#sit w it for a while we’ll continue later

[lovelovex]

no x posts no announcements, kind rude p don’t you think cutting such a big amount of people who CARE about you guys is too much??? it is hard to keep up with all your updates via fucking RUMORS of all things for fucks sake

oh we’re right off w the accusations ok ok ok sometimes i hate being the spokesperson, P the diplomat, but here we go

i’m gonna use this post for the whole rant bc it’s all p much the same in my inbox:

if ‘rumors’ have been your only source of information for the past i dont rly rmbr how many months honey that’s intentional

sometime in july, before i made that post ab the healing process, we sat down and went thru every email subscribed to our mailing list, every account in every gc we used to have, decided fuck it and created all the new ones, rmbr when we had like 500+ members in one of them? well that’s not happening ever again, outsiders aren’t allowed anymore

did it hurt your feelings being left out?

well it hurt my feelings to find out how many of you were actually involved in the case behind my back, how many of you knew exactly what was happening in those two years and stayed silent or worse – chose to side w the person who wanted to take everything he could away from me

not just me, my friends, my family, the ppl i love more than anything else in this world, have suffered enormously bc of His actions and bc of Your support of those actions

i know exactly who you all are, i have a list of names i dont want to hear ever again in my life

the damage you’ve done is irreparable, and it’s beyond my imagination how any of you still feel entitled to anything, did you rly think i’d never find out? i thought it was common knowledge i always find out one way or another

we’re all grown up ppl, and it’s not my place to tell you who you can or cannot talk to, you’ve made your choices and we’ve made ours, and if you ended up on the outside of the circle, welcome to consequences 101, your actions actually do have an impact, what a concept

the case played a big part in the whole thing, but we’re way past that now, and the thing is – the real reason behind ‘cutting out such a big amount of ppl’ is we’re tired, the better part of our lives was dedicated solely to creating a safe space, and we did, only to realize we’re our own safe space, it’s the ppl, so the shows are still happening, the karaoke nights and the acoustic sessions, i say my thank yous from the stage and in emotional voice msgs at 3am bc my god do i love our space, my little sanity oasis, that part hasn’t and will never change

what changed is that we don’t have to subject ourselves to scrutiny, to any form of judgement anymore rly, what they dont know they can’t ruin i rmbr a post like this somewhere on this blog, i dont have to read your thoughts on every single detail of every single move we make, i only hear opinions from those ppl i actually want to listen to, and no, i dont only surround myself w yes men now, if i do smth wrong i still get called out, rightfully so

what i’m mostly tired of is those half-assed friendships, of ppl who only wanted me smiling and shiny, who would disappear the second things got a bit depressing, i dont know who hurt you, but it wasn’t me, or maybe it was, in that case that’s on you if you never had the guts to open your mouth and actually say smth

yk i’ve had to say so many goodbyes in the last two years, i’ll say some more if it comes to this, i’m getting better at letting ppl come and go, but i could never tolerate indifference or betrayal, and i’ve had enough of both of these things

you can still go off in my inbox, let it all out, i can’t rly stop you, just know it doesn’t make any difference to me

[delusionaldaydreamz]

”that’s MY girlfriend” | c.s.

W/C: around 1228 (the word counter site kept screwing me over sorry lol) | x reader/ y/n 

In which Chris comments on his new favorite photo of you (just Chris fluff) 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

      “Do I look okay?” I turned to Nick, who looked up from his computer screen to look at me. “You look amazing.” He smiled before going back to editing. This is how our date nights would typically go, I’d sit up here with Nick, getting ready while we gossip and go through outfits, and Chris would get ready in his own room, usually alone or occasionally with Matt to keep him company. 

        Chris said he had somewhere nice to take me tonight, so I dressed decently sophisticated. A tight, long black dress with a straight across neckline, a slit down the thigh and super thin straps, which for whatever reason made my chest look way larger than it already is. I didn’t bother wearing heels, because let’s be real the guys aren’t the tallest; I just paired it with a fresh pair of classic converse. Typically I’d go for silver jewelry, but tonight I went with gold since Chris said the place was fancy. 

     As I walked down the stairs, I noticed Chris and Matt chilling on the couch, each on their phones. “Wow, y/n you look beautiful.” Chris eyed me as I made my way down. I chuckled softly, thanking him as he stood up and made his way to me. “We’ll be back later.” Chris stated as we walked down the second flight of stairs. 

       It didn’t take too long before the Uber got here, but Chris continued eyeing me the entire time we waited. “That dress is fucking perfect on you.” He mumbled, his eyes scanning over my body. “Thanks, Chris.” I chuckled, patting his cheek softly as he leaned in for a kiss. Unfortunately this was when the Uber arrived, leaving the kiss short and sweet before we got into the backseat. The driver greeted us before taking off, Chris’s hand immediately finding its way to my thigh, offering a small squeeze. A gesture he’d always do in the car that never failed to make my heart flutter. The warmth of his fingertips sent a shiver up my spine as they trailed ever so softly up and down, in the most innocent way possible, as we talked. 

Chris pulled out his phone and took a quick selfie of us, making me giggle the second he put it down. “You’re so awkward.” I rolled my eyes. “What do you mean?” He laughed softly looking down at me. “Why in the Uber?” I asked shyly. I typically tend to be pretty awkward in photos, hating taking them where anyone could see me. Pretty weird when you’re dating YouTuber, I know. I’m just not all that confident when people are watching me, or have the ability to be watching me. When it’s just me and the guys though? Oh man all I do is take pictures. 

      As we pulled up to a steak house, Chris got out first holding the door for me. His eyes lingered on me as I got out, Chris thanking the driver before shutting it behind me. “Jesus, y/n you make being in a secret relationship with you impossible.” He muttered, his hand making its way around my waist. He rested his hand softly on my hip, but he trailed behind ever so slightly. “Chris,” I turned around, having a feeling his eyes were on my butt and I was correct. “Sorry.” His head snapped up, looking forward after he flashed me a big innocent grin. 

       Once we got to our table and ordered, I pulled out my phone to take a picture of him. The restaurant was beautiful inside. Very open, lots of twinkling lights and crystal everywhere. I held his hand from across the table, taking a cute little photo of him. He chuckled, grabbing my phone. “You’re the one who deserves to be in photos.” He teased, taking a couple pictures of me. “I seriously cannot get over how fucking gorgeous you are, y/n.” He continued taking photos, but his statement made me feel super giddy inside, which in turn made me start blushing and trying to hide my face. “Okay enough Chris.” I laughed, trying to cover my cheeks as he continued taking photos. 

         “Holy fuck,” he said seriously, making me immediately stop laughing. “What?” His serious tone and the abruptness made me nervous. “I’m pretty sure I just took my new favorite picture of you.” He mumbled going through the photos on my phone. “Chris…” I trailed starting to get embarrassed. After a few moments he finally handed my phone back to me, and now it was my turn to go through the photos I took. “Oh god, which one?” I chuckled looking at all of them. He knows i get nervous on the other side of the camera, so he’s gotten pretty mindful of my angles that I like and the lighting I like, so he actually managed to get a few photos I didn’t hate. 

      “That one.” He smiled staring down at one of the photos he took of me caught off guard while I was laughing and trying to hide my rosy cheeks. It wasn’t horrible, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite. “I sent it to myself.” He grinned, staring down at his phone. After a moment, he set his phone back down and I saw that he had set it as his screensaver. My heart fluttered a bit at the sight, butterflies erupting in my stomach as I tried to hide my growing smile. 

      Our dinner was nice, we each talked about our day, plans we have, videos they’ll be making etc. We ended up getting desert and talking about our anniversary that was coming up soon, Chris asking what I wanted to do for it. We’d managed to talk so much over dinner, that our Uber ride was a bit quiet. We both took the time to go on our phones, me posting the photo Chris had taken that he claims is his new favorite photo of me, and him doing random Chris things. 

      When we got home, more than likely we’d end up just cuddling and going to sleep to some random movie, so that’s why we ended up on our phones most of the car ride, Chris’s warm hand instinctively holding my thigh. One of the notifications from my post stuck out more than the others. “Christophersturniolo commented on your post” 

Liked by: nicolassturniolo, lilskies, and others 

Christophersturniolo: fuck sorry baby 

Christophersturniolo: you’re so beautiful I can’t hide it anymore 😭😍 

Christophersturniolo: that’s MY girlfriend 🙏🏻🥵

Nicolassturniolo: you ate y/n/n but yikes this comment section is a mess

      I chuckled at his comments, now understanding why the post was gaining more attention than usual. “Chris…” I trailed staring down at my phone. It was rare when he’d call me anything other than y/n or y/n/n so seeing him openly commenting calling me baby sent a new type of butterflies through my stomach. It was hard to describe, but it made me feel extremely good about myself. I couldn’t help but smile, even though I was definitely stressed now. “We weren’t supposed to tell them yet…” “I don’t care anymore, who the fuck wants to hide their relationship?” I chuckled at his words, leaning over for a small kiss. “I love you.” I stared up at him, getting lost in his beautiful eyes. “I love you too, y/n.” The feeling of Chris’s lips softly against my forehead sent butterflies through my tummy again. How did I get so lucky?  ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• A/N: I saw someone say there’s not enough Chris fluff and came up w this but if ts flops I’m literally never posting here again, yall don’t understand how many fucking ISSUES THIS POS WEBSITE WAS GIVING ME trying to edit and post this bruh 😭 legit was ready to throw my phone out the window

[demonic-charcuterie]

Alastor X technology obsessed reader

Alastor continued to wrapped his arms around and and sigh as he felt the warm bath water slosh around him. A drop of water landed directly onto his nose as you shook gently on top of him as you giggled at your phone. “Hehe what a fucking idiot!” You cackled as the video continued to play.

“Doe, that is the 4th time you’ve played that damned video.”

“Oh I know baby but it gets better every FffFUCKING time!” You snickered. Alastor gently slide his hands down to your inner thighs and gave them a gentle squeeze but nuzzling his face into your neck. You and Alastor had been sitting in this bath for more than hour to the point that the water was barely lukewarm.

You and Alastor! Talk about an unlikely marriage. You spawned in hell many years after Alastor started killing overlords. You were scrolling on your phone when you bumped into him. “Oh sorry- Oh. My. God!”

“Well hello dar- what are you doing?”

“What’s up guys! It’s me,Y/n you’re favorite burning bitch and you’ll never guess you I just ran into. Alastor the radio de- ouch!” You yelled as Alastor’s cane came down on your hand and knocked your phone out of it. “Sorry my dear but this face was made for radio.” He said as he smiled down at you. Swiftly,he turned as his heel and began to walk away but paused as he felt your arm slipped interlocking with his.

After that you seemed to always find him or maybe he was finding you? You turned a corner- there he was. “Oh well hello my dear!”

“Alastor!” You would squeal and ran into his arms…we’ll actually you ran into and wrapped your arms around him and he just let you. After that you just started actually planning hangouts. “Hey what’s your social? What do you mean you don’t have a phone? H-how do you talk to people?” You asked him you brain seemed to almost be breaking. Alastor simply chucked an patted your head. You looked up at him shocked before smiling and grabbing his wrist to move his hand down to your cheek and nuzzled into it. “You know this would make a great Sinstagram story-“ you said while pulling your phone from your pocket but Alastor quickly pushed your hand down and placed a kiss to your lips. “Don’t ruin it…” he whispered.

Your eyes widened before you pulled him closer by his shirt and kissing him harder fighting for dominance.

You and Alastor actually didn’t take that long to get married surprisingly. You just ran up to Rosie and she said you could have a small ceremony in the town hall with one of Alastor’s servants performed the ceremony. You made a big mistake letting him take photos because his face was almost in none of them and they were all shaky as if he didn’t know how to work a camera but you know he did. You were heartbroken when he left for all those years. He did give you a warning unlike with any of his other friends.

“Darling I just need you to know I love you and will never stop…” he said while running a hand through your hair. “Yeah I know silly hehe.” You answered.

“Good…we’ll I’m afraid I’ll be gone for a good while. I’ll seen soon…” All you did was lay on the bed while scrolling and waving him off. “Shoo shoo” you said like you always did. It was a joke you would later regret making. When you got word that your husband chilling at this lame as hAZbiN HoTEl you nearly broke the door down. You eyes were glowing red and your were snarling. “What the FUCK?!” Angeldust screamed as you burst threw the door. “W-WHERE THE FUCK IS MY GODDAMNED HUSHAND?” For some reason everyone’s head turned to Angeldust. “What!? I ain’t never been high enough to get married and forget about it!”

Your nose twitched in anger. “ALASTOR!” You barked. Alastor at that moment appeared around the corner. “Oh Charlie a new guest- y/n?” He said his smile going down to a grin as it seemed to falter. “My love is that you?” He said as he ran to you clutching his staff tight in hand. “Alastor! You cried before running into his arms and beating your hands on his chest. “You bitch! Y-your left me you left me! I-I hate you!” You screamed but all Alastor did was hold you tighter. “I-I missed you so much.” You cried as you both sunk down to the floor.

“Ummmm Alastor who is that?” Vaggie said breaking the silence.

“Everyone this is my wife Y/n”

[mangowillow]

maybe if

pairing: jungkook x female reader

summary: jeongguk, a free spirit, an adventurer, sees you a year later still picking up the pieces he left behind.

genre/tags: exes, angst, post-break-up, hurt & comfort, some fluff here and there

word count: 4k

a/n: i play favorites with my stories and i will say that this one sits on the throne— at least for now. there will be a mini-sequel for release soon (fingers crossed)

Walking into the club, Jeongguk feels his throat tighten. After being away for a year to figure out what he wanted to do in life, it wasn’t easy to just slide his way back into the lives of the people he once knew—

—into the lives of the people he once left behind.

The welcome back party his friends have thrown for him was nice. He hasn’t felt the company of familiarity in a while now. It was good to see them again— like nothing ever happened. Like he never left.

Backpacking across Europe, Jeongguk felt free and light. He has always wanted to see beyond the confines of his home, to see what’s out there, what’s waiting for him.

Yet in doing so, he also had to make sacrifices— ones he didn’t want.

Stepping out of the club, Jeongguk needed to breathe. He might have been in and out of festivals and parties during his stay abroad, but the stuffiness of a crowded club will always make him uncomfortable. As soon as he is out, he hears a pair of heels tap against the pavement.

To his right, he sees a man trying to support a woman by her waist, her heels making dull noises as they hit the cold pavement.

“Come on, beautiful, let me take you home.”

Jeongguk hears the woman groan and slur at her words seemingly drunk, “I don’t know you, can you just please let me go.”

He recognizes that voice.

“My place is just a few blocks away, we’ll be there in no—”

“She told you to let her go.”

The man whirs behind him, only to see Jeongguk standing too close to where he is.

“Let her go,” Jeongguk says as his jaw slacks.

“And who are you?” the man sneers.

“Her boyfriend. Do you have a problem with that?”

The man chuckles and huffs, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not going to ask you again,” Jeongguk’s voice is now lower than it’s supposed to be. “Let her go.”

The man raises his arms in surrender, causing the woman to stumble all on her own. Jeongguk is quick to not let her fall on her own feet.

“Walk away.”

Jeongguk is honestly ready to fight if he has to, seeing that the man tensed and looked like he was about to pounce. Luckily, he didn’t. Jeongguk watches him stride back inside the club before looking at the woman.

He would recognize you anywhere.

Your hair is longer and you dyed it a light brown. Your eyes still shine, even though they look tired. You are still beautiful.

And very much drunk.

When you finally had enough strength to look into the eyes of the stranger who seems to have saved your ass, recognition dawns on you.

“Shit, I need to stop taking sleeping pills. For a second there, I thought you were my ex.”

Jeongguk swallows the lump forming in his throat, “____, it’s me.”

As soon as you hear his voice, your will to become more lucid has never been stronger.

“W-ait wha—? J-jeongguk?”

“Are you with anyone? They should know that you’re out here,” When you don’t respond, Jeongguk continues, “You’re drunk, ____. If you’re with someone inside—-”

You pull your arm away from him, slightly stumbling backward.

“I a-am not with… anyone. No—” You started to stumble once more, causing Jeongguk to hold onto your waist.

“Okay, come on, let’s get you home.”

“I am not going home with you,” you mumble.

“You’ve had enough to drink.”

“That— that is true,” you sloppily agreed, your head bobbing to the side, resting on Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“Okay then, the night’s over for you, let’s go.”

Surprisingly, you do not put up much of a fight. Jeongguk ushers you to his car and gently placed his palm on top of your head to prevent you from hitting your head on the car door frame. Getting into the car himself, he reaches across you to fasten your seatbelt. He can smell the alcohol on you, yet once the honey and lavender notes of your shampoo invade his senses, he has to keep himself from pulling you into a tight embrace.

Fuck, he misses you.

You shifted in the passenger seat as Jeongguk started the engine. “I need to know where you live, ____”

You lay your head back onto the headrest and mumble, “You know where I live.”

For a while, Jeongguk couldn’t move. He didn’t want to believe it. You must have sensed his body grow tense because you turn to look at him, eyes half-lidded but enough to tell Jeongguk about the sadness lingering.

“I still live there.”

The car ride back to your place was a quiet one. You seem to have fallen into a light sleep, occasionally stirring when Jeongguk stopped at a light or when he took a turn. He still knows the way to the apartment—- almost like muscle memory, like the back of his hand. As he listens to the sound of your breathing, his thoughts are all over the place.

What were you doing in a club all alone?

Why do you still live in our old apartment?

Why do you look like you’re still hurting?

Jeongguk tries his best to help you get into the apartment in one piece. You being drunk isn’t something new to him, not really. When you were still together, there were nights when he had to do the same thing—- take you back home safely.

Jeongguk wanted to chuckle at the irony but quickly realize that the only difference now is that you’re no longer his.

Not only does Jeongguk know what kind of drunk you are—- the quiet one—- he also knows that you require, at all costs, a shower before lying on the bed because you hate the idea of alcohol and smoke touching your sheets. He knew you’d throw a fit when you didn’t get your shower.

He watches you stumble your way through the dark surroundings of the apartment, trying to find the light switch. When you finally find it and light helped illuminate the room, Jeongguk feels his chest ache. A quick look around the apartment tells him everything and nothing has changed since he left. He is quickly pulled out of his thoughts when he hears a dull thump.

“Shit.”

He sees you rub on your leg right after it hit the kitchen counter and he quickly rushes to your side. As he was about to lead you into the master bedroom, he feels you resist.

“That’s not where I sleep.” Jeongguk looks at you, all puzzled until you try to redirect him to the other side of the hallway.

Jeongguk’s heart drops upon realizing one of the changes in the apartment since he left—- you now sleep in the room that was once his own small photography and video-editing room.

“M— I’m going to take a s-show—er,” you tried to say coherently, but your tongue still felt like lead.

“Do you need any help?”

You shake your head and stumble, “M’ fine…”

“I’ll be here if you need me.”

You seem to nod your head, at least that’s what Jeongguk likes to think. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Jeongguk allows his eyes to wander around the room.

The walls still hold the same hue, there was now a small bonsai sitting on the window sill. The bed you sleep on holds the same familiarity and it grips at his heart—- it’s the same bed where you both whispered promises of love to one another in the middle of the night, the same bed where you both made love as two souls intertwined, the same bed where you held each other through good and bad. Tears threaten to prick at Jeongguk’s eyes. He didn’t expect his first night back to turn out this way, didn’t anticipate he’d run into you and see you moving on yet also holding on to everything you both once shared.

The whole time, Jeongguk listens intently for any sign of you on the other side of the door, ready to help you if you need it. When he heard a loud clank, he jumped to the door but hesitated last minute. He heard you curse.

With one hand on the doorknob, he knocked, “_____? Are you okay?” When no response came, he tried again, “I’m coming in, okay?”

When he opens the bathroom, he finds you sitting on the floor, a green bottle with its contents spilled out onto the floor. Jeongguk immediately kneels before you, holding your face in his hands.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Your eyes start to droop, the effects of alcohol still kicking in. “M’fine, I just—- I think I wasted a whole bottle of toner because I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, ____. It was an accident.”

His words made the corner of your lip twitch and you hummed. Jeongguk helped you up and carried you to the bathroom counter.

This was another familiar setting between you and Jeongguk—- him helping you with your skincare after taking a shower, especially when you’re too inebriated to do it yourself. Picking up the bottle of your toner, he smiled, “There’s still some left.” He grabbed a piece of face pad and dabbled the toner onto your skin. Your eyes fall close and sigh as soon as his fingers did their work.

Jeongguk misses seeing your facial features relax under his touch. In the past, he used to see you smile even just a little bit as he ran the tips of his fingers, trying to get all that serum in. He misses this quiet intimacy you both shared.

He opens the medicine cabinet and found your moisturizer. He squeezed a bit of it onto the back of his hand before gently rubbing circles across your cheeks, forehead, and neck.

“Jeongguk I’m so sleepy…”

“We’re almost done, love.”

The term of endearment naturally slips and Jeongguk immediately looks at you to see if you picked it up. His heart swells at the sight of you—- glowing, whispering a soft agreement, almost like you’re giving him your full trust. If you had heard what he just addressed you with, you were good at hiding your reaction.

Jeongguk helps you settle in for bed, tucking you in under the soft blankets. As he smoothens out the creases in different places, he hears you whisper his name.

He didn’t expect tears to stream down your face as you look at him through half-lidded eyes.

“Hey, hey… _____ what’s wrong, why are you crying?”

He knows how you tend to get emotional during those rare moments you get really drunk—- that was another thing that bothered him since he saw you back at the club. You only get drunk when you’re really, really trying to escape from something.

He wipes your tears using his knuckles, “_____ please don’t cry.”

“Did you… did you find what you were looking for?”

Jeongguk knows what you were trying to ask and his heart aches because you haven’t forgotten, “What do you mean?”

“Did you get to experience a good life, Jeongguk? Because—- because it’s all I ever wanted for you…”

Your eyes were starting to close, almost fully succumbing to sleep. Jeongguk allowed his own tears to fall.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Jeongguk tried his best not to sob right there and then, “Hmm. I did experience good things.”

It took you a while to respond and for a minute, Jeongguk thought you had already fallen asleep. “Was I ever enough?”

Jeongguk feels his whole body tense and freeze, his fingers stopping in the middle of caressing your cheek.

“Was I ever enough for you?”

There have been a lot of things you had wanted to ask Jeongguk in the past but didn’t get to. Jeongguk knew now that he could have done a lot of things differently—- that he could have chased his dreams without letting you go.

“You have always been more than enough for me, ____.”

You smiled, but it didn’t reach your eyes, “I’m glad—- I’m glad life has been kind to you.” You try to fight off the sleep because even in the state you are in, you still manage to see how Jeongguk tries his best to fight off his tears. You slowly lifted your hand to reach out and touch his face. “You deserve to be happy, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk holds your hand in his, kissing your palm as he cries. There are a lot of things he could have done differently in the past—- and that includes not losing you and making you sad as you have been since he left. He cried for you— the only person who made life worth living. He cried for the both of you— the only good thing in his life that he ruined.

You wake up with the sunlight peeking through the blinds. The first thing you felt was your throbbing headache. You couldn’t remember how you even managed to come home last night. You went into the club to have some fun, maybe look for a good time, all because you wanted to do anything except wallow. You tried sitting up, realizing there is already a glass of water and aspirin on the bedside table— you definitely do not recall putting both of those there. You were almost finished drinking the whole glass when you heard the sound of plates and cutlery outside your room. You don’t remember bringing anyone home last night, no no no.

The moment you step into your kitchen, you see someone with their back to you finding their way around the pots and stove.

You recognize those broad shoulders.

“Uh… hello?”

Jeongguk slightly jumps at the sound of your voice. His features relax when he realizes you’ve woken up.

“Good morning, ____”

“Y-you’re here.”

“I’m here,” Jeongguk whispered, holding his breath.

“H-how did you—” Goddamn, you really need to stop drinking so much.

“I ran into you last night at the club. You were trying to get away from someone and I told them to fuck off.”

“O–oh.”

Jeongguk placed the cutlery on either side of the bowl, “Come, I made you some hangover soup.”

You timidly made your way to the kitchen counter, trying to wrack your brain as to what happened last night.

“I can hear you thinking, ____.”

“Did I— Did I say anything… last night?” You weren’t one for dilly-dallying, you have always been straightforward with Jeongguk. You were also like that the night he left.

Jeongguk didn’t respond right away and proceeded to pour another serving of soup onto a bowl. “No, not anything significant. Although, you did drop your new bottle of toner onto the bathroom floor.”

He hears you groan almost immediately. When he turns around, you had your head in your hands. “That was a new bottle of toner.”

“I know, you said so last night.” Biting your lip, he added, “I can swing by the store and buy you a new one.”

You continue to just look at Jeongguk, eyes turning glassy. You don’t remember everything you said last night, but you do recall Jeongguk crying.

“It wasn’t insignificant.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“What did we talk about last night, Jeongguk?”

“____, you need to eat first. You haven’t eaten anything since last night, I think.”

“No, Jeongguk. I asked you a question.”

Jeongguk knows this isn’t a battle he could win. Since last night, everything about you and him has been unconventional and this isn’t how he planned on meeting you again.

“You asked me if I found what I was looking for. I said I did, I had a good time… you also asked me if you were ever enough for me. I answered yes, _____. I will never stop saying it until you believe it. You have always been more than enough for me.”

Your hands were on the counter's edge, ready to stand and leave, “That’s unfair, Jeongguk. You do not mean that.”

“Why? Why is it so hard to believe?” Jeongguk briefly closed his eyes, reminding himself to not lose his cool because that stubbornness was one of the things that tore you both apart. “Look, _____. When I saw you last night, you were almost taken advantage of by some sleazeball. You never drink that much unless there’s a reason, but when I tried asking you if you were with anybody else, you told me there wasn’t. Since when did you start drinking alone at clubs? You could have gotten hurt—-”

“You don’t have any right to care about me, Jeongguk. You should have just left me there.”

“I know I lost that right a long time ago, but I can’t help it. You were once my girlfriend, _____, I cannot just leave you.”

The scoff you let out tore at Jeongguk. “You already left me once, Jeongguk. Surely it isn’t hard to do it the second time around.”

Jeongguk stands up to come near you, but you flinch. His heart aches once again.

“Now that’s unfair, _____,” Jeongguk closes his eyes for a fleeting moment, trying to temper the pain in his own heart, “You have every right to be angry with me—-”

“I am not angry, Jeongguk, I am in pain,” you try to level your voice despite wanting to scream, “I am still hurting so much and you put me here.” Your tears were now uncontrollable. “You were supposed to be the one person I could turn to when things became hard. Since you left, I tried to understand what I did wrong, what I did so bad enough for you to just up and leave.”

You turn your back on Jeongguk because looking at him is becoming too painful for you to bear. Your tongue is faster than your thoughts, threatening to spill every single ounce of pain you have kept in for far too long. You bite your lip in an attempt to stop talking, but then a small sob comes out instead.

“Shit, this isn’t supposed to be happening, I was already trying to move on from everything and I just—-” you bite on your bottom lip again before turning back to face him, “Did you know that it was supposed to be our third year anniversary yesterday?”

The gears in Jeongguk’s head started to turn; once more, he failed to remember. He failed you.

“I loved you so much, Jeongguk. But you broke my heart so much I can’t even bear to see you—” Jeongguk runs and catches you just before your knees gave in.

None of your fights with Jeongguk were this emotionally driven before. This is completely new territory to both of you and now you’re drowning in it. Jeongguk held you in his arms as you continue to sob, still too exhausted to push him away this time.

“I’m sorry, ____, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I was wrong to leave you behind. I should have just asked you to come with me, but I didn’t. I was selfish and I didn’t want to drag you down with me just because I didn’t know what I want. I’m sorry, ____, I know it isn’t enough to fix anything, but I really am sorry for hurting you like this.”

Both of you stay like that on the floor for a while, holding each other, not knowing what is going to happen next. Jeongguk cradles your head as close as you allow him as he cries tears of his own. He used to know how to comfort you, how to take care of you when you were upset.

This time around he doesn’t know how to do any of that because he knows he is the cause of your misery.

You open your eyes to a dim room. As you slowly come to, the argument with Jeongguk at breakfast came rushing back. With rain making itself known through the sounds of its downfall on your bedroom window, you realize Jeongguk was beside you— head laid on the edge of the bed, sleeping. You bring a hand up to remove the stray hairs that clouded his tired features. It’s been a year, you thought. Yet Jeongguk still looks peaceful despite the more evident circles under his eyes.

It’s been a year and Jeongguk found you again.

Tracing his cheek with your fingers didn’t last long because Jeongguk’s eyes slowly opened. Despite the tension from earlier, you didn’t feel the need to pull your hand away. Jeongguk turned his head to face you, chin resting on his hand.

“Hi,” Jeongguk whispered.

“Hey,” you replied, “It’s uncomfortable down there.”

Jeongguk carefully shook his head. “I only closed my eyes for a while, trying to listen to the rain.”

“It calms you.” You supplied.

“And you remember,” Jeongguk murmured with silent glee in his heart.

“Of course I do,” you said, giving him a small smile.

“I’m sorry, ____.”

“I know you are. I know. It’s not wrong to want things for yourself… to find yourself.”

“But it doesn’t change the fact that I left you for wanting those things. I could have handled it better,” Jeongguk defended.

You find yourself nodding, “I understand why you had to leave, Jeongguk. I didn’t want to be the one to hold you back from experiencing the good things in life,” you take a deep breath, “Even if that does not include me.”

Jeongguk moved to sit on the bed with you and gently held your hands. Looking up at you, he finally sees the stars in your eyes once more. They’re barely there— they have lost their light, but maybe he can still fix it.

“There are so many things I wasn’t able to tell you… not after we left things the way we did. I walked out on you, ____. You can’t let me off so easily for that… But I do want to make things right, somehow. If you will let me.”

You keep your eyes trained on your hands, the one being held the love of your life. If you really have to ask yourself, nothing has really changed about your feelings for Jeongguk. You still love him, deep down you know that.

“Hey, ____?” Jeongguk asked tentatively. You hum in response as you finally look at him.

“Why didn’t you move out? I mean—- the lease was up days before… before I left, and I just—”

“It was a hard decision at first,” you supplied, gripping Jeongguk’s hands just a bit tighter, “But I realized I didn’t want to move out. Honestly, I just really missed you and I’m reminded of it every single day when I’m here. But somehow, it also helped keep me going. Even though we didn’t end things well, I still wanted to hold on to what was left. I moved into your old studio because I wanted to feel close to you even though you’re no longer here. Deep down, I knew I didn’t resent you for leaving. It hurt like hell, I’m not denying that. But It also made me feel proud of you because you were finally achieving your dreams.”

Jeongguk reached out to cradle your face in his hand, “Why are you still so kind to me, _____? After all I’ve done to you?”

“You’re the only person who has ever made me feel happy,” you held his hand in yours as a tear trickled down your cheek, “I never stopped wishing for your happiness, Jeongguk. I want you to know that.”

“Can I— can we still work things out between us, ____? Will you let me make it up to you? I know it won’t be easy, but I am willing to do everything I can to mend us. Will you let me, ____?”

You reached out to wipe the tears that stained Jeongguk’s cheeks once more, “I would love that, Jeongguk.”

“I love you, _____. You— you don’t have to say it back, I just really want you to know that I love you so much… and I will wait for you for as long as you’ll have me…”

You lean forward to plant a soft kiss on Jeongguk’s forehead. With all the love in the world, you hope that for now, this will help him feel that you’re just as willing to wait for him, too.

“I love you too, Jeongguk. I always have.”

[jaehyunsprincesspeach]

Bullet to the Heart

Chapter 1

mafia!Johnny x fem!reader

wc: 1.5k

warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of gunshots, mentions of kidnapping (brief), mentions of alcohol, mentions of trauma (brief),

She's leaving behind her past, escaping the trap of perfection that she's been stuck in. Moving from Busan to Seoul, the possibilities are endless... though the universe has different plans for her... plans that she never in her wildest dreams would have imagined...

He runs… as fast as he can… as far as he can… the memory of the gunshots ringing in his mind, the memory of the screams, the memory of fear, driving him to keep going. As his mind wanders to the events that just happened, he doesnt recognize the area he's gone to… he's always had a troubled past, born on the wrong side of the tracks. His father was an alcoholic, and his mother was a broken woman, living a life she felt stuck in, wanting more. HIs father left when he was six years old, leaving him with a depressed mother, and a revolving door of boyfriends that she would bring home. After Johnny's father left, he became… angry… angry with life… but this? This he never anticipated. 

As he runs, he makes his way into an area that he is not familiar with. He slows down, his run shifting to a walk, as he looks around at the surrounding area. As he continues walking a figure comes into view… a tall man with a strong build, seemingly studying him as he approaches

“You've got guts walking around this area at night kid…”

Johnny looks up at the man, a mix of defiance and anguish in his eyes

“What's your name kid?”

“J-Johnny…”

“Johnny? What are you doing here?”

Johnny's eyes widen as he thinks again of the events that led him here. The fear visible in his eyes as he looks at the man. The stranger lets out a small sigh.

“Come on Johnny, you shouldn't be out here alone. Come with me.”

“W-Where are we going?”

“Headquarters. We'll talk more there.”

“Headquarters? Who are you?”

“I said we’ll talk more when we get there. Are you coming or what?”

~~~~~~~~~~

She sits at the dining room table with her parents. Another silent dinner as her father stares at his phone, while her mother keeps her head down, silently eating. The silence… The silence is deafening… ever since her mother caught her father cheating on her, things have been… tense… y/n, a pretty girl with a heart of gold… born into a rich family that lacks everything she values… connection, authenticity, love… Her father works as a CEO for one of the largest companies in Busan, and her mother stays home. A month ago, her mother caught her father cheating with his secretary, and since then, nothing has been the same… her parents think that staying together is helping her, but deep down, y/n knows things would be better for everyone if they separated…

The tension at the dinner table is too much for her… she grabs her plate and walks out of the room. Her parents watch as she escapes to her bedroom, but they don't bother stopping her… she sits in her room, her dinner growing cold as she looks at the stars outside of her window, hoping… praying… wishing for something to change… anything… her mundane life catching up to her… the routine becoming suffocating. She hates it, hates how she has to maintain a perfect image for the sake of her family’s reputation. On the outside, her life seems perfect, but inside, she feels as if she's drowning… as if she's just about to reach the surface, but something always pulls her back under. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Six Years Later 

~~~~~~~~~~

y/n has graduated from college, finally living a life she is excited for. She feels a sense of relief, being out of school, starting a life full of endless possibilities, new experiences, and things to explore. She moved from her hometown of Busan to Seoul, starting her life over. Living a life she feels excited for, and for the first time ever, she feels a sense of happiness. Despite the busy streets and crowded cafe’s, she feels more at home than she ever has. 

She goes about her day, working in a small cafe on her laptop when the aura in the room grows ominous… She looks around seeing a group of men walk into the cafe, all wearing black leather jackets, but one guy in particular catches her eye… a tall man with a scar that runs from just above his eyebrow, to his cheekbone. A chill runs down her spine as she sees the scar. The aura of the group instantly intimidating everyone in the room. As she looks at him with wide curious eyes, he suddenly looks over at her. His dark brown eyes give her a cold look, but there's a hint of surprise… She looks back at him wondering what's going to happen, but he takes her by surprise. He subtly shakes his head, as if silently telling her not to ask questions… her eyes grow wide again, but just when she's about to lower her eyes, he subtly motions for her to leave… sensing the tension in the air, she doesn’t quietly, inconspicuously, packs her things and walks out of the cafe…

As she walks back to her apartment, her mind wanders a million miles an hour… Who was he? How did he get that scar? Why did he motion for her to leave? Is something bad happening? She continues walking home, but even after arriving in the safety of her apartment, she can't get this mysterious man off of her mind… 

~~~~~~~~~~

She walks into a bar, one seemingly casual night, with some friends from work. As they approach the bar she looks to the side and sees someone sitting in a booth… there he was, the man with the scar… still looking at her with the same cold eyes… she quickly looks away, as one of her friends speaks

“Y/n, you gonna get a drink?”

She gently shakes her head, as if shes shaking the thoughts out of her mind

“Y-Yeah, sorry… just a little distracted…” “Someone caught your eye already?”

“No no, I just have a lot on my mind…”

“Well, we're here for some fun… loosen up a little, you deserve it…”

She smiles softly at her friend before ordering a drink. As she waits, she can feel the man's eyes on her, but she doesn't look back to him. She tries to ignore the intimidating aura that she can feel from across the bar as she grabs her drink and follows her friend to the crowded dance floor. She tries her hardest to enjoy the night, but by the time they leave, she's drained, physically, mentally, and emotionally… Nothing sounds more appealing to her than slipping into the comfort of her bed.

Her friends all disperse and make their way to their own apartments, leaving her to walk alone… she looks up at the darkness of the night sky, but she feels like someone is watching her… following her… she turns to look behind her, but the street is empty… she slowly turns and continues walking, until someone pulls her into a dark alley, covering her mouth with their hand before slamming her against the wall… the man stares at her with a dangerous look in his eyes, a sinister smirk tracing his lips…

“Well well, I caught myself a pretty little thing huh?”

Y/N tries to push the man off of her, but her smaller build proves to make that difficult…

“Look at you, pretty girl… thinking you could actually fight me off… its cute”

She tries to scream, but her mouth is muffled by the man's hand… she squirms and tries to break free, but her struggle is pointless against the man's larger build… tears slowly fill her eyes as the worst possible outcomes fill her mind.

Footsteps are heard, seemingly running closer, catching both her attention and the strangers attention. Before either of them can process what's happening, a tall figure emerges from the shadows of the alley, sending the man to the ground with an aggressive push. Y/N gasps softly when the stranger's hand is suddenly gone from her lips… she looks at the scene with wide eyes of fear as the stranger that had snatched her is knocked unconscious… She freezes in fear when the man from the shadows turns to look at her… and there he was… the man with the scar… protecting her… her eyes widen further as she sees him up close for the first time… he's more handsome than she imagined, even with the scar… his deep commanding voice pulls her from her thoughts…

“Get out of here.”

His tone left no room for contradiction. A chill runs down her spine as his voice hits her ears. She hesitates for a moment before nodding slowly and walking quickly out of the alleyway.

As she walks out of the alleyway, he watches her leave. His thoughts consume him, questioning why he's so concerned with this stranger. Why can't I get her out of my head? I don't even know her? Who is she? His mind rolls, but shifts to anger when he looks down at the man who dared to put his hands on her.

“You're coming with me.”

He throws the man over his shoulder, walking deeper into the alley, disappearing into the shadows.

[aidensteddybear]

can i get anything regressor yul with cg james (episode 19) plz

Regressor! Yul w/ Caregiver! James

“Yul?” James walked over to the other male, who looked extremely upset. Yul was just sitting on the sidewalk with his head down and holding a tissue to cover his burn scar.

“Hey, are you okay?” It was a dumb question, Yul obviously wasn’t okay, but what else was James supposed to ask.

James sat down beside of Yul, who answered his question with an incredibly sad whimper.

“Does your burn hurt any less?” Yul shook his head as James leaned over a bit, so he could see his face. Yul had a small frown and teary eyes, overall looking very pitiful.

James stayed quiet but slowly put his hand on Yul’s back and began to rub it up and down. The gesture seemed to comfort Yul a little, since he looked up at James, before shyly crawling into his lap.

From the start, James knew Yul was regressed. This wasn’t the first time James had taken care of Yul, though he could tell that this time was probably going to be different. Yul seemed to be very clingy.

“Come on, Yul. Let’s get you to your room.” James stood up with Yul and carried the shorter male to the motel room.

While carrying him, James could hear the same sad, little whimpers coming from Yul. James knew Yul deserved some kind of karma for what he did, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

Yul was in a regressed state, and he was obviously very young. James doubted that, in the mindset he was in, Yul understood the real reason for why what happened, happened.

When the two boys got in the room, James quietly shut the door behind them and went to go sit at the edge of the bed, with Yul in his lap.

A low whine came from Yul while he put his hand up to try and touch his face, since it was irritating him.

“Don’t touch your face, Yul. It’ll only make it feel worse.” James said as he grabbed Yul’s wrist and gently pulled it away before he could successfully touch his injury.

“I can get you a clean tissue for your burn, if you want, but I don’t want you touching the burn with just your hand.” James told him. The only response James received was a very angry whine from Yul.

“I know, buddy. I know it doesn’t feel well, but you can’t be touching it with bare hands. If you do, we’ll have to keep cleaning it every single time, and I know you don’t want that.” Yul huffed as a small pout appeared on his face.

James moved Yul closer and kept a firm grip around him, which did seem to provide him with some comfort.

Yul laid his head down on James’s shoulder and stared up at him with a sad expression. The more James looked at him, the more he could see the fear and confusion in the male’s one open eye.

Maybe if he had listened to James and stopped being such an asshole, none of this would’ve happened. That’s something James would bring up later, as now was definitely not the right time.

It was pretty quiet for a while, until Yul started to loudly whine and began to rub his injured eye along with the rest of that side and his face.

That only made it hurt worse, which led Yul to begin crying while continuing to rub his face with his fist.

“Yul, you’re making it worse. Stop.” James spoke softly as he moved Yul’s hand away. Yul kept crying, making it obvious that the pain was coming back.

James figured Yul had taken some sort of medicine for the pain earlier, so he just needed to find that and give it to him.

James stood up with Yul, then sat him back down on the bed. That only caused Yul to cry louder as he pitifully reached out for the taller man.

“Hey, hey…it’s okay.” James kneeled down slightly and wiped away the tears from the non injured side of Yul’s face, as he didn’t want to cause him anymore pain.

“I will be right back. I’m just getting you medicine to help with the pain.” James explained. As he expected, Yul didn’t respond and only kept crying.

James was quick to go to the bathroom and find the pain medicine Yul had taken. He doubted Yul would be able to swallow a pill right now, so he crushed up and went to get a glass of water.

Once he returned with the water, James put the crushed up pill in the cup, letting it dissolve as he quickly went back out to Yul.

“Here, buddy. You need to drink this so you’ll feel better.” James told him. Yul didn’t really care about anything except for feeling even the tiniest bit better, so he listened.

James held the glass and slowly tilted it to Yul’s mouth, helping him drink the water. Once he finished, James set the glass down and picked Yul up.

He went to the bathroom to get a cloth, since he wanted to clean Yul’s burn a little, since Yul had been touching and irritating it.

James wet the cloth with cool water, before gently dabbing it against Yul’s burn. It didn’t seem to cause him any pain, but it probably was the most comfortable thing for him, as with every touch, Yul would whimper and flinch.

“I know, buddy. I promise, it’ll help.” James said as he continued to gently touch Yul’s burn with the cloth.

James did this for about a minute. He knew he probably should’ve done it longer, but Yul clearly didn’t enjoy getting his injury cleaned and was becoming more upset. But a minute was better than nothing.

After he finished, James brought Yul back to the bed and sat down with him on his lap. He cradled Yul in his arms and began to slowly rock him, in hopes of soothing him a little.

Thankfully, Yul didn’t seem to be in as much pain as he was earlier. He wasn’t crying anymore, but he was still very whiny, which James expected. Yul definitely wasn’t having the best day ever.

“You’re okay, little guy. Everything’s going to be fine.” James whispered to Yul, who was staring up at him with a small pout.

Whenever Yul would return back to his normal headspace, he and James could talk about what happened. Most of that talk was probably going to be James trying to convince Yul to apologize for how he treated Grett, which obviously wasn’t going to be an easy thing to do.

James would also tell Yul that he should’ve just listened to what he said weeks ago. Though, now wasn’t the time for any of that.

Right now, James’s main concern was helping Yul feel better. Physically and emotionally.

[bookwormscififan]

I Would Destroy Our World, Chapter 8

Committing to Comfort

Read on AO3!

Previous chapter

Concept art 1 and 2

A/N: Let Jackie be happy in this AU.

--

Jackie smiled as Phantom handed him a mug of coffee, holding it under his nose and breathing in deeply. He’d always loved the smell of coffee: it reminded him of happier times, of Phantom spluttering the first time he made a cup—

The sharp dressed man drank his coffee black, no sugar or milk. He would toss coffee grounds into Jackie’s cell, laughing as the hot sludge made him cower away. The clang of the ceramic mug against his cell bars echoed in his head, giving him an ache that made his eyes close—

Phantom’s coffee was always sweet, rich and echoed the love he put into making it. Jackie closed his eyes as he let the aroma flood his senses, remembering mornings curled up with his feet in Phantom’s lap as they laughed over mugs of coffee—

Coffee made at the facility was always bitter, the beans burnt beyond recognition. Opting for tea was no better, as the bags were beyond stale and the water always lukewarm. Jackie barely drank anything in fear of being poisoned, throat feeling dry after therapy—

“Jackie.” He blinked at the sound of his name, seeing Phantom leaning in front of him, looking into his eyes with a hand on his cheek, thumb brushing away tears he didn’t realise were falling. “We lost you for a moment there.”

“Sorry,” Jackie mumbled, sipping his coffee before handing it to Phantom. “I got lost in memories. Can I… can I sit close to you for this?” His cheeks flushed a little as he asked, sighing in relief when Phantom nodded, taking his mug and leading him to sit in the armchair by his side.

“As I was saying,” Phantom continued, adjusting his position when Jackie crawled to curl in his lap, gently placing an arm around the hybrid’s back. “We’ve got to start figuring out the plan for destroying the facility. Jackie helped me find their location, all that’s left is deciding when to do this.”

“When was the last time you trained?” Mare asked, absently toying with the hair on Mad’s tail. “I know our illusions don’t take a lot of training, but we would need a good plan to ensure the illusions work.”

“I practice while Jackie’s asleep,” Phantom answered, handing Jackie his mug with his free hand, not taking his eyes off the hybrid until he nodded at him. “Trying to make the room into something more familiar to Jackie, but they’re not quite right, and I always end up tearing it down before he wakes up.”

“And you want to get the facility on a larger scale?” Mare clarified, concerned face softening when Mad rubbed his head under his chin. “Gonna need you to try illusions a little bigger than your bedroom. We’ll try making Mad and Jackie see the forest in the living room later.”

“You’ve been trying to make your room familiar?” Jackie asked quietly, resting his cheek on Phantom’s shoulder as he looked at him. “W-Why?” His voice cracked, eyes tearing up as he fiddled with the button on Phantom’s shirt.

“Because I love you,” Phantom’s voice was genuine, running his hand through Jackie’s bangs to reveal his eyes. “I thought it would help your healing a little more if you had things you remember.”

“Back on topic,” Mare interrupted, tightening his hold around Mad’s waist when the fox made soft chittering sounds of protest. “I think we should try morning practices. I still have troubles controlling the fire whenever I’m emotionally charged, so I’m willing to bet the same for you.”

“I can handle my fire control,” Phantom muttered, tone defensive as he rolled a flame across the backs of his fingers. “We can try the illusions, but my control is usually motivated by Jackie by my side.”

“That’s my point!” Mare took several deep breaths when Mad purred at him, pressing his nose against the top of his head before continuing. “I won’t put them in danger. I don’t want them anywhere near the gates of the facility, so we’re going to need another motivator to keep our control in check.”

“I’m sure thinking about what they did to Jackie’s mind is enough for me,” Phantom scoffed, rolling his eyes when Jackie nosed at his jaw. “Fine. We’ll practice after lunch, find something to motivate the control, and figure out the illusion.”

“Good.” Mare adjusted Mad in his lap as he got ready to stand. “We’ll destroy the facility in two weeks. Start brainstorming your illusions, I’ll see you in a few hours.” Not waiting for an answer, he carried Mad upstairs to his room.

Phantom watched him go before sighing, pinching the bridge of his nose as Jackie nuzzled against his neck. Blinking a couple of times, he offered the raccoon a soft smile, tilting his head to press their foreheads together.

“Do you want to make up some sandwiches, and we can go for a walk in the woods?” he asked quietly, pressing a kiss to Jackie’s nose when he made an affirming sound. “We can have lunch by the stream, dip our toes in the water.”

“I love you,” Jackie whispered, ducking down to kiss Phantom properly before climbing out of his lap and heading for the kitchen.

----

“What’s a guy like you doing living out in the city?” Phantom asked, laying on his back beside Jackie in the grass on the outskirts of town, watching the clouds pass in the sky. “Not that I’m complaining, I just haven’t seen many like you outside the woods.”

“I don’t know,” Jackie answered, rolling onto his side and resting his chin on his fist on Phantom’s chest, smiling when the human gently threaded his fingers through his hair. “It started out by looking for food, I guess. Then it was curiosity about you, and I just kind of stayed.”

“Would you ever go back?”

“To the woods? I don’t know, Phan. I like it here, I like the bustle of the city, but I don’t think I’d like it as much if I hadn’t met you.” He chuckled when Phantom tickled his side, dropping his head to rest against Phantom’s neck. “And I doubt anyone would want to—ah!”

“No doubting,” Phantom laughed, having pulled Jackie to lay on top of him, legs either side of his hips. “If you want to go back to the woods, I’d build you a house out there and live with you forever.”

“You’re being dramatic.” Jackie rolled his eyes but made no move to get off Phantom.

“Dramatic? Me? No, dramatic would be me saying I would die to see you happy and safe, seeing the way your eyes shine when you smile. I want to die knowing you were safe.”

----

“Penny for your thoughts?” Phantom’s voice broke Jackie out of his thoughts, turning to see the human offering him a sandwich as they sat beside the stream.

“Remember when we went cloud watching?” Jackie asked, biting into his sandwich before looking back at Phantom. “Would you still build a place for us to live in the woods, away from people?”

“I would,” Phantom answered, offering Jackie a smile as he set his sandwich aside. “I’d drop everything and build you the best home you could ever want in the woods if you asked. I would kill to see you safe.”

“Can I ask a question?” When Phantom nodded, Jackie lifted a hand hesitantly to touch the bump under Phantom’s shirt, glancing at the cord around his neck. “Why are you wearing a ring around your neck?”

“The day you were taken,” Phantom began, pulling the ring out so Jackie could hold it. “I was going to propose. I was going to ask you to be mine, marry me, stay with me forever. I was going to offer to move out of the city with you, live in the woods and survive on rodents we trapped.”

“Do you still want that?” Jackie’s voice wobbled, his eyes damp with tears as he looked at Phantom. His fingers fiddled with the cord holding the ring around Phantom’s neck, and Phantom carefully pulled it over his head so Jackie wouldn’t accidentally choke him. “Do you still want to marry me?”

“More than anything. I want to call you my husband, protect you with my life. Why? Do you want that?” Phantom froze when Jackie leaned forward to kiss him deeply, slipping the ring onto his finger before pressing his cheek to Phantom’s.

“I do,” he whispered, breath hitching when Phantom turned to catch him in a kiss, pouring years of emotion into the press of his lips against Jackie’s. “I want nothing more than that.”

Phantom’s fingers tangled in Jackie’s hoodie, pulling him impossibly close as he kissed him with a fierceness he’d deny later, revelling in the small sounds Jackie made as he grasped at Phantom’s shoulders. Pulling the hybrid into his lap, Phantom moved one hand down to press against the dip in Jackie’s back, holding him close as he pressed kisses along Jackie’s jaw.

“I could die right now, and I’d be grateful,” Jackie mumbled, tangling his fingers in Phantom’s hair as the human sucked a dark mark into the juncture of his neck. “I would thank whatever force was out there for giving me this—” He paused as he looked around, gasping softly and tugging on Phantom’s hair to get his attention.

The field around them was ablaze in rose-coloured flame, translucent walls surrounding them covered in photographs from their time together. Beneath Jackie, the grass was a dusty red, unbelievably soft and glowing with red embers. The tips of Phantom’s fingers were dusted berry-red, eyes glowing red slightly as he looked around the area. As Phantom steadied his breathing, he waved his hand, dissolving the illusion to return the setting back to normal.

“I think you found your motivator,” Jackie chuckled, staying on the grass as Phantom gently cleaned him up, purring softly. “You need to come back to me so we can get married and live away from the town.”

“Oh, I’d marry you anytime,” Phantom responded, pulling Jackie to curl in his lap, brushing his fingers through his hair. “The second I come back from burning that facility, I’m going to lay you in bed and remind you of every part I love about you.”

--------------

@iamvegorott @brokentimewatch @rattyboyisemo @dungeon-dragons-dragons

[wellthebardsdead]

The mourned & the healing Final pt1

Previous part here

———

Lucien: *getting dressed in wedding finery, looks out the window to see nobles from each house arriving, and gigantic silt striders emerging from the distance carrying heads of the ashlander tribes* Gods I think all of morrowind is here.

Inigo: I heard dunmer from as far as Cyrodiil were coming to witness our friends marriage.

Lucien: well I can understand that! LeiLei is marrying the king after all, so it’s the least we can do as his friends to look the part as his closest confidants!

Sero: That and we’ll look ridiculous amongst the crowd as the only other people in armour, when only nerevar and the ordinators are supposed to be the ones wearing it.

Xelzaz: *pulling his pants up over his tail* it’s akin to wearing a wedding gown to somebody else’s wedding.

Taliesin: *looks over at them* I agree. *continues fixing Kaidans collar on his robe* oh stop your pouting we’re attending a wedding not a battle field.

Kaidan: but what if shit hits the fan?! A whole room full of important people and you don’t think an assassin will take that as an opportunity?

Taliesin: If something happens it happens but we’re guests, not body guards now stop your sulking. *kisses him playfully* you look quite handsome all dressed up too~

Kaidan: *pouts and folds his arms* next you’ll be teaching me how to walk with a book on my head and expecting everyone to address me as ‘my lord’.

Priestess: *enters with a pallet of ceremonial war paint* I’m here to paint you as honoured members of house dagoth, my lords.

Kaidan: FOCK!

*meanwhile*

Riiju-Lei: *being fussed over by the maids and priestesses as they dress him from head to toe, painting his face in ceremonial makeup and reciting blessings all the while councillors run about trying to organise the last touches for the ceremony* it’s really happening. I’m getting married. *smiles looking at himself in the many mirrors before walking to the door as his new councillors open them for him*

Councillor: Lord Dagoth, members of your house have come forth out of hiding wishing to give blessings before your union.

Riiju-Lei: *can’t help but pout a little, wanting to just run to the main hall and embrace his neht once more but nods and smiles* of course. I will have an audience with them.

*meanwhile in the main hall*

Nerevar: *fixing his armour making sure it’s just right for the billionth time* how do I look? Nothing in my teeth?

Divayth Fyr: No Hortator you’re fine, calm yourself already, the guests will be arriving any minute now.

Nerevar: I can’t. What if he changes his mind last minute? W-what if he doesn’t turn up? What if I mess up during the ceremony?! Will the good daedra follow through with their blessings?! M-maybe I should go to Azura one more time and ask-

Divayth Fyr: *suddenly sits him down on the cushion beneath the marital arch as the guests flood in* Everything will be just fine. *looks over to see team dragonborn taking their seats amongst the crowd, joining the new honoured faces of house dagoth* He’ll be here. You’ve nothing to worry about.

Nerevar: *looks up at him then at team dragonborn feeling a huge sense of relief, knowing if they’re here then he will turn up. Sighs and smiles watching as the heads of each house branch out from their respective groups and walk the main isle to present their gifts and blessings, the spot once reserved for house dres now replaced with the honoured argonian chief of the new house ‘hist’* Welcome, I am glad you could join us on this joyous day.

*a few minutes later*

Nerevar: *chatting with the archmaster of redoran as the room waits in anticipation, all eyes on the door and of house dagoth as the moment grows closer*

Team dragonborn: *all eyeing the door nervously waiting for their friend, worried he might get cold feet or be paralysed with nerves*

Taliesin: he’s still not here, should I go find him?

Kaidan: shhh I’m sure he’s fine, weddings always take longer than you think they will.

Inigo: maybe he’s having trouble getting into his robes?

Lucien: with how many people I saw running in and out of his chambers in a panic maybe he fainte-

Divayth Fyr: *suddenly stands before the main doors unfurling a scroll and speaking the rights of the first velothi people to welcome in the ancestors and to greet the new life among them before speaking praise to the good daedra and recounting the acts of the nerevarine now Hortator, and then finally lowering the scroll and speaking so all present may understand* Honoured guests we gather here today in the temple of our ancestors, to unite our council as one, we welcome now the argonian people into our fold and honour their name amongst us as House Hist. And we welcome back those who once shunned as the 6th house unmourned, now we honour your names as House Dagoth, the 6th house remembered. And it is today we celebrate the union of our Hortator, Indoril Nerevar, To the one who walked as Voryn Dagoth, now, Riiju-Lei, Harbinger of the companions, Slayer of the world eater, Bane to the tribunal reborn, but known to all as simply, the Dragonborn. *steps aside as the doors open revealing the golden skinned chimer, dressed in the dark reds and blacks of house dagoth and face baring the same colours in markings symbolising love and power, contrasting the red of all 3 of his beautiful eyes as he stares straight ahead, and smiles as he rests his gaze on his Nerevar*

Nerevar: *breath catching in his throat as the moment he’d been waiting for for so very long finally dawns upon him* gods… *moves to stand up wanting to just run to him, only for the Archmaster of redoran to tap him on the shoulder as a gentle reminder to be patient*

Divayth Fyr: *walks to Riiju-lei, holding a new ceremonial mask of house dagoth, one modelled after his face, not of voryn dagoth, or dagoth ur, but one of him, of Riiju-lei* Welcome now, Riiju-Lei, may you honour your house. As you have all of morrowind, and all of tambriel. *places the mask over his face trying not to smile wide as he hears the chimer already giggling with excitement* shhh behave yourself-

Riiju-Lei: *still giggling* I’m trying-

[itsukismoon]

The Beginning of a Dream - Affection Story Lv. 10 (Harriet)

Voiceline when reaching level 10: I've been enjoying myself more and more. These secret rendezvous of ours make me nervous and set my heart pounding. What a wonderful time.

That day, I was looking for Harriet on behalf of Alex-san, who wanted to talk to him.

(Flashback)

Alex: I’m in no hurry, but there’s something I’d like to discuss regarding the next training session.

Alex: If you see Harriet, could you tell him I was looking for him?

(Flashback ends)

Emma: (Today he’s not on patrol duty, so he should be somewhere in the church—)

Emma: (Ah, there he is!)

Harriet, focused: …..

Harriet was sitting on a chaise longue, and seemed to be reading intently.

Emma: Sorry to disturb you while you’re reading, can I bother you for a second?

Harriet: Mh? —Aah, Emma!

Harriet: You’ve come at the right time!

Emma: Mh? “Right time”?

Harriet: This book. It’s a romance novel that was recently released.

Harriet: The plot is truly wonderful…! I was just thinking of telling someone how great it is!

Harriet: For example, here!

Harriet leaned forward and grabbed my hand tightly.

Harriet: “Even if the world is my enemy, nothing matters to me more than your happiness.”

Harriet: “Please believe in me and take my hand, my beloved.”

Emma: !?

Harriet smiled enchantingly at me, who suddenly stiffened.

Harriet: What a wonderful thing when lovers try to stick to their love no matter the situation…!

Harriet: Why don’t you read it too? It will surely move you!

Emma: U-uhm. If you say that, I’ll give it a try. That aside, Harriet—

Harriet: Ah, wait! There’s one more line I wanted you to hear.

Before I could say anything, his hand pulled the back of my head towards him.

Harriet: —“Your honest eyes pierced my heart.”

Harriet: “You taught me true love… Emma”

Emma, blushing: !?

When he suddenly called my name, my heart skipped a beat.

Harriet: Are you surprised? The heroine of this novel actually has the same name as you!

Emma, still blushing: I-is that so…

Harriet: Fufu, maybe that’s why I empathise with it (the book). Another one is—

Emma: W-wait a second, Harriet! Alex-san is looking for you!

I hurriedly distanced myself from Harriet, who was about to whisper words of love to me.

Harriet: Oh. If that’s the case then there’s no helping it. We’ll continue another time.

Harriet: Anyway, please read this book. Later, let’s discuss more deeply about love!

Emma: (…I’m curious about what the story is about, but I don’t think I’ll be able to read it calmly now.)

Harriet’s whispers echoed in my ears, and I cooled my heated cheeks with the palms of my hands—

[casperolivervo]

A Letter For Little Me

This is also posted on my Medium blog, along with other writings of mine!

A letter as a trans man who's about to get my top surgery tomorrow. I decided to sit and write a letter for my younger self, and I figured I'd share it in case anyone else may find comfort in it/relate to any of what's said.

  Dear Little Me, 

  It’s Casper, aka you from 2023. Hope you like the name we’ve chosen! We’re now 27, and tomorrow is a very big day for us: we’re getting top surgery tomorrow!

  We’ve wanted this for quite a while, huh? Over ten years we’ve wanted this change. Over ten years we’ve wanted to make this body really feel like ours, and now it’s finally happening. I hope you’re not disappointed in how long it took, but are rather excited to know that it will in fact happen!

  For a long time we’ve struggled to feel at home in our body, we’ve struggled to identify with our birth name, we’ve struggled to connect with the life that many of the adults around us expected for us to live. We’ve lived on such a tight leash with such a painful muzzle for so long, I know it’s hard to imagine a life without it. I promise you: we will free ourselves, and we will make this body a true home for ourselves.

  As I prepare us for tomorrow, I remember how we used to cry to mom at night about hating our chest and our painful menstrual cycles. We would beg for mama to help us, working towards a breast reduction or getting on birth control to alleviate the pains, to alleviate the dysphoria.. she did what she could, but it never felt like enough. We didn’t know at the time, but our gender dysphoria was trying to communicate to us that something was off. You did the right thing to listen to the feeling, and I am so sorry that so many of the adults around you made it feel unsafe to be even more open about it. But I want you to know: there are adults who love and support you, I promise you that those adults will continue to fight for you in the ways that they can.

  We’re no longer in Indiana, we escaped! We moved to Florida for a while, but that wasn’t the place for us. In fact, Florida got worse than Indiana was in some ways. While being there led to many amazing and wonderfully life-changing experiences, we also would have been unsafe to stay. Us and our polycule (wife, boyfriend, and queer-platonic partner/QPP) are all now safely in Oregon. It’s like the best of both worlds: we live in a rural farm town again, but it’s far more liberal and diverse than in Indiana. We’re also still in contact with many of our Indy friends, even as many of them flock and flee to other parts of the world- or those who have stayed in Indiana to continue the fight to make things better. We’ve also made many wonderful new friends and have built a new family for ourselves.

  I know it can be hard to imagine, but we pursued what we really wanted to do: we’re an actor! You grow up to become a voice actor for podcasts, an award-winning script writer and stage performer, we’re doing drag shows as a pageant-crowned drag king, and we’re helping host murder mystery parties as we PRETEND to be a detective… I know you never wanted to actually be an officer of the law, and I promise we’ll never be forced into that role. In fact: we’re staunchly ACAB. (I promise you’ll learn what that means sooner rather than later). You never wanted to go into the military, and you did the right thing by backing out of that by any means necessary. I know it seems like dad’s plan for you is the only option that you have, but it is not, and we’re living a far better life than we could have imagined.

  Now that we’re in Oregon, we’re able to spend our time making art and helping fellow queer and disabled people.

  Before you fight me on it: honey, we’re disabled. No matter what dad said about health, we are disabled and that is a-okay… Our body and brain need more care, and I promise you’ll get the care you need. Our new doctor is wonderful and we have a medical team that believes us. We are not weak or lazy, we’re ill and our body needs extra care- like Sarah, ours is just harder to see than hers.

  We’re able to work with our friends and partners to make art and create resources for folks in need. We’re able to connect with people like us, or people that are so different from ourselves that it opens our eyes to brand new ways of life, and we’re made all the better for it. We’re able to help kids who grew up like us to live better and happier lives, we’re able to meet people much older than us who have so much wisdom about life that we’re finally able to receive.

  Unfortunately, mama is gone now… I promise you: it is not your fault. We knew that she would die before us, likely while we were young… but it isn’t the end of the world when that happens. It hurts, but we survive. Make the most of your time with her while you can, and when she’s gone we’ll find new ways to communicate and contact her. Our witchcraft is still very important to us, and it allows us to become even closer to our mama than we ever believed possible. You need time without her to work on yourself, and you’ll eventually be able to have a healthier relationship with her.

  Dad’s gone too, but not in the same way. We finally had the strength to cut him out of our life. You don’t need to worry about him, he’ll be okay. Cutting him out is going to be the best thing you could do for yourself. It’ll hurt and be hard, but it’s going to be such a freeing and liberating experience. He can’t control our life, he can’t force us into anything we don’t want to do, he can’t keep us in a box anymore. I promise you: life is so much better without him tugging on the leash or tightening the muzzle anymore. You will miss him and the good times with him, but you’ll find far better parental figures over time. And you’ll also find out that you are not the only person that he mistreated, and many adults did see how he was treating you as bad. You’ll have more allies than you could imagine, you’re not alone.

  Tomorrow is our first gender-affirming operation. We have the medical support we need for it, we have a community of loved ones helping us through, and we have the insurance and finances to afford it. We still are fighting to get other medical needs met, but it is infinitely better than it was in Indiana.

  As of right now, I don’t have much more to say. I still need to set up our recovery space and make sure the home is clean before I become unable to do chores for a while. But I wanted to give you a sliver of hope that things will get better, and I’m sure I’ll write more letters to you over time.

  Thank you for holding on and continuing to fight, I promise it’ll all be worth it. We’re still fighting for better, but we’re not doing it alone anymore.

  I love you, hun. I promise you’re doing great, and you’ll come to love yourself in time. Be kind to yourself until then, you’ve gone through a lot.

Sincerely,

  Older You.

IMAGE ID: a photo of my younger (still femme) self smiling in the rural Indiana countryside.

[theautisticfroglord]

Finally with you

pairing : patry x william

fic type : fluff

warnings: : none

notes : sorry for big lump of text at the beginning also a part of this fic is based off of a comic I made 💀💀

William has had a second soul in his body ever since he could remember. He wanted to take care of it, to make sure he lives so the soul can, too. He’s always wanted to see the soul physically. Later, William having this second soul in his body complicated his life. The second soul, Patry, was going to fight against the human race, especially the Clover kingdom, while William is loyal and protective of Julius and the place he called home. He loves Patry, but he also cares for Julius. William saw the fight between these two people through Patry’s eyes. When Patry won, he was broken. He regretted not being able to choose who he would side with. His soul fell dormant inside of Patry for the rest of this incident, up until Asta removed Patry’s soul from his body. Then, after he helped get the truth of what truly happened to the elves and removed their souls from all the humans that were affected, Rades used his wraith magic out of anger and brought Patry’s soul back into Licht’s body. William was happy that Patry could atone, and he could see him, but he needed to atone first. When he saw that Julius came back in a smaller form, he was surprised. Then, William had to do a lot of work and training throughout the 6 months the Heart and Clover kingdom had to prepare for the fight against the devils. Then, he got abducted in an attack. After the spade battle and William healing, he could finally see Patry and talk to him in a peaceful environment. William makes his way to Elysia, where Patry and a few other close friends of his are. All of them were happy to see him for the first time in a while.

“Hello, William… It’s been a while…” Patry says, blushing a little at the sight of him. William talks and catches up with Patry and his other friends.

“Can William and I be alone for a little bit?” he politely asks.

“Sure, we’ll just walk around for a little while,” Rhya says. Him and the others walk off into the forest. Then, Patry and William find a place to sit together. He sits next to William.

“So, how’s it been going in the clover kingdom?” Patry asks William.

“It’s been well… how have you been feeling lately?” He asks, leaning up to him. Patry notices, and he sighs contently.

“Even better, now that you’re here with me…” He purrs. William blushes at those words.

“I’m so happy we can finally be together… also, I have to tell you something,” he holds William’s hand, preparing to tell him.

“I love you…” Patry confesses, looking up at him.

“I… I love you too, Patry…” William didn’t expect for his relationship with him to become something more than friends, but he was okay with that. He has been with Patry his whole life, and seeing him and thinking about him made his heart flutter. Then, Patry kissed him on the cheek. Both of them were flustered at this point, but they were happy. After a while of being affectionate talking to each other, Patry grabs William, making him gasp. He then pulls him into his lap and hugs him. Patry sighs as he presses his face into William’s neck.

“You’re so pretty, Will…” He mumbles. William softly rubs his back while Patry kisses him. Every time either of them got kissed or loved, their heart would flutter. They continued to kiss each other until they heard a familiar voice.

“So you’ve got a boyfriend now, Patry?” Rhya chuckles, walking up to them. Patry instantly hops off of William’s lap, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

“Don’t worry, though, I support ya,” Rhya laughs.

“W-we were in the middle of something!” Patry looks down, his face flushed adorably. William was just sitting there still, his face also red. After the both of them manage to calm down, everyone else comes back. They notice William and Patry holding hands and leaning up to each other. They knew they were in love, but they still announced it to them.

“You guys are so cute together… I wish I was able to see Mars, it’s been so long… we’ll see each other again someday,” Fana sighs.

“I have to leave soon, it’s getting a bit late,” William says, looking up at the sky, noticing the sunset.

“The sunset looks nice,” Vetto says, smiling.

“Well… I’ll see you again sometime soon, okay?” Patry looks at William, holding his hands.

“Of course, honey… I love you,” he kisses Patry before getting back on his broom and flying back.

[megreads22]

Snippet 1

So this is my first time posting something and I’m a tad bit terrified. Hope you like it.

There’s something spine-chilling about seeing someone so seemingly unhinged stalking towards you. Especially if that someone had super strength and held a gleaming needle in one hand. Especially especially if that someone just knocked out (hopefully just knocked out) the one person who you thought was invincible. 

I swallow and throw up a shield made out of wind, staggering back from where Mark, the (hopefully) knocked out superhero and my best friend, pushed me before getting the snot knocked out of him by this man. Mark didn’t have a chance to even fight back before he was on the ground, leaving me alone with Mr. Psycho. He stood between me and my best friend on the rooftop. Moonlight shines on his gleaming eyes.

The man smiles. “I’m so glad we’re finally alone,” he says, voice like honey. “I’ve been looking forward to this for too long.”

Cold seeps down my body. I’m not one to banter with the people Mark and I fight. That’s normally Mark’s job. Mark, my wonderful, annoying, amazing partner in crime-fighting that isn’t moving--. Nope, not thinking about it. He’s fine and will wake up any second, I just have to get him away from this man.

I swallow again, thinking. There had to be a way to get out of this situation. Dozens of plans flashes through my mind in a heartbeat, none of them standing out. Running is an option, but there’s no way I can get to safety while carrying Mark. Fighting head on seems like a death wish. God, I wish Mark would wake up. 

The man chuckles. “I can practically see your marvelous mind working. Moving a mile a second. Amazing.”

The cold continues its invasion to my chest. Marvelous? Okay. Cool, cool, cool. The bad guy is complimenting me. Nothing creepy about that.

He steps closer. “But that’s only part of your charm, isn’t it? You’ve also got amazing abilities: air manipulation, flight, and don’t let me forget your amazing weather manipulation you try so hard to conceal.”

My constant stream of plans scream to a halt. That’s not possible. Nobody except Mark knows about those powers. I thought I’ve done so well controlling them; hiding their destructive inclinations. “W-hat? T-hat’s not… How? How do you know that?” 

Only when he raises an amused eyebrow do I curse my stupidity. I didn’t even think to deny it. Idiot.

“She speaks.” His demented smirk grows. “I know all about you. Maybe more than you know yourself. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll discuss this later once we get you home. You’ll be in a more suitable, safer, environment.”

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Home? We? Oh, hell to the no! My secret powers can wait. We need to get out of this situation fast. I take another step back, chancing a glance at Mark. His chest rises and falls. I let out a breath, thanking whatever gods who are listening that he’s still alive. However, there’s no telling how long it’ll take for him to wake up or what condition he’ll be in when he does. I guess it’s just me, myself, and I against this creeper. Yay.

I look back up at our attacker. He’s assessing me. Looking for any weaknesses. He’s sure to find a whole lot if I don’t move soon, so I think of a plan. 

“Yeah, buddy. I don’t think so,” I say before dropping my shield and leaping up to kick him in the face. 

He staggers back, giving me enough time to fly around him. I race towards Mark.

“Really?” The man grabs my ankle. “Did you really think that would work?” 

The next thing I know is the hard cement pressing into my back and the stars spinning above me. I gasp, or try to at least, as I struggle to catch my breath. 

I blink away the dizziness to see the man standing above me. 

“I knew that you were going to try something, but did it really have to be this obvious?” He crouches down with the needle in hand getting closer to my neck. “But don’t worry, I’ll fix that. I’m gonna help you.”

Panic seized my throat. This can’t be happening. It’s a nightmare. It has to be. Then, as if the situation can’t get any worse, something in my chest breaks, releasing everything I’ve tried for years to keep at bay. Power rushes out of every pore of my skin sending lightning flying in every direction. It throws the man away as easily as one swats a slow fly. My thoughts fragment into pieces that pierce my skull, making it impossible to stop my torrent from lifting me in the air. 

“No! No! No!” I can’t stop saying it as rain pounds the rooftop and lightning comes out of my hands. I try to take deep breaths but all I can think about is how this is getting worse, how it was going to hurt people just like before, how it was all my fault. How everything was all my fault. 

“Oh my God!” I hear the man say. “This is better than I could’ve dreamed!”

His delight sends another wave of panic through me, causing a gale of icy wind. Rain turns to snow around me.

“No! No! No! Please stop! Please stop!” I dig my nails into my palms, hoping pain will stop me but it does nothing.

Suddenly, a force hits me in the air. It takes me a moment to realize that it’s the man. A sharp pain radiates down my neck before disappearing. I flinch. The needle. He got me with the needle. 

“Shh, shh, shh. It’s alright,” he whispers in my ear. 

My scattered thoughts turn even more chaotic as questions flood my brain. What was that? Who the hell is this guy? Is Mark okay? Yet, I’m not leeching anymore power. In fact, everything is starting to calm down. We even start floating down.

“Shh, I’ve got you. Everything will be okay. You’re okay,” the man says, his grip unwavering. I try to move my arms, but they just barely wiggle. 

“What… What did you do to me?” I slur. Everything suddenly feels quite heavy. My thoughts slow down to a crawl, which I would’ve given anything for a minute ago. Now, it can only mean disaster. 

He caresses my cheek. “It’s okay, Maggie. It’s just a sedative so you don’t hurt yourself.”

Maggie? He knows my name?

 “Who… who are you?” It’s getting hard to form complete thoughts. And when did I close my eyes? I force them open.

He smiles as if he didn’t drug me. “Someone who wants you to reach your full potential. Hush now. I’ll explain it to you when you wake up. Sleep well.”

He kisses my forehead as everything goes dark.

[coffee-in-veins]

Day 17: Pumpkin Patch

an entry for darkest prompts promptober 2022  

previous days: 1, 2, 3,  4, 5, 6,  7,  8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

now available on ao3 too

for @alchemy-go-boom

Patch VERB - treat someone's injuries or repair the damage to something in an improvised way; construct something hastily from unsuitable components; restore peaceful or friendly relations after a quarrel or dispute. 

* * *

Led through the mist, By the milk-light of moon, All that was lost, is revealed. Our long bygone burdens, mere echoes of the spring, But where have we come, and where shall we end? If dreams can't come true, then why not pretend? -- Into the Unknown from Over the Garden Wall

"Why do you always manage to take us into trouble?"

Reynauld's voice was hushed, both angry and timid, and cracking because he still hadn't passed his growth spur. It didn't mean he couldn't pin most of the boys down if they tried to tease him for being chubby. The hushed tones suited the darkness they were sneaking through, though. 

"Why, 'cause yer shite at doing your job of stopping me, of course," Dismas answered cheerily in a whisper just as hushed, all split lips and a wide smirk that showed his shipped tooth despite the dim light. "Now shush, if ol' Tom's woffers gonna hear us, we're done for."

The street was dark and dusty, the cold milk of the moon colouring everything in dusty pastel chalk. It was turning towards cold season, so the grass was starting to pale and crunch under their careful steps, disturbing the relative quiet of the night. Which was expected, Reynauld supposed, since the raucous of continued celebration was hidden by the sturdy doors and whitened walls. The windows popped out of the bluish shades oddly, like slices of freshly cut cheese. 

Then again, maybe Rey was simply hungry after he was scolded and sent off to sleep without supper. 

"We're done for if my Father notices..." he mumbled, tiptoeing past the infamous garden wall of the village's worst scrooge. 

"Shhh!"

They sneaked past the sleepy village and into the fields, where Dismas immediately started to cause problems by finding a pumpkin and starting to gut it. Rey nervously glanced to the sides, unnerved by the wet squelching of the pumpkin flesh. It was oddly familiar but caused him nausea. 

"Why do you even need this?"

"I've heard ye put a torch in there n' a spirit appears," the other boy insisted, gutting the poor vegetable with bloodthirsty enthusiasm.

"Why is it blue...?" Reynauld asked again. "Pumpkins aren't supposed to be blue. We'll get into trouble."

" 'cause it's nighttime, Reyrey. n' think of our adventure."

"Trouble."

"Feh." 

"Besides," Reynauld continued, carrying out the self-imposed duty of being the beacon of rationality in the dark. "We don't have any torches."

Dismas paused and blinked at him, comically confused.

"But ye are always carrying torches?"

This didn't make any sense - a fact that Rey was quick to share. Maybe the other boy was a bit older but it was obvious from this alone why he had to be the responsible one amidst the two. But Dis wanted to see a ghost, and he was stubborn enough to slice off a piece of his shirt to burn something - an act Reynauld clearly couldn't let him do. Maybe now the other one was afflicted by this spiritual nonsense, but later on, he'd definitely regret it. 

This wasn't their first argument, after all. 

They ended up in a brawl, as any boys of their age would. And while Dismas always fought dirty, there was little his lithe form could do but writhe uselessly once he was pinned down. The sweetness of victory was short-lived for Reynauld, though. Dis was sitting now, frowning and licking another split on his lip, while the younger boy's knuckles throbbed with dull pain. 

This wasn't new, either.

So after a bit of silence, Rey moved closer to the other's side, watching the gutted pumpkin and the greenish moon.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have hit you."

"I hitcha back, so we're even."

They sat for some more.

"I just want you out of trouble," Reynauld mumbled when the silence became uncomfortable. 

"Why?" the other huffed, accent thicker as usual when he was upset. " 'cause yer pa made me yer ward n' ye'll get the buckle?"

That was a surprisingly easy answer to find, however improbable it was, given their differences.

"No. Because you're my friend."

Funnily enough, that made Dismas' accusation lose all of its steam and lean on Reynauld's dusty shoulder.

"Feh," was all his answer for some time. It took him a bit to continue. "But maybe... I shouldn't've wanted t' see a ghost. Especially if my pal didn't want me to."

That finally allowed Reynauld to relax a bit and stand up, offering a hand:

"Come on now, that's enough for us. Let's go home," he offered. Yet he couldn't resist the temptation of glancing past his friend and making a horrified face. "HAAAGH! You Lightless fiend!"

Dismas all but leapt past him with an undignified scared meowl, landing right into the gutted pumpkin and getting frightened even more. Rey bent over, cackling, but didn't get to laugh long, though. With a furious hiss, embarrassed by his fear, Dismas leapt at him now, tumbling them both into the glistening dirt. The earth and the sky mixed, reflected in a fractured teal eye of the moon--

--and Reynauld blinked, tearing his gaze away from the twinkling cracked lens in his palm. Beside him, Dismas was haggling viciously over the intricately carved silver flask of gunpowder with the greasy-vested merchant. And if one didn't pay attention to his stiff movements, one might've been tricked into thinking that the rogue was fine or that he was doing it for some time instead of just starting.

"All the prices are non-negotiable," the Jeweler waved the highwayman off with dismissive ease. "Take it or leave it for someone who can afford it."

"Ah, sod it! 'tis just some fancy glitter added t' a good powder t' make it shite," Dis spat on the ground, clearly disheartened for someone who knew him but keeping the facade up. Much like at that pumpkin patch. "Let's go, Reyrey, they can't con a con artist..."

The lense in his hand shimmered and shined, both ephemeral and real, much like the... what was it? Dream? Waking?

"How did you just call me?"

The highwayman's eyes darted away. If the knight hadn't known him so well, he would've thought it was fear.

"Rey," he insisted in a tone usually reserved for lying. "Let's go already, my head hurts from all this sparkling fairy piss."

"And you, my good sir?" the merchant turned to the crusader, baring yellowish stumps of teeth in a sly smile as he caressed yet another cyan shard in an almost carnal gesture. "You've seen something interesting through the Lens, haven'tcha? It allows seeing things unseen. Interested in buying it?"

They shared a look with Dismas and the crusader placed the thing back on the stained counter.

"No. And I have not."

Later that eve, the rogue came back into their shared room, carrying a bundle which turned out to be a pot and a bottle.

"Pumpkin... soup?" Reynauld inquired, putting away his scribing tools and freeing the tiny desk Light knew how squeezed in their room. The rogue had the decency to shrug.

"The lunatic turned away any coin n' gem I offered, so I thought sod it n' why not have something nice?" Dismas explained casually, throwing a spoon Rey's way. To his credit, he managed to catch it and not embarrass himself. Oh. It had added whittled patterns now. "I heart 'tis a festival."

"We're not going to go catch ghosts?" the crusader chuckled, prodding again, and received a barking laugh.

"Oh fuck no, I ain't working on my week off!" Dismas shook his head and plopped on the cot, propping up his hollowed-out cheek with his fist. "B'sides. I thought I owed you."

"Oh?" Rey looked up from pouring the wine into the mugs and met laughing dark eyes.

"Aye. I'm still alive, so I guess ye do a fine job keeping me outa trouble, eh?"

The knight paused for a moment, but chuckled in turn, remembering all the wounds they stitched on each other.

"Indeed," and couldn't resist. "That terrified squeal was precious though."

"Fuck off, Reyrey."

[rosenallies]

“I love you no matter what your brain tell you” w/ begin again au

“Hey sweetheart, how was-“ Denali greeted cheerfully at first, concern clouding his features as Willow stormed past him, down the hallway and into her bedroom. He looked to Rosé who followed her inside, sighing deeply as he sat next to his husband on the couch, leaning his head on his shoulder.

“She wouldn’t talk the whole way home.”

“She didn’t say anything?”

“She said hi when she got in the car and then shrugged in response to every question I asked. I even asked her if she wanted to put on some Taylor Swift and sing with me, she always does that after a tough day at school.”

Denali hummed, taking his fingers through Rosé’s hair. “We’ll give her some time and then try and go talk to her, okay?”

“Okay,” Rosé agreed, snuggling closer into Denali’s embrace.

A few hours later, after a few restless episodes of whatever reality tv show was on the first channel that came up when they turned on the tv, they decided to go talk to Willow. Together, they knocked softly on her door, poking their heads in when she quietly granted them access.

What they found in her bedroom tugged on their heartstrings, their sweet little girl sat on the bed, her stuffed bunny clutched to her chest and fresh tear tracks down her cheeks.

“Baby,” Rosé cooed, sitting on one side of her while Denali took the other, “what’s the matter? Did something happen at school?”

She nodded fervently and Denali took both of her little hands in his. “Do you want to tell us?”

Willow remained quiet, avoiding their gazes. “D-do you guys really love me?”

Taken aback, Denali gasped. “Of course we do, what makes you think we don’t?”

She pressed her lips together like the secret would tumble out if she didn’t.

“We love you so much, honey,” Rosé reiterated gently, “please tell us why you think we don’t.”

“In school we learned about different kinds of families,” she paused, looking to both of them for approval that they gave with encouraging nods, “we learned about different kinds of families and they didn’t talk about families like ours at all and at recess I talked to my friend about it and she said it was because we weren’t a real family because I’m adopted.”

Rosé and Denali glanced at one another solemnly, the moment they started talking about adoption they knew a conversation like this was likely in their future, but they didn’t expect it to stem from another child in her class.

“And-and I just started thinking about how hard it must be to love a child that’s not your own,” she continued, breaking their hearts further. “Do you wish you could have your own children instead?”

“Willow,” Denali said sadly, holding her hands to his chest, “we love you regardless of where you came from or how you ended up here.”

Rosé agreed, a gentle nod of his head. “We love you no matter what your brain or anyone else tells you.”

“But did you ever want to have your own kids? If you could?”

“It was always a dream of mine to have a family,” Denali started, “a long time ago, before I met daddy I was in an unsafe situation and it wasn’t possible for me to have a family at the time, someday when you’re older I’ll tell you more about it but daddy helped me feel safe again and I realized I wanted to help make a kiddo like you feel safe too. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have the same blood because daddy and I love you more than anything. Family doesn’t always have to be blood related.”

“So we’re a real family?”

“We are,” Rosé said softly, “we’re a perfect little family.”

Willow launched herself at him, yanking Denali along with her, snuggling close as they embraced her. “I love you, dada. I love you, daddy.”

Denali smoothed down her hair, kissing her forehead softly. “We love you too, baby girl.”

[naminethewriter]

Hurt No One Knew About Chapter Eight: One Last Question to Answer

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

Story Summary: Logan has been acting weird for the past few weeks and the others aren’t sure what to do about it. When Janus appears looking for Remus they strike a deal: He figures out what’s going on with Logan and afterwards they’ll help search for Remus.

Turns out the two problems are more connected to each other than anyone thought.

Content Warnings: Emotional Manipulation, Ravens, brief Panic Attack, Fighting, Fighting against Monsters, Fighting against Animals, Injuries, Snakes

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

Patton stares into Kitty’s eyes, not knowing what to say. Of course he doesn’t want to leave them behind to suffer, but he can’t abandon Logan either.

 “I-I’m sorry but I can’t stay,” he whispers.

 “You’re going to leave us alone? You’re going to abandon us?” Kitty asks, her eyes filling with tears.

 “I’m sorry!” Patton repeats, at the edge of crying himself.

“Feeling sorry won’t help us, son,” Fuzzy huffs. “We really should’ve known better than to trust you.”

 “I’ll come back later! With my friends! And then we’ll find a solution, okay?”

 “And why should we believe that? Huh? You already lied to us!” one of the other teddies accuses.

“I didn’t lie!”

 “Another lie!”

 “Stop it! I’m not a liar!”

 “Prove it! Help us take down Derrik and take his place!”

 “I can’t! My friends need me.”

 “We need you, too! Are we less important than them? Because we aren’t human?”

 “I never said that!”

 “But you implied it,” Fuzzy says, stepping back into the conversation.

 Patton hates this. They’re putting words into his mouth, trying to guilt him into staying.

 “Just ‘cause something looks harmless, doesn’t mean they are. Especially if Remus made it.”

 Virgil had said that to him earlier. Patton takes a breath. Right. This is the Imagination. Logan’s wellbeing is way more important than some characters Remus created. He can just ask him to fix this later. Once he’s found the others and made sure that Logan’s okay.

 “I’m going,” Patton says with certainty, placing Kitty down.

 “And leave us to slowly wilt away,” Fuzzy scoffs.

 “I will try to make your situation better when I can, but right now I need to leave and take care of my friend.”

 “Fine then! Leave! And don’t come back!” With that the teddies turn around and leave. Patton suppresses the urge to call after them. He had to make a decision and this was the right one. He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath while turning around to the door.

 “Focus on the goal ahead, Patton,” he tells himself. “It’s going to be okay.”

 He opens his eyes. The door in front of him is unassuming, simple, and wooden. He pushes it open.

 Behind it is a tunnel, but this one is unquestionably man-made. The stone is polished, the walls perfectly straight and there are torches deliberately placed along them in measured distances.

 He steps inside and as soon as he’s across the threshold, the door slams shut behind him and a click sounds through the silence. He doesn’t need to try to open it again to know it’s locked.

 “No where else to go but forward, I guess,” Patton mumbles to himself and continues walking. Minutes pass. The tunnel remains unchanging, and he wouldn’t be too surprised if he turned around and the door would still be directly behind him.

 Then a shadow appears ahead of him. He slows his pace a bit and is soon face to face with a raven sitting in the middle of the corridor. It stares at him, head tipped to the side.

 “Uhm… hi?” Patton greets it, hesitantly. After another moment of staring, it responds.

 “One question he must answer,” it caws.

 Patton waits for it to continue but it doesn’t so he says: “Alright?”

 “Did Logan come here by his own free will or was he brought here against it?”

 That was the last thing Patton had expected. The raven continues to stare, unmoving. Patton bites his lips and thinks before giving his answer.

 “I’m not sure, but I think he came here because he wanted to. I don’t know what we did to make him go this far, but I want to find out and make it better.”

 The bird continues to stare at him for another moment longer before it hops around and takes off, down the corridor. Patton guesses his answer was satisfactory.

 “It’s going to be okay,” he says to himself. “We’ll find a solution. All of us together.” He nods to himself and then continues down the tunnel, following after the bird.

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

 Virgil’s breath is coming faster. He is almost hyperventilating now. This is too much pressure for him, what if he chooses wrong?

 That thought startles him out of his panic.

 What would happen if he chooses wrong? What would be the worst-case scenario?

 He goes back to the riddle and reads through it another time.

 One will lead you deeper and deeper

 Until you yourself need to be found.

 He would get lost until the others find him. That’s basically the same as not choosing. If he just stays here, sooner or later, the others will come looking for him. And he knows Remus, he wouldn’t lock him up in here for more than a few hours. He may be insane, but he isn’t cruel. At least not to that extent. So, if he chooses the door that makes him lost, he just has to wait. Not ideal but not that bad either.

 One will send you back the way you came

 And not permit you to return until three moons have passed. 

 Send him back how far? Out of the pyramid? Or all the way back to the mindscape? Either way, he would be able to get back to his room simply by sinking out. He is unsure whether he could do that right now, too, but he isn’t willing to risk it. Going back to the mindscape wouldn’t be too bad. Yeah, he would need to wait for the others, but he can keep himself busy at home.

 Not to mention, then he’d have the option to use the absolute fail-safe: Contacting Thomas. They usually try their best to not involve him in their problems with each other if they didn’t relate to him directly, but if push comes to shove, he will be able to bring all of them back to the mindscape. It’s absolutely the last resort, but he feels better knowing he has the option.

 Virgil feels a lot calmer already. Even if he makes the wrong choice, it won’t be the end of the world.

 But he still has a choice to make.

 “You need to trust your gut more,” Remus had said to him once, during sparring. “Your movements and reactions are much smoother if you don’t think so much. Let your instincts guide you.”

 Relying on his instinct, huh? Well, he might as well try that since reasoning got him nowhere. He takes another look at the stone slabs.

 He disregards Cerberus first. Remus wasn’t much of a dog person, and it’s too strongly connected to Fluffy and that shithead of a terf he hopes croaks soon.

 Which leaves the Minotaur and Kraken.

 If Virgil remembers correctly, Asterius was one of – if not the – favorite character of Remus in the ‘Hades’ game. He certainly was the one Remus made the most suggestive comments about. Which might be why he is included here, but Virgil doubts that it’s enough for him to overtake the Kraken.

 It’s always been Remus’ favorite, for as long as Virgil can remember. If he tells a story including an ocean in it somewhere, there is a good chance the Kraken’s going to be there, too.

 The Kraken is always Remus’ first choice. So, Virgil is going to choose it, too.

 He places his hand on the slab and suddenly a bright light forces his eyes shut. When he opens them again, he is in a tunnel illuminated by torches. So, he hadn’t been sent back but he still might be lost. He looks over his shoulder and there’s a door there. He tries to open it, but it doesn’t budge. With only one way to go, he starts walking.

 Soon after, he finds a bird blocking his path. It’s big and black and he guesses it’s a raven. He stares at it and it stares back.

 “One question he must answer,” it caws. Virgil blinks. Not what he had expected but he’s running out of patience for Remus’ bullcrap.

 “Sure. Shoot.”

 “Did Logan come here by his own free will or was he brought here against it?”

 This time Virgil doesn’t even give his brain time to overthink it.

 “His own free will.”

 The bird tilts its head like it wants him to elaborate, but Virgil doesn’t have to explain himself to a bird. They stare at each other for a moment longer before the bird seems to accept that it won’t get more out of him. It turns around and flies away.

 Virgil sighs. He’s already exhausted. At least he’s pretty sure he’s on the correct path now.

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

 The creature howls and Roman has only a second to react as it pounces on him. He just manages to avoid its claws by jumping to the side. He needs a new plan and fast. His thoughts run a mile a minute to figure out what to do while still needing to dodge one attack after the other since the beast doesn’t let up. Roman can only guess that Quick has decided to not let it stop now that he had figured out the ruse.

 First, Roman needs to find a way back up. There aren’t any stairs or ladders, but the doorways out of the arena have a thick enough frame that he can safely assume that he’ll be able to climb on top of it and then the second level is close enough for him to reach.

 But he will need a moment of peace to do so and with the relentless attacks, he isn’t getting one. So, as much as it hurts him to do so, he needs to land a big enough hit that the creature stops for at least a few seconds.

 Roman dodges another claw strike. His best bet is to strike at one of its Achilles’ heels again. He assumes that Quick has reinforced his control over the beast, so in order to take it out of commission, he needs to injure it enough that it can’t follow orders even if it wanted to.

 It wouldn’t be his most heroic moment, but there was nothing else he can do.

 The opening comes not long after. It attempts to bite him and with a quick spin to the side, Roman is able to land the necessary blow. The creature yowls and without turning to look at it, Roman goes into a sprint towards the blocked doorway, sheathing his sword in the process. He is very thankful that he has practiced that move many times, losing his sword right now would have dire consequences.

 Two feet away from the bars, he jumps and just manages to grab the edge of the frame. He can hear the beast moving behind him, already going for another attack. Roman needs to be fast here. It takes all of his upper arm strength, but he manages to pull himself up and only a second later, claws collide with the metal of the gate below him. Before it can recover, he climbs up to the second floor. His arms ache, but for now Roman is safe from the creature.

 Or the creature is safe from him.

 He doesn’t have time to dwell on that thought because the bunnies are advancing on him. They’re coming from both sides, running on all fours, and moving very quickly. Roman has just enough time to draw his sword again before the fist one reaches him. It jumps and Roman manages to raise his left arm and hit it in the air, propelling it down into the arena.

 A second one goes for his legs and Roman swings his sword, hitting it in the back. It immediately turns to dust. He’s stunned long enough by the sight that a third bunny can launch itself at him and bite him in the arm. With a curse, Roman shakes it off and it too lands down below.

 Roman stares at the two puncture holes in his arm. “Vampire-Bunnies?! Seriously Remus?!” he asks aloud before another one reaches him, and he has to defend himself. At least that explains why the bunny turned into dust, his sword is made of pure silver. And while not every vampire he or his brother have created had that particular weakness, these obviously did.

 Two more bunnies turn to dust before Roman can take another breather. He spots Quick, still standing by the tunnel they had come from earlier, his red eyes staring over to him. The two bunnies Roman had thrown down into the arena managed to climb back up and advance towards him again.

 This onslaught won’t end until he can take out the leader, Roman realizes. But he won’t be able to get to Quick. Not only are the other bunnies covering for him, as soon as Roman makes his way over to him, he can retreat back into the tunnel and Roman has no idea where it leads and there might be traps or more bunnies hidden.

 Which means he has to snipe him.

 Thankfully, Roman is a hero and heroes get special weapons.

 Time seems to slow down. Roman plants his feet into the ground. The bunnies are running towards him in slow motion. Still far enough away for him to do this. His sword transforms into a spear. He gathers all his strength in his right arm, takes aim and throws the weapon across the room and towards Quick.

 The bunny’s eyes widen. He turns around, tries to get away, but the spear shatters his crossbow and goes straight through his back. With a pained yell, Quick falls to the ground and turns to dust.

 As time goes back to normal, Roman looks around and sees that all the other bunnies have disappeared as well. As has the beast. With a relieved sigh, Roman collapses onto the ground. His entire body is aching, and the bite wound on his arm is still bleeding. He pulls his sash off and ties it around the wound. It would do for now.

 He simply sits there for a minute, taking deep breaths. Remus really went for it this time, exploiting his heroics to lure him into a trap. He should’ve expected it, really.

 With a groan, Roman rises back to his feet. He can’t dawdle any longer, he needs to find the others. And Logan. And his brother.

 He retrieves his sword – which has turned back into its original form – and sheathes it. Then, he carefully climbs back down into the arena, this time using the frame of the other doorway to get down. He’s afraid that if he jumps again, his legs will just give out under him. He carefully drops down and before him is another tunnel, leading deeper into the structure. And hopefully towards his friends.

 Roman starts walking, his pace slower than he would usually go, but he is pretty beat up. At least he doesn’t have to lean against the wall yet.

 It doesn’t take too long until his path is blocked by a big, black bird which stares at him.

 “Hello, little fellow,” Roman greets while keeping his distance. “I hope you are not here to attack me as well?”

 “One question he must answer,” it caws instead of answering.

 Roman hums. “Very well, state your inquiry.”

 “Did Logan come here by his own free will or was he brought here against it?”

 “Oh…” Roman pauses to think. “My brother may be deranged but I doubt he would go this far for just a prank. All of this–“ he gestures around– “must take a lot of his energy. If he puts this much of a strain on himself… Well, I think there must be more to it. I think Logan asked him for help, though I don’t know why.”

 The bird seems satisfied with his answer because it turns around and flies away.

 “Just what are you up to, Remus?” Roman mumbles before he follows after it.

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

 Janus stands before the wall, staring at it, unbelieving.

 There must be more to this.

 Must there? Isn’t it obvious that this was a trap?

 I don’t believe it. I refuse to believe it.

 Refuse all you like; it doesn’t change the facts. You’re trapped in here.

 Janus grinds his teeth and goes back to the book. There must be an answer somewhere. Remus wouldn’t just do this.

 Oh, wouldn’t he? He is chaos incarnate, of course he would do something like this.

 Not without a purpose, he wouldn’t.

 Why do you trust him so much?

 Because he’s my friend.

 That shuts up his thoughts for a bit and he uses the time to go through every page, but he finds nothing.

 Maybe there was a hint on the way.

 So? If there was, we missed it.

 We can go back.

 How? Retrace our steps using the book? That would never work, everything looks different from this side. Not to mention that the walls could’ve shifted while you weren’t looking.

 Thanks for being so positive.

 I’m being realistic.

 You’re not being helpful.

 I’m not here to be helpful.

 Then why are you here?

 Silence. Janus scoffs, intent to go back to looking for cues before he freezes. Why is the voice there? Was it really just him talking to himself or…

 He glances to his shoulder. The snake is still there. And its head is directly next to his ear.

 “Oh, that’s hardly fair, Remus,” he mutters and too quickly for the snake to react, he grabs it and pulls it from his shoulder. “Company, huh?” The snake bots are quite fragile, so when Janus closes his fist tightly there is a crunch and the snake goes limp. He lets it fall to the ground where it melts away, leaving no trace behind.

 “Now then,” Janus says out loud. “If your plan was to get me to doubt you, Remus dear, then that means that your note tells the truth. So, the exit is right here.”

 He lifts a hand and tries to press it against the wall in front of him. It passes through without resistance. Janus grins and steps through. Behind the illusion is another dead end but with a glowing, green, swirling portal.

 “I presume that is my way out then,” Janus mutters. “And I should probably stop talking to myself.” He steps forward, through the portal.

 On the other side he finds himself in a simple corridor with torches lighting up the path ahead. He immediately misses the sunlight. Nonetheless, he starts walking. Until he comes across a bird, big and black, standing in his way.

 “Are you here to challenge me as well?” Janus asks. The bird tilts its head.

 “One question he must answer,” it caws.

 Janus raises an eyebrow. “No thanks.” He walks past the bird which makes no move to stop him. However, Janus doesn’t come far. He only takes a few steps past it before he is suddenly back, right in front of the bird.

 “One question he must answer,” it repeats.

 “Fine!” Janus groans. “If you won’t let me pass otherwise.” If birds could smirk, Janus would bet this one was doing just that. But they can’t, so he doesn’t.

 “Did Logan come here by his own free will or was he brought here against it?”

 Well, he should’ve figured it would be something like that.

 “Remus may be a being of chaos, but he knows better than to kidnap a side for more than a few hours, especially without any notice. I’m not sure what Logan was struggling with so much that he was willing to turn to Remus, but I’m sure I’ll find out shortly. Won’t I?” He glares at the bird, challengingly, but it doesn’t look impressed. It’s just a bird, after all. Though, Janus guesses, he can’t be completely sure about that.

 The bird seems satisfied by his answer, however, since it turns and flies away. Janus follows.

 “I swear, I will force you to be my personal heater for at least three hours once this is over, Remus,” he hisses under his breath. Hopefully, he’ll find him soon. And if only to give him a lecture.

[hyungwonnuayo]

Thighs.

-pairing Jooheon x reader

feel good/ one shot/ sweet/ no label/ friends w benefits/ no smut/

“Man, your thighs are crazy” minhyuk said as he looks at Jooheon’s well formed thighs.

“Do you focus on your legs more recently?”

He added as he observes Jooheon, sitting down on the sofa of the studio, wearing a sports shorts that shows his toned legs.

“Oh, you noticed it” Jooheon smiles as he feels the results of his work outs.

“I focus more on my legs and back” he added as he looks down to check his thighs

“Does it look good?” Grinning, waiting for Minhyuk’s approval

“Maaaan, it looks bigger” Minhyuk leans in as he tries to poke Jooheon’s thighs,

“that’s impressive… you guys need to stop going to the gym for reaaaal” shaking his head as he turns to Hyungwon to squeeze his shoulders.

“Hahaha i need to strengthen my legs” Jooheon laughs as he taps his legs. “Need to make these babies tougher”

“Excuse me” i said as I peeked at the door

“Oh! What are you doing here ” joo said with a surprised face as he stands up immediately to greet me and exit the door.

“Oh? Is that y/n?” Minhyuk turned to Kihyun , surprised

“She’s already back in korea?” Kihyun asked as he turns his chair to look at Minhyuk.

“Come on let’s greet her”

Minhyu and Kihyun went out of the room just to see Jooheon and me speaking at the hallway.

“Y/n!” Kihyun greeting me with a huge smile.

“You’re back!”

“Yup! Since last month! Sorry I wasn’t able to see you guys when I arrived, i got really busy”

“You’re always busy!” Minhyuk complained as he approaches to hug me.

“Im sorryyy i always tell you we’ll play but my schedule is a pain in the ass sometimes” I apologized as i hugged minhyuk back

“Wow, you look GOOD” minhyuk added ,looking at me from head to toe

“You mean i gained weight ” rolling my eyes to what he said.

“No! Seriously, it suits you, you look, sexier hahahaha”

“Can you say it more sarcastically please?” I complained

“Aaahh, its true, it suits you, western air surely hits different on you huh”

“Anyway” Jooheon interrupted

“Are you going now?”

“Ah yes, i only dropped by to give you the gift your sister requested . i dont want to hold up your work so…”

“You have plans later?”

“Ahhmm, nothing that i think of, no,”

“Come, you can stay” joo said as he reaches out his hand to pull me inside.

Entering the recording room, i see Hyungwon finalizing and editing Kihyun’s recording.

“Oh hello Hyungwon” I greeted him

“Oh! Hello!” He smiled softly as he reach out to give me a high five.

“How’s America” he asked looking at me from his computer chair.

“Ugh, its not bad but..” I stopped mid sentence after realizing that there is no seat available for me.

“Here” Jooheon said as he pulls my waist to sit me on his lap. Cheekily smiling as he position me on him.

“…not bad but, the weather is hell. Its so hot there i swear, i miss our weather here” i said as I continue speaking.

“Im heavy” I turned around to whisper at Jooheon

“Nah, light as a feather”

“I can stand-”

“Just shut up and sit” Joo shushed me as he puts his arms on my hands, squeezing them playfully.

Minyuk smirks as he quietly looks at Jooheon. Observing him as he hugs me while i sat on his lap.

“…soooo, that’s why you focus on your thighs more huh” he mouthed at Jooheon, looking him directly in the eye with a naughty smirk.

Jooheon blushes as he understands what minhyuk means.

“Shut up” mouthing back at minhyuk, his dimples all popped out from grinning, his face flushed and red.

A few moments…‘’

“All set, we’re finished” Hyungwon said as he waves around the clump of papers in his hand.

“You can all go now” thanking everyone as he exits the door.

I start to stand up, only for joo to pull me back.

“What” i said as i look back at him, irritated

“Wait up,”he whispered to me as he looks at the others exiting the door

“Why, what is it” i asked again

“Im hard, i cant stand up”

“What the hell are you saying!” I muttered under my breath as i slap his forearm.

“I got hard, you kept on grinding your thighs on me”

“I DID NOT”

“UGH God I missed your voice, uhh stop talking, you’re making it worst, its getting harder”

I feel my ears getting hot as i feel his hard member, Poking me as i try to adjust myself.

“Stop moving” he whispers as he holds on to my arms firmly, holding me onto my place, preventing me from moving.

“Seriously JOOHEON what the hell are YOU DOING, we need to go, they might think we’re doing something here.”

I said as i tried to stand up, only for him to pull me back once more, his arms gripping me harder than before, slamming me back to his lap..Resting his head on my back, holding onto my arms, he spoked:

“Just a few more minutes”

“I missed you y/n” he grunted as he tightens his arms around me. Putting both of his hands on top of mine.

“You always tell me you’re busy, I haven’t spent much time with you since you arrived ”

He sulks, airing his frustrations out to me.

“Can i come in” a voice appeared, followed by a knock.

“A-ah yes” I stuttered as I immediately stand up, removing Jooheon’s grasp on me.

“Sorry i left my cap here” Kihyun apologize as he shyly grabs his cap. “You can continue now” he adds as he exits the door.

“What the hell” i said blusing

“Im going out, you can stay if you want ill just wait outside” I hurriedly went out of the door as soon as kihyun exits the door.

“Oh you’re still here” Minhyuk said as he walks toward me.

“Ah yep just waiting for joo”

Jooheon came out of the door as soon as he heard Minhyuk’s voice, straighting his clothes, pulling his sweater down to hide his hard member.

“Hyung”

“You guys staying?” Minhyuk asked

“Ah no, we’re also going” gesturing the both of us as he fixes his cap. Calling me to come over with his hands. “Lets go” his hands still waiting for me to reach it.

“Oh I thought you guys already left” Hyungwon came, putting his bag on, fixing his mask.

He puts his arms over minhyuk, leaning on to him.

“Their going on a date” minhyuk teased, whispering to Hyungwon

“Wooow, finally” Hyungwon said as he smiles softly

“You guys need to date for real” minhyuk points at the both of us as he starts walking out of the door, bringing Hyungwon along

“Bye” Hyungwon waved

“Lets go?” Jooheon looks me in the eye as he reaches out to hold my hand. Putting both of our hands inside his sweater pocket.

Feeling his warm touch is so refreshing, not being able to see him for months is frustrating, Suffocating to say the least… His constant teasing, dirty text messages, sexy selfies, work out videos, it makes me want to go and run back to him. Triggering my hunger for him more and more as the days pass by.

We’re not dating, no, we’re more than friends, but less than lovers... occasionally tasting each other, satisfying our hunger, releasing our human desires.

“You want to eat?” He smiles, flashing his dimples at me, “my treat” he added proudly, “anywhere you like babe”

He places his arms around my neck, pulling my head in to whisper something…

“Then we’ll HAVE dessert later, my place or your place?” He whispers in his deep sultry voice as we walk towards his car.

“Ive been starving for months” he muttered under his breath as he looks at me straight in the eye, leaning in on me for a kiss, his warm lips intertwining onto mine as he opens the passenger door

“After you mam.”

“Later, I’ll SHOW YOU just how much i missed you” he smirks as he closes the door.

Hearing those words made my heart race, exciting me as i look forward to later. Just thinking about me tasting him again sends my mind into a mini frenzy. Wearing these thight Jeans really paid off..

Jooheon smiles at me as he starts driving. “I missed you so much”.

—End—