mother-mia-exe

[agayconcept]

.

[kalashtars]

venting in the tags yippeee

[werecreature-addicted]

Hey, I love your fics. Your romance stories drive me wild with excitement. I did have this idea in my head: Two guys are going to a fancy dinner tonight, but one is secretly a vampire and one is secretly a werewolf. Neither of them knows the other is a supernatural creature and trying to act normal.

Later, somehow an incident forces them to reveal their monster sides and instead of freaking out, they would make out with each other rough and crazy. Just wanted to see what would you do with it. (You don't have too its fine..)

it's a cute simple dinner date at a fancy restaurant but things go downhill quickly. first, the vampire explains their garlic allergy to the waiter who assures them they'll be careful. "what are you, a vampire?" the werewolf jokes and the vampire laughs a little too hard at that before very firmly stating that vampires aren't real. despite the promise, the vampire's food comes out loaded with Garlic.

The next hitch is the fact that the silverware is real silver, the werewolf doesn't realize until they try and take a bite and it burns their mouth they choke on their food and drop their silverware too. the waiter brings them new silverware...also silver.

it's a painful and awkward meal at both, but they kind of bond over the fact that they both mostly eat the free bread rather than the food they ordered.

After dinner, they go for a nice moonlit walk through the park. it's nice and nothing could possibly go wrong! the sun is set and it's not a full moon so there is nothing that could possibly go wrong. until they run into a mutual friend, who's Fea and happens to live in the woods next to this park.

Now the werewolf doesn't know they're on a date with a vampire and the vampire doesn't know they're on a date with a werewolf, but the Fea knows both of them are supernatural creatures and doesn't think there is any reason to hide magic, so the three talk for a little while then the Fea just poofs out of existence in a cloud of glitter.

Both of them freeze not knowing what to do. their presumably human date just saw magic. they both look at each other waiting for the freak-out reaction.

"so...uhm-"

"Who told you about magic?"

"Who told you about magic-"

they talk openly and figure out the truth. they have a much better night not hiding anything.

[flusteredmoonn]

back to december; remus lupin

summary: "so good to me, so right," in which he unspeakably and irreversibly in love with her, but his need to secret keep hinders him more then he'd care to admit.

tags: (SFW), angst to fluff?, drabble??, fast paced, implied gryffindor!reader, innocent!reader, implied pre-existing relationship, vulnerable!remus, she/her pronouns, third person y/n.

words: 800+

speak now tracklist. request.

they sat on the couch of the gryffindor common room. watching sirius and james argue over a game of exploding snap, laughing at some of their points and how animated their gestures were.

he rubbed the part of the girl's arm where it meets her shoulder soothingly, as he looked out the window and at the star-spotted sky. paranoid, he looked for the moon, and which cycle it was in.

"it's on the twenty-fourth," the blond stout boy from the group spoke bravely, not looking up from his book. this captured the entire group's attention.

y/n eyed him suspiciously, "what's on the twenty-fourth, peter?" she shifted her position, moving away from her boyfriend and crossing her legs.

"oh, uhm..."

"remus here has got a herbology assignment centred around the moon phases, peter's in his class too, and clearly our dear moons hasn't kept up to date with the moon cycle this month," the unruly haired boy meticulously covered.

"always the observant one, peter is," remus added, looking to the girl and directing a smitten smile towards her.

a thread of silence weaved itself throughout the stilled five, the four boys looking between one another unsurely.

"oh," y/n paused, "i didn't know you had a herbology project? you should've told me," her tone part joking as she looked at the boy seriously.

"must've slipped my mind," he spoke casually, looking over her head at his friends with thankful eyes.

their typical antics resumed, the air regaining its comfort. for the girl, that is. between the four boys, however, the air held a certain tension, it becoming clear that their scarred friend's girlfriend remaining in the dark of his... condition. awkwardly, one by one, the boys began dismissing themselves to bed.

y/n followed, making her way to her own dormitory for the night, none the wiser.

meanwhile, whist she readied herself for bed, the four mischievous boys were deep in conversation;

"how haven't you told her yet?!" sirius asked bluntly, rolling his eyes when remus merely huffed in response.

"wait, so what do you tell her every full moon?" james' question was more sincere than his friends, though still remained relatively accusing.

"i...i don't know, i usually say something about a failed prank or something; enough to keep her from worrying, but also enough where it seems plausible at the same time," he waved his hands around as he spoke, exasperated.

a swift beat of gauche silence flooded the common room. the sound of the pillar candles popping was all that could be heard.

"and she buys this every time?" peter queried, looking anywhere but his friend.

"well... i'd like to think so," the scarred boy paused, "and if she doesn't she doesn't say anything to me about it," he concluded, before stomping to their bathroom to get changed.

"ya'lright, mate," james asked as remus left the bathroom, finally, concerned with the anger that remained ever present on his friend's features.

"i just hope i'm doing the right thing," he began, clambering into bed inelegantly.

"i mean, i really love her, and i don't want to be lying," he started of his own accord.

"but?" sirius pressed.

"but, i'm so used to telling people these falsehoods, that i'd rather lie then watch her reaction to the truth," he stopped for a moment, closing his eyes vulnerably, "plus, you know how she is, she'll try to help- or fix it and i don't want her to go through that," he admitted, scratching the back of his head timidly.

the four adolescents decided that it would be best to get some rest, and for the boy to decide himself what is best for him to do within his relationship.

the week before the full moon rose, remus twisted himself in knots trying to figure out how to approach telling his girlfriend about his monthly transformations. that is, until, he slipped up whilst the two were studying under a tree in a common courtyard.

"yeah, no, a trip to hogsmeade would be super fun this weekend, though i don't know if i can," his voice small and sincere as he looked to the girl.

"oh? why not?" y/n asked curiously, closing her book and looking toward remus.

"oh, well obviously it's a full moon this weekend, so i gotta go down to the shrieking shack, and you know, transform," he spoke quickly and thoughtlessly, eyes darting across his surroundings like they normally did when he casually spoke of the topic.

"what?" she asked, "are you a werewolf?" she continued to question, moving her hand to rest on the top of the boy's arm comfortingly.

"uh- yeah?" his tone was unsure, scanning her face for an indication as to whether or not her feelings for him shifted.

"i thought so, you always disappear into the night, its somewhat methodic," her tone was comforting as she revealed her suspicions.

"i'm sorry i didn't tell you it's just that- what?" he interrupted himself, "you knew?"

"well i thought i did," the girl clarified, "but it's fine, i still love you, i promise," she stated confidently, her arms wrapping around the boy comfortingly.

[thecoolnauta]

GENSHIN WITH A TEEN!CREATOR WHO IS LIKE LUZ NOCEDA PART THREE

harpy hare, where have you buried all your children?

TW: gn reader, teenager reader (ALL IS PLATONIC),maybe sm angst and a lot of spoilers abut the archons missions, reader is depressed and neurodivergent, sorry about the bad grammar

part two :D

Before falling, you remembered. You were alive.

Not like everybody, not like those of your kind. You were like them, but not enough to be one of them.

You didn't talked like them, your tonge wasn't as similar as them. You didn't looked like them, your body wasn't as similar as them.

You didn't existed like them, your whole life wasn't as similar as them.

You were different, so different to be fair.

And now a magical egg is trying to talk to you, it didn't help, at all.

"Uhm, creator? the shinny egg asked, surrounding your hands with it little black eyes staring at your traumatize soul.

You were lost on an alley of the city you arrived, you managed to scape the young adults chasing you and hide on a very dark and cold place.

"Creator you look pale, you must ask for help" it said.

"They tried to kill me!"

"No? They tried to take you down!"

"ISN'T THAT THE SAME THING?!"

So yeah, the egg you saved to be cooked by those people with... totally not horrible uniforms it was a magical egg!

Who talks, and probably it's more intelligent than you

Lost on a city that never appered in any of the maps you buy (just to put on your walls bcs it looked cool), you decided to grabe a cape you found on a box and wait until night.

When you asked for the egg name (does it has to have one?), it said that you it had to earn it, whatever that means

"You sure you want to stay here, creator (Y/n)? You can asked for a place to rest to anyone" the egg whispered on your chest, you hugging it to reach the warm it let.

"What do you mean?!, I can't just asked to anyone to let me go inside their house! they probably would call the cops or... whatever the cops are on this place and asked me for my parents for them to solve the troube I put myself into and..." you stoped your panic start to looked at the little being.

It was so calm, that little shi-

"How did you just call me?"

"(Y/n)? But that's your name isn't it!" it smiled (or tried your didn't know if eggs can actually smile)

"No, the other thing", the moon almost reached its highest point, you frowned at the magical stuff.

"Creator?" it asked, the memories of that reclect of yours at the lake crashed on your head.

"THERE THEY ARE!" you hear the same voice that was screaming at you some hours ago at your back.

"Crap!" you cried, getting under his legs in his attempt to catch you, running from those back him.

The citizen looked at you with confusion and fear, the only thing the were seeing was the knight of favonious trying to catch a teen with a rare shell.

You, a young neurodivergent; Not quite American, an LGBT teenager with a 0 in PE was running from 10 uniformed people with iron and swords who probably had many years of training to catch dangerous people… and you were winning.

Wow, adrenaline does miracles.

"They're scaping, don't lose them again" one of them shout, you were crying and hugging the egg very hard.

"Creator, over that way!" the egg said to you.

"What way?!" you couldn't breath or think correctly.

"That wa- Oh wait, were lost"

"What do you me-" you crashed into something, rather someone.

The guard grabbed you by the neck, you covered the egg with your clothes the best you could. The blow was so strong that little by little it left you unconscious.

Dang.

[theaspen]

summary : Jay seems to keep appearing in your alternate nightmares. He acts as your night in shining armor, always helping you in your sleep. But when you try to stop the nightmares altogether he doesn't like it.

Genre : Thriller, angst.

pairing : Jay x you

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of blood, death and suicide. If you are sensitive to these subjects please don't read!!

___________________________________________

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

____________________________________________

Authors note: It's honestly SO embarrassing that I'm posting this now LMAOAOAOA.

Uhm. I'm sorry. I hope you guys enjoy and leave some nice comments or feedback or anything tbh. And send me an ask, or comment below to be added to the tag list.

____________________________________________

Are you sure?” My uncle asks sceptically.

“Yes I'm sure.” I tell him firmly. 

This is the 10th time he's asked me this question today alone. What's a therapist gonna do? Besides, I'm sick of him pretending to care. 

“Uncle, I'm not really sure why you're so insistent on this. Is it because the press is outside? They want to interview you?”

It's a sharp dig at him and I know it. He's never cared about his own brother, never visited.

He scowls at me, “Careful, might I have to remind you that it isn't your father that's taking care of you, putting you in the best room with the best doctors.”

I glare at him as he walks away from the room. Well atleast the pathetic nice act is gone. 

Kyungsoo enters my room soon again, throwing a careful glance at my uncle. He was a big shot after all. With his more than successful firm.

“You good?” He asks.

“Yeah, um I think I'll just go for a walk.” I tell him rather shortly.

“Sure.” He says quietly, probably assuming I had an argument.

But truth be told, I'm avoiding him. I'm getting attached to someone who's just tolerating me for their job. It's not his fault I know but I can't get attached to those who won't stay once I'm up and gone. 

My mind goes to Jay for a tiny second. Hm. Maybe I should talk to a therapist. The dreams stopped for two days and usually I would be overjoyed at the idea of not just one but two full nights rest.

But I woke up feeling uneasy, I made a promise to Jay, someone who exists only in my head. But I made a promise nevertheless. 

There are so many things I want to ask him, so many. 

Why do I have no dreams? Why is it that I only ever have a blackout or nightmares?

Why is he saving me? 

I know I shouldn't, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me. I look down at my fisted hands and open them. There are two sleeping pills, I stole it from a nurse's bag when she wasn't looking. 

Sleeping pills and I aren't the best of friends. Sure they help me not have a meltdown from not being able to sleep for almost 20 hours but they also give me the worst types of nightmares.   Which right now happens to be something that I need. 

“Goodnight.”Kyungsoo tries to smile at me.

I meekly smile back , eager to down the pills and meet the one person who actually wants me to stay.

_________________________________________

The pills go down my throat ten minutes later. The small light creates a shadow of me in front.  The shadows shift, turning and twisting and I watch fascinated as they give a performance for me. 

I'm not afraid, a part of my brain thinks. What are the shadows going to do? They've been with me forever. Taunting me, trying to manipulate me. I've never given into any of their tricks. I've never trusted them. 

But when I'm all alone now, in a tiny closet peeking out from the hole and watching the shadows linger my heart picks up its beat. 

They come and they disappear again and again. I look through the tiny peep the closet gives and realise soon as they go behind every nook and creek that they are looking for none other than me. 

 

My hands reach out to clasp my mouth shut. My body folds itself as small as it can possibly go. Will the shadows think to look here too?

I shut my eyes forcefully. My other senses heightened until I could feel everything around me. The musty smell of the closet, my fingernails digging into themselves.  My feet numb, paralyzed. 

My breathing becomes slower, my arms start to unclench. I think they're gone. I think I can get out now. Escape to a place where they can't catch me. 

Before I know it, before I can even pull my hands away from myself. There's a strange hiss that comes inches away from me. A hand grabs my ankle and pulls me hard enough that I don't have time to scream. 

My head bangs against the hard wooden doors as I'm being pulled away. The impact is so hard that I can only clutch my head and groan as the hands keep pulling me away, dragging me on the rough wooden floors.

The splinters catch on clothes and skin. My chin is bleeding, but I can't even stop. Can't even catch a hold of myself as I try to catch myself breathlessly.  

There's a sharp turn to the right, and that's when I know that the shadows aren't just pulling me along aimlessly , they have a destination in mind. 

My eyes scan around desperately trying to catch hold of something to stop. 

Just then, a hand- a solid, real and warm hand catches me. A sudden stop to the journey. 

I know who it is before I can even look up. I clasp my hands with his. The shadows aren't pleased, they hiss and linger around My ankles. 

But when his hand keeps tugging me in, the shadows start to dissolve, materialise into nothing, losing their power. 

Jay's hands pull me again, even when the shadows disappear, he doesn't let go and I don't either.

When I gain a little strength into my limbs I finally pull away from the embrace. I look into his eyes, they are wide and scared, maybe even more than mine.

“Thank yo-”

“Why didn't you come?? You made a promise and you leave me all alone here?!” Jay yells angrily.

I pull away completely.  I was happy to finally see him again, but seeing his bloodshot face. The look of absolute rage in his eyes makes me stop. Brings the familiar uneasy feeling back into my stomach. 

“I'm sorry.” I mumble.

Jay looks at my crestfallen face, and immediately his face softens. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I was just scared you left forever.” He says softly, “You're hurt a lot this time. Come here, let's clean you up.” 

He rips off a piece of his sleeves and starts dabbing it on my wounds.

His reassuring words don't chase away the moths in my stomach. 

“Jay..do you think I should see a therapist?”

Jay frowns at my words, “A therapist? What's that?” He asks curiously. 

“Umm. It's someone who helps you with your problems, like stress, anxiety…nightmares.”

Jay stiffens upon that. His hand paused on my chin. 

“But why…? I can save you. I save you every time.”

I shake my head,

“I can save you again, you won't even have to get hurt next time. Just trust me. That's all you need to do!”

I take his hands in mine, his eyes are trembling, 

“What happens when you can't?”

“..what”

“What happens when one day you can't save me? I can wake up, but what about you? What if something happens to you instead?” 

He shakes his head intently, “I don't care, I only exist because of you. If you're gone, then I'm alone again, I have no purpose.”

I stay silent at that, avoiding his eyes. 

The world around me seems to shift again, faster than it did before. 

“I think I'm waking up now.”

“Yeah.”

“Can't you…can't you appear in my dreams too? Not just nightmares?”

“I don't know.”

I can feel my resolve slipping at the sight of his tired face. He looks my age, but at this moment his face seems to have gone through a millenia worth of sadness. 

“I'll come back okay?” 

Jay just nodded. His fingers slip away from mine as he watches me disappear again. I never stay for long. He wonders whether it's because I can't or I don't want to. 

Jay fidgets with his fingers even after I'm gone. 

He thinks long and hard about how he could make me stay. Every time I've left, it's only because he saved me.

What happens when he makes me believe that she can't escape the nightmare anymore? 

________________________________________

Taglist : @sunjaylove @ryejigyu @keikeu

@excusemeimquirky @lollllllliiiiiiiiiiiipop

[mrskreideprinz]

For the ask game: how about 8, N and 𓆣 ?

| I Saw You In A Dream |

Acheron x Gn!Reader | Minors do not interact

Warnings: Gender Neutral Reader, No pronouns for reader, Fluff, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Alcohol Consumption, Love at first sight, Substance Abuse (it’s more implied but yea), Soulmate AU (very implied), Reader slaps a guy, Reader gets drunk, 1.4k words.

A/n: This was honestly a good challenge so thank you mootie! There’s some themes in this fic that I usually don’t write for whatever reason, and it was fun to get out of my comfort zone. If you saw me forget one of the prompts no you didn’t. I really struggled with this at some points, so if it’s not the best I apologize 😔

Summary: Everyone has a reason for entering the dream, but just what exactly is yours?

Prompts:

꒰ 8 ꒱ “i’m taking you home, and that’s that.”

꒰ N ꒱ fondness

꒰ 𓆣 ꒱ an alleyway behind a dive bar

It’s late at night when you run into who you assume must be an angel. You’re walking down the streets of Penacony, just another person in that dream that’s hoping for more out of life, and then there’s Acheron who bumps into you by pure accident. Your eyes dart to her, seconds away from glaring at her, but as your gaze locks onto hers all that frustration melts away in an instant.

It was almost too good to be true, and if you hadn’t been the one to witness it you wouldn’t have believed it even for just a second. There’s something about her that reels you in. It’s in her eyes that you find something you’ve been missing for so many years. Maybe, it’s the kindness others lack, the love you never received, or something else you hadn’t realized just yet. It doesn’t register with you at first but as your eyes linger, it’s then that you realize that bumping into her was no accident.

“Sorry, didn’t see you there.” Acheron says in one of the calmest voices you’ve ever heard.

You look at her for a minute before her words really sink in.

“I-It’s okay, I should’ve been more careful.” You reply, stumbling over your own words.

She smiles and starts to walk away, but something inside of you snaps. Suddenly you have to know her name. And regardless of how foolish it seems you run straight for her.

"Wait!" She stops what she’s doing to turn around and face you. "Uhm, I uh didn't get your name?" It comes out more as a question rather than a statement, but you take it in stride once you see Acheron relax and chuckle.

"You can just call me, Acheron." She replies.

It's in that moment that you feel the whole world freeze around you. Your heart beats faster than you felt humanly possible and your eyes glimmer with something new and inviting. Something was alive inside of you.

Even Acheron can't help but feel a little lighter when she smiles back at you. She’s unable to deny there is something alluring about you, it pulls her in like the arms of a lover. For a moment she forgets her reason for visiting Penacony. It’s only for a second that she allows herself to fulfill those childish desires. Sadly, the moment is short lived and before long the both of you go your separate ways.

As weeks pass by you find yourself haunted by that vision of her smile. You wonder and hope that she is also thinking of you, but as hopeful as you seem you’re stuck drinking bitter liquid at some run down bar in Penacony. The only hopefulness you feel in that moment is when you wish for the drink to take its effect, crossing your fingers that soon you’d forget all about her and your lonely existence, but it’s not so simple now is it?

No amount of drinking could make that image of her stupid grin disappear, but why? You barely knew her. The only thing you did know was her name and even that left you down a dead end. You swirl the liquid in your drink and let out a quiet sigh. You couldn’t stop thinking about her, and no matter how hard you try to ignore the nagging feeling it just won’t go away.

At some point you figure you just hadn’t had enough alcohol in your system and decide on some more, but that was a plan that was bound to backfire, and it only causes more problems than solves them. You somehow manage to get yourself into some trouble and before long you were promptly kicked out of the bar. It wasn’t entirely your fault, the guy in question had it coming, but the bartender couldn’t really do much after you had slapped him in the face. Regardless of how warranted it was you were sent on your way, feeling even more empty than before.

You stumble as you make your way towards the main street, rubbing the back of your head which had started throbbing for some reason. You assume the alcohol is to blame and try to alleviate it the best you can. It’s not until you reach the corner of someplace familiar that you spot a figure lurking underneath a lamppost. Curiosity leads you to follow it, squinting to get a close look and jogging forward as it grows further away. If it hadn’t been for all that drinking you might’ve caught up with them, but instead you find yourself lost behind what looks to be the same bar you had just left.

“What the fuck, man.” You mumble to yourself, pressing a soft palm to your forehead hoping to relieve some of the pain.

You decide out of frustration that it was best to sit down, and that’s when you hear a voice behind you.

“It’s you.” The voice sounds pleasantly surprised.

You look up and see through your somewhat blurry vision that it’s Acheron, and you can’t help but smile like an idiot.

“Acheron.” You sigh happily.

She smiles at you and chuckles softly. “You sure seem happy to see me.”

You lean forward and reach your arms out for her, totally ignoring how wrong it was to act so over familiar with an almost complete stranger. Acheron smiles and walks towards you and then sits beside you. You lower your arms into your lap, too drunk to feel any of the shame that should’ve come with that rejection.

“So,” Acheron starts to say, “What’re you doing here?”

That really was the big question for you, but sadly you weren’t certain anymore.

“I’m.. not sure.” You admit, feeling a little more sober upon the realization.

There’s a brief moment of comfortable silence before you ask Acheron the same.

You turn your head to look at her, taking her question one step further while you wear an expression that is calm yet curious. “What about you? Why are you in Penacony, Acheron?”

She looks up to the sky filled with a sea full of stars. “I’ll tell you, but not yet.”

You whine in disappointment. “Aww, that’s so unfair.”

The both of you look at each other for a moment before bursting into a quiet symphony of laughter. Resting your hand on the ground beside you, you bump your pinkie against Acheron’s. You freeze up for a second before exhaling a slow, shaky breath. Has breathing always been this hard? You feel embarrassment as you turn to look at Acheron briefly, simultaneously introducing yourself to her pleasing grin.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” You try to explain. Regardless of your shame Acheron is quick to reassure you.

“There’s no need.” She pauses to look up at the stars again and smile.

While you both gaze up at the starry sky you find yourself wishing that the moment never ends. It had been so long since you’d felt such an unusual thrill. You weren’t sure why you’d experienced so much excitement, but regardless you wanted it to last forever.

“Acheron?” You ask, still looking at the sky.

“Hmm?” She replies, now staring at you intently.

“Do you ever miss home?” You asked, but something about your tone told Acheron that this wasn’t the real question you wanted to ask.

“Sometimes.” She says hesitantly.

You turn to look at her, your eyes locking like two planets aligning within the cosmos. “But?”

She smiles. “Saw right through me, huh?”

She sounds almost surprised but you brush the feeling off.

“But.. I think this place has grown on me.” She admits.

She’s careful with her words. Suspecting you also had secrets of your own, but she keeps that curiously to herself. You look at her and she looks at you, both of you smile. Something about every exchange you’d had with her felt far too intimate, awakening a feeling from within that only left an ache in your chest. You take a deep breath, clear your mind, and reach out your hand to place a gentle palm atop Acheron’s. Wrapping your fingers around her hand you give her a slight squeeze.

You’re thankful that she doesn’t reject you, but it only makes you want to get closer. A part of you feels like you’ve met her before. Why else would you feel so comfortable around her? But if you were going to get to know her, you want to do it right. She deserves that, you thought. And as you look up at the night sky filled with stars, planets, and whatever else lurks in the cosmos; you find yourself at home within that dream.

Perhaps, you loved Penacony after all.

[driftward]

Folks what keep to themselves are folks what stay alive out here. It don't do nobody no good to go pryin' too much into anyone's history. We all got our secrets to keep. And some people, well, they're tryin' to leave a past behind.

Best let sleeping hounds lie.

A Desertwalkers story

The Woman Who Was

The war was over.

Ada Fairlight stood on the platform as behind her, the train left, to continue on to its next destination.

The military was done with her.

She had long been done with it.

Nobody was there to meet her at the station. She made her way to the carriages, and made her way home.

“Your brother wanted to be the one to welcome you home,” her mother had said later in the evening, in a rare moment of something approaching softness. “But some days, his condition is worse than others. I’m afraid he is not lucid tonight.”

Ada nodded, understood.

The accident. She had been there for it. She had come out fine, but his lungs had been burnt, scarred. His breathing would never return to normal again. And so they wrote, while she was still serving, and he was at home.

He never complained in his letters. They were always light, easy, like he had been. Simple stories of days as they passed, simple questions into how she was doing, simple updates on the social going ons of home.

She watched him as he slept, and left him alone.

She was there when he was awake, and offered what scant comfort she could.

She held his hand, and told him where she would be going, and he squeezed, and smiled, and winked, and was his usual warm self, full of a light she did not deserve.

Go, he told her. He would keep in touch.

Her mother, for a blessing, fully approved of the undertaking.

Too old for proper courtship, and too young to be taken seriously as a family matriarch, Ada supposed.

Well, she was the second born, her mother said. Never should have expected much of her, went unsaid.

It didn’t matter. She did not want nor need her mother’s approval, anyroad.

And so, former Captain Ada Fairlight changed, becoming graduate student of natural and physical studies Ada Fairlight, as she started life at university.

~*~

Ada Fairlight spent most of her time in the library.

There were a few students who, like her, were former military. She had become a pariah during her time of service, however, and that history ensured that she would not find camaraderie with them.

The other students, she simply did not find much in common with. They were younger than her, turning to university as they came of age, rather than first having had to go and meet the needs of the nation.

And so she existed, feeling somewhat outside of the shared human experience.

But in her studies, she found wonder.

In the rules and rigor of mathematics, in the exploration of theories still being formed. In the ways it could be applied to try and bring understanding to a world she frequently found confusing. In the quiet hours, all by herself.

“Pardon me, is this seat taken?”

Well, perhaps not all by herself.

“Not at all. Please, help yourself,” said Ada, barely glancing up. Some young woman. Hyur. Very blonde.

She turned her attention back to her work.

“Say, I hope you don’t mind me asking… but what is it that you’re studying?”

“Mathematics.”

Ada resisted the urge to return the question, as would have been polite. The woman made an interested noise.

“You know, I’ve always wondered. I see you in here a lot.”

“I am here a lot.”

“…right. Of course.”

Social obligations surely met by now, Ada settled back into polite silence.

“It’s just-”

Fury take her.

“Uhm, well, it’s just, I was wondering… you seem very very smart, and I could use some help. I was thinking… uh, perhaps you could help me… study?”

Ada slowly looked up to see the woman rubbing the back of her head and looking down at the tabletop, smiling slightly.

“I am certain there are tutors available for just about any subject you may need help in.”

“Well, sure, but that’s not the same! And, well, lots of them are scheduled out sennights in advance. And, well, I was thinking…”

The woman’s voice trailed off towards the end of what she was saying, to the point that she was practically mumbling. Ada looked around, seeing if there was anybody nearby who could possibly be bothered.

“I understand that it is simply polite to keep your voice down in here, but there is no need to keep so quiet that I cannot hear you.”

The woman shot up in her seat and screwed up her face, and when she spoke, her words hammered out like a stampede.

“AndIAlsoThoughtThatYouLookedLikeYouCouldUseAFriend.”

She took a deep breath in, and continued, a bit slower.

But only a bit.

“And I thought I would like a friend, too,” she finished.

Ada peered at her curiously.

“Well,” she said, carefully choosing her words. “I suppose that one of the advantages of learning in a university setting is that the students are able and meant to help one another out.”

“Right! Yes. Exactly! If you help me, well, maybe I can help you, too. Like, I could buy you lunch or something.”

“I am more than capable of affording my own lunch, thank you.”

“Right. Yes. Of course.”

The woman looked crestfallen, and mentally, Ada sighed.

“But I shall commit to working with you as best as I am able, anyroad.”

The other woman’s face positively lit up, and Ada just shook her head.

“Lyse, by the way. That’s my name. I’m Lyse.”

“Ada.”

“Oh, I’m so excited! This is going to be great, just you wait and see!”

Ada was not so sure. But, well, she was just being polite for now, and her new ‘friend’ would surely grow tired of either her or her reputations soon enough.

~*~

Lyse did not grow tired of her.

They began to meet regularly in the library. Lyse sometimes asked for help with mathematics or sciences, and Ada helped as she was able. In the library, they would talk about class work, course loads, and Ada found she was helping Lyse on matters of personal management more than anything.

Ada found herself often annoyed, at first. She never expressed it, of course. To do so would be impolite. But the woman was simply an endless font of energy, nearly always moving even while sitting, with a tendency to be impulsive and brash. Ada attempted to temper the latter as much as possible.

And after they were done in the library, they would move to lunch, where Lyse would truly light up, always seeming to have something new to say. Ada was as polite as she could manage, as polite as she had learned to be. Quiet, demure, perhaps not as deferential as mother would have liked, but mother was not here right now.

However, she did know her role. Listen politely. Ask small probing questions. She had no talent for social games, but Ada had dealt with socialites and would-be heiresses in her debutante days. She was certain that any day now, Lyse would realize that Ada was no benefit to her social movement or standing, and would drift away.

But for as much as Lyse talked, she listened, and asked questions of her own. At first, Ada thought they were simply being polite at one another, but she gradually began to realize that Lyse’s interest was real. She was paying attention. An off-hand comment about an injury from sports, and Lyse showed up the next day with a soothing balm. Conversations on favorite foods, and Lyse suggested a new spot to eat the next day that was rather to Ada’s liking.

Ada found herself warming to her, and doing likewise in return. Lyse liked dance, so Ada learned about the arts she was versed in, to be able to speak to them more intelligently. Lyse could be disorganized, but a new notebook later and Ada was able to remind her of important things she needed to tend to.

Simply favors exchanged for favors owed, of course.

But sometimes it was not just one side for the other. What was meant to be a light comment on a naturalist expedition they read about in one of the periodicals resulted in a dramatic shift in their activities in the library as the subject drew both their interest, in slightly different directions.

The library turned out to be a great source of news, as the great age of exploration launched in the wake of war. They spent many an hour in the library, poring over articles describing naturalists and explorers as they swept the world, discovering cultures, peoples, animals, lands, and more. Lyse read excitedly of the latest explorers while Ada indulged in the discoveries they made.

“Cor, Ada, all these adventures, all this excitement, all these peoples being met! And not in the name of conquest, but in the name of cooperation. I dare to think this may be the beginning of a new era of peace.”

“Indeed,” said Ada. “It is almost as though our civilization is growing up.”

“Huh,” said Lyse thoughtfully, and then they spent many hours talking about just that. And both were definitely excited to continue to read about it. Diving bells exploring the ocean, sailing ships returning from distant shores. An expedition to the far south, to explore the pole. Journeys to the far East and far West, and more. A new era of peace and understanding, that was Lyse’s position.

Ada gave more thought to what it might be like to explore those frontiers. She liked to imagine herself doing such things, and began to take on studies that might help her with that goal. Lyse, as well, shifted, beginning to make new connections with like minded individuals, arranging social meetings and expanding her arts, such as they were.

The semester ended, but at the beginning of the next one, they continued their traditions. Studying together in the library, and sharing lunch right after. Lyse began to expand her social circle, meeting new people and making new friends, but she always made time for Ada, even beginning to show interest in matters outside of their study sessions.

As did Ada herself. She knew Lyse’s dancing and demonstrations were important to her. She was part of one of the performing troupes on the campus, putting on shows. Ambassadors of peace, Lyse described them as. Telling the story they wanted to show the world, through theater, dance, showing off as many cultures as they knew about and could learn about. A dazzling show for a campus eager to learn of the worlds they were reading about from the explorers that were meeting the world where it was.

Lyse spoke much of it, and it was clear it was important work for her. And so Ada, without telling her, made a point to go see one of the shows.

It was magnificent. She had known Lyse had a physicality to her, it was obvious just looking at the woman, she had a build that spoke to a high level of athleticism. But watching her perform was something else entirely. They were putting on an adaptation of a show from the Far East, about the first meeting between two of the cultures from there. Each of the cultures shared their stories, visited one another, and when it came to teaching each other their sports, Lyse featured prominently on the stage. She was grace, and she was power, and she was incredible.

As the show ended and the performers took their bows, Ada thought for a moment that Lyse spotted her in the crowd. She did not draw attention to herself, however. This was Lyse’s night, Lyse’s performance, and Ada did not wish to be a distraction. So when the group began to break out and the crowd began to leave, Ada was quick to make her way out.

She was only a little bit down the street when she heard her name called out, and turned to see Lyse running to catch up to her.

“You came!” she said, breathlessly, as she caught up to her.

“I thought you would stay with the group and help them with break down,” said Ada.

“I asked if it was alright that I left it to them. Don’t you worry, they told me to go. I’m glad you came.”

“I am glad as well,” said Ada.

They walked along quietly for a bit.

“So… what did you think?” asked Lyse.

“I am hardly an art critic, Lyse.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not asking for professional criticism then, isn’t it?”

“Well,” said Ada. “You were rather a better performer than I would have guessed.”

Lyse held a hand to her chest and staggered. “Oi, such backhanded praise!”

“What?” said Ada. “That is not what I - I mean - what I meant was, uhm. Uhm. Well.”

Lyse laughed, and Ada sighed, squeezing her nose.

“No, you are right, I do not know why I said such a horrid thing. Your group was… very engaging. And you are, you were, a delight to watch. I hope you will do more.”

“Oh, I certainly intend to,” said Lyse, clasping her hands behind her back and leaning forward to look at Ada. “Seriously though, thank you for coming to see me.”

“Think nothing of it.”

They walked along quietly for a few moments, Lyse with a spring in her step, and Ada looking up at the skies wondering why Lyse was friends with someone so daft.

“You know,” said Lyse. “I thought when I first saw you that you looked kind of sad and lonely.”

Ada just raised an eyebrow at her, and Lyse smiled, sunny and beaming.

“But I know better now. You just like to lose yourself in your books, exploring your own sort of inner world.”

“We cannot all be such bright social butterflies as yourself, Lyse,” said Ada, and Lyse laughed.

“You’ve been helping me with my studies all this time! Maybe I can help you be more sociable.”

Ada looked at Lyse, considering. She was not sure she was very interested.

“You have more than repaid my assistance,” said Ada. “I do not think you thought of how much I would be eating when you offered to buy me lunches.”

“You pay more than half the time, don’t think I haven’t noticed! And I enjoy your company, so that’s hardly anything.”

Ada reconsidered. Mother had tried to impress upon her, often, the importance of making friends, establishing connections, and developing some measure of influence.

And she was a Fairlight.

“Well,” she said, “I am willing to try.”

“Cor! That’s great! Here, let’s try this on. Go ahead and stand up straight, and give me a big ol’ smile, let me see what I’m working with.”

Ada did as she was told. Right. Smile. Tight lips. Squint a bit, but not too much. Or was it show teeth? Which was more ladylike?

Lyse made a face. “Well, let’s work on that a bit, shall we?”

They both continued to chat, as they walked home. And the next time they met at study, Lyse had brought notes and cards for Ada to review. Ada continued to help Lyse with matters of science and maths, and Lyse spent many long hours helping Ada, working on the little unspoken social rules that she admittedly had trouble with.

In this, Ada had to admit, Lyse was a much better student than she was.

Politeness was the angle they ultimately worked on. Etiquette had rules, and Ada was already very polite. Lyse nudged her into exploring that further, and Ada took to it readily.

“You know,” said Lyse one day. “You came to see my performance, but I’ve never gone to see you at anything.”

“I do not think you would find the mathematics gymnasium of any great interest.”

Lyse squinted her nose and frowned up at Ada. “That sounds like a nonsense thing, but you say it in such a straightforward manner I almost believe you.”

Ada looked flatly at Lyse for a moment, and then winked, and Lyse threw her hands up in the air.

“Cor, and I thought you were unreadable before, you’re almost inscrutable now! I never should have taught you how to do that!”

Ada laughed at that. It was true, Lyse had managed to turn one of her weaknesses into a strength. Ada was bad at forcing facial expressions, but had a good neutral face, it turned out. Just needed some work, Lyse had felt, and they had worked on it.

Lyse thought it might be why few people were willing to approach Ada. Ada was of the opinion that it was just because she was generally unlikable, but had never pressed the point.

“Alright, be fair now, Ada. Wait! You’re in some sports, right? Tell me about that.”

“Well,” said Ada reluctantly. “I do play rugby.”

Lyse lit up at that, and sure enough, at the next meetup, she was there. She introduced Ada to a friend of hers afterwards, and the two exchanged niceties. He was in fencing, and Ada expressed she had long had an interest in such.

The semester break came, and with it, Ada went home.

“You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself at university,” her mother commented. “Good. The family is increasing our investment in some industrial and shipping concerns, and I would have you help with our business in such.”

Her brother was weaker, but still warm and kind with her. She spent as much time with him as she was able when he was lucid, silently vowing to find a way to help with his condition.

And then, the next semester began. This time, with Ada on the fencing team, and Lyse cheering her on.

Lyse’s social circles and influences continued to expand. She began to invite Ada to more and more events, and Ada went, of course. Lyse came to her matches, it was literally the least she could do. Favor for favor, support for support. And, Lyse opined, it was a good opportunity to test Ada’s social skills. And so after performances or during parties, Lyse would always bring Ada around to talk to people. She was kind and exuberant and excited as she introduced Ada to people, always introducing her as being far smarter and far more interesting than Ada thought she was.

For her part, Ada tried to play along. Ever polite. Downplaying her own part in conversations, while trying to lift Lyse up. Being supportive. Being as kind as Lyse was. Trying to keep up what she saw as her end of the bargain.

And their study sessions continued, too, as well as their lunches together. However, more and more often, Lyse was inviting others to lunches. At first, Ada did not mind. It was just lunch, after all. However, as she met more and more people she did not know, she found it increasingly uncomfortable.

But of course, it was good for Lyse, good for her to form relationships, to improve her social cachet.

Ada began to make excuses at the end of their study sessions as to why she could not make it to lunch so often. It did not matter. Lyse had found her people, and Ada was happy for her.

“Ada,” said Lyse one day, after Ada had begged out of another luncheon. “I notice you don’t come to lunch nearly so often.”

“I make my own arrangements,” said Ada. “And I do have other studies I need to get to. I am in the upper classes, now, and need to begin to prepare for my final study.”

“Hmn. Just so, I sort of miss our lunches,” said Lyse, thoughtfully. “Say, here’s a thought. How about we go out today? Just you and me. It’ll be like old times.”

“What of your friends?”

“They’ll understand.”

Lyse reached a hand out, and just put it on the table, palm up.

Ada looked at it for a long moment, then reached out, despite herself.

“Okay,” she said.

And as she clasped Lyse’s hand, she felt not the usual twinge of discomfort she felt when touching someone else, but something else instead. Warmth, searing warmth, a heat that seemed to travel up her arm.

And when Lyse smiled, oh, that warmth was coming from a sun.

“Great!” said Lyse, pulling Ada to her feet, and Ada followed.

“I notice,” Lyse said, some time later, “You seem uncomfortable with new people.”

Ada just shrugged, continuing to eat her sandwich.

“Maybe we should just agree to meet like this at least once a week. Just lunch, with just you and me.”

“You do not have to.”

“I - I want to. I said I miss this, didn’t I? And I do. You’re my first and dearest friend here. And I like it when I’m with you. When you’re all quiet and thoughtful.”

“I like this, too,” said Ada quietly.

“It’s all the people, isn’t it?”

“A… little bit. I am sorry, I do not mean to be a bother, but it can be a bit much.”

“Gods, Ada. You are not a bother. I don’t even think I need to tell you that. You’ve been a big help since the moment I first met you, and you’ve been really very kind, so don’t try to be all modest. I like you, alright?”

Ada just nodded.

“You know,” Lyse said, after letting a companionable silence pass, “I always had hoped I was doing you as much of a favor as you were me. Taking you to performances, introducing you to people at soirees. But if that’s too much for you, you don’t have to do it, you know.”

Ada considered. It was bad enough that Lyse was proposing giving up her lunches for her. And Lyse was right. It was a favor. Ada had met people through Lyse, made a few friends, had managed some small exchanges of favors of her own. A helping hand here and there usually returned to her in some manner. Her position on the fencing team, for one.

And Lyse was always so happy when Ada was around, happy to bring her around, happy bringing her to talk with others.

Well. Favor for a favor, then. Lyse was helping her. She would continue to help Lyse.

“I do not mind,” said Ada. “I am perhaps better with large crowds. Easier to, ah, blend in, I think.”

Lyse studied her face carefully, and Ada was careful to reveal nothing.

“Well, so long as you’re sure,” she said.

Ada was sure. And afterwards, she was better able to schedule her time. Some lunches with Lyse, the rest for more studying.

It was nice, she had to admit.

Lyse continued to have more events, and Ada increased her efforts to put in a good showing at them.

Efforts that, apparently, did not go unnoticed.

Ada was deep in a medical text book in the library. One of the days that Lyse was having lunch with her other friends, when someone came up to her table across from her.

“Captain Fairlight,” the man said, stiffly.

Ada looked up at him. She did not recognize him. Elezen, like herself. Small face, small eyes, dark skin, dark hair.

“Formerly,” she said. “I would think it quite rude for anyone to use their rank after they have separated from the service.”

The man leaned on the table, glaring at her as he did so.

“I’m certain you want others to think so. Or perhaps you think yourself so able to escape your history?”

Ada looked at him, blankly, then turned her attention back to his hand. He was rather closer than politeness should have allowed.

“I have made no secret of who or what I am.”

“Oh? And does the Princess of Ala Mhigo know she hangs out with a disgrace?”

Ada wondered how much trouble she would be in if she pinned his hand to the table using her stylus.

“Do not be ridiculous. Ala Mhigo has not had a monarchy since their civil war. And I am certain the Mad King left no heirs for so much as a courtesy title.”

“You know who I am talking about.”

Ada was bewildered. “I am certain I do not. And pardon me, but who are you, anyroad?”

The man just snorted, and turned away. “Someone who knows Colonel Mirkasch. I wonder if he knows what you’re trying. Watch your station, Captain, and watch yourself.”

Ada just stared at his back as he walked away.

“What the bloody hell was that all about?” she wondered aloud.

She brought up the bizarre interaction with Lyse the next time they had lunch, and Lyse just sighed and shook her head as she listened.

“Oh, gods, Ada,” she said when she was finished. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault, I think.”

“I do not see how,” said Ada.

“He was talking about me,” said Lyse.

Ada frowned, looking at Lyse.

“…you are no princess,” she said, slowly, and Lyse laughed.

“Cor, of course I’m not! And nobody around here would call me that, anyroad. But, back home, my family does have a bit of a reputation.”

Ada thought about it for a moment.

“If you wish to tell me, I will listen. But if you wish me to leave it alone, I will. I know who you are, Lyse. That is enough for me.”

“That’s very kind of you,” said Lyse.

After a moment, she offered her hand, palm up. And Ada reached out, and clasped it.

“My family’s been involved in Ala Mhigo politics in one way or another since the Mad War,” said Lyse. “Most recently, my father, Curtis, was part of the group that helped get them back on their feet properly. And my sister, she worked with Louisoix.”

“Wait, Louisoix?” said Ada. “The famous naturalist Louisoix? Ambassador for peace Louisoix, the one who disappeared a few summers ago?”

“That one, yes.”

“And your sister?”

Lyse sighed. “Died during the more recent war, I’m afraid.”

“Oh,” said Ada. “My condolences. I should not have asked.”

“You didn’t know. I should’ve told you, though.”

“Wait. If she worked with Louisoix…” Ada thought about Lyse’s work, the themes of her performances, her ideals that she followed. “Ambassador for peace. … I am a little embarrassed that I did not put it all together before now.”

Lyse smiled at her, and reached forward to hold Ada’s hand in both of hers.

“I didn’t want to scare you off. Here, at university, in a foreign nation, I had a chance to be a nobody for a little bit. And it worked there for a while, didn’t it? I mean, smart as you are, you didn’t know who I was. But now you do. And the work that I do - I like to think I’m doing it, at least a little bit, for her. For my sister. But also I’m doing it for myself. We all do.”

“We?”

“I stay in touch with some of her comrades. Most of them have travelled across the ocean to the west - they seem to think there’s some kind of hulaboo that might be happening over there or something. I don’t know about all that, but I know my work is here. And I think I’d like to keep doing it.”

Lyse rubbed the back of Ada’s hand, just staring at the table. “So now you know. Yes, I’m known as the Princess of Ala Mhigo. I’m not a real princess, of course. But I’m becoming better known through my work. And our message is getting out there, and the troupe’s becoming more of a thing. Probably spend my last few semesters here traveling as my thesis of sorts. Spreading our message and showing people how we can be better.”

She took a deep breath in, and let it out slow. She continued to hold on to Ada’s hand.

“I understand if this is all a bit much for you. Look, I promise, I’m not so important as all that. I mean, I’m not naive, I know names mean something, and I know that social rank is so important to your people, but really, I… am just Lyse Hext, university student. Doing my best. I promise.”

Lyse looked sad, more than anything. Which made no sense.

“I know,” said Ada. “For what it is worth, I am sorry as well. The man was right on one matter. I am Ada Fairlight. Former Captain Fairlight.”

She took a deep breath in, and she told Lyse the story. Of the ship she was on, of what it was like to be an engineer. Of the accident that damaged the ship badly, killed several, injured many. Of the investigation she did afterwards. Her findings. Bypassing the chain of command to report said findings. The trial afterwards. How, even though she continued to serve, it was effectively the end of her career.

And she even told Lyse things she did not mean to tell her. About how her brother got injured in the accident. How even now, he had not recovered, and probably never would. Of how she had felt that day. Of how she had not really felt since that day.

Lyse listened, sympathetic, until the story was done and Ada was just staring at the table. She raised a hand to her eyes, and wiped away the wet that was there.

“I am sorry,” said Ada, hoarsely. “None of that is any burden of yours. And I should be no burden of yours, either.”

“Ada, why?” said Lyse. “Why do you say such things?”

“I am a pariah among my own people,” said Ada. “And you have so much you wish to accomplish. That man. That man, whoever he was. He was right. I will hold you back.”

“I don’t care,” said Lyse, heatedly.

Ada was just silent.

“I don’t care,” Lyse repeated, louder. She reached her hands up, to almost touch Ada’s face, but hesitated, stopping just shy. And across that small gap, Ada could feel the warmth coming off of Lyse, the heat of her hands.

She leaned forward, and oh, that touch.

And now she was crying. Unwinding. Too much history. Too much time. Too many feelings, and they were all big, and overwhelming, and Ada was suddenly very very tired and wanted to go home and go to sleep, but she was crying, and she was in Lyse’s arms, and Lyse was just holding her.

“I have to say, none of this quite makes sense to me,” said Lyse. “But I don’t care about any of that. So what if you’re a - a what you said. A pariah. I don’t care about your military, I don’t care about what you did. You did - you did the right thing. And you know what? If this Colonel wants to hold a grudge and make trouble for you, why, I’ll make trouble for him right back.”

“You should not,” said Ada between sniffles.

“I will! Don’t think I won’t.”

Lyse’s hands were in her hair, soothing, warm. Lyse’s body was against hers, holding her, hot as a summer day. Searing into her. Ada used that, to anchor herself, to focus. To fight through the warmth. To find herself. To wrestle herself back under control. To stop this embarrassing display.

To be who Lyse needed her to be.

She stopped crying at last, and weakly returned Lyse’s embrace, before pushing her away, gently. Lyse let go, and Ada sat up, pulling out a handkerchief and cleaning herself up.

“It’ll be alright, you’ll see,” said Lyse. “Just… maybe you’re Captain Fairlight, sure. But to me, you’re just Ada Fairlight. And I can be just Lyse Hext. And we can each just be ourselves. Alright?”

Ada nodded. “…alright.”

She was so tired.

“…and I love you,” said Lyse.

Ada looked over at her. And after a moment, she reached out a hand towards her, and when Lyse took it, she squeezed.

Warmth like sunlight traveling up her arm.

“I love you too,” said Ada.

When the next semester break arrived, Ada sent home nothing but letters. She stayed on campus, sharing a dorm with Lyse. It was only a few short sennights, but the two made the most of it. There were no events to attend, no responsibilities to undertake. Just them, sharing. Sharing stories. Sharing dreams. Sharing of each other, and Ada found out that Lyse’s tongue was as warm and kind as she was, and Lyse found Ada’s curiosity capable of plumbing any depth.

Lyse was like a sun, almost too hot, almost burning to Ada, but it was kind, and it could be gentle, and it could be more. Nights spent with bodies intertwined, and it was a kindness Ada did not feel she deserved, but it was bestowed upon her anyroad. Palms pressed to flesh, fingers entwined in hair, gasps for sweet air, and that sun made its home in Ada.

And before the break ended and the beginning of the semester marked the world moving forward again, the last thing they decided to share were their futures.

It was a busier semester. They each had so many plans to make, both for each other, but also for themselves. This would be their last great works at the university. Lyse, as she had predicted, would be taking her troupe on tour. They would visit the many countries of the continent, putting on plays and displays of culture, sharing their vision as ambassadors of peace. The journey meant so much to Lyse, for it would end in Ala Mhigo, where she would make her case before her own people and the star.

Ada, for her part, finished her classwork studies and was preparing for an adventure of her own. Their time in the library had made full its impression, and she wished, at last, to follow in the wake of explorers who had gone before. She would not go anywhere that had not already been trod, for that would be too much for her first journey outside of the military. But she would tread those only recently trod paths, to the near east, and then to the far. She would be an explorer naturalist, learning of peoples, of cultures, of plants, of animals. And as she went along, she intended to continue her studies into mathematics, and other sciences she thought may point to the key of the underpinnings of the star.

Exciting and heady days for both of them. Tiring days, as well. There was so much to do. So much of Lyse’s work required her to talk to others, organize social events, and practice, so much practice. Ada had less, really only strongly feeling the need to tend to her fencing, and so she was present for Lyse as much as was physically possible. That it was tiring mattered not. Ada could put on a neutral face and be Lyse’s stoic shadow, ever present.

And Lyse was always so appreciative, anyroad, introducing Ada to everyone, and continuing to tell people in no uncertain terms that Ada was one of the greatest people in the world, smart, clever, strong, fast, and would surely one day be one of the star’s foremost scientific explorers.

It was tiring. But Ada endured.

And at semester’s end, they lamented that they could not share another lovely interlude like they had before. There was too much that needed doing. Lyse had her tour, and Ada had her expedition.

“I’ll write,” Ada said.

“You’d better,” said Lyse. “I didn’t really think it needed to be said, but you had better. If you don’t, I will track you down wherever you are, and when I catch up with you, well. I. I will be most cross.”

“Cross Lyse Hext?” mused Ada. “Why, I wonder what that would be like.”

Lyse swatted her, and Ada smiled. They walked to the train station, hand and hand, and shared one last kiss on the platform before Lyse left to other lands.

Ada stood and smiled and watched and waved.

Her mother, oddly, had approved when she had made the announcement that Lyse was courting her, and that Ada had given her hand.

“Never thought you would manage,” she had wondered. “Well. I suppose I shall make inquiries, then. Good fortune to you, my daughter.”

It had been the closest thing to praise Ada could remember in recent memory.

Her brother, as well, was enthused. He had met Lyse a few times, during the rare times he was lucid and able to be moved, making it to a play and once to their dorm.

“Lucky woman,” he had said, and been all smiles. He had new machinery to keep him company, now, and he was spending more and more time awake, even if less mobile.

Ada wondered if she could make the machinery somewhat more portable, but did not bother him with such problems. Instead she shared what time with him she could, in the days before she got busy, and embarked on her own adventure.

And what an adventure it turned out to be.

She spent time on boats and trains, steam powered machines that she was well familiar with, but it was novel not being responsible for them. She practiced what Lyse had taught her, and though she did not make friends, she did seem to have better luck at making acquaintances. She travelled far, seeing the many worlds and many lands. In the near east, she met with educated men and women, trading stories of their alchemy with lessons of her machinery. In the far East, she saw how the many cultures interacted and exchanged with each other, heard of their superstitions, learned of their ways, learned of their lands.

Wherever she went, she found not new lands to explore, but lands that already had their own explorers of a sort. She was discovering new things for herself, but the only new things overall were of mathematics and pattern. Each peoples were not new, and their lands were only new to her.

These were civilizations, in and of themself, she realized. She looked at them through Lyse’s perspective as well as her own, and she found she was able to see what many naturalist that had gone before her had missed. They were in too much of a rush to make names for themselves and headline new discoveries back at home.

She instead wrote of the wisdoms she found, building her thesis, and sending articles back to her supervisor at the university. New or not, it was all very exciting to her, and she drank the knowledge she found deeply.

And in it all, she was astounded by what she found, of herself most of all. There were no expectations on her, nobody to chaperone her. She no longer had social pressures pushing down upon her. No former military members lurking to remind her of her place and of the stain on her name. No complications of family politics. No mother whose approval she had to win.

Just Ada Fairlight, free and clear. Responsible only to herself. Trading only those favors she wanted to, and able to be free of them as soon as the trade was complete, moving on to the next place.

She wrote, of course. And Lyse wrote back. Lyse’s journey was as fulfilling for her as Ada was finding her own to be. She was so excited to be meeting so many people, spreading her message, and often helping those in need. Lyse was truly in her element, and Ada in hers, and both were better for it. Sweet sentiments were sent back and forth, and if the letters were spotty coming and going, well, that was fine. It was always a delight to make it to a way station and find a bundle waiting, with sennights of love to go over.

Otherwise, during the idle time that she had, sitting in a carriage or riding on a best of burden, Ada was able to turn her mind to those troubles as she wished. She managed schematics for a new machine, and sent a requisition request back to mother for parts from Fairlight’s budding industrial concerns. Paid with for her pension, of course. She would not spend family money on a personal matter. And she made a gift for Lyse, one, and then several.

It was an idyllic time.

Her trip turned, and she began the long trip home. And as she did, she picked up those bundles of letters that were waiting for her. Lyse had sent her news of her successes, her triumphs, and clippings from newspapers. She also sent Ada something of a surprise. Apparently, Ada’s papers were making inroads. She was not famous by any stretch, but she was showing up in journals, and at least one newspaper clipping had a lithograph of her from school, and an article about the newest up and coming exploring naturalist.

It was from the special interests section, and the back of that, but still. Ada wondered who could have possibly found her work compelling enough to write an article about it. She was not exactly traveling to the poles or exploring the so called ‘dark’ continents. Her work was precious to her, but the places she had been had already been ‘discovered’, were old news.

Lyse’s writings also began to turn to their future. Once they were done in university, she would still continue her mission of peace. She wrote of what their bonding might look like, how they would balance their passions, their interests, their lives. She wrote of the many people she wanted to introduce Ada too, and as she got closer to home, Ada got a feeling of gently increasing, well, something. Concern. Fear? She was not sure.

Ada had been by Lyse’s side for summers, now. Keeping up with Lyse’s social obligations. Meeting so many people from so many places. She had been glad to do it, but she had found it tiring. And after a few moons of not having to do it, she realized she had been relieved to not have to keep up with it anymore.

She was not sure she could keep it up again. She felt uncertain, as she got off the ship. Well, she had time. Lyse would still be gone, as her work would take another full semester, and Ada could take the time to write up final reports and finish her thesis.

And give her brother a gift.

Her mother was as warm as she had ever been, greeting her with a carriage in port. Curious, but Ada did not think overmuch on it as they began to head home.

“Daughter, I must confess, when you told me you were betrothed, I was simply glad you were making something of yourself. But the more I find out about this Hext woman, the more I must say, I am intrigued.”

Ada stared out the window watching the streets go by. “Intrigued how, mother.”

“Well, her little organization is doing much for the realm. To add your name to hers will bolster both, I believe. I have had our people talking with hers. Your wedding shall be the talk of us all, I think. Ambassador for Peace Hext, next to the renowned naturalist Lady Fairlight.”

Ada felt something in her chest seize. Outwardly calm, she turned to her mother.

“Whatever do you mean, mother?”

“Well. Do not worry yourself overmuch about it. We can talk more when your father returns from his business trip. But we simply must seize this opportunity. You will be traveling with Lady Hext, I assume?”

Ada’s voice was distant. “We both still have work to do to finish at university before the bonding ceremony. And then after, well, she has her work, and I intended to continue my own. That is a discussion we have yet to have in full, but we have thought about it.”

Ada’s mother waved a hand dismissively. “Yes, yes, of course, of course. Well, with the resources we will have at our disposal, your name shall rise. It shan’t be necessary for you to go out on your own anymore, of course. Why, with your reputation, we can simply sponsor others to go and do that exploring, while you help Lady Hext with her all important work. Her star is rising, and yours shall rise with it. It will certainly be enough to erase any tales of your time in the service.”

“Yes, of course, mother,” said Ada.

She was not sure she was even in the carriage anymore.Fears she had not known she had harbored were rising up within her. She had assumed her mother would be satisfied that she was out of the way and would leave her to her own devices. Lyse could be just Lyse, and she would just be Ada.

Now it was Lady Hext and Lady Fairlight. Now it seemed the fate of the family was riding on what she chose to do, or not to do.

They arrived home, and Ada drifted through the house, lost.

Well, there was one thing she was certain about, and she anchored on it, heading to Alastor’s room.

She found him, lucid, sitting by the window. He had been watching, waiting for her to come home.

“Hey, bigger sister,” he said easily. “Star explorer and fancy naturalist.”

She smiled softly at him. “I brought something back for you,” she said.

“You brought yourself.”

“I brought something else back for you. I worked on it while I travelled. I’d like you to try it on.”

“Sure, of course, of course,” he said, and she stepped smartly over to him. She had created a small machine, to replace the many big ones that kept him from leaving the room as often as he would like. Even now, he was pulling down gas from a tube. She fitted the device to his waist.

“Huh. Ugly. I’ll never find a shirt to match it.”

“Hush.”

He watched her. “Nervous?”

“A little bit. I have tested it, of course, but I am not the patient in question.”

He shook his head. “Not about this. I can see the tendons in your shoulders. Something has you wound up.”

She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it. “Bonding nerves,” she said, which was accurate enough. “Here, try this.”

The machine strapped to his waist, she thumbed it on, and took a tube off of it, and offered it to him. It was bent at the top, and connected to the machine. He took the tube, and looked at it curiously.

“Breathe,” she said, and he nodded. He put the mouthpiece at the end of the tube in his mouth, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath in. And then he wheezed, and began coughing.

“Sorry! I should have said something. It will take some getting used to, but-”

Alastor waved her off, as he took several deep breaths before taking another pull off the machine. His eyes widened, and he held a hand to his chest.

“…sure takes the edge off,” he said. “It does not feel like there are rocks in my chest anymore. I can… I can…” he took another deep breath in, and winced immediately.

“Do not push yourself too hard, too fast,” admonished Ada. “I will leave you instructions for the machine. It will require certain chemistries to do its job, but… it has an analgesic and some restorative compounds. It cannot fix your lungs…”

“But it’ll let me get out and about,” finished Alastor. He looked to Ada. “My gods, Ada. You’re a wonder.”

Ada gave him a small smile. “I had a lot of time on my hands.”

Alastor nodded, taking several more deep breaths, and huffing another draw off the device.

“Do not overuse it,” she cautioned. “Too much may drive your lungs numb, and you could hurt yourself worse.”

“Right. Of course,” he said. “…thank you again. Well.”

He stood up. “I was going to wait, but such a tremendous gift should be given one in return. Stay here.”

Ada looked as he managed to struggle to his feet. Well. Of course he was weak. But now that he had more mobile methods of helping him breathe, in a couple of years, well.

She had high hopes.

He returned, giving her a grin. “I have had a lot of time on my hands, too. Plenty of time to do things like explore that disaster that is our attic. And, well, I was going to wait until you’d been home a while longer, but while we’re exchanging gifts… here.”

He held out a box to her that she did not recognise. She frowned at it. It was a pretty thing, gold, with runes inlaid on it, and a glass window on the top.

And though she did not recognize the box, she gasped as she recognized what was in it.

“I can’t get it open,” said Alastor. “But I recognized what was in it, and I thought, well, maybe you could wear it to your bonding ceremony.”

Ada looked up at Alastor, tears in her eyes. Inside the box was a beautiful amulet, and in that amulet was set a rather large amethyst.

He sat down again, and grinned at her.

“Mother took this away from me when I was so very young,” Ada whispered.

Alastor nodded. “I remember. Part of why I recognized it when I saw it. You kicked up such a fuss when she took it from you. I don’t rightly remember why, but you were devastated. That thing meant the world to you.”

Ada cradled the box in her hands. She tried to open it, but it resisted. That was fine. A problem for later. For now, her precious childhood amulet was back in her hands.

She couldn’t even remember why her mother had taken it. She had almost forgotten about it. But now that it was back in her hands, the memories were coming back, faded on the edges, but strong for all that.

And her mother had forgotten it in the attic. Lost and gone.

Ada became dimly aware of how strongly she was gripping the box. Should have been enough to crush it.

“She had no right,” she whispered.

Alastor sat back in his chair, and closed his eyes. “Well, and when I found it, I remembered how much it had meant to you. And I figured, well, maybe you could wear it to your bonding ceremony. Let mother know you’re your own person now. After all, she wouldn’t’ dare say anything about it during the most important day of your life.”

Ada stared at it.

Just another thing that had been dictated to her.

Her life, in a box.

Something in her slipped, and released. Alastor must have noticed, because he grinned at her.

“Hey, look at that, I helped,” he joked.

“Thank you, Alastor,” she said. She swallowed. “I will… I will send you further instructions for the machine later. How to maintain it, how to fill it. I find… I must go and make a great many arrangements.”

“I know, I know, Ada’s off to see the star,” he said, grinning and closing his eyes with a wave of his hands. “Welcome back, bigger sister. And thanks for thinking of your brother.”

Ada stopped at the door, and turned and smiled at him. “Always,” she said.

The next few sennights saw the Fairlight residence always in motion. There were arrangements to be made, letters to be written, things to buy, people to talk to, and Ada was always at the forefront of it, making inquiries, helping as she was able. The house servants found her distant, but her mother found her dutiful enough. She turned her work over completely to the university, and made plans for one last journey.

Her mother had protested, but Ada indicated it would be a short one. Just one last journey, she had said, before the bonding ceremony and inevitable shared futures. Seeing has she had seemingly settled into a routine of seeming to focus entirely on her future, and was otherwise of sound planning, her mother had relented.

Other than that, her mother had no complaints. Her brother had suspicions, but he kept them to himself.

And Lyse’s letters continued to come in. Ada wrote less often, however. Though her room’s wastebasket was full of correspondence she never sent.

Finally, the time came for her final journey. She burned the papers in her wastebasket, tidied her desk, and set her place in the family house to be absolutely pristine, a final preparation. She packed her tools and her things in her bags, and was on her way.

One last letter was sent to Lyse. It contained a gift, and a few simple words.

Dearest Lyse,

I love you.

I cannot stay.

And then after that, Ada Fairlight ceased to exist.

~*~

A woman stood on the platform as behind her, the train left, to continue on to its next destination. She adjusted her glasses, squinting against the dust and the wind.

It had taken her many moons to make it this far. Travel was often perilous. She had learned much about herself in the intervening time, and had learned enough of the lands she meant to arrive at.

And now she was finally here.

She touched a hand to the amulet around her neck, a beautiful thing, with a lovely amethyst secured in its housing.

It felt to her like freedom. Freed of the box it had been in.

The young Ada Fairlight had grown up.

Debutante Fairlight had failed to secure a courtship, and joined the military.

Captain Fairlight had ended their career.

Graduate Ada Fairlight had left for the world.

Naturalist Ada Fairlight had gotten lost in the wilds.

None of those women were here now. None of them needed to be here now. She had learned much, and gone far, and now, at last, she was free.

She was free to make and reject favors as she liked. To ignore any responsibilities she did not wish to undertake. To make something of herself in this land, so far away from the familiar.

The train had left and was gone, and she found her way to borrow one of the local beasts of burden, a rroneek. The man who handled the animals looked her over warily, but was more than happy to handle her custom.

“Where you goin’?” he asked, as he helped her with the animal.

“Stonewood,” the woman said. “And when I arrive there, do you perhaps know where I might go for information?”

He scratched his head, thinking. “Well, I might try Miss F’lhaminn’s cabar-” he began, but then he looked up at her, and was startled to see that she had fixed him with a big grin that had entirely too many teeth and looked entirely too dangerous.

“Uhm, actually, I think you should try around at the Saltlick,” he said quickly. “Ask after the proprietor, she’ll steer you right enough.”

“Thank you,” the woman said, as she climbed up onto the rroneek.

Well, that would be a fine start, she considered. A new start for a new woman.

A new woman with a new name. One she had given much consideration. And now that she was here, there was little attaching her to who she was or where she had come from. Her train ticket had not even had a name on it, just a seat number.

She was satisfied.

And so, free, Zoissette Vauban spurred herself forward, to settle in to Stonewood.

[maevesheart]

speak of the devil

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ she-devil (06)

PETER PARKER X FEM!READER

note: —

summary: you cant avoid peter much longer, especially after he gets jealous and shows you just how much he likes you.

WC: 3.1k

TW: i don’t want to give too much away, but there’s sexual content ;)

“y/n?”

your head snaps up, eyes meeting those of mr. kammadi, your physics teacher, who’s face looks rather angry.

“sorry, mr. kammadi,”

he huffs and turns back around, drawing more complex figures on the board.

it’s been a week since harry’s party, and a week since you told your dad you wouldn’t follow through with the internship.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

ONE WEEK AGO, GRIS-RISE

“daddy, i won’t do it anymore,” your arms are crossed across your chest, and your father is fuming in front of you.

“y/n/n, you had one fucking job!” he screams, and you flinch back, the echo of his booming voice bouncing off the walls of his office.

“please don’t yell,” you whispered, closing your eyes.

“i have never been more disappointed in you. i gave you one single task, one thing that could keep me up at the top, and you can’t even do it.” his words are venom, seeping into your skin and sticking there.

“i’m sorry, but i, i can’t fake it.”

“your mother would be incredibly disappointed in you. i don’t even understand how you’re her daughter.”

a tear slips down your cheek, and you turn around and rush out of his office, trying to get as far away from him as possible.

you were already disappointed in yourself, and then he had to bring your mother into it. he knew the mention of her would hurt you.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

PRESENT DAY, MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL

the sound of gym shoes squeaking is loud behind you, as you storm down the hallway, trying to get to anatomy as quickly as possible.

unfortunately for you, peter sits behind you in anatomy.

he’s hot on your trail, matching your pace and trying to muster up the courage to talk to you.

he heard you cry, and you admitted everything to him, or well, spiderman, so he was well aware of all your feelings.

you still had no clue that it was peter under that mask, who held you while you sobbed in the street.

you slip into your seat in anatomy, pulling at the collar of the white button down you’re wearing, suddenly feelings very choked as peter sits down behind you.

his eyes are trained on the back of your head, following the trail of your long, shining, bouncy y/h/c hair.

he remembered how it felt to wrap his hands around it and then….

“parker!” mrs grier’s voice snaps peter from his thoughts.

“uhm, yes, mrs g?”

“can you tell me what this is?” she points at the drawing of a woman’s vagina on the board, the whole class stifles a laugh, waiting for nerdy, clearly a virgin, peter parker to answer.

“um, that’s the hymen, ma’am.” his voice cracks as he speaks, red flushing his cheeks.

flash is quick to quip back, “how’d you figure that one out, penis parker? i’m sure-“

“oh shut up, flash!” you groan, peter’s mouth opening and eyes flashing to you. this is the first time you’ve acknowledged his existence since harry’s party.

“don’t worry, y/n/n, i can teach you all the inner workings of a-“

“flash thompson, that is quite enough,” mrs grier finally cuts in, turning the class attention back to the diagrams on the board.

15 minutes later, after she’s handed out the homework, mrs grier is sat at her desk, giving the class time to finish their assignments.

peter’s finger is light on your shoulder, and you quickly spin around, narrowed y/e/c eyes meeting his wide brown ones.

“i, uh, i want to talk to you,” he stammers, nervously tapping his pencil on the desk. his voice is quieter than a whisper, hoping no one is listening in on the conversation.

“no.” is all you answer back, spinning around in your chair and averting your attention back to the paper in front of you.

as much as you wanted to talk to him, you couldn’t. it was far too embarrassing for him to reject you once, and you definitely were not going to let it happen again.

the bell rang, and you rushed out of the classroom as quickly as possible. liz finally catches up to you, and stops you outside your locker.

“woah, y/n, didn’t realize we were joining the track team,” she lightly laughs, hoping to pull at least a smile from you.

your friends had noticed you had been more upset recently. the only one who knew about peter was harry, as you had left your phone at his house after peter left the party, and texts from peter came through before harry returned it to you.

harry didn’t believe it, so he confronted you himself.

��➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

SIX DAYS AGO, STACY RESIDENCE

gwen had invited all of you over for reality tv night, something the four of you had been doing since freshman year.

harry had picked the real housewives of beverly hills, and lisa rinna’s voice reached your ears as you poured another diet coke for yourself in the kitchen.

harry was leaned against the counter next to you, your phone in his hand.

“i believe this belongs to you,” he smiled, your face relaxing as you took the phone from him.

“thanks, h. i left in such a rush i didn’t even remember to grab it. you’re a life saver.” he smiles, accepting all the compliments.

“oh please, you flatter me.” he prods your side, earning a giggle from you. harry was your best friend. you decided you owed it to him to spill about peter.

“harry, i have something-“

“i know about peter, y/n.”

your lips form an ‘o’ shape, and he raises an eyebrow.

“i saw your phone light up with texts from him after you left my house. i was confused, so i opened your phone,”

harry had put his face id in your phone years ago, and you knew this. you just were never dumb enough to give him the opportunity to use it, well, until last night.

“and i saw at least 15 texts from peter streaming in. it was all him apologizing. i was confused, so i scrolled up and found texts of you two talking. i didn’t realize how close you two were,” he doesn’t say it accusatory. and it’s not malicious. it’s actually, well, it’s almost worry laced in his words.

“harry, i need to tell someone. please, just listen.” you plead, and he nods, using his frame to block liz and gwen from view.

so you tell him, about the internship, your fathers request, the walk in the park, the small flirting, then the kiss. the terrible kiss. you tell him how you left his party sobbing, the first boy you had given yourself to since brad didn’t want you. you were crushed.

harry’s arms are quick to gather around you as a small tear falls from your eye. his hand is warm where he rubs your shoulder, and his other hand is cupping the back of your head, massaging your hair.

the two of you have always been close, a brother-sister bond. harry comes on all of your family vacations, the guest bedroom in your penthouse is practically his.

after his parents divorce your family had taken him as one of your own… your father and gregor loved him as a son, considering his own father cared little to none about him. damn norman osborn, as your father would say. norman, harry’s dad, owned oscorp; the top partner of gristech. oscorp supplied all the laboratory studies for gristech’s engineering and space technology programs.

so telling him about peter and watching as his face twisted from sympathy to anger was all the confirmation you needed to be done with peter parker.

“he’s a dick, y/n/n. i’m so sorry.” his long lanky arms surround your body, and you tuck your face into his chest.

he was a dick. and you wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

PRESENT DAY, MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL

you dropped your backpack to the floor and squeezed in next to liz on the bench across from harry and gwen, the three of them deep in conversation.

“hey girl,” liz smiled, pulling you into their meaningless conversation about their best hookups.

“mine was that random guy from the bar on 5th, 100%.” harry stated, like it was completely obvious.

“the one with pink hair?” you asked, raising your eyebrows as he frivolously nodded his head.

“mine was that luke dude on the football team. total worldie!” gwen giggled as she remembered the time she got with brad’s best friend over the summer.

“ew. football boys.” you shuddered. “well mine was georgie. sorry y/n/n,” liz laughs as your jaw drops. “you got with him?! since when!” you smile, prodding liz’s side.

“when we were like 14! i swear!” you all laugh before gwen’s face falls.

“uh, y/n…” her voice trails and you see her looking over your head, eyes wide and frantic.

“what?” you question, watching as harry bites his lip and looks down.

you turn around at the same time as liz, met with the chest of brad.

liz’s eyes narrow, and you swear you see steam coming out of her ears.

“what do you want?” you demand, crossing your arms. his lips turn into a smirk as your cheeks burn with anger.

“hey, angel eyes. long time no see,”

your lips turn into a snarl as he uses the familiar pet name that you used to adore.

people at the surrounding tables are staring, and you’re sure they can feel the disgust radiating off your body.

peter and ned are watching with intense concentration, peter’s super senses allowing him to hear as if he was sitting right next to you.

“don’t call me that.” you seethe, “you lost that right a long time ago, bradley.”

“ouch. the full name. that really hurts, y/n/n.” he says with mock sadness.

“what do you want, brad?” harry questions, his words sharp as knives.

georgie is sat with flash and kyle at the table behind you, where brad came from.

you give georgie a death stare, and he winces, knowing he will be getting yelled at once you two are at home.

“i wanna talk to you.” brads eyes meet yours, his black and mournful, just the way you remembered them.

your eyes soften when he stares into them, the familiar feeling of longing settling deep in your stomach.

“i don’t want to talk to you,” you break away from his eyes, instead staring at his shoes. you won’t let him have this control over you.

“just five minutes. please.” he pleads, his puppy dog eyes making it hard to resist.

liz’s hand is hard on your arm, refusing to let you stand up.

“maybe later,” you squeak, your mind betraying your heart.

no! y/n, what the fuck?!??!?! you internally curse yourself.

“definitely later.” he smiles and with a wink, he’s gone, sitting back down next to kyle.

georgie gives you a sad look, telling you he’s sorry. you shrug, grabbing your bag and rushing to the bathroom, the eyes of the entire grade on your back.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

you feel like throwing up. and crying. and screaming. why would you tell him maybe? that’s worse than yes!

you’re so busy with scolding yourself that you don’t hear the door to the locker room open.

you’re hiding out in the lacrosse locker room, knowing that no one will come for you here. but, you’re wrong.

little to your knowing, peter quietly trailed after you out of the cafeteria, his handy super stealth coming to his advantage.

he felt wrong following you into the girls locker room, but he had to know that you wouldn’t talk to brad.

when he enters, your staring into the mirror on the inside of your locker, calming yourself down.

“tell me you wont talk to him,” peter huffs, a sudden stream of courage surging through his veins.

you jump, not expecting him. “go away peter.” you rolls your eyes, slamming the locker closed and picking up your backpack off the ground.

peter is faster than you though, at your side and grabbing your hand before you can grab the bag.

“tell me.” it’s not a question. it’s a demand.

you’re in surprise really. you’ve never seen peter like this before, he was always so soft and gentle.

“i-i don’t understand, wha-“ you stutter, a light blush dotting your cheeks.

“i’m not letting you go until you swear you won’t talk to him later.” his eyes are dark, angry. you’ve never experienced angry peter.

“you’re not the boss of me.” you tilt your head up with a surge of confidence. peter cocks and eyebrow, finding your sudden conviction amusing. “y/n, i’m not leaving until i have verbal confirmation from you.” a smirk plays at the corner of his lips as you scowl. your hands are still snug in his. they fit perfect, something you don’t fail to notice.

this was a side to peter you’d never seen, and you had to admit, you kinda liked it. but then you reminded yourself that he left you all alone, and you hated him once again.

“let go of me peter. i don’t want to see you.” his smirk faltered, and his grip loosened just enough for you to pull your hands back and slam the door to your locker shut.

“what’s wrong?” he questions, though he already knows the answer. “why won’t you talk or even look at me?” his pleading eyes make your heart hurt, and you give in.

“you left me at harry’s,” your voice is small, eyes trained on your shoes.

“y/n, i swear, i didn’t want to leave,” he’s back at your side, his big hands cupping your face, forcing you to look at him.

“i have to go peter. i need to talk to brad.” you push him away, and quickly make your way to the exit.

peter is faster, and soon your pushed up against the lockers, his hands on either side of your face.

“no.” is all he answers, eyebrows narrowed.

“yes.” you speak back, chin up. your fighting back a smile, getting off on seeing him so worked up.

“now out of my way, parker,” you roll your eyes and duck under his arms, not getting far before he’s quickly guiding you backwards, and swiftly pushing you down onto the blue bench in the middle of the room.

“brad can’t kiss you like i can,” peter smirks, your mouth dropping into an “o” shape before his lips slam onto yours, a groan falls from your lips and into his mouth, he smirks, knowing he’s got you know.

his hands land on your hips, pulling you up off the bench, and then your suddenly straddling him, him sat on the bench this time.

his hands are hard on your hips, keeping you pressed down onto him. you can feel his excitement against the inside of your thigh, and pink dots your cheeks.

your hands are tangled in his hair, tugging the deep curls, earning tight squeezes on your hips from him.

a throaty groan leaves his mouth and enters yours as you push down further into his lap, your skirt gathering high up on your legs.

you’re the first to pull away, and peter’s lips attack your neck. “no hickeys,” you warn, earning a whine from the needy boy under you. “but whyyy? they’re fun,” he whispers, trailing kisses now down your collarbone. “none.” you demand, and he finally complied, attaching his hungry lips back to yours.

he was a shockingly good kisser, you never expected him to be as good as he was.

“you were right,” you sigh against his mouth, and he pulls away and cocks an eyebrow, “about what?” he smirks watching you roll your eyes.

“brad can’t kiss me like you can,” you giggle, watching as his eyes darken, his hands soon under your skirt, holding the skin of your ass in his hand.

“glad you finally came to your senses,” he says, toying with the band to your lacy thong.

“can i?” he whispers, eyes suddenly filled with gentleness, compared to his previous look of lust.

“yes,” you answer, watching as his long fingers slide the light pink thong down to your knees.

peter can smell your arousal, and it makes him harden even more in his suddenly very tight jeans.

jesus, is all he can think. he’s never been more turned on in his life. here you are, sitting so pretty and obedient about to do what ever he asks in the school locker rooms.

he couldn’t believe his luck.

he takes his thumb and lightly circles around your swollen clit, earning a whimper from your lips.

he watches with admiration as you slightly writhe above him, your hands tight on his broad, strong shoulders.

he picks up the pace, just wanting to watch you. “peter,” you say quietly, trying your hardest to keep your eyes open so you could look at him.

“yeah?” he halts his movements, and your eyelashes flutter at him. he can hear your heartbeat, going 100 beats a minute.

you’ve never looked more beautiful.

“we can’t do this here,” you shake your head, even though you wanted to continue, you knew school was not the place to do it.

he pouts, but he understands. “okay,” he smiles softly, pulling your thong back up your legs.

“can i come to your place later?” you ask, and now he knows he’s done for. “i’d like that,” he smirks, leaving one last hasty kiss to your lips before swiftly standing up and setting you down.

he tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear, giving you one last smile, and then he walks out of the room, leaving you to compose yourself.

“peter!” you call, causing him to halt his movements. “yeah?” he turns his head, met with a big smile across your lips.

“i promise i won’t talk to brad,” you giggle, and blow him a kiss while he playfully rolls his eyes and exits the room again.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

[sleepyfan-blog]

Window Conversation

Author’s Note: This is the next in Cedric’s adventures in Ancient Terra. First. Previous.

Tagged: @egrets-not-regrets @the-pure-angel @kit-williams

Warnings: none? Ask me to tag, if something makes you uncomfortable

Summary: Cedric is grounded from exploring the human city he’s in, so he is content to look out a window and people watch. He’s approached by a Salamander Scout Captain and they chat.

Cedric stared longingly out of the window of the base that he'd been confined to for the past week and a half, as part of his punishment for dealing with the heretics... Allied Heretics, rudely. The fact that there were allied heretics was... It was wrong. It was against much of what he had been taught.  It had been the forces of chaos that had killed untold trillions of innocents and corrupting ten times as many during the Horus Heresy, and the many Black Crusades that had followed. Chaos had created the Cicatrix Maledictum that split the galaxy in half, corrupted half of the Holy Primarchs and killing all but one of the Loyal Primarchs. Those Chaos-tainted Primarchs were some of the most dangerous threats still existing against the Imperium.

He had been reminded by one of the Chaplains he was working under to Atone for his rudeness of how few Marines were on Ancient Terra, of the few resources that any of them had, and the fractious nature of the human nation-states who ruled Ancient Terra. He'd been shown proof of all of this, and that even the most chaos-corrupted Marines who were allied with the Loyalists on Ancient Tera had a better grip of their unholy instincts and bastardized natures... Particularly after they had been Bonded with a human. No one would give him a good explanation as to what a Bond was, only that he would Know when or if he would find his human to bond with.. That these bonds domesticated the twisted parodies that the chaos marines had become. 

Cedric couldn't muster up the Faith to believe that all of that was possible. That all of the groxshit that had been so earnestly fed to him by several Loyal older brothers wasn't some insidious Chaotic plot to get them to lower their guard in order to fuck them over and slaughter them all while taking over Ancient Terra... To ensure that the Imperium of Man never rose, or if it did, The Imperium would be a bastion of Chaos and misery, rather than of Order and the Emperor's Light. He didn't want to believe that the loyalists had been fooled so completely...

But to try to begin to believe all of this - that the chaos astartes who had allied with the loyalists weren't plotting to stab them all in the back the moment that they felt that they had gotten everything that they wanted out of this arrangement made his head and his hearts hurt.  The very thought that loyalist and chaos astartes could peacefully coexist with one another... It was almost enough to drive Cedric to madness.

Or to incredible, bloody violence. 

Especially against those smug, prancing, gaudy purple Slaaneshi bastards. Cedric could see several of them dancing around the humans who were walking amongst them, fearless. Unaware that they were being exposed to beings whose very presence was corrosive and toxic and -

"Cedric, are you glaring at random people out the window and growling again?" Ash'val asked, the Salamander looking at him in a very judgmental manner when Cedric managed to drag his eyes away from the Slaaneshi Bastards.

Rude. Not that the young Apothecary would speak up against the well-loved and deeply respected Scout captain. He blinked at the other and took a breath, realizing that he had been making a low, rumbling sound in his chest and stopped the sound from continuing before he managed out "I... Uhm... I didn't mean to growl? I... I just..." Fuck, where did his words go? He had a perfectly reasonable explanation for his vigilant watchfulness moments ago... Cedric found himself unable to look the older space marine in the eye, bowing his head a little to avoid the other's gaze.

"You seem to have a particular problem with Slaaneshi Marines." Ash'val noted. The scout captain reached out slowly and placed a reassuring hand on one of Cedric's shoulders "You've gone through a lot of changes in a very short period of time and been given a lot of information that would... Be seen as impossible at best, or heretical nonsense worthy of execution after a visit from the Inquisition at worst. But shoving your nose to a window and growling at random marines wandering by isn't going to help you adjust to all of these changes. And I imagine that you're starting to get pretty restless being stuck inside all day with little to do, other than training and chores."

"I... I understand why I've been confined to base, sir." Cedric answered, shuffling his feet a little. The stern reprimand that he'd gotten from his rude behavior towards both chaos marines and how his hostility could put the tentative alliance between the loyalists and the chaos warbands at risk still rung in his ears a week and a half later.... And one of the last things he wanted to do while planetside on a beautiful and peaceful day like this was stay inside and do fuck-all when there was a forest an easy three-hour jog from here where Cedric was pretty sure he could go hunting and foraging for fresh food, rather than the nutrient pastes that while nutritious, weren't nearly as satisfying as a meal made with fresh ingredients. But until he could prove that he could handle interacting with Filthy Chaotic Traitors without resorting to unprovoked violence within five minutes... Not just that, but he could not show any outward sings of hostility when interacting with Filthy Chaotic Traitors, including a change in scent. "... I am still fairly certain that I was being... Cordial. At least to the World Eater. I didn't threaten him or his human once, nor did I try to harm either of them - not that I would have struck out at the child unless forced to... I do admit that I did restrain the Slaaneshi sc-... Marine, but that was for the health and safety of everyone in the building. The poison he was dripping from his hands is incredibly dangerous and corruptive at a soul-deep level."

Ash'val hummed a little before lifting the hand on Cedric's shoulder to ruffle his hair "This is true, however you should have explained to Elam why you were taping jars to his hands... What you did was tackle him to the ground and tape jars to his hands while refusing to explain until one of the other Apothecaries asked you why you'd done it. And you kept Elam in a headlock until directly ordered to let him go by our head apothecary. Emperor's Children - and Elam in particular - tend to be cooperative with Apothecaries and he was being on his best behavior."

"The last time before I met this... Elam, where Slaaneshi worshippers were wielding that particularly potent poison, I lost a squad brother, and my chapter lost dozens of Battle Brother to that poison. And we were fighting against baseline human Slaaneshi worshippers. I shudder to think how much damage an Astartes Slaaneshi worshipper with a possibly endless supply of The Poison of Vainglory could do. He was a clear and present threat and even then, I used a minimal amount of force in containment of such a threat." Cedric huffed, scowling at the floor, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. He knew that if he... Capitulated to... Apologizing to the Slaaneshi Marine for the way he had handled him, his time grounded in the base would be halved - or at least, that is what he had been promised.

But the very thought of doing so, of betraying his brothers' memories like that... Comiting such a sin against the God Emperor and the Imperium was more than what the Primaris Black Templar could bear. He'd been told that things her on ancient Terra were very different... But the very thought of apologizing was enough to make him physically ill. So he was going to patiently and penitently wait out the time that he had been sentenced to in the base without complained. He trained when allowed, helped keep things tidy (It was part of his punishment, actually. To aid in the maintenance of the base and the cleanliness... To cook in the kitchens, as well as other similar tasks. He wasn't sure why they were part of his punishment, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. He was surprised that he hadn't been beaten or whipped, for the amount of lecturing he'd gotten for his misconduct against allied chaos Space marines. It felt strange, and like an oversight, but Cedric wasn't going to complain about it, either).

"How would you feel if someone tackled and pined you to the floor because of the very health symptom you were seeking treatment for?" The Salamander Scout Captain prodded.

Cedric tilted his head a little in confusion. He was baffled by this. The young apothecary had heard that Firstborn Salamanders were soft-touches, but this was one of the questions that had One Correct Answer, and to misspeak was a trap. He answered earnestly "I would submit to anything that was being done to me without struggle or complaint, sir, as whoever did that has good reasoning to do as what they are doing, and to struggle would mean that I am fighting treatment, sir." Which means long hours of repentance at best, after the treatment was concluded at best... At worst fighting treatment - especially when one was clearly tainted by Chaos meant that he would be culled and sent to the Emperor's side before the Chaos could corrupt his soul further. The Mechanicum - and his older Black Templar brothers had both made that very clear during his training with them. "Provided, of course, the person doing the tackling and treatment is a loyalist, of course. Otherwise I would fight to free myself."

"Even if you were worried that this other loyalist may be tryign to hurt or kill you?" Ash'val asked, a complicated series of emotions flashing across the older marine's face before settling on concern for reasons Cedric couldn't begin to guess.

"If I have committed a sin, or breach of conduct, or was exposed to something that was corrupting me, or could potentially corrupt me, yes. I would still submit to treatment, if I was in full command of my senses. The Slaaneshi poisons alter one's mind, as well as body, as well as certain Nurglite diseases and Tzeenchian curses. And of course, The Infectious Rages of Khorne." Cedric responded, knowing the Correct Response to this question as well. Not that he didn't mean what he was saying as well. "Even if I was unaware of what crime or sin I committed, or if I did not know what I had recently encountered was so corrupting."

"I... I see. A large part of your training involved adherence to orders, I am guessing? apart from your combat and medical training." The scout captain asked. The older marine's face was free of emotion, but his voice was strangely shaky.

"Yes sir. Obeying orders is important, no matter one's personal feelings on the orders given to them." Cedric answered earnestly. Orders were to be obeyed, though were also subject to change. Especially on the battlefield where preliminary orders - like plans - went to die as soon as contact with the enemy was made.

:"Oh. Okay. I've got another question for you: are you a Primaris Marine?" The Salamander Scout captain asked, looking oddly intense as he asked it. "You're one of a handful of known Primaris Marines in this era, if you are. And by whom were you trained?"

"As with all Primaris Marines so far in my tie period, I was strictly trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus. They told me that I trained on Mars, specifically in their Astartes gene-labs." Cedric answered honestly. Disobedience had been harshly punished by both the Mechanicus and his Black Templar older brothers, though in different ways. The punishments here were much lighter and easier to handle. Not that Cedric intended on misbehaving to the point of testing their mercy He wasn't trying to cause problems... Though that never mattered to the Mechanicus or the Black Templars... And the Astartes here had given him more leeway than he'd ever been given. It was making Cedric nervous as to what might happen if he found the end of these marines' patience for misconduct.

"Ah. The... The mechanicus operates in a very specific way, and though what they do works for them... As for we Astartes... We are supposed to be trained in a different matter. Not that you're wrong for behaving for how you've been taught, given that I'm guessing that no one's really gone over our expectations for marines staying with us." Ash'val mused, looking Cedric over assessingly. "Follow me to my office. We're going to talk about what expectations you've been working under, and I'll explain in detail the rules of the base and for allied astartes, that way you're not tripped up by anything."

"Yes sir." Cedric responded, giving the Salamander a salute, obediently following after him.

[butchsophiewalten]

FINDJACKWALTEN 6/29/23 UPDATE #2 WALKTHOUGH

Findjackwalten updated last night! To properly understand the content of this update, you'll probably wanna check out these other posts on the 6/27/23 update: [HERE] and the 6/29/23 update #1: [HERE] if you haven't seen them already.

This one's a fucking Doozy. The main page has updated to a full on Jack Walten Takeover.

Most of the existing page has been put under a red filter, and images of Jack and Rosemary (cut off in this screenshot) Walten have appeared. The 'page under construction!' text has changed to read "CLOSED PERMANENTLY. (effect:072074)", the second half of that being the date Bon's Burgers shut down. The play button present in the site's previous incarnation is still here, but now plays various Christmas carols, rather than Battle Hymn of The Republic, starting with Silent Night.

The "CONTACT & INFORMATION" button that became clickable earlier in the day still leads to an unchanged /0714-74 page.

The "MEET BON!" button that also became clickable earlier in the day leads to a /mynameis-bon but with Bon himself now missing.

The most significant update has been to /caretakerlibrary, which now contains four new audios from Richie.

Our first new Richie audio, Richie 3, is titled "AUD06-27-74opnn-nights" meaning it's dated for the 27th of June, 1974. The "opnn-nights" referring to it being the night before Bon's Burgers opening day. I've roughly transcribed this audio as follows:

Another day, another dollar, as they always say! Sorry- sorry, dude- just ignore that, I don't know- I don't know what I was doing, okay, uh, forget it. Yeah- yeah! Uh, tomorrow's the big day! You excited? Uh, Boss gave me some instructions to give you for today. So, uh- get those in a second. Uhm, I needed to- wanted to say I uhm, I put the chairs down. That, y'know, next to the tables, so uh, just- save you the hassle of having to do tha- having to do that tomorrow morning, so you're welcome. Uhm, uh, if you can, keep an eye on the uhh, the- whatchamacallit, Poker maze? It's, uh, pretty easy for kids to get lost in there. So, y'know, just, don't want anything to- anything like that happening. Just, uh, y'know, pop in like every minute or so, just make sure there's no kids crying, screaming, y'know. Actually, don't get lost in there yourself, either. You're still a teen, right? How old are you again? That's- doesn't matter, whatever, you'll be fine. Uh, don't worry about it. Unlock the generator room, uh, clean the bathrooms- especially the men's bathroom, more on that later. Uhh, right, right, right! Uh, keep the main stage curtains closed. Uh, for the time being, we uh, we transferred Sha to the secondary stage for this week, so she'll be next to Boozoo. The uh, Bon animatronic won't be performing this week, uh, he's uh- they- they gotta do an extra week of maintenance on him. So, that's a shame, but nothing we can't fix. Uh, luckily we do have a- uh, a costume! A, uh, Bon costume! Uhm, the uh, sister company gave it to us a while ago. So, y'know, if you wanna earn some, uh, extra bucks, you might wanna pop in that thing. Dance around, tell some jokes, whatever. Uh, Felix will probably tell you what to do, they're kids, they're stupid anyway, they won't notice. Uhm, just- try ignore the smell. Right, uh, that, uh- that reminds me. Uhm, uh- apparently, uhm, apparently some employee might've, uh, might've been, uh. Smoking pot. In the men's bathroom. Uh, so, uhm, just, just- um. Y'know, don't mind the smell, if you, uh, keep the windows open, just try and freshen up the place. Uh, make sure Felix doesn't notice. Uh- I- uh, wouldn't want whoever that was to, y'know, get in trouble. If, uh, if they did smoke pot in there, which I doubt. But, y'know, just in case. So, uh, yeah! That's it, goodnight.

The next audio, Richie 4, is titled "AUD07-01-74BCKSTG-DAY", meaning it was recorded on the 1st of July, 1974. I've transcribed it as follows:

Hey man! Okay, so, uh, we got some good news, and some bad news. So I'll start with the good news! So, uh, Boss is happy! He said we did good work- said we did good work on the first week. You did a good job with the Bon costume actually, I was surprised. I actually got it all recorded on film, so, uh, if you want, I can show that to you next week. Or, I could use it to blackmail you at some point in the future? Kidding, kidding, kidding. Uh, nah, I wouldn't do that. Uh, um, oh yeah, uh! I bet you're happy to hear: Bon will be back on stage by tomorrow! Yeah, uh, Felix set it up himself, so uh, maybe they worked out their differences after all! Sorry, just, trying to make a joke. Um, right, ah, okay onto the, uh, the not so good news. Uh, so, um, we- uh, we have a- um. We have a associate. I- uh, I believe she does the, uh, art for the restaurant. Um, she's been coming in a lot lately, she keeps going on about like, her, uh, husband or something. She's not well. Um, to put it lightly, I- I don't wanna sound mean, but. She, uh, there's something wrong with her. And, and uh, I- I believe you know her? Uhm, like, um, you've been talking to her whenever she comes in, um. I- I appreciate it, I appreciate it, right? Um, and I'm glad you are, y'know, helping her. Uh, but, mmn. How do I say this? Um, she's been- uh, she's been, uh, let go out of the company yesterday, and uh, so, it's now a company policy that if a former employee makes any sort of drama inside the restaurant, uhm, they'll be permanently banned from entering, so. Uh, if- if you see her again, tell her to keep quiet. It's, um, Boss' orders. Uhm, I'm sorry if that- I'm sorry if that's insensitive, um. Okay. Okay, uh, lighter note: nobody got lost in the maze! So, good job! Uh, you're a natural! Or whatever. Uhm, uh, okay, on with the, uh, bad news, I guess. More bad news, uhm. The backstage is now locked for the week. Um, I asked staff for explanations and they refused to elaborate, so um. Ba- uhm, Banny will be off the stage for a few days, uh, so, keep the curtain on Banny's stage closed. Uhm, what else? Oh, uhm, all of the, uh, animatronics must be sent to the men's bathroom at night, instead of backstage. So, uh, yeah! Uh, let me know how you've been. Um, I had a blast last week. I will say, uh, you make a really good cook! I'll tell you that. So um, yeah, see you tomorrow then. Goodnight!

The next audio, Richie 5, is titled "AUD07-12-74LLY-NIGHTS", meaning it was recorded on the 12th of July, 1974. The second part of this title likely is "Lily nights" and refers to Lily's birthday party. I have transcribed the audio as follows:

Uh, hola amigo! Is that how you s- is that how you say it? Agh, I never knew how to say it. Uh, yeah! Uh, good things are happening, my friend. Uh, the- the backstage is still locked. Uh, but! The, uh, the generator room is where we sh- should be, uh- should be keeping the robots for now. Right- uh, we actually, uh, we actually have a new one. Uh, agh, what's the name, what's the name? Bob- uh, Bobby the clown! Buh- buh- Billy the clown! Billy- ah- yeah, Billy. He, uh, just arrived yesterday, actually. Um, top of the line technology, man, I'll tell you. I- I was messing with their, uh, little radio thing all day. Uh, Bon seems to be working fine now. Uh, his- his, uh- his gloves keep falling off? Like, uhm- not gloves, uh, what- what're they called? Uhm, blue hand thing- y'know, the suit, uhm. And it's revealing the mech underneath. Uh, so just, uh, be careful with like, the hands and stuff. Okay, whatever, uhm. The, uh, oh yeah, we have a birthday party coming up! A birthday party on the, uh, the tw- no, uh, fourteenth? Yeah, the fourteenth. Uh, we're going to be using the, uh, Billy robot. It's actually, um, the daughter of one of our associates, uhm. Augh, what was the name? Forgot the name, doesn't matter. So yeah, uh, we gotta m-make it look extra good, okay? Uh, I might even come over, y'know, show up in the Bon costume myself. I dunno, we'll see how it goes. Uh, well, if you show up, actually, we could, y'know, stay smokin' in the arcade area? You smoke, right? Ah, whatever. Um, yeah! Look forward to seeing you there. Take care, man!

The last audio, Richie 6, is titled "AUD07-20-74CLSD-MRNING", meaning it was recorded on the 20th of July, 1974, the day Bon's Burgers shut down. Transcribed, it reads as follows:

C'mon, man, where the hell have you been? Some big shit happened, alright!? Whuh- we're- we're sh'down! It's fucking bad, dude, we are SHUTTING DOWN! We're DONE! We're fucking DONE, Alright? Augh, god, I- I- I clocked in last night, right? Some staff were still in the restaurant, right? It's all good, it's all okay. FOUR IN THE MORNING, I get a call from NORMAN, right, telling me the cops BROKE INTO THE PLACE, right? Some call about, like, SCREAMING inside the fucking restaurant? Whole neighborhood was freaked out. They- uh- they checked the place, most doors were locked so they just shrugged it off, anyway. There- there's nobody inside. But, uh, Norman's shutting us down! He said the- the- the scene it caused is humiliating. Alright, everyone's outside the fucking restaurant, claiming that somebody got killed! It's fucking BAD, man. Agh, he gave us, uh, THREE DAYS, we have three days to shut everything down. Ugh, sorry, oh god. Sorry, it's been a fucking crazy night. Uh, there is, uh, the bo- sorry. Uh, the Boss came up with a new plan, alright? He hasn't shared it with CyberFun yet. But, uh, long story short, we gotta take all the fucking items from this place and put them in a truck and take 'em to the storage place somewhere. Tha- he didn't say where. It- uh- it's BIG fucking money, dude, alright? It'll only take a few days. Uh, you in? Also, uh, just for the record, don't- don't tell this to anyone, okay? See you tomorrow, then. See you tomorrow, man. I'll be there at six, Bon's.

Revisiting the main page, the new Silent Night audio contains a peculiarity that might go unnoticed.

If you listen for long enough (a little more than four minutes), you can hear backwards text-to-speech audio overlaid on top of the end of The First Noel. When reversed, this speech can be heard as such:

Transcribed, this audio reads as follows:

"[We] here at BSI apologize for the confusion regarding the shocking scene from last night. Apparently, screams for help were heard inside our installations. Thanks to the help of the Brighton police department, this has been confirmed as a hoax and that nobody has been harmed inside our restaurant. Nevertheless, for budget reasons, we are shutting our doors until further notice. Thanks for joining us on this small adventure. Kindly, the Bunny Smiles family."

[rowretro]

𝕾𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗

✧taglist✧: @nxzz-skz   @nshmrarki @wntersm

✧CHAPTER 4✧

Babe walked out of school silently. With the boys having to stay behind for basket ball practice, she had plenty of time to make it home before they ever catch sight of her. 

Home.

The one place she can finally find peace. Now she's moved out of the toxic household of her family, without the need to visit those judgemental relatives that don't even know her, she finally found herself at somewhat peace.

Once she arrived home, she made sure to lock her garage and lock the doors of her home, sighing in relief. However, she knew there's no way she'll be at peace even in the four safe walls of her own home... the paranoia was eating her insides.

Not even a nice cold shower or warm bath with a side of red or white wine could calm her nerves, though she was still feeling icky as she had just gone to school.

After weighing the odds of one of the boys appearing in the shower with a knife in hand to stab her, she finally decided it was safe to take a shower, with some loud music playing in the background. 

7 songs had passed as she finally stepped out of the long shower, drying herself as she wore some comfortable attire. She rushed downstairs, feeling that she's be more at peace there.

With her Spotify playlist blasting in the back, and a pencil at hand, she sat at a rather messy desk, dried acrylic paint strides decorating the surface as many other art pieces surrounded the room. 

Only that corner of  the room was such a mess, and she wouldn't even try to clean it up as it will be worthless if she starts painting again. For a second, she forgot those boys even existed. 

For a second.  

She received a text from an unknown number, as she clicked on it her blood ran cold...

Unknown number: 

Aw you didn't wait for us?

Babe.

Babe answer me right now.

For every minute I have to wait on your text, will be the amount of time you will experience hell...

Babe read the texts, wondering what to text, but it's not like she had all the time in the world to come up with a response... She had totally forgotten that she had given Sunghoon her number.

Babe: 

Sorry I kinda forgot

Uhm this is Sunghoon right?

Unknown:

Sunghoon??? you gave Sunghoon your number? 

Babe: 

Well yeah he did ask for it

if this isn't Sunghoon than who is this?

Unknown:

Riki. I copied your number

Your pin number is so basic babygirl

Anyways. you took 17 minutes to respond... but you can make it up to us if you get to our home on time. 

Riki sent her the address as Babe hastily slipped on her high heels, running over to the building, not wanting the boys to take note of any of her vehicles.

Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell. As if he was waiting there for her, Riki answered the door almost immediately.

His bare face handsome as ever, those pretty chocolate moles now visible, his dark eyes, held a spine-chilling psychotic look, while looking rather alluring, and those perfect plush lips. So perfect... so kissable...

He was so handsome, his hair wet, the white shirt fit him perfectly, and the way he towered over her...

But that was all overlooked... that psychotic look in his eyes, that deadly smirk plastered on his lips, the way he snaked his around her waist... one'd think he was a loving boyfriend up to some mischief.

"You're early... I was kinda hoping you'd arrive a little late.... you see im feeling bored darling" Riki added pulling her inside as he shut the door.

Babe sat on the couch, silently as she observed her surroundings. So elegant... the place looked rather classy. "It's just you and me tonight... the boys are busy working" Riki randomly said as he noticed how the girl nervously picked at the hem of her skirt.

"You're lucky I don't feel like cleaning up blood today... you're off the hook." Riki said as the girl looked up at him in shock. Only then did she notice how he was seemingly hot, the sound of his sniffles and coughs were heard as he gulped a spoonful of medicine, the disgust evident on his face.

The male simply dragged her up the stairs to his room, and pushed onto his bed, triggering her instantly, but she froze when he simply rested his head upon her belly, snuggling her as his arms wrapped around her figure.

His eyes were already closed as he babbled nonsense. Confused, Babe got up a little, balancing the weight of her upper body on her elbows. The psycho looked so peaceful, his body was really warm. Hesitant, she lied back down, running a hand through his slightly wet hair.

She reached for a towel, softly trying to dry his hair, trying not to wake him up. A few minutes passed as she heard the familiar voices  of the other boys, filling the building.

Sunoo froze by the doorway as he noticed Babe trapped in Riki's embrace "Jungwon Riki caught us a deer." Sunoo called out to Won as Heeseung frowned "But I'm right here-" Hee said as he walked over to Sunoo.

"Not you idiot- her-" Jungwon pointed at Babe who blinked. "Leave her for now... Riki's sick if you yank her away from him he might just leave another scar on your back." Jungwon as Sunoo rolled his eyes 

And the deer fell right into the deadly trap, now stuck underneath the demon himself...

✧𝕾𝖙𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗✧

[drowsynyuu]

CLOSET SHENANIGANS ミ★ s. gojo HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

NSFW BELOW~ jjk masterlist!!

cw: fem reader, alcohol consumption, closet sex, sorta enemies to lovers, teasing, pet names (princess, pretty girl, baby), sorta dubcon turned full on consent

a/n: it’s a little late but here it is— nyu’s halloween special! :3 end is kinda trash but this is like a week late so cut me some slack please 🙏🏼

- - - - -

despite the fact that you and everyone else in the room was in college, you still found yourself joining in on a game of truth or dare as if you were in middle school again. mostly everyone was either drunk or just a little tipsy. you didn’t know why you went to this party.. your friend begged to match costumes with you, and even bribed you with your favorite snack.

one of the partygoers grinned as their turn arrived as they met eyes. “truth or dare?” they asked as they took a sip from the bottle of who-knows-what.

you sat back a little, taking a moment to think. “uhm.. dare i guess?” you said, a bad feeling settling in your stomach the moment you saw their grin widen.

“i dare you to take the person you dislike the most to the closet down the hall, and if you want to pass this up, you also have the option to drink a mixture of my choosing.” the person said with a cheesy smile.

you bit your lip as your eyes immediately went to gojo, someone who’s been bugging you since middle school. you sighed as you thought this over. would you rather go in a small closet with the guy who you’ve always found annoying?.. or drink something potentially toxic. as much as you were tempted to choose the second option, part of you also didn’t want to be even more sick than you were already going to be tomorrow. you got up, fixing the skirt of your dress before approaching gojo, holding out your hand for him to take.

he let out a little chuckle as he took your hand, standing up as you helped him up. everyone watched as you dragged him to the closest, shutting the door behind you. you two could briefly hear hushed giggling before the sound of the lock clicking. your eyes widen in anger before you hit the door. “did you just lock us in here?!”

you could hear the person giggling. “i didn’t say for how long!~” they said in a singsong voice before you could hear them running off.

gojo found the string for the light as you let out a sigh, leaning on the wall.

“you know— for someone dressed as an angel, you’re definitely not acting like one.” he teased as he eyed you. “i thought your little friend was supposed to be the one dressed as a devil?” he said with a grin.

“shut up, gojo.” you muttered as you shot a glare at him. he acted like he was hurt, a little smirk on his face after.

“you’re so mean! i don’t know what i possibly did to you!” he said dramatically, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he leaned on the opposite wall.

“you exist.” you said as you crossed your arms.

gojo fake pouted, approaching you as he leaned close, his arm resting on the wall being the only thing keeping him away from you. “come on, princess.. we both know that you don’t actually hate me.” he teased. part of you wanted to immediately shut him down and say that you did, but you found yourself hesitating. gojo smirked and raised an eyebrow as he saw you hesitate. “wanna know something?” he asked as he moved his free hand to rest on your waist.

“w..what.” you spoke, your voice failing you as you felt heat creep onto your cheeks, looking into his eyes.

“around high school.. i had a little crush on you.” he spoke softly, smiling as he saw the slight surprise in your expression. you quickly brushed off the expression, glaring at him.

“yeah? sure didn’t seem like it. from what i remember, you were always taking random girls home with you.” you crossed your arms.

gojo chuckled, moving closer as he lifted your chin, making you meet eyes with him. “i was trying to convince myself to not like a girl who most definitely didn’t like me..” he said as his hand on your waist pulled your body closer.

“and did it work?” you asked, part of you curious if he still had these feelings for you.

gojo grinned. “most definitely not.. you take up my mind completely..” he said softly.

“yeah right..” you muttered breathlessly, your heart basically pounding in your chest. you watched as his hand moved down to your chest, pressing his palm on it.

“i can feel that, princess.. your heart’s pounding like crazy. why’s that?” he raised an eyebrow as his hand moved to join his other hand on your waist.

your breath hitched slightly as you found your hands resting on his chest, trying to figure out mentally if you wanted to push him away or pull him closer.

“s-shut up.. idiot..” you muttered softly as you noticed him leaning closer. gojo chuckled at your words, noticing the way you unconsciously leaned closer to him.

gojo gently caressed your cheek. “you better stop me now if you don’t want this..” he muttered, looking in your eyes with a serious expression. when he saw the way you only looked at him shyly, he smirked a little before closing the space between you two, his lips meeting yours in a hungry kiss.

his hands pulled your body against his when he felt you kiss him back, and it wasn’t long before he lightly tapped your thigh, a little chuckle leaving his lips as you let him pick you up, pressing you against the wall as your legs wrapped around his waist.

you clung to him as he broke the kiss, pressing soft kisses to your neck. you lifted your head and closed your eyes, soft sighs leaving your lips as he hungrily kissed your neck. you bit your lip as you felt his bulge pressed against you.

you rolled your eyes as your moment was suddenly interrupted. “do you guys wanna come back out now?” you heard someone ask.

before gojo could speak, you cut him off. “no, fuck off!” you yelled out, making gojo wince slightly from how loud you screamed. he was quick to laugh as he continued kissing your neck.

“that’s something i like about you.. how you always manage to make everything know exactly what you want..” he muttered softly as he slowly tugged up your skirt, holding you against the wall as he sneaked his hand down your underwear. “you’re demanding.. in a sexy way.. makes me know that you won’t be afraid to tell me what you think and feel..” he says as his fingers slide between your folds, smirking a little when he felt how wet you were.

“shut up satoru and just fuck me..” you whined a little.

gojo raised an eyebrow as he chuckled, kissing your jawline. he found it insanely cute how you didn’t even realize you called him by his first name. “alright, princess.. i’ll make you feel good.” he teased as he held you up with one arm, his free hand taking off his belt before tugging his pants and underwear down a little.

when he was finally inside you, you let out a slight gasp. you wrapped your legs around his waist, clinging to him as your breath hitched when he was fully inside.

“that’s my pretty girl..” he muttered softly as he kissed you to distract you from the pain. it had been a couple months since you had last been intimate but it didn’t help that there wasn’t much foreplay, but gojo was wanting to give you what you wanted.. and you wanted him to fuck you.

he gave you a moment to adjust, slowly thrusting his hips that way your cunt could get used to his size. it took a bit, but you buried your face in his chest as it started to feel heavenly. “y-you can go faster..” you said breathlessly, your face heating up as you felt him slightly grip your thighs as he picked up the pace a little.

gojo listened to your sweet moans, even letting out a few of his own. he was determined to make you feel so good you’d come back for more. he wanted you more than anything.

“tell me what you like, baby.. wanna make you feel amazing..” he moaned softly in your ear, breathless as he felt your pussy squeezing and fluttering on his cock. as much as he wanted to just test things out to see and feel your reactions and find out what you liked and didn’t like, part of him knew better and decided to just ask.

“y-you’re doing good..” you say softly, almost chuckling when you saw his eyes light up. he pulled you close and kissed you, your lips eagerly meeting his as he reached down to play with your clit. you whined in the kiss from the stimulation before you pulled away. “faster.. please—” you begged.

“anything for you..” he muttered sweetly before kissing your neck as he thrusted faster, listening to all the sweet moans that fell from your lips.

all everyone outside could hear was aggressive banging and moans from the closet after a while, especially since neither of you cared to really hide what you were doing. yes it was payback for being put in the closet, but it was also just that good.

after about twenty minutes, the two of you came out of the closet, panting and clothes disheveled.

“we’re going for the night. see you!” gojo said with a grin as he placed his hand on your hip, and the two of you left the party early.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

48 w magnus n another crew member? (Platonically)

48. Using your body to shield them from attack.

((101 ways to say I Love You With Actions prompts - send some in!!))

--

Magnus woke up to the heavy smell of aloe vera in the Starblaster's medbay, which is to say: Magnus woke up in the Starblaster's second greenhouse room that occasionally had medical supplies in it. They tried to keep it clean for the sake of, y'know, injuries, but it was never really enforced unless someone had to stay in there for a while. Merle had moved the potted plants that were once on the medical bed onto the desk that was jammed in the corner. There were several bloody bandages around, which did not feel Magnus with confidence. And he was under a quilt.

It was multicolor, with faded pink, orange, red, and yellow fabric, with a deep blue on the edge. It had been patched up several times, but most of the seams were barely visible. If it had been Magnus's quilt, he would have thrown it out long ago. It had clearly been through some rough times. But it wasn't his. It was Taako's.

Huh.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Last he remembered, he was rushing to fight a bear-demon thing during an expedition for the Light. Davenport had paired him and Taako together for the first time ever and the whole thing had been kinda awkward, to say the least.

The twins were still hesitant to be separated, which Magnus could get. But if he was being perfectly honest, he'd much rather be paired with Lup than with Taako. Taako was- he wasn't mean, per se, he was just… touchy. Lup tended to dull the blade that was Taako's outward personality, but without her there, Magnus didn't really know what Taako… did. How he existed or whatever. They had rarely ever been alone together, especially without Lup.

But Taako's back had been open to an attack from the bear demon, so Magnus had to step in. And then?

He, uhm, he didn't remember.

Magnus sat up. And then almost immediately regretted it as he was hit with a sudden wave of vertigo. He put his hand up on the wall, steadying himself. The quilt fell down to his lap and revealed a gnarly-looking scar that was already fading into a lighter color against his skin. Thank you, magic healing. And Merle, if he must. Still, he had to make sure Taako- make sure everyone was okay. He swung his legs over the side, taking a moment to breathe in deeply. His vision was slightly fuzzy.

As he sat back to readjust himself, the door to the medbay slid open.

It was Taako.

He looked- okay? Magnus had known Taako for a good five years now, but he had never quite seen Taako look so… the way he looked. He had his hair balled up in a messy bun atop his head and there were the beginnings of eyebags under his eyes. Don't get Magnus wrong- he still looked super cool. But he looked exhausted in a way Magnus had barely ever seen him be. Not to mention the state of his clothing- Blood, all the way down. Magnus sorely hoped it was his blood and not Taako's.

Taako obviously hadn't expected to see him sitting up, because he paused at the door.

"Uhm," Magnus said.

"'Sup," Taako said. He went to sit on the top of the desk, closing the door behind him as he did so. "You probably shouldn't be sitting up yet, homie."

"I was just, uhm- I was trying to- I mean, I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Peachy," Taako said, in a decidedly unpeachy tone of voice.

"Are you… sure?" Magnus said. "'Cause you sounded pretty unpeachy there-"

"Magnus," Taako said. "Lay the fuck down."

"Laying," Magnus said, laying back down. He stared up at the ceiling. Maybe one day the Hunger would smash through this room specifically and they could change the popcorn ceiling. When he glanced over at Taako, Taako was drumming his fingers along the desk, his lips in a thin line. His Thinking Face, as Magnus had privately dubbed it in cycle one.

"Okay," Taako said after a minute more. Magnus was glad he started talking because he had begun to get a little antsy. "So. Let me pitch you this situation: You're in the woods and you come across, I don't know, let's say a giant demon bear." Magnus was not liking where this was going. "And you're with your magic using bud. What would be a good step in this scenario to warn your pal and get you both out of danger?"

"Uhm," Magnus said again. "Tell… you?"

"Yeah, telling the person you're with would be a good fucking move, huh!" Taako said. "That'd be so smart! And yet, here we fucking are, Magnus- did you forget how to speak? Like, there's a thing in your throat that makes sounds! You could have been like, "aahhh, holy shit, watch out for the bear," and instead-"

"I didn't have time!"

"You absolutely had time!" Taako said. "But instead, I had to fight a fucking bear and get you back here! Can you not just-" Taako's hands were gripping the side of the desk so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "Can't you think for once in your goddamn life? Like, I could keep saving you, but I do not wanna drag your body back to the ship again. What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I was helping you!" Magnus said. "What, did you just wanna let yourself get attacked by the bear demon? Bemon? Dem-"

"Dear," Taako said. "That's not the point. The point is-"

"Then what is!?" Magnus said, sitting himself up again. He grimaced at the way his stomach shifted, but he fought the urge to lay back down all the same. "It's not like-"

"The point is that I care about you, you stupid fucking oaf!" Taako spat. He slammed his hands against the desk. "Do you think I wanted to watch your ass get mauled by a bear, dumbass? You gotta fucking- ugh. Just-" Taako gripped a handful of his pants leg, probably in an attempt to stop moving so much. Magnus had seen Davenport do the same many times. Suddenly, the uneasiness in his stomach wasn't just from the injury.

"You… care about me?" Magnus asked.

Taako let out a breathless little laugh, scrubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"Is that what you're taking away from this?" Taako said. "Seriously?"

"I mean, I got the other stuff, but- I, uh. You don't really, uhm. Act like you care? I guess?"

"Magnus," Taako said. "You- I make you food."

"Yeah, but that's like, you're job-"

"My job," Taako interrupted, "was to be a fucking arcanist on a two-month mission, doofus. I think at this point, no one cares about what our jobs are. But I- you seriously think I don't care?"

He sounded a little hurt at the accusation. Magnus hurried to backtrack.

"I mean, you care!" Magnus said. "But it's more like, a tolerating thing, I felt, than like, a friendship-"

"Magnus," Taako said again. He sighed, slumping down a little on the desk. "I make you food. I don't-" Taako seemed to hesitate. Slowly, slowly, Magnus lowered himself back into a lying down position, eyes back on the popcorn ceiling. His entire body ached. Taako sighed.

"I know your whole upbringing was like, rustic as shit, so I guess it doesn't really mean anything to you but- it's really fucking hard to get food if you don't have someone to depend on," Taako said. "I mean, Lup and I had each other, but like- you had someone to cook for you and to take care of you as a kid. If Lup or I couldn't find food, that was- that coulda been it, bud.

"I can't- maybe it's just a difference in taste, I guess, but a warm meal is the best fucking thing I can offer you. That's- that's all we had for a long time and if this fuckin- If the apocalypse parade is gonna be following us around, it might be hard to come by at some point. I- yeah. Yeah, I care about you. Duh. I'm not-" Taako's voice shook a little. He took another deep breath. "I'm not gonna let anyone go hungry if I can help it, yeah?"

"Oh," Magnus said. He glanced over at Taako, who was now picking at the seams of his sweater, utterly refusing to meet eye contact. "Yeah. That- that makes sense."

"Good," Taako said. "Great. Glad we got that, uh- figured out."

Magnus cleared his throat, shifting a little in the cot.

"So, uhm," Magnus said. "Is that your blood, or mine?"

"Who's to say."

[refiwrites]

can you do prompt 7 and 8 (locked in a room together and teaching how to do something) from the forced proximity with jill valentine?? :))

she's so pretty oml- and again if i had made any mistakes feel free to correct me!

jill valentine x gn! reader

wc: 1.3k

prompts: 7. locked in a room together + 8. teaching you how to do something

warning/s: being trapped in an elevator, mentions of claustrophobia, descriptions of a panic attack, anxiety

Jill Valentine.

You hadn’t officially met her, but you’ve heard about her skills. From what it sounds like, she is one hell of an agent. Well, you must be if you were a part of S.T.A.R.S.

Sometimes you would spot her in the hallways, always wearing a cheerful smile on her face when she spots familiar faces.

You weren’t one of those however, but you’ve been catching her eye for quite a while now.

Today, you were just about to head home after a ton of paperwork. Fixing the rest of your stuff, you carried your bag, making your way to the elevator. It was now in the afternoon as you stepped foot in the elevator.

You sigh as your muscles screamed for rest; you were about to press the ground floor when-

“Wait! Hold up!” A voice said, suddenly appearing in front of its doors and sliding right in just as they closed.

Looking at the person beside you, it was the last person you had expected to join you.

It was Jill herself, brushing her clothes of non-existent dirt as she sighed, glad that she made it. “Thanks.” She says glancing at you.

Her voice, you hadn’t heard it before, but you nodded at her, offering a smile. You may be looking calm on the outside, but on the inside, you were absolutely losing it.

The silence was getting into your head, wishing that time had gone faster inside the elevator, but as you glanced at what floor you were on, you barely made it past three. The awkward tension of you two standing beside each other was making you look everywhere but at her.

“Were you headed home?” Jill was the one to break the awkwardness, making a conversation with you.

“Mhm, I am, work’s done, I think, I don’t want my boss calling me up and making me work overtime just for some missed work.” You sighed out, Jill talking to you was certainly getting your mind off things, especially with your claustrophobia seeping into your veins.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you probably finished them all already.” She stirs away your doubts.

“Hope so, how about you?” You asked her. It felt like the time had slowed down when you were in the elevator, and it was already making you uneasy that you were fiddling with the buckle of your bag.

Jill looked surprise to have the question thrown back at her. “Wish I could say the same, but they need me for a meeting later and I thought I’d grab something to eat first…” She spoke.

You smile, you hadn’t expected to be talking to her and it was…nice. Her voice sounded delightful, and she actually seemed pretty interested in what you were saying, rather than with some of your co-workers.

About to respond, the elevator suddenly clanged and jolted to a stop, making the two of you lose your footing, bumping into each other before steadying yourselves.

“Hey- what the hell?” You said, standing up and looking at the elevator screen. It was blank as the lights flickered. You looked around, brows gluing together as you pressed the buttons.

“They really need to fix this elevator.” Jill said. You gulped. “Yeah, they really do.” You stuttered tried to respond, repeatedly pressing the emergency button, hoping it would work.

Your breathing picked up, but you tried to focus on other things. It proved to be difficult as your heart began pounding in your ears. You frown, trying to suppress your emotions.

Jill watched as you doubled over, leaning your hand against the wall as you closed your eyes shut. “Hey, are you okay?” She softly asked.

Her voice was muffled but you understood her. “Uhm, yeah- just need a moment.” You breathed out but breathed in too quick, causing an ache settling in your chest.

Jill felt like she was looking at a mirror, she could see what was happening with you; you were having a panic attack. This scene sends her back to unpleasant memories, her brain quickly turning on her alert mode as she softly grabbed your shoulder, making you look at her, confusion etched onto your face.

“You’re having a panic attack, you need to sit down, okay?”

You nodded, following her words as you slumped down on the ground, leaning against the wall. Feeling embarrassed that someone like her watched you spiral into this state, you tried to assure her that you were okay when you were clearly not.

“I’m fine-“

“No.” Jill’s voice suddenly turned stern as you gaze at her kneeling down in front of you. “I know how it feels and I’m not letting you go through this alone.” She spoke. Your vision began to get hazy as your thoughts jumbled with one another.

“Okay. Look at me, I’m going to teach you something and you have to follow me, okay?”

You could barely make out her face as your vision blurred, but her words echoed right into you. Your heart still hammering in your chest.

“You’re going to breathe with me. Inhale and exhale, alright?” Jill talked to you before inhaling and waiting for you.

Your nose scrunched as you tried your best to inhale. “Exhale.” She said, breathing out. You watched her before exhaling yourself.

“Now, I want you to count with me, one to five as you hold your breath, then we’re going to exhale, slowly, that’s okay with you?” Jill asked, keeping her eyes on you the whole time as you were disoriented.

All you could do was nod as your chest felt like it was being squeezed.

“Okay, inhale,” She commanded, you followed, inhaling through your nose, and closing your eyes as you held your breath for five seconds. “Now exhale, slowly.” She followed, exhaling with you after those five seconds. The two of you repeated the action until you were starting to get better, you felt your lungs expanding again.

When Jill noticed you weren’t struggling anymore, she felt proud of you as she smiled once you opened your eyes, looking at her. “Good?” She asks, putting a thumbs up.

You let out a chuckle, putting your own thumbs up. “Good.”

The two of you were stuck for almost half-an-hour, the two of you made the time useful to talk. Learning about the other and vice versa. But you felt shy about earlier.

“And then I said to him that we’d make a bet on who could catch the culprit the fastest and guess what? I did!” Jill muses, laughing. You laughed with her, but you took a second to glance at her as she sat beside you.

“Jill,” You finally uttered her name. She looks at you with her eyebrows raised “Thank you, for earlier… I thought I was about to lose it.”

She lets out another one of her genuine smiles at you, making you feel easy. “Don’t mention it, I’m glad you’re okay.”

When the doors had finally opened, you and Jill stood up as you grabbed your bag. “You guys alright?” The doors opened to a few maintenance personnel inspecting the two of you. You gave a slight nod. “We’re good.” Jill said.

Thankfully you could make it out with just a step as you were finally out of the elevator, breathing out in relief. Jill followed, checking her phone. “Huh, seems like the meeting got cancelled.” Jill said.

“Good thing is you get to go home now, right?” You joked with her, feeling at ease with her company.

“I could, but I still have to get something to eat,” she says, checking the time, her finger lingering on the power button. She breathes out, stuffing it in her pocket before looking at you.

“Since the meeting’s cancelled and I get to go home anyways, you want to grab something to eat?” Jill suggested, taking her shot at becoming close with you.

You, however, had already taken a liking to her, so who were you to refuse?

Giving her a nod, you smile. “Why not? You could tell me more about your cool missions.”

With that, she absolutely looked ecstatic at your approval. “Great! I know a place not too far from here…”

[straightyuri]

what relevance does gladstone have in the comics? like. in terms of relations, plots, character in generalll because i dont know much in generals

Uhmmmmmm Well he's Donald's super lucky cousin that's his main thing. His 3 main consistent traits are 1. SUPER LUCKY probably most important one 2. Lazy cuz of said luck. this is both just because of the nature of living his whole life lucky but also in a lot of comics his luck will punish him for working so like. #sucks 3. Egotistical as fuck.

the intricacies of his personality kind of depends on who's writing him my favorite kind is when he's an asshole to donald but mostly just kind of clueless and unaware. his ass does not pay attention. esp when you can't really tell if he's purposely pushing Donald's buttons or was just made in a lab to specifically piss him off. I think it's both tbh.

^ one of my favorite examples. He's really funny. I mostly see this in Barks comics and stuff obviously inspired by him.

like it's just a really good phenomenon. He's mostly a character who is a hindrance to Donald but in which way depends on the plot. I've noticed a sort of cycle where it's like. Donald doesn't like Gladstone cuz Gladstone is an ass to him (understandable), but even if Gladstone is not actively trying to piss him off and just existing Donald will usually be mean to him (both cuz Gladstone is an ass but also his luck pisses him off soooo much), which causes Gladstone to be annoyed back and purposely piss him off. What if both of you stopped. freaks. this is just kind of Donald's nature tbh but this isn't about him.

^ that's just like. my favorite interpretation. there are so many versions of these characters cuz of all the different writers and I usually just take my favorite parts of the different version, but barks is def my fave just purely 1 version of gladstone wise. Rosa Gladstone is usually just an asshole for no reason and a really big one. It's kind of funny. I don't have it on me but there's one comic where he specifically walks ontop of Donald and uses his hat to clean his feet for no reason. what a freak.

you can tell it's Rosa Gladstone by that he looks kind of gay. sorry I didn't say that. Rosa's artstyle is really distinct tho lol, sometimes he has blonde hair it depends on who colored it (inking and coloring are done seperately. this is also why some comics have different versions of the same story with different colors)

not my fav personality wise but he draws him rather cute

not really related but talking abt Rosa he drew probably the most well known family tree. let's look at the family tree. waow.

uhm the 3rd most well known version of gladstone is topolino gladstone I don't really have much to say abt him. he's much nicer than other version usually. there's versions within topolino cuz topolino is like. a bigger thing. rather than just a single writer. I kind of got off track. there's also dt17 gladstone but. again I got off track.

uhmm.. the three main kind of stories gladstone appears in are. 1. Gladstone centric. 2. hinderance to Donald 3. just kind of there because the whole Duck family is there. then there's categories within those. also dd comics loveee reusing plots btw this is why they're so easily to put into catergorie

gladstone centric comics usually center around either him 1. getting sad about his luck cuz people exploit him or don't like him cuz of it 2. he either loses his luck or THINKS he loses his luck and freaks out because of it. these get kind of repetitive but I like how they explore his relationship to his luck 3. who up exploiting the golden goose. other characters love taking advantage of his luck and it always blows up in their face cuz his luck serves him and only him. lol. lmao.

hinderance to donald comics are uhm. big category and includes most of his apperances. stuff includes like 1. donald is in a competition and it turns out gladstone is also in it. 2. kind of the same as b4 but there's a lot of stories where it's specifically a raffle??? 3. donald and gladstone fight over daisy. I hate these comics. a lot. they're often just really misogynistic... if I can get away with it I try and read them as if Gladstone is just kind of odd and one of his only friends happen to be his cousin's girlfriend. usually makes the stories much better LOL. I don't really like. I hate the concept of them fighting over her and the way she's written where she's two timing them basically. but also sometimes they have good parts in them... like the one where it turns out gladstone has written really sappy love letters to daisy. I like when he's sappy it' something that comes up sometimes #SAPPYFUCK. 4. scrooge makes them compete in something usually a business cuz they're his inheritors but he doesn't want either of them to have his money cuz he thinks they'll waste it. often they both technically lose or gladstone wins but either he doesn't want to do whatever scrooge wants him to do afterwards or scrooge gets scared cuz gladstone's luck can outpass him in riches lol. gladstone publishing is named after one of these stories where scrooge gets scared and so gives him a comic publishing comic cuz "who can get rich through comics?" it's a little 4th wall break that I find funny.

IM NOT TALKING ANYMORE I HAVE TO CUT MYSELF OFF. I GOT OFF TRACK I THINK? SORRY. I will love if you ask me to elaborate on anything tho smiels. when I say he's my favorite character ever I means it. why couldn't i have a special interest in math or something WHAT IS GLADSTONE GANDER.