#so what better place for him is there than the dying town where everyone else also has depression and anxiety

[uvobreakmylegs]

Refuge

part 1 of a werewolf!Nobunaga x female!reader fic

Part 2 (coming soon)

Warnings: blood, gore, self harm, mentions of death

Word Count: 8.2k

The pale full moon shone down upon the quiet forest, illuminating the pure white snow that lay like a blanket across the forest floor. Light from the moon made the shadows of the barren tree branches even more obvious when combined the bright surface beneath them, and the pattern they made upon the snow resembled that of gnarled arms with outstretched hands, forever reaching out with extended fingers. Any animals that lived within the vicinity were asleep, either only for the night or in hibernation, waiting for the weather to warm before they dared venture out again.

Within the sleeping forest sat a wooden cabin, an obvious and out of place interruption to the quiet landscape of the endless trees. Someone had carved out for themselves a home within the woods with the small, simple cabin in the equally small clearing. It could either be viewed as a cozy space or an invader of the natural state of the forest, but regardless, it stood there, the chimney softly carrying up the last remnants of smoke from a dying fire. Above it, the moonlight hit the man-made building in a way that made it instantly noticeable.

And in the forest, there was one that noticed it immediately.

Where almost everyone and everything was asleep within the dead quiet of the wilderness, one was awake. And when he noticed the cabin, he stalked closer, his snout sniffing the dry air as he tried to discern who or what was inside the small structure.

Not many chose to live so far away from the rest of civilization, and when they did, it was for a specific reason, some job or craft of theirs that was better suited for out in the wilderness. For what reason was this cabin here, he wondered. A quick glance showed nothing of interest; only a small, frozen over garden to one side, and a dead log on the other that had clearly been used as a way to chop firewood.

Who was in there? A family? Or perhaps a couple that intended to start one?

Regardless of who was in there, they would be easy targets. Being so far away from anyone else and being attacked in the middle of the night would make them as much, as the sudden chaos that would interrupt their sleep would catch them off guard.

But perhaps, he thought to himself, there might be just enough time for his hunt to become interesting.

Standing between two pine trees, he breathed in.

Only a single human scent could be identified.

And as he listened with sharp ears that strained to hear of the interior of the cabin, little else was to be noted other than the faintest noise of someone breathing evenly.

Only one.

The longer he stood, the more he was certain that there was only a single person with in that structure, someone who was asleep like the rest of the forest.

That revelation dampened his mood.

Someone being alone in the woods must have been some elderly person who was stuck in their ways, he thought. They wouldn't be able to move fast, and they would hardly offer up any sort of challenge should he choose to attack.

While it wasn't always what he was looking for in his hunts, the thought of it being too easy was unappealing.

It would be several miles to the only town he knew was in the area, however. He would spend several miles trekking there and back to his own little camp if he chose to head that way. If he killed the person within, he'd satiate his hunger and have a better shelter for the night, possibly the next few days.

It was far more pragmatic to attack the cabin. While there would be little sport, he could always wait for the next month if that was what he wanted.

Yet even as he told himself that, he continued to stand there, staring at the quiet cabin.

….. No.

After waiting a month for this night to return, that wasn't the way he wanted it to end. Perhaps it was his own instinct that told him that. The need to have a proper hunt.

Regardless, he made his choice as he stepped away, turning and heading towards the direction of what must have been the nearby town as he followed his nose, picking up bits and pieces of more human scents that the gentle breeze brought his way. The cabin behind him was quickly forgotten as he continued forward. Thus the cabin and the woman within were left in peace.

And not an hour after, gunshots could be heard ringing through the night, though in the safety of your home, you weren't aware of any of it as you slept through the ordeal completely.

Winter was rarely kind.

That was a harsh truth that everyone in the region had learned, as the area where you lived was always hit with heavy barrages of thickly layered snow. Icy winds would shriek through the open spaces, running past trees and buildings as it brought with it a torrent of ice that clung to whatever surface it could. The blizzards would always beat down upon the wooden doors of the homes that did their best to keep the harsh weather out, and sometimes those storms would last for several days if not longer.

All of that left everyone chilled to the bone and desperately clinging to whatever shreds of warmth they could get their hands on. As such, everyone would ensure that their fireplaces or their wood burning stoves were in proper order. Nothing would grow during this time either, so if one wanted to survive, having ample food stored away was required. That could be a difficult task depending on how many mouths one had to feed.

Though for you it was a bit easier as you only needed to worry about yourself.

You lived several miles away from the nearby town of Willsden, and the area of the woods where your cabin stood allowed for enough extra space for you to grow your own crops. The summer and autumn months were spent growing your own food in the little garden, harvesting the vegetables when they were ready and storing them away. And for the food that you couldn't produce on your own, you would buy or bartering for whatever it was that you needed. All you needed was enough in your storage that would last you until spring came, and then the process would repeat itself.

Though the winters weren't always the same; sometimes the snow would thaw later than anticipated and that would cause you issues as you scrambled to find a way to provide for yourself, but overall you managed to do fine. The fact that you were surviving on your own for so long was proof enough of that. Even if it was difficult, you were happy with what you had and what you were able to accomplish.

As you stepped out from the warm confines of the cabin and into the harsh cold, you shuddered as a chill instantly set into you. The winters were far too cold and you wished you could simply stay beneath the covers where it was far more cozy.

But with the work that needed to be done, that simply wasn't an option.

The empty basket on your back shifted as you closed the door behind you, though you quickly readjusted it as you turned towards the forest that surrounded your home. Today's chore would be tiring: you needed to collect wood that could be chopped up and be used as fuel for your fireplace. It was simple enough to say that, but all parts of that process would be obnoxious, from finding and putting what you found into the basket, to carting it all back to your home and then chopping it up so it would be fit for use.

Obnoxious, but you needed your fireplace to remain lit so you could survive the winter.

Though as you looked up to the sky, you noted that the weather didn't look promising. Whereas the day prior had been rather clear, now the skies were dark and clouded, and there was something in the air that felt strange.

If you were to guess, a blizzard was likely going to hit the area, and soon.

You sighed to yourself. That work would need to be completed in short period of time. The last thing you needed was needing to go out and try to chop wood while a blizzard raged around you.

Best to get to it now.

After pushing your scarf up over your nose, you adjusted the basket once more before you walked forward, your boots sinking into the snow as you did so.

But when you had traveled a few steps, you noticed something.

At the very edge of the clearing, in between a pair of large pine trees, you spotted two prominent footprints that were set deep into the snow. Curious, you walked in that direction, wanting to know what might have left those prints. Most likely it had been some sort of animal.

You felt you were correct when you reached them and saw a faint indents in the snow where the claws had at one point gouged in. And when you looked at how long the prints were, it was clear that whatever had been standing here had been large.

A bear?

The thought made you gulp; bears being awake during the winter was dangerous, as they were always angry if they were awoken before the season had ended. They'd be hungry, too, and with a lack of food to be found in the forest, they were generally driven to find the food they wanted in the homes of people like yourself. Glancing back at your cabin, you found that the prints had been facing the door directly. An image came to mind from that: one of a bear standing in the snow as it watched your home while you were blissfully unaware inside.

But you hadn't heard anything the night prior. You had slept rather soundly, and that was part of what left you being reluctant to exit your bed that morning.

If you had made more noise in your sleep, would the bear have tried to come in?

A shudder ran through you as you thought of what might have happened if it had heard you. No doubt you would be dead, no matter the efforts you may have put into getting to the rifle you had hanging on one of your walls.

That would have been a gruesome way to go.

Looking back down at the footprints, you noticed that there were more than just the two, and your eyes followed along as you saw that the beast had decided to turn west, walking away from your home.

That was the direction of Willsden, you noted. Worry then hit you as you hoped everyone there was alright. Ideally, you would have tried to head towards the town and see if that was the case, but when you glanced up to the sky again, it was clear that you didn't have time for that. You still needed to collect your firewood, and even if you did decide to forgo that, the journey both to and from the town would eat up too much of your time. At the absolute worst, you would get lost in the snow and freeze to death.

It was better to continue doing what you needed to, and then, once it was safe to make the trip down to Willsden, you would do so.

You set off again, telling yourself that the people of the town would be fine. The town had a lot of people living there, after all. If some lumbering beast was on the attack, they would no doubt notice quickly. They also had the manpower to defend themselves, so whatever fight might ensue likely wouldn't last long.

Before you turned your mind completely to the chore you needed to start, you glanced again at the set of tracks.

…. Strange.

Looking at the placement of the tracks, it almost seemed as if the animal had been walking on it's hind feet the whole time.

….. The thought was utterly ridiculous, you told yourself.

That was the last you thought of the prints before you settled onto your task.

The basket on your back was nearly full with the soon-to-be firewood when you noticed an unexpected flash of color within the whites and browns of the forest. Turning your head to look, your brows furrowed as you couldn't quite make it out whatever it was as a dead bush stood in your way, blocking you from seeing whatever it was clearly.

Whatever it was, though, it was red.

You shouldn't have bothered to get a closer look. You had work to do and a short time limit to do it, if the clouds above you were any indication. All you would be doing by pushing your way past the bush was wasting spare seconds that you needed to make sure you would continue to live comfortably through the winter.

Yet your curiosity managed to be stronger and you did just that, the tall branches of the bush clinging to your clothes as you made your way by, snapping a few of them in the process. The sounds echoed out into the empty forest as you did so, and it served as a sign as to how alone you were within that space.

Though, evidently, you weren't alone completely.

The thing that had caught your attention could now be seen clearly, and as you stared down at the ground just as you had earlier outside of your cabin, it was obvious that this thing that had caught your attention was blood.

It marred the pure white snow with bright red spots, spattered across the surface like ink blots on parchment. They were sporadic and spread out, and you realized then that they trailed off in a singular direction. As your eyes followed them, you found that alongside them were gouges in the snow, like something had been dragged through. Almost seeming like footprints.

You would have noted another strange parallel when compared to what you had found hours earlier had it not been for the question that interrupted you:

Were these made by a human?

The size and the way the feet had dragged seemed similar to the footprints you might leave behind in such conditions. It certainly seemed unlikely that these would have been left by an animal. So a person had been through here. Given the blood trail that followed after the messy prints in the snow, whoever it had been was wounded.

Grievously so.

Without another thought you began to walk forward, following along the trail as you kept your eyes open for any sign of the person who had left it behind.

The trail was a long one, and often meandered about as the drops of blood and the footprints in the snow were erratic, going from one end of a clearing before doubling back and continuing the opposite way. You wondered what had driven this person to walk about in such a way – had they been out of their mind from the cold? Or had they been looking for something? Perhaps some sort of shelter before they attempted to dress their wounds. It was possible they had managed to find such a place.

Though with how much blood you could see, you had a bad feeling that whoever it was would be long dead by the time you found them.

The wind was picking up, you noted. You needed to be home before the storm hit. But it felt just as important to follow and see who was at the end of the blood trail and what condition that person was in, if just so you could leave a marker to indicate where their body was so they could be retrieved at a later date.

You felt that it was the least you could do.

Time seemed to pass slowly as you followed. How far you were traveling away from your cabin worried you – it wasn't smart to rely entirely on the trail you had followed, not with a blizzard that lurked overhead and threatened to cover the path you had made for yourself with freshly fallen snow. If you didn't find the wounded person soon, you would be forced to turn back, despite knowing the guilt that would weigh on you after such an action.

Just a little longer, you told yourself. If you didn't find this person within the next few minutes, then you would abandon the search effort.

As luck would have it, it was only a few paces more before you heard something. Something that sounded like a human voice groaning out in pain. Hearing that renewed your energy, and you rushed forward along the blood trail, your neck straining as you looked around the trees, trying to spot the person you had heard.

And when you walked past a gnarled old oak tree that sat upon an incline, you saw someone.

A man.

One that you didn't recognize. Not from the town or even beyond the slice of the world you called home.

His long black hair was frayed and messy as it flowed down his back and shoulders, and the blood that was speckled in his hair matched the blood that was present in the slight bits of hair upon his face. More worryingly, there was a wound on his shoulder, a small puncture wound that could have come from a bullet if the dried blood that still managed to look bright against his pale skin told you anything. His skin was also decidedly frostbitten, and the patches of red marred his cheeks, feet and hands in particular. As for his clothing, he only had on a ragged pair of pants that looked ready to fall apart.

He looked as though he was on the verge of death. But none of that seemed to concern him.

He was fully focused on the knife he was stabbing into the side of his torso. On the left of his body, just beneath his ribs, a curtain of blood had long since fallen and dried, and it was clear that at one point, he had been walking with the open wound as the left leg of his pants was also soaked in the substance.

Fresh blood was dripping down his skin as the blade he'd forced into his flesh moved to and fro, his numb hands moving the hilt as best they could with their limited mobility. His teeth were clenched as he did so, and the look on his face was nothing short of desperate.

Why was he doing that?

Then he let out a pained noise, and with both hands, he pulled again on the hilt.

You stood still, staring at him as you tried to understand why he was doing this.

It was almost as if he was trying to dig something out of his side.

He breathed hard as he continued to pull on the hilt before eventually giving up, letting out a loud gasp of pain as he fell back against the tree trunk in frustration.

Then he noticed you.

Gray eyes widened upon the realization, and he sat still for a few moments, as though he was amazed that he had only just now realized that he wasn't alone.

You didn't get a chance to speak before his face scrunched up in pain and he doubled over.

You didn't know what his situation was, but seeing that was enough to break you out of your stupor, and you rushed over immediately, pulling the basket off of your back before you knelt down and put your hands over his, trying to get them off of the knife hilt so you could remove it from him as safely as you could.

Only you weren't allowed to do so.

Without removing his grip on the knife, he pushed himself against you to shove your hands away. With how weak he seemed to be, the amount of strength that was in that shove was surprising.

You almost didn't hear it when he spoke at first, his heavy breathing making it difficult to understand him.

“I need it out of me.”

After a moment, you responded.

“It?” you asked, confused.

He didn't reply. Or rather, he couldn't. He was groaning in pain again, and you saw the veins in his forehead pulse as he struggled with the knife.

“You're going to kill yourself,” you told him.

He wasn't listening.

He only continued to dig that knife into his side.

Once again, you watched, truly uncertain of what you should do.

Except no, you knew what you should do. You should get that knife away from him. Stop him before he hurt himself any further, so then he might have a chance of surviving.

But with how determined he was to do whatever it was he thought he was doing, you didn't think you would be successful in getting him to stop. Nor did you want to wrestle a knife away from a man who was clearly crazed from the cold and his other injuries, and especially not when he wasn't as feeble as you had first thought. He could easily injure you if you tried to do that, or worse.

So then what were you supposed to do? Wait like this? Leave him?

Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard a strange sound come from where he had stabbed the knife into himself. A sound that resembled metal scraping against metal.

…. Something really was stuck in him.

And since it was clear that he wasn't going anywhere until it was out of him, you had little other choice.

The warning glare he gave you when you reached your hands out to him was harsh, but his gaze softened when you placed your hands on top of his as you said “please, let me help you.”

The man didn't answer, but he turned his attention back to the knife. This time, your steady hands helped his shaking ones when he began to pull at the knife again.

It didn't feel as though this was the right thing to do. Even with the knowledge that there was something inside of him, surely the correct thing to do was to take him somewhere warm and bandage his wounds, and then once the weather was more mild you would take him to the local physician. Surely whatever it was could wait to be taken care of until after he was out of the cold.

With every passing second that you tried to help you worried that you were only hastening this man's death. That the chances he had of surviving even until the next hour were only growing more and more slim the longer you kept this up with him. With every pull you made on the knife and the blood that came out of the gash that was only increasing in size, you were forced to wonder that if this man were to die, how much of his fate would ultimately rest upon your shoulders?

Then it came out.

You had felt it through the way you held the end of the knife hilt, how it traveled through the open wound, over his exposed insides until it reached the outside. The knife came out from his side forcefully and the thing inside of him fell out. It was too small and the blood coming from the wound was too great. Whatever had fallen out of him, it vanished into the snow next to him. The only thing you could discern was that it had been silver in color.

You didn't need to tell him that something had come out; immediately after his shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief, the kind you hear when a moment of great agony had finally passed.

Now that it was out, he might listen to you.

You took that opportunity to speak, saying “we can't stay here. There's a storm-”

He fell forward.

Onto you.

You barely managed to catch him, holding him beneath his arms and keeping him from falling face first into the snow. His head rested against your shoulder and he shuddered, his eyes now closed. He was unconscious.

Though if he stayed out here in these conditions any longer, he'd be dead soon. With all the blood he'd lost, it was amazing he'd held on for as long as he did. You needed to get him to shelter as soon as possible.

But at this point, would he even make it?

Despite his chances being grim, you knew that you needed to try to get him back alive. After tearing off a bit of your skirt to wrap around the wounds on his side and shoulder, and then wrapping your own cloak around his shoulders in a desperate bid to keep him somewhat warm, you began the task of taking him home.

The way you transported him through the woods was unceremonious, to say the least. His height and weight when compared to you meant that you couldn't sling one of his arms over your shoulder and carry him that way, and even if you could, the basket on your back would have gotten in the way. So you were forced to hook your arms beneath his armpits and drag him back to your cabin while you shivered from the cold after having given up the protection your cloak offered for his sake. The basket only made the task all the more difficult with how heavy it was. It was exhausting, and a look at all of the blood still spattered on his skin had you doubting more and more that he would make it back alive. The state of his heels was also worrying, as with every pull you made over a rough tree root, they appeared more scraped and raw every time you looked at them.

All you could do was hope that the makeshift bandages you'd fashioned on the spot were enough to staunch the bleeding in the areas that were worst.

Somehow, you managed it. After a grueling forty five minutes of dragging the unconscious man and praying that he didn't die on the way there, and after the anxiety that swelled within you once the storm finally started with the snowflakes that began to rain down from the cloudy sky, you caught sight of your cabin in the distance, and that was enough to give you a burst of energy to take you the rest of the way.

It was good timing. The wind was picking up and it was only getting colder. By the time you dragged him inside and slammed the door shut, a great deal of snow had managed to get inside as well. And with how high the snow had risen when you had returned, you noted that you very well may need to dig a path out from your door.

But that wasn't important right now.

You turned your attention to the man. The exhaustion of having dragged him through the woods had you falling to your knees before you crawled over to where he lay and placing your hands on him, reaching for his mouth and the side of his neck to see if you could feel some sign of life. Either his breath or that of a pulse.

…..

It was soft, but you felt a little bit of hot hair hitting your fingers when you gently pulled his lips apart. The pulse you felt in his neck was just as faint, but it was still there.

He was still alive.

The relief you felt upon that realization was so great that you reached down to hold him, wrapping your arms around his neck as you pressed your face against his hair.

“I'm so glad,” you murmured, “I'm so glad you're alive.”

With the way you had your face pressed against him, you didn't notice how his eyelids fluttered open.

It was only for a brief moment, and when you pulled yourself away from him, he was unconscious once more.

The first thing you had done once you had fully composed yourself was properly clean and dress his wounds for fear of infection. You had no idea how long he'd been in that state, and the knife that he'd been stabbing into his side certainly wouldn't have helped in keeping that side wound clean. Although oddly enough, when you went about cleaning and dressing those wounds, you found that they didn't seem as bad as they did when you had first discovered him. And despite your certainty that he would be suffering from frostbite, his skin now showed little sign of any such issues. Perhaps he hadn't been out there as long as you thought.

Your mind went to your second priority, which was to get him warm as he was still ice cold to the touch. Once again you were forced to drag him awkwardly, this time to your bed as you had no other place to put him. By that point your limbs were screaming over the amount of exertion you had put them through that day, and now your movements were even more slowed and pained as you dragged him across the wooden floor. Getting him onto the bed was no easy task either, as he slipped off once or twice while you were trying to place him, forcing you to grab at him as best you could to keep him from tumbling onto the floor.

Eventually you were successful in placing him on the bed, much to the relief of your sore muscles. Given that you had no clothes that would fit him, the best you could do was cover him with as many blankets as you were able to spare. The man ended up bundled on your bed, the sheets up to his neck.

After taking a step back, it didn't feel like there was anymore you could do for him.

Whether he lived through this or not all depended on his own resilience.

You then took a moment for yourself to breathe, and from that point, the rest of your day didn't last long. The amount of effort you had put in to bringing him back to your home had drained you, and you barely had the energy to make yourself something to eat before you felt the strong pull of sleep overwhelm you. You ended up settling onto the floor not far from your fireplace, a few blankets placed beneath you to protect you from the hard surface of the floor while another was pulled around you.

You spared one last glance at the man from your makeshift bed, and found that he was the same as he had been earlier.

There wasn't anything more you could do for him, you reminded yourself.

Nothing other than sincerely hope he would pull through.

The blizzard was going strong when you awoke the next morning, bursts of wind hitting the entrance of your cabin repeatedly as the winter chill tried to force its way in. But the front door stood strong, and as you sleepily added more wood into the fireplace, the warmth within the room remained as it was at a comfortable temperature.

As much as you wanted to focus on the stiffness in your back that came from sleeping on the floor and the ache in your limbs from the strain you had put them through yesterday, you turned your attention to the man you had rescued.

He was still unconscious. But as you took a few steps closer, you noted that some color had returned to his cheeks. His breathing was also more even, though the longer you stared, he showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.

But he did seem better than he had when you went to sleep, and that was a sign of good progress for his recovery.

You hoped it was, at least.

With the blizzard keeping you inside, you spent your morning doing your best to care for him. After propping his head up, you managed to get a bit of water down his throat before you checked his wounds. The gash on his side seemed better. It actually looked smaller than you remembered it being when you first saw it. And the wound on his shoulder didn't seem serious at all once you lifted up the bandages.

That seemed a bit odd, though with all of the focus on the side wound, perhaps you were incorrectly remembering how severe the one on the shoulder had been. But as long as he was getting better, that was all that mattered.

Once you had changed out the bandages, you set about cleaning him up a bit more. You wiped away the blood that was still on his skin, doing your best to apply enough force to wipe it off but not to cause further pain. You even went as far as to brush out his hair, removing the tangles and the blood that had dried and clotted in the long black strands.

He looked much better once you had finished, and you remained seated on the edge of the bed while you watched him steadily breathing in and out.

Though you were still unable to tell when he would wake up, at that moment it seemed guaranteed that he would be alright.

A relieved sigh left your lips before you got up from the bed to make yourself a meal.

The mystery man slept through the entire day, and again on the day that followed. You did your best as you looked after him, making sure he was warm and that his bandages were clean. And while you weren't sure if there was anything you could feed him in his current state, you made sure to bring cups of water to his lips to ensure he had enough fluids in his system.

That night you felt that he looked better than he had before, and you went to sleep hopeful that he would soon awaken.

Your wish was granted the next morning.

A chill in the air awoke you suddenly, pulling you out of sleep as the warmth you so desperately craved was snatched away from you. You pulled yourself up with a groan as you looked about, trying to find out what had caused you to lose your rest.

You figured it out quickly when you turned and saw that the cabin door standing wide open with a pile of snow that had tumbled inside.

Your mind became clear in an instant as you wondered who had done that.

Then your gaze went to the bed to check on your guest, only to find that it was empty.

He had gone outside? In his condition?

Now that you were fully awake, you jumped to your feet and rushed to the door, worried that he had wandered off so far that you wouldn't catch sight of him. The snow was still coming down hard, and if he wasn't in the immediate vicinity, there would be little you could do for him. You couldn't take the risk of getting lost yourself to go after him.

It was a relief when you stopped at the open doorway and saw him.

He stood out in the open, between a pair of pine trees, clothed only in the trousers you had left him in and one of the blankets you had wrapped around him. Though it didn't remain there long as it slowly dripped off his shoulders before it ended up on the snow around him. Yet he didn't seem to notice or care that he was standing half naked in the freezing cold.

Instead, he was facing your direction, staring at the cabin in what seemed to be…. Amazement? Surprise? You weren't sure; it was hard to tell what exactly that expression was with the snowflakes that were still swirling about.

Right. The snow. The snow that was fast entering through the open door of the cabin, that was showing no signs of stopping and that your injured guest was still standing in. Enough of the snow had fallen that it was deep enough to submerge up to his knees, and he had no shoes. Or socks. Or anything other than the tattered trousers that were barely holding themselves together.

Best to get him back in case the frostbite managed to get him this time.

His attention was finally turned to you when you walked out, calling to him as you did so.

“Come back inside!”

He didn't make any move, and it didn't look like he understood what you said.

Wrapping your own blanket tighter around yourself, you huffed as you approached him. Trudging out into the snow like this was the last thing you wanted, especially when you weren't dressed for the outdoors. Your nightgown did little to protect you in that moment, so you tried your best to move fast, though the large amount of snow made it difficult.

The man continued to stare at you and said nothing, even when you reached him. Even when you knelt down and pulled up the blanket from the surface. Even when you once again wrapped it around him, he still seemed out of sorts, so you decided it was best to be gentle with him.

“Come back inside,” you repeated.

That time you put one of your hands in his while the other went to his shoulder, doing your best to be encouraging as you added “please?”

After a few moments more of him staring at you with a bewildered expression, he nodded. With that, he allowed you to lead him back inside, much to your relief. The cold air was brutal against your exposed skin, and you didn't want to imagine how bad it must have been for him.

The door was slammed shut once the two of you were back within the cabin, though now without some difficulty as quite a lot of snow had gotten in by that point, much to your dismay. Oh well. It would melt soon enough, wouldn't it? Besides, right now you needed to give your full attention to your guest.

The snow that covered his hair and shoulders quickly joined the pile on the floor as you brushed it off of him as best you could before you ultimately took off the blanket you had wrapped him in and grabbed another off of the bed, repeating the action you had made outside when you placed the fresh one on his shoulders. He only continued to stare at you with that same bewildered look.

While you found the way he acted strange, you decided not to think much about it – if he had any memory of what it had been like a few days prior, perhaps he was just astonished that he was still alive.

“Here,” you said, taking hold of his arm as you prepared to lead him again, “lay back down. Your injuries are bad.”

Again, he said nothing but allowed you to do as you pleased, letting you take him back to the bed and tucking the sheets over him once he took his place on the mattress. Part of you wanted to ask what he'd been thinking by going outside, but that was a question to be saved for later, if you remembered it.

“Are you feeling alright?” you asked him. It felt best to keep your questions to ones that could be answered with a 'yes' or a 'no', at least for the time being.

He was looking about the cabin, taking everything in when you asked your question, and when he turned his attention back to you, he nodded.

That was a relief, and you smiled at him as you replied “am I right in thinking that you're hungry? You must be, after all the time you spent asleep.”

Again, he nodded.

“Alright. If you'll wait, I can make a breakfast for the two of us,” you said.

He replied with yet another nod.

Things were quiet as you cooked, and you were happy to be next to the fireplace after the brief amount of time outside. The minute or so you had spent out there had chilled you to the core, and you hated to wonder about what it had been like for him.

You glanced over to find him watching you, and you thought that perhaps now you might try to get some answers, if he had any.

“Was there a reason for why you went outside?” you asked.

His brows furrowed, and he turned his head so he was staring up at the ceiling. And then, for the first time, he spoke.

“I don't know,” he said.

“Ah. Alright then.”

Clearing your throat, you decided to push forward with your next question.

“Do you know what happened to you?” you asked.

At that, his mouth pressed into a line and he looked uncomfortable. Quickly, you added “if you aren't able to talk about it, that's fine.”

“No, no, it's not that,” he told you, “I…. Uh, I don't…. I don't remember.”

“Oh.”

What exactly had he gone through before you found him?

“It looked as though you'd been attacked,” you said, “you have bullet wounds.”

“You were behaving strangely when I found you, as well,” you added.

He shook his head.

“I don't remember,” he reiterated.

Then he turned his head towards you as he asked “where are we?”

“In my cabin?”

“Yes, but where is it?”

“Ah. We're outside Willsden. About eight miles away from there,” you explained.

“Have you been in contact with anyone from there?”

You blinked.

“No?” you responded.

“I see.”

He went back to staring at the ceiling, though you noticed movement beneath the blankets after. His hand went to his side – the one that he'd been digging the knife into, where he'd gotten that bullet out of him.

Foolishly, you only then realized why he had been asking about where the two of you were.

“I'm sorry – with the weather still being bad, it'll take some time for the roads to clear up even after the snow stops, but as soon as it does I'll fetch a doctor for you,” you told him.

For some reason, he seemed surprised when you said that, and again he stared at you for a few moments.

You wondered if you really were as strange as he seemed to perceive you to be.

When the food was finished cooking, you moved to help him sit up in the bed only to be surprised at how easily he lifted himself up without your assistance. After the way you had found him half frozen to death in the snow and then the days that had followed, you would have thought him to be weaker, yet he moved without much trouble, though the wound in his side seemed to still be giving him some trouble as you saw him wince and grab at it again. At least the shoulder wound seemed to be better.

He spoke again when you were in the middle of your meal, having paused with his own as he asked you “what's your name?”

You answered him, and asked for his in turn.

Nobunaga, he told you.

The introduction seemed to help him, as once the two of you had the other's name, he was more open with you when he spoke. He'd been traveling, he told you, going from town to town in search of work. While he had been on his way to Willsden from Doveport before he wound up where you found him in the woods. Again, he told you that he didn't remember what had happened to him, but it seemed safe enough to conclude that he had been attacked, robbed and left for dead.

Hearing that, and remembering the way he had been when you first laid eyes on him, all you could feel was immense pity for the man. What sort of people leave another person to die in such a manner? Although it was silly to ask that question as you knew the answer – the number of people in the world who had no issue cutting short the lives of others for the sake of their own greed were far too many.

“I don't suppose you have an idea as to how long you were out there,” you said.

“Since the night prior,” Nobunaga answered as he sighed.

“The night?” you asked, confused. It didn't seem likely to you that one man could have lasted that many hours outside in the cold with the way he was.

Nobunaga seemed to realize that as well, as he corrected himself with “ah, maybe I'm misremembering. I couldn't have been out that long. So it must have been the morning at the latest.”

You nodded, as that made more sense.

“I wonder why I didn't hear any gunfire,” you then said, “wherever it was where you were attacked, it couldn't have been that far from here.”

“I do remember bits and pieces where I was walking for a long while. Maybe the area where I was attacked was further away,” he suggested.

Nobunaga then added “or maybe you were in too deep a sleep.”

“Ah… I suppose.”

It felt slightly embarrassing to admit it, but that explanation would make sense. It didn't bode well for you to sleep so deeply if something was wrong, however. But regardless of that, the person or people who had attacked Nobunaga posed a threat and they would need to be taken care of.

You got his attention again as you said “as soon as the road opens up, I'll fetch a doctor for you, and I'll report the crime as well.”

“Report it?” he asked.

You nodded.

Instead of seeming relieved, he seemed wary, his eyebrows furrowing as he said “I don't see much point in doing that. Those thieves are likely long gone by now. It's best to not bother.”

“Not bother?”

That didn't seem like a normal response. Was Nobunaga ashamed that he had been attacked?

“No one will blame you for what they did,” you said.

“I'm not worried about that.”

“Then may I ask what you are worried about?”

Nobunaga paused, his mind seemingly racing to find an excuse.

Why was he trying so hard to convince you to drop it?

“I just think there's no point because,” he began, waiting half a moment before he continued with “I'm…. I'm not getting any of the things they stole back. And I don't care much about what they took, anyway. I'm also still alive, so I have the satisfaction of knowing that they failed to kill me.”

He seemed hesitant about everything he said except the last part. That seemed to be the only part that seemed genuine from what he was telling you. Though why he wanted you to stay quiet was still a mystery.

…. Maybe he was still confused after that time he'd spent in the cold.

“I think you're right about that, that we won't retrieve your items,” you agreed, “but if there are murderers running about the area, others should be warned about it. What if they attack someone else? We could help the others in the town if we tell them.”

“Ah…… Right….”

It was clear he hadn't thought of that, and he didn't have any argument to make against that point.

Nobunaga leaned back on the bed as he continued “shouldn't you be worried about yourself, though? It doesn't look like you have any way to defend against murderers.”

“I don't, but I also think we'll be fine for the time being.”

“Why?”

“There is an advantage to the weather being so poor,” you stated, “no one will be coming here while the outside is still like that.”

Nobunaga nodded slowly, though his gaze was a bit distant after you said that. Was he worrying about his attackers finding him again?

“We'll be okay,” you told him, “I'm certain of it.”

He nodded slowly again.

Shortly thereafter he said that he wanted to rest more, and you retired to read quietly beside the fireplace while he settled back into the bed.

It was almost pitch black in the room when you were suddenly awoken as an unsettling feeling washed over you, a feeling that your subconscious was able to recognize. That it was strong enough to rouse you from sleep was odd, and even more odd was the sensation that had been recognized.

It felt as though someone had been watching you.

Someone had been standing over you, watching you as they took every slight movement you made, every soft breath you took as your tightly wrapped blanket rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

Why had they watched you so intently?

Some part of your mind told you with certainty that was what had happened; even though you hadn't been awake for it, you felt certain of that fact. After taking a few moments to process those thoughts, you glanced over at the one person who could have been doing such a thing.

Though it was hard to make out in the dark, you were able to see enough of Nobunaga's form to tell that he was in bed, and it appeared that he was asleep.

Your eyes adjusted to the darkness further, and though you couldn't make out everything, you felt that he didn't look as though he had moved from the bed at all; he was still in the same position as they had when you both had retired for the evening. It certainly didn't seem as though he had quickly returned to the bed once he realized you were awake, and you surely would have heard him if he did. Not only that, how could he have moved that fast with his injuries still being as grave as they were?

It seemed unlikely.

You looked away from him as you stretched out your arms.

You were imagining things, likely due to the poor quality of sleep that came as a result from resting on the floor. But you had no alternative to that at the moment, so it was all you could do to simply make the best of it.

Once again, you laid down on your makeshift bed while you did your best to ignore the feeling of discomfort that it brought.

Instead, your mind went to the brief conversation you and Nobunaga had before you both had gone to sleep. Right before you had settled down, he had asked you about what you had said to him when he was on the brink of death.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“When you brought me inside,” he clarified, “I think I was partially awake for that, and…. I thought I heard you say something.”

“Oh. Ah….”

You remembered the words that had tumbled out of your mouth at that time, ones that were brought out through sheer relief when you had realized that he was still alive. For whatever reason, that moment felt more embarrassing now that you knew he was somewhat conscious for it, though the source of that embarrassment was unknown.

“I… I may have said something, yes,” you answered, looking away from him.

He nodded again, his eyes going back up to the ceiling.

The next morning he was awake before you were, and the way he sat up in bed almost made it seem as though he was waiting for you to wake up.

You weren't able to get out a greeting before he spoke.

“I realized that I haven't thanked you once for saving me,” Nobunaga said, “so…. Thank you. I really mean it.”

You hadn't even thought of that until now, but his gratitude was appreciated as you smiled at him as you answered “I'm just happy I was able to help.”

Nobunaga looked away quickly as a blush formed on his cheeks.

[sage-nebula]

Notes: I've been replaying Night in the Woods and I'm unable to get this little crossover idea out of my head. Set after Sonic Frontiers and after the main storyline of Night in the Woods, and slight AU where Tails is 11 or 12 instead of 8, so he can be closer in age to Lori, who is canonically 14 (I want him to have a friend closer to his own age). The idea here is that Tails has happened upon the tiny town of Possum Springs in his travels, and for some reason or another decides to crash there for a while, both literally and figuratively. For those who haven't played Night in the Woods, all you have to know is that Lori is a 14yo mouse who loves horror movies and lives out by the train tracks, on Chestnut Street.

- - -

It was weird, how peaceful and comforting just lying in the dirt could be. Tails stretched his legs out, letting his heels thump against the metal rail of the train tracks, and a similar thump from behind him told him Lori had done the same on the other side. They stretched out between the two sets of tracks, facing opposite directions, their heads next to each other. The sky above was grey and thick with clouds. Every now and again, a drop of rain fell and splattered against Tails’ forehead. For some reason, he didn’t mind much.

“I like going to sleep out here sometimes,” Lori said. Tails tilted his head to look at her, but she was staring up at the sky above. He tilted his head back to do the same. “The excitement of the trains rushing by makes it easier to sleep. I just pretend like I’m homeless, and go to sleep.”

“I was homeless once,” Tails said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, for a few years when I was little. My brother and I just . . . wandered around.” And fought badniks and Eggman’s mechas and— “It took a few years for us to get my first workshop.”

“And then you lived in a workshop?”

“It has a house area too, with a bed and a kitchen and stuff. But I really wanted a place to be able to store my tools and work on my inventions, and we needed a hangar to keep the Tornado out of the rain so she wouldn’t rust.”

“I thought your plane was called the Cyclone?”

“Mine is. Sonic’s is the Tornado. She’s back home, unless he took her out recently.”

“Oh, gotcha.”

The ground rumbled, the vibrations cruising up Tails’ spine and through his ribs, and he pulled his feet off the tracks. Moments later a train rushed down them, and from the gust of wind that kicked up behind him, he knew one was passing by on the other side of his head, too. It took a few minutes, but when the train passed, both Tails and Lori stretched their legs out again, letting their feet clatter against the train tracks.

“Was it hard?” Lori asked after a moment.

“Was what hard?”

“Being homeless. I’ve always wondered what it was like. You know, when I’m laying out here sleeping.”

“Not really? I was really little, so I didn’t do too much. Sonic took care of everything; I just followed him.” Because even back then, he was a follower. He just tagged along, not a thought or care in the world about the burden he was imposing on Sonic by doing so. Sonic had never complained—at least, not to Tails directly. But then, he wouldn’t, would he? Even though he had only been eleven himself. Even though they’d had to hustle pool to get enough money for food, something Tails had thought had been fun at the time, although it must’ve been stressful for Sonic, far more than just caring for himself had been. Tails laid his arms across the coiling guilt in his stomach, and closed his eyes as a raindrop splattered against his forehead. “Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

“Why did you?”

Tails shrugged, as best he could while still lying on the ground. “It was just . . . better than where I was, I guess. And I wanted things to be better. I wanted to be better.” And he still did, and still wasn’t.

“It was better being homeless?”

“Yeah.”

“What about your parents?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Oh.” A beat of silence, then, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be prying. I won’t do it again. I’m sorry, I’m—”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Tails pushed himself up on his elbows to look over at her, but Lori was very determinedly not looking at him, staring up at the sky as she took in shallow breaths. “I don’t mind, it’s fine. They disappeared a long time ago. I don’t even remember what they looked like. It’s okay. Okay?”

“Mm.” Lori gulped down a few more breaths of anxious air, still not looking at him, her whiskers twitching as her fingers toyed with the zipper on her jacket. Tails laid back down, figuring it was probably better to let Lori calm down on her own, rather than try to force her to.

It never helped when people tried to badger him out of panic attacks, after all.

The ground rumbled beneath them again, and as one they pulled their feet back from the tracks. The wind that gusted over them was nice; it ruffled through Tails’ fur not unlike the wind that teased it when Sonic sprinted past, although thinking of that made a bittersweet pang take root in his chest. He pushed it away.

When the trains passed, and they had their feet on the tracks again, Lori spoke again. “My mom’s gone, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My dad’s still here, though. When he hasn’t been drinking.”

Tails frowned. “That’s . . . not great.”

“No. But it means I can go wherever I want, at least. That’s kinda cool.”

“I guess.” Tails scuffed the heel of his shoe against the rail of the train tracks. “Is there anywhere you want to go? Away from Possum Springs, I mean. I could take you in the Cyclone.”

“I’ve got school tomorrow.”

“We could be back by tomorrow.”

Lori hummed. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay.”

Comfortable silence fell again. Tails could hear birds twittering in the trees nearby, and the distant woosh of cars driving down the street.

“What about you?” Lori asked. “Where do you want to go after this? Back home?”

“No,” Tails said, even as he had to swallow against the yearning he felt to fall asleep to the sound of the Mystic Ruins waterfall, or the comforting smell of metal and oil from his workshop. “Not yet.”

“When, do you think?”

“I don’t know.” When I’m better.

“Hm. Well.” Lori shifted, and when Tails looked over he saw that she was looking at him from the corner of her eye. “I think it’s cool if you want to hang out here for a while. It’s nice to have someone to talk to when Mae’s busy.”

“Yeah.” Tails smiled a little, despite himself. “You’re fun to hang out with.”

Lori grinned, and pulled her feet back off the tracks. Tails did the same, and they watched the trains rush by on either side of them.

[stefanmikaleson1864]

Because I Need You

Because I Need you 

OA X Reader 

Y/N’s Pov 

Things were hard lately. Work has been a lot lately we were working a rough case and everyone was on edge. 

A serial killer was kidnapping young women around town. It was young women on their way home from work. Most of them were 9-5 people who were just trying to get home.

We figured it was because it was easy to track and follow. This killer was different though it seemed like he didn’t  have a cooling off period. 

It was like clock work every day at the same time we were discovering someone new, 

Every time we felt like we were getting somewhere close we just ended right back up at square one again.

 It was all taking a major toll on all of us. Literally watching the minutes click down until someone else has lost their life. 

None of us had been home in days. We were each taking turns sleeping in the breakroom. None of us could fall asleep though. I mean how could you knowing  what was going to happen. 

You all would take a moment to eat and take a breather as much as you could. It was hard because you knew you needed to be on top of your game you had to take care of yourself but every time you did it felt like a waste of time. 

Like right now you were currently sitting outside. Letting the sun hit your face, you were looking down at your lunch not being able to eat. 

You were just re playing every connection in your head. Where could we go from here. Where can we look at next to help. 

You were so in your head you didn’t even notice when OA came and sat down next to you. He placed his hand softly on the top of yours in order to get your attention. 

“Hey talk to me” He said. 

You snapped your neck up to look at him. He gave you a worried look on his face,. His big brown eyes not breaking contact with you. 

“I uh i’m good just a little tired” You said lying through your teeth. 

He knew you better than that. He knew how exhausted and tired you were. 

“Y/N come on it’s me” He said 

You took a deep breath in and let it all out. 

“I am just worried about it you know the time i’m just eating could be time doing something” You said. 

“We are doing everything we can to help but you still gotta worry about yourself” OA said. 

“I know but it’s not enough people are still dying” You said

“Yes but that’s on us we are doing everything we possibly can” OA said

“I don’t know i just” You said struggling to find the words. 

“I know were all feeling it but please eat something i know you haven’t eaten sense last night” OA said. 

You just looked at your food you were way to tired exhausted to do anything 

“Please and then were taking a break were gonna go lay down” OA pleaded. 

You just gave him a confused look and his entire face had turned bright pink red.

“I would abosoloutely love to go lay down with you. Is that what you do with all your friends” You asked pushing your arm into his. 

“Shut the hell up you know what i meant” He said smiling. 

I mean you weren’t complaining about the thought of laying down next to him. You had such a massive crush on him. I mean have you seen him he’s so damn beautiful. 

“Sure i know” You said winking at him. 

“Look you gotta share this with me you haven’t either so you gotta eat something to.” You said breaking your food in half.  

You basically threw it in his hand so he couldn’t have said no. you picked up half and toasted him and he toasted it right back. 

You were feeling a smidge better eating something and sitting next to OA always made you feel better. 

You both ate in silence and when you were done he got up and stuck his hand out to grab yours. 

You took it and he pulled you out of the seat. You both headed out and it was quiet on the way down. 

You knew he was right that you needed sleep. You could feel like your body was on it’s way to just giving out 

Finally after an entirety you made it to the bunker room and collapsed on the bed. You closed your eyes for a moment while your body felt like it was taking a deep breath. 

You opened them up to just seeing OA standing in the corner. 

“What are you doing over there I thought you were supposed to lay down with me” You asked ‘

“Uh yeah no it’s fine it’s just one bed in here I’ll go somewhere else i just wanted to make sure you were okay” OA said twisting his ring. 

“Don’t be crazy let’s go” You said sitting up and reaching out for him. 

He smiled and reached out and grabbed your hand. You squeezed it and laid down. OA sat down at first and then slowly laid down like the bed was going to break in two. 

As soon as you felt him lay down you lifted up and laid your head on his chest. You could feel his heart beating. It was going super fast and honestly it was such a comforting sound. 

Not even a few moments later you fell asleep into a deep sleep. You didn’t even set a timer to wake you up. 

Your body needed the sleep. You haven’t slept a wink in days. 

OA just countied to lay there watching you sleep for a moment. His heart beating fast at the fact you were so close next to him. 

He was the responsible one who set a timer to wake you both up and just a few moments later he fell asleep just along with you. 

 1 Hour Later 

OA’s alarm had gone off you were so upset because it was the best sleep you had gotten in months. 

You groaned waking up and squinting your eyes. 

“Mm do we have to” You said not lifting your head up. 

OA has his arms wrapped around you in a big bear hug. It felt so nice 

“I know I know we have to” OA said groggily. 

He unwrapped his arms around you and you sat up wiping the sleep from your eyes. No doubt you looked a hot mess. 

OA was looking up at you and smiled. 

“You look beautiful” OA said.

Your face turned blood red and you smiled at him. His face looked worried like he wasn’t sure how you were going to react. 

“No i don’t look at me i’m at a hot mess” You said groaning.

OA moved some hair out of your face and smiled. 

“No your always beautiful” OA said 

“So are you such a beautiful man” You said.

It was OA’s turn to blush now. His face turning red as a beet. 

“Come on they need us”  You said. 

You got up and reached a hand out to help OA. He smiled and grabbed it. 

The two of you tried your best to spruce yourself up and then headed out. You made your way back to the JOC. When Jubal was approaching you both in the hallway. 

“Hey perfect timing we got something we need all agents and you to go out to the scene” Jubal said. 

“What no why she’s not even an agent” OA said.

“I know but we need a team on the lot to help give real up to date information it’s a big plot service is bad down there” Jubal said.

“Hey it’s no big deal i’ll be fine i’ve done it before” You said 

OA was tense and you could tell he was still upset but he ended up dropping it. 

“Come on i’ll get ready” You said. 

“Thank you were out in 15” Jubal said placing a hand on your arm. 

You walked to the closet where equipment was that you could take out with you. OA had followed you helping you pack your stuff. 

“Hey are you sure” OA said. 

“I’m good seriously why are you being so overprotective I mean more than usual” You said asking.

OA just looked down at ring nervously twisting it. 

“Because this guy is dangerous” OA said 

“They are all” You counterbacked. 

You walked over and grabbed his hands and made him look up at you. 

“What is going on” You said .

“I can’t loose you everyone keeps getting hurt and dying and being held up at gunpoint and I can’t let that happen to you” OA said in a sad tone is voice cracking a bit. 

You knew it had been hard on him. No one liked Rina really but it was still hard and shocking. Maggie had taken a hit and he still hasn’t processed his own attack.  So honestly you weren't surprised. 

“Hey look at me nothing is going to happen i’ll be with Ian and Jubal if anything i’m the one worried about you”  You told him. 

You could see a tiny bit of relief in his eyes when he knew you would be in the company of others. 

You pulled him into a tight hug. He squeezed you back hard like it was the last one ever. You both let go and he smiled down at you 

“Let’s go” You said grabbing the bag. 

He gave you a look and he grabbed the bag from you carrying it out. He acted like your arms were gonna fall off if you carried something.

“Such a gentleman” You said laughing 

“Shut up” OA said laughing. 

You both walked out and stood and went to OA’s desk and a few seconds later everyone came out and joined you guys. 

“Ready” Jubal said 

“Hell yeah let’s go” Maggie said

You all walked out and got into the cars. Maggie refused to let OA drive which made him grumpy the whole time. 

It was quiet the whole ride. Everyone is trying to get their heads right. Needing to make sure your head was clear. 

About 30 minutes later you arrived to your scene. It was a giant filed with a tiny little farm house looking thing. It was such a creepy looking scene. 

“You guys clear the house where set up right over here” Jubal said. 

You grabbed OA’s hand and gave it a squeeze. You gave him a smile and a nod. Telling him to stay safe. 

They went on and you all set up as fast as you could. A few moments laters swat and search and rescue showed up. 

You all were working hard to see if there was anything out there to help find the missing girl. 

Right now your suspect was 32 Year old David Ross. His mom was killed when he was young by an intruder . He owned this lot inherited to him by his mom where she passed. 

It was such a meeting thing to think about. 

You were surveying the plot seeing if anything made sense or stuck out. Was land changed anywhere where was something there that wasn’t supposed to be there. 

It was taking forever. You guys were there a solid 2 . Almost pushing three. We had to beat the dark and this twisted timeline we were stuck on.

It felt like a dead end

Finally something stuck out. A drone showed a small shed type thing about 10 yards away. That has to be it. 

“Hey i got something a shed about 10 yards away” You said yelling out loud. 

“Yeah yeah that’s it” Jubal said 

Jubal radio it over the walker and everyone wasn’t breathing at that point. We risked it all if that wasn’t it. Showing this son of a bitch we were here. 

Would he get scared and kill her ? Try to harm others.

What felt like eternity the walkie went off 

“We got her alive” Scola said 

Everyone just let out a breath at the same time. We all started clapping and cheering. 

They started walking out towards you guys and OA and Maggie had the guy in handcuffs. 

“We did it y’all we got them” Jubal said high fiving everyone. 

You all started packing up your stuff and heading out. It was such a relief. Like the weight of the world was lifted off your shoulders. At least for now anyways, until the next case came along. And it was placed right back on there. 

On the way back everyone was talking about how they wanted to celebrate. You only cared about one thing. Where was he gonna be 

You made it back and by that time we were all heading out to a local bar \ restaurant so Jubal could come and join. 

It was a friday night so that son of a bitch was going to sit in a cell until Monday  morning so they dropped his ass off and ran. 

Thankfully Isobel said paperwork could wait so we didn’t even think twice. You were currently sitting at OA’s desk while he packed up. 

“So are you going out with them” You asked 

“Eh I don’t know not in the mood to go out” OA said 

“Yeah me either do you wanna grab some takeout and watch a movie” you asked 

OA looked over at you and flashed a smile 

“Its a date” He said 

He got up and grabbed your hand and the two of you walked out. 

You got into his car and he made his way down to your place. You got chinese food from the corner place you both loved.

You both were settling in now. You changed into some Pj’s and OA had some left over clothes. It wasn’t the first time he spent the night. In a non romantic OA safe way. He would always sleep on the couch no matter what. 

After you both were deciding what movie to watch you wanted a thrasher killer. But OA said it was to much which most would think but it’s your fave genre. 

So you both settled on some comedy movie to lighten the mood. 

“Why are you eating all the chicken” You groaned 

“Because it’s too good and I don’t want you to have any” He said laughing 

“That’s so mean” You pouted. 

He took some chicken and threw it in your box.

“happy “ He asked 

“Well now I am” You said throwing some food back at him 

“Oh really so uncalled for” He said trying to act offended . 

He took his fork and flung his fork full of rice at you. 

It hit all over you and you then returned the favor big time. You picked up a big pile of noodles and held it in the air. 

OA gave you a look like you better not.  But of course you did. 

“omg “ was all he was able to say. 

He took the noodles he could and threw them back at you. Then after that it was a full on food fight. 

At one point the two of you stood up and was trying to hide from it. Laughter was filling up the air. 

“A truce come on” OA said breathing hard 

“Fine but only because were out of food” You said laughing. 

You both walked into the middle of the room. You secretly had something behind your back because you didn’t trust him one bit. He looked at you like he was dis trustful 

He grabbed your arm and tried forcing you to drop the food

“I knew it” OA said.

You got real close to his face and whispered 

“That’s what you get” You said trying not to break eye contact. 

Suddenly OA moved in closer and so did you. He slammed his lips against yours and you kissed him back hard. You dropped your food on the floor wrapping your arms around him, 

He grabbed you close filling the gap. You two stopped after a second needing air to breathe. 

“I love you” OA said 

“I love you more” You said 

OA took your hand and led you back to the bedroom. He looked at you and placed his hand on your face. 

“I want to” You said knowing he wasn’t going to pressure you 

He kissed you back slowly and you pulled him onto the bed. The two of you not caring about how sticky or messy you were

. None of those made up in your head scenarios help a flame to this. 

After you looked at him.

“I think I need a shower and new sheets” You said laughing 

“Yes to both of those” OA said smiling back 

“I’m so glad we stayed home” You said.

“I needed you tonight to be here and with me. You can always bring me back  and every other night” OA said 

“I need you more always i wouldn’t have been okay without you ” You whispered back .

He had no idea how true that was. It was a rough case but the night ended so much better. 

There was always going to be hard and rough cases but as long as you had OA they were just a little less rough

[rotworld]

25: Roadside Attraction

(previous)

the road to anchor takes you to stranger and stranger places. but here, at least, you will find some answers.

->sexually explicit. contains terato, non-human genitalia.

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.

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The convoy stops at nightfall, filling the parking lot where a rest stop used to be. Only the ghost of a building remains, an inverted mirage surrounded by scorched grass. A pair of vending machines flicker like dying bulbs, translucent, their contents changing each time they wink in and out of existence; snack crackers. Carbonated drinks. Dead butterflies. Jamie warns everyone to keep their distance. The Verlindans pace restlessly. Malachi comes over to check on you as you stretch your legs, leaning against the crumpled hood of your car. 

“How is everyone?” Jamie asks him.

“Anxious,” he says, “but morale is high.” 

You study the frostbite on your fingers. They’re almost completely numb now, dried and dead to the second joint. “We’re not going to make it to Anchor tonight,” you say quietly. “We’ll be in trouble if a shift hits.” 

“Could try sheltering on the Verlindan backroads,” Jamie suggests. “I’m sure they won’t love us driving back there, but given the circumstances, maybe they’ll make an exception.” You nod, unconvinced. Even if you survive the shift, you might be spat back out on the other end of the Drift. Even if you aren’t, you still have to get through Anchor’s gates. It feels more and more hopeless the further you get.

But you look across the parking lot. The people of Nelton gather in small conversational circles, talking and laughing, singing songs. The Verlindans are restless but their eyes are on the horizon. Hopeful—that’s the feeling you get. Everyone is here, following your lead, because they believe it’s worth trying. So you stow your worries and think about tomorrow instead; a house for couriers. A place with fresh eggs, warm beds, and homemade tea.

You’re on the road again soon. An hour more, the convoy agreed. If you don’t find a town, the Verlindans will begrudgingly allow you to use their paths as campgrounds for the night. It’s still dangerous, but better than being caught out on the open road during a shift. Curiosity keeps your mind occupied for a while—you’ve never seen the Verlindan backroads before, and you’ve always wondered how a place stays in one piece without anchorware—but something else captures your attention soon enough.

The salty smell you remember from Aliquando Island suddenly pricks your senses. That’s brine, you know now, a whisper of ocean. But this isn’t the narrow isthmus road. Jamie suddenly stiffens, warning you that a shift’s coming, but you don’t stop. Anchor is still far away, but something else—something familiar—is very close. The road curves. Your headlights glance over dark, churning water. A river? A lake? Through the fog and the dark, you can’t glimpse the far shore or gauge its size, but you never find a bridge to get across.

What do you find is an old wooden sign pitched at the roadside, three painted planks stacked one atop the other reading, “FERRY AHEAD.” The road curves once more, veering off over the water. It’s not a bridge but a fenced ramp, asphalt transitioning to a metal loading dock. The ferry is old and precarious-looking, a steamboat with twin chimneys and a worn, barnacle-peppered hull. Its glittering, golden light ripples on the surface of the water like drowning stars. You’ve never seen such a thing before. There is no ferry service in the Drift, no body of water large enough to warrant it.

And yet, here it sits. A man sits hunched on the ramp’s brittle fencing, standing slowly when your headlights reach him. He saunters over to your window, hands buried in the pockets of a black peacoat. His eyes are hidden in the shadows cast by the black brim of a vintage captain’s hat. You see him tilt his head, glancing through the window at you. His smile is small and bemused, like he’s seen something pleasant he didn’t expect to see. “Evening,” he says, his voice low and rough like gravel. “Headed west?”

“Is there another way across?” you ask. “We’d like to stick together and I don’t think you can take all of us in one trip.” 

He chuckles. “Nah, you’ll fit just fine. The Proteus is bigger than she looks. There might be a bridge if you keep going, but there might not be. Depends on the Drift’s mood. Either way, it’s safer to go by boat. Shift’ll pass right over us on the water, you won’t get displaced.”

You can feel Jamie staring in disbelief. They must be thinking the same thing; you’ve found a place that shouldn’t exist and this sounds too good to be true. “How much?” you ask.

The man’s smile widens. You think at first he has a Verlindan’s teeth, curved and wolf-like, but where the Verlindan’s have a pair of prominent canines, he has a mouthful of daggers. “Not a thing. It’s free for kith and kin.” 

It takes some coordination, a few insistent reassurances, but you’re moving again soon. You slowly ascend the ramp, your car rattling over the metal loading bay and into a darkened lower deck. The man was right; it’s much larger on the inside, cavernous and echoing like a parking garage.

“Are you sure about this?” Jamie mutters. 

You are. Maybe you shouldn’t be. Maybe you should be wary and afraid. But this is your best bet to reach Anchor, and more importantly, it feels right. The hint of sea salt in the air soothes you. You get a feeling you haven’t had since Aliquando Island—that you know this place in a distant way. 

The man had grinned at you with his monstrous teeth and you didn’t even feel a twinge of fear, only a sense of muted recognition.

[NOW PLAYING ON THE RADIO: THE DEEP BY PHILDEL]

There’s a trembling sensation as the metal loading bay slides away from the asphalt ramp and shutters closed. The ferry blares its horn and then you’re moving. Water churns and laps at the hull. Those who came from Nelton have started settling in for the night, sharing blankets and pillows, reclining across their seats. Jamie is restless, eager to go above deck where they can at least keep an eye on the captain. You’re inclined to follow, though not out of suspicion. 

The Verlindans are unsettled. They pace the length of the lower deck back and forth, whispering to one another. There’s a curving walkway with a gentle slope that carries the smell of salt and soft night wind from above. They stand guard there, as though expecting trouble, but they let you and Jamie through without a few cautious glances to one another.

“Want some fresh air?” you ask them.

“Rather not,” Glenn says. The worried expression on your face makes him chuckle and shake his head. “We’re alright, courier. Just out of our element. Not used to being on someone else’s territory.” 

Jamie frowns. “What does that mean? Whose territory is this?” 

“I’m not sure. Just know it’s not ours.” He looks you up and down with a contemplative expression, smiling gently as though confirming something he long suspected. “Free for kith and kin, he said? I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

You take the curved walkway above deck and a cold breeze skims the water, kissing your cheeks. It doesn’t look like the same vessel. It’s too small, too tightly compact, no room beneath your feet for half a town to park. There’s little to see—guard rails, unmarked cargo boxes stacked haphazardly, fog as far as the eye can see. The captain is sequestered away in the bridge, a silhouette behind the darkened windows. The lights are off inside, you notice, and dimmed along the sides of the ferry. Jamie walks back and forth across the deck several times before returning to you, looking perturbed.

“No anchorware,” they say. “There’s some kind of spatial anomaly at work here, but it seems stable.” 

They join you at the railing, resting their arms over it. You can’t be too far from the shore you just left, but you can’t see it anymore. The water is black like ink and rippling in the ferry’s wake, dyed a dim, sunset shade of orange by the lights. It’s easy to see things in the strange, liquid motion, shapes that aren’t really there. It’s quiet; nothing but wind and waves. The smell of brine is stronger now.

“You look happy,” they note.

You shrug. “I like how the water sounds. It’s easy to relax.” 

“You liked Aliquando Island, too. So…how about that beach house?” Jamie grins when they manage to get a smile out of you, draping an arm around your shoulder. 

“I don’t think the Drift has all that many beaches.” 

“Fine, be evasive again. I didn’t think the Drift had islands, or a ferry,” they say, gesturing at the glassy shimmer of cresting waves. “But here we are. And here you are, looking all misty-eyed and nostalgic. You should always hang onto the things that make you happy, courier.” You nod. You’re going to try. Jamie leans their head against your shoulder and you spend a long, comfortable moment like that, standing on the deck in tranquil silence. Eventually, your eyelids start to droop and you go back below deck together, Jamie’s fingers laced with yours.

Gentle snores echo on the parking level. Jamie tilts their seat back and curls up with a sweatshirt balled up under their head as a pillow. They offer you a spare, soft knit and cream-colored, as a blanket. You drift off watching them stubbornly try to stay awake longer, lashes fluttering, nuzzling against the touch of your hand to their cheek like an affectionate cat.

Someone is singing.

You jolt awake, disoriented. You can’t remember falling asleep and don’t know how long you’ve been out. A fog of exhaustion gives everything a surreal, slightly muted feeling. Jamie is still fast asleep, shoulders rising and falling with soft breaths. The Verlindans have fallen asleep in a heap of bodies, nestled close to each other over each other with what looks like a crumpled mess of picnic blankets piled beneath them. Everything is silence and stillness around you, not a soul awake except for you. 

And someone is singing. You don’t know how you recognize it as song—it’s deeper than a human voice could go, lower than guttural, slow and powerful like the grinding of glaciers. But there’s a clear melody, a gradual rising and falling. There’s a message trying to be heard. You’re getting out of the car before you’re fully aware of yourself moving, drawn to the walkway that takes you above deck.

The sound is neither clearer nor closer. You pace in frustration, trying to locate the source, but nothing helps. Gripping the railing, you peer into the waves and ripples. You think you see a phantom shape in the motion, a wave that is softer, more rounded, breaching the surface before it slips beneath again. Water mists across your face. Your neck feels strange. Those sensitive patches along the sides are throbbing.

“Can you hear it?” 

You didn’t notice the captain standing there, leaning with his back against the railing not far away. He’s watching you. You can feel it, even if you can’t make out his face or much of anything in the weak dusk-light of the dimmed ferry lights. His silhouette is large and intimidating, filling out his coat with a wide chest and broad shoulders, and he easily towers over you. His hands are in his pockets again.

“What is that?” you ask.

“What, indeed.” You can hear the smile in his voice. “Something old and lonely.” He pushes away from the railing and starts to walk away. You follow without hesitation, falling into step with his brisk, heavy pace. “I should ask you, shouldn’t I? Where you’re from, where you’re going. Feels redundant at this stage.” 

Your heart races. Your lungs burn. There’s so much you want to ask him but you can’t get the words past a lump in your throat, a suffocating pressure like a choking hand.

“Deep breaths. Don’t thrash and panic. You know how to breathe.” He pushes a door open. You expect an ascending staircase up to the bridge, but the steps go down in a winding spiral. There are no lights lining the cramped, dizzying corridor. You can’t see how far down it goes. The captain steps past you and begins descending. He pauses when he sees you aren’t following, half-swallowed by darkness. 

The song is coming from below. It echoes up from the darkened staircase, low and haunting. The captain holds out his hand and it’s much larger than yours, ridges of tendon prominent beneath the skin. Thin, translucent membranes stretch across the space between his fingers. When you touch him, his skin feels slightly damp.

He leads you down. The air gets colder. The steps shriek and clatter beneath your combined weight. Eventually, you can’t even see that far ahead, the dark too deep and the surface too far away. You should have reached the bottom by now, you think, should have found yourself on the lower deck ages ago. The song grows steadily closer, louder, more defined, notes that ebb and flow with the steady slowness of the tide. You can hear the captain humming the same melody, his voice dipping into the same rumbling pitch.

“He was stranded here by a shift a very, very long time ago,” the captain says. “Where he comes from, the water is endless. It helps to have a voice that carries. That’s why our dreams are what they are, you understand? We speak while we sleep.” 

Shimmering light curls at the edge of your vision. It’s gone when you turn to look at it properly. Another comes, closer this time, a luminous body that wriggles by like a floating serpent. Your eyes are adjusting. You start to notice the dark moving; flitting shapes and rippling silhouettes. Bulbous, undulating things that drift along soundlessly, tapered cones of flesh with bulging eyes and tendril-curtained mouths, gently swaying things pulsing gently with colorful light. Is this an aquarium? Some kind of submerged observation deck? The thought is dispelled as a small, darting thing flits right in front of your face and you feel it moving, the wake of its rapid escape like wind on your face.

No. Not wind. Water, you think. It’s all around you. You’re not descending a staircase but sinking slowly. That smattering of white specks like a congested night sky—those aren’t stars. It’s marine snow. The auroras are bioluminescence. All this time, you were looking in the wrong direction, thinking of an alien place impossibly far away. The captain’s coat and hat drift by and you look back to the hand gently holding yours. 

He is a glimmering silhouette, twinkling dots outlining a humanoid shape. He takes your hands and presses them to his chest, urging you to touch, to feel and explore. You feel the rough, bumpy texture of his skin and powerful muscle rippling just underneath. You feel fins, both soft, short ruffles and firm, trailing flaps like sails. Sharp spines protrude from his hips like jutting bone. What you initially mistake for a wound—ripped, fluttering flesh—are actually gills, a row of them along his sides. When your fingertips graze over them, he shudders.

“Be careful where you touch,” he says. You don’t think his mouth moves, but you hear him in your head, an echoing, velvet purr. “It’s sensitive. You’re showing interest. You’re very much wanted, I assure you, but do you want?”

He lifts one of his webbed hands to your neck, stroking his thumb along the side, and heat fills your body. You press against the touch more insistently and that rumbling purr grows louder. Suddenly his hands are on your hips and he’s between your legs, giving a slow grind that makes you aware of something unusual. He’s hard, you can feel it—you’re naked and can’t remember when you got undressed, but you feel him, engorged and twitching against your inner thigh.

And he has two, you realize. 

“You move too quickly, Lorne. You have only just spoken.”

That’s not his voice. That’s a whisper so powerful it fills your head, all you can hear. The song has stopped, you realize, and the darkness beside you is stirring.

Seeing the thing in the dark is dizzying and difficult to comprehend now. He is not a beast of the cosmos but of deep waters. An abyssal giant of staggering, nearly incomprehensible size, you are smaller than the one silver eye staring down at you. When he moves, you move with him, stirred by the water swirling in his wake. He is trailing fins and floating tendrils, aglow in brilliant gemstone hues. You have never seen him properly because he is glassy and delicate like a cnidarian polyp, great swaths of flesh and flowing membranes partially translucent. You can see winding internal structures, serpents of intestines and descending coils of bone.

“You move too slow,” the captain, Lorne, shoots back. He brings your legs up to wrap around his waist and rocks against you, rumbling in approval at the shiver it draws out of you. “It isn’t fair, the way you’ve been keeping them all to yourself lately. If the rest of us did courtship at your pace, we’d die of old age before we got anywhere.” He tilts your chin and mouths at the sensitive spots on your neck, the scrape of his teeth making you dig your nails into his shoulders. He sucks on a spot that pries a whimper from your throat and you’re embarrassed, painfully aware of how intently you’re being watched. 

But the thing in the dark encourages you with the press of a soft tendril, pushing you further into Lorne’s embrace. “This is true. I have been selfish. And they have been hurting and afraid.”

“Not tonight,” Lorne says. He drags you back and forth over the heads of his cocks, teasing you with quick, hard rutting against your sex. “Tonight you’re safe. Nothing will hurt you.” 

You want more than he gives you. The friction is good, mind-numbing, easy to lose yourself to. His cocks rub against your sex and you can feel just how large they are nestled against your stomach like that, full, throbbing lengths giving off milky puffs of milt into the water. His grip shifts and he’s clutching your ass, kneading your flesh as he pulls you into the harsh, breathtaking rhythm of his grinding, and you’re imagining how it’d feel for him to fuck you like this. Hard and merciless, pounding your insides with one or both of his cocks, feeling the slap of full balls slapping against your ass. 

“God, I will,” he moans, nipping at your neck again. “Come back to me and I will. Get you nice and stretched so you can take all of me, stuff you with so much fucking cum I’ll be dripping out of you for days.” You want it now but he hushes you, cuts off your desperate, choked sounds with his lips on yours. The kiss is razor sharp and you cut your lip on his teeth but it just makes you hotter, raking your nails down his back until you’re sure you feel blood bubbling up around your fingers. It makes him groan into your mouth and grind even harder, every thrust a jerking, violent motion that oozes a cloud of milt. 

“Lorne,” the thing in the dark whispers, chiding.

“No.” Lorne sinks his claws into the meat of your ass possessively. You barely notice the sting, too focused on how good it feels to be here, sharing body heat in the cold of the abyss, nearly mating. “No, I don’t—don’t wanna let go.” 

There’s a fluttering sensation; warmth and comfort, a blanket against your back. The thing in the dark’s shimmering, auroral appendages throb faintly, filled with a slow heartbeat. “We cannot follow where you are going. But we will do all that we can.” 

You shake your head. You don’t want to go. You cling tightly to Lorne but the thing is insistent. It tugs you apart. 

“Wake,” it whispers. You feel the weight of its sadness bearing down on you, an ocean of grief—and the smallest, most hesitant spark of hope. “And…return to us safely.”

Your eyes open. It’s dark, but not the way you remember. This is soft darkness; simple shadows. The parking lot of the ferry. Jamie is sitting next to you, trying and failing to conceal a smile. “Good dream, huh?” they say, leering at you. You have no idea how to answer. Your indecision must come across as embarrassment because they laugh and give you a quick kiss, rubbing your shoulder. “It’s morning. I just poked my head out above deck. Captain says we’ll be there soon.”

“Oh. Good,” you say, sounding about as groggy and confused as you feel. You rub your eyes and stretch your legs the best you can. 

“Shift was just about over when I woke up. Was he right about that? We didn’t get shoved halfway across the Drift, did we?” 

You shake your head. You’re right where you should be. Anchor is west and the gap is smaller now. There’s just enough space for a town on the way but you’ll be there by tonight easily, likely sooner. “We’re really going to reach it,” you say, quietly awed. Fear creeps in soon after, followed by doubt. You’ll be there soon, and then what? Do you really stand a chance? 

Some time later, the ferry docks. Metal shrieks and rattles as the ramp lowers and you’re greeted by foggy daylight, the road stretching onward. The Verlindans are the first to leave, rushing for solid ground. Lorne ambles down to shore, bidding you farewell with a curt nod. He looks fully human, you think, no sign of his bioluminescent patches. “Safe travels,” he says. “And sweet dreams.” 

It’s only as you’re driving away that you see him move in the rearview mirror, lifting a webbed hand out of his pocket. He lifts his head and waves briefly. Then he touches his thumb and fingers to the sides of his neck in a gesture that looks innocent if not vaguely threatening, not nearly as obscene as it makes you feel. His smile is sharp and jagged. His eyes are the same stark, metallic shade as any other animal adapted to darkness.

(next)

[harmonyckrs]

Act 1, Scene 3 of Twisted Veronaville: Entering the Hero

THE LAST PAGE

"For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliette and her Romeo."

Ripp: Ugh, finally. I'm done reading this stupid book...now I can finally go to sleep.

Ripp: Zzzz....

???: Okay, so now we just have to find the Grunt house...wow, this sure brings back memories!

???: You really need to tell me more about this place later.

???: Well, of course!...let's just go to the Grunt house and get Tank.

???: Hold it right there!

???: Crap! It's General Buzz!

???: If you're going to take one of my sons, at least take the middle one...or even the youngest one. Not Tank. He's the only one I care about.

???: Wow, you really just...straight up admitted that, out loud.

???: You're seriously going to give away your kid like that?

???: Why not? He's a waste of space, anyway. I doubt he'll accomplish anything good in the future...I'll even give you $500 to never bring him back! How about that?

???: Wow. You're not even going to try to hide it...

???: I can't believe you'd say something so terrible about your own kid.

???: Do you want him or not? If not, I can just take you to jail for an attempted kidnapping. I'm sure that nerd you have a crush on would love a man with a criminal record.

???: How did you even know?...ugh, fine. We'll take him.

Sita: Good morning! I get that you're tired, but we've got a long day ahead of us. Aktu's preparing pancakes!

Ripp: Ugh...give me like...five minutes...Hang on...WHERE AM I? WHO ARE YOU?

Sita: Hey, hey! Don't panic. We're not going to hurt you! Your dad handed you over to us-

Ripp: HE GAVE ME AWAY?

Sita: Yeah, sorry. If it helps, your dad really sucks. Probably one of the worst people I've ever met, and I stayed in Pleasantview for a whole year.

Ripp: Thanks, it's reassuring hearing that from someone else...so, why am I here?

Sita: Go get ready first. We'll explain it over breakfast.

Aktu: So here's what's going to be happening...You're in the town of Veronaville, the city where Romeo and Juliette takes place. You read the book, right?

Ripp: Unfortunately yes. Finished it yesterday.

Aktu: Good, so I don't have to explain the plot to you. Everything from that book will happen here. Your job is to prevent everyone from dying.

Ripp: Is this a weird dream I'm having?

Sita: Nope! All real. Do you have any questions?

Ripp: Yeah! Several, actually! Why can't you do this yourself?

Aktu: Because we're both adults, and we can't really go around talking to teenagers about their love lives.

Ripp: Fair.

Sita: We trust that you'll be able to accomplish this, Ripp? We'll provide any support that you need, along with money, basic needs, and any materials you'll need to complete your mission.

Ripp: Sure!...what happens if I fail, though?

Aktu: We'll harvest all of your organs and sell them on the black market.

Sita: Aktu, don't scare him! It's okay if you fail. You'll just have to live with the guilt...but anyway! Let us know if there's anything you need, at any time.

Ripp: Well, there's one thing I'd like right now...

Aktu: Is this okay? Sorry. It's been a while since I've styled someone before.

Ripp: Better than I could've done! Thanks!

Aktu: ...I'm glad you like it. Oh, and that also reminds me...my old friend mentioned that his nephew told him that you really liked music, so Sita and I did some research and bought you a guitar. I hope it's of good quality...

Ripp: (I'm guessing the nephew was Johnny, but-OH SHOOT! Johnny! He and Ophelia probably just found out that Dad gave me away! They're probably worried about me right now!)

Aktu: Are you okay?

Ripp: Yeah, it's just...I have friends back home.

Aktu: Oh, don't worry! You can still call them. We can even organize visits too, just...make sure not to stray too far from the mission. Sita forgot to mention this, but we will be rewarding you with a million dollars if you succeed.

*DING DONG*

Aktu: Huh, weird. We weren't supposed to be getting visitors today...SITA! GO SEE WHO IT IS!

Sita: I AM ALREADY! YOU DON'T NEED TO YELL!

Viola: Hello. I'm Viola. I noticed you just moved in, and I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.

Sita: (Another welcome wagon? Where's everyone else?)...Nice to meet you too, Viola. Would you like to come in?

Viola: I can?...Thank you. Is it okay if I use your bathroom?

Sita: Go for it.

Viola: Thank you. I'll pay you back, I promise.

Sita: You really don't need to worry about it...

As unusual the start of the day was, our hero was adjusting fairly well to the world of Veronaville. He had yet to meet most of the characters from the story he was meant to rewrite, but that wasn't really his main concern at the moment.

Ripp: Sita, can I ask you something? Do you know how I can get in contact with my friends back home?

Sita: Of course! You can just use the phone to call them. We can also take you to Strangetown, also...if you need to go to other places too, we can drive there as well.

Ripp: Well, I've always wanted to go to Pleasantview.

Sita: No! Literally anywhere BUT the Bad Place! If you want to go there that badly, just ask Aktu to take you. I am NOT going back there again!

Ripp: (It can't possibly be that bad, can it?)...Okay. Sounds good...

Day darkens into night, and as our hero chats away with his newfound guardians, Romeo and Juliette were having yet another "secret" meeting.

Romeo: Juliette! It's so nice to-OW! What was that for?

Juliette: I hear footsteps. Your brother's here, isn't he? Tybalt already knows, and I don't want more people knowing either.

Mercutio: You were trying to keep your relationship secret? I never would've thought from you two literally making out right on the front lawn where everyone could see you.

Juliette: Shut up! Nobody asked you!

Romeo: Yeah! Why are you even here, anyway?

Mercutio: Taking out the trash because SOMEONE forgot to do it earlier today.

Romeo: Oops.

Juliette: So you're taking out yourself? About time.

Mercutio: Nice try, but I've heard more original insults from Tybalt. You really need to step up your game...where is he now, by the way?

Juliette: Why would you care?

Mercutio: Just wondering.

Juliette: Sure you are. Anyway, Romeo, Grandpa's hosting a party at our house tomorrow. You can come by, if you want, as long as you don't fight Tybalt again.

Romeo: HE fought ME!

Juliette: Yeah, but you know what I mean! Just...try to remain civil.

Mercutio: Can I come?

Juliette: Absolutely not.

Mercutio: (I'm coming anyway!) Boo...

THE NEXT PAGE

[the-future-was-yesterday]

~ Strange Reunion ~ [1/2]

LittleBigPlanet - Marlon Random x Reader

Summary: Ten years after moving away from Manglewood due to the terrible storm that flooded the place, you decide to return to your childhood home once more, only to reunite with an old friend who seems to have gone a little insane in your absence.

Manglewood. You looked back at the place with fond memories; and not just because you grew up there. Once the home of Bunkum's thriving film industry, it was now reduced to a sodden swamp and a dying town after the horrible storm that swept through the place all those years ago. How long has it been? A decade, maybe.

Part of what kept you thinking about Manglewood, however, was your childhood friend, Marlon Random. Always the funky, wacky actor-type. It's why he became one in the first place, and in what better place to become an actor than Manglewood?

You would take part in and help him practice with his acting and scripts, filling in for whatever role his 'character' was interacting with, despite your own lack of skill for acting. He never minded though—but it did always surprise you how in-the-moment he would get. He did always call himself a method actor.

It was the happiest time of both of your lives. You two never left each other's side, even when Marlon started becoming famous.

Well... until the storm hit.

You remembered how Manglewood was completely flooded. Businesses faltered and died, and it for sure seemed like the downfall of the town. Not to mention how difficult it was to get around because of the water submerging everything.

And that's when you had to move away... as everyone else had done. Of course you didn't want to leave Manglewood behind, but it was getting too difficult to live there.

But, as Marlon always was, he was dedicated to his craft. Acting was everything to him, and he wouldn't give up on the only place in Bunkum that could continue to give him that opportunity and fame. You knew how upset he was when you told him that you planned on leaving. He tried so hard to convince you to stay, but he knew in the end that it would be better for you if you moved on from Manglewood.

Your last day in Manglewood was spent with him, spending the whole day wandering the watery paths and reminiscing on the more recognizable buildings that were now either flooded, abandoned, or dead in business. Your final real memory with him was when you two finished the evening in your favorite spot by Manglewood's Great Tree, as you both had done many times before. And then you never saw him or heard from him again.

~ ~ ~

You can't say for sure what reason made you want to visit Manglewood again. Manglewood Swamp, you should say now.

Perhaps it was to reminisce on older times... better times. It surprised you how so much could change about a place in just ten years or so. The flooded paths were just as you remembered them, but now covered in algae and moss, with muddied and filthy water covering much of the available ground. You probably should have worn rain boots, you thought.

You traversed cautiously over the wet ground, careful not to fall on the slippery moss. You expected to see at least one other person out and about, but nobody seemed to be nearby. Well, it was almost night, you supposed. It did take a little longer than you thought to get here. The dim evening glow of the sky had casted a scarlet shadow over Manglewood, giving you an oddly melancholic, though nostalgic feeling.

You made it onto the main path. It was still mossy and you had to watch your step, but it was a little more elevated than where you had previously been walking. You had no particular goal when you decided on revisiting Manglewood, simply opting to wander, and maybe you would be satisfied.

You caught sight of Manglewood's once famous film studio, once a grand building brimming with people; now just an abandoned building strewn with graffiti and old stickers. You approached wistfully, staring up at the large film reel structure sat atop the building. It seemed to be one of the only surviving parts of the construction.

You had never actually stepped inside the building before, but you know for sure that Marlon has. He had filmed there, of course.

Marlon... where was he now? You had nearly forgotten. Was he still here after all this time? Surely not... the current state of Manglewood was no place for an actor like him anymore. But a part of you longed to see him again, if that was even possible.

You remembered the way your stomach went queasy sometimes when he looked at you. The way he sometimes held your hand when you two walked together, how he would take you out for milkshakes late into the night, how he would practice his parts so passionately with you, treating you as if you were his faithful co-star. Even now, it's silly to think about, all these years later, how much you inwardly pined for him. But, you were too late to say anything, too late to tell him.

And then the storm tore you two apart.

You reluctantly passed by the film studio, taking one last glance at its unfortunate display before moving on. Despite having the urge to peek inside the abandoned building, you knew Manglewood wasn't completely a ghost town. You didn't want to get into unnecessary trouble.

Your thoughts, unfortunately, distracted you from an uneven patch of damp moss and your feet inadvertently slipped. You let out a yelp of surprise, your hands scrambling to grab at nothing but air as you fell backwards.

"Woah-ho there!" You hear a sudden voice exclaim, before a pair of arms catches you by your own from behind, and your back falls into someone's chest.

[edsmcnson]

who: eddie & @courtroomphilosopher​​

what: is it the 80s again?

where: the hideaway (where else tbh)

if being back in hawkins had taught eddie one thing, it was that almost dying in a supernatural dimension was apparently not something one could just work through in therapy. even over the course of twenty fucking years. not that eddie had kept up with his sessions much these last months. scratch that, these last years, too busy with being miserable living his dream life. it had also taught him that this town still blew.

and that he needed to get out of there, stat. he’d initially driven to the hideout, that piece of junk corroded coffin had played in a couple times in their prime, but had quickly come to find it boarded up, an eviction notice taped to the door with police crime scene tape. not that it surprised him much, it had been pretty crappy, even in the golden age of seedy crappy bars. 

so where was there left to get a drink but the hideaway? the only place to get something to drink, really, if you didn’t want to sit on the hood of your car with a six pack of beer like some freshly graduated jock loser. yes, he was thinking of tommy hagan specifically, but that was another thing. eddie needed to be among people, people that weren’t his suffocatingly loving almost-step-aunt and uncle. people that were just as much of a mess as he was. what better place than the only bar left in hawkins. nobody respectable would choose to have their shameful drink there, much less on a week night.

three senses hit him first when he walks through the door. one - smell, obviously, always smell at the hideaway, that one hasn’t changed since the first time he flashed his fake i.d. to the bartender. the second - sight , as his eyes zero in on an unfamiliar face sitting on a bar stool in the corner. his eyes travel down the stranger’s form and unavoidably eddie’s gaze stops on the piece of fabric dangling from the other guy’s back pocket. no fucking way. it ties into sense three, which, well, it’s more of a ... a sentiment his body expresses suddenly, with an urgency that nearly overwhelms him. telling him that holy hell, eddie needs to get laid. like, yesterday.

no wonder he’s been so tense since arriving in hawkins, there’s been no shenanigans to ease up the tension from all the crazy happening around him. mostly due to a lack of options. and here was his golden ticket to salvation. ugh, too cheesy. anyway. 

eddie truly felt like the hottest piece of action in the joint, as if there was a fan pointed on him and everything was happening in slow motion as he casually got himself a drink and made his way across the bar, ignoring everyone around him but him.

he knew it was stupid to even ask - but ... well, he was also in indiana. in the middle of nowhere, indiana, to be exact, and everything around him seemed to be stuck in the 80s. so it was worth a shot. eddie cleared his throat, flashed the other a grin when he got his attention. “uh... so, you can, like, totally tell me to get lost if not but ... shit i’m - i’m just gonna ask, are you flagging? by any chance?”

[tcrtcard]

⌠ omar rudberg 24, gay, genderqueer, they/he. ⌡ wait a minute, is sora ahlstrom still in town? i thought i saw a flash of (rolled up faded jeans, a nervous laugh, and the last spoonful of lavender honey) ! last i heard they were working as a barista at tbd. when it’s the (pisces)’s birthday on 2/21 i forget that they’re forgetful and celebrate that they’re gentle. i hear the view between villages by noah kahan every time i think of them. @liminalintro​

big three: pisces sun, cancer moon, aquarius rising

backstory

tw death, suicide, and grief

sora is known all around town as the luckiest unluckiest boy. or more so, that’s what they call themself to make themself feel better about the...not so great aspects of their past. their father was a fisherman, boating and fishing lived far back into sora’s family tree. when they were younger, they used to go with their father, wanting nothing more than to be with him at all times. to be brave, and strong, just like he was. both him and his brother idolized him.

until one day, after a midsummer festival, their dad said they felt a calling to the sea. that they needed to go fishing right then, despite whatever storm warnings there were for that evening. their mother could only protest so much before letting him go. sora remembers every detail of that night- it was the first time something close to him would be ripped away. the sound of the festival dying down behind them, their litle brother held close to their side as their parents argued in front of them, the slow footsteps back to the house, dragging tired feet as sora looked behind him and caught one final glimpse of their father.

it was weeks later that they found remnants of his boat, washed away to shore. sora doesn’t remember the following days, barely even remembers the following years as they took on the role of caretaker for their little brother as their mother confined herself to her room. it was when sora got home the day they turned 18 and found a note written on the kitchen table that they realized just what had happened. that someone else would be ripped away from them too. sora’s life didn’t change despite the loss. they hopped from job to job to take care of his brother, despite not being any good at any of the jobs he did (he’s notoriously clumsy), the townspeople wound tend to give him a little extra sympathy, considering everyone knows their story.

one summer day, for his little brother’s birthday, he told sora he was going with some friends to surf. that there was no reason to fear the ocean. that he would only be gone a few days, that it would just be a fun road trip with friends. sora should have known to say no, but they didn’t. they wanted their brother to be happy. the third and final person to be ripped from sora’s grasp.

now sora continues to live for themself. job hopping all around town. it’s almost a town joke now, how often sora escapes death and potentially awful accidents. bad things happen all around him, but they never touch him.

moving to the island was hard for them, obviously. leaving behind their childhood home, the only place where they still had a connection to their family, the only place memories lived, meant they had to be dragged out of centralia kicking and screaming. now they’re surrounded by ghosts, forced to face their fear of the ocean- hands of the dead grasping at their ankles the second they step foot in the waves.

personality

despite everything that has happened in their life, sora is still a seemingly happy-go-lucky person. they go along with what’s given to them, though they do have a really hard time forming attachments. nothing in their life feels permanent.

[erigold13261]

Dream last night/this morning.

The point where I started to remember my dream was me being back in high school, but not my original high school. It was one that I think my cousin’s high school was like in the city, since I originally went to a big town high school. So this place was bigger and honestly it felt more like a mall with how it was built.

The school itself was probably more of a combined school rather than just a high school. It was also like a tech school, or a combination of a tech and academic school. I was there for the tech part of the school.

Actually, this wasn’t even my original school. I was supposed to be at my actual high school that I went to IRL, but for some reason I was temporarily transferred to this city school. I think to be closer to my family because of reasons later on down the dream.

Anyway, I am at this school, but instead of being in carpentry like I was in my old high school, I was in culinary. I had to make a bunch of desserts and snacks or whatever and got to sell them during lunch on like a Monday or something. The other students got other days to sell. Apparently my food was the best because my little station would always get sold out.

One of my classmates didn’t like that. For some reason he hated me, probably because I was new and a better cook than him (he was probably the best before I came into the class, it was a small class for whatever reason). I don’t remember what he did, but he was harassing me, probably messing up my food or saying rude shit to me as I was working.

I was barely phased by this, and just completely emotionless for the most part. This just kept on going on. At some point, and this was totally random, but the small class was eating steak in a room full of water. Like the water was up to our shoulders as we sat at a table and we had to try and make steak that tasted good when submerged. Don’t know how the steak and other stuff didn’t float around, but it didn’t. 

We had our class, we all passed, but the guy was being a huge fucking dick to me. I just ignored it and went on my way to sell my food at lunch because it was my day to sell. I had other friends in the class that tried to get this guy away from me, but it never worked.

As I was selling for this day though, I got a call from either my sister or Nana to get out of the school. They were here to pick me up. At first I didn’t want to, but they told me my mom was dying, like actively dying at that moment and we had to go to the hospital or wherever her deathbed was to make sure she saw us. 

I just left my stand and told one of the friends I had to either take over or let people have that shit for free today. I didn’t care and just left. Pretty sure I was the only one who didn’t make it to say bye to my mom, but I don’t know for sure because instead of following me, my brain stayed with the school.

The guy who harassed me made a huge stink about me leaving without warning and letting people basically steal from me. Not about the people stealing, but about me leaving and allowing it to happen. He was trying to get me to be punished or something. No one knew why I just left, some thought I had a mental breakdown or something, and I didn’t tell anyone what happened when I got back. Instead I just went back to normal like nothing happened. Didn’t even tell the teacher.

I think his harassment started to get worse to the point it was actually starting to affect me. He mainly kept bringing up the fact that I was unreliable and would just leave if things got too tough. I ended up just bluntly telling him my mom died that day. I think my uncle was also dying at that point and told this guy that as well. Pretty sure he didn’t believe me at first, I didn’t care so I didn’t show him proof, but soon he realized I was telling the truth along with everyone else and he became basically hated for harassing someone who just lost their mother (even if I wasn’t actively showing my grief).

I don’t know what happened after this, but my dream kinda went to me being Raven from Teen Titans, but not entirely her. Like I had her powers and personality, and friends with some of the powers and personalities of the rest of the Teen Titans, but we weren’t them as characters. 

Anyway, at this point, for some reason, it was a timeskip to us being adults and me and my friends were on the moon eating a buffet. I have no idea why this was, but all I remember was I was so happy and enammored by the fact each orange had a little air bubble around it to keep them fresh and I thought it was fucking adorable. 

Pretty sure we ate or something and then went back to earth because someone was stealing shit. We weren’t like total superheros, but we did stop people from stealing or murdering. It was all just humans and no real powers kind of situation. I had a bit of Raven’s powers but nothing monumental. 

Anyway, as we were chasing these 2 people stealing shit, I ended up chasing them all the way to their hideout. Which was a shitty restaurant. It turned out that the guy stealing was the guy who harassed me in school, with his wife. Don’t know if I knew her or not beforehand because I was focused on the guy.

Turns out he was stealing food to use in his restaurant to try and stay afloat because his business was sucking really bad. The food was decent, sometimes good, but the restaurant was so fucking bad that it just couldn’t attract any customers.

My dream from here on out turned into a Kitchen Nightmare type situation where I am trying to help this guy make his restaurant better. He was confused on why I was helping after all the shit I did to him and I said I didn’t care about all that and just wanted to help.

This guy didn’t even have a fucking sign on his restaurant. He had a shitty one at the start of the driveway which was between two other businesses, so if people came into the drive looking for the restaurant they wouldn’t be able to find it because there was no sign telling them this random building is an eatery.

He also had a huge menu that was all over the place and had no theme. The back area where you could eat outside was an overrun garden with a broken water wheel on the ground. It was like a western theme but also had si-fi elements or whatever. It was not a well put together place at all.

However, with the western theme, there was also a little booth you could make your own license plate, like make it say whatever you want as a gag gift, not an official thing. I decided to run with the western theme and to promote that license plate maker as the thing that gets people into the restaurant. Told him to fix the water wheel and use it for power since he was by a stream for some reason. Got him to change his menu and throw out all the shitty meat that had gone bad. Even found out his wife and him were dipping into the red because of how much they smoked. Which honestly wasn’t the worst thing, they just had to be honest when they took money out to buy cigarettes. 

Pretty much at this point I was waking up from my dream so I took control of it and just kept replaying the dream from the moon part onwards until I got bored and changed it into something entirely different. Not sharing that because it’s pretty boring since I was also basically awake from this point on.

[animeboye]

New Dragon’s World Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Eig'nia, Second-in-Command Time had passed and still Titus remained in the exact same spot, not moving an inch, just staring into the sky. His friends and family watched him, curious as to what he was thinking about. Ben walked up to Titus and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Look, Titus…I know how you feel. It hurts. It hurts terribly. But we need to keep going, man. Your mom and dad, and Lucas and his boys are all waiting for us. C'mon." Ben said. "Yeah…" Titus agreed as he rubbed his eyes. Ben walked Titus back to his car and opened the door for him. Titus sat down, grabbed the steering wheel, and plopped his head on it. "Titus…How about I drive?" Asked Sarah. Without saying a word, Titus removed himself from the driver's seat and walked around to the back of his car and opened the back door on the right side. Everyone else piled into the car soon after. As they made their way to Baker Valley, almost everything was dead silent. All but the sound of the car engine and the tires on the dusty road.  Eventually they had come to the desert.  Titus leaned against the car door. He dully watched the mountains, cactuses, and rocky terrain pass by as he shifted around in his seat and folded his arms. His face was pressed against the window, and he sighed to himself. Jessie placed a hand on Titus' shoulder. "Titus?" She asked.

Titus mumbled incoherently. "Titus, please listen to me. I know how bad you're hurting. It's never easy to lose somebody close to you. But you can't let Theian's death be what defeats you." Said Jessie. "Aunt Jessie's right, Dad!" Drake said, beaming. "You're stronger than this, I know it! You're the strongest dragon ever! And I know you can beat Saulstrance no problem!"   Titus unfolded his arms and looked at his family. They all looked back at him with warm smiles. Smiles that showed love and understanding. Sarah pulled the car over and turned around in her seat so that she was facing her husband. "Uncle Titus, remember when Grandma and Grandpa died? Back then I didn't even really know what that meant.  When I was a little older, dad explained what had happened and what dying really meant. And I just cried. I didn't know what else to do."  Said Kyle as he looked into his uncle's eyes. Kyle rubbed his left eye. "I can't even remember what my grandparents looked like. But I do remember that the one who helped me the most when I was grieving was you, Uncle Titus. I looked up to you as a kid, and I still look up to you.  You've helped me so much and now I want to be able to help you." Titus shut his eyes as he smiled and nodded.  Where would he ever find friends and family like them? He placed his left palm over his eyes whilst still smiling. Under his hand, his eyes started tearing. With his palm still obscuring his eyes, he tried to wipe the tears away. Everyone else had no idea what he was doing but it looked sort of funny to them. "Thanks guys." He said as he took his hand off his face. "Are you feeling a little better, Titus?" Asked Sarah. "It still really hurts. But I'll be okay." Titus assured everyone. Sarah smiled. "That's good. So should we get going?" "Yeah. Let's go get Luke." Sarah licked her lips and gripped the steering wheel. With a gleam in her eye, and no other cars on the road, she pushed down on the gas as the car zoomed off to their destination. Everybody grabbed onto the car seats and screamed for dear life. Kyle, Drake, and Crystal tried to tighten their seat belts as they prayed that they make it to the next town. "Sarah, stop!! For the love of God, please slow down!!" Titus exclaimed. Sarah slammed on the brakes and the car came to a screeching halt, kicking up dust and pebbles. Sarah turned around in her seat to see everybody panting, wide eyed and clutching their chests as they took in deep breaths. "Please…Sarah…Drive slower." Ben said with terror in his voice. "Yes…please…" Rick said trembling. "We have to get to Baker Valley as quickly as possible, don't we? I mean what if Saulstrance got to Luke and the kids? What if he killed Titus' parents and destroyed the town?" "Gee, thanks for that, Sarah!" Titus said sarcastically. "What?" She asked. "Can we just get going?" Titus asked just as Sarah placed her foot on the pedal. "And no more speed demon stunts! I don't wanna be a pancaked dragon when I fight Saulstrance." "Alright, guys, I promise." Sarah said as she started the car once more. As the car continued on its way, Drake was still wide eyed. "Your mom can be really scary sometimes." Crystal said to Drake. "She can be a lot than a lot scarier than this. I know." Drake replied. "What was that, Drake?" Sarah asked, batting an eye to her rear-view mirror. "N-nothing, mom! I was just telling Crystal how nice you are!" Drake said as a bead of sweat trickled down his neck. "Oh, that's what I thought." Sarah said, smiling. "See?" Drake whispered to Crystal. Crystal nodded. Time passed and eventually, the car had pulled up to the entrance of a small town.  The sign read "Baker Valley, pop. 556." They had finally made it. Sarah parked the car as Titus stepped out, advising everyone else to stay in while he looked around. Titus slipped his hands into his pants pockets and looked around. Things were awfully quiet, even for a town with such a small population. There were no traces of life to be found anywhere and no sign of Lucas or the others. Were they too late? Had Saulstrance already seized the town's population? "Fwoo!!" A dusty wind blew past Titus. He shielded his eyes with his arm so as not to get dust in them.  He continued to look around while still slightly covering his eyes.  However the dust storm made it hard for him to look around. He waited for it to die down and once it did, he continued his search. Just then he heard footsteps behind him. He swung around, ready to attack. However… "Gee, it doesn't seem like anyone's here, dad." "Drake! What are you doing?!" Titus thundered. "Well…I just wanted to help you look for everyone, that's all." Drake said meekly. Titus placed his hands on his son's shoulders and looked him square in the eyes. "Drake." He said. "I don't need help looking around. What I need you to do is look after everyone and make sure they're okay. These are really dangerous people we're dealing with, Drake." "I know, dad…I'm sorry."  Said Drake. Titus patted Drake's shoulder and smiled. "It's okay, buddy.  Come on, let's get back to the car." They drove around for some time, looking all throughout the town, hoping to see at least one person. They checked through all of the small town's buildings, from the small convenience store at the entrance to the town, to the schools, even to the bars. Not a single individual was to be found anywhere. Their search eventually brought them to the town medical center that was perched atop a small hill. They made their way inside and proceeded to search every inch of the medical center. They searched the front desk, the many rooms, even downstairs, believing somebody to be hiding in the basement. As before, no one was to be found. As they left the center, Jackie stopped at the entrance. "What's up, Jackie?" Asked Kyle. "Well, I've been thinking: Doesn't this town seem a little strange?" She asked. "Well of course it's strange!" Kyle replied. "We're the only people here!" "No, not like that! What I mean is…well just look around. Notice the buildings? " Jackie asked. Everyone carefully observed the buildings, not understanding what it was they were supposed to be looking for. "See anything unusual?" Jackie asked again. Everyone took another look at the buildings. At that moment, it clicked. "Now that you mention it, Jackie, those buildings are just fine!" Titus exclaimed. "Yeah. The other town that Saulstrance and his goons hit was completely ransacked." Jackie explained. "As was the mall back home." Kyle added. "Exactly! But these buildings are just fine. We haven't seen a single demolished building in this town yet." "Well then Uncle Lucas and the others must have got here before Saulstrance!" Drake said with utmost optimism in his voice. "That's definitely a possibility. But if that is the case, then where are they?" Rick asked. Kyle frowned. "Wait, wait, hang on guys. How do we even know that they did get here in time?" "What do you mean?" Titus asked as he leaned against his car. "Well, it's just like Rick said: If Uncle Lucas, his boys and Uncle Titus' parents did get here before Saulstrance, then why haven't we seen him? Could something have happened to him?" "Kyle." Jackie tried to interrupt. "I think one of two things could have happened: 1) They were successful in getting here before Saulstrance and evacuated with the people of this town…" "Kyle…" Jackie tried to interrupt in a slightly louder and sterner tone. "…Or 2) They were captured along with everyone in the town. And the reason the town wasn't destroyed was because the people gave up like a bunch of Fre- -" "KYLE!!!" Jackie shouted. "What?!" He shouted back. Fuming at her brother, Jackie pointed to their uncle, who slammed his fist on the car window as he held his head in his other hand while pressing it against the window. Jackie grabbed her brother by his shirt sleeve and pulled him closer so to whisper in his ear. "Good going, Kyle." Kyle looked back at his uncle again. His hand was still covering up one side of his face. Everyone went to Titus' side to try and cheer him up, assuring him that Lucas, Sean, Tim, and his parents were just fine and waiting for them. "Oh, man, I- - Hey, Uncle Titus!" Kyle called out in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry, I was just kidding! I'm certain they're all okay! No, I mean, I know they're all okay! I know they weren't taken by Saulstra- -Oh, God." Kyle clumsily said. "Kyle, just shut up before you end up saying something that you, or us will end up regretting." Jackie commanded with irritation in her voice. Titus sighed and brushed his hair back. "Well, standing around and talking about whether they're okay or not isn't going to solve anything. So, what's say we keep looking around?" "I have an idea." Ben chimed in. "What if we check the police station?" "Hey yeah, that's a good idea! There's gotta be some policemen left in this town!" Titus exclaimed. "And Luke and the others might be there too." Added Sarah. Everybody huddled into Titus' car and drove around the town in an attempt to find a police station.  As they drove around the town some more, they observed the passing buildings. Each one of them was just fine! There was not a single destroyed building to be found.  Everywhere they turned, all the buildings remained intact. After a few minutes, they came to a small building that resembled a reddish-brown country house. In front of this building read a sign that said, "Sheriff's Office". Everyone stepped out of the car and walked to the police station. Titus walked up to the front doors and peered inside. While the lights were on, it appeared as though no one was here either. Maybe Kyle was right, Titus thought, much to his chagrin. Maybe they were too late. Titus walked from the police station and headed over to his car. But just as he opened the door, he looked ahead and saw a car that looked just like Lucas'. Believing it to be Lucas, Titus slammed the door shut and ran towards the car. Everyone followed behind him. As he got a little closer, it was still hard for him to tell, but it looked as though everyone was seated in the car. The person he made out to be Lucas was clutching the steering wheel. "Lucas! Mom, Dad! Sean! Tim!" Titus called out, hoping to get their attention. As Titus neared closer to the car, a wave of fire shot out from seemingly nowhere, completely enveloping the car which also caused it to explode. Parts of the car flew into the sky as the charred license plate landed right Titus' feet. Titus fell to his knees and starred in disbelief. "No! Sean! Tim!!" Drake exclaimed. Drake and Crystal ran towards the burning car. Ben and Kyle grabbed the kids and tried to restrain them. "No, my friend is in there, let me GO!!" Drake shouted with tears in his eyes as he struggled to get free of his cousin's hold. "Sean!!" Crystal shouted, also struggling to get free. Titus clenched his fist and jolted up. He gritted his teeth as a fierce expression appeared on his face. He looked into the sky, hoping to find the source of that fire. In the sky he saw another dragon. It was one of Saulstrance's men! "Get back to the car!" Titus commanded. Everyone scrambled back to the car, except for Drake and Titus who watched as the dragon began to make its descent.  The dragon made its landing, standing between Titus and Drake, and the burning car. This dragon had dark silvery scales, two fierce, razor sharp fangs hanging out of both sides of her mouth, and the leather in her wings were a beautiful, dark ocean blue which greatly complimented her scales. "Eig'nia!!" Drake exclaimed. Sarah tried to start the ignition. After a few tries, the car finally started up. She stepped on the gas as the car sped forward. Titus and Drake jumped out of the way as Eig'nia's wings quickly unfolded and she took to the sky. They watched as the car made for the exit of the town. Both Titus and Drake turned into their respective forms and took to the sky as well. Just as Eig'nia prepared to give chase, Titus flew right at her as headbutted her in the side which caused both of them to fall from the sky and plummet back to earth. With a loud thud, the two dragons landed on the ground. Drake swooped down and landed next to his father, who had just gotten back on his feet. Likewise, Eig'nia effortlessly got back on her own feet and watched the father and son duo. Titus glared at Eig'nia with contempt in his eyes. His front legs began to shake with anger and he clenched his left paw into a fist. It shook violently as he bit his lip. He unclenched his fist and took a deep breath. "Drake…" Titus said. "go catch up with everyone. Leave Eig'nia to me." "But dad!!" "Don't argue with me, Drake…I am NOT in the mood." Drake looked into his father's eyes and froze up. He knew what his dad was like when he was angry but he never saw him like this. At that point, his father had the most ferocious eyes he had ever seen.  Eyes full of scorn and rage. "GO!!!!" Titus roared. "What are you waiting for?!?!" "Ye-yes s-s-sir!!" Drake said in a stutter. Drake took to the sky and flew off in the direction of the car. Just as Eig'nia opened her wings and was about to give chase just like before, Titus rushed her, headbutting her once more and knocking her off her feet.  Titus watched as his son disappeared into the distance and sighed a sigh of relief. He turned his attention to Eig'nia, who had again gotten back on her feet.  Titus began to hyperventilate. He let out a fierce, ear-piercing roar as he swung his mighty tail at Eig'nia. Eig'nia took to the sky, just barely dodging Titus' tail. Titus launched himself into the sky and flew above Eig'nia. He flew so high that soon the sun had obstructed his form. Eig'nia gazed into the sun but its piercing rays quickly bothered her retinas, forcing Eig'nia to squint her eyes shut. She opened one eye ever so slightly and looked back up. Somehow, the sun was getting bigger and bigger by the second. She soon realized that it wasn't the sun that was coming at her. It was a large ball of fire! Eig'nia quickly flapped her wings and flew a little to the right. She watched as the fireball passed her by and collided with the ground, starting a fire which in turn lit two trees.  She turned her attention to the sky again to see more fireballs raining from the sky. She flew every which way she could, doing her best to try and maneuver through the vicious barrage of fireballs. One eventually managed to hit Eig'nia's tail which in turn started to slow her down. Soon after she was being pelted by fireballs. She started to lose altitude until the fireball onslaught inevitably stopped.  She descended to the ground and tried to catch her breath. As she got air to her lungs, she looked into the sky to see Titus also making a descent. Titus landed on the ground. He was breathing heavily, worn out from the fireball assault. "Doulstraz, what are you doing?! Are you trying this whole town ablaze?!" Eig'nia asked in a surprisingly shocked tone. Titus panted. "What do you care?! You and your friends are looking to destroy this world anyway!!" Titus lowered his head so that his horns were pointed right at Eig'nia. Like a raging bull, Titus charged at her at full speed. Eig'nia lowered her head as well. The two dragons' heads collided with one another, momentarily stunning both of them. As soon as they came to, they struggled to overpower the other, their horns scrapping against the others' horns. Soon Eig'nia overpowered Titus, lifting him into the sky, and sending him flying into the Sheriff's office. The entire building fell on Titus, completely covering him from head to toe. "So, I guess that's that." Eig'nia sighed. "That's a real shame. And here I thought you'd be the key to taking Saulstrance down…" She said in an oddly disappointed voice. Her wings unfolded into the afternoon air and she took to flight. As she had gotten airbourne, she was unable to notice, but Titus shot out from amongst the rubble. He launched himself into the sky as he flew above Eig'nia, curled up into a ball, and just as soon as he was directly above her, kicked her in the back of the head with his hind leg. Not knowing what hit her, she fell out of the sky and landed right in the road, leaving a decent sized crater where she had landed. Titus swooped down at superfast speeds with full intent on finishing Eig'nia off and avenging his fallen friends and his parents. He watched as Eig'nia struggled to get back on her feet. A wave of fire launched from her throat. Titus tried to fly away from it as it barely missed his tail. Thinking up a quick idea, Titus flew about ten feet higher into the sky. He noticed that the flame was unable to get him at this height. He waited until Eig'nia tired herself out. The flame soon died down, and just like with Titus, Eig'nia panted and wheezed, trying her hardest to breathe. Her vision went blurry for a little bit, so she shook her head and soon after, her vision started to return. She looked up and saw Titus spiraling down. She tried to get out of the way, but her body was too worn out. She only managed to move a few inches before Titus collided into her, sending her flying into a house. Part of the house came down, covering all but Eig'nia's head, left paw, and tail. Tired, beat, and his strength nearly gone, Titus walked out the hole that had been left from where Eig'nia had landed and made his way over to where the defeated dragon lay covered in the destroyed remnants of the house. She got back to her feet, shaking the rubble and debris off of her. Weakly, she walked over to Titus, breathing heavily. Soon, her body was unable to take anymore, and she fell to the ground, the last ounce of her strength gone. With so little strength left in his own body, Titus sat down and stared at the dragoness. Eig'nia stared back at Titus. "Even if I'm the one laying on the ground like a defeated dog, that doesn't mean that you won." She said. "Geez, talk about a sore loser." Said Titus, glaring at Eig'nia. Eig'nia sighed in annoyance. "No, that's not what I meant. You let yourself be too easily swayed by your emotions. Doulstraz, you need to learn to control your emotions. Otherwise, you WILL lose to Saulstrance. If you go in fighting him, roaring like a crazy dragon and flames spurting all around, then you've already lost." "I…I don't get it." Titus said, confused but a little calmer. "Why are you telling me this? I mean, you're the enemy. You're supposed to want to see me lose. But now it seems like you're trying to help me. Why?" Eig'nia's lips started to quiver. She squinted her eyes as she tried to fight back tears. Titus couldn't believe what he was seeing. He could have sworn that this was the first time he ever saw any emotion from her. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Eig'nia started to cry. "Saulstrance…he's been my friend since we were hatchlings." She said tearfully. "Doulstraz… Would you believe me if I said…" She sniffled. "that Saulstrance used to be kind?" Titus shook his head. "I'm sorry. But even if he was kind at one point, that doesn't change what he did. He's killed innocent people who did nothing to him. He's destroyed families, killed baby dragons for their blood, and he killed somebody very close to me! Even if he was kind, like you said, I still can't forgive him." Eig'nia lay on the ground quietly for a few seconds. Then finally spoke. "I don't expect you to forgive him for his sins. And I don't expect you to forgive me either. I don't deserve forgiveness for what I've done. But… will you at least listen to what I have to say?" She asked. Titus shut his eyes and was silent for a short time. He pondered over whether or not he should listen to what she had to say. And even if he had decided to listen to her, what good what it do? It wouldn't bring Lucas back. Or Sean, or Tim, or his parents. Finally, he opened his eyes…and gave his answer. "No." He said coldly. "After you killed my friends and my parents, you just expect me to just sit down and say 'Sure, Eig'nia, I'll gladly listen to what you have to say'?! NO! Nuh-uh! If you expect me to listen to you, then give me back my friends!!" He roared. Eig'nia's eyes started to tear up again. "I'm sorry, Doulstraz…I really am…" "Well, I'm sorry too, I really am, but I need to get going.  The friends and family that you didn't kill are waiting for me." Eig'nia shut her eyes and sighed heavily. "Well if you really want to protect them…then why don't you just kill me?" "What?" Asked Titus. "Go ahead and do it. I don't care anymore. I don't have anything left for me." As angry as he was, and as badly as he wanted to make her pay, something was restraining Titus from finishing her. He didn't know what it was, or why he was holding back, but something was telling him not to do it. Unable to bring himself to kill her, he allowed Eig'nia to tell him what she wanted to say. "Long ago, when we were just children, we had another friend. He was slightly older than both Saulstrance and I and we saw him as our older brother. Our friend had a dream: He wanted to create a world where humans, dragons and half-dragons would all be able to live together peacefully." Eig'nia explained. "So, then what happened to this friend?" Asked Titus. "A horrible incident took place. And as a result of that incident…our friend ended up losing his life."  Said Eig'nia as tears streamed down her face. Titus took a moment to contemplate everything Eig'nia had told him. It was all too hard for him to believe. In his mind, Saulstrance was the epitome of evil: no remorse for his actions, relentless, and cruel. How could somebody like that have actually been good at one point? Titus just couldn't see that being possible. Eig'nia continued. "Saulstrance believes he's fulfilling our friend's dearest wish. His aspirations of turning this world into his kingdom are his own twisted perception of our friend's final wish. But this isn't what he wanted." "You didn't agree with what Saulstrance was doing?" Asked Titus, still perplexed. Eig'nia slowly raised her head and shook it. "But then why were you with him? I know he was your childhood friend and everything, but this isn't making any sense!".  Titus asked, now even more confused than before. Eig'nia shut her eyes and lowered her head to the ground. She took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly through her nostrils.  "Because I was going to kill Saulstrance myself…" She said mournfully. Titus' eyes widened in shock. His mouth dropped. He was absolutely speechless. He watched as Eig'nia continued to sob. Only this time, her sobs started to get louder. "I love Saulstrance!!" Eig'nia cried her heart out as tears tricked down her face. She felt a lump in her throat. "But I just…I just…I just can't stand seeing him like this anymore…" She said, her voice becoming more and more strained. "I wish I could have saved him!!" Titus watched as the dragoness continued to cry. Despite all the crimes that Eig'nia had committed, despite her killing his best friend and his parents, he may have had a hard admitting it to himself, but deep down, he truly felt bad for Eig'nia. He even felt a little ashamed of himself for yelling at her before. But he still couldn't forget what she had done to his parents, Lucas, Sean, and Tim. Titus didn't know what to do. What was he to say? What choice should he make? Should he let her live? Maybe killing her would be the only way to stop her pain. Weakly, Titus stood up and took ten slow steps from where he was sitting. His back legs tingled with slight pain as his front legs went a little numb. He winced in slight pain as he put pressure on both his front and his back legs. Just as he proceeded to unfold his wings, he looked back to see Eig'nia, who was still lying in the exact same spot, still crying. Titus sighed and called out to Eig'nia. "Eig'nia!" At that moment, Eig'nia's sobbing had ceased. She slowly turned her head around and looked at Titus, who stood before her with apologetic eyes. "Look…If you really want to save Saulstrance…then please…help us stop him!" Titus said. Eig'nia didn't say anything. She looked to the ground, unsure. Titus turned away. "It's your choice. But if you do decide to go back to Saulstrance…then I'll put an end to both of you myself. I won't let any more of my friends end up like Lucas." Titus said. Titus unfurled his wings. But just as he was about to take flight, Eig'nia called out his name. His wings folded back onto his back, and he turned around to see her holding her head up slightly. Eig'nia stared at him with sad, melancholic, and regretful eyes. "I'm sorry…" She said. Titus nodded. He turned around and once more, opened his wings. "Like I said before, if you really want to make up for it…then please help us stop Saulstrance." With nothing left to say to her, Titus flapped his wings. He began to ascend into the sky and set off to rejoin his friends, leaving Eig'nia to contemplate just what is was that she should do. Meanwhile, about ten miles outside Baker Valley, Titus' friends waited anxiously for his return. The car was parked on the left side of the road, and everyone stood around it. Ben, Jessie, and Rick kept watch in the direction of the town should Titus come back. Drake sat in the driver's seat with the door open while Crystal sat in the passenger's seat. The cool air from the air conditioner blasted on their faces as they sat motionless and silent, just staring out at the dirt road in front of them. The two children couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe that Sean and the others were really gone.  No one could.  Since leaving Baker Valley, no one had talked to one another. Crystal sighed and stepped out of the car. She made her way over to Sarah and called out to her. "Ms. Flamel?" She asked. "What's up, Crystal?" Sarah asked, in a motherly voice. "Sean's not really dead, right?" The little girl asked as she clutched at Sarah's shirt. Sarah frowned and looked away from Crystal for a second. "I'm sorry, Crystal…" She started to say before being interrupted. "IT'S NOT TRUE!!!" Drake shouted as he slammed the car door shut, his outburst startling everyone around him. "Sean's not dead! He's stronger than this! Right, Crystal? Remember? Before I found out I was a half-dragon, he always used to protect us from kids who tried to bully us!" Drake exclaimed as he rushed up to his mom and Crystal. "Yeah, he did!! He always stood up for me and Drake! And he always kicked those bullies' butts! That's gotta be proof that he's still alive!!" Crystal exclaimed as tears started to build up in her eyes. Sarah felt her heart begin to break. She clapped her hand over her eyes. She whimpered and bit her lip as she started to cry. She kneeled down and hugged Drake and Crystal tightly. "I'm sorry, kids…" She said tearfully. "I'm so sorry…" Tears started to stream down Drake's face. He placed his face on his mom's shoulder and cried, his arms wrapped around her. "He's not dead…" Drake whined.  "He's not…dead…" "What are you crying about?!" An angry voice called out. "You're a half-dragon, you're better than these humans! So why are you crying!?" Everyone looked up to see somebody hovering in the sky. The person made a quick descent and stood before the grieving friends and family. This person was a young boy, no older than 14 years. The boy had long light brown hair that covered his ears and dark brown pupiled and slitted eyes. His long, red tail whipped around behind him, its spikes growing all the way to where his tail attached to his body. Two crimson wings hung behind him, growing out of two large holes left in the back of his shirt, a white jersey with the number 14 on the front. "You're Alex." Drake said. "Who's that?" Crystal asked. "He's a half-dragon, like me. He was with Jake and the others the day the mall was destroyed." Drake explained. "Everyone, get back! He's with Saulstrance!" Shouted Drake. Everyone froze in place, carefully watching Alex. Alex batted an eye at each one of them and then turned his attention to Drake. Drake didn't know what he was supposed to do. With his father back in Baker Valley, and his grandparents deceased, he was the only one who could defend his family. But could he really protect them? This would be his first real fight by himself. Drake broke away from his mother and walked up to Alex. Everyone watched as Drake slowly walked up to his fellow half-dragon. His legs shook and his palms started to become sweaty. He rubbed all but his index fingertips against his palms, wiping away some of the sweat.  He stood before Alex, eyes filled with uncertainty but also with an understanding of what he had to do. He would have to fight Alex.

[deadendsave]

Todd Hodges’ Journal (1) (2023)

1: My morning was shit. I started cleaning up the bar like usual but then, just as I was about to finish up, the radio announced that LHV was just a fancy way of saying ‘rabies on steroids’ - The CDC had been keeping this all under wraps, of course. But some nosy hero went and leaked the information to the public. I wonder if he’s still alive.

2: Portland is now under mandatory evacuation. Great. Because nothing screams “safety” like cramming everyone into their cars and clogging up the roads, right? The panic alone will be enough to start a traffic jam, that’s not even taking into account all the who can barely drive under normal circumstances. What do you get when you combine a bunch of dumbass drivers with a horde of LHV freaks? A freeway feeding frenzy, that’s what.

3: Yup, I was right. Portland is burning, half of the city engulfed in flames. The roads are a mess, completely blocked off. It’s absolute chaos. And then there’s those LHV freaks - killing people left and right. The whole world has seemed to have lost its mind. Mass hysteria is spreading more than the virus, like it’s going to help anything. Everyone in Millhaven’s waiting for the storm to hit. I say bring it on.

4: Grocery stores are wiped clean, there’s no food to be found. The only gas station in town is completely tapped out, and the pharmacy shelves are as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. People are panic buying up everything in sight. The world ain’t gonna make it if this is how everyone handles disaster.

5: The power’s out all over town. I installed solar panels and bought a generator a while back, that’ll keep me going. But it’s not just the electricity - the cell towers are down too. I can’t get into contact with my brother or John. Rhett I’m not too worried about, but John…

6: Major cities everywhere are evacuating now, some have declared martial law. Now things in Millhaven are going to hell too. We’ve had a few deaths, including one of my regulars who got torn to pieces right in front of the bar. I can’t say I was too fond of the guy, but he tipped well. I got my shotgun and went to check on Margaret at the bookstore, her head had been clean ripped off. She was a good friend to me. May she rest in peace.

7: There’s a big military presence in Millhaven now. I don’t trust them. I’m packing everything up and heading to the farmhouse. Hopefully my truck doesn’t get spotted, these military pricks are having a major power trip and trying to force everyone to stay inside.

8: Those bastards got John and Maddie. Linda’s with me now at the bar, and she’s completely hysterical. I don’t know what to do to calm her down. We still have no idea where Zack is. I never thought I’d find myself in a situation like this. I’m not exactly the best at dealing with emotional breakdowns. Hell, I can barely deal with my own emotions, let alone somebody else’s. But I have to try. It was my best friend’s dying wish to save his wife. Dammit John, I’m gonna miss you.

9: Rhett and Virginia just got here. I’m so relieved, my niece is only 2. Rhett and I have been making sure the place is secure. I even baby-proofed the apartment. Toddlers are even more rabid than the freaks. Delilah’s got a biting problem just like them. Virginia’s been keeping Linda company. She’s a lot better at comforting her than I am.

10: My brother and I sneak out and go hunting during the day. The freaks are staying inside houses so they don’t catch on fire. Rhett made up a game for clearing them out, now we’re seeing who can get the most headshots. I think we’ve done a better job at killing them off than the incompetent soldiers the military sent here.

11: Rhett said they’re leaving with their friends in the morning. They’ve one been here a few weeks. He said they’re all gonna gather up and set up a camp. I don’t know why he wouldn’t just stay here, you know, where there’s power and food. But if that’s what he wants, fine. Forget him. He’s a dumbass, but Virginia… I thought she was smarter than that. Bringing a 2-year-old out in the wilderness during a deadly outbreak is just about the most senseless shit they could do.

12: My jackass of a brother stole my favorite shotgun and half of my shit as he was leaving. He’s not only has he put me and Linda at risk by taking my best weapons and supplies, he’s bringing an innocent child and his wife with him. Their safety was nearly guaranteed here, out there they could get killed in a hundred different ways. I hope they all make it to their dumbass camp for Virginia and Delilah’s sake. If he ever tries to come back here, I’m kicking his ass.

13: It’s been 7 months. No word from my brother. Linda and I have been teaching each other things. I’ve been showing her how to hunt and she’s been teaching me a lot about gardening. I enjoy her company. I thought she’d end up driving me crazy but the woman’s a badass. I underestimated her.

14: I’ve been in contact with other survivors, I’m not telling anyone where I’m staying though. I’m not an idiot. Nobody’s gonna loot my shit again. I’ve been keeping myself busy by reading medical documents from the emergency room. What I saw while I was acquiring them was not a pretty sight, but I got a lot of information. I also got my hands on the mayor’s papers. A lot of money laundering was going on, not that I’m surprised. Michael’s probably hiding away in some fancy bunker and laughing at all of us right now.

15: Millhaven is a ghost town. The military has almost been completely wiped out too, they were incompetent. It’s like Linda and I have got the whole town just to ourselves. A lot of good supplies are still out there. If things continue to go as smoothly as they are now, we’ll last a long time. I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.

Todd Hodges’ Journal (2) (2039)

1: The damn LHV freaks are migrating closer and closer, now they’re infesting the sewers. This place isn’t as secure as it used to be. I’ve seen a few of em out during the day, I don’t know how that’s even possible. They’re evolving, and the burnt up ones are stronger than the others. The DCEU’s back patrolling again, Pierre’s ancient ass is still calling the shots. We’ve got a “don’t poke the bear and the bear won’t poke you.” arrangement.

[chill-mcyt-art-reblogs]

2, 6, and 8? :0

2. it's christmas you whos

ah. This fic.

The fic that haunts my dreams and keeps me awake far into the night. My mortal shame. The fic that was supposed to be released last christmas but instead i imploded in on myself like a dying star.

It's your standard It's a Wonderful Life AU. Wilbur starts off as a happy kid with aspirations of being in a band and slowly I beat him down until the only solution left is local not-supposed-to-be-a-guardian-angel Phil who's doing this to get his wings back from his wife to take Wilbur on a fever dream where he gets to witness all of his loved ones in varying degrees of distress.

Something I really like doing for this fic is figuring out where the different people come in and how it all eventually ties together... and how, if Wilbur wasn't there, it would have just fallen apart.

Another favorite part is career farmer Techno who is *constantly* going to war with the local government but only because he can't just dismantle them once.

A short snippet:

There’s a man on the bridge.

It’s an old bridge. Re-done and upgraded a thousand times. New beams. New asphalt. New guardrails. Everything kept up just enough to be called safe, and yet still, in the town’s endeavors of saving the pennies and dimes from repairing the old instead of building the new, they preserved some of the romance of the thing.

In truth, it had been widened to accommodate two lanes, had proper sidewalks installed, along with street lamps. But it still looked out on the same beautiful river it had when it was first built. The forest on either side somehow having remained untouched by progress. The kind of place lovers walk at night. A place where people gaze out of their car windows to see the beauty as it passes too quickly by.

Not tonight though.

6. i was reading that one fic again

this one haunts me less but only because it has no seasonal theme that i missed and also the final chapter is almost done.

This is my fic, "That I Could Fear a Door" over on Ao3 (linked under the cut). And I got the idea reading Silverwing15's "Two Fusiliers" (also linked under the cut). Because we love Philza and Technoblade have an emotional reunion and also Phil's a little messed up.

It's been a fun little project. I hope to finish the final chapter soon. It's angsty, emotional conversations from here on out >:). Phil has not had a good time and between the decades and the brainwashing he's got no idea how to approach Techno. And it doesn't help that Techno's getting pushy and distressed himself.

Actually this fic was supposed to start, like, the day before where it actually starts because I was going to show Wilbur getting whipped for "inciting rebellious thoughts."

Which is exactly what he was doing, actually.

A short snippet:

A happier time. Sure it existed, but it’s gone, gone now. It’s over.

(there was laughter, and warmth, and good things. The burn of sweet whiskey on his tongue and the sound of a crackling fireplace)

(and someone else was there as well)

Someone else-

Technoblade-

Technoblade was there. He was always there.

And then he wasn’t. He wasn’t- wasn’t there.

Just a memory. Just a dream. The smallest figment of old comforts that still manage to haunt him at night. Slowly whittled away at by whips and chains and time, time, time-

He’s gone, it’s all gone.

8. “Lost Voice” Toast AU

basically i saw the distinct lack of ghost!tommy fics and decided that clearly Tubbo needed more torturing than what he's already gone through so I made Tommy accidentally down in Exile and Ghost Tommy, or Toast, wandering around outside L'manburg.

oh and also he just disappears one day because Dream revives him and no there is no explanation giving to Tubbo so I just leave him wondering for a while if Tommy melted because he wouldn't come inside or if he just... doesn't want to see him anymore.

I also considered maybe having post-prison death Toast show up but eh I think it will work better as a sad, short little fic where everyone's got that Big Sad

and I don't actually have a good snippet for this one so :|

[evil-ontheinside]

Why is writing Dustin literally the funniest thing? I don't know how it keeps happening but I wrote at least three different times from his pov and every time it has the best lines. Have some various snippets from my WIPs to prove my point:

"Why do you have to be so negative about this? You will not be the one in trouble should something go wrong, I will handle the consequences." He has his arms crossed in front of his chest and it might have been intimidating - especially with that dagger still in hand - but it's not because it's Michael. The Prince, sure, but also the person Dustin had seen sitting drenched in the fountain of the main plaza, looking like a wet cat and grumbling about it with the dignity of a small child. The cut-off curtains, draped over his shoulder like a makeshift cape, don’t command much respect either. ----

Dustin had been playing one of his favorite songs, approved of by all the important people at home, including the royal family. He knows it better than the back of his hand, could perform it in his sleep if he had to, had played it while being attacked by a ranger in the forest - yes Lucas, this story will be made into a song sooner or later, there is no escape. ----

Dustin knows nothing. Prince Michael, who? Wait, no, Dustin knows something. But nothing important. Yes, that sounds better. ----

“You won’t believe this.” Dustin almost chokes on his drink when he looks up and sees Hopper storm into the Byers’ kitchen. He did not just hear the chief of police Jim Hopper say You won’t believe this also known as the most stereotypical sitcom-drama sentence ever, right? “Try me,” is all Joyce answers, completely unphased, from the kitchen table where they all sit together and try to complete a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle. It’s going worse than he anticipated. At the same time Dustin triumphantly fits a piece into the right place, does he realize that this must be a normal occurrence. Jim Hopper, taken right out of the afternoon’s soap opera.  He’ll need some time to process this later. -----

If anyone asks why he decided to spend one of the last days of summer vacation with Max underneath a lonely tree in the middle of an open field? They’re studying, obviously. Or having a romantic getaway that lasted for a few hours and will never happen ever again. They had planned to make this an extended Party event but, as usual, life just won’t go according to Dustin’s plan. He had it all planned out: camping for a night in a - of course completely randomly selected, no doubt about it - field in town, a DnD campaign crafted by Eddie himself to celebrate the last days of summer and far away from prying eyes to not disturb anyone. But no, the Byers and Hoppers - soon to be only Hoppers, Dustin is more than just a little excited for that wedding. He also had that fully planned out years ago but his planning was, as usual, not appropriately appreciated - had to make an impromptu family trip to god knows where, Steve, Eddie, and Robin - this betrayal maybe left the deepest wound - had suddenly all decided to take a road trip without telling anyone else beforehand, and the Sinclairs had all been jammed into their family car and carted off to visit a dying relative somewhere in Indianapolis. This left Max and Dustin all alone in Hawkins. At least Max was always down for a little espionage to search for possible gossip. Though Max had almost ditched him when he complained - totally justified by the way - about everyone leaving them behind when they should’ve been here with them, lying in waiting for the newest information. -----

Dustin doesn’t care. The others can hide their interest for all they want but he’s here to gather information and he’s not ashamed of it. His observations might as well be for science. His curiosity doors are wide open, he can’t risk only looking through a crack if he wants the full picture. -----

What the fuck do they need an old wooden chest for? Why doesn’t Dustin have an old wooden chest? He could totally pull off an old wooden chest in his room.  Maybe, and Dustin thinks this with reluctance of the highest order, the rumors aren't as ridiculous and farfetched as they sounded at first. This family might not be quite normal. [...] A few more boxes join the wooden chest - and Dustin is still not over that. This thing looks like it was taken straight out of a medieval fantasy story. The cheek, the gall to show off their cool wooden chest in front of Dustin without considering his feelings - neatly stacked on top of it before he simply gets behind the wheel and takes off without giving them an answer as if he hadn’t even heard them.

[just-call-me-angel]

Clever Girl

Chapter 1 - Pumpkin Pie

|| This fic contains mature content! If you are below the age of 18 this is not for you! Further warnings will be added as needed! ||

Authors note: I have not written seriously in ages but I've been going absolutely insane thinking about Paul Dano and his recent role as the Riddler and one of my partners convinced me to get back into writing. Hope y'all enjoy because this is literally just me shamelessly fantasizing about the Riddler being obsessed with me. I'm going to try to update this regularly because I have little else to do in my free time but I make no promises! Please leave your thoughts in the comments! I'd love to know how I can improve my fic! My fic is also posted to ao3 if you would like to show your support there as well! -♡Angel♡

Ao3

Chapters: ||1||2||3||4||

Gotham was a rotten place. It always had been and it would likely always remain like that. It was just the way it was and the sooner everyone accepted that fact, the sooner everyone could go on with their shitty lives. You’ve lived in Gotham your whole life, you’d seen people die in the streets, hell you had very nearly been the one dying a few times and you’d been robbed at gunpoint more times than you could even count and at this point it was more concerning when something bad didn’t happen. It was a routine that you and nearly everyone in Gotham was used to and as much as you complained about it, it was still your home. And really where else could you go? When you were young you imagined a life far away from Gotham and all the shit and piss and blood that flooded the streets, but as you grew older you realized it was nothing more than a fantasy. Gotham had a hold on you for better or for worse.

So you stuck to what you knew. You continued the cycle your family had begun long before you were even an idea in their minds, trapping yourself in Gotham until the day you died. You graduated high school in Gotham and eventually went to college in Gotham. You had to drop out of course, the school wasn’t cheap and you couldn’t keep up with the loans. You reminded yourself that you had made a pretty good effort, no one else in your family had gotten as far as you had. So you moved on, got a job at some shitty dinner and managed to get an apartment nearby. It was a shitty side of town but really there wasn’t a side of Gotham that wasn’t shitty so you took what you could get even if you had to worry about an occasional break in here and there. Life continued and Gotham continued to rot and it didn’t really matter that you were likely to rot away with it.

And really Rosie’s Diner wasn’t all that bad, sure your boss rarely paid you what you were owed, the food tasted like cardboard, and people gave shit tips but you always met interesting people. Take for instance your coworker, Darcy. A 52 year old red haired woman who had lived in Gotham all her life, she had brought three children into this world and had already buried two of them. She didn’t talk about what happened much but from what you could gather they hadn’t died peacefully. She was fierce and loud and refused to take shit from anyone. You had watched her make grown men nearly piss themselves in fear more than a few times. And despite all the shit that Gotham had tossed her way she had a warmth about her that you hadn’t seen since you were a kid. She treated you and many of your other coworkers like you were her flesh and blood, and you supposed that in some fucked up way you were her flesh and blood, linked by the rot that Gotham had set in all of you. Then there was Ricky, a 25 year old social worker who came in every morning at 5 am for a cup of coffee and told you fanciful stories with a level of excitement you had only seen coming from a young child. You had once asked him why he became a social worker and as he looked up you suddenly realized how much older he looked. You could see the worry lines already forming across his forehead and the dark circles beneath his tired green eyes. Yet as he told you that he wasn’t ready to give up on the people of Gotham, he still managed to smile like a young man who still had hope for the world. And somehow it gave you a little hope as well. You made sure to give him an extra to go cup of coffee every time you saw him after that and he would laugh and tease you for worrying about him even though he would never deny the extra boost in energy.

But in the nearly 3 years you had spent working at Rosie’s you had never come across someone more interesting than one particular customer. You had met him first a few weeks back, he came in an hour before you were done with your shift. You had noticed almost immediately how odd he was as he sat at the counter hunched over a crossword puzzle and sipped occasionally at his coffee. His hair was sandy brown and made him look a bit like an awkward teenage boy and he was tall, though you noticed he often tried to make himself appear smaller. He wore large clear framed glasses that often slid down the bridge of his nose whenever he bent over his little puzzle book to focus. You wondered if his glasses even really helped him sometimes with how he seemed to squint and move closer to read things. He was odd but he was also rather intriguing and you for some unknown reason were determined to befriend him.

At first he only came in once or twice but eventually he became something of a regular and you became used to the chime of the little bell at the front ringing to indicate his arrival around 6:30am. For a while he would avoid your attempts at small talk. Even when you asked him if he needed a refill for his coffee he refused to meet your gaze as he would nod quickly and push his cup timidly towards you. Once you had accidentally brushed your hand against his while moving to pour fresh coffee into his mug and you watched in surprise as he stood up almost instantly, shoved a little pile of cash onto the counter and rushed out of the diner before you could say a word. He didn’t come in for a few days after that and when he finally returned he sat hunched over another crossword puzzle in his usual place at the counter. Despite not knowing him and having thus far failed at befriending him you had worried about him in his absence. Mostly you had spent your shifts casting anxious glances at the door wondering when or if he would return. You worried endlessly that you had done something to offend him and wanted desperately to apologize. It felt odd to try to apologize out loud, you doubted you could even get the words out without sounding like a complete idiot so instead you opted for a subtler gesture. You passed him his cup of coffee fresh from the pot and carefully placed a slice of pumpkin pie in front of him along with it. For a moment he didn’t even seem to notice you standing there but as he moved to grab his coffee his eyes landed on the pie you had offered to him in silent apology. Slowly he looked up at you clearly confused as his brows furrowed behind his glasses.

“Miss…I uh… I didn’t order the pie ” he spoke quietly, moving to push the pie back towards you only for you to shake your head and place it right back in front of him.

“No no, It's um… it's in the house.” you paused, biting the inside of your cheek and fidgeting with the hem of your apron for a moment, “I wanted to apologize for making you uncomfortable the other day.” He stares at you for what feels like hours and you can already feel heat rising to your cheeks with him studying you like this. Finally he looks down at the pie and starts to pick up the fork, taking a small piece into his mouth with a little hum of approval.

Just as you were about to turn around and hide in the kitchen you heard him mumble something you couldn’t quite understand making you tilt your head at him with a quiet “hmm?”

“I asked if you like Riddles” he repeated carefully before taking another bite of the pie you had offered him. You stared at him for a moment rather perplexed by the odd question. Still you gave him an honest answer.

“I’m not very good at them to be honest but I like the way they make you think.” you offer politely, pleased that your apology pie had gotten him to actually speak to you, even if the conversation was a little strange.

He seemed to approve of your answer, a little smile spreading over his lips when he looked up at you again. “I'm sure that’s not true, you seem like a smart girl” You could feel his eyes wandering over you and normally it would have made you feel a little sick but the little bit of praise he had offered had you far too giddy to really care.

“Would you like to try to solve a riddle?” he asks, a little spark of childlike mischief in his green eyes. You nodded before you even fully registered the question, too thrilled at the chance to actually speak to this intriguing man. He seemed equally as excited and barely flinched when you moved closer to him as even he moved to lean in ever so slightly as if preparing to tell you a secret.

“What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks?” His words are said carefully and he sounds more confident than he ever has in the brief times you had heard his voice. Your brows furrowed immediately in frustration and he seemed amused by your reaction laughing softly, “Don’t take it too literally, that's how you get lost in a riddle.” he offered in encouragement.

He let you think on the riddle for a while, quietly eating his pie and sipping his coffee. Once or twice he would glance down at his puzzle book and carefully fill in an answer but he seemed intent on watching you struggle with the riddle. You wanted desperately to answer correctly but mostly you wanted him to smile at you again. Maybe he’d praise you again for your cleverness if you guessed correctly.

What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? You repeat the question over and over in your mind until you're sure even he can hear it echo against your skull. You lean over the counter with a heavy sigh as your eyes wander around the diner. You can see him watching you out of the corner of your eye and it makes you fidget a bit, biting at the inside of your cheek again, repeating the riddle like a mantra in your thoughts, What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks? Your gaze falls upon the sky breaking out from black to shades of orange and you can’t help but smile at the sight. Dawn was the only time Gotham’s skies weren’t completely gray and it was part of the reason you enjoyed the graveyard shift so much. Your brain froze for a moment as you stared out the windows and suddenly it was like a wildfire lit up in your brain as the dots connected and you pushed off of the counter quickly turning to face the man again.

“Dusk and dawn” you stated proudly, hands on your hips and a big grin on your face. He looked up from his puzzle book with a blank expression that slowly spread into a smile as he began quietly clapping his hands as if to applaud you.

“See I knew you were a clever girl.” You could feel your cheeks burning once more at his praise and you couldn’t help the nervous laughter that bubbled from your throat as he stared at you with open interest. You stared at him for what seemed like ages, blissfully unaware of your surroundings until he shifted and began to gather his things, carefully pulling out money to pay for his coffee and suddenly you realize it's nearly the end of your shift and you have to stop yourself from pouting like a child. He sets the money on the counter turning to leave and you fight the urge to stop him and ask for another riddle if only to prolong the interaction. As if hearing your silent prayer, he stopped near the door and you watched as he seemed to have an internal struggle of his own before finally he called back to you.

“What belongs to me yet everyone else uses more than me?” he asks with a shy smile and you tilt your head curiously until you realize it’s another riddle and you perk up instantly. “If you can solve it by tomorrow I’ll give you my name.” he promises and you can’t stop the smile from spreading over your face as you nod excitedly and he smiles back, a little hum of approval as he turns to open the door.

“I’ll see you later Clever girl” He promises with a little wave as he steps out the door and you wave back, beaming as you bounce a little on your heels. You stand there for a while, just staring at the door with a little smile still tugging at your lips. You’re sure you look rather strange standing there with a dumb smile on your face but you can’t bring yourself to care. Not when you have a riddle to solve and the promise of this intriguing man's name.

You go home cheeks still burning from the excitement of your morning. You hadn’t felt this giddy in years and for the first time in a long time you were actually excited to go to work the next day if only to see your strange new friend with his love for pumpkin pie and his little riddles. You wanted desperately to get to know him, to hear him call you a clever girl just once more. You were determined to solve his riddles and in turn solve the mystery of the man himself.

You spent the day thinking about the riddle, repeating it to yourself even as you showered and got ready for bed. The answer didn’t come to you until you were finally beginning to drift off to sleep and a little smile crept onto your face as you whispered the answer softly to yourself.

“Your name”

You fell asleep imagining how pleased he would be to hear you had solved his riddle, his quiet voice echoing through your mind, as you drifted to sleep dreaming of pumpkin pie and crossword puzzles stained with coffee rings.

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

Edward's POV

Edward was beyond distracted for the rest of the day, endless strings of information barely even registering in his mind as he worked mindlessly, thoughts stuck on the pretty waitress at the local diner. His head felt fuzzy just thinking about how soft her skin had been against his and how thrilled she had seemed to talk to him. He had never in his life interacted with a woman for as long as he did you and it was absolutely terrifying. A part of him wanted to forget about the whole thing and completely avoid the diner for the rest of his life so as to never risk embarrassing himself in front of her. But another part of him, a more desperate and hopeless part of him yearned to see her again. He wanted to make her smile again. He wanted to see her brows furrow and lips form into a pout as she thought hard about a riddle. He wanted to make her cheeks grow red with embarrassment again like they had when he praised her cleverness. He hadn’t even meant to say it out loud but when her face lit up bright red and she laughed nervously he was glad for his inability to keep his mouth shut.

He wondered if she had solved the riddle yet. He was sure she would have by now, she was clever, he hadn’t lied about that and he never was one to give praise unless it was well deserved. Despite his avoidance when it came to talking to her, he had spent much of his time in that little diner watching her from afar when he thought she wasn’t looking. She was annoyingly distracting and at first Edward had hated her for it. After a while the annoyance turned to curiosity as he watched her interact with her coworkers and customers. She was quiet and sweet but unafraid to give people a piece of her mind. He had seen her talk excitedly with a coworker and then slap a man across the face for trying to grope her through her uniform all in the same breath. (He very nearly had to rush to the bathroom to jerk himself off after watching her scold a man twice her size, pathetically he imagined that it was him she was calling names and insulting). She was thrilling and new and Edward wanted to ruin her and be ruined by her, he wasn’t even sure which he wanted more at this point. It didn’t matter, he just wanted to have her, the rest of Gotham could burn for all he cared (and it would if he had anything to say about it).

Work felt like it had gone on for an eternity before he was finally able to go back to his apartment and Edward knew he would be kicking himself the next day for not getting more work done. Realistically he could have brought some work home with him to finish but it was likely he still wouldn’t be able to focus. She had only said a few words to him and yet she was quickly becoming all he could think about.

Edward had always been what many would call obsessive, he would get stuck on something and it wouldn’t stop bothering him until he figured it out, it’s why he loved puzzles so much. They were something he could spend hours figuring out and it absolutely thrilled him. So he reasoned that all he needed to do was solve the mystery of his clever girl and then he could move on with his life and all his plans for Gotham. It was an easy task and he would eventually grow bored with her as he usually did on the rare occasions when he did express interest in a person. He would probably learn something that would make him hate her and then he could wipe her from his life without a second glance. That's how life was, he had learned long ago not to hold out hope for people to actually understand him or god forbid care about him. But he could have fun with you while it lasted at least. The hurt never lasted long when people eventually showed their true colors and in the end he could always use that pain to drive his desire to see Gotham washed clean of all its sin.

How things ended with her in the future really didn’t matter right now though, not when he could still feel the ache of his cock against his pants. Was he really so desperate for attention that he was already hard at the mere thought of some pretty waitress he didn’t even know the name of. He should have paid attention to her name tag or listened when her coworkers talked to her, maybe then he would know what her name sounded like falling from his lips as he tugged his pants down his thighs and fell backwards into his shitty mattress. He closed his eyes imagining her pretty pink lips puffed out in a pout, a breathless whine already escaping him as his hand brushed over his leaking cock. He wondered what she would sound like moaning his name and how she would look creaming on his cock. His thoughts wandered and his hips moved with reckless abandon when he imagined her knelt before him, taking his cock down her throat like she needed it to survive. Fuck, he needed to slow down, savor this before he dove over the ledge.

Edward gave the base of dick a firm squeeze, biting his lower lip in frustration as he forced himself to calm down. Slowly he worked himself back up, mind already conjuring up images of her pretty face wet with tears as she choked on his cock. She’d love it, he thought, thrusting up into his hand with a hiss. She’d milk him for all he had to offer and she’d love every fucking second of it, he decided with a choked gasp. He imagined her writhing above him, tight cunt squeezing his cock as she let him grope her. He wondered what her tits looked like, he didn’t care how big or how small they really were, he just wanted to feel them in his hands, taste them on his tongue and see them decorated with little purple bruises. “I wanna make you feel good.”, he imagined her saying and it had him fisting his sheets with his free hand. He wondered if she would take control, he liked to think she would, he liked to picture her riding his cock and making him promise not to cum until she gave him permission. It would be hard, he’d whine and beg her while she rode him like her life depended on it and he wouldn’t even try to stop her until finally, blessedly she would lean over and whisper into his ear asking him, begging him, commanding him to cum for her. He bucked wildly into his hand before he could even stop himself. With a cry he arched off of the mattress as he came into his own hand as if you really had been there finally allowing him the release he so desperately craved.

Edward laid there on his bed, legs trembling and breaths coming out shaky and raspy and didn’t move to clean himself off until he felt too sticky and gross to lay still. He imagined if she was really there she would guide him to the shower with a gentle hand and sweet coos of praise. He got up quickly, nearly tripping with his first step, forgetting his pants and boxers were still hooked around his ankles. With a grumble he kicked them off, not caring where they landed at this point, it wasn’t like it mattered, no one ever came to his apartment so he had no reason to worry about a little mess. Slowly he shuffled to the bathroom, wincing when he turned on the light to look briefly in the mirror. His cheeks were red, and his hair was wet with sweat and sticking to his forehead. His glasses were resting at an odd angle, the lenses a little fogged up and his eyes looked a bit sad behind them.

Pathetic. Fucking pathetic, he thought as he rifled through his laundry basket and tossed a shirt over the mirror with a heavy sigh before he stepped into the shower. The water was freezing and he only stayed in long enough to let the water wash away the cum sticking to his stomach and thighs. He exited the shower quickly, barely bothering to towel off before he tossed on a pair of boxers and a shirt he assumed was clean enough and all but threw himself back into bed, curling up under his thin sheets and shivering when they failed to provide enough warmth. He imagined for a moment that she was there sleeping next to him, keeping him warm in his shitty apartment and it soothed the chill in his bones enough that eventually he fell asleep, dreaming for the first time of something other than the memories that usually plagued him. Instead he dreamt of his clever girl and the thrilling new mystery that she provided him with.

[tinyyoungblood]

hi!! adore your work love. could you maybe do smth where stark!reader has to get her wisdom teeth out but HATES the dentist so she brings her boyf peter and her dad w her?? and then when they get home the avengers are all waiting with like comical amounts of flowers and stuffed animals and then reader says some funny shiii and thor thinks she’s like dying lol. idk if that made sense but i’m getting my wisdom teeth out soon and i’m scared😭 thank u so so much love u babe

pairing: peter parker x stark!reader

a/n: tysm lovely :,) i rushed through this like my life depended on it, but i hope i’m not too late. either way, i hope you’re okay! it’s frightening but those bad boys gotta go because we don’t need that kind of energy in our lives. enjoy x

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

wisdom teeth? more like wisdoom

y/n has to get her wisdom teeth removed and it’s the singular most dreadful thing she’s ever had to do, which says a lot because her dad is tony richling stark

doing dreadful things she doesn’t want to do but still somehow end up doing just because she can is a personality trait at this point

no one really makes a big deal out of it since ~death~ is part of their job description, but y/n is terrified

and when a stark is terrified the only thing that will keep them one step from insanity is researching the hell out of it

that information will be info dumped into every conversation for the next few weeks leading up to the appointment

“y/n you need anything from the store?” "no thanks, did you know the side effects of getting your wisdom teeth out include ✨sudden death or blood clots✨ tho” “……..i have a coupon?”

the day of the appointment, peter comes along and literally doesn’t let go of y/n’s hand. he keeps touching her to let her know that he’s there and it’s so. adorable

he would rest his hand on her knee, gently stroke her back while holding her, or just play with her hair

happy drops them off and he’s too Cool™ for emotions but he knows y/n’s a wreck, so he just fist bumps her with a single nod and she almost breaks down bc it’s really affectionate

y/n is sitting in the dentist chair and genuinely nothing is happening yet, but she’s squeezing peter’s hand like it’s a sponge

peter might have a high pain tolerance but he’s in pain pain and he prays that his hand won’t just explode on him

the dentist notices how peter tries to keep it together and chuckles

“you okay there, son?” “yea it’s fine, had a better time when a building fell on me tho haha” “pardon?” “oh i mean i didn’t have a good time, i just had a better time”

because y/n is running Anxious Town™, the dentist gives her a sedative to help her relax 

plus, an injection of local anaesthetic to numb the tooth and surrounding area

she doesn’t feel anything and it’s GREAT

the procedure is quicker than expected and now the real fun begins

she tries to walk but she falls down so peter scoops her up bridal style and happy stays glued at her side

y/n doesn’t mind although she literally doesn’t recognise them and they’re practically strangers to her

but girly sees an opportunity and tries to flirt with peter bc why wouldn’t she

“you’re pretty” *blushes* “why thanks” “you should let your girlfriend know” “i should let her know i’m pretty?” “so you do have a gf? :(” “yea it’s you” “:)”

they stop for gas and peter goes in to get some water for y/n, and in her infinite wisdom, she decides it’s burger time

her mouth is completely numb and she’s practically leaving a trail of drool behind her, but she’d kill for a burger right now

so she wobbles around aimlessly for an hour on some random parking lot as if the ground might just magically open up like a rabbit hole and lead her to five guys

she’s going places. not back to the car. definitely not five guys. they’re closed. but places

peter finally finds her and he’s drenched from head to toe in sweat. he doEsn’T wAnt tO tALk abOut iT tho so she lets him take her to subway instead

normally, she would know that peter’s usual subway order is bread-lettuce-jalapeño

but in her drugged-up state, it had simply slipped her mind so now she’s staring at him like he’d just murdered someone right in front of her

“that- that’s your order?? no meat or anything just bread, lettuce, and a little spice?”

meanwhile at the compound, sam and steve are ordering everyone around bc they want to decorate this place before y/n gets home to surprise her

they take it very seriously too. they’ve watched like one HGTV show and said it’s our time

they finally get home and tony gives y/n a big hug, asking her what took so long

happy tells him that she was keen on getting burgers bc apparently someone has taught her that stressful times call for ~cheeseburgers~

he proceeds to look at tony with a pointed look

tony just shrugs and goes “she was a problem child. we don’t mention her dark past”

she’s swaying on the spot and keeps grinning like a fool and thor just stares at her weirdly before elbowing bruce and whispering loudly,

“what’s wrong with her? is she dying? should i start collecting leaves, i know this remedy—"

no one can tell if y/n is just happy to see the newly decorated home or if she’s just delighted to see everyone but then she goes around hugging the entire team

she doesn’t even acknowledge the sky-high pile of teddy bears and flowers everywhere bc she’s just squeezing everybody

y/n is so high, she just starts to spill all of her feelings about everyone and they’re already so overwhelmed by the hug chain they can’t take this too

“wanda i just want you to know that you’re like my big sister and you’re always taking care of me and i know you and vision are just going to make such good parents one day”

“bucky you absolute PRICK, you FIEND, you’re the best chess player ever and that’ll never change and i wouldn’t be good without you, i hate to say it but you deserve happiness even after you made me lose five times in a row yesterday”

“dad, you’re so strong and smart, even though we’re like never on the same page, you’re always along for the ride, i want to be like you when i grow up, i swear i’m gonna try to be as good to the avengers as you were to us” “aww- wait makes you think i'll be the first to die“

“nat you’re such a bitch about your protein shakes but you’re my best friend and i wouldn’t have it any other way, you can try out as many make up looks on me as you want”

“bruce, brucey, i would live with you in your lab for the rest of my days if i had to, whenever you ask me to hand you stuff i feel useful and important”

“laura’s way out of your league clint i have no idea how the fuck you got her but don’t lose her and i want to be your next child’s godmother”

“steve…we’re your family now. we’re always gonna be your family now. okay?”

“loki you’re not fooling anyone with your attitude, we all know you’re part of the family, you were just misunderstood and messed up bc of your dad–FUCK him by the way–but i realised everyone deserves as many chances as they need because of you”

“sam i would genuinely kill anyone who wronged you, even if they cut you in line at the grocery store, i would knife them no hesitation”

“thor, you poor golden retriever have been through so much, on my way here i made a wish on an eyelash for you bc you deserve better, your postcards always make my day, love you”

she mumbles something to peter that no one else can hear but he blushes and chokes back a sob

y/n orders hot soup and bucky brings it to her but before he even has time to react peter drops everything and ZOOMS across the room in .3 seconds

he barrels into bucky so hard they both go flying, but peter just smoothly rolls out of it and onto his feet like some kind of super ninja

“DUDE WHAT THE HELL” “😠 y/n is not supposed to drink hot liquids 😠”

all of this happens in mere seconds but sam has filmed it all and now slow mo clips go viral online of some mysterious kid knocking over the winter soldier

y/n’s a little in and out after that, but when she fully regains consciousness, she’s on a pile of blankets, surrounded by the team on the floor <3

* * *

let me know if this is actually comforting lmao stay hydrated pals

hc masterlist

[weasleypogues]

help (r.c)

request: hiiii! can i please request a rafe x reader where both the reader and rafe consider going to therapy (mostly for rafe’s own good) but the reader loves him too much that she’s willing to put time money energy and effort in their relationship. You can choose the ending, it can either help rafe get better mentally or can completely be a waste!! I’ll leave it up to you! Thank you so much! I’m so excitedddd

masterlist.

part 2!!

warnings: angst!!!!!, therapy, mental health, substance abuse

you had this empty feeling in your chest. you could see the dying look in his eyes and the slight bags under his eyes. rafe looked burnt out, definitely more than usual. 

when you two got together you figured it was his partying habits and the clear pressure he got from himself and everyone as his father was ward cameron. but his stature was just as telling that it was something more. his pride, ego, and reputation were always on the line. 

“can you let me in?” you asked him softly, taking his limp hands into yours. he sat on the floor with his back to his bed, using the bed as a shield from the door. “i just want to know what’s going on up there...”

you saw his jaw clench and he squeezed his eyes shut, whether that was his way of keeping things in or pushing their way to get out it was straining on him. you sat on your knees and took his head in your arms so it would lay on your chest. you cradled him, hoping this would help control his breathing and his thought proccess. 

“rafe...my love. you have a lot going on within you and it isn’t fair to yourself to have to go through this battle alone. maybe you could talk to someone? we could talk to someone. i’ll be with you every step of the way or let you do this on your own. whatever you want. it just pains me to see you struggle and i can’t imagine how extremely tolling this is on you and your relationships with others.”

“with others?” he finally muttered out in a harsh tone that seemed more offended rather than defensive. you pulled away from him and tilted your head slightly, staring softly into his eyes.

“i just mean that, things used to be different. you aren’t at fault but wouldn’t it be nice to have just a fun and chill night with the guys again? or do something with wheeze? she’s young and i can tell shes concerned for you, whether she’ll say it or not. you’re her older brother.” you explained, rubbing your thumb back and forth on his hand.

you could see his eyes darting back and forth along the molding on his wall, his thought proccess obviously taking control. you took a slight breath, patience was what he needed at this time. you bit the inside of your lip, i want to be able to do more for him. 

“i know it’s a hard conclusion to come to, but i’ll be with you the entire time. money and time is not a problem.” you spoke softly and quietly. overstimulating with a loud and aggressive tone in this moment was not a good idea. you felt that you were on a good roll with his emotions controlled right now rather than him lashing out. 

you glanced back at his eyes and saw that they were darted into one spot on the ground, no longer taking this course along his wall. 

“so what (y/n)...you’re saying i’m the problem?” he basically spat back. you felt your heart sink as you knew this was not going to end well and this conversation was taken of it’s course. 

“not at all, rafe. my main priority is you and your happiness.” you responded, soflty. your hands made their way to cup his cheeks and crane his head to look at you. you glanced at his left eye, down to his lips, and back up to his right one in hopes of calming him down. “i love you.”

you could see his eyelids become less strained and go back to a natural state. “i love you too.’ you pulled him in for a kiss, letting your hands go to the back of his head and run through the tufts of his hair at the base of his neck. 

you both pulled away simultaneously and you helped him off the ground. he stood tall, regaining that tough guy stature which made your heart flutter. you went on the tips of your toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. 

“how about you head home, get dolled up, and i’ll pick you up for some ice cream in town?” rafe asked, running his hands through his hair and fixing up his appearence in the mirror. a smile made it’s way onto your face and you nodded.

“oh a date? say less.” you answered and giggled, heat creeping to your cheeks. you planted one more kiss on his lips before grabbing your things and heading home.

----------

you sat on the edge of your bed in a nice sundress and sandals, texting rafe.

ready whenever!! 8:06

did you leave yet? 8:30

hello?? did you forget the plans that you made??? call me 8:48

after countless more calls, you decided to take action and grab your keys to head to his house. he couldn’t just bail on plans that he made less than three hours ago. it’s not like he forgot. 

you felt the familiar bumps in his driveway as you pulled up behind his car parked in front of his front door. you also spotted up ahead another car. no fucking way topper and kelce are here right now. you glanced down at your phone and saw it read 9:17. hopping out of your car, you could basically feel the bass of music under your feet.

your eyes, with the help of your ears, came to the conclusion the music was coming from the druthers out on the water and you saw countless heads and lights. you felt your jaw clench as you marched your way over to the dock to take that timely walk down to the boat. inviting yourself onto the boat, you had to excuse yourself past some other kooks as you caught toppers eyes.

his eyes spoke for themselves. disappointment but also guilt. you slightly shook your head out of annoyance and even found your heart rate speed up a little more than it was. 

you opened a door that lead you to inside and was oddly not shocked at the sight you saw in front of yourself. that head of golden hair that you loved so much was face first into the table with a rolled up twenty between his finger tips, sliding across the table. kelce saw you immediately and hit rafe on the chest with the back of his hand.

you weren’t sure if the lump in your throat was anger or hurt. you were allowed to feel both so you just went with that. rafe wiped the tip of his nose as his eyes saw yours. 

those blue eyes that you loved waking up to some mornings were being taken over by his extremely dialated pupils from the coke and glossed over from the liquor. kelce and the other girl clearly felt uncomfortable and made their way out to the back deck as quick as possible. 

rafe let out a chuckle that seemed mixed with a scoff as a smirk rolled across his face. “you can’t help me. so lose the idea sweetheart.” 

you redirected your gaze to literally anywhere else on the boat right now as the sight of him hurt too much. that empty feeling in your chest came back from earlier along with the dying look in his eyes. tears burned your eyes, brushing them as quick as they came. 

you wiped the remaining coke off the table in front of him, ignoring his surprised outburts and made a b-line to the door. you didn’t even look back at him.

“call me when you’re sober. i can’t do this right now.” your spoke through gritted teeth, mainly to hold back anything you’d regret saying or simply just sobbing on the spot.

“with me every step of the way...huh?” rafe called out to you in spite, clearly high and drunk out of his mind. you told yourself you wouldn’t get through to him when he was in this state so you hopped back on the dock and headed back to your car. 

you loved him endlessly and as painful as it was, you had to keep walking. 

sorry for the ending, i knew it was going to have to be pretty angsty!!! hope u enjoyed!! xxx :)