her so much and when you had to… Your arm flew up to your mouth, pressing against it just in time to silence a sob. You couldn't do that again. You had done it so often over the years, and this time you weren't sure you would survive it again. Having feelings in this world was beyond stupid because having feelings was what would get you killed in the end. On the outside or the inside, it didn't matter. You didn't know which one was worse either.

When you had calmed yourself enough, you leaned your back against the tree trunk, letting your head hang just for a little while, thinking about how you would explain your little breakdown to Daryl, who would without a doubt ask you about it. A tree branch snapped before you. Your head flew up, hand falling to your knife, but you halted when you saw the shaggy-haired redneck standing only a few feet away.

Again, the feeling of being overwhelmed filled your all. "I said I needed a minute. Jesus." Rolling your eyes at him, you turned around, ready to walk away, but his hand wrapped itself around your wrist, pulling you back. "Don't-" You ripped yourself from his grasp, stepping back. Giving him another look, you tried again to turn away from him - and succeeded for about all of half a minute, ere you were swung around once more.

"Don't ya dare walk away from me."

A piercing pain appeared in your chest. You shook your head. "You know what, Daryl? There is one thing I'd really like to know. Why are you here?" You snapped.

"‘Cause you ran away like a madwoman-"

"No!" You wanted to growl in frustration. "Why are you still here with me and not your people? What are you running from?"

He frowned at you. "The heck you talkin' ‘bout?"

"Why didn't you leave? I'm healed, Daryl! I don't need you anymore," muttering the last sentence, you went to step away again but suddenly your back met another tree. Shock overcame you as you stared up at him, the same he stared down at you. Left speechless, your eyes started trailing his features, that you had gotten so used to these past few months. Eyes wandering down further, the roughness of his nose, the little scars his skin held, the curve of his lips… Your heart was hammering against your ribs as his nose slowly knocked against yours, causing your lashes to flutter. His head dipped down just a little lower, as the surprising softness of his lips brushed against your own. You savored the few seconds of weightlessness and the hundreds of thoughts rushing through your head stopped, until-

Your eyes flew open as your hands pushed against his chest forcefully, causing him to stumble back.

You didn't know what had your mind whirling more - the fact that you needed him to leave you alone forever or that only after a few seconds you were already yearning for his lips to be upon yours one more. Everything felt so unreal you wanted to hide away and cry. "Don't you understand?!" You asked gripping at your hair for a second as your hands clenched and unclenched. "I want you to leave - leave me alone. I don't need you, nor do I want you here." Forcing your bottom lip to stop the light wobble, you crossed your arms. "Can't you just leave me alone? Please." Please because I can't be that person again. I can't bury anyone else and be left standing, staring down at another grave out of hundreds.

He looked like he wanted to argue without you about every word that had just left your mouth, but bitterness settled over his facial features. At the hurt in his eyes, you thought you might be the one dying at that moment. He gave a nod of his head and you were left to watch as he turned his back to you and walked away.

When you had gotten back to the main road, the car was gone.

Your things were strewn on the side, resting lonely on the grass. It's better this way, you told yourself. Better, better, better…

*  * *

ONE MONTH LATER

Someone had been here. You had heard them from the safety of the funeral home, laughing and talking about whatever you couldn't deceiver. A lot of them were men, you had gathered, maybe even all of them. You hadn't dared to risk a peek through the glass. Their presence in the town forced you to stay in the funeral home for over a week and you would have stayed there longer, hadn't a high-pitched scream rung through the streets.

You were up on your feet in an instant, hands gathering two guns that you strapped to your hips and two knives before you grabbed one of the shotguns just in case since you still didn't know how many of them were out there.

The scream you had heard wasn't the one of a man or a woman but of a child. Neither man nor child was in the street as you stormed out of the funeral home, but as you quieted and listened closely, the growling of walkers was carried through the breeze. You took off, cursing the group that passed through and had obviously drawn the ghouls in.

Close by the empty grocery store stood a line of broken-down cars that you had once shoved away from the middle of the streets because Daryl and you had wanted to drive through. Your heart clenched at the thought of him Better. It was better. He wasn't in your mind for long, your eyes landing on the roughly dozen ghouls and one little girl running between cars trying to get away.

"Damn it," you cursed quietly, pulse thrumming. Before you could even form the first bit of a plan, a shout tore from your throat. "Hey!" You clapped your hands, turning the attention of the dozen ghouls to you. "Yeah, you fugly dipishits!" They didn't need to be told twice as they stumbled towards you, and you turned your gaze to the young girl, barely ten years old. "Kid, get on top of one of the cars now!" There was no time to worry about the tears in her searching eyes as you impaled the head of the first ghoul getting just a bit too close. You tried your hardest to blend out the sobs of the little girl, as you fought off walker after walker until not a single one was left standing. Drops of blood were running over your face, you knew and exhaustion was clawing at the back of your mind. You doubled over, hands on your knees and your chest heaving. Turning to the girl you wiped at your face with the sleeve of your arm. "Are you bit? Scratched?" She didn't answer, her small body still racked by sobs. "Kid!" You spoke louder, startling her. "Are you bit or scratched?"

"N-No," she breathed, fighting her cries. You nodded holding out a hand to help her off the car's roof. She hesitated, you would have, too, were you offered a hand by a blood-drenched stranger, but she took your hand and you lifted her to the ground.

"Where are your parents?" You looked around, ready to shout at whoever that child belonged with for being brainless fucks, but another cry tore from her mouth.

"M-My-My dad," she blubbered pointing behind her and at first nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, till your eyes fell to the red blood between the rotten one of the ghouls. Your mouth opened flabbergasted at the ribcage lying so carelessly on the sidewalk as though it belonged there.

"Shit," you hissed, eyes falling to the weeping girl in front of you. "And you mom- do you have a mom?" She shook her head. Shit. Your mind was rushing with thoughts, trying to think of a way to comfort that child but by the holy spirit, you had absolutely no idea how to. One thing though was certain, you didn't just start a rescue mission to let this girl die out here on her own. "Okay," you nodded to yourself. "Okay, come on. We are gonna go somewhere safe, alright? And then we will figure this out."

Inside the funeral home, you cleaned yourself off as best as you could with wet wipes and your make-shift water bottle shower and then kneeled before her. Her eyes were wide with shock, not even reacting as you brushed a wet wipe over her cheek to clean away the ghoul blood. From one of the caskets, you took out a chocolate bar and sat down beside her on the floor. You cleared your throat. "Do you want some chocolate?" As she stayed silent, you hummed. "Got me feeling like Forrest Gump here, kid."

Her ears perked up at that. "Who?"

"Right," you murmured. That was a ten-year-old kid who had never gotten a day in the old world. "He is a character from a movie. Do you know what movies are?" She gave a silent nod, turning her big brown eyes to you as she waited for you to continue. "Well, Forrest sits on a bench one day, wanting to visit an old friend, and waited for a bus to come and pick him up because back in the old-world busses would drive around all day bringing people from one spot to another, wherever they wanted to go. Anyway, while he is waiting for his bus some people sit next to him and he asks every single one of them if they want some chocolates." You shrug. "Then he tells different people his life story, which is actually quite amazing."

She sniffled a bit. "What did he do?"

"What did he do?" You repeated her question, brows quirking up in thought. "A lot of things." Resting your head against the wall behind you, you furrowed your brows. "Let's see. Well, he was a soldier, a ping-pong player, a shrimping boat captain, and a college football player and he really loved to run."

"What's ping-pong?"

You explained to her what ping-pong was, what a shrimping ship captain did, what a soldier was, and what college football meant. And then she sat there contemplating the answers you had given her. Her sniffling had stopped somewhat halfway through the explanation of a shrimping boat captain. "Can I have some chocolate?"

With slightly lifted corners of your lips, you held out the chocolate bar and she dove in, barely opening its package. Your eyebrows lifted in surprise as she practically inhaled the chocolate bar. "Still hungry?" You asked her after she had finished, leaving her with sweet sticky brown smears around her mouth.

"Chocolate?"

"Uhm," came from your mouth as you eyed her. You didn't know all that much about children but you were sure feeding them merely chocolate was not the right way to go. "I have some stew?"

"With potatoes?"

"I think so?" You gave back, gazing at her questioningly. "You want some?" She nodded and while you stood to gather the can and heat it, she followed your around as though you would disappear any second. While she was spooning the warm stew into her mouth you sat across from her and cocked your head. "What's your name?"

"Lia."

"Lia?" You inquired to confirm, even though you knew you had heard her right. "I'm Y/N." You hesitated. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Her head hung low as her appetite seemingly vanished. "He told me he might not always be there," she mumbled and you understood right away that she was referring to her father. "And he said I'd have to be very brave." The sniffling returned in a flash. "We were hiding from those men," her timid voice croaked. "They had- they had shot him in the leg because we wanted to leave."  

"Leave?" You echoed. "Leave what? A settlement?"

"Our group."

"Okay," you whispered. It meant that those men that had drawn the walkers had been here for them and you hoped dearly they had given up their search and just returned home because no matter how many weapons you had stocked here, you could not compete with a whole group.

"Are you all alone?"

The question had come so suddenly, that it took you a second to pick out the meaning of the words, and when you had, your chest hurt. You tried answering, but your throat was so tight no word was able to fall from your lips and you didn't understand why you were reacting like this. You had chosen, had wanted to be left alone, but no matter how often you told yourself that, the agony amid your chest stayed persistent. No matter how often you told yourself it was better this way, because it was, missing him did not cease. Clenching your teeth to fight off the tears, you blinked away the salty droplets gathering on your waterline.

"Yeah," you whispered and pulled your knees to your chest. "I'm all alone."

"But-" She pulled her brows together tightly and stared at the can in her grip. "When you are sad, who is there to comfort you? Or who do you tell when something happened that made you happy?"

With every word she spoke, the harder it got to blink away the wetness in your eyes, until you suddenly stood, clearing your throat. "You are a kid. Kids nap, right? Why don't you take a nap? I'm going to take care of something."

"I'm not four," she stated. "And I'm not tired."

"Then count sheep or something," you said and excited the funeral home. Five minutes later you found yourself back where you had found Lia. If those men came back, they would know something was wrong when seeing those corpses and they would know there had to be someone else than Lia's father to do this since his dead body was between them, too. You couldn't risk them getting nosy. Grunting, you heaved body after body inside various car trunks and hoped none of them would be so curious as to look inside there, too.

Lia and you spent the next four days getting to know one another and you told her all about your time in school and college, which she seemed to be most interested in, while she told you what they did growing up. They had barely been on the road at all, but after a new leader had taken over their group and cruelty reigned, her father decided to get up and go in the middle of the night, taking with him a backpack full of weapons and food. You thought that was the main reason they came bag. Who wouldn’t go looking for a bag of missing guns?

It was on that fifth damn day that you decided danger was gone and the men weren’t coming back, that you allowed her to go outside. After you had told her about the library, she had shyly asked you if you could go there, and since now you were sure that absolutely zero ghouls were left in there, you showed her the library. Instead of going for the books, she went through the rooms below, looking at the different clothing articles and stuff that was still left from the people who had once camped out there.

With a doll in hand that looked suspiciously similar to a vampire, she ran out the door, pretending it could fly, leaving you to stare up at the banner, feeling the ghost of the dislocated shoulder at its sight. For barely a second you felt Daryl's arms around as he had caught you, as he had promised, and then – a high-pitched scream from outside. You were out the door in a second, the situation bringing such a déjà vu only this time it wasn’t walkers that you faced.

"Hey!" You shouted, eyes flitting from the young girl in their forceful grip, as she was being pulled away, to the four men. "Let her go!" They turned startled by you, but none of them made a move to let go of Lia, instead, they let their gazes run along your body and laughed.

Hastily your orbs checked them for weapons. Two of them had guns, you noted. The other two carried only knives and you thanked Lia's father for his little thievery. "We are just getting what belongs to us, Sweetheart," came back the gruff voice of the one gripping Lia's arm and your confidence wavered her lips started wobbling.

Before either of them had a chance to react, you pulled out one of your guns, holding them at the man's head. "Leave that kid alone." The one of the two with a gun that wasn’t holding Lia, took it from his belt, mirroring your stance. You heard the click of the safety notch from his gun and lifted your chin. There was no way in hell you would let them take that girl. Neither of them made any move to free her and your eyes narrowed. "I'm not gonna say it again," you voiced lowly. "Let her go."

The man with the gun moved and before you could stop yourself, you pulled the trigger. Another shot that wasn’t your own echoed through the street, though you barely felt it as it grazed your arm, as you pulled the trigger a second time, aiming for the leg of the man holding Lia. He let go with a shout and Lia ran past you, back inside the safety of the library. Curses that would have made Daryl halt in his tracks flew from the stranger's mouth as the other two with knives walked up. You lifted your gun again in warning, but at the same moment the man on the floor pulled out his. With wide eyes, you went to jump aside, being blocked by one of the other strangers, who immediately wrestled the weapon from your hand. You slammed your knee into his stomach and shoved him away, causing him to land on top of the gunman. Moving to get your second gun from your hip, a fist collided with your cheek. You landed on your knees disoriented as your sight blurred through the impact. Someone kicked you into your side and pain shot through your whole torso. Heaving you whirled onto your back, pulled out the second gun, and shot. He dropped like any other when being shot in the head.

The one you had kicked in the stomach appeared in your line of sight, knife held over his head, ready to pierce your head, too, but your finger worked by itself and another shot rang through the streets. And it all left you to stare up into the barrel of another gun. The man who you had shot in the leg stood over you.

One gun on him, one gun on you.

"Fucking bitch," he spat down at you, ready to shoot when a dead groan from behind caught his attention. In the blink of any eye, when his attention wasn’t fixed on you, you swiped his legs out from under him. He fell with a yelp and you jumped, gripped the knife lying abandoned beside you, and rammed it into his heart. Swiftly you turned and shot the ghoul ready to make you his next meal and then all was silent.

You sputtered on the pile of corpses, pain running along your side, and God… being shot hurt worse than you would have thought. It was a burning sensation so fierce you could not put it into words.

And then everything came rushing back and your mind cleared. "Lia!" You shouted, trying to move. "Lia!" If she had gotten herself bitten in the time you were fighting for both of your lives you would kill that girl. Relief flooded you as you heard your name being called and the rushing of fast footsteps.

"Oh, god," she gasped, seeing the blood soaking your shirt. "You're bleeding." You chuckled at the dumb conclusion and nodded your head lightly. "Does it hurt?"

Groaning you shifted yourself to lean on your elbows. "Little bit," you pressed out. "Lia, I need you to lift my shirt and check if there is an exit wound. Can you do that for me?"

"You are dying!" She sobbed. "You are dying. You can’t die, you can’t just-"

"Lia!" You held your breath as the pain became piercing. No raising of the voice, you thought, noted. "I'm not dying. Okay?"

"Promise?"

You didn’t know. You truly didn’t know, but you hoped not. "Promise," you said nonetheless. "But I need you to be brave, okay? Like you promised your dad, kay? Now, lift my shirt and check for a hole."

With shaky fingers, she lifted the blood-soaked shirt, whimpering. "I- I think so, yes." She sniffled. "Is that bad?"

"No," you answered quickly. "That’s good." Your face scrunched up. "Well, not good, 'cause now I have two holes in my body that do not belong there, but it could be worse." Grunting a pained tear fell from the corner of your eye, as you turned to lay on your back. "Okay, Lia, I need you to listen closely, alright? I shouldn’t move right now and I need your help, okay?" She nodded, eyes red and puffy. "I need you to go back to the funeral home and get some things, can you do that?" Again, her head whipped up and down. "In the black casket on the floor are medical supplies. I need you to get me bandages. Lots of them. And in there are some pink bottles with disinfectant. Pack it in my backpack by the door, and come back."

"Okay." She scrambled to her feet, repeating what you had told her in a whispered tone as she took off running. The second she was out of earshot a string of curses flew from your mouth and your head fell back against the corpse's legs, your hand tightly pressing against the wound on your side.

Lia came back with your backpack swung over her shoulder, throwing it down beside your head, and pulled out the things you had asked for. Forcing your hands to steady, you pulled up your shirt and carelessly squirted some of the antiseptic liquid over your wounds, biting your tongue at the fiery feeling. You cleaned it as best as you could and pressed an impressive number of gauze pads to both front and back, instructing Lia to keep a hold on the once on your side, you started rolling a bandage around your torso, pulling it tighter with every layer.

Your own blood on your hands you turned to the girl. "Help me up."

"You said you shouldn’t move."

"Yeah, well if I don’t move now, I'm not going to make it." You didn’t want to use the word die and give her any more shocks. Hastily she helped you up and took the backpack with her after you told her to and collected all the weapons strewn on the ground. Slowly both of you walked toward the alley beside the funeral home, where you had parked your safety car. It was the only car in the whole area that had a full tank, thanks to gathering the remaining fuel of about two dozen cars. You basically fell into the driver's seat and made quick work of getting the engine started.

Two minutes into the drive, you told her to get the map out of the backpack. "What's A for?"

"That's where we are going, so they can patch me up, hopefully." A was something Daryl had drawn on there, obviously hinting at the settlement he was adamant to tell you about. "Rules for this drive, you ready?"

"Yes."

"If I look like I might fall asleep, take a water bottle and pour it over my head. If I actually lose consciousness, jump out of the car. Clear?"

She gaped at you. "You want me to jump out of a moving car?"

"Only if I lose consciousness," you replied. "Don’t jump out while I'm awake that would be stupid." Had this been the old world a police car would have been immediately up your ass with how fast you were going, almost flooring the gas pedal. What you thought would be a one-hour drive, you halved simply by your reckless driving.

"You are bleeding again," Lia noted. "And on your arm, too. And you are really pale."

"Yeah, I'm trying really hard to ignore all of that and you are not helping."

"Thank you," she mumbled after a while. "You saved me."

"Twice," you corrected her. "I want a chocolate bar for every time." Before she could reply you took a sharp turn, almost missing it and she yelped. "Whoopsie."

"I'm going to be sick."

"Please don’t."

"You don’t drive very well."

"So, I've been told." You slowed a bit, blinking your eyes tightly as your sight became a bit blurry. "Are these walls?" You questioned, trying to get your eyes to focus. Spacing in and out, you brought the car to a stop, mere meters from the tree-high walls. Through your haze, you saw some people point guns down at you, but you couldn’t care less. If you didn’t get out of the car now, you would be dead either way. "Stay," you told her and pushed open the car door. Another shout sounded from the guards inside the walls aiming down at you.

You made to lift your arms in peace, but your legs gave and you crashed onto the stone path. Coughs worked their way up to your throat, and you barely heard the second car door opening. Lia rattled your shoulders, pleading up to the guards but your eyes just wouldn’t work right. "Daryl," you pushed out, catching her hand. "Ask for Daryl." But the gates were already opening and some faces you had never seen before shifted in and out of focus.

Shaking your head, you were supported left and right, as Lia persisted someone should go ask for someone named Daryl. God, you appreciated that girl. The male to your left shouted the name. Once. Twice. Your name struck through the community in a panicked tone. His voice, you noted. He was here. You let the darkness take you.

*  * *

You groaned, shifting where you were lying. A bed, you thought. It was too comfortable to just be a simple mattress on the floor. The blanket had a weirdly fresh smell, too, making you want to bury your nose in it to take a deep whiff. Instead, you became aware of the dull throbbing everywhere. You forced your eyes to snap open, blinking against the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows.

Wanting to swallow the dryness of your throat greeted you and you huffed annoyed. Something so simple and quiet as a huff stirred awake the shaggy-haired brunette sitting beside your bed.

"You are awake."

You chuckled. "No shit," you croaked and flinched at your own voice, scarcely more than a whisper. He ignored your bickering and reached for a glass of water by the bedside table, tenderly lifting your head so you were able to take a few sips. Clearing your throat just to be sure, you gazed up at him. "How long?"

"Day or so."

"Help me sit up," you ordered, already angling your arms, ready to push yourself upward.

"Nah, ya ain't supposed to." He sat down again, leaving you to roll your eyes. "Who did this to you?"

You didn’t answer, staring up at the ceiling. He was about to repeat himself when you interrupted him. "You remember those dumb questions you asked me? When we first met?" You mumbled. "Ask me the second one again."

He seemed hesitant but you shifted your waiting eyes to him. "How many people have you killed?"

"Four," you whispered. "I killed four men."

"They do that?" He questioned as if he didn’t already know the answer. You still nodded. "What happened?"

And then suddenly, you shot up as far as you could without him immediately pressing you back down. "Where is Lia?"

"She is out playin' with the other children," he answered, keeping his hold on your as you tried to sit up again. "Would ya stop doing that?!"

"Don’t shout at me," you complained and pinched his hand, to make him let go of you. "Prick."

"Then stop being fucking stupid, Cunt."

"Hey," you whined and pointed your finger at him. "That were two insults. I got a freebie now. Gonna safe that one."

He cleared his throat, as though he had in a flash remembered everything that you had said to him and he backed up just enough for you to notice. "I'm gonna go get that kid." And away he went.

*  * *

You were on bed rest for a week, much to your dismay, and to be fair, you wouldn’t have stayed there for so long, had Lia not looked at you with pleading eyes, making you pinky-swear it. Daryl had not once visited and you knew why. You knew exactly why. After all, you had told him you did not want or need him.

Lia had helped you out of bed, persistent in taking you for a stroll through Alexandria, which she was ecstatic about. All the while you were forced to stay in bed, she ran around with the other kids and for what appeared to be her first time, she had made some friends. When you saw Daryl walking right across your path, you told her to give you a moment. No leather vest was donned, only a grey shirt and his usual rugged pants. His hair was as messy as it always was.

Though the pain in your side wasn’t completely gone, the pain medication certainly did its job as you quickened your steps, his name falling from your lips. He halted and by the movement of his shoulder, you saw him inhale deeply. "Can we talk?" You asked, seeing all the people around you. "In private." Grunting in agreement he nodded towards the house he had left just minutes prior. You shut the door behind you, anxiously playing with your fingernails.

"I'm really sorry, D." Your tongue and teeth grazed your bottom lip as you tried to gather the words you had wanted to say to him since you had sent him away. "That day in the woods-" Your voice cracked. "I panicked," you admitted. "I panicked so bad because I jokingly said you love me and I-" Stilling, you swallowed the lump in your throat, stopping yourself before you poured all your heart out to him. "It's lonely out there without you." When he didn’t react with anything, your shoulders fell. "Could you just… say something… anything?"

"What d'ya want me to say?" He urged. "I'm just doin' whatcha told me. I left."

"You could tell me not to leave," you offered. "You could tell me you want me to stay."

"But you said-"

"I know! I know and I'm a fucking idiot for saying it." You clenched your jaw to keep yourself from tearing up anymore. "I just flipped out-"

"Because of a stupid joke?"

"Because when I said it, I realized I do!" You admitted. "I realized I love you and that scared the shit out of me." Despite your best efforts, a tear dropped from your eye onto your cheek. "And then I thought of you dying and it scared me so much that I couldn’t breathe." A sob racked its way from your lips, having said it out loud for the first time. He still hadn't said a word and you chuckled unamused. "Funny, isn't it? 'Cause you were fine and I was the one that almost die-"

He had taken a step towards, his hands resting on your cheeks and then he sealed his lips to yours. His lips were so tender against yours and the butterflies in your stomach seemed to multiply as your eyes fluttered shut. You pulled him closer, slinging your arms around his neck as he walked you two backward until your back hit the front door. He lifted his head barely a millimeter, his blue orbs gazing into yours.

"Stay."

"Okay," you smiled. "Prick." He frowned, lifting his head farther. "I was using my freebie."

Chuckling he shook his head. "Cunt." Ready to protest, your mouth opened just slightly, but before a single syllable could escape you, his lips fell back to yours. "I love you, too."

You might just let it slip this one time.

[floraltypes]

Congrats to 200 Followers! U deserve so much more tho❤❤ I'd love to see

feeling their pulse

listening to the other’s heartbeat

from the prompt list with Gibbs pls <3

pairing - leroy jethro gibbs x reader

prompts - “feeling their pulse” “listening to the others heartbeat”

His whole world stopped, everything around him slowed, it was truly alarming. The emotions that crept inside, thoughts placing themselves in his head, all unwelcome. But the look of you - in that chair - tied up and beaten, how was he supposed to feel?

The stoic Gibbs that you and his team have known, was about to break. The all knowing Gibbs, was at a loss, confused on his next move even though it seemed so simple. He wasn’t expecting this, wasn’t prepared, didn’t contemplate this outcome. How could he? It was truly out of nowhere.

But what would he do now, how would he move on, how would everyone move on? Losing Kate was so hard for the whole team, and now you, who’ve they’ve grown even closer with, could be leaving them…?

Abby would break, it would be her breaking point. The poor girls emotions already seeing so much and Gibbs isn’t sure if she would be able to deal with another.

And Ducky, having to examine your beaten and bloodied body, wrapped in a black duffel bag, and tools prying you open. Doing that to Kate and other co-workers was hard enough, and now adding another, how much more could he take?

Palmer, so new to the team in a way that he still has much innocence, less loss, besides the bodies he views on a daily. But now with one of his best friends dead when so much more was ahead, wouldn’t he start to think about the bodies of his friends to come?

Ziva would loose the only other female agent, one who understands her struggles in a male dominated field. You, a friend who always tries to understand her hardships, and introduce her to a more normal and fun world. What would she do with you gone?

Tony, a comical man who you’ll watch movies with and give your own little head slaps too, having to now pack up your things and view how quickly you washed away, washed away like Kate.

McGee, your partner, the one you always go off on your assignments with. How would he feel that he wasn’t there to save you, wasn’t there to have your back like you’ve always had his?

And finally Jethro, a boss who has somehow created a family in the tragic field he works in, while also finding someone to love. He’s lost so much, so many past loves, and now he has you who makes him feel so much different than before, how would he be expected to keep going after this?

“Jethro!” You yelled, running down the steps to where he stood by the large boat, crowded by tools and drinks, working diligently during his time off.

“Yeah?” He questioned, still sawing away at a piece that just wouldn’t work for the design he’s going for.

“Made some sandwiches, are you going to come up and eat?” You made it to the final step, walking over to him while admiring his new work.

“Sure,” He placed down his tool, wiping his forehead forming with sweat with the bottom of his shirt. “Didn’t you say you would make a special lunch today, though?” He had his classic smug smile on his face as you slightly frowned.

“You know I’m a horrible cook,” You deadpanned, shaking your head as you turned to go back up the steps, your boyfriend trailing behind.

“What if that’s a trait I like in a woman?”

“A horrible cook?”

“No, being a cook.”

“Then, you’re out of luck..?” You shrugged, handing him his plate as the both of you moved to sit at the living room table, your tv show blaring ahead. “You really are flirty like DiNozzo sometimes,” You laughed, taking a bite.

“Don’t compare me to him,” He grumbled, shaking his head as he quickly found the remote and turned the annoying thing off. “What’s the plan for today?”

“You work on your boat, and I’m going out!”

“With who? You don’t hang out with the librarians till next week,” He joked.

“They aren’t librarians just because they like books,” You shook your head once again while he just put a hand on your knee, gripping it lightly as he leaned over to kiss your cheek.

“Sorry, your friends.”

“Well, that is true. But, my brother messaged me and wants to see me.”

“The trouble one?” He put down his plate, leaning back on the couch a bit as you put down your own to now lay on his chest.

“He’s not trouble, just makes some mistakes,” You mumbled as he slightly scoffed. “But, I think this would be good, I miss him. And he’s always been good to me.”

“People change.”

“I know that,” You sat up, distancing yourself in the slightest from him. “I’m not a dumb little girl, I’m a NCIS agent too. I know what people can become. But, if I don’t give this a chance, it’ll stick with me and weigh on me, for the rest of my life.”

“I still don’t think it’s smart. Especially considering his past, he’s untrustworthy.”

“You haven’t met him.”

“I know of him. His troubles with the law, and how he somehow is able to avoid them.”

“I never said he was the best guy, but I still want to see him,” You spoke sternly, standing up a bit and brushing off any crumbs on your pants.

“If you’re that adamant about it, then you should do it, just be safe,” Jethro stood up as well, taking you in his arms and planting a kiss onto your cheek. “Okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” You hummed, melting into his arms as he kissed your lips this time, into a soft one but full with love. “I’m going to go get ready, so let me go,” You slightly whined.

“I was thinking about how your jewelry box is looking a little old.”

“It’s not old.”

“Why don’t I make you a new one, I have enough wood to make one and I can paint it to look nice.”

“I’d love that,” You smiled at him, kissing his lips once more before removing yourself from his grip and heading up the stairs. “Thank you!” You yelled down, going to your closet to change.

“You’re already leaving, dear?” Jethro questioned, now starting to work on your jewelry box as you defended down the stairs with your bag hanging around your shoulder.

“Yeah, he wants to meet a bit earlier so we can talk.”

“Okay, I’ll be here,” He looked over at you, who was now coming up to give him a hug, enveloping you in his arms he kissed the top of your head before you went back up the stairs.

“Bye,” You mentioned, shutting the door at the top and going on your way.

Jethro had his worries, most of it coming from his infamous gut, that never did really steer him in the wrong direction but in this instance, he believed it could’ve. Your brother was never the nicest man, only meeting him once and he had too many words to say to the NCIS agent. From then on, Jethro heard worse stories about your brother, even from past co-workers, and he realized he could never trust him.

But you still did, and you had hope for your friendship with him, thinking about all the memories the both of you had as children, focusing on the good when it regarded him.

Hours passed and you still hadn’t contacted your boyfriend. He was engrossed in his work, not truly noticing the time until his stomach began to grumble and he looked over at the clock, noticing how now it was about 8:00. You’d been gone over four hours and still no contact.

He tried to dial your number, heading straight to voicemail. Instead of becoming nervous, he knew you were strong and could handle many dangers, deciding on making himself something easy and going back to his work with the boat, leaving his phone upstairs.

About a hour later, he heard footsteps pounding down his steps, alerting him that he reached for the pocket knife on his cutting stand, staring up at the three familiar faces descending down the stairs.

“What’re you three doing here, and with your guns?” He scolded, putting away his own knife as they lowered their guns.

“Boss!” Tony ran down the steps, others trailing. “You haven’t been answering your phone.”

“You always answer, we figured something bad happened.” McGee went on to explain. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why?” He questioned with aggravation clear in his voice.

“A naval officer was just found dead, with Y/n’s badge on him.” Ziva revealed as Gibbs quickly discarded his belt with materials for his hobby, grabbing his coat and rushing up the steps with the rest of his team.

Arriving to the familiar workplace was not for the reason he would wish, confused at what must of happened and knowing that somehow your brother played a part in this whole thing. He couldn’t exactly reveal everything he knew though, risking your team members and Vance finding out about your more secret relationship.

Sweat was starting to appear from his forehead, his feet moving with a extra speed down to where Ducky was speaking to a body with wonder.

“It seems like strange circumstances that you’ve had to meet our Y/n,” Ducky mumbled to the dead man as Palmer stood by his side, peering down at the body with a table of scalpels and tools besides them both.

“Duck, what’s up here, how’d he die?” Gibbs questioned, Tony and Ziva jogging behind him to match his rushed pace.

“Jethro, it seems he was stabbed in the neck, obviously unprepared and according to the position the other officers found him, sitting on the bench, it confirms just that.

“My buddies weren’t thinking much of this, they didn’t really know he was a navy man until a woman came in with a photo of her husband saying he’s been missing. They ventured back to the crime scene and found that in the trash not to far was something that looked like a larger wallet with her badge in it,” Tony explained.

“On the autopsy report, the one I received before he was relocated to here, said he was sitting with his hands crossed in the front of his lap.”

“Sitting on a bench, hands together, sounds like he was waiting for someone,” Ziva noted.

“Tony, go get McGee and Abby to start searching his phone records, then put out a APB for Y/n. Ziva, I wanted you to go over and talk to the wife, see if you can find anything else out,” Gibbs commanded the two as they soon left the room and separated.

“Jethro, are you alright?” Ducky questioned, putting down his tool for a moment as he noticed a sort of different look in his good friends eyes. “Mr. Palmer, go look for that new equipment I ordered out in the garage.”

“But I thought that wasn’t supposed to come till Monday?”

“Please, Mr. Palmer,” Ducky turned to look at him now as the younger man rushed out of the room. “Now don’t you fret about Y/n, she is a strong woman, she won’t,” Ducky paused, contemplating his words. “She won’t end up like some of the other strong women we’ve lost.”

“I know that,” Gibbs asserted, staring at his friend in the eye. “I only have strong members on my team.”

“You are a stubborn man, Jethro. With your emotions and actions, all of you!” Ducky’s hands flew up into the air. “I’m a bit worried myself, this all seems very odd, and not a good kind. But, we must hold some faith in her, she has proven many times her strength.”

“Right.”

“And I know your emotions are heightening as well, due to the factor of her disappearance, badge here, and your true relationship with Miss Y/n. I might be a old man, but these eyes are still able to identify a dead mans organs and blossoming love. Something my mother was always able to detect, the love part, and I feel she has passed that trait onto me. Now, go back up and find her,” Ducky turned to have his full attention back onto the body in front of him as Gibbs left without another word.

Arriving in Abby’s office he watched the girl frantically type at a computer as McGee stood besides her, rubbing her shoulders and muttering small words before she shrugged him off.

“I can’t right now, McGee. I-I have to type in this code number, then trace where exactly this stupid cell tower is, start typing!” She yelled at the man who stood frozen as Gibbs was now standing near her.

“What do you have Abbs?”

“I- I”

“What do you have?”

“I’m almost finished, waiting for the ding. I’m sorry Gibbs, I’m just so worried and McGee isn’t typing fast enough and then I couldn’t type the righ-” The special noise the girl was waiting on. “Okay, here! Made calls to wife, pizza place, mother, um, oh! This number is for a Mr. Bruce L/n,” Abby announced.

“Y/n’s brother? She never talks about him,” McGee remembered. “Boss, I can pull up Y/n’s recent calls and see if she has contacted him recently.”

“Yeah, do that,” Gibbs agreed.

“Isn’t that a breech of her privacy, she’s our teammate.”

“And a leading suspect in a murder investigation, we’ve got to find her before someone else.” Gibbs reminded Abby.

“Okay, looks like she made a call to him thirty minutes before the naval officer was killed, there are also messages of them speaking about meeting up near the area where the crime scene is.”

“McGee, get a APB out for Bruce L/n,” He told the agent who nodded and left Abby’s sanctuary. Gibbs turned to the girl, pulling her into his arms and kissing the top of her head. “She’s a strong woman, I only have strong people on my team,” He reassured her, letting go and descending up the steps.

Once arriving to where his desk and the other three agents stood, he took a minute to stop his pace, looking at the three who all stood right near each other, doing nothing, silent.

“What is it?”

“Well-”

“Spit it out!”

“Bruce L/n is here,” Tony finally spoke, Gibbs meeting eyes with the man who was your brother, twiddling his thumbs with a bruised eye and shameful glares.

“Get him in the interrogation room,”

“Do you know why you’re here Bruce?” Tony asked, sitting on the chair across from the suspect as he stared at the file in his hand.

“Regarding the dead body I saw,” He shook his head, hands still shaking. “Uh, yeah, I tried to stop the bleeding, that’s why there is blood on my hands!”

“What about your eye, that looks recent.”

“Went to a bar last night, got in a fight, that’s all,” Bruce couldn’t look Tony in the eyes, his glare glued to his hands with the blood still stuck to his skin.

“Have you contacted your sister recently?”

“Y/n, um, not really.”

“Really?” Tony repeated, tossing a photo of his phone calls onto the table. “Turns out you called her not to long ago.”

“I don’t want to get my sister in trouble! I-I saw what she did and I-”

“You’re saying Y/n killed this man,” He tossed a photo of the dead man onto the table as Bruce kept nodding.

“Yes! Yes! I tried to save him, stop her, I only called her to see her and she went crazy. Upset I hadn’t talked to her in a while.”

“Okay,” Tony stood up, exiting the room and walking into the one that was onlooking the whole interrogation. Tony stared at the silence of his boss.

“This isn’t good, once the other police get their hands on him, they’ll arrest Y/n,” McGee mentioned.

“We’ve got to find her.” ZIva added.

“Y/n doesn’t kill without reason. He lied about calling her, he is lying about how the whole thing went down too,” Gibbs stormed into the room where Bruce sat.

“Boss,” Tony jogged in where GIbbs slammed his hands on the table.

“Listen Mr. L/n. You aren’t telling us the whole story, and that’s what I want or else your ass is going to jail. We’ve got records of you calling the victim, and sure as hell will make you a accomplice to murder unless you start speaking up. I know about your past, what deal have you made with the wrong guy this time?”

“Sir, I-I don’t, I didn’t kill, I can’t go to jail!”

“Then start talking.”

“He, he promised me a thousand dollars if I could just get my sister to meet that guy at some spot. I knew the guy from, from some place I used to frequent. I just had them meet up! I didn’t go over till a bit later and found the body, I tried to stop some of the bleeding,” He looked down at his hands.

“Who wanted the two there?”

“No idea, he came up to me, knowing my name and address and how I just lost my job at the bank. What else was I supposed to do?”

“She was your sister, and you might’ve just gotten her killed,” Gibbs walked out of the room, not sparing another glance.

“Wait, no! I don’t want her to die! I just thought it was some weird, surprise reunion. I never wanted anyone to die,” Bruce yelled as the door was closed shut.

“Boss, Ducky found a tattoo on the naval officer, Abby and I were able to trace what exactly it meant, some thing these guys had were for a cult that Y/n helped shut down in her early cop days.”

“She found out about how they were sacrificing innocent civilians and arrested the majority of them, two, though, escaped the scene.” Ziva went on.

“Our dead officer, he was one of the missing members.”

“And we’ve got a idea on where they are now hiding.”

Arriving to the abandoned wear house, his gun aimed and fellow agents around him, he didn’t know how to feel. The walls were littered with odd writing and drawings, almost making him recoil in disgust at a stench that was also present. Splitting up they took different ways around the wear house.

Tony and ZIva went left, McGee taking right with Gibbs. Quickly after the split gunshots were fired, and loud yells sounding around, McGee looked back, worry encasing his look.

“Go, go help them,” Gibbs commanded as McGee went running back, and Gibbs kept on, walking further into the darkness and praying to find some sort of light, find you.

And he did, but not the way he wished, you laid in the chair with hair bloodied and glued a bit to your forehead. Your sleeves were rolled up and cuts laid itself on your arms and stomach. He actually stopped for a moment, now really letting the worry he had been brushing off take over himself.

It was real, here you were, really hurt, looking dead. The easiest thing to explain the emotions he was going through at the moment would to be saying that he felt lost.

“Y/n,” He mumbled, running over and bending down to be more at your level. He was a bit frantic, pushing fingers into your skin to feel for a pulse, leaning his head onto your ripped shirt that wasn’t even covering your chest anymore to listen for a heartbeat. It seemed impossible, he could barely hear yours over the sound of his own, and his fingers didn’t seem like they could really feel anything right now.

“Her friends finally show up, to take us down all over again,” A man announced as Gibbs stood up, moving his gun around and searching for the figure in the darker light.

“We know that you’re the one that did this Marcus, frustrated that your plan of growing a strong cult couldn’t work because of Y/n.”

“It was a setback, I’ll admit. But I escaped, she didn’t stop me. My family will still rise, and we will remain superior. I mean, look at her now, all cut up and beat up. I hope she’s not dead yet, I wanted to hang her up as a sign, then kill her with more of a audience.”

“It’s over, all your men are being taken away.”

“I can find new followers, that was never a problem,” He laughed.

“Finding loyal ones were. The naval officer, he confided in Y/n about what you were doing. Knowing her brother and learning that she was a cop, he knew she would trust him and end this, all the nonsense killing.”

“It can’t end, look at Y/n, she thought she could but didn’t,” Marcus stepped out into the light, now appearing behind Y/n a knife lying on the top of her skin that covered her neck. “Even if there is a chance that she is still alive, not after this.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Drop your gun, or I’ll slice her neck right now. I think I can still hear her breathing, a shame she’ll have to die because of your nonsense,” Marcus tsked as Gibbs dropped his gun and kicked it away, he walked closer to you, closer to Marcus. “Don’t get to close.”

“Let her go.”

“If I can’t kill her, I’ll need someone,” He removed the knife from your neck and ran after Gibbs. Jethro quickly pulled out his own, stabbing the other man in the stomach and taking his own knife, listening to it clatter on the ground as he threw it across the room.

“Boss?” Tony yelled, now the three agents looking scared and nervous around the room. “Oh my,” He whispered, looking at your figure that was now being untied.

McGees eyes were filled with a true fear, a true surprise at just how harsh this group decided to do to you, a knife stuck in your stomach, cuts and bruises all around, he gasped.

Ziva didn’t think that many Americans were like this, seeing a fair share of people she faced doing this to victims but never any victims she was close with. It confused her, angered her, gun now moving around widely.

“We got most, but there must be more,” She declared, discarding the dying man on the ground.

“Is she dead?” Tony whispered, slowly walking closer. Sirens were nearing, new footsteps could be here swarming in the building, a stretchers appearing and two men running towards Y/n with one for herself, putting her onto it.

Being at the hospital was odd, Abby a crying mess with a fair share of tears falling from McGee as they admitted their fears to each-other while you were in surgery. Ziva and Tony silently agreeing on sitting near each-other, her head falling onto his shoulder as they looked onward at the blank walls, letting unpleasant things creep into their minds.

Ducky shook his head in the slightest, muttering words of reassurance to his partner Palmer, a small smile on his lips that clearly didn’t reach his eyes. And lastly Gibbs who paced the room too many times, finally settling on getting his fifth cup of coffee within the two hours, no announcements.

Eventually the dead navy officer’s wife had arrived with a basket of treats, as a thank you to Y/n after learning how she saved the man she loved from the horrible cult he was forced to join, but instead deciding on giving it to the group who were worried for her outcome.

When the doctor stepped out, announcing for relatives of Y/n L/n to step up, Gibbs was the first, along with Abby, to get over and listen to his words.

“When Y/n arrived into her care, she was badly cut and lost a large amount of blood. Luckily, the place she was stabbed was not by someone who knew where to hit. We finished the surgery and Y/n is doing fine besides a broken leg, some cuts and bruises. She is currently very groggy and may experience some loss of memory due to the event.... But you may all and go see her.”

Abby had jumped up and started to let more tears fall from her face, rushing behind to tell the others the news and getting everyone to hurry up and grab their things to go and visit you.

All of them gathered in your smaller room as you laid down, rubbing your swollen eye and looking at them with the other.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh Y/n!” Abby exclaimed, throwing her arms around you as you grunted a little in pain. “Sorry, I just, I was so incredibly worried and even seeing you like this now makes me want to cry. But you’re alive! And that’s what matters!”

“God, L/n, don’t do that again,” Tony shook his head as Ziva slapped his arm.

“I was fearful for you, and now I have gained more respect for you.” She admitted, standing besides you and taking one of your hands in hers. “My dear friend, you really gave us all a yell.”

“Fright,” Tony corrected.

“Really Tony?” She turned around.

“Could you both not do this now?” McGee asked. “But, you really did scare us all.”

“Yes, my dear. But you are okay and we all agree to take turns staying with you here and helping you out once you arrive back at your home,” Ducky revealed. \

“I’ll get over this in no time,” You commented, looking down at your casted foot.

“You’re like a real superhero Y/n, able to come back to life and all, maybe more like a zombie.” Palmer mentioned. “But, we were scared, yeah, not imagining you as a zombie.”

You laughed at that, eyes lighting up for the first time in a while. “I’m glad I stayed alive just to hear some more bickering, jokes, and comments for all of you.”

Ducky just shook his head a little along with a few of the other agents. “Let’s let Miss L/n rest, she needs it, we can discuss plans outside.” Ducky spoke as everyone started to file out besides Gibbs.

“I told you that you shouldn’t of met up with your brother,” He grumbled, now holding a hand of yours in his own.

“And you were right, I might not recall everything but I do know that was a stupid idea. Still, that’s the firs thing you say to me after everyone thought I’d be dead?”

“I love you, Y/n.I couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if you didn’t make it, how I couldn’t help you in time, when you really needed me.”

“I would never blame you, and neither would anyone else, if I didn’t make it. Don’t think that, don’t put all that pressure onto yourself.”

“I’ll take first duty, of watching you.”

“Good,” You whispered, moving to the side in the bed to open up some room for him. Not many words were exchanged between the two of you for the rest of the night because all the important ones were already said. You didn’t need long conversations and constant reassurance to confirm the love and care that was in the relationship you had. “I love you too.”

(ncis masterlist)

[bemylord]

being their girlfriend/dating them

or they're as your boyfriend

character: sukuna, itadori, nanami, satoru, megumi.

warnings: fluff to smut hdc, curse words, kinda rough and soft boys + sukuna.

note: or they're as your boyfriend/dating them

ꜱᴜᴋᴜɴᴀ ʀʏᴏᴍᴇɴ

i don't think he'd call it relationship or love. just the bond that binding you're together. he also doesn't talkative a lot, he prefers to show you his feelings in actions.

as long as itadori is searching fingers, you'll exist in his domain, being the slave and queen in one time. he'd praising and teach you new techniques, but also may use your body as he wants it.

praising to the degradation - generally, nothing new. if you had been bad either you did something on purpose, there will be no mercy for your body and throat - the king knows the way to punish you.

the cute thing is when you are exhausted from the little practice sukuna does in his small domain: breath had been taken away and your body is sweating. all you want is a little break to catch your breath. despite his selfish and demolished nature, he gives you some time in his lap to debilitate your sluggish body. your arms are wrapping around sukuna's neck by accident - it may seem he doesn't give a damn about it, but he pulls you by the waist, put your head on his athletic chest, and have you in arms 'till you'll wake up.

'you are too weak, brat, more energy, put more fury on me, or did you forgotten that i'm the fucking king of this world?' he laughed, knocking off your attacks. he's got a god complex and perfection. 'i'm getting stronger each second, sukuna, don't make yourself as a god'

you are the one he lets talk like that. being tremendously gentle with you is hard for him - he still being rough and could inflict damage, although, after pain, the king will take affection aftercare. but don't think he would murmur some sweat stuff in your ears, just spooning you is enough.

ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ ɢᴏᴊᴏ

master of the aftercare. sensei of the smooch and teacher of how to cuddle a person. he's good at those things. you never complain of how warm and strong satoru's arms wrapping your waist and his lips are kissing the back of your neck. after rough sex gojo would make an apology with soft kisses all over your figure.

cute fights in the kitchen while cooking. satoru is very needy and sometimes, he could be clingy for your attention, trying to get it whenever he wants to feel your body. even fight doesn't stop him - gojo would fight back and hitting on you.

show everyone that you're taken by him by marks he left on your soft skin last night. satoru would give you an order to dressing a shirt which will show his label on your body - wanna get a punishment? disobey the order; sure, later, you will regret it. however, it will be somewhere in the future, so you do mind disobey him?

whisper on his ear how long you've been craving for his fat dick in your dripping pussy and satoru would stop everything he did later, just to bury his cock deep into you, feeling the outlining of his member in your stomach. it's driving him insane when his fat dick rearranging your insides. no words could describe emotions in his soul when you're scratching his back whilst satoru is doing the pulsative movements inside you. 'does it feel good, kitten, doesn't it? feeling my cock in your little tummy, my god.. put your hand on the lower abs to perceive it' 'satoru~, i-i won't take any longer, give me that~' how could he disobey the order of his little angel?

gojo would degrade you only you've got the bad attitude. at other times - you may hear as he repeats the words 'you're so fucking amazing, kitten' he's hazing at the throbbing feeling in his cock you've been giving him.

ɪᴛᴀᴅᴏʀɪ ʏᴜᴊɪ

he's so much loves to play games and dancing with you when he has the time to do that - you'll play all games he bought for those evenings when both of you are playing fools and being kids. he may act like a kid around you, but trust me, he isn't good while railing you.

there's no door named exit while he's eating your out. yuji will apologize for not being close when you want to cuddle him or smack your lips against his. his apologies are mostly his head between your legs and his fingers in your cunt, stretching your walls, preparing you for the night. he makes sure you're enough dripping for his throbbing cock. it gives me a vibe that he'll overstimulated your little clit only with his tongue.

having you in missionary position, leaving the half-moon on your hips, unquenchably fucking your overdose cunt filled up with your juices. but you know itadori adores when you're squirting on his dick, shuddering while giving the huge release. 'that's right, beautiful, give your daddy all juices you've got' his words make you squirt one more time when he's finishing on your chest. quick series of spanking on your cunt and you're melting definitively by him.

but most of the time, you're both doing silly stuff that bothering megumi a lot. actually, you've got a game 'who's bothered megumi first'. it's fun to watch how he's activating shikigami dogs. you're idiots, although happy idiots.

ɴᴀɴᴀᴍɪ ᴋᴇɴᴛᴏ

daddy issues. daddy vibes and daddy chill. you've got no choice but to obey every order he told you to do. no way to escape and no way not being fucked to him if you did have time to do his tasks. his big and strong hands pulling your hair back, so you arch your back, feeling his breath in your ear. scream as loud as you can, 'till you reach the high note you could - he won't stop it.

sweat aftercare in the shower where nanami is washing your hair for you, also massaging your shoulders and kissing your stomach sort of excuses for being too extremely rough with you. but you knew he won't be soft, the language of his sex life is rough and painful. but the aftercare is worth having bruises the next morning around your neck.

nanami is an obsessive and dominant lover, he would mark you as his baby girl, his property, and the woman he's seeing his future with. even if you've got powerful and strong abilities nanami still doesn't allow you to battle the curse. think whatever you want to - he doesn't like the thought of having your dead body in his arms. he doesn't like the thought his small girl would have injuries from the demon.

nanami will show his love in action rather than words. you've got an unspoken rule to kiss your partner when they're tired of the work or giving a good morning/goodnight kiss. even if you're sleeping, nanami kisses your forehead before going to work. nothing could stop him from the morning kiss. you baked warm goods before he returns from the office or battle tired and having no strength. he fucking loves your baked bun.

after work, you make a warm bath for him, where he can loosen his body, burying his face in your hair. 'sweetie, i love you so much, so-so-so much. with you i can enervate myself and get lost in your smell, wrapping arms around your waist, feeling like it's my private heaven'

ᴍᴇɢᴜᴍɪ ꜰᴜꜱʜɪɢᴜʀᴏ

i've got a feeling he'd be an overprotective boyfriend. doesn't leave you alone with itadori for the reason he's a vessel for sukuna - don't treat him weird, he trusts itadori, but not sukuna. doesn't like when you interrupting his battle using your abilities because it's making him think about implications.

doesn't show his affection among other students because doesn't like being called a clingy or needy puppy. nevertheless, pulling you closer by your waist to show everyone to fuck away from you. megumi would not hesitate to kiss you with a tongue in front of the students to show them you're taken and your man is crazy.

megumi is more like a homeboy. every time you're alone or having time to spend together, you'll be stuck in his arms 'till you both need to go back to the sorcerer-life. cuddling and smooching are his life - in the bathroom, while you're cooking, watching tv-shows, he's arms around your body, therefore megumi is telling sweet nothings in your ear.

sex life with megumi? complicated question. would be bad and good simultaneously. i still have a thought he'd tied you up and use a flogger on your booty for spanking and preparing your pussy for his dick - it was passed on by his genes [wtf his father omg]. makes you squirt a couple of times, also makes you beg for his fat cock before pull it inside unexpectedly. using a collar with a chain to arch your back 'till it crunches and you moaned because megumi literally choking you.

only god knows how much megumi has kinks for you. how much energy he has to rail you all night and be able to continue that after the sun is illumining the room. 'you're dirty little slut, the rays of the sun in our room, and you still have the energy to squirt' degrading you during coitus and praising you in his muscular arms after.

//~~//

fuck. i was planning to post kuroo x reader x kenma but i deleted my work [by fucking accident i hate myself] that i had been writing since morning. sooo, I'll post it tomorrow. so sorry for the grammar mistake i was writing it on my phone.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Talking Points

I know that the UK doesn’t get all that much play in international news. I don’t blame anybody. The US tends to dominate, and for international news there’s generally Ukraine to focus on. So I don’t go running around screaming WHY ISN’T ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THIS?!?

I just talk about it.

I talk about how much profit the electric companies are raking in while we try to set up ‘warmth banks’ in libraries and the like but can’t because over a decad of Tory austerity is making it impossible for those libraries to stay open under normal circumstances, never mind get enough funding to have the heating on. How food banks are shutting down not because they’re not needed but because people can’t afford to donate to them, and how those that are open are having to turn away donations of far too many things (root vegetables, in the main - some of the cheapest healthiest ways to eat) because people turn them down for not being able to afford the energy needed to cook them. About how PM-to-be Truss keeps saying that corporate tax cuts will benefit everyone by encouraging corporations to keep their prices low, when we all see how they use tax cuts not to make their goods or services more affordable but to do stock buy-backs and enrich themselves at our expense.

Speaking of PM-to-be Truss, I talk about how she’s not exactly giving specifics about how she wants to scrap labour laws, but has stated that she plans to “deregulate aspects of the economy” because she insists that “UK workers are the laziest in the world” and “we need to be competitive in the global market”. When you consider that we already have the stingiest workers’ rights in Europe, you can imagine how much worse it can get. I see scrapping the 48-hour work week and holiday entitlement, because she’s already hinted as much. I see further reduction of maternity and paternity leave, and even stingier rules about paid sick leave, and probably stingier statutory sick pay too. I also see a crackdown on the labour unions, because she’s outright said that’s what she wants to do. While she says it’s all about “not disrupting things for normal people”, what she means is “people being unable to get to work costs our rich corporate donors money and meeting the strikers’ demands would cost them more money so let’s shut this shit down so that the plebs will sit down, shut up, and eat the shit we’ve given them”. Given that Truss has literally said that it’s entirely fair to prioritise the most well-off in society when it comes to tax cuts and economic graces ... you can see where the people rate in her view.

I talk about the Elections Bill. I talk about how we’re going to have voter ID introduced, and yet we still have heard nothing about how to apply for the free voter card we’ve been told we can have. About how senior railcards are seen as valid photo ID but student railcards are not. About how expensive passports are and how slow and backlogged the passport office has been since the end of the Brexit transition period - not to mention how they’re using the state of the passport office to insist on it needing to be privatised.

I also talk about the Elections Bill in the context of “it puts the Elections Commission more closely under government control”. Presumably because the Tories watched Trump try to get people to throw the election in his favour and were smart enough to set the legal procedures in place to do it properly.

I talk about the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act. About how most forms of protest have been outright criminalised. About how they can legally shut down protests for any reason, up to and including, “You’re annoying someone”. Which is, the last time I checked, the point of a protest. It also ignores data protection and confidentiality rules by demanding information about everyone (including victims and children) from whatever sources they deem fit, whether or not it’s applicable. Also gives the police greater stop and search powers - anywhere they want, any time they want, for whatever reason they want to make up. Also basically makes Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller encampments illegal. Not to mention the whole thing about forcing trans women to be incarcerated in men’s prisons, and vice versa.

I talk about the treatment of trans people in general. While a lot of people are pretty much okay with the whole concept, the government is not. The government that more or less controls our access to trans-affirming healthcare (and are behaving a lot like some US states about it). The government that insists so strongly that “biological sex is all-important” that they argue with the phrasing of “people who have ovaries” on a piece of advice about diagnosing and treating ovarian cancer. The government whose prime minister at the time (and technically still is, the rumpled pile of medical waste that he is) was proud to go on record as saying that trans women shouldn’t compete in women’s sport, and was backed by most of his government. This is the country that shaped JK Rowling; do not forget that. (Let’s face it, however much a poor single mother she was when she wrote the first Harry Potter book, she went high-octane Tory the red-hot minute she had enough money to sit on like a dragon on its hoard.)

Now, a lot of this goes against international human rights law. So I talk about the fact that the UK wants to entirely quit the European Court of Human Rights and make its own human rights laws. Given the above, how do you think that bill of human rights is going to look? We’ve already had our rights whittled down to the point where more than a few organisations are looking our way and going, “Um ... you know this is bad, right?” If we’re ever in a position where the ECHR doesn’t apply, everyone but the very rich in this country is fucking doomed.

Not that we aren’t already.

This is the country in which I now live. It terrifies me a little more every day. I don’t expect everybody to be talking about it. It’s not like anyone who doesn’t live here can do anything about it anyway. But I talk about it. I have to talk about it. I know it’s bad in other countries. I know that the US varies from state to state in how much bullshit they’re forced to eat regularly. I know Canada has its problems and Alberta’s the worst of a bad lot. I know the situation in Ukraine, and brewing issues in Taiwan, and Argentina, and Somalia, and... You get the idea. I do not diminish any of their situations. Thing is ... sometimes I just need to talk about mine. Because honestly I don’t know what else to do.

I am femme nonbinary in a country where the gender binary is all, so I’m afraid to come out. I remain in the closet about that, and about my sexuality or lack thereof, because it doesn’t feel safe. I am disabled in a country whose health service is being deliberately eroded to encourage a sell-off and turn to an insurance-based US-ish model. I have dietary restrictions that make cheap food literally impossible for me to eat, since they thicken everything with wheat flour and the last time I did a personal gluten challenge, I ended up with an upset stomach for a month and dangerously low vitamin D levels. (I must actually have coeliac, given that one of the things coeliac does is interfere with vitamin D uptake). It is only my insane pain tolerance (which allows me to work at least part-time) and the support of my parentals that allows me to survive, and also to not completely lose my shit.

This country hates me. This country hates me and everyone like me. And the Conservative party have stacked the deck so much in their favour that I have a horrible feeling that this is only going to get worse, because they’re not going away. We’ll try - gods, how we’ll try - but when they make it so hard for those without money to vote, and have the Electoral Commission in their hands ... I struggle to see how we’re going to succeed. And with protest largely off the table, I look to the future and see riots. Then again, is that really worse than the alternative - which at the moment is apathy and terror?

I’ve talked about this as much as I can, I think. Sometimes it has to be said. It just can’t be dwelled upon either. I can’t take to the streets with a Molotov cocktail and a brick. All I can do is talk. And when it gets to the point where I feel the tears threatening, I have to step away. I am of no help to myself or anyone else if I am a sobbing ball of nervous breakdown in a corner.

Just ... if you have a spare second, please send kind thoughts to the people of the UK. It isn’t a major talking point, I know, but there are a lot of tired, angry, terrified, drained, and miserable people on this little spit of land in the North Sea. They could all probably use a virtual hug. I know I could.

[astaroth1357]

Demon Brothers as Roommates

Intro:

So, the MC has left the Devildom and, of course, everybody is quite sad… But this time around, they have a little trick up their sleeve. With just a bit of magic (and training thanks to Solomon) the MC can now summon one of their favorite demon boys up to the human world with them! There's just, uh, one problem though… After being summoned to their side, their beloved demon now refuses to leave it.

Alright MC, enjoy your new demonic roommate!!

Lucifer

Apparently Lucifer is on sabbatical… And yes, he does appreciate that irony in that.

Lucifer actually has a surprising amount of human world money stashed away in alias accounts (because this man renting a cheap motel on business trips? Let's be real) so he uses that wealth to get them a place befitting his standards… which are high.

Spacious apartments in nice areas that would make even the upper middle-class shit their pants? Congrats, MC, that's where you're staying now!

Even with all that money, though, Lucifer CANNOT sit idle for a second. The guy is used to working all his life and just sitting around would drive him insane!

Expect him to still be running some Devildom affairs long-distance style while doing something else on the side, probably stock market stuff tbh.

Is going to want to pay for and provide everything himself but will respect the MC if they still want to work and split the bills (not to a ridiculous degree, though, like half-and-half because that would mean getting three jobs at least).

A lot of trips and vacations too, especially if the MC likes to travel. It’s a good excuse to relax while also technically doing something so he doesn’t lose his mind doing nothing in particular.

He is going to be that strict roommate who expects you not to be a slob and isn't afraid to say so. Regularly scheduled cleaning/organization days are mandatory because hygiene is important. Take some pride in yourself and wash up, MC. That kind of thing.

Also going to have short-fuse for… antics. If you want to prank him, do so at your own risk because he may prank back (and that’s not nearly as fun as it sounds, trust me.)

Mammon

Yeah so, living with Mammon is like the inverse of Lucifer. Prepare to be poooor.

Man has no human money, are you kidding me? Even if he did, he wouldn’t keep it for very long. Couples budgeting is a MUST if you’re looking to survive.

The apartment is going to be whatever the MC can more or less afford on their own with Mammon shoved in somewhere like a cheap lamp… Don’t expect a lot of room.

However, Mammon is great at the hustle. Man can work multiple jobs and actually be pretty dang good at them. For the most part, anyway. He may occasionally trip up and get himself fired, but he bounces back quick.

If the MC isn’t so moral he can also uh… “find” some extra money lying around too. Just be careful when playing with fire, right?

Even if they’re poor as shit, Mammon is still a blast to be around. The guy knows how to have fun on and off of a budget. Lots of “window shopping” (getting kicked out of stores for goofing off), nightclubs, amusement parks, and cheap fun. They’ll never be without a story to tell or a smile on their face!

He IS pretty slobbish though. He’s not going to remember to clean up after himself unless told, but he’s also not going to be bothered if they don’t do the same thing. A weekly cleaning day is going to be ideal unless they don’t mind living in a pigsty...

Prank waaaaars!! The kind of guy to get them both water guns and have a war in the middle of the apartment complex. Good luck getting any rest with Mammon around.

Leviathan 

Whelp, your room is now his room, quite literally MC. You had to pick the shut-in…

The guy isn’t exactly poor but what human money he does have is all wrapped up in his many interests… Merch interests specifically. 

Thankfully, he won’t take up too much space. Put him in a room with a desk, bed (or bathtub), TV, and computer and he’s good to go! 

He’s not going to be a complete bum, thankfully. There’s no way that they can get him to leave the apartment, but he can run small online stores (usually anime themed) or become a streamer. Probably enough to help pay the bills, but not much more.

If they don’t mind having a literally permanent housemate, then being with Levi has its own kind fun. Lots of anime marathons, movie nights, and game nights. Really, it’s just like how he was in the House, but now transported to the human world.

Is probably going to want a pet goldfish, snake ,or lizard so prepare to house Henry 3.0.

When he does leave the apartment, it’s to take the MC to conventions, concerts, or anime stores. He always manages to get just enough money for these trips, but never says where the money comes from… Best not to ask. Could be black market for they know...

… He’s a shut-in. He’s a shut-in roommate. Hygiene isn’t exactly his main concern. If they ask him to, he’ll make sure to clean up after himself, but he may need a reminder.

Can have a fun side, but just don’t mess with his stuff too much. He doesn’t need a Mammon 2.0 around too...

Satan

He's either hatching a plan for world domination or adopting 10 cats… One or the other.

About as poor as Mammon at first, but threat not. He won’t be for very long. Satan is intelligent beyond his years (or equivalent his years maybe?) so he’ll probably net himself several degrees within a couple semesters like a certified prodigy.

At that point, there really isn’t much to worry about (aside from student loans, join our pain Satan) but he can sell himself just fine and probably get some high paying job like a lawyer or doctor or whatever… I’m not jealous…

They’ll start out in a pretty modest place, but there will be upgrades fairly quickly when he starts racking it in so Satan’s a fairly decent choice as a roommate.

He does still have that nasty habit of breaking things when he’s pissed off, but that can be subverted by getting a pet! Just hold up whatever cat you own when he’s about to rampage then declare that he’s scaring/upsetting them and he’ll stop in his tracks. Works every time!

Probably going to be the most domestic out of the brothers. He enjoys cooking (and ain’t half bad at it either), shopping is a practical necessity, he’ll take care your pets like they were his own flesh and blood, etc.

There will even to be points where he’s in bed reading in the middle of the night with tea and reading glasses like some kind of grandma so take that image for what you will.

Satan is the prankster of the household, but he does his pranks more as a way to give grief to his enemies rather than for funsies. Be warned, if you poke this bear he will retaliate for sweet, sweet revenge and he has centuries worth of pranks behind him. Good luck.

Asmodeus 

It's a new party every night, sweetie, get used to it!

Asmo is the only other brother who has some amount of money to offer from his own trips to the human world, but it's just a modest amount.

Is totally willing to work to help pay for a nice place. He wants a building nice enough to host parties!

Would go back to modeling and maybe dip his toe into acting from time to time… He gets a lot of gigs (this IS the Avatar of Lust after all) so they won't be strapped for cash. Which is good, because Asmo is a very "business by day, but party every night" kind of person. 

Do know that his shopping is NOT going to slow down either. Keep an eye on the budget.

He’s also going to make friends wherever he goes so he’s going to want for them all to hang out at least somewhat regularly.

That being said, he can tone it down some if the MC so desires, just know that they can’t keep him cooped up in the apartment for too long or he’ll start getting antsy. You can’t keep this stallion locked up, MC, he needs to run free!!

Being with Asmo is going to be like having a free pass to whatever gathering the MC wants to go to, at least. He could even get them into red carpet events with just his sheer charisma, charm, and er-… “charms.” Who doesn’t want to meet their favorite actress or singer, eh?

But oh, sweetie, please don’t prank him! Life is too short to waste on silly games (he also just genuinely just doesn’t enjoy being messed with so best not do it).

Beelzebub 

Brave choice, MC, but quick question. How in the world are you going to pay your food bills???

Beel is a real sweetheart through and through but his stomach is NOT. That thing will eat them out of house and home! (Maybe even literally!!) Both of them are going to have to work and probably some pretty looong hours (cause he’s got no money either).

Honestly, Beel would be best as a personal trainer in the human world. He’s a pretty decent combination of tough but genuinely kind and motivating. (The fact that he’s pretty easy on the eyes would help out a lot too).

But the MC won’t have to worry about Beel sneaking off with someone just looking for some “quality time.” He’d take his job seriously, though he’s not particularly versed in what the human body can’t handle so only the really dedicated (or masochistic) would stick with him anyway.

“Good work last week, April! You did so well that we’re going to go from 500 pushups to a thousand! … I can see you’re worried, but I believe in you.”

But hey, he can deadlift well over 2,000 pounds without breaking a sweat so who has the balls to argue with him, anyway?

Trying out every restaurant in town would be a must. He’d even plan out vacations for them with the sole purpose of travelling the globe and tasting the different flavors. Food trips!!

He's neat enough since he used to tidy up a lot for Belphie so no need to worry about him picking up after himself (except for the occasional pile of wrappers. Toss those out unless you want ants)

I mean, you can prank Beel if you want. He'll be pretty good-natured about it as long as it stays harmless. Just don't ruin any of his food, got it?

Belphegor 

So… Belphie makes for some excellent décor! Really he is great at laying around and looking fantastic just… he’s not that great at much else...

Realistically, choosing Belphie as a roommate is kind like having a high maintenance pet. He’s good for love and cuddles, but he’s not going to be helping with the bills or anything unless they whine incessantly about it.

If the MC can make enough for the both of them, then it should be fine. They won’t get upset and he won’t be crabby but if not… Oh boy.

Regular job Belphie is a needy Belphie. He’ll come back from whatever job he’s working, likely a night shift, and demand attention or cuddles right then and there. He needs to recharge those batteries, after all...

If he isn’t working then he's at his happiest. He can even pull off being a “househusband” of sorts. He’s not going to go above and beyond the call of duty, but he can keep the place clean, get a basic meal on the table (provided someone teaches him some human recipes), and get groceries if he needs to… You know, basic domestic shit.

They’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that, at some level, Belphie just doesn’t believe in “common curtesy” or “human decency.” If some neighbors are being too noisy for his liking, he will troll them to oblivion and beyond. He may even get sued for it if he takes it too far, so the MC will have to keep an eye on him…

He’s the House’s #2 prankster, but unlike Satan he doesn’t need any malice to be a little shit. The MC will be pranked and it will be at the most unexpected times. Be warned...

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