#that may or may not bite the player in the ass later

[invinciblerodent]

I've been kinda thinking about character motivations, and reasons for decisions made in each playthrough all day, and I think the core of Iona's personal narrative is finally starting to expose itself to me, which is neat.

Like... while Arvid's arc is overall about him balancing the divine with the mundane, and learning to make decisions with his own needs in mind occasionally, Iona's is shaping up to be one of... the continual challenging of long-held beliefs, and picking through her own survival tactics like she's unpicking a big, painful knot in one's hair that's tugging at the skin. Her story is kind of looking like it's about finding the line between what's true, and what was merely said enough times to start sounding like the truth- about what even the liar was lied to, basically.

From the beginning, when she's outed as specifically not a by-choice magic user, but a magical being, one with living sorcery in her veins, to her vehemently anti-magic community their warmth turns instantly to cold steel (even running to her husband for help and comfort only to meet scorn, rejection, and pain), she has had to constantly challenge herself, and try to find just how much of her view of the world was grounded in common sense, and how much of it is just... common nonsense.

It kind of works out beautifully that the first people she breaks bread with in the game are a guarded and jumpy young woman who is 100% lying to her (yeah, turns out she's an ardent worshipper of a dark, forbidden goddess), and a handsome, if foppish, city-type fellow, who only suspends his bristling about roughing it long enough to lay on the charm extra thick and obvious (whoops, a vampire- someone she would have ordinarily believed to be a mindless monster at that point).

Over and over in the story, Iona seems to have to completely reevaluate all the things she thinks she knows. Everything, from her idea of what a monster is, to where the line between morality, justice, and ruthless self-interest lies, to what love is and looks like (is it a contract? a mutually beneficial transaction? something different and delicate and precious and entirely new?), is constantly being challenged, and since the factors doing the challenging seem immutable, it has to be her who does the changing.

In the beginning portions of act 2, she was a little... noncommittal, about the whole ascension thing. Sure, in act 1 she was fully in favor of upending Cazador's whole schtick (in a "cool plan my guy, godspeed, have fun with that, glad that's not my mess to clean up" kind of way), and this thing, while literally diabolical, it was easy enough to see that it'd at least get results. Like, maybe the ends really would justify the means like they so often have so far, and the "number of souls" sacrificed were no more than an abstract that he at least seemed excited about. But meeting Dalyria and Petras (and experiencing that spark of genuine fear of Astarion then), talking to the attacking spawn, that (on top of everything else learned, including the sentience and potential benevolence in mind flayers and all that) is yet another very sharp pivot in her mind that exposes the whole thing for the nakedly amoral action it would really be.

Between that night in the Elfsong, and when we'll finally go to Cazador, she'll be slowly piecing together her thoughts on how much power is it really okay for just one person to take, how much revenge is justified, and at what point does it turn to harmful excess, to evil for its own sake, and there is something... that's imo kind of beautiful about how "not my circus, not my kobolds" turns into "I want you to live a life you can be proud of".

(In my headcanon, after the "the world can be a wonderful, kind place, Astarion, if you find your place in it" line she says in that post-attack callout, there is just a tiny bit of an insert of an expansion: it's just him asking, with an exhale that could pass for amused were it not for the somber look in his eyes, "you really believe that, don't you?" and her responding, with just a hint of a desperate edge, as if uncertain herself, "I have to. Otherwise, what's the point? To all this?")

[bluewxrld07]

Kiss Cam (Luke Hughes)

Luke Hughes x female!reader

Warning(s): slight makeup sesh, angst, major fluff, touching without consent, alludes to smut

Summary:In which Luke lets his anger get the best of him.

“Mom I love you, but I have to finish getting ready for the game. We can talk more about it tomorrow.” Y/n sighs, applying mascara to her lashes. 

Her phone was on the bathroom counter with mom on speaker phone, mom currently blabbing about something that happened at work that she needed to rant over. “Oh, that’s right there’s a game tonight! Tell Luke and Jack goodluck for me, and I’ll let you go then. Love you!” Her mom’s sweet voice rings in.

Y/n responds back before ending the call, her music coming back on while she used her setting spray to set the rest of her face. 

Luke walks into the bathroom behind her a few moments later, setting his sweatshirt on the counter next to her puffer vest for her to wear. He stops and looks her up and down with a slight smirk on his lips. 

She wasn’t fully finished getting dressed, only wearing her flare leather pants and a bralette to prevent getting makeup on his clothes. Not that he would’ve minded that anyway, but he wasn’t going to complain about her current outfit. 

“What?” She chuckles putting her makeup away when catching his stare in the mirror. His eyes find hers as he walks up behind her with a hum, placing his hands around the front of her waist slowly trailing back and down to grab her ass. 

She squeaks at his hands, letting a laugh leave her mouth while his own kisses her collarbone a few times. “I like these pants.”

“Oh you do, do you?” an amused grin on her face. He hums with a nod. “Very much yes. You need to buy more.” 

Her eyes roll at his comment before she turns around in his grasp, his hands still going down to her ass when she faces him. Luke looks down at her, taking in the beauty of his girlfriend. She looks down at his lip before lifting herself up a little to place what was supposed to be a chaste kiss. 

Luke thought otherwise, humming out a no on her lips to prevent her from breaking away. She giggles at his comment, letting her hands trail up his chest and to the back of his neck and into his curls. 

Their lips moving in sync, his tongue finding hers as his hands roam her body. His touches and kisses making her whimper and moan into his mouth. 

His hands began to trail from her ass, up to her hips, then to her waist, until they were gripping her breasts. Luke letting his thumb graze over her nipples through the thin fabric. 

She breathes out a moan, her head falling back as he plays with them and his lips moving down to her jaw. “Lu,” she pants.

“Hm?”

“We are gonna be late.” She lets out another whimper when he bites down on her sweet spot just in the crevice of the crook of her neck. Y/n musters up the strength to grab his head from her neck, making him look up at her. 

His lips now swollen, eyes looking a little glazed over as he gives her a lovesick grin. She places one last soft kiss on his mouth before turning back around to grab his sweatshirt off the counter, putting it over her head.

"Why don't you just wear my jersey again?" he asks as he steps away to watch her in the mirror.

"Because I need to switch it up every so often," she says in a 'duh' tone. "Either way people will know I'm yours if that's your problem with it." she chuckles, watching him roll his eyes.

"Okay yes, but still. You can see my name on it in bigger letters than you can on my sweatshirt."

"The sweatshirt I'm wearing is a player only sweatshirt. Therefore nobody else but players own it, so I think that's pretty self-explanatory." she assures him as she sees his pout begin to form.

Once she puts the vest over her shoulders, she turns around to wrap her arms around his neck. He grabs her waist immediately, looking down at her with a knowing look. "You may be beautiful, but you're sometimes not the brightest." he jokes, earning a slap to the chest as she walks away after his comment. She slips on her heeled boots in the entryway while he slides on his dress shoes.

"Forensic Scientist means dumb to you? I don't think so baby." she shoots back, the boy just shaking his head with a playful scoff.

"Whatever you say, honey. Let's go," he sighs before tapping her bum as she opens the front door.

Once they arrived to the arena, Y/n says her 'hello's to the other players, and Jack of course, then gives Luke his good luck kiss before making her way to the lower bowl to find her seat.

She sets her food and drink down when she finds it, seeing she's in the second row from the glass and gets comfy as she waited for the game to start. Y/n watched as more and more fans began to pile in, some starting to take up spots around the ice to watch warmups.

The warmups probably had to be her favorite part. Getting to see the boys rev up for the game as well as interacting with fans, the younger kids especially. She sometimes would find herself overhearing conversations of parents with their little ones talking about how they will try hard to get puck from a player for them.

So some days she took matters into her own hands, signaled Luke, Jack or one of the other players she knew well to bring her a couple pucks to hand out to the little kiddos. The smiles and reactions on their faces always made her smile too, which is why she loved stepping in to help sometimes.

Before she knew it, the boys were out on the ice doing their routine, kids and other fans buzzing with excitement as they watched the players skate around the ice.

She smiles widely when she sees Luke spot her, the boy giving her a little wink as he stood at the blue line with Dawson. Her little moment with Luke was soon cut short when someone took their seat next to her and settled in, his stare never leaving her side profile.

Y/n slowly turned to look at the Devils fan, the boy looking around the same age as her. He had darker hair that poked out of his backwards hat, bright hazel eyes, chiseled jaw with a little stubble. He supported a Devils Jersey with an 86 on the back of it. He nods at her before speaking.

"Hey," he starts off. She smiles warmly. "Hello." she says before turning back to watching warmups.

Luke was busy doing his routine to notice the boy sitting next to his girlfriend, y/n adjusting herself due to feeling uncomfortable by his stare.

"I'm Micah." he introduces, y/n turning her head back to him with a smaller smile this time. "Nice to meet you Micah." she says in a soft voice, hoping that it sounded both nice and uninterested.

Micah leans towards her a little, making her smile falter a bit and look back at the boys on the ice for a minute. "And you are..?" he trails off, making her insides churn at his desperation.

"Um, I'm y/n," she says in a shorter tone. He nods with a toothy smile.

"Beautiful name for an absolutely gorgeous girl." he says, making her internally roll her eyes. She just nods at him and offers another warm smile. "Thank you."

She watches as he looks her up and down slowly, slowly biting his lip as his eyes find hers. "So what's a girl like you doing sitting here all by herself?" he asks.

"Oh, I'm not alone I'm-"

"It's okay, you don't have to lie and say your friends are coming. I'll take care of you," he winks at her, and places a hand on her thigh with a squeeze. He was making her stomach knot. "Please take your hand off my leg," she says firmly. She feels herself relax when his hand leaves her thigh, her chest feeling tight as he sat closer to her.

Instead of pushing the conversation she purses her lips and looks back at the boys on the ice, hoping to find her boyfriend and her muscles relax when she sees he's already staring at her.

Now many fans that paid attention to the Hughes brothers knew she and Luke were dating. It wasn't like they made it obvious, but they also weren't hiding it either.

His eyes going back between her and the guy next to her with a darker stare than she's used to. He can tell she's uncomfortable when his eyes find hers a second later, and skates closer towards where she's sitting.

Y/n watches as he skates past and gives her a small nod as if asking if she was okay, and nods back at him with a small smile on her lips.

Luke nods back one more time at her before turning back to finish his drills, his head turning back to stare at the guy sitting next to her one last time.

Y/n was happy the guy known as Micah let her be after that, hoping that he noticed she was uninterested and very much taken.

The lights dimmed as the boys left the ice, y/n sitting back in her chair and going onto her phone. Her phone soon buzzed as she began scrolling through Twitter, seeing it was a text from Luke.

from Lu <3

Do you want me to bring you one of my jerseys?

to Lu <3

I'll be okay. I can stand my ground, I promise

from Lu <3

Baby I really think you should take one of my jerseys

to Lu <3

Lu I will look like every other fan who has one here still. It wouldn't matter if I was wearing it or not.

read 6:36pm

Y/n rolled her eyes at his actions and no response, knowing he was frustrated by the situation at hand. She wouldn't be able to convince him any other way, him being the stubborn boy he was.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he just liked having people know she was his and his only. She would never stop that either, but she just wanted him to understand she can handle situations on her own most times.

Before she knew it, the game had started and that's also when Micah's voice started. He kept trying to talk to her more, explaining the game to her as if she had no idea what was going on. She wanted to move so badly, but knew that that wasn't going to happen.

Y/n just tried her best to act as uninterested as possible to his conversation, the boy obviously not getting the point as time went on.

It also appeared that Luke was getting more and more irritated by Micah's advances.

Y/n often caught him skating by their area and looking directly at the pair sitting next to one another, his expression each time darker and more pissed off than the last.

The one that caught her attention was when Luke looked directly at her, shook his head, rolled his eyes and made a swatting motion at her. It deeply annoyed her that he was getting mad at her when she was making it very clear she wanted nothing to do with the man next to her.

"That call right there is known as icing," Micah begins, leaning towards her and pushing a piece of her hair back. Y/n biting her lip and running a hand through her hair as he keeps his hand on her cheek. "It happens when-"

"Okay look. Micah, is it? Can you please stop explaining the game to me as if I don't get what's going on? I used to play myself, and have a boyfriend who plays it as well. So please just -- stop talking, and stop touching me." Y/n snaps, her facial expressions towards the boy looking like she was ready to bang her head against the wall.

Micah looked stunned for a few seconds, before he smirks and rolls his eyes with a scoff. "If you had a boyfriend, where is he at then?"

Of course that was the only thing he paid attention to. She scoffs at him and looks back to the game.

There was an intermission in between whistles, the ice crew coming to shovel off the ice. Y/n looks up and watches as a kiss cam comes on, happy couples one after the other doing funny or cute kisses.

She looks down at her phone while it goes, not really wanting to be at the game anymore with her boyfriend annoyed at her, and her being annoyed with the guy next to her.

That was until Micah was elbowing her a moment later, the girl looking at him with a scowl evident on her face and he smirks smugly while pointing to the screen. She looks up, and immediately wants to sink into a hole.

Micah and her were on the kiss cam screen.

Micah looks back at her and shrugs. "it's for the views," he says, and she shook her head.

Y/n looks up at the Jumbotron, doing a 'cut' signal with her hand while saying that Micah is not her boyfriend. She began to hold up her sweatshirt, pointing to the number 43 on the arm saying 'boyfriend'.

But before she could finish saying 'boyfriend' Micah tries grabbing her face in a bruising and harsh grasp to pull her in for a kiss. Y/n immediately pushes him away and smacks him hard across the face.

Before she can cuss him out, she hears a loud bang against the glass followed by yells and many fans gasping in shock. Y/n turns to the ice and sees Luke yelling at Micah with Jack and Nico holding him back as if Luke was about ready to break the glass to get to her.

"Get your fucking hands off my girl!" he screams at him. "You grab her like that again and I'll fuck you up, you got that! Get the fuck off of her!! Don't you dare touch her!" Luke continues to yell and cuss as the boys pull him back to the bench.

Luke looks at Y/n and points at her after. "That's why I fucking told you to wear my jersey dammit!" he yells to her, making her stomach drop to her ass out of embarrassment.

Her mouth drops at his reaction, seeing him yell to her once again. "Never fucking listens to me!"

Micah sitting there both in awe and shock by both getting cussed at by Luke Hughes and being smacked by the girl next to him.

Y/n is pushing her way past Micah who is still sitting there dumbfounded, some fans making comments to him saying how shitty it was for him to do what he did.

Y/n kept her head down as she climbed up the stairs, tears in her eyes. One of the security guards she knew very well immediately made her way up to her and pulled her into her arms as they walked.

"Let's get you out of the public eye, hm? Get you down into the tunnel?" she suggest, Y/n nods quietly as she wipes a tear.

When she makes her way to the tunnel she hears the buzzer, signaling the end of the second period. She tells the security guard to grab Jack for her as he walks back to the locker room, the older woman nodding before making her way down the hall.

As she waits for Jack, she manages to take in what just happened.

Micah tried forcing himself on her. Luke cussed him out and almost broke the glass to go after him. Luke yelled at her.

Luke embarrassed her.

Y/n didn't even realize she had tears falling until she saw them fall onto her boots.

"Y/n?" she hears, her head shooting up to see Jack making his way to her with concern on his face. He had his helmet off, stick still in his hand as he approached her.

"Hey," he said as he got to her, pulling her in for a hug first. She hugged him back tightly, sniffling into his shoulder. "You okay?"

She just shook her head as they pulled away. "I've never heard him talk to me like that. Ever. I'm so humiliated." she admits, shaking her head as she wipes her tears.

Jack looks at her with guilt and frustration. "I'm sorry I had no idea he would react like that," he says. "We knew he was bothered by the guy next to you because he wouldn't stop talking about it. But he kept assuring and saying he trusted you to take care of it. Of yourself. He kept saying he knew you could handle it. Next thing we knew he was jumping over the boards and skating towards where you sat. And then you can guess what happened next." he explains, making her nod.

"I just didn't think he would ever talk to me like that." she says in a whisper. "I didn't even know that that guy would grab my face like that." she stutters, letting out a choked sob.

"I should've just listened to Luke and wore his jersey." Y/n says, watching as Jack shook his head. "No don't say what you know would make my brother feel better. He's a piece of shit and a dickbag for saying and reacting how he did. You couldn't have known." Jack assures her, pulling her in for another hug, holding her for longer.

She sniffles and stays silent, Jack pulling away from her as he hears Dawson calling out to him signaling they're going back out in a few.

"I don't want to talk to him for a bit. But I can't go back out there. I don't even think I can show my face out there at all." Y/n explains, Jack nods in understanding.

"I'll make sure he steers clear of you for right now. I'll also be the last one out of the locker room, so I will let one of the trainers know to come grab you to get my keys. You can drive it back to the apartment." he says, making her shake her head and cross her arms.

"Jack are you sure? I can't take your car."

"Y/n/n yes you can. We live in the same complex. Worst case I can always catch a ride with one of the other boys if Luke is still being an ass, so I will be able to get home either way." Jack assures her, the girl contemplating for a minute, then nodding in agreement to his statement.

He kisses her forehead before heading back to the locker rooms, Y/n pulling herself together as she waits silently for one of the trainers. She sees and hears the guys cheering as they head out for the last period, music blaring in the stadium.

She spots one of the trainers walking towards her with a sweet smile, motioning for her to follow behind them to the locker room.

When they get to the entryway, the trainer stops and points to Jack's locker stall. "He said it should be in his suit jacket pocket on the left side." the trainer tells her, y/n nodding as she feels his keys.

As she was about to walk out of the locker room the trainer stops her once more. "Luke also told me to tell you that you can take his key. Since he knows you don't normally bring yours when you drive with him to games." they explain, Y/n feeling her heart clench at his name.

She slowly nods and walks over to her boyfriend's stall and grabbing his apartment key before following the trainer out and towards the garage.

She smiles softly at the trainer before thanking them, then unlocks Jack's car and gets inside.

On the drive home the car is silent, nothing being heard but the rain on the windshield. The radio off due to her not wanting to hear a single thing as she drove home.

The embarrassment she felt from the night was starting to creep up on her, making her just want to crawl up into a ball and live there for the rest of her life.

The facial expression she saw on his face was something she only ever saw when it came to him getting pissed off at another player in the ice, or when he was arguing with Jack. Never did she see it directed towards her. It made her insides burn, her chest feeling tight.

Most of all Y/n felt violated. She had never been grabbed or touched like that, and it scared her that a man would've been desperate enough in a situation to make a move like that guy did.

She let out a sigh as she parked Jack's car in his parking spot in the parking garage, locking it as she made her way up to her and Luke's shared apartment. She kept her arms crossed over her chest, keeping her head low as she made her way through the hallways.

When she saw her familiar doormat outside her apartment, Y/n felt her exhaustion hit. As she unlocked the door, she could hear the patters of the raindrops hitting the windows. The apartment only being illuminated by her golden sunset light in the living room, window cracked open to hear the thunder outside.

She shut the door, and took off her shoes. The tired girl's feet padded down the hall to their shared bedroom, going and taking a seat on their bed as she took a deep breath.

Her phone was buzzing, causing her to turn it over and see what it was.

Luke Hughes loses it over guy in the crowd!

Breaking: New Jersey Devils player, Luke Hughes, almost breaks glass to fight man in stands after putting hands on Hughes' girlfriend!

Devils player Luke Hughes screams at fan in stands after putting hands on Hughes' girlfriend. Soon starts screaming at girlfriend shortly after, causing absolute mayhem in the stands!

After seeing each title and tweet get worse and worse, she immediately puts her phone on Do Not Disturb and puts it face down on the nightstand.

Y/n began taking off her outfit, grabbing pjs and a towel before heading into the bathroom.

Y/n turned on the shower, loving how the warmth felt on her skin and closed her eyes as she stepped in.

Usually she had always taken a post game shower with Luke when they'd gotten home, but she couldn't even fathom to want to be in the same room as him after his outburst.

Sure she understood the one towards Micah, but she still thought she didn't deserve to get the backend of it too.

Y/n also knew that he probably felt like shit after how he acted, and was probably getting an absolute earful from the entire team, the coaches included.

She let the water soak up her scalp, taking a few deep breaths as she stood there. She didn't even know where her head was at. She was still so shocked of the events tonight, but also craved to have Luke holding her. Telling her she would be okay, and that he never meant any of it.

Y/n jumps and gasps when she feel hands slither around her waist, but relaxing when a familiar head of curls is seen in her side view as he hid his face in her neck for a few moments.

The girl fought with herself, wondering if she should just let it happen or push him away, not knowing which would be the better option.

That was until he propped his chin on her shoulder, sniffling a couple times. She stood there tense, staying quiet for a few moments.

"I don't even know where to start," he says, his voice rough. He squeezes her waist, her hands still staying crossed at her chest.

"Well I do know where to start. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry, Y/n. I have no excuses for the way I spoke to you. You were trying to get him off you, and were clearly uninterested in general. Guy couldn't take a fucking hint," he chuckles bitterly. "In the end, I should not have yelled or screamed at you. You didn't deserve any of that. I can't imagine how embarrassed you felt after that. That's all completely my fault, I couldn't control myself after seeing how uncomfy he kept making you." he sniffles and pauses to press a kiss on her temple.

"I really can't believe I lost it on you. I have no regrets for losing it on that guy, but losing my shit on you I have every regret in the world. I would absolutely go back in time and prevent myself from doing that to you. Without a second thought." he finishes. "I'm so sorry, Y/n. I am a dick, and I truly don't expect you to forgive me easily. I embarrassed you, and made it so hard for you to walk back into that arena without wanting to curl up in a ball. If you don't come to some my games for a bit, I get it. I don't blame you."

It's quiet for a few moments after that, Y/n taking that as Luke's speech being finished. She sighs and lets her body relax fully into his own, letting her hands trail down to where his hands are on her waist and wrap hers around his wrists softly.

She caresses the top of his hands with her thumbs. "You're a fucking asshole you know that?" she whispers, shaking her head as she looks down at their hands.

He nods against her shoulder. "More than an asshole honestly." he chuckles, making her muster up the smallest grin.

"You embarrassed me. You humiliated me in front of the entire arena, Luke," she starts. "I wouldn't have been as mad if it were just towards that guy. Yeah I still would've been annoyed, but it was when you started going after me. As if I had been letting it happen." she explains, Luke letting her speak.

"I tried everything in my power to make it known I was uninterested. I tried everything to make it known I didn't want him talking to me. I tried Lu," she says, her voice sounding defeated the last few words.

Luke just nods, saying he knows repeatedly. "Especially when he kept putting his hands on me, I kept telling him to stop and I kept saying no." Y/n says, her voice weak as her lips began to quiver. Luke pulls her in tighter, his heart aching and his anger rising at the guy. He had no right to touch her, and especially when she kept telling him to not touch her.

Luke couldn't imagine what was going through her head during then. It made him feel even worse after hearing how defeated she. sounded.

"Then when he grabbed my face, I felt so violated. Like I couldn't even win even when I kept saying no," she sniffled. "Then when you yelled at me like that, it made me feel like you didn't even care that I was trying my hardest to not let him touch me. When it was so clear I didn't want him to."

Luke raised his head from her shoulder, placing his hands on her hips to turn her so she was facing him. "Look at me." he says softly to her, seeing as she shook her head and kept it staring down at her hands.

He watched as she began to nervously pick ta her fingertips, something she did from anxiety, which made his hands leave her sides and lace his fingers between him own to prevent her from doing so.

"Y/n, baby, look at me." he says, his voice softer than the first time. Y/n mustered the strength to look into his eyes for the first time that evening, seeing his were incredibly bloodshot and swollen.

"Oh Lu," she sighs as she sees his face. He shook his head. "Don't worry about me." he says. "I want you to know that no matter what, I will always care for you. Even when it's so much it seems annoying, I will still be there by your side protecting and caring about you. I care more about you than I do myself." he assures her, making her lips quiver.

"You need to care about yourself too, Luke. Don't beat yourself up when you can't help me with a situation. You have to trust that I can handle it most times on my own." she explains, Luke nodding in agreement with her.

"I get that you were mad and that you were wanting to do anything you could to get to me in that moment, but taking it out on me when you know I'm trying is not the way to go."

Luke puts his head down, nodding once more. "I know. And I'm never going to stop apologizing to you. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could take it all back. I'm so sorry, Y/n/n."

She puts her hands on his cheeks. "I know. But you can't take it back, no matter how much to wish you could. Just learn from it, and move forward. Yeah this was a major bump we will work on fixing, but that is the thing. It's not just going to be you, it's gonna be us." she assures him, watching his eyes find hers again.

"You won't be going through this alone. Yeah I'm hurt. Yeah I'm embarrassed. But that's not gonna stop me from loving you and helping you. We will work on it together, okay?" Y/n caresses his cheeks, watching as he nods.

"I love you. So much. So so much, Y/n. I'm so sorry."

Y/n gives him a smile and nods, leaning her forehead against his own. "I love you too, baby. I know."

He presses his lips on her own cautiously, Y/n feeling his actions. In which she lets her hands find the back of his head and pull him closer to her to make their kiss more passionate.

He hums as their lips move in sync, letting her lead it as he wraps his arms around her figure.

Luke breaks the kiss after a few moments. "Let me start making it up to you right now, yeah?" he pants, and she nods.

"I'm all yours."

That's all Luke needs to hear before he begins his apology to her. Showing her how sorry he is in many different ways.

[nitrowyverine]

Finally played the TOUCHSTARVED Demo! Still thinking about it over a week later.

(Above: Steam banner image for TOUCHSTARVED from Red Spring Studios)

I love it SO MUCH. and i have QUESTIONS. my extended thoughts below the cut [Demo spoilers included]

General thoughts:

this game is SO up my alley that it's insane. local goth gaming nerd is kicking their feet and giggling

the music? and sound design? It's honestly incredible, even beyond the infamous Every Time We Touch cover (Which is how I found this game). We all have to be giving more props to the music/sound work, it absolutely punches the experience up so many notches. When a soundtrack is released I'm immediately keeping it on hand for all my tabletop needs

absolutely enamored with the backstory mechanic. It adds so much individual depth to the character. you can feel attached to your MC without them being a complete blank slate. I absolutely love that different MC backstories have you pick up different details about the characters. (My favorite is The Hound immediately picking out who the leaders are amongst the group, in contrast to the other MC backgrounds)

I wanna eat the backgrounds. I wanna eat them whole. They're so detailed and colorful and have a great sense of depth. 100000/10

Specific character thoughts/theories:

(Images courtesy of the Touchstarved character Lore posts from the Red Spring Studio socials. I'll be linking them in each of the character's names)

Ais:

Thank you, Red Spring studios, for blessing the players with the ability to bite him if you're an ass to him the entire demo. You truly know what we want

Lore seems to indicate that Ais came over from the demon realm for some unknown reason, and was possibly some kind of demon king or leader? Fascinated to learn what happens there

Ngl the Seaspring looks like it would taste good. My favorite raspberry/rhubarb tea looks just like the Seaspring water. Gimme the group juice.

Question: If Ais gets infected with MC's madness....does that mean. the WHOLE groupmind gets infected? Humans and soulless alike? That's a city-destroying disaster waiting to happen

CONCLUSION: Most likely to adopt 6 dogs instead of picking up the groceries. Least likely to let you have the car aux cable.

Kuras:

I do believe Kuras is the actual best shot at a cure/treatment of all candidates. Assuming the curse is some level of demonic, an angel's touch is probably the best bet.

Let me be clear here though, I do think he might just go "Well you can just like. not have arms" and take them. That is a possibility

Most of the other characters I can get a rough idea of what they want and why. Kuras? I have NO idea what his goal is, which is very frightening.

Twitter bio image does say "Repentant Angel", and that his fatal flaw is "his sins can only be repaid through suffering". Possible linkage to Lovent's fall? Or another major disaster?

its okay sweaty we all get The Guilt (tm)

If Kuras somehow gets MC's maddness (I have a feeling it may not effect him? but if it did) that would just. end the world right there.

CONCLUSION: Most likely to be the one guy you might be able to bring home to your parents. Least likely to put on oven mitts to take a frozen pizza out of the oven.

Vere:

I love Vere for being the character I thought I could trust the least, turning into a character I actually trust allot. I trust him to be extremely dangerous. He probably wasn't lying when he said his heart is on his sleeve.

Also, big props for having him just kill you in one of the demo endings. What a guy, I love him, no notes

Wait what he's over 100 according to his birthday post. thats, allot? older? than I thought?. okay yeah the lore posts mention he's a possible deity figure. not comforting

Vere is very fae-logic coded. Like, the words he says can be true and false at the same time. Don't tell him your name, he will cannibalize you for fun, etc etc ya know fae stuff.

i will protect him always

CONCLUSION: Most likely to fuck your dad. Least likely to be your new stepdad.

Mihn:

Mihn is much dodgier than the rest, but I think that makes them more trustworthy. They're not as interested as playing games.

I nominate Mihn as a secondary protagonist, since Leander, Ais, and Kuras seem to be interested in them quite a bit. Even Vere has a rivalmance kinda thing going for Mihn. If MC didn't show up, that would be the dating sim right there

I'm excited by the lore post and the implications that Mihn is from Lovent (or has traveled there? and survived?) and potentially getting greater lore expansion about the world surrounding Eridia

I think it's interesting that their strength stat is relatively low compared to the others, yet they're one of the characters that actually uses their strength in the demo.

Also, I think we see the least of their "monstrous form" of everyone in the demo (minus their ability to dodge in and out of shadows). I'm thrilled to see what their monstrous form actually entails.

Mihn would survive bloodborne. That's it thats the entire thought

CONCLUSION: Most likely to do all the work in a group project. Least likely to be chill during Mario Party.

Leander:

OKAY ALL OF MY QUESTIONS ARE HERE. I AM DEEPLY AFRAID. Something is absolutely wrong but we have no current ability to pinpoint what it is.

I've seen theories Leander is dead. However, in Vere's route, he mentions that Leander smells like aftershave. While this could be part of an extra-elaborate ruse, hair doesn't grow after death (Minus the appearance of it happening due to natural decay processes) so he wouldn't need to shave. However, I am betting on him being involved in some sort of un-death cycle.

actually I can guarantee his story is all about cycles. Has anyone else mentioned how his belt is the triple goddess symbol.

you know. the symbol of maiden/mother/crone. birth/life/death. beginning/middle/end. like

Moving on, the vast majority of his smiles are forced (Mouth is smiling, but there's no eye movement/crinkle that would indicate it's genuine). That is enough of a red flag but honey I am so much more worried about my next point:

WHERE DOES HE GET HIS MONEY. He's constantly buying rounds of drinks for a packed bar. It's briefly mentioned his clothes are nice. He pays for anything MC needs. However, says Bloodhound rates are "Free". Where does he GET HIS MONEY for all of this. Twitter posts from Red Spring point out he doesn't accept bribes (at least overtly).

WAIT I'M REREADING THIS POST WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE SILENT CRYPTS.

Looking again at Leander's stat post. The Ouroboros in the background is. Not comforting. Also, "Forbidden Magic"? yeah I have a feeling we know why he's not in the Senobium

Theory, potentially Leander is currently being paid by the Senobium to maintain lowtown/Silent Crypts order? I think there's still a connection between them. Like the Senobuim can remain detached while having ties to whatever horrible things Leander is doing.

Okay, in the twitter relationship charts it says that Kuras has looked out for Leander "Since he was young". Kuras probably knows. SO much we don't.

When Mihn scolds Leander for not telling MC to be off the streets past dark. I think Leander intentionally "Forgot" to mention that. I think he wanted the MC to see how dangerous Eridia was so MC would stay closer to Leander for safety. I think it was a very intentional manipulation tactic.

(Furthermore, did he actually cast a spell of luck on MC when he gave them the lilies from his introduction magic trick? Then bet on the MC living through the day?)

I do think Leander's surprise at MC going out to the Seaspring was genuine, since his spit-take clashes so starkly with his cool-guy demeanor.

I also have a feeling that Leander has been past the veil/shroud. he's doing something fucky and the veil is prime fuckery territory.

(Are we...going to get a timeloop story????)

CONCLUSION: Most likely to dramatically use himself as a human bridge over a small puddle (as an excuse to get walked on). Least likely to remember to go to bed after playing Stardew Valley for 13 hours straight.

Touchstarved game things I'm concerned about:

(I feel like I wouldn't be doing my game designer duties if I didn't point out my concerns as well. To be fair, there aren't many.)

I hope the bad endings get fucked up, story-wise. Since it's a horror game, I know it might turn some people off to have things go super wrong, but I really hope they do. I want to see some endless pain vortexes, some real Juniji Ito-style suffering. But I would also understand if the devs want to softball some of the worst outcomes for the sake of widespread appeal.

We all have countless examples of kickstarter games looking strong out the gate, but then falling flat upon release. While I have high hopes for Touchstarved, I do know the reality and intense difficulty of kickstarter games. I'm really hoping the demo isn't the best the studio will have to offer.

OVERALL: I am rooting for the Touchstarved team/Red Spring Studio all the way! I'm thrilled to see where this game goes. I am poised on this purchase button and ready to buy when it releases.

[that1-storyteller]

Every Little Experience <3

BLLK Boys (mainly Karasu) x ???? reader (Fem!)

Warnings: Foul language, uhm I’m not sure yet I’ll just figure it out along the way. Gory descriptions, heavily traumatized reader, biases against guys, sarcasm lol.

Blue lock. Two words. Two little words, and behind them was an opportunity of a life time. Uncle Ego Was hired by a woman he called Anri-Chan, to make the world’ s best striker. You may not know much about the sport, but you knew this was huge.

Ego always included you any anything he did, in some way or another. Though this was by far the furthest he’d ever gone to involve you.

You were going to work in blue lock with him. As his assistant. As great as it was to build up experience as a sixteen year old getting into tech and psychology, Ego was…less than ideal to work with. He was demanding to an absurd degree, great, right? In the end, he is your uncle and provides great experience and opportunities. It, in the long run, was worth it.

But you pissed him off, so your first day in the eerie ass building, you were stuck doing maintenance checks and cleaning. Fuck. All you did was rig his noodles…wasn’t that serious, damn… and karma was pretty instant with that prank, you tripped on the rug and face planted immediately after the trap was set. Your poor eye. Bruised on your first day of work.

Now, like the soon-to-be candidates of Blue Lock, you were stuck living there. You were allowed to have your phone, you had your own room, bathroom, etc. It was fairly nice compared to what you observed what the candidates were being treated with. You also, depending on how many tasks you did and how well the job was done, got to pick your meals. Courtesy of your uncle. You got to come in a few days prior to decorate your space as you wished, go over the rules, learn the layout, etc. It was an uncomfortably large building, to say the least.

The biggest rule, or at least the one Uncle Ego and Anri-Chan emphasized the most was,

Limit your contact with the players.

Easy enough. You had no interest in a bunch of (most likely) stuck up, narcissistic jocks who only care about soccer. To be fair, here they were literally fighting for their futures that revolved around soccer, it would be understandable to be desperate and focused, no? Like rats in a cage, attached to a man’s face with one side lit ablaze. Desperate, scared, and tearing into each other just to survive. A raw instinctual thing, really. Always enjoyable to observe…

Well, anywho, not people you’d want to interact with.

So here you were, setting each and every room to be perfect, all because Ego was petty over a prank.

Last quarters, team Z’s. Each sleeping bag was perfectly laid out, the bathrooms organized, towels folded. What a shame it would be, hard work waisted on slobbish boys… sigh. They’d be here tomorrow, and the experiment would begin. Hurray!

…

Your alarm blared in your ears, the sun rising, though you couldn’t see it. No windows, how unfortunate. You sluggishly dressed, very casual clothing for today, you decided. You threw on leggings and a large hoodie, putting on a smidge bit of make-up as well. It fit the occasion. Today you’d be greeting the candidates and handing them their…uniforms? Outfits? You weren’t sure exactly what to call those uncomfortably skin tight data collectors. The word would come to you later, you were sure.

This was the only time you were allowed to purposely converse with the subjects- er hmm, “diamonds in the rough”, as Uncle Ego called them. In your eyes, they were kind of like lab rats. Soccer gods in the making, was a nice way to put it. Poor boys didn’t know what was coming, you felt….only slightly guilty to be apart of their torment. Only slightly.

…

Through the doors they charged, a large herd of brawny, muscle-headed, boys.

“Anri-Chan, I don’t particularly wan’t to be the one to take their phones. It’s like taking crack from an addicted drug dealer, bad news. I fear they’ll bite me, males my age are a bit peculiar, no?”

Anri laughed, finding your bias against guys hilarious. As well as the way you spoke, so odd for a sixteen year old. So amusing to her.

“Y/N! They won’t bite! God, what, do you think they’re wild animals?”

“They may as well be,”

She snorted.

Guy after guy retrieved his suit and info. Many grumbling about the rules, some refusing to giving up their addiction device. After some fierce battles and trickery, they gave it up. Willingly or not. Then navigated their way to their rooms. A sweet looking boy walked up, eyes wide with …maybe it was anxiety, or just uncertainty? You couldn’t tell, maybe a mixture of both.

“Hello Miss, I’m sorry but I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not great with direction. Could you help me? Oh god, am I being a bother? I shouldn’t have asked, I’m so sorry!” He was so quick to panic…

“Hey, hey, don’t fret, you aren’t a bother dear. It’s my job to help, let me guide you,” You baby talked him a bit, it oddly felt necessary with his anxious, meek demeanor.

You waved to Anri, letting her know you’d be gone, and walked with the anxious boy. He was muscular, obviously so. You found humor in how anxious he was for someone who could’ve easily beat the ever-loving crap out of anyone. He had short brown hair and eye-catching forest green iris’s. You found them lovely. They were large and noticeable, very cute. If only he’d stand straight, with correct posture he’d be tall, definitely would help him in the long run. More attractive, even…

“What team are you assigned to, dear?”

“Team A, I-I’m Tokimitsu, by the way…” He stumbled over his words, his nerves messing with him oh so obviously. He fidgeted around with his fingers. Poor guy probably needed therapy and meds.

“I’m Y/N, nice to make your acquaintance, Tokimitsu-sama. What led you to be here? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

He ranted a bit, he seemed to loosen up after you gave a conversation starter. He kept spewing soccer facts like it was his job, very cute. His love of soccer was impressive, but so would be everyone else’s. It would have to be, to end up in Blue Lock. You listened to him ramble as you showed him to his team’s room, adding your thoughts here and there.

…

Every so often people would catch your eye, their hairstyles, accents, outfits, posture, etc. Many unique and out there, those of which you loved to observe. Though, the comments from the tall, tan, blonde guy with pink ends were definitely not necessary…soccer perv.

Someone who really caught your eye, was a purple haired boy. He had a cute mole by his eye, hmm. You couldn’t find a perfect word to match it with. Made you feel weird, in a pleasant way. He was tall, as were many of the participants here, an air of confidence clung to him. Though, you had a feeling… mmm… maybe you were overthinking him. Over analyzing. When he spoke, oh when he spoke…sharp, intellectual, pleasant, hell it soothed a part of your brain you didn’t know needed soothed. Oddly everything about him tugged at your heart. What the fuck. He wasn’t even really polite, his gaze seemed judging. The same gaze you laid upon other people. The people you often deemed boring and a waist of time. Now on you. The look, about to title someone mediocre. You knew it, so similar to your own… He was so….interesting. Made your brain buzz with thought mere moments after laying eyes on him. If you were to struggle to not converse with any candidates, it would be him. Your brain wandered to the wonderful conversations you could have and analyze. Oh, and his eye’s fought yours as well. You thought Tokimitsu’s were nice, but this boy’s took lovely to a whole new level. Breath taking. Enchanting, if you dared. His hair reminded you of something, you just couldn’t think of it at the moment…a certain animal. Hmmm.

“Hey Miss, why should I hand over my phone to you, you don’t look particularly responsible. What if you lose it, or damage my property? Hm?”

You blinked and snapped out of it.

“I’m only following orders. If harm were to come to your addiction device of devil, then you’d be fully repaid. You’d receive a new device as well as money.” You gave a slightly irritated smile. Though he was charming, he’d be a pain in the ass. Much like how you imagined how doing his hair in the morning was. “Please hand it over, sir-“

“Tabito Karasu,” He interrupted.

“Mr. Karasu, then.”

He handed it over and you gently placed it in the bag, so he was reassured it was fine. Though, you suspected he didn’t actually care all that much.

“You certain you’re qualified to work here?” You’re sure he’s referring to your casual outfit, sure it wasn’t fancy like Anri’s but why would you get dressed up to greet a bunch of lab rats? Hm?

“Very.”

Oh, what an interesting experience this was going to be.

Pt.1 |Pt.2 Coming soon!|

[sleepingghostt]

Haha another wip coz i love unfinished works😒

Prompt: it’s the zombie apocalypse and Daiki’s leg is broken.

“What the fuck Kise! What the actual fuck!”

There’s blood everywhere. On the floor, the walls, all over Aomine’s body. Kagami’s also covered in it, a panicked mess as he cradles the bluenette to his chest. He’s shouting insult after insult in a frenzied state as Kise sobs and Takao runs around like a chicken with its head cut off, searching and failing to find medical supplies. If there were any, they’re all gone now.

“Kagami-Kun calm down,” Kuroko instructs firmly, resting a hand on the redhead’s shoulder. It’s hard, even for him to be calm in a situation like this. The smell of iron is heavy in the air, making his stomach twist painfully and he may or may not lose one of his best friends tonight. It’s a gut wrenching possibility but panicking like this isn’t going to help.

“Yell at Kise-Kun later. Right now we need to save Aomine-Kun.”

The order seems to manifest in Kagami’s brain because he blinks, then nods and sets his attention on a delirious Takao. “Takao, Kise, find Midorima, get medical supplies and get your asses back here, quick.”

The two look at each other, Takao pale as a ghost, Kise still crying, snot running from his nose. It’s Takao that speaks for them, eyes glancing back and forth between Kagami and the doors of the gas station they’d barricaded themselves inside of. They’re both weaponless but Kagami clearly doesn’t care. Aomine’s more important at the moment.

“But-”

“Go!”

“Takao-Kun, here, take my gun.” It’s nothing special. A small glock Kagami managed to swipe off a random dying gang member during their first food raid. Grateful, Takao takes it and he and Kise leave quietly through one of the windows not boarded up, leaving Kuroko alone with Kagami and Aomine.

Aomine.

Bracing himself, Kuroko looks down at him, closely for the first time that night since he and Kagami arrived after the incident. His face is buried in the redhead’s chest, hands tightly fisting Kagami’s biceps. The redhead had torn his sweatshirt off a while ago, now in nothing but his tank top, the gray piece of clothing pressed tightly against Aomine’s ribs. Kuroko doesn’t know how big of a difference that makes. He ‘s still bleeding profusely.

He pants softly, a grunt here and there, a broken groan. His breathing was uneven and sporadic. Biting his lip, Kuroko lowers his glance down towards his right leg, the trigger for him; every basketball player’s nightmare. It’s broken, bent at a one-eighty degree angle. Kuroko looks away, feeling his dinner rise in his throat.

“Kuroko, a water bottle and a towel? Please?” it comes out forced and choked, Kagami’s attention solely on Aomine now. With shaky fingers, he runs his fingers through his bloody matted hair and tightens his hold on him.

Kuroko nods and leaves the area wordlessly, swallowing with difficulty. Aomine’s injuries raise major problems. The fastest one in their group, one of their best fighters…now a liability…if he does survive this. Kuroko doesn’t know if he’s been bit. He hasn’t turned yet, though according to Midorima, it takes approximately three minutes to six hours considering how fatal it is.

Aomine got hit by a falling car, trying to lead Kise and Takao to safety from a horde so it’s a possibility, a hope that this is the extent of it. Something that can easily be fixed if given enough time, something Aomine is gradually running out of if the steady flow of blood on the floor is any indication.

Grabbing a bottle of water from the back of the shelf, Kuroko sighs shakily and closes his eyes. if Aomine dies because of this….

He couldn’t find a towel, but there’s an old coat behind the register so he grabs that and hurries back to Kagami and Aomine. Kagami is whispering to him, soft and shaky into his hair as he rubs his back, though he’s trying not to move him too much. Aomine’s struggling in his grip, fists clenching and unclenching around bunches of his bloody tank top, groans and labored breathing muffled in his chest. They don’t notice him and Kuroko doesn’t make himself known.

“Hold on for me okay?” the redhead whispers, “Just a little longer Dai. I promise.”

“F-fucking h…hurts…I can’t-”

“You have to.” Kagami tenses at the raise of his own voice and presses a kiss to his hair in apology, lowering it again. He’s crying, a sight Kuroko’s only seen on rare occasions. But it’s still off putting, seeing tears roll down Kagami’s cheeks. “Baby, you have to...”

Aomine says nothing, just clings to him with less strength as before as Kagami grips him tighter and presses his face into blue strands. A sob is heard. Then another. “Please,” he croaks, so softly, Kuroko almost misses it. “I can’t fucking lose you.”

“Kagami! Aomine we’re here!” Takao tumbles in through the window then, interrupting their moment and Kuroko has honestly never been happier to see him. A breath of relief is punched from his lungs as Midorima, Kise, Murisakibara, Akashi, Teppei, Hyuga, Mitobe and Kasamatsu appear with a door, yes, an entire oak door with them, easing it through the window. A door but no medical supplies.

“What the hell Midorima!” Kagami erupts. “Why didn’t you bring supplies like I fucking told you to?”

“I cannot treat him here. We have to get him back to the shelter.” Midorima pales at the sight of Aomine and quickly pushes his glasses farther up on the bridge of his nose. The others circle but keep their distance, Hyuga gagging and Kise throwing up on the floor.

“Really, Hyuga?��� Teppei gives him a look, eager to look at anything other than Aomine’s leg as a squeamish looking Kasamatsu punches Kise hard in the shoulder.

“I can’t-” gagging, Hyuga runs off to another part of the store, a loud retching filling the space.

“I’m sorry about him,” Teppei apologizes nervously as Midorima and Murisakibara frown.

“Ignore him, we have a job to do,” not the least bit grossed out, Akashi stares intently at Aomine before switching his gaze to Midorima. “How bad is it, Shintaro?”

Midorima approaches Aomine and Kagami on the floor near his leg. At first Kuroko thinks he’s going to touch it but he doesn’t. He simply inspects as Kagami watches warily. Aomine keeps his face hidden in the redhead’s chest.

“Bad. It looks like a complete fracture. When we move him, we’ll have to do so carefully.”

“Alright. Atsushi, Teppei, Taiga, Mitobe. Put him carefully on the board. You‘ll carry him back to the shelter. The rest of you surround them on all sides. Put your weapons to good use.”

In a graceful movement, he kneels next to Aomine and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Prepare yourself Daiki. This will be painful.”

“Just get on with it,” the bluenette growls into Kagami’s shirt.

“Atsushi, Teppei, bring the board over.”

The board is large, thin but stable, fully capable of holding a six foot, four basketball player. They slide it over and Murasakibara grabs Aomine’s thighs while Teppei takes a gentle hold of his leg. The bluenette hisses from the contact and Kagami soothes him, with a hand in his hair and whispers in his ear.

Now visible, Aomine's face is a nightmare. His dark skin is a splotchy mess of tears, blood and grime, the crease between his eyebrows harsh and glaring as he trembles like a leaf in Kagami’s arms.

Kuroko’s heart drops at the sight and he looks away, vision going blurry. He can’t imagine the pain his former light must be in…

“Lift on the count of three,” Akashi directs slowly once they get the board in perfect position. “One, two, three.”

“Fuck!” Aomine yells out as they lift and place him down on the wood.

“Oww! God dammit!” He thrashes and cries out again, Kagami quickly grabbing his hands. “Hey relax, Daiki, relax, you’re okay…you’re on.”

Aomine grits his teeth and clenches his hands in a white knuckled grip, eyes going frantic with pain, streaming with tears as he sobs quietly up at him.

“You’re okay D,” the redhead repeats, voice strained but soft. Kuroko barely hears him. “All safe now baby… I swear, we won’t let anything happen to you-”

“Taiga,” Akashi interrupts with a quick scan to the area. “Get in position.”

With one last squeeze, Kagami reluctantly pulls away and grabs his corner of the door, the other three boys following suit.

“We lift on three,” the redhead rumbles, keeping a careful eye on Aomine and Kuroko gets in position, standing alongside Kise in their man-made circle.

“One…two…three!”

[mapplejuice]

Don't forget - Your choices still matter.

Another Deltarune analysis, featuring a non-techie person explaining a bit of tech and why we should probably be aware of it.

Since the day of its release into the public eye, Deltarune has made it a point to tell us that "your choices don't matter" -- whether "you" refers to either Kris or you as the player. Toby's already confirmed Deltarune to have one ending, and the game pokes a lot of fun at giving you choices only for your answer (if it even lets you answer) to be inconsequential. This came as a stark contrast to Undertale, where e v e r y choice mattered in the most unexpected ways. Even the choices we thought we erased, the choices we expected no consequence from, could come back with a vengeance later in the game.

So, before we get to into things, let's talk about how Undertale can make your decisions bite you in the ass.

Undertale has a relatively small SAVE file, with only about 500 lines and flags altogether. In your computer's local app data, you can see up to three true SAVE files: file0, for your actual game; file8, referred to as "Flowey's" file; and file9, which is the auto-save file. Within these files, the game stores your name, inventory, room, and your progress through the story (along with other things). On a typical reset, files 0 and 9 are erased (file8 is suspiciously spared, but surprisingly not our target).

What doesn't get erased during a normal reset is the undertale.ini file.

Unlike the SAVE files, you don't need to interact with a SAVE point to update your .ini--it's automatic whenever certain events occur. And unlike your SAVE, which usually keeps track of events as a "yes" or "no", the .ini is a counter, meaning it also keeps track of the amount of times you've witnessed a given scene or done something.

Here's a snippet of my current .ini file as reference. Among other things, we can see my pie preference (Bscotch = 2), how I've killed and spared Toriel once each (TK = 1 and TS = 1), that I've already walked through New Home the first time (Tale = 1), how many times I've died (Gameover = 1; I got cocky in the Undyne fight), and how many times I've walked through the final door (Won = 5). All of these entries affect what the game does, whether it's Flowey directly taunting me or Goat Mom getting deja vu over butterscotch pie.

In short: Undertale uses an external file to keep track of everything you've done, not just everything you've saved. It's honestly a very simple and effective strategy to make your video game meta. Doki Doki Literature Club actually does something pretty similar, using an external "persistent" file to keep track of what scenes you've played out with each girl and what leg of the story you're in. By having a file outside of your saves, something that can be updated in the background without extra action, you can effectively give your characters a ripple-proof memory-- or thereabouts, anyway.

Savvy players, however, will notice that Deltarune still doesn't do this; when you erase a file slot, there's no residual evidence of it both in the game and in the files. And that's true! There's points to be made about how the SAVE files seem to "hide" certain flags, like your vessel choices and your Eggs (which I could DEFINITELY talk more about in the future), but all of these choices are still confined to the same run.

But Deltarune may not need an all-encompassing persistent file-- just one that sees what you're still doing.

So far, there's only one event within the entirety of Deltarune that hints at the game reading not one, but all of your SAVE files at the same time: when you talk to Seam in Chapter 2.

If you've defeated Jevil in any one of your active CH1 files, you can access the Shadow Crystal and Jevilstail/Devilsknife in any of your CH2 files, even if they're not directly linked. Seam will even talk about you defeating Jevil, and be surprised when you say that you haven't. On first glance, this probably just looks like an anti-frustration tool; after all, the Jevil fight is one of the hardest in the entire franchise, and making players beat him in three different runs might be asking for a bit too much. Perhaps it's nothing...

...But how do we feel about the dr "config" file versus "true_config"? Because I'm a little sussed out.

Lo and behold, opening up the dr.ini file reveals a summary of all your active save files (both CH1 and CH2, in-game and end of chapter) in one place. Unlike undertale.ini, it's a much shorter summary with only 8 variables per SAVE. InitLang, Room, Date, Time, and Name are all self-explanatory; "UraBoss" refers to the secret boss fight of the chapter (0 = not fought, 1 = won violently, 2 = won peacefully).

But how about that difference between Love and Level?

I wonder how that changes during a Snowgrave run, or if future chapters include their own "Weird Route".

I wonder why the other files need to know.

Perhaps Ralsei was right--and perhaps, should we continue anyway, our consequences are not confined to one timeline.

[shingekinosimpson]

You Had Me At B Minor: Chapter 13

First | Previous

Pairing: Jean Kirschtein x Marco Bodt

Other relationships: Reibert, Springles, Historia x Ymir, Levi x Hange, a smidge of Jearmin

Rating: Mature

Summary: Jean's band needs a new bass player. Cue freckled Jesus.

Warnings/tags: Long fic, slow burn, Jean POV, friends to lovers, British AU with cannon locations, northern Jean, Unsigned band AU, nonbinary Armin, I promise there will be smut eventually! drinking, mentions of death, descriptions of domestic violence, panic attacks, see start of each chapter for more specific trigger warnings

******************************************************************  

Trigger warnings: n/a

Who am I, darling to you? Who am I? Going to tell you stories of mine Who am I?

Oh, who am I, darling for you? Who am I? Could be a burden in time, lonely Who am I, to you?

And who am I, darling for you? Who am I? Will be a burden Who am I, darling to you? Who am I?

“I got the job!”

“Wh-what??”

“I got the job!!”

“Yes!! Shit that’s amazing, I knew you would!”

“I didn’t! I thought my lesson went a bit wrong but they said I had lots of good things in there and they really liked how I was with the kids and…fuck. I can’t believe I actually got it!”

God I could listen to his voice all day.

I may not have seen Marco as much as I would like this week – nowhere near as much – but I’ve heard that voice plenty. So much so that I swear I can hear the difference between a small smile and a big smile. And let me tell you, that is a wide-ass fucking grin Marco is sporting right now.

Probably matches the one I’m wearing. I’m so fucking pleased for him. The number of times this poor guy’s rang me this week in a total stress and in need of a distraction has almost reached double figures. Not that I mind in the slightest. Although it was pretty eye-opening finding out how much pressure Marco puts on himself, how desperately he wants a steady job so he can give more support to his mam and sister. Even though I’m sure they’d be the first to tell him not to worry. It's a big relief knowing he can stop stressing so much now.

“I’m so fucking happy for you. What did your mam say when you told her? Did she scream in Italian like you said?”

“I haven’t told her yet. I literally just got off the phone with the head teacher. She probably will though.”

“…So…am I the first person you’ve told?”

��Erm, yeah,” he chuckles. “I guess.” It’s a good job I’m sitting down, otherwise that information might’ve floored me. A flush of heat rushes over my cheeks and chest and I grip my phone a little tighter, coyly chewing my lip. He just landed a permanent job and the first thing he does is ring me.

“I mean, you did say to ring you as soon as I heard,” Marco adds.

“Damn right I did!”

“Though now you mention it, I probably should give my mum a ring,” he says with a nervous laugh.

“Probably. I’ll speak to you later though yeah?”

“Yeah okay. Later then.”

“Later. And well done again. You’re gonna be amazing I know it.”

“O-okay.” That’s definitely his blushing voice. “Speak soon.”

As soon as he hangs up, I start typing a message.

HeresJeany:

By the way I am 100% taking you out for food tomorrow to celebrate! :P

He still hasn’t taken up my offer from last week, with him being so busy and all. I hope he doesn’t already have plans.

_________________________________

I've just chucked some chips and fish fingers in the oven (I can't be arsed to cook a proper meal) when my phone starts to ring, the picture of me and Marco where I look like a pineapple flashing up on the screen.

“It's like you knew I was making a fish finger sandwich. Well the answer is no, you can't have any.”

“Aw not even a bite?” he asks, snickering at my blunt greeting.

“Nope. All for me.”

He hums through another chuckle before speaking. “Soooo about food tomorrow. Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

“Err, both I guess?” Okay, I know we're going away to Dauper in like, two days, but I'll still be gutted if he's not free for food. I am seriously craving some Marco time, especially after how touchy-feely he was the last time we hung out together. “What's up?"

“So the good news is we can have food tomorrow.”

Phew!

“Bad news is my mum is going all out cooking a family meal and she is absolutely insisting that you join us.”

What?

“Which basically means you don't have a choice.”

“Err...okay?”

The tips of my ears prickle with nervous energy. Family dinners always fill me with a sense of dread, especially since that disastrous one with Hitch a couple of years ago. I know there's no way Marco's family would be like them, and I've already met Mia but still, there's a formality to these things that sets me on edge.

“You sure? You don't actually have to I was only kidding…but my mum is really keen to meet my friends and... I’d really like it if you came.”

Oh fuck. His voice sounded really adorable there.

“N-no that sounds great! Tell her thanks for the invite that's really nice of her. So erm, what time should I come over?”

“Is six okay?”

“Yeah fine. Do you want me to bring anything or...Oh what do I need to wear? Do I need to wear something smart?”

He barks a laugh at that question. “No absolutely not. Wear anything you like. Though maybe don't risk the Moomin Vans or I might steal them.”

“Haha, okay.”

“Okay. I'll let you get back to your fish fingers.” His voice sounds so gorgeous I kind of don't want him to. “Speak to you later.”

“Okay later then. Bye.”

“Bye Jean.”

_________________________________

I pull the handbrake and toot the horn when I get to Marco's. After finding out he was planning to get the bus, I absolutely insisted on picking him up.

Butterflies are already starting to flip in my stomach in anticipation of seeing him. On one hand, I cannot wait to hang out with him again (it’s pretty much all I’ve thought about the last few days), but I won’t lie, the coward in me wants to run for the hills.

Last weekend was just so…I don’t even know how to describe it. I still have to pinch myself whenever I think about it. The way he was with me felt different. All the touching and blushing. There was just so much fucking joy in his eyes and in his laugh and I felt like I was a big part of that…maybe even the cause of that.

There have been moments when I’ve felt certain of that fact, to the point where I daydream telling him how I feel – what I’ll say, where I’ll say it, what he might say back…But then there have been other moments…moments where I’ve imagined Marco pulling away from me, backtracking on his affections and playing it all off as a bit of fun or drunken silliness…

The front door opens and I look over, my stomach landing with a ker-thump…

Wait, what the actual fuck???

I roll the window down as fast as I can while my eyes start bugging out of my head. “Marco what the hell!?”

WHY?? Why is he wearing a blazer with a fucking shirt and tie!?

He turns to me looking perplexed. “What?”

“What d'you mean 'WHAT'? Why are you dressed like that? You said I didn't have to dress up!”

“I’m not dressed up. I’m just dressed for a family meal. I thought it was obvious you needed to dress like this,” he says sounding a bit hurt.

“Of course it's not obvious! Why do you think I asked!? Shit, I need to go home and get changed. I don't even know if-”

Marco doubles over and starts howling with laughter.

“Oh my god,” he chokes with his hands on his knees. “Your face! Could you be anymore freaked out?”

He descends into wheezy chuckles again holding his stomach.

“Oh my god. You bastard.”

“I'm sorry. I just thought it was cute when you asked about wearing something smart and I couldn't resist.”

My grumpiness can't help but lessen at the word ‘cute’. Not to mention how cute he looks giggling away at me.

“I'll go get changed. Two seconds,” he says turning back.

That little shit. As if he actually came out dressed like that just to mess with me. At least I get a nice view of his arse in smart pants and his nipped in waist as I watch him retreat.

“If you don't come down here looking like a hobo, I'm gonna be seriously pissed!”

I’m treated to one more cheeky smile as he closes the door. My smile stretches so wide my cheeks ache. Fuck. I like him so much.

When he returns, he's definitely dressed way down compared to before but that does nothing to stop my butterflies making themselves known again, twirling and somersaulting like they’re caught in a tornado. He's wearing ripped black skinny jeans and a grey Superdry hoody. That's it. That's literally it. But christ does he look fucking sexy. His thighs and his shoulders and oh my god he just turned to lock the door and look at his arse nnggghhhhh!!

“Better?” he asks with a sunshine smile as he practically skips towards the car.

“Much better,” I answer honestly.

He buckles up and we set off with only ten minutes to spare.

“I am absolutely blaming you if we’re late,” I huff.

“We won't be late. Why are you getting so stressed?” Marco asks with an amused look.

“Because I don't want to make a shit impression.”

“You're really that bothered?”

“Of course I am, they're your family.”

There's a weight to those words I wish wasn't there. Marco considers me from the passenger seat, a warm smile on his face. I don’t realise I’m holding my breath until he speaks.

“You've got nothing to worry about Jean. My family likes you plenty.”

“I've only met Mia remember? Your family don't know me.”

“Okay but they know of you. How you helped out with Mia, how you've helped me...” He looks down at his lap with a blush, picking at the threads near his exposed knee. “My mum's been pestering me to bring you over for a while.”

“She has?”

“Well yeah, I talk about you all the time and she wants to meet-” He stops to clear his throat, brow furrowed. “I mean, she knows how you helped me find Mia that time so, yeah...like I said you've got nothing to worry about, so can you please calm your tits?”

My ears flush hearing he's talked about me with his mam, and all good things by the sound of it. I chew my lip around the huge smile trying to burst across my face, not wanting to look like a complete dork.

“Okay. Calm tiddies from now on. I promise.”

I let the smile out anyway and Marco mirrors it.

To my great relief we’re not super late, arriving one minute after six to be precise. I’m sure with some parents that would result in a passive aggressive comment or just an outright scolding when they answer the door. That is absolutely not what happens when Marco’s mam welcomes us.

“Marcorsetto! Come here my baby boy! Mwah, mwah, mwah!”

Marco’s mam can’t be much over five foot but that doesn’t stop her from pulling his face down for some serious smooches.

Not gonna lie - it’s adorable. She reminds me of Connie’s mam and I instantly like her.

Fuck, I hope she likes me.

She cups Marco’s cheeks with a big smile and then turns to me. “Jean! I’m Gianna. It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

I’m a little (a lot) unprepared for the huge hug I find myself in. The air in my lungs leaves me with an oof but I quickly recover with a chuckle.

“You too! Thanks for inviting me.”

“Oooh molto bello!” she says over my shoulder, making Marco turn crimson.

“Mum!!”

“Hahaha! Come in! Come in! Help yourselves to slippers if you like!” she says disappearing down the passage towards the kitchen.

“Marcorsetto?” I ask, toeing off my shoes.

“Orsetto means ‘little bear’ in Italian.”

“Okay that might be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Marco slides on some fluffy bunny slippers but I opt for the far more sensible tartan pair. I follow him down the hall towards the kitchen, where a number of voices are chatting animatedly.

“How in the hell? That one’s rigged. It must be!” says a gruff voice.

“It’s not! Here you bloody well use it!”

Opening the door, two things come into focus. The first thing is all the noise – laughter mostly, accompanied by something sizzling loudly on the hob and a classic disco tune dancing out of the radio in the corner. The second thing is the incredible smell. A mix of garlic and onion and herbs and other delicious things I can’t quite put my finger on.

I feel my stomach grumble, like it knows it’s in for a good time.

“Hello bonny lad!” says a stocky man with slightly greying, light brown hair.

He rises from his seat to give Marco a quick hug. The lady next to him – a dead-ringer for Marco’s mam – also stands, her eyes soft when she pulls Marco towards her.

“Hello Marco sweetheart!”

“Hi! You both okay?”

They nod and hum, both throwing a smile and a sideways glance in my direction.

“This is my friend Jean,” Marco beams making my stomach flip. “Jean, this is my Uncle Dave and Aunty Maxine.”

“Good to meet you son!” Uncle Dave smiles giving my hand a warm shake.

“Call me Max,” his Aunty replies, slipping a delicate hand in mine for a moment.

I greet them both in turn and take a seat next to Mia, offering her a quick ‘hi’. She quietly returns it, giving me what I think is a genuine smile before looking up at her Uncle Dave.

“C’mon then! You’ve got the rigged one so you shouldn’t have a problem now.”

Dave gives a hearty laugh, holding a small red counter between thumb and forefinger.

“Oh jeez,” Marco moans. “Tiddlywinks again Dave? You know she can’t be beaten.”

That explains the random assortment of things on the table – a red cup, counters of different colours and sizes and a few small, plastic animals - the kind you’d get in a Christmas cracker.

“Right then, this is the one I can feel it,” Dave smirks.

He presses the edge of his counter to another and it pings across the table, missing the red cup by quite a margin.

“Bollocks,” Dave grumbles, causing everyone to laugh. “Haway boys see if you can beat her. An entire pound coin is riding on this game!”

Marco grabs a small plastic spider with a weird tab sticking out of its arse. He presses his finger to the tab and the spider jumps forward, grazing the edge of the red cup before landing on the table.

“Oh, so close! C’mon Jean, see if you can get one in,” Maxine says excitedly.

I consider the options before me.

“I’ll try my luck with Mr Froggy I guess.”

I grab the green plastic frog and place it in front of me, deciding the best angle. I notice Marco and Mia sharing a smile but think nothing of it…

“JESUS!”

…Until the plastic frog flies a fucking mile and they both burst out laughing.

“Oh god I’m so sorry!”

The fucking frog has flown over to the kitchen bench and plopped right into the fucking salad bowl. I jump up and rush over to pick it out, muttering a million apologies to Gianna.

She laughs warmly, grabbing it before I get the chance. “It’s fine Jean darling don’t panic. You two!” she snaps, throwing the frog in Marco and Mia’s general direction. “You could have warned the poor boy!”

Marco gets his giggles under control and pats me on the shoulder when I sit down. “Sorry. The frog is notoriously hard to control. It always goes flying no matter how softly you try to do it.”

“And you just let me choose it without saying anything! Some friend you are,” I say shoving him in the shoulder.

“Wicked boy,” Gianna smiles, swatting Marco with a tea towel.

“He’s a menace!” I laugh. “Have you heard what he did to me when I picked him up?”

I tell the tale of Marco winding me up with his bloody suit, much to the amusement of everyone else.

“Oh Marco you are awful!” Gianna says with a laugh. “Right clear the table then. This will be ready soon. Marco darling, can you grab the bread from the oven? Mia, help me with the plates, would you sweetie?”

“Anything I can do to help?” I ask.

“No Jean darling you’re our guest! You just relax,” Gianna insists.

“Can I tempt you with some wine Jean?” Maxine asks, pouring herself a glass of red.

“Oh, yes please. Just a small one though. I’m driving.”

Plates and bowls start appearing on the table – bread fresh from the oven and oil for dipping, tomatoes and mozzarella, and something else I’m not quite sure of.

“Wow. This looks amazing. Is that hummus?”

“It’s mashed cannellini beans with garlic and a bit of lemon,” Gianna smiles. “Here, try it on some bread, it’s delicious!”

Literally everything is delicious. Marco was right about his mam being an amazing cook. And I can’t believe all this is just the starter. Everyone quietens during the first part of the meal, enjoying the food too much to bother with conversation, but it soon picks back up again when the last few bits disappear from our plates.

Dave and Maxine have plenty of questions for Marco about his new job. He gets so enthusiastic talking about all the ideas he has for his new class. It’s nice listening to him interact with Dave and Maxine – he’s clearly very fond of them and I can tell they have a lot of love for him too. They both come across as genuinely lovely people and it warms my heart to know that, despite his past, Marco has a loving family he can rely on.

“Alright dig in everyone!” Gianna smiles after presenting us with the main course – mushroom risotto.

“Mmm, wow, this is really good,” I mumble around a mouthful of heaven.

It is literally the best mushroom risotto I’ve ever tasted in my life. I’m not even that into mushroom risotto, but I would happily have this one every day of the week.

“Thank you dear! You can come back anytime,” Gianna replies with a wink.

Now I see where Marco gets his cheeky nature from.

“How’s the band going Marco?” Maxine asks after we’ve all been tucking in for a while. “Your mum was telling me you’ve had a couple of gigs.”

“Yeah, good thanks,” he says scratching his neck. “I’ve managed to remember most of the songs so far, so that’s good.”

Like hell am I gonna sit here and let him be so modest.

“He’s doing more than good. Your nephew is one seriously talented man,” I say, more to Marco than Maxine.

“A seriously talented man you say!” Maxine beams.

“He’s overexaggerating,” Marco smiles, nudging my shoulder and blushing prettily.

“I’m definitely not! None of us can believe our luck he joined. We’ve never sounded better.”

Marco’s cheeks flush a deeper shade of red but I just smile. I’m only telling the truth after all.

“Aww how lovely! My clever boy,” Gianna gushes, smooching the top of his head as she gets up to grab another bottle of wine.

“Well that’s good to know…because I have a bit of a proposition for you boys,” Maxine grins. “You know your cousin Sara’s wedding is coming up? In June?”

“Yeah,” Marco replies.

“Well the band they booked for the evening have cancelled. Would you boys be interested? No pressure but I said I’d ask.”

“You guys have done weddings before right?” Marco asks, turning to me.

“Yeah, we have. They’ve always been a good laugh.”

“I’ve no idea what songs they’d like but if you send her a message on Facebook, I’m sure she’ll be happy to give you the details,” Maxine continues.

“Okay I’ll get in touch with her. What do you reckon Jean? Will Connie and Eren be interested?”

“I’m sure they would be up for it. Hey, maybe by June I’ll have finally convinced you to start singing,” I grin.

“Doubtful,” he smiles, rolling his eyes at me.

“Thank you!” Mia suddenly pipes up, gesturing at me. “See Marco, how many times have I said you should be singing?”

“He’s got a good voice, hasn’t he?” I say to Mia. Good to know I’m not the only one who’s told him so.

“Yeah! He always used to beat me on Singstar. He’s well good.”

“Oh, what was that song you used to sing so beautifully together?” Gianna ponders. “The ‘hold on for one more day’ song.”

“Ah, Wilson Phillips,” Mia answers.

“Yes! Oh I used to love it when you sang that together.”

“Well, maybe Sara will want it at the wedding if Marco’s that good!” Dave laughs.

“Listen if you heard this guy sing,” Marco says gesturing to me, “you wouldn’t be praising my singing abilities.”

I’m almost derailed by his compliment but I power through. “There’s always room for more singers in the band Marco, and we’d be daft not to make use of your voice from time to time.”

He hums, wilting under my and Mia’s staring. “I’ll think about it.”

“You bloody better,” Mia mumbles, smirking at Marco.

Gianna gets up starts clearing the table, asking Maxine a million questions about the wedding as she places our dishes in the sink. Marco makes a start on washing them and Mia soon gets up to help him dry. They speak in hushed voices as they work side by side so I can’t hear what they’re saying, but at one point Marco grabs the tea towel out of Mia’s hand and slaps her playfully on the head with it.

Then dessert starts appearing on the table – chocolate ganache with shortbread, strawberries and orange segments to share. I wasn’t sure I’d want any dessert after the filling risotto but oh man does it look good. Gianna recommends smoothing some ganache onto the shortbread and topping it with an orange segment so I go for that first.

Marco smiles when I hum contentedly. “It’s good right?”

“Sooo good.”

“I hear you’re heading off on holiday tomorrow boys,” Dave comments with a grin.

“Yeah. Our friend’s grandma is lending us her holiday cottage for the weekend,” Marco replies with a smile in my direction, making my ears prickle.

“Oh nice. Good friend to have. Just the two of you is it?” Dave beams.

“N-no,” Marco splutters turning red, which makes me turn red. Even more so when Mia tries to cover up her snort with a cough. “There’s about ten of us going.”

Marco takes a sip of water, so he doesn’t notice Maxine’s death glare or Dave bewilderedly mouthing ‘what!?’ It’s kind of funny actually, like seeing what Connie and Sasha will be like in 30 years.

“Whereabouts is the cottage you’re all staying in?” Maxine asks, trying to ease some of the tension.

“Dauper,” Marco replies.

“Ooooh lovely! Gorgeous part of the world Dauper. We’ve been a couple of times. Have you ever been Jean?”

“No. Looking forward to it though. The dark skies are meant to be great there.”

“Oh yes, the night sky is beautiful in that area! Oh Dave, what was the name of that pub? The one where you had that gorgeous trout…”

Dave and Maxine give us all their best tips for where to go and what to do. Hearing them talk about it so merrily gets me even more excited for the trip.

After practically licking my bowl clean, I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. I find Katniss snoozing on the landing.

“Hey baby girl!”

She indulges me in some head scritches, before sleepily rolling over for some tummy love. I slip my phone out of my pocket to snap some cheeky pics, though my desperate need to pee stops it turning into a full photo shoot. I’ve just finished up in the bathroom and cracked open the door when I hear Dave’s voice downstairs in the hall.

“Max! C’mere I can’t find it.”

A few seconds later I hear Maxine. “You never bloody can despite it being right in front of your face! There! Look! In the front pocket like I said…I’ll bloody kill you for embarrassing Marco.”

“Wha-? How’s it embarrassing to ask if you’re going on holiday with your boyfriend?”

“They’re not boyfriends!” Max whispers exasperatedly.

“I thought Gianna said they were?”

“No! They’re just friends!”

“Oh bloody hell. Put my foot right in it there then,” Dave grumbles.

“Gianna said she thought they might become boyfriends. She says Marco talks about him all the time.”

“Oh yeah, that was it…Well you can see why I thought they were already an item. They’d make a lovely couple wouldn’t they?”

“Yeah…a right handsome pair. Oh, I hope they do. Jean seems so lovely.”

I’ve literally frozen to the spot. I dare not move, or even breathe for that matter.

As if I’ve got Marco’s flesh and blood rooting for me! Holy shit!

I couldn’t help but wonder what Gianna thought when Marco let slip he talks to her about me. At worst, I thought she might be wary of me hurting him like so many others before. At best, I hoped she’d be grateful Marco had found a good friend. To hear she thinks there might be something more than friendship though…I’m just…Gyaahhh!!!

Worrying my absence might start to become suspicious, I close the bathroom door loud enough to make my presence known and head down the stairs. Dave and Max quickly hush up at the sound.

“Alright dear?” Maxine smiles.

“Just grabbing my insulin pen! Needed a bit of a top-up after helping myself to too much dessert!” Dave laughs.

I smile widely; I really can’t help it after what I’ve just heard. “Bet it was worth it though. That chocolate ganache was insane.”

“Bloody gorgeou-”

A series of giggles and a surge in volume makes us all turn our heads towards the kitchen. We share an inquisitive smirk, heading to investigate what’s so funny.

The three Bodts are dancing up a storm around the kitchen table. Marco’s toing and froing between his mam and Mia, waltzing and spinning them as they sing along to George Michael and Aretha Franklin.

Maxine and Dave both laugh and smile but my lips only twitch slightly. My smile is soft and tender as a bittersweet tug in my stomach sends warmth throughout my body. I was right when I said Connie, Eren and I were lucky to have found such a talented bassist, but the bigger truth of how lucky I am to have found Marco fills me to the brim as I watch him laugh and smile.

He looks radiant and just…impossibly beautiful.

“Show them how it’s done Maxy!”

Dave takes hold of Maxine and they begin to sway back and forth. After a few beats, they break apart and grab a hold of the nearest person – Mia and Gianna – and start dancing with them.

Emboldened by Dave and Maxine’s earlier conversation, I take a step forward and sweep into Marco’s space, my fingers slipping into his palm as I lead him in a twirl. He chuckles and returns the favour, spinning me away and pulling me back. My hand finds a hold in the dip of his waist on instinct, and I rock him side to side, not caring one little bit for the goofy grin on my face or the glowing looks I get from Marco’s family.

And then he sings and the warm fuzzies in my chest increase tenfold.

“So we were draaaawwwn tooogether through destinyyyyyy…ooh boy. Ooh!

I know this loooove weeee share was meant to beeeee. Oh!

Knew you were waiting! WooOoooh, yeah!”

The rest of his family are singing too but I the only sound I hear is him. I beam and laugh at the way he hits the high notes, doing his best over-the-top popstar impression.

“Oh, when the valley was low. No, it didn't stop meeeee, no!

Knew you were waiting! Knew you were waiting for me!”

I’m giddy when he spins me away and tugs me back into his orbit. He laughs and something flashes in his eyes when they meet mine. He pulls me close enough to meet the warmth of his torso as the song draws to a close. Our embrace only lasts for a moment, but it leaves me lightheaded and breathless. I reach out a hand to steady myself on a chair as we all break apart.

“Always knew I’d married into a family of crackerjacks!” Dave chortles, giving Mia a quick tickle on her side before sitting down. “Reckon me and Jean should run for the hills while we still have a chance!”

“I dunno,” I grin, taking my seat next to Marco. “Reckon the food is worth the craziness.”

“Ooooh you’re definitely allowed back again you little charmer!” Gianna coos, squidging my shoulders (to my absolute delight). “Phew! I need a brew after that. Shall I put a pot of tea on?”

Max helps Gianna sort out the cups and teapot while Mia and Dave start setting out the tiddlywinks again. I look at Marco with a coy smile, still a little dazed from the moment we shared.

“I promise we’re not always this mental,” he smiles quietly. “But now you know, if that song ever comes on the radio, it’s pretty much a given we’ll all drop everything and start dancing.”

“Fine by me. I love a good twirl around the kitchen now and then,” I smirk, resting my head on my hand.

It makes Marco blush for some reason, though maybe he's just flushing from all the dancing.

“Why that song?” I ask.

“Well my mum used to play it a lot when we were younger,” he starts, keeping his voice low, “but once it was the three of us, I noticed...when she played it, she started actually singing along with it. I’d never heard her sing before. So I started joining in and then eventually Mia did too and it kind of escalated from there.”

Once again, I'm in awe of Marco and his family. In awe of how they’ve found the strength to sing and laugh after everything they've endured. In awe of how much love and warmth they extend to everyone around them when they could so easily have closed themselves off. They're amazing.

“You fancy another round boys?” Dave asks, wiggling a tiddlywink in our direction. 

We stay another hour or so, sharing a few laughs and silly stories as all the delicious food settles in our stomachs.

After bidding the rest of Marco's family goodbye, his mam follows us to the door to see us out.

“You will come again won’t you Jean?”

“I’m literally booking in for every Sunday! Can’t remember the last time I was so well fed,” I reply.

“Oh you’re more than welcome dear. Thank you so much for coming.”

She pulls me into a squishy hug and then turns to Marco, pulling him down to reach her.

“Love you baby boy. Have the best time this weekend okay? You deserve it sweetheart.”

“Love you. I will, don’t worry,” he says with a sleepy smile, resting his head on her shoulder a moment.

Too cute.

“Drive safe Jean okay?” Gianna smiles.

“I will. Gotta get this precious cargo there in one piece,” I grin, giving Marco a playful squeeze on the shoulders.

I run around to the driver’s side as Marco slumps into the passenger seat. We bid Gianna another farewell and pull out into the road. Marco settles back with a contented sigh, gazing sleepily out the window.

“...I really like your family,” I say after a moment.

Marco's gaze jerks towards me, a look of surprise on his face, but it quickly softens into a smile.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “I like them too.”

“I can't believe how much your Aunty Max looks like your mam!”

“I know. Apparently they'd always get mistaken for twins when they were kids.”

Marco tells me more about his aunty and uncle during the drive; the shenanigans Dave gets up to at family parties and the jumpers Max makes for them every Christmas.

We pull up outside Marco’s much sooner than I would like. Luckily he doesn't seem to notice, continuing his story about the time Dave ended up in A&E, after losing a fight with a goose that took a disliking to him.

We giggle and laugh with our heads resting against the back of our seats, our general sleepiness starting to take over.

He looks over at the front door and sighs. “Guess I should head in,” he says with a sad smile, unbuckling his seat belt. “Thanks again for the lift.”

“Anytime.”

I pause. Secretly hoping he invites me in to hang out. I know he won't though. It's late and we've got a long drive tomorrow...Still though.

“So erm, d'you..?” he starts and I hold my breath.

“Do you...still wanna pick us up at eleven tomorrow?”

“Oh. Erm...yeah 'course. Eleven still works for me.”

I make a point of ignoring the disappointment I feel in the pit of my stomach.

“Okay cool,” he says climbing out of the car. It feels like he has something else to say. “See you tomorrow then. Drive home safe.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” I reply, trying to work out what expression I can see in his features, but it changes into a sweet smile before I get the chance.

He turns with a wave of his hand and I release a pent-up breath. My chest and stomach twist as I watch him head inside. It's not exactly an unpleasant feeling though.

I replay so many parts of this evening in my head on the drive home, but when my head finally hits the pillow, it's the voice of Dave that sends me to sleep with a smile.

'They'd make a lovely couple wouldn’t they?'

_________________________________

Connie helps me load up the car before waving me off (with an actual fucking hanky he got from god knows where) with an obnoxiously loud 'Farewell my beloved!'

Due to a couple of other people booking time off, there was absolutely no way Connie could get away from work before 8pm tonight, so he's joining us later. I feel bad knowing he’ll be on his own for the journey. I would have offered to go with him but that would have meant making Eren and Marco late too and it seemed silly not to make the most of our stay.

I park my car outside Eren and Marco’s and give the horn a quick toot, rolling the window down so I can lean on my elbow while I wait. My phone beeps after less than a minute. I’m expecting something silly from Marco but it’s from Eren.

Jaegermeister:

Good fucking luck

What the hell?

HeresJeany:

???????

Jaegermeister:

>:-)

Before I tap out another reply, the front door opens and the meaning behind Eren’s message becomes all too clear.

“Morning!” Marco says cheerfully.

He’s got his hair tied back again. A few wavy tendrils are escaping from where it’s loosely pulled back…It looks really fucking good.

“Hey you,” I smile, not really bothering to hide the affection in my tone.

“Good morning my favourite douche!” Eren squawks obnoxiously, appearing behind Marco with a shit-eating grin.

“Your smelly ass needs one!”

My reply doesn’t faze him in the slightest.

“You doing alright?” he asks with a knowing smirk I’m glad Marco can’t see.

I decide to ignore him, jumping out of the car to open the boot for Marco.

After loading up their bags, I connect my phone to the car stereo. It takes nearly three hours to get to Dauper, but the music I've put together for the journey is a veritable 90s/00s wet dream of a playlist so we’re in for a good time.

Marco catches my eye and smiles as he recognises the opening bars of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys surging through the speakers. I smirk back before checking on Eren.

"We all clunk-clicked back there?"

"Yes Mam."

"Right let's go then."

After our rendezvous with everyone at Sasha’s, we head off – Mikasa taking Sasha, Armin and Historia in one car with Bert and Reiner in the other. The busy streets of Trost gradually fall away as we make our way to the motorway. There's a buzz in the car that affirms just how excited we all are for the trip. Between sing-alongs, taking the piss out of shitty drivers and sniggering at weird place names, the journey goes by quickly. Even the heavy rain we hit half an hour in doesn’t dampen our spirits.

Marco is especially animated, twisting in his seat to laugh and joke or reaching forward to turn the music up every time of one his favourites comes on (which is often!). The whole car vibrates when Goon Squad by Deftones gets turned up a notch and we all sing (scream) the lyrics as we clear the last of the rain clouds.

“I feel like ‘Goon Squad’ would be a good name for us if we ever decide to become vigilantes and fight crime,” Eren says as the next song starts and we catch our breath.

“Maybe for you two,” I tease. “I think Captain Kirschtein and the Goon Squad sounds better though.”

“You fucking wish.”

“Hmm, I don’t think I know this one,” Marco says nodding at the stereo.

I cock an eyebrow at him as the persistent riff of Good Morning, Captain starts up again. “How can a total 90s dweeb like you not know Slint?”

He looks at me blankly. “Slint?”

“Oh my god. Spiderland? Are you kidding me?? Right, you need to listen to this song.”

Eren starts babbling away to Marco about the album and how the band originally wanted it to be instrumental, that is until I turn and smack him on the leg.

“Okay OW!”

“Well fucking shut up! You can tell him when the song’s over!”

Crashing cymbals and guttural guitars fill the car as Marco taps out the rhythm on his knee. When the song reaches its crescendo, he looks over at me.

“Oh man, I think I have a new band boner!”

I laugh, because it’s obviously a joke, but he says it with such a salacious grin that I blurt out, “Wait, seriously?”

All he does in reply is stick his tongue between his teeth and waggle his eyebrows at me.

Shit that’s hot.

I cover how flustered it makes me with a chuckle and focus on the road. My imagination starts running wild though, and I can’t help the way my gaze slides over to Marco’s crotch just to have a cheeky look.

“Saw that.”

My eyes snap up to Eren in the mirror.

“Saw what?” Marco asks, thankfully oblivious.

“You didn’t see shit Jaeger.”

He chuckles, very obviously pleased with catching me red-handed.

Despite all the singing and chatting, Eren still manages to conk out about two hours into the journey. Never in my life have I known this guy stay awake on a long car trip.

“Oh, man down,” Marco smiles quietly looking back at Eren.

My eyes flit up to the mirror and I see his reflection; slumped down into his hoody and gently rocking with the car’s movement. I turn the music down a little. I don’t really need to – Eren could sleep through the apocalypse – but Marco’s hushed voice makes me feel like I should.

After a few songs, I notice Marco glancing at me out of the corner of my eye, his mouth opening and closing as if he wants to say something. Eventually he clears his throat and speaks.

“Hey I meant to ask…” he trails off, looking oddly awkward all of a sudden.

“Yeah?”

He scratches his neck and looks out of his window instead of at me.

“I know you and Connie are roomies but…I figured he might be sharing with Sasha so…I was thinking it might be nice if - I mean I don't know what the sleeping arrangements are at this place but," his eyes flit over to me as he babbles and stutters. "Do you...do you maybewannasharearoomwithme?”

Ba-dump.

I’ve thought about it. Obviously I've thought about where I might be sleeping - where he might be sleeping - but I figured people would just pair off when we got there and that Eren would somehow wingman me to make sure I share with Marco.

What I didn't think about was Marco just coming straight out and asking me!

Shit. How do I answer this without completely giving myself away or making it weird?

“E-Err,” I stammer, my grip tightening on the steering wheel.

“We don't have to!" he backtracks when I fail to answer. “If you've already arranged something with Eren or Armin or whoev-”

My determination not to screw this up brings confidence surging back to my voice in an instant. If he’s got the guts to ask me, there’s no way I’m going to ruin it by losing my cool.

“We can share a room.”

“…Yeah?” Marco asks with a slight tone of disbelief.

“Yeah ‘course we can share a room. It'll be fun,” I add with a big smile to show him I’m not just being polite.

“Okay...cool,” Marco replies.

The way he ducks his head to hide his own smile and blush makes me giddy, though that feeling is definitely coupled with weird mixture of nervousness and anticipation. My stomach starts flipping at the thought of what might be whispered and confessed in the dark, when we're wrapped in soft blankets and sleepiness has lifted our filters…

Then a short but incredibly loud snort from Eren snaps me back to the present. Marco and I both lock eyes before breaking into hysterics.

“What the hell!?” I laugh, with Marco wheezing beside me.

“Huh? Wha?” Eren murmurs, squinting at us with sleepy eyes and wiping the drool from his chin.

_________________________________

By late afternoon we reach Dauper. After staying within close range of each other on the motorway, we all manage to take the exit at the same time and follow Sasha’s car as it weaves its way along the narrow, grass-lined roads.

The higher we climb, the more beautiful the scenery becomes. The houses become less frequent and older in style, broken up by farmers’ fields, rolling hills and the occasional mill.

“Deer! Oh my god there’s deer in that field!” Marco says excitedly, causing Eren to press his face up at the window and gawk.

There’s so much wildlife here. Aside from the deer we also spot a huge flock of geese flying in a V-formation above us, a fox zipping across a field and we narrowly miss hitting a pheasant that thought it was a good idea to stand in the middle of the road.

After a couple of tight turns and an awkward encounter with a tractor, we pull onto the cobbled lane with the cottage at the end. The car judders and wobbles as we follow Sasha, with Bert and Reiner behind us. Eventually, we stop outside a stone building with blue pastel windows and a yellow door.

“Wow. This looks nice,” Marco says with bright eyes after we climb out of the car.

It really does.

Armin gasps from the open door of Sasha’s car, looking at the driveway. “How am I going to get to the door? My Vans are going to get ruined!”

The rain stopped over an hour ago, but it must’ve been especially heavy in Dauper if the puddles around us are anything to go by. My eyes travel down Armin’s all-black outfit to the new lilac Vans on their feet. Yep. Those kicks are gonna be fucked.

Marco chuckles beside me and asks, “Why are you wearing them for a trip to the countryside? I thought you were smart!”

“Typical bloody PhD student – all those brains and no common sense,” Eren grumbles heading in Armin’s direction.

“I’ve got sensible clothes in my bag! I just wanted to be comfy for the journey. Plus their cute as fuck,” Armin adds with a cheeky grin that makes me smile.

“Alright c’mere princess.”

Eren sweeps Armin off their feet, earning a loud laugh from Sasha and a whoop from Historia.

“Eren!” Armin cries with a smile.

“Do you want your shoes to get muddy or not?” He starts heading to the door and calls over his shoulder, “Can someone get my bags? Hands are a bit full of idiot here!”

“Yeah I got ‘em,” I laugh, bending over my seat to reach into the back.

When I straighten up, I feel eyes on me and turn to see Marco, a red blush blooming on his face as he quickly looks down.

Erm…?

“H-here, let me take the guitars for you,” he says reaching out his hand, still not meeting my eyes.

“Oh, thanks.”

Was he…was he checking me out just now??

I walk around to the open boot, purposely (and unnecessarily) bending over again to get my own guitar.

“You threatening us with a good time Kirschtein?” Reiner barks behind us, laughing as he walks past with Bert in tow.

“You wish!” I yell as I dig around in the boot.

I look back at Marco with a sly grin, straightening up to give him mine and Eren’s guitars, but keeping my back arched so my ass sticks out.

“Here you go,” I say, my tongue poking slightly between my teeth.

“Thanks,” he replies, ducking his head with a smirk, the blush on his cheeks intensifying.

Excitement sparks through me as I watch him walk away. As if I just flirted with him! And he didn’t seem to mind!

I follow him along the yellow gravel path, lined with daisies and bluebells. The back door opens straight onto the kitchen, which is an impressive mix of exposed stone, patterned tiles and rich blue cabinets. My eyes follow the old, wooden beams across the ceiling, down to a large dining table at the opposite end.

“Woah. This place is stunning!” Marco chirps, turning in a slow circle as he takes it all in.

Cute.

He cranes his head to look up the staircase beside the back door.

“Should we put our bags in a room or-”

“Guys come see how cosy the living room is!” Armin yells, appearing in the doorway opposite us.

They reach forward and grab Marco’s hand before we’ve even had a chance to reply, dragging him through the door. I follow them both with a smile.

Wow. It certainly is cosy in here, though way bigger than I was expecting; they must have knocked down a wall down at some point. There are rugs all over the floor, cushions and throws all over the furniture and bookshelves all over the walls. Aside from the TV mounted on the wall, everything has a comforting, old-timey feel to it. The beams across the ceiling match the ones in the kitchen, but there’s no exposed stone from what I can see. Instead, a rich navy colour covers the walls.

Everyone’s in the living room now, except Sasha, but she soon makes her presence known.

“Hey guys?” she calls from the kitchen.

“Yeaaah?” a few of us reply.

She appears in the doorway with a look that spells ‘trouble’.

“Bedrooms are first come first serve and I may have forgot to mention, some are waaay nicer than others…Bagsie the master bedroom!” she cries racing off.

Everyone silently glances at each other before bursting into action. There’s a massive crush as we all try to fit through the doorway at once. Thankfully I hadn’t sat down yet so I get through quickly, heading for the staircase just ahead of everyone else.

I’ll get us a good room Marco don’t you wor- “Ahh!!”

Someone pulls my ankle and I land flat on the stairs. I look up to see Mikasa long-jumping over me and racing up the rest of the steps.

“Go Kasa!” Armin shouts somewhere behind me.

I try to get my legs back under me before I’m trampled. Luckily, the next thing I feel is a pair of warm hands hooking under my arms and lifting me up.

“Man down!” Marco laughs. “C’mon Jean we can do thi- Ahhh!”

Marco collapses on top of me as Eren scrambles over both of us.

“Eren! You fucking tool! Mikasa’s already won you a room!” I squawk.

Someone else tries to get passed us but Marco gets up before they manage it.

“Not so fast Bertie boy!” Marco cries, blocking Bert’s path. “Go on Jean! Go!”

I leave Marco to wrestle the giant and hop up the rest of the stairs two at a time. I dive left but quickly back up when I see the bunk beds against the wall – No fucking thank you! Footsteps thunder up the stairs so I take my chances with the first room on the right.

Oh thank fuck.

I hop up onto the double bed, claiming it as my own and more than willing to fight if anyone tries to take it from me.

Bert sticks his head in the door muttering a quick ‘shit’ when he sees me sitting on the bed. There’s a commotion further down hall. I really want to go look when I hear Sasha screaming ‘Mikasa! Put me down!’ but I dare not leave my spot.

“Bunk beds!? No fucking thank you!” Historia’s voice. I have an awful feeling about where this is going. “Haha! Give it up Kirschtein! This room is mine!”

She runs towards me, with a manic grin, trying to grab my legs so she can pull me off.

“No no no! Marco! Help!”

Historia and I both laugh and giggle as she tries to get a hold on me. I keep her at bay with the two pillows I’ve grabbed, just long enough for Marco to come in and save the day.

“Waahhh!”

Distracted by our battle for the bed, she doesn’t realise Marco’s behind her until he’s lifting her up over his shoulder.

“Oh no you don’t!” he laughs carrying her out as her little legs wiggle and kick.

He plops her on the floor, runs back inside and closes the door. I hop over to join him, both of us laughing as we brace ourselves, ready for someone to push it open. Luckily no one does and we slump down to the floor after a minute or two, our faces flushed from all the excitement.

“Seems like we’re safe for now,” I smile, leaning my head against the door.

“Yeah,” Marco replies taking in his surroundings. “Hey this room is pretty nice. Good job.”

It is now that I look at it. It’s not super big and the window doesn’t let much light in, but the peachy paint, wall tapestries and salt lamps create a really snug, mellow vibe.

“Aw look, they’re cute,” Marco says pointing up.

I smile at his reaction, looking up to see a dozen little crochet plant pots hanging from a wooden beam, woven flowers sitting inside each one. They do look very sweet all dangling there above the bed.

“My grandma used to crochet stuff for me, when she was alive,” I smile.

“Oh yeah?” He tilts his head to look at me.

“Yeah, lots of bonnets when I was a baby, then toys. She was really good at animals. I had a whole farmyard at one point. My favourite was Buchwald the horse.”

“Buchwald?” Marco laughs, his breath tickling my cheek.

“Yeah, she was half German and she often gave them German names. His mane was really cool. It was made of this thick but super soft wool or something. I used to like running my fingers through it.”

“Oh I had a toy I used to do that with! Mine was a lion though. Rory - you know because…lions roar.”

An unattractive snort escapes me and he chuckles softly, his eyes not just looking at me, but seeming to take in my whole face. I wish I had the willpower to stay where I am, but I get a little flustered at our close proximity and get up, grabbing one of the cushions and a throw that’s fallen off the bed as I go.

“You reckon it’s safe to get our bags now?” he asks.

“Maybe, don’t let your guard down completely though. Hey Marco, look at this.”

I’d never even heard of this book until Marco gave it to me so I don’t know what the chances are of finding another copy here of all places but there it is – What we see in the stars – the book Marco gifted me after our visit to Trost museum, sitting on the stone windowsill.

“Oh wow!” Marco says when he sees what I’m holding.

Butterflies start flipping in my stomach. He reaches out and I swear I feel it hum with energy or some shit when he takes it from me. My pulse quickens. He holds it with a soft smile, glancing at the other star themed trinkets on the windowsill.

“Weird. It’s like we were meant to have this room,” he says with an awkward laugh.

Asddfghhjkl!! I was thinking it, but I didn’t think he’d actually fucking say it!

I nervously laugh too, my face turning crimson.

“Haha, yeah. Maybe it’s a good omen for some stargazing tonight.”

Then as if to say, ‘we’ll see about that’ Mother Nature decides to fuck me over – the gentle pitter-patter outside turns into a downpour, hammering against the window.

“Well fuck.”

“Yeah. Looks like we’re staying in tonight.”

_________________________________

After unpacking, nobody is in the mood to brave the rain for the sake of the pub, so we decide to have a night in; everyone’s brought some food for a buffet anyway. I have a quick shower, stick my comfy clothes on and then head downstairs to join everyone.

Eren and Armin are gathered around the woodburning fireplace, constructing a pile of logs and kindling. There’s a spot on the sofa next to Marco with my name on it. I sit next to him with a smile and a sigh, sinking into the plush green velvet.

“Do you guys even know what you’re doing?” Historia asks, looking rather regal sitting in a Chesterfield wingback chair.

“Well, I’m a man so I assume it’s in my DNA somewhere,” Eren smirks, knowing fine well he’s going to wind Historia up with that comment.

“That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard! Penises are not valid qualifications for fire building!” she protests.

“What about penises?” Reiner grins suddenly appearing in the doorway, earning a very big eyeroll from me.

“Yes!” Eren cries when the tiniest of fires flickers into existence, both arms in the air. “AND JESUS WEPT! FOR MAN HAD CREATED FIRE!” It flickers out the moment he stops speaking. “…Shit.”

Historia is beside herself, hanging over the arm of the chair and cackling at Eren’s disappointed face.

“Well you bloody have a go then!” he snaps.

“I’ve never lit a fire before and I’m not arrogant enough to just assume I can,” Historia snaps back.

“Maybe there’s a book somewhere explaining how to do it,” Armin suggests.

“Min we are NOT reading a book to find out how to do something as basic as light a fire,” Eren says with a huff.

Reiner and Bert opt for the biggest armchair, the shorter pulling the other one into his lap and twining their legs together.

“Thanks again for switching Historia,” Bert smiles.

“No worries. Though I’m sad I won’t get to see one of you trying to fit into that top bunk.”

“You’re too nice Historia. I’d have paid good money to see Bert sleeping in that with his big legs hanging off the end,” Marco smirks.

“Glad we didn’t come begging to you then,” Reiner says, throwing a cushion at Marco.

Once Eren and Armin (though mainly Mikasa) finally get the fire going we help out with food and before long, there are all kinds of tasty things to pick at on the dining table. Although not everything makes it there (Sasha insists on ‘testing’ everything before we lay it out). The homemade stuff looks especially good – some bread from Armin, a chickpea dahl from Historia and a pasta salad courtesy of Marco’s mam.

After everyone’s first plateful, we decide to dig out some board games for the evening’s entertainment. Though it takes us a while to agree on which one to play.

“We’ve got to play Monopoly,” states Armin. “It’s a classic!”

“Yeah, no. I’d rather not stay up until 4am mortgaging all my properties because you’ve somehow fucked me over again,” Eren glares.

“Let’s split into teams and start with something simple,” suggests Sasha. “Ooh! And whichever team wins the most games gets to snuggle Maggie!” she grins, grabbing a tiny highland cow from a nearby shelf and holding it aloft like a scene from the Lion King.

After a game of Boggle descends into ‘which team can make the dirtiest words’, we play an insanely intense game of Jenga, followed by a much less stress-inducing game of Pictionary. Whatever we play though, Marco and I have an absolute ball. Everything seems to make us laugh way more than usual and our desire to team up for everything creates lots of opportunities for playful touch. At one point, when he wins us a wedge in Trivial Pursuit, I squeeze his arm for a ‘well done’ and he boops me on the nose.

Cue me melting into a puddle on the rug.

By the time most of the buffet has gone, each team has one win a piece, so Eren demands a game of strip poker to decide the overall winner.

“Okay hands up who actually knows how to play poker,” Historia asks with an eyeroll in Eren’s direction.

Only Eren and Reiner put their hands up.

“Okay fine, fucking…Strip Go Fish then!” Eren smiles.

It’s such a ridiculous idea that we all agree to give it a go. However, we all quickly catch on to the fact that we’re all targeting Eren. By the time everyone’s had their first turn, he’s lost both socks and his t-shirt.

“Hey Eren, got any threes?” I grin.

“No! Go fucking fish bitch!”

I curse and pick up a card.

“Hey Eren?”

“For fucksake Marco.”

“Got any Jacks?”

“Fucking hell. YES,” he grouses, causing everyone to break into hysterics again as he shimmies out of his jeans and sits huffily in just his underwear. “Right my fucking turn. Sasha, you got any sixes?”

“Ugh. Yes,” Sasha grouses handing them over. “Da-da da daaaah! DA-da da daaaah…” she sings while seductively taking off her sock.

Reiner’s turn.

“Hey Eren?”

“Jesus Christ no.”

“You got any…aces?”

“…Oh you absolute anus face.”

Everyone simultaneously cheers and screeches with laughter, knowing Eren has no choice but to get naked.

“Why are you all so desperate to see me naked!?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Mikasa deadpans. “Serves you right for suggesting it.”

“C’mon Eren! Time to show us the goods!

“Off! Off! Off! Off!”

We all tap a drumroll on our legs as Eren reaches into his underwear to cup his junk with one hand and pulls them down with the other. When they reach the floor, the sound we make is deafening – Thank fuck there are no neighbours to worry about!

He sits down with a shit-eating grin. “Well at least you can’t all pick on me anymore.”

We continue the game until Sasha notices a set of headlights moving past the window – Connie is finally here. She gets up to meet him and returns moments later with a seriously tired looking Connie trailing behind her.

“Hey!” We all say, greeting him almost in unison.

“Hey!...Why the fuck is Eren naked?”

That sets us all off laughing again but we eventually compose ourselves enough to fill Connie in on all the details. Sasha offers to show Connie where he’s staying and we decide to give up on Go Fish, letting Eren put his clothes back on. Armin and Historia offer to make everyone a hot chocolate and we all settle into various cosy spots around the room.

I sneak a peek out the window for the hundredth time that evening. The rain has stopped but it’s still overcast. Not one fucking star in the sky.

Marco must sense my frustration when I sit down next to him with a huff.

"Still cloudy huh?"

"Yeah. Not even a patch of sky on show."

He taps at his phone. "Weather's meant to get better. Maybe we'll get lucky with the sky tomorrow night."

"Yeah I hope so. It would be shit to come out here and not see a single fucking star.” I look up to find Marco smiling at me. “Though I guess, there are other good things about being here.”

His eyes twinkle and there’s a pause - probably just a second but it feels like much longer.

“The hot chocolate?” he smiles cocking an eyebrow.

“Yes the hot chocolate, definitely the hot chocolate.”

“I figured.”

“Yeah.”

“Mmmhmm.”

We jostle each other in the shoulder with a giggle.

“Here you go!” Armin appears with two steaming mugs for us.

They beam at me when I take mine and I can’t help but smile back. It can’t all be in my head if Armin’s noticed too. Things between Marco and I have definitely shifted. Only ever so slightly, but enough to make my heart skip a beat at the possibilities of what it could mean…

Blushing, I take a sip of my drink and smile. Marco does the same before covering his mouth for a big yawn.

God, he looks so cute when his eyes get all scrunched up like that.

“You doing okay there sleeping beauty?”

Another yawn hits him straight after the first making me snort.

“Oof. Yeah sorry. I think this week’s catching up with me. I didn’t sleep too well the night before my interview and I’m still feeling it.”

“Aw. Don’t force yourself to stay up. No-one will mind if you wanna head off to bed.”

“Yeah I know but” - another big yawn cuts him off – “I don’t really want to…I’m having a good time.”

His sleepy eyes find mine and he smiles, so so softly…I can hardly bare to look at him but I’m powerless to stop.

If I kissed him right now, he’d taste of hot chocolate.

He looks down at his drink and takes a nice long sip. After setting his mug down he pulls out his hair tie and cards his fingers through his roots, shaking out his wavy tendrils, and then leans his head back against the sofa with a contented sigh.

It’s not even fair how gorgeous he looked doing that.

I shuffle along and close the tiny gap between our sides. Marco, understanding my intention, lets his head fall to my shoulder. He snuggles his cheek against the fabric of my t-shirt and settles down with a deep exhale.

I’ve just closed my eyes to enjoy the moment when Historia clears her throat, catching everyone’s attention.

“Soooo…anyone else noticed Sasha still hasn’t come back?”

“Oh?...Oh! Yeah, you’re right,” Eren answers.

We all share a moment of squeeing like excited schoolgirls, everyone sharing the hope that Sasha and Connie might finally become official. I feel relieved knowing Mikasa and Historia feel the same way. Sasha must have said something to them about wanting things to go in that direction.

After another half hour or so, the warmth of the hot chocolate starts to make everyone pretty sleepy so we all decide to get ready for bed. Marco grumbles when I nudge him awake from his doze, but his face immediately softens when he remembers where he is.

“C’mon buddy. Bedtime.”

I let Marco brush his teeth and use the bathroom first, and by the time I return he’s flat out asleep.

Doing my best not to disturb him, I climb under the covers and lie on my side facing him. I remember the last time we slept in the same bed and how nervous I felt. I remember how simultaneously over-the-moon and terrified I was. How my heart pounded in my chest.

This time I feel completely at peace. I let a goofy grin take over my face and breathe with Marco, watching his peaceful face with every inhale and exhale. I brush his hair out of his face and marvel at how steady my movements are, how unbothered I am by the prospect of him waking up and catching me. My eyes start to soften as I think about waking up next to him tomorrow and how much I’m looking forward to it…

_________________________________

“Jean…Hey Jean.”

There’s a warm hand on my arm, switching between stroking my skin and gently rocking me.

“Jean wake up,” the soft voice continues…Marco’s voice…and Marco’s fingers brushing my hair off my forehead.

“Hmm?” I scrunch up my eyes and roll over.

“Hey, you awake?”

“Y-yeah,” I manage, blinking my eyes until they adjust.

Marco’s sitting beside me on the bed, looking over me.

“What’s up? Are you okay?”

“Yeah sorry to wake you, it’s just…I just got up to pee and noticed the clouds have gone. You wanna go look at the stars?”

“Oh, erm,” it takes me a moment to process his words, but excitement sparks through me when my brain finally catches up. “Yeah definitely. Just err, gimme a sec to get changed.”

We shuffle about in the dark as we try to find our warmer clothes, the odd whispered giggle filling the silence when we inevitably bump into furniture or each other. Once we’re wrapped up nice and warm, I creak the bedroom door open, and we sneak downstairs as quietly as possible. I chance a look out the kitchen window when we reach the backdoor and see a starry patch of sky between the outline of two trees. My breath hitches in anticipation as I feel around for the torch hanging by the door frame.

“Marco, do me a favour,” I whisper, turning to him.

“Hmm?”

“Don't look up until I say so. Trust me it will be way better.”

“Alright.” I hear rather than see his smile.

“Okay let's go.”

The latch makes a soft click as I open the door and, thankfully, the hinges don’t squeak when I swing it open.

Cold air greets us, carrying that unique scent of rain, soil and pine needles you only ever get on a rainy day in the countryside. We step over the threshold and follow the light of my torch.

“Eep!” There's a loud crunch in the gravel as Marco grabs my shoulder. “I can't see where the dips are!” he giggles in a hushed voice.

“Here you numpty, hold my hand.”

Our palms slot together and I almost have to pinch myself over how warm and comforting and right they feel. I squeeze Marco’s hand as I tug him forward, navigating around the puddles until we reach the narrow road. There are less trees to block the view a few yards further down – the perfect viewing spot.

“We can just walk in a straight line from here so I’m gonna turn the torch off. Remember not to look up yet though.”

“Okay,” he replies giving my hand a quick squeeze.

I pocket the torch and wait a few seconds for our eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once I can make out my feet next to the grassy verge, I start walking.

“Hoo-hoo.”

“Aah!”

An owl flapping and hooting makes us both jump out of our skin and we grab each other, wheezing and giggling like a couple of idiots.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Marco whisper-shouts. “What the hell?”

“C-come on,” I laugh. “It’s not much further.”

This time I lace our fingers together, stroking my thumb over the back of his hand as I pull us further into the darkness. I feel his thumb do the same.

“Okay this should do. You ready?” I ask bouncing a little on the balls of my feet.

“Y-yeah,” he chuckles.

“Okay…look up.”

A sharp intake of breath punctuates the night air as we gasp at the sight before us. A canopy of lights, each unique in their depth and glow, consumes the sky above our heads.

“Oh my g-god.”

“I know.”

I will never get over this view. Never. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it before; the sheer depth of the universe always knocks me for six. All this beautiful light filling the sky, despite having started its journey thousands, or even millions of years ago. It’s as if the starlight has travelled just for us, to create this perfect moment. I squeeze Marco’s hand tightly as I start to recognise some familiar sparkles.

“Look, you see that bright star there?” I ask, leaning into his space and pointing at the sky. “That’s Rigel. It’s the bottom of my favourite constellation Orion. See there, that’s Orion’s belt.”

“Oh yeah! Is that reddish one part of Orion?”

“Yeah that’s Betelgeuse! It’s a collapsing star! Oh and can you see those ones next to it?”

“Mmhmm.”

“That’s the constellation Gemini – that super bright star at the head of it is called Pollux. Oh, and that zigzagging cluster is Cassiopeia. And then if you go further up you can see the big dipper. It’s the one that’s kind of shaped like-”

I stop when I realise Marco’s gaze is no longer following the end of my finger. A million galaxies shine above his head but he’s looking at me. I can see them all reflected in his eyes, just like that time in the planetarium except even more breathtakingly beautiful. His thumb starts stroking my hand again as he takes a step closer.

“Jean…”

“…Yeah?”

His other hand moves to my waist and I forget how to breathe.

He closes the gap between us, so much so that I feel his breath tickle my skin…and then his lips touch mine.

It’s brief, barely even a peck before he draws back a fraction, only a whisper of space between us. He releases a shallow breath. My heart yammers in my chest. A heavy second passes between us, but then, when I squeeze his hand and start stroking his knuckles, he leans forward and finds my lips again.

The grip he has on my waist tightens as he untangles our fingers and holds the back of my head, pulling me closer to him. My own hands snake over his back, holding him just as tightly as I tilt my head and melt against his soft lips.

And then his tongue finds mine and I die on the spot.

Oh my god. I’m kissing him. I’m kissing Marco. I’M KISSING MARCO!

AND. I. CANNOT. GET. ENOUGH.

I feel overwhelmed and utterly insatiable all at once. Like, I know I’m kissing him, but I wish I was kissing him more somehow. I’m kissing him and I wish I was kissing him and I never want to stop kissing him…

…But he stops kissing me.

“Jean, wait I’m sorry I can’t…I don’t know if…I don’t know if I…”

I freeze.

“I mean…I want to kiss you, but…I can’t do this if it’s just a one-time thing okay? I don’t…I don’t want this to be something casual that we joke about at the next band practice like it was nothing. I-I…I like you, okay? I’ve liked you for a long time…longer than I should have…”

Fuck.

This is it. This is the moment. These are the words I’ve been longing to hear but never dared to believe I actually would. Holy fuck! But…the way he said them…

He doesn’t know. How can he not know?

How can he not know how much he means to me? How can he not know how much affection floods my body when I look at him? How I have to remind myself to breathe when he touches me. How my heart scorches me from the inside out every time we’ve ever said goodbye.

“J-Jean?” His voice breaks and my heart breaks with it.

I step forward and reach for his hands on instinct. There’s still a warmth to them, despite the chilly night air.

I’ve rehearsed this fantasy a thousand times in my head, but nothing prepares me for the real thing. I don’t know where to begin, whether it’s even possible to make him understand the depth of my adoration.

He squeezes my fingers ever so slightly, like he’s scared anything more might break me, but his delicate touch is all the courage I need to start speaking.

“Marco…you were never a ‘one-time’ option for me.”

His breath hitches, eyes sparkling as he lifts his head to look at me again.

“I like you too okay? Like, A LOT. I think…I think you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met and I you’re my favourite person to spend time with, but it’s been getting harder and harder because of how much I want to touch you all the time and kiss you and stroke your hair and-”

I puff out a breath and gather my thoughts. The darkness makes it easier to say what I want to say.

“I don’t want this to be a ‘one-time’ thing either. I want…I want everything with you.”

He steps forward, kisses me again and all the stars above our heads turn supernova.

[ladylooch]

Jealous!Timo

Loud rap music bumps from the speakers at MetLift stadium as the group of Devils players and their significant other heads to the field for warm ups. It’s a warm fall day on the East Coast and a perfect day for outdoor football. A nice breeze blows through the stadium as the turf crunches beneath my sandals. We all gather along the yellow rope, staying off the field as various drills are ran. I’ve never paid much attention to American football, but free drinks and my husband will get me just about anywhere. T may be an 8 figure millionaire, but some free things never stop being exciting. 

lil smutty below the cut

Timo is in front of me, walking beside Nico. He glances back to make sure I’m still there, reaching his hand out. I put my hand in his, letting him lead us to a spot he wants to stand on the field. He stays with me for a bit, then one of the Jets players calls to him to play catch. I stay in my spot, soaking up the nice rays of sunshine hitting my face. 

My peace is short lived.

A ball comes flying towards me. I panic for a moment, walking backwards and trying to figure out what side it’s going to. But it’s a wobbly and weird ball that I can’t quite read. One of the Jets players snatches it out of the air with his gloved hand.

“Ooo, watch out beautiful. Don’t want anything happening to that gorgeous face.” I laugh nervously, clutching my necklace. Dang, that was close.

“Thank you for saving me. My face is grateful.” I run my hand through my hair. I glance at Timo who sees I’m fine and keeps conversing with the other Jets player. Nico has joined in too. 

“Can I have your number?” He asks, holding out the football to me and a sharpie he pulled from seemingly nowhere. I’m speechless for a moment, eyes wide behind my Dior sunglasses. 

“Ah, no. I’m married.” I say, cheeks dusting pink. I bring my expensive rings up for him to see. 

“Damn. To one of them?” He points to where the team is.

“Yep. 96.”

“Oh shit, Timo Meier! You getting that good hockey money.” 

“Sure.” I laugh.

“Well, how about I give you mine.” He scribbled it onto the football, then hands it to me. “He fucks up, call me.” I don’t really know what to do, but I take the football for fear of being rude. I cringe, looking over at Timo coming towards me. His eyebrows are pulled tightly together in a scowl.

“Did that guy give you his number?”

“Ah, yeah.” I cringed, then smile down at the ball because damn it I still got it. And I’m totally okay with Timo knowing that.

“Why is this happening when I’m standing right here. I’m gonna go kick his ass.” No, he isn’t. Not in such a public setting but he is probably voodoo hexing him internally.

“Guess you don’t look like you’re with me.” I don’t really care that Timo hasn’t been next to me, but I like edging him on. He coasts his hands around my hips, dipping his hands to my ass and lifting me into his arms. I wrap my legs around him, ankles crossed. I push my sunglass up, moving his up too so we can look at each other. Timo is unhappy. 

“Why do you still insist on pissing me off?” He asks, pressing his fingerprints harder into my ass.

I’m paying for this later.

“Cause it’s so easy. You get so jealous, still.”

“Who’s fault is that?”

“Mine.” I shrug, taking the blame for the years of running and pushing him away when all he wanted was for us to be together.

“You don’t seem very sorry.”

“I’m not.”

“You will be later.”

“Doubt it.”

“Emma.” His warning spreads wildfire across my skin. He drops me down. I turn back to the field to keep watching warm ups. Timo presses me against his front and I can feel how hard he is. I bite the inside of my cheek as his mouth comes to my ear, hot breath tickling the baby hairs around my sunglasses. “Keep it up and I’m going to leave a permanent print of my hand on your ass.” One of his hands comes to my stomach, gliding across my bare skin below my belly button. My breasts get heavy and I press my butt back into him as deep as it will go without making a scene. Timo moans quietly into my ear. “You’re going to be worth the wait. You always are, baby.” 

His lips on my temple make me grip his hand on my stomach. 

[tunarath]

general 1 and story 2 for ilu

(General) 1. Where can your Tav be recruited? Are they first encountered on the Nautiloid, or in the Nautiloid crash region? Or are they not recruitable until a later act?

Ilu would first be seen with the githyanki patrol at the mountain pass. She stands behind Voss as you speak to him, and in the middle of your conversation, your mind suddenly connects to hers. You see images of Ilu fighting for the prism Shadowheart carries, and she sees that your party possesses it. The connection ends, and although Ilu has a concerned look on her face, she remains silent.

If you end up fighting the patrol, Ilu actually becomes an ally in the encounter, as she and Voss share the same goal. She is a higher level enemy, far higher than you or the patrol, and the game clearly points towards you allying with her. Still, it is possible to kill her anyway, though that would prove to be difficult, as she is a Kith’rak. I imagine there would be a genre of videos dedicated to killing her with the most clickbaity titles imaginable. Lmao

She has a few voicelines that will trigger if you attack her, intentionally or not. After three direct attacks on her, she will turn hostile.

Note: her default class in game would be champion fighter, but her true, canon class is psi knight. I personally don’t really like eldritch knight gameplay too much for Ilu, which is unfortunate because I think the concept is really cool.

When the other patrol members are dead, Ilu begins a conversation with you, and tells you that she will meet you at the creche should you find yourself there. She departs in that direction. You will find her standing outside of the inner door to Y’llek. If you manage to exit the conversation with Voss peacefully, she leaves with the rest of the patrol, but will still be at the creche later.

Within the creche, Ilu becomes a limited companion, much like Jaheira can be in Moonrise Towers (pre-Illithid colony, of course). Her level is down scaled (so she can’t single-handedly decimate the Ch’r’a’i, lol) and she has limited abilities. If you leave the creche, she leaves your party, and remains there until you return.

Once W'wargaz is defeated, and after you have exited the prism, Ilu will open a portal to your camp. You may choose to enter it or remain in Y’llek, but Ilu will go through it regardless and will leave your active party in the process. “Do what you must, but make it quick. I will be waiting.”

Ilu wants no part in the further slaughter of the creche members, if you decide to go that route, but understands that the greater threat of the Absolute is more important than her emotions, so she won’t refuse to work with you. However, if you activate the weapon and destroy the monastery, she will berate you, scathingly, for your recklessness.

When you arrive at your camp, the events play out as they normally would– Voss hovers over you ominously, speaks with Lae’zel, and then leaves, assuming you don’t attack him. Ilu doesn’t get much of a spotlight in this cutscene, but afterwards, you can speak with her, and at this point she finally becomes a fully playable companion.

(Story Specific) 2. How do they advise the player character on Raphael?

Initially, Ilu tells you to pay no mind to the devil, as she knows that even entertaining him will lead to misfortune. This, of course, comes to bite her in the ass in the most personal way possible in Act 3.

While speaking with Voss and Raphael at Sharess’ Caress, Voss reveals to Ilu that he and Orpheus are her parents. This causes her to more or less short circuit for a moment, and once her thoughts are gathered, she becomes angry with him for hiding this truth for aeons, and for seemingly trying to use her and your party.

Ilu turns to you and tells you not to make the deal with Raphael, while Lae’zel tries to argue that you should. The choice is yours, and no matter which option you go with, once outside his room, Ilu will encourage you to find a way into the Hells so Raphael can be killed, regardless if you have the hammer already or not. You lose approval with her if you tell her that you won’t be doing that.

Afterwards, you can ask how Ilu is feeling (the answer: bad). She excuses herself from the party, and won’t return to your camp for two long rests.

When she returns, a cutscene will trigger where you sit with her by the campfire, and she opens up about her history with Voss. If you pass a persuasion check, you can find out that she spent the better part of the past two days sobbing alone in an inn room. “Thousands of years’ worth of tears were spilled.”

Voss is Ilu’s superior, her mentor, the man who saved her life when her creche was burned to the ground, and most importantly, an individual she has cared so deeply for her entire life. Her feelings are less about being the child of Orpheus, and more about feeling betrayed that Voss lied to her for so long. But ultimately, she understands that everything he did was to protect her. And he continues to do so as he fights Vlaakith’s forces to keep them away from his child.

At the end of the cutscene, Ilu mentions that they have spoken with each other and that she no longer feels the urge to repeatedly drive her sword through his abdomen. She doesn’t know how to deal with strong emotions very well.

[iheartfinalgirls]

That Victoriya horror au design I was talking about :)

(Tagging @friendlyyfish because they asked to hear about it about it :)))) )

It’s all under the cut because it has some graphic little details..

(⚠️CW⚠️: Blood mentioned pretty frequently, a little bit of mentions of gore, bone dislocation mentioned once, and scary content in general.)

-What kind of creature is she? Idk, she’s really just her own thing but she does have lots of vampire elements.

-She drinks blood for sure. It’s the only thing she can consume.

-She dwells in the basement of her adoptive parent’s home. Except the basement doesn’t have those lil homey touches made by her and Mischa. It’s just a stereotypical creepy basement with flickering lights and everything (And secret rooms).

-Now onto her design.

-The corners of her mouth are SLASHED OPEN. (Think like Kuchisake-Onna or canon Jeff the Killer). This isn’t an unnecessary aesthetic design thing, it makes it easier for her to bite people.

-Her lateral incisors and canines are replaced with fangs on both her upper and lower rows of teeth (Like the fangs in Interview with the Vampire).

-She has claws that are just coated in dirt and blood.

-Speaking of being coated in blood: She has blood all over her mouth and on her chest, it’s staining her clothes.

-I haven’t decided on her eyes yet. They’re either almost completely white with tiny pupils or they’re a nasty shade of yellow and the rim of her iris is blood red.

-Her hair is very messy and dirty.

-She’s just got dirt all over her due to staying in that basement for long periods of time. She’s a musty lil creature.

-She crawls REALLY FUCKIN FAST.

-I did have this lil horror game-esque au where Mischa and Victoriya are both monster creature things. And in this au, the basement is modified so it’s A LOT bigger and almost maze-like and it’s A LOT more scary. Victoriya can crawl in the vents in this au because the vents are slightly bigger + she can painlessly dislocate her own bones to make it easier. Heart emoji. She crawls in the vents looking for the player and when she finds the player she suddenly burst from the vents and lets out this insane, creepy ass, high pitched screech to alert Mischa and then they’re BOTH after you. (I may go into more detail about this au).

-Oh and she will die in the sunlight. It’s like the only thing that can kill her. It makes her skin and flesh melt off of her bones. So she stays in the basement.

-She has the flexibility of a contortionist. She’s that stereotypical demon creature monster thing that contorts her body unnaturally just to be scary, she IS doing it on purpose just to be scary.

-She can screech REALLY loud. It barely sounds human.

Anyways !! That’s it…for now. This lil au is floating around in my brain so I’m glad I got the opportunity to infodump on it.

Okay bye.

[nemiepaezgavira]

Loving Your Everything

Chapter 6

"And welcome", Pedri said lightly, rubbing his shoes before entering the room, "Like it?".

I copied his actions before entering.

"It's....nice", I replied, hiding my real broke ass reaction.

"You can make yourself at home, I need to go make some calls, be back in a minute".

I explored the room, after my host left.

It was gigantic to say the least. I walked around the room in awe.

There was a dining table right next to the window which oversaw the ocean, a king sized bed a few feet away from it with fluffed up pillows sitting on it. I walked to it, softly touching the material. Across the bed, on the right was a closet with robes and clothes, a few which were Pedri's. It seemed like he'd been staying in the hotel for quite a while. On the left was a ceiling to floor window, with giant curtains on either side, which made it look like a magical entrance to some enchanted land. I touched the window pane, it's cool surface soothing me. Everything seemed surreal. How was I in a hospital , looking after Will, and then in some 5 star hotel with one of the most sought after footballers of the century, in the matter of a few hours? Everything felt surreal. I closed my eyes, sighing deeply.

"You like it here?", Pedri asked. I turned around, as he took out a couple of plastic containers from the mini fridge. "Yeah, especially with the ocean waves moaning"

"Moaning?", He chuckled.

"You know what I meant", I replied, my face burning.

"Let's not talk about that before we eat", He said, a  sweet smile breaking on his face. 

I'd always been strict about where I stood with the idea of me dating someone shot-gun, but every time this man smiled, the ice around my heart melted a little, and his frequent sweet smiling wasn't helping.

"I miss my Mom while eating", Pedri stated, before snapping his head at me, as though to make sure he didn't want to trigger something within me. "She must be an amazing cook", I answered, smiling a little. "She'd always make a huge fuss about me not eating properly when I was young, it's become a sort of reason she blames for the thin body I had when I first began with football". I could see he loved his Mother a lot, and my heart hurt yearning for my own, for the first time in years. "Last Friday, when I was leaving, she actually cried a bit", He chuckled, "She's very emotional at times, my Mom, but that's because I'm still her baby, no matter how old I get, she never stops babying me. Sit on the bed". I obliged.

"She loves me to bits and hates it when I have to travel back to Barcelona alone", He explained, bringing the food in two paper plates. For once, I was genuinely interested in someone's family,someone's mother, and I knew Pedri could see that. "She prays for me non stop before every match, at least that's what my brother tells me", He said, sitting beside me on the bed. His carefree self and simply and childlike language was intriguing and for the first time in forever, I felt myself being strongly drawn to a guy.

"And did you know-"

The ringing of his phone interrupted him, much to his annoyance, as he grabbed it from the night stand before answering. A couple of yeses and a "I'll tell her", later, he faced me.

"I forgot to tell you but you may have to stay with me for a while, the groupies and journalists have surrounded your flat building, apparently", He explained biting into the food.

"What?"

"It's pretty common, especially when it comes to possible romantic partners of young players, you know, but this should die down in a few days".

"You seem to be very used to it"

"I am. Well...sort of, I've seen teammates get stalked by crazy people, they don't respect boundaries and within our close social circle, we don't consider them fans. They're simply obsessed psychopaths".

I nodded thoughtfully, chewing my food. Being a celebrity was hard, I'd realized that when I had to hide my face from the cameras and when I had to run from a seemingly safe place for my safety. Fan girls were harder to deal with, than Fan boys, and I shuddered thinking about the hate and backlash I'd receive for just being spotted with Pedri.

What about Gavi?  My conscience purred.

I shook my head hard. I didn't want to think about it.

"You're not from here,I assume?", Pedri questioned. I looked up at him. "Yeah, originally, but I've stayed here for about 10 years". "Your parents?".

I could see he just wanted to get to know me, but it was hurting me to think about them. "They left the country as soon as I turned 16".

"Who're you staying with right now then?"

"Mandy, well..Amanda, she became my legal guardian after I chose to stay behind"

"She's your relative?"

"Nah, we're just friends, I met her a when I was 14"

"Then, if she's your guardian she's a bit old to be called a friend, don't you think?"

"She just turned 21 this year, so not that old" 

Amanda.

I got up and immediately scrambled for my phone, digging into my jacket pocket.

17 missed calls from Mandy. 33 unread texts.

I could feel her anger radiating off of the phone.

I excused myself quickly before getting into the bathroom.

"What the FUCK, Evelyn?!! Where are you!!", She screamed, as soon as she picked up the phone. "Sorry...I had some things come up", I murmured. "Don't lie, Pinocchio, the pictures are ALL OVER THE INTERNET".

"What pictures?"

"Don't play dumb, how could you kiss Pablo Gavi and not tell ME?!!"

I rubbed my forehead in exasperation. "Look, everything happened really fast and I need to-"

A loud thud stopped me ,mid sentence, followed by angry shouts.

"Hello? Evie?", Mandy spoke from the other side. "I'll call you later, I'm fine. Take care of William", I whispered before cutting the call.

I slowly opened the bathroom door as the voices grew louder.

"How could you do that to me?!!"

My heart beat fast as I grabbed a vase which stood on the table beside the door. I peeked around the corner. Pedri was laying on the ground, rolled in carpet, as a guy kicked him continuously. I jumped out, holding the vase above my head, prepared to smash a head, as the guy turned around.

His fiery eyes locked into mine as he grabbed my wrist, snatching the vase with his other hand before throwing it on the bed.

"Gavi", I whispered, my voice trailing off.

Maybe it was the fear or the sudden adrenaline rush, but I could feel the sudden draining of blood from my head as I stood there, shivering.

[waterfall-ambience]

17 with Luna, 5 Damien, and uhh 7 with Phobos?

How does your OC sabotage themselves? 

Captain Luna has some of the ‘normal’ self-sabotage behaviours like isolating from others when he’s sad, neglecting his health, ruminating on things that happened decades ago/things he can’t control, etc.

But right now, he has this major problem of never really asking or accepting help, even when he needs it. The whole Wither King fiasco we’re seeing? He’s almost constantly turning down other people’s offers to help him- “Don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it”, “Thank you, I appreciate the concern, but you mustn’t trouble yourself”.

He’s almost convinced that he can do everything his way, and that he can do it alone, for better or for worse.

(This will bite him in the ass later in Arc 1 when he tries to save Damien and defeat the Wither King all by himself.)

The guy has a not unfounded (but definitely unchallenged!) subconscious belief that he’s better than everyone else. Because his immortality is forced but manual, he’s very aware of how much older and more experienced he is than most of the other Perpetua members. On top of that, the Key makes him almost a god among men, and as it’s guardian, he’s internalised this idea of “with great power comes great responsibility” to the point where he throws himself at almost every responsibility because he thinks he has the power to fix it. He’s not conceited about it or anything, and will happily let others contribute to a solution.

But when push comes to shove? He’s not a team player.

The worst part is that he hasn’t recognised this in himself. He thinks he’s better than this- after 230 years he’s had over triple the expected lifespan for a human, double that for a lucky human, and twelve times the amount of time Augustin had. He thinks that he’s got most of the flaws in his character sorted out (not that he’ll admit it), but he doesn’t.

It’s hardly been challenged, though, because calling Captain Luna ‘egotistical’ feels wrong. Hero-worship aside, he’s just a nice guy to most people, and hardly anyone (with the relatively short amount of time they spend on Perpetua) recognises it in him except during moments of crisis.

Does your OC get lost easily? What do they do when they do get lost?

Damien’s sense of direction isn’t horrible, but if you only give them verbal instructions on how to get to a place, chances are they’ll get it wrong.

(“First…or second exit? Was it room thirteen or thirty? Sixteen? Fuck! Did they say Corridor B, or D? Upstairs or downstairs?! Where do I go from the ibis tapestry? Is this even an ibis? It’s not like, a heron, right?”)

If you give them a map or some visual way of getting to a location, they’ll have a much easier time.

How they respond to being lost depends on how much of their abilities they can use. Before the Wither King undoes the life binding and takes away their infinite magic stamina, they’ll probably just fly up to a high enough vantage point and orientate themself based on what landmarks they can pick out. God help them if they’re indoors.

Without any magic or outside help, they’re likely to pick a direction based on what information they have (however little that may be) and hope that they end up in the right spot (“It’s a sort of kinesis movement! I learned about this! If a flatworm can do it, so can I!”). The odds that they’ll start crying and throwing up increases the longer that this goes on, especially if they think they are late.

Realistically, could your OC (in their normal circumstances- i.e. at their own house/battlecamp/spaceship etc.) keep a small child alive for a week if they had to?  A Dog?  A Houseplant? A rock with a smiley face painted on?

Phobos could probably handle a small child. He won’t be particularly happy about the situation, but the kid will live. They’ll probably be exposed to violent video games, sure, or maybe traumatised by decades-old CGI, but no immediate danger except for watching him commit arson or something. He, however, will end up exhausted.

The dog is the happy medium in that it doesn’t need as much attention as a small child, but it’s enough of an active presence for it to not fade into the background. The dog will live, and he might actually have fun with it.

The houseplant is where things get dicey. There’s a good chance that he’ll forget to water it, or water it too much. The plant, being sessile, is dangerously close to being an inanimate object that he can just forget about. After a week, it will probably live. After two, you’re playing with fire. Any more than that, and just prepare for him to have gotten a replacement plant and claim that it’s the same one.

The problem with the smiley rock is that it’s hard to tell if you’re doing a good job at taking care of it. Avery would probably get on his case about either not feeding it enough sprinkles, or feeding it too many. Do rocks even like sprinkles? It’s quite a lot of sugar to be giving to a rock. Who knows, it might already be dead.

[millimononym]

Ok so i had a galactik football dream like i sometimes do. But every time i have a GF dream my brain makes random ass new lore for the series for some reason. This time it was THESE LITTLE GUYS (please ignore shit art)

LOOK AT HIM. he's just a little guy 🥺 a little scrunkly wunklie🥺 a little scroingle woingle🥺 a little eeby deeby🥺 a

Yeah for some reason my brain made up these little fellas who kinda look like ghosts. In my dream He was on the field (i don't remember if he was wearing anything or not) but as a player?? With a human/shadows team who were wearing these goth looking ass boots for some reason?? And I'm so mad i woke up because it's like!! What are you doing over there little guy, you can't kick a ball!! I need to know what happens dammit !!!

so anyway new GF oc race dropped with the headcanons!!

-They can turn invisible as a flux and because of their size the flux use is kinda untraceable by the Society unless in large numbers so they can sort of use the flux whenever they like. They can have it, as a treat!!

-They live in a clothing optional society (you may find this weird but the lightnings exist soo) mostly because it hinders the way they consume energy/heat and also their flux use. They can't turn their clothes invisible, that'd be stupid

-unlike in my dream, these fellas unfortunately can't play football because of size. (They really got the short end of the evolutionary stick)

-its not in the picture because i tried making it dream accurate but imagined them later having tails like geckos. Also the hands like geckos because why not

-they have a super venomous bite, so if one bites you and you don't have an antidote within an hour you are DEAD

I now have an assassin oc of this race because why not. He works for Bleylock(or however u spell it) and he sucks and he's my poor little meow meow. I'd kick him across a football field

[emmythespacecowgirl]

Hello my darling!

I was wondering if I could get a ship for 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬: She/Her

𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Straight

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Brown eyes, black hair that are just below my shoulder height, 5’6, slim but I’ve noticed I’m gaining curves somehow (Is this what happens when you’re in your 20s that creeps to 30s?). So far, I’ve been assured its ‘sexy’ curves. A natural sway to my hips when I walk -_-“,

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: ISTJ-A (Lostigician) and Enne is a solid 1, very closely followed by 6.

𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬:

▸ I close off my emotions when I probably shouldn’t. Sometimes, I feel like it’s a logicial decision. Other times; particularly with things like losing someone and the grief? I don’t know how to handle that so I just…don’t. And it always bites me in the ass years later but I’ll deal with it then.

▸ Admitting and Accepting Help. Not just physical help but the emotional side of things… ‘Can I talk to you/lean on you?’ type of help. I can’t do it. I deal with things on my own. The only time people pick up on when I’m like this is because I’ve gone quiet on social media but the response of ‘Oh I’ve just been busy’ seems to suffice for an answer for them. I don’t mean to lie but I just can’t?

▸ And physical pain… Injury, illness… I don’t know whether this is a flaw (probably is to Doctors), but I refuse to show that I’m in deep pain, and I generally refuse medical treatment. Which is a worry if a poisonous bug bites me because my response will be ‘wash it out with water, slap a bandage on, she’ll be right.’

▸ Accepting compliments. (I just asked a friend and they said I go quiet like someone’s deeply offended me rather than saying ‘thank you’).

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬:

▸ I’m tough. I’ve been through A LOT at such a young age, through various forms of things and instead of breaking me, it only built me into a resilient person who can’t be messed with. I mean…sure…there’s the odd breakdown or panic attack here or there… but 90% of the time…I’ve already been broken; you can’t break me further. Because I’ll get back on that horse and carry on.

▸ Conflicting that, I do care so much more than I ever let show. If I can see someone struggling, I’ll either sit beside them so they’re not alone or discreetly or privately check in on them. It’s not out of shame of someone seeing me do it, it’s just that I respect their privacy and personally wouldn’t appreciate it if someone made a big deal out of it in front of others with me.

▸ I’m a safe space. Anyone can come to me for anything and I’ll be there to listen and offer advice without any judgement whatsoever. (Being gay in the 1940s? it’s not a problem whatsoever. My home will always be a safe place. My shipping partner may wear the pants physically… but I tell him which ones to wear).

𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬:

▸ Reading. If I have some spare time to myself, I like to read. Secretly love to be read poetry.

▸ And write. I love writing letters and being able to drop that tough exterior I carry and just be able to let the softer side of me show through my words. But my words are only privy to a very select few. Between trust issues and me generally being a private person.

▸ Baking. Putting a vinyl on the record player while baking in the kitchen is another secret soft side of me.

𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞:

▸ Does this work for current times too? Talking a walk in the late evening. Preferably at sunset when the sky is that soft pink colour and the summer breeze is filtering through. Those types of walks by the beach are my over-romanticised kinda magical. (Shh, I’m allowed be secretly romantic).

▸ I don’t get asked this a lot but sitting and enjoying a drink when an outstretched hand belongs to my ship partner asking me to dance? I’m melting. I yearn for this moment.

▸ Also Christmas Eve kisses by the fire. Can this be considered a past time? It is now.

▸ As much as I’m an introvert, I will gladly host summer barbeques with a group of friends���sit around with music in the background, chatter, a few social drinks, watching everyone have a good time and listening to them laugh… it feels me with good vibes.

𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞:

Not cleaning up after yourself. Make a coffee but leave the coffee out? It takes two seconds to put it away. Your coffee isn’t going to go cold in those two seconds.

𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞:

Touch and Words. My insecurities needs to be quietened with reminders. Acts of Service is sweet but will likely go unnoticed because I’m always keeping myself busy and my brain is always on alert of ‘okay, what’s next on the list?’. Gifts don’t impress me. Despite my toughness, I still am very much a down-to-earth, soft girl who needs someone to hold her hand, look her deep in the eyes and be reminded. Y’know? I’m logical but the soft side of me argues with that logic.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬:

Haha, the curves I’m apparently gaining [𝚜𝚘𝚋𝚜].

And also just never feeling good enough for anybody; like… I can’t help but think ‘What do I have to contribute to this friendship that you don’t have already?’ or with a significant other, the typical ‘You can do so much better than me. There’s a thousand beautiful girls out there… why me?’.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐞:

60% - 50% soft, if my Enneagram is anything to go by.

Most of what I’ve already said have been huge hints about me.

But despite my tough exterior, how abrupt I come across… I really am the nicest person and tend to just gush online about my friends. I am full of compliments for others (probably because I don’t want them to ever feel as worthless as I feel).

Like I’ve said also, I’ve been through a lot in my life. I’m proud of where I am, I’ve worked hard to come out on top and I’ll be damned if anyone breaks that. If that means parading around with a tough exterior that makes me look like a hard person to get to know, so be it. It just proves to me that people won’t take the chance and those people aren’t worth my time.

Not sure if this is considered a flaw (I asked a friend and they said not really but I’m not sure…) but forgiving people doesn’t happen. Trust is a HUGE issue (for past reasons). You break that trust, I will hold a grudge for the rest of my days. This is to protect myself. And if anyone does anything wrong by whoever you ship me with me, lord have mercy because I will come down on them like a ton of bricks (I gotta protect my man, y’know. Unless he decides we’re no longer to have any contact with said person then I’ll happily support that).

In saying that… I am soft. It does take a lot to make me cry. So when I break… I really do break and I tend to do it on my own. I don’t want to. I want nothing more than to cry into someone’s shoulder and be held (touch-starved vibes much?) but seeking out comfort? Oof. It ain’t happening. Men have their egos… so do women XD

I love the idea of being a housewife. I WILL have my white-picket fence. I WILL be very picky about the interior design of the house (cue my perfectionist meltdowns).

Personally, outside the internet, I’m very much unsure of having children BUT I will happily create a family with whomever I am shipped with. I can never say ‘no’.

I think my online friends also give me a safe place to be witty, dorky, share my thoughts and feelings (perhaps this comes under my love for writing). So I promise I’m not just a whole tight-ass of data, logistics and rules.

I definitely want to be that supportive housewife who can take care of herself while her man is away (yes, some days might be a struggle but I know who I married. Or will be marrying). If he’s outside working away, I will definitely make sure he’s well hydrated, has food prepared and waiting for him.

You know that image of a pregnant housewife with an apron on and a proud smile? Me. That’ll be me.

Again, despite being coming across (or acting) as tough… I really am sweet and just want to enjoy romance too, like any other girl.

Like… I’m the type that curls up in the fetal position, under a crap ton of blankets, with socks on my feet because I need to feel cocooned in a layer of warmth.

I’m sorry if this is long, if I’ve crossed any boundaries or overwhelmed you.

all i can say is, the more detail you give me, the easier it will be to ship you ;) thank you for the detailed description! and about your note lol: no worries at all haha i feel pretty uncomfy shipping anyone with snafu bc the dude is literally feral and tbh i just?don't see you with leckie so?

I ship you with: Eugene Sledge from The Pacific!

ship theme song: If I Had A Gun... by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

it just works..y'know?

you both are two sides of the same coin

you enjoy books!

quiet spaces!

structure!

a match made in heaven as far as i'm concerned

not quite sure what 1940s tumblr would be like?

so let's just say that y'all start off as penpals

he writes to you during the war years

when he's off at Peleliu

you both agree to meet each other at Sid and Mary's party

you find him sitting alone outside

obviously in deep thought and not looking particularly happy

so you sit with together

neither talking for what seems like a long time

basically just absorbing each other's feelings

it isn't until he looks at you

your gorgeous silky black hair reflective in the moonlight

that he knows he made the right choice to keep writing you all those years ago

you basically have the same mbti

Sledge is pretty tricky to pin down

but usually enneagrams 6 & 1 work really well together

I can see you completely becoming Sledge's rock

a beautiful smiling face to come home to <3

this boy definitely needs it!

he's getting his damn PHD!!!

that's like the next 8 years of this man's life!

but knowing that you're keeping everything at home from falling apart gives him great peace of mind

sometimes he feels guilty though

like he's been keeping you from pursuing some big lofty dream

and Gene is a pretty sensitive, deep dude

so he keeps this shit bottled up for a long time

(sound like anyone you know?)

but when you reassure him

probably much later in life

that this is the life you envisioned for yourself many years ago

Gene is just happy that you're happy

I can see y'all being the quiet independent couple

who says you have to spend every waking moment together?

I mean you're both introverts anyway..

and it's actually healthy for couples to keep some separate hobbies/interests

like Gene definitely has his own office room in the house

and you have yours

when Eugene decides that he wants to write With The Old Breed, you're the first person he tells

he knows you're a fantastic writer

and you end up helping him edit the book :)

your first fight is probably over something war-related

that Gene won't open up easily about

in the heat of the moment he says something insulting

and since you're made of tough stuff

he only realizes how badly he hurt you when he hears you sobbing alone

he's definitely a physical touch kind of lover

so he just holds you while you sob (cuss him out)

great make up sex ;)

you both get to let out all your pent-up frustrations

Sledge makes sure to praise your curves the whole time

they give him something nice to hold on to ;)

book club!

you both swap books each week and then discuss them at length over a hot cup of coffee

and a batch of fresh pastries you've made <3

Eugene never really had a sweet tooth

but oh god

once he gets ahold of one of those cinnamon rolls you made

he begs for more haha

Gene is totally in awe of your inner strength

he swears that he never saw anyone as tough as you while he was in the Marines

quiet sunset walks along Mobile Bay <3

so romantic

you also form a unique bond with Eugene's Dad!

given that he's a doctor

he thought that you were scared of him at first

because you kept avoiding him

but eventually you come around to him

and explain your difficult relationship with physical pain

you actually become really close friends

ugh sweet

i feel like the discussion of kids is something Gene has to warm up to

but he's very happy to having a dog at the present time!

please let this man adopt another dog

IM BEGGING

[au-wannabe-the-very-best]

I recognize that in the Dungeons and Memories Au, they're likely sticking mostly to the story line of PLA at least for Dawn. I can see Ingo and Emmet having their own things going on as well.

I just think that it would be funny if Ingo and Emmet's characters tried to fight Kamando. Pokemon battle or fist fight, don't really care. Given how the guy is in cannon, one of them alone probably wouldn't be able to beat him. Maybe Ingo in a battle if he has his pokemon team (if they're even using pokemon) But together, depending on the character builds? They may have a shot.

But like low-key just kinda want to see them at least try to fight him. I think it would be funny.

You know, there is definitely a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes that you don't see in PLA because the player isn't involved. Like, Ingo maybe started this DnD campaign with Elesa before they added new players. Emmet has gone through three separate characters already by the time the newest young Sinnoh Champion joins, because all three died pretty fucking tragically. Emmet gets too excited and bites off more than he can chew.

(One of those characters challenged Kamado to a duel and died embarrassingly quickly. Emmet has a grudge and it WILL be relevant later during Akari's banishment. Time To Whoop His Stupid Ass— Elesa what the FUCK do you mean I would start a WAR if I fought him?! ELESA DON’T YOU FUCKING—)

I think it would be hilarious if Ingo succeeded where Emmet didn’t in battling against Kamado. He’s spent so long cultivating his character, getting stronger, mastering his techniques, never dying and gaining certain immunities to poison and such. 

He has a high rapport with the Pearl Clan. His position as Lady Sneasler’s Warden is unshakeable, regardless of clan relations. During the banishment, Ingo decides it’s time to shake the story up a bit. He tells Elesa he wishes to plead with Lady Irida in order to take Akari in.

When this doesn’t work out, Ingo chooses Drama. He has his amnesiac character take a knife and slash through the Pearl Clan symbol on his tunic. Then he goes after Akari.

Emmet, Cynthia, Skyla, and Dawn/Hikari lose their god damned minds going OOOOOOHHHH!!! Elesa is flabbergasted and is like FUCK now I gotta change SO MUCH SHIT!!! Because of fucking course she wasn’t expecting that, Ingo’s been playing for so long and has been 100% loyal to the clan so this is like??? What the FUCK Ingo?!

Anyways Ingo takes in Akari and is like... Btw my character is going to remember this action of Kamado’s, so Jot That Down. I’ll be making preparations to Wreck His Shit. Cynthia’s internally like hold up I can still salvage this, and then has her character be like oh you wish to stick it up to Kamado? :))) I can help you with that!!! 

[sugarshinsuke]

HAIKYUU BOYS EMBARRASSING SEX MOMENTS VOL. I

tsukishima, suna, kita and ushijima 

masterlist 

warnings; nsfw 

― tsukishima; during one of your first times having sex, you need to stop and take a break because with this man’s awful stamina, he’s panting like he’s running a marathon. you shift up a bit to ask if he’s okay he leans down to kiss you as reassurance so not only do you bump foreheads - his glasses fall off and he tries to continue without them but he gets dizzy, so you need to stop again and by that point no one’s in the mood for sex anymore.

“are you okay?” you ask, shifting forward to wipe the sweat off tsukishima’s forehead, his laboured breathing awfully similar to just a couple minutes ago, when he’d had to stop because he just could not continue, his energy already mostly spent. “i’m fine,” he murmurs, resting his head on your shoulder. “i’m just - i can’t -” he slurs before his arms buckle and his upper body is suddenly crushed to yours, knocking the air out of your lungs. “i’m a little dizzy without my glasses.” “and without food.” you murmur under your breath, feeling yourself shiver at the icy look he shoots back. he pulls out, and you both lie in bed staring at the ceiling. after a long and awkward silence, he ends up mumbling an apology that you assure him is unnecessary (“can’t have you collapsing on me now, can I?”) you’re definitely making sure he has a snack before the next time you have sex.

― suna; you hadn’t pegged suna as the sensitive/ticklish type, so you can imagine the look of  surprise/pain on your face when, amidst a cacophony of panicked laughter mingled with breathy moans, you suddenly feel two knees slam into the sides of your head as you’re busy sucking a hickey into his thigh.

“fuck!” you exclaim, pain exploding in your temples and cheeks, spreading across your head. you think your vision may have started to blur. “what was that for?” you ask your boyfriend, who has quickly reached down to cup your cheeks in his own large hands, rubbing his thumbs gently across your skin. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so so sorry,” he rushes - “I’ve got really sensitive legs, especially my thighs, and it was just so much and a little ticklish and - I’m so sorry.” Afterwards, you both laugh about it before you reattempt to go down on him without touching his thighs.

― kita; you’re making love in a rice field and a bug lands on your ass so he tries to swat it away and ends up spanking you (which you’re not complaining about) but then you’ve just got. a dead bug. on your ass. yeah no not great

“that was new,” you sigh with a smile, head resting on your boyfriend’s shoulder, leg hooked around kita’s waist as you both come down from your high, lying together on the picnic blanket. “didn’t think you’d be into that stuff.” kita raises an eyebrow at you. “what stuff?” his question throws you off. “you know,” you wiggle your eyebrows as your lips raise into a smirk. “the spanking.” he blinks a couple times before his eyes widen in realisation, and then a little… panic? “oh! right. about that.” you nearly gag when he explains why he just wiped your asscheek with a tissue. he doesn’t spank you ever again. nor do you have sex outside in a while.

― ushijima; you have to stop blowing him because he unironically groans “I’m going to ejaculate,” and you just burst into uncontrollable, histerical laughter, even as he’s coming into your hand.

“’toshi, I love you, but you need to find a better way of saying that.” you explain amidst giggles. “why?” he asks, eyebrow raised in confusion. “is that not what I’m doing…?” you actually feel your heart clench a little with guilt as you stand up to kiss him softly. “it’s just -“ you smile and bite your lip, shaking your head softly at your boyfriend’s naïvety. “ask tendou. he’ll tell you.” you startle your boyfriend later that night in bed, laughing out loud at the screenshots tendou sends back to you, including gems like ‘pls tell me u didn’t actually use the word ‘ejaculate’ during sex’ and ‘u may be the best volleyball player in Japan but my guy u got no game’