#still!! i see people walking dogs and just not looking down at their pers and i’m???

[ocheeva]

how do people walk their dogs without watching their little creatures the whole time… it is the greatest pleasure of my life to look at stella on a walk

[giuseppe-yuki]

fashionista

zhou guanyu x teacup pig shapeshifter!reader

w.c.: 1.5k

warnings: none :)

part of my shapeshifting!reader series

summary: you get a new outfit (ft. a trip to the convenience store)

pictures credits from pinterest :)

as one of the unofficial fashion moguls in the paddock, it was your job to serve face whenever you appeared in the paddock. the sound of paparazzi camera shutters clicking were almost always a sure sign that you were near. 

today, you entered the paddock hand-in-hand with your boyfriend zhou. he, of course, was dressed to the nines next to you. your baggy parachute pants paired with a tight cutout top and zhou’s baggy jeans with an almost see-through mesh top looked like the pinnacle of haute couture streetwear. 

you smile directly at the cameras following you both, sending a small wave at a man dutifully taking what looked to be at least twenty pictures of you per second. continuing down the paddock, you stop a few times in order for zhou to sign a few pieces of merch. you adjust your slim sunglasses on the bridge of your nose to hide your eyes from the blazing hot texas sun. as you pass the vcarb motorhome, you spot daniel ricciardo dressed in a cowboy outfit. he clicks his tongue and sends finger guns to you and zhou when you walk by.

zhou leans towards you and whispers into your ear, “baby, we should have dressed more like that, for cota!” 

you turn to face him, wrinkling your nose. “no way am i ditching my outfit for cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, zhou!” you tilt your head, looking at him with a questioning look. “i mean, would you rather wear that or the outfit that marc jacobs sent you tomorrow?”

he sends you a chagrin smile. “point proven, i guess.”

before you could continue your walk, a snow white samoyed bolts out the mercedes motorhome next door. it sniffs zhou twice before plopping itself in down. lewis runs out of the motorhome a second later, skidding to a stop next to the dog. 

“holy cow, you need to calm down,” he says pointedly to the dog. he bends, hand on his knees, panting. “i’m getting old, and i swear im not going to be able to catch you anymore!”

the dog shoots lewis a look, as if rolling its eyes. lewis looks up, as if just noticing you two standing if front of him. 

“well, if it isn’t the best dressed couple on the grid,” he says, chuckling. he scans both of you up and down. “nice outfits, by the way! i think you two are possibly the only people that can outdress me.” 

“thanks!” zhou replies. “i honestly think you are still the undisputed fashion icon of the paddock, though.” 

you nod, agreeing. 

“why thanks!” lewis says, beaming. he then glances at his watch, and frowns. “oh shit,” he says, “i think fp1 is starting soon! i gotta go. you guys should probably run to the garages too.” he waves at you both and starts sprinting away, samoyed at his side.

“you ready to go?” your boyfriend asks, smiling at you. 

you take a second to fix your sunglasses again, and give him a quick nod. zhou grabs your manicured hand, and you both dash towards the kick sauber garage.

“omg, wait for me!” your boyfriend shouts, hands still on the driver’s wheel. but, you had already leaped out of the barely stopped alfa romero 33 stradale, clutching your snakeskin birkin.

the sun had already set in the texas sky, painting everything with a dark blue haze, including the white car that you had just jumped out of. by the time zhou had turned off the engine and hopped out of the car, you were already in front of the convenience store, giddy with excitement. he lightly jogs to you, briefly turning his body to lock the alfa romero with the car key lob. you press a light kiss on his cheek when he arrives next to you. 

after getting a pretty good result in both fp1 and fp2, you had promised zhou that you would both go on a run store, pick out a ton of snacks, then go back to the hotel to watch a movie and possibly “celebrate,” if you get my drift. unfortunately, after multiple meetings and an unplanned dinner with valtteri, it was too late to go to any normal store, so the next best choice was the convenience store that was open 24 hours. 

you grab his hand and run into the store, dragging zhou behind you. you walk past the candy aisle, hot dog warmers, and stunned cashier, arriving at the chips aisle. the colorful packages jump out at you, advertising for you to “face the intensity” or warning you that it was “dangerously cheesy.” 

“which one should should we choose, zhou?” you ask, turning to him. he too, is looking through the wide variety of snacks in front of him. 

after a few seconds of pondering, a grin spreads across his face. “my trainer is probably going to kill me, but all of them!” 

after fetching a big basket from the front of the store, you and zhou fill it to the brim with different kinds of chips. next, you walk over to the drinks area. both of you choose your favorite drinks, all the while giggling at the blue printed pictures of checo and max on the redbull cans on the shelf. 

your boyfriend walks over the cashier counter with the basket with the snack and is about to start checking out, when you spot the slurpee machine in the corner of the store. 

“zhou, come look! they have the famed slurpees here!” you exclaim, pointing at the thrumming machines stirring brightly colored concoctions. 

“i know we have a few drinks in the cart, but we should totally get some,” he says, looking at the bright letters spelling out SLURPEE.

you nod in agreement, and grab a cup from the row of cup bottoms sticking out from under the counter. when you hold up a cup, your eyes grow the size of saucers. “there is no fucking way. this cup holds fucking 22oz of liquid and it is only the second largest size there is!” you cry. you look next to you, and sure enough, zhou is holding a cup that says MEGA on the side that holds 40oz of liquid. he laughs at your reaction, but starts laughing even harder when he spots another cup to the right of you. it has bubble lettering spelling out DOUBLE GULP on the side, and it holds a whopping 50oz of liquid. 

after a laughing fit and a slurpee overflow mishap, you both walk to the counter to check out all your snacks. 

the cashier, still stunned, slowly scans the mountain of snacks next to him. gathering up his courage, he looks at the two of you shyly. “you’re zhou guanyu and you’re his girlfriend, right? i’m a really big fan of you both and i always love your paddock outfits.” 

zhou thanks the cashier, and you give him a warm smile in appreciation. 

after bagging the snacks, you and zhou load everything into the trunk of the alfa romero. it looks out of place next to the few battered chevy pickup trucks still in the lot at the dead of night. instead of climbing into the car after,  you and zhou take your giant slurpees and a few bag of snacks and sit on the edge of the sidewalk. from an outsider walking by, you both looked like a typical couple, (albeit very fashionably dressed one at that) with zhou’s arm around you and your head on his shoulders. 

later, when your tongues are stained with blue and you brush chip crumbs off of your baggy parachute pants, you find yourself looking at the plaza opposite of the convenience store. zhou, strolling back to you from throwing away the empty chip bags and melted slurpees, nudges your shoulder.

“watcha looking at?” 

you gesture with your head towards the store on the other side of the street, where a sign blares in bright red, “Pet Shop.” 

he shoots you a smile tinted with blue food coloring and takes your hand in his.

right as you enter, you are pulled by zhou into a random aisle. 

“wha-?” you splutter out as he continues to pull you down the walkway. your voice echoes throughout the deserted shop. that’s when you notice the products around you. pet clothes. you recognize his intent immediately. “absolutely not, baby,” you declare disgustedly, pulling against his grip. “those cheap costumes are not going an inch near me.”

“come on,” zhou says, trying to reason with you. “it’s not that bad!” 

he points to a little cowboy outfit on the sea of costumes, that has a little red hat, blue bandana along with four little cowboy booties. “perfect for cota, no?” 

you glare at him.

you find yourself in front of a horde of photographers and camera people the next morning when you arrive in the paddock. zhou adjusts you in his arms, tilting the red cowboy hat in a fashionable way and tightening the bandana on your neck while also smoothing down his brown leather jacket. you let out an oink as a sign of appreciation. you know what, you think contently, this outfit is starting to grow on me.

a reporter, holding a mic out, approaches you both. “martin brundle, for sky sports. excellent drive yesterday, for fp1 and fp2 yesterday, zhou. also, you and your erm- teacup pig here, fantastic outfits. may i ask, who is the designer behind her outfit for today? is it perhaps ralph lauren? or tom ford?"

taglist: @ilivbullyingjeongin @ale-522 @formula1-motogpfan @aceyalonso @my0hmary @mbappebby @madkohi @ralshatos @heartsforleclerc

[simp4konig]

König jealous of your dog headcannons

Gender-neutral Reader

Word count: Definitely more than 2😎 🗿Honest to God i have no idea whay the word count is 🤦🏼‍♀️These were mewnt to be short headcannons yet as PER USUAL i got carried away 🤡🤡not abt to copynpaste every single paragraph individually into a word counter

*Slow burn

*Established relationship with König

*⚠️Google Translate German!!⚠️ (sorry guys ...💔)

*Not requested 😋😋 just something that's been on my mind.

*Pls dont worru about rqs guys!!😨 Writing two of tjem atm but I jus wanted to post this first (so my profile isnt as barren as the Sahara desert🏜️while i work at a pace that is slower than that of a turtle 🐢)! :)

*Also how tf do people make their bullet points look so good??? is it a formatting thing or sum cuz im ACTUALLT crippled 😰😰

...

König really didn't want to be jealous of your dog. He didn't.

He hadn't anticipated he would ever feel that way, especially towards a dog, of all things.

Despite not being the type to be jealous — at least, not from his perspective; he was only looking out for his darling! — his eyes would narrow whenever a soldier would approach you, being far too handsy with a stranger. His partner. It made his blood boil.

Sure, König would always stare down whoever made the mistake of flirting with you or introducing themselves with playful banter while behind you. Clearing his throat, a tense hand was placed gently yet firmly on your shoulder.

"Hör auf, mit meinem Schatz zu reden, sonst breche ich dir das Genick."

Not understanding a word of what he said, they would cower in fear nonetheless, getting the message with how he'd had spat that sentence and the venom in his voice. Glancing at their wrist despite wearing no watch, they'd insist that they were running out of time and literally run away.

When you'd look up at him in confusion, König looked back down at you innocently, paraphrasing that he had simply said you were taken.

A facepalm from you. "God, König..." you'd groan, unable to stop the silly smirk from stretching itself on your face. "You nearly made that guy shit himself. Please don't do that again."

König would likewise always straighten himself to his full height and cast a menacing shadow at the dummkopf who dared speak poorly of you.

Once they'd mumble rushed apologies and speed-walk away, you'd see him glowing with an adoring expression in his eyes, a complete 180° to the death stare he shot at the recruit and the hand gesture he made at his throat seconds before.

König would always rest a large hand on your lower back to guide you in crowds, keeping you close beside him to further drive in the point that you were strictly off limits.

Really though, he wasn't jealous. Not in the slightest!

He rationalised his behaviour as looking out for you. In no way was he being overbearing or overly territorial; if anything, people were pushing your already established boundaries and he was reminding people of them! He wasn't jealous at all, no.

Behind closed doors, however, he'd be quieter than usual and have a vulnerable look in his eyes, desperate for your reassurance and to hear you say that you loved him.

Deep down, he was insecure.

That good-looking man didn't make you swoon, did he? Why were you laughing so hard at his joke? He wanted to have made you laugh like that. You still loved him, though, didn't you? You wouldn't want to be with anyone else, right? Right?

It wasn't that König didn't trust you. Although this Colonel looked fierce in front of his collegues and used his booming voice to command others with a harsh tone he found it difficult to project at a large crowd, he had always been sensitive in secret. Being bullied in childhood could certainly do that to a person.

You were the only one he trusted to see his insecurities, and would always shower him with love and affection in private, reassuring him that yes, he was still your sweet and handsome König, and yes, of course you still loved him — that guy that got a laugh out of you was only one out of pity, as he gave you the ick anyways.

One afternoon while you two were eating dinner, König had out of the blue been the one to suggest the idea of a pet; a strong, big, intimidating dog that would protect you while he himself couldn't.

In all actuality, he had been thinking this over since the day you two started dating.

After all, as much as he'd had liked to clone himself and have one part of him fighting when duty called while the other part stayed with you to protect you at home, obviously that wasn't achievable. That afternoon seemed most appropriate to bring it up, as he was assigned for a mission in two weeks' time and was already worried sick over you despite still yet to be around you at all times for twelve more days.

You laughed, surprised by his sudden suggestion. In a way, you had already had a guard dog all along, you told him, yet König shook his head vehemently, insistent. "Nein! Was ist, wenn du verletzt bist? What if you get hurt while I am away? I won't allow it!"

Shaking your head in defeat as an amused smile was tugging at your lips, you couldn't really blame your boyfriend for being so paranoid. In a sense, he was justified in thinking so, and you couldn't fault him, him being a soldier — a Colonel — and all.

König himself came to the conclusion that you should have a German-Shepherd — "A big, strong, and intelligent dog" — smiling proudly as he said so. Laughing at his need to prove himself to you and his evident enthusiasm that proved he was deadly serious, you shook your head again with a sincere smile on your face and gave his forehead a kiss. Really, his concern over you was endearing, and you loved him so much.

On the day before the mission of his, he surprised you by leading in a fully-grown German Shepherd into your shared home as he carried a large dufflebag over his shoulder. Although you had wanted to have a puppy, König insisted a trained canine used in the police force and military operations would keep you safe, and he was firm, not budging even when you mustered the best puppy-dog eyes you could. He knew best, and he needed to relieve the anxiety that plagued him when you weren't around immediately. Finally having use for the connections he had made in his position, he was able to bring home on of Kortac's own German-Shepherds.

Standing with a self-assured manner, the dog didn't hesistate in showering you with love once the lead came off, lapping and licking at your face in excitement at seeing his new owner's face.

You laughed out loud when you saw a tactical dog collar around his neck, the same khaki colour that matched König's cargo pants. Another piece of König to remind you of him.

Still standing, König watched with his arms crossed and a huge smile across his face as he saw how happy you were. He was beginning to breathe easy with the knowledge that nothing would come to harm you while he was away.

Tongue out while panting, the dog waited expectantly under you for an order.

You looked up at König, eyes sparkling in child-like excitement. "Can he do tricks?"

Smiling, König's eyes crinkled in his love for you. "Schatz, it can do more than just tricks. It can protect you. And it will."

You looked down at the giant yet sweet dog, and raised your voice slightly.

"Sit." He did so without hesitation.

"Handshake," you prompted, and he offered his paw to you obediently.

"Stay..." you began, a finger in front of his snout, "stay..."

"Good boy!" you squealed, and fed him a dog treat from the one of the XXL bags König had bought for the occasion, along with a mountain of dog toys, and even a bed.

"What are clever boy you are, aren't you? Yes you are! You are!"

König crouched, and pet the top of the dog's head a couple of times, his eyes on you. "What do you want to call it, meine Liebe?"

Pausing, all at once it occured to you. With joyful satisfaction, you exclaimed: "Prince!" You giggled, barely able to contain your happiness. "Our Prince to my sweet, handsome King," you cooed, not failing to notice the way König looked away, his cheeks under the eye holes of his hood reddening at your comment.

While away from you for weeks, even months at a time, he could rest easier knowing that you weren't all alone at home. Although he still worried for you excessively, biting his nails when in his room as he thought over how you could be doing and what you were doing at any given time, at least he wouldn't toss and turn at night thinking over what could happen to you. He'd smile in satisfaction, pleased that his presence would still linger even when he wasn't physically there, finding comfort in the fact that a part of him still remained with you when he was hundreds of miles away.

You, on the other hand, were so happy! Obviously you were overwhelmed with the responsibility — quite frankly, you had never had a dog before, much less one this big — so you struggled to take care of it in the beginning. Knowing what food to feed it, how to keep it entertained, going so often outside you'd flop on a chair in exhaustion was physically and mentally demanding, as you wanted your canine companion to love you unconditionally and not be a bad owner to it at all.

However, it all quickly became routine to you: walking your guard dog as his ears were perked up in alertness, head darting around from side to side; playing with it in the park, and spoiling it with treats when you'd get home; and grooming his soft, dark fur and taking him to vet checkups almost made you wonder how you had managed to live this long without ever owning a pet.

Whenever you'd make yourself some food, you filled his bowl with dog food too. Whenever you had just stepped out of the shower, it would be your dog's turn to be cleaned in the bathtub. Whenever you would lazily lay on the sofa or sprawl yourself on the bed, your dog was cuddled up to you.

It was all fun and games, though, until he'd damn near suffocate you with his sheer mass and make you sneeze from the fur that tickled your nostrils, but you slowly grew used to it, using your German Shepherd as a weighted blanket and hugging it like it was your own child.

Somehow, this furry friend filled a void that König would leave behind, and you practically were both attached by the hip — well, by the ankle and hind leg, actually, but that's beside the point. You two were inseparable, and if König knew that then he'd be surely overjoyed.

When König finally had some precious minutes to himself, the first thing he'd do was call you, wanting to hear your voice and make sure you were alright. He'd nearly trip over his own two feet as he scrambled for his phone to dial your number, nearly knocking over a lamp and falling over some furniture in the process.

You'd pick up on the second ring and would nearly go deaf upon hearing the loud accented voice on the receiver. "Liebling! How are you, my sweet? I have been missing you!"

You two would exchange these sorts of questions and proclamations of love back and forth, so lovey-dovey that some of the more daring operators in König's faction made gagging noises on the other side of the door, while the more serious operators scolded them and reminded them that they were yet to feel the touch of another man/woman.

As König would listen to your ramblings about how happy you were and your lovely German Shepard, however, his ears perked up and he listened more closely.

"Prince is so lovely! He's my sweet baby and I love him so so so much! He's definitely my best friend right now, 100%. Everyone back home is getting pissy with me when I don't answer their calls because I spend more time with him than I do with them but can you really blame me when I have this beautiful prince? I mean, he's so sweet! Whenever I don't wake up at the same time in the morning he's jumping into bed and licking my face and oh my God I cannot cope with this cuteness! He's such a good boy! The very best boy! The best boy of all the boys!"

Meanwhile, König stood there, his mouth agape.

...What did you mean he was your sweet baby? Your beautiful prince? Your good boy?

Why would you call him the — not the best, but the very best — boy, the best of all boys? You couldn't have been serious.

It was just a dog. Why were you so attached to it?

It wasn't like König didn't grasp the concept of strong bonds between humans and animals — in fact, he had always been a strong believer of the "dogs being a man's best friend" common knowledge — but... this? You were coddling the thing, for God's sake! It was supposed to be fierce and threatening, not cute and cuddly. How was it supposed to protect you when all you'd do was hug it and give it compliments?

He felt his jaws tighten when you panned the camera down to show the dog peacefully laying beside you on the bed, you stroking his ears. On. The. Bed. On his and your bed. The bed the two of you would sleep on.

König couldn't believe this; he, a grown man, a disciplined soldier that moved up the ranks to be a Colonel, a 6'10 brutal killing machine who l... wanted you to be calling him those things, wanted you to run your fingers through his hair like that. Not some mutt. You were giving it star treatment and pampering it way too much than you should have.

He laughed at himself for thinking so irrationally and for being so immature. I mean, it was a dog. There was no competition to be won, nothing to prove — his rational thought repeated to him that you still loved him regardless — yet the ultimate prize would be you and your attention.

He chuckled disingenuously as you rambled on about something, and the smile under his hood didn't quite reach his eyes.

When he finally returned after grueling months away from you, those pale blue eyes still crinkled up in happiness whenever they saw you, still picked you up and spun you in the air as you'd shriek like a banshee while your legs kicked freely, still gave you a loving kiss on your lips before showering your face with wet kisses. He'd pull away, a boyish grin on his face, his face flushed, your eyes locked with his in an intimate moment...

...And then his mood would sour as your dog leaped up towards you, not wanting to be left out in the reunion.

You'd fail to notice his hands clenched into fists as your dog took the oh so comfortable spot on your lap, where he should have been laying, how below his mask a scowl was aimed at the dog you'd shower with kisses that should have been for him, how the dog would slobber your face and leave it dripping in drool, almost as if it was proving some point to him and being totally smug about it.

Of course, he didn't seem the least bit bothered to you — he wouldn't let his behaviour show. This was utter childishness, completely ridiculous, and absolutely absurd, yet somehow König couldn't control the jealousy that would stew inside of him hours after you'd fall asleep, glaring at the dog laying in between you when all he had wanted all day was to cuddle up to you and hold you close.

Somehow, his plan to keep you safe backfired, because the dog took his job as your body guard too seriously and would not let him be affectionate with you. He was beginning to despise the creature.

When you'd be walking the dog together and shower it with praise, König's hands clenched into tight fists. When you'd stroke the dog's head gently, running your fingers through his thick fur as his front paws were tucked neatly underneath him, König's nails dug into his biceps as he kept his arms firmly crossed, hating what he was seeing through his peripheral vision. When you'd glance at him as your dog was nestled between your legs, he'd turn his head, hiding the furrowed eyebrows and the clear pout on his face of an annoyed child, behaving like an annoyed child.

• In conclusion: give your König a hug. :( A kiss right on the lips and tell him that he's your sweet baby! Your beautiful prince! Your good boy! Your favourite person in the entire world and the best of the best!

• Reserve that precious spot on your lap *just* for him, and allow him to be putty in your hands!

• Run your fingers through his hair just like you would with your dog, and scratch that sensitive spot on his scalp with your fingernails!

• Don't make him regret ever getting the dog for you :'( As time goes on, it will eventually become the "father that didn't want the pet is now best friends with it and the pet is most affectionate with him" kind of dynamic.

• Just because muscular men and army-hardened soldiers like König were disciplined to be stoic and strong, sometimes they want nothing more than affection and words of affirmation from their lover from time to time. <3

So, you'd now lounge on the couch, content with your two guard dogs on either side of you; your Prince laying to your right, and your King in between your thighs, stroking the top of his head as his chest rose and fell at a steady rhythm.

...

Note: Gonna kms 🤡🔫 i have ro to go back to school tmr fucjing WHY i hate everyoje there 😭So yeah less frequent updates sorry guys 💔💔still going to be writing my long-ass fanfictions but itll take more time and ill probs have like 10 mentsl breakfowns daily 🤪 literallt cannot wait 🥰

My writing process is so incomprehensible tho 😭i jump from the first fic im writing to the second one im writing WAYY too often 🗿but ig its good because in a way im not TECHNICALLY procrastinating and beinf productive with 2 projects at once,, tho idk i guess tbats just a major cope if im beinf honest🤷🏼‍♀️

THANKS FOR 1000+ LIKES AND NEARLY 80 FOLLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💕💕💕💕 LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF U AND WISH YOU NOTHING BUT HAPPINESS IN LIFE 🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[qlossytbh]

𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 - 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 you and conrad had established no strings attached, that is until valentines fold up and conrad suddenly seeks more out of you.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 implications of sex, fwb, lots of fluff towards the end

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 3.1k by

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 back at it lol. i’m taking request!! feel free to send in any requests for any of the characters on my masterlist

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

Valentines day. 

Some people are apprehensive when it comes to deciding what to spend the day doing on this particular holiday. For the lucky, it might be spending the day with their significant other or sitting around, basking in the simplicity of spending time with the person you love. For others, it was spending the day watching sappy rom-cons or moping around about the very fact of being single.

For you, Valentine's Day was the perfect excuse to show everyone how much you loved and cared for them. You were an overall extremely affectionate person, giving intricate gifts was a part of who you were. It was an extreme love language of yours— the feeling of running around, planning and buying different parts and pieces for each gift was something you found loads of fun in doing. 

For example, you had just finished baking and packing up your usual valentine themed cookie boxes to send out to all of your coworkers who worked with you at the local dog shelter. You had also sent out all of the small valentine themed envelopes to your family, who lived down the street from Susannah’s house here in Cousins, which reminded you not to forget her and Laurel's bouquets. You also put together the little treat bags with the group's favorite candy and other small things; one for Jeremiah, one for Steven, one for Belly, and one for Conrad.

It maybe was a lot, but you couldn't help yourself. You loved Valentine's Day. 

It was currently around four in the afternoon, and you were rushing around the kitchen of the Fisher household, scrolling through your tablet, checking off a few of the things you had left to do. 

Jeremiah walked into the room along with Belly, Steven, and Conrad.

"Hello Jeremiah." You looked up from your tablet and caught Jeremiah reaching for a cookie from one of the batches you were going to give out to your neighbours later on. His face twisted, laughing in embarrassment. You shook your head, looking down at the screen with a smile. 

"I left a batch of red velvet cupcakes near the fridge," Jeremiah and Stevens faces lit up. 

"You are the best person to step foot on this planet," Steven praised as they rounded the corner in attempts to get their hands on one of the cupcakes. 

"Seem's like you've been busy," Belly said, scanning the room as you set the tablet down on the counter. "I'll never get how you do it."

You shrugged, pulling your hand back and letting down the messy bun you had whipped up a few hours ago. "What can I say? Its Valentine’s Day."

"Not a valid answer, you don't see me running around gifting people random lovey shit, huh?" Conrad butted in as he leaned against the wall. You shot a glare at him.

"Well, you don't do lovey shit anyways," You teased with a smile, looking at your feet. "I dont know, I like seeing people happy, thats really all there is to it."

Belly looked at you with a smile. "That and your mind works at like, a thousand miles per hour."

It was true, you had a tendency to always need to be moving around. You barely sat still, not being able to stand the feeling of not being productive. You were always doing something, or you always had something to do. It was the main reason why you always ended burnt out. You loved doing things constantly, but it came with the heavy price of not knowing when you should stop doing things and rest. 

"People only usually do this stuff when they have boyfriends and shit like that," Belly insinuated. 

"You trying to tell us something, Y/n?" She said, gesturing towards her and Conrad. 

You cleared your throat, feeling a heat wave spread itself against your cheeks. You looked down only momentarily before shooting the pair a smile. "I do this every year Belly, if I had a special someone, you'd be able to tell."

It had been half true, given how you and Conrad weren't necessarily dating. 

It was complicated, at least if you explained it to others. You and Conrad had been best friends since you started coming to Cousins, which was since you were a baby. You loved Belly and Steven, and you loved Jeremiah, but things always felt different with Conrad. 

People had told you that Conrad was never an open book, and it surprised you at first, because he had always been more than open with you. It took very little, if not nothing, to guess with just a glance at what was going on in his head.

Many of the words that people used to describe Conrad Fisher, were the complete opposite of what you knew him to be. Conrad had a side of him that was reserved for only you, and you eventually started noticing it throughout your friendship. 

The two of you had many things that you preferred to leave unspoken. It had always worked like that with the two of you. When it came to how you felt about him, you couldn't put much into words. Words didn't do it justice most of the time.

But you and Conrad had been involved in this, thing, for about a year now. It started last summer, the two of you having one too many drinks at a party and hooking up accidentally. Or so you'd like to say it like that, because no one hooks up with their best friend drunk and says it was an accident. The two of you, not being able to communicate properly, ignored what happened that night for weeks.

But then it happened again

and again, 

and then again.

And none of the following times included alcohol. But for some reason, each time you saw each other after any sexual rendezvous, things would go completely back to normal. You guessed that was just your relationship with Conrad, it never got awkward or weird. 

You did however end up talking about it with him. 

"Can we talk?" You said, knocking on Conrad's door softly. He was lying down in his bed, book in hand. He sat up, placing it on the nightstand beside his bed. You looked at each other before he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair

"Sure," You walked in, feeling the cool air of the air conditioning hit your legs. You closed the door behind you, swallowing thickly as you could sense this conversation was going somewhere. You couldn't decipher if it was for the better or for the worse. 

You sat on the edge of his bed and looked into his eyes in silence. His gaze was just as locked on you as you were on him. That was before smiles started to grow on each of your faces before you threw your head back, laughing at the ridicule the situation presented. 

"I really don't know why we should talk about this," You said, turning to the side. 

Conrad sighed. "No, we probably should."

You looked at Conrad and focused on the blue in his eyes. "I dont regret what happened."

"Neither do I."

 "Is there a particular reason as to why it happened again after the first time?" You shifted your body and fiddled with your fingers. "And the second and third..

Conrad sighed heavily through his nose. He didn't get what was happening to him at all. He knew he cared about you; he knew he loved being near you and spending time with you. And he enjoyed what had happened between you two, 

A lot. 

But he didn't feel the need to put a title on what the two of you were. At this point, he was definitely opposed to the idea of dating, but he wasn't opposed to the idea of you. Maybe in the future? He didnt know, he was truly lost. 

And so were you. Which you hated. You couldn't stand not knowing what you wanted or what you were feeling. You needed to put titles onto everything—every feeling, every emotion, every situation—thats how your mind worked. But you knew you didn't want a relationship at this point in your life, but you loved spending time with Conrad the way you have recently.

"I don't know," He settled. "I don't see myself in a relationship, but I do love doing all the things we've been doing. 

You look at him and see a glint of something flashes through his eyes. "A lot."

You felt a rush of adrenaline pump through your veins as your cheeks went hot. You reached up, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. "I do too."

"I say," He pushed his body closer to yours, his knees lightly grazing against yours. You watched his movements with a sharp intensity. "Let's just be the friends we’ve been since we could talk, and ocacionally thing."

He placed a hand on your thigh. "Things have been normal so far, would you want to keep doing things?"

You nodded and smiled as he leaned forward. You said in a whisper, "What things are we talking about specifically?"

"Should I say it?" His breath fanned over your own. He then pressed a chaste kiss onto your lips, allowing your eyes to flutter close in delight as you smiled through the kiss. "Or do you want me to show you,"

With that you pressed your lips onto his, hungry for whatever you could have of him. 

For the rest of the summer it continued. The two of your manadged to keep it a secret, not wanting any complications of anyone else trying to put a name to whatever it was the two of you had. 

You didn't even know what it was. Friends with benefits? It was more than that, given how you two cuddled occasionally, kissed occasionally, and went on occasional dates. It stressed you out more to try to figure out what it was than just enjoying it. 

Plus, you knew Conrad cared for you, and you cared for him. That was all that really mattered to you anyway. 

Even when summer ended, you two talked all the time, which was not out of the norm for the two of you. The only difference was the occasional sexting. 

Things were occasional between the two of you, if you couldn't tell by now.

Winter break in Cousin's was your favorite, and when your college gave the students a week off, you were ecstatic. Every year, you never manadged to catch the Conklin and Fisher family, given how they were always given a few weeks off in January instead of February. You grabbed your keys, packed a bag, and headed straight for Cousin's.

Things with Conrad this week had been amazing, but you could tell things were a bit more romatic. Before it was easy to difirenciate when you were only friends and when you were in need of physical touch or intimacy, but now things were all fused and mixed together. 

It didnt bother you enough to talk about it though and neither did he, so you left it at that

You put the last bits of the dishes into the dryer before brushing your hands against the fabric of your cotton shorts. Jeremiah walked into the room with his keys in his hand. "Were headed out."

You looked over at him, grabing your phone and scanning it for any new messages. "Sounds okay,"

"We'll probably be back late, you and Conrad going to be okay?" You deadpanned at the boy.

"We'll be fine," You walked over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and leading him towards the front door, where Steven and Belly stood. "You go have fun with Steven and Belly, god knows you need to take the poor girl out."

"Thank you," Belly said, agreeing with you. "Mom said she'd be back with Susanah in a few hours." 

You nodded, feeling the breeze of the cold air hit your bare shoulders as Steven opened the front door. Steven jumped. "Oh shit! Almost forgot." 

"That monstrousity came for you today," Steven said, pointing over to your left. "It had a small card, some sappy bullshit on it." 

"For me?" You looked over to the side, letting your jaw slack slightly. Placed perfectly in the middle of the table was a huge bouquet full of red roses and white tulips, both of your favorite flowers. They were carefully wrapped in white and silver paper, adorned almost perfectly with a pink satin bow. 

You never got much on Valentine's Day; you were used to giving the presents, not receiving them. You looked at the group aprehensively once more before walking carefully over to the table. You picked up the small card, reading it carefully: 'Happy Valentines Day pretty girl'

You felt your heart thump against your chest. You let out a small chuckle as your cheeks turned red, knowing exactly who these were from. "Dumbass.."

"What was that about not having a boyfriend?" Belly butted in, causing you to snap out of your lovesick trance. You turned to the three of them, who were eyeing you as you stumbled on your words. 

"Just- uhm, some guy thats been bothering me," You nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of your neck. The three of them looked at each other. 

"Conrad's gonna be pissed." Steven whispered before closing the door and heading out. You laughed to yourself and looked up the stairs, shaking your head. If only they knew. You placed the card down, looking back at the flowers once more before heading upstairs. 

You turned the corner, knocking softly on Conrad's door. With a hum on his side, you pushed the door open. He was standing near his bed with his shirt in his hand, and off of his body.

"Hey," He said, tossing the shirt into his already open closet. "I was just heading to bed." 

You smiled to yourself while crossing your arms, leaning against the door frame. "I thought you didn't do that lovey valentines day shit" 

He paused, looking at you with a perplexed look on his face. You rolled your eyes, walking into the room and closing the door behind you. Conrad eyed you carefully as you made your way to him. "Are you talking about the flowers?"

"Yes Conrad, I'm talking about the flowers," You said, placing a kiss onto his lips. He smiled into the kiss, letting his hands reach your waist, giving you the space your wrap your arms around his neck. You smiled widely into the kiss, not being able to contain your giddiness. 

Your heart was beating wrapidly in your chest, a feeling only Conrad gave you. You pushed into the kiss, deepening it as you directed his body towards his bed. The back of his knees hit the matress, forcing him to sit on the matress, which gave you the space to crawl onto his lap. 

You pulled away, looking down at the blonde boy whom you were currently straddling. "I'm guessing you liked them?”

"How'd you know roses and tulips were my favorite?" You said, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear as you admired the facial features you had grown to love. 

"I pay attention," He leaned forward, kissing the spot on your jaw just below your ear, causing a small giggle to erupt from your chest. 

"Thank you," You whispered, pulling away from him and looking into his eyes deeply. "You didn't have to, really."

He stared back at you, heart fluttering wildly. A feeling he was used to feeling around you, something only you brought out in him. It seemed that no matter how many girls would pop into his life or would come up to him at any frat party, you were always the first one on his mind. You were the only one on his mind.

"Of course I did," He kissed your cheek. "Its not even a quarter of what you deserve."

There it was again. He His your jaw again, trsiling soft delicate kissing up your neck. They were affectionate, none trying to iniciate something. Just soft pecks adorned with love and adoration. You let your hands enravel themselves into his hair, sighing in contentment. 

"Things have changed haven’t they?" You whispered as you pulled his body closer to yours. 

"Mhm," He agreed. You looked at the wall in front of you.

"Can we talk about it?" 

Conrad pulled away, looking at you with a look on his face. You stared back in silence. "Talk to me,"

You sighed, not really knowing what to say. Your heart fluttered at the sight of his attention, listening closely to what you had to say. 

The thing is you didnt know what to say. All you knew is that you cared about the boy in front of you a lot, and this ocassional thing has been going on for so long now. You knew you didnt want to end anything, fuck no. But you wanted more and you were scared it was a one paged thing. 

"Whyd you sent me the flowers?" You asked, paying close attention to his features. He smiled to himself, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. 

"Becuase," He started. "You love Valentines day, and you love recieving gifts, giving them as well, but not a lot of people know you like recieving them as well."

He continued. "You hate the color orange, you say it makes you squirmy and uncomfortable. Your favorite movies Rapunzel, great choice by the way,"

"You give so much to the people you love and I can vouch for that." He grabbed your hands, carresing them softly in his own. 

You looked at him in silence. "I don't want to do this thing occasionally anymore, I want it always.”

You and Conrad had always had a strong relationship, and its been a long time since it stopped being just platonic. You knew everything about him and so did he. Hell, it probably stopped being platonic before you even had sex with him for the first time.

Both of you could’ve saved yourselves months of time if you’d let yourself feel what you were meant to feel for each other sooner.

“So this mean what exactly? That you’re officially asking me to be your ‘girlfriend’” You asked, saying the word that felt so foreign. You knitted your eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

“If that’s something you want,” He said, hope and anxiety flooding his gaze. You stared down at him, smiling softly. You leaned in.

“I’d like that.” You closed the gap between the two of you, sighing deeply into the kiss.

Something inside you felt satisfied. As if your body had been longing for a confirmation that Conrad really was just yours.

He had always been.

You pulled away, hands resting at his bare shoulders as your foreheads rested against each other.

“Can we watch Tangled now?” You asked, voice laced with excitement. He rolled his eyes, pecking your lips softly.

“Duh.”

[talaok]

At the Met | pt. 2

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x reader

Summary: This is part two of "At the Met", where after the fight, you go back to your hotel room and find Pedro anxiously waiting for you.

warnings: angst, jealousy (dw there's a happy ending)

The sky had darkened, gloomy clouds filled the canvas as quick drops of rain began hitting the pavement.

Your ride was waiting for you in the black SUV, but you stopped a moment to inhale the crispness of the air, your body relishing the feeling of the first real breath you'd taken in hours.

It was late, and as people were getting ready for the afterparties, you just wanted to go home, well not home per se, just anywhere with a bed and a shower, ergo, your hotel room.

You walked to the car and got in, but as the driver didn't drive off, you felt a pit in your stomach.

"He's gone already, we can go," you said, and with a nod, he did as told.

The muffled stains of the streetlight shined through the raindrops on the glass as the streets all merged into one.

You relieved the whole night in your head, wondering how it could all have gone so wrong.

This was supposed to be a great day, you should have laughed and joked and had a great time, but here you were instead, alone in the dim backseat, feeling like you were about to cry.

Pedro should have been here with you, making you smile like only he could, he should have been here to talk about the evening and all the craziness you'd just endured, but he wasn't.

In fact, you didn't know exactly where he was. After the fight he granted your wish, leaving you alone, and when you'd returned to the table, he wasn't there, or anywhere else.

You had never fought like that, every disagreement you had ever had always ended with you in his arms and all worries out the window, but for some reason today had been diffrent.

Seeing him like that pained you, you could still see the hurt in his eyes, the way he had looked at you once you shrugged him off... it was all still there, but you were mad, and most importantly, right.

That wasn't the first time he showed his jealous side, it had arisen before, like when that guy at the bar was getting a bit too friendly or when one of your co-stars had looked at you for a bit too long and according to him "like he was undressing you with his eyes", but this time it ticked something. You were with him because you wanted to, he was supposed to trust you, not treat you like a dog ready to turn their back on their owners for anyone with a treat.

He was supposed to trust you like you trusted him. Yes of course you too got jealous at all the women and men throwing themselves at him, but you didn't react like him, you would talk and remind him in a few ways he very much loved that he was yours, and you were his.

So tonight you'd had it, you were supposed to have fun, not be questioned by your own boyfriend about what some guy had told you.

You let out a frustrated sigh, and as you opened your eyes back up again, the car stopped. The hotel's lights shined bright, much too bright for how you were feeling.

You looked at the driver, half considering asking him to drive you somewhere else, anywhere else, but as he locked eyes with you in the rearview mirror you changed your mind.

"Everything ok Miss?"

you forced a smile

"No Stephan, not really"

"anything I can do to help?"

Your smile got more genuine " I don't think so, but thank you" you said, as you got off the car 

"goodnight Miss," he said, lowering his window

"goodnight Stephan and I've told you, you can call me y/n"

He didn't respond if not with a slight nod you knew meant he was never gonna listen to you, before driving away.

The lobby was cold, the ac clearly blaring even though it was only May, and you hugged your jacket closer to your body as the receptionist greeted you, while making your way to the elevator.

Your heels sounded on the tilted floor as you walked down the corridor.

An overwhelming feeling of dread took over your body once you stopped in front of your room.

You just wanted everything like it was just a few hours before, you wanted to open the door and fall into his arms, but you needed to talk, seriously talk once and for all.

Your legs felt wobbly as you opened the door, and it all became much worse once you took in the man in front of you.

Pedro was sitting on one of the stools of the kitchen counter, his body turned towards the door, hence, now you.

You were both silent as you closed the door behind you, and you noticed how he hadn't changed, you had no idea how long he'd been here, but he surely had time to do it.

"Pedro-"

"I'm sorry" he spoke, interrupting whatever you wanted to say "Y/n I'm sorry," he said, standing up to walk closer to you until he was right in front of you "I'm really fucking sorry" The pain in his eyes was still there "this wasn't how this night was supposed to go, I wanted you to have fun and meet people and feel great but I ruined all of it... I was an asshole, I was- unforgivable- I should have never talked to you like that or said any of the things I said, I didn't mean any of it, sweetheart, I just- saw that guy and my vision went red and I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain how incredibly fucking sorry I am"

You had to take a breath, you had just gotten in after all.

 "I know you are" you conceded, because it was true, you could see it clear as day, but that still didn't solve the fact he hadn't said what you wanted him to say "But you always are"

"Bab-"

"no, let me finish" You stopped him, and he immediately complied

"That's not the problem Pedro, the problem is that you don't trust me, the problem is that you think that any guy can steal me from you, and that's incredibly frustrating and infuriating because I've told you thousands of times that I love you, not Nathan not Joe but you, only you" you explained as calmly as you could as your nerves felt about to explode "And if that isn't enough, if you still don't trust me then I can't do it, because it's awful Pedro, it's awful having to be interrogated by you any time a guy comes a tiny bit close to me, that's not how relationships work, we're supposed to trust one another and if we see something we don't like we talk, like adults."

He blinked, as he processed all you had said, not wanting to say the wrong thing.

"you're right" he agreed "You're right sweetheart and I'm sorry I made you feel that way, that's awful, but I promise, and I mean it, I swear on whatever you want that I will work on that, I'll try as hard as I can to not let this happen again, because I trust you, I'd trust you with my life for god's sake, and I love you, more than I could ever explain" he sighed "just please y/n, I'm begging you give me a chance, and I promise I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you"

You finally felt like you could breathe again.

"you'll try?"

"I will sweetheart I swear, starting from now I will never treat you or question you like that ever again"

You stared back into his big brown eyes.

"promise?"

"Promise," he swore without missing a beat, and that's all you needed to hear before you wrapped your arms around him, nuzzling in his warm chest.

He hugged you back tightly, his chin on the top of your head "I'm really sorry sweetheart" he murmured, "I ruined everything"

You looked up at him "Give me a kiss" you told him, and how could he say no when that was all he had wanted to do for the past three and a half hours? 

His lips were on yours in an instant, gentle and slow, begging for forgiveness, and you melted right into him, in his scent and touch, feeling light as a feather.

You sighed happily, leaning away.

"I love you y/n" he promised "I love you more than life, more than anything in this entire universe, I-I love you"

You smiled, his words warming your heart "I love you too, baby" you vowed "Now come here again, I missed you"

And just like that, he did. 

--- --- The day after --- ---

["Y/n Y/l/n and Pedro Pascal were photographed leaving their hotel room looking as in love as one can be! Seems like whatever happened at the Met is long forgotten"

"I bet people are mad they made us believe we could have a chance with them again"

"I bet they are, but fans have never been more relieved"]

taglist: @spacelatinos4life @sloanexx

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Crushed 19

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, manipulation, cheating, sleazy behaviour, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your next door neighbours hook up, bringing to surface deep-seated feelings.

Characters: Colin Shea, Jonathan Pine

Note: it's hump day, let's get humped.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Love you like my dog loves belly rubs (that’s a lot). Take care. 💖

Jonathan doesn’t drive you back to your building. Instead, you walk with him through the halls to his condo. You stop outside the door as he slips the bags up to his wrist and unlocks the door. He holds it open and waves you inside. 

You enter, rubbing your arm nervously. It’s been a long day. A long few days. You’re exhausted. You catch a yawn in your hand as you hug yourself with one arm and peer around. 

“I’ll have to go into the office tomorrow. Can’t be avoided much longer,” he explains as he puts the bags on the side table, “you will stay here. To be safe.” 

“Oh, uh, right,” you sway back and forth as you press your palm to the side of your neck, “um, I don’t mind--” 

“I mind,” he interjects, “I can’t trust that animal not to act as what he is. Darling, you must think, yes? Learn from your mistakes. We both know he’s dangerous. I wouldn’t put you in such danger and I would hope you wouldn’t walk right into it.” 

“I know, I wasn’t... I just... I wouldn’t want to impose,” your eyes drift away meekly, “that’s all.” 

“Impose? Have I not made my feelings clear?” He approaches you, brushing his knuckles up your arm, “I cannot get enough of you, fawn.” 

You smile but it’s hard. You feel weak. The day is only half done and you could keel over. He brings his hand up to cradle your cheek, “what is it?” 

“Just tired,” you shrug. 

“Mmm, how about... I’ll run you a nice hot bath. You can relax. We’ve done rather much today... you have been through even more,” he gives a doleful look, “you let me worry for everything. All will turn out, I’m certain.” 

“I guess,” you purse your lips. It’s easy enough for him to say. He still has a job, you’re not so sure you do. 

“Darling,” he brings a bent finger under your chin, tiling your head, “I will take care of you.” 

Your lips part but you quickly close them. You don’t want to argue right now. You don’t want to point out that everything is still fresh and new. Or that he might not feel the same in a month or two. Or a year. Especially if you’re unemployed. 

One day he’ll see how worthless you are. 

“So let’s get that bath going,” he bends to kiss your forehead, “I’ve some bath salts which may help ease the tension. I’ll light a few candles...” he rambles as he turns and strides down the hallway. You follow after him reluctantly, as much as the bath sounds nice, you already feel like a burden. 

You stand in the doorway as you watch him remove his jacket and roll up his sleeves. He fusses over the tub as of you’re not there. The water spills out into the deep porcelain basin and he stands. He turns and gestures to a towel on a silver bar. 

“That is clean,” he says before he opens the tall cupboard near the sink, “bath salt... rose.” 

He reads the canister before he uncaps it. He turns to add a sprinkle to the water, the floral aroma rising with the steam. He sets it aside and beckons you into the bathroom. You cross the tile as you play with the hem of your shirt. 

He brushes past you and you turn to watch him go. You face the tub again and pull up your shirt. You let your pants slip down your legs and as you straighten, you hear him return. He places a three-wick candle on the ledge above the tub and lights it. 

He looks at you, his eyes roving up and down, and he smirks, “I’m almost tempted to join you, darling, but alas, I do have a few things to tend to.” 

“That’s... okay,” you murmur, hugging yourself as you stand in panty and bra.  

He scoffs, “why are you playing shy, eh?” He nears and tickles along your collar bone, sending a shiver through you. 

“I’m not, I’m... cold,” you lie and turn your attention to the tub. 

“Mm, if you need any help warming up,” his fingers flutter up your neck before he retracts his touch, “should you need me, you need only call my name, fawn.” 

“Alright,” you eke out. 

You wait until he’s past you but don’t check to see if he’s gone. You strip down the rest of your clothes and near the tub. You lift your legs over the edge and sink into the water. You sigh as the warmth seeps into you. 

You close your eyes as the water continues to lap down by your feet. You try to let the tension out. You’re thinking too much.  

💔

You button up the shirt Jonathan left for you. You still feel uneasy as you slip into bed but you’re too tired to care. You might be invading his space but he doesn’t seem to mind much. Besides, the hot water has finished you off. You just want to sleep forever. 

Your eyes roll back and you hide from the world. It doesn’t quite fade away, still vaguely present on the other side of your eyelids. That hazy itchiness settles in your head but the fog just won’t thicken to darkness. You’re awake, barely, kept conscious by the nerves rattling in your chest. 

In your stupour, you remain vaguely aware of your unusual surroundings. Despite the threat that lingers on the other side of the walls, you can’t help but miss your apartment. It’s the first space that was truly your own. All that’s ruined.  

You hear a dulcet tone, a low hum that’s soothing a much as it is stirring. You roll onto your side and grumble, peeling open your eyes as your ears prick. Jonathan’s voice precedes him into the room. You blink at him from the bed, curled up under the blankets as your warmth keeps you in place. 

“Yes, I will have her there, never you worry,” he says breezily, “mm, yes, I’ve the time. I’ll add it to my calendar. Shouldn’t be any issue.” As you watch him, he meets your gaze and his brows flick up as he grins, “thanks, Eugenia, can’t wait. Yes, you have a wonderful night.” 

He pulls the phone away from his ear and you recognise the case and the cracked protector. It’s yours. What the heck? You sit up and reach instinctively for him. 

“Hey, that’s my phone,” you accuse. 

“Yes, it was ringing and I thought you asleep. It was only your mother,” he drops the phone on the bed next to you. “I could hardly answer between messages from that pest you call a neighbour.” 

“What?” You grasp the cell and slide it closer. 

“She only wanted to confirm the time for the engagement party next weekend. You can wear one of your new dresses,” he explains as he goes to the wall mirror and checks his reflection, smoothing his hair before he unbuttons his collar. He works a path down the row and the fabric slackens around his shoulders. “I’ve made certain to make record of each message that creature sends. We may just need to consult authorities.” 

“Colin? I—I blocked him.” 

“Please do not say his name. It’s absolutely hideous, isn’t it?” He faces you as he shrugs off his shirt. “It seems he has found an alternative, that chit he keeps around.” 

“Ally?” You wonder. 

“Mmm, is that her name,” he drones as he dumps his shirt into the hamper. “Well, we needn’t worry about them much longer.” 

He continues to undress as you pull yourself up against the pillows. Things just keep happening and you can’t keep up. You look up as he wears nothing but his short cotton boxers and nears the bed. You peek down at your phone and put it on the night table to right of the bed. 

“I do think you should call your landlord and give notice sooner than later,” he climbs onto the foot of the bed. 

“Notice?” You echo in confusion, “why--” 

“You cannot go back, darling, it’s not safe,” he tugs at the blanket, pulling it away from your body, “I cannot in good conscience let you return.” 

“But I—we can just let things mellow out, right? Colin will get over it--” 

“I told you,” he grabs your ankle, “do not utter his name at me.” 

He pulls you so you fall flat on your back. You throw your arms out and gasp as your head bounces onto the mattress. He separates your legs and perches between them. You lift yourself on your elbows, breathless, and stare at him. 

“I can’t stay forever--” 

“Did I ever say that?” He challenges, his blue eyes blazing up at you. 

“No, but--” 

“I understand things have escalated quickly, fawn, but we will figure it all out. I will be certain to clarify everything at the office, let them know it was simply not your doing,” his eyes cling to your face and narrow before slowly descending. 

He glides his hands up your legs, crawling closer on his knees. He slides his touch beneath the loose shirt and tickles your naked skin. He sends a chill through you that speckles hotly. He feels your body, running his hands up and your torso as you quiver. 

He slips his hands above the fabric as he kneels between your thighs. He unbuttons the shirt to your belly button, unveiling your chest and bending to dote on it. He cups one side as his mouth explores the other; nipping and nuzzle. You let out a pathetic noise as you cradle the back of his head. 

You arch your back as his warmth draws you in and chases away your doubts. His long fingers soothe you and his intensity overpowers you. As much as this man has you uncertain, you cannot resist him. It feels nice to be wanted even if it isn’t who you wanted. 

💔

Once more, you fall asleep in the afterglow of Jonathan’s attentions. How easily he can obfuscate your fears and doubts. How his touch can so easily distract you from the things that might keep you awake.  

The weight of his arm settles over you, holding you to him, his hard long body coiled around yours. He keeps a leg curled between yours as his hot breath seeps into your scalp. You’re content, you’re safe. 

Your sleep is only disturbed as he untangles himself carefully from you. You don’t rouse entirely, clinging to the pillow and dregs of fatigue. He tucks the blanket under your figure and the bed shifts with the absences of his weight. His scent lingers behind him. 

You sink back down and fall flat on your back, spreading out across the mattress. The late night lull settles over you, lulling you down as the distant drone of Jonathan’s lilted voice further coaxes you. You moan through your slumber and roll onto his side, longing for him to return. 

You blink and the blue digits of the clock have changed. Twenty minutes and he’s still not back. You shiver and flutter your eyelashes, rubbing your cheeks as you force yourself awake. You sit up dizzily, you can still hear him. 

You shimmy to the edge of the bed and stand. You hug yourself as a shiver washes over your naked flesh. The button-up is lost somewhere in the bedding. You put your feet down softly as you pad across the room, following his timbre as it come between sharper tones. 

You creep out into the hall, a bluish glow drawing you in. You follow the cool hardwood to the front room and hide in the dim as you squint. Jonathan has his phone in hand, the screen alight as his profile is limned in its shine. He watches it intently as you recognise the voice chirping from the speaker. 

“That’s so lovely, dear, hope we can see you soon,” his mother chimes. 

You waver on your feet. Oh, you shouldn’t listen. 

“Will she be coming?” His father’s gristly accent comes through. 

You pause before you can back up. Jonathan clicks his tongue, “yes, I think so.” 

“Jon,” his mother titters, “oh, that’s so exciting! That’s... big.” 

“Eh, yes, don’t think you ever let us meet one of the birds,” he father chides. 

“Father, she’s not... don’t call her that,” Jonathan rebukes. 

“I’m teasing, yeah?” The elder Pine chortles, “you’re gonna have to warn her about us. If that place has made you so soft, I shouldn’t want to scare the girl.” 

“Father,” Jonathan utters once more, “she’s... not... She’s perfect.” 

His mom squeals and giggles. You gulp and press yourself against the wall. What is he talking about? He’s talking about taking you somewhere. To his home? That’s a far way. Something he should probably ask you first. His mother is entirely correct; that’s big. His compliments cannot counteract the shock of his one-sided decision. 

You sidle along the hallway, careful not to place your feet too heavily. As you near the bedroom, your elbow hits the frame and the thump casts silence through the apartment. Shoot. 

You peer toward the front room and see Jonathan’s shadow closing in. He must have heard your misstep. You quickly flit into the room and ease into the bed. You pull the blankets over you and turn your back to the door. Your heart is racing. 

You sense him in the doorway, watching you. Silent. 

“Everything okay, son?” His father asks. 

“Yes, it’s... fine,” Jonathan answers, “I’ll let you go. Wouldn’t want to wake her.” 

“Oh yes, get some sleep,” his mother insists, “love ya.” 

“Night, son.” 

Jonathan crosses the room and you hear his phone meet the table on his side of the bed. The mattress dips as he climbs in and pulls the blanket over himself, nestling in close to you. He sighs and hums as he hugs you to him once more. 

You lay, frozen and silent, praying he can’t feel your pulse. 

“Did I wake you?” He whispers and kisses your crown. 

You force a groan from your throat and feign grogginess, “hmm, oh, no...” You wiggle into the mattress and yawn, putting your hand over his. 

“Back to sleep, darling,” he purrs as he nuzzles you.  

[lvrsparadise]

hii! can you do matt sturniolo x reader where reader has a bad day and just breaks down in matts arms and he comforts reader?

Hii lovely anon!! Of course! ♡

I'LL ALWAY BE HERE - M.S

Synopsis - Request!

Warnings! - Anxiety, some weirdo, crying, kissing, sad R, we love a supporting boyfriend, fluff.

A/N - I love this request! See I love people who can just write straight to the point, but I have to explain and add the details because I feel like everyone needs to know what's happened in the background, to lead up to the starring moment. I don't know why my brain works that way but, I hope you like it anon!! ♡♡

Why did today have to be so stressful?

First, I was late to work. Then, while at work, some drunk guy outside kept hitting on me and multiple other females. Also, I dropped an entire tray of drinks, all over myself.

Oh, and don't even get me started on what happened before work!

My roommates dog pissed all over my room and took a shit next to my bed. Leaving me to step in it when I woke up. And I ran out of shampoo as well. Also, my professor for my English lit class is failing me because I didn't use proper punctuation in my essay. Pretty petty if you ask me.

My phone wouldn't charge. My laptop wouldn't turn on. And I'm pretty sure my TV's broken as well. So fun! Not.

I decide to forgo heading back to my place, and drive straight to my boyfriend's house, in desperate need of... I don't even know.

I pull into the driveway and get out of my car in record time, making it to their door quickly.

I fumble with my keys trying to find the spare they gave me when they first moved into their house.

Finally, I find the key and unlock the door. I sigh in relief at the comforting smell of my best friend's house. I kick my shoes off and start my ascent up the stairs to the living room.

"Honey! I'm home!!" I say in a funny voice as I walk into the living room, where only one of the three are. The person I'm looking for, not in sight.

"Oh, hey. I thought you were closing tonight?"

"I did. My manager told me to close early because no one was coming in."

"Fair point." As if Nick can sense my anxiety and stress, which is probably radiating off of me like a beacon, he points to Matt's room.

"He's streaming right now."

"Thank you thank you thank you." I say as I throw my keys onto the table and walk to Matt's room, knocking on the door before cracking it open and peaking my head inside.

He snaps his head in my direction, having heard me opening his door. I smile sheepishly at him as I walk in and shut the door behind me.

He slides his headphones off his head and swivels his chair to face me.

"Hey. I thought you were closing tonight?"

"I did. I just closed up early because no one was coming in."

"Oh okay. I'm streaming, do you want to say hi?"

I nod with the best smile I can muster. I lean into the cameras frame smiling at the viewers.

"Hey guys!" I wave to the camera with one hand while the other hold onto the back of Matt's chair like a lifeline.

Chat's going a thousand miles per hour at the sight of me. Most of them commenting on how Matt was looking at me.

"I think I'm going to end stream here guys. Bye chat. Love you guys."

He quickly ends the stream and turns his monitor and PC off before turning his chair back to me.

"Is everything okay? You look... stressed."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a rough day."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you-?"

Matt stands up and places one hand on my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn't know fell.

"Baby, are you okay?"

I deflate. Like a balloon, at his question. Whatever barrier was holding back the water works, fell. And I can feel the tears falling from my eyes.

"No." The word came out in a sob but was still depictable.

"Come here." Matt mumbles as he wraps his arms around my neck, pulling me closer to him. I wrap my own arms around his torso, balling my hands into the fabric of his hoodie as I sob into his chest.

His chin is resting on top of my head, and occasionally he'll press a kiss to my head as a reminder that he's there.

We stand there, swaying back and forth, for maybe eternity.

"Here's what's going to happen, you're going to shower, get comfy, and I'm going to order food then we'll watch whatever you want. That sound good?"

I nod my head against his chest.

"Yeah."

"Good." We pull back and he wipes away my tears with his thumbs and presses a kiss to my forehead, cheeks, nose, then lips.

He hands me a pair of his sweats, one of his hoodies, and some boxers before ushering me to his bathroom.

As I shower, Matt sits on the floor against the sink, talking to me as I do so. Keeping me company.

After I'm clean and have changed into much comfier clothes, we head back to his room where he turns off the lights and gets the bed set up so that we can cuddle.

Once we're settled in his bed, he turns the TV on and looks down at me.

"What do you want to watch pretty girl?"

"Hmmm. Sing 2."

I nuzzle back into his neck comfortably as he opens Netflix and turns the movie on.

--

It doesn't matter how many times I watch this movie, the scene near the end where they start the show when the whole theatre becomes the star background, will always amaze me. It's just such a great scene. And the entire show is just amazing.

By the end of the movie, I'm a little tired.

As if on cue,

"You tired?" I hear Matt chuckle and the sensation of it makes me even more tired.

I just nod and almost koala bear around him, earning another chuckle as he slides our bodies down to a laying position and under his comforter.

"I love you."

"I love you too sweet girl." He presses a kiss to my head before wrapping his arms around my waist and I drift off peacefully, feeling more secure in the arms of the one I love most.

Tags ! ✮

@dwntwn-strnlo ✮ @ssturniolo ✮ @strniolo ✮ @20nugs ✮ @prettysturniolo ✮

If you want to be added to the list, all you have to do is ask !! ✮

I love all of you guys !

And I hope you all have a wonderful day and / or night ✮

[topazy]

Tomorrow's promise

Pairing: Daryl Dixon × OC, Rick Grimes × sister OC

Warnings: Swearing

Chapter: 3.09

While ducking behind a crate of wood, you use the scope on your rifle. You keep watch for any signs of an attack while waiting on your brothers, Daryl and Hershel, returning to the prison. Somehow Andrea had managed to arrange a sit-down between the governor and Rick, something you were highly against.

“Any sign of my brother yet?”

Hearing Merle’s voice, you roll your eyes and say, “No, not yet.”

“Hmm.” He leans against the fence, making himself an easy target. “Listen, girly, what happened before—kidnapping you and all—it was strictly business.”

“What’s done is done.”

“You’re a lot more snapper than Rick; anybody ever tell you that? I bet Shane did. Yeah, I remember that judgmental deputy well. I never would have pictured you two together. Oh well, at least we are all one big happy family now, right?”

You glance up at him, and it annoys you how amused he is. You got the impression that Merle thrived on chaos and was just trying to get under your skin. “You know, if my brother hadn’t gone back looking for you in Atlanta, I would never have found him again. I guess I’m lucky T-dog dropped the keys.”

“You really are something else.” Merle snorts out a laugh. “I noticed you’re the only one who didn’t protest about me staying. I guess that means all is forgiven.”

“No, I still think you’re an asshole, but Daryl wouldn’t leave you behind.” You go back to looking through the scope for any movements, “but for this to work, we all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.”

“I’m on whatever side my baby brother is, and fortunately for you, it’s Rick’s side. You didn’t seem surprised when we swooped in and saved your brother's ass from walkers.”

“I knew Daryl would come back because he’s one of us.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

A few beats of silence pass before you speak again. Merle had already gotten into a few altercations with Glenn. “You do anything that hurts.“

“Yeah, yeah,” he says sarcastically. “If I hurt your brother, son, or precious little friends, you’ll point that rifle right at me.”

“You do anything to hurt Daryl, and I’ll pull the trigger.”

“Well, ain’t I glad to know my brother has a guard dog?”

“Shh!” Seeing a vehicle approaching, you point your gun in its direction, ready to fire if it’s an enemy, but thankfully, it’s your people returning. “They’re back.”

—

Something was going on between Rick, Daryl, and Hershel; they were keeping a secret from the rest of you. Your issue wasn’t with being kept out of the loop per se, but you didn’t like the atmosphere it was causing. Both Daryl and Rick were avoiding you, and Hershel constantly looks like he’s about to start crying.

Rick told you the governor was gearing up for war, but you knew he was holding back.

“You want to go for a nap?” You kiss Jace’s cheek multiple times before placing him in the travel cot. Michonne, Carl, and Rick got on their last run. “Sleep tight, baby.”

Having a cot meant you got to sleep better during the night; instead of worrying, he’d somehow crawl out of the cell. They had also brought back a few toys and clothes for him and Judith to share. Knowing he had something other kids had before the world went to shit made you feel better, more hopeful that one day he would have a better chance.

You go to the cellblock where all the supplies are kept and start separating ammunition into different piles. Glenn has come up with the idea of hiding a few boxes of bullets outside, so if anyone got pinned down, they wouldn’t run low. You lift your head and smile when Daryl walks into the room and says, “Hey.”

“Hi.”

It gnaws on you that Daryl avoids making eye contact with him. “Did you do it?”

He looks almost alarmed by the question, “W-what?”

“Michonne’s idea? Putting down barbed wire will slow down any vehicle. I’ve got a few ideas I want to pick her brain about later.”

Daryl gulps it down nervously.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah… no.” He finally lifts his head to look up at you, and he seems to be torn. “I… fuck, I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

“Is this about the governor?"

Sighing, he sits down beside you and holds his head with his hand. “The governor offered to make a deal with Rick; we hand over Michonne, and he’ll leave us alone.”

“But my brother wouldn’t do that,” you say, looking over Daryl’s shoulder at the doorway at the same time Rick walks in. “Tell him you wouldn’t do that.”

“Lily.”

Your stomach drops upon seeing the look on your brother's face; he had actually considered it. “Tell him, Rick, tell me you wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t hand a woman over to that man!”

“Keep your voice down.”

“There is no difference between Merle snatching me and Glenn off the street and handing us over to the governor than there is you doing it. Is this what the three of you have been whispering about? Trying to figure out the best way to do it without the rest of us noticing? That man terrorized me and Glenn.”

You glare at your brother as he comes and sits down on the opposite side of you. “I’m not going to do it... I did consider it. But we can't, and I can’t. It’s not who we are.”

You shake your head in disgust. Rick knew exactly what the governor had done to you, and whatever he had planned for Michonne would be a thousand times worse. Tears of anger begin to form.

“Don’t, don’t do that,” Rick sighs. “I’m going to tell Michonne the truth. About the deal, about... how I thought about it.”

“How could you even think about it?” The difference between people like us and people like them is that we protect our own.”

“That’s exactly what I was trying to do. If I had to choose between saving a person I barely know and my family, I’d always choose my family.”

“Siblings, huh? I can’t live with them; I can’t live without them. But at the end of the day, you’d do anything for them.”

Daryl shakes his head when his brother sits at the table with a smug look on his face. “Shut up, Merle,” you say. “I’m going to check on Judith.”

—

Looking around the prison yard, panic starts to set in. You notice your brother and run to him. “Rick, Rick!”

Seeing you panicked, he runs over and meets you halfway. “What’s going on?”

“Somethings wrong; I can’t find Michonne or Daryl.”

“I know,” he says, looking down at the ground. “Merle went through with it; he took Michonne, and Daryl’s gone after him to bring her back.”

“He’s gone out there alone.”

He nods.

You rub at your face and say, “Damn it. If the governor finds them, he will kill all three of them.”

“Daryl is a survivor. He and Michonne will be coming back through those gates in no time.”

Tears start to build up. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely, both of them have better chances of surviving out there than either of us.” Rick was right; they would be fine. “I just want to say, before... I wasn’t thinking clearly. I would never have turned her over. I was just grasping at any chance I could to try and save the lives of my people, but you’re right, Michonne is one of us now.”

“I shouldn’t be so quick to judge when it’s not me in the position to make that choice. Hell, I’ve done a lot of questionable things.”

Rick hugs you tightly, and you squeal a little when you feel the pressure against the flesh that had been grazed by the bullet. “From now on, there is only one secret we keep: that night on the farm, and that’s it.”

“Agreed.”

When you start to walk back towards the prison, a hint of a smirk appears on Rick’s face. He puts his arm around your shoulder and says, “I need to ask you something, and I need a completely honest answer.”

“Okay?”

“For a while there, I was hearing things and seeing things that weren’t there. So I need you to tell me, did I really see you kissing Daryl with a dead possum at your feet, or did I imagine that?”

“Let’s go find the others.”

—

Your brother stands in front of the remaining members of your group in the courtyard while you sit around a picnic table. He looks stressed, scared of how the others will react. Admittedly, you were horrified when Daryl told you, but you don’t believe him; Rick or Hershel would have actually gone through with it.

“When I met with the governor, he offered me a deal. He said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne.” Rick’s jaw wobbles slightly as he talks; he was struggling to hold it together. “And I was going to do that... to keep us safe. I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal, and Daryl went to stop him, but I don’t know if it’s too late. I was wrong not to tell you. And I’m sorry. What I said last year—that first night after the farm—it can’t be like that. It can’t. What we do, what we’re willing to do, who we are—it’s not my call. It can’t be. I couldn’t sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We’re the reason we’re still here—not me, all of us. How we live, how we die—it ain’t up to me. I ain’t your governor. We chose to go. We chose to stay. We stick together.”

Nobody knows what to say.

“We vote. We can stay or fight, or we pack up stuff and leave.”

“I’m proud of you, Rick.”

[justabigassnerd]

Arguments

Pairing - Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x daughter!reader, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw

Word count - 3,743

Warnings - broken bones, injuries, inaccurate medical scenes, idk hospital stuff, arguing, yelling, swearing, angst, Jake's a bit of an ass in this

Summary - you get injured while out with Bradley, which kicks Jake into 'dad mode' and causes an argument

A/N - hey y'all! sorry it's been a hot minute since I last uploaded a fic! I have been finishing up uni so it's been a bit all over the place. anyway I won't keep you long with this A/N, it's a new part of Hangman junior and as per y'all, please send in requests, feedback, and enjoy!!!

Jake and Bradley had never been a couple to argue. They had a ‘let’s agree to disagree’ mindset when it came to anything the two could potentially make a spat out of. When kids at your school complained about their parents arguing you couldn’t help but feel bad for them because your dad and Bradley never argued. You knew arguing was commonplace between most couples and you were sure that your dad and Bradley would argue at least once during their relationship and all you could hope was that you wouldn’t bear witness to it.

One day, while Jake was out with Coyote, Payback, and Fanboy, you and Bradley decided to head to the nearest park and have a walk around to enjoy the warm spring weekend. The park was bustling with parents and children, couples, and the elderly. It seemed as if everyone had the same idea as you and Bradley, not that you’d complain about it, it made you happy to see so many people out and about. You watched as parents swung their children in between them as their child shrieked with laughter, you saw couples having picnics, tossing grapes at each other to see if they could catch them in their mouths, and you saw elderly people sat together by the pond, tossing grain out for the ducks who greedily darted to the food as they quacked noisily.

“Did you ever do stuff like this with your parents? Go to the park?” You ask curiously, looking up at Bradley to gauge his reaction, worried you might have upset him with the words you didn’t think about before they left your mouth.

“Parks, very rarely, I was more of a beach guy, my parents too. According to my mum, my dad had to drag me almost kicking and screaming from the beach when it was time to go home.” Bradley chuckles, reminiscing on the faint memories he had with his parents.

“Your parents sound like they were lovely people. I wish I could’ve met them.” You say, smiling softly at Bradley who lifts his hand and ruffles your hair with a smile of his own.

“Oh, they would’ve loved you. My mum especially.” Bradley says as he surveys the park, watching a dog bounding across the park as its owner tosses a ball across the grass. He had always wanted a dog growing up, maybe he’d speak to Jake about adding a pet to the family.

“I bet I would’ve loved them too.” You reply, your smile not fading as you look back across the park. You and Bradley continue your walk, admiring the sights and the birds flying overhead. As you walk through the park, you begin to head down some steps to walk along a lower path of the park but just as you near the bottom of the stairs, your ankle rolls and you tumble down the remaining stairs, hearing a crack from your right arm as it shot out to try and stop your fall.

“y/n! Are you hurt?” Bradley said worriedly, darting to your side and crouching alongside you as you cradled your arm and blinked back tears.

“My arm hurts, I heard it crack. I think it’s broken” You say, fighting to keep your voice from wobbling at the pain. Bradley pulls his hoodie off, using it to make a makeshift sling to keep your arm still, apologising quickly when you wince in pain.

“Just your arm? Nothing else? You didn’t hit your head or anything?” Bradley asks, avoiding touching your arm as he scans you over for any other injuries.

“My ankle hurts a little, but my arm is the worst.” You admit, leaning against Bradley as he eases you up onto your feet. Glancing around you see concerned onlookers who glance away the second you make eye contact with them and continue on their way.

“Can you walk? We should get you to the hospital and the Bronco is almost a five-minute walk away.” Bradley asks softly, watching you wince as you accidentally jog your arm.

“Yeah, I can walk. I’ll be fine.” You say, trying to assure Bradley that you’ll be okay. With a slight nod, Bradley leads you to the Bronco, carefully helping you into the front passenger seat and helping you plug in your seat belt before rounding the car to get in the driver’s seat.

“I’ll call your dad when you’re getting treated. I don’t want him to worry too much.” Bradley says as he begins driving to the hospital, fighting the urge to speed the whole way there. He was silently dreading Jake’s reaction to this. You were the most precious thing in the world to Jake and he’d shoot into overprotective dad mode whenever you were in a situation where you could get hurt. Bradley also knew how Jake reacted when you were hurt.

“It’s dad. He will worry no matter what.” You say with a weak smile as you glance over at Bradley who shakes his head with a soft laugh, trying to alleviate his concerns.

It didn’t take Bradley long to drive to the hospital, helping you out once he parked and leading you into the building. He approaches the receptionist and explains what happened and the receptionist simply hands him some paperwork and a pen and tells him to fill it out in the waiting room. Bradley heads with you into the waiting room and sits down in one of the uncomfortable seats and stares at the paperwork in front of him. You provide him with the answers he needs and not long after finishing the paperwork, a nurse enters the waiting room and calls your name.

“You go on ahead, kid. I’ll call Jake.” Bradley whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before you get up and follow the nurse. The second you leave his eyesight, Bradley pulls his phone out of his pocket and calls Jake, the call rings through to answerphone so Bradley waits for the beep so he can leave a voice message.

“Hey, Jake, I just wanted to call and let you know that y/n had a fall while we were in the park, and I reckon she broke her arm. We’re at the hospital now and they’ve taken her off to I assume get an x-ray and sort her out. Just give me a call when you get this. Love you.” Bradley says into the phone before hanging up and letting out a small sigh. Bradley remains sat in the waiting room, anxiously bouncing his leg, and fighting back memories of stuffy hospital waiting rooms he often spent time in during his youth. After what felt like hours, a nurse stuck her head into the room and called Bradley’s name, making him leap out of his seat instinctively.

“y/n is just fine. Her arm is broken but it’s being put in a cast as we speak. We just needed to grab you so the doctor can go through medications and care with you.” The nurse explains as she leads Bradley through various corridors to the room you were in, arm outstretched as the staff tended to it, putting it into a plaster cast.

“You okay, y/n/n?” Bradley asks, easing down into a chair next to you and studying you carefully.

“Yeah. They’ve given me some pain meds, so my arm doesn’t hurt as much.” You say, looking over at Bradley who nods with a soft smile. When the doctor finishes putting your arm in a cast, she turns to look at Bradley as she grabs her clipboard.

“You must be y/n’s father, correct?” The doctor asks, looking at Bradley who glances at you nervously.

“Yeah, he’s my dad.” You answer for Bradley, smiling up at him before looking at the doctor who nods.

“Okay, we just need to talk to you about caring for the injury. We’ve prescribed some medication and we have a care leaflet here about making sure her arm heals well and the cast remains undamaged. If y/n experiences any pain that isn’t being combated by the pain medication come back and we’ll see what we can do.” The doctor explains, handing Bradley a leaflet as you get up from the chair. Bradley thanks the doctor and signs some extra paperwork that needs signing before being allowed to take you back home. As you pick up your medication, Bradley checks his phone and fights back a frown at not a single notification from Jake. He figured Jake would’ve listened to his voicemail by now and would’ve either texted him or called him back. Bradley sent another message through to Jake as the two of you exit the hospital, letting him know that you were heading home. Bradley helps you into the Bronco and drives back home. As you enter the house, you kick your shoes off and turn to face Bradley in the hallway.

“Can I go for a nap? These painkillers are wiping me out.” You admit with a slight yawn.

“Of course, y/n/n. Just make sure you prop your arm up on a pillow or something. I don’t want an army of angry doctors coming my way on the first day.” Bradley chuckles as you roll your eyes but nod regardless. Bradley watches you head upstairs before heading into the living room where he sat down, and his leg began bouncing rapidly at the lack of response from Jake. He tried to put the tv on to distract himself and after almost half an hour his phone pinged with a message from Jake.

‘I’m on my way home.’

The message was blunt and to the point and Bradley immediately knew that he may be in trouble. Bradley knew that Jake was probably speeding the whole way home right now and that he would be envisioning the absolute worst. Before too long, Bradley heard the tell-tale sign of Jake’s truck pulling into the driveway and then not long after, Jake came barrelling into the house, making Bradley leap up from where he was sitting.

“Where is she?” Jake asks, panic evident in his voice as Bradley approaches him.

“She’s up in her room having a nap. She’s fine so we should just leave her be for a moment.” Bradley says as Jake barges past him, heading up the stairs with Bradley hot on his heels. The second Jake reaches your room he opens your door and sticks his head in your room, seeing you lying fast asleep on your bed. Relieved to see you okay, he closes the door before rounding on Bradley.

“How did this happen? Penny lets me and the others use her boat one time, and my daughter gets hurt and I don’t find out until I’m back on land.” He asks harshly, glaring at Bradley whose eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“I told you in the voicemail. She fell down a couple of steps and broke her arm when she tried to break her fall.” Bradley explains.

“And you didn’t try to stop her from falling?” Jake says angrily, his glare intensifying.

“It happened so fast, Jake! By the time I realised she was falling, she had hit the floor. I did what I could. I took her to the hospital and got her the treatment she needed. There was nothing else I could’ve done.” Bradley retorts, defending himself from Jake’s anger.

“Bradley, in letting you in my life all I ask is you look after my kid, and you couldn’t even do that!” Jake said, his anger reaching an all-time high.

“Jake, that’s not fair. I did everything I could have done in that situation. y/n is fine. Yes, she has a broken arm, but she was smiling and talkative before she went up to bed. Nothing has happened to her apart from an injured arm. It’s still your kid in there.” Bradley says, fighting the urge to raise his voice.

“I can’t be doing this with you. I don’t think I can even look at you right now.” Jake scoffs, making Bradley’s heart ache at the harsh words.

“I see. Well, if you need me, I’ll be at Phoenix’s.” Bradley says, moving around Jake and heading downstairs, grabbing his keys, and jumping into the Bronco while Jake remains rooted in place. After taking a couple of deep breaths, Jake enters your room and perches himself on the edge of your bed as you blink your eyes open.

“Hey, dad.” You say with a small smile which Jake couldn’t help but return.

“Hey, sweetheart. Are you feeling okay?” He asks softly as you nod.

“The pain meds are doing their job. Where’s Bradley?” You suddenly ask, propping yourself up on your good arm and glancing behind your dad as if Bradley would pop out of nowhere.

“He’s downstairs.” Jake lies, reaching out to brush a stray hair from your face.

“Don’t lie to me dad. I heard the two of you arguing outside. What did you say to him?” You ask, glaring at him in a way that Jake could only assume was the way he was looking at Bradley just moments prior.

“You wouldn’t understand.” Jake says dismissively, not wanting to tell you about what happened.

“I bet I would. Now tell me what happened.” You demand, making Jake fall silent before he sighs heavily.

“Bradley let you get hurt so-”

“So you yelled at him? Dad, are you serious?” You cut in, your glare intensifying as you process what happened.

“y/n, in being part of our life he should be looking after you.” Jake attempts to justify his anger.

“He did look after me. He took me straight to the hospital and was there the whole time. He has all the details about my medication and how to care for my cast and injury. Do you? I guess not because the first thing you did when you walked through the door was yell at him.” You spit, angrier than you’ve ever been before at your dad. Jake remains silent at your outburst, giving you time to speak once more.

“Put yourself in Bradley’s shoes for a second, dad. Imagine I was Bradley’s daughter, and I was out with you, and I fell and hurt myself. How would you feel?” You ask, watching as Jake processes your words.

“I’d feel bad. Like I could’ve stopped you from hurting yourself if I was quick enough.” Jake replies, looking down at your duvet.

“Okay, now imagine you were feeling like that and then the second Bradley got home he yelled at you and made you feel even worse. Because that’s probably how you made Bradley feel.” You say, making Jake feel awful for the way he had treated Bradley.

“Dad, I know you were worried about me and that’s okay. But you can’t treat Bradley like that for something that wasn’t his fault. I know you love Bradley, and he loves you too. Don’t let this argument ruin your relationship.” You say, wiping your eyes quickly so your dad doesn’t see your tears, but Jake sees them.

“Oh, sweetheart. This argument won’t ruin our relationship. Yes, I was angry at Bradley, but I won’t be divorcing him over this.” Jake says reassuringly, helping you sit up properly before sitting alongside you, wrapping an arm around you carefully and pulling you into his side as you fight back more tears.

“You promise?” You ask through tears, looking up at your dad as he runs a hand up and down your back.

“I promise y/n/n.” Jake promises. He had learnt in raising you that he shouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. But his relationship with Bradley was important to him, and he knew he’d be an idiot if he let Bradley go after one silly argument. Jake knew he was in the wrong, that he let his protectiveness get too much and he took it out on someone who didn’t deserve it. Someone who took his daughter in like his own and cared for her when Jake wasn’t around.

“You just relax up here, okay? I’m going to call Bradley and see if I can talk to him. Then I’ll cook us up something to eat.” Jake says once you’ve calmed down enough to form coherent thoughts. He watches as you wipe your eyes once more and nod, allowing Jake to detangle himself from you. As Jake stands up, he presses a kiss to the top of your head before he heads downstairs to call Bradley. Once Jake reaches the living room, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it and finds Bradley’s contact, staring at it for a minute before pressing the number and holding the phone up to his ear. The phone rang for what felt like forever, Jake could imagine Bradley sitting watching the phone ring while Phoenix told him to ignore the call. He couldn’t even be mad if that was the case, he knew he deserved it.

“Hello?” Jake was taken aback to hear Bradley’s voice, having fully convinced himself that Bradley would let him go to voicemail.

“Bradley, hi.” Jake breathes, failing to come up with anything else.

“Can I help you?” Bradley replies, a clear exasperation in his voice as he speaks.

“Can I talk to you?” Jake asks, biting his bottom lip as he awaits a response. He hears Bradley move away from the phone, mumbling to Phoenix before returning to the phone.

“Okay.” Bradley says simply.

“What?” Jake says, not expecting Bradley to just talk over the phone.

“You wanted me to talk to you so I’m talking to you.” Bradley replies and Jake could only imagine him sitting back against the sofa with that cocky eyebrow raise of his.

“I mean, come home. I want to talk to you face to face.” Jake says, hoping that Bradley agrees. Jake hears Phoenix whispering to Bradley before the phone clearly gets handed over.

“Listen here, Bagman, you better clean up this act of yours. I get that y/n got hurt but it was out of everyone’s control. If I ever find out that you’ve spoken to Bradley like that again I’m going to fuck you up so bad, you’ll never be able to fly again.” Phoenix threatens, making a shiver crawl up Jake’s back at the intensity of her words. He knew Phoenix’s threats weren’t empty. He knew how close Phoenix and Bradley were and how fiercely protective they were of one another.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less Phoenix.” Jake manages to reply, grabbing the tv remote and turning the tv off when he finally registers that it’s been left on all this time. Jake hears shuffling on the other end of the line and the jangling of keys.

“He’ll be over soon.” Phoenix says quickly before hanging up, leaving Jake pulling the phone away from his ear and staring at it as he held it limply in his lap. Jake sat in silence as he waited to hear the familiar sound of the Bronco pulling up outside. When he heard the rumble of the all-familiar vehicle, Jake shot to his feet, his phone clattering to the floor at the sudden movement as he wrings his hands nervously. Bradley enters the house and locks eyes with Jake who has moved to stand in the living room doorway, his eyes red-rimmed, a clear signal he’d been holding back tears.

“Bradley, I am so sorry for what I said. I was scared and I took it out on you, which I should not have done. You looked after y/n and got her the treatment she needed. You’re a perfect parent for y/n and we’re both so lucky to have you. Now I don’t expect you to forgive me straight away, y/n needs you and she ripped me a new one when she found out what we were arguing about. I know I don’t deserve you Bradley, but I’d be a fool to let you go.” Jake says, clearing his throat slightly after speaking to try and hide the emotions. Bradley remained silent for but a moment before he took a step forward and took Jake’s hand in his.

“Jake, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t appreciate the way you spoke to me, yes, but I know your anger came from a place of worry. y/n’s the most important thing in your life and I get that. Just, if there’s a next time, I’m with y/n and something happens, please trust I’ve taken care of her as best I can. I love that kid so much and I’d move heaven and earth to keep her safe so please don’t assume I don’t care about her because I do.” Bradley says, letting Jake know how he feels about everything. Jake nods slightly, blinking back more threatening tears.

“I know you love her, and I was so stupid to even think you didn’t. y/n was so worried when she learnt about the argument. You mean the world to her, and you mean the world to me too. We can’t lose you.” Jake says as Bradley tugs him ever so closer.

“You Seresin’s are stuck with me.” Bradley says softly, his small, yet loving smile crossing his face.

“Aren’t we lucky to be stuck with you, Bradshaw?” Jake teases, smirking in response as Bradley tugs him into a kiss, the two men relishing in each other’s embrace.

“Are you two okay now?” The two men jump apart at the sound of your voice where they see you standing on the stairs, a cocky smile on your face as you look at them.

“Yes, we’re okay now.” Bradley says, both him and Jake extending an arm out towards you so they could bring you into a group hug. After hugging for a moment, Jake pulls away, clapping his hands together and looking between you and Bradley.

“Alright, I’ll cook us up some food. I did promise, didn’t I, y/n?” Jake says looking at you as you nod, eager to have some of your dad’s homecooked food. Jake then heads to the kitchen with you and Bradley following. As you and your dads occupy the kitchen, you watch with a smile as Bradley turns on the radio, serenading your dad in his soft voice as Jake prepares what he needs to make a meal. You watch the two men with a smile, grateful that you had both of them in your life.

taglist (comment or ask to be added):

@zbeez-outlet @kaceywithak @tsnelf7 @starkleila @cassadilasworld @shanimallina87 @madstxo @chaoticassidy @padsdarlg

[lifenconcepts]

Unusual therian experiences are a completely natural and fine thing to have! Here’s some of mine (just experiences in general)

for the context, I’ve known I was a wolf therian since I was practically still a toddler, around 5, and I mainly had phantom shifts at that time (wolf tail, muzzle, and ears).

• Despite running out of energy incredibly quickly, I adore running down hills especially if I’m racing someone, and have learnt from some dogs the best way at accelerating and conserving energy (Leaping while running can give more more distance per step, and continiously leaning forward until you’re almost falling can cause you to keep speeding up as you’re trying to catch yourself (that’s because we have a silly centre of balance btw, not from dogs)).

• Despite feeling deeply connected to being a wolf, and represented by its image, I do not see my own body as such. My hands aren’t paws and my face not a muzzle, yet at times I do have a sense of desire to control my limbs as such. • I dislike doing quads, they feel unnatural and strange to me, yet I adore laying on the ground or a couch in a dog-like position, either laying spread out or huddled up.

• many do this aswell, I voice out my concerns like a canine, growling at strange noises outside, howling to fulfil a need of expressing my discontentment or things I’m unable to say otherwise, whining when hurt or weak, and barking at certain animals. Yet I simply forget those responses when around people as my mind just goes into ‘human’ drive where I present both vocally and physically as a person, unless ofcourse tired or not in the right state of mind. Mainly when tired I can slip up and either whine or maybe howl accidentally while on a walk.

• Cuteness aggression! Build up of fun and joy can lead me to wanting to express it through minor acts as violence such as a gentle grab on the arm or bite, with animals, usually withholding the urge but ruffling their fur for a few seconds before going back to petting them gently.

• I adore the outdoors, and yet don’t have a strong urge pulling me towards it. I fanaticise about living in a forest, yes, and adore going for walks or looking at the sky or being around plants, but I don’t feel like going out and about, maybe twice a month going to a forest. • I adore the rain! Many do, but I especially do. I want absolutely every inch covered in it and I relish in it’s warm chill.

• I can control if I have phantom limbs. I can simply allow them to exist or not, will them into existence if I try hard enough, and even make sure they don’t appear in certain situations. It’s mainly a wolf tail or ears but I also have lately managed to keep wings around voluntarily for a little while. Strange yet lovely. They help me express myself in ways I don’t want others to see, pulling my wolf ears back when worried or wagging my tail when excited or even irritated!

• some canine-kin don’t enjoy swimming surprisingly enough? Just from some individuals I knew, and yet I would rather be dragged out than leave a pool or the ocean! As a child especially i spent hours upon hours in the bathtub until the previously hot water turned ice cold, and even THEN I would refuse! I’d shiver in it while still having the time of my life. Give in to the waves as they take me from the main stream and shove me face-first into the sand and yet beg for more, run through a river and listen to the current, stare at waterfalls for ages at any opportunity I was given and touch each lake and pond I had access to! • I adore the smell of pet food and yet upon trying it (when younger) it was sickening enough to discourage me from ever touching it again, still fanaticise about having bone-shaped cereal, even if flashes of that wretched flavour taint my tastebuds.

• I hate digging, it gets under my nails too much and using tools is way too annoying. Looking at sand and dirt though, I can’t help myself but try a tiny bit and crave more. The crunch is endlessly satisfying and leaves me with a pleasant earthy taste.

B

bees

:3

:> £

&

€

[spacemagicandlaserswords]

The Bad Batch 3.1 ‘Confined’ Recap

Image from this post by @isthereanechoinhere96

Fuck you for starting with that line

Why are the captions in a serif font?

Going heavy on the theme of freedom for the clones already in the recap. Foreshadowing?

Rex!

CODY

Meme by u/No-Needleworker5295 on Reddit

Ah fuck here we go again

Why must I be made to relive this?

Damn the music is really hitting hard and it’s only the recap

Spoilers for Season 3 below!

Mayday! *sobs*

Oh great, it’s fuck face again

Hemlock being a bastard as per usual

Poor Omega

“Prisoner? Omega, you are no such thing.” Said to the child kept in a cage.

Still not trusting and heavily side eyeing Emerie

Why do they let Omega carry around a little lunchbox? That seems like an obvious security risk. As does the cell with a window, even if it has a heavy grate on it.

LMAO Crosshair looks the saddest, wettest, most bedraggled little meow meow in existence

Who are those other clones??? I must know

Why are they taking blood samples from the top of the hand? That seems like the least useful place to take it from

“All of us serve a purpose here” Big oof

The shots and framing are making it pretty clear that the blood, and Omega's blood in particular, is important

So many commandos with the glowing visors

Oh, it’s a door scanner. I thought Omega was sitting in a cell in that shot in the trailer

Nala Se (derogatory)

Lmao that wasn’t even subtle. She just destroyed Omega’s blood sample without even hiding what she was doing

“This research, it’s not like what we did on Kamino, is it?” Pretty sure what you did on Kamino was just as horrific. Though you can’t really blame Omega for that seeing as she’s a literal child who was also probably experimented on

M-count. That’s midi-chlorians isn’t it. Lol they aren’t even being subtle about this. Force sensitive clones ahoy!

“Experiments on the specimens” Jesus H Christ

Vault? That doesn’t bode well

Everything about this episode is very eerie and sinister

Ok that is an excessive, overkill amount of security. Who the fuck is in there?

And straight into electrocuting space dogs. Great.

I knew the lunchbox was for hiding something!

Batcher? Aw, she named them after the Bad Batch

Yes, stick your arm into the cage with the aggressive space dog. That’s a good idea

Nuggies???

He was shivering T_T

Who are all of these clones??? I keep pausing the video and zooming in but I can’t see any identifying characteristics on any of them yet. 

And there he is

Oh fuck Crosshair’s hand is shaking. I know most people have probably watched the clip of this already but I deliberately didn’t. Shaking hands for a sniper is Not Good. That’s his right hand too, so presumably his trigger hand/finger/whatever it’s called? Is this a physical injury inflicted on him by their experiments or PTSD or both?

I’m intrigued at how much relative freedom they’re giving Omega. She’s not being kept in a cell all the time like the other clones. Though I suppose this is part of their plan to make Nala Se cooperate.

Ok the tap dripping in Omega’s cell is definitely a visual metaphor for how repetitive, dreary, and isolating this all is

That’s 21 tally marks

Oh, she made a straw Lula. Ow

[shrieking in distance] – what shrieking? Captions, what are you going on about?

Oh fuck that’s a lot of tally marks. And a hair change. Lots of time has clearly passed. They’ve updated Omega’s model too but I think it’s a tad heavy handed as she hasn’t aged that much.

Wow, she didn’t even look at Crosshair. Is this attitude change Omega being ground down by what’s happening to her or something she’s doing deliberately to try and play along and be more cooperative so she can find out about more stuff? Also, that’s the second time she’s walked past Crosshair in the same spot at the same time of the day. That seems deliberate. 

Lol could you be any more obvious with the lighting in that shot that Omega’s blood is important? It’s like the vial of her blood has a moody spotlight on it. Important plot point here!

Nooooo Batcher’s hurt 😭

Bacta sponge?

“If I get the chance to escape, I wouldn’t think twice about leaving you behind.” Hmmm, you keep telling yourself that Crosshair

“I’m not them.” T_T

“Don’t risk anything for me. I belong in here.” Oooooooooowwwwwwwww

“None of us belong in here.” Damn right

There is some really lovely cinematography and framing in this scene between Omega and Crosshair

Well that was brutal and heavy handed

A successful transfer? A successful transfer of what?

The “specimen” has a high M-count. So they’re force sensitive. Now for the speculation on who it is?

“You should not question my loyalty to science, Doctor.” LMAO bitch what?

Urgh, of course they’re killing the dog once it’s friendly

Ahahaha squished

Aw, she’s setting Batcher free but she doesn’t want to go. 

“I didn’t know you were so cruel, Omega.” Oh fuck right off

Piss weak attempt to help there Emerie

Hemlock getting his evil baddie laugh moment

Clever. Omega knows why she’s here.

Urgh, of course Hemlock would threaten Crosshair to get Omega to cooperate.

Re-education?!?!?! You sick fuck

“Actions always have consequences. Sometimes not in the ways we imagine.” I am really hoping that line comes back to bite him in the ass later on

Oh fuck off with bring back the doll Emerie. That is such a bait to try and get Omega to like her and behave

That’s 164 tally marks. Omega’s been on Mount Tantiss for 5 and a half months

Aw, Batcher made it out. And that’s the crashed shuttle from earlier that she’s howling on the top of. More foreshadowing?

[yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon]

#15(.5)

Friday

__

Horuda was ashamed to walk through the schools after this incident. Rather than just a chunk, her hair had been completely cut into some… atrociously uneven bob. She did her best to avoid the staff and Amise especially. God knows she’d certainly have something to say about this. It was only a miracle that they’d left her front bangs alone. At the very least, she still had some hair to hide behind rather than explaining to her peers what had happened.

She was barely injured, some aching scalp here, perhaps some emotional trauma there, but all in all there were no physical marks left on her body to show that she was, in fact, assaulted. Then again, the horrified look on some of her peer’s faces made her feel like she was badly beaten. Now that the gracious haircut Hoshiko had given her had led to Horuda being noticed even more than usual, Horuda felt… bare.

As if the blanket of ignorance she’d placed over herself for others to… not see was snatched from her. Now she stood alone, with no cover, several pairs of eyes on her. She hated it.

Thankfully, unlike the Horuda from middle school, she had thought of a way to… somewhat fix her problem. Or at least, she sincerely hoped it would. Horuda slowly shuffled outside, her head hung and her long skirt almost making her trip as she trudged past her peers. She looked to the left, to the path that led to the incinerator. That was her plan. They were her plan.

Horuda thought back to the incident that had happened just earlier that day, around lunch.

_

Thanks to the pain of having her hair yanked and messily cut off, Horuda was showing those ugly tears that her peers hated so much. She hoped that maybe the smile that had stained itself on her face made up for it, but it likely made her look even more horrid than usual.

She was sure that even Hoshiko thought that, even if she didn’t say so.

As Hoshiko knelt down to Horuda, the pair of scissors in her right hand, Horuda instinctively held her hands up to her head, as if that was going to help her in some way. The tiles of Hoshiko’s favorite bathroom felt uninviting on Horuda’s knees. She wished Hoshiko could feel this way as well, but even knelt down, Hoshiko was still above her. As per usual.

Gently, and way too softly for Horuda to feel comfortable, Hoshiko lifted up Horuda’s chin with her free hand. She brushed the thick fringe of hair that covered Horuda’s face out of the way, giving her a kind smile. Horuda hated when people looked at her face. “You look so pretty, Horuda.” Hoshiko said in a soft tone. A soft tone that successfully distracted Horuda from noticing Hoshiko’s right hand lifting up to snag off another piece of hair with the scissors.

“But you have too much hair. Do you know how ugly that makes you look?” Hoshiko asked, her expression changing to one of faux distress and pity. As if she actually felt bad that Horuda was as repulsive as she was. When Horuda fails to answer, Hoshiko shakes her head with a disappointed frown. “Yeah. I feel like if you did you’d put an effort into… anything. I wonder why anyone would like you…”

As Hoshiko thought of some half-assed answer to her own statement, Horuda’s hand reached to Hoshiko’s bag, which was just in her reach. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she did know the consequences of getting caught. What else did she have to lose, anyway? Any more damage and Hoshiko would surely get in trouble. She knew that. Hoshiko was too smart to get in trouble.

Slowly, Horuda inches Hoshiko’s phone into her hand, and slides it beneath her own skirt. As she did, Hoshiko’s eyes lit up. “Ah, I know… you’d make such a good pet. You know, like those really ugly dogs with some sort of physical disability? The ones that social media influencers have and post about occasionally to remind their following that they’re a great person? I know you know what I mean.. You’d make such a good… dog..”

Hoshiko suddenly picks up footsteps walking too close to the bathroom for her liking. She stands up, slipping the scissors into her bag and lifting said bag over her shoulder. “Consider this my retaliation for finding a new hiding spot. The roof suited you better.” The gyaru says with her usual sweet smile, before pointing to the chunks of hair scattered on the bathroom floor. “Make sure to clean all this up. Your peers will hate you more if you leave a big mess like this here.” She claims, walking out of the room, as usual, scot-free from trouble.

_

Horuda hardly had a plan. In fact, she couldn’t even call this idea a plan, it could just be her wishful thinking. The weight of her anxiety seemed to slow herself down until she was completely still in front of the incinerator. She’d already gained the attention of the delinquents, who all sent raised eyebrows or glares her way.

“The Hell do you want?” Gaku asked, taking a few long strides towards Horuda. She stiffened at his proximity as he gave her a threatening look, but could barely bring herself to speak.

“...the- ahem… uh, I… i-it’s..” Horuda already thought of several ways this conversation could go. And none of them included her speaking coherently. At least she could predict that much.

“Gaku.” Hayanari called in a quiet tone, urging the red-shirt delinquent to come back. He did reluctantly, and Horuda’s shoulders became less tense.

“Well?” Umeji, the labeled leader of the group, crossed his arms as he asked her this. He was leaned against the chainmail fence of the incinerator area, looking at her harshly but expectantly.

Horuda, still unable to think of any words, shakily pushed her hand into the pocket of her skirt. She took out Hoshiko’s phone, which still had the screen on in order to keep it from locking. She didn’t know the password, so all she could do was keep it plugged in and set her phone so that the screen never turned off automatically. Slowly, she stepped towards Umeji and held the phone up to him, although her gaze remained on her shoes.

Umeji looked at the phone, and then to Horuda’s bowed head. “You’d better plan on saying something.” He grumbled, keeping his arms folded to show that he didn’t plan on taking it yet.

Letting out a shaky breath, Horuda mumbled her response. Umeji still couldn’t hear her, and leaned down to look at her past her bangs. “What’s your tongue for? Use it.” He ordered her, glaring at her.

Horuda immediately turned her gaze away, her face pale. She always did hate eye contact. “..it’s Hoshiko’s phone. Sh…She has a special folder..” She shakily raised the phone to him again. “...in her files… it… it’s about you all…”

Rather than Umeji, Hayanari took the phone, and went to the files in Hoshiko’s phone immediately. After looking through them a bit, he showed the phone to Umeji, while Hokuto leaned over to get a look as well.

Horuda already knew what they’d seen, of course. She took the liberty of looking through it first. Apparently, it was some special file she shared with the other bullies. She had several, all of which she was the host of, that had different bits of secret information and gossip about several students and groups in the school. “The delinquents” included.

“That bitch really..” Hokuto looked wide-eyed at the phone, but went quiet when Umeji elbowed him lightly in the stomach.

Umeji lowered the phone to look back at Horuda, and she immediately stuttered out. “Don–Don’t turn it off… it’ll lock and I… I don’t know the password..” She murmured, picking at her fingers nervously.

After a moment of silence, Umeji hands the phone to Hayanari again. “So, do you expect to get something back for this, or what?” He asks, crossing his arms again.

“Y..Yes…” Horuda nods, before immediately shaking her head, “Not- not like blackmail or… or anything, I- um- I-I want…” She pointed a finger towards the incinerator.

Umeji gave her another judgemental look and she slowly continued. “..the incinerator- uh, well, not the incinerator, but, I- u-uhm…”

“You want to hide in the incinerator area so those girls stop messing with you.” Hayanari speaks up, tilting the phone a bit to show Umeji whatever it was that he was looking at.

If Horuda had to make a guess, she’d guess that Hayanari had found the recent pictures that Hoshiko took while she was cutting off Horuda’s hair. Immediately feeling self-conscious, Horuda lifted a hand to tug on one of the longer chunks of hair nervously. “Yes, please.” She whispers, nodding at Hayanari’s assumption.

Umeji stared at the picture for a bit longer than she would have liked, and she slowly felt herself shrinking into herself. Part of her wanted to say “nevermind” and run away, but the rest of her was settled at the bottom of her feet, weighing her down from moving. With a quiet sigh, Umeji leans back against the fence with a frown. “Fine.” He nods to the opening of the incinerator area. “Don’t make a sound.”

Horuda immediately bows deeply and squeaks out a quick, “Okay!” Before slipping into the incinerator and closing the door behind her. The delinquents could still see her, even as she huddled over on top of a knocked over garbage bin in the farthest corner from them. Still, Horuda finally felt… comfortable here at school. Finally, somewhere where she could sit and be alone. It felt almost like her room, and part of Horuda finally felt more relaxed.

Horuda didn’t have anything to do. She didn’t bring a book, her notebook, and she didn’t have a phone to look at. All she had was herself, her thoughts, and the hushed whispers of the delinquents.

“..you’re just gonna leave her there?” Hokuto whispered in a tone that almost sounded like a teasing scolding.

“The hell do you mean?” Umeji grumbled back, glaring at his companion.

“You know what I mean. Look at her.” Hokuto nodded to Horuda’s huddled up form, which in turn caused all five of the boys to look her way.

She wasn’t doing anything, of course. She was just sitting with her knees to her chest, comfortably. Hugging herself was the most physical contact that Horuda allowed herself to feel, so she felt quite comfortable, even if she was on top of a bunch of trash and scraps.

Umeji shrugs. “She looks content.”

Hokuto gives him a slight shove, coaxing a low grumble from Umeji as he walks into the incinerator area. He begrudgingly made his way over to Horuda and stopped in front of her. She raised her head a bit to show that she acknowledged his presence, but still didn’t lift her head enough to meet his gaze.

“What’re you gonna do on Monday, then?” Umeji asked with no prior context, receiving a snide remark from Hokuto after doing so.

“...huh?” Horuda looked up a little more, but as soon as she caught his gaze she looked back down. “..I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She murmured, pulling on the sleeves of her sweater slightly.

Umeji pauses for a second, before continuing while stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I’m guessing you want to come back here Monday. So, what are you gonna offer, then?” He asks again.

Horuda presses her lips together, before looking back down to her knees. “I’m not sure. What do you want me to do?” She questions quietly, tapping her knees stiffly as a way to keep herself calm.

With one last glance to his group, Umeji sighs and takes a step back. “C’mon.” He says, not waiting for Horuda to get up before walking out of the incinerator area.

Horuda stumbles to her feet and quickly follows after him to wherever it was he was taking her. She realized how fast people walked when she found herself constantly having to speed up in order to catch up to him.

Out of breath but finally stopped, Horuda raises her head to see where exactly Umeji has taken her. As it turns out, it was just… the plaza. The far corner of the plaza, at least. Umeji leans against the wall and folds his arms, likely to remain unnoticed by his peers.

Standing up straighter rather than being hunched over and out of breath, Horuda shuffles up next to him. “Wh..What are we doing here?” She asks quietly, tugging on her sleeve.

“I need some money.” Umeji states under his breath, not giving any more context to that.

“Oh.” Horuda puts her hands in the pocket of her sweater, checking both before pulling out a total of 13 dollars. She holds it up to her, surprising Umeij a bit as he turns his head back to face her.

“Not..” Umeji sighs, putting her hands down. “Not yours. Theirs.” He nods his head to the general area, to the students wandering about and minding their business.

Horuda presses her lips together and furrows her eyebrows. “...you want me to steal?”

“Yeah.” Umeji says blandly, nodding again. “Go on.”

“Mm…” Horuda hums uncomfortably, but does shuffle over to a nearby tree to take a look around.

The first person she spotted was Beshi, who was sitting on a bench and scrolling on her phone. She was somewhat out of sight of the other students, and her bag was set underneath the bench, hopefully enough out of her sight. Even better, she had headphones on that was playing loud music that Horuda could hear from her current spot.

Slowly, Horuda walked over to Beshi, looking around to make sure that she didn’t catch the gaze of anyone else, which she usually didn’t have to worry about. The only reason she was really worrying about it now was because now she was actually doing something guilty. Other times she was accused of doing something bad just for being in the general area, so her best bet to be successful would be to just not be seen at all.

As slowly as she could, Horuda knelt down behind Beshi and reached her hand out to her bag. As she grabbed the strap, she looked around to see if she caught anyone else’s gaze, which she didn’t, thankfully. Another moment to be thankful for her peers’ lack of concern for her.

Even though she had the bag, Horuda didn’t want to risk Beshi turning around and seeing her, so she took a few steps back and hid behind another tree. Quickly, she rummaged through the bag, immediately finding a small bag of money inside. After a quick count, it looked as though Beshi was carrying at least 50 dollars in her bag, which was a lot to Horuda, but maybe that was normal for other students? And if that was normal, then maybe the students who were more notorious for having more money were carrying even more.

With that in mind, Horuda took 30 dollars from Beshi’s purse, and hesitantly put it back. Rather than looking for anyone else in the plaza, Horuda instead went into the hall and headed for the drama club, which was thankfully empty. Inside, Horuda found a few bags, although the one that caught her attention was the more extravagant one on the desk behind the divider. That one was definitely Kizana’s.

As soon as she grabbed it, she heard approaching voices, and hid behind the divider. The voices themselves seemed to belong to Kizana and Kokona.

“..oh, please, Kokona! This was an issue last year, when I suggested you get a different hairstyle.” Kizana hisses, making Horuda stiffen up at the closeness of her voice. She put the bag down and instead walked up to the mask set up, hoping that she could look as if she were admiring the masks instead of stealing from her peers.

“I know, Kizana, but I can’t really afford to change my hairstyle right now. Not to mention, I’m really only used to setting up drills. I-I’m not sure what other hairstyle I would know how to wear.” Kokona replies, her voice hesitant.

Horuda never understood how Kokona, or any of the drama club could handle Kizana’s shrill whining. If she had to hear that daily, she might’ve injured her ears just so she wouldn’t have to hear it.

“Oh, please, anyone can wear their hair down, Kokona. And before you say I can too, just know that I’ve– AAH!!” Kizana was continuing her rant and walking behind the divider when she spotted Horuda. For a moment, Horuda assumed that her very presence was that terrifying, but then she remembered the haircut.

Kokona quickly turned the corner to make sure nothing was on fire, but was only rewarded with the same shock that Kizana was feeling. Although, Kizana was definitely more mortified.

“...hi.” Horuda greeted quietly, but this only seemed to offend Kizana more deeply.

“Did you just greet me?! Looking like that?! I- Oh, my.. I think I feel lightheaded.” Kizana looked around frantically, panic set on her face. “My god, where is my purse?!” She finally spotted it and almost violently ripped out her wallet.

Kizana spent but a few seconds picking through the wallet, internally deciding how much to give Horuda before ultimately just throwing the whole thing at her. “Just-just take it! Take it all! You’d better come back with the most outstanding haircut these eyes have ever seen!” Kizana orders, nearly running Horuda over as she shoved her out of the room. “And do not step foot into my clubroom until you have!!”

With that, Kizana slams the door. This left Horuda somewhat confused, barely embarrassed, and with a lot more money than she planned on taking. Looking through the wallet informed Horuda that Kizana had, in fact, hundreds of dollars of cold, hard cash in the wallet she brought to school. Considering the fact that Horuda can barely take care of herself, she almost felt sick by the amount of money in her hands.

Still, this did complete her little mission for Umeji, regardless of what the end result for her was. Feeling accomplished, Horuda immediately went back into the plaza in order to find Umeji, who was in the same spot he was in when she left. She immediately held up the money to him and smiled nervously. “I-I got you money.”

Umeji lifts an eyebrow, before blinking in bewilderment at the amount in Horuda’s hands. “That… Where did you get all of that? It’s been, like, less than ten minutes.” He asks, folding his arms with a suspicious look on his face.

“Um- Kizana thought I looked ugly so she gave me this much to get my hair fixed.” Horuda says bluntly, not quite minding Umeji’s judgemental gaze, but still not being able to look him in the eyes. “I also took a bit from Beshi… not much, really.”

“...right.” Umeji eyes the money suspiciously, before taking it and shoving it in his pocket. “That’s your payment for Monday, then, I guess.” He nods his head, signaling for Horuda to follow him, which she did.

Horuda hesitantly clears her throat and speaks up as she follows Umeji back outside. “Coul… Um, could I run some errands for the other four? So, like, um… I-I could have payment for all of next week?”

Umeji lifts an eyebrow her way. “You plan on staying all of next week?” He asks, keeping his hands in his pocket as he looks back at her.

“Y-Yes… That was my… plan. For the rest of the school year, if I could. I-I’d do tasks every day if it meant those girls would leave me alone, hehe..” Horuda sweats a bit, not used to talking so much and immediately shutting up with her usual nervous smile.

When Umeji didn’t answer, she felt even more nervous and continued to explain. “I-I also prefer you all over the gyarus. Ahem- be-because you all don’t talk like the girls do.” She swallows thickly and continues her hushed ranting. “They- they like talking because I don’t talk. And because they like making up stories. Like- about how I act and stuff, hehe.. They’re good at that.”

Horuda pulls a hand up to her choppy hair as her face falls into a nervous frown rather than a smile. “But you guys don’t talk. You just sit, and glare sometimes. But you don’t really attack me if I don’t do anything. Which is good. I like not doing anything.” She falls silent, worried that her blabbing made her and Umeji’s walk more awkward.

The rest of the walk was silent, with Horuda genuinely being too scared to actually say anything. Still, in theory, this was way better than any interaction she could have with any of the bullies.

__

“On the topic of knives, I could probably give you a better cut with one.” Hokuto claims, looking down to Horuda. The next task she was offered was finding a knife for Hokuto. Apparently he was pretty interested in smithing, and wanted to see if Horuda had the guts to get him one. So, he was escorting her through the halls, waiting for her to decide to stop somewhere.

“Cut… oh, like-like haircut?” Horuda asks, for a moment thinking that he was threatening her. That assumption is something that she can definitely blame Hoshiko for.

Hokuto nodded with a brief hum. “Uh huh. I’m not sure how the staff lets you walk around like that. I’m not surprised, of course. They’ve all been pretty irresponsible.” He looks at her hair again, a smug grin on his face. “You look like…” He snaps his fingers as he recalls something. “Yeah, we once saw a badger get hit by a car. It was bent all wrong. Pretty gross.”

Horuda pressed her lips together and furrowed her eyebrows in thought. “...I..I look like a dead badger?”

“Yeah.” Is all Hokuto responded with, leaving Horuda to contemplate how she felt about that insult.

“..at least it’s more creative.” She mutters. Hokuto looks at her with a raised eyebrow, having not heard her and she repeats what she said. “I-I said at least your insult is more creative. Musume just calls everyone dumb, Hashiko messes up my hair and clothes and then insults me… Hana just calls me names that people used to call me in middle school, Kokoro says that she feels bad that I’ll never get a boyfriend, a-and Hoshiko usually just gives me fake, sarcastic compliments.”

“Fake how?” Hokuto asks.

Horuda clears her throat. “Yeah, like- um, when she was cutting my hair she said that I looked pretty but all of my hair made me look ugly- so, that’s why she cut my hair. I think.” She shrugs a bit, “But, I mean…” She holds a hand up to her hair now, showing him that regardless of what Hoshiko said, she still obviously didn’t have any good intentions.

“Hm.” Hokuto gives a short hum, thinking about Horuda’s explanation, but not saying anything else.

Horuda then stops outside of the Cooking Club. She points to the door and mumbles. “I’m- I’m going to go check in here. They probably have plenty of knives.” She says, receiving a brief nod from Hokuto.

Horuda quickly looks around the club room. It was empty and the lights on the dining side were off, likely because most of the club members weren’t at school today. After checking in the lowest draw, she finds a knife that looks as though it hasn’t been cut in a while. It had a little heart cut out of the corner of it. She wasn’t sure where it had come from, but it looked cute at the very least.

As she looked down at the knife in her hands, Horuda suddenly felt someone behind her. She whipped around with a quiet yelp, seeing that it was Akane. “Horuda… what are you doing with that?” Akane asks, her voice low and almost threatening. Despite the fact that Akane was smiling at all, it was clearly very forced. Or maybe a better way to describe it was that she was trying to keep it genuine, but it seemed more… malicious than it needed to be.

“I-I was…” Horuda’s breath almost abandons her completely, but she’s able to continue. “..I’m putting it… back.”

Being caught wasn’t really what Horuda was scared of. She was more so terrified of the thought of Akane doing something to her. Horuda wouldn’t call herself some sort of psychic, but regardless of Akane’s position, her friends, her personality, she’s always seemed so, so suspicious to Horuda. Something about that strange, fake smile just kept Horuda on edge whenever she was around her.

“Is that right..?” Akane’s grin widened, and she tilted her head to the side a bit. “I didn’t see you enter when I walked up, so you must have been in here for a while, right? And where were you bringing it from? There’s only been one Cooking Club member here since the week began and they’re required to put their items away. They haven’t left anything before to my knowledge, so why would they now?” She asked the shorter girl, her questioning hinting that she didn’t believe Horuda at all.

Horuda opens her mouth to respond, but can’t decide which one to answer first. “I–”

“Horuda Puresu..” Akane’s voice seems to deepen as she leans down to Horuda. “...you don’t have the best reputation, do you? How am I meant to know that you’re not causing trouble like usual? And even with a knife. Is that what you used to ruin your hair? Is it for attention?You can’t even give me a straight answer, can you?”

One thing that Horuda hated about herself was her inability to speak when it mattered. Horuda didn’t know, nor did she really care if Akane was internally just another bully or not, but it was nothing if not excess stress on her mind.

“I..” Horuda’s lip quivered, and she could barely bring herself to not cry out of frustration of the whole situation. “..I…”

Behind Akane, Horuda saw Kenko enter the Cooking Club, some form of cut fruit treat in his hand. He gave she and Akane a confused look, but ultimately ignored Akane and walked over to Horuda. “Hello, Horu…” He trails off, noticing her chopped up hairstyle. In the end he decides to just brush it off. “Horuda. Hello. It’s great that you’re visiting. What brings you here?” He asks with his usual smile.

Before Horuda can attempt to answer, Kenko notices the knife in her hand. “Oh, my. I’ve been looking for this for the longest time! Where did you find it?” He asks her, gently prying it from her hand.

“Th…In the, ah… the Home Ec room.” Horuda answers, finally, exhaling in relief. She had to be thankful to more social students. Thanks to Kenko being far more welcoming and less… accusatory than Akane, Horuda could finally find the courage to speak. “I…I saw that it was just on the floor and it didn’t look like it belonged, so I tried to bring it here to see if it went anywhere specific…”

“That makes sense. I didn’t realize it'd been on the floor somewhere, though. Strange.” Kenko shakes his head dismissively and puts it in a drawer just a few higher than the one she pulled it out of. “We’ve been looking for it since the beginning of the year. It was Amai’s favorite. I’m glad you found it!”

Kenko pulls one of the fruit kabobs from the bouquet of kabobs in his hand and hands it to Horuda. “Take this as a thanks. I’m sure Shoku and the others will appreciate this, so thank you!”

Horuda blinked and slowly took the treat. “Thanks… I- um- I mean you’re welcome.” She clears her throat hesitantly, and while trying her best to ignore Akane’s skeptical gaze, she walks over to the door to leave. I-I’m going to go now. Bye.”

Outside of the cooking club, Hokuto waited, looking at his phone. He looked back up, but instead of Horuda he looked at Akane through the window. “Ha. I’m surprised you got away from her.” He says, smirking. “I take it you didn’t get the knife, then?”

With a slow shake of her head, whatever color Horuda usually had returned to her face. “No, but, I, uh- I-I have a back-up idea.” She says, hesitantly standing next to Hokuto. Not too close, of course. “I want to wait for Akane to pass, though. She’s…”

“Terrifying, right?” Hokuto guessed, although he didn’t look particularly frightened himself.

“Something like that..” She mumbles in response, clearing her throat for the nth time. Akane walks past the two, offering them a forced smile before entering the Drama Club.

After another moment of silence, Horuda speaks up. “Um… I could be… wrong, of course, but, uh, you talk as if you know Akane. Do you?” She asks hesitantly, folding her hands together nervously.

“Everyone knows Akane.” Hokuto says with a brief roll of his eyes. Seeing as though his subtle mockery did nothing to really put Horuda to shame, he shrugs. “Yeah. We spoke often. If I didn’t hate her I’d admit that we were friends.”

“Friends with… Akane?” Horuda repeats in a tone of disbelief. “I know she had admirers, but… I don’t even think the other student council members are her…” She goes silent as Akane exits the drama club and enters the occult club, which was Horuda’s next stop. “..friends.”

Hokuto nods in agreement. “Yeah. She depends on those charming looks of hers to get what she wants.” He chuckles, watching as Akane leaves the Occult Club. “And who the hell knows what that is?”

__

Thankfully, Hokuto was pretty content with the labeled ritual knife from the Occult Club. It did hold a far more unique shape than anything from the Cooking Club, so it definitely fit Hokuto’s tastes.

Next was Gaku’s task. For a while, he was completely against getting any help from Horuda. She didn’t know if it was because he didn’t like her, if he was just stubborn or didn’t want to be indebted to anyone, but with enough pushing from his friends, he eventually agreed.

Apparently he wanted some sort of booze, although Horuda wasn’t sure where exactly she was supposed to get that. It was probably stupid of her to try and ask, but she attempted to anyway. With a nervous mumble, Horuda spoke up, “I–”

“--shut up.” Gaku immediately snapped at her, causing Horuda to go silent instantly.

It’s not like she could buy him one. And it’s not like any students brought any to school. Even Musume wasn’t interested, it was really just smoking that she liked doing in order to impress the others.

Horuda didn’t recall any of the teachers drinking, especially not during the job, but she did hear that the headmaster was a big alcoholic. Even so, he’s usually only out of his office when he’s on his lunch break, so he was likely in his office at this very moment. Even if he wasn’t, how would she know that he even had any alcohol in his office?

Gaku was leaving Horuda to figure all of this out, and was only accompanying her because the others told him to. Maybe it was to watch how she solved her problems? She didn’t know, really.

In a few minutes, they’d reached the headmasters office. Peeking in through the glass of the door proved that he was, in fact, in there. Horuda frowned, trying to think of some reason to get him out. If she made up some excuse he’d likely tell her to tell the teachers or guidance counselor about it. If she came up with something severe that turned out to be false, she’d likely get in deeper trouble than necessary.

Horuda nervously picked at a loose string from her sleeve. She often did, and tried not to pull it too much so that the whole sleeve didn’t eventually come apart. She looked around, trying her best to think of something. Technically this was just next Wednesday’s payment, so she could really do it any time before then. But, still, she didn’t want to make Gaku any more upset by wasting his time.

After one more second of thinking and feeling Gaku’s glare on her back, Horuda thought of something. Rather than the third floor, she descended to the first floor and headed to the drama club. She peeked inside, hoping that Kizana wasn’t still in here, her vocals ready to screech at the monstrosity that was Horuda’s haircut.

Thankfully, she wasn’t, which left Horuda the ability to quickly grab a nearby hairpin and leave the room. After trying to bend it with her fingers, Horuda found that she wasn’t able to bend it into the shape she needed. After a silent sigh, she turned to Gaku and held it out to him. “Can…can you bend this for me?” She asks quietly.

Gaku gives her a suspicious look, but seems to piece together what exactly Horuda was trying to make. Reluctantly, he grabs the hairpin and after a minute, is successfully able to bend it into shape. The only part that really mattered was the zig-zag type pattern that was made out of the hairpin, as that was the main function of a lockpick.

The hairpin hits Horuda’s face as Gaku flicks it back to her. “There.” He grumbles. The shape wasn’t perfect, but part of Horuda was sure that if she fixed it in any way, he’d get mad that she asked him for help and it still wasn’t good enough.

Horuda simply bows her head, “Thank you.” She says, before exiting the Drama Club.

Gaku followed her as she walked past the Occult Club and to the nearby storage room, which usually proved to be locked most of the time. After looking around briefly, she quickly leaned down to the door handle. After a bit of struggling, she begins to get more nervous. If this didn’t work and she was caught, there’s no doubt that whoever caught her would put together that she was picking the lock.

As Horuda bit her lip, she heard an exasperated sigh come from Gaku as he shoved her over. In just a few seconds, he had the door unlocked. He muttered something about her ‘not even being able to pick a lock’, but Horuda expected that much. “Thank you.” She murmurs again, before going inside the room and closing the door behind her.

The reason why this room was usually locked is because it was the only storage closet that held the circuit breaker for the school’s electricity. Reasonably so considering the school held pranksters, delinquents, and, well, people like Horuda.

It was thankfully easy enough to read the labels on the sides of the switches. It really just consisted of labels like “North 1st Floor Outlets” or “North 1st Floor Lights”, with that being repeated for each side of the school and each floor. In addition, there was also the same for the lights and outlets of the hallways.

In this case, Horuda would want to flick the switch labeled “South 3rd Floor Lights”, as that would cut the lights of the 3rd floor classrooms and the headmaster’s office. Hopefully, he would come out of his office and maybe ask some passing staff member about what’s happened with the lights. This would probably give Horuda enough time to rush in, look around the room, and hopefully find a bottle of alcohol laying around somewhere.

After flipping the switch, Horuda quickly walks over to the door again to open it, but finds that the knob is being held in place. She pauses in thought, wondering if Gaku was keeping her inside as some sort of prank. Then again, he and the others didn’t seem like the prankster type. She clearly just spent way too much time around the gyarus. Nonconsensually, of course.

“It isn’t every day that you or your friends are inside the school before classes.” Shiromi’s voice made itself heard when Horuda pressed her ear against the door.

“So?” Gaku sneers down at the girl, or at least tried to, as he was barely taller than she was.

“So, it’s weird.” Shiromi chuckles lightly, tilting her head to the side. “Weirdo.”

Gaku glares at Shiromi, clearly unamused- the polar opposite of Shiromi herself. “I don’t give a damn. You Student Council members are so nosey. You might have the title but you don’t have permission to harass me if you think I’m being weird.” He nods his head to the hallways, leaning against the door of the storage room. “If you’re so bothered by it then go bitch about it to the staff.”

Shiromi squints her eyes, her grin widening as she stares at Gaku in thought. “...hehe. If you say so..” She hums, folding her arms back behind her head before waltzing off with a light-hearted whistle.

Gaku rolls his eyes. “Fuckin’ freak.” He mutters, before opening the door. This nearly causes Horuda to stumble to the ground since she was leaning on the door. She almost yelps out in shock but is able to keep herself quiet.

“..s-sorry.” She murmurs, “Thank you for stalling.”

“Mm.” Gaku doesn’t bother responding much, so Horuda simply bows her head to him and walks up the stairs to the third floor. As she walked in front of the headmaster’s office, she saw that the headmaster really wasn’t in there. The door was left open a crack, though.

Horuda wanted to hesitate, but realized that if she did, it would be less likely that she would be able to get away with this. There was no guarantee that she would even find any alcohol in his office, but she’d already gotten this far. It was really now or never.

Apparently, though, she took too long to steel herself, as, with another loud groan, Gaku grabbed Horuda’s wrist and brought her inside of the office. He shoves her to the left side of the room. “Look over there. I know it’s here.” He orders.

Horuda didn’t hesitate this time. Frankly, she was way better at following orders than she was at taking initiative. So, she did a way better job at obeying Gaku than she did at trying to tell herself to go into the office.

After just a moment of searching, Horuda spotted a large bottle, just barely peeking out from behind the headmaster’s desk. “H..Here..!” She grabbed it quickly, but couldn’t bring herself to hold it for long. Holding this was definitely contraband, and being in the office was trespassing in its own right. There was only so much rule-breaking she could take at the moment.

Gaku grabbed it and immediately dragged her out of the office and down the hallway. They hid away in the boy’s restroom, and Gaku took the time to put the alcohol in his weapon’s bag. “..didn’t think you’d actually find it.” He comments, looking somewhat relieved himself to be out of there without having been caught.

Horuda simply nods with a long sigh of relief. Gaku walks out of the bathroom, not waiting for Horuda, so she had to catch up. “I didn’t think you had it in you to go through all that trouble, so I guess this is your… what, Wednesday payment? Whatever, this still doesn’t make us friends.”

“I-I don’t want to be friends. You don’t need to worry about that.” Horuda says, looking down to her skirt, really just grateful to have gotten out of that flawlessly.

“..good.” Is all Gaku says as he and Horuda walk back to the incinerator area.

__

“You’re going to steal from Musume?” Hayanari asks, looking surprised that Horuda would willingly go anywhere near the girl considering the suffering her group puts her through.

Horuda nods. “Yes.. She’s really mean but she’s also really… um… well, dumb.” She says, folding her hands together. “I’m sure I can convince her to give them up. Or, I guess just steal them. I’ll try that if the convincing fails.”

“Wouldn’t that just make you a prime suspect? Stupid or not, she’d probably just accuse you.” Hayanari points out, but still fails to make Horuda wary about her plan.

She shakes her head. “I was at home sick for a few days and Musume said I pre-planned manipulating her during a test she failed. She didn’t even fail, she was just anxious.”

Hayanari blinks, before scoffing. “This might be too easy.” He sighs, almost looking bored seeing as though this likely wouldn’t be much of a challenge.

The two arrived on the roof, and they spotted Musume chatting with Fureddo. Hayanari waited by the door, once again just seeming to be there to watch whatever Horuda was doing, like the others. She hoped that she wasn’t going through all of this effort just to end up being blackmailed or something.

Horuda approached the two, and just like others, Fureddo seemed shocked to see her hairstyle. “Did you pay for that haircut?” He asks, although he doesn’t seem to be trying to be rude. “It sort of reminds me of an anime character my friends like. Minus the bangs.” He comments.

He shows Horuda a picture of what looked like a child from an anime. She looked like a mess, which Horuda did as well, but the site he was on at least said that she was a fan favorite. “..right. Um, no, I didn’t do this to my hair.” She says, although she didn’t plan on explaining further.

Rather than giving Fureddo any more context, she walks closer to Musume, or more precisely her bag. “..Musume, I…I wanted to tell you something..?” She mumbles, glancing over at Fureddo, who seemed to get the hint.

“Oh! Okay, see you two!” He waved to them briefly and walked back downstairs.

Musume waves back, before glaring at Horuda. “What? Don’t you have something better to do than bother me?” She grumbles, likely irritated after being interrupted.

“...I think Amise or someone saw you with a cigarette…. I heard the staff talking about checking your bag- o-or, I guess, maybe not your bag just bags in general..? F-For contraband. So…” Horuda trailed off, hoping that she wouldn’t have to do any more explaining.

“Ugh.” Musume rolls her eyes. “What a buzz-killing bitch.” She grumbles, digging through her bag and tossing the box of cigarettes at Horuda. “Hang on to these for me, then. Don’t lose them.” She points a finger at her with a glare before shooing her off.

Horuda nods and bows her head a bit, before scurrying off to the other side of the rooftop, where Hayanari was waiting.

“That was quick.” He commented, taking the cigarettes when Horuda held them out to her. “Do you take things from her often?”

The girl just shrugs, “Not…not really take things. There’s not much of her belongings that I want, but sometimes I do mess with her.” She admits. “She has a crush on Fureddo, so sometimes I get her to do things under the guise that he’d like it. Especially things she hates. Like buy a pet.” Horuda messes with the sleeves of her sweater sheepishly. “She’ll actually buy a lot if it’s for Fureddo in any way. It’s fun because she doesn’t actually ever run out of money.”

“Seems like a lot of effort.” Hayanari says, stuffing the cigarettes in his pocket. “Why bother?”

Horuda replies quickly with an, “I hate her.” She then continues, “W-Well, I hate all of them, but Musume’s the only one stupid enough to actually…like… fall for the stuff I tell her.” She murmurs, “I hate Musume because she’s stupid and acts out for no reason, I hate Hoshiko because she’s cruel and overwhelmingly smart, Hana because she’s loud and can’t mind her business, Kashiko’s pranks are annoying, and Kokoro likes playing victim. They’re all…” She trails off, almost feeling out of breath. “..sorry, nevermind.”

“What about Bea?” Hayanari asks.

In all honesty, Horuda had forgotten that she was technically a part of that group. Musume didn’t really accept her, so she sometimes forgot. “Oh, I don’t. She’s just… um… weird. She’s less cruel and… more of a creep. She’s not really mean to me. Just sarcastic. Which she is to everyone, so… I guess I’m not special to her. Which is good.”

Hayanari actually seemed interested, and even ignored his delinquent facade for a moment to ask. “You know a lot about them, right? The gyarus.” He wondered aloud, to which Horuda nodded. “Umeji probably wouldn’t want you to know this, but I bet giving him information daily about them would help a lot. He’d probably let you stay for a while if you did.”

“Y..You think so?” Horuda asks, trying to bite down on showing too big of a smile. “That’s… great. I-I can do a lot, actually. L-Like, I know which one of them has a crush, a-and that could definitely be used- used for blackmail, I think.” The thought of being able to be away from the bullies in Horuda’s free time was unnecessarily exciting, especially considering that the only payment is whatever she’s already gathered about them.

She tried not to talk too much so that she still had some information to save for later dates, but for once the future was looking a bit more optimistic.

__

That was, until she was tasked with getting the answer sheets from the faculty room. Dairoku obviously couldn’t do it, but why he thought that she could was beyond her. It was after school currently, and by looking inside, there was really just the gym teacher inside at the moment. It looked like the other teachers were actually still in their respective classrooms, likely still getting work done.

Horuda pulled her fingers up to her mouth, biting her nail nervously. What was she supposed to do? She looked over to Dairoku, who was busy finishing off the fruit kabob that Horuda had given him.

“Do you, uh..” She clears her throat, “...do you have any ideas..?” She asked, feeling even more nervous since Dairoku so severely dwarfed her due to their height difference.

“Nah.” Dairoku simply said, shrugging. “Good luck.” He said half-heartedly. It’s not as if Horuda expected any sort of thanks or special treatment for the fruit kabob, but a little insight would have been a little helpful, at the very least.

Horuda bites her lip as she thinks. She couldn’t even be seen by the staff, or else that would surely lead to her having to explain what exactly happened to her hair. Then again…

..technically, if she told Ms. Kyoshi about her hair, would that serve as a fair distraction? As in, leading her to leave the room for some reason?

Horuda didn’t bother going to her last class, as she desperately wanted to avoid her teacher’s gaze. It wouldn’t be the first time she was late or absent, and she could easily catch up on Monday, so she wasn’t too worried about it.

Horuda inhales deeply and then exhales before hesitantly walking in. “Umm… Ms. Kyoshi..?” She calls quietly, gaining the attention of the gym teacher.

After turning to face Horuda, Ms. Kyoshi blinked in shock. “Oh, Horuda! What happened? Did you do this?” She asked, immediately walking over to look at the girl’s hair from every angle.

“...no. Hoshiko did… I-I wanted to tell you about it… because… I didn’t want her to.” Horuda explains, feeling nervous. If Ms. Kyoshi spoke to Hoshiko about it, Hoshiko would make up some half-assed excuse that wouldn’t get her in trouble as much as admitting that she did it with ill intent. Then, Ms. Kyoshi will ask Horuda about it, Horuda will say that whatever Hoshiko said was true in order to lessen the punishment Hoshiko will inflict on Horuda. While Ms. Kyoshi is gone, Horuda will take pictures of the answer sheet and send it to Dairoku, and that will secure a full week of… “protection” from the delinquents.

It was worth it, Horuda rationalized. It had to be.

After explaining the situation, Ms. Kyoshi sighed, shaking her head. “That can’t be right… I can’t believe she’d show such… horrible behavior.” She folds her arms, “Alright, come with me. We’re going to bring her aside and speak to her about this.”

“Uh- I-I…” Horuda stutters immediately, hesitating to speak properly just yet. “I don’t know if- u-uhm.. Could you just… speak to her first..? I’m…I’m nervous.” She says. That much was honest, but her intentions were still… unfair to put it simply.

Ms. Kyoshi sighs. “Alright, well, stay here, then. I’ll speak to Hoshiko and then bring her here.” She says, leaving after Horuda nods in understanding.

Horuda counted 15 seconds in her head while looking at the papers on each individual desk. Dairoku was in class 3-1, which would be Ms. Hanabusa class. After the 15 seconds, Horuda actively bends down and digs through the files. She tried her best to keep everything in place, but she was in a rush. It was a good thing Ms. Hanabusa was known for being a scatterbrain. Else Horuda might actually be suspected of something.

As soon as she got her hands on the answer sheets, she took several pictures of each page. She rushed to finish putting the images up and pulled up her phone to send the pictures. It’s a good thing she did, too, because Kuroko came in with a stack of papers in hand. She lifted an eyebrow to Horuda.

She couldn’t tell if she was concerned about her haircut or suspicious about her presence in the faculty room without a faculty member in it. “Horuda. What… are you doing in here?” She asked, deciding to go with the latter as the greater importance.

“I’m waiting for Ms. Kyoshi. She’s gonna help me figure out a, uh… bullying situation.” Horuda explains briefly, turning off her phone and looking down in her usual attempt to hide her face.

“Bullying. By whom?” Kuroko places down the stack of papers as she asks this, standing in front of the desk across Horuda. She sorts through the papers and even reaches over to straighten up Ms. Hanabusa’s desk. Apparently this wasn’t uncommon for Kuroko.

“..Hoshiko. But… don’t tell anyone. She’ll get even more mad at me than usual.” Horuda murmurs.

Kuroko hums quietly, thinking intently as she continues working. Once she finishes, she nods. “I understand. I won’t tell anyone for now.” She says, turning to leave the room. “Good luck, Horuda.”

Horuda waves a bit, but the wish of luck only succeeds in making her more nervous.

__

Hokuto was the first to speak up out of the group of delinquents. He scoffs, although his grin showed that he was impressed. “So in less than two hours, you got your hands on 500 dollars, a knife, the headmaster’s bottle of alcohol, Musume’s pack of cigarettes, and the answers for next week’s test?” He lists, pulling a hand up to his chin in thought.

Horuda didn’t really know if Hokuto expected a response to that, so she hesitates before answering. “U-Um- yes.” She nods, her head hung shyly as she admits what she’d accomplished.

“Damn. I might have you do favors for me more often.” Hokuto chuckles, which really only made Horuda nervous for whatever she had planned.

Umeji stares at Horuda for a moment- a feeling that she could feel on her head as she nervously picked at her sweater. “..So, you can get us information on that group of gyarus, right?” He asks, to which Horuda simply nods in response to.

“They’ll definitely still pick on me, but since they talk so much one of them usually blurts out one of their secrets.” Horuda mumbles, before thinking of something. “Also I- I learned that they actually have a special, um… app. They use it to post pictures of, like… pranks and just… mean stuff I guess.” She pulls her hand up to her mouth and murmurs. “They told me that I’m pretty popular on it.”

Umeji nods slowly. “...don’t worry about payment for now. Just keep looking for information on them and we’ll consider it ‘payment’.” He states. He then digs into his pocket and tosses a little bag of money at her. “Use that to pay for a new haircut, too. You look miserable.”

Horuda picks up the money and bows her head. “..thank you. I will.” It was nearly 5:30, so she started her walk to the front gate. She turns back and waves at them. “S..See you tomorrow..!” She calls in her usual voice, either getting a nod or nothing from the group. The delinquents definitely were not friends of Horuda. Allies was a better word for them, but regardless, Horuda could tell that she would like them way more than the bullies. She looked forward to working with them in the future. This certainly gave her some purpose.

[hugejk]

hearts aglow - jb5

summary: idk really just based this off of hearts aglow by weyes blood

wc: idk it’s kinda long tho

"hearts aglow, we dont know where were going"

sitting at the counter in your kitchen, scrolling on your phone not knowing where jude is. He got off training almost an hour ago, he hasnt texted you in ages. you starte to worry but right as you went to tet him you hear the door swing open, "honey im home!" jude says as he dropped his bag. "Ive been worried sick jude, where have you been?" you say slightly angered as he hasnt texted you, but then jude reaches into his bag an pulls out a bag of your favorite snacks.

"i was so bored take me to the water babe, show me whats its like to be yours"

jude hugged you, taking in his scent. Somehow he smelt good for coming back from training. He puled away and looked you in your eyes, "i have a suprise for you.." You give him an eyebrow while looking him up an own, "whats the suprise?' you say. "its a suprise for a reason"" jude says with a cheeky grin.

"oh but baby your the only one who would drive me down to the pier, take me up on that ferris wheel"

"jude babe, i think we need gas.." you say as the tank is meter is barely on E. "yeah i think so too." jude says as hes stil focused on the road, pulling into the nearest gas station. "do you want any snacks?" he asks as hes getting our of the car. "no im good, you already got me enough snacks." you say chuckling a bit. You pull out your phone and start scrolling waiting for jude to finish. As he got back into the car he looks you up and down, mesmerized by your effortless beauty.

“you can’t control hearts aglow”

you watch as you pass by the lights of the inner city, wondering where jude is taking you. You pass by people with their families, loved ones, and friends. All walking into shops, laughing, eating, and talking. You can’t help to think of your family, how much you miss them. You come to a stop at a red light. “babe y’good?” jude asks in his thick accent. “yeah, just miss my family a little.” you say still looking out the window. “well hopefully this amazing suprise planned by the best boyfriend in the world will help cheer ya up” jude says as he steps on the gas pedal.

“might be the moon, or the cotton candy, or it might be a man, who finally understands me.”

you finally make it to the suprise destination, a small carnaval in a random old parking lot. Jude gets out and opens your door. He bows as you get out and you can’t help but laugh a little at his antics. Jude grabs your hand and leads you into the entrance, a small fee of 5 dollars per person. “i’m a bit hungry, you want anything?” jude says looking at all the food booths around you two. “Some funnel cake sounds really good right now.” you say hoping they have it. Seeing the booth that says “funnel cake” in bright lights makes you excited, you let go of jude’s hand without thinking and run over to the booth, getting in line enthusiastically. It takes a while for jude to come back to you, but once he does he puts his arm around your waist to let everyone know that youre his.

“cause i’ve been waiting for for my life to begin, for someone to light up my heart again”

after getting your food, you and jude casually walked around, pointing out the game booths, dogs casually walking around with no owners, some of the rides that sound interesting. Walking by one booth you see a stuffed animal of a seal (your favorite animal) and you immediately pull jude to the booth and beg him to win it for you. It was a simple game, get the rings onto the bottles to win a prize. Jude reluctantly agreed and you stood by him, watching how he flicked the rings onto the bottles, how his perfect face was contoured perfectly in all of the lights around him. You were so busy examining him, that you didn’t even see that he won the seal for you! As jude handed the stuffed seal to you, you pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, thanking him.

“hearts aglow, we don’t know where we’re going”

as your night came to an end, jude insisted you two got on the ferris wheel to complete it. With your seal between your arm and torso, you agreed and made your way to the ferris wheel. It wasn’t one of those big ones, a tiny humble wheel with enough room to fit you two. As long as the wait was your started to think maybe it wasn’t worth it, but finally it was your turn. as you two got into the tiny cart, seal stuffed in between you two, it was finally time to start the ride. Taking in the beautiful view from above, all of the lights, all of the people, cars, and buildings. Jude turned your head towards him and gently kissed your lips, as unexpected as it was, it was quite enjoyable. As his lips moved with yours perfectly, he pulled away and gave you a soft smile. “i was waiting all night to do that.” he said as he held you hand. “i was expecting a kiss before we left.” you said playing with his hand.

“i love you.”

“imposible, i love you more.”

A/N: FIRST FIC DONE LETS GOOOOO 😛😛 pls tell me what you think because i genuinely don’t know what i wrote 😭

[howdy-cowpoke]

TIMING: During the Winter Wickedland festival LOCATION: The Commons PARTIES: Monty (@howdy-cowpoke) & Kaden (@chasseurdeloup) & Mack (@realmackross) SUMMARY: Monty wants to take Mack out for a fun afternoon to take her mind off things, and convinces Kaden to come along. It’s a holly jolly good time… and there’s singing. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

—

To say it had been quite the year in Wicked’s Rest was an understatement. She had been pushed off a balcony, went ham on the town, attacked by a werewolf, turned into irl Goo Girl, and stabbed repeatedly, and now, all the zombie wanted to do was to have some fun. So when she was somehow invited to hangout with Monty and Kaden, her other two dads – Mackenzie has a lot of dads in this town okay? – she was reluctant at first, but decided to join in on the holiday fun. Plus, there had been the strong possibility of getting to see Sellama Gomez at some point, and that was always a draw.

Where am I meeting you guys again? She had pushed send on the group text message, not sure of where she was supposed to meet them or what was happening. Just that it was supposed to be a fun day.

—

While Monty wasn’t privy to all the things in Mack’s life that’d been difficult as of late, she sprung to mind when he heard about the winter festival that was being put on. She could use something nice, he figured, and seeing as how Kaden had a bit more experience with people her age, he was inclined to ask his partner along as well. The more the merrier, and all that. 

The pair were walking down a busy street when they both received the text, and Monty glanced around, looking for some landmarks. Starring Role Pâtisserie jumped out at him and tightened his grip on Kaden’s arm, pulling them off to the side and out of the way of other people while he tapped out a reply.

We’re in front of Starring Role. We can wait here for you, there’s a bench nearby! 

Smiling up at Kaden, Monty threaded their fingers before tugging him over to the bench he’d spotted, sitting close before quickly becoming distracted by a passing dog. His soft coo still drew the attention of the owner and they smiled, letting the dog approach for pets. It wasn’t until the corgi and her owner had gone that Monty sat back and sighed. “I should have brought the dogs!” he complained with a chuckle, knowing full well that Azul, Cinder, and Pomelo would be one hell of a handful together and with this many people around. “But ah, I thought we could take Mack back to the farm after, I know she’s been wanting to visit her llama. Sound okay? We could make dinner.” He still had plenty of organs set aside that they could make into something nice for him and Mack, and there was also a good selection of normal food at the house now that Kaden was spending so much time there. 

—

Kaden had seen the big winter festival pop up in town earlier in the month. It was hard to miss it, even if his time was mostly spent corralling reindeer as of late. Truth be told, he didn’t have much intent on visiting it. That was until Monty invited him to join him and Mack to the festivities. He should have seen that coming in some respect. If it wasn’t Monty dragging him there it would have been Alex eventually. He wasn’t sure why he thought he would end up missing the town event in any case. Not that he was complaining about spending time with either of his undead company for the day. 

As they sat and waited, a smile crept onto his face. Kaden  wasn’t sure if the smile on his face was attributed more to the dog or the man next to him reaching down to give it scritches. Probably Monty, if he was being honest.  “If we brought Shadow, too, we’d have one dog per hand,” he added with a laugh. “Probably good we left them at home.” The four of them would have plenty of fun and love the attention but it definitely wouldn’t have been easy on the humans there. Not to mention, wouldn’t give them a lot of spare attention for Mack. “I’m sure we can find some kind of treat to bring back for them and for Mack’s llama. Anyway, dinner later sounds perfect,” he said with a smile as he went to stand up. 

He was pretty sure he saw someone that looked like the kid in question and figured she’d have an easier time spotting them if he was standing. He was tall enough to spot through a crowd most times and even if that wasn’t the case, he’d be able to see her easier this way. 

Once he caught a glimpse of the blonde hair, he waved and tried to catch her eye. He liked Mack. She was good with animals and actually watched nature documentaries sometimes. Also didn’t poke fun at him nearly as much as some of Alex’s other friends. Still, he was a little nervous to see her, didn’t want to intrude being the only one of the three of them with a beating heart. He knew Monty was great at mentoring other people like him and he got the feeling it was important to Mack, too. He didn’t want to be a bother. 

“Good to see you,” he told her when she walked over. “So, what do you two want to do first?”

—

As she made her way through the crowds looking for the location in the returned text, Mackenzie spotted just who she was looking for. Kaden towered over some of the shorter residents of Wicked’s Rest and as she laid eyes on him, a smile came to her face. It was nice having the opportunity to be around people who didn’t have any fault with her. Alex had been MIA, Winter…well that was an entirely different story, and it seemed as though everyone else, aside from Parker, had some excuse of why they hadn’t wanted to come around. Plus, there was the tension between her and Cass, but today was for Monty and Kaden, and as she forced the previous people out of her mind, she walked over to the two men.

“Yeah, good to see you, too. I’m not gonna lie. When Monty said you’d be coming along to this thing, I was kind of surprised. I didn’t expect this to be your scene, but I’m glad you’re here.” She leaned over when she got close enough and gave him a hug, before walking over to give Monty one, “I’m good with whatever you guys prefer. I’m just here for the ride. And to get out of the house for a while.” Mackenzie sent them both a warm smile.

—

The older zombie brightened when Mackenzie appeared, getting quickly to his feet beside Kaden to welcome her. A warm laugh bubbled up from his chest when she announced her surprise that Kaden had agreed to come, because he understood where she was coming from. He could be a rather serious person, at least to those who didn’t know him quite so well as Monty did, and an afternoon of winter solstice frivolity didn’t quite line up with most people’s impression of the man. But Monty knew that if he asked, Kaden would oblige, and he’d have plenty of fun to boot. He was sweet and funny in his way, and the cowboy hoped that that would shine through today for Mack to get a kick out of as well. 

“Getting out of the house is good,” he said softly as he gave the girl a tight squeeze, noting that like himself, she was probably underdressed for the weather. A perk of being dead, he supposed, if you could call it such a thing. He wouldn’t speak for all the zombies he knew, but as far as he was concerned, the cold was much more tolerable than the heat. When dead things get too hot, you start to have… problems.

“I did not have anything specific in mind, though…” He glanced over toward the Common, where the recent snowfall had been collected into a huge mountain that people were sledding on. “... I am curious to see just how uncoordinated any one of us might be on that thing.” There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, one that was begging for trouble. 

—

Kaden didn’t expect the hug, but he was far from upset, returning it without further question. “You caught me,” he said with a smile. “You two are the only reason I’m here.” He took a look around at all the activities and people around them. “Doesn’t look so bad, either way.” It was a nice change of pace from the goo-covered panic he had grown used to witnessing in town. 

The ranger raised a brow as he saw what his partner was pointing them towards. It was clear from the get-go that the cowboy had some sort of tricks up his sleeve with this one. Kaden didn’t know what, but he had a feeling someone was going to be on the other end of a prank. He had a feeling it was going to be himself, no doubt that Mack and Monty would be in on it together. No use avoiding it, it would only delay the inevitable. He huffed out a laugh and smiled. “Alright then, let’s go.” 

Before he could take a single step in the direction of the hill, he paused and furrowed his brow. The words he’d just said didn't sound quite right. Almost… melodic. That was fucking weird. It was probably nothing. He shook it off and kept walking, ushering the two undead right along with him. There were various sorts of sleds and snow tubes at the bottom of the hill to pick up and take with them and slide down. The trash can lid looked like a recipe for disaster. Not that the plastic dish beside it looked any safer but at least it was intended to use in the snow. 

Kaden watched as a group of people zoomed past them down the hill, laughing and yelling on the way. It looked like they had each gotten their own sled and had linked themselves together by holding onto the other’s sleds, hands, feet, you name it. “That looks like the way to go,” he told the others, his voice strangely sing-songy again. Kaden coughed to clear his throat. Putain, what was going on? In lieu of talking and having that happen again, he nodded toward the sleds, picked one for himself, and started the climb to the top of the hill. 

—

Mackenzie was excited by the prospects of the day with her two friends, especially knowing that they had wanted her there. She had already seen a softer side of Kaden when they had been trapped in the cabin together after the Volmugger incident, which had put any rumors of just how tough he was to shame and why a friendship with him had seemed to come easier than expected. And just having another zombie friend in her life, one with much more experience with the undead life than she could even imagine had meant more than Monty would ever know, especially considering all he had done for her when she was tripping on Serpent Flat energy.

The festival had offered a lot of different options to choose from, and seeing that sledding down a pretty large hill is where Monty had suggested and Kaden was leading them definitely didn’t disappoint. In fact, she had missed having adrenaline rushes that weren’t life or death, so this choice of activity had been highly welcomed. It was the unexpected song that Kaden was gracing them with that had caught the younger zombie off guard, “I expected fun, but I never expected to be serana-ded…” She threw a quick hand over her mouth when she, too, began singing instead of speaking, “I wanted a music career…but not like this…”

Seeing the hunter grab a sled as a quick solution to not having to speak - err - sing felt like the way to go, and finding the most worn out and intimidating looking make-shift sled, Mack was ready to feel the thrill of zooming down a hill at a stupid, scary speed to see if she didn’t get thrown half-way across town. Her footsteps following in his, she started to climb the hill as well, “Come on, Monty! Danger awaits!” The words still held a certain melody, but one of excitement and grit.

—

Why… were they both singing? Monty couldn’t help the confused but amused expression that flitted across his face as his gaze jumped between them, that grin remaining as they each picked out a sled and he, an innertube meant for use in water. Was this the prelude to some kind of weird prank? They were not going to get him to sing in public, that was for damn sure. Following the pair as they all hiked up the mound of snow, Monty waited for them to get situated on their respective sleds before dropping his tube between them and clambering into it a little clumsily. Remembering Kaden’s earlier (melodic) comment, he extended a hand to each of them with a grin, then dug his boot into the densely packed snow and dragged his tube forward, pulling them after him as he moved beyond the flattened top and onto the slope. Gravity did the rest, and the three of them went screaming down the hill. 

A few small ramps had been packed into the snow, and Monty realized with a yelp that he was headed right for one. His string of Spanish expletives sounded remarkably song-like as he got launched, losing his grip on the both of them in favor of clinging to his tube like his life depended on it, praying (and screaming) that he’d land upright.

He wasn’t quite so lucky, the wind ripping the lightweight sled out from under him and leaving him to hit the snow again with his back, where he slid down the rest of the hill, spinning until he was coming down headfirst and slowing to a stop at its base. 

If nothing else, the cowboy didn’t seem hurt (obviously) and was instead laughing breathlessly as his inner tube bounced up to him and plopped right on his chest. 

—

Kaden wasn’t sure if was relieved or only more concerned when he wasn’t the only one speaking in melodies. Was Mack just following his lead? He tried to see if she was picking on him just by looking at her, brows furrowed. No luck, couldn’t tell one way or another. Not that he knew what he was expecting to learn just by looking at her. 

Once they were at the top of the hill and sat on their snow tubes, Kaden took Mack and Monty’s hands and readied himself for the ride. When his partner started spouting swears, he couldn’t help but laugh as he watched him head for the ramp ahead. It took him a moment to realize that Monty had let go of his hand but when he did, he tried to reach out to grab the man’s tube to try and keep them together. It was no use. All it did was throw himself off balance and had him sliding down the hill backwards. 

Now Kaden was the one shouting curses in a foreign language, holding onto Mack as best he could. There was no missing the stupid smile plastered on his face on the way down, though, or the laughter in between the expletives. 

“Everyone alright?” he asked once they were all at the bottom, trying to catch his breath as he laughed. His voice was still stupidly sing-song-y. Putain de merde.

—

Mack had positioned herself and latched onto Monty’s hand ready for the thrill of going down the hill at a ridiculous speed. But before she realized it and could really say, err, sing anything else, she felt herself being pulled forward by the momentum of Monty and Kaden moving too. And without holding back, she opened up her mouth and let a loud scream of happiness come out.

It was when she felt the release of Monty’s hand from hers that she realized they had been separated and as quickly as she could, managed to catch Kaden’s in the nick of time as they continued down the hill behind Monty who was now rolling like a whiskey barrel on the loose. And her screaming turned into laughter as she glanced over towards Kaden who was sing cursing in French.

Finally, when the ride was over, Mack leaned her head back and took a deep breath as she released Kaden’s hand, “What a ride! Can we do it again? I want to hit the ramp and fly down to the end!” The words were almost like lyrics as they left her mouth, “What the fuck is happening?” The music seemed to match everything she was singing as she looked to Kaden and Monty, still smiling, but shaking her head.

—

“Ai, the ramp is all yours next time, hermana,” Monty groaned, pushing the innertube off of himself so he could sit up, realizing a little too late that the three of them were still… sing-speaking, as if building up to a full-blown song and dance number in a musical. He wasn’t a huge fan of it, but after more than five years in this town, he knew better than to question the weird goings-on, as long as they didn’t seem to be harming anyone. And this, while annoying and embarrassing, appeared harmless. For now. At least it wasn’t just him.

He sat back for a moment to catch his breath, leaning on his hands and watching other people come soaring down the hill as they had. Everyone’s voices seemed to have a musical quality to them, and he shook his head thoughtfully. Oh well. Might as well ride the wave, as they say. Or in this case, the huge snowbank.

“Let’s do it again! Come on, Kaden, on your feet. Don’t mind the singing, I guess it’s kind of…. neat.” … That rhyme was involuntary. He laughed at himself, holding out a hand to help the man up, then reaching to do the same for Mack. “This feels a little like, you know. Dr. Suess! Like the Grinch, but we’re all Whoville Whos.” Holy shit. 

—

The singing didn’t seem to be stopping. In fact, Kaden was worried the whole thing might turn into a musical number with coordinated caroling coming from the people sliding down the hill behind them if they stayed there. Considering they were starting to rhyme. “I think this is a little out of my league.” The words came out like a melody no matter how hard he tried to temper them. “Let’s go before we get rhyming fatigue.” Really? That was the best rhyme he could come up with. “Putian de merde,” he grumbled in a sing-song aside, “this whole thing is absurd.” The last word came out in a cartoonish version of his own accent, forcing it to rhyme with merde. Even his grumble was melodic. Kaden wanted to ask how to make it stop but he was afraid to open his mouth. 

As much as he didn’t want to speak, it was like there was no way to avoid it. Once they were all standing, Kaden found himself wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders respectively, their steps all keeping in time to the music in the distance. Wait, the music in the distance? Why was there– And it sounded like a backing track to this strange song they were unwittingly writing on the fly. 

Kaden hated this. But biting his lip to keep from singing was getting harder to do. It was either clamp down until he bled or give up and go with whatever musical number they’d walked themselves into. “But it’s great being able to spend so much time with both of you. When you’re down or you're blue there’s nothing I wouldn’t do. Just say the word and I’m there, that’s how much I care.” Putain, there were dance steps now. This was dancing. Kaden couldn’t dance, never really tried, but somehow he was performing some kind of choreography all the same, spinning both Mack and Monty around and meeting up with them again, all in time to the swelling music. “Now let’s go explore the rest of this fair.”

In hindsight, maybe he should have tried a little harder to resist whatever was going on. 

—

Mack jumped to her feet with a sudden pep-in-her-step, when Monty gave her hand as she listened to him followed by Kaden singing their respective parts. This entire thing was starting to become really amusing. And it had almost reminded her of the musical she was in as a kid. It was fun and something she wouldn’t soon forget, but what sealed the deal on this memory was Kaden, who could be a bit of a grump, started really getting into the number as he danced in time and spun both her and Monty around.

The young zombie’s eyes lit up with joy as she laughed and broke free from Kaden and Monty, “Kaden, Monty, can this really be? It’s like we’re living in an episode of that show Glee! Singing and dancing to a holiday tune! Snow falling around us, it’s like a Hallmark movie airing at noon!” 

She ran forward, joining up with a group of dancers who had come out of nowhere for a dance break where she flipped and twirled with a genuine smile on her face. When she finished dancing with the group and they all scattered back out to their respective places, Mack met back up with Kaden and Monty, “Come on, Kaden! Don’t be grumpy! Keep singing this tune with me and Monty!” She looked to the cowboy curious for his reaction.

—

Monty had never been poetic. Even with something… strange going on, something inspiring them all to rhyme and sing and dance (and was that music natural?), he failed to connect to any kind of creative side of himself. For Mack, the connection was obvious. Even for Kaden, bless his heart, there was creativity and light in the passion he had for cooking. But Monty? God, he’d never done anything creative in his life, unless you counted a few bad sketches from a century ago. No, he didn’t have much to offer to this strange happenstance, and so he just found himself… laughing. Dancing, sure, being twirled on the spot by Kaden and loving every second of it, but he was too far down the giggling rabbit hole to provide anything of substance. 

When Mack looked at him, it was all he could do to regain his composure long enough to speak between snickers, “Don’t make me choose, don’t make me think! Let’s go for one more slide, then I need a drink.” There was plenty more to explore at this fair, and who knew if this bizarre compulsion would follow them when they left the snow mound, but… he didn’t mind it, really. Singing or not, it was a joy to get to spend the day with the pair. 

As long as it went away eventually. 

[art-estrange]

(AMAMOA) Chapter 2: People Are People

Professor!Pedro Pascal x Teaching Assistant!Reader

Words: 1073

Masterlist

*All Pictures used (unless stated otherwise) will be found on my pinterest linked in the masterlist*

Story Warnings: MDNI 18+ (mostly in the off chance that I choose to explore heavy themes later on. This will obviously be updated at a later time) Crocs(yes that has a warning, i’m kind of obsessed with wearing crocs and currently own 2 pairs hopefully more in the future)

Story Content Tags (most of this is mentioned in later chapters.): Meet-Cute, First person perspective, Age-gap(F28/late 20s/early 30s x M40/late 30s/early 40s), Art references, new york nonsense written by a non-new yorker, spanish/spanglish, Lots of college technical talk, this was kinda based off a dream, crocs, College AU, AU where pedro isn't an actor/famous, slightly proofread… sorry for typos i'm trying guys😭😭😭

Chapter Summary: Reader comes to a possibly devastating realization on the way to the gallery, however Pedro remains his goofy-golden retriever self. Also Sarah Paulson is there, she’s a fellow professor at NYU and seems to be friends with Pedro… maybe more? 

LATE JUNE(PICKING UP AFTER CHAPTER 1):

With my outfit layed out, I slept like a baby with dreams of that sharp nose and bronze skin. The soft caress of his fingers against mine, those gentle puppy dog eyes like pools of warm cocoa. Pedro was in my dreams that night and the anticipation to see him again was almost palpable. I woke up that morning almost with a start, a jolt to rise from the sweetest slumber I had ever had. I got dressed and went about my day completing some lighter chores that I had left till the last minute. With a belly full of breakfast and a latte in hand, I slipped on some shoes at the door and went on my journey to see the man that’s invaded my dreams. On the way to the gallery I had a lot to think about, mostly the fact that when I looked at the fliers, both for the TA/Professor gallery and Pedro's…it was the same flier… I knew I had seen the flier before but I didn’t think it was the same flier I had seen earlier that day. In the back of my mind, despite having only thought about Pedro the whole morning, there was still a creeping feeling that the goofy loveable handsome Pedro I met yesterday…. Is my boss… or pseudo boss?? Or whatever, is the same Pedro that emailed me… the painting professor. It’s not exactly wrong if, per say in future, we were to pursue a relationship… IF that ever happened, not saying it would, but it wouldn't be bad if it did. He’s not my teacher… he’s a coworker… that’s higher up than me but he’s not the one ‘signing my checks’, sort-of-speak. The whole situation is conflicting, I mean there’s no denying that Peter/Pedro from the cafe is Peter/Pedro from my emails, he said it himself, his job has to do with painting and it's the same flier. There’s no way that they’re not the same person… there’s no way that there’s 2 Pedro’s/Peter’s both doing a job having to do with painting, having an art gallery AT THE SAME TIME IN THE SAME PLACE WITH THE SAME FLIER AREN'T THE SAME GUY. I worried about these intricate details, wringing my hands anxiously before texting him to ask if he wanted a coffee on the way there; just another way to delay the inevitable. I arrived with my watered down latte and his 6 shots of espresso over ice, still can’t believe he drinks this. The place was lively, there was light music playing in this brownstone walk-up that sat between an apartment and a warehouse turned studio. It wasn't too far from where campus resides, we were about a 10 minute walk in the direction of greenwich. I sent him a text letting him know I arrived and that I’d wait outside for him with his coffee.

Out walked the man of the hour. He strutted out in a fuzzy cardigan, no shirt underneath, his messy mop of hair now a quaffed wave of tresses trickling down the back of his head like a soft waterfall. A gold chain adorned his neck surrounded by a light smattering of chest hair. His dress shoes clicked against the concrete as he lifted his sculpted arms, fingers decorated with rings, to pull me into a warm hug. “Oh my god! I’m so glad you could make it! AND you brought me coffee!?” He exclaimed holding me out at arms length, inspecting my outfit and face almost like he’s committing my look to memory. “I mean it was on the way and I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to celebrate my new friend!” my worries were still in the back of my mind, but on the forefront was how good he looked and how I should be enjoying myself. “By the way I hope you don’t mind, but most of the people here are colleagues from work plus some grad students that’ll be working alongside us for the semester. I mentioned I’m a professor right?” He gestures to the people inside and then looks around as he speaks, ultimately stopping to stare at me as he says the words that I dreaded the most. “Um no, you didn’t! But… there’s actually something I wanted to-” As I get to the topic that’s been flooding my mind, we get interrupted. “Hey! Sorry to cut in! Pedro we’re ready to have like the speech thing, everyones mostly here. Except for your TA… she RSVP'd but like I dunno.” What I’m assuming is a fellow professor, mutters the last part as though thinking out loud. “Oh! Ok thanks! Um Y/N this is Sarah Paulson, a theatre professor at NYU and a super close friend of mine. Sarah, this is Y/N, we met a couple days ago, remember the girl I told you about?” He introduces us as he holds both our hands. They talked about me…wait..they talked about me? THEY’RE CLOSE FRIENDS AND THEY TALKED ABOUT ME?! “Oh yeah, THIS clumsy bitch loves to make people bust their asses! It’s like the spacial awareness isn’t there or something.” Sarah laughs, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, head leaning against his, as she busts his balls about his goofy behavior. “Why don’t we go inside so you can see some of the pieces, maybe you can make some more friends while I have a short convo with some of my coworkers and the grad students?” He leads me in, his large hand guiding me by my lower back as Sarah strides in front of us. The warmth from his hand spreads throughout my whole body just as he levels himself to whisper in my ear “Don’t worry about her, she loves to tell people how much of a mess I am, while being a mess herself…that’s probably why we’re soulmates in a sense” the last part is muttered in thought, almost like I wasn't meant to hear it. Soulmates? Well that complicates things...more so than they already were…

Now's the best time to tell him, otherwise I'll never get to say it. “Hey so before we walk in there’s something I need to tell you…” I pull him aside so as to not block the entrance. “Yeah? What’s up?” he says, those puppy dog eyes boring into my soul, concern written all over his face. “So..”

To be continued…

Note: If you can’t find chapter 1 for whatever reason (it doesn’t wanna show ip in the pedro pascal x reader tag for some reason) you can find it on the masterlist linked above alongside the prologue and this chapter and any future chapters.

[malarkgirlypop]

MEDIC! - 6th Part (Donald Malarkey x Fem!OC)

Hello, that was mean of me wasn't it, leaving you hanging off the cliff. Well here you go the next part. This story is so long, I am so sorry if you aren't a long story fan but I cannot stop myself. I love my OC she is me I am her, she is all of us. @brassknucklespeirs has been giving me some tasty little story lines so you know it's gonna be good. I'm so excited like the last chapter it's intense. I should make a playlist for Emily but I'm busy. I might do it later if people want it. As per usual this is based on the HBO show and the actors who portray the characters, no hate to the real men in WW2.

Trigger warning: Talks of rape, violence, use of derogatory language.

I gasp for air, my eyes opening, I look up at the same scene I saw when Malarkey was carrying me through the forest, the green against the white.

“She’s breathing!” I look around worried faces come into my vision. “Em, Oh God!” someone says from behind me. Sighs of relief fill the air. 

“Emmy! Jesus, way to scare us all to death.” Lieb says to my left. I go to sit up. 

“Woah, steady there Darlin’.” Bull moves behind me resting my back on his front.

“Lieb?” I croak out, looking at the man confused at what everyone is so worried about. Gene sits on his haunches at my waist puffing. 

“Your heart stopped!” Gene pants. I take a deep breath finding that my chest aches, probably from the compressions he would’ve had to do. I look out of the foxhole to see Malarkey and Nixon both looking like they are about to pass out. Winters stands beside them watching me closely. 

“Sorry to scare you all.” I look at each of them. Lieb moves forward pulling me into his embrace, I hug him back. “Don’t do that again.” He says sternly in my ear. “Yes, Sir.” I whisper, earning a chuckle. 

“Let’s get you out of this hole.” Bull says, he easily pulls me to my feet. “How do you feel? Can you walk?” He asks. I nod moving slowly, it feels so good to move again. I am helped by the men to climb out of the foxhole. 

“Ok men back to the front, spread the good news.” The men grumble but head back to the front. Nixon stands close, putting his hand on the small of my back to ensure I am steady on my feet. 

“Let’s get you something to eat and drink. You’ll need a new top too. The buttons have been ripped off of the one you are wearing.” Winters says, I look down, finding my long sleeve shirt hanging open. I wrap the top around me. 

The next day we sit in the tent. I slowly sip tea that Winters made for me. A blanket hangs from my shoulders. Nixon sits across from me watching my every move like I will vanish if he takes his eye off me.

“Who did it Em?” Nixon questions leaning forward. I think back to the incident, the faces are blurred, the men themselves seem like they have been censored from my mind. I shake my head trying to get the picture to clear. 

“Nixon! Don’t ask her that! She will tell us when she’s ready.” Winters reprimands the intelligence officer. 

“I don’t remember. It’s all a blur. I remember finding something that scared me and then, I can’t, it’s blank.” I say disheartened. Nixon’s brows crease as he takes my hand resting on the table between us giving me a loving squeeze. 

“I’m sorry Em, I just. Ugh. I just want those men to be dealt with.” He’s angry, his jaw hard set as he looks behind me. Gunshots fire in the distance pulling my focus. 

“When can I go back?” I ask looking towards Winters. Both Winters and Nixon look at me like I have grown another head.

“Emily you just got better, you’re technically still recovering.” Winters makes his way over to me, laying his hand on my shoulder. 

“I can’t sit here and do nothing, I feel like I will go insane trying to replay whatever happened to me.” I plead my case to Winters. 

“But it was a big trauma Em.” His face softens, still trying to get me to rest. 

“I feel better, I swear I will take it easy. I will just help Gene.” I beg, giving my best puppy dog eyes to convince him. 

“Oh fine, fine!” He concedes throwing up his hands in surrender. 

“YES!” I stand shaking off the blanket, grabbing my gear. I scoot past Winters on my way past giving him a quick peek on the cheek. He chuckles and shakes his head as I make my way over to the front. 

I make my way to Gene, he looks weary and cold. “You good Gene?” I ask as I approach. 

“I should be asking you that aye Em?” He gives a small smile. “How well are you stocked?” He asks. 

“Not good, only a few bandages, no plasma and like one morphine. How about you?” I look through the stock in my bag. 

“About the same.” He says. “I was thinking we are going to have to scavenge a bit to get supplies, we are going to need it.” He is tired, he looks like he needs a good sleep.

“I will do whatever you need Gene, just tell me what you want me to do.” I say giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. 

I follow him as we try to find the other medic Doc Ryan so that we can trade items and stock take our supplies. 

“Spina.” Gene calls to the medic digging a hole in the frozen ground. 

“Doc.” Spina acknowledges the man. 

“What’s happening?” Gene asks. 

“We’re digging in, right along the line.” Spina says while shovelling. 

“So what did you get?” Spina asks Gene, throwing the shovel over his shoulder. 

“I got uh. I got this and I got myself a Kraut bandage.” Gene hands him things, as they both take a seat in the half dug foxhole. I make my way over sitting on the edge of the hole. 

“What? This is it?” Spina says when Gene doesn’t hand him anything else. 

“Yeah, that’s it.” Gene sounds defeated, god I didn’t know we were so low on everything. 

“What about you?” Spina turns his attention to me. 

“Same for me.” I say rummaging through my medic bag. I watch Gene pull his last Morphine syrette, I only have one on my person as well. 

“You know, First Battalion has pulled out of Foy. Heavy casualties.” Gene says to Spina. 

“They left?” I ask, having missed the update. 

“So, if they’re pulling back then what the hell are we doing sitting here?” Spina asks, Gene is focused on the morphine in his hand. 

“We need more morphine. This is all I got.” He put the morphine back into its box tucking it away in his bag.     

“You got extra scissors?” Gene asks the both of us. I shake my head. 

“Uh-uh just the one.” Spina says drinking from his canteen. 

“First Sergeant Lipton.” I hear being called out through the woods. A man appears at the foxhole. “What’s this? Three medics in one hole?” He asks, dramatically putting his hand on his hip, I choke back a laugh. Who is this guy?

“Yes Sir!” Spina replies. 

“And what’s going to happen to us if you take a hit? Huh?” The man stands with his hand tucked onto his hip trying to be assertive, but Spina seems to take the man for a joke.

Lip marches up behind the man, “Sir?” he asks. 

“First Sergeant, where is my foxhole?” The man demands. My mouth falls open at the rude way he speaks to Lip. 

Lip looks incredulously at the man, “this way Sir.” He motions his hand back in the direction the man appeared from. None of the other medics seem to be paying attention to this interaction, I watch intently. 

“Maybe you missed it, huh?” Lip says to the man. “I’ll walk you back Sir. You’re a bit close to the line here.” Lip seems to be annoyed at the man.     

“Goddammit.” The man mutters, marching away. 

“Who is that man?” I ask the boys sitting in front of me. 

“That’s First Lieutenant Dike, the men are calling him foxhole Norman though.” Spina says in a hushed voice. 

“Why?” I question. 

“He goes missing whenever there is action, says he is going for a walk but who knows where he goes.” Spina says. I let my mouth fall open. 

“And he’s the First Lieutenant?” I ask surprised, Spina nods. I raise my eyebrows making a judgemental face. 

“Alright here's the plan Em,” Gene says to me as we leave Spina, “you go down to Dog company, see what you can scrounge from the men and I will go to Fox.” Gene instructs pointing behind me. “Keep low Em, meet me back at Easy when you are done.” He turns and walks away from me. I follow his instructions, keeping back from the line as I make my way over to where Dog company is stationed, not far over from Easy. 

I make my way over to one of the foxholes back from the line, dropping inside next to another man.

“First Sergeant?” I ask the man huddling in the foxhole. 

“Yeah, who’s asking?” The Sergeant replied. 

“Lane, I’m one of the medics from Easy Sir.” I introduce myself to the man. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” He seemed surprised. 

“Excuse me?” I ask, shocked by his comment. 

“Ah, nothing. What do you want, Lane?” The man dismisses his previous question. 

“I came to see if you have any extra medical supplies?” I tell the man. 

“You might have to go ask the men for their own supplies, we are running low as well.” He sighs, focusing his eyes back onto the line. I go to climb out of the hole when his hand grabs my forearm. “We actually have a couple casualties, can you tend to them, I have no idea where our medic is.” His stare pins me to the ground, not giving any room to protest. I give a sharp nod. “That one over there has someone in it.” He points to a foxhole a couple of metres away. 

I leave the hole, keeping low, I drop into the foxhole that the Sergeant pointed out to me. A man lies in the bottom, I almost land on him as I enter. The other man keeps eyes on the line. I see blood soaking into the green of his jacket on his shoulder. 

“Hey!” I say tapping the man, he flinches at my touch. He turns over to look at me, “What happened?” I ask the man, who vacantly stares past me. I shake him again trying to get his attention but his stare remains distant. 

“Hey, what’s this guy's name? Do you know what happened?” I ask the other soldier crouched next to me. He slowly swivels to face me, as our eyes lock, terror washes over my features. I feel my heart stop as a cold sweat pricks at my skin. I go to stand trying to escape him but I don’t move fast enough. The man who pinned me down in the woods grabs my mouth preventing me from making any noise, slamming my head back into the side of the foxhole. My helmet only takes so much of the brunt, black spots dance over my vision.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” The man says in disbelief, coming into my face to whisper so that no one can hear what is going on. I struggle beneath his hold. “I should’ve killed you when I got the chance.” My body stills at the words, “but I don’t have a thing for fucking dead bodies.” A fire ignites in my chest, my blood coursing through my body filled with hate. I open my mouth biting down hard at the soft flesh between his thumb and index finger, I bite hard enough to draw blood. The man yelps in pain, snatching his hand back but he moves quickly striking his palm to my cheek. I tuck my knees to my chest using the wall behind me to send him flying back crashing into the other wall. I clamber out of the foxhole, but still he is quick. Grabbing my ankles he yanks me back into the hole, not before a scream rips from my throat echoing through the trees. I am soon back on the floor of the foxhole and the man clamps a hand around my mouth and his other around my throat. 

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” he hisses in my face repeatedly, thumping my body into the ground as his hand squeezes my neck, cutting off my blood and oxygen supply. My head spins from the loss of air. I claw at his face with my nails drawing blood from his cheeks. 

“What the fuck is going on?” I hear from above us, the man quickly releases me from his grasp. I crawl away from him sucking in gulps of air into my burning lungs. I haul myself out of the hole lying in the snow. Other men have gathered around to see what the commotion was. I hear the sound of feet crunching in the snow, the men from Easy arrive, I watch their eyes survey the scene, Lieb and Malarkey leading with Bull, Toye and Bill not far behind. Malarkey’s eyes find me first widening at the sight of me sprawled out on the snow.

“Should I repeat myself, Private?” The man who found us first speaks, I recognise him. Speirs, the man who everyone is afraid of due to the rumours; there is one about him giving out smokes to a bunch of POWs before shooting them all. 

The soldier has climbed out of the hole sitting on his knees in front of Speirs. I roll over, slowly getting to my feet, swaying, I shake my head steadying myself. 

“She attacked me first.” He accuses. I snort, spitting the blood from my mouth onto the snow. “She bit me!” he holds out his hand for Speirs to see.

“And tell me how, Private, that your hand got so close to her mouth that she bit it.” Speirs tilts his head as he stares down the man with his deadly glare. There is movement from behind Speirs. I flick my gaze over watching Bull hold back a raging Lieb, the other men watch with looks that could kill. 

“Yeah, tell them Private.” I taunt the man, “tell them how you couldn’t get it up.” I wipe the blood running down my cheek, giving the man a sadistic grin. 

“Tell them how you brought two other men to hold me down while you tried to rape me. What? Were you worried that you weren’t strong enough to do it by yourself?” My brows quirks as I ask the question, arms folded in front of me. I walk up to the man getting close to his face. “Should I tell everyone that you’re a coward with a tiny cock?” The man seethes, he growls in anger flinging himself forward taking me down to the ground. I laugh in his face. “God you’re so easy to wind up.” He is quickly dragged up from on top of me. I am helped to my feet by Malarkey, the rest of the men looking like they are chomping at the bit to fight. 

“Take that man to the Captain, tell them what he did. Find the other men who attacked Lane the other day and bring them in too.” Speirs commands two soldiers to drag the man away.

“Go back to your spots men, the show is over.” Speirs announces, as the men watching slowly dissipate back into the burrows. The Easy company men are by my side in seconds. Malarkey stands close, he cups my face, his eyes frantically scanning my head looking for any injuries. 

“I’m fine Malark.” I try to say but he has squished my face so it makes it harder to talk. 

“Fucking Dog company.” Lieb seethes next to me. Bull watches me concerned. Toye and Bill are on guard, glaring down any man that walks too close to the group.      

“Easy company come with me.” Commands Speirs. He marches back towards where we are camped. We follow him back, Malarkey and Lieb glued to me. Lieb looks ready for a fight. I watch his hands clench and unclench. His jaw tight, his eyes dart around. Malarkey is the same, I have never seen him angry before, I have always known him as kind and sweet but this man escorting me back to the camp is vengeful, his face is hard and stoic but his eyes are a blazing fire. 

“At least we found him.” I try to make light of the situation but the men don’t reply seemingly in their own world, I’m sure they are planning various ways to make the soldier pay for his crimes. The men in front of us are no different, their silence is deafening. We arrive, Winters and Nixon look pissed. They dismiss the other men only leaving me with the Captains and Speirs. 

We sit in the tent around the table, I look at the floor fiddling with the button on my jacket. I feel like I have been brought into the principal's office to be scolded.

“What happened?” Winters asks Speirs who sits next to me. 

“Well Sir I’m sure we all heard the scream that alerted us to the situation in the first place.” Starts Speirs leaning his arms on the table. 

“It took me a while to find where the noise actually came from, since she was, I am assuming, dragged back into the foxhole by the soldier.” He looks to me for confirmation, to which I nod. 

“When I finally found where the sound came from I looked into the hole to find the man strangling Lane here, he was also covering her mouth and whispering to her, but I didn’t hear what was said.” Speirs says. I feel their eyes land on me. 

“He was telling me to shut up.” I say looking up to meet Winters eyes, regretting my decision, the look on his face breaking my heart. I avert my gaze back to the ground. 

“Did he say anything else?” Nixon asks.  

“He said that he should’ve killed me when he had the chance, but that he…” I pause, clearing my throat. I take a breath, I don’t want to have to tell Nixon and Winters what the asshole said to me. It was bad enough to hear from him but I keep going. “He said that he didn’t have a thing for fucking dead bodies.” I bite my lip looking up at the men, disgust evident on their faces. 

“Thank you Lane, we will have this sorted.” Winters says dismissing me. He can’t even look at me, none of them can. I bite my inner lip. Standing I leave the tent letting them figure out what they want to do with the man. 

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Chapter 7