#sign up for creative cloud they said

[ered]

in the latest episode of Adobe Premiere is trash: with the latest update, if your export folder's name has letters that aren't in the latin alphabet, the exported video files turn out broken! Haha!

[clarencethemouse]

Daydreams

requested from @hulkingharbor

note: I'm attaching this to the Bleeding Light lore because I love the character I made, and this scenario is eating me alive :))

this is a long one. Sorry not sorry

Summary: Kurt doubts his beauty and worth. Ready takes it upon themselves to prove how much he means to them. Angst and fluff (kinda spicy but also not). Gender-neutral reader.

The mansion roof was a lonely place, but good to relax one's mind. Good to let creativity flow without the judgment of coworkers and students. Good to drown out the never-ending plaguing thoughts with bird chirps and whistling wind.

But no better remedy to stress is a best friend.

You and Kurt stopped conversing on the roof a long time ago. All that was left was a stagnant, yet calm silence. You lay on the bare concrete, letting each spinal joint decompress and muscles settle. Kurt sat next to you, staring off into the horizon, which was turning into a marvelous spectacle of purples and oranges.

You turned on your side, facing him with your body and eyes. He didn't notice you, but this didn't phase you. All you needed was to see him.

"You're so beautiful."

The words barely escaped, the whisper sticking in your throat. Kurt's head whipped down to you. Those perfect golden eyes flashed with confusion. "Pardon?"

A soft smile graced your cheeks. Your eyes couldn't help but light. "I said you're beautiful."

Kurt's eyes fell from you. You watched his jaw clench and muscles agitate. Several moments passed before he spoke again, and the one-word response grated on your mind with his frustration.

"Why?"

"Why am I talking?" Your grin faltered.

"Why are you doing this?" His accent tainted his words thicker, his telltale sign of nerves. You pushed yourself up to level with his face. "Please stop lying."

"Love, I'm not lying-"

Kurt's nearest hand hit yours away as you tried to touch him. "I'm not in the mood. Stop."

"Kurt, I'm not lying!" You ducked around to peer under his insistently ducked head. "Why would I lie? Have I ever lied like that before?"

"Because... stop." He scooted away from your gaze. His tail flicked in agitation - he never used that with you. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Your lips settled in a horrified frown. "Why do you think I'm lying? Please talk to me."

Kurt did not talk to you. He disappeared without another word in a cloud of purple and black smoke.

You threw your hands up, head whipping around the perimeter of the roof. "What the fuck?" You shouted to the sky. No response. No Kurt. You shuffled together your papers and pens, throwing everything into a haphazard pile in your arms before booking it down the stairs.

Nothing tugged at your heart more than to find Kurt immediately, but you couldn't function with your supplies so loose in your arms. Shouting for him all the way, you threw open your bedroom door and let the papers and pens fall to the floor just inside. Only mere feet back down the hall, Rogue chased you down.

"Y/N! Are ya okay?" Her powerful hands landed on your shoulder, concern painted across her lovely face.

"Have you seen Kurt? He just ran away from me after we had an argument. I'm worried for him."

"Oh, nah, I'm sorry, sugah. Do ya want me to find 'im for ya?"

You huffed a strong sigh from your mouth, propping your hands on your hips. A dull lump was forming deep in your throat. "No. This is my problem."

Your next stop was his bedroom. It had to be. His only other safe place was the roof, which he would never hide on if he thought you could still be there.

Your breath quickened with every nearing step to his door. With the number of times you'd made this walk in happiness, in giddy readiness for a late-night movie or jam session to grade papers, the growing pit of fear in your stomach should not be so frightening. Never before could you fathom dreading his bedroom.

Your knuckles made a quick rhythm against the door, calling his name one more time. You hated to risk invading his privacy, but you were desperate just to see him; a fulfilling conversation aside.

Slowly the door creaked open, revealing his empty bedroom. After a quick sweep of the visible areas, you backed away to retreat before a soft sniffle hit your ears. Barely, just beyond the edge of the couch, a dark spade lay pathetically on the wooden floor. As quietly as possible you closed the door, tip-toeing to the side of the couch. The side of Kurt's body revealed itself by the side coffee table.

"Please go away."

"Not until you talk to me, Love." You crept closer. The air between you fizzled. He was contemplating leaving again. Your body lurched to the floor, landing one hand on his bicep. "Please! Don't leave me!"

Kurt tossed your hand to the side. His curls hid most of his face, which you could sacrifice a finger to see fully. Anything to see him. You sighed, crossing your legs before him. "Why do you think I'm lying?" You prompted again, your voice softer with a newfound patience. "I'm here for you. What will it take for you to talk to me?"

A hand freed itself from the safety of his lap to wipe the running nose beneath the tear-soaked cheeks. "Ich weiß nicht was ich tun soll." His shoulders heaved.

"Babe, I still don't understand," you muttered pathetically.

Kurt's tongue swiped over his bottom lip. Your mind flashed to inappropriate places. "I am not beautiful," he stated, his flawless curls shaking with his head.

Okay. The nub of the problem.

This scenario had run through your head a hundred times before, all in different ways. Different places. You or him being the first to initiate. But no amount of practice in your imagination could prepare you for the looming threat of destroying the best relationship in your life.

Anything for a chance to cheer him up. To see his gorgeous smile, his perfect eyes light up for only a few more minutes.

"Okay. I'm going to tell you this once and you just... need to believe me," you swallowed the bile - the fear that everything could go wrong. That you had ruined everything so perfect about your relationship with three simple words in a moment of adoration. "I do love you. You are my best friend. I cherish our friendship so much-"

"Stop..." Kurt tossed his head back. Given the context, you despised the way his Adam's apple bobbed and the way you wanted to study its perfection under a microscope.

"Just- let me get through this all. I cherish our friendship so much. You understand me better than anyone. I feel the safest around you. And I love the endless nights bonding over the silly nerd shit on the balcony with endless ice cream." This was it. No going back now. "But the amount of times I've gone to bed at night daydreaming about something as simple as going on a date with you... I mean, a proper date. And I imagine so many kisses, so many other things that friends don't do. Sometimes, I even get so desperate that I go through scenarios from that day, but I imagine I'm treating you the way I truly want to."

You couldn't look at him anymore. If so, you may see him staring back at you with such horror and disgust, that you would never be able to look at yourself in the mirror again. "And I do this just in the hope that the daydream will turn into a real dream, and I can sleep through those lovely imaginings and wake up... and... yeah. That is that."

Nothing from him. No words, no shift in position. All you could offer now was the closing line you rehearsed in your mind a hundred times since opening his door.

"I do think you're beautiful. You're the most beautiful person in this entire damn mansion. I'm not daydreaming about anyone else."

When the suspense was ready to rip your heart open, you finally peeked. Kurt was staring. Not with disgust, but with wonder. Hope.

"How do you think these things?" was all he could muster out.

"Pardon?"

His six fingers fidgeted with themselves. You wanted nothing more than to reach out, take them, and kiss each of them until all doubts were ridden from his pretty little head.

"I don't understand. The last person I gave my heart to was disgusted. Horrified by me. I don't understand how you... don't."

Impossible. The thought of him with someone else, no matter how long before you, dried your mouth and made you want to hurl right there. But even more so, the thought of anyone convincing him such horrible narratives could be true... it made your blood boil. Your skin crawl. Nothing was comprehensible to you of how anyone could think of him in such a way. Not Kurt; not the handsome, skilled, kind, and brave man in front of you.

He was too kind for the world. No matter what became of him, how the world treated him, he never faced it with hate. Never pure, genuine hate for the world. Only for himself.

Slowly, knees cracking and heart aching, you reached for him as you willed yourself to stand. Kurt watched you silently beg him for a moment before accepting the offer. You led him to the edge of his bed and simply sat. Held his hands harder when he allowed himself to settle and relax.

Apprehensively, you sucked in a deep breath and steeled your eyes with his. "Please hear me, Love. You are not horrifying, Kurt. You're not disgusting. You are not. I love you, whether or not you choose to believe it, I love you. Both as a friend and as... anything else. However you'll take me."

Your hands snaked up to his neck, cupping the lean muscles beneath your palms. Warm, soft, and true. "It's okay if you don't reciprocate. I just need you to know that someone sees you as beautiful. I would never lie to you."

As if time stopped and you were left fighting through molasses space, your lips touched his cheek. Lower to his chin. Lower to his neck.

"I think your skin is so lovely. It's my second favorite color; second only to yellow."

His throat rumbled under your lips. A firework of giddiness exploded within your stomach.

While your lips traveled onto his collarbone with delicate kisses, daring to taste the rich blue skin only twice, your hands traveled with a mind of their own to play with his three-fingered hands.

"People have three fingers all the time. I see this as no issue." You brought one of his hands to your face, planting more kisses on his palm and down each individual finger.

"I quite like your ears," you confess, dragging one finger along the edge to mess with the pointy tip. "You know folks dig the elves from Lord of the Rings. So how could this be any different?" You smile.

For the first time since you dared call him what he was, Kurt smiled back. He grinned enough to flash the brilliantly pointed canines, which evoked vivid images you would dare never tell your mother.

You were about to start the journey down his chest, something you'd been all too excited to see for months, when the other hand laid a delicate grip to your chin. Masterfully, Kurt steered your face to his, and within milliseconds your daydreams came true.

His lips were still salty from the onslaught of tears, but nothing could have tasted sweeter. Together your lips worked as one, moving and sucking as though life itself lay beyond. Your back hit the mattress, hands scattering to touch every inch of his lean torso.

And then his shirt was off.

While you admired him, finally unburdened and accepting of your words, his mischievous tail snaked to your torso. Butterflies fluttered deep into your abdomen when the strong tail wrapped partially around your waist and lifted you closer to Kurt's body. He smirked down at you, amused by your desperate squirm.

"Is this what you dream of, schatz?"

A sly giggle escaped you as one finger ran down his back, so near to the spine to send gentle shivers through his entire nervous system. "You have fur," you smiled, tilting your head curiously.

"Ja?"

"It's cute." You pulled his face down to you again. You allowed this kiss to be slower. To taste him more. When Kurt pulled back with a wider smile than ever before, there was room in his eyes for nothing more than joy and relief.

"Ich liebe dich."

You ran your lovesick fingers through that beautiful head of hair. You knew what that phrase meant.

[lovelybee666]

FLUFF ALPHABET DOGDAY

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

I already published it in one of my first writings but so that they don't bother to see it, they both play hide and seek, tag, maybe truth or dare, etc.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He thinks everything about you is beautiful, from your eyes to your your toes (if you even have toes or feet).

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

If you are sad he tries to cheer you up either by giving you physical or verbal affection, drawing, talking, watching something, whatever cheers you up.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

It sounds strange but he would like to have a family (he knows he can't 😞) he would like to see you and him with his little children but since he can't, he use his stuffed version as one and depending on how you are, you will play along or try (don't even think about telling him that it's stupid of him or I swear I will come to your house with a gun 👹 /j)

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

He's in the middle 👍 there's not much to say honestly

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Look, I don't know what happened but it was probably your fault😒(just joking) their arguments probably don't go beyond a few raised voices, the second the discussion ends there are two options, the first is that he run to you and apologize or that he is lecturing himself with his tail down.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He is VERY grateful and even thanks for things he shouldn't(I'm sorry this is short, I couldn't think of anything)

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Imagine there is a door, that door symbolizes honesty now look at Dogday's door that door is so open that the door flew away and the frame too.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

I'm already doing a hc of him jealous so this will be more summarized and shorter, It's difficult for him to get jealous since he trusts you TOO much but if he is jealous he will try to get your attention hugging you and saying your name over and over again.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

The first kiss was okay although he had never kissed so at first it was a little awkward, as time went on his kissing skills improved(he definitely didn't ask Bubba, Cickin and Bobby for advice☺️ DEFINITELY)

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

He was nervous, he asked Catnap if he could come and support him, he complied as a good friend and he was a little far away but behind you with a sign that said "YOU CAN DO IT, DOGDAY!" or said what Dogday was supposed to say because he probably forgot(I promise to make a more detailed version soon in the not too distant future).

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

He wants to marry you but since you and him are toys you can't but still in some creative way you got married, they used a fabric that they found with the help of Crafty and they got married, it was actually something funny and adorable to see (YOU DEFINITELY WORE THE SUIT AND DOGDAY THE WEDDING DRESS‼️‼️) by the way, the ring was some donut-shaped gummies.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

I already made a post about it but I wanted to make a little update here by adding "angel" and "star"

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It's VERY obvious, just watch him for a few seconds and you'll see how when you're close he moves his tail and seems happier, he stops what he's doing and comes to greet you giving you a hug while his tail moves at a thousand miles an hour, he's not sure if he's in love, he confuses his feelings and thinks maybe he just loves you as a close friend (spoiler, it wasn't)

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

He's a big fan of PDA and even once probably shouted from somewhere quite long how much he loved you(a worker or Miss Delight scolded him because the children were supposed to be sleeping at that time), He loves to hold your hand and kiss your nose, he probably emphasizes 24/7 that you're dating him, he is very proud to know that you are dating him, If you are not a fan of PDA, he respects it and when you are alone he gives you a lot of kisses on the cheeks and hugs you.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

There's not much to say but technically you're second in command for dating the guy who's the leader👍 IDK MAN

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He is cliche AND creative, He likes to do very cliché but very creative things at the same time, They are going to have a date with red petals and candles, yes, but instead of candles they will be candles with fun shapes, the petals will be daisies (clearly I don't get them from a destroyed Daisy) and the chairs are chairs of frogs, he likes to do the same things that are romantically cliché but at the same time add things that have nothing to do with it or make it chaotic.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

ABSOLUTELY YES, it will help you in anything, believe 100% that you can achieve any goal you have.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Every day he do something new with you, one day you are looking some ants working and the next you are creating a base to protect yourself from a non-existent deadly virus that he created with you.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Depending on who you are, he probably knows a lot about you and is quite empathetic (I couldn't think of anything here, I'm sorry)

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

For him you are the most important thing in his life, his top is probably

3. Humans

2. His friends

1. You

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

When you give him the cold shoulder after an argument he goes to Catnap and Catnap has to deal with his best friend crying because you don't listen to him

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Y E S He is very affectionate although obviously there are days when he is less affectionate.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

He will be looking for things that remind him of you and hugs them while waiting for you to appear.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

He is willing to do almost anything for the relationship, his only limits are attacking or killing someone for obvious reasons.

I FINALLY FINISHED THIS, now I will have to do other pending things

[g1rld1ary]

overheard that she was nineteen - james potter x reader

wc: 1058

cw: nothing, one swear, reader is sad on their birthday, implied fem!reader but i don't think any pronouns

chat how many aura points do i lose for crying in the literal first 20 minutes of my nineteenth birthday :/ don't think about this fic too hard or you'll see it's more of a diary entry than work of fiction oopsie :')

You weren't feeling very special. To be quite honest, your day had been totally shit. It was your birthday, your nineteenth birthday and everyone had forgotten. Well, that wasn't true exactly, but nobody cared. Your parents had barely said 'happy birthday' when you called them, and only one of your friends had texted you. A sweet message, but still kind of depressing.

You knew it shouldn't have been a big deal, no one cared about nineteen, right? Eighteen was the big birthday and you'd had a good enough day last year, so you weren't really sure why this year had brought you down so much.

Maybe it was just because your love of birthdays was never reciprocated. A person's birthday could be the most exciting day of the year, and you were of the opinion that it should be, if possible. You were the one who showed up with a hand-baked cake on your friend's doorstep, without fail. It was something you enjoyed doing undoubtedly, you spent ages picking out which colour the icing should be and what edible decorations should go on top.

On top of that, you considered your defining talent to be writing cards. It was something you took pride in, penning almost-essays that encapsulated the breadth and depth of your love for your nearest and dearest. Proclamations of never-ending adoration, gratitude for years of friendship, the insides of your heart and soul sitting amongst fresh ink and scribbled hearts. You signed your name with a heart and a flower every time. Plus, you made particular efforts to come up with a creative pun or doodle for the front, just to keep things interesting.

So birthdays were things you held in high regard, and having yours seemingly mean nothing to anyone else was a bit of a mood killer if you were being totally honest. Still, what could you do? You picked yourself up, ate an uninspiring breakfast and went to uni.

You felt more anonymous than usual in class. With the semester having started only a week prior, you were in a sea of new people, none of them having any way of knowing it was your birthday, and you weren't quite at the point where you were begging for well-wishes from people you didn't particularly care about. And so you took notes, put your hand up for the participation grade and dreamed of your own cake and candles.

By the end of the day you were exhausted. The classes were long anyway, but carrying around your own personal grey cloud was taking a toll on your body and mind. It was at the car park when your phone dinged; James.

are you coming over tonight?

please

You smiled a little despite your sour mood. Even if James didn't seem like he was fully aware of your outlook on birthdays, being with him always made you feel better.

It'd already been dark for an hour or so by the time you reached the flat he shared with the boys, the winter weather making the sun disappear at four o'clock. You knocked on his door softly, unable to pluck up the strength to even make your presence easily known. James must've been waiting for you though, since you heard the heavy pad of his feet almost instantaneously.

The sight of him nearly took your breath away, though nothing was out of the ordinary. He was still the same old James, his glasses slightly askew on his nose, but he was looking at you with such softness that you felt the tears spike behind your eyes. You tried to push them down.

"I thought we'd have a bit of an early dinner. I know you won't have eaten at uni." He took your bag, setting it by the entry table softly. You managed to nod, hopefully not giving away all your awful feelings. You tried not to be cut up that he hadn't wished you a happy birthday yet.

All of your melancholy had been for nothing, you realised, when James led you to the dining table. He'd gone the full mile, with a cheesy red tablecloth and single candle as the centrepiece.

"Happy birthday, my love," He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. You couldn't help it, the tears rolling down your cheeks before you even realised. Once they started you had no chance, sobs wracking through your body as James stood beside you, bewildered.

"Is this not okay? Do you not like it?" He fretted as you cried, and you rushed to reassure him.

"I love it, Jamie, promise. It's just," You managed a half laugh through your bout of tears, "I thought no one cared. I can't believe you've done this for me." James' brow furrowed deeper than you'd ever seen it before as he pulled you into a tight hug.

"I would do anything for you, love. I mean it."

Once your tears had subsided you had a lovely dinner, James making you double over with laughter as all thoughts of your previous shit day dissolved under the weight of the homemade pasta sitting in your stomach.

Just before the night died down, James presented you with a small box, wrapped in the most beautiful silky ribbon. You glanced up at him curiously, untying it slowly. Inside was the most beautiful bracelet you'd ever seen. Connected with a heart-shaped clasp and decorated with a single charm, a love letter. You were embarrassed by the tears working their way back up to your lash line, but James looked delighted by the reaction, he lived to make you happy.

"Thank you," You whispered, "I love you."

James didn't have to say it back for you to know, but he did anyway because it made him happy.

Maybe your birthday wasn't the flashy event you might've wanted, however deep down, but you were strangely okay with it. Despite the fact that no one showed up to your door with a hand-baked cake or essay-length card, you had James, and James would've pulled the stars down from the sky if he thought it would boost your mood. That was enough.

[1d1195]

Ding - Round 3

Read Ding here | ~6.5k words

Warnings: scummy man appearance, angst involving the frustration/grief/sadness of the last part regarding her shitty experience with said scummy man, fluff

Summary: Harry wants to know what happened to Cupcake. She really isn't sure she wants to tell him. Until she has to.

From me: NEW DIVIDER BY @babegoals THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR CREATIVITY AND SUPPORT AND JUST EXISTING 💕

Harry was mad.

Fuming. He had thought about nothing else but seeing her for the last two months and now that he had seen her, he was pissed to see her at his self-defense class. He asked her the same question about ten times throughout the instruction. He was furious and irritated that everyone else needed his help (even though it was literally what he was being paid for) when all he wanted was to talk to her.

He was all for helping women feel empowered. But he was mad she needed it. He knew she was feisty. The fact that she was there said a lot in its own right. The way she bantered with him until three in the morning texting him the other night made him smile more than he could describe. It was flirty and sweet. But always had him guessing if she would suddenly stop messaging for one reason or another.

Someone like her needed someone—maybe even someone like Harry—to make sure nothing bad ever happened to her. And he knew. He knew why women went to self-defense classes. He had been teaching these classes since before he owned his own gym.

He knew.

"Why are y’here, Cupcake?" He asked gruffly. The other women nearby were all but forgotten. One was mid-sentence, asking to clarify something Louis had said. Harry was practically rude to just ignore her question in favor of his own.

“Umm... for self-defense,” she muttered trying to focus on Louis’ answer.

Harry didn’t want her banter right now. (As cute as it was to him, despite his irritation.) “Right. But usually everyone has a story that... convinces themselves t’sign up. So what’s your story?” He repeated.

He watched the way her cheeks warmed at his assessment, and she folded her arms protectively in front of her. Guarding herself. “That’s kind of personal, Harry.”

Once Harry’s anger took hold, it was hard to backtrack. “Listen,” he shook his head. The annoyance that clouded his eyes and covered his face was so obvious, she felt the slightest bit bad about interrupting his lesson with her own issues. “M’not good at this kind of thing, Cupcake. Being subtle. I punch people for a minimal living and work the rest of m’time here, teaching people how t’punch.”

Part of her wanted to break down and tell him. Because as much as she was willing to do this on her own, she was so scared. That nervousness made her feel even weaker, and she wanted to tell Harry, she realized. She wanted someone to know and to help her because this wasn’t something she wanted to deal with on her own—it was too much.

But she couldn’t do it right in the middle of a self-defense lesson, surrounded by strangers. “I’m here to learn how to punch,” her voice was even and final.

His nostrils flared and he stalked back to the front of the room, a trail of anger coming off him as he did. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with her.

The remainder of the lesson went by without incident on Harry’s part. He watched her the entire time. The way she flinched when they practiced moves made him nauseous. But he couldn’t help but notice how good her stances were. Almost natural. “Hey, love,” Louis smiled at her kindly as he geared up to practice more tactile moves. “You liked his match so much you wanted to try on your own?” He asked.

She smiled, but it didn’t fully reach her eyes. “Something like that.”

“It’s good skills to have,” he assured her gently, because even though Harry’s infatuation annoyed him at the time, he knew Harry liked her. A lot. Knew just as well as Harry did why women signed up for a self-defense class. “You have a very natural stance,” he noted. “We should get you in the ring,” he winked at her.

She laughed lightly. “I don’t even know how to make a fist,” she snorted.

Louis chuckled giving her a gentle shoulder squeeze and moved onto the next person.

Harry moved in front of her next and he looked at her footing. Aligned near perfectly and practiced as if she had been doing it her whole life. He was still steaming with anger. It rolled off him and demanded to be felt—and she felt every bit of it. “S’like you’ve done this before,” he muttered.

“I haven’t,” she answered. “I’m just good at following directions. Like a recipe, you know?”

He was staring at her feet and trailed up to her hand where he carefully took hold of her delicate fingers. Instantly, it felt like her whole arm was made of jelly. Her heart took off about the speed of an airplane and she was lucky she could hear anything over the sound of it. Harry touching her skin made her feel faint. Carefully, he bent her fingers and tucked her thumb below the flat of her knuckles. It felt so intimate it seemed wrong to be doing this in a class put on for the public. Holding her wrist, he brought her fist to his cheek and tapped it against his skin a few times. “Like that,” he murmured.

She wanted to be cute and smile. Say something like, I’ll keep that in mind for strangers in dark parking lots when I ding their car. But instead, she was overcome with gratitude for the knowledge and a bit of awe. She was speechless without meaning to be. He released her wrist, and she wanted nothing more than to grab his hand again and never let go. “Thank you,” she whispered. He nodded sullenly.

Harry felt defeated—something he didn’t enjoy at all. Rarely did he feel it, but he wished he felt defeated after a match more so than he did right then. All he could do was walk away from her and finish the lesson without chatting with her again.

*

In hindsight, confronting her in the middle of a self-defense lesson wasn’t his wisest choice. The following morning, he had a renewed spirit and was once more determined to chat with her and figure out what made her join a self-defense class.

What he hadn’t anticipated was how stubborn she could be. He should have known but he was willing to dig his heels in as long as she was. Harry went to the bakery morning, noon, and night—literally—trying to figure out her schedule. “Again?” The girl behind the counter asked suspiciously when they returned at four in the afternoon on the third day of waiting. She had been there all day and hadn’t said anything up until their third arrival.

Niall shook his head and sighed. “Sorry, darling. He’s being super creepy, yeah?” Niall elbowed him with irritation. They sat at a table as they had the last few days. They didn’t stay long, only fifteen minutes to half an hour. (And they only stayed half an hour once because Niall had to get one of the cronuts that he had been pining for since he saw them.)

Harry was looking at their text message thread. The last message was from him. Are you working now? C’mon, Cupcake, you’re killing me here :(

It went unanswered since yesterday afternoon.

“He’s trying to talk to Miss Cupcake,” Niall rolled his eyes. He missed the back and forth between the girl behind the counter. “But I think he’s being a bit ridiculous.”

“Oh, were you her bad date?” She frowned.

Harry was still looking at his phone, checking his schedules, and making sure he didn’t miss anything in his email or messages from his mum or sister. But the moment the girl behind the counter spoke, his head snapped up to meet her gaze.

“What bad date?” He asked, his voice low, menacing.

The girl behind the counter blanched. Feeling bad she revealed something she obviously wasn’t supposed to and quite honestly, if he was her bad date, that was a horrible thing to announce. It was a reflex. “I don’t know, actually,” she tried to backtrack. “I don’t know why I said that out loud.”

“We won’t tell, darling,” Niall assured her. “Do you know when Miss Cupcake works, it would save Harry—and you—a lot of trouble.”

“OH!” She shook her head and went around to the front of the counter. Her eyes widened. “You’re Harry. Context clues, I didn’t recognize you without gloves,” she smiled excitedly. “Thank goodness, I almost closed this place down.”

Harry turned to the girl again feeling a warmth pass over him at the idea that she talked about him to her friend. “Oh brother, so she does like Harry?” Niall grumbled.

“I’m Maeve,” she announced.

“Maeve,” Harry stood up and held his hand out to her. “Nice to meet you.”

“You have a very cute niece.”

Now Harry really couldn’t help but smile because that little girl was practically his own pride and joy. And she was very cute. Plus, it meant she really was talking about Harry to her friend and that had to mean something. “Thank you, she’s perfect,” he agreed. But then he refocused on why he was haunting the bakery. “Does she not work during the day?”

“She pops in,” Maeve shrugged and fiddled with the cupcake display. He noted there was a raspberry filled one on the top tier. He recognized that cake and frosting pair anywhere. “But she’s been mostly coming in after close,” she admitted. “She’s been a little...stingy with details about everything. She gets like this sometimes. Compartmentalizes things so she can deal with it when she needs to,” Maeve bit her lip. “She’s visiting her dad right now.”

Harry realized there was very little he really knew about her. Most of their chatting had surrounded the bakery, boxing, and Harry’s niece. There was a little bit of information about their education and some books and hobbies they liked. But there wasn’t a huge depth of knowledge of her family.

“Oh,” Harry felt defeated again. “Uh... I guess we’ll go then,” he mumbled. “Try later.”

Maeve sighed. “She really likes you, Harry. Really,” she promised with a sad smile. “She’s just...a little stubborn and careful with her heart.”

Harry nodded. “Got it,” he could handle that.

*

She parked as close as she could to the bakery in the parking lot. Thinking about all the steps and stances that Louis and Harry had told her during her class. She took a deep breath and opened her car door. As she went to the back of her car to grab supplies from her trunk, she noticed a plethora of other cars parked in the lot—most people were probably at the restaurant near the waterfront. But there was no way she could miss the car she had accidentally dinged with her door just a few spaces down and across the row from her.

Once more, her gaze met the intense green gaze in the driver’s seat. She sighed knowing there was no escaping this talk anymore. Harry put a bookmark in the novel he was reading while waiting and set it on the passenger seat beside him. He locked his car and hurried to her side, taking the heavy bags of flour and sugar she bought to tide her over until the delivery came to the bakery in the morning. He didn’t speak to her as they walked to the storefront. She was overwhelmingly aware, once more, how safe she felt with Harry beside her in the nearly deserted parking lot. She unlocked the front and held the door open for Harry to enter. “Were you waiting long?” She asked.

He shrugged, putting the supplies on his now regular table while she fiddled with the display case and cupcake display once more. The raspberry one was missing from the top and she went behind the counter to get another. Harry closed the door and locked it, so she was safe inside. It was dark, the only light was a low soft glow coming from the case of treats. It had the glow of a candle, and he wondered if there was a way to keep it that way during the day because it was so warm it made him want one of everything that was in the display. “Yes,” he nodded. “S’okay.”

That felt worse. If he was willing to admit it, it meant he was there a while.

“I’m sorry,” her cheeks felt warm. “I should have just told you when I was working,” she was willing to admit when she was wrong. Harry watched in fascination as she placed the raspberry filled cupcake on top. He wondered if it had always been the one she put on top. He would have imagined the chocolate ganache one was a fan favorite, or the vanilla sprinkles one with the little toothpick and label of A Pinch of Sprinkles on it.

He shrugged again, nearly indifferent. “S’okay,” he repeated. “Read most of my book.”

“Is it a good read?” She asked and grabbed the bag of flour Harry had settled on the table and started for the back. He grabbed the bag of sugar and followed behind her.

He nodded. “Yeah...it’s,” he sighed. “S’a little darker than I expected,” he shrugged. “Was hoping for something lighter.”

“I only read rom-coms in book form,” she smiled. “It’s very light reading, but probably not what you want.”

“Rom-coms?” He repeated. She nodded. “Y’don’t strike me as a rom-com kind of girl.”

“No?”

“Y’seem more like a film noir or suspense.”

“I’ve had enough suspense for a while,” she muttered and turned to her ovens to preheat. Harry placed the sugar beside the flour bag and sat in the same chair he sat in when he fell asleep a couple months prior. He watched her in the same way he had before as she flittered around the kitchen, humming to herself as she worked. “How’s the baby?” She asked.

They were ignoring the elephant in the room, it seemed. But it was the first time he’d seen her since the self-defense lesson. In between his visits to the bakery (his stalking grounds, as Niall was calling it) he had been splitting his time between training, teaching, and ensuring Driven, his gym, was working as expected. He had to call an electrician because the lights in the men’s bathroom kept going out despite the fact, he had already replaced the circuit and lightbulbs a handful of times. But he had gone to see Gemma and his niece two days prior to get his fix of the sweet little girl who made him feel so much better about all the frustration he felt about his favorite Cupcake.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Perfect.”

She grinned back and nodded. “Good, and your sister?”

“Good, thanks for asking,” he thought that was polite of her—he always noticed when people asked about his sister. It wasn’t often. Once the baby was there, it was like they forgot about the mum.

“Does your mom live nearby?” She asked.

“Yeah, especially with the baby. Mum sold her house the moment she found out Gem was pregnant.”

She laughed. “That’s sweet. You’re all close?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Mum’s m’hero,” his voice was filled with admiration so thick it made her feel wobbly on her feet. She wished she had that kind of admiration for her mother. “How ‘bout you? Maeve said y’were visiting your dad? He lives nearby?”

She nodded, guarded. “I feel the way about my dad, the way you feel about your mom,” she explained. There was a pause in conversation that seemed to stretch farther than it needed to. Maybe he was trying to get her to break first. Perhaps she did. “You talked to Maeve?”

He looked at her, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. “Didn’t leave me many options, Cupcake,” he reminded her.

She swallowed thickly, nodded. “That’s fair,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Can you please tell me?”

She shook her head. Harry felt so agitated, so defeated. “Not yet,” the bit of hope creeped back in. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she admitted, her voice cracking slightly. She swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat and turned away from him. “Sorry,” she sniffled. His heart broke. Quickly, he realized it wasn’t her wanting to hide it from him. It was painful to watch that frustration fall on her face.

“Oh, kitten,” he frowned. He stood quickly and made it to her side. He put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly not wanting to touch more than she wanted or needed in that moment. His imagination could only guess what went wrong on her date and it was painful to think about for him. He wanted to comfort her, but it had to be at her pace.

At once she melted into his touch. She turned quickly, almost reflexively into his embrace. Her face pressed against his shoulder, her arms wrapped up around his back, and she inhaled shakily. It felt awful to see her sad, feel the anxiety coming off her in waves. But Harry was grateful to hold her so close to him. “M’here, Cupcake,” he promised. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, nodded against him.

Harry could live with ‘not yet.’ For now.

*

Over the next week, they went back to texting throughout the day and chatting well beyond bedtime on the nights she wasn’t at the bakery. Additionally, Harry walked beside her from her car to the bakery when she arrived and back through the dark parking lot. Not once did he ask her what went wrong with her date even though it was killing him. She wasn’t budging. She knew Harry was waiting for more details, but she couldn’t. It hurt and she didn’t want to think about it—even if she actually did want to tell him. It was overwhelmingly kind that Harry appeared beside her car—especially at night.

“I’m still really sorry about Clay,” she frowned. Harry didn’t park far away from her like he did the other night. But she was very mindful of her opening the door and not bumping into his car.

“S’okay,” he smiled and rubbed his fingers on the little indent. “Reminds me of you,” he winked at her.

Her heart fluttered and she looked away briefly before smiling back at him. “Like you need more reminders of me,” she murmured.

“Can never have enough, Cupcake,” he assured her. “Can I kiss y’goodnight?” He asked on the third night he walked her though the dark parking lot. Her heart literally skipped a beat. Speechless. He tapped his cheek. “Jus’ the cheek, kitten. Need a proper date before I really kiss you,” he acknowledged and smiled shyly at her. That boyish grin that made her weak in the knees. Breathlessly she nodded. His lips swept across her cheek. It was brief and soft. Like a piece of her hair had brushed over her face and tickled her skin. “Thank you,” he grinned. “Been dying t’do that,” he admitted and once more tucked her safely in her car.

Harry mentioned it only twice more. He never pressed or demanded she reveal the facts of her bad date. It was more of—what he hoped was—a gentle reminder. He was waiting for more information. All he wanted was to assuage her worries and fears. She attended the second class for her self-defense lessons (dropping off a box of blueberry scones at the front desk had everyone in the class asking if they could go after the lesson to pick out their own sweet treats). Harry continued to boil with anger just thinking about her using the moves he and Louis taught her. But it was obvious he was much less angry than the previous week. More so, his anger didn’t extend to her. He was mad, but he understood her choice to keep it to herself.

Louis was going over demonstrations using Harry as the attacker. Everyone watched with rapt attention. “Your goal is to get away,” it was repeated about a hundred times and Harry had the hardest time watching her every time it was repeated. Each time it was said, she flinched. He wasn’t sure she knew it or not—it was a reflex. But she did get away. It terrified her still.

Harry couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t pushing him away. Every night, she thanked him profusely for coming to the bakery and walking her to and from the car. She could see his anger growing beneath the surface. He wanted to know. She was trying so hard to brush it off. It wasn’t a big deal. Now she had two classes under her belt, and she promised herself she would never be in such a vulnerable position again.

“Can I watch you at work?” She asked randomly. It was a morning shift this time. She was covered in flour, and she had frosting streaked in her hair leftover from when she put it up after icing four dozen cupcakes. Harry didn’t think she could look cuter if she tried.

“Watch me?” He repeated.

“Not this again,” she smirked.

He chuckled. “Y’want to watch me train?” He repeated anyway.

She shrugged. “You always watch me bake and stuff.”

“You’ve attended the class, Cupcake. S’pretty much the same thing,” he reminded her.

He noted her cheeks turned pink. “Um...if you don’t want me to hang around then—”

Harry nearly gasped. “Oh, no. No way, kitten. I want y’around. I promise,” he assured her. “Jus’ don’t want you t’be bored.”

“I won’t be,” she shook her head.

That was how she ended up sitting beside the ring, Louis padded and guarded while Harry punched and punched and punched for over an hour. His breath was heaving, and his body was slick with sweat. She watched intently examining his form and his moves like she would one day repeat them.

When he came for water at the end of his training session, he was heavy breathing and smiling at her. He struggled to get the towel he had from his bag beside her with his gloves on. “Bored?” He asked.

“Not even a little,” she assured him, grabbing the little towel and swiping it across his forehead. It felt intimate and made Harry feel warm all throughout his body. “Can I try?” She asked with an impish smile.

He chuckled and nodded. “Come on,” he held the ropes open for her to enter the ring. She wasn’t wearing the right shoes or equipment. Louis rolled his eyes discreetly at Harry and held the pads out for her to hit. “Make the fist I showed you,” she did for both hands. “S’all the balance in your legs,” he promised. “No balance, no punch, no follow-through. Punch through the pad,” he explained and guided her hand to the pad slowly so she could see how it would look and feel to go through it.

“Pretend it’s Harry,” Louis suggested. “That’s what I do.”

She giggled. “I don’t think I could throw a punch if I thought it was Harry,” she admitted and gave her best attempt. It was honestly exhausting. She only threw a dozen or so punches and was breathless as she answered Louis.

“You’ll get there,” he assured her.

Harry scowled at him. “Take the pads off.”

“No, you lunatic.”

“Coward.”

She giggled, thanked Louis, and twisted herself out of the ring again. “That was fun,” she told him. “I can see why you like it. Plus, you’re really good at it.”

Harry was staring at her, the way that sent all the butterflies in the world directly to her stomach and began to flutter as if they were trying to escape. His gaze was firm but gentle, his eyes almost glowing somehow as he looked her over. “Please tell me, Cupcake. I want t’help,” his voice was quiet, begging ever so gently.

She looked at the floor, their shoes were nearly toe-to-toe. “I can’t,” she whispered back.

He nodded, defeat did not come easy to him, and she knew that. “I have t’shower, do some office stuff. Get ready for some lessons and classes,” he told her, his voice the slightest bit disappointed.

“Want me to watch you in the shower too?” She asked hoping to alleviate the mood. It worked, his smile returned to his pretty lips, and he chuckled.

“Hell yes, Cupcake,” he shook his head at her cuteness. “Maybe next time. Not here,” he winked.

Even though it was her that was forward it still made her blush. Plus, joke or not, she agreed here was not a good idea. “I have to do some errands anyway,” she admitted.

“I’ll walk you t’your car,” but she knew he would. It was like a safety blanket being wrapped around her.

She really liked it.

*

After her third self-defense lesson she was feeling more confident. She even showed Maeve some of her moves in the back kitchen. Shadowboxing the same way that she saw Harry do to Louis the night she met him. “I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to give the Queen of Sugar boxing lessons,” Maeve rolled her eyes.

Honestly, she was feeling better. More confident. Plus, she was enjoying her not-so-date-dates with Harry. There was one night when Harry wasn’t around, and she realized she missed him so much. Not only because the dark parking lot seemed more foreboding but because his presence made her happy. Happier than she had been in a really long time. It felt undeserving to be so happy but it wasn’t something she thought about when he was actually there. I missed you.

Oh? 😍

Sorry, I know that’s...

A lot...

I miss you all the time, Cupcake. Think about you all day.

The message made her warm and she wished she could explain how simple it seemed to just have Harry fit in her life. They were busy people, but he always managed to come by and see her. She enjoyed watching him train or sitting with Sarah at the front desk and chatting while he taught classes and lessons. Maeve teased her every time he arrived and she wasn’t there. Can’t you just give him your schedule? The poor guy is going to have to train twice as hard to get rid of the extra cupcake weight.

I like to keep him guessing a little 😉

Today, she was up front on her own—one of her employees called out sick and she didn’t mind in the slightest. Working up front was one of her favorite tasks. Interacting with customers and sharing her gift was something she enjoyed thoroughly. Her other coworker was out back, working on inventory and prepping the bagels for her monthly bagel sale.

Ding.

The bell attached to the front door signaled whenever customers arrived or departed. It was a busy morning. So busy that it took her a minute to realize Harry was sitting with Niall at one of the tables. Niall gave her a wave as she finally got caught in his gaze. She waved back, smiling brightly and paused the customers that were at the counter while she ran to the back and then to the table as quickly as she could. She pecked Harry on the cheek without thinking and deposited a raspberry filled cupcake and a personal sized loaf of Irish soda bread.

Harry felt as gooey as the filling on the inside of his cupcake. Her soft little kiss made him crazier for her. Watching her made him happy. Being around her made him happy. Happier than the little kid that was bullied could have dreamed.

Niall was making noises that would have embarrassed the porn industry while eating his bread. Harry snorted at him, tried to steal a piece, only for Niall to slap his hand away. “Eat your cupcake,” he nearly snarled.

“She could make more, m’sure.”

Niall shook his head stuffing his face of the treat made specially for him.

Harry liked watching her. He wondered if it was the same way she felt when she watched him. People obviously fell in love with her the moment they spoke to her. Unironically, she was so sweet. Of course she was. It was like she was a sprinkles-fairy. This ethereal being that passed out sweet treats to everyone.

Ding.

With her back turned to get another bag, she didn’t notice the influx of new customers. When she turned back, her heart leapt to her throat. She was lucky she didn’t drop the dozen cookies she was packaging.

“Shit,” she whispered mostly to herself. He hadn’t seen her yet. Fortunately, it was crowded enough to hide behind her wall of customers. All the progress she had made, the classes thus far, all seemed for naught at that moment. Her gaze darted to Harry and Niall. They were unaware of the turmoil she was facing while she packaged treats for the next customer. Her stomach churned uneasily.

If Harry just looked at her, she knew he would know. “Hey Lexi!” She called toward the back room. But Harry was chatting with Niall. Niall was focused on his soda bread. Neither of them noticed the anxiety that swept over her. Lexi doesn’t answer at first. Making her more anxious and scared. It shouldn’t be that way. He shouldn’t ruin the one place she loved most.

Niall now had crumbs on his cheeks, but his head tilted curiously in the direction of her main display. “Harry, something’s wrong,” Niall’s voice was quiet.

Harry’s gaze snapped up defensively. Sure enough, her whole demeanor had changed. Harry could see it. Her smile was tight, and her eyes darted toward the door and the customer in front of her more times in ten seconds than Harry could ever begin to count. Harry wanted to kick himself. How long had she looked like that?

After an eternity, Lexi finally appeared. She mumbled something to her employee and headed to the back kitchen. Not even a glance in Harry’s direction. Without fanfare, without permission, Harry marched his way into the back almost as soon as she left his view.

“Excuse me,” Lexi said. “Hey, that’s employee—”

“He’s fine, Lexi,” she answered quietly.

Harry found her in the kitchen, hand clutching the front collar of her shirt, her eyes lit with anxiety while she paced back and forth. “Is he here?” He asked lowly, while she moved quickly across the kitchen.

She tried to remember the last time she felt safe. It was her dad, right? Her dad before...before everything. Before she moved her shop here. Before she uprooted her life.

But there were those brief moments where she was overcome with how safe she felt in Harry’s presence. Walking to his fight for the first time. Each time he walked her to her car. How his hand felt when he pressed her fingers into a fist.

She nodded, her eyes watering.

He spun almost immediately to do who knows what. He didn’t know and she certainly didn’t know.

“No, don’t leave me!” She practically shouted before he could hardly take a step further. She started to follow him but he stopped at the sound of despair in her voice.

Harry groaned lowly; it came out nearly as a growl. He turned back to her immediately as if it pained him. “M’never leaving you,” his eyes were so dark and desperate—her whole body felt heavy at the seriousness of his words. Breathless again. “Please don’t ask me that,” his eyes darted back toward the front of the bakery.

“Harry, please,” she whispered.

His hands were already balled into fists. He shook his head. “Cupcake,” he grumbled. It was such an oxymoron in itself. Harry was calling her one of the sweetest things in the world and it sounded downright terrifying.

“Please, Harry,” she begged, grabbing one of his closed fists. “I need you,” she whispered.

Groaning again, he rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Fine,” he snapped.

She felt bad making him stay. She knew she was forcing his hand, but she was scared. To soften the blow, she threw herself at him. Arms around his neck, face buried in his shirt. She sighed with relief with the feel of him: solid, warm, protective against her body. Harry was safe. He proved that already and she still hardly knew him. It wasn’t hard. It shouldn’t have been hard for her date to make her feel safe.

Harry was momentarily shocked before he returned the hug, one arm looped around her back, the other cupping the back of her head. It was like the antidote to an disease she didn’t know she had. Another loud sigh escaped her. Like the feeling of Harry was cause for another wave of relief.

“What did he do?” He mumbled into her hair. She ignored him and scrunched her eyes shut. “Please, Cupcake,” he begged. She realized she wanted to tell Harry.

“I’m so embarrassed,” she whispered. “I don’t even know why I went out with him...I had met you and—”

“Doesn’t matter, kitten,” he shook his head. “He doesn’t get t’make y’feel unsafe,” he reminded her.

“It was such bad judgment.”

He shook his head again. “No, Cupcake. He doesn’t get t’make y’feel that way. S’not you. S’not asking a lot t’feel safe on a date. S’not even the bare minimum. Y’don’t have poor judgment. Your judgment got y’out of there that night. S’why y’signed up for classes and—”

It poured out of her at that moment. She told him everything. In the middle of the story, she tried to downplay it sensing the way his body tightened around her with every word. Explained why she signed up for the self-defense class. Every detail and emotion she felt for the last few weeks. How scared she was that very night. Why she requested Harry and chatted with him until three in the morning. How he made her feel better when she didn’t think she could. How safe she felt around him in general.

At the end, Harry pulled away from her.

Her heart felt heavy. Now he wouldn’t like her. She was broken and hurt. Harry didn’t want to be a bodyguard, nor should he have to be. “I need t’go to the gym,” he started toward the front, and she thought that was it. It was the last she would see of him. He was too overwhelmed with how stupid she was. This wasn’t what he wanted. Someone who couldn’t defend herself or be smart enough to see the signs earlier.

“Harry, I’m sorry—” She managed to croak with tears thick in her voice and vision. Right as he reached the threshold back to the front of the bakery. He was shaking. Every inch of him. She wondered how he wasn’t a blur from how much he shook. In the moment it took for the apology to form in her mouth, he was back in front of her.

He grabbed her firmly but still softly by the chin, held her sweet face between his palms. Gazed into her eyes and shook his head slowly. His eye contact was overwhelming but still felt so good. “You are to never. Ever. Apologize.” Her eyes welled with more tears. She couldn’t do anything but nod at him. Her heart felt so heavy and broken. But Harry was looking at her. Taking in every inch of her face and he sighed. “M’sorry, Cupcake; m'angry. But s'not something you need t'apologize for. Y'didn't do anything wrong. M'jus' mad I wasn't there for you,” he whispered and brought her back in to hold her against him once more. Her body felt relieved it was ridiculous for him to feel bad--he didn't even know she was going on a date. She didn't want him to feel bad.

"It's not your fault either," she whispered. Harry sighed with relief and he kissed the top of her hair.

She lost track of how long they stood there. It could have been two minutes or two hours. All she felt was Harry’s warm body against hers and reveled in how good it felt. “Call me a half hour before you’re ready to leave here. I’ll come walk you t’your car.”

She smiled softly, hoping to alleviate the tension now that a significant portion of time had passed. “Even if it’s in the middle of the night and—”

He didn’t think her joke was funny at all. “If y’call,” he repeated, interrupting her, his eyes were hard and serious. No room for joking at all. “I’ll be here.”

He was rapidly making her fall in love with him.

*

“Hey Dad,” she smiled softly sitting across from him at the dinner table. He grinned at her.

“Hey sweetie. How was your day?”

“Good! Did you see the game?” She asked. He nodded.

“Your guy did well, don’t you think?”

She laughed, shaking her head and blushed a bit. “Max Kepler is not my guy, Dad.”

“I didn’t say his name, honey,” he reminded her with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek. “I think I met a guy, actually,” she rushed out quickly.

“Oh?” He looked at her curiously, tilted his head ever so slightly and smiled. “That’s nice, sweetie. You haven’t had a boyfriend in a while. You need someone to...chat with, depend on,” he said knowingly. “I want to know you’re taken care of.”

“Dad, that is so 1950s of you. I don’t need a guy to take care of me.”

“Oh honey, I know you don’t. But I want you to have someone,” his voice was gentle.

For a moment she just looked at him. Thought long about all the things that had happened since she met Harry almost three months prior. It was a big deal to tell her dad about Harry. She wanted to make sure it was the right move especially after she was feeling poorly about her gut feeling. But she thought of Harry, the reassurance he gave her that it wasn’t her poor judgment that caused her bad date.

“His name is Harry. He’s a boxer,” she shrugged. “The raspberry filled cupcakes are his favorite.”

“Well, then he’s perfect. Right?”

She laughed, nodded, then bit her lip. “I mean...he’s...” she sighed forgoing all the details about how she was insane to let him steer her to his boxing match. How he helped her with self-defense classes. And why she was taking self-defense classes. No. She would tell him how they met another day. When Harry and she defined more of what their relationship was... if there was a relationship to be had. “I like him,” she admitted. “Then that’s all that really matters, honey,” he assured her. It felt like a blessing.

She couldn't wait to see Harry.

--

taglist: @justlemmeadoreyou @daydreamingofmatilda @sunshinemoonsposts @loving-hazz @likeapplejuicenpeach

@straightontilmornin @freedomfireflies @littlenatilda @kathb59 @babegoals

@angel-upon @lilfreakjez @mleestiles @ameliaalvarez06 @canyonmoondreams

@summertime-pills @daphnesutton @l4rrysh0use @perfectywrong @foreverxholland

@lovrave @st-ev-ie @pandeebearstyles @toosarcastic03 @luvonstyles

@tenaciousperfectionunknown @classychalamet @love-letters-to-uranus @emmaawbr @crossyourpeter

@kissitnhekitchen @kittenhere @stylesfever @harryscherri @indierockgirrl

@michellekstyles @just-another-reader1098 @hermionelove @tiredinwinter

I'm sorry if I missed anyone in the taglist. Please let me know if you'd like to join, if it didn't work, if you no longer want to be included, etc. :)

If you like this, check out my masterlist here

[riizebabie444]

your future spouse’s love language

hi! i'm pearl and i’m so happy you chose this reading ♡ today’s reading is all about the love language of your future spouse and how they express it. this is my first pac on this blog so I hope you enjoy!

♡ disclaimer ♡ please remember that all tarot readings posted on this blog are for fun and entertainment; you should not refer to these readings as a replacement for advice or guidance on serious matters.

reblogs are appreciated, as is feedback! find more pac’s in my masterlist! check out my paid readings and exchange readings! and donations are greatly appreciated ♡

© lueurais — please do not copy, steal or repost anywhere.

♥︎ pile 1 ♥︎

♡ love language ♡

quality time + acts of service

♡ how they express love ♡

i immediately see that this person is not a touchy–feely type; they don’t particularly enjoy or feel comfortable with physical touch, especially the type you might expect in a relationship. so, physical touch is definitely on the bottom of the list of their love languages. however, they do like holding your hand and burying their face in your body. and it is clear to me that quality time is very important to them.

this person loves deep conversations; i’m hearing, in particular, the half–full/half–empty debate. i believe it is of importance to them and may be a deciding factor in whether or not they want to pursue you. they seem like the type of person who would use this debate or others like it to judge other people. but regardless, i think they are genuinely a philosophical person; they love talking with you, getting to the roots of your brain and heart, finding out how you feel and why you feel those things so they can know you better.

i think they’re quite a sensitive person; i have reason to believe that for some of you reading this, your future spouse may have grown up with separated or divorced parents, or a broken family in general. this reflects a lot in how they allow themselves to love. they don’t like touch or pda because they very rarely saw it with their own parents. they also may have not received a lot of attention as a child, and this is why quality time is important to them.

i’m seeing art very prominently, so either them or you could be artists. i said quality time and i definitely think expressing yourselves together creatively would be fun to do. maybe art dates, or walks in nature and under the stars to gain inspiration for art. and other activities like pottery class or bouquet making, they might take you to a wreath making class do you can make one together for your home in the holidays; if there's anything fun and creative to do, they want to do it with you.

they have a rough edge that is hard to crack through. but they are driven and if they are serious about you, they will put in the effort. i’m seeing acts of service, like always paying for meals and bringing/making you coffee and driving you to where you need to go. it would also be hard to read their facial expressions, but they are soft for you on the inside and you will know this because of all the little things they do for you.

♡ symbols and signs ♡

clouds, paint/drawing/art, crying, the letter s, a white horse or other white animals (such as a dog or cat), heterochromia, gemini, 5, tree, stars, 32, mythology, leo/5th house, opiuchus, dark brown hair, roses, water signs.

♡ cards ♡

the artist, knight of swords, the lovers rv, five of cups rv

♥︎ pile 2 ♥︎

♡ love language ♡

acts of service, gift giving + quality time

♡ how they express love ♡

from them, i am getting the image of an angel who gives. they are a generous person; they like giving to support you. whether it is extravagant gifts or simply helping you in giving you what you need to get by. i see both ends of the spectrum — for some of you, they will be able to give you expensive and fancy things, and for some of you, they will not be as disposable with their income but will still give to you because they care about you.

gold is popping out a lot, so maybe gold jewellery or other gold gifts, or maybe they like gold wrapping paper. and it is not subjective – it can be anything deemed precious, like gold. but i also see they are quite moderate, so they prefer to give gifts with deep thought and meanings to them rather than going straight for the most expensive and fancy looking item in the store.

i see this person with a lot of fears and anxieties in regards to the relationship they have with you, and they may also worry you feel the same way. and it’s normal to have these feelings at some point in a relationship. so, i think they’d be urged to give more gifts when they have those worries. they want to appeal to you with generosity which could turn into an unhealthy habit, so keep an eye out for those who this resonates with.

bringing you water on a hot day — this image feels really clear. maybe those of you reading this live in a hot country, or really like hot weather. i see the sun bright in the sky and they’re worried you may be dehydrated or suffering from heatstroke, so they will always make sure you are drinking enough water, especially during hot weather.

and carrying on with the topic of sun, there’s a scene where the sun is touching the horizon. perhaps you guys went to watch the sun set after a date. gold rays are coming in strongly, so it might be your guys’ thing – watching the sun set or rise and leaving the curtains open in your home so the rooms can fill with warm, bright light from the sun. consistency is important to them, so little routines like these that you both enjoy makes them feel so special and they love being reminded that you are there to experience these moments with them.

♡ symbols and signs ♡

sagittarius, water signs, flowing water, nightmares, sun, jupiter, marigolds, sunset and/or sunrise, 10, wings, studio ghibli, unhealthy habits, summer, 444

♡ cards ♡

temperance, nine of swords, knight of cups, seven of wands.

♥︎ pile 3 ♥︎

♡ love language ♡

physical touch, quality time + words of affirmation

♡ how they express love ♡

with two kings here, i definitely see they are very vocal and confident with their words. they seem like the person who always speaks their mind, whether they are expressing happy thoughts or bad ones. that also means they will make it clear when they are upset or angry, but it also means they will clear any doubts you have and make sure you know that they love you.

although, for some of you, i see that your future spouse could be the type who falls silent when they are angry, but even in this case, they will eventually tell you what the issue is and make it clear that their feelings for you don’t change so easily.

in particular, i hear “you’re the best!” and grabbing your head and kissing you on the forehead. “i’m so lucky,” “i couldn’t have figured this out without you,” and “you look great in that outfit,” are what i’m also hearing. i think for some of you, your future spouse will be the type of person who has a catchphrase, like “i’m impressed,” or something along those lines. this is just what i heard, but it could be anything, and they will tend to use it to boost your confidence, and also when they are trying to flirt with you.

they obviously love to spend time with you, but i think they will particularly love holidays with you. i’m seeing quiet villas in countries along the equator, maybe that resonates with some of you. for others, i see the coast. peaceful getaways are like a goldmine to them; they may not happen a lot but when they do, they have the best times of their lives with you.

and holding hands is so prominent. just hands in general. even if you’re holding something else in your hand, they will take it and replace it with their own hand. physical touch like cuddling and kissing would take place, but for them, touching you with their hands is what fulfils them. it’s the fact that you are real and touchable so they always need that reality check to ensure you’re really there. and if you like all the touching, then they will do it tenfold. holding hands, or their hands roaming all over your body; whatever it is, they will almost always have their hands on you.

♡ symbols and signs ♡

323, twice (kpop girl group), coasts, nice hands, black birds, italy, blue skies, 11, magpies, graduation, purple gown, olives, pastel colours, chameleon, green, greece

♡ cards ♡

ace of swords, two of wands, king of wands, king of swords

[destroymeinherz]

The Party

A little while back someone posted about a fantasy of being passed around a stethoscope party, with different people listening to their heart. I don’t remember who did so if it was you, I hope you like this. It sparked creativity,

I could continue if anyone wants another part. But I wanted to do the basic idea.

The Party

I’d just signed with a modeling agency. It wasn’t the most exclusive, sometimes the jobs weren’t exactly what I hoped but college was expensive, so I took what I could. How bad could it be? It’s not like I planned to run for office or something.

My agent called me after classes one afternoon asking if I’d be interested in a gig that was more unconventional. After a few basic questions for my safety, nothing seemed too offensive even if it was secretive, and a rep from the agency would be there in case of trouble, I decided to take it.

Friday night I arrived at a big mansion just outside the city. From the looks of it this was old money, probably descendants of oil barons and railway tycoons. Which meant the paycheck would be huge. They’d promised a large payout for anyone who stayed til midnight.

I was let into a large foyer and usher back to a small hallway to a butlers parlor. A woman checked my ID, checked my name off a list and then looked me over.

“You will be required to wear one of two outfits tonight,” She instructed, pulling two hangers off a rack of clothes. “Black is standard, you are willing to do anything that would be clothes on. Call it PG-13.”

She held up a black Herve Luger bandage dress for emphasis. Then in her other hand, she held up a red one nearly identical to the former.

“Red,” She continued. “You are open to sexual behavior, and by wearing red you are giving consent to sexual advance,”

Well, I was single and I was never a prude, so I took the red. Might as well have a bit of fun. Once I accepted my color choice, she handed me an iPad with a waiver basically stating that I would take proper precautions, assert myself and under no circumstances attempt to contact anyone I met here after the event. I would ask for aid if I felt unsafe and leave without a scene. If I did not make it to midnight, I’d be compensated $200 per hour worked.

I shrugged and signed. She then held back a curtain for me to change in a small closet. I slipped inside, squeezed into the dress and as I was ushered to a door she fit me with a bracelet.

“If you need out, press the red button. Security will extract you.” She informed. “Are you ready?”

I blinked. Extracted? My heart started to pound, suddenly feeling crushed by the tight dress. What did I get myself into. But… the money was clouding my judgement. So I nodded, and the door opened. Once I cleared the threshold, it closed behind me.

Just walk around. Be eye candy. That was my only instruction. So that is what I did.

The room was a parlor, antique and dimly lit. It was full of golds and deep rich red textiles, dark wood and gold finishes. Old leather bound editions of classic literature adorned the bookshelves. I felt like I’d gone back in time. Or I was in a vampire’s house. My heart thudded at the thought.

The room was also full of people, in fine clothes, expensive tuxes and dresses. All of them wore masks like a masquerade. As I started to work through the crowd they watched me, with hungry eyes. Maybe I was in a vampire’s den. I was about to be dinner. There were a few other girls dressed in the red or black, varying heights and hair colors and skin tones.

I swallowed and tried to will my poor heart to stop trying to escape my chest. Until finally, a man approached me.

“Well, aren’t you lovely,” He said, holding out his hand.

I took his hand, and he brought it to his lips. He then moved his fingers down my wrist, stopping to feel my pulse. He offered him a soft smile. Then, he nodded before he motioned a waiter over.

The waiter came with a silver cloche, removing the dome top and extending the tray to the man. But there wasn’t food. It was a line of various stethoscopes. His fingers danced along them as he made his selection, a red tube that matched my dress.

He waved the man off, then examined it before placing the buds in his ears.

“Now, deep breath for me. Like a doctor’s office.” He said as he placed the diaphragm on my chest,

I was surprised, but I did as he asked, breathing in deeply and feeling my heart kick in my chest. Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.

He must have enjoyed the sound of my heart because he moved the diaphragm around my chest, smiling to himself and eventually he stopped. He listened for a long time, and even behind a mask I could see his eyes were closed.

I blushed. Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump

Finally, he opened his eyes and moved the diaphragm away. He took the ear pieces out and looked around. Then he must have seen who he needed, because he waved to someone.

“You have a perfect heart, my dear.” He said.

“Uh, thanks…” I replied.

Another man approached, he also had a stethoscope. He looked to the first man oblivious to me and waited for why he’d been called over.

“I think she’s the one. Take a listen.”

The new man finally looked at me. I smiled at him but he simply leaned in with his own stethoscope and listened to my heart. I took a deep breath like I had before.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump

“I think you’re right,” He replied. “Take her in, I’ll grab the others.”

The others? I blinked in surprise. Is this all it was? A bunch of cosplayers listening to my heart for a few hours? That didn’t seem so bad. Even if they wanted to listen to it during sex or something. That was actually, kinda hot.

“Come with me,” The first man said.

I nodded as he took my hand again. This time he lead me down another hallway to a different room. He opened the door and brought me in, then closed it behind me. It was more of a sitting room with a beautiful chaise in the center, raised up on a platform.

I recognized some medical equipment from various movies or doctors visits. Nothing seemed too concerning.

“Now, lay down on the chaise,” He instructed. “You may stay clothed for now. But do remove your shoes as to not damage the upholstery.”

I did as he asked. Once I was settled, he returned to my side. He brought the steth out again and gently placed it on my chest. He let out a content sigh as he listened to my heart pound.

As he listened, others started to fill the room. They lined up behind him. I had never expected anything like this. Just lay here and let them hear my heart beat.

“Before we continue, could I get you anything? Water, soda, wine?”

I smiled. “What would you like me to have?”

“Oh you are cheeky.” He grinned. “Perhaps a little caffeine, to stimulate you. What does everyone think?”

There was a nod of agreement from the group and some muttering of approval. The first man smiled and had one of the caterers being me a soda can on a platter with a straw beside it.

“Go ahead and open it, then use the straw to limit your movement to drink.” He instructed.

I did as he asked. Once the can was open and the straw was in, in leaned over to the table where it sat and drank a few gulps. As I did, the man placed the diaphragm on my chest again.

He closed his eyes, listening and seemingly very content with the sound. Finally he opened them, took my hand and kissed the back of it. He stepped aside and the next person in line stepped up.

There was no clock in the room but it felt like time slowed in this room. Each person took their turn stepping up to my seat and just listening to my heartbeat. Some had me drink the soda, some had me lay down, some had me sit and stand quickly. I’d stand there and pant through running in place and jumping jacks in a too tight dress, as they listened to my heart’s reaction and then recovery.

Ba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump

I had to admit, this was fun.

The last person was a woman, she couldn’t have been much older than me. She seemed more keen then the men had. Her eyes were bright behind her mask. She took a deep breath as her gold and white stethoscope settled on my chest.

“My… your heart… it’s by far one of the loveliest I’ve heard.” She said to me, her voice was lustful. “May I rest my head on your chest? Hear it directly with my ear?”

“Sure. I don’t see why not.” I replied.

“Would you like to hear your heart while I do?” She removed the stethoscope and offered it.

The people in the room all watched, eager to see how I would respond. Well, why not? If it made them happy it was my job tonight. I don’t think I’d ever heard my heartbeat before, not like this anyway.

“Okay. Sure” I replied with a smile.

That was the right answer as she grinned with excitement and placed the ear pieces in my ears. Then she placed the diaphragm down on my skin and rested her ear next to it.

I inhaled as I had before and my head filled with the rhythmic thumping they’d all been indulging in for the last few hours.

Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump

I closed my own eyes and lost myself in the sound. Maybe I should come to these parties more often. Hearing the steady beat, knowing it was mine… that was intoxicating.

“Do you like it?” She asked.

“Yeah. I think I get the vibe.” I responded.

“Are you ready to try something a little more interesting?” The first man asked, approaching me slowly. “You can refuse any of the requests, we won’t take offense or change your compensation. These would be granting special requests.”

The stethoscope was removed from my ears and I almost whined about it. I liked hearing my heart, understanding what they were hearing. What they enjoyed that brought me here.

“Sure,” I said. “What do you have in mind?”

End?

[gowonminajxx]

‘ famous model f!reader x hobie brown —

errr this is literally just a babble session of my messy thoughts and scenarios 🤷‍♀️ !! don’t take it out on me if i mess up a lil lolz.

‘ this SFW fluff-ish fic takes place in earth-138 (hobie’s universe), and y/n is a famous female model.

— cws :: some fluff (????), mentions of drinking, i cannot write british people or how they talk 4 shit lol, + not proof read!!

you were a famous model — strutting down runways, posing in campaigns and photoshoots and whatever imagery you could get your hands on. people often praised you for your creative posing to compliment your out-of-this-world beauty.

you weren’t all that talkative, and often said no to interviews where they requested you speak about real world problems or other, such as upcoming shows and brands you would work with.

a model like you was different from everyone else. your lips, your nose, and god, those captivating eyes. someone like hobie would notice that something was up with you.

you happened to stumble into one of his concerts, a broken down warehouse in the city. and luckily enough, paparazzi didn’t track you down and take photos of you like you were some sort of animal in a zoo.

a girl like you didn’t fit in there. sure, you were wearing darker colors, but you noticed that people recognized you a little, their eyes lingering around yours. you didn’t dare stare back at anyone, and made your main mission to get to the bar, grab a drink, and enjoy the concert.

your hands held the cold drink as you stood in the back, eyes darting around the stage. the band seems to be a little late, you thought. you hummed to yourself, waiting for a sign that the show would start.

as the show began, your eyes seemed to gravitate towards the guitarist. you weren’t sure of his name, yet, but the way his slender fingers strummed the guitar’s strings seemed to draw you in. attention to detail peaked your interest.

your back leaned against the wall, sipping some more of your drink. your eyes gazed around the crowd, seeming to enjoy the music, then looking back at the guitarist — who was seemingly .. looking at you.

your body tensed up a little at the sight of his eyes piercing into yours. dark eyes, almost like a void you could get lost in — which you would enjoy getting lost in, of course. a couple thoughts clouded your mind, thinking about scenarios or ideas that could happen after this concert.

besides that, his eyes seemed to linger and grasp onto your face, studying it even if you were so far away. you kept eye contact with him, which was extremely hard, before he looked away into the crowd.

with a final bang, the set ended.

you grabbed your bag, a sample one you had gotten from a friend at a runway show recently. you rummaged through for your mirror and a lipstick, and started to apply it gently against your soft lips.

a silhouette emerged from beyond the mirror, and your eyes drifted to the side to see. it was the guitarist from the band. your posture instantly straightened as your back left the wall, a soft, yet nervous, smile plastering your face.

he had pretty wicks. a gorgeous face, majestic, even. a defined jaw, one that was so sharp that you couldn’t look away from his face. plump and puffy lips, so kissable. deep eyes, captivating just like yours. was he a model too? he was so tall, even someone as model-height as you had to stare up at him.

his lips opened, starting up a conversation before you could get even more lost studying his facial features.

“you’re that model right?” his voice was calming, despite his thick accent. “just had to say hi, couldn’t look away for a bit.” he sniffed, his slim hand ending up on the back of his neck as he rubbed it — almost as if he was getting nervous.

you paused for a little, before snapping back to reality. “yeah. y/n l/n. you?” a simple greeting should do it, you thought to yourself. you adjusted your coat slightly, due to the fact it was almost falling off your shoulder.

his eyes took a fleeting glimpse at your bare shoulder before returning to your eyes, responding shortly. “hobie brown. nice to meet cha’.” a soft smile raised on his face, the ends of his lips curling up as he almost grinned at you.

you nodded, then babbling on about how you enjoyed his show, his dedication and how intricately he’d play. you were shocked at how kind and soft he was, considering his musical sound was a little more on the rough side.

the whole time you went on and on about your enjoyment and thoughts about the concert, his eyes constantly stared at your lips. longing thoughts, and some sort of sudden need to kiss you, as his eyes narrowed further to look at your collarbones, then back to your lips. seemed like your soft lipstick-coated lips were more captivating to him. or pleasing.

he snapped out of reality as you asked him a question, a soft giggle escaping your lips — which he was staring at — while you squeezed your eyes shut into the laughter. a small smirk raised on his face to hold his laughter and giggles back, his head only being fogged with visions and replays of you smiling.

he placed a hand on your shoulder, his body practically towering over yours as he walked on your side. he guided you out the venue, muttering a small question to you about “grabbing dinner” or plans that he wanted to do.

before you could ask him to repeat what you said, due to the fact you could barely hear him, a crowd of paparazzi and people swarmed outside the venue.

white flashes of light screamed in your face as you tugged a little on hobie, your hands instantly grasping onto his arms. he held you a little tight, his body tensing up at the photography — but mainly the physical touch between you two.

you were quite used to the paparazzi by now, but not like this. you completely forgot about your whole career and status considering those tense moments you had with hobie were so slow. you thought they didn’t follow you here.

you tilted your head downwards to avoid being flashed and photographed and absolutely SWARMED by all these people, and the world seemed to stop for just a moment as hobie spoke in your ear.

“why don’t we get out of here?” his warm breath grazed against your ear, the hairs on the back of your neck standing on their own as your head turned to stare at him.

you nodded slowly, and without a second passing, he grasped onto your waist, bringing you elsewhere.

[sfwsolani]

Meeting a naga

This is my first sfw story please let me know if you want this to be a series

Male naga x female reader

TW:, very slight yandere vibes at the end. other then that its mostly fluff

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸• • • • •🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Sure you've heard stories about great beast who lived in the forests outside your beloved kingdom but you never thought it would be true.

You went out to pick berries and herbs before the winter seasons hit. You left early that morning there wasn't a cloud in the sky no sign of a storm when you left unfortunately midway throw your harvest you had no choice but to seek shelter from the hard hitting rain.

You ran covering yourself from the rain when you found the large opening of a cave that seemed abandoned at the time but also looked safe enough to rest in. Unbeknownst to you a large Naga resided in that cave and say you enter his home.

He watch from the darker parts of his cave examining you and what you may have been doing you had no weapon no armor you were no threat to him at all. As you sat on the cold stone of the cave waiting for the storm to pass lazily sorting the berries you've collected. You never noticed how deep in the forest you were it seemed you lost track of time and surroundings.

In that time you didn't really noticed the Naga slowly start to wrap his coils around you. You were to focus on the berries to sense his tails, light hold on your leg tell you felt a light squeeze around your ankle.

Scared you jumped at the movement almost tripping over Your basket of berries. You looked around to see two bright golden eyes staring at you. "H-hello" you whimpered.

Scared but still persistent at trying to reasoning your way out. the Naga almost didn't here you, to captured in your beauty. "My apologies I didn't mean to scare you little one" he spoke, releasing your leg from his grasp.

He had a calm almost apologetic expression on his face and a small but welcoming smile that caused you to relax a little. He looked at you for a moment before speaking again "hm I'm assuming you must be waiting out that storm by the looks of it might not end tell morning" he slithered closer to you to get a better look of the outside and then down at you.

You gave him a small smile then a realization cam to mind " Im-im so sorry I though this cave was abandoned" you panicked, tears peeking out the side of your eyes. "Oh it's quiet alright Hun, I don't get that much company here and I'll gladly let you wait out the storm in my cave".

You looked so sad to him at this moment.he's seen plenty of humans in his part of the forest but never one as cute as you. "Come-on I'm sure your cold" he said placing a hand on your shoulder to guide you deeper into the cave.

he guided you to a bigger part of the cave there was a huge mess of large fur's from all sorts of animals that appeared to be used as a bed and a fire pit in the middle that was keeping your surroundings warm. You noticed all sorts of this from hand woven baskets to golden weapons and wooded carvings you smiled at the creativity of them all.

"do you have a name little one" he whispered, noticing your eyes sparkle at his trinkets.

" oh yes sorry it's (Y/N)" you whispered smiling up at him, "such a fitting name for a darling like you, do please sit I'm sure your exhausted".

You sat on the ground next to the beautiful coppery red naga, he was right though you were exhausted from the walking and running if anything you could use a nap. His eyes looking over you taking you in a bit more. He just couldn't get enough of you he knew he just had to have you to himself, some my call it, love at first sight perhaps.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸• • • • •🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

A.N- it's a bit short but I do hope you all liked it

[astrojulia]

Navigation:   ੈ♡˳Masterlist    ੈ♡˳Template

       ੈ♡˳Askbox    ੈ♡˳Arts Credit

12th house through the signs

ARIES: You value your individuality and prefer to maintain a sense of self, even in emotionally charged situations. You're highly empathetic, and while this can be an asset, it can also be overwhelming. Taking time to recharge and find inner balance is important to you. You recognize that competitiveness can sometimes lead to tension and animosity, and you strive to avoid coming across as arrogant or pretentious. You prefer to focus on building positive relationships with others. You believe in the power of new ideas to challenge and improve the world, but you also understand the potential for resistance and conflict. You prioritize non-violent means of advocating for change and seek to avoid causing harm or pain to others. When you're comfortable, you're able to handle difficult situations with ease. You may appear reserved in group settings, but in one-on-one situations, you can be surprisingly assertive and confident. You prefer to keep your plans private until they're ready to be shared with others.

TAURUS: To ensure a happy life, it's best to avoid getting caught up in legal issues or negative conflicts with others(wow, it sounds sooo obvious.. let me continue). This is especially important if you've achieved financial success, as others may try to undermine your position since Taurus is closely linked to morality, value and relantioships, and trying to “corrupt” it can bring you a huge dawnfall. Even in matters of the heart, jealousy can arise and cause problems, so it's best to approach relationships with honesty and openness. If you value solitude and isolation, you may consider pursuing a spiritual path, such as joining a monastery or practicing religious beliefs. While you prioritize security, you may not always allow it into your life as much as you'd like, which can make you appear less stable than you really are. However, you have a grounding energy that benefits those around you, and you possess a serene and forgiving nature when at ease. You also work hard when in a comfortable environment. If you experience emotional challenges, you may struggle with bouts of depression and may feel the need to make amends even if it comes at a financial cost. But remember, losses can be regained, and life will continue on its normal path.

GEMINI: It's great to be aware of your emotions and take note if you ever feel resentful or have negative feelings towards others. It's important to understand that these emotions may arise due to something that was said, possibly by a family member or neighbor. Although these emotions may not come up right away, it's helpful to remember that they could come up later in conversation and cause further conflict. To prevent any issues, it's best to avoid making prejudiced remarks in written notes or documents, as they could potentially be used against you. It's also crucial to read contracts carefully, paying close attention to the fine print to avoid any misunderstandings that could leave you without legal ground. In situations where you encounter unfair criticism or insinuations, it's best to let them pass and focus on your own ideas and creativity. When you're alone, your active mind comes up with amazing ideas and clever wit. However, sometimes emotions can cloud your judgment, so it's important to balance them with reason and rational thinking. It's always a good idea to be prepared for the possibility of theft or someone taking credit for your ideas without permission. While this shouldn't cause any contention, it's important to be aware of it. You may also encounter secret opponents who are constantly plotting against you. These opponents may be intelligent, so it's important to handle communication with caution to avoid any potential escalation of conflicts.

CANCER: Family is an important part of life, but it's no secret that conflicts can arise within family relationships. Misunderstandings and conflicts of interest can strain family ties, leading to ill will and sadness. However, this is not a regular occurrence, and most of the time, family relationships are a source of joy and comfort. When it comes to dealing with family conflict, it's important to communicate openly and resolve issues as quickly as possible. For example, when dealing with wills, it's wise for all parties involved to understand the terms to avoid any unpleasant surprises. You're a sensitive person who values your privacy, and you tend to keep your emotions to yourself. However, you're also aware of the impact your actions can have on others, and you strive to be more considerate of their feelings. You're not immune to criticism, and negative judgments can sting even if you don't show it outwardly. It's important to acknowledge your feelings and work through them in a healthy way. If you keep everything bottled up inside, it can take a toll on your well-being.

LEO: Life can be full of ups and downs, and sometimes we may encounter situations that cause us to feel resentful. For example, if we get into a public or political battle, it can often result in bitterness and negative feelings. Similarly, false rumors or scandals can damage our reputation and lead to animosity in social settings. To avoid this, it's important to maintain a positive public image and uphold our ethical standards. When it comes to matters of the heart, it's essential to be open and honest. Hidden connections or misleading intentions can cause misunderstandings and hurt feelings. It's also important to remember that everyone has their own unique talents and abilities, so we should focus on doing our best and supporting others rather than trying to outshine them. While it can be tempting to seek the limelight, sometimes we are at our best when we are working behind the scenes. You have a natural ability to lead and inspire others, even when you're not in the spotlight. You also have a big heart and enjoy helping those in need, whether it's through charitable work or simply lending a listening ear. At times, it can be challenging to reconcile the imbalances of the world, and this can lead to feelings of nihilism. However, it's important to remember that there is always hope and that small actions can make a big difference. With your compassion and drive, you have the power to create positive change in the world.

VIRGO: You're someone who's really good at avoiding feelings of hatred or animosity in your life, which is a great trait to have. Your conscience usually guides you away from anything that could potentially harm your character, although there may be times when you're unaware of certain things happening around you. It's important to watch out for any internal conflicts that you may have, as you can be your own worst enemy sometimes. When it comes to criticism from others, it's always good to keep an open mind and listen to constructive feedback. One thing to keep in mind is to be careful about what you say or write about your coworkers or friends, as anything negative or unflattering could lead to legal trouble. Although you may have a critical eye, you usually take your time to think things through before speaking. In relaxed situations, you tend to be sensible, quiet, and meticulous, but make sure to share your thoughts and feelings instead of bottling them up. Sometimes you may get caught up in the details and forget about the bigger picture, but that's okay! It's just important to not let trivial matters get in the way of what's really important. Overall, you've got some great qualities and it's important to be mindful of them as you go about your day.

LIBRA: When it comes to what people say or do behind your back, you've got luck on your side. Your strong sense of justice and balance keeps you grounded and helps you maintain a clear perspective on life. But here's a friendly tip: if your marriage is going through a rough patch, it's best to avoid any unnecessary drama and stay true to your values. Sometimes, when a partnership is on the rocks, it can lead to creating adversaries. Yikes! In business, it's smart to establish clear agreements and arrangements ahead of time to avoid any misunderstandings later on. And here's something to consider: could your marriage arrangement potentially turn into a business partnership? Working with others might not be your cup of tea, so having a business partner might not be the best fit for you. You've got this go-getter attitude, but you also have a romantic and diplomatic side that shines when you're in your element. You're a bit of an introvert, and that's totally cool. You enjoy your alone time and sometimes feel a tad uncomfortable when you're thrust into social situations. It's normal to feel a bit anxious or experience some mental sadness when you're first stepping into the outside world. But hey, don't worry too much. Take it at your own pace, and you'll find your groove. One thing to note is that you're not a big fan of conversations centered around morals and justice. It can be tricky to interpret what you're saying, leading to some pretty intense conflicts. So, it's best to find other ways to communicate your thoughts and feelings without diving too deep into those moral debates.

SCORPIO: Life can throw some unseen influences your way, or you might find yourself making connections with people that expose you to unknown risks. It's like you stumble into situations without even realizing it, and it can be pretty risky. For example, getting involved with someone who's already married without knowing it. Even though you're completely innocent, it puts you in a potentially dangerous spot. Or maybe you have a jealous or possessive spouse who suspects something fishy is going on, even when it's not. Just be careful not to jump to conclusions or make accusations until you're absolutely sure. This area of life is pretty hazy, and it can be tough to figure out what's really going on. But here's the thing, your inner senses are super sharp and active in this domain, so trust your gut instincts. You've got this fascination with secrets and a knack for avoiding taboo viewpoints. Trust me, you're more powerful than anyone realizes, including yourself. When people notice intense emotional interactions happening around you, they might think you're feeling lonely. But really, this aspect of life is innocent and doesn't bother you as much as they might think. It's like you're trapped in a psychological prison that's tough to break free from, but you've got the strength to overcome it. So, my friend, navigate those friendships with care and trust your instincts when it comes to hidden influences. You've got the power to overcome any challenges that come your way.

SAGITTARIUS: When it comes to dealing with hostility or animosity from others, you can expect minimal issues. Your good-natured personality rarely makes enemies, and you never put yourself in a position where you betray yourself. On rare occasions, there might be instances when certain individuals become angry with you, perhaps due to some stroke of luck that turns sour. You might even have a lucky streak that occurs in unusual circumstances. Financial losses, if they happen, could be a result of unforeseen expenses. In other rare scenarios, you might find yourself defending your religious beliefs or being isolated because of them, especially if you're living in a foreign land or culture. You might come across someone who isn't particularly spiritual or religious, but who is philosophical and curious about different beliefs when they're at ease. You have a great sense of humor and know how to have a good time with your loved ones when you're together. You're willing to prioritize the needs of others over your own. However, be cautious of later regretting sacrifices made without careful consideration. You're an optimistic person who expects good things to happen in many situations in life. This positive outlook is a valuable trait as it allows you to receive recognition from others and focus on personal growth.

CAPRICORN: It's possible that you tend to suppress and disregard your inner desires, and you might even have moments of paranoia. It's important for you to make peace with the aspects of yourself that you've disconnected from. Your deep understanding of life's truths helps shield you to some extent when others try to undermine your position or authority behind your back. In most cases, you're patient and understanding, which reduces the likelihood of developing hatred or hostility. However, this might become an issue in the workplace or within a company, especially due to competition or a strong drive to advance your career. Despite your good sense of tact, others may perceive you as cold and uncaring because of your lack of overt sensitivity. Of course, that perception only exists in the minds of those who believe that breaking the rules is the only way to "get ahead," which you know is simply not true. Subconsciously, you may feel like you're always constrained in life, no matter what. On the surface, you may appear burdened with responsibilities, but when you're alone, relaxed, or away from the spotlight, you're grounded, responsible, and focused.

AQUARIUS: Just a heads up, you gotta be aware of the ever-changing dynamics when it comes to other people's behavior. You might have friends from various backgrounds, but it's possible that some of them might turn against you or take a stand against your principles, position, or even your status in life for some reason. On the flip side, in weird situations, you might actually see someone who used to be your adversary come back around and become a friend. So, when it comes to animosity or enmity from others, expect the unexpected. But let's talk about your independence because it's a big deal for you. You strongly react to any constraints or limitations imposed on you, and that can ruffle some feathers among those who want to see you fit into the mold. Beneath it all, you're more humanitarian than you might appear, and you've got a mission to help others in this crazy life. When you're feeling at ease, you're inventive, independent, and rebellious. Dealing with people in a group setting can be a bit challenging for you, though. You're not really interested in reaching a wide consensus on progress or embracing new ideas. These kinds of conversations can leave you feeling a bit lonely and detached.

PISCES: The people around you may possess a sense of intrigue or duplicity, which can create animosity or work against you in secretive ways. Friendly gestures or advances might be misunderstood, and it's important for you to have psychic awareness and see beyond superficial intentions. When something appears too good to be true, it's wise to take a closer look as it could be a scam, potentially causing financial loss and affecting your self-confidence. It's crucial to avoid getting involved in anything illegal or connected to illicit drugs, as you don't want to become a scapegoat and pay the consequences. You may encounter opposition from individuals who are offended by your actions, inactions, words, or even thoughts. Most of this petty conflict can be avoided by standing up for your ideas and principles. You may come across someone who is assertive and aggressive in ways that differ from your own nature. They may appear gentle, compassionate, and sensitive when alone or at ease. It's essential for you to learn to express these qualities in public without fear. You might also have hidden adversaries who disguise themselves as close friends, making it challenging to identify their true intentions. Such acts of betrayal can disrupt your life plans, leading to sadness and a loss of vital interest.

(CC) AstroJulia Some Rights Reserved

[photogirl894]

Hey Morgan! I came across this prompt and thought it would fit well with your fics:

“How could you just abandon her like that? She needed you!”

“It was— It was complicated, okay?”

Feel free to use or not to use but I thought you could do something really cool, creative and interesting with it! Feels like a Hunter, Crosshair, or Tech thing to me but thought I'd throw it your way!

Oooh this is an interesting one! Thanks, my friend!! 💜 I'll make this a Tech one since I haven't done anything for him in a while! Let's give our favorite smart Clone some love!

"Barricade"

Pairing: Tech x fem reader

What should've been an easy, calculated explosion to seal in some gundarks behind you and Tech ended up being a huge mistake.

You thought you had made the shot precisely enough that the ceiling would only collapse between you two and the gundarks trailing you, but it did more damage than you anticipated. The whole ceiling had started to come down.

"This is not going as anticipated!" Tech called out as you ran.

You replied, "Tell me something I don't know!"

Right then, you heard a loud crack from directly above you and you could tell that the ceiling was about to give way and Tech, who had gotten ahead of you, was going to be directly impacted by the debris.

"Tech, look out!" you yelled, picking up speed and shoving him forward. Just as you did that, a section of the rocks above you came down and a heavy impact hit you on the back of your head and neck, a sharp pain shooting through you as you collapsed to the ground and everything around you went dark.

Tech, after being pushed, skidded to a halt upon hearing your cry of pain and he shouted your name, running back to you. However, the ceiling continued to cave in and he couldn't get close enough to you before it all came down, separating you two. He moved back a few feet, waving his hand through the cloud of dust that had formed and continued calling out for you. To his concern, there was no reply.

"Oh no," he said aloud with worry. While he was strong, he knew he wouldn't be able to move all of the rocks and debris on his own. He'd have to have the rest of his squad help him. In order to do that, though, he had to get out of the cave and run back to the Marauder because he knew comms would be no good. There was too much atmospheric interference on this planet.

He turned on his heel and ran back in the direction of the cave entrance, overwhelming guilt eating at him inside. He didn't know if you were alive or dead and he hated the thought of leaving you in there alone, but there was no other way. You had saved his life and he was leaving you to an uncertain fate in order to return the favor. He could only hope he could get his brothers and make it back in time.

Minutes later, he spotted light from the outside and made his way out of the cave, now booking it as fast as he could for the Marauder.

"What happened?" Hunter questioned as he saw Tech coming. "And where's (Y/N)?"

Catching his breath, Tech replied, "There was...an unforeseen cave-in. She's...trapped inside."

"And you just left her there?" Wrecker questioned.

Then Echo added, frustrated, "How could you just abandon her like that? She needed you!"

"It was--it was complicated," Tech responded. "The fallen debris separated us and I knew I could not get through the barricade alone. That and I could not comm any of you. I need your help. Her life may be in jeopardy."

"Then we need to hurry," stated Hunter, already breaking into a run.

The Clones all sprinted back to the cave and made their way back to the barricade. Wrecker suggested just blowing the cave-in up, but Hunter said that might too dangerous as the debris could further injure you. Instead, they set to work immediately moving the boulders and stones that were in the way by hand. Tech took out his datapad and did a scan of the area ahead. Your body was still lying motionless on the ground...and to his relief, his scan was still reading signs of life.

"She is alive," he stated aloud to the others.

"She won't be for long unless we get this cleared," said Echo.

A few more minutes went by as the Batch moved the stones as quickly as possible. Before long, they were able to create a big enough hole for Tech to slip through to the other side. He ran over to your unconscious body, knelt by your side and pulled you into his arms.

"All right, Wrecker, I've got her. You may blow the rest of the barricade," he called out.

Seconds later, Wrecker cried out, "Take cover!"

Tech shielded you with his body just as the small explosive went off and the rocks all went flying around him, a few small stones bouncing off his back and helmet. Once he saw the way was clear, he scooped you up carefully into his arms and rejoined his squad. Then all of them returned to their ship to get you proper medical attention.

Your eyes fluttered open, a throbbing pain in your head. Your hand reached up and felt there was a bandage wrapped around your head. The last thing you remember was shoving Tech out of the way of some falling rocks and then...

Tech!

Just as you were about to panic and wonder if he was okay, you turned your head and Tech was already seated at your bedside, his datapad naturally in his hands. However, hearing you stir, his attention was immediately on you.

"Welcome back," he said to you.

"What happened? Are you okay?" you asked him.

Tech's eyebrows rose in confusion. "You are the one with the injury and yet you ask if I am all right?" he questioned.

"Well...yeah," you answered. "I remember pushing you out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt, but then...everything's fuzzy after that. I don't know what happened and I just want to be sure you came out all right."

"I am...unharmed," he told you, still trying to figure out how you could be so concerned for his wellbeing when you were the person who had been hurt. "You should not have done that, however. You were hurt and I should have been the one to protect you," he then said.

You sat up, slightly wincing from the aches in your head. "You had gotten ahead of me, Tech. Even if you wanted to, you wouldn't have been able to stop that cave-in in time."

He released a sigh. "That is a fair point...and indeed, an oversight on my part."

"It's okay," you said. "You're okay and that's all that matters to me."

In that moment, Tech felt the sudden urge to reach up and lay his hand on your cheek, overcome with foreign emotion at seeing how caring you were regarding him. His hand came up, but then hovered hesitantly and he looked away for a moment, contemplating if that was a wise choice. Though, when his eyes returned to you, you were smiling at him and the look in your eyes was telling him it was okay for him to proceed. His gloved hand ever so gently came to your cheek and he laid his palm against your skin, caressing it softly with his thumb.

"Thank you," he said to you.

Leaning into his touch, you replied, "You're welcome, Tech. I would do it all again if I had to."

"I would advise against that," he stated back, eliciting an amused laugh from you.

More Tech fics

Bad Batch Writing Requests

[yoongisleftearring]

I never actually mean it

× in which your coworker is insufferable but not more insufferable than a mean customer

-> pairing: barista!Hyunjin x barista!reader

-> genre: fluff, angst(?), enemies to ?

-> word Count: 0.7k

-> warnings: nothing, just mean customers

-> notes: not sure if this can even be called an imagine it's so short but this was a short story I made for my creative writing class that I wrote with hj in mind (I literally called his character Sam) so i hope you enjoy :)

Golden rays of light embraced the cafe; you had always loved how peaceful it was at this time before the red sign that hung on the door was flipped, welcoming those who walked past the quiet coffee shop. You hummed quietly to yourself as you emptied the beans into the hopper, the sound filling the cafe as well as the warm aroma of the coffee.

The bell on the door rang out, interrupting the flow of beans, causing you to jump and spill a few.

“No need to panic, I’m here now,” the man sang out, his long brown hair pulled back into a half ponytail, wisps falling out to frame his face. His smile was wide, dimples showing.

You scowled.

“You’re late.”

“By like five minutes,” he scoffed, walking past the annoyed barista to get to the small staffroom snuggled behind the bar. “Loosen up,” he muttered as he slipped past. You rolled your eyes. What a dick. 

This would be a long day.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

The bar was small. Too small.

“Can you move? I need cream.” He asked but didn’t look for an answer before he pulled open the fridge door, which was inconveniently placed just below the coffee machine where you worked.

“Ever heard of manners?” Your eyes dropped down to his cream apron, which was slightly discoloured now thanks to the countless coffee stains. He managed to remember his name badge. ‘Hyunjin’ was written messily on the badge, and you wondered if customers could even make out what it said.

“No, what's that?” He smiled flippantly.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“About time you realised.”

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

The bright golden rays started to dim, and streaks of orange and pink decorated the wooden tables of the cafe as they tried their best to penetrate the white polyester blinds covering the windows' top half. Artificial light filled the places that the sun couldn’t, but they were a warm white, dim enough not to drown out the natural rays.

“That looks like shit,” he voiced unnecessarily, staring down at the swirls of white that joined together to create something that looked more like a mushroom cloud than a heart. Or maybe something else. Your cheeks burned as you looked down at the coffee, which even you could admit looked a bit shit, if not slightly phallic.

“Oh god,” you groaned. Hyunjin let out a loud laugh. You felt your cheeks burn brighter. “Maybe if you weren’t constantly staring at me like a creep, I wouldn’t shake so much.”

“I think you just need to accept that you’re no good at latte art.”

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

The sun's warm rays had cooled down, a white haze flooding in from the world outside, barely doing anything to light up the tables inside. The colour reminded you that it was almost time to go home. Tomorrow you would be back, but thank god Hyunjin had gotten the day off after grovelling to your boss the day before.

“What the fuck did you do?” A man spat, making your eyes widen, and Hyunjin glanced in your direction from where he stood, not even three feet away.

A lid sat on the floor behind the bar. He reached for the tissues that sat in a box before him, using them to wipe his sleeve.

“I’m so sorry, sir. I’ll get you a-”

“Don’t bother. You’ve done enough.”

“Is everything okay here, sir?”

“Are you the man in charge?”

He hesitates. “Yes.”

“Well, I suggest firing this fucking bitch because she’ll drive every one of your customers away!” He boomed, his face becoming dark red.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

He scoffs, spit flying from between his lips.

“Oh, I see what’s going on here.” His eyes were dark as he looked between the two baristas. “Good fucking luck with her,” he laughed spitefully before leaving the shop, the bell signalling his exit. Once you heard that chime, you turned and walked swiftly to the staffroom.

“I’m sorry, just a moment.” The waiting customer smiled politely, seemingly unbothered with the delay.

Hyunjin pushed the door open only to be met with the sight of you crouched over, sobbing.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“You know I never actually mean it, right?” Your eyes are red when you look up at him. “You’re the best damn latte artist in this mall, okay?”

[supersaiyanjedi14]

Life Day at the Ale House

For @sabezra-life-day-celebration. A late addition, but my creative juices were frozen this week. But, better late than never!

XX

Ezra pulled his jacket closer around his body as the wind picked up.  Contrary to what some would believe, growing up on the streets had not made him "used" to the winter cold, it had simply knocked into his skull that it was lousy.  Between the frigid temperature, the light dusting of snow starting to fall, and now the stronger wind that decided to start blowing, this quick supply run into town with Sabine had gradually gone from tedious to aggravating.  Though he couldn't see her face beneath the helmet (reminding him that he should really start wearing them in the winter now that he had gotten around to fixing the filters), Ezra could both tell from her posture and feel through the Force that she wasn’t faring much better. Each step she took had the remnants of a shiver to them, traveling down her arms to rattle the boxes and bags they were dragging back to the ship. 

Fortunately, not being used to the cold did not mean that experience hadn’t taught him when to pick up on limits. He called ahead to his Mandalorian companion. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Freezing.” she muttered. “The sooner we get to the speeders, the better.” 

“We’re still...” Ezra paused for a moment before checking his transmitter. What he saw made him curse under his breath. 

“What?” 

“Still eight blocks to go.” 

Sabine swung around, nearly smacking him with her merchandise. “Seriously?!” she snapped, though her clearly chattering teeth made it sound like a shriek. 

“Hey,” Ezra defended, “you were the one who insisted we keep them hidden somewhere and enter on foot.” 

“That was before we had a blizzard to walk thorugh!” 

Ezra was about to snark back with how this was tame compared to what he had seen before, but one look at the sky and the darkening clouds told him to skip it. This weather was bound to get worse in no time, and no amount of seat heating on the speeders would make them any less miserable. 

“Want to wait it out somewhere?” 

“Normally I’d want to get back to the ship quickly,” Sabine chattered, “but this time I’m inclined to agree.” 

“Alright, let’s find-” he cut himself off as his eyes caught a sign. “Ah, here!” 

“Here?” Sabine questioned as she followed his gaze. 

Millar’s Tavern, est. 3230 LY 

“Yeah,” said Ezra, “Transmitter’s more than strong enough to get through this storm. We’ll go inside, warm up, get ahold of Hera, and wait it out.” 

Sabine shrugged and followed his lead. “You know this place?” 

“Yeah, my...” Ezra stopped himself briefly before continuing. “My dad used to stop by here all the time after work.” As much as he had come to trust and rely on the Ghost crew, talking about his parents was still a touchy subject for him. Luckily, Sabine understood and didn’t press the matter. 

- 

The moment they stepped inside, it was like they had been teleported to another planet. in contrast to the bleak dullness of the cold outside, the tavern was full of light and warm color. The wooden tables and booths scattered around were all a rich varnished brown, matching with the bar at the center of the room. Lights shining behind illuminated the bottles and their contents, adding a collection of color to the setting. The room was toasty and warm, a powerful heating unit glowing in what had undoubtedly been a fireplace before the advent of modern technology. The tantalizing smell of food and drink wafted through the air like a summer breeze. Apparently, Ezra hadn’t been the only one intent on this location to escape the cold, as plenty of patrons were crammed around, the atmosphere thick loud talk and laughter. Across from the fireplace, a small band was adding cheerful folk music to the mix, some of the patrons singing along merrily. 

Sabine couldn’t help but smile at the sight. For a planet that was getting as thoroughly picked over by the Empire, the fact that this kind of revelry was still possible never failed to make her happy. Pulling off her helmet, her face was assaulted by the rush of warm air and delicious smells unrestricted by the beskar’s filters. Her momentary trance was broken when she heard alight snicker to her side. 

“What?” she asked. 

Ezra let out a lopsided grin. “Nothing,” he said. “Your cheeks were just redder than your armor for a second. Cold, much?” 

“Oh, ha ha.” Sabine groaned at her partner's antics and stepped inside, marching up to the seating booth. “Table for two.” she said to the purple-skinned Houk behind the monitor. 

“Alrighty, if you’ll just follow-” the hulking alien’s words stopped in his throat when he looked up, for the first time noticing who had stepped up. “Ezra? Little Ezra?” 

Ezra rolled his eyes as he slung his jacket over his arm. “Can you not call me that, Fogar? I’m fifteen for crying out-” 

The old man, Fogar apparently, laughed it off and came around the booth, slapping Ezra around the shoulder with an arm the size of a stabilizer. “Ah, I'm just givin’ ya grief, son! It’s been too long!” His voice was just as lively as the rest of the establishment as he steered Ezra towards a booth near the fire, Sabine following closely. “Yer certainly not that little anymore. Look at ya! More like yer old man than ever!” 

Ezra chuckled, “Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot.” 

‘Okay,’ she thought, ‘this is going good.’ She’d been half-afraid that their age would get them steered somewhere else. 

"And look! Ya even brought yourself a girlfriend here!” 

Sabine nearly tripped over a chair and dropped her helmet with an audible clank. Her face began to heat up with something that had nothing to do with the tavern’s heated air. “Whoa, whoa!” she barked, keeping her voice level despite her embarrassment. “I’m not his-” 

“Ah, sure you’re not,” Fogar replied with sarcasm so thick a lightsaber couldn’t cut it. “That’s just what his dad said when his ma first-” 

“She’s not!” Ezra cut in, himself clearly embarrassed by the older man’s implications though not as successful at hiding it. “it’s not like that. We’re just here to warm up a bit and borrow your booster to get ahold of our ship. The storm’s gonna keep us here a bit.” 

Fogar laughed heartily. “Alright, boy. No need to get embarrassed.” He gestured to a small room cut into the wall. “Comm station’s over there. I’ll tell Mill yer here and get ya the access code. In the meantime, I’ll get ya kids something to bite. It’s on the house.” 

“Oh, no,” Ezra cut in, “You don’t have-” 

“C’mon, ya know Mill won’t force anything out of ya. ‘Sides, Life Day only comes once a year, right?” 

Sabine’s eyes widened a bit as she looked around. She hadn’t even noticed it before, and they’d been so busy as of late that she hadn’t been focusing on the calendar. Sure enough, lights were strung up along the bar and great wreaths of Lothal holly were hung up along the walls. Now paying attention to the band playing off to the side, she now recognized the distinct holiday tunes they were performing. Curiously, she checked her crono. Sure enough, it was only a week from Life Day. 

“Yeah,” she breathed, “I guess it does.” 

- 

“At least the two of you are out of the weather.” Hera said with a look of relief. Millar’s transmitter may not have been anything to write home about by Imperial standards, but it was more than powerful enough to cut through the blizzard that had descended. Hera and Kanan’s images barely even flickered despite the sheering winds and snow outside. 

“I just hope the speeders aren’t damaged.” Ezra groaned as he took a sip of steaming hot cider. “I still remember last time...” 

“Forget about it,” Kanan interrupted. “Anyone would be fool to go out in this. The two of you just stay put for now. If this doesn't blow over within the hour, we’ll come and get you. Use your emergency beacon if anything happens before then.” 

“Got it. Spectre 6 out.” 

Killing the transmission, Ezra reclaimed his mug and returned to the booth. Sabine was thoughtfully chewing on a breaded rycrit strip that Fogar had brought out while tapping her foot to the music. Her musings came to an end when the young Jedi took his seat. 

“Well?” 

“They told us to stay put,” he replied, his fingers spearing a rycrit strip for himself. “They’ll come and get us if this dosen’t blow over in an hour.” 

“Eh, not that I’m complaining,” Sbaine smiled to the festive air around them. “I could get used to this.” Ezra smiled himself and watched as the patrons continued to eat, drink, sing and laugh. “To think we almost forgot all about Life Day.” 

Ezra deflated a bit as the words hit him. “Yeah, I guess.” 

Sabine turned to him, her smile faltering as she noticed his change in attitude. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Ezra sighed. “Well, Life Day’s supposed to be about everyone being together, right? Ever since my parents disappeared, I’ve been on my own. Not really much point in celebrating alone, right?” Ezra wasn’t looking for sympathy points or anything, he was just stating facts. Still, Sabine’s sad look at the remark did make him feel a little guilty for being a downer. 

“Well, you’re not alone now, right?” Sabine scooted over toward him. “You’ve got us now.” 

A smile returned to Ezra’s face. “Yeah, I guess I-” 

“ALRIGHT, PEOPLE!” A loud voice startled the pair as they looked towards the bar. Millar himself, a large middle-aged human with a scruffy gray beard, and come to the forefront, a mug held high in his hand. “Here’s one for all here! Join on in, I promise we won’t throw you out even if it’s bad!” 

“Even if the glass breaks?” 

Laughter filled the room at the remark, including the propriator, his laugh full and boisterous. “That be the one exception, but everything else goes!” He turned to the band. “Hit it, boys!” 

With that, the band began an upbeat tune that reverberated through the building. The patrons began to rise from their seats and stamp their feet to the music. Ezra and Sabine looked at each other, unsure of whether to join in, when Millar began to sing. 

“It's Life Day at the ale house, And the atmosphere is cheery. 

Holly boughs and candles Brighten up the dark and dreary. 

 We sit and crack with glass in hand And celebrate the season. 

We drink to health and happiness, Or any other reason.” 

Millar raised his mug high up, prompting the rest of the establishment to join in. 

“So here's to the company, 

And here's to you and me! 

Oh, merry is the season, boys, 

And merry we will be!” 

 Suddenly, the whole establishment was up on their feet, singing along and stamping their feet in tune with the music. Ezra let out a small laugh at the turn of events, turning to see Sabine had an identical expression on her face. Before either could comment, Fogar, with all his Houk bulk, barreled through the room, continuing to sing as he called out various people in the crowd. 

“There's doctors and there's farmers, There's teachers and there's tailors, 

There's lawyers and there's carpenters, There's soldiers and there's jailers! 

 We join with one another there In revelry and folly. 

The Life Day spirit's high For we shun all melancholy!” 

 “So here's to the company, 

And here's to you and me! 

Oh, merry is the season, boys, 

And merry we will be!” 

 Without even realizing it, Ezra had found himself singing along with the verse, stomping his glass on the table and tapping his feet. He couldn’t help himself, it was infectious. 

“All the fiddlers and the pipers, They've got the rafters ringing, 

With jigs and reels to make you dance And carols for the singing! 

 Goodwill and friendship does abound, There's love and praise aplenty. 

Especially for the one who buys When the glass is empty!” 

 This time, when the bar erupted in chorus, the Loth-rat padawan was right up with them. 

“So here's to the company, 

And here's to you and me! 

Oh, merry is the season, boys, 

And merry we will be, ooh!” 

Above all the noise, Ezra heard a more distinct laugh behind him. Turning, he saw Sabine trying to hold in her giggles as she pushed her drink aside. 

“What?” he asked, a mix of offense and teasing in his voice. 

Sabine just laughed again. “You were all grumpy a second ago, and now you’re up on your feet with this ruckus.” 

“I was not grumpy!” 

“You so were!” 

“Alright, miss Mandalore,” Ezra challenged, “let’s see you do better!” 

Sabine’s face slackened a bit, “Me?” se questioned. “I’m not sure...” 

“C’mon!” 

“But-” 

“C’mon!” 

“Ezra!” 

Despite her protests, Sabine was smiling when Ezra pulled her to her feet, joining in with the excitement as Millar and Fogar began the next verse. 

“Oh well, the landlord said ‘drink up now, For the evening's almost over. 

The night is cold and deep with snow, But the moon will guide the rover. 

 Put on your coats and head for home, And come back when you're able.’ 

Says, "I will not be leaving While there's drink upon the table!"” 

 “So here's to the company, 

And here's to you and me! 

Oh, merry is the season, boys, 

And merry we will be!” 

By now the tavern had erupted into full swing. No longer content with bouncing in place, some were beginning to pair up and dance around the room. Despite himself, Ezra couldn’t help but hoot and holler along with the others as certain couples began to move around, a particularly humorous pairing of an Ithorian and Aqualish catching their attention. Sabine’s own laughter brough him back to her, reminding him of something that had surprised him. Sabine turned out to have a wonderful singing voice. Granted, the bar was kind of low given they were singing in time with a drinking song at a backwater tavern, but he was certain it would have stood out anywhere else. 

Ezra cracked a smile. “Some party, huh?” 

Sabine merely smirked. “Hey, good food, good music, good company. What’s not to like?” 

Ezra chuckled in reply. “I guess there are worse Life Days.” He turned to her questioningly. “THey do anything like this on Mandalore?” 

“Well, we kind of- AH!” 

Before Sabine could answer, a dancing patron bumped her forward- right into Ezra’s arms. Suddenly, the two teenagers found themselves embraced in the middle of an impromptu dance floor. For a moment, Ezra’s face warmed considerably, and Sabine’s expression was telling him just as much was coming from her. The next moment, before either could respond, another swing of dancers came flying in, forcing the pair to move together to avoid being run over. And yet another moment later, they found themselves not only moving away from incoming patrons, but in time with the music. 

‘Am I...am I dancing with Sabine?’ 

Ezra and Sabine didn’t have time to piece together what was happening next, since the song returned in full force. 

“Now the landlord is a fine man, We've come to that conclusion. 

But his old wife, she threw us out And put an end to boozin'.” 

The laughter to the line shook all distracting thoughts from Ezra’s mind, and when he looked at Sabine again, she was shaking off her own laugh and smiling herself. 

“So fare thee well my comrades, All these parting bring such sorrow. 

Well, I count each lonely hour 'Til we meet again tomorrow!” 

 With that, the bar erupted in song again, and Ezra and Sabine were under no illusions about anything. Be it their singing or their dancing. 

“So here's to the company 

And here's to you and me! 

Oh, merry is the season, boys 

And merry we will be!” 

 “So here's to the company 

And here's to you and me! 

Oh, merry is the season, boys 

And merry we will be!” 

With that, the song came to an end, and the tavern erupted in cheers. Tankards were raised, dance partners were hoisted into the air, credit chips were tossed into the hat at the band’s feet. 

And Ezra and Sabine? They were too busy coming down from the sudden high, catching their breath, and laughing at the holiday revelry they had enjoyed. 

- 

As luck would have it, the storm broke soon afterwards. Despite Fogar’s insistence on covering their refreshments, Ezra and Sabine paid and left a generous tip before taking their leave. The snow had fallen considerably in the short hour, but the speeders were still functional enough to get them back to the Ghost without any trouble. Once Kanan and Hera were done fussing over them, the two were quick to make their way to the refresher and their warm bunks. 

“Not that tonight wasn’t fun,” Sabine mused, “but I’m happy to call it a night.” 

Ezra scoffed. “No kidding. Plus, I doubt Zeb’s singing will be anywhere as good.” 

Sabine let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, you have no idea! This one time he tried it and we swore something died around here.” 

“You don’t say?” 

Before Sabine could continue the story, a series of warbles caught her ear. Turning around, a familiar ramshackle orange astromech rolled towards them, his binary holding a questioning tone. 

“Nothing happened, Chopper. Ezra and I just had to wait out the storm.” 

A low, sarcastic beep was the droid’s response. 

“What do you mean, ‘sure you were’?” Ezra retorted. “What’s that supposed-” 

Without warning, something shot out from Chopper’s dome and affixed itself to the ceiling. Momentarily taken aback, Sabine’s hand reached for her blaster, only to turn her attention to whatever Chopper had shot out. A small bundle of leaves with tiny white berries was hanging above her and Ezra’s heads. Her eyes narrowed, then her cheeks started to warm. “Are those...Viscum shrub leaves?” 

“Yeah,” Ezra said hesitantly, “and we’re...under...” His face took on a glare as he whipped around towards Chopper. The droid laughing enthusiastically at his little prank before rolling away. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Ezra called out. “Where do you think you’re going?!” His words were angry and accusatory, but his tone was laced with flusterment, just as much as Sabine herself was feeling. Chopper kept snickering at Ezra’s expense. “Why, you lousy little rust bucket! You can’t just shoot viscum into the ceiling on top of someone! What if they don’t want-” he broke off, turning back to Sabine as he kept stammering, “I mean, not that you don’t want to, but you don’t have to! I’d never make someone-” 

Ezra’s ramble went unfinished. His whole voice died for a moment as a pair of lips pressed themselves into his cheek. Sabine only gave a warm smile before turning back to her room. 

“Happy Life Day, Ezra Bridger.” 

XX

Song I used. It ain't Christmas without the Irish Rovers!

[beauleifu]

HELLO GOOD MORNING 👁〰️👁 HOW ARE YOU?? I literally just woke up HEHDHS MERRY HOLIDAYS FREN

Let’s hope that my request is readable since my brain be mushed💦 Could we get a S/O who’s very flirty and tries to win Mayor’s heart during a mission while he acts oblivious at their attempts to swoon him, he finds them charming for what they do c:

YES CHIMEMORI THIS ASK IS BRILLIANT

oml i never thought i'd be into an idea more, guys guys this was so much fun to write, like PRETENDING TO BE A COUPLE SHIT, anyways, hope you enjoy! Sorry if it's late lmao, hardest part was figuring out what the mission should entail <3 :))

p.s. dont come for me, this is purely fictional and even though I did a tiny bit of research, i know little of dishes served in fancy Chinese restaurants and even less about their signature architecture style, i'm just going off my imagination

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAYOR X READER

Lego Monkie Kid

Context: You're in love. The problem? You're terrible at it. To make matters worse, the charmer you've fallen for is oblivious to your flirtatious antics (or is he??). Thankfully, all's well that ends well especially when Lady Bone Demon assigns you two together, on a mission. Matchmakers really do play dirty.

CW: None, Mayor doesn't even tolerate foul language (you learned the hard way)

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

"Go."

Those were the last words Lady Bone Demon said to both you and her henchman before vanishing in a cloud of blue smoke.

It never bothered you, the missions she'd send you on.

You're working for her; it's not like you can complain about something you signed up for. Externally, you follow orders to a T, because if you're not useful then she'll be rid of you. And that is simply not an option, because if you're not at her side then you're not at his.

The Mayor.

The idiot who wormed his way into your cold heart of fire and ice.

And you don't even know his real name.

You've resorted to nicknames, to which he doesn't mind (you'll get extra creative behind doors, alone), but you're really dying to know his birthname. Perhaps with a bit more time, he'll open up.

Right now, you're standing in the mirror, as you have been for the past two minutes. Just staring. Nothing wrong with that.

Unless you were making sure you look perfect for . . . someone.

That's hypothetical, of course.

An idiot in denial looks back at you in the reflection, nervous and tense with anticipation of what's to come.

With a huff, you will yourself not to screw this one up and grasp the doorknob to your bedroom. Your spacious, beautiful bedroom, carved from stone and bone and ice long, long ago. The Mayor had given you a tour of the place once, having been eager to relay to you the wonderful history of this underground fortress. A buried landscape of beauty.

Oh dear, you're getting sidetracked.

Focus, (Y/N).

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

"Soooo. I guess Lady Bone Demon put us together, huh? Wonder what she's got in store for us."

Well, that was an awkward start.

Lucky for you, it's dark outside and the lack of light is sufficient enough to hide the embarrassment clear on your face. Your partner keeps on strolling down the abandoned alleyway, hands folded neatly behind his back and that familiar, lazy smile on his face.

"Did she not enclose the details to you?" The Mayor asks, turning to you.

Shrugging, you vault over a few storage crates. "Not really."

As you slow to a walk beside him, the two of you round the corner into a more open sidewalk, exhibiting a nice view of the Megapolis Bank.

Briefly, you hypothesize that this is your destination, when the Mayor clears his throat, a sure sign he's about to elaborate.

"My Lady needs another soul to absorb, and conveniently for us, there lies within Megapolis a demon powerful enough to sustain her for the time being," the Mayor hums, blank white eyes flicking to the sky. He's always on constant alert, and yet he always seems so relaxed and chipper. "We are to retrieve the asset and deliver him for proper sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

He flashes you a wry smile. "He is an energy source, my dear. Otherwise, my mistress will surely fail to fulfill her destiny, being as weak as she is."

A frown lights your features. Lady Bone Demon doesn't look weak.

You chalk it up to demons being superb at hiding their true selves. Half the time you can't even dissect the Mayor's intentions, even if it's a simple trip to the men's room and he'd told you he'd be unavailable for a few minutes.

In the end, you smile. "As long as there's a reward for delivering an innocent person to her."

"Reward?" The Mayor repeats, blinking. "That being fulfilling our destiny; to serve her. Were you hoping for something else?"

Oh, there's no reward.

You stare incredulously at your partner, about to backtrack, when he suddenly chuckles in amusement. Your eyes widen (see? See? The Mayor is incredibly hard to read), jaw slackening as you realize.

"You're joking. There is a reward!"

"Perhaps! Would you consider the next few days off prize enough?"

You're grinning, now, tailing alongside the Mayor like a joyful puppy. His eyes are twinkling at your antics. "A few days?? Are you kidding? That goes way beyond my expectations."

It's true. Lady Bone Demon hardly ever rewards you for completing your missions. The most time she's given you off is eight hours, and even then you'd treated those moments like gold, savoring it up until you were summoned once more.

This missions suddenly feels extremely important.

Maybe that's why LBD offered this specific reward; to entice you to go against your morals. Then again, where were your morals when you served someone like her?

"I see you're properly motivated," the Mayor says, eyes fixed on you.

You wink, attempting a flirt. "This'll be a piece of cake. And hey, maybe we can spend our days off together."

He pauses, seeming to actually consider this.

"I wouldn't refuse a game of chess."

"No, I meant- oh, nevermind," you say with a little, awkward laugh. Sighing wistfully, you clear your throat and glance sideways. "So! Are we almost there? Where are we going, anyways? The bank?"

The Mayor falls quiet as the two of you pass a few strangers. "A restaurant," the Mayor answers, when the people turn a corner. He flexes his fingers. "The demon is the owner. An intelligent move on his part, for there is no risk of encountering people like us. Unless, of course, we booked reservations for first-class service."

He's smiling mysteriously, now. You could almost call it mischievous.

You're getting near it now. The details of this mission.

"This must be a very fancy restaurant, then."

"The finest in the city," the Mayor agrees, turning a corner. Then, he stops all together, enticing you to halt as well. "We must dress and act the part if we are to get close to the target. Be polite, don't refuse the wine selection."

You nod, mentally prepping yourself for the mission. Then, your eyes trail up, realizing exactly why your partner had stopped.

The restaurant is huge, glittering, and loud.

Five, gold stars are positioned just beneath the restaurant's trademark name, The Dragon Dynasty. A thick trail of people waiting in line flow out of the building and to the left, vanishing down the sidewalk. A similar line stretching to the right is much smaller, but greeted at the door by two hulking men dressed in tight black suits, wearing sunglasses and deep frowns. The token bodyguards you'd see in everyday action movies.

The breath is stolen from you. Slowly, you glance down at your own attire, feeling suddenly very underdressed and very stupid.

"We can't go in there. Not like this!" You gasp.

Your partner smiles knowingly. "My lady is completely prepared for this, my dear. She was the sole one responsible for booking reservations months in advance, you know."

"I know that. But it's not like she can magically manifest a-"

You cut yourself off.

For some reason, your skin begins to tingle. Eyes wide with shock and awe, you glance down at the Mayor's own attire, watching it shift and transform into something more fit for the occasion. A lovely, handsome black tuxedo with a long tail and a white bow. His undershirt ghosted from light blue to white in mere moments, the black sleeves of his tux slipping upwards to reveal white cuffs.

Your own attire has endured a similar transformation, something that hugs your body flawlessly and washes away any insecurities you'd been nursing regarding the mission.

Fingertips tentatively travel along your new outfit. "Oh my stars."

"How elegant," the Mayor says, slippery-smooth, his white eyes suddenly like a hawk. "My lady has astute taste in fashion."

Your cheeks are on fire, but you manage a smile.

"You as well. Very debonair."

The outfits feel like they're meant for each-other, even somewhat bone-themed to better represent your mistress. Your companion gives you one last once-over before continuing down the sidewalk.

"Shall we?"

Biting your lip, you sidle up next to him, unable to help glancing over his outfit a few times.

"That outfit really brings out your smile, y'know."

He hums a laugh. "Very corny, my dear. I'm sure you'll reap great success if you attempt something similar in front of our target."

You're frowning, now. Try again. "Uh . . . How about, um . . . If I had a flower for every time you made me smile, I'd be walking in my garden forever," you say seriously, daring to look at him.

That line.

It was meant for him. Of course, it's hidden under the assumption it's meant for someone else.

The Mayor's eyebrows lift. "You have yet to meat the target, though."

"Oh. Oh, right. I mean, hypothetically. I dunno. Maybe it would work on someone I've known for awhile? Someone I work with?" You babble, heart rate spiking as you near the restaurant. Which line will you wait in? How are you ever going to get close to the manager? Why does your face feel on fire?

His smile is relaxed once more. "I suppose."

You swallow. Try again?

Lips part to formulate the words for another pick-up line, but the Mayor glance down at you, beating you to it.

"Oh, one final detail I forgot to disclose. My lady made reservations for the two of us as, dare I say, a couple. First class is not often given to single individuals, families, or mere companions."

Ah.

Your heart skips a beat. "A couple?"

"Don't worry, it's a temporary act in order to get close to the manager. We might as well get the full experience," he returns, eyes twinkling. "Won't this be fun?"

Throat running quite dry, you nod. "With you? I can't imagine it being too awful."

He chuckles again, but there's no more time for words.

You've made it to the front.

The bodyguards stare down at you for a moment before moving to the side to reveal a small, well-dressed woman drowning in make-up, who stands and approaches the two of you with a dull frown. She's seen this before. Been doing this all night, and probably wants to go home desperately.

"Last name?" The lady says boredly.

You feel the Mayor's arm slide through yours, linking the both of you together. "Bone," he says smoothly.

Bone.

How fitting.

You decide it's better than using a last name from Lady Bone Demon's time, considering she's ancient and has lived long past hundreds of family names. 'Bone' is even in her title. Fitting, indeed.

The woman shifts through her clipboard, eyes narrowing. You hold your breath.

"Mr. and Mx. Bone. You got a meeting with the boss?"

"Correct," the Mayor says.

The lady nods. "Through here, then."

She sidesteps, gesturing through the large golden doors, opening one of them to let the two of you pass. Ignoring the glares and mutters of the people in line, the two of you enter the building, leaving behind the cold outdoors and entering an entirely different world.

It's amazing.

You can't describe it. Not the plants you've never seen before in the corners, not the dazzling chandelier overseeing the luxurious dining tables and bars, the glittering diamonds reflecting off the wine bottles sitting by the hundreds on the wine racks. They stretch up to the ceiling, where Chinese history paints the sky with beautiful colors and people. A band in the corner plays smooth café music, the sound distant yet nostalgic for you. And there's people. So many people, despite how hard it is to get a reservation here. They crowd the place, making it difficult to navigate to first class.

The Mayor gives your arm a gentle squeeze. "Should I be afraid you might fall unconscious?"

"No. Are you trying to seduce me?"

"No," he hums, leading you up the wide, elegant, bifurcated staircase. Your free hand trails along the polished, wooden handrail, wishing your eyes were wider so you could see absolutely everything.

"Well, it's working," you whisper, half to yourself.

Pretend to be a couple. Wear expensive clothes probably worth more than your life. Eat at the fanciest restaurant in the city.

You feel like maybe you should read between the lines.

But all of the sudden, you're too busy reading the menu, eyes wide at the expansive selection.

So. Much. Food.

Your stomach growls in anticipation.

"Do we even have the money for this?" You wonder, breathless.

The Mayor's eyes rove over his own menu before placing it down and lacing his fingers together underneath his chin. Locking eyes with you, he cocks a brow. "Need I remind you my Lady has been planning this for months? She is-"

"Completely prepared, I know," you mumble, ducking behind the menu.

Glaring at the beautifully decorated dinner table, you bite your lip and think. Tonight might be your once chance to woo the Mayor. Is it crazy, though, to try it here? Now?

Heart racing, you lower the menu.

"I've never been on a date with a demon, before."

The Mayor had been observing the portraits lining the walls, but now his white eyes are on you. "A date?"

"Don't worry, this won't send my expectations through the roof," you continue, wearing a casual smile yet you're nervous to the bone. Hiding shaking hands under the sleek tablecloth, you try for a small smile. "Spending time with you meets all of them."

Fingers crossed, you hope this works.

The Mayor nods, eyes trailing to inspect your outfit. "We do what's necessary to fulfill our mistress's desires, I suppose."

No.

NO.

You'd failed! He's too oblivious!

Wishing you could throw hands and let out an exasperated yell, you take a deep, controlled breath. You can still make this WORK. "I mean, it's not everyday I get to spend time with my favorite person."

"Hmm." The Mayor's eyes rove over your features, thoughtful yet cheery at the same time. He suddenly chuckles. "You must be hungry, my dear! We mustn't pick favorites when it comes to food, but I daresay I have yet to turn down a dish of roasted duck. Shall we order while the night is still young?"

God damnit.

This is going to be harder than you thought.

You force a smile. "Uh-huh. Yup. I'll have (dinner dish)."

The two of you make your orders when the waitress walks by, and it still sends tingles down your spine when she addresses you both under the same last name.

When she walks off, you're inclined to notice the other couples sitting at the other tables.

Eyes darting south, you inspect a specific pair.

Their holding hands.

Head snapping up, you lift your hands onto your own table and make a motion for the Mayor to do the same. He eyes you curiously, and you shrug. "The other couples are doing it. We might as well, to look the part. Just for a bit."

"I suppose, if you're sincerely nervous about getting caught," he hums.

In one swift movement, he takes your hands in his.

They're cold.

And yet, it sends a thrill of warmth through your entire body, and you fight hard to suppress a smile. Here you were, trying to flirt with him, and yet getting destroyed by your own plans. Oh, gosh.

He seems to detect the tremble in your fingers. "Eager to get this over with?" He guesses, eyes seeing right through you.

You shake your head quickly. "Nuh-uh. This is amazing."

"You did mention your outfit likely costs more than your life," he murmurs, eyes twinkling with the fact that he doesn't believe this claim. "I advise you try and make the most of it."

"Ha ha. Your hands are cold."

"You don't like it?"

He seems ready to let go, so you give him a squeeze before removing one to pat the top of his hand. "I do like it. Your hands are the best. Big cold grabbers that snatched my soul from my chest the moment I saw you."

"Ha! It's a wonder you're still alive." He flashes you his signature unhinged smile.

Then, woe is you, he lets you go. You're cursing your rotten luck as he leans back in his vanilla soft chair. "You must be wondering how we are to set our plan in motion?"

"A bit, yeah," you say faintly. Really, you're wondering what other ways you can get the Mayor to notice your flirtatious attempts.

"You see, first class seating not only secures us an exquisite meal, but also a chance to discuss business plans with the manager. My Lady was willing to pay an entire chest of coins to set up a private meeting with our target!" The Mayor says, clasping his hands together with a dark look in his eyes. "Isn't that wonderful!"

You bite your lip. "So what are we doing waiting here, then?"

"As you will soon find out, the asset is protected by a constant flow of bodyguards, those of which I trust you to subdue in due time. For now, we have five minutes until the show begins." A glance at his watch, wisps of blue flowing from the metal. Then, eyes full of excitement, he cracks a sincere smile. "I eagerly await your performance, my dear."

Wait a second.

You ball your hands in your fists. "You want me to subdue the bodyguards? Shouldn't I be enticing the target?"

"While it's true that the target prefers either man or woman, I shall do the talking. He has an intricate way of discussing matters that quite irks my Lady, and will no doubt touch a sore spot with you."

"Pfft. You're the only sore spot I have," you say, smiling.

He returns it tenfold as two bodyguards ascend the staircase and station themselves at either side of the eating area. Then, the target himself makes his presence clear. He's a quite large fellow, with spiraling horns and razor sharp claws. Yet his eyes are intelligent and darting everywhere in search of danger.

You catch the Mayor's quick side glance; orders to carry out the mission.

If you leave, the demon is sure to send one of his guards to keep an eye on you. When you two are alone, you are to properly subdue the guard and make the owner suspicious enough to send his other guard for a quick investigation. Bam.

Sure, the bodyguards could crush you, but you'd rather them than a literal demon with claws and fangs.

So you slide off your chair, giving the manager a dashing smile before trailing your fingertips up the Mayor's arm, stopping at his shoulder and squeezing lightly.

"A kiss before I go, darling? I'll only be five minutes."

The Mayor blinks, white eyes wide.

He collects himself quickly, however, and tilts his head just an inch to the side, giving you permission.

You smile, giving his cheek a light peck. You'd go for the real deal, but you sort of want to be a tease right now. It's working, as you catch the Mayor's distracted glance as you head off to who knows where. The bar, maybe. Everyone's left there.

You stop at the doors, straining yourself to hear the conversation at the top level. Unfortunately, you'd picked a place far out of ear reach.

"Fear not, my loyal pawn . . ."

You stiffen, eyes darting down to your outfit.

Someone had spoken.

From the fabric.

A light, female laugh reaches your ears. "It's your mistress, (Y/N). I am here to assist you in your mission."

Eyes wide and staring at your clothes, you clear your throat and cock your head, hesitation writhing inside of you. "Uh . . . hi. This won't, um, subtract any days off from my break, right?"

"No, don't worry. Now . . ."

A pocket watch materializes on your hip.

You pick it up, admiring the soft bone shell that encompasses the watch, flipping it open to see the interior. But alas, it's not a watch.

It's some sort of spying mechanism.

"Use this to observe and listen to your partner's conversation," LBD whispers in your ear. "It will vanish after tonight."

You nod wordlessly, knowing better than to offer a smart reply or crack a joke. If it were the Mayor, you'd for sure pull something silly, but this is your boss.

Swallowing nervously as LBD's presence fades, you peer at the watch/spyglass, eyes narrowing curiously. Forget about LBD manifesting in your clothes (she did create them, you suppose), the Mayor was currently hosting a false discussion with the manager regarding a potential trade in goods. His tone and demeanor is strangely unhinged when you're not around, intimidating yet cheery, his movements also loud and boisterous. You wonder if it's all an act.

The stuff they discuss just goes in one ear and out the other.

That is, until the manager sends one of his guards down to check on you. The five minute mark.

You're late.

Smiling wickedly, you pocket the watch and recede into the shadows. Time to put your skills to use, yessir.

Of course, you do. Flawlessly.

The bodyguard stood no chance. He has zero warning as you launched yourself onto him, hooking your legs around his neck and bringing him crashing to the floor. Luckily, no was is around to witness the attack, giving you plenty of time to overpower the man with a few quick jabs - and he falls still.

Then, you drag his body into the nearest men's room, grunting with effort.

You do (and can't help but) pause at the many artworks lining the walls, and the beautiful designs that cover the restroom sinks. If only this were a real date, you think wistfully.

Once the man is properly hidden, you take out the watch again.

"Didn't your partner say they'd only be five minutes? It's been twenty," the manager is saying.

"Are you changing the subject, perhaps?"

"No! I'm suspicious."

"Whatever reason to be suspicious, my good man! I'm sure they haven't gotten themself into any trouble. We have wine to enjoy!"

That's your Mayor. Crazy and theatrical as ever.

"Nonetheless." The manager snaps his fingers, grabbing the last bodyguard's attention. In a silent movement, he instructs the hulking man to follow you, sealing his fate.

You listen for a few more moments, biting your lip as you watch the manager play right into the Mayor's hands.

Either from intimidation or something else.

God, he's good.

You're too busy admiring your comrade to notice the danger.

Too late, you hear the restroom door swing open, and suddenly there stands a tall, imposing figure in the doorway. Your escape route is blocked. The bodyguard spares one glance at you, and the occupied bathroom stall next to you, and correctly assumes the worst.

You whip to your feet, stuffing the watch in your pocket where you feel it dissipate into the clothes.

"Uh-" You start, offering a show of hands. "Nice bathroom, huh?"

The bodyguard shuts the door and locks it.

Damnit.

You roll your shoulders, feeling regret at the prospect of damaging your outfit. Keeping your cool, you meet the guy's cold gaze behind his dark sunglasses. "I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it with me."

Silence.

"Good. 'Cause you'll soon be talking about how you got the best sleep of your life-"

You lunge, teeth bared.

The bodyguard is well prepared, though.

One quick movement of his arm is all it takes to stop your plans all together and send to crashing to the floor, wheezing and clutching your stomach.

He stalks towards you, footsteps loud on the chalk white, polished floor.

You wince as his hand raises to crush you, when-

When his eyes glaze over.

Mouth open in a silent, shocked scream, he convulses on the spot, crumbling to the floor in a mess of noiseless gasps and gags. His skin turns sallow and grey, the life draining from his eyes.

You look up.

The Mayor stands over the bodyguard's lifeless body, eyes glowing.

They dim down a bit when they lock with yours, but that unhinged smile never leaves. "What a coincidence to see you, my dear! I see you're having trouble with your part of the mission."

"Thank you," you gasp, scrambling to your feet. "I tried to seduce him with the architecture here- quite pretty, might I say - but he wasn't having it. You wanna take his place?"

"I'd be delighted," he hums cheerily, holding out a hand. "But I do believe we are short on time."

"Right, right. Did you just suck out his soul, by the way?"

As you take his arm and he draws you close, the both of you oblivious to the chaos outside the beautiful restaurant, the Mayor has the dignity to roll his eyes fondly. "I doubt that concerns you, darling, but I suppose it's fruitless to offer a different explanation."

"I think it was so hot," you flirt, grinning stupidly.

He merely blinks, pulling you closer. A word of preparation in your ear and he teleports the both of you to your dinner table, above the madness taking place below.

The manager looks furious.

"There you are! One minute we were just about to sign the papers and the next, you vanish!"

The Mayor simply smiles smugly. "Apologies! I was simply protecting my comrade from danger! I'm sure you understand."

The target's eyes dart from you to the menacing bone demon at your side. Realization crosses his uneasy face. "Where are my guards?" He wonders briefly, glancing down the balcony.

At that moment, the Mayor makes his move.

He locks eyes with you. "Close your eyes, my darling. We'll be leaving, now."

You obey without thought, squeezing your eyes shut.

The world spins out of focus and you feel your feet swept out from under you, but the Mayor keeps a firm hold of you. Even when your feet once again meet solid ground, he won't relinquish his hold, if but a mere relaxation of his grip.

You crack an eye open.

"Well done."

Both eyes flick wide to take in your surroundings. You're back in LBD's underground fortress, the chaos of The Dragon Dynasty but a mere ghost of what it was.

At your side; the Mayor, dressed in his usual attire. Fancy suit gone.

At your feet; the manager, tied up and gagged.

Asleep, mercifully.

Your own beautiful attire has been reduced to what it was before, all traces of LBD's magic gone. Part of you misses feeling so wonderfully luxurious, but you're really just happy to be alive and back home.

Lady Bone Demon herself slowly descends the stone steps, her stony gaze bordering on approval. Crouching, she inspects the demon at her feet. "Excellent," she hisses.

Sharp, cold eyes flick upwards. "You may go."

The Mayor gives a short bow, still smiling, still with his arm around your waist.

It shifts to hook around your arm, gently yet firmly tugging you away. "Enjoy, my Lady."

You remain silent, something you'd learned was appreciated here. Only when the towering doors to LBD's chambers close do you turn to the Mayor with a goofy smile on your face.

"That was awesome!"

He allows himself to relax, smile more casual. "Agreed."

"Let's not do that ever again."

"Never?"

You laugh, feeling light as air as you travel down the large, imposing hallway, adorned with countless side doors and flaring blue torches. You've gotten used to the bones in every corner, with furry rodents scattering into eyes of skulls and through cracks in the walls.

When you calm down, the Mayor stops and leans down, murmuring right in your ear. "You know, I'd like to have that kiss back now."

Your heart jumps.

Eyes wide, you stare up at him, noses inches apart.

"I-I thought you didn't notice . . ."

"You thought I was oblivious?" A softer smile lights his features, white eyes boring into yours. A deep chuckle vibrates in his throat. "Oh, sweet thing. I thought you were adorable tonight."

Cheeks heating up, you swallow dryly. "T-Thanks. I, um . . . thought you were pretty-"

The last part of your sentence is cut off rather sharply.

The Mayor closes the distance between your lips in one swift movement, one hand sliding behind your head to gently coax you forward.

His lips are cold.

Yet so, very soft. You close your eyes, tilting your head ever so slightly. He can surely feel your small smile by now.

After a moment, he leans back, only to kiss your forehead tenderly.

You bite your lip, trying to calm your heart.

"I eagerly await the next few days," the Mayor mumbles, white eyes half-lidded as they fix on you, inspecting your features fondly. The hand behind your head goes to brush your cheek, touch feather-light. "We don't have to play chess."

God, you love him.

Struggling against a laugh, you meet his warm gaze. "You'd better hope not."

[blueink01]

Ch. 1: The Hazbin Hotel

Unknown Amount of Time After Arriving in Hell-

The chapter starts with a voiceover of The Princess of Hell, Charlie singing:

"~At the end of the rainbow, there's happiness.~" A human is falling down from the sky as a rainbow bursts upwards through the clouds.

"~And to find it, how often I've tried.~" Charlie is seen being told off by her father.

"~But, my life, is a race. Just a wild goose chase.~" Camera pans over to where a figure was pointing at, which shows hell being circled by Angels

"~And my dreams, have all been denied. Why have I always been a failure?~" A shadow of Lucifer looms over a disappointed Charlie as demonic arms and tentacles cover the screen

"~What can the reason be? I wonder if the world's to blame.~" The Earth rotates as many eyes begin to surround it.

"~I wonder if it could be me.~" The Exorcists are seen smiling deviously as they look down upon the souls they have gotten rid of. The scene turns to black as the camera focuses on the middle Exorcist's face and halo.

"~I'm always chasing rainbows. Watching clouds drifting by.~" The scene fades in on graffiti and signs that says "F**k You, Heaven", "Punishment" and "Your Days Are Numbered" can be seen throughout Hell.

"~My schemes are just like all my dreams. Ending in the sky.~" Charlie heads towards a buildings's balcony as she releases fireworks that signals the rest of Hell that the extermination has ended.

"~Some fellows look and find the sunshine.~" A handful of demons are seen checking the area to see if the coast is all clear.

"~I always look and find the rain.~" An Overlord opens the blinds to her room, revealing the display of fireworks. The camera then proceeds to show a four-eyed Overlord with Yn sat on his lap lovingly.

"~Some fellows make a winning sometime.~" At The Porn Studios, Velvette takes a selfie with Vox wheres Valentino is not amused when he sees that hes got a text from his employee.

"~I never even make a gain. Believe me.~" Two demons check to see if Franklin is still alive and proceed to head offscreen as the cannibals waiting nearby pounce onto her dead body. Rosie then crosses out Franklin's name from the sign above their business.

"~I'm always chasing rainbows.~" A demon can be seen cleaning up what's been left of the extermination as other demons begin to freely walk about in the open.

"~*in tears* & Waiting to find a little bluebird. In vain.~" Charlie looks back at the clock tower as it resets the timer for the next yearly cleanse.

-Time Skip-

A sinner has fallen into Hell and has been transformed into a demon. He falls face-first onto the road and is surprised to see that he is still "alive".

"Aaaaah! Ugh. Huh?" He checks himself.

"I'm alive! I'm alive-" He then gets run over by a taxi driven by Travis which Angel Dust walks out of, Travis snickers.

"Heh. Thanks for the fun time, hot stuff!" Angel Dust pushes his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, yeah, listen. Keep this discreet, you hear me? I can't let it get out I'm offerin' my services to randos on the street! It was a quick cash grab. Ya got it!" He makes a gesture with his fingers and snaps his fingers at him, smiling.

"Pfft! Whatever you say, slut! Muhehehehehehe!" He laughs, Angel Dust pretends to be offended.

"Ouch! Ooh! Such an insult! Let me know when you've come up with something creative to call me." He looms over Travis and points at him with all his index fingers.

"You sack of poorly packaged horse sh*t! Tell the missus I said "'hi", Shnuckums!"

"Pack a - puh.." As Travis angrily drives off, Angel looks behind him to see a vending machine for his namesake drugs. He goes for the Angel Dust and just as he gets a hold of it, a random demon runs by and steals his drugs.

"Yoink!"

"Hey!"

"Up yours, drag show!" A boulder proceeds to fall out of the sky, crushing the feathered demon alongside Angel's drugs.

"Oh my GOD!" Angel gasps. He leans in to pick up what's left of his pack of drugs with a devastated look on his face.

"MY DRUGS!" He yells.

"Damn it!" He clenches the cloth angrily and looks up. A war ship can be seen passing by, destroying its surroundings.

The camera zooms in on the war ship, revealing Sir Pentious and his henchmen inside.

"Ahahahahahahahahahahah! Those other cowardly ssssinners dare not hinder my territorial take over! A wise decision! The power of my machines are unmatched!" He proceeds to push two levers as his hood flares open.

"No other demon can compare to the likesss of I!"

Egg Boi #23: "Gee! That was pretty swell, boss!"

Egg Boi #666: "Yeah!"

Other Egg Boi: "You really showed them what for! I liked when you." His hand mimics the action of a shooting ray gun.

Other Egg Boi: "Shot them with your ray gun" He gets slapped away by Sir Pentious.

Egg Boi #23: "I wish he'd shoot me with his ray gun!" Other Egg Boi pats him as Sir Pentious' hood flares open.

"At this rate, I will seize control of the entire west side of the Pentagram by day's end! And nothing, not a single beast in this inferno of suffering will be able to take back this empire from my constrictive grasp!" An Egg Boi suddenly pops on screen and pops open a bottle of whiskey onto Sir Pentious face. Sir Pent proceeds to swat said Egg Boi aside.

Random Egg Boi: "Oh, boy!"

"Hell will be mine! And everybody will know the name of Sir Pen-"

"EDGELORD!" Sir Pentious is interrupted by a scream coming from offscreen. Sir Pentious and two Egg Bois become surprised.

"Pardon?!" He looks around angrily and eyes the two Egg Bois behind him.

"Who said that?! What did you just say to me, you fried chicken fetuses?! Speak up!"

The Two Egg Bois: "That wasn't us, Mr. Bossman." A small bomb with a print of a skull on it breaks through Sir Pent's ship. It then lands right between Sir Pentious and the two Egg Bois. The bomb proceeds to blow up, leaving red smoke behind. As the smoke clears up, the owner of the scream is revealed to be Cherri Bomb as she prepares another borab in hand.

"You lookin' for a fight, old man?!" She begins to juggle around her cherry bomb.

"Why don't you get that tinker toy bullsh*t off my turf before I.." She proceeds to throw and catch the bomb in her hands.

"...smash it?!" A large pipe falls on top of an already dead Egg Boi, crushing him as Sir Pentious and Cherri momentarily look at the carnage "...More!"

"Oh! You wanna go, missy?! Well, I'm happy to oblige! Ahahah!" Sir Pentious is then backed up by his henchmen of Egg Bois.

The logo for 666 News is shown on a black background, which is followed by the day's newscast.

"Good afternoon, I'm Katie Killjoy."

"And I'm Tom Trench! Chaos out at Pentagram City today as a turf war is raging on the west side!" An image of Sir Pentious trying to be hip, followed by a drawing of Cherri flipping the bird is shown.

"Between notable kingpin, Sir Pentious, and self-proclaimed spunky powerhouse, Cherri Bomb!"

"That's right, Tom! After the recent extermination, many areas are now up for grabs! Demons all over Hell are already duking it out to gain new territory!" A live clip of Cherri and Sir Pentious's clash is shown.

"Those two seem to be really going at it, huh?"

"Looks like they're fighting tooth and nail." She fishes out a tooth and a nail respectively from her mug of coffee.

"For that hot spot!" She proceeds to swallow said tooth and nail while Tom looks over at the live broadcast focusing on Cherri.

"And I'd sure like to nail her hot spot! Hoohoo!"

"Haha, you are a limp-d*ck jacka** Tom! Or should I say-" She pours scalding hot coffee onto his crotch, "No d*ck?" She laughs.

"Ugh... not again!" Screen shows a picture of Charlie as Tom can still be heard whimpering in pain in the background.

"Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with the daughter of Hell's own head honcho who's here to discuss her brand new passion project! All that and more, after the break!" She crushes her mug in her hand and turns to Trench who's still in pain.

"Suck it up, you little bi-!" The news cast cuts off and goes on a commercial break. The camera pans out from a nearby screen, focusing on Charlie and as Vaggie fixes Charlie's bow.

"When is Yn coming?" Charlie said worriedly.

"She said she'll be a little late but you remember what to say?" Charlie inhales deeply.

"Yes! Let's do this!" She smiles determinedly.

"Just, look at me and I'll mouth it to you." Vaggie forced a smile.

"Come on, Vaggie! I know what to say! I just feel like we need to... I don't know." She grabs and throws a doughnut away, "Make things sound more exciting! Hooo! What if I si-".

"Sing a song about it?" Vaggie rolls her eyes.

"You knew I was gonna say that!" Charlie boops Vaggie on the nose.

"Because I know you. But, please don't sing!" She shakes Charlie. "This is serious! Yn may like to hear you sing but now is not the right time." Vaggie sighed.

"Well, you know, I'm better at expressing myself and my goals through a song!" Charlie smiles, standing on the table where Razzle and Dazzle happily munching on doughnuts, watching her.

"But, life isn't a musical, hon" Vaggie places her hands on her hips.

"Fine. But, I have these other ideas of what to say!" She starts bouncing a bit as she shows Vaggie a piece of paper.

"The highlighted bits are the best part!"

"Uh... A wedding plan?"

"Huh?!" Charlie grabs the paper from Vaggie and looks at it then smiles.

"Oh! This is our and Yn's future wedding plan!" Vaggie smiles and blushes while Charlie is looking at the piece of paper but then she puts it away and takes out another piece of paper.

"This is the one." Vaggie grabs the piece of paper.

"Uh, it's all highlighted. Is this a drawing..?"

"Yes! That's the happy ending, see?! Everyone smiling and happy in Heaven!" Vaggie pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I don't think it's that simple. Just please follow the talking points we went over. And-" She grabs Charlie to face her.

"Do not sing!" She warned.

"Okay, fine. I'll just have to resort to my impeccable improv skills!" She salutes Vaggie as she walks over to Katie Killjoy.

"Hi! I'm Charlie!" Charlie spoke nervously, Charlie tries to go for a handshake.

"Katie Killjoy." She blows out the smoke of her cigarette, "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that would be a lie." She throws away her cigarette, "And you can put that away." Katie gestures to Charlie's hand, "I don't touch the gays.... I have standards!" Katie rolled her eyes, Vaggie heard as she clenched her fist.

"Yeah? How's uh... how's that working out for ya?" Charlie turns to look around nervously.

"Look, my time is money. So, I'll keep this short." She proceeds to poke Charlie, "You're not here because we wanted you here. You're here because Jeffrey couldn't make it for his cannibal cooking segment."

A billboard of Jeffrey's cannibalism cooking show titled "It's Dahm Good!" can be seen in the background, "You might be some royal big shot..."

She fluffs her hair, "But that doesn't mean sh*t to me. I'm too rich and too influential to give a flying f**k about what some tux-wearing demon "princess" wants to avertise." Katie crossed her arms. Tom can be seen shaking his head in disapproval as Katie boasts about her wealth and influence to Charlie.

"But, I-" Charlie gulped.

"So, don't get cute with me, honey, or I will f**king bury you!" Katie Killjoy continues to poke her chest.

"And we're live!" News Staff said. Killjoy rushes back to her desk, holding papers while cracking her neck.

"Welcome back! So, Charlotte!" Katie kept her forced smile as she looked at Charlie.

"It's... Charlie." She smiles nervously as a spotlight flashes her way.

"Whatever. Tell us about this new passion project you've been insistently pestering our news station about!" Katie tries to hold in her outburst by clenching her pen.

Charlie looks around as Vaggie motions her to go on, "Well..." Charlie clears her throat and exhales, "...as most of you know, I was born here in Hell and growing up, I always tried to see the good in everyone around me!" Charlie smiled. Killjoy spots a slug and stabs it with her pen, the slug's blood bursts all over.

"Hell is my home and-" She gets slug blood splattered across her cheek which she then wipes off, "You are my people. We... we just went through another extermination." Vaggie is seen giving Charlie two thumbs up as Killjoy quickly starts to lose interest.

"We lost so many souls, and it breaks my heart to see my people being slaughtered every year. No one is even given a chance!" She slams fist on table, waking Killjoy up. Charlie walks up from Killjoy's desk.

"I can't stand idly by while the place I live is subjected to such violence! So, I've been thinking: Isn't there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell?" She walks around the audience.

"Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... redemption?" She throws her arm around one of the News Cast's staff members.

"Well, I think yes! So, that's what this project aims to achieve!" She returns to Killjoy's desk.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!" Her broadcast is being shown at The Radio Shack, which many other demons are also watching by the streets and everywhere else in Hell. Charlie starts to lose her confidence.

"Y'know? 'Cause hotels are for people passin' through. temporarily.." She gulped.

"Ahahaha! IS this girl for real?! She thinks." The lizard demon tries to hold in his laughter, "You hear what she thinks?! She thi. HAHA! Ah, she's nuts." He walks out of The Kaiju Klub with his friends.

"I think it'll serve a purpose... a place to work toward redemption.. yay..!" Charlie seemed more worried. The scene cuts back to the demons watching her broadcast from The Radio Shack. A mysterious figure walks up to see her broadcast alongside a bunch of other demons watching such as Crymini and a handful of others.

"Stupid b*tch." Vaggie punches the cameraman square in the face Charlie looks around, saddened.

"Look, every single one of you has something good, deep down inside. I know you do! Maybe I'm not getting through to you." Razzle and Dazzle are then alerted that Charlie's about to sing and that she may need their back-up vocals. Vaggie facepalms.

"Oh no... Yn please come soon..." Charlie snaps her fingers as the room turns dark and a spotlight is shown over a piano that Charlie, Razzle and Dazzle start performing on. Meanwhile, back at The Radio Shack, Alastor and his shadow can be seen tilting their heads curiously as their smiles widen.

-Plays Song-

Charlie ends the song, rather exhausted as everyone in the news station looks at her with disgust and disbelief.

"Wow! ...That was sh*t!" Top hat demon declared.

Everyone in the audience including Killjoy and Trench begin to laugh at Charlie. Charlie looks crushed and devastated and slumps back down to her seat.

Outside the building the Magne limousine stops right at the front, the back door opens and Yn steps out of the car with small black and purple marks all over her neck, Yn touches the marks.

"I think Zestial and Carmilla did this on purpose." Yn looks up at the building and growls.

There was a boo section in the news and the demons look uninterested.

"Booooo!" The demon called out, Blue Flame Demon looked deadpan.

"What in the Nine Circles makes you think a single denizen of Hell would give two sh*ts about becoming a better person?! You have no proof that this little experiment even works! You want people to be good?! Just... because?!" Katie continues to laugh.

"Well, we have a patron already, who believes in our cause and he's shown incredible progress!" Charlie smiles brightly.

Katie Killjoy feigns shock, "Oh? And who might that be?" She smirks.

Charlie tries to look smug and confident, "Oh, just someone named... Angel Dust!" She smirked.

"The porn star?" Tom snickered.

Katie Killjoy turns to him menacingly, "You fucking would, Tom!" She turns back to Charlie, "In any case, that's not even an accomplishment. I'm sure you could get that hooker to do anything with enough booger sugar and lube." Katie motions doing a handjob.

"Oh, I beg to differ!" Charlie clenched her fist and begins to count on her fingers., "He's been behaved, clean, and out of trouble for two weeks now."

News Staff spoke offscreen, "Breaking News!" Killjoy shoves Charlie off her desk.

"We are receiving word that a new player has entered the ongoing turf war! Let's go to the live feed.." Katie smiled her usual smile.

The live feed shows Angel Dust stepping on an Egg Boi and throwing a grenade over at Sir Pentious with visible laughter in the background as Charlie stares at the screen in defeat.

"Oh...sh*t.." Charlie gulped.

Angel Dust was in the background, "I'm a bad person!" He yelled.

"'Oh, sh*t' indeed! It looks like the one who just joined the battle is none other than porn actor, Angel Dust!" She turns to Charlie as she shakes her fist.

"What a juicy coincidence! You must feel really stupid, right now." Killjoy and Trench proceed to laugh at Charlie.

Killjoy and Trench do Jazz hands, "Ratings!" They laughed.

"Don't look at this!" Charlie stares at the live feed in distress and attempts to block it from the audience's view.

"Well, it sure looks like your little project is dead on arrival..." Katie looms over Charlie, "Tell us, how does it feel to be a total failure?" Katie smiled evilly. Everyone in the room starts bursting into laughter.

Charlie tries to think of a comeback, "Yeah, well..." She looks around, "How does it feel that I got your pen, huh?!" She grabs Killjoy's ballpen, "...B*tch!" Charlie smiled.

Everybody instantly stops laughing while Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench give her the death stare.

Charlie laughs nervously, "Ehehe..." She puts pen back down, "Oops..." She forced a worried smile.

Tom Trench runs off set. Killjoy's demonic form reveals itself as she looms over Charlie from the shadows.

Yn enters the studio, she stands in the shadows the only thing visible of her are her fc glowing eyes. Purplish red smoke transitions into Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb fighting egg bois.

-Meanwhile at Turf War-

"Heyyy, thanks for the back up, Angie!" Cherri smiled brightly.

"Hahaha!" Angel Dust laughed. Cherri Bomb fires a rocket launcher.

"You kiddin'? This is the best action I've seen in ages!" Angel Dust puts hands behind his head.

Cherri Bomb launching another cherry bomb, "Where've you been, anyway? I thought you up and died or some sh*t..." Cherri questioned.

Angel Dust lighting a bomb and handing it to her, "Oh, I wish! I've been staying at this crappy hotel on the other side of town. Some broads are lettin' me stay rent free if I play nice." Angel Dust grumbled.

They both cover their heads as the explosion sets off behind them, then grin at each other as they jump into the field.

Angel Dust continues to shoot down Egg Bois with what seems to be a drum mag M1928 Thompson, "Y'know, no fights, no pranks, no 'problematic language'... Her words, not mine.." He steps on a broken tile, launching an Egg Boi airborne and shoots him from behind as he sighs again, "These crazy b*tches are no fun! I've been clean for two weeks! I guess in't not all bad, I got to try and have fun with Yn~" Angel Dust smirked.

"Ho-ly sh*t! Really?! Yn! You got a thing for her?!" Cherri Bomb stares at him in disbelief.

"Yeah! And I've been... well, sorta clean." Angel Dust looks at the leftover smudge on his finger.

He destroys an incoming Egg Boi, "Just clean as you can get from a sh*tload of Bolivian marching powder!" Angel Dust gets chained and thrown aside by Sir Pentious, "Ohh. Harder, daddy!" He raises left eyebrow.

Sir Pentious, taking it seriously as he gasps,

"Son?!" He exclaims.

Angel lowers eyebrow as Cherri kicks Sir Pentious to the side.

Sir Pentious hood flares open, "Ger! You whores have no classss! In war, The side remembered is the side with the most ssstyle!" He adjusts his tie.

"Or the side that ain't dead!" Cherri decapitates an Egg Boi.

Angel Dust stands up and removes the chains restricting him, "Speakin' a style, is your hat like, alive or something?" Angel questioned as his phone started to ring.

'Ah Shit..' Angel grumbled.

"Oh! Well, that's none of your GOD DAMN BUSSSSINESS! Now, is it?" Sir Pentious yelled.

"Hah, would that make your hat the top and you the bottom?" Angel Dust smirked. A sign that says "Loser" can be seen in the background pointing at Sir Pentious as an Egg Boi acknowledges the roast.

Egg Boi cups his hands, "Oooooh!" They gets pebble thrown at him by Sir Pentious.

Sir Pentious seemed to be enraged, "I'm going to blow you to bitssss!" He hissed. Angel Dust eyes him up and down, trying to get his phone ringer down, "Hm, kinky!" He smirked.

"Oh, not like that!" Sir Pentious' hood flares open as a sign that says 'Pussy' can be seen pointing at him in the background, "Pervert!" He knocks over an Egg Boi.

Angel notices an egg boi with a tentacle launcher which causes him to push Cherri to the side out of fear. As Angel gets tangled up in all the tentacles. Cherri catches Angel's phone as she sees the username, 'Princess as she picks it up.

"Hello?" Cherri smiled.

<Cherri? It's Yn. is Angel there?> Cherri looked at Angel Dust and sighed, "Yeah just. give us a minute.. Kay, Sweet Cheeks?" Cherri smiled, she put hold on Yn, "So, think you're gonna get in a lotta trouble for this?" Cherri asked, handing the phone to Angel Dust.

"Eh." Angel Dust retracts his third set of arms, "What's one little brawl gonna cause?" He smiled as he got on the phone and heard a pure sweet voice of anger.

-Meanwhile at 666 News-

Charlie and Killjoy can be seen trying to duking it out on each other like it's some sort of WWE match while a fire alarm goes off in the background with Trench entering the scene, covered in fames

"WHY WON'T ANYONE HELP ME?!" Tom yelled.

-View switch-

"Glad you haven't changed!" Cherri slugs him on the arm, "You know you're my favorite guy to party with!" Cherri smiled brightly.

"You know it, sugar t*ts!" Angel Dust puts his phone away.

Cherri Bomb takes out one last bomb, "You ready to finish this?" she smirked.

Angel Dust takes out a Thompson gun, "Born ready, baby!" He smiled. Angel and Cherri pounce onto Sir Pentious and his army as they prepare to clash, Charlie and Killjoy are still at each other's throats screaming, Trench is still on fire, screaming in agony.

Suddenly chains made out of fire ties everyone but Vaggie and Charlie, everyone looks around confused while some people struggle to get free.

"I think that's enough for now." Everyone but Vaggie and Charlie freeze, they turn and see Yn walking out of the shadows.

"Yn, you're here!" Charlie smiles and jumps into Yn's arms.

"Sorry I took so long, I had trouble escaping my other partners..." Charlie chuckles a little but inside she's a little pissed.

"I think we should get out of here, don't you think so Hun?" Vaggie walks over to Yn and pats her back.

"Yeah..." Yn who carries Charlie walks out of the building with Vaggie. Yn look back one more time sending death glare to Killjoy who shivers in fear, just as the girls walk out of the room. The fire chains vanish but not before giving everyone left in the room some nasty burns.

The royal family limousine can be seen driving back to the hotel. Charlie can be seen lying on Yn's lap, her face facing her thighs her jacket is ruined after Katie Killjoy attacked her, while Vaggie sits next to her and Yn, glaring furiously at Angel Dust.

Charlie sighs and Vaggie's eye twitches and Yn just blankly stares at Angel Dust who can be seen amusing himself by playing with the car window roller repeatedly. Vaggie scrunches up her face which Angel Dust takes notice of "...What?" Angel Dust asks.

"'What?', 'WHAT?!..... What were you DOING?!" Vaggie almost rips off her hair.

Angel Dust sighs, "I owed my girl buddy a solid! Isn't that a 'redeeming quality?" He does air quotes, "Helping friends with stuff?" Angel Dust rolls his eyes as he watches his sister play on her phone.

"Not with turf wars that result in territorial genocide!" Vaggie exclaimed.

"Eh, you win some, you lose a few hundred. Ehahahahahah!" Angel Dust inhales, "It wasn't that bad, anyway..." He proceeds to play with the button of the car window roller. Vaggie throws a folded pocket knife at the window roller

"Aw, come on! I had to! My credibility was on the line! I mean, what kind of reputation would I have if people found out I was tryna go clean? It just throws out my entire persona!" He suggestively pushes up chest floof while looking at Yn, Vaggie's eye twitches even more when she sees that.

"Your credibility? What about the hotel's?!" Vaggie looked annoyed, She gestures at a defeated Charlie, "Your little stunt made us look like a fucking joke!" Vaggie combusts.

Angel Dust scoffs, "No, no, no, babe. Jokes are funny! I made you look... uh, sad!" The camera pans to Charlie, "And pathetic! Like an orphan... with no arms... or legs... Oh! With progeria!" Yn looked at Angel Dust annoyed as the camera focused back on him. "Great! Now I'm bummed thinkin' about it!" He starts looking around the limousine.

"This thing have any liquor?" Angel Dust asked as Yn started to get slowly hyper.

"Can you please just try to take this seriously?! Also don't mention liquor around Yn?!" Vaggie grumbled as Angel Dust flicks off a dust bunny.

"Fine, I'lI try Just don't get your taco in a twist, baby!" He snaps finger at her while smiling.

"Was that you trying to be sexist or racist?" Yn questioned.

Angel Dust groans, "Whatever pisses her off more. Is there seriously no liquor in here?!" Angel Dust looked around as Yn got more excited.

Vaggie returns to sit next to Yn as she crosses her arms, "I'm gonna kill 'im." Vaggie growls.

"Calm down." Yn pats the top of Vaggie's head.

"Too late, toots. Wait! Would that make me double dead? Hah, and where exactly do I go? To Double Hell? Hahahahahahahaha! Sorry, you're stuck with me, b*tch. Get used to it" He folds his arms confidently.

Vaggie looks at him angrily, as she grits her teeth, "¡Con una mierda, malparido hijo de..!' Vaggie yelled in spanish. (For f**k's sake, you bastard son of..)

"Listen, who cares if some jack-offs got hurt? Most of 'em are ugly freaks. Look around!" Angel Dust look out the limousine window, smirking, "You got a bunch a f**kin' Harlequin babies down here!" Angel Dust stated as he was laughing.

"You're one to talk.." Vaggie smiles smugly.

"Hey!" Angel Dust motions to his body, "This body is flawless! Everyone wants to summa' me..." Angel Dust pushes up chest fluff and takes out a letter, "and we've got the creepy fan letters to prove it!" Angel Dust smirked.

Takes letter from in between his chest floof and reveals it to Vaggie that features a small picture of a dirty naked old man, who ironically has a 'No Angel Dust tattoo, smothering his mouth on an Angel Dust body pillow and a message at the bottom saying 'Show me your feet!! - Bryrin, # 1 Fan /Critic'.

"Freaks..." Yn mutters under her breath.

"Grrr..." Vaggie growls.

"That was really uncool, y'know, Angel..." Charlie sits up while Yn takes off her jacket, Charlie hands Yn some grape juice as she smiled widely and drank the whole bottle, feeling less angry.

"...Uncool?! After that train-wreck, there is no way anyone is gonna wanna stay at the hotel!" Vaggie looks toward Angel Dust, "All thanks to..." Vaggie points at him, Angel Dust, "...you and your selfish bullshit!" She yelled.

"Does that mean I don't have a free room anymore?" Angel Dust asked. Vaggie motions 'What do you think? "Ah, well shucks."

Angel Dust snaps finger, "...Guess I'll stay with Yn." Angel Dust poses for her, "and have some fun time~?.."

"What do you think?" Angel Dust groans, "oh well at least you won't ever leave me out to dry!" He smirked.

"Hey, come on. We don't know if things are over yet!" Charlie said.

"Yeah, and again try to relax, Vaggie. It'll be okay!" Yn added as she puts a hand on Vaggie's left shoulder while petting Charlie's hair. Vaggie and Charlie smiles at Yn.

Arrived at the Happy Hotel-

The limousine arrives at the hotel as the hotel door opens, revealing a very old and dirty establishment.

"Ugh! Yn, could you be a dear and help me with my shoulders?" Vaggie throws herself on the couch, facing the wall.

"Sure." Vaggie lies down on the couch and Yn starts to give her a massage. Angel Dust rummages through the fridge leaning by the wall and grabbing a box of Popsicles.

"Eh, it's probably a good idea to get some actual food in this place. Y'know, to feed all the wayward souls you got in here! Ahahaha! Ahaha..! ch... ah.." He closes the fridge door as he tries to comfort Charlie but decides to back off.

Charlie exits the hotel and tries to contact her mother. Charlie sighs, "Hey, mom. I know I keep calling and you must be busy... Really busy... But, um, the interview didn't go well..."

She shrinks to her knees, "and... I don't know if I'm ever going to make a difference.." Charlie starts tearing up as she wipes it off her face.

"I don't know what I'm doing: I could really use some advice, mom. I... I think dad was right about me... Ahah, oof, eh, anyway..." She wipes her face once more.

"I'll stop talking before this gets long. Love you, bye..." Charlie walks back in and leans by the door in defeat as a sudden knock can be heard from the other side of the door, surprising Charlie. She contemplates on whether or not to open the door but decides to open it anyway. The mysterious figure watching her performance from before can be seen standing before her.

"Hel..." He gets door slammed in front of him. Charlie looks to the side for a brief moment before opening the door again

"lo!" Charlie slams door in front of her face once more before making her way to Vaggie and Yn who is still massaging Vaggie.

"Hey, Yn? Vaggie?" Charlie gulped.

"Whaaaat~?" Vaggie groan annoyed.

"Something wrong?" Yn looks at Charlie.

"The Radio Demon is at the door!" Charlie looked down nervously.

"What?!" Vaggie quickly sits up and Yn looks horrified.

"Uh... who?" Angel Dust takes out the popsicle from her mouth.

"What should I do?!" Charlie asked.

"Uh, well- Don't let him in!" Vaggie advised.

"I'm f**ked! I'm so f**ked! Whatever you do, don't let him in!" Yn suddenly vanishes from the spot as Charlie decides to disregard Yn and Vaggie's advice once more and opens the door for Alastor.

"May I speak now?" Charlie seemed confused.

"You may.." Alastor reached his hand out.

"Alastor! Pleasure to be meeting you, sweetheart!" He pulls Charlie towards him.

"Quite a pleasure!" He lets himself in, "Excuse my sudden visit, but I saw your fiasco on a picture show, and I just couldn't resist! What a performance! Why, I haven't been that entertained since the stock market crash of 1929! Hahahahaha.." Alastor plays with his mic staff, "..sooo many orphans..." He chuckled.

Vaggie holds a harpoon towards his chest, "Stop right there, cabrón hijo de perra (bastard son of a b*tch!) I know your game and I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone here, you pompous cheesy talk show sh*tlord!" Vaggie warned as Angel's head pops in, unamused.

Alastor uses finger to move the harpoon away, "Dear, if I wanted to hurt anyone here.." He turns into his full demon form, "I would've done so.." Alastor smirked.

The screen distorts as Charlie and Vaggie stare at him in fear.

Alastor snaps back to reality, "No! I'm here because I want to help!" Alastor smiled.

"Say what, now?" Charlie questioned. Alastor repeats himself, "Help! Hahaha, hello? Is this thing on?" He taps on his mic, "Testing, testing!" He smile.

Alastor's Mic opens its one eye, "Well, I heard you loud and clear!" It blinked.

"Um, you want to help? With..?" Charlie questioned slowly.

Alastor teleports behind the two with his shadow, "This ridiculous thing you're trying to do! This hotel! I want to help you run it.." Alastor smirked.

"Buuut... Why?' Charlie asked, suspicious.

"Hahaha, why does anyone do anything? Sheer, absolute boredom! I've lacked inspiration for decades. My work became mundane, lacking focus..." He shoves Vaggie offscreen, "aimless! I've come to crave a new form of entertainment! Hahaha!" He laughed. Alastor suddenly stops and sniffs the air, his smile widens even more causing Vaggie and Charlie to feel unnerved.

"Excuse me." He walks over to a closer and when he opens it Yn is seen hiding inside.

"Oh sh*t..." Yn cursed.

"Hello Darling~" Alastor grabs Yn's hand, twirl and dips her while his other hand holding her waist keeping her from falling, he smashes his lips onto Yn's lips. Yn's eyes widen along with Vaggie, Charlie and Angel Dust's. Vaggie starts to shake.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" she snatches Yn away from Alastor and holds her spear towards Alastor again.

"That's not fair!" Angel Dust said pissed.

"I'm expressing my love towards her." Alastor smiled pleased and satisfied to see his Darling.

"You two know each other?!" Charlie asked surprised. Yn clears her throat while she's blushing a little.

"Yeah... In the early few weeks when I arrived at Hell, I met Alastor at a tea party, he tried to make deals with me since I was a newcomer and it didn't go like he planned..." Yn explained.

"What do you mean?" Charlie and Vaggie confused about what she mean.

"We fought and she clearly won!" Alastor replied spinning his cane.

"And ever since that day, he's been like... this." Yn points at Alastor who is holding Yn from behind. Charlie and Vaggie looks at Yn and Alastor shocked.

"And that's one of the reasons why I'm an Overlord..... and the other reason is my relationship with the... seven sins..." Alastor is the only one that hears that and his smile drops a little before it returns back to normal. Charlie looks at Yn with a raised eye brow before looking back at Alastor.

"Does getting into a fistfight with a reporter count as entertainment..?" Charlie asked.

"Hahaha! It's the purest kind, my dear: Reality! True passion! After all, the world is a stage and the stage is a world of entertainment." Alastor smiled.

"So, does this mean you think it's possible to rehabilitate a demon?" Charlie questioned.

"Hahahahaha!" Alastor shakes hands in front of her, "Of course not! That's wacky nonsense!" He shakes head back and forth, "Redemption, oh the non-existent humanity! No, no, no, no. I don't think there's anything left that could save such loathsome sinners!" He looks over to Vaggie who is offended and Angel who just shrugs.

"The chance given was the life they lived before, the punishment is this!" He puts his arms out, gesturing the entirety of Hell, "There is no undoing what is done!" He smirked.

"So, then. Why do you wanna help me if you don't believe in my cause?" Charlie asked.

"Consider it an investment in ongoing entertainment for myself!" Alastor said.

"It's always entertainment with you." Yn replied. Alastor winks at Yn and then he pulls Charlie close to him and twirls her, "I want to watch the scum of the world struggle to climb up the hill of betterment only to repeatedly trip and tumble down to the fiery pit of failure!" He forced a smile.

Charlie removes Alastor's hand from her back, "Riiiight..." Charlie sighs.

"Yes, indeedy!" He grabs Yn and Charlie by the waist and drags them offscreen, "I see big things coming your way and who better to help you than I?" He trails off.

"Uh, so... uh, what's the deal with Smiles over there?" Angel Dust asked.

"Wait, you've never heard of her before? You've been here longer than me!" Vaggie rolled her eyes, Angel Dust shrugs cluelessly.

"The Radio Demon. One of the most powerful beings Hell has ever seen?" Vaggie questioned.

Angel Dust shrugs a second time, "Eh, not big on politics..." Angel Dust answered.

"Ugh!" Vaggie leans in on Angel Dust as she begins her story, "Decades ago, Alastor manifested in Hell..." Vaggie started.

"...seemingly overnight." Scene changes to a visual presentation of Vaggie's story regarding Alastor.

"He began to topple Overlords who have been dominant for centuries. That kind of raw power had never been harnessed by a mortal soul before. Then, he broadcast his carnage all throughout Hell just so everyone could witness his ability. Sinners started calling him "The Radio Demon" (as lazy as that is). Many have speculated what unimaginable force enabled him to rival our world's most ancient and destructive evils. But one thing's for sure. He's an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked spirit of mystery, and a violent monster of chaos, the likes of which we can't rish getting involved with unless we want to end up erased!" Vaggie finished her story with a sigh.

"Ya done?" Angel Dust Laughs dryly, "He looks like a strawberry pimp..." He stated.

"Well, I don't trust him!" Vaggie crossed her

arms."

"To be fair, do you trust any man? Any men? Men?" Angel Dust asked, Vaggie walks over to Charlie and grabs her by her shoulder.

"Charlie, listen to me. You can't believe this creep! He isn't just a happy face! He's a deal-maker! Pure evil! He can't be redeemed! ..And is most likely looking for a way to destroy everything we're trying to do! We already have Yn who is a powerful Overlord, we don't need him!" Vaggie stated.

"I know we have Yn, Vaggie. Look, I know Alastor is bad, and I know he probably doesn't wanna change, but the whole point of this is to give people a chance!" Alastor inspects a portrait of the royal family.

"To have faith things will be better! How can I turn someone away? I can't. It goes against everything I'm trying to do. Everything I believe in." She puts hands on Vaggie's shoulders.

"Just... trust me. I can take care of myself, plus like you said, we have Yn!" Charlie smiles.

"Charlie, whatever you do, do not make a deal with him!" Vaggie rolled her eyes, Alastor makes a gesture with her hand, seemingly focusing on Vaggie.

"Don't worry, I picked up one thing from my dad!" Charlie imitating her dad's voice, "...You don't take sh*t from other demons!" She walks off to where Alastor is causing Vaggie to groan, Yn walks over to her and places her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Vaggie, Alastor won't do anything as longs as I'm here." Vaggie smiles and leans her head agains Yn.

"Okay, so, Al. You're sketchy as f**k and you clearly see what I'm trying to do here as a joke." She sighs. As Charlie turns away, glowing red symbols start to appear beside Alastor which quickly disappear after Charlie turns back to Alastor.

"But, I don't. I think everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better. So, I'm taking your offer to help. On the condition that there be no..." Charlie makes gestures with hands, "...tricks or voodoo strings attached." Charlie crossed her arms.

"So, it's a deal, then?" As Alastor rolls his eyes at that last statement. He twirls his mic staff and presents his hand for a handshake as green energy bursts throughout the hotel.

Charlie refused his handshake, "Nope! No shaking! No deals! I... hmm... As princess of Hell and heir to the throne, I, uh, hereby order that you help with this hotel. For as long as you desire." Charlie smiled.

A howling wolf can be heard in the background as Charlie looks over to Yn and Vaggie for approval, Vaggie looks away while Yn gives her a thumbs up.

"Sound fair?" Charlie asked.

Alastor rubs his chin, "Hmm..." He retracts his mic staff, "Fair enough!" He smiled.

"Cool beans." Charlie sighs in relief.

"Hmm hm hmm hmm.." He continues to hum while looking around as He stops in front of Vaggie, "Smile, my dear!" He tickles the underside of Vaggie's chin who shakes in anger and glares at him, "You know you're never fully dressed without one!" He walks away as he continues humming.

"So where is your hotel staff?" Alastor questioned.

"Uh, well-" Charlie looks at Yn and Vaggie who's staring at Alice dead in the eyes.

"Though my dear Yn is good... you're going to need more than that." He walks towards Angel Dust.

"And what can you do, my effeminate fellow?" He asked.

"I can suck your d*ck!" Angel Dust answered.

Mic feedback can be heard in the background as Alastor tries to process what he was just offered.

"HAH! No..." Alastor said with a straight smile.

Angel Dust scoffs, "Your loss." He looked away.

"Well, this just won't do!" She takes out her mic staff, "I suppose I can cash in a few favors to liven things up." At the snap of her finger, a new fireplace has replaced the hotel's worn down one as she approaches it and picks up the mysterious figure covered in soot, which then opens its eye and stares at the trio behind her. Niffty poofs off the soot from her body.

"This little darling is Niffty!" Niffty drops to the floor, unaffected, "Hi, I'm Niffty! It's nice to meet you! It's been a while since I've made new friends!" She eyes the four, "Why're you all women?" Niffty lifts Charlie with no effort causing Vaggie to point her spear at her, "Are there any men here?!" She puts Charlie down, "I'm sorry, that's rude." She looks around the hotel when she sees Yn. Niffty's eye widens and her smile widens.

"Crimson Queen!" She bolts towards Yn and smashes into her sending them both flying into a wall. Everyone else looks at them shocked.

"Hey!" Vaggie and Charlie rush to Yn and rips Niffty who is clinging onto Yn off of her. Alastor helps Yn stand up as Yn dusts her clothes.

"Well isn't she full of energy." Yn chuckles at Niffty behavior.

"Forgive me my dear, Niffty is a big fan of yours since she's heard stories of you from me." Alastor said.

"No worries." Yn replied.

"Oooh, man! This place is filthy! It really needs a lady's touch!" Niffty grabs a spider and crushes it, "Which is weird because you're all ladies, no offense." She stares offscreen as she takes out a feather duster, "Oh, my gosh! This is awful!" She quickly cleans throughout the hotel, "Nope! Nope! Nope! Nope!" She spots a cockroach and stabs it with a sewing pin, "Nope!" She gags.

The four stare at Niffty as a voice coming from an unknown cat demon can be heard nearby.

Husk lays his cards down the table, "Hah! Read 'em and weep, boys! Full Ho..." The demonic illusions and voices distort the surroundings temporarily, "..tel? What the fuck is this?" He looks around and spots Alastor, eliciting an angry purr as he points at him, "You!" He growls.

"Ah, Husker, my good friend! Glad you could make it!" Alastor smiled brightly.

"Don't you 'Husker' me, you son of a bitch! I was about to win the whole damn pot!" Husk grumbled and the jackpot disappeared into nothingness.

"Good to see you too!" Alastor smirked. Husk facepalms angrily, "What the hell do you want with me this time..?" Husk asked.

"My friend, I am doing some charity work so I took it upon myself to volunteer your services! I hope that's okay!" Alastor leaned on something, a wall.

"Are you shittin' me?!" Husk questioned.

"Hmm... No, I don't think so!" Alastor smirked, leaning on Husk.

Husk shoves Alastor off, "You thought it'd be some kind of big fucking riot just to pull me out of nowhere?!" The camera pans to Alastor dusting himself off, "You think I'm some kind of fucking clown?!" Husk crossed his arms.

Alastor grins as if he's about to laugh, "Maybe!" He laughed.

"I ain't doing no fucking charity job." Husk tried to walk off.

Alastor teleports behind him through his shadow, "Well, I figured you would be the perfect face to man the front desk of this fine establishment!" He gestures towards the bar he made out of his magic, "With your charming smile.." Alastor pulls Husks's lips into a forced smile, "...and welcoming energy, this job was made for you! Don't worry my friend..." He walks over to the bar, revealing the soles of his shoes to have deer prints, "I can make this more welcoming! If you wish...." Alastor makes a bottle of 'Cheap Booze' appear out of nowhere, which grabs two demon's attention.

"Oh Hell Yes!" Angel Dust and Yn smiled.

"Oh Fuck No..." Vaggie groaned.

"Uh.. We don't like to have...booze here.."Charlie seemed worried.

Husk stares at the booze for a second, "What? You think you can buy me with a wink." He winks sarcastically, "and some cheap booze?!" Husk grabs the booze and looks at it, "...Well, you can!" Almost downs the booze until Yn steals it.

"Hey, hey! Hey, hey, hey! No! No bar, no alcohol!" She snatched the booze and poured it out, "This is supposed to be a place that discourages sin! Not some kind of mouth..brothel.. man cave!" Vaggie sighed.

Angel Dust launches himself at Vaggie from somewhere off screen, "SHUT UP! SHUT! UP! We.." He points to the bar with all his fingers, "are keeping this!" He gestured to Husk.

Angel Dust starts flirting with Husk, "Hey.." He flirted.

"Go f**k yourself..." Husk rolled his eyes. Angel Dust holds Husk's face, "Only if you watch me!" He smirked.

Angel Dust was shove out of the way by Yn.

"You like booze?!" Yn smiled widely.

"Oh Hell Yeah I do..." Husk smirked, looking Yn up and down, "You look pretty tonight..." He flirted.

"Oh, my gosh! Welcome to The Happy Hotel! You are going to love it here!" Charlie swizzle next to Yn tries to go for a handshake.

Husk reaches for his booze, "I lost the ability to love years ago.." He continues to down his booze as Yn seemed excited. Husk felt his heart beat a bit, 'Sh*t...' He handed Yn the booze as Yn drank some.

"So, whaddaya think?" Alastor smirked. "This is amazing!" Charlie rubs her cheeks excitedly.

Vaggie with crossed arms, "It's... okay..." She tried to get the booze away from Yn but she was running away, with Husk cheering for his new drunky buddy.

"I think it's quite nice." Yn added finishing her drink as she walk next to Charlie.

Alastor reels the three towards him, "Hahaha! This is going to be very entertaining!" He smiled.

He then lets go of Vaggie and summons a fireball, launching it to the hotel ceiling just so he could distract Charlie and Yn fast enough for him to shove Vaggie offscreen. He dresses himself in a tux and matching top hat. Just for fun, dresses Yn and Charlie in beautiful dresses as he puts Angel Dust in whatever he likes and finally Husk and Niffty in their respective outfits.

"~You have a dream!~" He twirls Yn and Charlie while she dresses them up

"~You wish to tell!~" She turns to Vaggie who's now on the floor glaring at Alastor with her face completely red.

"~And it's just laughable.~" He turns back to Yn and tosses him mid-air.

"~But, hey, kid, what the hell?~" The background behind Yn changes to neon colored lights featuring two apples and a skull. Alastor catches Yn by the hand as they both tap dance together.

"~'Cause you're one-of-a-kind! A charming demon belle!~" The two slide down the railing of the stairs.

"~Now, let's give these burning fools a place to dwell!~" She dresses up the rest of the hotel staff.

"~Take it, boys!~" Shadow demons appear from the floorboards and begin playing their instruments as Vaggie tries to talk to Charlie who is having too much fun. Alastor pulls her in with him and the others as Alastor's shadow demons surround them.

"Boo!" The shadow demons are scary.

"~Haha! Inside of every demon is a lost cause!~" Alastor puts a fedora on Angel's head as he snaps his fingers back at Alastor.

"~But we'll dress'em up for nore, with just a smile!~" Alastor summons a scarf and a hat on Vaggie and then she slaps Vaggie's ass causing her to grit her teeth and throw her hat onto the floor. Yn chuckles dryly causing Vaggie to look at him clearly annoyed.

Shadow Demons: "~With a smile!~"

"~And we'll chlorinate this cesspool with some old redemption flair!~" Alastor kicks off the skull which Niffty rushes in and cleans off.

"~And show these simpletons some proper class and style!~" Alastor summons a shadow clone of himself.

Shadow Demons: "~Class and style!~" Alastor snaps away his shadow.

"~Oh! Here below the ground,~" Alastor pinches Yn and Charlie's cheeks, "~I'm sure your plan is sound!~" Alastor holds hands with Charlie as they both twirl.

"~They'll spend a little time down at this Hazbin Ho...~" The hotel door explodes, knocking Niffty offscreen as Yn, Charlie, Alastor, Angel Dust, and Vaggie look outside. Sir Pentious' warship has made an appearance outside the hotel.

"Hah! Well, well, well. Look who it is harboring the striped freak! We meet yet again, Alastor!" Sir Pentious hissed, Yn looks at him confused.

"Someone you know, Alastor?" Yn question.

"I'm not quite sure. Do I know you?" Alastor asked.

Sir Pentious ego deflates, "Oh, yes you do!"

His hood flares open, "And this time, I have the element of.." He pulls a lever, "SURPRISE! Ahaha! I'm so evil!" He laughed.

With a snap of a finger, an otherworldly dimensional portal opens with tentacles and shadow demons emerging from it, destroying Sir Pentious' ship while he is inside. Alastor can then be seen finishing it off as he clenches his fist with a few drops of blood dripping off his hand. Alastor is then shown grinning menacingly in satisfaction for a moment as everyone else but Yn looks at him in shock and horror.

Alastor breaks the tension, "...Well, I'm starved! Who wants some Jambalaya? My mother once showed me a wonderful recipe for Jambalaya. In fact, it nearly killed her! Hahaha!" Charlie smiles at Vaggie in place. Vaggie smile at her but when she turns around Vaggie's smile drops, "You could say the kick was right out of Hell! Ohoho, I'm on a roll! Yes, sir! This is the start of some real changes down here! Darling, do you want some Jambalaya! I'll even give ya' booze! The game is set! Now..." He smirked as he walked off with Yn. Alastor uses her magic to change the sign atop the hotel from "Happy Hotel" to "Hazbin Hotel", "Stay tuned. Hahaha..."

Previous Page: Ch. Pilot: Welcome to Hell

Next Chapter: Ch. 2: Immediate Murder Professionals

Beginning: Front Cover

[thlayli-ra]

so...... i noticed you have at least one headcanon for punk x drew, la knight x roman reigns, punk x la knight, and and la knight x drew mcintyre. theyre all amazing conspiracies theories btw. i think the only shipping swap left that you havent talked about it is drew x roman and punk x roman reigns. do you think you have any headcanons for them? i personally think roman and punk has a lot of potential, but maybe i just think both of them are very attractive!

Ohhh ok, time for me to get a little creative.

So... Roman and Drew. Let me say to begin with that I'm not as clued up on these two since neither are in my 'inner sanctum' if you will. I recently came across some photos though and WHOOPH!

There's hair-pulling, chair humiliation spots, Roman fully dressed while Drew's in just his trunks... all the good stuff!

And Drew was peak babyface Drew here too facing off against nasty heel Roman backed up by his Bloodline and I am SUCH a sucker for a babyface in peril!!!!! (Tenderise that blue-eyed cutie for me guys!) Despite being the larger of the two, Drew is definitely the sub here (he's too damn pretty down on his knees!) and who can resist when the bigger guy is getting dominated by the smaller guy, although Roman is hardly a 'small guy' per se.

There's also a very compelling story here. I found it interesting how Drew brought up the whole 'Chosen One' angle with Punk when it works so much better with Roman (perhaps they did do this, I can't remember. Please correct me if I'm wrong).

Drew can brag about being the one handpicked to be the face of the company all he wants but we all know it isn't true. Especially not when he's face-to-face with Roman - the true Chosen One! The one who went on to rise to the top, win championships and main-event several Wrestlemania's in a row, all on the backing of the powers-that-be, all despite being generally disliked by the fans. Meanwhile Drew floundered on the lower mid-card then was rejected from the company altogether.

Not only is this a chance for Drew to finally prove himself, it also holds a mirror to what could have been. How Roman has become corrupted by the power and the accolades, while Drew spent some time away to rediscover what truly mattered to him, who he truly wanted to be and returned a bigger, better version of himself. Now, he's finally ready to claim what's rightfully his!

Just a pity that Roman prefers Drew beneath him...😏

Now.... Punk and Roman, hmmmmm *strokes my long, twisted beard... if I had one...)

That's an interesting one! In typical Punk fashion, this one requires a bit of blurring the lines between reality and fiction.

There's obviously a history there (................. oh sorry, I just noticed that bruise on Punk's thigh in the gif and stared at it for a solid ten minutes!). Punk has claimed to be the one who came up with the concept of the Shield and they were meant to be working on his behalf in the beginning.

However... that concept never included Roman! Punk wanted Rollins, Ambrose... and Chris Hero! It was the higher-ups who insisted on Roman or 'the pretty one' as Punk said, witheringly. He also lamented having to 'make Roman look strong' and while us Punk girlies (ng) know that he was complaining about management not trusting him to sell (SERIOUSLY, WTF??? HE LIVES TO SELL!), many took that as a sign that he hated having to put over Roman.

Both men rose to the top of the company albeit in very different ways. While Punk had to constantly fight and politic for his position on the card, getting himself over despite the push-backs from management to the point that they could no longer ignore it and even then still having to fight constantly for recognition, Roman had it all handed to him. Punk has never main-evented a Wrestlemania, even when he was WWE Champion. Roman has main-evented NINE!

Fast forward to now and things have changed drastically. Punk is on his last chance. His come-back, which started off glorious, is now sitting under a dark cloud and this is his last hope of fulfilling the legacy that he left unfinished ten years ago. Roman is the man who filled that void while he was gone and holds every accolade that Punk could possibly dream of. Roman is no longer the green, dewy-eyed kid that Punk had to 'carry' in their earlier matches - he is the Tribal Chief! The Head of the Table!

And he is going to make CM Punk his bitch!