#the day I put this account on pause is the day something *really* bad happens

[dailyjevil]

Day 133 of posting Jevil every day

[zvaigzdelasas]

Sorry if this is a bad question, but do you think the Palestinians can keep their gains? I know this is an important win psychologically no matter what happens next, but is there any chance for changing the borders on the map?

Sorry if this naive or not relevant to the actual events

no its very relevant! Really too early to tell I think, at the absolute minimum I think this conflict could last several weeks, wouldn't be surprised if longer though. Either way the entire regional politic has already been changed forever, and I'm sure there will be defacto territorial change one way or another

Main factors/possibilities (rougly sorted in terms of my perceived importance/likeliness) imo:

A) level of coordination that Al-Qassam & other militants taking part have (idk what comms they'd really have available at this point, particularly with the blackout) as well as how robust logistical supply chains are for deliveries of weapons, personnel, and ammo, but to start out w 5,000 missiles in 20 minutes (though israel claims 2,500) definitely indicates a major degree of planning & coordination, probably months in advance if not more - so many contingencies were probably accounted for

B) how much Hezb'ullah enters the offensive, even pinning down a couple battalions around Sheba farm or the broader Golan heights can be a pretty pivotal, but if they actually are able to take territory that changes things significantly

B-2) how much non-muslim groups in lebanon accept hezb'ullah joining the offensive - israel can escalate here & potentially fracture the offensive by staging a ground invasion/aerial attack into Lebanon, as long as non-muslim groups read that as "because hezb'ullah instigated it" instead of as israeli aggression on them. I have no read on lebanese public opinion here so idk.

C) Whether the Syrian SAF steps up strikes against israeli occupational military targets in the Golan Heights in the next couple days

C-2) amount of explicit coordination between Hezb'ullah & SAF

D) how the situation develops in the West Bank - expect a lot of retributional violence by Israeli civilians here.

D-2) Abbas & his govt have already taken quite a strong stance where they dont quite endorse hamas' operation, but put blame squarely on Israel - if West Bank escalates decisively they might take a much stronger stance.

E) How many israeli political prisoners Hamas has taken (israel has admitted to 130, hamas says "more than dozens") - PIJ also claims 30, how important they are, & how many of their own civilians Israel is willing to potentially kill in order to achieve broader military objectives.

E-2) If Israel arent willing to do that, then that also means a lot of their vaunted air force is largely useless here & combat will largely take the form of urban street battles, which tend to favor irregular insurgent combatants (esp when the regular army is used to unquestioned aerial supremacy)

E-3) what happens during the land invasion of Gaza (said to happen in about 24 hours, and something that would be surprising if wasnt expected by hamas), which is likely prompted by the large number of detained political prisoners. If this ends without something that can be spun as a clear victory for IDF, then this will be a major demotivating factor against their international perceived strength & massively increase morale among palestinian militants & civilians

F) If gazans are able to make a land bridge to the West Bank, then things are going to escalate in a significant way. Sderot is right now the frontline here, about 20 mile straight shot

G) how much more of the barrier around the Gaza strip is able to be destroyed, particularly at checkpoints

I) if the Saudis officially announce a pause in normalization talks

I-2) if other factions in the House of Saud take advantage of the mass-unpopularity of normalization with israel among saudi citizen (ie not immigrant labor) population (~2% support support among saudi youth according to Arab Youth Survey 2023 https://arabyouthsurvey.com/wp-content/uploads/whitepaper/AYS-2023-WP_123_English.pdf - seems like a fair assumption this isn't limited to the young). Even absolute monarchies have limits in terms of unpopular choices.

H) how much of a united front palestinian refugees (across the region but in Egypt & Jordan in particular) are able to mount & what political ends they're able to force pressure on - Sisi has rhetorically genuflected to Israel being the one to provoke escalation while also condemning both sides, but Jordan's Abd'allah has pretty much stuck to both sides so far

H-2) If the youth survey is a good proxy, Jordan would likely be the one where the governing regime would have most difficulty avoiding taking a stand against israel (~6% in favor of normalization)

J) if Israel officially declares military operations against Iran, then that's going to be a major escalation path.

J-2) More likely imo will just step up operations particularly in Iraq against shi'a militants, not sure they'd really want to escalate in Syria at this exact moment

K) how long the Netanyahu-centered Unity Govt takes to form, especially how much Gantz tries to push himself into the center

L) How much the US/european politicians publicly supports israel rhetorically & with guns without public pushback (that's where posting can actually help, particularly politicians). Right now the political class has basically all fallen in line in support of Israel, so normalizing discourse in support of palestine does do something, particularly if it has quantifiable achievement like BDS (particularly S)

M) Now is also when israeli civilians protesting against the corruption of their government would make the most difference. Strangely the recurring protests have been canceled. lol.

Z (wildcard)) Ansar Allah (houthis) or other non-coalition yemeni militant groups start an offensive against the Israeli-UAE occupation of Socotra. UAE alone is still militarily powerful and islands have obvious defensive advantages but scrambling to coordinate a rebuff of Israeli military positions all that way away would definitely start to strain logistics

[perfectprofessorloverapricot]

•| A not so stolen youth |•

Stranger things / chapter 3

Summary: Everything in life seemed limited to walls of whites and rainbows. Caged within the confines of the lab. But an accident that involved a group of teenagers and the upside down world finally let him free. In a funny turn of events he found himself hiding in a step sibling's shed. A redhead that loves video games and a blond that spends his time making sure to keep his good looks.

Character: Male child OC

Warnings: Possible to descriptive scenes, child abuse, use of drugs and bad language.

A/N: I ask you to take into account that I lack experience writing in English and there'll be some grammatical mistakes because my native language is Spanish.

Prev part - Masterlist - Next part

It was early in the morning, every kid was either at school or at home because they’re sick. All except for one.

Thirteen walked with tranquility through the groups of trees scattered all over the town. He found that the only onces that walked there were a few really young kids, other than that, the coast is completely clear.

But what is not completely clear is his mind. The day before he saw something that brought back awful memories. He found out, his father is not the only man like that in the world and he isn’t the only one like him out there. He would like to say that he doesn’t understand Billy completely, but he does.

The teenage has moments of calmness when he usually keeps to himself or even glances at him as if inspecting his soul, and moments of complete chaos when he is hostile against anything and anyone near him.

Billy was angry at his father, that much was evident, but he couldn’t do a thing because he knew it was useless. That was a feeling he could relate a little bit to well.

It happened too often to him in the lab. Loosing his papa’s respect brought a lot of punishment with it and answering it only left him in pain. His only solution was to hold back and resist. But that led to future explosions where he sent his guards flying or breaking an entire room with a scream.

He was labeled as dangerous and forced to stay isolated.

He was thinking of ways to help make him feel better but nothing came to mind other than a present.

But what?

Or maybe, some company? That’s what he wanted when he was in the lab. Maybe that’s what Billy needs at home.

Before he could think about other options, his senses detected something. He heard a pair of soft footsteps quite some distance further in front of him but instead of dreading to find the person a familiar feeling made itself present in the back of his mind. He waited.

As silent as ever, he walked cautiously towards the sound.

Both kids that found themselves in front of one another gasped in surprise. They know each other.

The curly haired girl smiled at the boy receiving a smile in return.

“Eleven.” Whispered the boy, walking closer to her.

“Thirteen.” Once close enough they engulfed each other in a big hug, giggling, happy to realize they both basically survived.

The kids pulled away, still connected by their arms, smiling like no other day.

They had so much to talk about.

“-and then, she taught how to skateboard.” Commented the boy with glee.

They have been talking for about an hour about what’s happened the last year after escaping the lab and getting in contact with the upside down. So far, everything’s been peaceful.

He was happy to know that she was also taken care off by a good guy, even though she puts a kind of weird expression when she mentions him, she stills seems to trust him a lot too.

“But…” he made a pause and sunk in the log they were both seating at the reminder of what happened a few hours ago. “Her papa…” he turned his eyes from his joined hands to the attentive look of eleven. “He is like our papa.”

Eleven gasped softly at the revelation.

“She and Billy hide me.” His lips curved a little at the sides. He always gets a warm and fluffy feeling in his chest at the reminder of people that care about his safety. “She gave me clothes.” He gripped the fabric of the blue hoodie in his chest. The same that keeps his body heat from escaping. “And a name. Magnus.”

Eleven gave him a close-lipped smile. They don’t know each other as well as she would like too because they were separated in the lab. They met only after the rest of the kids disappeared and their father needed more power to connect with the unknown world. But couldn’t interact that much in a friendly way under the scrutinizing eyes of their handlers. He always wore a frown accompanied with tired eyes. So she is happy to see him finally smile, even in the slightest.

“And you?” He asked, giving her the opportunity to express something that might be bothering her.

“Hopper is good.” She nodded. “But he lies.” The kid raised his eyebrows in surprise. “He says, one day I’ll leave to see my friends but that never happens. He promised soon, but soon never comes.”

Thirteen lowered his head in sadness. He knows that feeling, or he knew, before living with his only friend.

“He says it’s dangerous, that it’s for my protection.” The kid wrapped an arm around her in a side hug to comfort her.

In moments like that he wished he was more like magneto and fight for their freedom.

But he couldn’t, he was just a kid after all. All he could do was make her aware that she’s not alone.

A certain blonde haired teenage boy was currently tightening a screw on the engine of his blue baby Camaro.

He was finishing changing the air filter. After what happened the day before with his father he has been looking for ways to release some pent-up pressure. He already said goodbye to his last hook up an hour ago, he doesn’t know where Max is because she was late and he left her to skate home alone and he already worked out in the living room but nothing seemed to make his anger decrease.

Billy huffed once he was finished, cleaning the sweat in his forehead with the back of his dirtied hand. It wasn’t enough but that’ll have to do.

“Jesus.” Exclaimed the blond once he turned around and found the boy behind him, startling him. Weirdly attentive to what he was doing. “What the hell are you doing there? Are you a creep?” He asked with annoyance. He had almost sent the tool in his hand flying.

The kid just kept looking at him and the car with his big blue eyes and shrugged. He didn’t know what ‘creep’ means.

Billy raised a brow at the look of wonder in the kids face. He has seen it a few times before, directed to him, like trying to figure him out, which makes him edgy, but this time it was directed more to his car. “Never seen a car before?” He asked mockingly.

Unknown to him, the first time the boy saw a car was when he escaped from the lab. Ever since that day, the younger one has been greatly interested in the weird machines that roll faster than any adult he has ever seen runs.

Billy furrowed his brows when the only answer he got was the kid leaning his head to the side, still looking at the car.

Was he really that stupid? No, he couldn’t be. They would have already found him if that was the case, but he would have to live under a rock to not know what a car is.

“What, cat got your tongue, brat?” Thirteen shook his head and stick his tongue out to demostrarte it was still there making Billy huffed and turned to his car.

What a weird kid.

He grabbed the car’s hood and slam it shut to make sure it was closed.

“Cool.” Alluded the boy walking closer to the drivers side.

“What?” Thirteen glanced at Billy for a moment before returning to the inside of the vehicle repeating his word.

“Cool.” He is not completely sure if his using correctly the word Max taught him. ‘A word to describe something that’s better than amazing.’ Is what she said, and that is exactly what he thinks about the car.

“Huh, at least you have taste.” Said Billy as he wiped his hands in a towel he had hanging from his short’s waistband. Until he got an idea. Something that would help him destress and he used to do it a lot in California. “Hey brat.”

Thirteen turned towards Billy, not knowing what ‘brat’ means but understanding he wanted his attention. He blinked a few times, watching the weird look in the teenager’s eyes. He had an idea.

Billy would never in his life know what led him to do what he did, but the next thing he knows, he is driving top speed in one of the many lonely roads in the outer sides of Hawkins with the kid in the copilot seat. He loves to use the backroads.

He thought the kid would be scared shitless, however, the kid was grasping the seatbelt like his life depends on it (because it does) with the biggest smile Billy has ever seen.

But he doesn’t care that the kid didn’t get scared he was too concentrated in the adrenaline coursing through his veins at the speed to actually pay attention. He didn’t even light the cigarette between his lips because it wasn’t needed.

Billy whooped in ecstasy and bobbed along the surprisingly not so loud music. It was more important the roar of the engine than the beat coming from the stereo.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Cheered Billy with his always sharp smile.

But that wasn’t the best part, he was waiting for the right moment to put his car modifications to the test. In a way he couldn’t in the crowded city of California.

His smile widened when he saw what he was looking for. A wide straight doble lane road.

It’s show time.

He stepped on the break and pulled the hand brake simultaneously, then turned the wheel completely to one side in a second. The car instantly followed the action, turning with so much force skidding the tires in the street. Making a U turn by drifting.

Billy laughed loudly while the kid beside him screamed for his life. The wheels scraped the floor until the vehicle came to a stop in the other side of the road. Facing the opposite direction.

Not waiting for anything, he pushed the hand break back down and step on the gas. The wheels screeched against the ground, leaving marks, before moving at full speed back to the house.

At the speed he was driving it only took him 10 minutes to arrive.

He got out of the car after killing the engine and lit the cigarette between his lips, taking a drag as if it was pure oxygen he was inhaling. Finally he felt a little bit better.

So lost in his relief he didn’t pay attention to the passenger in his car. He only turned his head back when he heard a thud. He found the passenger seat empty and the door opened. He huffed thinking the kid just left without closing the door but he stop when he went around the car and found the kid basically face planted in the dirt while giggling.

Billy scoffed a laugh almost sending the cigarette in mouth flying. He was positive the kid was high with adrenaline. He saw the kid try to stand up in his jelly legs only to fall on his side.

“What the hell?” Billy didn’t need to turn around to know who that was. He merely rolled his eyes when the redhead rushed by him to get to the kid. “What did you do to him?” She asked when the kid tried to stand up again with her help but stumbled to the side like he was drunk. She got even more confused when she heard him giggle.

“I fixed your damn brat.” He grumbled taking a drag of his cigarette before throwing it to the ground and returning to the house. He wanted to take a shower.

Max looked between the retreating back of her step brother and the kid seating in the dirt with a big smile in his face.

Could it be possible that Billy changed his mind?

No, that is not something Billy could ever do.

But either way, she was relieved that he was at least tolerating the kid’s presence.

If Max thought they had made a progress with Billy after the ride he had with Magnus. She was wrong.

The very next day his anger returned when he saw her talking to Lucas. There was no problem with that, she didn’t plan to be part of their club of hypocrites anyway.

Well, that was her plan, until the very next day she wanted to go to the arcade to play dig dug and forget everything only to be tricked in to the breakroom by Lucas himself. They argued about the veracity of the fanciful story Lucas told her ensuring that it was the truth.

Leaving the arcade Billy saw him at the door. At first he acted eerily calm while accusing her of disobeying and lying. But a silent threat was made evident later in the afternoon when Billy broke her skateboard when reversing in his car.

It was his way of telling her he could ‘accidentally’ break something without a problem.

He became a ticking time bomb and she didn’t want to be there to see it explode because she would be the collateral damage, and possibly with her, Magnus too. Even though he has mostly ignored the kid in the last days, it was obvious the anger he was holding in.

Taking every posible outcome Max took a decision. She’ll go back to Cali to her father and she’ll take Magnus with her.

The kid already had a new name, and no one will be looking for a kid in another city, miles away from were he was.

That’s how she found herself in this position. Fidgeting with her fingers inside her hoodie pockets, feeling the money between her fingers and watching attentively at Magnus sitting in her bed and messing with her Walkman.

She got the money by telling her mother that she wanted to buy a new shirt but she wanted the money to buy it herself and avoid any kind of harsh comments from Neil if she went with them to the mall in the neighboring town. Her mother, illusioned with the possibility of her daughter buying something more feminine, gladly gave her double the money she needed to buy the shirt. She thanked the heavens her mother did because she forgot the amount of money it’ll cost to buy two bus tickets.

She forgot a slight detail. The distance between her and her father was much more now that she is in Hawkins than when she was in Cali, and the tickets would be more expensive.

She already prepared two bags with things for her and Magnus. In that precise moment she has the perfect opportunity to leave with him. Her parents aren’t home and they’ll come back until night and Billy was too busy working on his muscles for his next hook up of the night to notice.

Gaining some courage Max sat next to the kid in her bed. She took a breath and spoke. “Mag-“

She was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, someone calling at the door.

The kid raised his head, looking between Max and the bedroom’s closed door. He was to concentrated on the Walkman that he didn’t pay attention to the footsteps at the front door. It’s not like Billy’s blasting music trough the house helped at all.

He was already used to the volume of the music, but hearing it with the door open still hurt his head. At least the wood helps to drown out the sound. But he was still relieved that it’s not as loud as the alarms in the lab. That was a real headache.

He jumped from the bed when doorbell sounded again. He needed to hide. He turned to the window but stopped, if the person in the door somehow comes to the backside of the house he’ll be screwed. He turned to the bed. He doesn’t fit under it. As his last and only option, the kid threw himself inside the closet and closed the door, always leaving a crack to let the light come inside.

Max pressed her lips together trying to suppress a laugh. For a moment he looked like a headless chicken.

Her poorly covered smile disappeared when she heard her stepbrother yell at the next ring. “Max, are you getting that or what?”

Exasperated with him she yelled her answered “Okay.” She opened stood up stomping her way out of the room, closing the door behind her

“I swear to God Max.” Fumed the blond getting an eye roll and a glare from his sister when she walked by him. He just proceeded to lift the weights again.

From the closet, Magnus could slightly hear the door opening and closing over the music, along with Max’s voice from the other side of the door, indicating that now she was outside with whoever was at the door. He couldn’t tell what they were talking about because the music muffled their voices.

He waited for a moment, relieved that Max at least sounded like she knew the person outside. He was also aware that it wasn’t Neil, he could have heard his truck parking or his gruff voice booming in the house.

He waited a little while until she finally came back, closing the door behind her. She turned to Magnus watching the window in wariness. She knew why. Lucas was outside of the window. “Magnus.” She called for his attention.

He turned to her, blinking a few times.

“I… ammm.” She fidget in her place looking for the words to say. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, she just made up her mind and decided she’ll find out what’s really happening with Lucas and his group because deep down she still wishes to have friends. “I’ll live with the stalker for a few hours. He says he has proof or something.”

“Where?” Came the silent question from the kid. Max almost didn’t hear it with Billy’s blasting music coming through the door.

“To the old junkyard.” Magnus lifted a brown and tilted his head slightly to the side. There was nothing in there other than trash and forgotten stuff. Nevertheless, he nodded, understanding that she is going there like really few other teenagers do. “Okay, then. I’ll be back.” She said, making the reference of the terminator movie even though Magnus didn’t catch it.

She turned to one of the two opened windows. The one closest to the bed. She stepped on the woodshed outside before stopping and turning to Magnus who was seating in her closet.

“Don’t talk with Billy if he doesn’t talk to you, by the way. He’s not in the mood and can get cranky.” Magnus smiled at the thought but nodded again.

Don’t talk to Billy. Copy.

Max said a soft goodbye before exiting when she heard the boy outside telling her to speed up. He even heard her commenting that whatever they were doing better be worth it.

Minutes later after she left, Magnus stayed in her closet. He was to engrossed in the Walkman she borrowed him.

The interest came when he returned from the store he likes to visit (steal from) with a cassette tape he found behind the garbage dump.

He put on the headphones and changed the tapes the way Max instructed him to. He pressed play instantly jumping in his place and accidentally trowing the headphones. The volume was too high. Even with the headphones in the floor he could hear it clearly.

He decreased the volume to the minimum before putting the headphones back on. The rhythm of the music was somewhat similar to the songs Billy hears when exercising but not as scandalous. He turned the Walkman over to see the tape through the see through cover. The letters in the side said ‘Call Me by blondie’ and something else he couldn’t read due to the blurred sharpie. He likes it though.

He bobbed his head to the rhythm of the music, not caring that he could hear Billy’s music through the headphones. He liked it. He found his taste in music.

Still moving his head to the beat, he stood up and walked to the window farthest from the bed. He sat on the window sill dangling his feet for a couple of second before jumping out. He looked at the full woodshed beside him before returning to the shed. Walkman in hand.

He’ll wait for Max in there.

It’s been a few hours and Max still hasn’t retuned. Magnus got bored since he doesn’t know where Max’s tapes are and he can’t read so well, so he decided to steal an apple from the Hargroves’ fridge.

Meanwhile, the blond teenager was done exercising, taking a shower and currently sharpening his look before his date (hook up). He sprayed hair product in the hair locks that fell on his forehead. Turning over the bottle of colon, he spread a few drops of the liquid in his wrist, even going as far as to spread a little bit in the southern area.

He turned and posed in front of the mirror, smiling with satisfaction at the result. Taking a drag from his previously lit cigarette he leaned forward and blew the smoke against his reflexión, winking. Yep, he was ready.

His smile was erased once he heard someone calling at the door. He noticed the rush in the knock even over his blasting music. “Billy?” He knew that voice. The reason for witch his father decided it was a good idea to move.

Kind of.

“Yeah, I’m a little bit busy in here, Susan.” He answered uninterestedly.

“Open the door. Right now.” He mentally cursed when he heard his father’s commanding voice in the other side. There was no way around this.

Genuinely curious he finally opened the door finding his father frowning face and the always present worried face of Susan shielding herself behind the man.

“What’s wrong?” He cut to the chase.

Neil wasn’t at all impressed by his son’s bluntness. “Why don’t you tell us?”

“Because I don’t know.” He answered with obviousness in his tone. They just appeared in his door insinuating something that he isn’t aware of and yet, he is not surprised. Everything that goes wrong for Neil is always somehow his fault. No matter what.

“We can’t find Maxine-” Said Susan.

“And her window’s open.” Interrupted the man like the boss that he believes himself. Billy faltered for a second, looking in another direction before regaining himself. Even he was surprised. She was in her room with the brat a few hours ago. “Where is she?” Commanded Neil.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Scoffed the Man like his son was the worst dumbass in the world, annoying the younger.

“Look, I’m sure she just, I don’t know, went to the arcade or something.” Explained Billy, still not finding the force in his voice, kicking himself for it, and panicking internally. To avoid looking at the rising anger in his father eyes he went to the closet to retrieve his previously selected leather jacket. “I’m sure she is fine.”

Nike wasn’t having any of it. “You were supposed to watch her.” He commented, like he was just making an obvious observation.

Billy could clearly hear the covered anger under those words. But he couldn’t stop himself from arguing. He was getting annoyed.

He sighed. “I know dad. I was. It’s just you guys were three hours late, and, well, I have a date.” He slipped on the jacket and turned towards the man ready to face it and just leave. “I’m sorry, okay?”

“So that’s why you’ve been staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister?”

That did it.

“I have been looking after her all week, dad. Okay?” He snapped. “She wants to run off, then that’s her problem, all right?” Neil licked the interior of his cheek, concealing his anger with an eerie façade. “She’s 13 years old. She shouldn’t need a full-time babysitter. And she is not my sister.” He turned to the radio. Stopping the music abruptly only to feel his heart drop to his stomach when Neil grabbed him by the colar of his shirt and slammed him against the shelves beside the closet.

“What did we talk about?” Asked Neil in a condescending tone. Practically whispering it in Billy’s face.

The teenager panted in anger and fear. He couldn’t answer fast enough when Neil slapped him in his left cheek, making him groan.

Susan, who once again couldn’t leave the scenario only looked the other way, feeling guilty for putting him in that situation but not doing anything fearing she could be in his position.

Neil grabbed Billy’s chin to force him to look at him before pointing with the same hand. “What. Did. We… talked about?” He made emphasis in each word.

“Respect and responsibility.”

“That is right.” Answered the man, pleased to have him under control once again. “Now, apologies to Susan.”

There was silence for a few seconds. Neil waiting for Billy while the blonde swallowed his pride and fear. “I’m sorry, Susan.” He said, never tacking his eyes from his father’s.

“It’s okay, Neil, really-“ she was interrupted when the man once again rises his voice.

“No, it’s not okay. Nothing about his behavior is okay. But he’s gonna make up for it.” He grumbled the last part. He finally stepped back to turn to look at Susan. “He’s gonna call whatever whore he’s seeing tonight and cancel their date.” He said as if it was the most normal thing to say. “And then he’s gonna go find his sister. Like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is.” He turned once again to his son, already finished with the humiliation. “Isn’t that right, Billy?”

Billy looked at his father with watery eyes hiding all that hate and anger he harbors towards the man. If only he could make him pay or just leave.

“It’s that right?” Yelled Neil when his first answer was only silence.

“Yes, sir.” He said softly.

Neil sighted in annoyance, leaning closer to his son. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you.”

“Yes. Sir.” He repeated. This time with more courage.

“Find max.” Demanded Neil with finality turning around and leaving the room, intimidating Susan enough for her to step away from his way.

Billy finally let the tears spill once the door was slammed close and hit the wall beside him. He hated him with all his being. He wanted to fight back, punch him or something, but the last time he tried to do it didn’t end well for him.

Sucking his feelings up and drying his tears, he left his room to the back of the house. He thanked the heavens he parked the car in the back really close to were he needs to go. The shed.

Faster than he thought, Billy reached the wooden door and gentler than he wanted to, he opened the door (still slamming it open). “Hey, brat.” He grumbled once inside.

Magnus raised his head looking at him with wide eyes. He knew it was Billy the one walking (stomping) towards the shed. But it still surprised him when the teenage barged in the shed and called for his attention, loudly.

Billy opened his mouth about to yell but stopped. He didn’t want to scare the kid that looked like a frightened rabbit ready to bolt and end up running around like a headless chicken looking for Max for scaring him, or for his father to find him hiding a kid in the shed and get his butt kicked.

Instead he took a breath before talking. “Where’s Max?”

The answer he got was the kid blinking in bewilderment hugging a comic to his chest.

“Ugh, for fucks…” he mumbled under his breath. “Do you know where is Max?” He repeated in a gentler voice, clearly containing his annoyance.

Magnus nodded his head slowly. Max told him to not talk to Billy if he didn’t speak to him first, she didn’t say anything about not telling him where she is.

Billy raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Okay, and?”

“The old junkyard.” He answered softly.

Damn. Now he is in trouble. He doesn’t know where that is. He slightly fidgeted in his place. “Do you know how to get there?”

Magnus nodded a slowly, still with the comic in his hands.

“Okay, then get in the car.”

Magnus instantly light up. He didn’t care that Billy used a commanding voice, he was just happy to get a raid again.

The kid quickly rushed out of the shed as silent as a mouse with an annoyed teenager following him.

Billy was already donde for the night, but unfortunately and unknown for him, it would be the longest and most eventful life of his entire life.

Hope you like the new rout I’m taking with this story.

[barbiiebrat]

"Babe, I'm home."

You look up from washing the dishes from breakfast and see me walk in the door carrying in a few groceries. I set them down on the counter behind you and walk over, slipping one arm around your waist. "I got your birth control prescription," I say, handing you a small box of pills. You don't take it, you just stare at it, confused. "That's not the right box," you say. "The colours are different."

I sigh and point out the writing. "No, try to read it properly." I enounce each syllable slowly and carefully. "No-ri-thin-drone. E-thin-yl Es-tro-di-ol." I pause to give you a moment to process. "The name brand was discontinued so I had them give you the generic. That's all."

You relax a bit and lean against me, relieved, and a little embarrassed. "Oh, that's OK then. I'm sorry I couldn't understand the words," you say.

"That's OK babydoll, you know I'm here to look out for you." I gently grab the back of your hair and turn your head to me. "But you really should trust me better. I think I need to give you 5 spanks tonight," I say with a teasing smile. You blush and try to look away. "Yes sir, I think that would be appropriate." You take the box and open it. "I'll take the first pill right now."

… …

By mid afternoon you feel like something is wrong. You're desperately wet and horny, but you've done nothing all day but clean and do chores (you'd been trying to be a better domestic partner after losing your accounting job; turns out accounting is hard when you're illiterate). You come find me in the home office.

"Sir, are you sure you gave me the right pills. Something feels… off," you say, standing in the doorway nervously. I close my laptop screen and pinch my nose in annoyance. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well…" you pause, too embarrassed to describe how you feel. "Tell me now," I say. "I'm busy."

"Well. It's just that I'm really turned on. Like I'm desperate. And um. I can't stop thinking about cock. And getting railed. I want it so bad."

I roll my eyes. "And that's a problem to you? You don't put out enough as it is." I wave you out dismissively. "We already dealt with this, I read you the active ingredients. And just so we're clear, attitude problems like this are why you're getting 50 spanks tonight. Now get out."

You turn to leave, embarrassed at the scene you just created, but you stop short. "Wait, sir. I think that's wrong. It was 5 spanks, not 50," you say.

I close my laptop again, visibly angry this time. "Are you doing this on purpose? We talked about this not 4 hours ago. You really think I said 5? You really think 5 is enough of a punishment for your attitude today?" I point out the office door. "Get the fuck out and stop being such a stupid, forgetful whore."

… …

Today had not been a good day. After your little fit in my office, you spent the day being the best, most obedient housewife you could be. You made a delicious dinner for us, and did all the household chores. Now it was punishment time, where you could wipe the slate clean and be forgiven for what you did. You were a little excited, not just to be punished but also for the fucking that would come after that you so desperately needed (seriously, what happened to your body? You had to give up on even wearing panties, they just got so soaked).

You were dressed up in lingerie and lying on your stomach in bed, gently swaying your ass back and forth. You hoped I approved. I walk in the bedroom carrying a long case.

"Get over here, get on your knees, and face the mirror," I say sternly. You hesitate; my instructions don't make sense. "Now!" I yell. You scramble over and do as you're told. "Good. Now hands behind your back and present your tits," I say, pulling an oak cane out of the case. "You're not good with numbers so try to stay focused. 150 is a big number."

Your eyes widen. "Wait, sir, no. It was 50 spanks. What's the cane even for?"

I clench my jaw, kneel down, and grab you by your hair. I shake your head violently. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" I half yell. "Why can't you remember anything I tell you? We talked about this twice today, which is already once more than should have been necessary." I stand and place myself just behind you. "Sit up straight and present your tits. You're getting 150 strikes with the cane, plus another 50 for being such a stupid cunt and talking back."

You were crying before I even hit you, although the caning didn't help. You watched yourself in the mirror, a stupid, broken, useless whore who couldn't even remember her punishments. You were ashamed, feeling guilty that I tried so hard to guide and correct you and you just couldn't keep up.

By strike 50 you could see the welts and bruises clear as day. You had to find some way to make it up to me. Maybe you could give me your ass? Be an anal whore for me? Maybe you could dress skimpier around the home, be more pleasing to me. God your cunt is just so wet. Maybe if you just played with yourself a little…

By strike 100 you were in incredible pain. You flinched from every hit. You tried to look away; seeing the strike swing before impact, the anticipation of it, was horrible. But I grabbed your head and made you look, made you wait patiently for each strike. You just could not think of how to please me. There must be something you could do. You did always notice how I looked at your friend Hannah. Maybe if you brought her over for me, that might do it. You could just play with... rub yourself, just like you're doing now, while you watched Hannah and I…

By strike 150 you start shaking. You'd given up flinching, and openly fingered yourself. You couldn't stop thinking about Hannah. You knew she'd never go for it, but maybe you could get her drunk, roofie her, hold her down; maybe you could prove how useful you are, maybe I'd compliment you, give you a reward for being such a good girl. God, the pain and pleasure mixed was just too much, you feel like you're about to dissociate…

I wack your hand as your finger yourself. You yelp and pull your hand back, and I take the moment to wack your newly exposed clit, hard. You're brought out of your reverie screaming in pain, collapsing on the floor and sobbing. "What number were we at?" I demand

"I-uh-I-um-I-I-I don't know," you stammer between sobs. "No, no it was 195, please I'm sure, please don't hit my clit again." More sobs heave out of you. "Please sir I just want to cum, let me call Hannah, I'm sure she'll come over just please please I need to cum I can't take anymore please"

"Why the fuck are you talking about Hannah? Get back up and get on your knees, we need to restart." I grab your hair and pull you back into position, shaking and terrified. You can't make it, you're sure you can't make it, you know you deserve it but it's too much. "I swear to god if you fuck this up again I'm grabbing a steel dowel instead."

Your heart falls. You're going to mess it up. You know you're a stupid whore. How could you do anything else?

mmm godddd this was so hot i got naked and got my vibrator out in the middle of the day

[writingintheshadowsforever]

The Setup Kate Bishop x Reader

Summary: Yelena knows Kate has feelings for you but won't ever act on them on her own. So being the best wing woman she can be she forces Kate into some interesting situations with you.

"Yelena where are you? I'm ready for extraction" Kate whispered in her comms. She wast trekking through the woods doing her best to stay quiet, but still move fast. The mission almost without a hitch breaking into the sketchy billionaire’s home was fairly easy. The retrieval of the little black notebook was a bit more complicated considering. The notebook was pretty simple in looks and there was nothing special or distinctive about it, and the man had a lot of notebooks. Eventually after causing minimal damage to his home office she stumbled upon a tiny secret safe behind a painting. Because of course the notebook would be hidden in the most cliche spot possible.

It took her sometime to crack the code, but once it was done. There was the goods waiting for her to snatch them up, and disappear into the night. Leaving behind no trace of her appearance and that's what would've happened. If she had accounted for the cliche alarm system that sounded off the second the safe was opened. It alerted all ten bodyguards who initially Kate didn't see a point in rendering unconscious. Because the whole point of this mission was to remain unseen and unheard, Yelena told her if she really was as good as she thought she was. Then it wouldn't be a problem and Kate accepted her challenge ready to prove how much she has approved as a spy. Now here she was regretting that decision running through the woods from her pursuers. Who from the sound of the all the tree branches being snapped from heavy footfall was gaining on her.

The highway couldn't be much farther away, but she didn't bring her own getaway vehicle, because Yelena promised her the extraction part was already taken care. But so far the only answer she got from comms was more static. It had her wondering if she did something to anger the blonde, and this was her getting revenge. Letting her believe she was going to to get captured by the bad guys, only to swoop in. At the last minute to save the day was something Yelena would totally do.

"Stop your inner panicking Kate Bishop your ride will be waiting for at the road. She has your coordinates and is only a minute out from your location. If you pick up the pace you might beat her" Yelena's voice came through the comms.

Kate let out a breath a sigh of relief leaping over a fallen tree in the path. She landed on her feet and kept going. No time for rest not when the road came into view just a few feet away. A roaring engine revving filled the air, and a light came into view as well.

Who exactly did Yelena send to pick her up?

Not even a minute Kate got her answer when you brought the motorcycle to a stop right at the beginning of the path. You weren't wearing your usual mission suit instead you sporting a more casual look. Black skintight jeans, a white shirt with a small cut at the shoulders revealing some skin, and black leather boots. The helmet was covering your face, but still Kate knew it was you. She would know you and your style anywhere.

Kate paused a few feet away from you with a look of confusion.

"Kate what's wrong? Get on we got to go" You told her leaning forward to see behind her. The bad guys weren't in sight yet, but you could hear their pursuit. "We don't have a lot of time."

"Um where am I suppose to um you know-" she let her voice trail off shooting you a nervous smile.

"Just climb on behind me and put your arms around my waist. We'll be fine I won't crash I promise" You said.

Oh she was going to kill Yelena because no one else was responsible for putting her in this predicament but her. Kate dashed over and climbed on behind you. She placed her hands on your waist but only just gripping it.

"Kate no you need to get a better grip put your arms all the way around me. I don't mind" You explained eyes focused on the woods.

"Oh right" she replied with a nervous chuckle. Her arms wrapped around your waist, and her hands clasped together resting on your stomach.

"Tighter" you demanded.

Kate took a deep breath before constricting her arms all the around your waist. Which in return forced her to close the gap between her body and yours. So now her front were pressed up against your back and her chin was resting on your shoulder. Not wasting another second you revved the engine, and the motorcycle went peeling off into the night.

Thirty minutes later you were pulling into the Compound's garage with Kate still clinging to to your waist. You sat up straight taking the helmet off. "You can let go now if you want to."

"Oh right" Kate let out a nervous chuckle removing her arms from your waist and scooting backward giving you space. It was a good thing your back was to her because her entire face was red right now. "Hey thanks for the save I owe you one."

You shook your head. "No problem next time you need a partner just let me know."

"I thought you had plans tonight" she replied gesturing to your attire. You were dressed for a night out in the city.

"I mean yeah I did but it's you Kate if you had asked. I would've dropped those plans in a heartbeat. My night was going sour anyway when Yelena called you know." You said with a shrug finally climbing off the motorcycle.

Your comments just made her blushing worse and she was glad that. You didn't stick around to further the conversation even more. It was Yelena who brought her out of her train of thought just a few minutes later smacking her shoulder. "How did the recovery go?"

Kate have her shoulder a harsh shove. "You set me up and you know it. No more shenanigans okay just leave it alone." She was really starting to regret confiding in the blonde about her feelings for you. Even if Yelena picked up on the little things herself. Kate could've still denied it but now it was too late.

"Then go tell her how you feel right now" Yelena demanded.

Kate went pale at the idea shaking her head profusely.

"Good then we do this my way" Yelena concluded walking away with the archer behind her protesting.

The next setup came a few days later at a restaurant. Kate invited Yelena out for lunch and they were seated in a booth. Both of them choosing to sit on the opposite side across from each other. The waiter came by to get their drink orders. It was when Yelena ordered two drinks Kate got suspicious.

"Who's the second drink for?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Yelena just shrugged her shoulders with a knowing look on her face. A second later you slid into the booth next to Kate throwing your arm across the back of it. "Did you get my drink order?" You asked nodding in the blonde's direction.

"Yeah the server just came by you're right on time" she replied leaning back with a grin.

"Oh hey Kate you don't mind if I sit here do you" You greeted her turning your head to the side.

"No you're all good" the archer answered way too fast becoming really interested in the menu all of a sudden. She brought it up to her face blocking your view of her redden cheeks. She wanted to stab Yelena with a fork.

"Its cool that I invited y/n right Kate Bishop I remember you telling me you forgot to do it, and figured she had plans" Yelena said.

Kate moved the menu down far enough so her eyes were visible to glare at the blonde. But then her eyes turned to meet yours which were shinning with amusement. "Yeah its cool I'm glad you could make it y/n."

"I'm glad to be here I don't know how many times I have to keep telling you. If you need me for something, or just want to hangout all you have to do is ask."

Her blush got even worse if that was possible. Inside of her head Kate was freaking out trying to figure out. How she was going to make it through the entire lunch without giving her crush away.

The waiter returned a few minutes later ready to take orders, and for a second she got a breather as all three of you ordered your food. Of course Yelena got a side of mac and cheese, but surprisingly she ordered an actual meal. A crispy chicken salad with all the dressings on the side. The blonde insisted she had to try all of them to see which one she liked, and if all else failed she would just use hot sauce.

You ordered a burger with fries and a side of buffalo sauce for Yelena in secret. It seemed crazy to you that with her love for hot sauce, she had yet to taste buffalo sauce yet.

Kate ordered the personal pizza and decided to keep her menu in case she wanted to order something to-go later, or dessert. In reality she wanted to continue to use it as a face shield just in case.

And it was a good thing she did because not even five minutes after the waiter left. Yelena let out a huge yawn stretching her arms and legs. You scooted over closer to her Kate to make room for the blonde to prop her legs up on the bench. It was really a tight squeeze because she had still had plenty of space by the window. But your body was close enough to hers where even the littlest of movement would have your leg brushing up against hers.

"Are you comfortable Katie?" You asked turning to her.

She gave you a quick nod still hiding her face.

"Really because you seem a little nervous am I too close?"

Never in all truth you weren't close enough is what she wanted to say, but didn't have the courage. "Its fine" she muttered with a smile.

Yelena shot her a quick wink while you were distracted by a ping on your cellphone. Kate wanted to angry with her for putting her in another compromising position with you, but she couldn't help the little smile on her face, or the glint of hope in her eyes.

The food would be brought to the table twenty minutes later, and you would pass Yelena the buffalo sauce for her salad prompting the blonde to push all the other dressings to the side, and order more buffalo sauce.

"Just wait until she tastes buffalo wings she's going to obsessed" Kate whispered in your ear.

"Okay but who isn't obsessed with buffalo wings its like the perfect comfort food that goes with any occasion" You whispered back with a grin.

"Hey what are you two lovebirds talking about over there" Yelena demanded to know.

"Wouldn't you like to know" You shot back

"Um yeah I would that's why I asked y/n" she stated in slight confusion at your response.

"Its between us two lovebirds you'll find out one day."

Your words had Kate's face red as tomato but you were too busy diving into your food to notice.

A week went by without any setups courtesy of Yelena, and part of the reason was because you were sent on a three day mission. But on your return she did take the time to put together a welcome-home gift for you, and gave Kate all the credit. Well except for baking the cupcakes considering baking was not the archer's specialty. The last time Kate tried to bake a batch of chocolate-chip cookies. They came out hard as brick despite the fact you nearly lost a tooth eating the one she gave you to try. You finished it and the other four she brought to you immediately after.

Yelena on the other hand took one look at frisbee cookie and refused to even taste it. So you ate hers as well insisting that she play along so Kate's feelings wouldn't be hurt. It was crazy because that was the moment Yelena decided. You had to have hidden feelings for the dark-haired girl, otherwise you would've had no problem being honest with her.

But other than the welcome-home scheme things had been quiet, and Kate found herself missing the unexpected unofficial dates with you. She was at the point where she was going to ask Yelena if she had given up, or maybe it was worse. Maybe the blonde discovered you were already in a relationship.

Kate figured that was something she would know about you with the two of being partners and roommates, but then again you could be secretive when you wanted to.

She came up with a plan to regroup with Yelena after the movie tonight. A new action flick had hit theaters just a day ago, and Yelena was excited to see it. Going to see a movie in theaters was perhaps one of the blonde's favorite activities. She got to hang out with her friends, but didn’t have to deal with the pressure of maintaining a long and normal conservation. Something she still struggled with from time to time.

Kate let out a huff in frustration with the breath becoming visible in the cold of New York. She had been standing outside the theater for the past thirty minutes waiting for Yelena to arrive. She texted the girl more than three times and was left on read. Her eyes scanned the busy street bustling with hustlers, families, and people on the go. Searching for her familiar face getting out of a cab, or maybe exiting a Subway entrance. Heck she even looked towards the tall buildings to see if Yelena had chosen to scale one of them, and make a flashy appearance. It definitely wouldn't be the first time, but still no sign of her.

The archer was ready to call it quits when finally a familiar face did come into her line of vision. It wasn't Yelena though.

It was you.

Dressed in a pair of comfy black joggers, a long sleeved white cotton sweater with a black puffer jacket for an extra layer of protection. A white scarf was wrapped around your neck, with a black beanie to top the outfit off. It was such a simple look but the way you rocked it made it more stylish.

"Y/N hey I didn't know you were coming" Kate greeted you trying not to sound too excited.

You flashed your beautiful smile and went in for a quick hug that made her stiffen for a moment a bit nervous. "I know its because I'm filling in for Yelena again. She said something about a stomach flu from eating bad fish, and asked me to tag along so you wouldn't be flying solo" You explained.

Kate fought back the urge to scoff already knowing the blonde was fibbing. Yelena didn't even like fish. She should've known that the games weren't over, and Yelena had still been plotting all along. But once again Kate couldn't bring herself to be back angry or even annoyed. She was just appreciative of the fact that she was spending more time with you.

"This didn't get in the way of any of your plans did it?" Kate asked with a slight frown.

You wave her question off with a snort "of course not, and like I keep telling you. I would drop any plans for you in a heartbeat Katie."

"Right you did say that" She muttered dropping her head as heat rose up on her face. Could you go a single day without making her blush?

"Come on the movie starts in five minutes." You grabbed her by the hand pulling her into the theater. It wasn't until two hours and a half later after the movie was over, and the two of you were stumbling down the streets of New York. Going on about how awesome the movie was, and it was fun to just do normal people stuff.

Kate realized you were still holding onto her hand, and you had never really let go. Except for the few times the two of you had to separate because the space was necessary. Maybe you had forgotten or just did it out of instinct. You were a pretty affectionate and protective person, so it could be your way of keeping her close just in case something happened.

But a tiny voice in her head was telling it was something more. It was your subtle way of revealing your feelings for her, because just like her. You were too nervous or scared to come out and say it outright. You had to like her the way she liked you, or Yelena wouldn't be pushing you and her together so much if you didn't. While the former assassin was fond of pranks, and Kate was her main target most of the time. She wouldn't be that cruel.

The tiny voice urged her to make a move now there would never be a better time than now. She couldn't let Yelena do all the work, eventually Kate would have to take the initiative. So mustering up all the courage in her body.

She did just exactly that.

A small gasp of surprise left your mouth as your body was tugged to the side, and backed into deserted alleyway. You opened your mouth to ask Kate what was wrong. Eyes looking around in a panic for enemies in the shadows trying to ambush the two of you. But there were only a few non-threatening pedestrians walking along the street. Not paying either of you any attention just focused on getting to their destination, and out the cold.

"Kate is something wro-" Your words were forgotten on the tip of your tongue. As Kate pressed her body closer to yours moving her hands down to your waist. You looked up to meet her eyes which were filled with love and desire. The emotion came off her in waves, and nearly overwhelmed you.

"I know this might come off a little too strong but I want you y/n. I want to be with you more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life. Got damn forget wanting I need you y/n I don't know what it is about you, but ever since you walked into my life. I just find myself thinking about you all the time."

Kate took a deep breath pausing for a bit choosing her next words carefully. "I'm falling way too fast and way too hard to keep silent anymore. Alright I can't keep going on feeling this way without knowing if you feel the same."

You stood there listening to her pour her heart out, and confess her feelings. Not giving anything away with your facial expression which remained neutral, and that scared her a little bit. But still she kept going, and now here it was your turn. The moment of truth and instead of giving her words. You gave her action leaning forward to press your lips to hers.

The surprise kiss caught her off guard and Kate pulled back almost immediately with a small frown. You matched her but more so in confusion and annoyance.

"Wait does this mean you like me to."

You let out a exasperated sigh gripping her hips tightly, and pushing off of the wall to turn her around, and pin her body to the wall. She let out a small yelp at the sudden change in position. "Bishop I'm so beyond liking you, and while I don't have the right words to describe my feelings for you. I'm more than happy to show you if you would let me."

Kate barely nodded before you planted your lips back on hers in a fiery kiss that had on her tippy toes. Her hands gripped your waist a little tighter until it wasn't enough. The little gap between yours and her's bodies was a bother to her. So she fixed it constricting her arms around your waist bringing your body flush to hers. You cupped her face between your hands deepening the heated kiss.

There was enough heat to light up both of you with a fire. Just like that the harsh-biting cold was just a after thought as your scarf came undone hanging off your neck. When Kate brought a hand to the back of your neck, as she pulled away for just a second to turn the tables again. Pushing you back up against the brick wall as the one kiss turned into a slow and passionate make-out.

You weren't too sure how long your lips stay attached to hers as you, and Kate got lost within each other. You poured your heart into every single kiss letting her know you wanted her just as much. No you weren't good with your words all the time, but you were a hella good kisser.

It was your phone going off that brought you and Kate back to the world of living. At first both of you noticed as her lips parted for your tongue to enter her mouth. But then a few seconds later hers went off as well, and finally Kate pulled away digging her phone out of her pocket as you trailed kisses down her cheek to her neck.

It was Yelena.

"Um y/n its getting dark and I think Yelena is starting to worry oh wow." she said pushing down a moan when your lips found a sensitive spot.

You pulled away with a smirk. "I'm saving that spot for later, but yeah we should get going before she gets worried, and comes out to look for us."

"I thought she was a sick" Kate joked stepping back letting you off the wall.

"Oh please we both know that was a lie, and she's been playing matchmaker from the start." You told her with a knowing look in your eyes before walking away.

The revelation left Kate frozen in place as she processed your words. You just admitted to knowing what was going on the entire time. She had to jog to catch up with you. Her hand slipping into awaiting one with ease. "Wait why didn't you say anything if you knew this whole time?"

"Because I was a bit scared all these feelings is new to me Kate, and I didn't know how to come out and just say it. So when Yelena started plotting I just let her figuring something would come from it eventually."

"So you felt the same way about me this entire time?" Kate pressed you.

"Did the pass twenty minutes not answer that question for you?" You responded in disbelief.

Kate thought about for a second before turning to you with a hint of mischief. "Not really I might need an encore."

You grinned "I'll give you as many encores as you need Bishop."

And when the two of you finally arrived home after getting an earful from Yelena about answering your phones. In the future when she called for a check up. You pulled her into a privacy of her room kicking the door shut, but not before giving the blonde a quick thumbs up.

You gave her the encore she asked for, and later she would fall asleep in your arms but not before hearing the words leave your mouth.

"I need you to Katie."

Kate didn't need to hear it, but it just made everything more perfect.

Tag List: @manyfandomsfanvergent @romanoffomixam @danveration @xxromanoffxx @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @natashasilverfox @lizlil @meimei-a

[ashenmind]

Under the Third Eye

A while back, I wondered "What would have happened if Koishi had won in SA's extra stage and brought back a pet, like she threatened? How would anyone deal with that?"

Well, here is my answer, in all it's 4681 words of glory. This will be on AO3 once I have an account (T-12 days), but I'm not waiting that long.

Future note: This is now on AO3! Go read it there, the formatting is better.

Authors note

This is my first fanfic, but I have done a reasonable amount of original writing. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. As silly as the premise is, I tried to approach it fairly genuinely, and it ended up being more emotional than I expected going into it. I tried to be fairly faithful to the characters, though some of them haven't been developed much in canon, so I did what I could.

The work is PG-13 overall. In terms of content warnings, the premise is based kidnapping. The only other thing that comes to mind is a brief allusion to self harm, which could be upsetting to some readers.

The formatting is a bit off (non-standard indents mainly) because tumblr, but not too bad as far as I can tell. (the "<>"s are intentional).

Satori stared at the paper in front of her, or rather, she stared through the paper. Do I really have to decide this today? The answer was yes, as it had been 15 minutes ago. That was the trouble with conflict; someone always had to pick up the pieces afterwards. In this case, the trouble was staffing. With so many of her pets having been injured, ensuring Former Hell was properly managed after the incident was quite the balancing act. Things would get easier over the next few days, but that did little to help now.

The door to her study, which was never fully closed, opened wider to allow a two-tailed cat with black-and-red fur to enter. Casually, she made her way to Satori, leaping into her lap and curling up snugly. Satori reached down and stroked the cat absently. She considered asking Orin about her current dilemma. While the cat had a quick wit, especially compared to many of Satori's other pets, she wasn't good at seeing the big picture. Alas, this burden was Satori's alone. 

<Koishi's back. She seems to be in a very good mood> Orin thought.

"Oh, did something interesting happen?" Satori asked. Satori's ability to read minds was greatly appreciated by her pets, whatever anyone else thought.

<She didn’t give me much of an answer, but it sounds like she got herself a new pet, from up on the surface.>

Satori continued stroking the cat for a moment, before pausing. Wait, from the surface? She generally liked that her sister took the initiative to acquire new pets from around the underground. After all, everyone needs company, and she often got too caught up in her work to spend time with Koishi. Satori also didn't mind her taking trips to the surface. Her sister was capable of taking care of herself, as much as she worried otherwise, but taking pets from the surface was something she'd had to put a stop to. Too many of them weren't well suited to the subterranean palace and its surroundings, while others would be too sorely missed above, which drew unwanted attention. Koishi had generally heeded this request, so why the sudden change? What exactly had she brought back?

Deciding this was more pressing, and likely more interesting, Satori carefully removed the cat from her lap and headed towards her sister's room. Rin followed close behind.

The pair arrived at Koishi's room, and Satori knocked.

"Come~ in!" Koishi called out in a sing-song voice, a habit that Satori could only assume came from observing people on the surface.

Like most in the palace, Koishi’s room was quite large. It was lit by blue crystals that hung from the ceiling, as well as by a set of windows that let in light from the courtyard beyond. As usual, the room was cluttered. Though some of her pets were tasked with keeping the place tidy, Koishi had a habit of just setting things down on the nearest flat surface when she was done with them. This had more than once led to a rather bemused Orin being placed on a shelf. 

Satori was not focusing on the decor however, instead she stopped in the doorway as soon as she saw her sister's newest pet. Rin, seeing an opportunity, ran through the door to Koishi, who immediately broke into a wide grin.

“Orinrin!” she cried, squishing the cat's face in her hands. The cat seemed to enjoy this at least as much as Satori’s more gentle approach. 

A few moments later, Satori finally managed to speak, “Koishi, what… how? What did you do?” The cause of her surprise was a girl with dark hair and a large red bow, who was currently asleep in the bed, covered by the duvet. A gohei, a long piece of wood from which hang two zig-zagging paper streamers, was leaning up against the wall nearby. Satori recognized the girl immediately, as she had met, and subsequently fought her earlier that very day.

“Oh, this is Reimu. You know her right?”

Satori nodded weakly as she entered the room. She turned, and carefully closed the door behind her. She took advantage of facing the other way to close her eyes and think. My little sister, whom I love and support, has brought home that damn shrine maiden… as a pet... and I'm the only one with enough sense around here to understand why that's bad… What did I do to deserve this? Resigning herself, she turned back to the rest of the room. 

“I ran into her on top of the mountain,”  Koishi continued, beaming.

 I could use a little more than that, if I’m being honest. Also, what is that look for? Satori mirrored the smile. It wasn't very convincing, but Koishi was easy to convince. What exactly am I supposed to do about this? I'd considered what to do if it was a human, but not this human. She took a deep breath. Right, process of elimination. Killing her would raise all kinds of hell nowadays. Should I dump her on the surface and hope that’s the end of it? Maybe, though she'd be pissed. Apologize and let her go? Same problem, and she's not exactly the type to wait for explanation anyways. 

She had been staring at Koishi this whole time, though the girl was entirely unperturbed. Why does she have that look? Is that... pride? Then, her own words from earlier in the day came back to her: "That girl's power would certainly be useful around here." Damn, is this my fault? Of course Koishi would take that literally; she's Koishi. She thinks this is what I wanted, which would explain the smug look… But wait, she found and defeated Reimu and brought her all the way back here just based on that? That's... a lot for someone who can’t really plan things. What’s gotten into her?

Koishi had turned her attention back to the shrine maiden, who she was staring at with rapt attention.

 But... that was the point of the pets, right? To get her to care about others, to get her to take an interest, so that she would...?  Satori realized that she was still holding the fake smile and let it drop. She turned to look at Reimu herself.

Was it just what I’d said earlier, or does Koishi have her own reasons for doing all this? Is there something special about this shrine maiden? Damn, I’d need her awake to figure any of this out. Perhaps dumping her on the surface isn’t so great an idea, as much as it would simplify things. That just leaves talking and... Koishi's plan... if you can call it that. Lovely.

"Koishi, would you mind heading down to the kitchen and helping them get dinner ready?" Satori asked, trying not to sound like how she felt.

"But... I want to stay here... with her!" Koishi said, pointing, as if Satori wasn’t sure who she was talking about.. 

Satori sighed. "She needs her rest. Besides, I bet she'll be hungry when she wakes up. You remember what I said about feeding your pets, right?" She didn't like being dishonest with her sister, but it was convenient. Koishi paused, then smiled, and nodded. She left the room in a rush. Rin narrowly avoided getting her tail stepped on, then looked to Satori. 

<You’ve got a plan?>

“Always,” Satori lied, "now go find where Okuu is napping. I want her in the palace, just in case." In case of what, I don't know, but like it or not, she probably has the best chance against Reimu if things go bad. Well, Koishi actually won, but she’s not exactly reliable. That human may have been the one pushing for non-lethality, but she’s still a human.

With the room now to herself, aside from the slumbering Reimu, Satori sat in the chair and thought. You could have at least waited a day, Koishi.

 At last, she reached a decision. The best one, I hope. She focused her third eye on the sleeping figure, peering at her mind. Ah, so Koishi put her under hypnosis. I thought she might still be able to do that, closed eye or no. No matter, it would be easy to undo, at least from the outside. 

Not long after, Reimu stirred. <Bwuh..? Where... am I?> she wondered. Reimu sat up slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"The Palace of the Earth Spirits. Welcome back." Satori replied. Reimu turned and stared, all traces of drowsiness evaporating. She leapt from the bed, reached into her sleeve and pulled out several paper talismans. With her other hand, she grabbed Satori by the collar and lifted her into the air.

"Your sister kidnapped me!" Reimu shouted, "Don't give me a 'welcome back'! Where is the brat!?" 

Satori dangled limply in Reimu's grip. "Seems you lost fair and square, shrine maiden. Don’t be a sore loser.” She paused as it looked like Reimu might throw her. “As Master of this palace, I wouldn't mind a rematch though. I'd even let you go free, if you won."

Reimu’s brow furrowed. "And what’s your stake?" <Wait, she's challenging me? She didn't put up too much fight last time, but my body hurts like hell, and she seems more confident than ever.>

"Expecting to lose?" Satori asked, smirking slightly. "I’d just want you to do me a favor for me. I’m not sure your human body would withstand it, but there’s no reward without some risk."

<What’s this girl’s problem?> "Fine, I'll fight you again," Reimu said, releasing the girl, who fell backwards, taking the chair with her. <I thought she'd at least catch herself. Oh well, she deserves it.>

Satori got back on her feet. If she was upset at Reimu's roughness, she didn't let it show. "Let's go out to the courtyard. The flames from below will serve as an excellent backdrop."

The Palace of Earth Spirit’s central courtyard was quite magnificent. Windows looked down on it from all sides, many of them stained glass, depicting scenes of both the underworld and the world above. There was a garden lining the outer edge of the courtyard. It contained plants rarely seen on the surface, as well as a number of fruit trees. The source of their energy seems to be the large vent which dominated the space. It led down into the underworld’s flaming depths. Great mechanical shutters allowed the upward flow of heat to be regulated. At present, the shutters were three-quarters closed. Even this small opening allowed enough light from below to fill the courtyard and a pillar of hot air, traced with wispy flames, to ascend towards the surface. 

The two combatants took their places to one side of this vent. They stood forty feet from each other, Reimu armed with the tools of her trade and Satori with nothing but her mind.

"Ready?" asked Reimu. She had her usual look of determination, now tempered by anger.

"Ready," replied Satori, calm as ever. The two rose a few feet into the air, then Reimu launched forwards, wasting little time.

"I forfeit," called out Satori, dropping back to the warm stone of the courtyard.

<I've got her- > "WHAT?" Reimu staggered midair, trying to slow her momentum. She came to a skidding stop directly in front of her opponent. "What do you mean you forfeit? We hadn't even started. You can't do that!"

Satori stared at her coldly. "It means you’ve won. That's what you wanted, so why are you complaining?"

"I want to fight you! You think you're so high-and-mighty, and now you've got and forfeited!?"

"I said it before, but I'm not fond of violence."

"You're just a coward! Too scared to face me again."

"I have more important things to worry about than your ego. If you want to sait your oni-like thirst for violence, I'm sure Okuu over there would be happy to oblige." Indeed, the hell raven was sitting on the inner edge of the vent, oblivious of the heat. She was gazing into the depths below and swinging her feet through the fiery air. The right one, weighed down by its rocky exterior, swung out of time with the left.

Reimu’s tirade derails slightly. <I beat her earlier, but it was kinda close. Somehow I doubt she's as tired and worn as I am. Damn.> "You’re the one who said we should fight in the first place. What was about that favor? Giving up on that so easily?"

"Were it just me here, perhaps I would fight for it. But I don't need any more damage to my palace or my pets right now," Satori replied. "If you must know, I was going to ask to have you for dinner-"

"YOU WERE GOING TO EAT ME?!" Reimu shouted, anger reigniting. Satori stared, eyes-wide for a moment, then began to laugh. It started out as a chuckle, but rapidly became uncontrollable. The girl bent double, holding her knees. Although laughter is rarely considered a skill, Satori was bad at it. The sounds coming from her were fitting for Former Hell. Even Okuu looked over at the commotion.

<What on earth... what's funny about this?> Reimu thought. There was another thought, too quiet for either of them to fully notice: <she look so different when she laughs.> 

"As a guest, Reimu," Satori managed to get out at last, "not an entrée. Oh my word." She pulled herself upright and wiped a mirthful tear from her eye. "My sister and I aren't much for eating people."

<...and your pets?> "Ah, I… I see. I guess that's a relief,” Reimu said, uncertainty entering her voice for the first time since woken up.<Where the hell do I go from here?> “But uh, you said the favor would 'push my body to its limit', so I got the wrong idea, I guess. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Well... we have some sake that we sto- acquired from the oni and it's been kinda in the way lately. If you wouldn't mind drinking some of..."

"You stole sake from the oni? You?" <They'd rip you to shreds.>

"Well, Koishi did. I ask her not to steal, but I figure the oni are fair game," Satori explained, ignoring Reimu's afterthought. “We’re not heavy drinkers, so I figured you might be able to stomach some of it?”

Reimu took a moment and pretended to consider the offer. <Is this girl OK? Her loss I guess.> She stood a bit taller as she spoke, "As a show of uh, goodwill, I would be willing to relieve you of your sake. After all, if the oni found out you had it, I'm sure they'd cause you no end of trouble. Best I drink it instead, to be safe." 

"Ah, what a good idea. How very… selfless of you." This girl's mind is like a lock; you find the right key and the whole thing flops open. Not sure why she's talking like that though… Is it some lingering effect of Koishi’s hypnosis or the fumes? Oh well.

For dinner, they were joined by Koishi, who was overjoyed to see Reimu again, as well as Okuu and Orin. The two sisters sat on one side of the table, while the three pets sat on the other. Okuu and Orin started devouring some eggs and pieces of raw meat, which Reimu tried not to look at too closely. The other’s had more ordinary fare.

<Maybe this was a bad idea… At least the two idiots aren’t staring at me.> 

"Koishi, do you have something to say to Miss Hakurei?"

The younger sister hesitated a moment before speaking, “I’m sorry for attacking and kidnapping you.” She put on an almost theatrical expression of remorse.

<She says it so bluntly> “I… appreciate the apology. I didn’t mind fighting you, just… don’t knock me out afterwards, alright? It’s kind of a d- not nice thing to do. It also causes trouble for your sister.” Koishi nodded at this, looking serious, then went back to her food, smiling to herself. Trouble indeed, mused Satori, though you're not one to talk, Reimu.

“Say Koishi, do you spend a lot of time on the surface?” Reimu asked, “I’m surprised you were able to find your way to the Moriya Shrine all by yourself.”

“Oh, I do! I like to see what people are up to and hear what they are talking about. I travel all over the place.”

<You’re ok with this?>  Reimu thought. 

Satori shrugged. “I couldn’t stop her if I wanted to, so she’s generally free to explore. Besides,” Satori said, smiling slightly, “she can hold her own.”

<You’re pretty smug for someone who lost. Twice>

“You should come down here again sometime so we can fight again! It was really fun!”

<Yeah, but this place kinda sucks.>

“I’m sure Reimu is plenty busy with her shrine,” Satori explained, aiming a dirty look at Reimu.

“Shrine?”

“Of course. It’s easy to forget, but Reimu is a shrine maiden. She looks after the Hakurei Shrine, near the human village.”

“Oh, that place!”

“Have you… been there?” Reimu asked, returning the look.

Koishi nodded. “I followed some kids up from the village. There were a lot of people and stalls. I got this!” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small charm, on which was written “bullet evasion” in familiar handwriting.

<Ah... Wait, she goes to the village too?>

“And by ‘got’, do you mean ‘stole’? I’ve told you about taking things without permission. People might not notice you, but they notice when things go missing.”

Koishi nodded, though she didn’t look very apologetic.

“Next time you’re in the area, you can visit the shrine and pay me back. I can even give you a tour.”

Koishi’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’ll come by tomorrow!”

<Great, I was hoping to take the day off, maybe try out the new hot springs…>

“I’m sure Reimu will be very busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident. Best let her work on that first.”

<That mind reading is not so bad when she’s trying to help you. Still creepy.> 

The conversation quieted down from here, with everyone focusing on the food.

<When’s the right time to ask about the sake? Getting kinda thirsty here…> Satori reached under her chair and pulled out a large jug, placing it on the table. 

I meant to get it out at the start, whoops.

As dinner started to slow, Koishi spoke up, “Can you tell me more about your fights earlier? Satori kinda made them sound boring, but I want to hear from you.”

“I’m sure she did. Alright, it started with me heading into a cave…” Reimu then recounted her earlier adventures. Satori interrupted occasionally, cutting through some of Reimu’s boldest exaggerations, though Koishi didn’t seem to care much whether a given detail was true or not.

At last, once they had finished, Koishi gave a round of applause. “Wow, that’s quite the story. It’s way cooler than my sister's version,” Koishi said, beaming at Reimu. “But how did this all this start? Seems you just kinda wandered into things. Like me!”

All eyes turned to Okuu, who continued eating eggs, before noticing the sudden attention.

“Huh? Uh dor rea oh,” she tried, before swallowing, “I don’t really know. There was some woman who wanted the strongest bird, then I felt real weird, then I had all this power. I’m not really complaining, to be honest.”

“We think the Moriya Shrine is involved, but I wasn’t able to ask because you attacked me,” Reimu explained, looking pointedly at Koishi.  

“Ehehe…whoops. I said I was sorry...”

“Alright, I think that’s enough for dinner. If Okuu eats any more eggs she’s going to be sick. Besides, you should get to bed Koishi.” Then, as Koishi moved to protest, “You can see Reimu off in the morning.”

<Morning?>

“What, were you planning on going through Oni territory and half of Gensokyo in your state? In the dark, no less?”

“How ca-”

“We have clocks, you know.”

<Ah.>

Koishi left, but not before giving Reimu a hug. After she was gone, Satori walked to the other side of the table. Okuu and Orin stood, and their master addressed them in turn.

“Okuu… it’s good to have you back. I know things are a bit… complicated, but I’m sure we’ll manage.” She reached out and patted the girl’s head. 

“Orin, you did well today. Thank you,” she said, kissing the Kasha on the forehead. “You pets don’t have to tackle things by yourselves, you know. I won’t be mad if you need help.”

With the cat and raven gone, Satori returned to her seat. 

<You really care for them.>

“Of course. Aside from my sister, my pets are all I have.”

<I mean, the palace…>

“Few places are as lonely as an empty palace, Reimu.” There was a pained note in her voice that Reimu hadn’t heard before. There was a heavy silence for a moment, then Satori grabbed a cup and poured herself some of the sake. When she continued, her voice had returned to its usual tones.

“I’m not typically one for strong alcohol, but I should probably taste some before you finish it off.”

“Wait, you made it sound like you had a whole bunch.”

“I lied, of course. It’s almost as useful as mind reading.” Reimu considered this for a moment and Satori elected to let her finish this time. 

“What is this all about?” Reimu asked, gesturing broadly.

“‘This’?”

“You know what I mean. First I think you’re trying to keep me here as a pet, then you’re asking me to leave, then you're getting me drunk and telling me to stay the night. Why can’t you just say what you actually want?”

Satori sipped her sake a moment before speaking. “‘Just tell me the truth’ is something often said by people who are bad at accepting it, but very well. The truth is that I don’t really like you Reimu.” She held up a finger, forestalling Reimu’s interruption “I don’t mean that as a personal slight. I can see why people put up with you.”

<Gee, thanks.>

 “That being said, mind reading isn’t like reading a book; it’s more like listening. Some thoughts are easy to ignore, while others… aren’t. Emotional thoughts are by far the loudest and you…” Satori continued, “...are a person driven by emotion. Again, that’s not an insult; I think it’s probably what makes you so good at what you do, but it does make being near you… challenging.”

“So then why get me to stick around?”

Satori sighed, looking into her cup. “Koishi, really. She’s a bit obsessed with you. I gave my sister pets in the hopes they would help her like they helped me. I needed quiet, simple companionship, but my sister and I aren’t very alike. Or at least, not anymore…” Satori seemed to lose herself in thought for a moment, before continuing. “But she seems fascinated by you, more so than by any pet I’ve given her. Perhaps your thoughts are loud enough to reach even her, or perhaps she just finds you worth listening to.”

Two sat in silence, the words hanging in the air “Are you… trying to get her to open her third eye?”

“Yes.”

“Why? She seems happy as she is.”

“How would we even know? She closed it because she felt that the world, or rather, other people had little to offer her. When your ears only hear hatred, your eyes only see fear, it can be tempting to get rid of them.  I want her to hear and see beautiful things, to find value in others.”

<Have you considered doing this? Oh, I didn’t mean...>

“Of course I have. Things were... bad, but I remembered when we were young. Satori are social creatures; being able to communicate so directly is an incredible thing. I’m not sure a human could really get it, but I want that back…” Silence fell over the table, again.

“Why not explain all this from the start?”

“You wouldn’t have listened, that’s not who you are. So I tricked you. Figured you wouldn’t turn down a challenge. Worst case you at least got out of my hair.. Don’t look so upset, you got Oni sake out of it, after all.”

<Don’t treat me like one of your pets.>

Reimu yawned. “Well, I’m not sure how much I can help, but I suppose if she wants to come visit, I don’t mind. Not that I could stop her anyways…” <I don’t really want another mind readers about, but…man>

“I appreciate that,” Satori said, getting to her feet, a little unsteady. “Best we both get off to bed before this stuff hits us too hard.” She waved the now empty jug.

“I suppose so. Oh, and thanks for stopping Koishi from making me her pet”

“I’m sorry?” Both girls stared at each other, blankly.

“You… you told Koishi she can’t have me as a pet, right? Like, she understands that, right?”

“I just told her that it’s not really a pet if they run and don’t come back. That seemed to satisfy her.”

<ah.>

The next morning, the two sisters saw Reimu off. Koishi was a little upset, but it didn’t last once the prospect of a shrine tour was brought up again. The great doors of the Palace of the Earth Spirits closed with a thud. The two sisters stood in the lingering silence.

<I can’t wait!>  The voice was quiet, but Satori loved it all the same.

Epilogue

In the end, Reimu’s visit actually ended up helping Satori with her decision. She elected to grant her pets a holiday, as reward for their hard work. It would create problems later, but such was life. It also gave her a chance to take care of another matter.

Aya Shameimaru worked away at her typewriter. This edition had gotten quite large, what with all the events of the last day. Even this morning there had been critical updates that just couldn’t be left out. This was looking to be one of the best editions of  Bunbunmaru Newspaper in years!

She heard the door to the office open and called out, “Yeah, just leave it on the table. I’ll get to it in a minute.”

“I’m… not here with your lunch,” said a voice. It wasn’t a tengu’s. Aya turned to see Satori, standing right next to her.

“Ay!” she cried, nearly falling out of her chair, “I ah, I don’t s-suppose you’re here for an-an interview?” she said, a look of almost manic hope on her face. <Ayayaya…>

“Not quite. I was curious what you had written in your paper there.”

<Well all kinds of things, about the incident, the palace and it’s master, about her mysterious sister and how she kidnapped Reimu and how Reimu just walked away the next morning all embarrassed and oh how do I stop thinking!>

“Alright! That’s enough,” Satori interrupted, closing her eyes. Damn tengu. “I don’t mind you writing about the incident, but leave my sister out of this.”

“But…” Aya stalled a moment, then recovered her usual tenacity, ��your sister poses a real threat to Gensokyo. It’s my duty as a reporter to infor…”

“You want to talk threats?” Satori asked.

<aayyaa.> ”Y-you can’t threaten me! We’re surrounded by tengu! You’d b-be in real trouble!”

“Yes, but that doesn’t help you much, does it? But I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not fond of violence. Instead, my threat is this: If you write about Reimu losing to my sister, or her disappearance, I will end your newspaper. Not by force, but by making my own paper. Do you think you can compete with a mind reader? One who can pull out even your secrets?”

<N-no.>

“Then we don’t have a problem. Pleasure doing business with you.” Whoever decided to make tengu smarter than birds should try talking to one for 5 minutes. 

[tetralea]

Umm, this is inspired by Charles posting shit on his main account more than once in the recent weeks. 😂 Max is pretty done with it.

Lestappen smut and fight over being stupid. 🤷‍♀️

Max walked into the kitchen, already annoyed. He barely used social media, but any time in December he did it, Charles was trending for some stuipd reason. Like this morning too. He was not even supposed to be there, in this stupid airbnb, in this stupid kitchen, with the Ferrari driver. He tried to keep it together, but when he saw the brunette he lost it.

“What is wrong with you? You are not supposed to post shit like that! What if you accidentally exposed us?” Max goaned, startling the other man. He was beyond pissed and that post which didn't even concern him just made it even worse. Before Charles had a chance to answer he kept going. “And then you post sponsor stuff like nothing happened. Like you are not becoming a mess of a human!” He shouldn’t have gone off like that, he shouldn’t have to be this upset, yet here he was. Charles really brought the worst out of him these days.

“What does this have to do with anything? I didn’t post you, I never would!” The burnette put his phone down on the kitchen counter turning to Max, crossing his arms around his chest. He was ready to defend himself. He was ready to tell. Max that everything was a mistake even if he didn’t feel like that, clearly, Max did. He braced himself as the blonde stepped closer.

“Oh, like you never would have what you did last night?” Max mirrored his position, setting his own phone on the counter, turning it towards Charles, with a careless motion. Like he said ‘look at the mess you have made’.

After a small pause Charles answered, quiet and small. “It was by mistake.”

“Because you are becoming a mess!” Max pushed loudly, locking his phone screen, gesturing wildly towards Charles.

“You didn’t complain about it last night!” Charles could take only so much, he was done with whatever Max’s problem was. It was time to move away from defence. “Do you know what your problem is?” There was challenge in the hazel eyes, his back was straighter, chin lifted and Max suddenly felt like they were the same height, or maybe Charles had the advantage. “Is that you want to fuck me again so bad it makes you look stupid!” The pretty lips spit out of spite. “You kissed me last night!” The emphasis was on the first word and the intense gaze of Charles was burning Max’s cool skin.

“You said I should do something stupid. So that’s what I did. I did you! Because you are stupid!”

Max froze, eyes searching the handsome face in front of himself to see how much he hurt Charles. The strong shoulders deflated, long fingers slid onto the counter for support. “Wow, yeah? Really? That low?” The words were barely more than a whisper. “Well you didn’t complain last night when you fucked me.” There was venom in those words and something else Max felt in his bones, but he was too worked up to listen to it.

He stepped closer and squared his shoulders, wetting his lips for the words to slip out easier. “Neither did you when you came twice on my cock.”

Charles was speechless for at least the third time in this conversation but he didn’t have anything else, no smart comeback, no retort. Maybe the kind reminder of their night together and the instant hot shiver down his spine settling in his stomach didn’t help either. “Fuck you, Max!”

“I will, I will fuck you again.” The blue eyes flashed with something threatening yet Charles swallowed to the promise of it.

It wasn't much, maybe three steps until he was pressed against the counter, eyes trained on the plump lips and the man cornering him into surrender.

The strong hands on his hips moving to his back brought back not so distant memories and his thin cotton shirt was too thick on his skin. Max’s lips pressed to his firmly, moving against his in such an undeniable, unapologetic way his weak attempt to control the kiss malted away. Fuck this, fuck Max, and fuck himself that he was so weak for it, so weak and easy for the blonde he would have denied it in front of anyone any time.

It wasn't long until his naked chest was pressed against the counter top, eyes rolling back, his own forearm against his mouth to quiet himself. Who thought that Max leaving his backpack there last night would come so handy. He tried to be quiet, mostly because he was sure everyone in the house was eavesdropping to their fight earlier. They didn’t need to know even if it was obvious from the constant noise of skin slapping against skin, on Max’s groans, of the sudden quiet turned muffled cries and dragged out moans. Max was fucking him good, so good.

After a particularly perfectly angled thrust he still tries to act like a sassy kitten. “Fuck you!” He tries to sound angry but he sounds soft and breathless, almost pleading for more.

And it looks like Max gets him like no one else does. “Don’t worry I’m planning to, a few more times until you calm down and forget to use your phone when you really shouldn’t.”

———————

I’ll upload this to AO3 later. 😊 let me know if you liked it plssss! 🥰🥰🥰

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Pls Ari the amnesia!verse is literally killing me ITS SO GOOD! The angst… it’s everything!!! Desperately craving for more

Bruce watched, arms folded as Dick stood in the middle of your workshop. Half-finished projects lay waiting for you to come back when they were dry or the glue had set or when you got the hardware you realized you needed halfway through.

Drop cloths. A paint-spattered blue tooth speaker. A tall tool chest, a small heater for when it was cold. Artwork from little cousins and friends' kids on a corkboard. Aprons and a few family pictures- a space at the counter perfectly clear, dusted, and tidy. A tiny memorial to the grandparents who raised you- that you'd inherited the shop from after 5 grueling years of tending to your grandmother through cancer she just couldn't fight anymore.

He knew this, because Dick was talking. Trying to piece together that last week. The last day. Anything that might give them some clue. Some insight that the police had missed.

"Did she have any bad business deals, lately?"

Dick paused, thinking. "Not bad really," he said. "But-" He broke off and went to the tool chest, opening the top small drawer and pulling out the shop laptop- the one where you kept accounts and kept lists of inventory. "Someone," he said plugging it in, "Managed to sell her an actual fake a few months ago."

"Replicas aren't that-" But the Sherriff didn't get to finish that though.

"Not a replica," Dick said shaking his head. "A fake. It had papers and everything. At first, she just kinda wrote it off... Guns aren't really her thing, you know? She's got a buddy. Will Cole-"

"Good guy," The Sherriff intoned to Bruce, by way of explaination. "Does War reenactments. Never knew a guy to get more mad about improper plaement of buttons on a coat-"

"Right," Dick said nodding. "She usually takes Will with her if she's gonna go look at guns. But she was in a hurry and figured if it was bull shit she'd just make something out of it and eat the cost."

"And this was a fake?" The Sherriff prompted, watching Dick put in the password. Not realizing he was also copying the entire hard drive to Tim.

"Yeah," Dick said nodding, "And this wasn't the only one. She kept running into a bunch of fakes. Guns. Paintings. Jewelry- stuff. When she found it, she bought it. At first I thought she ran out of storage space when she started putting odds and ends in the basement-"

Bruce raised an eyebrow and looked around at the workshop in askance and Dick smiled a little, "Furniture takes up a lot of space. Sometimes when she buys things she doesn't have floor space for it right away so she inventories it and stores it in the garage- or the basement if it needs something with more temperature control."

When Bruce nodded, Dick stepped back to show the file he pulled up to the Sherriff, "I don't know what she thought was happening, but she started marking what she bought, where, and who was selling it in that spreadsheet. I think she was noting the information from the paperwork too, but I don't know here she was keeping that-"

The sherriff nodded, "Son, I'm gonna have to get your prints and we're gonna have to get forensics in here to-"

"Whatever you need," Dick said earnestly, wondering if Bruce was going to have Babs process whatever they found again. The Sherriff was a good guy. But this was above his pay grade and Dick wanted his Honey home. Preferably yesterday.

[baronessblixen]

prompt: A is picking up takeout from a restaurant and see B on a date, B excuses themself to say hi to sad looking A

Set in late(r) season 6, Scully is on yet another date...

Fictober Day 12 | Tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022 | Wc: 1,275

What We Think We Want

“And then I said – can you guess what I said, Dana?” The man sitting opposite her is looking at her with wide eyes and an expectant expression. Has he noticed that she isn’t listening anymore? For that to be true, he’d have to be self-aware and Scully very much doubts that he is. She puts on a fake smile and humors him.

“No, I can’t,” she says, trying to sound interested, her voice high and squeaky.

“This is the best story,” he says. “You’re gonna love it. So, listen, I said…” And Scully zones out. Why did she think this was a good idea? She met George while picking up dry cleaning for her mother. Now, looking back on it, she wonders if her mother had maybe planned the whole thing.

George is exactly the kind of man she’d set her up with. A devoted church-goer in his late 30s, who visits his mother once a week, volunteers in the animal shelter and is financially stable as an accountant. On paper, he sounds perfect. Across from her, he’s just plain boring. There’s nothing there. No spark. No interest whatsoever. A few times she’s had to stifle a yawn. This is her first date in… she doesn’t even remember. It must be years. Maybe there are new rules she needs to learn.

But not with George.

He waves his fork around, barely getting a bite in. Scully, who hasn’t said much since they sat down an hour ago, has finished her whole plate. As she watches him, she wonders how rude it would be to fake an emergency call. Or lie that she has to get up early tomorrow. Anything to get her out of here. With how this date is going, she’s not sure she ever wants to go on another one. Maybe next decade.

Scully rests her chin on her hand and pretends to be listening. George just laughed, so she does, too. The fake sound hurts her own ears. Her date doesn’t even notice and just keeps going. Her eyes wander about the restaurant. Most people here look happy, or at least not miserable.

How did this happen? When did she lose interest in dating? Or is it just because George is so boring? She should do a field study on it, date more men. Two dates in the last five or six years don’t exactly make her an expert. She thinks about Mulder, how she once told him that she’d like to have a life besides their work.

Now here she is, wishing he’d call and whisk her away to a crime scene or to hunt a mutant.

“That was funny, wasn’t it?” George asks her with apple-red cheeks.

“Very,” Scully lies, taking a sip from her water.

“Now tell me a funny story from your life.”

“Um,” she says, trying to come up with something. Would he think a man who can control the weather is funny? Or her delivering a baby in a storm while a sea monster was loose? Probably not. “My life isn’t very funny.”

“Too bad,” George says, touching her hand. “I’ll tell you another one of mine then.” While George goes on another monologue, Scully continues her people-watch. At first, she isn’t sure if she’s imagining it, or if it’s real. If he’s real. Over there at the counter, where they give out takeout orders, is a face she knows well.

Mulder.

She watches the man for a moment, moving her head this way and that whenever someone steps into her line of sight. The longer she looks at him, the surer she is. It’s Mulder. What gives her pause is his body language. He’s leaning against the counter, his eyes cast downward. His hands are in his pockets and he shuffles his feet.

Unlike her, he doesn’t look around. Knowing how naturally curious he is, she wonders why that is. Everything about him screams melancholy and her own body answers his silent call, needing to know why he’s here, wanting to be close to him.

“I’m sorry, George,” she says, interrupting him. She’s not really sorry, but he doesn’t need to know that. “I see a friend of mine over there,” she says, pointing to where Mulder is standing at the counter. “I’m just going to say hi, okay? Excuse me.” Before George can say anything, she’s up and walking towards Mulder. Her lips curl upwards into her first real smile today.

“Hey you,” she says when she reaches him, touching his arm. He startles, turning to her. His expression softens, but the wistfulness she caught from her table lingers.

“What are you doing here?” She asks him, trying not to sound too excited about seeing him.

“Picking up food,” he says with a shrug.

“I didn’t know you liked their food.”

“Thought I’d try something new.” Another shrug. “You’re enjoying yourself?” He asks, pressing the words through his teeth with difficulty.

“To be honest,” Scully says, making sure George doesn’t suddenly appear behind her. “I haven’t been this bored since our last budget meeting.”

“Oh, that was so boring,” he says, now grinning at her. “Why did you go on a date with him in the first place?”

“Is that why you’re here? You could have asked me that at work.”

“I’m here to pick up my takeout order,” he says, and she raises an eyebrow. “I swear I am.”

“I hate to ask, but…”

“You can ask me anything, Scully,” Mulder assures her with a soft voice.

“I-,” she starts but is cut off by someone slapping down a brown paper bag on the counter.

“Order for Mudder!” He says, disappearing to the back of the restaurant.

“That’s me,” Mulder says, peeking into the bag. “Looks good. See? My order.”

“Hm, yeah, I see.” What she sees is that Mulder has never been to this restaurant. Unless he’s frequenting places without her. Considering how often they’re on the road, she can’t imagine it. This means that the reason he’s here is that he knew she would be here, too. With George.

“Want to go back to your date? He looks- well, he does look boring.”

“Mulder, I don’t want to go back to that table. I never should have said yes to this date.”

“Why did you?” His voice is soft, downright hurt.

“I thought- I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know if you know this, Mulder, but I haven’t been on a date in a while.”

He nods, saying, “I know you want a life away from the madness that is our work.”

“I love that madness,” she admits, looking at him. He’s staring back at her, seemingly thinking about something. “Mulder… take me with you.”

“What?” He laughs.

“Take me with you,” she repeats. “I can’t go back there.” Ditching George means she will have to find a new dry cleaner, too. But it’s worth it.

“Are you sure?” Mulder asks her. “You won’t regret it?” There’s an implication in his question she’s not ready to pick up on. Not here, while the whiff of George lingers in the air.

“Yes, I’m sure. No regrets, Mulder.” What she would regret is staying here and letting Mulder go. Her partner who doesn’t bore her, who asks her opinions, and who knows her better than she probably knows herself.

Another thought dawns on her as she glances up at Mulder. What was it that she said in Kroner about flicked switches? She doesn’t get to dwell on it, because in the next moment Mulder grabs his takeout, her hand, and then they run outside like a couple of teenagers, laughing.

[chunyaowo]

chapter 3 (I'm bad at giving chapter names-)

----------------------------------------------Hello and welcome to the third chapter of my fanfiction!! To be honest, I'm not really happy with most of the chapter, but of some scenes I'm actually pretty proud of. Also, I think I'm gonna go into a little break again since writings block is hitting me again :'D hope you're having fun with the third chapter tho!!

✑ originally posted on my Ao3 account --------------------------

Eveland-senpai? you mean Ike-kun?''

Wait a second… Pomu knows Eveland-Senpai? And she's calling him by his first name too? Are they friends?

You turned your head towards Pomus face..

''You know him, Pomu?''

''Of course I know him, we're friends since middle school.''

You paused.

''Since middle school? But I've never seen you guys talking with eachother?''

Pomu narrowed her eyes. ''Of course you've seen him, but you mustn't had paid any attention to him. I've greeted him several times in the corridor.''

''Oh… oops'' You scratched your back head

"Anyways, does everything else went okay?"

"Oh yeah, everyone is really nice actually!"

You told Pomu about all the other stuff that had happened.

One month has passed now since you joined the writing club. when the club has had officially ended for everyone, you always stayed there for a bit longer, to share your works with Ike. Ike was always willing to give you tips and tricks to improve your writings. He always sounded so passionate about writing. Everytime Ike started talking about something he is passionate about, you could see his eyes light up and hearing his voice sounding full of enthusiasm.

"See, and if you do that, it will give your texts more constructure."

"Ahh, I get it! Thank you Eveland-senpai for always helping me out and stuff."

You were just seeing Ikes corner of his mouth rising up.

"Of course, I love to help and I want to make sure that everyone is having the best time that they can."

Ike was always very considerate, not only towards you, but also to those around you.

flashback A week before

"I just felt a bit overwhelmed."

You were walking around the corridor, seeing Ike speaking with a familiar guy.

“Hmm? Wait isn't that the guy who I bumped into on my first day at the writing club and is that… Eveland-senpai?!”

"I'm sorry for being so quiet earlier, it meant a lot that you were speaking up for me."

Ike just shook his head in disagreement.

"I really understand how it feels not to be heard, and people just talking over you. I just really wanted to make you feel that you're not alone and be heard."

You didn't wanted to eavesdrop, but you just couldn't ignore what you saw.

"Thanks man…"

You were seeing tears falling down on this mysterious guys cheeks, while both of them hugged eachother in a warm embrace. Your lips formed into a little smile as you went off, not knowing what happened next. You just wanted them to have their own little moment and be alone.

Ike has always been like that, wanting to make sure everyone is having a good time, even if it meant that he's not feeling well. Putting others feelings before his own ones. A so called “people pleaser” in this generation.

"Earth to Y/N? Hey!"

"Hm? Oh, Sorry"

"Daydreaming, huh?"

You're letting out a nervous chuckle.

"I'm Sorry Eveland-senpai."

"There's no need to apologize for, is maybe something bothering you lately? If you ever need someone to talk to, then you can always count on me. I'm always willing to listen.”

Your eyes were locked with Ike’s, his voice sounded concerning, you could even see his forehead looking a bit puckered.

"I'm fine, no worries! Thank you for worrying about me."

You turned your gape off and smiled.

"There is no need to thank me, really."

All of a sudden, both of you just heard a little knock on the door.

Who could that be? The club has had officially ended, there shouldn't be anyone coming at this time.

With curious eyes, you and Ike just stared at the door opening itself, revealing a familiar looking person behind it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I bothering you?"

It was Pomu, a dear friend of the both of you.

Ike's lips escaped a warm smile after seeing Pomu entering the library.

"Hey Pomu, great to see you! And not at all, we wanted to call it a day for now. Anyways, what brings you up here?"

"I actually was quite worried about Y/N since they neither replied to my messages, nor my calls. And we actually wanted to go shopping with friends after the club activities."

You suddenly dropped your pen and started to blink in disbelief.

"Is it already this late?? I'm so so sorry!"

You clapped your hands together, to show forgiveness. After that, you stood up as fast as you could and went to Pomu.

"Thank you for today, Eveland-senpai!  And sorry for the circumstances."

"Nonsense, don't worry about it and I hope you guys are having a fun time together!"

You and Pomu finally arrived now at your meeting spot to meet up with your friends Finana and Elira. 

Elira raised up her voice a little bit in excitement as she saw both of you approaching them.

 "Pomu, Y/N nice to see you guys!"

"Nice to see you guys too! Oh, and sorry for being a bit late…" you replied while scratching the back of your head for a bit.

''Don't worry about it, we were also a bit late to be honest, but hey what do you guys think of getting some coffee or in general some beverage? How does that sound?''

All of you were agreeing to Eliras suggestion and enjoyed their time in a nice comfy café that Elira picked out. Everyone had a great time, you guys were chit chatting, laughing and just had a fun time with eachother.

After leaving the café, you all decided to go for a little shopping tour through the city. You were glancing at the windows from various shops, but as all of a sudden you stopped at one specific item at a window that had caught your eye. 

Finana stopped as she turned her head around, sensing that you're not beside her anymore.

“Y/N, is everything okay?”

You turned your head back towards Finana’s direction, as soon as you heard her voice.

“Oh, yeah, don't worry!” You quickly went to Finana and caught up with Elira and Pomu again to continue the shopping tour.

The next day arrived as you were sitting in the writing club again, as all of a sudden Ike wanted to discuss something.

"So everyone, I have an announcement to make."

Everyone was really surprised by it, wondering what this announcement could be.

“What do you guys think about going to the cinema as a club activity? The book 'My Belongings' is getting a real life adaption! I don't know if you all read it, but I thought it would be fun to go as a club! Oh, and it’s on my credit card account by the way!" Ike chuckled slightly.

Everyone was very excited to hear about the suggestion, that Ike made.

"Oh, 'My Belongings' ? I love that book, it's such a well written horror book! Reimu said.

"I dont know that book, but it sounds really fun!" Aia replied.

Everyone agreed and was excited to watch the movie together, even those who haven't read the book. So do you.

"It’s settled then!"

Ike clapped his hands together.

"Okay! Does everyone have time on Saturday evening next week?"

Ike was planning all the things for the movie next week. You were really looking forward to it and of course told Pomu of it.

"A movie, and then out of Ike-kuns wallet? That sounds fun! I hope you're having a great time there!"

"Thank you Pomu! I haven’t read it, but I'm really excited to watch it with everyone! But this would be the first time seeing them in casual looks, and not in school uniforms, that is kinda new, but I'm really curious how everyone's gonna look like."

"Oh, I get that! I know that Ike-kun has a really nice taste of fashion."

"Oh?" You tilted your head a bit to the side.

"Well, you will witness it next week." Pomu let out a little chuckle.

The day of the club activity meeting has arrived, you were really early because you didn't want to come as late as usual, but it seems like you weren't the first one who showed up.

Your eyes are attached to someone with a big long white coat, yellow chains, who's attached to the glasses, and brown hair where the tips are fading into a blue-ish tone. His eyelashes were pretty long and his eyes wandered off to the small tiny book he's holding in his hand, right in front of you.

Is that… Eveland-senpai? Pomu wasn’t lying at all when she said that he has a great fashion style..

"Uhm, hey Eveland-senpai!"

Ikes gaze wandered off of his book and his eyes were directed at yours. As soon as he saw you, a little smile formed on his lips.

"Hello Y/N-san, nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too! Uh, Eveland-senpai." You paused before continuing speaking.

"Your fashion style is amazing, it’s really unique which I very like! The scarf and the coat and also the heels! Do you wear them often?"

Ike’s corner of the mouth turned upwards again. It was a sincere and grateful  smile.

"Thank you. It makes me really happy to hear you think so. To answer your question, I wear them pretty often in my free time. Oh and also, your outfit looks very charming too, I like the colors you chose, it matches your eye color perfectly. Oh and also.''

Ike pointed with his finger on your bag.

''That pin that you have on your bag is new, right? It looks really cute.''

The pin on your bag was a white little floof ball with a small blue feather attached to their head.

You slowly placed your hand on your chest and returned Ike's smile with equal sincerity.

''Thank you, and yes it-''

"Hey!"

 Unexpectedly, you hear voices approaching you, which belonged to the other people from the writing club.

"I'm really excited for the movie, I can't wait!" Reimu said with a broad grin.

You turned your head around, and were seeing how pretty everyone was. All of them had a unique style, which represented their own personality.

“Great, everyone's here now! let's go in and buy some snacks and get the tickets now, shall we?”

Ike and everyone else were heading towards the entrance, getting their tickets and popcorn.

''Dude, popcorn these days got so expensive.'' Ike let out a depressing sigh while holding the popcorn in his hands that he bought for everyone.

''Well, your fault Eveland, you said it goes on your wallet.'' Reimu laughed insidious.

''Hey! And how many times have I told you that you can call me Ike?''

''I just like your last name!''

Ike just let out another sigh, while everyone else started laughing.

''Wait guys, what about the seat order? Doesn't the movie start soon?'' Aia tilted her head a little to the side at the same time as asking.

''Oh, right.''

Ike pulled out the tickets right out of his pockets.

"Hm, let's see…  Fulgur is right on the left side. Besides him sits Aia, after Aia sits Reimu, then Y/N and last but not least, me, Alright!"

Everyone headed towards the cinema hall and was looking for their seat.

Fulgurs mouth escaped a happy sigh after taking a seat. "I'm really curious how the movie will be since the book was already really well written."

"Right?!?!" Reimu spoke up as soon as she heard Fulgur talking about the book.

All the lights turned off now and the movie finally began.

“Ahh~ I'm really excited for the movie, you too L/N-san? Ike turned his head torwards your face”

“Mhm!” you nodded.

The movie was really catchy, it had it's own style and they weren't joking when they said there was a lot of gore in it. You were hoping that no jumpscares appear, since you're not very fond of those kind of things, yet…

"WHAAAA!"

You started flinching and screaming after the first jumpscare appeared.

Ike was really concerned because of your scream, and turned his head towards yours with his lips turned downwards.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, no worries I just really dislike jumpscares, they're not really my cup of tea."

"I'm not very fond of them either, but it's okay, it's gone now." Ike spoke in a calm and soothing voice to help you calm down.

Swiftly, another jumpscare appeared and you heard a loud shriek right out of Ike's mouth.

"WHAAAA"

"Hm? who was the one who said everything's okay?!"

"I ACTUALLY DON' T SCREAM AT JUMPSCARES BUT THAT WAS SOMETHING ELSE"

''AND YOU WANTED TO COMFORT ME EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE A COMPLETE MESS WITH JUMPSCARES?''

''I USUALLY DON'T GET SCARED THAT BAD''

''YOU'RE A LIAR!''

'' I AM NOT!!!''

It got silent for a bit, as both of you just glanced at eachother and started laughing together. You leaned yourself into the seat again. Thanks to Ike you could calm yourself again, but it didn't take long until you freaked out once again. 

After another jumpscare appeared, Ike's gaze wandered off to you again. He noticed that your hands were shaking a bit after the jumpscare.

"Hey, L/N-san, are you okay? 

You just nodded and avoided eye contact while your face is looking pale with trembling features.

Ike gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking up again.

"Do you… might want to come a little bit closer and take my hand? It could be a bit relieving to do that. I've read the book so sometimes I could tell whenever another jumpscare appears, and let you know. It's okay."

"Huh?"

You were silent for a second.  

Maybe not, it-

As you wanted to respond to Ike's question, a  scream came out right from the movie, which let out a shiver run down your spine.

''OKAY I CHANGED MY MIND, THIS MOVIE IS FREAKING THE HECK OUT OF ME!''

Ike just smiled warmly while slowly reaching his hand out to you, inviting your hand to connect with his.

You hesitated for a second, but came closer with your hand to Ike's. Gliding down your fingers onto his palm, Intertwining eachothers hands. You felt his fingertips connecting with yours, and the warmth of his hands on top of yours. The touch of his soft skin sends a warm feeling through your body. It felt so warm, so comfortable. Not wanting his hand to let go, by any moment. You were just treasuring the moment you had with Ike.

Ike's face was a bit covered with a shade of pink, like the cherry blossom trees that are blossoming outside and so do you.

As soon as another jumpscare appeared, Ike started to gently caress your hand. Gliding down with his thumb along your fingers, making sure there's nothing to be scared of.

"Its okay, I'm here. If you're scared, then feel free to squeeze my hand as much as you like."

With every touch of Ike, you started to feel a kind of warmness inside of your body.

You didn’t know why you’re feeling this way, but you knew one thing for sure: You wanted to stay like this as long as possible.

During the movie you and Ike exchanged eachothers opinions about the movie. It was a really great time and it was so much fun as well.

I'm so glad that I got the chance to sit next to Eveland-senpai. It's so much fun..

As Reimu turned her head a bit to the side, a small smile appeared on her lips.

"Awww"

Selen turned her head towards Reimus direction. "What the… Reimu, I knew that you really like horror movies, but that you find them cute is a tad too much…"

"No, just look at them!"

Reimu pointed her index finger towards you and Ike.

"Aww, okay now I get you."

After the film ended, everyone went outside and exchanged eachothers opinions about the movie.

''The movie was… something else.“ Selen said while looking dead inside.

Fulgur just giggled. ''You're not really good with horror, are you?''

A sly smirk appeared on Reimus face after she tilted her head to Ike and your direction. ''Well, I know someone else who is not really good with horror.''

Ike snapped after realizing that he was caught and cleared his throat. 

''Uhm, anyways let us discuss how the movie was another time in the writing club, we will have a more quieter environment there. Thank you everyone for sharing the experience with me,see you all on monday!

"Eveland, wait!"

Reimu made her way quickly to Ike as she whispered something into his ear. Ike remained speechless for a bit while his face turned into a deep red shade.

"GODDAMMIT, REIMU CEASE THIS!!"

Reimus lips formed into a sly smirk as she went off while giggling to herself.

"Dang it. I shouldn't think about it too much." Ike sighed while shaking his head.

''Eveland-Senpai!''

''Hm?''

ike turned his head around, seeing you standing right in front of him.

''Thank you for being so kind earlier, you know, letting me hold your hand and stuff.''

You started bowing to show your gratitude to Ike.

After seeing you bowing, Ike's mouth escaped a little chuckle.

''It's not a big deal, I just wanted to make sure you're okay.

Ike truly is a considerate person, he is always so kind towards other people and is always making sure that everyone is feeling well.

''You're really kind.'' you said with a more quiet voice

''…Hm?''

You started to wave your hands.

''Nothing, see you on monday, Eveland-senpai!''

''…''

Ikes lips once again shaped into another sweet and genuine smile.

''Yeah, see you on monday.''

To be continued.

[floralflorence]

POV: A moment of tenderness between Leo and Reg makes ignoring their feelings much more complicated for the four of them. PT.2

@rueful-witch - sorry for the long wait my darling <3

After grabbing the bags of things they'd bought from the farmers market prior to the almost-kiss in the car, Leo hip-bumped the door open, using his back to hold it open so Reg could head in.

"Thanks," he smiled softly as he went past, delicately holding two brown paper bags in his hands. They both chuckled softly when yells sounded from the living room, entering it to see Logan and Finn with their back against the sofa as their fingers swiftly skimmed the buttons of their controllers, their shoulders nudging each other even while they wheezed out laughs.

"Who's winning?" Leo joked from behind them.

Without turning, they both let out happy exclamations that he was home before asking about his day.

"How was your date with Mr. Handsome, Dark and Handsome?" Finn giggled, eyes roving across the screen quickly as Logan's avatar ran towards him.

"Handsome dark and handsome huh?" Reg laughed, glad the room was fairly dusky on account of the quickly setting sun. Their heads swung round with a snap, both sets of eyes lingering on him for a moment before bright grins spread across their faces as they said their hellos.

"Are you two alright to pause that for a minute? Need to talk to you about something." Leo's face showed them that the 'something' was important so Logan flicked the pause button and they stood, following Leo and Reg into the kitchen to put the bags down.

"Is... everything okay?" Logan ventured to ask, the way Reg was intently not meeting Leo's eye when he helped him put down the armful of bags without dropping everything. He hopped up onto the counter, green eyes concerned as he anxiously swung his legs back and forth.

"Everything's fine, baby," Leo instantly stepped to reassure him, hands stroking along his thighs as he stood between them. He pecked his lips twice softly, waiting until Logan had stopped fidgeting to turn to Finn and Reg, talking in hushed tones a few feet away. Staying between Logan's legs just now with his back to his chest, Leo mumbled a soft 'hey' and nodded his head to gesture for them to come over. "Ça va?"

With a small nod and his eyes trained on Leo's nose rather than his eyes, Reg flushed darkly, no longer hidden due to the white lights of the kitchen, when Leo's knuckle gently bumped underneath his chin to prompt him to look at him properly. His question was in his eyes as he raised a brow at him.

"I-" Reg laughed embarrassedly, wiping his sleeve across his face as if to try and scrub his blush off. "I still feel guilty."

They had discussed this in the car on the way home, Leo assuring Reg that there was absolutely no need to feel bad for what almost happened.

"Regie, I know that usually it's a bad thing but we don't really do conventional if you hadn't noticed."

Reg let out a snort of laughter at the cheeky smile on Leo's face as he spoke. "Yeah, yeah okay that's pretty fair."

"Can someone catch us up, please. I wanna know why we're laughing," Finn whined, pouting at being left out the joke.

"I had a panic attack at the market- I'm fine," he rushed to say as Logan and Finn turned to him with worry obscuring their features. "But, uh, Leo was calming me down and he was close and, um..."

"Did you kiss him?" Finn asked, always the one to spare Reg the struggle of trying to find words he didn't have.

"Almost but no."

"Regie, don't feel bad for something that almost happened," Logan mumbled, sad at Reg being so on edge about something so small - they wanted to be a safe space for him where he doesn't have to worry and stress about little things.

"I just... when that something is almost kissing your boyfriend, of course I'm gonna feel bad."

"Love, we wouldn't have minded if you did," Finn said with a soft laugh, freezing when he realised what he'd said. "Um, I meant like... oh wow there's really no way to back-pedal that one," he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck with a forced laugh.

"Leo already told me that, don't worry, Harzy," Reg stroked a gentle hand up his arm, looking at him softly, feeling bad at how uncomfortable he looked. When Finn's eyes moved from his face to look down at the thumb Reg had stroking circles into his bicep, Reg mumbled under his breath and stepped back, eyes trained again on the floor.

"Wait, you told him that we wouldn't mind if you kissed him?" Logan whispered into Leo's ear while this interaction was happening, continuing when Leo nodded in response. "So... he knows we all have feelings for him then?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Turning his attention back to the pair of them in time to see Reg scramble back, he decided to get everyone on the same page. "So, we figured Regie could stay over for a movie night and then we could talk about, you know, everything tomorrow, when we've all got some sleep."

"If that's okay?" Reg added in a small, uncertain voice.

"'Course it's alright. It's a great idea." Finn instantly reassured him, grinning brightly at him in a way that made Reg almost nauseous as his stomach somersaulted violently.

Within a few minutes, they'd put away all the bits from the market and helped Leo get everything out that he needed to make dinner. After finally complying with Leo's laughed requests to go sit down and let him cook, Logan and Finn unpaused their game after Reg assured them he was fine with watching - he liked watching them play actually but he'd never admit that. Reg sat with with his back pressed into the corner of the sofa, knees up to his chest as he lay his chin on his arms and watched, cheering one or the other on whenever they won a round and consoling whoever lost.

Halfway through their third round, Reg shuffled forwards to grab a blanket from the folded stack they kept on the footstool, slipping out his favourite and fluffing it open. He wrapped it around his shoulders, the size of it meaning it could cover his whole body. A few minutes later, Leo walked in from the kitchen, flopping down on the sofa and stretching out his legs, hooking his ankles as his heels rested against the floor.

"It's just gotta cook for about forty minutes then dinner shall be served."

Logan ended up winning the round, leaving him in the lead between Finn and himself and passed off the controller to Leo to 'give Harzy a chance'.

"Cold, Regie? The heating should be on." Logan asked as he and Leo swapped places.

"Not really, this blanket's just comfy."

"I'm not surprised," he chuckled. "'Regie's blanket'," he added with a smile, almost an afterthought.

Humming in a wordless question as to what that meant, his heart raced when Logan looked almost sheepish.

"You're the only one that touches that one. We just call it yours."

Reg smiled, the thought that there was something in their house that was purely his despite their house having so much foot traffic being 'the party house' making him almost stupidly giddy. With a soft, endearing smile at Reg's bashful flush, Lo turned his attention back to the game so as to not make him uncomfortable. He had to desperately try to withold an outright yell when he felt Reg shuffle slightly before apparently hyping himself up enough to complete the action and lying his temple against the curve of Lo's shoulder. With a quick press of his cheek against the curls at the top of his head to reciprocate the touch and, in part, to reassure himself that he was actually there, Logan felt his hands shake as his heart pounded when Reg then snuggled a bit closer, now knowing the touch was welcome.

After breathing a shallow breath so he didn't unsettle Reg's comfortable position too much, Logan composed himself and reached an arm up to wrap around Reg's shoulders, his fingers stroking along the bare expanse of Reg's bicep underneath his shirt sleeve. He calmed when Reg made no move to get away from him, keeping his eyes trained on the screen, afraid that eye contact would make him bolt. Keeping his movements slow and gentle as though he was trying not to startle a frightened animal, Logan drew small patterns that dipped in and out of the divets of muscle in Reg's arm. He did freeze, however, when Reg shuddered notably against him.

"Bien?"

"Oui, ma famille n'était pas particulièrement câline," Reg joked back, letting out a soft breath when Logan just pulled him in closer in response. "This is nice," he whispered.

"Ouais. You smell like fruit," Lo mused, laughing too when Reg snorted, thanking him for what he hoped was a compliment.

After a while, Finn leaned back to ask Logan if he wanted to switch out with him but paused when he saw Reg lying comfortably against Logan's side, eyes closed as Lo's fingers ran through his hair. With Reg not looking at him, Logan had taken to opportunity to admire him, his own eyes trained intently on the contours of his face. Considering Logan looked very comfortable where he was, Finn turned back to the TV, nudging Leo's leg with his foot and nodding his head at the pair with a smile. His grin widened when Leo's whole face softened, his eyes flicking from them to Finn before he leaned in for a kiss, Finn returning it happily.

Leo always kissed slow and soft whenever he was all mushy like this - Finn's favourite kisses - making him grumble when Leo pulled away.

"Quoi?" Leo wondered with a smile.

"Wanna kiss you."

With a confused cock of his head, Leo answered. "You did just kiss me."

Finn shook his head softly. "Kiss you, kiss you." He kept his voice low, the noises from the TV mostly covering it. After a quick glance at Reg to make sure he was still relaxed against Logan's side and not paying attention to them, Leo put his controller down, gently sliding Finn's from his hands. "Don't look at me like that," he scolded softly.

"Like what?" Leo mumbled, eyes trained on Finn's lips, his thumb skimming over Finn's bottom lip. With a fierce blush, Finn reached over to thump a hand against Leo's shoulder, mumbling 'like that' as he did. Not moving a muscle from Finn's hand, Leo instead grabbed his waist, pulling him into him before rolling them over, Finn now lying on his back underneath Leo. He held his chin, leaning down to kiss him deeply, Finn's back arching up into it slightly.

Leo's hand slid from his chin down his body to his chest and torso, fanning his fingers and feeling along the ridges of him as he did. They glided down to his side, sliding down until the tips of his fingers could slide under the hem of his tank, stroking along his skin before squeezing, his thumb running over the edge of his defined V-line. Failing at his aim to try not to smile into his mouth, Leo hummed happily at the needy sound that came from Finn's chest.

With a pout when Finn pulled away, Leo hummed again, questioningly.

"Believe it or not," Finn began, his tone dripping with playful sarcasm, "having you on top of me turns me on and I think it's a bit soon for us to be grinding on the floor in front of Regie, don't you?" He made sure to drop his voice for the last part, simultaneously allowing him to keep his voice from reaching Reg's ears and making it low and flirty to tease Leo just because. With a less than enthusiastic but nevertheless agreeing noise, Leo pressed one last deep kiss to his lips before sitting back up, Finn following suit. They both looked back to Reg, glad to see him sat with his eyes closed, still more than happy to remain cuddled under Logan's arm.

Logan, however, was in a less than content state, staring almost obsessively at the picture they had propped on one of the many bookcases in the living room of himself and his parents and grandparents. With a look that was nothing short of completely baffled at his behaviour, Leo questioningly looked at Finn who was quite literally dying with laughter and doing his best to be quiet. After a very pointed look down at Logan's crotch, Leo realised and, too, began muffling laughs behind his sleeve.

"Désole, mon coeur," Leo whispered, trying his best to look sincere but laughing harder when Logan just answered with a tense 'mhm'. The grey sweats he had on, because, really, it's his luck that they'd be grey, made concealing his half-hard cock impossible, making him instead opt for praying Reg stayed half-asleep while he thought of how ashamed his mom would be of him in an attempt to will his boner down.

Logan, genuinely, could have cried when Reg shuffled in his doze, the loud noise the video game made when they began playing again startling him slightly. He kept his eyes closed though and just tugged his blanket more securely around his shoulders, leaning more into Lo's side. That was all fine, Logan loved that actually, more than happy to have the dark-haired boy snuggled as close up to him as he could get. That was until Reg repositioned the way his cheek was pressed against his shoulder, moving it to he was more leaning into Logan's chest and collarbone, his nose lightly bumping against the side of Lo's neck, his breaths wafting over the sensitive skin there.

An internal battle raged inside Logan: torn between the growing hardness between his legs at having the boy he had a very giant crush on close to him like this and also at the same time feeling extremely guilty that his body was reacting to him like this. If they'd talked and set everything out there, it'd be different, he'd know Reg's feelings extended to him and not just Leo. At that moment, he decided to not focus on what the hell they'd do if that actually happened and instead turned his attention to Reg.

He'd liked it when he began petting his hair so he continued that, stroking his fingers from the tips to the back of his head, dipping down to lightly scratch along the back of his neck before moving back up again.

Did that fair well for Logan? Of course not. He vehemently cursed his apparently very unlucky stars after he'd regained function of himself.

When his nails had lightly grazed the hair at the base of Reg's neck, the other man had let out a soft, involuntary sound; a soft huff of air expelled from his nose as he whimpered low in his throat.

Midway through a rant in his head about why today of all days was the day he cashed in any bad karma, the timer for the food beeped loudly from the kitchen. For what felt like the millionth time in about ten minutes, Logan could've cried. He got distracted from that though when he looked down at Reg and saw him quickly moving away from Logan, fully awake now.

"Sorry, I guess I was more tired than I realised," he mumbled, rubbing the fabric of the blanket between his fingers.

"Don't worry, Regie. I didn't mind, I promise."

He looked up at him, smiling shyly. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Logan paused for a moment, a gentle smile on his features. "C'mon, let's eat," he said finally, heading to the kitchen with Reg following on his heels.

They ate happily, chatting back and forth in a way that made them all realise that this, their innate comfortability with one another, really gave their friendship no other choice than to end up here. It was when Reg was helping Finn collect the plates off the table and load them into the dishwasher that he realised he was less than excited to wait another evening before they finally spoke about it.

"Hey," Reg began as they all crowded onto the sofa, Leo flicking through what films were available for them to waste the evening with. "If it's okay, could we... talk tonight? Now?"

The three looked over at him, silent for a moment before they all voiced agreements; Leo leaving on a random channel and turning down the volume until it was just background noise.

"I, uh, didn't really get this far when I thought about all this," Reg admitted in a soft voice. He was sat back in the corner of the sofa, knees tucked up to his chest as his arms wrapped around them just so he didn't have to worry about what to do with his hands. Finn was sat at his feet, centimetres away from him as Leo and Logan sat by Reg's side. Leo had Logan tucked under his arm, Finn's feet stretched across the gap to lie in his lap.

A gentle hand cupped his cheek, thumb stroking softly underneath his eye. "Love, there's no right or wrong way to talk about it. Don't stress, say or ask whatever you want and we'll do the same, yeah?" It was Leo, of course, he seemed to have an affinity for making his whole body seemingly explode from the inside but, to be fair to him, Logan and Finn weren't exactly innocent of that either. Reg looked up to meet his gaze, his eyes wide but excited.

"You know, the last time you did this, I almost kissed you," Reg said, leaning into the touch nonetheless.

A smirk quirked Leo's lips. "Can't blame a guy for trying." Reg broke his gaze as his eyes rolled heartlessly, a shy smile creeping across his face despite him trying to cover it.

"Well, I don't really think it's gonna be a shock but I... have feelings for you. All of you. Pretty much have done since we met if I'm honest," he laughed shyly, mostly at himself being so embarrassed to admit it. "I know that Knutty feels something for me too but I'm not sure about you." The question was in the statement as Reg briefly looked at Finn then Logan then back at his socked feet against the sofa cushion.

"I like you too, Regie, of course." Finn looked ecstatic as he replied, the grin that earned him the nickname 'Heartthrob O'Hara' bright on his face. "How could I not?" He looked at Reg with such obvious adoration on his face that Reg's courage seemed to crawl out from wherever it had hidden behind his butterflies. Before he could think better of it, Reg scooted forwards a bit and leaned to brush a kiss to the dimple in his cheek, his hand coming to cup the other side of his face.

His lips lingered on his skin, only moving back about a centimetre when he finally pulled away. Finn turned his head a fraction so the tips of their noses brushed; his soft brown eyes staring into grey. They brushed again when Finn tipped his head up, his hand reaching to hold the back of Reg's head and lightly guide his head to tilt down. A gentle kiss was placed just below the middle of Reg's forehead: a place Reg knew he had the faintest freckle that even he could only really see in the mirror if he was looking for it.

He then realised that Logan hadn't moved, hadn't spoken, nothing. Swallowing desperately, feeling like his heart and his stomach were wrestling in his throat, Reg rested in the lingering feeling of Finn's lips before he shuffled back slightly, turning anxiously to Logan, looking at him expectantly. He'd planned to say something, he really had, but the words got tangled in his throat and refused to form.

Logan's head cocked the side slightly, confused as to why Reg was looking at him so fearfully but he caught on quickly.

"Oh love, no." Reg went pale. "No! Not no as in like no, no as in like yes I have feelings for you as well." Lo took a deep breath and smiled. "Of course I do. Have you met you?"

The admiration of his general person made Reg blush, smiling softly. "Good. That's good," he breathed a sigh of relief and laughed away the remnants of his fear. "Just a fair warning though, I've never.... done this before. Not properly anyway."

"You've never dated anyone before?" Finn asked. "Not to assume we're dating or anything!" he rushed out, realising he might be jumping the gun a little there.

Reg looked at them. "Well, I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to it."

"High praise," Leo deadpanned, the faintest hint of a smile quirking his features.

His sarcasm quickly faded when Reg leaned to kiss the very corner of his mouth. "You know what I meant," he said softly, looking up at Leo with a small smile.

Leo's tanned skin reddened ever so slightly as he audibly swallowed, looking off into a random corner while he tried to regain sense of what was up and what was down. Logan cackled, always happy to see the usual causer of blushes suffer the same fate they had to on a daily basis. Finn did the same then reached forwards to grasp Reg's hand between his, taking a deep dramatic breath and looking up to the ceiling with his eyes closed.

"Oh our dear Regie. Would you," he opened his eyes and looked at Reg, squeezing his hand and taking another breath just as dramatic as the last, "do us the honour and take us all as your boyfriends, partners, lovers?" he added a small eyebrow wiggle for effect. He burst out laughing when they all dissolved into giggles, Reg's laughing so hard he was silent, his eyes watering. He nodded as he did, his laughs slowing when he saw the three of them smile brightly at his acceptance.

When Leo pulled him into his side in a close cuddle, Reg went willingly, pretending to grunt with the weight when Finn flopped onto his chest, cheek pressed to it as he wrapped his arms around Reg's waist. Reg weaseled his own arm between Leo's back and the sofa, curling around Leo's other side before coming to rest against Logan's thigh, wanting to be touching all of them.

Reg let out a soft, content breath before he spoke. "Now that that's cleared up," there was a scatter of soft chuckles in response, "Yes, I have dated before, just never someone I actually liked. It was just girls that I got shoved with for appearances sake, you know?" Reg felt Finn's chest rumble against his torso as he hummed sympathetically.

"What were they like?" Leo's quiet voice asked. "The girls," he specified.

"Honestly... they hated it as much as I did. We did whatever we were told to in public then never really spoke otherwise. We were both just doing what our parents said we had to. There wasn't really anything else to it."

The three were silent for a few moments, mulling the information over before Leo pressed his lips to his temple, pulling away only to rest his forehead against his head. "You never have to do anything you don't want to now, yeah?"

"Je sais.''

They watched a few random movies, chatting mindlessly until they began interrupting themselves with yawns every few minutes. Heading up the stairs slowly, they brushed their teeth together, jokingly bumping each other out of the way of the sink. Reg finally got into bed, Logan's, technically, although the Cubs all slept in Finn's frankly abnormally large one. He was wrapped in one of Leo's hoodies, nuzzling deep into the warm fabric and breathing in the smell.

Although he fell asleep quickly, he was up a few hours later at a loud, creaking from the doorway, dazedly rolling over and sitting up, squinting at the face that lingered there before flicking on the bedside lamp. Lo's apologetic face swam into view, peering from under a mess of brown curls as he inched into the room, fiddling with the sweater paws made by Finn's too-big sweater. ''Désolé. Heard a noise, thought you were awake,'' he explained in a low whisper.

''Non, c'est bon.'' Reg patted the space on the bed next to him, shuffling over slightly.

Logan shuffled quietly into the room, a small smile on his face, settling next to Reg and smiling when Reg scooted up next to him, bumping his foot against Lo's. ''Real question is: why are you awake?'' Reg asked, looking over at Logan with soft eyes.

''Guess I'm just too happy to sleep,'' he mumbled, grinning when Reg had to try and muffle his laughs. He relented, however, when Reg nudged him again softly. ''I felt bad that you're alone in here.''

''I usually sleep in here when I stay.''

''Yeah but we aren't usually dating,'' Logan answered back, his excitement peaking just by saying it. ''Before, there was always a reason why you weren't cuddled up next to us in bed. Now, it just feels...icky.''

Reg couldn't hold in his laugh this time, leaning against Logan's side with a smile.

Faking offence, Logan scoffed lightly, turning to look at him. ''I'm admitting my pain at being apart from you and you're laughing? Rude.'' He only lasted a few seconds of hearing Reg's giggles muffled into his shoulder before he cracked, breaking into soft laughs as well. He wrapped an arm around Reg's shoulders and pulled him into him further, rolling them over so he was cuddled on top of him, face tucked into Reg's neck as their laughs faded.

Logan shuddered when he felt Reg begin peppering soft, slow kisses along his jaw, outright groaning when his teeth ghosted just under his ear. He leaned up, propped on one elbow so his face hovered over Reg's. His heart stuttered when Reg blinked up at him. Lo flicked his eyes from Reg's and down to his lips when Reg's tongue darted out across them quickly.

''Just so you know,'' Reg began in a soft tone, ''I'm definitely not above kicking you off your own bed if you don't kiss me in the next five seconds.''

Logan complied instantly. His other hand rose to lightly hold Reg's chin, tilting it up toward him as he pressed his lips to Reg's softly then firmer when the boy under him pushed up insistently. Sliding his hand underneath the hood to cup his cheek properly, Logan pressed close against Reg, lips moving against his smoothly. He pulled away after another few, desperate kisses, leaning his forehead against Reg's and sighing out a deep breath.

''Much better,'' Reg breathed, both of them chuckling softly into each other's mouths.

''Do you wanna come cuddle? If it's too much, that's fine,'' Logan reassured in a hushed whisper.

''Non, I want to.''

Logan grinned brightly. ''Fabulous. C'mon.'' He tangled Reg's fingers with his, flicking the light off and pulling him up and across the hall to Finn's room. ''Not to brag but we're great cuddlers.''

''Oh, I'm not too sure about 'great'.''

''Well, you'll have to try it and find out won't you?''

Finn and Leo both grumbled questioningly when Logan prodded at them both to prompt them to scoot over. Reg replied. ''Room for one more?'' That woke them both up - blinking blearily before complying with Logan's next request of 'scooch up'. They ended up with Leo staying with his head lying on Finn's chest, Reg snuggled into Finn's side with Logan pressed along the entirety of his back. Leo reached up to tangle his hand with Reg's, laying them clasped on Finn's chest, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it before falling back asleep, the other three following suit soon after.

[factorialsfandoms]

Hi! If you're taking prompts for the sickness starters you recently reblogged, how about snoozville with Warriors?

He doesn't seem like a napping kind of guy to me, so one of the Chain finding him asleep like that would show just how exhausted he really is.

Recent is no longer the case oopsie, but hopefully this satified. My brain hasn't been super cooperative since the end of whumptober >.<

Is mostly just a little snippet. Hope it is okay.

"Time?"

The addressed hero looked up to see Wind standing in the doorway, fingers twisting about themselves as he waited. He had thought everyone else downstairs already, either eating breakfast or getting ready for the morning. Wind had certainly been at breakfast earlier, and had claimed his bag entirely packed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, heart already sinking.

"It's the Captain," Wind replied. "I thought he was just ignoring me, you know, after last night?"

Time did, indeed, know what had happened last night; he nodded, already getting up and directing Wind towards the room he and Warriors had been sharing for the night.

"Right!" Wind perked up a little, and then the anxiety was back. "So I thought he was ignoring me. But I wanted my Picto Box. When I came up he was still asleep, though. Didn't even stir when I knocked his bag over."

Suspicion about how on purpose the bag knocking over was cast aside, Time still frowned; it was very unlike the Captain to sleep late, and he was always a light sleeper too.

"I'll check on him," Time promised. "Could you go pay the innkeeper for another night? Then go back to the others. Money is on my dresser."

Wind did as he was told, though the boy nervously glanced back at time after a few steps. Time gently shooed him off downstairs, then opened the door.

Curtains open, mid-morning light bright. And, sure enough, Warriors was still laid out on his bed.

"Captain?" he called. "It's just me."

No response.

Frown deepening - not just an especially bad grudge, but Time had doubted that from the moment he realised that Wind was genuinely scared - he stepped closer.

And closer.

Warriors was huddled under the blankets, ear heavily pressed against the pillows. The way he curled implied pain, which only worried more.

"Captain?" he called again, reaching out.

His forehead was warm, and unpleasantly damp with sweat. Up this close Time could see that he was trembling, too.

A fever.

Still, the hand on his forehead seemed to finally rouse Warriors. Two bleary eyes blinked up at him. After a moment their owner shifted, moving a hand to rub at his eyes.

"S'rry," he slurred. "Be wi'ya minit."

"It's alright," Time made sure to speak slowly. "Was just checking on you; go back to sleep."

"'S mornin'," the Captain continued to object.

"Wild thinks he needs another grocery run," an easy enough excuse to make fly. "So we're staying another night. Get some rest."

How easily Warriors agreed was just another mark of how sick he must be. Time pulled the blankets from Wind's bed, tucking them about the Captain in the hopes of stopping the shivering.

Then he paused, checking him over. He could not see any obvious symptoms but for the fever and sleepiness, but... None of them were much trained in illnesses.

What Time did know, however, was that impromptu fully clothes dips in ice ponds could be a cause, and that for people with fevers you should put cold, damp towels on their face. Mentally he counted up their money again; accounting for a couple of days extra at the inn, they still had just enough for a doctor.

It would leave them very tight, however... If Warriors got worse, or did not improve by the next day, then.

So. Move Wind into a room where nobody was sick, but not with any of those more prone to illness just in case. Make sure Wind understood the dangers of swimming in strange ponds - like having a brother dragged in to join you by a lake monster. Make sure everyone did, just to be safe. Get a cloth and water. And let the other's know.

That was all easy enough; the innkeeper seemingly immediately working out why and wishing his brother to get well soon. Prizes is hand and everyone informed, he headed back upstairs.

Warriors had moved while he had been gone, but still looked desperately uncomfortable. With a sigh Time cleared off the bedside table, and sat himself on it. He placed the bowl on the bed that had been Wind's, dipping the towel in it and squeezing the water out. Once he was sure it wouldn't drip, he bought it over and placed it on Warriors' forehead.

Realising the hair was trapped a moment later, Time leant over and brushed most of it up and out of the way. Damp, but the sweat had already done enough to it.

Fever-bright eyes were watching him again.

"Just me," Time promised. "Go back to sleep."

Warriors seemed less inclined to this time, twisting uncomfortably. Time let him find a new position, then adjusted the cloth to match.

"Better?"

He received no response; Warriors already asleep once more.

With a sigh, Time settled himself in for a long few days. So much for making it to the Ranch by evening.

Ah well. His boys' safety were and always would come first. If Malon was with them, he was sure she would understand.

[emilybradshaw]

English Rose - A Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw Story.

Emily Walker was impulsive.

So impulsive that she had bought a one way ticket two days previously and had ended up halfway around the world.

Impulse, she would tell everyone, which it was. But it was also the only way she was ever going to free herself from the life she had been living in.

See, Emily’s life wasn’t all bad, she had friends, a good job and money, however all that paled into insignificance when you took her mother into account. She was an alcoholic. Always had been for as long as Emily could recall, however, the past two years had been a living hell. Alcohol had turned her mother into a very abusive woman and Emily couldn’t take anymore of it.

That’s how we end up here, in California. No plan, no job, no anything. Just Emily and her suitcase.

Peace, she thought as she wheeled her suitcase from the airport, there was no one here to shout at her, she wouldn’t need to tread on eggshells, no one would hurt her (she hoped). Peace.

She tentatively started walking towards the row of taxis standing outside the arrivals area of the airport, still unsure of where to go but happy to be away from the drudge that was her former life.

“Excuse me?” She said nervously to one of the drivers,

“How can I help you, doll?”

“I was wondering do I have to book for a ride or can I just get in?”

“You can just hop right in, here, let me get that case for you”. Getting out of the taxi, the driver took Emily’s case and put in the boot of the car (that’s trunk to all you Americans out there). “Where is it you want taking?”

“That’s the thing, you see I’m not sure… I’ve got no plan really, I just had to get away.” Emily paused and took a deep breath, “is there anywhere you would suggest?”

“I could take you down to Miramar, that’s a nice area. Some good rentals and places to explore, if you’d like that is”

“Um yeah, sure. Thank you”

Emily got in the taxi and they set off for Miramar, she’d never heard of it but the driver, who was called Tony, told her all of these really good fighter pilots trained there and that it was a super friendly place to live. Tony dropped her off at a shop in the town area and gave some pointers for looking for a place to stay, said she wouldn’t have trouble if she spoke to a woman named Martha in the diner as she knows everyone’s business apparently.

Tony got Emily’s case from the car and she paid him and said goodbye, heading off determinedly to the diner to speak to this Martha about sorting somewhere to stay.

This place was so lovely, very American and just what she’d dreamed of when she’d concocted her plan to escape. She didn’t have to walk far before she encountered the diner, the smell of the food emanating from it was making her stomach rumble.

Walking into the diner it was exactly like in the films she’d seen and she saw a little oldish lady behind the counter who she assumed was the Martha that Tony had told her about.

“Excuse me, are you Martha by any chance?” Emily asked, smiling at the woman, but you could hear the nerves in her voice.

“I am sweetie, and you don’t sound like you’re from round here, what can I do for you hun?”

“I was wondering if you could help me”, Emily shuffled on her feet, clearing her throat as she spoke again, “I’m new here, obviously, flew in today and I don’t have anywhere to stay. The taxi driver who brought me here said you may be able to help me, I’m looking for a room somewhere if you know of anything”

“Ahh hunny, I’ll be more than happy to help, as it happens I know a friend of mine is looking for someone to rent a room in her house, why don’t I give her a call for you and see what we can do?”

“That would be amazing, perfect even!”

“I’ll get right on it, in the meantime, do you want something to eat while we wait?”

“Erm, yes please, I’m starving!”

“I’ll fix you something real nice darling, what’s your name by the way?” Martha beamed at her.

“Emily, Emily Walker”

“Well Emily Walker, welcome to America!”

Martha tootled off into the kitchen, Emily could hear pots and pans clanging and Martha on the phone to someone, she sat blissfully taking in her surroundings. She decided after five minutes to look at her phone, something she hadn’t done in about 24 hours, not long after she decided to tell her friends she was leaving the country indefinitely.

Facebook Messenger - 15 unread messages

17 Missed Calls

5 Voice Mail Messages

Oh fuck.

Hayley Thompson – Did you get there alright?

Emily?

I miss you

Gary Walker – Emily, what the fuck. You cannot just disappear, what the hell were you even thinking.

Countless other messages she couldn’t be bothered to read, Hayley was her best friend and Gary was her Uncle. They are the only two that matter. Time to check the missed calls, all from her Mum, and all the voice mails the same. She wasn’t going to listen to them, she knew what they’d say. A torrent of abuse no doubt.

Footsteps interrupted her thoughts as Martha came scurrying over, a plate full of food in her hand.

“Here you go darling, get that down you, the lady about the room is going to come and see you, should be here in 10 minutes”.

“Ah thank you so much, Martha!” Though Martha couldn’t really make out this is what Emily had said as she was too busy piling food into her mouth to speak really. “This is delicious”.

Martha smiled and walked away, leaving Emily to eat her food in peace, must be hard she thought, coming to a completely new country with nothing but a suitcase, no plan or anything. She’ll be fine here, the people will look after her for sure.

The door to the diner opened just as Emily was finishing up her plate. Emily looked round on the stool and in front of her was the prettiest woman she thought she’d ever seen.

“Hi, I’m Penny Benjamin. Martha said about you needing a place to stay?”

“Hi, I do yes, I’m Emily Walker”

“And where are you from girl, not round here I’ll say!”

“I’m from England, a small little town in the North East to be specific”

“Well Emily Walker from a small little town in North East England, how would you like to come and live in my spare room? It’s just me and my daughter Amelia, so you’d fit right in I’d say”

“If you’ll have me, I’d love to!”

“Fabulous, well we can sort out rent and bills tomorrow, we can have a proper chat, but from what Martha told me on the phone, you’ll be wanting to sleep more than anything right now”.

“I am rather tired, I can’t lie”, just as she said this Emily let out the most gigantic yawn, Penny laughed, as did Martha who had emerged from the kitchen and enveloped Penny into a warm hug.

“You all sorted then?”

“Yeah, Emily here is going to come home with me, we’ll sort out the fine print in the morning, this girl is dead on her feet” Penny giggled as she helped Emily with her case.

“Um, how much do I owe you Martha?”

“Oh it’s nothing sweetie, call it a welcome present, I have a feeling I’ll be seeing a lot of you from now on” she smiled, a very warm smile Emily thought, “oh honey I forgot to ask you, how old are you?”

“Oh, I’m 25, just turned”

“She’s but a child Penny, needs some looking after I think”

“I’ll see to it, Martha, we’ll see you around”.

With that you turned on your heel to leave, Penny guided you to a rather flash looking car, though her knowledge of vehicles did not stretch far. She couldn’t believe her luck, coming to America on a whim and landing a place to stay with what appeared to be one of the nicest people she’d met. She hoped the rest of her journey would be just as smooth.

Impulsiveness, something Emily was now very glad she had.

[embe95]

Red and Gold - Chapter II

Warnings: mentions of death, non-con kiss scene, mentions of torture, violence, needles

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

Where am I? A quick look around reveals only that I am somewhere I have never been before, which is surprising considering I distinctly remember rolling around in my own bed trying to get some sleep. How did I get here?

This isn’t new to me, in a sense. It’s quite familiar actually. I used to black out a lot in my cell, waking up outside its confines. Sometimes there were holes in the walls, at other times I’d have no clue as to how my body has managed something my conscious mind only dreamed of. They wouldn’t tell me what they saw on those tapes. Usually what happens is by instinct, some external or internal beacon makes me move according to its design and my mind allows my muscles to heed its call.

This time it must be about one of my friends.

He’s been missing for three days.

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

Perfect, I smile and stare at Ned and MJ on Ned’s couch as they wait for me to hurry it up with the popcorn. We’re counting down movie classics that are apparently “must see” on all accounts, although the terrific trio do seem to disagree on what order they should be in the rating chart as well as on the order we should watch them. MJ thinks oldest to newest, Ned wants to go worst to best and Peter thinks we should vote nightly. I gratefully accept any of these routes as long as it leads to us spending time together.

Peter’s late tonight, he’s been patrolling, which surprises no one. Him being late isn’t a fair thing to claim, since we didn’t really set a time. MJ says “being late” is a construct anyway.

“But it wouldn’t hurt to drop a line, I’m getting tired.”

“Don’t you usually go to sleep at like 4am?” Ned tilts his head, eyes squinting and eyebrows raised high.

She says nothing at first, only smacks her friend’s face with a heavy throw pillow, the name finally making sense to me.

“My social battery is running out, you dingus!”

Ned frowns. “But we’re watching a movie?”

“Ned, sometimes I wanna be in my room without you, I’m sorry!”

“Can’t say I’m not hurt.”

I listen to their comical dialogue, but it blurs as my eyes become fixed on a red, shiny shooting star that appears to be coming straight at us. In an instant, before my synapses can register that shooting stars do not function this way, one of Tony’s suits slides in through the open window and lands in front of me, scorching the floorboards underneath its burners. They crackle and sizzle.

“Y/N, is Peter here?” Tony’s voice echoes in the room, the alarmed tone and use of our proper names worries me instantly.

“N-No.”

MJ and Ned approach us while I stutter my reply.

“Why are you here Mr. Iron Man, sir?”

“Is everything alright?”

The suit remains still, screen-like eyes facing the wall behind us.

“Where the fuck could he be?” Tony’s voice is strained.

"W-What do you mean?"

***********

Someone had taken Peter. I couldn’t see straight for hours after the suit had left us. As soon as my eyes stopped glowing I bulleted my way to the compound. It was bad.

We’ve been searching everywhere. His tracker was off, no tech could help us. I felt useless compared to everyone else, but joined forces with Ned and MJ to try and find him the “normal person way” as the curly head I adore put it.

I don’t feel so useless right now.

My finger hovers over the letters N, E and D. It’s late. Maybe Tony? Ms. Maximoff? MJ? Ned would be sad if he knew I didn’t tell him right way. He’s Peter’s guy in the chair. He can help, I think he needs to help.

“Hey, hey I’m sorry I’m calling so late-”

“It’s cool, it’s cool, I can’t really sleep right now anyway, I’ve been tracking video footage from all over the city ever since I got home,” Ned’s voice is alert and attentive. “What’s up?”

I pause. How do I explain it without sounding- fuck it who cares, it’s Ned. He’ll get it.

“Okay so, this is going to sound strange, but I think I’m where Peter is.”

“WHAT?”

I explain my way through the bits and pieces I know and sure enough, when I’m done Ned hums and declares he’s adding MJ to the call. I walk MJ through the same road and once we’re all caught up, radio silence descends. The cold night air glazes me. I shiver.

“So, you’re in front of a.... what?” MJ quizzes.

“It’s some kind of warehouse.”

“Of course it is.... its usually either an evil warehouse layer, the highest floor of a Wall Street looking office or-”

“Or somewhere underground!”

“Y/N? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, Ned, I can hear you just fine.”

“I still think this is stupid, we could just ask for more help,” MJ groans at the end of the line, her slightly distorted and strained voice makes me chuckle even though I know her worry is real. And she has a point, but-

“I can’t wait, not now, I can sense something strong, it must be him.”

“How do you know? You said you just walked there by accident, right?”

“No, I don’t remember coming here, something must be drawing me in.”

“How can you be sure-”

“MJ come on she can save Peter if she’s right!”

“Yeah!”

I think at this point I know MJ, and I know a playful part of her wants to ask why I’m this drawn to Peter, but her concern trumps the need to ask the teasing question.

“MJ, we need him back, I’m going in.”

When the line stayed quiet I knew I had to keep talking to calm my friends down somehow, give in.

“But yeah, okay, call Mr. Stark, anyone from the team. I’ll just go in and check it out.”

“Be careful!”

“Stay safe!”

Their caring words overlapped. I wish they wouldn’t worry. My phone slid into its place in the deep pocket of my hoodie as I gently used my mental prowess to glide the door ajar. The air was just as cold inside and the smoky puffs emitting from my mouth were clearly visible.

“Peter?” I hear my cry echo around the empty lot. The two syllables travel further and I hold my breath to try and make out any sound. He would be able to find himself, my senses are not enough.

Just as I’m about to grab hold of the seven ton metal crate filling the dim space, I notice a foot clothed in red from the corner of my eye.

“Peter!” I call and turn my gaze to see his strong, steady form come to full view from behind a tower of crates on my left. Weird, I could swear I checked-

“You found me, thank goodness,” he says calmly. The intensity in his eyes makes me shrink, I take a step back when he approaches me swiftly, confidently.

“W-What happened? Are you okay? Did they hurt y-”

“Shh,” he smiles, the strange feeling of pressure on my lips makes my eyes widen. His finger? Why is he so close?

“Pete-”

“Shhhh darling, I’m so glad you found me,” he whispers. He’s standing tall, gaze leveled with mine though it feels like he’s towering over me. I’m not sure I like the feeling, his smile is warm, broad, but his eyes are different. Not brown and gentle, very dark. Almost cold.

Darling? His tense digit presses into my lips so tight that any questions I was raising couldn’t get past my teeth. Maybe he could read my eyes? What are you doing? And why?

I’ve never had any experience with romance. The room I’d been in since age six didn’t include other people, unless they wore black-gray military attire (which based on movies I’d seen since spending time with friends watching movies was very cliche) or white coats. I’ve been touched, yes, in ways apparently no one ever should be. Nothing gentle or warm or truly caring. Always with an agenda. I remember the first hug I got, it was when I was screaming and twitching in pain after being injected with a really big needle and the liquid stuffed into my little veins was burning and turning everything red. I calmed down for a second in Dr. Goffels arms, I can remember my arms instinctively snaking around his torso only to be attacked with another needle a modicum of a moment later. He was just keeping me still. I hate the tragic aspects of my life, especially because a year ago they were normal.

But this Peter in front of me appeared to be copying the movements of some lead in a romantic movie. Overly confident, the air surrounding us turns thick because of his steady, heavy breathing.

I have no time to react when his strong, calloused hands grip my face and he draws me in so we meet in the middle, lips colliding. He seems to melt while I freeze, eyes blown, arms aligning with my sides.

“Mmmeterrr,” I try to mumble. He won’t stop. Our lips are like a bridge from one body to the other but I feel no connection. This isn’t how I imagined kissing. This isn’t how I imagined kissing Peter. I didn’t think Peter and I would ever kiss. Yet the force is familiar.

Finally, I get him to pull back for air, but only after my shaky hands shove his chest with force.

“Why the fuck did you-”

“Come on, we need to go,” his hand clutches my wrist, cutting my query in half. The warehouse is still dimly lit. Peter drags me along, running faster than I can keep up. My thoughts are having trouble with the situation as well. I could have sworn I broke in from the other-

Peter opens a door and pulls me inside so he can throw the metal entryway closed again. I pant and look around, the room looks a lot like- no-

“No!” I shriek but just as my hands reach for the handle behind me, Peter grips both my arms and pulls them behind my back. I tense at the familiar, cold feeling around my wrists and know he just slid on the same cuffs I’ve been wearing since HYDRA realized their injections had worked. My fingers go numb instantly. I must’ve been dreaming the past months of my life. I’ve woken up from my coma and I’m still beneath the ruins of Sokovia. It’s all been a comatose little mutant’s escape fantasy, of course. That’s why the kiss felt odd, it was Peter for fuck’s sake. It should’ve felt more... something. But Peter’s the one who- wait?

“Peter... what are you doing?” I sob, my tears feel hot before turning icy as they roll down my freezing cheeks. Behind me, huffing because of my struggling I assume, he towers over my crumbling shape. I think I hear him chuckle. Just as I feel the golden hue circle the room around me, seemingly sparkling more than usual due to the tears, my hands are no longer in anyone’s grip and I hear a swoosh.

Everything goes dark.

I hear voices. Stay still, don’t open them. My instincts keep my eyelids relaxed, I need to secure my surroundings before “waking up”.

“- and the subject’s vitals are much better than before. In layman terms, it’s... well, healthy.”

“Good, good. Danke schön Fraülein Tanner, I will take it from here.”

“Thank you, sir. Hail Hydra.”

11 steps. Door opens. Closes. Metal. Hands still numb.

“I know you are awake.”

The accent. The heavy steps. The smell.

A cold, dry, thick thumb outlines my jaw before the index and middle fingers meet it at my chin. I can’t help squeezing my eyes shut in fear and denial as he drags me back to where I hope I’d never have to return; to his grip, under his stare, to the state between animal and weapon. Yet here I am.

“Welcome back, 493.”

“No,” I gulp, followed by a feeble attempt to shake my head. “No... No... No.”

“We need to make up for lost time. See if this new... healthier version of you is also stronger when it comes to your abilities. Let us begin.”

Dr. Goffels lets go of my jaw like it had suddenly turned into something disgusting, my eyes are thrown upwards to the harsh, white lights that creek above me. If there was ever a time to leave my body it’s now. If only I’d studied with Dr. Strange.

“You have been asking for this Peter in your sleep,” Goffels mumbles, flipping through the folder Dr. Tanner must’ve given him.

My brain begins flashing and I feel my eyes darting beneath the heavy lids as I put two and two together. Congratu-fucking-lations. I hear MJ’s voice when the curse floats in my brain. You had another success. I wonder who it was; who was actually given an order to approach me and pretend to be a loved one of mine while an innocent person with a number for a name like me toyed with my head, making my senses deceive me. That’s why the warehouse felt so electric and warm, because part of what’s in me was hiding within its walls. Touch is the most difficult to control, that must be why the kiss- I should’ve fucking known.

My clenching jaw gives me away. I know not to say a word but Goffels has been staring at me for far longer than any person should look at another. Hours, months, years. He knows me.

“Yes, now you have got it. We have succeeded almost as well as with you. 542 is more interested in controlling the mind than you. It is quite good, no?”

I’m sure they’re happy and healthy and willingly agreed to your experiments just like me.

Goffels exaggerates a sigh and sets down the folder on a pristine metal desk next to me. From the corner of my eyes I spot a few forgotten drops of blood on one of the jagged corners.

“542 can let you see the boy again if you miss him too much. You should be happy I can give you the opportunity, not all of us have a chance to see people after they are dead.”

My body explodes. Lights hum before cracking, shards of glass cover me. I hear metal clashing and clanging, bending. Soon I hear nothing, only the word, that horrifying, blood-curdling, terminal word blasts around my skull and paints my vision red. Faint shouting.

Dead.

A needle. And I’m out again.

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

I don’t know how long its been, if I’m honest I lost track after the first 10 hours since I woke up from the dose I got after hearing about Peter’s death. It all seems like a festival of night terrors.

I’m awake only when they want me to be, and the first thing I think of when I open my injured eyes is Peter. I imagine how he died, I try to remember his laugh. I cry and pray it’s not true but then again, at this point I don’t know if any of it was.

It could’ve been just my mind stone -infused brain’s desperate attempt to escape because I know I am going to either die mind, body and soul or just mind and soul, body free to be used however these poisonous vermin desire.

“Y/N? Thank god. I’m here to save you.”

“Peter- no- behind you!”

BANG

Then there are days when I see Peter. He’s here to save me. Sometimes he succeeds in removing the binds. Sometimes he just stares and smiles at me. And then he dies. He’s stabbed, shot, hanged, burned, drowned. And I explode again. And again.

Sometimes Wanda comes in and dies. I’m happy MJ and Ned don’t visit me. They would die too.

An unknown time passes and MJ and Ned also come say hi. They’re tortured to death.

I am starting to break. There’s nothing left. Everything I see is glazed with a golden hue and I’m on fire but never burning hot enough to end the pain. My skin sizzles, my blood boiling it slowly.

Days turn into... just blurred time. It’s all just existing, nothing makes sense and I don’t know why it should or would. The oxygen level of the room remains the same, I think, the walls probably stay the same although to me they appear to move, change colors and slowly close in and then move away. The lights hurt my eyes. Everything is just... a blur.

It’s funny. Like dark humour. I’m going to die here.

Come get your love

Come get your love

Yeah, yeah, yeah

The door opens again.

“Y/N?” Oh my god...” I hear an angelic voice sing to me.

The speaker pants. Panicked. Shocked.

“P-Peter?” I stutter out the obvious answer to who I knew the voice belonged to. “No, no, no.... Not again.”

I’m too tired for this.

“Shh, it’s okay-”

“No, no, NO they said you were dead,” I mouth, voice hoarse from lack of use. “You are dead. You’re dead, you’re dead....”

“What? No, no, shh, hey, I’m alive, it’s okay. I’m here.”

“No- nonono shut up, shut up... Not today, please... Please... You’re dead.”

“It’s me, I’m here just- just stay still I-I’ll think of something.”

The stutter. The hesitation. The softness.

They’ve really perfected him.

If I ask, he’ll lie. Or tells the truth and I won’t believe him. It’s been done. He smells like a cosy mountain cabin and vanilla even underneath all the sweat-

“P-Peter- What shampoo do you use?” I ask quickly, my ears like a bunny’s, trying to configure how close he is and any hint of deception in the coming answer.

“What? I-”

“Please!”

“Vanilla by Honest Company MJ got it for me, jeez!”

I can’t believe it. Thank you, I start to sob, my tears staining the fabric over my eyes.

“I’m here, it’s okay, just- I can figure this out,” his rambles fill the room and have me worried.

“Shhh,” I attempt through the escaping, weepy gratitude that’s currently streaming out of me. I can’t believe he found me. There is nothing in the universe that could’ve woken up the hopeful woman inside me than hearing him, the real him right now. If there is someone up in the heavens, they must’ve thought I’ve done something right by someone, or at least that HYDRA shouldn’t be allowed to own more weapons.

The moment his clad fingers grace my skin with their absolving presence my mind floods with images of happiness, colour, friendship. It wasn’t a dream, I want to cry out. He’s alive!

“P-Peter,” I whisper. His head is right next to mine, his raggedy panting is tickling my left ear. “Listen to me. T-Thank you, but if you can’t get the locks open then you. Have. To. Leave. It’s suicide.”

“Shhh. You know that’s pointless.”

A tiny mechanic beep makes me halt my sobs. The pitch is different from the machines around me that have been blurred out, equaling silence.

Some magic spell releases the blood in my wrists, it flows freely to my fingers and my entire body relaxes. I sob harder. He did it. I’m in control. I am alive. My fingers flex.

“Mr. Stark? I have her. Yeah, we’re heading out- Y/N... stop.”

No more numbness, my veins are overflowing with energy. Strength. Happiness. Relief. Love.

I hear a thwip.

“Y/N, Y/N you need to stop.”

The blindfold loosens and floats away from my face. Curls. Forehead. Eyes. Peter’s circled by a beautiful golden hue, my hero permanently framed.

He mouths something and raises a gentle hand for my face to lean against. The second my skin touches his I jolt back to Earth.

“Y/N please... shh, it’s okay, please, you need to stop.”

The tone reaches my mind before any morphemes make sense. My body acts like a jack-in-the-box, I spring up to a sitting position and see the walls crumbling with cracks and all the horrifying machines floating around the room. I turn my gaze back to the only other living thing next to me and notice that through the wrist that’s not close to my jaw a white, stretched web is aimed at the ceiling three feet above us. He’s suspended midair. Why am I- His hesitant, worried look downward coaxes me to trace the route his eyes travel.

I’m in the air.

Focus.

I breathe, fixed on how Peter’s skin feels. Brain cells in overdrive, I try to direct them to follow his breathing and nothing else, none of the other exploding thoughts that explore the minefields of relief, anger, joy, pain and panic.

“There you go,” Peter whispers softly and squeezes my shoulder after the bed connects with the floor again. His facial features shift to worry in a blink, brown eyes traveling my face and arms. His hitched breathing is all I need to realize I must look like a corpse.

“C-Can you walk?”

He’s so gentle.

“Kid, you got her?”

“Yeah, Mr. Stark, I got her, we’re good, we’re gonna head out now. Is everything clear?”

Peter’s forehead suddenly creases and his hand flies to his ear.

“Mr. Stark? MR. STARK?”

[bylightofdawn]

I'm so mentally boomed from work. I chased this fraudster across like 6 accounts, found multiple fake ID's they are sending in, multiple closed accts using different IMEI and different addresses across like 4 states. I legit was starting to feel like Charlie from Always Sunny meme.

This was me when I finally had to drag myself out of the rabbit holes I'd gone down. And this was IN BETWEEN taking constant calls. So I'd find another correlated fraud thing and get a call and have to stop what I was doing and then pick it up again afterward.

And I love it, I love getting to play detective and piece together all this stuff together. I love my job, I just hate how underpaid and overworked I am. If the idea of going back to college didn't exhaust me I'd actually consider trying to go into a field tangential to this because I'm good at what I do, I'm methodical, detail-oriented and I catch stuff a lot of other reps overlook. I say that knowing I prolly sound arrogant as fuck but I have the case work to back that shit up. I think part of that is because I spent ten years as a printer and it kind of trained my eye to pick apart things critically, yanno? Lord the tales I could tell but cannot tell because of NDA's.

Anyway I am mentally drained, suffice it to say. I feel bad I haven't really written anything today, so I'm going to force myself to try and write just a little bit, but my heart isn't in it if I'm being honest. It's still raining sporadically and all I want to do is curl up under the covers and sleep.

I have been thinking a lot and I think I am going to pause on writing Seeds and work on something else. I have like a 15 chapter buffer so it's not like I HAVE to finish it this week or this month.

So I think I'm going to work on that post Cody defecting Bad Batch fic idea I had cause it's going to be atmospheric and moody and I feel like that will spark some joy.

I also need to just give myself some grace here too, I'm burned out. even if I can't write another word on Seeds for the next six months and I run out of buffer chapters it's not like you're getting fucking paid for this, El. It's not the end of the world. People wait months for chapters or even years. It's just a major fear of mine that I won't finish it and I've done all this work and gotten so close to the end.

But realistically, it's not going to happen. I know I will inevitably bully myself into finishing it. I don't need some self-entitled shithead commenter to be all "Where's the next chapter, bro?"

There is literally nothing they can say that I won't have prolly told myself already because I am forever my own worst critic. And this year is about my trying to NOT be my biggest critic or if not that at least give myself some grace and to not beat myself up constantly for my perceived failings and letting it spiral from you failed as a fanfiction writer to you failed as an person because that's not a healthy headspace to be in and I refuse to keep putting myself through that hell.

And lord lemme tell you what a day to day battle that shit is. Because no one can catastrophize like I can. I legit failed to type my PW in twice at work today and my brain immediately went to "Did I get fired and they haven't told me yet and all my credentials are invalidated?" despite having JUST SIGNED INTO MY VPN SO OBVIOUSLY NOT. But that's where my brain immediately went. So yeah, that's a work in progress. I'm trying though.

Okay I'm going to put on the Halo ODST soundtrack in the background because I think it's gonna be some fire background music for this fic and I'm going to start cracking on with it.

[jayswritings13]

Disney: Psychic s/o

Request: "Hi! Could I request Dr Facilier, Hades and maybe Dipper and Mabel with a reader thats kinda like Bruno (can see the future, superstitious, a little bit paranoid and nervous), if this is over a character limit you can take anyone out. So sorry if this is a bit weird feel free to delete if you want" by @underqualified-human

💗Masterlist | WIP Page

Dr. Facilier

It took you a while to even get the nerve to tell him about it.

Despite all the magic and voodoo, Facilier is still curious as hell about how you can see into the future.

Don't get him wrong, that's his gimmick for the tourists.

But, maybe having you see into the future as well, might also be better for business.

Well, until he sees how much of a nervous wreck you are.

Now, Facilier cares about money a lot, but he also cares about you

But he'll still ask you all the time, just to see if you changed your mind.

He does help you work through some of that superstition

"....Alright, you're doin' it."

"I....." You paused, "I don't think that I can move any closer than this."

"I mean, I don't like that creature more than you, but...."

"Facilier!"

"What?! I'm not an animal guy! you knew this!" Facilier said, eyeing the small black cat sitting in front of the both of you. "You're lucky it's a cat an not the ladder again."

"You wouldn't." You gasped. "Not after the last time."

"Try me."

Facilier's actually pretty good at calming down anxiety and anxious thoughts.

You refuse to give him a reading and Facilier refuses to hear one.

He's not about to listen to you give him horrible news when he already knows that that's going to happen anyway.

But, that doesn't mean that you don't like to mess with him

"I wouldn't grab that one today," You said in passing.

".....why?"

"No reason," You shrugged.

Hades

SCORE!

After all, Hades has had it with the Fates.

They can never give a straight forward answer, and seem to only cause more frustration than it's worth most of the time.

Now that he's got you, he doesn't have to bug them as much.

One problem though.

You were too scared to really use your powers for anything, which was something that Hades didn't really account for.

"You....What?"

"I don't really use it."

"Babe, I don't think that I'm understanding here?" Hades said, "Enlighten me a little."

"I hurt others in the past by seeing their future. I refuse to do so to anyone else."

"Alright, alright."

"Thank you." You sighed

"....But," He grinned, "And hear me out, I'm immortal, so nothing that bad could really happen to me, right? So, telling me the future would be okay."

Hades only stopped asking so frequently once he saw how anxious and upset you get whenever you do get one of your future visions unannounced.

He's still gonna ask, but he won't push as hard or ask as often.

It didn't take him long to notice how nervous and anxious you were.

"What's the issue?" He asked, surprising you one day. "Did someone do something?"

"Uh...." You said, "I just don't always see the nicest future for others. I guess that I let it get to me."

From then on, Hades made sure to always keep an eye on you, even trying to learn some calming techniques for you to do.

Although, he's gonna drop them in the conversation really subtly, and in passing.

You often like to leave him notes with little 'fortunes'

"Today is gonna be a good day. Trust me!"

"Well, how can I not when you put it like that?" Hades grinned.

Older!Dipper Pines

Dipper has so many questions.

He shoots them off rapid fire, not even pausing to breath.

"Hey!" You said, reaching out to stop him from rattling off any other questions. "You don't have to fire them all at once." You laughed.

"Sorry, I guess that I got a bit carried away, but I mean.." Dipper said, "Can you blame me?"

"Based off of what you and Mabel told me about this town, me being able to see the future should not be that much of a shock."

"Well it is to me! I've seen supernatural things, but no one I knew ever was one." Dipper said, "Besides, Bill, but I don't count him!"

"Oh, yeah, not even Gideon?"

"......Okay, so maybe this the second time." Dipper muttered, deflecting any and all memories of his first confrontation with Gideon.

You, of course, answered all and any of Dipper's many questions.

Although it did get to that on dreaded one that you hated.

"What do you see in the future for me?"

You knew that he didn't mean anything by this, but it still threw you off and caused more anxiety than you're willing to admit to.

Of course, Dipper was more than apologetic when you explained it to him, but he couldn't help but be curious as to why you don't like you power.

He also understood if you hid it from him for a bit, especially with he ever curiousness and ever invading Great Uncle Ford.

Which you defiantly understood when you first met Ford, who immediately bombard you with so many questions, even more than Dipper had when he first found out.

Even though you weren't a huge fan of using your power, you did like to sometimes mess with Dipper a little.

"DON'T GRAB THAT!"

"wHAT?!" Dipper dropped the pillow without hesitation, "Why?!"

"I can't tell you, but trust me!"

"Don't let them fool you, kid." Stan commented, "They did the same thing to me last week."

"And did you end up locked out of the house like I said?"

".........no." Stand said, before turning to Dipper. "Okay. I take that back."

Older!Mabel Pines

Has questions, but not like Dipper.

She likes to ask more about if you've tried to see your own future

Or if you've seen anything about her in your visions.

So when she see you get so anxious and quiet when she asks this, Mabel immediately knows that she should not bring it up again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-I just-" Mabel sighed, "You don't have to answer any of those dumb questions."

"...really?"

"Yeah!" She said, making you smile. "C'mon let's grab a movie or something." She paused, grinning brightly, shifting her gaze towards yours. "But, no spoiling the ending!" She laughed.

Mabel made sure to always keep her eye on you whenever she made some kind of light hearted joke about your future telling abilities.

If you weren't okay with her making jokes about it, she'll immediately stop once you tell her to do so or make it clear that her jokes are making you uncomfortable.

But if you don't mind them, she's fine with just making little jokes like that.

She also really likes seeing that smile on your face whenever she does crack a joke about your abilities.

You quickly learned that this is Mabel's way of beating around the no talking thing when it comes to your powers or really any touchy subjects with you relationship or relationship with others.

You quickly see that Mabel wants to keep everything peaceful and happy, which was confirmed in any and all visions that you've had about Mabel.

You often do not tell Mabel about these visions, except for the off chance that she witnesses you in that state or in the aftermath.

"It's okay. I have you. I won't let you go until you tell me too." Mabel said, tightening her arms around you, pulling you in closer towards her.

"I saw....I couldn't...." You breath out, shaking despite Mabel's tight grip.

"Shhhh." Mabel whispered, "It's okay. You don't have to tell me any of it, if you don't want to or it'll hurt too much." She added.

If you wanted to talk about the vision that you saw, Mabel was more than willing to listen to you.

If you didn't, she was more than happy to just sit with you and hold you.

Mabel refused to leave your side until she saw you smile, heard you laugh, or was 100,000% sure that you were okay and that she didn't need to hold you in a tight hug anymore.

Not that she didn't like doing that anyway, but she always wanted to make sure that she was comforting you in a way that you wanted and not in the way that Mable assumed you wanted.

You always appreciated everything that Mabel did to make you feel comfortable whenever you felt like this.