#so yeah I'm doing a big clearing out of a bunch of my plants

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

RIP my big monstera deliciosa. it's been a fun year.

[xhoneygirlxx]

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

Steve Harrington x Reader

summary: The cheerleading and boy's basketball coaches are the talk of Hawkins High. When they can't seem to put two and two together, the students have to take matter into their own hands to get the pair together.

warnings: fluff. Steve and reader are both in their 20s. gender/body size/ethnicity are not discussed (the name of the fic was simply picked based off of one line). a little cameo from our favorite metal head. a bit sappy but who cares. idiots in love. we stan the students in this fic, they were doin god's work frfr. also modern au! spelling errors/shitty writing, i'm sick so forgive me for any mistakes lmao.

*if i miss anything please let me know*

a/n: As we all know, today would have been the last day of Honey's birthday bash. That was the plan my friends but bc of party festivities, hangovers, and now a bad cold, we are now behind on schedule. Thank you all for hanging in there with me :) I hope you all enjoy this, love you bunches!

The whole school is rolling fake dice.

Whispers traveled through the echo chamber hallways, bets being placed with the shaking of hands, and gossip being passed back and forth in the lunchroom like a breadbasket at dinner. All anyone could talk about was the two coaches that were blind to their own attraction to one another.

Unbeknownst to you and Steve, you guys were in the middle of a storm of circulating rumors since the beginning of the season. From the moment you two met all hell broke loose, a wildfire spreading through the classrooms of the school.

Everyone could see how much you liked each other, it was so clear like the scoreboard that shined brightly in the gym, except for you. The perfect love story, the cheerleader and jock, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

It started as a game between the cheerleaders and the basketball players, betting on who would break first and finally make it official. Soon it became a game amongst the rest of the student body, all of them biting at their nails and crossing their fingers in the hope that one of you would crack.

To everyone's disappointment, neither of you ever did. It was exhausting watching the two of you dance around your clear feelings for one another. The two of you tried to play it cool, act like any of the accusations were just that, accusations. But it was there, bright as day, on display for the whole world to see.

It was in the way your eyes would find each other's in a crowded room, feather light touches that would linger for way too long, shy smiles and rosy cheeks. The way you talked to one another was anything but two people who worked together. It was teasing, flirty, and breathless any time you talked.

There was a big wager for this whole thing, which team would win the biggest check and which one would have to fork over all the money. The cheerleaders and half of the school had their money on Steve, his reputation as a ladies man helping them with their decision. The basketball team and the other half of the school bet on you, knowing you were more outspoken then he is.

Now it's been months since the bets were placed but neither of you finally crossed over the line from friends to lovers. So the cheerleaders did what they do best, they rallied everyone on their side, made a plan that would guarantee their win.

Winter formal was only a week away, both of you were sure to chaperone without a date. So the cheerleaders got to work, making sure their plan would be executed flawlessly.

Phase #1: Plant the seeds

Two loud knocks against the heavy wood door of Steve's office bring him out of his computer screen. Shouting a come in, he's met with the sight of the student council president, Lauren McPhee who holds a white paper.

"Sorry to bother you but I need this form filled out for the dance next week!" She's too chipper for a Monday morning, smiling brightly like the sun that hangs in the cold December sky.

"Oh yeah, let me just get a pen." Wheeling back on his desk chair, Steve begins to pat his shirt while looking around at his cluttered desk for the writing instrument.

Once he snatches the ballpoint pen from under the stack of papers, Steve grabs the flimsy sheet from Lauren's hand and scribbles down his signature on every empty line.

"Alrighty, there you go." With a tight lipped smile, he hands it back to the nice girl.

Steve watches as her eyes flit over the paper, flipping it front to back to make sure everything is filled out properly. When her features twist in confusion he can't help but wonder why.

"Everything look good?" He questions and she shakes her head while still reading over the curled letters of his name.

"Y-yeah, it's just," pulling her lip between her teeth, Lauren begins to chew on it anxiously, "the section for your date has been left blank. Excuse me if I'm crossing a line here, coach, but you're not bringing a date?"

Her voice is sympathetic, lips pulled into a deep from and her eyes sparkling with pity as she looks at the older man. Steve isn't sure why she seems so upset about him going alone or why it would be a problem, but when she looks at him like a dog that's been kicked he feels the need to answer.

"Oh, well I don't really have anyone to take. Plus it's more important for me to be paying attention to the punch bowl to make sure no asshole- I mean jerk, spikes it." With a forced laugh, he waits to see if his answer is enough to suffice the girl's curiosity.

"O-oh that makes sense I guess, I just though maybe you and the cheerleading coach would go together. You know cause they're also going alone and from what they told me, they never been to their winter formal before." Shrugging, the girl moves her sights from him back to the paper.

"They told you that?" Steve's answer is met with a hesitant nod from the girl. "I-I didn't know that." He breathes.

"At least they'll finally be able to go, right?" Again she shrugs, pulling a folder from her bag to put the paper away.

"Wait!" It comes out louder than he expected, cringing slightly at his volume. "Can I hold onto that and then had it in later?"

"Sure! I'll be back on Wednesday." A sunny smile shines at him, the white paper being passed back to him. "See you then, coach."

Waving him goodbye, Lauren shuts the door behind her where the cheerleaders wait for her. With a singular thumbs up, they begin to jump with joy only for a moment before moving on to phase two.

Phase #2: Destroy the band room

Now destruction of school property was not something any student was willing to get written up for, but with the help of an adult maybe they wouldn't have to.

Mr. Munson was the band instructor and drama teacher, as well as Steve Harrington's right hand man. Before he was an educator, Eddie Munson menaced these halls for many years. Before getting his act together and after he quit selling weed to the students in the woods, he worked as an apprentice for a while, following a plumber around for months while he went to college for education.

"Mr. Munson come on, don't you want to see your bestie finally get a happy ending?" Karissa Thomas batted her eyelashes at him as she begged for his help.

"I don't know guys, I could get into a lot of trouble." Rubbing his forehead, Eddie sighs as he weighs out his options in his head.

"Think of it this way, you can finally give principle Higgins the finger. At least metaphorically." Anthony Whitmer adds.

"Plus, we'll give you some of the profits." Mark, another band kid pleads from the group.

Eddie leans against his desk wide eyed, smirking slightly at his band students. Who knew they would be so devious.

"Fuck it, I'm in." The group before him shout in victory while Eddie laughs devilishly. Somethings never changes, he thinks.

So this morning when he arrived at school, Eddie made sure that no one was around when he began fucking with the pipes. After about twenty minutes and sore upper arms, he finally succeeds by springing a leak.

When he reported the leak to principle Higgins, he was met with a side eye before getting the approval of the gym slot after school, which meant you and your team would be forced to share with Harrington and his team until it got fixed.

Phase #3: Offer planning services to coach Harrington

Now to bring this whole plan together, cheer captains Dan Morrison and Amber Hall needed to be in the same place at the same time as Steve Harrington. The only problem was his office and where he usually occupied the most was the east wing of the school. The east wing was the closest to his office and it was the least traveled hallways out of the whole school.

That meant they needed to make it look like they were that way for a reason. Luckily for them, the art room was also in the east wing, so they would make it look like they were grabbing poster boards for last minute winter formal posters.

Lunch time was the best time to put this into motion, so the minute the 11:50 bell rang, Dan and Amber sprinted to the east wing in the hopes they would catch him.

After rummaging around for glitter, markers, and poster boards, the two waited at the door, peaking over the frame in the hopes to catch the older man. When the door of his office opened, the two seniors began to walk out of the room talking about random things to not make it look so obvious.

In the hopes of sparking a conversation with him, Amber dropped the container of markers causing colorful pens to fall all over the hard floor.

"Amber, I told you not to drop them!" Dan laughs, putting the white posters to the floor in order to pick up the rolling markers.

"You made me laugh!" The girl argues back, laughing loudly as she crouches to help.

"I didn't even do anything." He replies, making the girl laugh even harder at his comment.

The echo of Steve's heavy footsteps could be heard by both teenagers, but they ignore it so he wouldn't catch on.

"You guys cool?" Steve asks, crouching down to help pick up what fell.

"H-hi coach," Amber greets, catching her breath from her heavy laughter, "We're okay, Dan just made me drop these."

The boy in question huffs and rolls his eyes playfully, continuing his actions of gathering the rest of what's on the floor.

"So what are you guys doing with all this, anyway?" Steve asks, pushing off on his knees to stand.

"Oh, just last minute posters for the dance." Dan says nonchalantly as he gathers his pile of supplies.

"You're going, right?" The young girl asks and Steve responds with a small sigh, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah I'll be there." Nodding his head, the man places his hands on his hips looking at the two kids in front of him.

"That's fun! Are you bringing a date?" Amber wiggles her eyebrows.

Shoving her playfully, Dan looks at her with a gasp. "Oh my gosh, Amber you can't just ask that. Sorry, coach." Doing his best to look sympathetic, Dan offers his best smile to the older man.

"It's okay, Dan," Steve places a hand out, looking at the brown haired boy, "Actually, I was wondering if you guys could help me with that."

"Sure!" The cheerleaders agree in unison.

"Let's talk about this in my office." Pointing a thumb to the end of the hall, spinning of the ball of his foot to lead the way.

Steve defiantly doesn't see how bright both of the teen's smiles are from where they walk behind him and he surely doesn't see them giving each other a high five.

Phase #4: Get you to go to the parking lot before practice

This phase was probably the hardest of them all. You were very keen on punctuality, always the first to be at the building to make sure everything was set up. Now that you'd be sharing the gym with the basketball team, you were more than likely to be there a whole lot earlier than usual.

Now this is where the most important players come in, Lauren Hernandez and Simon Carter. The two freshmen were bright stars at Hawkins High, the leading members of the mathletes and very trust worthy students.

When this whole plan started it was known that they'd need someone who was convincing to divert your attention, so the two meek students volunteered without a second thought. The amount of money they'd win if coach Harrington made the first move was way more important than credibility at this point.

When they spotted you coming through the outside gym door, the two kids began to put on their show. Rushing through the two gymnasium doors, Lauren and Simon pant acting as if they ran a mile.

"C-coah, we need-" Simon bends over, bracing his hands on his knees while breathing heavily, "We need your help!"

You immediately drop your bags, sprinting over to the two youths. Worry is written all over your face, eyes immediately checking for any visible injuries on them.

"I-is everything okay? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Placing a hand on your chest, you wait for them to catch their breath.

"There's a fight outside. Max Newman and Devon Lewis are fighting in the parking lot." Lauren rushes out, eyes wide and glassy under the gym lights.

You're more than shocked at the news, the two boys have been great friends the whole time you've coached them. In a flash, you urge both kids to get coach Harrington from his office while you break up the fight.

What you don't know is neither Simon or Lauren have to get him, waiting until the slam of the heavy gym door both run after you to make sure they don't miss a single moment.

Rushing through the entrance doors, the cold winter chill instantly hits you but you don't pay too much attention to it when there isn't a fight happening.

When you walk outside, you see your team of cheerleaders lined up on both sides of the steps, a red rose in each hand. As you walk, they hand them to you, bright smiles on each of their faces when they do.

You can't speak with the amount of confusion that runs through your brain. Even though you want to ask them what all of this is about, you just let your feet carry you out into the parking lot.

You jump slightly when you hear Wildest Dreams being play, the only difference is the band kids stand off to the side with their instruments. Giggling slightly, you imagine Eddie Munson teaching his kids a Taylor Swift song but Bridgerton style.

With a bundle of roses in hand, you continue out into the snow covered parking lot. Under the street lights you see him standing with his hands in his pockets. Behind him stands some of the drama kids, holding big white posters. Taking a moment to read the blue and silver lettering, you gasp when it finally hits you.

F O R M A L ?

Tears prick your eyes and not just because of the cold winter wind. The thought and dedication that went into this must've taken so much (more than both of you even realize), you're heart beaming with the thought of Steve putting this together.

"So what do you say, coach? Will you do me the honors of being my date to the dance?" Steve's cheeks are red and his teeth glimmer under the florescent lights.

You can't help but let more tears fall, all of the pining and wishing finally coming true under the darken sky, right where the two of you first met. It feels too good too be true, a real life fairytale happening in real time.

"Of course I will." It comes out loud enough for only him to hear, the two of you looking at each other in adoration.

In a split moment, Steve's strong hands pull you in and wrap you in the tightest hug, something you dreamt of all this time. Even in the cold temperatures, his body heat, his touch holds the heat of a thousand suns.

The roaring cheer of all of those around you, besides the band who continue to play, fills the open air. You and Steve are so wrapped up in each other you don't even notice the flash of the camera, Andrew Johnson of the yearbook committee getting multiple shots of the whole thing.

Pulling back enough to look at one another, you smile brightly up at him. Steve looks so pretty like this, cherry nose, snow flurries collecting in his eyelashes and hair, and a smile so sweet it could rot your teeth.

"I can't believe you did all of this." You say with a laugh, shaking your head in amazement.

Chuckling slightly, he looks down bashfully at you. "Yeah well, I had some help." The two of your look all around the parking lot where multiple students stand, all from different clubs, groups, and social brackets beam and cheer for the two of you.

The two of you turn back to one another, gooey looks on both of your faces and love filling your eyes. "Who would've thought." You say breathlessly and he agrees.

"Can I kiss you?" It's breathless and hopeful when Steve says it, and you're answer is just as breathless.

Connecting his lips to yours felt like two puzzle pieces fitting together, it's feels like home, and it feels right. Like a snow globe, you and Steve are frozen for just a moment under the December snow.

I hope you all enjoy! Love you all <3

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[kitsune-oji]

hiii it's the luci and Satan anon again!! sorry for not being too specific (⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠) as for ideas, maybe nicknames they'd give the reader, how they'd care for them (if they're strict or not and the like!), activities they'd enjoy with them?

and thank u for telling me about the term btw!! I had no idea (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠) I'll be more careful in da future!

Carer! Lucifer & Satan

Yeah sure, I hope this is what you meant! And no problem, I think there's no shame in not knowing something before. We all learn smth new every day and it's better not to assume something has been done out of maliciousness if it could be lack of knowledge. So I'm glad that I could help out in that way :) /gen

Gn! Reader

Relationships: Lucifer & Mc, Satan & Mc

Warnings/Tags: Age Regression, Regressor Reader, Fictional Carers, punishment mention, rules mention, headpats, bugs mention

Lucifer

Nicknames for tiny: little one, prince/ss/x, my child, puppy (depending on what you're ok with or like of course)

As a carer, Lucifer tends to be on the stricter side

This means he has clear rules and consequences for if you break them. However, they're mostly rules like not eating too much candy, brushing your teeth on time, managing screen time and making sure to drink enough water (not just juice!)

Consequences depend on the rule you broke, so for example if you ate candy in secret and lied, Lucifer would not hand out anymore candy for a certain amount of time or if you don't brush your teeth, he will come to you every night and brush them together with you to make sure you keep up with it now

"punishments" just turn out to do more harm than good usually and at least with you, he tries to restrain himself and show that he cares for you and your wellbeing, instead of making you fear and avoid him

Lucifer is also a big fan of work sheets and if you're old enough to work on them, likes to set you up in his office so you two can do "work" side by side

He even grades papers if possible, gives you little gold stickers and other rewards like candy and praises you for a job well done

Let's you sleep in his lap while he works too - he won't even complain when his legs fall asleep and just summon a cushion to make it easier on his legs while letting you sleep

Pats your head a lot - when he praises you, when he walks past you as you play, when you hug or cuddle and so on

Satan

Nicknames for tiny: kitty, pumpkin, kiddo, little one, bud (depending on what you're ok with or like of course)

As a carer, Satan is not necessarily strict per se but definitely goes more in that direction

He sets up a whole plan with you, makes little to do lists with illustrations so you remember to do things like brush your teeth, wash your face etc before bed for example

Having read into parenting books and tips to make sure he's not doing anything wrong, Satan understands quite a bit more about what things can help you, why you may react in some ways and how to work on problems in a way that isn't forced but a collaborative effort between you two

He's very enamored with you and even plays with you with stuffies if you like that. There are a bunch of cat stuffies that found their way on his bed and towers of books over time - so there's always one on hand when he wants to talk to you 'through' them

"Mr Claw wants to ask if you want to read a book together? How about..."

Favorite activity together is definitely reading out loud for you. Especially when it's an interactive book, like the ones that have little images instead of words so the kid can read out loud together with the adult

Also loves going outside though and playing in the park. If you like bugs, you can catch them and figure out what it's called together with an encyclopedia or if you don't, there are enough plants and the like outside you can identify!

Likes to give you little tasks/activities like finding something for every color of the rainbow and doing fun quizzes on stuff you learnt that day

Ruffles your hair if it's fine with you, otherwise just pats you on the head - when you're joking around, when you've gotten something right/done a good job and so on

[grison-in-space]

Still listening to 1632, and honestly I forgot how much I like its narrative choices.

Okay, we have the climactic battle scene where the giant marauding mercenary army of pikemen and arquebusiers menaces the brave little 2000s era West Virginia town, right? With the substantial benefit of an M60 machine gun someone smuggled home from Vietnam and buried out in the back of his property. ("look, I'm not like a survivalist weirdo or anything. It seemed like a prank more than anything else at the time!") That did happen sometimes, but that sure was a lucky stroke, yeah? And of course our ragged band of hillbilly heroes, armed with their deer rifles, slaughter the shit out of the giant experienced army of seasoned veterans. Sure. Everybody cheer: remember, this is the army we first encounter raping and killing the shit out of civilians for maximal earnings. The ranks of men begin to fall like a glacier cleaving flesh rather than ice: what an image. Everyone sit back and bask in American technological superiority. USA! USA!

Except.... er, we just took the time to humanize one of the soldiers in that army a couple of scenes ago. He's just joined up to protect his family. His big sister's a camp follower; their family got attacked a year or two ago, and she's pretty, so she got picked as the kept woman in their band. He's just gotten old and big enough to be useful as a soldier, so he's been taken on as a recruit, and he's drinking the crap out of anything he can keep down so he can always be mysteriously too drunk to participate in the looting.

He's pretty sure he's in hell. And then he marches off into that scene of technological carnage.

So this does a bunch of things. One: it's real hard to surrender into treating that slaughter as a total victory when you know that Hans is out in it. We like Hans. He's doing his best and we really hope he lives, okay? (Spoiler: he does live.) Two: it forces you to think about everyone involved--we get a lot of POV from his sister Gretchen next--is experiencing and perceiving these American loons from a specific context that exists beyond them.

There has also just been an absolutely delightful scene where a couple of 2000s-era American doctors are proposing a joint practice with a local Sephardic doctor and he casually suggests they check over everything in Avicenna before they prescribe that in case it works. He's mildly startled when they gape at him like a fish and essaying "uh, you can read Arabic, right?" and when it becomes clear that the answer is definitely no, adds "oh, well, you're in luck, I have a Greek translation!" One of the Americans asks, very cautiously, how many languages he speaks, and he rattles off nine that he's fluent in, another four he's proficient in at least enough to read, and a fifth he's currently picking up for political reasons.

At which point the high school history teacher wanders into the room and asks what's going on, to be told by the Sephardic man's daughter "ah, it turns out my father is a more accomplished linguist even if he doesn't know some things":

"Well, of course!" Melissa snorted. "Americans are ignorant louts when it comes to language." The schoolteacher planted her arms akimbo and gave Nichols and Adams the same glare which had cowed thousands of students over the years. "What?" she demanded. "Did you think you were actually smarter than these people?"

God I love Melissa.

[bellysoupset]

This fic is not so much a story, more like "Jonah sees an opportunity to give an exposé on Luke, doesn't realize he's giving Leo an exposé on himself."

There's no sickness or whump in this.

@its-a-goddamn-heartbreak this one is for you <3

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"You're quiet tonight," Jonah said, spreading himself on the bed with a sigh, "should I be worried?"

"Uhm?"

"I said you're quiet," Jon repeated, then cupped Leo's face, fully expecting to meet feverish skin. Instead he only got his boyfriend's normal temperature and an amused smile in return.

"I'm not sick, silly, I'm just thinking."

"Never good," Jonah teased, closing the space between them and kissing him. Leo let out a muffled chuckle, cupping Jonah's face with one hand and forcing them apart.

"Actually..."

"Yeah?" Jonah said, planting a bunch of little kisses on Leo's neck, biting his earlobe, "what are you thinking about?"

"Lucas," Leo said, causing Jonah to finally pull back, with a big frown on.

"Atwood?" Jonah scoffed, venom dripping from his voice, "why the fuck are you thinking about Lucas in bed?!"

"I'm not thinking about him in bed, I'm thinking about Luke while I happen to be in bed," Leo teased him, barely suppressing the glee in his voice at Jon's jealous reaction, "it's not like that."

"Uh," Jonah raised his eyebrows, unamused, "then fucking elaborate?"

"I was at his place yesterday," Leo explained, voice gaining a serious tone, "you know, keeping him some company, he's down bad."

"Yeah, I'm aware you and Vince are doing a suic- are keeping him company," Jonah quickly corrected himself, "he'll live."

Leo glared at him, "will you let me finish?"

"Fine," Jonah grumbled, rolling off of him, "so? You were at Atwood's place and?"

"And he mentioned his mom and he mentioned you..." Leo explained, turning on the bed so he could plant his elbow on the mattress and his cheek on his hand, "and I was just thinking about how you two met and stuff. None of you ever talk about it."

Jonah seemed taken back, the jealousy vanishing, "Oh... Well, you never asked," he shrugged, getting comfortable in the bed, "what do you want to know?"

Leo perked up, he clearly hadn't been expecting such an open and inviting reaction. Everything, "he said his mom would be disappointed in him... I told him no, of course, but like- Would she?"

Jonah thought about it for a second, then nodded, "probably," he shrugged, "yeah, I think so."

"That's a horrible thing to say," Leo pouted, frowning, "are you just being a dick or-"

"Lucas forgot, but Veronica was not a good mom. She was a good person sure, a really great senator, but she wasn't a good mom until she died," Jonah said dryly and noticed Leo seemed taken back. He let out a sigh, "look I'm not trying to be a dick, just to answer you honestly."

Leo nodded, frowning at him, "what do you mean when you say that..? Did you know her? I always thought you met in boarding school..."

Jonah let out a scoff, "I wish- No, our parents were friends. His stupid father got all his procedures with my father. We lived in the same gated community, literally a street away from each other... I hated him. My parents pushed so hard for us to be friends, but we weren't compatible. I especially hated Lucas when our parents would use me as a placeholder for a babysitter. I'd have plans and then suddenly Luke was in my house and I wasn't allowed to go out, because I had a guest."

Leo giggled, eyes sparkling with surprise, "I'd never have guessed, Jon, I thought you guys only met way later..."

"No, we were born in the same hospital," Jonah rolled his eyes, "couldn't get rid of him didn't matter how hard I tried. So you can say I knew his parents, alright. His mom was nice, don't take me the wrong way. Very polite, very busy. Never home, but nice... And head over heels in love with that asshole."

"Luke's dad?" Leo gossiped, scooting closer and Jonah bit down a smile at the clear curiosity in his boyfriend's face. It wasn't a secret that Leo was, or used to be before meeting Luke, a Kit Howard fan, "how was he?"

"Amazing," Jonah grinned, flicking a hair away from Leo's eyes, "magnetic, funny, you know? At nine I really thought he was the coolest shit. Except he micromanaged everything from afar. Was always touring, I don't think he was ever there for one of Luke's birthday. I don't think Veronica was there either, to be honest. But Kit? Even from across the fucking world, he could control everything. He knew everything always."

"Sounds... A little scary."

"He was the direct opposite of my father. Jasper was always home, his clinic was in our property, very discreet for the celebrities... He was always home and I don't think he ever knew who I was. Had no idea if I was home or in the boarding school that week. Treated me like a little friend he had around the house, when he accidentally bumped my way. He only remembered he had a son when he had to preach about how much of a better parent he was than Jackie," he tried to keep the bitterness off his voice, but failed, "now Kit, in the other hand, was never home, but he knew everything. He knew if Lucas got in a fight, he knew what were Lucas' plans, his girlfriends, his grades, his meal plan... Luke was like the fucking bubble kid."

"I can see why you hated him," Leo giggled, "it sounds like it'd be exhausting to be around him."

"It was!" Jonah agreed, glad the blonde got his point, "so then Jackie fucked off. I turned eleven and she packed her bags and fucked off, so Jasper enrolled me in the boarding school. Probably thinking he could turn my room into another surgery room... And I thought I was free of Lucas Atwood."

"But no," Leo seemed amused and Jon shook his head, defeated.

"Nope. Next day, Lucas fucking Atwood is in my class."

"That must've been amazing," Leo said sarcastically, stealing a kiss and Jonah scoffed, biting his lip and pulling back.

"It was hell," he groaned, "but we made do. We had different friend groups and only spoke when we had to go home and it was fine... Lucas was, well, this Lucas you know."

"So cool?"

"If you say so," Jonah bumped their noses together, "but he was popular and friendly... And then one weekend he went home. It wasn't a long weekend, I remember I thought it was weird he was the only kid sent home."

"Oh."

"And he didn't come back for two weeks. When he came back he was... A mess. He never picked a fight up until then, suddenly he was this angry teenager and it was very weird..."

"Because of his mom..."

"Yeah. That summer we went back home and I didn't know- No one knew. I got into a really nasty fight with Lucas, I don't remember why, but I remember we got the police called on us. He fucked tackled me in the middle of a restaurant, while we were out with our parents."

"Jon..."

"Must've insulted his mom," Jonah snorted, but there was no humor, "probably. He missed two months of the boarding school that year, I have no idea how he even graduated. Was flying home at every opportunity, missing a bunch of classes..."

"Then...?"

"Then about a week before we graduated, Jasper called me."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah," Jonah opened a small sad smile, "Veronica had died in her house that evening, Luke was there. I wasn't even aware he wasn't in the school... I had to go back for the funeral. Luke was... Fucking catatonic, I didn't see him cry, nothing."

"Jonah..." Leo sat up, looking teary eyed himself, "that's awful."

Jon shrugged, "we went back to school right after the funeral. Kit Howard showed up at the school, flashed some smiles, signed some pictures and suddenly Lucas was gonna graduate like the rest of us. At the day of graduation, Luke was wasted. I remember he could barely walk a straight line."

"Lucas doesn't-"

"Doesn't drink?" Jonah scoffed, "you know that's not true, you were there two months ago when he decided chugging vodka was a good idea. Well, imagine that, but worse."

"Then what happened?"

"We graduated. None of our parents showed up, obviously. We went back home. I barely saw him all break. Then I got into college, heard Luke took a gap year."

"He did?"

"Yeah," Jonah nodded, "and then when I think I'm finally rid of Lucas Atwood, he joins the football team I just joined. In my own fucking college."

"You love him," Leo snorted, lying back down, "I didn't realize how close you two were. You were... There every step of the way."

"I didn't want to be there," Jonah pointed out, but couldn't deny it. He was close with Luke, for better or for worse, they had shared all the important moments of their lives, "but I guess."

Leo didn't comment that Jon hadn't denied loving Lucas, instead he just snuggled closer, kissing him, "okay now... can we stop the depressing background and make out?"

Jonah let out a scoff in his mouth, "that was my initial plan!"

[avlillustrations]

Innocence

As a Halloween treat I thought I'd post an old fanfiction I wrote years ago. I totally forgot about it until someone liked it on deviantart.

It's a silly little Danny phantom/Tak and the power of juju crossover one-shot. I really like it though!

"My hair isn't food you know." Danny muttered, though he wasn't particularly bothered by the rhino chewing on the split ends. It was better than being harassed by the villagers. Ever since he defeated Vlad and saved the moon Juju, the villagers wanted him to do everything. It'd gotten so bad that he had to resort to hiding out in Dryrock Canyon just to get some alone time. It even made him long for the time he was just Clockwork's errand boy and everyone ignored him...

"Danny," and nobody looked for him when he made it clear he wanted to be left alone. "Danny, I know you're here. Clockwork wants to see you!"

Danny groaned, "ugh. On my way, Dash!"

"Danny!"

"I said I'm..."

"DANNY!" This time Dash's yelling was accompanied by a annoyingly loud chittering sound: Nerbils. Danny cursed under his breath and stood up from his hiding spot behind the summoning shrine. Dash was helpless against Nerbils, you'd think differently because of his size, but the little pests tend to attack in pacts of ten or more so...

Danny hoisted himself up the cliffs to the path of the sun temple. Dash was one cliff higher, with the dead magic Nubu plant. A swarm of at least seven Nerbils had him pinned to the dusty ground. "DANNY!" Dash squealed again. (Yes, big macho man Dash Baxter squealed. Though he would definitely deny it if he were confronted.)

Danny rolled his eyes. Dash really was pathetic. Danny grabbed the spirit rattle from his holster and began raffling though the juju talismans in his leg pouch until he found the one he was looking for: Conversion. One of his personal favorites. Who wouldn't want to turn a Nerbil into a chicken?

"Damn it, Danny. Get this flesh eating monstrosities off of me!"

"That's funny," Danny deadpanned. "I didn't know chickens were flesh eaters."

"Wha...?" Dash opened his eye and saw that indeed he was no longer being bitten and scratched to death by little bat-like monsters. Instead he had a bunch of chickens scratching on his chest and one was attempting to nest in his hair. "Shoo, shoo, stupid birds."

Danny snickered," I don't want to hear a word about this Danny." Dash growled as he stood up.

"I wasn't gonna say anything." Danny snickered again, a little louder this time.

"And no laughing either."

"Sorry, can't promise you that." Danny began laughing in earnest.

"Damn it Fenton, it's not funny!"

"It's always funny when you're involved, Dash."

Dash scoffed. "Yeah right, whatevAH! Nubu plant!"

Danny looked and sure enough, there was a Nubu plant, freshly sprouted. Although, something was...off. The plant wasn't hissing or snapping at them as the plant species was known to do whenever there was prey around. In fact it was quivering, as if it were afraid. It was also the smallest Nubu plant Danny had ever seen, even for a sprout. Usually, freshly sprouted Nubu plants were tall enough to reach his knee, adolescent Nubu plants were about waist height, and fully grown magical Nubu plants were exactly the same height as he was. This one though, it barely reached the midpoint of his calf.

"What are you Doing Fenton?"

"Shut up Dash."

Danny inspected the plant a bit closer. The nubu plants quivering was more noticeable now that he had gotten a better look and he could finally see why. It had no teeth! And out here in Dryrock Cayon, where there was no grass or weeds to camouflage the little thing, having no teeth was a death sentence.

"Seriously Danny, what are you doing?" Dash asked again, his voice wavering a little bit, but at least he wasn't freaking out anymore.

"I'm taking it back to amity with me."

"What?! You can't be serious Danny. You know how dangerous those things are."

"They're only dangerous from adolescence to adulthood." Danny replied sharply. "Sprouts like this one are just a nuisance." Danny would know, since he'd been bitten by them more times than he could count. The bites didn't even hurt that much. It just felt like walking through a field of thistles.

"Danny..."

"It'll be fine Dash. Look, it doesn't even have any teeth."

"If it doesn't have any teeth then why are you taking it?"

"I'm taking it because it doesn't have teeth." Danny snapped, "without teeth, it won't be able to catch prey or protect itself from predators."

"I don't think Clockwork will approve of you keeping that thing."

"Says you, Clockwork won't care." Danny had an idea. "In fact, I think he'll be happy to have a reliable source of Nubu flowers around."

"Huh?"

"I'm pretty sure if I take care of this little guy now, he'll be a little more docile when he reaches adulthood."

Dash was confused, "Which means?..."

"Which means when Clockwork needs a Nubu flower for a spell, he'll have a domesticated Nubu plant within reach and I won't have to hunt down a bunch of them just for a few flowers." Adult Nubu plants were rare enough now-a-days from people trying their best to kill the sprouts whenever they bloom. And whenever Clockwork needed one of the flowers Danny had to travel miles to find a feral one to kill and once they died they would no longer produce flowers. Which was why it was better to get the flower while it was still alive. The flowers grew back then.

"Yeah, sure. Just grab the stupid plant and let's get out of here. I hate Dryrock Canyon."

Danny nodded only half listening to Dash's complaining, while he focused on digging out the plant without tools and without severing its roots (Nubu plants could feel pain unlike other plant species). "So what d'ya say, little guy," Danny said to the no longer quivering plant. Do you want to come home with me?"

The plant purred.

[atomic-thomas]

(Fake ASMR Script) Meeting An Urban Giantess

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

*city & traffic noises*

"Hm? Oh, another person here to bother me. Sigh... Just go away. I already get too much attention as it is."

"..."

"Hey tiny. Did you not get the memo? I said to leave me alone."

"..."

"Oh, sure. You have business with me. Right. What business could you possibly have with a girl the size of a skyscraper?"

"..."

"You just want to talk, huh? You could've just said that instead. Hmmm... I suppose it'd be healthy if I had someone to vent to. Fine. Very well. I shall humor your request to chat with me. Here, climb into my hand so I can bring you up to my face."

"Easy does it... Agh, I feel so nervous holding you like this. I'm just gonna put you on the roof of this building."

"..."

"Yeah, sorry. I just feel really uncomfortable when I pick people up. I just have this fear that I'll hurt someone by accident... Or worse."

"..."

"Why am I so big... Yep, that's an obvious question. Well, it's the most ridiculous story ever, but considering the fact that you're talking to a giant woman right now, I don't think you'll find anything I say too hard to believe."

"So the thing is... This is new for me. I was a normal-sized human just like you. What happened to me was nothing short of a miraculous advancement in human technology."

"A corporation known as 'Gulliver Engineering' sent emails out to the general public offering a hundred million dollars to one lucky person willing to be a living test subject for what they claimed to be 'The First Ever Fully Functioning Size Ray' & anyone who replied was eligible to be chosen at random."

"So of course I replied back because why wouldn't I? A chance to be part of an important event in human history & earn a fortune is too good to pass up."

"To my absolute utter shock, I was chosen. I couldn't believe it. This was actually happening. But little did I know just how much I was about to regret participating in this outrageous science experiment."

"I arrived at the lab, they made me sign a bunch of waivers & other various paperwork to confirm my consent. You know... Law stuff. And then they told me to stand on a target in the middle of the room."

"At this point, they asked if I wanted to be bigger or smaller. Personally, I've always wanted to be taller so I asked them to grow me."

"This is when things went horribly wrong."

"The machine was indeed making me grow, but I soon became far taller than I wanted to be. 10 feet, 20 feet... Eventually, I had to sit down because my head was about to break through the ceiling. The scientists were panicking... And so was I. It became abundantly clear that the machine was malfunctioning."

"Before long, the scientists had abandoned ship & evacuated the building knowing that it was no longer safe."

"I ended up demolishing the building & by the time I destroyed the machine along with it, I was the size of a hotel."

"And now... Here we are."

"..."

"How tall am I now? Uh, gee. I don't know. Probably a couple hundred feet or so. Maybe more. Haven't measured yet."

"..."

"How do I function in life now? That's the neat part. I don't. This event is still very recent & society hasn't been able to accommodate for someone like me yet. The most I've received is a giant mobile phone that was specifically built just for me as compensation for the disaster. It's better than nothing, I suppose. At least I have digital access to the money I got from this mess. Even still, I have to use the city's power plant in order to charge it."

"..."

"Oh, wouldn't you love to know about my struggles as giantess living in the modern world. I have a load of problems."

"First off, the attention. I cannot get a moment to myself. People are constantly taking pictures, asking the same questions that I give the same answers to every time. Every news station is constantly broadcasting about me every day &-..."

*helicopter noise*

"Ugh... The helicopters. We get it! There's a giant woman roaming the city! You don't have to broadcast this all the time!"

"..."

"Oh, you should've seen what happened yesterday. A helicopter flew too close to me & the blades got knotted up in my hair. The people were okay. I made sure they safely got out & reached the ground just fine, but digging a helicopter out of my hair was not fun."

"..."

"What do I eat? Well, not people. That's for sure. I'm not a monster after all. Although I'm sure I could star as a kaiju in the next Godzilla film if I really wanted to. Anyway, when I need to eat, I need a lot of food. So much that I think I'm negatively affecting the economy. I mean, seriously. When I go to a McDonald's drive-thru, I have to awkwardly crouch down so my freakishly large eyeball is peering through the window of the restaurant no doubt scaring the employees while I say 'I'd like to order a hundred Big Macs please.' God, what a bizarre life I have to live."

"..."

"Do not... Get me started... On how I have to maintain my hygiene. Use your imagination. I'm not answering that one.

"Sigh... It's just so difficult. My existence feels like a crime. A burden. Like I don't belong. Like I just can't fit in. I have to be so careful not to break anything or hurt anyone. My living conditions are in the hands of the government itself & I simply don't know what the future holds for me."

"..."

"You... Want me to hold you? Like... In the palm of my hand, right? Okay, but... Why exactly?"

"..."

"To see how it makes me feel... Well, I told you already. I feel uncomfortable when I hold anyone. I really don't want to hurt you by accident."

"..."

"You insist... Alright. If you say so. But I'm warning you right now... I really don't trust myself with your tiny body. Here, climb into my hand once more."

"..."

"My God, you're so light. Like an autumn leaf in the wind."

"You're the size of a bug to me. And to think... I used to be that size at some point. It's so strange."

"..."

"You really feel safe with me? Why?"

"..."

"Better in the hands of a gentle giantess than the cruel clutches of mankind..."

"You're... Really sweet, you know that? And... Thanks... For letting me express myself. That felt... Good."

"..."

"Sure, we can meet again sometime. At first, I was annoyed with your presence, but now... I like you. You're not like everyone else who just wants my attention for the clout. You actually had the heart to care about my feelings."

"It was great to make your acquaintance. I look forward to talking with you again."

_______________________________________________

THE END

[xansmenagerie]

The Dryad of Gullock Tyning

"I'm a suburban dryad baby,

I'm a suburban dryad baby,

Protect the urban greenspace baby

With me - oooeeoooo!"

When you meet a creature out of legend, you don't expect them to be filking badly - but there she was, sprawled on a blanket, singing along happily and tunelessly to an old cassette-based boombox, wearing clothes that could only have been the discards of canoodling teenagers from the 90s onwards. I never worked out who was more surprised.

But let me step back a moment and explain the situation. I'm a contractor brought on to help with the town park scheme; the council had bought up the waste ground between the greenway and the river and had Big Ideas that needed a lot of hands to do right. Amphitheatre built into the side of the batch, solid paths where needed, a wildflower meadow and a tiny community orchard, the works. But the first thing they needed to do was clear down enough of the brambles and nettles and stuff in an ecologically friendly way to be able to make it the human-friendly sort of wild, and they needed to make sure that nothing living on the site already was particularly rare.

So there's me, in full anti-bramble gear with a set of loppers and a tablet set up for noting down monitoring information, and there's Gull in cut-off jeans and a ripped t-shirt and one croc and one flip-flop, staring at each other over the wall of thorns that *should* have kept me out. And the weirdest bit is that I couldn't stop myself trying to work out how the hell I was going to note this on the paperwork - a dryad's got to be pretty rare, but they don't have a checkbox like the Great Crested Newt.

Honestly, I'm amazed neither of us screamed.

Gull - that was her name, or at least the short version - got over the surprise first and gave me a tentative little wave. "Um...hi? ...You can see me...right?"

"Erm...yes? I think so?" I waved back, only to realise that perhaps waving a pair of loppers at someone was not a friendly gesture and blush. "I mean...your youness? Are you a cosplayer or something?"

You know when you say something because you're desperately trying to convince yourself it's the truth? Yeah, that. Needless to say, Gull laughed - and that was what sealed the deal on what was already a very strange day, because even though she was roughly human shaped nothing mortal could have a laugh like that. I mean, that laugh made flowers bloom and put an extra two inches on every one of the bloody brambles I hadn't got to already.

Still, it broke the ice nicely. Which was handy, because once my brain had caught up to the situation I realised there was a whole bunch of questions I needed to ask with my surveying hat on, including the all important "which tree do we definitely have to not touch and what happens if a teenager carves a penis on it?"

It turned out that the first half of the question had ceased to be a problem well over a millennium ago. Gull's tree had once upon a time been a very nice oak that caught the eye of the local druidic types; the shrine-ette had been picked up by the Romans as a sacred spot when they came through, then it had been temporarily consecrated by some Christians who'd got lost on the way to Glastonbury, and as Gull put it once you've been deified and canonised by that many people enough divinity rubs off to give you really deep roots. That original oak was long gone, but as long as there was at least one plant within the patch of ground called Gullock Tyning Gull was fundamentally unkillable. She'd been worried a few times during the coal-mining era but by then even ragwort and bindweed had been enough, thank Erde.

There were still going to be Words with any knifey teenagers but more as a matter of principle than anything serious, and she promised it would go no further than spontaneous afternoons of litter picking. I was okay with this as a principle, especially if she was happy to extend it to dog walkers who failed to clean up and smokers who dropped the butts willy-nilly. If there's one thing I've come to understand working on public parks it's that they're almost always much improved by not having the public in them.

Having Gull to talk to certainly made the day go a lot faster, and not just because of the conversation. Once she understood what I was trying to do - and thank god she was wholeheartedly behind it once she got the idea even if it meant there were going to be diggers all over her grasslands for a bit - she was more than willing to extend a bit of divinity and show me where all the critters and plants on my list were hiding if at all present. She was happy that she got to play with the tablet for helping me; lacking such things as money or an address, the only technology Gull ever got her hands on was things left behind (hence the boombox discarded by a careless teenager), and while she could keep them working indefinitely she couldn't fix anything broken.

As the afternoon shadows lengthened I noticed Gull looking...wistful, for want of a better word. It seemed rude to ask - for all I knew it was some sort of dryad time-of-the-day thing - but it was hard to ignore the glances at me that went with it. After a while, and just in case I was going to need to fake being married to get out of any unexpected obligations, I gave in.

Her answer wasn't what I expected. "I've really been enjoying having someone to talk to, but...people like you, they don't normally see people like me, you know? And I know this isn't the first time you've been working here, so you're not just one of those unlucky people gifted with the Sight, which means...whatever it is about today that's made today work? It probably won't be here tomorrow."

She smiled then, but the sad sort that people smile when they're trying not to be sad. "I'd say that I'd miss you, but I'll see you around. Just you won't see me."

The park's nearly finished now - we're down to tidying up and adding Art - and Gull was entirely right. I've had hints now and again of something being a little bit more than the normal, a faint whisper of a voice or just 90s music on the wind, but I've not seen her since. I've been trying to commit science to it, trying to work out exactly what was special about that day - maybe it was just that it was that day, who knows?

Still. I have a friend who does stone carving as a hobby, and like I said - we're at the point where all we're doing to the park is adding Art. And, if it just so happens that this particular sculpture happens to be on a particular spot where an oak tree once stood, and if that sculpture happens to have a couple of niches that might have a certain offering-y feel about them well, these things just happen, don't they?

And if one of those offerings happens to be a solid mp3 player loaded up with 16Gb of music from the last thirty years, well...hopefully, if I'm very lucky, one day I'll hear a new terrible filk in the brambles.

[poisonouswritings]

Hello hello !

May i request some headcanons with the M4 (Felix, Anisa, Sage and Rime) receiving kisses from MC but it was a trap all along!

MC just wanted to cover their faces (and neck maybe 👀) with lipstick marks, and obviously, they don't realize t'ill someone point it out hehehe

Hehehe you got it

GN!Reader, jealousy because I haven’t done any jealous prompts yet and I find it fun, lipstick, smooch smooch smooch

Felix Escellun

You and Felix have been in a prank war for the last week. It's a relatively no-holds-barred situation (provided you're not getting each other hurt or anything), and the ultimate goal is to embarrass each other a bit.

On a day when you were wearing dark clothes, Felix decided to come up and tease you a bit, touching you all over and generally getting you going a bit.

And then ten minutes later at dinner Florian kindly pointed out that he clearly put a bunch of flour on his hands because now you're covered in handprints.

Bastard.

So you decide to do a bit of tit for tat. It's only fair right?

You ask Florian if he happens to have any suggestions for a lipstick that doesn't come off easy. Florian thinks about it for a second, smiles, and brings you out to the garden.

Do we know if Florian likes painting? I'm gonna say yes. I'm also gonna say he makes his own paints out of berry juice and other plants, because he wants to do his own shades and also it's more environmentally friendly

You get some deep purple juice and one of Scylla's spare brushes to paint your lips. It looks like normal lipstick.

You catch Felix about five minutes before dinner. Hook your fingers in the loops of his pants and pull him over and cover him in kisses. He's embarrassed squeaking a little but he sure as hell doesn't complain.

Once you're done you head into dining room trying to contain an evil smirk. Felix comes in a second later with his hair a little ruffled and his shirt a bit uneven and face and neck (and a bit of his collar) completely covered in deep purple lip marks.

Escell (who has not been told about the prank war) chokes a bit on his wine. Florian and Scylla (who have been told about it) try to hide their laughter.

Well, Florian tries. Scylla laughs openly.

(y'all would not believe how hard I had to resist making this a felix/MC/Rime polycule thing)

Anisa Anka

Okay so 

Roll with me here

Ayanna still doesn’t like you. But since she can’t get Anisa to outright dump you, she’s decided to force Annie into dates under the guise of ‘meet-ups with family friends’

Neither of you are happy about it but it’s about the only way you can get Ayanna off Anisa’s back for a bit. So usually once a week you’re forced to let your girlfriend go on what are basically dates. And yeah, you’re not really concerned about her falling for someone else. Your relationship is solid. But it’s still not the best feeling in the world. 

You complain to Saaros about it. They roll their eyes and say you that in Rivath, when you have something you make it clear to any on-lookers that it's yours. Ayanna should understand that. So quit backing down already, you big cowardly baby.

... well alright. Now you have to figure out the best way to that.

Later that afternoon you go to visit Felix and Sa- Felix are those hickeys??

'N-no, of course not! That big buffoon over there's *gestures vaguely at Sage* 'thought it would be hilarious to put leeches in my bed.' 'In my defense your scream was really funny >:3'

Alright these two are idiots BUT it gives you a good idea

The next morning is Anisa's meet-up, and since Ayanna is going along there's really no way of getting out of it. So today you go along to drop her off. You stop behind a big ol' potted plant for some cover and then

While wearing some bright blue lipstick

You smooch! Everywhere! And once she's sufficiently marked up and flustered and hair poofed, you give her butt a playful little tap-tap and nudge her along with an innocent smile and a wish of good luck

You also did not warn her you were doing it

Yeah that didn't go over well with Ayanna but she has stopped setting Annie up on dates so success!

Sage Lesath

Tulsi grabs your arm one day and says you need to come to the tavern with her and Sage.

Not exactly the usual way you get invited out but sure! 

Tulsi explains that the last couple of times they’ve been there, this person has been flirting with Sage and doesn’t seem to believe that he’s got a steady partner now. So the quickest way to nip it in the bud is for you to get involved. 

Seems like harassing assholes exist in this world too. So with an idea in mind you head over, wearing a nice layer of fiery red lipstick. By the time you get inside, Tulsi and Sage are already at a table, and there’s someone talking to Sage and getting just a little closer than you’d like. More to the point, Sage doesn’t seem to like it much either. 

So you walk over. Insert yourself in the middle of the conversation. Plop onto Sage’s lap and loop your arms around his neck. He’s surprised of course but gods knows he welcomes it. He loves when you’re dominant y’know.

I have a massive agenda for switch!Sage damnit

Anyways you cuddle up to him and give him a smooch. Then one on his cheek. Then on the other. Then his forehead. Then his neck, and you pair it with a little nip of your teeth. 

Sage is partially giggling because you’re being cute and a little ticklish, and partially purring because,, well,,, y’know.

By the time you pull away his face is covered in fiery red lipstick stains and his neck is littered with small bites. His cheeks are bright and glowing and he’s giggling like a dumb fool as he leans his forehead against the back of your shoulder because He Loves You So Much that it just makes him happy 

and normally Tulsi would be gagging a little at the display but this time she just finds it hilarious and cute 

And you successfully scared the annoying person off, congrats

And Sage doesn’t realize you’ve marked him up until he goes to the bathroom, and honestly?? he doesn’t even wipe it off because he likes everyone knowing he’s yours. 

Rime Varela

Redemption!Rime my deer

Okay okay okay so

Redemption. Rime is back in the Starsworn. He's struggling a little to adjust to it, being loved and trusted again. I think in the beginning especially he suffers a lot from imposter's syndrome.

He doesn't confide that in you. Doesn't want to worry you, doesn't want to acknowledge it, he hid things before when he was the captain and the only way he could be accepted is if he hides them now right?

You end up confiding in the others about how you're worried. Felix remembers how bad it was before, but neither of you can tell how that compares to how Rime is now.

Surprisingly it's Sage that makes a suggestion. He sneaks up from behind (tries to, his boots squeak a lot) and sets his hands on your shoulders and says, hey, you're overthinking it. You want to get the deer to quit overthinking things? You have to show him that he's allowed to not be the 'Choir Captain' when he's not on the job. Hell, if he'd cut that shit out all together he'd be a lot more tolerable-

Anisa points out that that's actually not a bad idea. Can't believe Sage of all people came up with it. Sage just shrugs and says he tried to knock it into Rime's head way back when but maybe it'll stick this time.

Anyways, you decide that a little pinch of embarrassment and good-natured ribbing might be a good approach. So you don some hot pink lipstick, track Rime down (he was reorganizing the cupboards because holy shit everyone else in this damn castle is a disaster), hop into the counter, hold his face between your palms, and give him a dozen over-the-top wet smooches. He tries to be flirty about it but he's a little shy too. It's such an over the top wholesome act of affection, y'know?

And then the other Starsworn come down and see him.

And then the other Statsworn's collective single brain cell lights up as they all have one (1) coherent thought

And then the other Starsworn just don't fuckin tell him

You're all eating dinner and the m3 are kicking each other under the table to not laugh. Sage suggests you all go out for coffee and pastries.

You hold Rime's hand and hug his arm the whole walk. None of you fuckin tell him. You're all horrible.

He doesn't find out until the baker points it out and lends Rime a mirror. Cue Rime hiding his face in his arms in mortification as the rest of you fucking lose it laughing. Rime says he hates you all, but he never stops holding your hand.

[pepsicup]

The Boob Thing

Bucky Barnes x Reader 1.5k words

Summary: There are things we do that they will never understand, especially a man like him. (semi smut, breast play, slight body worship, we love tiddies here)

Author note: this concept is from my vault that I wrote with a friend for a different fandom, I decided to repurpose it since it got archived. Not my best work since I'm trying to get back in the groove after writing Problems Of A Spaceman but whatever, enjoy! (I have the attention span of a cube of sugar so there are probably mistakes, I re-read my work all the time so it will be fixed)

Bucky cleared his throat to break the comfortable silence he came home to, attempting to gain her attention as subtly as he could. She was curled up on their bed with a small book, almost in the exact place where he left her, but...not completely the same way as before.

It was one of those quiet days where they could do absolutely nothing if they so wanted, but he did slip out to take care of a few things so he could spend the rest of it with her undividedly. She was so engrossed in reading that she hadn’t even notice he left and came back all in the same hour. Though he wasn't gone long, he found her in an even more natural lounging position that caught him off guard at the very sight.

"Doll?" his words were stunted by something hidden in his voice.

She hummed back in response, not registering his presence until the next thing he ask tore her focus away completely.

“Are you...feeling yourself up?” she peeked around her book at him standing in the doorway.

Bucky had an amused expression from the moment he walked in and while he’d been watching her for the last couple of minutes before speaking up. He's not ashamed to admit that he waited to announce his presence to see if it was going to end up becoming another thing he liked to watch, but it sadly wasn't. She was...well he had no clue what she was doing.

All that matters is it was something that was happening without him.

She wore a loose-fitting shirt, but had one of her hands slipped inside and resting laxly on her right breast. As Bucky stood there unnoticed, she unconsciously squeezed every few moments like it was no big deal. To him, it wasn't normal unless he was involved or if she had her other hand in her panties, luring him over with those pretty eyes.

It seemed like she was doing it just to do it.

She put her book down, marked the page so she could get back to it later and shifted so she was laying against the many pillows littering the bed. Her other hand came to sit on her abdomen as the other remained in its place.

“Just pla—” her fingertips dipped under the bunched-up hemline of the shirt, leaving her underwear on full display.

“You playin' with yourself without me, sweetheart?” Bucky walked over to the end of the bed and crawled up to her.

Once he was hovering over her, he didn't make any moves to touch and watched with an adorable curiosity, though adorable might not be the right word to use while he raked over her skin.

“No!” she giggled, trying to explain herself to a man from a different time, "it's just...entertaining?"

“Entertaining...?” he licked his lips, trying his best to pay attention. She ran her foot up the side of his thick thigh and hooked it on his hip lazily. This type of intimacy was normal for them, but there was that one thing that wasn’t.

Bucky rested his forehead on hers as they exchanged glances from her chest, where he could just see the outline of her hand, and back up.

"Yeah, they are nice to play with," she said innocently.

She placed her free hand on his beside them that pressed into the mattress. He pulled their interlocking hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles to hide a smirk at the words, keeping his lips against the soft skin.

“I know...” he wiggled his eyebrows.

She couldn’t help but laugh this time, "Not like that you dummy,"

Bucky snickered against the back of her hand as she continued to ramble on, “It's just something I do when I'm comfortable or relaxed...most of the time I don't even notice I'm doing it"

There wasn't a clear reason why she did it, sometimes it was sexual but it was also comforting to have something to hold or be held – it could even be the result of boredom. The mounds of flesh are coincidentally very squishy and anyone who owns a pair knew what she was talking about. Bucky did have quite the chest himself, but it wasn't as authentic as the real deal enough to understand.

“I still don’t get it” he said sheepishly, a humorous edge in his voice.

“Tell me what you don’t get, baby” She sighed, shaking her head at his ability to listen with any other organ except for his ears.

While he is distracted with the question, she pulled her hand out and unravelled theirs swiftly. He was pondered as she maneuvered her next movements carefully and made her move before he could even comprehend what was on his own mind. She positioned her hands to rest on top of his and slid them up her shirt to the untouched side of her chest. Her hand stayed firm on his as her bust filled his palm, he gaped down at her like it was the first time she’d ever done something like that.

"You're just asking for it, aren't ya?" he mused, the smirk kicking up the side of his mouth.

Bucky leaned in far enough that she witnessed his eye shift at the close proximity. She could tell he wanted to kiss her so badly, but his demeanour made it feel like he wanted to do a lot more. It still wasn't the priority, she was only trying to make him understand. She ignored the charming attempts to sway her and focused on urging his lower body with her leg to lay down beside her.

“What are ya tryin' to do now?” he planted himself like a tree so she couldn't move him.

“Shhh, let me show you what I mean... and behave yourself for once" she cocked her head pointedly.

He narrowed his eyes at her, all in good fun.

"Please...?" she added softly.

He grunted, “Alright”

Bucky plopped down in the crevice of her arm, halfway on top of her and remaining tangled between her legs where you could most often find him in one manner or another. He shifted until he found the right spot to lay his head and tuck his face into her neck without causing her discomfort, then slumping down on her anyway.

"How come've never seen ya do it before?" his warm hometown drawl melted into his muffled voice. That was the tell-tale signal that he was getting riled up and it went right over her head every single time. Not everyone is a hyper-observant supersoldier with a sensory reception level equivalent to a herd of African elephants during mating season. Once the accent comes out, it's game over.

"Because you usually have your hands up my shirt anyway, now shush"

He was already grinning like an idiot even before she encouraged him to squeeze the first time, and it only got wider from there. As she attempted to demonstrate what she meant, she closed her eyes to clear her mind so it would happen sincerely and without his influence. They laid there together, hands hidden by the fabric of an old shirt he let her pick from his closet, mimicking each other's movements until they inevitably synced up.

It wasn't even five minutes before he got impatient and started to place kisses where ever he could reach a few at a time, even getting to softly suck despite her warning. She had stopped guiding his hand after a while, letting him do it on his own and enjoying it in the process, it was so relaxing that she almost dozed off at one point.

He, on the other hand, was thinking the exact opposite because after he realized he had all the control, things went downhill fast for her. It could have been the crossed wires in his head or the miscommunication, he concluded that she was teasing him regardless of which it was.

"Do you get it n—"

Bucky popped his head up out of nowhere and surprised her with a kiss, laughing against her lips as she jolted at the sudden contact. He took the chance to move back over her and in between those legs where he belongs.

He pulled back once she ran out of breath and held her still, “I'm sorry, doll...it's jus' turnin' me on”

"Bucky…" she giggled

"You feel that...?" he ignored her as she ignored him, grinding his half-hard bulge against her inner thigh instead of listening. He showered her face with his lips while she squirmed under the covered thrusts, “I know ya like it, look…you love it”

“Bucky!” she broke into an even bigger fit.

He bit his beautifully full bottom lip as he looked from her face to her chest devilishly. He acted on the impure intent running rampant through his body before his cock could betray those thoughts with every pulse.

"I can’t help but get hard when you touch yourself like that…” he ran his hands up her torso. He pulled the shirt over the spot of his heated fixation and wetted his lips with hers again, “...I can make it even better”

He rushed out his whisper, “…we do it anyway, but it’s so fuckin' hot when you do it alone and try t’hide it from me...”

Bucky lowered his face to her chest and nuzzled thoroughly between the two mounds he pushed together. As he took in the scent of her skin, he fumbled his hand to squeeze one of them as he attacked the other with his enthusiastic mouth. Her top half was soaked from the progression of his sucking, licking and groping, but the feeling of it finished the job elsewhere.

“Bucky…” she whined.

That seemingly innocent, on her part, situation turned filthy in a matter of minutes. He hummed around her nipple at her changed tone and back to her lips to feel the noise against his.

"... you’re not gettin' out of it that easy" his muttering sentence escaped through the gaps in his kisses.

When he leaned up to take off his shirt, he gazed down at her flushed face beaming a smile. Her body was still begging for attention even when she tried to get away, but she didn't stand a chance. As usual, his influence diminished her willpower and he was able to claim another part of her entirely.

"Shhh..." Bucky lightheartedly moved his knees to either side of her to keep her pinned down, "...let me show ya how it's done, doll"

Even if he didn't fully understand what that thing was or what it meant, he sure knew how to use them.

© May 28th, 2021 by pepsicup

[molotovmetro]

my head is full of thoma nowadays so YEAH LETS GO

OKAY SO thoma with a s/o who gifts him a bunch of pretty flowers they picked on their adventures everyday??

why am i so bad at requesting :(

you're great at requesting bestie!! I hope you like this!! I'm kind of out of practice so I'm sorry if it's not great

Warnings: none

Thoma receiving flowers from his s/o

Thoma is always so quick to offer you his help or to give you anything you ask for, but he genuinely never expects something in return

When you return from your daily commissions and present him a small bouquet of flowers you carefully picked yourself, it gets hard to distinguish his face from his jacket as he bashfully rubs the back of his neck and smiles

He loves them! He's just better at giving gifts than receiving them and isn't sure how to react at first. He settles on planting a sweet, lingering kiss in your lips

Still, he has the urge to do something in return, so the next day he gifts you your favourite food as a thank you. He thought about getting you a big, extravagant bouquet to show you he appreciated it, but he doesn't want you to think he's trying to outdo you or anything so he decides against it

He places them in the prettiest vase (or anything even slightly resembling one) he owns and keeps them alive for as long as he can

When they begin unavoidably wilting, it's clear he's sad

So you gift him another bunch, if only just to see that sweet smile on his face again

It's such a beautiful sight, one you never grow tired of. It's not long before he'll find his flowers replaced with fresh ones every day

[heeliopheelia]

𝕃𝕀𝕋𝕋𝕃𝔼 𝔻𝕆𝕍𝔼 𓆹

chapter one — chapter two

You set the bunch of peonies aside, ready to put them back in water. You took a hold of the bucket and went to the back room to fill it with water. You didn't notice the doorbell ringing and just as you went back you noticed a young male looking over the flowers in your store. You set the bucked on the counter and wiped your hands on your jeans.

"Hi, can I help you?" You finally asked the customer.

What you definitely did not expect was to be greeted by such beautiful face this early in the morning. Your eyes widened slightly when he approached you and you straightened your posture as he stopped by the counter. From this close distance you could see how round and shiny his eyes actually were, and even noticed his cute pointy teeth.

"Hi," he greeted back. "My friends just got engaged, so I'm looking for some flowers to congratulate them."

"That's cute," you commented without thinking and blushed furiously when he nodded his head with a smile.

The worst part about working in a flower shop was overcoming your shyness. Interacting with so many people on a daily basis wasn't something you were used to, but after you dropped out of college to pursue your dream as a florist, you knew you'd have to get used to such encounters.

You cleared your throat and averted your gaze away from him to prevent yourself from further embarrassment. "Uhm, did any of the flowers catch your attention or are you looking for something with a special meaning?"

He scratched the back of his neck, his eyes scanning the flowers again.

"I don't really know anything about flowers, so I think I'll leave them to you," he laughed quietly and you nodded sheepishly, nervously playing with your fingers entangled behind your back.

"Okay, then do you mind telling me what kind of a person she is? That would make it easier for me to go for the right vibe," you giggled, finally gathering the courage to look at him again. A blush covered your cheeks again when you noticed his eyes were still planted on you, and didn't miss the way that his lips curled up in a pretty smile.

"She's... She's bright, always cheerful and smiling," he said after a short moment of thinking, leaning over the counter and making your heart jump in you chest. "A very big-hearted person. Oh, and she loves pink."

"She sounds like a wonderful person," you said, a small smile appearing on your lips as you turned around to the newly delivered flowers on your back counter. You quickly came back to him with a bunch of pink tulips.

"What do you think of them? I got them this morning," you asked the boy, showing him the flowers. "They mean wishing well and happiness."

The boy nodded, not even hesitating on that one. "Yeah, I like them. You can go ahead with these ones, they're pretty."

His words made you smile and you nodded back, picking up the prettiest flowers from the bundle before setting the rest of them aside. You grabbed the wrapping paper and rolled it out on the counter, your fingers working quickly on the packaging.

"How long have you been working here?" He suddenly asked, the curiosity getting the better of him. He leaned his chin on his palm and watched as you carefully rearranged the tulips.

You glanced at him, heart picking up on its pace. His face looked somehow familiar but you couldn't pinpoint it nowhere.

"Oh, I just begun my second year actually," you answered, skillfully working the wrapping paper. "Left the college to open my own business. It felt like the best decision at that time and I'm really glad I did it."

You didn't really know what made you open up to a stranger like that, finding it rather strange since you usually avoided such confrontations. Your face flushed again as you realized that he probably was only trying to make a small talk, not actually being interested in your personal life.

"Good for you," he said with a beaming smile and you couldn't help but smile back at him. "I always admire people who follow their dreams."

"What do you do for living?" You asked, enjoying the newfound confidence.

The boy shifted slightly, an amused smile stretching his perfectly arched lips.

"I'm a musician."

You raised your eyebrow in curiosity. "Well, are you any good?"

His laughter made you feel warm inside, the pleasant sound filled the small flower shop in an instant.

"I guess it's for you to verify."

You giggled at his teasing and it was his turn to feel butterflies erupting in his stomach. The quiet R&B music played from the speakers hung on the walls and he realized that he hasn't felt as relaxed in the past three months as did right now, something about you making the boy feel so comfortable.

You really tried to drag out the bouquet making for as long as you could. After adding the small finishing touches and cutting the ribbon, you couldn't help but feel disappointed when you placed the ready tulips in front of him.

"So, what do you think?" You asked him, anxious of him not liking the bouquet as much as you did. Your hesitance immediately washed away when his face lit up with a bright smile, eyes scrunching up so prettily.

He nodded enthusiastically. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much. It's literally perfect."

You cashed him out and handed him the bouquet. A cold chill ran down your spine when your fingertips accidentally brushed over his. You quickly jerked your hand away and blushed for the god knows what time this morning, tucking some stray hair that fell out of your ponytail behind your ear nervously.

He was almost by the door when he turned around and asked, "Can I ask for your name?"

You smiled and nodded your head. "It's (y/n)."

His face lit up with a grin again. "I'm Sunghoon. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, (y/n)."

And with that he left the shop, making you feel regretful of letting him go this easily. You turned around with a sigh, planning on going back to sorting the delivered flowers when the doorbell caught your attention again.

You looked over your shoulder, heart pounding in your chest when you spotted Sunghoon walking inside again. You turned to him fully and before you could say anything, he beat you to it.

"Would you like to give me your number?"

↬ Masterlist

↬ Synopsis: After finishing the tour, the last thing Park Sunghoon expected was having his heart stolen by the shy florist on the very same day of his homecoming. While bonding over his friend’s wedding, the two of them, even if worlds apart, realize that they understand each other in the way that nobody else did. Will y/n handle the heartbreak that accompanies the handsome bassist on his ever step? Or will she realize that loving him might cost a little too much?

↬ a/n: i'm so sorry but it's not proofread bcs i literally wrote that five minutes ago... but i promise i'll do it tomorrow and edit the mistakes if there are any <3

↬ Taglist (open): @abdiitcryy @theclawofaraven

[julyarchives]

Come With Me || (M)

Your boyfriend Wooseok tries to convince you to move in with him with a very compelling argument.

→ A/n: Wooseok x Female Reader

→ Genre: Smut

→ Words:  2.2K

→ Contains: female receiving oral; squirting; fingering; male masturbation

→ A/n: This was very interesting to write and we just love good Wooseok smut, so we hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as we did writing it! Special thanks to the awesome blog that requested this story, @lyswoowife! 🥰😉

It was the third time that week you had a very flustered Wooseok dropping by your shared place with an acquaintance. He'd show up, stay with you for a few hours, have some cuddles, and make out involved, and then he'd leave, looking a bit disappointed even if you invited him to stay over.

Today was no different, only this time you invited him over. Your roommate left for the weekend and you had the apartment all to yourself, so why not share with your cute loving boy. Wooseok showed up with a small bag of clothes and the same distressed look as usual lately. You cheerfully kissed him and he tossed his bag on the couch in order to hold you. Tiptoeing to kiss him was usually annoying but his bright smile as you pulled back struggling to stay up made it worth it.

"So, what's the plan?", he asked, following you into the living room.

"I thought we should catch up on the series from last week. We're getting behind their releases", you said, still holding his hand.

Wooseok nodded and pulled you close for a quick kiss before letting go and sitting on the carpet to have access to your computer on the center table. You got comfortable on the small couch and he sat back on the floor, back to the couch and arms holding the leg you had down.

You stayed that way for about an hour, only talking to point out things on the screen. Your fingers found their way to his hair, playing with it gently, a smile forming on your lips when you felt him sigh and lean into your touch, his grip on your leg tightening. The screen showed a couple sharing a laugh before getting into their home and so the sitcom went on. You heard Wooseok whispering a choked "fuck it" and turning abruptly. Your fingers fell from his hair when he turned enough to kneel in front of you, almost sitting back on his heels.

"I want you to move in with me", he was out of breath, eyes wide and he rushed out the words in a clear spur of confidence.

"I- what?", you sat up straight, legs dangling from the couch now. Wooseok took it as an invitation to move in between them, his hands resting on your thighs.

"Think about it, Y/N", he was breathing heavily, nervous, and you felt it too. The question was too sudden. "We work so well together and I don't want to keep having to drop you off after a great day".

"Is that why you've been acting weird lately?", you couldn't help but ask, "because you wanted to ask me to move in with you?".

"Yeah, you know how good I am at taking initiative", Wooseok chuckled, planting a small kiss on your arm, guiding your hands to his hair before dropping them to your thighs again. You opened your mouth to say something back but he adjusted himself to be straighter, his hands now traveling up and down your thighs. "Before you answer, let me convince you, Y/N".

He had a small smile on his lips, his eyes looking at you up and down, even if it took a few more seconds where his hands were caressing your thighs. Stopping abruptly at his request, you sat forward, making his hands go closer to the top of your thighs. His hands gripped it a bit harder as if on instinct and he bit his lips.

"Not quite how I imagined myself asking you but on my knees in front of you is better than what I planned".

"You had a plan to convince me to move in with you?", you raised an eyebrow at him, smiling at his antics.

"Hm, I did. But instead of saying a bunch of things, maybe I can show you my appreciation for you".

You watched him smile smugly at you, even if you were sure he was still nervous about his request. Your hands moved to his cheeks, knowing full well how his mind worked and therefore knowing what he wanted right now. Wooseok leaned in for a kiss, which you complied eagerly. It was as sweet as it was desperate, his lips urgent against yours and you couldn't help giving him small nibs on his bottom lip.

He groaned lightly and his hands started wandering, squeezing all over you and feeling you slowly. You bit your lip at the sight of his face, a concentrated look on his face as if he wanted to memorize the feeling of you. When his hands found your chest, you moaned, his hands almost covering your breasts from how big his hands are. His thumbs played with your nipples hurriedly and you dragged him for another kiss.

He didn't stop there and quickly moved his right hand to your clothed core, fingers moving teasingly at your slit, not exactly rubbing it but applying enough pressure to get you wet way too quick. You whined against his lips and you felt his proud smirk, his other hand gripping more firmly on your breast. Suddenly Wooseok dropped his head, kissing your neck and even leaving small hickeys, trailing down to where his hand was before quickly lowering your shirt so your breasts were exposed to him. His mouth continued to kiss your chest until it got to your nipples, licking and sucking at them eagerly, taking turns at each one.

The hand on your core rubbed down harder, making you feel more of the friction to which your hips bucked up on the couch on instinct. Wooseok looked up to you with a sleazy smile, exposing how his tongue was working on your buds and you moaned, watching intently.

"If I put my fingers inside your panties, how wet will I feel you right now?"

"What's - oh, what's gotten into you?", you tried to ask but he applied more pressure on you and you almost lost track.

"Humour me, baby. Answer me", Wooseok hummed but watched you intently, as if trusting the boundaries of his newfound confidence.

"So wet", you said breathlessly. He took this time to press his forehead against yours and you noticed how his breathing was as irregular as yours. "Want you to feel it for yourself".

Cursing under his breath, Wooseok wasted no time in detaching himself from you and pulling your shorts and panties down at once, letting it pool at your feet. While you moved a bit to quick them out of your ankles, you noticed him palming himself against his somewhat loose jeans and groaning low on his throat.

When you were completely free from your clothing below your waist, he placed his hands against your knees and motioned for you to open your legs, not once forcing nor manhandling you. Ever the sweetheart, you thought with a smile. You opened it even if a little shy and his reaction was worth it, Wooseok gasped and hurriedly placed a finger on your slit, moving it up and down slowly to gather your juices in it. His eyes were deep and it was your turn to gasp when he placed the finger on his lips, sucking it and humming.

He moved fast and you could only brace yourself against the couch before his mouth was on your folds, kissing it and giving it small teasing licks. You whined and tugged lightly at his hair, a silent plea for him to not tease. Thankfully Wooseok got the message and started to suck at your clit, his tongue occasionally licking at your folds. His finger moved to your entrance and you gasped, his ministrations making you desperate for his finger.

"P-please", you said brokenly. You looked down and he was staring at you, licking his lips, "I need your fingers in me, please".

"Anything for you", he looked smug and it only made him more attractive.

He went back down on you with more vigor, tongue now tracing delicious patterns on your clit while his finger slid inside of you with no resistance. Wooseok moved it for a bit before taking his finger out completely. He sucked hard on you at the same time he placed two fingers inside of you, moving them in an intense rhythm.

You were a mess and couldn't keep quiet, all the while saying how good it feels and cursing under your breath. Of all the times you two shared a moment like that, this was different, way more intense and you were loving it. Soon enough you could feel a wave of intense pleasure coming up and you warned him, only getting more fervorous sucks and licks in return. You came with a shout and bucking against his mouth, riding your high on his mouth, tongue, and fingers.

Wooseok didn't stop his ministrations, letting you use him for your own pleasure. When you came down from your high, he was still at it and you shimmied, trying to get away from him.

"I'm sensitive", you giggled even if it was still pleasurable.

"Is it hurting?", Wooseok looked up at you, your juices coating his mouth and chin. You motioned 'no' and he hummed, his fingers never stopping. "Can you do one more for me?". His question took you off guard and you nodded before you could process it.

Smiling, he went straight back to business, mouth now gently licking and sucking your pussy while he timidly inserted one more finger inside of you. He crooked his fingers up slightly and your body felt a strong electric wave. You moaned loudly, gasping and gripping his hair hard. Wooseok moaned against you at that and you heard fumbling noises. Looking down, you could see he managed to free his dick from his pants and was currently jerking himself off while eating you out and fingering you.

The image was a bonus to the amazing pleasure you felt, your body was tingling and you couldn't keep your eyes open for much longer. His fingers were long and hit your g spot perfectly on each thrust and you were already seeing white. It almost felt like you never came down from your high, your orgasm picking up from where you thought it ended and you knew you'd cum soon. Your body was acting on its own, hips now almost face fucking Wooseok while his hand on his dick sped up, he was clearly getting off on you losing control on his mouth and fingers.

Suddenly it was all too much, your body started trembling hard, your hips moving widely and it felt like you were about to pee but only you knew it wasn't that. The small part of your mind that still worked perfectly shouted at you to let go and you did, orgasming a second time but this time way stronger than last time.

You could almost see your juices flowing down more, dripping a bit from his face and onto the floor while you came desperately. Wooseok moved back to watch your cum drip from you for what seemed like endlessly. He shouted a curse and came as well, his fingers at were inside of you now moving against the big amount of cum running down from your pussy.

The silence that followed was not awkward at all. You were shocked by what happened and apparently so was Wooseok. He cleaned his hands on his jeans and tucked himself back into his pants. Getting up, he blew you a kiss from a distance and you wondered if he wouldn't kiss you because of the mess you made out of his face. He vanished from sight and you heard the bathroom sink running and the sounds of washing, confirming your theory. Wooseok came back a few moments afterward with a clean and damp towel, cleaning you gently and trying to clean the couch you ruined. You laughed weakly when he frowned at it because it was clearly stained.

"Ok, here's the plan: tell your roommate I got too excited playing some game and dropped a whole cart of juice on the couch. Deal?", he said in a conspiratory way and you two giggled.

"Come here, silly", you opened your arms for him and he held you, back to his position kneeling on the floor.

"So… I made you squirt, huh", he looked down at you with a smirk and you laughed out loud.

"Oh god, don't let this get to your head", you affectionately kissed him on the lips. "But yeah, holy shit, baby, that was amazing".

"You know, we can do that every day if you move in with me…", Wooseok looked at you almost innocently despite everything that happened so far.

"I knew my answer before you tried to convince me but am I glad I waited to see what you were going to do", you laughed and got up, adjusting your clothes before taking his hand so he could stand up.

"Oh? And you're gonna tell me your answer?", Wooseok smiled at you in an anxious way and your heart clenched.

"Of course I'll move in with you, silly!", you almost jumped into his arms, holding him too tight.

His answer came in the form of kisses. He kissed your mouth, your nose, your cheeks, everywhere he could find. You giggled and he laughed delighted.

"Now, how do I know you'll keep your promise and that this wasn't just luck?", you smirked at him.

"Hm", Wooseok looked at you in fake thinking and you already started to move him backward towards your bedroom. "I guess we'll have to try again".

[bansheeoftheforest]

i'm sending separate asks for separate ideas for the whole world i ended up involuntarily building for your summoner au so it doesn't overwhelm either of us. no pressure! i just can't get this stuff out of my head so here we go.

eldrich entities are already supposed to be something we can't really comprehend so yeah. nobody knows how they're born or created. cultists and people who study about them have a couple theories, but no one can really be sure where they come from. but good news is that there's no proof that humans can't become eldrich entities for some reason, so it's possible that henry might end up evolving into one someday.

and they can look like anything. huge mass of tentacles is just one of the eldrich looks. there are beings that look like just a lot of insect legs. there are beings that are just an inexplicably big satient plant. there are beings that are straight up a lot of fog. but most of them are very uncomfortable and uncanny to look at, and don't appear to be anything close to the normal version of what they look like. you get it. uncanny valley but for non-human things.

(next ask i'll talk about the realms and dimensions because adhd brain won't shut up about them.)

-🕷️

Hai spider bby I. Not only put up answering this ask because I thought it would be more taxing in my brain than it actually was, but I also forgot about it because it got buried in other asks I am SO SORRY <3<3

Anyways! Yes! Most of my inspo for what has become so far of the eldritch is just... Straight up Hermaeus Mora from Skyrim. Ink-like fog with a bunch of eyes and tentacles that can and will impale you if given the reason. While Eldritch gods aren't necessarily gods, ergo their other name being "horrors", I believe they would have specific things they would keep themselves to. Like one Eldritch horror would focus on plants and general life, one would focus on darkness, misery, and death, etc. Goes on and on, they mostly pick and choose what they like as if it would be an hobby, some are just in general and do multiple different things depending on the time. I love the thought of Henry being able to, one day, being able to transcend and turn into an eldritch god one day. I bet Dadritch would be very proud, like watching their kid graduate <3

(also just to be clear i am not discouraging any of your thoughts my brain just started rambling extra ideas <3)

[muwi-translates]

Collar x Malice Short Story: Inside the Box

Christmas Shiraishi-centric short story.

HEAVY SPOILERS. Only read this AFTER you have finished the first game.

**Please don’t move this translation or claim it as your own.**

Generally speaking, the thing called ‘Memories’ is not clear.

Unlike memory as information, it has no fixed form. Its content can depend on the person.

Sometimes sad memories turn into hatred, and happy memories sometimes turn into delusions.

The human brain can't be trusted. It can automatically rewrite itself for its own benefit.

I, who did not require ‘Memories’ —— surely it is the same for Shiraishi Kageyuki the human.

◇ ◇ ◇

This was when I lived in the ‘Facility’.

Every day, every minute and every second, I lived like a machine.

For me, who knew how to suppress pain and happiness as soon as I understood how, all I had was ‘Curiosity’.

The vast amount of knowledge grew with each passing day. Memories of the outside world were written in letters. Like events of a distant world, even the difficult to read special books were simply ‘Unknown Stories’ to me.

I thought that my desire to know things defined my personality. However, when I think about it now, it may have been a desire planted in me as part of my training. Training to become a perfect doll.

"Christmas. The festival celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, coming from the word "Christ mass", it takes the form of many activities in Japan—...”

Inputting information was simple. However, I was also trained how to ‘Use Memory’. If a huge amount of information stayed on the surface of the brain, it will become confused, so if it is not necessary, there was no need to take out the memory sealed in the deeper layers.

(Gifts are put under a tree, and you gather with your family around the dinner table…)

Perhaps this information will also be stored in a box that is rarely retrieved from.

Of course I knew the basics, it was only carefully investigated because it was related to other information.

(Giving love to each other...for what...?)

The outside world is full of as many far-fetched, mysterious customs as mountains. If you had questions about everything, it would only make the processing slower. But this time, I was not sure why I was so interested in this subject.

"Are you interested in Christmas?"

——Suddenly hearing a sound coming from behind, my shoulders moved unconsciously.

Points are deducted if you are seen reacting. I immediately pretended to be calm and looked back, only to see an unfamiliar face.

“Your hand, it’s been paused on this page for a while now.” 

What peered at me was a pair of eyes full of serenity, transparent no matter where you looked — like glass balls.

"No, I'm very sorry. I memorised it without any problems."

"I’m not blaming you for anything. I know you have good scores here."

He was a high-ranking person who has inspected this ‘Facility’ many times. 

But his appearance did not match his position, with his youthful face. He appeared to be younger than me.

I remembered his name, because it was necessary for me to do so.  —Mikuni Rei. He was a human who worked with those who ‘control’ us.

“I’m interested why you, someone that’s like a precision machine, showed interest in ‘that’, that’s all.”

"I didn't become interested... I just had questions."

"Like?"

“......”

What was the meaning of his response? Was I being tested, or was he being whimsical? Either way, I had no right to not reply.

"Why do humans, who aren’t related to that religion, choose to give each other love on that day? What for?”

"...I think there are many other things similar to it but..."

"Yes. But... after reading this information, I think for the average person, this part seems to be more special than others."

As I finished speaking, he— Mikuni Rei’s eyes became slightly dim for some reason. Careful observation of the facial expression can lead to an answer.

【Pity】

A boy in the ruling class felt compassion for a stray cat trapped in a box.

A sense of superiority, a desire for control, and empathy. There were many times where I wanted to give it a name, but it was difficult to understand because I was immature.

"Human feelings... cannot be explained by theory alone. If you feel special, it must be because it touches your heart.... If the other person is the object of your envy and admiration, they are not bound by rights or wrongs."

Thoughts continued to sound as the words continued.

If ‘we’ have feelings for a particular thing, in his viewpoint, it is not a good thing. However, he agreed.

“Why do you treat me like a human?”

“Eh?”

Asking questions is normally prohibited. But now my curiosity had prevailed. This was a serious error. There should be no more curiosity beyond the rules.

"You said these things about a pawn, things impossible to explain with theory."

"...You are right. I don't know why. It's just..."

 After speaking, his bewildered gaze stayed on me, and then he spoke unwaveringly.

 "Number 14. I... don't want you to be unhappy."

...At that time, he smiled.

But what kind of smile it was— I can’t remember.

Pitiful? Loathing? Hateful? Kindly? 

I don’t remember. I can't remember.

Because it's stored in a box that can't be taken out, deep and deep inside.

◇ ◇ ◇

In my dream, someone is calling my name.

 “————Shiraishi-san.”

Did I always have this human-sounding name? I want to lie and tell myself that this is true.

But it's impossible. Even my name, which was supposed to be just a code, has become so dear to me.

“Oi, Okazaki! There’s no room for you here for dinner!”

"How mean. But it's okay, I'll eat some from Mineo-san’s.”

“It’s NOT okay! No one told you to come!”

“I’m sorry, Enomoto. ...I was the one who called Okazaki here today.”

“Geh! Yanagi-senpai?! When did you fall this guy’s wily ways—!?”

"His voice was so loud we heard it from inside, obviously he’ll attract attention. Yanagi-san probably didn’t want to disturb the neighbors."

“Yanagi-san let me in when I kept saying ‘I’m so cold… I’m so lonely…’, fufu, he’s so nice.”

“So you just left Yoshinari outside? Talk about pitiful…”

“I'll bring him a souvenir later. It's food that Yanagi-san and Ichika-chan made together. It'll definitely be delicious."

“I don’t know if it’ll suit your tastes but… Ah, but Yanagi-san’s food, I promise it’ll move you! It’s definitely not inferior to food you’ll find at high-end restaurants.”

"Why does the stupid cat look so proud?"

"It looks good thanks to Hoshino being particular about the arrangement."

“Yanagi-senpai…! I’m getting a little jealous watching you two compliment each other, please stop it!!”

Ah, so noisy. Completely unproductive dialogue. There’s no calculation and no falsity, the boring everyday that I like.

When did I get used to this warmth and treat it as part of my everyday?

While I was thinking in a daze, Ichika-chan reached out to me.

“Shiraishi-san, come here. The party has already begun."

——Party?  ……Is that so? Has it started?

"These were all made with everything we had. Let's have a good meal today."

 ——Fufu, as usual, Yanagi-san takes care of others like this.

“......Though I really don’t understand what’s so good about a bunch of us adults coming together.”

 ——Although that was what Sasazuka said, he also stayed behind to join in.

"Hey, don't stand there in a daze! You’re the protagonist today!"

 ——Hm? Did Enomoto-kun just call me ‘you’?

“I heard Ichika-chan is giving you a present, right?” 

——Even Okazaki is here… Fufu, he must have come in by force.

"Yes. It’s a wonderful gift I prepared with everyone."

I took a box from Ichika-chan who was smiling as she spoke.

I felt strange rather than happy. I was looking right at Ichika-chan, instead of looking down.

Yanagi-kun patted my head, and it also seemed to feel very big. No, maybe it's because I have shrunk.

Thin limbs, short hair. I am the same age as when I talked to ‘Him’ about Christmas.

(Ah. Is this… a dream?)

It seems I dream too much at Christmas.

"But Ichika-chan. I haven't prepared a gift."

"No, Shiraishi-san. We’re...returning you what you gave us."

“...? What I gave you?”

 "Yes. You gave us… a lot. It's only natural that we want to return the favour."

“I see… so this is what it means… to exchange gifts…”

"Yes. We want to share it, because we cherish each other. Please open it, and take a look."

“Okay.”

I slowly opened the box, and inside was——、

 ◇ ◇ ◇

When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar scenery.

This was their base, called the ‘Detective Agency’. It also became a place I could feel comfortable as well. 

“Ah, Shiraishi-san, you’re awake?”

A pair of eyes I seem to always see somewhere, someplace, were looking at me. Crystal clear—like glass balls. 

“Ichika-chan…? Ah, huh? Where’s... the present box…?” 

"? Fufu, it's rare to see you half-awake. If you sleep in a place like this, you’ll catch a cold. Are you going to the office to stay overnight?"

I realized the reality as my consciousness gradually returned from my awakening. 

That’s right. The collar—in order to protect herself from those who had declared to ‘pick her up’, she had taken refuge here with her brother.

The deadline announced by Adonis was approaching soon. In order to make her forget this fact temporarily, I had been talking to them about Christmas. When I thought about the gift she gave—and the only gift I could make, I fell asleep.

(Truly... the ‘Heart’ is so difficult to understand. I… must have been scared to have a dream like that.)

 —Everything will end soon.

That smile of his I had gently stored away was blacked out. 

The contents of the boxes I had received from her and everyone had been badly damaged and dirtied.

But I decided not to regret it, even if I was scared or in pain.

Because I got the most precious gift in the world.

"Ichika-chan...Thank you."

"Eh?"

"You taught me my first Christmas, right? So, thank you."

"What are you talking about? The real fun starts from now on."

"...Fufu, yeah."

In a few days, we won’t be able to greet Christmas as we promised. Regardless of what happens, it will only make you sad.

Even if I understand that, I want to see it. I don't want to give up. I want to make my wish come true.

 This is certainly not a sad story.

I, who had received such a present, could not be unhappy. 

Even if I get it dirty with my own hands, this warmth will not disappear.

There’s no reasoning. It’s because I’m human. ...Because I am special.

A shining, sparkling gift for me, who was supposed to be called Number 14.

An opened box filled to the brim with tender memories.

[marvinswriting]

Gut feeling

Prompt: no prompt in this one buddies, just check out bear's borrower!janis au. Like my g/t mg au its something i thought about a lot but never officially put down anywhere, but she did and you fucking bet im gonna write it

This is a long one boys, and there's still more i wanna write lmfao

Think about everything you know about borrowers-

-and throw it out the fucking window.

Yep, fuck your stereotypes. I'm Janis, and yeah I guess your right about the whole tiny-people-who-live-in-walls-and-steal. You're also creepily accurate with your borrower's code (so I wanna know who blabbed. Probably Gretchen, god. I always wonder where she was before this house). I'm sidetracked. Other then that, you guys got it all wrong. 

We are very much aware of the concept of not all humans wanna kill or harm borrowers. Thank you very much. 

We just know most of them do.

And we aren't as rare as you may think. Lots of humans know about borrowers, and you all think we're a dying species or a myth. No. We're just good at what we do, thank you. The goal is to live undetected. It's safer that way.

We also don't live totally alone, isolated in walls. Well, some of us do, and some of us wish we did. (Me, it's me, I hate my roommates.)

I live with Gretchen and Kevin. Won't call them friends, because they're not. We aren't close enough. We keep each other around because we'd go insane without the interaction from others. A borrowers life can be boring and isolated.

Its the total opposite of a human's. When the owners of the house sleep, we're awake doing food runs. When the owners of the house are awake, we're hiding away, tucked in bed.

And for a long time that worked. But then something changed. I think the owners of the house called it 'the school year ended'? Now the boy, Damian- from what we've gathered he's our age. But who knows, it's not like we can just go up and meet him. He definitely seems to be the most sympathetic one of the family. 

The dad kills any fucking bug without even getting a good look, so like- don't get caught with him (not that you wanna get caught with any of them). 

The mom watches a lot of gory sci-fi shows that always end up with the main character in some type of experimental facility so we don't trust her. 

Damian just hides in his room, playing music and singing along. I like it, its harder for us to be heard that way. 

The final member of the household is the fucking cat. Her name is Ariel which is supposedly a reference to some princess, but the only royal she is is a royal pain. Little bitch almost killed me once. 

I'm so off track though. 

Apparently, this 'school year' is over, and now Damian is home all the time. He doesn't have to get up early to leave so he's opted to not sleeping at night at all. Which is just great for us. He doesn't often leave his room, but Gretch, Kevin, and I have to be a lot more careful often resulting in us grabbing a lot less.

I glance around my 'bedroom'. Through the years I like to think it's grown to be decorated nicely. Unlike my two roommates, I pride myself in my living space. I spend most of my time here, so why not. Yeah, I have the necessities, but I also have other things like plants and makeshift art supplies. In the corner of my room is what you could call a bed and a bottle cap nightstand. There's a piece of a mirror hanging. We all found mirror shards and took them, and might I say life hasn't quite been the same since. 

We don't really look at ourselves that often, there aren't many reflective surfaces to do so. Yeah, I'd catch my face staring back at me in my water, or on a shiny surface, but it was never as clear as the mirror. As I look right now, I just look stressed.

Pretty accurate.

I've got a weird feeling about tonight.

"We need food."

"No shit Gretchen." 

Gretchen and I are sitting in our combined space, waiting for Kevin. I'm hesitant to call it a living room because it hardly looks lived in. There are four beer cap chairs (and three of us, it's fucking stupid- I know) a pizza saver as a table, and a bunch of miscellaneous items that haven't found a home yet.

"Hubbards are asleep." Kevin walks out from where he was keeping watch. "The kids light is still on and I couldn't locate the cat, are we sure we want to go out tonight."

"We need food," Gretchen repeats herself.

"We don't have much of a choice," I say, shoving makeshift grappling hooks and double-sided tape into my satchel, and grabbing another bad for food. "We gotta make a big run tonight. We can't guarantee a day by day flow anymore, Damian has to unpredictable of a sleep schedule."

Gretchen makes a noise of agreement, packing up her own things.

Kevin is still peaking out of the exit into the household, worriedly. 

"Janis are you down for that trip tonight? You look stressed as fuck."

I bitterly. "Yeah, I'm just- tired. And hungry. And quite frankly I may be coming down with something."

"They stay away from me," Gretchen says, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Ready?"

"Let's just grab food and go," Kevin says before spinning around to look at me. "Only food, Janis."

I nod. No point in trying to defend myself when he's not wrong. I have an awful habit of finding something I could use for art and going out of my way to grab it.

But we have priorities tonight. 

We file out into the household, all pressing against the wall. The exit we used lead right to the floor. Its a debate on which was riskier, but I for one, preferred to be higher. Further from the cat and a better view of everything. Kevin mumbled something about keeping watch and made his way over to the island table the Hubbard had. He pulled out his climbing supplies and made his way up as Gretchen and I continued our trek across the floor, waiting to reach the kitchen to get to higher grounds. 

"It hasn't been this hard since we all moved here." Gretchen says quietly, but I understand.

"Yeah." I whisper.

We all moved into this house together maybe two ago. We tell time by the day and the decor around the house. Humans often put of decorations for holidays and it's like marking points though the year. My least favorite holiday happens during the summer. I don't know the name but everything turns red white and blue and there's tons of loud booms and explosions. It kills my ears and sends me into sensory overload every time.

 We've pasted two Christmases. I don't know much about the holiday, but its the most decorated, with fancy trees and cookie crumbs everywhere. A borrower's dream. But it wasn't like that now. It was hot and sticky, food got left out on the counter less. We haven't eaten anything more then the minimum to survive, if you don't count yesterday where we didn't eat at all. 

I was so lost in my thought for food, I almost didn't hear it. Kevin calling out, the patter of paws on the floor-

-oh shit. 

I whirl around just in time to have a paw whacked with my side. 

Cat.

There was no claw, Ariel is here for a game of cat and mouse obviously. Roles already clear. 

That didn't make it hurt less though.

I groan skidding across the floor, curled into myself. 

Gretchen shrieks and runs away, the cat's interest on me.

She left me for fucking dead.

Wow.

Rude, but unsurprising.

I'd fucking bolt too. I wonder if Kevin ran as well. 

My heart stops as the truth of the statement catches up to me. 

I'm gonna die.

I'd like to say there's so much I still haven't done, or that my life had only just begun. But that wasn't true. I live to borrow another day and borrow to live another day. But I was content like that, I don't wanna die.

Ariel stalks towards me again. I sit up and push my self backward, only to find a wall.

Fuck.

I can see Gretchen duck back into the wall out of the corner of my eye, Kevin with her.

To be fair, I'd do the same. I can't bring myself to be too mad.

"Hey, kitty," I say softly, holding my hands out in defense. The cat sits down in front of me, eyes wide and pupils dilated, ready to play. "Ariel, right? Good kitty. I'm not a toy."

Ariel doesn't seem to get the message as she lifts her paw.

No!

"Hey, whatcha got there girl?" A voice comes from behind the cat. 

My blood runs colder than it already was. 

That was to loud to be Gretchen or Kevin, to masculine to be the mom, not deep enough to be the dad-

Hands pull Ariel away despite a mew of protest, leaving me totally exposed in the open. 

Put the cat back I'd rather die that way.

My eyes connect with the boy of the household- Damian. His gaze travels up and down my small form and he lets out breathy 'what?'.

Once again, I know not all humans are bad, but you try not even being four inches call, curled up against a wall with a full ass living moving human standing there. It's a lot.

Damian kneels down so he isn't towering over me but it doesn't feel any better. I push myself closer to the wall, ignoring the pain in my side.

"Are- I uh-" Damian seems as equally at a loss as I am. 

Don't worry buddy, I didn't think I'd be getting caught tonight either.

"Are you okay?"

I can't exactly say I've been caught before, so I don't exactly know the 'this is a bad guy' red flags, but asking about my well being probably isn't one of them. 

"Yeah." I say, shakily. My voice is weak and seems a lot quieter in contrast to the boy's in front of me.

"I'm sorry about her." Damian said, placing the cat down. Ariel glares at me before walking away, clearly bored.

I could tell we were dancing around the important questions. What are you? Why are you so small? What are you doing here?

"My name's Damian."

I almost say 'I know' but believe it or not- I do have manners and hey, this human hasn't killed you yet, don't be rude and give him a reason to.

"Janis." I say, giving a small wave. 

"Janis," Damian repeats like he's testing the name in his mouth. "It's pretty."

"Thank you." I glance around but as I suspected, my roommates did not even attempt to come back. 

"You're a borrower." Damian states. It wasn't a question and his voice sounded sure, but his raised eyebrow told a different story.

"Yeah, we're real, just-" I take a breath. "Uncommon?"

Damian nods. He knew what I was right off the bat which probably means I'll have less explaining to do. It also made me feel safer in a way. It meant he's less curious. Not to mention he has yet to move any closer or invade my space, so I felt okay. I push myself off the wall a bit, trying to ignore how my head spins a bit from lack of nutrients. 

"I'm sorry if I interrupted whatever you were doing. We'll leave if you don't want us here or-"

"No, it's okay. I honestly am glad I stepped in then I did- wait, we?"

Shit.

It was one thing to expose myself, but not I'm mentally hitting myself for exposing Gretchen and Kevin too.

"There are multiple of you?"

"Nonono forget I said anything." I wave my hand as if waving away nonexistent flies. 

Damian looks like he wants to press more but doesn't. "What are you doing out here? It's like, four am."

"It's still early for me. We- I need food." 

Damian's eyes light up. "Of course! Oh my god, I'm so sorry then. Do you-" He pauses. "Do you need help?"

My instinct is to decline but- there hasn't been much food out and Damian seems genuine. Its either die by cat or human. "Yeah, help would be nice."

Damian smiles softly. "Can I pick you up?"

What?

Oh.

Oh.

Yeah. 

Riiiight.

"Yeah, you can." I smile, trying to seem brave about this, but I've never been picked up before. The only time I'm off the ground is with my climbing tools with my fate in my own hands. 

Damian places his hand down next to me, it's huge. The sheer size difference doesn't sink in when somebody is crouched a couple of human feet away from you. 

I step onto his hand regardless, trying not to concentrate on how weird it feels. 

"You ready?" Damian's voice asked from above.

Was I ready?

Why did I think this was a good idea?

I could die right here right now.

I don't know anything about this kid other than his name and his favorite musical soundtrack. 

What if he's bad news?

"Yeah, I'm good." I say, despite my inner turmoil. 

The ground beneath me shifts and as much as I like to think I was mentally prepared, physically I was not as I ungracefully fall backward into Damian's palms.

"You okay?" He asks, freezing. 

He was as nervous as I was.

This sudden realization gave me a bit more confidence in the situation.

"Mhmm," I say, patting the hand beneath me gently. "Thanks."

"Of course." Damian says, and we're moving again. Its a significantly shorter trip from here to the kitchen for Damian. He holds me close to his chest, his fingers curled around me slightly. Its comforting, and contrary to what I expected, I don't feel ready to drop. I can see Ariel curled up contently on the couch, and the entrance to my home from here. One of them at least. I wonder if my roommates are watching or if they're already cleaning out my room. 

Damian places his hand on the table and I get off on my own.

It feels better up here, to be further up. I don't feel as small when Damian steps away. 

"You've made it clear it's just you," He does air quotes. "But how many people do you take food for."

The lie of 'it is only me' is the first thing on my tongue, but I hold it. Damian has done nothing but help me so far and he already knows there's multiple of us. No harm in giving exact numbers.

"Three," I say. "One with a big appetite." I smile as Kevin comes to mind. 

Damian grins. "What do you normally take?"

"Whatever is out." I shrug, glancing around at the table. Just like the past couple of times, the tables were empty.

Damian notices this and is silent for a bit. "I'll have to conveniently forget to put stuff back then." He says quietly. I can't tell if he was talking to me or himself but I smile nonetheless. 

"So, you've never had options?"

"No." I say. It feels weird to admit that. Damian grins. 

"Guess you're in luck. Wait here." He turns around and walks over to a cabinet. Where am I supposed to even go? 

His back isn't turned long enough to let me figure that out, because he soon comes back with two things. "So I brought this because I want you to try it," Its a cookie, I know that much from Christmas, but instead of decorative frosting and sprinkles its dotted with splotches of brown. "It's a chocolate chip cookie. And I brought this for practical reasons." He lifts up a bag. "Its granola and it comes in these little chunks- well for you they'd be big, but you can just break them off as you need!"

I smile at the thoughtfulness. Maybe this kid isn't all bad news. 

He opens the bag and pours a bit into his hand before placing one on the table. Sure enough, a cluster of granola is just big enough to fit maybe two into my bag. I can break off a piece and it will last days (assuming Kevin doesn't go to town).

"Woah." I say softly, picking it up. This is the most food I've ever even been near in one place. 

Damian chuckles as I carefully place the granola into my bag miraculously fitting three. One for each of us. Damian watches me silently, I guess we're both still stying to wrap our heads around the situation. 

"Oh! I almost forgot!" He picks up the cookie breaking off a piece and handing it to me. It's the size of my head but I can just save what's left for later. Damian takes the rest for himself, watching as I silently break a piece off to eat. 

It's grainy but smooth a the same time. Sweet and salty. It's-

"Woah." 

Damian laughs, its loud and sudden, but also contagious.

I giggle a bit as I feel my face flush. I know he's not laughing at me maliciously.

"They're good right?"

"Yeah." 

We fall into silence, and I look around. I've been up on the counters before, but I've always been in a rush, get food, and get out. I've never been this relaxed in the open and certainly never so close to a human. 

I look up at Damian and he smiles. "What are you gonna do now?"

"Huh?"

"I don't know how true the stories are but isn't this where you leave and never come back because you've been caught? I won't tell anyone if you don't want to leave."

He had a point. But- the borrower's code wasn't law. More like- recommended guidelines? I mean, not true at all, but it's not written in stone or anything. Borrower police aren't gonna break in and arrest me or anything.

I think.

Besides, I didn't want to leave. I liked my room and my roommates (not that I'd admit that to them). They don't need to know I met a human. And Damian said he wouldn't tell anyone-

"How do I know I can trust you?"

The question had a lot more of an edge then I expected, but Damian didn't seem to take offense. 

"You don't. But, follow your instincts. I'm not trying to trick you or anything if that's what your thinking."

He did help me get food. Which saved my life. He also saved me from the cat, which saved my life too. Even before he knew I existed, he always seemed to be the nicest Hubbard. Something tells me his word is good.

"I think I'm gonna stay," I say after a while.  "I'll just- never tell my roommates about this. One of them flips over everything. She'd pack in an instant if she knew."

Damian smiled. "I understand if you hope to never see me again and if you wanna just walk away like this never happened, but I'll be sure to leave granola out every once in a while."

I grin. "Thanks, Damian." It felt weird to be so close to a human and already trust them so much. Something deep inside told me that this wasn't the last time we'd see each other, and that's okay.

"I figure you can get down on your own? You don't want me to know where you live or anything."

I shook my head, patting my climbing tools. "I got this from here. Thank you so much for your help."

"Of course, Janis. I'll take Ariel to my room to make sure she doesn't cause any trouble. Maybe I'll see you around, hopefully not under any life or death circumstances though." Damian grins before walking away, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I can hear him call out to the cat followed by padding of paws as a door closes. I almost feel as if I've hallucinated the whole thing, but the weight of the granola in my bag proves to me otherwise. 

I begin to take out a hook and rope while I think of what I'm gonna tell my roommates. Gretchen will flip either way and I don't think Kevin will believe me that I was able to fend off a cat alone, but it's what I have to do if I don't want to move. Besides, deep down I feel like I can trust the teen of the Hubbard household. 

Let's just hope my gut isn't wrong. 

alt title: how borrower janis got hooked on granola tag list!!! @realmisspolarbear @musicallygt @smallsoysauce @sourishlemons