#the hysterical laughter was part of the appreciation

[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog #40 | 5.1.24 ๋࣭⭑

Happy April (pretend I'm not late on this devlog)!!

April flew by in the blink of an eye. It's been a really busy month for me personally--I'm not sure about you all!

This devlog is going to be structured differently from the past devlogs for two reasons: 1) my concussion is lowkey kicking my ass and 2) I had a release going on almost every week this month because I am a Crazy Person HA!!!!

This month was filled with some kind of release every weekend, which is equal parts exciting and exhausting. Because releases always take a lot out of me, I basically spent every day this month cycling between phases of post-release euphoria, post-release depression, pre-release excitement, recovery burnout, burnout guilt, and just about every emotion in between.

THEN!! I got into an accident about a week ago and have been throwing hands with the resulting concussion since. So it's basically been a crazy month in the Crescence world.

That being said, let's run through the month in chronological order, and every weekend release :crazy eyes & hysterical laughter:

Kayn's Beta Route Out Now!

Kayn's Beta Route has been Finished!

In Extremely Exciting news, Kayn's beta route was finished during the first weekend of this month! I had put off publicly announcing it because I didn't want to clash with the demo release. But it was released quietly to patrons and beta-testers. Feedback so far has been very kind, and if you'd like to get access to Kayn's beta route, you can play it with the Hydra ($10) tier on my Patreon ^^

I will publicly announce the route sometime later. But for now, for those who bother reading my devlogs, here is a treat!

Enhanced Demo Release

Bro we fucking did it

Second weekend of April, we released the ENHANCED DEMO OFFICIALLY!!!! It was so exciting (and nerve-wracking) to be able to finally get this out to the public. Reception has been so nice, and it's been rewarding to see people finally be able to play the enhanced demo and see what I've been working so very hard on these past couple of months. I'm really glad you all liked it and appreciated all the details that I've painstakingly polished <3

I mentioned it before but I was really nervous for the release---I had no idea how it would go. But as always, I could not be more appreciative of the support you all give to little old me. Thank you, and I hope you all like the taste of what is to come in the Alaris world!

If you haven't gotten a chance to play the demo yet, please check it out here!

ALSO..... if five people want to rate the demo and haven't rated it yet...... it would make me very happy....... we are so close to 300 ratings.....

Velox Formida

Yes, I did help make a game in 36 hours.

Adding to the madness, I got sucked into this game jam by beloved and crazy @shewassaying. You have to make a game in 36 hours. It was a crazy whirlwind of an experience, but with people I always love being with. We finished a beautiful fantasy game if anyone would like to check it out!

Are you tired yet? I sure am.

A Faerie's Tale

We aren't done yet gamers

Finally, to round out the marathon, I created the GUI for this beautiful little game that was submitted to Amare Fest (which you should check out, since a lot of other cool games were submitted!). I had the opportunity to work with some extremely talented devs (@steamberrystudio, @jeneara, @windchimesgames, @tuffmallowinteractive, and feniks of OL fame), some of which are like titans in the VN community to me ;_;

The game is an enchanting, short little story (and FREE!) about a Fae. Something I know many of us are suckers for nyeheh. Please feel free to check it out here

That's it... Kinda.

And that's about it for this month! As you can see..... it was very much a back-to-back month. Because of that, I'm trying to use right now as a break (everyone thank my concussion for forcing me to take a break, yippee!).

Some other things that I want to highlight this month:

We released an official trailer for Alaris. She's stunning, and if you haven't seen it yet...... well, what are you waiting for....

intertwine is part of a Palestinian Relief Bundle. For only $8, you can get access to over 300 cracked games and support an important cause. If you haven't donated yet, please consider doing so. We are close to almost half a million dollars raised! Bundle ends in 4 days, so please consider buying if you haven't already

Alaris is part of a small little collaboration/cross-promotion of other magical and mystery otome. If you like sexy games by cracked devs, please check them out at the bottom of my itchio page. Some of the other games include Obscura, Lost in Limbo, The Good People, Save the Villainess, Snow White Ashes, and more! I would link them here, but I'm starting to get a headache teehee.

Anyways, that rounds out this month and a bunch of exciting news! I know it can be overwhelming to look at. Per usual, I never expect anyone to play every single game I am involved with. But if any of them catch your eye, I encourage you to check them out since many of the people I work with are very talented and you never know what new devs/games you'll get introduced to as a result!

See you all next month! <3

[haljathefangirlcat]

RTD really said "what if basically the same concept as Midnight but mixed with imagery reminescent of The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People" and I really said *INTERNAL SCREAMS OF TERROR MIXED WITH THE OCCASIONAL HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER FOR ALMOST THE ENTIRE EPISODE*

[woso-dreamzzz]

Holiday

Hardersson x Child!Reader

Jessie Fleming + Niamh Charles x Child!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: A day at the pool

Pernille relaxes back on the sunbed, eyes closed in content.

The sun beats down on her and she hums.

"Magda," She says warningly," You better not try to touch me with your wet hands." She opens an eye.

Magda stands in front of her, a guilty look on her face with a hand still outstretched. She's been spending most of her time this morning in the pool, still dripping wet and Pernille appreciates the way droplets of water run down her abs.

"Sorry?" Magda offers up and Pernille rolls her eyes.

"How are the kids?"

Magda spares a look behind her.

Niamh is floating around the pool on a blow-up boat, legs hanging out and feet dragging in the pool. Jessie's in the shallow end with you, playing with your water toys and laughing when you pour water over her.

"They're fine," Magda replies," Can I give you a hug now?"

"Are you still wet?"

"Yes."

"Then, no. Dry off or go back to the kids."

Magda huffs. "Are you sure I can't tempt you to get in the water?"

Pernille closes her eye again, shifting on the sunbed so she's a bit more comfortable. "You said you would look after the kids. I'm not moving."

"Fine."

Magda wades back into the water.

"Are you having fun, princesse?"

You shrug, a pout causing your bottom lip to jut outwards. You point towards the blow-up boat. "Niamh's ignoring us!"

Magda laughs. "Well, we can't have that. Leave it to me."

She swims out to the deeper end, where Niamh is floating away. Upon closer inspection, Niamh isn't ignoring you and Jessie on purpose. She's just fast asleep.

"Niamh," Magda says," Niamh!"

"Huh? Wha-?"

Niamh awakes slowly, blinking a few times to adjust to the sudden light from the sun.

"Come on," Magda cajoles," Up you get. Enough stealing my kid's things."

You're still not completely comfortable in the water yet but you're at that stage where you think it's embarrassing to where your armbands so the floating boat had been Magda and Pernille's compromise.

You weren't allowed in the deep end without your floaties but you didn't want to wear them so the boat was the only way you could get there.

"Five more minutes," Niamh complains.

Magda grins. "Five more seconds."

"Hey! That's so unfair and-"

Niamh doesn't get to finish because Magda tips the boat over and she goes crashing into the water. She surfaces a few moments later, spluttering and pushing her now wet hair out of her face.

You giggle hysterically from the shallow end and Jessie hides her own laughter, though not well enough because Niamh clearly takes offence to it and drags Jessie under the water to wrestle.

"Morsa!" You say, lifting your arms up," Boat, please!"

Magda laughs, plucking you into her arms and placing you in the boat. She pushes you around the deep end for a while as Niamh and Jessie wrestle.

You shriek when Niamh accidentally splashes you and you splash her back, sticking your tongue out at her when she looks at you in betrayal. You splash her again for good measure just as Jessie leaps on her back and dunks her under the water.

You grin in triumph before turning back to look at Morsa. You lift your arms up.

"Want to swim please."

"You'll have to go back to the shallow end," Magda warns you and you frown, puffing out your cheeks in outrage.

"No!" You whine," In the deep end!"

"Then you have to wear your armbands. Do you want me to get them?"

You huff. "No."

"Then no swimming in the deep end."

You think for a moment and Magda can see the cogs turning in your mind as you try to work out how to get what you want. You raise your arms again.

"Carry, please."

Magda sighs but picks you up anyway, treading water in the deep end so you still end up getting what you want. You smile at her triumphantly and Magda rolls her eyes.

You know just how to manipulate her into doing what you want.

It's kind of impressive.

You get tired though and your fingers get all pruney so Magda sets you on the ground again and watches you carefully as you make your way back to Pernille.

She grunts when you jump on top of her.

You're all wet and cold and Pernille jolts in shock at the sudden temperature change.

She opens her eyes and looks down at where you've settled your head on her chest.

"You're all wet," She laughs, pushing back your wet hair.

"Was in the pool," You reply, tilting your head up so you can look at her with a big, wide smile.

"I can see that. Did you get bored?"

You nod. "Tired."

Pernille reaches for her phone. "Well, it's nearly time for your afternoon nap."

You were originally resistant to a midday nap while on holiday, wanting nothing more than to just keep going, going, going and enjoy your time but Pernille had been insistent.

You would nap for an hour before lunch so you could have the energy to enjoy the rest of your day. You were happy with it now, especially when you realised that Pernille would sleep next to you in the Big Bed and Magda wouldn't complain at all.

You hum against Pernille's chest.

"Come on," She says," Let's get you all dried off so we can nap."

"What about Morsa and Niamh and Jessie?"

Pernille casts her eyes back towards the pool.

Jessie and Niamh have teamed up against Magda, currently trying to dunk her under the water and take custody of your blow-up boat again.

"They'll be fine."

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hello!

Request: can you do a RoR x Fem Hiccup Haddok reader from How to Train your Dragon, maybe interacting with the Norse gods seeing as Hiccup is a Viking.

Hope you are feeling better and if you can’t do the request that’s ok.

-It was intimidating for you at first, when you first arrived in Valhalla. You remember how your dad would tell you all about the great warriors and feasts that Valhalla would hold, and that only the best warriors would go there.

-If it had been before you met Toothless, you would have been beside yourself with anxiety, not believing that you belonged there. However, you earned your place, joining your tribe and the dragons that were once your enemies together.

-You met many other warriors of the past, many who had grand legacies, names that struck fear into the hearts of others, while your name was a little… not. You grew to appreciate your name, as it was part of who you were, just because your name was weak doesn’t mean that you were weak, you proved that time and time again, risking life and limb alongside Toothless to keep those you cared about and your home safe.

-The gods were the ones who were the most taken by you, surprisingly, as they were impressed with your dragon training skills! Even as gods, they sometimes had difficulties with dragons, let alone training them.

-Their praise and admiration did make you feel better about belonging here, it made your confidence grow!

-Brunnhilde enlisted your aid on training the dragons in Valhalla, and you were happy to help, eager for the chance to prove yourself!

-Odin was very impressed, watching you work with the dragons, acting and moving almost like you were a dragon yourself, and you didn’t let your prosthetic get in the way at all! When Odin first was watching you, you were nervous, as it felt like he was inspecting you, making sure you were good enough.

-Once you had the dragons docile enough were others, in small groups, could approach, Odin was first in line, as he was impressed and wanted to see the results of your hard work.

-Thor was another one who was impressed with your skills, but unlike Odin, you weren’t scared of Thor, which surprised him, and he was appreciative of it, because to you he felt kind of like a big brother, one who would watch out for you, and you just vibed with him.

-Loki was… an adventure himself, he was such a gremlin, constantly pulling pranks, making the dragons scatter and panic, and while you were scrambling to make sure they didn’t cause any damages, Loki was howling with laughter.

-Loki would cling to you, telling you that he was bored, and you were more than happy to provide him with some entertainment.

-He wasn’t expecting you to have him sitting on top of a dragon, on a saddle, moments later, holding onto a pair of reigns, “Uhh Y/N- are you sure this is a GOOD IDEA?!” As he was speaking you tapped the dragon’s back, telling it to go and it took to the skies, calling out happily.

-Brunnhilde and Thor were both trying hard to hide their laughter, failing miserably while Goll was clutching at her stomach, finding it hysterical.

-When Loki landed, he was pouting for a while, doing his best to ignore you, but making sure that you knew that he was ignoring you, acting like a child before you laughed warmly, “You asked me for something fun- that’s fun to me!”

-The Valkyries were the ones you worked the most with, as they were learning how to ride dragons, to give themselves options between their winged horses and dragons, to be prepared for anything that could happen.

-You had never imagined that you would have been accepted into Valhalla, but you weren’t complaining, you had new friends, new dragons to train and fly with, and you got the joy of teaching others how to do it as well.

[seabirdtxt]

Hello! Just recently found your blog, and I am in love with your fanfic, Glitch In Irminsul!

I honestly have no idea if I'm the first one to request on your blog, but I do hope this idea is okay with you!

May I request this: Reader who is a comedian with Cyno, Tighnari and Collei, reacting to Reader making Cyno's bad jokes (quote on quote) "better"? You don't have to find a joke for Reader if you don't wanna :)

I'm a little obsessed with their dynamic as of right now. If you do happen to take this request, thanks :D

Also idk if you wanna take Anons, but if you do someday, is it alright if I claim "🎪 Anon" as my alias? Sorry if I'm asking too much! I hope you have a great day :)

hi!! thanks so much for your request, and your patience!! 🩵 i had a good bit of fun writing this for you, i love bad jokes 🤭

WC. 1092

----- ⚘ -----

As the General Mahamatra, and having been personally assigned to your guard by Lesser Lord Kusanali herself, it is Cyno’s sworn duty to attend to every need and whim of the almighty Creator.

And when the Creator demands that you tell them your absolute worst joke, the one that nobody has ever even laughed at yet, well, who is he to deny them?

“- didn’t realize that, at that very moment, a Hydro slime was praying to meet a lone, stranded traveler.” Cyno finishes the joke with a straight face, at the exact same moment that the door to the hut swings open, revealing Tighnari and Collei with several bags of groceries in their arms.

“Oh, Cyno, not the slime joke again.” Tighnari groans over the sound of your absolutely raucous laughter at the horrible joke.

“But the Creator likes it.” Cyno protests, gesturing to you hanging part way off the table and clutching your stomach. You honestly don’t find the joke itself all that funny, but the sheer confidence with which he tells it paired with the completely deadpan expression he has is sending you into hysterics.

“They’re going to eat each other!” You gasp, trying to sit back properly on the chair. A few lingering giggles hit you when you see Tighnari’s deeply disappointed expression. “Hahaha… but slimes don’t have a mouth, do they? How would it eat the person?”

“Exactly!” Tighnari says, pointing at Cyno with the hand not holding the groceries. “It doesn’t make any sense! Slimes wouldn’t-”

“And what did the stranded traveler say in that situation?” You add, confusing both Tighnari and Cyno into silence. Cyno blinks a few times, visibly wondering if there was a part of the joke that he forgot to tell, and he’s about to ask for clarification when Collei beats him to the punch.

“Your Grace, the traveler didn’t say anythi-” Collie begins, but you’re already on a roll.

“He said, ‘it must be slime for dinner!’”

You can’t help but erupt into laughter again at seeing everyone’s reactions: Collei’s slow realization, Cyno perking up excitedly, and Tighnari imploding with exasperation.

“You see, because ‘slime’ sounds like ‘time’-”

“Yes, Cyno. Thanks. I got the gist.”

You’re still gasping for air, leaning back in the chair and bracing yourself on the wall behind you. Tighnari’s frown falters a little, your joy infectious even if the joke is terrible.

“Slime for dinner, and sand for dessert!” You add, and Cyno chuckles even as he brings out his wretched book of jokes and begins writing an annotation in the margins, which Tighnari is sure the librarian will greatly appreciate later. “Get it? ‘Cause dessert, and desert?”

Tighnari is about to snarkily reply, when a surprising sound catches his attention. He turns with a horrified expression to Collei, who has her hand over her mouth and eyes wide in disbelief.

“Oh no, Collei…” Tighnari says warningly, shaking his head, which causes the girl to snort again and she quickly puts down her groceries before she can drop them.

“I- I’m sorry, Master,” she fights through her giggles, which only spurs you and Cyno on. “It’s just… it’s so bad…”

“Come on, ‘Nari, it’s just a joke,” Cyno attempts to bring the Valuka Shuna in on the fun. “Think of it as a way to break the ice.”

“Yeah, Tighnari,” you add. “Snow fun otherwise.”

Collei lets out a full belly laugh, to Tighnari’s dismay and Cyno’s apparent confusion.

“You’ve never laughed at my jokes like that,” the general points out, and Collei can only laugh harder.

“We’re morally obligated to laugh at the Creator’s jokes, ‘lest Their Grace smite us with impunity.” Tighnari states tonelessly, completely opposing his own statement.

That’s about as much as you can take. You slide bonelessly off the chair, howling with laughter on the floor like some kind of hyena.

“Look what you did! You corrupted the Creator!”

“The Creator told that joke all on their own!”

While Cyno and Tighnari are bickering, Collei helps you off of the floor, steadying you in your chair as you both come down from your laughing. She checks you over to make sure you didn’t injure yourself on your way down, then grabs her bag and rummages through it before producing a shiny red apple.

“We brought snacks!” she announces, handing you the fruit proudly. “And we have the stuff for dinner tonight! We picked these fresh, though. They’re very sweet this season!”

You take the apple with a grin and rub it on your shirt to clean it before taking a bite.

“Wow, these really are sweet! Thanks, Collei!” You marvel at how good the apple tastes, somehow different from Earth’s apples, with a refreshing, sugary taste.

“You’re very welcome!” Collei beams at the praise. “I’m gonna go get Master Tighnari to stop griping and help me with dinner, now, though.”

You perk up at the mention of cooking. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Oh, gosh, no! You’re our guest, please let us take care of it!” Collei insists, then scurries over to the other two.

You decide to follow her just as she’s asking Tighnari for help with cooking. The botanist huffs with mild annoyance, his tail sweeping from side to side.

“I’m not sure Cyno needs dinner, Collei,” he states. “Since he wants to act childish, perhaps it would be best to put him in time-out for the evening.”

“That’s not very knife of you, Tighnari,” you say before you can stop yourself. “Why don’t you fork-give him for now so we can have dinner together?”

Tighnari squints at you, somehow sensing you’ve made a pun (or two) despite your straight delivery.

“... Are you going to stop with the jokes too, Your Grace?” he asks, his ear flicking.

“What jokes? Collei wanted to ask for your help with the cooking. How can you say no to dish face?” You sidle up behind Collei and use your pointer fingers to make her smile, which she tolerates with surprising grace. “Isn’t she adora-bowl?”

“...” Tighnari maintains his stance for a few more seconds, and then sighs in defeat. “I don’t have a counter to that. Very well, I suppose I can let it slide for tonight, since it’s for you, Your Grace…”

“Hehehe, counter,” you mumble, which causes Collei to erupt into giggles once more, and Cyno to look extremely pleased with your ability.

And Tighnari to make a noise of exasperation, throwing his hands up and stomping toward the kitchen on his own.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough! I’m leaving!”

[idksmtms]

cowboy like me (David Von Erich x reader) - evermore series

A/N: It was 3am, I was listening to Evermore, and this popped into my head as the perfect title for a David fic. I’m taking some parts of the song for the storyline but not the full thing so Ig try to spot where it pops up!

Summary: He was wearing a cowboy hat and he asked you to dance. 

Word count: 4,183

Trigger Warnings: 18+, she/her pronouns, AFAB reader, profanity, heavy angst, major character death, movie spoilers!!!, grief  (please let me know if I missed any) 

Disclaimer: This is based solely on the portrayals of the brothers, not the real people. I do not own any of The Iron Claw characters. I do not claim to own any of The Iron Claw characters. I do not own any pictures used nor do I claim to do so. 

Always appreciate comments, likes, and reblogs :)

“Hey, you wanna dance?” There was a tap at your shoulder and you turned around with a mischievous smile. 

You knew exactly who it was. He had been glancing at you all night, only the smallest smille of embarrassment any time he was caught. You were waiting to see when he would make his move, when he would finally decide to stop watching and actually speak to you. It had been a while since you actually wanted a guy to speak to you. You tilted your head back so you could meet his eyes, slightly taken aback at how tall he actually was now that he stood right in front of you. 

“Oh I don’t know, dancing is a dangerous game, you know,” you shrugged, pursing your lips though that did nothing to hide the shine in your eyes and the tilt to your lips. He just laughed, though it was more like a huff out of his chest and he dipped his head lower so his hair fell forward. It was like locks of sunshine, and you stopped yourself from reaching out and touching it, wrapping it around your fingers. 

“I’m ready to take that risk, are you?” He reached his hand out, and your stomach felt all tingly, your hands beginning to shake just slightly. You reached up and hit the edge of his cowboy hat lightly so it dipped forward. His smile widened and he stepped even closer. “I could even request a song if you don’t like this one, I have an in with the band.” He smirked proudly at that and you laughed. 

“Oh yeah? How so?” 

“Well,” he turned to face the stage and you moved with him. He pointed to the lead singer, a young kid barely out of highschool with a bowl cut and the talent of a true musician. “That, right there, is my brother.” Your smile widened and you turned to him, mouth open and laughed incredulously. 

“You’re kidding?! He’s so good! Does that mean you’re a talented musician too?” You asked, though you suspected that really wasn’t the case. 

“Unfortunately not,” he sighed in such an exaggerated manner that you pressed your hand to your mouth to hide your giggles. “These hands were not made for the guitar,” he held them up and showed them to you but you were now overcome with your laughter. 

He opened his mouth to say more but loud hoots and cheers began to rise from the connected patio and both of you turned to see a young man fall back onto his feet from his position over the keg, beer shining on his cheeks and wetting his shirt. You began to laugh hysterically as he cheered with everyone else, going so far as to rip his own shirt down the middle. 

“That is also my brother,” the man beside you sighed and you just continued to laugh, turning back to him and reaching out to gently grasp his hand. 

“Let’s dance,” you said, pulling him toward the dance floor. You both wriggled your way to be near the front and you threw your hands up into the air, moving your hips side to side along with the beat. You could feel him press against your back, his lower sternum pressed to your back. His hands slowly rested on your hips, as if trying to give you the space to push him away. You just smiled and threw your head back to rest on his shoulder for a moment. His hold on you tightened and he began to move with you, smooth motions that meant he was surely a practised dancer. 

You danced until you couldn’t anymore. You danced until your feet hurt and if you didn’t have something to drink you would die of dehydration. The last song had been a slower one, you had swayed with him to the crooning voice and gentle guitar melody, your head against his chest, arms wrapped around him as his were around you. He lay his cheek against your head, blond hair falling around your face and hiding you from the party. You closed your eyes and focused on his heartbeat, on the warmth of his body that gently touched your skin, like sitting close to a heater that was put on the lowest setting. As the song began to change, you pulled away from him and he smiled at you, gentle and cute, the kind of smile that made you want to pinch his cheeks and kiss him until you couldn’t breathe. 

“You want something to drink?” You asked, lips brushing his ear. He shivered in your arms and you moved your mouth without saying anything in the hopes that it would happen again. 

“Yeah, I’ll come with you,” he grasped your hand and began leading you toward the table in the patio with all the drinks and solo cups. You glanced toward where his (presumably) other brother had been, and you caught his eye. He was smiling at you, arm wrapped around the girl with him. He dipped his head in a nod and your own smile grew. 

Both of you stood in front of the drinks and the crisps and after grabbing the only bottle of unopened club soda, you reached into the bowl and grabbed a handful of crisps as well. He laughed at you as he took a beer from the cooler filled with melted ice. You just shrugged, chugging from the bottle like you had never drank water before. 

“So, what exactly is your name?” He asked, and you spluttered, water dribbling down your chin and onto your top. You coughed and laughed, choking and giggling as he smiled and began patting your back. 

“My name, heh, guess we never did tell each other,” you huffed after the burning in your nose finally subsided. “Y/n, you?” 

“I’m David, David Von Erich.” He said his name with pride, shoulders lifting slightly and you nodded. He reached out and gently wiped the water from your chin and the edge of your bottom lip. Your entire body began to tingle, your lips especially. 

“So, David, what are you studying?” You shoved some of the crisps into your mouth and then offered him your hand. He gently pried one from your grip and popped it into his mouth as he shook his head.

“I don’t go to school, I’m a professional wrestler.” You raised an eyebrow before stepping back and eyeing him up and down. You pushed out your lips and furrowed your brows, nodding as if you were appraising a piece of furniture. 

“I see it,” you finally said, putting down the soda to pinch at his arms and lightly tap his stomach. He just laughed, tipping his hat with a ‘thank you ma’am’. 

“You study here then?” He asked, taking a swig from his bottle. 

“Yup,” you nodded, “second year nursing student, so call me if you need someone to patch you up after a match.” He laughed again and you couldn’t help but smile as well. 

“I’ll do that then, though expect a call every weekend,” he raised an eyebrow but you just nodded, eating more crisps to hide your smile. 

He was the most jovial person you had ever met. Even his voice, all deep and southern, still sounded so happy any time he spoke. A dimple appeared in his cheek and you reached up and poked your finger into it. 

“Sorry,” you blushed, cheeks burning, “I just wanted to feel how deep it went.” He only smiled and grabbed your hand, bringing your pointer finger back to his face and pressing it to the dimple. This time you laughed, moving to grip his cheek in your palm and falling forward to press your forehead to his chest. 

“I have never met anyone like you, David,” you mumbled against his shirt and you felt him sigh, leaning down as you moved your head back. He wasn’t smiling, just staring into your eyes, and then he was kissing you. His lips were so soft, like marshmallows covered in butter. You pressed harder against him, wanting to meld into his skin. He tasted like beer but you didn’t mind. He kissed you like he would never kiss you again, like your lips held the antidote and he would die if you even tried to move away. Your hands slid into his hair and he groaned, gripping your waist so tight that the waistband of your jeans began to dig in. 

He slowly began to pull away, but it seemed like a struggle as every time his lips almost detached from yours, he began to kiss you again. Finally, when your chest was heaving and you couldn’t stand on your own legs, he pulled away, eyes fluttering open. You gazed up at him as if he was the first human being you had ever seen and he felt his entire body flush with pleasure. 

You could see that the crowd had begun to dwindle and one of your friends was standing by the door, a clear signal that she wanted to leave but had no one to go with. You sighed, gently banging your forehead against his chest a couple times before smiling up at him sadly. He was about to ask what that smile was for, about to pull you into another kiss to wipe it from your lips, but you quickly reached up and plucked his hat from his head. He blinked owlishly, and you just deposited it onto your own head, pulling it down at the back so the front didn’t dip into your line of sight. 

“So you have a reason to try and find me,” you winked, and then spun on your heel and jogged toward your friend. He was left standing there, statue-still, watching after you. Just as you were about to step out of the door, you turned back and winked, tipping the hat in his direction before disappearing. 

+++

It was three days later when he finally saw you again. The day after the party, he had gone back to the college and asked around for the nursing building. He had walked around the entire thing, peeking into lecture halls and classrooms to no avail. The next day he stood outside the building from nine am to three pm, watching every student that walked in and out, but you weren’t there then either. On the third day, he did the same thing, slowly losing hope as the minutes ticked by. 

This would be the last time he would try. He was already skipping out on helping his dad and brothers put up fencing, and they were all asking about what exactly he was doing going to the university every day. He was desperate to see you again, hat be damned. Then, just as he was standing to walk back to the truck, a group of girls came walking out of a building next to the nursing one. They turned and took the path that went by the bench he was sitting on. Someone in the group laughed, a loud sound that echoed off the buildings and he watched the group as they got closer. A girl near the middle was the one laughing, and in her arms, she was carrying a cowboy hat. His heart leapt and he jogged closer, squinting in the sunlight. 

There you were, head thrown back in laughter, a bag over your shoulder, and your arms wrapped around his cowboy hat, pressing it closer to your chest. David’s smile almost broke his face and he almost ran over to you, forcing himself down to a jog so he wouldn’t be out of breath when he met you again. 

You noticed him approaching and your cheeks began to hurt, lips pulling up and eyes squinting with glee. Your heart was running though you weren’t, and you began to walk even quicker, leaving your group behind. You stopped just when he did, not barely two feet away. Your friends called your name but you ignored them, holding the cowboy hat by the rim and moving closer to him until your chests brushed together. You reached up with both hands and settled it on his head, shifting it from left to right until it was centred but still stayed leaned back so you could look into his eyes. His beautiful, beautiful, eyes that you had dreamed of for the past three days. 

“You found me,” you breathed out, voice slightly higher than usual. 

“Took me long enough,” he chuckled, reaching out to cup your cheek. He didn’t wait another breath, just leaned down and kissed you, nose pressing into your cheek. You laughed into the kiss but wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled yourself as close to him as you could. You could hear your friends gasping and whispering in the background, clearly so could David as he began chuckling into the kiss, but neither of you pulled away until you had had your fill. 

“So that means you’ll let me take you out on a date, right?” He asked as soon as you had detached yourself from him, and you began to laugh though you were breathless. You nodded vigorously, pulling out a notebook from your bag and ripping out a piece of paper from it. You pressed it to his chest and wrote your number on it, scolding him to stay still as he giggled about the sharp tip of the pen feeling ticklish. You folded it up and pressed it into the chest pocket of the jacket he was wearing then reached up and quickly kissed him again. 

“Call me and maybe we can play that dangerous game again,” and then you walked back to your friends, dragging them away from where he was standing as they giggled and squealed questions at you.

David stood there for a few moments just staring at the spot where you had stood and smiling like an idiot. He reached up and touched his lips, pressed his finger to his dimple, then yelled a ‘WOOHOO!” into the air, pumping his fist up before walking back to the truck, with such an aggressive spring in his step that he was almost skipping. 

+++

David turned onto his back in the bed and groaned. His stomach had been hurting randomly for the past few days and he couldn’t understand why. But then his eyes landed on you, curled up around a pillow beside him but with your back pressed into where his chest had been moments before, and any other thought went out of the window. 

You had this thing about being close to him, even in sleep. You loved hugging a pillow, but you had to have your back pressed to him in some way. Sometimes, if he moved onto his other side during the night, he could hear the little snuffles you let out in your sleep before shuffling back until you could feel him again. It might be his favourite thing about you. 

You had been dating for half a year now, the best six months of his life, and last weekend he had gone and bought a ring. Kerry had said it was too soon, but still came along to help him pick it out. Kevin and Michael had come too, each one pointing out different rings they thought you would like. He mostly ignored them because he knew you, he knew exactly which one to get, and they were mostly just there because they had jumped into the truck before he could peel out of the driveway. 

It was sitting in his left cowboy boot under the bed right then, just waiting for the perfect time to be pulled out and presented to you. He was thinking about doing it after he came back from the match in Japan, that way if he won, you could marry a champion, and if he lost, this would be the perfect thing to console him. He knew you would say yes, you seemed to love him enough, but doubt was the brain’s best friend, and he knew he would worry about your answer until you finally gave it to him. 

David turned back onto his side as a pang of pain shot through his stomach again and he wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling himself close to you until he could press his nose to your hair and breathe in your smell. You seemed to purr or hum, snuggling further into the bed and him, and he closed his eyes to go back to sleep. 

+++

“How’s Japan?” You asked him excitedly. You were in his room, on his bed, the phone sitting on his side-table and the handset sandwiched between your head and shoulder. You were painting your toenails a beautiful sunshine yellow with red accents to match his costume. 

“Bright,” he chuckled, “Tokyo is all lights and people, nothing like home.” He seemed to sigh at the thought and you wanted to reach through the phone and kiss him. “How is home by the way? How’re the brothers?”

You basically lived in their house now, had done for the last month or so. David never wanted you to leave and living there was better than a cramped student dorm anyway. He drove you to the university for all your classes and you came along to watch his every match. You helped his mom cook dinner, ate with the entire family every night, and then you went to sleep in David’s bed. Well, your bed too considering that the sheets now had small flowers on them. 

The rest of the room was beginning to look a little more mixed as well. His dad had moved the old vanity from storage into David’s room by the window so you had somewhere nice to get ready. His cologne and your perfume shared the windowsill, and your different craft projects now took up any random free space. A second side-table had even been added and you kept a framed picture of you and David on it. 

“Same old, same old,” you sighed down the phone, sticking your tongue out as you tried to paint right to the edge without getting any nail varnish on your skin. “Kerry’s been practising and working out like crazy, He caught his hand in the wiring of the fence yesterday so I got to practice my stitching skills,” you could almost see the smile on his face. 

“He’s ok though, right?” He asked, and the urge to hug him was almost paralysing. 

“Yeah, he’s all good, keeps trying to train with the punching bag and I have to stop him every damn time,” you huffed and this time when he laughed you stopped painting your nails to press the phone a little harder to your ear. You wanted it to be as close as possible, as if he was sitting right next to you, just laughing by your ear. “He’s gonna rip his stitches David! He refuses to listen to me, and it’s not like your dad is any help, he just wants Kerry to keep training.” You huffed again but there was no malice in it. 

“You know what they’re like, he’ll only learn his lesson once he’s ripped them and feels the pain,” David pointed out, and you knew he was right. “How’s Michael?” 

“He’s ok, but I do feel a bit bad for him. Now that you’re not here to focus on, your dad has a lot more time to try and push Michael to wrestle, and the poor kid just wants to play guitar or go practice with his band.” 

Since David had left earlier in the week, you had made sure to be the one to pick Michael up after school so you could take him to practise with his band. You did whatever you could to distract their dad so Michael could even practise in his room. Last time you asked Fritz to go into extreme detail about his gun collection and even though he could clearly hear Michael playing, your acting was convincing enough to make him keep going until the last gun. 

David didn’t say anything for a few moments, and you knew he was struggling with his feelings. He never quite knew how to feel about his dad and brother’s constant conflict. His dad was his mentor, the reason he was where he was, but he could also see how his dad hurt his brothers, how he had flipped on Kevin like it was nothing, and refused to even acknowledge that Michael might not want to wrestle. 

There was a muffled groan from his end, like he had bit down on something to stop the sound but it hadn’t completely worked. There was a cough, wet and ragged, and your heart began to pound. You sat up straighter, disregarding the clink of nail polish bottles. 

“David? You ok?” You asked hurriedly. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just have a little cough,” he brushed it off but he sounded more tired than before. 

“Are you sure? You don’t sound great,” you clutched the phone with both hands, trying to listen to a sign of anything else. 

“Seriously, I’m alright, just a little cough, I promise. It’ll go away soon, I already got some cough syrup for it.” 

“Ok, ok, good, you’ll tell me if it gets worse, right?” 

“You’ll be the first to know,” he placated, and you could hear the smile. 

You were both silent for a few minutes, just listening to each other breathe. You wished you were there with him, to do all the little things you know he would ignore when he was on his own. You wanted to check his temperature, pour out the cough syrup for him and force him to drink it. To run your hands through his hair and wrap him up in a blanket. Instead you stayed quiet until a few more minutes had passed. 

“I miss you,” you whispered, and you heard him take a deep breath. 

“I miss you too, but soon you’ll be able to say you’re dating a champion,” he joked but you didn’t laugh. 

“I already do.” 

+++

You were at home when the news came. You were sitting on David’s bed, hugging his pillow and trying to figure out the time difference so you could stop worrying about why he hadn’t called yet. The bell rang from downstairs and you began to wonder who would come visit in the middle of a workday. You waited for any indication that you were needed but you couldn’t hear anything, just murmurs. Something dropped and hit the floor, like a stack of papers or a phone. It was quiet for a few moments, the air almost sterile of sound, then the main door opened and closed and you heard a car engine slowly begin to fade away. Dread settled on your chest, like an anchor slowly being pulled back onto a ship, heaving and heaving slowly onto you. You ran down the stairs, almost slipping on the wood in your socks. You came into the dining room where Fritz was sitting at the table, the phone in front of him but the handset on the floor. 

“Is he okay? Is he hurt? What’s the-” 

“He’s dead.” 

It was quiet for a full minute. Then someone hit a gong right next to your ear. It rang, over and over and over. It wouldn’t stop ringing. One of your hands came up and began to claw at your ear, bending the shell and pressing it down but the ringing wouldn’t stop. There was gauze over your eyes, you stared at the phone, at the handset on the floor, but you only saw bits and pieces, flashes of white. 

“A ruptured intestine,” he continued, “they found him in his bed, must’ve passed in the night.” 

It echoed in your brain, bouncing around in the spinal fluid. You heard ‘a ruptured intestine’ over and over and over. You sat down on the floor where you were, the skin on your legs rubbing uncomfortably on the rug. You pressed your hands to your head, hoping if you squeezed it enough everything would stop. But it kept on. 

‘A ruptured intestine, a ruptured intestine, a ruptured intestine.’ 

+++

His boots were still under the bed. You had gotten on your knees once, and looked at them, just sitting under the bed, waiting for him to return. You had to look away, had to stand and move, because you knew that if you didn’t, you would have just stayed on the floor and cried for the rest of your life. You couldn’t even touch them. 

Every night you lay in the dark and stared at the ceiling. Some nights you cried so hard Doris came in and lay next to you, shushing you like a baby. Other nights you just stared. Stared and stared and stared. Some nights you whispered to yourself, and it was always the same thing. “I’m never gonna love again.” 

@tourturedfolkloredepartment

[chimchiri]

Poll Adventure: Rarijack Dinner

Index | [prev] - Part 05 - [next] Special thanks to @babydarkstar for putting out the great writing!

Previous Poll:

~~~

Sunlight filters through the leaves as Applejack sits up from her place under the apple tree. Winona, who had her fluffy head resting on AJ’s chest, gives a thoughtful sniff as she gazes up at her owner, pushing up to sit on her hind legs.

AJ meets Winona’s curious gaze with a worried look of her own.

“What am I gonna do, girl?” she sighs, “Got myself wrapped up in all sorts’a trouble now.”

Winona turns her head to survey the expanse of apple trees surrounding them before giving AJ a side-eyed glance and a withered sneeze, as if that should solve every problem she’s got.

AJ smiles wearily and scratches behind the dog’s ears, patting her soft head before tugging again on a fluffy ear, lost in thought.

Asking family is out of the question at this point. Everybody’s got chores, and talking to them would only mean more work for her or Big Mac. Lord knows what kinda fuss they’d make about it if she tells them too soon. After her chores, she needs to do as much as she can to make tomorrow easier, and finish gathering her thoughts on the date, as well as getting anything she needs for it. Tomorrow she’ll have to finish up whatever work she started, get ready for the date, and leave. She’ll tell family later, but right now she can’t deal with that extra stress.

One of her friends would be better for today. Maybe she’ll ask for help and won’t even need to say Rarity’s name…she can only hope. The absolute riot that would result would be too much to handle. And besides, she wants to keep it quiet in case things don’t work out.

There are two questions lingering in her mind.

She’s lost on what to wear. With all the time she’s spent around Rarity, one would think she’d know exactly what to wear to impress her. But honestly, she thinks about the complexities of fashion about as much as she thinks about men—which is to say, hardly at all. If she didn’t have Rarity’s voice in the back of her mind gasping about formalwear and Manehattan social status, she’d wear the nicest pieces in her closet and call it a day. Ultimately, she knows Rarity will appreciate any effort she makes for their date, but AJ wants to impress her.

Then there’s the gift. The Element of Generosity deserves something meaningful and special, and AJ knows she’ll appreciate it.

That should be all…but maybe she could ask her friends for general advice as well. After all, AJ’s never felt more serious about a date in her life.

Each of her friends have their strengths and weaknesses, and all have the ability to offer advice. But which one should she ask?

Naturally, Rainbow Dash is the first to come to mind. They’ve always had each other’s backs, always pushed one another to be better at everything, striving to be the best. Bickering and teasing is their love language, no matter how relentless. But. With all that spunk and chaos in such a tiny figure, AJ’s pretty sure Rainbow would explode if she had to keep AJ’s date a secret. She also wouldn’t dare miss an opportunity to tease AJ about finally getting over herself to make a move with Rarity. But underneath her mischievous demeanor, she cares for AJ a whole heap; she’d help out however she can. AJ just isn’t sure what Rainbow’s advice for a romantic date would look like. It could easily be an hour of intermittent hysterical laughter, followed by the most unhelpful string of words she’s ever heard. “Just like, be yourself, dude. Roll with the punches. Seriously.” Or it could be wildly profound, incredibly insightful information—Rainbow’s personality is harlequin, unpredictable at times.

Fluttershy, however, is the complete opposite. Timid and quiet, sure, but she’s got the natural elegance and poise that could be helpful in this situation. As a friend, she’s a good listener and would take AJ’s worries to heart. Even if she found out AJ’s date is with Rarity, she would definitely keep the secret (maybe a few animals would hear the news, but that wouldn’t bother AJ). If AJ remembers right, Fluttershy has a bit of fashion experience…that could help a lot. However, she worries that the visit might take longer than it should—Fluttershy isn’t known to be decisive, and AJ definitely needs some cold hard advice.

Then there’s Twilight. AJ has never actually heard Twi talk about anything romantic, so she’s clueless if she has experience. But—Twi has an analytical predisposition to any situation, and could give AJ exactly the kind of information she needs. She would without a doubt take AJ’s questions seriously. With all that knowledge swarming her head, she’d likely go so far as to calculate all the pros and cons about every possible scenario and decision, and recommend what would fit best, accounting for factors like windchill and commute time while she’s at it. Spreadsheet, chalkboard, slide presentation, the whole shebang. And, like herself, Twilight appreciates tradition and routine, and probably knows what AJ would like as well. The only thing AJ worries about is Twilight focusing too much on little details and ending up not helping her at all, leaving her back at square one after taking the long way…

Finally, AJ considers Pinkie. Admittedly, she’s…not AJ’s first choice. “Silly” is her middle name, along with “goofy” and “rambunctious.” It’s not always easy to drag Pinkie down from the cotton candy castle she mentally resides in. Her whimsy is endearing and can always pull AJ out of a sour mood, but is that something she has time for right now? Surprise confetti from the Party Cannon is not the vibe she wants to bring to this date. But maybe AJ isn’t giving Pinks enough credit. From what she knows of her and her sister Maud, they prioritize each other to the fullest extent, and there’s nothing ridiculous about a friendship between sisters. Pinkie has an entire basement full of data on what each of her friends and family and neighbors likes, just so she can make them smile on their special day. Maybe a lighter mood won’t hurt, since she’s been such a worrywart lately about everything. But besides brightening her day, could Pinkie give sound advice about what to wear and how to impress Rarity.

AJ can’t decide, but she’ll have to.

Maybe she should start walking to town and talk to whoever she runs into first.

Maybe she needs to listen to her gut. It hasn’t failed her yet.

---

Tag List: @mrrrpmeow @babydarkstar @butwerebothmares @chaosdraconequus @chrysaliswife @gaywombat @mulan-but-gay @jubjub05 @dan-chan-rn @sanybaby @horserepository @justletmesnarkandbark @colourswirlcannibal

[incognitobobcat]

The Earthrealm Boys and Female!Reader who is laughing hysterically with the below poster involved:

Warning: swearing (for the younger eyes) and subtle mentions of suicide and depression.

Johnny Cage

“Ah! Hsbfhhdhwbhwjssnjjkiakkkk!!!!!!!” You cussed internally as the nerves of your fingers couldn’t take any more of you literally pounding sand, a big basin filled with hot sand, which was part of your Shaolin training. You were careful not to actually cuss in the Wushi Academy for obvious reasons.

“Looks like you wanna tell yourself to go “pound sand!”” Johnny called out to you, laughing.

You glared at him, blowing a lock of hair off your face before retorting, “You pound this sand, then!”

“Oh, no no NOOO!” Johnny laughed, “I’m good! I’ve had my fill of that!”

You groaned pathetically, not wanting to go on, as you have been doing that for the past half hour. You listened to your sore, red hands, waving them in the cool air to alleviate the pain.

Johnny beckoned you by waving his hand towards himself, “Hey, I’ve got a gift for you!”

Curious, you followed Johnny. He led you to a tree, where there was a large sign. The first thing that caught your eye was the wording inside a large circle in the centre that read “Bang Head Here”. You then read the rest of the poster before bursting out in hysterical laughter.

“It’s something for your noggin to get it off the pain. You’re welcome!” Johnny exclaimed before walking away.

Raiden

After a full day of training, the last task being crawling forward down several flights of stairs built on one of the downhill slopes as fast as you humanly can, all you wanted to do was throw up from the pain.

How you held it in was a miracle. You wanted to cry, and cry you did. You contemplated your life choice, which included joining the Shaolin, wondering why on earth you thought it was an excellent challenge to upgrade your skills, as it seemed brutal and unforgiving so far.

You found yourself walking down a trail lined with trees until you spotted Johnny’s “gift”. Your sadness transitioned to you being greatly amused as you walked towards it, chuckles intensifying to laughter.

Before you could stop yourself, you banged your head against the poster, not hard enough to hurt yourself, of course.

“Y/N! What are you doing??”

Your laughing subsided some as you turned to see Raiden walking towards you with a concerned expression. Your face softened a little.

“Don’t do that! You’ll hurt yourself!” Raiden chastised you gently.

You waved a hand in the air reassuringly, “Oh, don’t worry, I was just having a bit of fun with myself while contemplating my life choices. Look what Johnny got me! Isn’t that hilarious??” You gestured towards the poster nailed to the tree.

Raiden approached the sign and read what it said silently. Then he sighed, shaking his head.

“Johnny!” Raiden exclaimed in an exasperated tone.

“I think it’s the best!” You laughed hysterically, then held up both hands when you saw Raiden’s concerned face turned towards you.

“Not to minimize your concern, Raiden! I totally appreciate your concern! It’s just a little humour and fun in a stressful situation. I promise you, I’m not hurting myself!”

You appealed with a reassuring and apologetic look for worrying him.

Sighing, he relented, “Alright, I’ll let it go this time. But if you need to talk to de-stress from training, I’m here.”

You nodded appreciatively, “Thank you! I’ll keep that in mind.” You felt bad that your amazing human of a friend worried about you, though.

Kenshi

Another day of gruelling training meant another day of extreme pain. It never seems to get better over time and you were frustrated as hell from what you perceive was a lack of improvement. It has been months since you joined, and though you had a martial arts background you were no spring chicken either.

In order to release yourself from any self-loathing, you need some senseless and random humour. That was how you you’ve always countered any “tragedies” (over exaggeration) of life; that or listening to Sum 41, Linkin Park, Rammstein, and the like, which was not allowed in a Buddhist institution. By the Elder Gods, you missed your music!

You headed to a wall where the “Stress Relief Kit” was tacked on, hidden from the masters as best as it could be. Sighing, you started head banging on it, repeating, “No…no…no…” in sync with each banging.

Without warning, you yelped as were lifted of the ground and were sent flying a few yards before landing on a soft patch of grass with a thud.

Confused, you scrambled onto all fours as you saw Kenshi walk past you.

“There are other ways to distress, Y/N,” he said with a stoic expression without looking at you. He continued to walk and he disappeared into the trees.

Out of all reactions, a bout of hysterical laughter hit you once you processed what just happened.

Kung Lao

Whenever you were paired with Kung Lao as a sparring partner, you had so much fun. Even though Kung Lao had an ego, it was the kind of ego that a child has when he wanted to be praised for his attention-seeking antics.

He was an absolute riot. You didn’t know if lost more calories and got flat abs from training or from dying of laughter.

That does not mean that he wasn’t a good fighter. In fact, he’s got an awesome fighting style, even without the hat.

“Hey, Y/N,” he began, beaming, “You know that sign that Johnny gave you? Where is it?”

”Oh! It’s on a wall!”

“Go get it! I’m gonna show you something amazing!”

You quickly went to retrieve the letter paper-sized metal poster, then you handed it to Kung Lao.

You followed Kung Lao to where there was a long wooden plank of about an inch thick and six feet long that was held up on either side by stone pillars of around four feet high. Kung Lao placed the poster on the centre of the plank.

“Now, watch and learn, Y/N,” Kung Lao said with bravado and a grin. After taking off his hat and handing it to you, he stood up straight with his arms on his sides, closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then-SNAP! At lightning speed, he broke the plank in half with his head.

It happened so fast and you stared at him with jaws hanging open and wide-eyed. Kung Lao smiled at your reaction as he took his hat back from you.

“OMG!! Teach me! Teach me!!” You exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down and pumping your fists in front of you.

Smirking, Kung Lao took another plank that was leaning against a wall and set it on the stone supports. He then took the dented sign that now resembled a bowl and flattened it as best as he could before placing it on the centre of the plank. He gestured towards the plank.

“Your turn,” he said.

You eagerly stepped in front of the plank and mimicked Kung Lao’s stance and breathing before you have at it. You smashed your forehead against the wood with all your might and, no surprise, nothing broke.

“OW!” You screamed as you fell on your butt, laughing hysterically while massaging your head.

“Y/N, a word.”

You recognize the voice of who called to you. Uh-oh.

Liu Kang

You clumsily scrambled onto your feet, trying to kill your hysterical laughter, but failing miserably.

You struggled to muster the most apologetic expression.

“Lord Liu Kang,” you greeted. Kung Lao, who was behind you, also bowed respectfully.

“Follow me,” the Fire God instructed.

You intuited the seriousness of the mood, so your laughter significantly subsided to a smile. You were led to a quieter spot of the area before Liu Kang spoke.

“Y/N, what is this I hear about you banging your head against hard surfaces?”

“Oh,” you began sheepishly, “It’s something fun that I have been doing to relieve stress. It’s for humour’s sake, I’m not really hurting myself!”

“While humour has its time and place,” Liu Kang began, “Further harming oneself as a joke to relieve stress has no place in training. There have been a few who have brought your behaviour to my attention. And, what is this “stress relief” poster?”

“Oh, Johnny gave it to me as a joke,” you quipped, slightly lighting up, “To lighten my mood!”

“Please retrieve this gift, Y/N.”

You did as you were ordered and handed the bent poster to Liu Kang who looked as it before sighing.

“I will have a word with Cage. In the meantime, I don’t want to see or hear about any more of this behaviour from you. If the intense training is more than you can handle, perhaps consider a break.”

“No, Lord Liu Kang. I will manage,” you replied, “I’ll bear it.”

Liu Kang nodded, “Good. One more thing, Y/N.”

You nodded expectantly, “Yes?”

“Don’t always follow whatever Kung Lao wants you to do. He has been training for far longer than you, and while his skills are indeed impressive, you are not yet at his level. The last thing we need is for you to needlessly injure yourself. It would be such a loss to Earthrealm. We need you, Y/N.”

Touched, you bowed deeply, “I apologize, Lord Liu Kang. It will never happen again.”

Smiling, the Fire God nodded, “ I trust that it won’t.”

He turned to walk away and you sighed in relief. As gruelling as Shaolin training was, you were glad that you didn’t get kicked out.

Sub Zero (Bi Han)

You and a couple of trainees were taking turns sparring each other in the courtyard of the Lin Kuei palace, where it was unrelentingly cold. Not only do you have to train under hard conditions and get your human bodies used to it, you also have to endure the dead serious attitudes and moody atmosphere.

You knew that you and a few others would love to let loose and be yourselves, but that can only happen out of the sight and earshot of your battle-hardened seniors, especially the frigid Grandmaster.

Luckily for you, the two trainees who you were sparring with were somewhat like-minded in terms of a sense of humour.

“I’ve got something to show you!” You said to your mates in a sing sing voice. It was your break anyways, and you took advantage of the situation. Your mates looked at each other then back to you with quizzical expressions.

You grabbed your bag and pulled out a metallic Stress Relief Kit sign and held it up. It only took a few seconds before the two erupted in hysterical laughter, followed by yours.

“If unconscious, cease stress reduction activity?!” The first mate said, “I think that’s a given!”

“Where are you gonna put it?” Asked the second one.

“Here!” You exclaimed, pointing to the nearest wall. You held the poster in place at face level, “Go ahead! Try it!”

“Excuse me??” the second one said, “It’s your poster. YOU do it!”

“Yeah! You do it!” the first one said, taking your place in holding the poster against the wall, “Go on! Show us how it’s done!”

You stood in front of the poster, braced yourself, and then banged your head against the circle three times. The three of you erupted into hysterical laughter and you were high fived.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” Came a harsh and gruff voice.

It’s safe to say that the hysterics stopped and the three of you froze solid with horrified looks, turning gingerly to face your Grandmaster.

If looks could kill, all three of you would be shattered ice statues by now.

Bi-Han eyed the three of you coldly, then he saw the poster held against the wall by the first mate.

His scowl deepens and he growled before speaking, “The Lin Kuei is an elite of highly trained assassins and warriors. We have a reputation and an image to uphold! I do not tolerate foolish and frivolous behaviours that will drag the Lin Kuei name down to the level of idiots! Conduct yourselves with dignity or face my wrath! And dispose of that at once!”

With a last growl, he turned on his heels and stormed off in a dignified manner, muttering, “Bird brains!”

The three of you just stood there staring at each other with held breaths. You guess you wouldn’t be having fun for a long time.

Scorpion (Kuai Liang)

It has been a few months since you became an initiate. Since the inception of Shirai Ryu, there was an urgency to expedite everyone’s training to get all of you where you needed to be, which is why the new clan was very selective of their initiates. Where time is if the essence, quality counts.

Since you had a friend who was accepted in first, she had dropped your name and were approached to become an initiate. You were lucky to have made the cut, since you had years of martial arts training.

While the training was held to very high standards, Grandmaster Scorpion was also fair and took into consideration a reasonable work-life balance. Because of the nature of your current profession, it only makes sense to include as much laughter as you can, while you’re still alive.

When you and your friend were still room mates back in college as international students, you had this one Stress Relief Kit poster for good laughs. Now that you were both initiates, that poster had found its way on the wall of your group’s designated dojo.

Everybody seem to have a great laugh out of it, but the most frequent user seem to be you, which put you and your friend in hysterics every time. That is why you got called into the Grandmaster’s office one day.

“Have a seat, Y/N,” Kuai Liang gestures towards the chair in front of the desk. You sat down, feeling anxious.

“How are you?” He began, looking you in the eye.

“I am well, Grandmaster,” you replied, slightly shifting.

“Is training going well?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Good,” he replied; then, “Is everything alright with you?”

Confused, you nodded, “Everything is ok.”

“Are you sure?” He held eye contact with you, expression serious.

Confused even more, you nodded, feeling uncomfortable.

“It has come to my attention that you’re engaging in self-harming behaviour,” Kuai Liang said seriously, “Your team mates report that this often happens during training.”

Your face softened, “Oh,” you began.

“They reported that you are “stressed out” and that the frequent banging your head against the wall to music of a questionable nature is catharsis,” Kuai Liang began, “If that is the case, that tells me that your mental health is affected to the point where I am concerned. Do you need to talk to someone, Y/N?”

The genuine concern in his eyes made you feel guilty and cornered like a child being questioned about bad behaviour by a parent or a teacher.

“Oh, no, I am fine Grandmaster,” you began explaining about the poster that you and your friend had since college, and that the poster was meant for nothing more than lighthearted fun.

After you finished, Kuai Liang kept eye contact with you, and you can’t help but feel like he was a human lie detector. He finally spoke.

“Y/N, the Shirai Ryu takes training seriously. We hold ourselves to high standards as we are now one of Earthrealm’s protectors. We also need to be vigilant as the Lin Kuei can strike us at anytime. Our bodies and minds need to be in top condition in order to withstand the stresses and dangers of this way of life. If you feel that you cannot handle the stress that being in our clan brings, maybe this is not the right fit for you.”

Feeling bad, you reassured the Grandmaster that you are able to handle the stress of training, and the poster, again, was a joke to help cope with stress. You are indeed fine.

Kuai Liang seemed to accept your answer, and continued, “It is imperative that we check in with ourselves and each other. Your team mates did the right thing by coming to me. Do not hold this against them. Also, be mindful that you’re in a different country and therefore you need to be sensitive to the culture and its nuances. Many people may not understand your sense of humour and may take offence at it.”

“I understand, Grandmaster,” you affirmed, nodding solemnly, “I apologize for my actions.”

“Good,” Kuai Liang nodded, “ You are dismissed.”

You stood and bowed with both hands clasped in front of you respectfully before exiting the office a changed person!

Smoke (Tomas Vrbada)

Long before the above meeting with your Grandmaster happened, you were having just another typical training day, where part of it was spent training with your group, and the other half was either working out and honing your skills on your own.

You and your friend were sparring. Since it was just the two of you in your designated dojo, you whipped out out your iPhone and went through you play lists to play some music while training to hype things up.

“Oooh! That’s a good pick!” Your friend exclaimed with eyes wide as she hovered over you shoulder while you tapped the screen to select your music. You turned the volume up to a reasonable degree as rhythmic clapping started, shortly followed by the guitar riff, then the drums and the rest of the instruments.

At this point, you were both head banging to the music going, “Yeah!” “ I miss this song!”

“Wake in a sweat again

Another day’s been laid to waste

In my disgrace.”

The opening lines of Linkin Park’s “Given Up” were sung; hyped up, you each picked up your bo staff and worked on your technique and form taking turn as offended and defence. Sticks clashed seemingly in beat to the music as both of you eyed each other trying to read each other’s moves.

There were more clashing of sticks, grunts, cries, spins, evasive maneuvers, and deflections with your intense sparring.

You felt a hard whack at the back of your calves as your friend swept her staff at a low angle, knocking you on to your back.

As if on queue, you heard Chester Bennington sing, “I’VE GIVEN UUUUUUUUUP!” This elicited hysterical laughter from the both of you. As your friend helped you up, you leaned on her shoulder for support, struggling from laughter.

Your friend was far more skilled at the staff than you were, as so far, you’ve lost count of the number of times that she’s knocked you on your back.

“Aaaaaaaah!” you cried out, heading to a specific spot on the wall. You started to bang your head to

“PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY

PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY

PUT ME OUT OF MY

PUT ME OUT OF MY FUCKING MI-“

Your head banging was halted when your forehead suddenly made contact with something soft and warm.

“This again?”

You looked up and locked eyes with those of your Sensei, Smoke. The Shirai Ryu’s Second-in-Command had an amused look on his face as he placed his hand between your head and the wall that was home to the Stress Relief Kit.

Still in hysterics, you struggled to stand straight so that you can bow in greeting.

“At least you didn’t progress to the “unconscious” part,” Tomas chuckled, reading the poster, “And what an interesting choice of music to train to, Y/N.”

You managed to control your laughter enough to give an answer, “We miss this song from our college days.”

“You know,” Tomas began, “I have been noticing that you’ve been having a little too much fun with this.” He knocked a knuckle on the poster twice.

“It’s called catharsis! You should try it!” You quipped back.

“I can think of other ways that you can destress besides head banging against a poster on a wall to this kind of music.”

“What do you mean?” Your friend countered, “It’s frickin’ epic!”

“If you think about it, don’t you think that it’s counter productive to train hard to survive to music about giving up on life?” Tomas asked, “Are you Going Under?”

“What do you mean?” you asked, looking to your friend then back to him.

“You know, like, you want to stay in love with your sorrow, but God, you wanna let it go through “catharsis”?” He looked at you deadpan this time.

You paused for a minute before answering, “Aren’t you poetic, Sensei.”

You got a stare back in return, his expression still serious, but his eyes with a hint of teasing, which confused you.

“if you ever feel like you’ve tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter, my ears are open,” Tomas offered.

”Geez, I’m fine!” you protested, feeling more annoyed about being teased.

“You don’t have to hide. We’d rather you talk, rather than you walk alone on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

Something about what he said sounded familiar, then it clicked! That’s when your friend started howling.

“Oh! HAHAHAHAAA!! I see what you did! That’s very clever, man!” Your friend raised a hand to Tomas, which he returned with a high five.

Tomas cracked a smile, chuckling a little.

You shut your eyes in relief and laughed along. He had a sense of humour after all!

“I was, like, what’s going on?? Then, I’m like, “Oh, gotcha!!” You choked out.

“You’re fine,” Tomas lightly shoved your shoulder. As he turned to leave, he stopped and warned, “Y/N, being goofy is fine, just don’t overdo it. I might start getting worried, then I would have to have a serious talk with you one day if it continues. Remember, safety first!”

With that, he disappeared through a doorway leading to the next room.

Both of you were in high spirits and still giggling. It was a pleasure to see this subtle and humorous side of Smoke, which you hope you’d see more of.

**Can anyone guess what songs Tomas was quoting from? 😁😁😁

[tonowaritrash]

three’s company pt 5

part 4; part 5; part 6

slight angst? but it’s fine because well…

pairing: tonowari x jake sully x reader

tags: feelings of inadequacy, angst, pegging, bi!tonowari, bi!jake sully, jakesully banter

minors dni

your trysts with jake were a weekly thing, what with both men being busy with clan stuff. tonowari had been the one to initially suggest that you added his friend into your dynamic, something you’d forever be grateful for as jake had a boyish cheekiness about him that tonowari’s normally stoic demeanor just couldn’t replicate. it added excitement to your evenings, sure. but sometimes you thought there was a kind of relationship between men that you couldn’t hope to understand. that jake brought something even more for your mate that you couldn’t.

you weren’t dumb. you weren’t naive. tonowari enjoyed having jake inside him. and you enjoyed watching him taking him. but…well…there was envy you had. that you couldn’t connect with him that way. your fingers could only do so much after all.

it was silly. childish, really, to be envious because of this. for it to affect you so much. you’d thought about broaching the subject with him when you were alone but what were you going to say? “i’m scared i’m not good enough for you because i don’t have a dick”? it was ridiculous.

wasn’t it?

you’d played with him with your fingers before jake. you enjoyed how his back arched, how he panted, how he keened. it was beautiful.

but wasn’t it enough?

you wanted to make him scream the way jake did, you wanted to be held on to for dear life. but you just didn’t have the appendage.

it was silly. it was ridiculous.

“you okay, princess? you haven’t said anything today.”

you looked at jake and tonowari who were now walking about your marui to wind down. wari had invited him over for dinner. you hadn’t realised how deep in your thoughts you were, and gave an apologetic smile.

“s’nothing,” you said, feigning happiness.

the both of them frowned at you, not believing you for a moment. you were never really a good liar.

“c’mere,” jake said, opening his arms.

you walked into them and sighed into his embrace, feeling extra secure when tonowari came in behind you to join.

“you’ve been acting strange lately,” your mate murmured as he nuzzled into your hair. “i worry about you, yawne.”

you shake your head. “it’s stupid.”

“so it is something?”

you knitted your brows at jake who stuck his tongue out at you in jest. tonowari gave him a sharp look and the expression got wiped from his face as his ears lowered sheepishly.

“take your time, sweet girl,” wari said now, his voice low and calming, as though speaking to an anxious ilu.

you pouted and fiddled with the beads on jake’s clothes. “i worry that…i’m not good enough for you, wari.”

his eyebrows shot up in visible confusion. “that’s ridiculous. why would you ever think so?”

letting out deep exhale, you hung your head low in shame and mumbled your answer.

“i didn’t hear you then,” he said.

“speak up princess. it’s a safe space.”

you were sure your ears were red with mortification and your tail swished with nervous anxiety. “can’t fuck you like jake can.”

there was a stunned silence and you bit your lip in mortification, wanting to crawl into yourself. this was stupid. you should have never said anything.

jake burst into laughter and his sudden movements surprised you. tonowari shot him another sharp look but he was too far gone in his hysterics to even take notice.

“is that all?” he asked, gasping. “sorry, sorry i don’t mean to laugh i just—” he laughed again.

“i don’t appreciate you laughing like this at my mate, jake,” tonowari said with a venom that made you shiver slightly.

jake nodded, forcing his laughter to cease but still unable to stop the grin on his face. “i’m sorry i just…princess, there’s such an easy solution to this problem.”

you frowned at him again. “you’re making no sense, jake.”

“ah, okay. just…at our next meeting i’ll explain, okay?”

-0O0-

the thing you were holding was…phallic. and bright, glowing like the plants in your usual cave. jake had brought it, all cheeky smiles and boyish giggles as he presented it to you. you were alone with him, he’d said it was important that you were when you arranged the meeting. tonowari would arrive in about twenty minutes.

it was attached to some kind of cloth, or rope…or something and it disconcerted you.

“this some kind of sky demon contraption?” you asked.

he nodded. “had a friend make it for me. he owed me a favour. here, let me—”

he showed you how to wear it, and clipped it into place.

it was a perfect fit.

you looked down at the glowing blue appendage and suddenly it all clicked.

“this is…”

“it’s called a strap on,” jake explained with a hint of excitement. “you can peg tonowari with it.”

“peg?”

“fuck.”

“oh.”

you got more excited as you swayed your hips around, feeling the the weight of it. the thought of tonowari writhing under you as you used it made you giddy.

“thank you.”

he grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “no problem. you guys…i don’t know how to say it but, ah hell, this is the highlight of my week being with you two. wanted to help where i could.”

he was so thoughtful. and nice. and sweet. it made your heart soar that he would go through all this for you. and though you knew that he did this as a thank you, you couldn’t help but want to thank him.

“should we…test it?”

his ears raised slightly in mild interest. “really? with me?”

“if you’d like.”

“no…i mean i would very much like that but. well, i think it’s only right that you use it on tonowari first. another time maybe.”

the promise made you smile and you were going to say something else before you heard your mate entering the cave. you turned to see him walk in and stop as he noticed what you had on.

suddenly, you felt a bit shy. the way he studied you made you feel vulnerable. like it wasn’t going to play out the way you’d wanted. like he didn’t want this. like he’d only like being fucked if it was jake.

but then he walked up to you kissed you with such energy and urgency you nearly fell over. he was all frantic grasps, feeling you all over, nipping your lips with his teeth as though he couldn’t control himself.

“was this jake’s doing?” he asked.

“yeah.”

“and you like it?”

“mmhmm.”

“i’ll have to thank him.”

it was desperate, as though you two were the only two in the world. as though the excitement you had was shared with the olo’eyktan.

he took his clothes off as he kissed you, ignoring jake’s whistle as he tossed it aside. his heart pounded against his rib cage in anticipation and you felt yourself tingling all over in pleasure at how excited he was.

you guided tonowari to lie down and he complied immediately. you explored his vast body, kissing every part that you could as he panted, his cock already fully erect. he whined softly as you suckled his neck and he tightly gripped your forearms. it was crazy how much he’d wanted this.

there was a lubricant you kept in the cave that you grabbed now, and you poured it onto two of your fingers before you pushed them in. this was standard procedure for you two, an action you’d done so often it was as easy as breathing. tonowari’s breath hitched and he whined softly as you stretched his walls.

thankfully you didn’t really need to prepare him that much. what you had been given was about jake’s size, one that tonowari was well acquainted with, so when he whined and grabbed your arm you smiled.

you grabbed it and teased his hole with the head, only putting a portion of it inside. it was soft to the touch and you loved the noises tonowari made as you did it.

“what is it, sweet boy?” you asked innocently. “want me to inside you?”

he managed a nod, his cock weeping precum that jake swiped with his finger with it before licking it. “still taste good, wari.”

“shut up,” tonowari said, but there was no bite to his words. tonowari wiggled his hips needily and you slowly entered.

his back arched as you did so, eyes shut tight as he felt you inside him. when you were flush against him you stopped to take a look and we’re astounded at how he took all of it in. it was mesmerising.

“i could get used to this,” you muttered.

you began to thrust slowly. unfortunately you didn’t feel anything but just hearing tonowari say your name like a prayer was enough. the pace you set was slow as and awkward as you tried to mimic the way tonowari and jake moved when they fucked you.

soon, you gripped his sides for leverage as you fell into a rhythm, adjusting yourself every few thrusts until—

“ah, fuck.”

you were awarded with tonowari’s sudden hitch in breath and expletives for your efforts. jake stroked his cock as tonowari writhed under you, begging, praying and thanking you for how you were making him feel.

you didn’t know you could love him more, but being able to do this for him only served to deepen your bond as he reached out for your hand.

tonowari bit his lip and it was clear he was close. you increased the pace, getting more turned on from the noises he was making, noises that came out because of you.

“i’m close,” he breathed.

“cum for me, sweet boy,” you said and as if that were all he needed he came undone under you. his cum painted his chest and jake’s hand as you fucked him through it.

he collapsed into the bed, spent and panting as you kissed whichever parts of his body you could reach after you took yourself out of him.

tonowari grabbed your head and guided it to his lips where he kissed you softly. you returned it eagerly.

“thank you,” he mumbled against you.

“couldn’t have done it without jake,” you admitted, smiling at the man who was kissing your shoulder and back.

“least i could do,” jake said. “and now i want to fuck your brains out for that spectacular performance.”

you snorted. he had such a way with words and you were about to tell him that before he plunged two fingers inside of you.

“i take it the feeling’s mutual?” he teased.

you looked at tonowari for permission and he nodded lazily. “go ahead, sweet girl.”

you grinned and kissed him again. “you better be ready to return the favour once jake’s done.”

“always,” he said with a smile.

[delirious-donna]

Buy It [Nanami Kento]

an: inspired by some feels I had earlier and fantasy shopping is definitely something that I personally indulge in.

prompt: your husband doesn't know how to lift your bad mood, however, he manages to do so just by being him...

pairing: Nanami Kento x female reader (established relationship)

warnings: none, SFW with a hint of suggestion at the end, fluff so sweet it'll hurt your teeth, idiots in love, a tiny bit of angst and worry but like only if you squint, Kento being the best damn husband

Your husband Nanami knows you’ve had a hellish week. He had listened to your complaints about work and your concerns about the boss that he’d love to give a piece of his mind to, but won’t because you’d be upset.

Kento hated seeing you like this, in fact, he detests it, abhors it. There aren’t words emphatic enough to describe exactly how it makes him boil inside. Calm as ever on the surface, yet worry gnawed at his stomach like a pit of furious vipers.

He missed your easy smiles, now replaced with tight, forced ones like you’re trying to convince him you’re okay when that’s far from the truth. He missed your laughter, the way you think it’s funny to tell him the worst jokes imaginable and when he only rolls his eyes or groans in response, you fall into hysterics.

Now, you’re quiet. Too quiet and he wanted to draw you out of that pretty head that worries too much and overthinks things a little too much.

Nanami had considered several options but each he discarded for one reason or another. He spent large stretches of his time on the job thinking up ways to cheer you up but he could never know that what he was about to do on a whim would be more than enough to brighten your day and mood.

He found you in the bedroom, sprawled sideways across the mammoth bed and still wearing your cute pink pyjamas even though it was the middle of the day. Sighing softly, he tiptoed quietly until he could sprawl atop your body.

His weight remained braced on his wrists and knees but he sank enough that you could feel him pressed along your back like a personal comforter.

“What are you up to, dearest?”

You hummed in quiet appreciation for the gentle kisses on your shoulder, the way he was asking for permission to look at your laptop screen rather than just doing so and you couldn’t love him more.

Kento made you feel loved with everything he did, his every action and word was to ensure your happiness and at times you didn’t feel worthy of him. This was one such moment and you debated on closing the browsing window and feigning innocence, but he didn’t deserve evasion.

“Oh. Nothing really, just having a look at some clothing stores online. Did you want to get out for some fresh air?” It wasn’t so bad telling the truth, even if you did deflect it by trying to steer the conversation in another direction.

“Show me.”

It was a demand. Calm and patient but not to be ignored. For a second you admired that he was maintaining a press up position above you and for such a long time, your man was strong and you knew that fact very well.

The shopping cart popped up and you sensed Kento eyeing it with curiosity. It had only meant to be some fantasy shopping; pretty dresses, sweaters, skirts and at least a dozen or more different lingerie sets. They ranged from demure and virginal to raunchy and debauched. You hadn’t planned on buying any of it, it was simply something you did to make yourself feel better. An indulgence that you had participated in many times in the past.

“Buy it,” Kento stated, his breath warm on your neck and his lips finding your pulse point, “I want to see you in every piece. Get next day delivery too and don’t protest.”

He knew you too well, your lips already parted to tell him this was foolish and unnecessary, but he was hearing none of it.

Perhaps he didn’t know it but this one act of adoration made your entire week. To feel so cherished and most importantly - wanted - was more than enough to drive away your bad mood.

You did buy it all, you did get express shipping and you did go out for a walk. It felt refreshing, a heavy burden lifted from your shoulders by your loving and ever-thoughtful husband.

And you did wear every piece, although it was over the course of many days. Each outfit elicited new and differing reactions from Kento but each of them had you seeing heaven in one way or another.

[jxn-blogs]

Impurity!Nikolai x Exorcist!reader

Author's notes: sorry if this is kind of bad or something- my grammar isn't that great ngl

!!Warnings!!: Maybe dark content, mentions of gore, rusty ass carnival, honk honk, mentions of describing a figure's body I guess if someone thinks it's weird.

Words: 634 (I should say it's short)

(reader is gender neutral btw!!)

There was heavy footsteps. You were breathing heavily as you ran away from the impurity. It felt so horrifying especially when its your first mission. All you could hear is just your heartbeat and your footsteps. This world is pure gloom. The red skies and the ruined cities. The place where no one lives in.

As you continued running for your life, you spotted a carnival. You knew that there is no one inside that particular carnival but it looks lively than the others so you decided to take protection from there. Most of your comrades got eaten, the impurities ripping every single body part of them slowly. You could still hear the bloody screams from them although they were long gone. You still have some talismans so you decided to save them for later as you decided to investigate the carnival.

Most of the rides were broken and rusty, you could smell a strong smell of rotting corpses. It smells repulsive. You could start vomiting at this point but you held back. You saw a black colored splatter on a high striker. you took a great look at it, you immediately knew that it wasn't just a black splatter. You knew there would be an impurity here. You took a look around again. Seeing a circus tent. You decided to enter it.

The circus tent was dark and empty. Just like other places you have ever visited. You were looking around and saw a figure standing in the middle of the tent. The spotlight turns on, showing what the figure is. Your eyes widen, it was an impurity. You could hear cackling from the figure then it stares at you. The figure was a man, he has braided white hair and has clown makeup. You assumed that he might be the one who controls the high striker based of this figure and attire. He doesnt have any upper attire except for some straps. Showing his toned and muscular body. He wears monotone striped pants and he has a mallet on his arms. A large one at that.

"Aha! A visitor! Its been years since someone visited my circus!! Hehe now lets get on iwth my show, you may sit down my honorable guest!"

The man spoke. He has quite a voice that sounds like hes a ringmaster. A charismatic voice. You decided to sit down just like what he ordered. And you watched as he started peforming tricks.

You were quite enjoying his tricks, forgetting that he is your target. It feels like he isn't harmless at all. As the tricks he peformed started turning more violent each time.

"Are you enjoying the show? Now then, let me invite you to by subject for my next trick!!"

He took out a rope and swung it, throwing it at you as it goes to your waist. He smirked as he pulled the rope thats now at your waist, causing you to be pulled to him. He chuckled as he undo the rope from you and lets you stand on the spotlight.

"Now then, for my next trick."

He took out his mallet, you snapped out and remembered that he is an impurity and not a friendly monster. You tried to get away but you realized he chained you up.

"I appreciate that you enjoyed my tricks, but too bad i was trying to hold my hunger. You look so delicate when i saw you investigating my favorite carnival game machine. My heart felt like i just want to eat your soft... tender... flesh.. now its time for my meal, hope you have a great night."

After those words, all the thing you remembered was nothing. Your vision turns pitch black. He knocked you out. The last thing you hear is hysterical laughter.

(Tumblr isn't working I can't see shi just now)

[pickinglilahs]

Blackeclipse for the soul

You know the drill Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 6.5; Part 8 CW: talking about Self Harm/Scars (in between the ** if you want to skip, take care of yourselves)

A shout.

A bang.

A crash.

Cursing.

All three boys were wide awake.

Regulus had almost fallen off, but he had wrapped himself around James' arm to steady himself. Remus had his feet on the ground, wand, —Regulus'?—snatched from the bedside table, aimed at the noise.

The noise in question was, of course, Sirius.

Remus missed waking up to James' fingers in his hair.

It turns out, no one told Sirius that Remus' other Soulmate was his little brother. Nor that said little brother was also now Bonded with James.

When Poppy had tried to keep Sirius and Peter from seeing Remus as they always did, they 'left' as they were told. Sirius then proceeded to sneak back in and, upon seeing the three of them, freaked.

He had stormed away from their cot, kicked a bedside table, knocked the lamp off it, and cut himself on the pieces.

So, Sirius got to occupy the bed beside Remus' while Poppy healed his toes and the scrapes on his shins.

Everyone was having a hard time not laughing at him and Sirius was, decidedly, not amused. Even Poppy's eyes were smiling behind her mask of exasperation.

When he was all patched up, he stormed off.

James and Remus fell back against each other, laughing hysterically. Regulus was smiling, though, that may have been at the other two's laughter. Remus could have sworn he even saw the corners of Poppy's mouth twitching up.

She checked all three of them—James protesting that nothing happened to him—and gave them the all-clear. Before she let them leave, however; she made them all sit down on the edge of the bed facing her.

She handed each of them a pamphlet saying, "I know you'll be too embarrassed to sit and listen if I tried to talk about this, so read these. If you have any questions or concerns, ASK. Remember, it's better to ask an embarrassing question than to be treated for it."

They couldn't leave the infirmary fast enough. They all grabbed a wand and shoes, and bolted.

Down the hall, they paused. Remus had Regulus' wand and James' shoes. James had his own wand and Remus' shoes. Regulus didn't have shoes because, apparently, James carried him to the hospital wing in just his socks.

James refused to let Regulus walk barefoot on the cold stone and, since he didn't fit into either of their shoes, James forced Regulus to let him carry the other boy on his back.

It was a rather amusing sight, seeing as, while James was broader, Regulus was actually taller. So, resigned to his fate, Regulus rested his chin on top of James' head, arms on his shoulders, thighs hooked above his hips, and James' arms under Regulus' knees with his hands folded together.

Remus smiled the whole way down to the dungeon. It didn't even occur to him to appreciate how great he felt, given that the Full set less than three hours ago.

Regulus drew the line at James carrying him through the common room. He made James put him down and told them he was going to shower and change. James warned him he had 15 minutes before he came in after.

After Regulus slipped through the door, Remus kissed James on the cheek and said he was going to the kitchens. James caught him for a proper kiss before letting him go.

Remus smiled the whole way to the kitchens.

The house elves were more than happy to provide a picnic feast when he said the three of them had missed breakfast. Seeing as breakfast had just ended, it took seconds for them to produce a basket that was full to bursting. Remus thanked them and let the basket bob along behind him as he made his way back to the Slytherin dorms.

Regulus was just stepping out when Remus rounded the corner. The trio made their way up through the castle to Gryffindor Tower.

Peter and Mary were playing exploding snaps in the otherwise empty common room. Neither of them so much as blinked at Regulus. They were informed that Sirius had gone out for a 'run' as they made their way to the stairs.

James jumped into the shower while Remus re-arranged the furniture. He moved the wardrobe and bedside table from between his and James' beds, then pushed the two together. To make sure nothing would shift, he firmly wedged the nightstands between the wardrobes and the bedframes.

Regulus, who had been standing in the doorway with the food, nodded in approval. He sent the basket over and left his shoes under the bed. Regulus climbed onto the bed and started unpacking the food.

Remus pulled out pants and sweats from his own trunk, then stole a jumper from James'. He looked up at Regulus, then went back to his own trunk and pulled out another jumper. This one, he tossed at Regulus who caught it wide-eyed.

Remus shrugged and, just then, James came out of the bathroom. He was toweling his hair, not looking where he was going, and reached blindly for his wardrobe, which was now two feet to the right. Remus laughed, took the towel off James' head, and directed him to its new location.

Remus set his clothes down in the bathroom and came back out with James' glasses. He cast an impervious so they wouldn't fog and slid them on the other's face.

James blinked at him, then at the room. He looked back at Remus with raised eyebrows.

Remus shrugged and went to take a shower.

When he came out, he found the other two eating in awkward silence on the bed. James was in just his sweats and Regulus had put on Remus' jumper. They were both staring at the food separating them.

Remus sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. He climbed onto the bed and grabbed some toast.

"James, why don't you read that pamphlet to us?"

Grateful for something to do, James held out his hand and one came zooming out of his trouser pocket from the floor. Regulus raised his eyebrows at the wandless magic, but Remus shrugged at him.

James cleared his throat. "Right.

Soulmates: A Guide. How your bodies change in response to the Bond Benefits and Drawbacks Communication New experiences Safe practices When to seek help

How long is this thing?" James opened the pamphlet and it expanded into at least thirty pages. His jaw dropped.

"I'm assuming they make it look smaller so it's not so intimidating," Regulus observed.

Remus nodded. "I'm surprised they don't give them to everyone."

"I think they put a stack of them in the six and seventh-year dorms." Regulus was looking at the pamphlet with a frown. “She didn’t give them to you guys when you discovered your bond?”

James frowned too. “No, Poppy just checked Rem over and sent us to lunch.”

Remus smiled, “Maybe she forgot? I do see her regularly after all.”

James nodded; Regulus shrugged.

"Well, we should probably at least skim the first few sections." Remus held his hand out, and a pamphlet came zooming from his nightstand.

He had just started leafing through it when Regulus burst, "How?"

Both Remus and James startled and looked at him. Remus knew what he was asking though.

"Practice." Remus held out his hand again and the third pamphlet came from somewhere on the floor. He passed it to Regulus with a smile. "Your wand is a conductor, not a necessity."

The three of them flipped through the pages silently, steadily making their way through the food still sitting between them. James was the first to toss it aside and flop back. Remus followed shortly after, and Regulus copied him.

After a few minutes of silent contemplation, James spoke. "So, we should go through those communication questions, right?"

Regulus nodded and sat up, folding his legs. James shifted so he was lying on his stomach, elbows on the bed, head propped on his hands. Remus leaned back on his hands and nudged James with one foot.

James looked over at him and smiled. Getting the hint, he opened his pamphlet to the questions.

"Question 1: Are we going to tell people?" He looked up, eyes moving between the other two.

Remus shrugged. "We haven't yet." He looked to Regulus.

Regulus looked on the verge of panic. Remus slowly reached out a hand, placing it on Regulus' knee. He looked up.

"We don't have to. We can say the Mark on my cheek is James' and we've kept it covered till now."

James was nodding. "We can alter mine, so it matches." He turned his left hand face-up to show the Mark there.

Regulus was shaking his head. "No. No, I-" He swallowed and set his jaw. "I don't want to hide."

There was a lot more to that statement than just their Soulbonds, but Remus let it go.

"Where is your Mark?"

Both he and James blushed. Remus raised an eyebrow. Considering where James' other one was, he wasn't sure how much more intimate it could get.

Regulus coughed, then put his hand over his inner right thigh. Remus pursed his lips in amusement, then frowned.

James and Regulus shared a look.

James' voice was gentle, "It's up to you, but, for what it's worth, I think you should."

**

Regulus stared at James for a long moment, then sighed and nodded. He rolled back and lifted his hips, pulling his sweats down to his knees. He left his pants on but pulled the inseam clear up.

"Oh." Remus wanted to cry.

Scars lined the inside of his thighs from the juncture of his leg to where his pants would cut off. And there, covering the lines on his right thigh, was a sun and star.

"Meg'n ddrwg gen i."

Regulus fixed his pants and pulled his sweats back up.

**

"A allaf eich cofleidio?" Regulus looked at him blankly.

James translated, knowing Remus hadn't noticed. "He said he was sorry, then asked if he could hug you."

Remus glanced at James before setting his gaze back on Regulus. He nodded and cleared his throat. "Sorry, yeah. I-"

He sighed, frustrated with himself, but Regulus was already giving him a small nod. Remus shifted over so he was beside Regulus and threw his arms around the taller boy.

Remus had never been a 'touchy' person until he met James. James gave hugs and smiles and words so freely, though, you couldn't help but pick up when it was needed.

Regulus was more relaxed this time around. He leaned into Remus, who put as much as he could into the hug.

Regulus was so closed off and composed that it wasn't surprising Remus never knew. That didn't stop Remus from hating this. That Regulus felt this way. That his family had put so much on him. That this was his outlet.

Remus gave him one last squeeze before pulling away. He stayed close though, sitting crisscross, knees bumping together.

James looked like he wanted to come hug Regulus too, but, after Sirius, he had learned restraint.

Regulus cleared his throat. "So, are...we going to tell people?"

Totally forgot I was making a tag list @poetrypirate @niad4827

[wishitweresummer]

Affection for Karl (Sapnap x Quackity x KarlJacobs)

Word count: 1485

Warning: Feet tickling and lots of mouth tickles.

     Karl was a complete mess. He struggled uselessly on his back on the bed with Quackity and Sapnap at either side of him, his arms pinned beneath them.

"Pleaseee!!!", he cried out shakily, his bubbly laughter nearly swallowing the words whole as he tilted his head down and scrunched, never enough to protect himself properly. His fiancés were relentless. Peppering kisses across his shoulders and his neck. The feather-light affection was driving him crazy.

     Earlier they had fallen into the bed with soft whispers and sweet kisses to lips until the shirts were coming off and Karl responded to a neck kiss with a giggle instead of…any other noise.

"So sensitive.", Sapnap growled directly into his neck, pulling free more squeaks and squeals. It had gone very downhill fast from there. The cute noises grabbed Quackity's attention and the two made quick work of getting their ticklish fiancé pinned under their brutally sweet affection.

"You're adorable.", was whispered right against his ear.

"We love you.", was breezed into the other one. Karl was practically vibrating, unable to get away from both as his giggles grew more frantic.

"You guys are so mean!".

     "I could be meaner. Could you be meaner Sap?".

"Oh I could be way meaner.".

"No don't! I'm sorry, this is fine!", Karl cried. He was all too aware of what his fiancés were capable of. While the soft lips trailing and peppering his worst spot were bad, he knew things could be a lot worse.

     Too bad he didn't think of that before calling them mean.

     Suddenly, hands were grabbing everywhere. At the soft section of his sides. At the thickest part of his thighs. Where his shoulders met his neck. Karl's body jolted and he threw his head back against the pillow as a chaotic round of cackles flew out of him. Each fiancée had one arm pinned completely under their body so he was forced to just lay there and accept his tickle-punishment.

"Didn't appreciate our affection...", Sapnap mumbled sadly, really playing it up.

"We'll make him beg for ticklish kisses.".

     Quackity sat up and pressed his assigned wrist to the bed next to Karl's head and started crawling his hand up and up his side towards his open underarm. Karl yelped and shook his head 'no', shaking with laughter. Sapnap pushed up onto his knees and locked down Karl's arm with both of them. Then, he latched onto Karl's narrow hips and started playing with the small bones that stuck out there, timing it perfectly to when Sapnap reached his underarm. Karl screamed. The man beneath them was flung into chaos; squeezing his eyes shut and laughing hysterically. His adorable cheeks grew red. His body jolted and he kicked his fluffy-socked feet into the bed.

"I'm…sorry!!!", he cried helplessly.

"Tell us you want our affectionate tickles.", Sapnap growled again, nudging his warm nose against Karl's ear.

"Okay...okayyy!!", he wailed, the laughter starting to overtake his ability to talk. The other two smirked as they kept up with the harsh tickling. Sapnap dragged Karl's arm up higher as he teased directly into his underarm. Quackity squeezed and pinched at his twitching hips. Karl was getting a bit lost in the laughter.

His eyes prickled with tears before Sapnap or Quackity realized he couldn't speak. They laughed as they halted the tickles and Karl was sputtering in seconds.

"Tickle kisses please fuck okay please god...", the words flew out of him and bounced along with the giggles that accompanied them.

"Okay, we can do that!".

"But, only because you insisted!". Karl already knew this was just going to be more trouble for him and the butterflies in his tummy fluttered. Forced to beg for his own doom.

     Karl giggled breathlessly as they both moved down to straddle a leg each and pressed his wrists down to the side of the bed.

"Fuck...", he whined. "Please guys this is so messed up!". But, they didn't care. A flurry of ticklish kisses fell on his bare tummy and sides and he was thrown into a frenzy of crazed giggles. "No!!!", he cried. His body convulsed softly. He squealed when a loud smooch was pressed against his bellybutton and the two attackers laughed.

"Is this where you wanted your tickle kisses?", Quackity smirked up at his red-faced fiancé. Sapnap kept his relentless lips teasing kisses up and down his side. Karl could only shake his head as he giggled his heart out. "Sap baby, he wants his kisses somewhere else!".

"Oh yeah?". Sapnap mumbled against the jumpy skin before nibbling it to draw a yelp out. Karl snorted and twisted away as wiggling fingers replaced the mouth. "Where else should we try then?", he asked dangerously. The two exchanged the evilest of silent conversations over the squirmy man.

"Flip over.". The two started to flip him over from both sides, all three of them bursting into giggles as it didn’t accomplish much.

"No! Quit it!". Karl shoved at Quackity's hands as they slid under his back, but Sapnap yanked him in and flipped him like a pancake. Strongest, of course. Karl could only squeak in protest. The two straddled his legs again, but this time wrangled in his ankles. Karl shrieked. "Hey! NO!!".

"Ohhh yes.", Sapnap laughed as he pried off the fluffy sock, ignoring Karl's second shriek.

If they were about to do what Karl thought they were he was sure he would die. The real fight began.

"Stay still!".

"Hey! Relax!!".

"Fuck!!", Karl cried out in panic as his thrashing failed to dislodge either tickle monster. Quackity tore off the fluffy-sock-barrier and they each got a nice good hold of Karl's bare feet. The toes wiggled in fear.

Sapnap's delivish fingers teased across the ticklish toes. Karl squealed as he grabbed his fourth toe and wiggled it.

"I like to play with my food.". Karl gasped sharply at the implication.

"Nonono—", he didn't make it far until he squealed loudly again. Desperate squeaky laughter filled the bedroom as nibbles attacked the pads and stems of Karl's toes.

Karl wanted to argue 'nibbles' were different from 'kisses'. He wanted to point out other ways they could show their affection. He wanted to beg for mercy oh please mercy mercy. But, all he could do was lose himself in his shrieking laughter as the tickles grew more and more unbearable. He tore at the sheets and the pillow with no place to put the electricity shooting through him. He could feel the vibrations of Sapnap's playful growling against his toes. Quackity's soft nibbles teased his pinkie toe and a scream tore from Karl's lips.

"Mercy!!", he wheezed out. Cruel smooches to the stems of his toes sent him squealing again. Karl yanked the sheets on the bed free entirely as he sunk into hysterics. “Fuck you!!”, he wailed.

He just screamed and laughed as he pounded his fists and twisted against the bed. His sweaty hair stuck to his red and tear streaked face. Quackity and Sapnap happily nibbled along the wiggly toes. All the love in the world put into each and every bite, really. Karl's laughter chimed like bells for the best Christmas. The happiest one. His cackling cut out a few times, but always came back full force with a delicious screech.

Karl couldn't believe the feeling. His fiancés had brought tickly fingers and even ticklish kisses against his feet before, but never nibbles. This was a first. The soft scraping and pressure of the teeth against his wiggling toes felt like certain death. What usually made him squeal and laugh when targeted on his sides or neck was now absolutely taking him apart. Every jerk of his foot or wiggle of toe made things worse. The increasing slickness from the two mouths was amping up the sensitivity as well. Karl needed to get out before he died.

     Of course he didn't die, though. Just laughed himself silly. Completely silly.

     When his laugh cut out for longer and longer, the two eventually relented. Two arms scooped Karl's shaking form into a warm chest. A very warm chest; Sapnap. A smaller body slid in to create a Karl Sandwich and two pairs of hands worked him down from his tickly haze. Firm touch to sides and shoulders grounded Karl where he should be, between the loves of his life. His giggles faded to whining, which faded to heavy breaths as sleep swept him away. Surprised eyes met each other over the adorable man.

     More tickle affection was given as he slipped deeper and deeper into dreamland. The softest of kisses pressed to his eyelids and nose, down his cheeks, and finally his forehead.

"I love you guys...", Karl murmured into the air as his body grew more limp in their cuddle pile.

"I love you too.".

"Love you very much, mí amor.".

(Art by @kazenomegaminowanpisu )

[cardierreh15]

The Secret Life of August Walker

I do not give anyone permission to repost or copy my work!!!

Warnings 18+: Bodily Fluid (containing of Blood, amniotic sac fluid , & Mucus ) , Child Birth , Angst , Grieving .

Pairings: August Walker x Mya (Black!Female OC)

Description: Mya takes a trip down memory lane on the night their baby girl was born.

Word Count: 2.3K

Song: Just My Imagination by The Temptations

Part 2

The small family sat at the small breakfast table in the kitchen. August was holding on to Ava with dear life. His large arms hugging her gently as the tiny human slept peacefully in his grasp.

He just couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He would leaned down halfway before bringing her up some too and place kisses on her chubby brown face. Then ever so often, he’d nuzzle his face in her neck and inhale her baby scent. It was as if he was trying to make sure she was real.

Or trying to make up for all the lost time.

It was quiet, Mya sat in her seat just watching him with their little girl. She would find herself tearing up and wiping those tears when they’d slip out. She just couldn’t believe this! So she had to ask…

‘What happened?�� Her voice was small and a little shaky. Part of her knew, but she wanted to hear his voice once more to be honest.

August looked up at her, the moon illuminated through the kitchen. The natural light made her pretty brown flesh glow. Motherhood really did a number on her. She had a beauty to her this world had to appreciate… he had to appreciate.

‘I had a guy take over… when I found out Nathan found my location. I was about to repair the artificial mask system and make new masks. It wasn’t hard to sneak by.’ He then looked down at Ava.

Mya’s eyebrows tugged into one as she folded her arms across her chest, ‘What?! So you stole CIA equipment, repaired it and then convinced an innocent bystander to be “you” and you pretend to be them for a year?!’

‘They weren’t as innocent as you think. He worked for me. And I knew I’d die if I got that chopper. He fought a good fight.’ He then looked down at their daughter, ‘If it meant for me to live and be in the shadows for a year … I’d do it again a thousand times more.’

She stared at him before she rubbed her face and pushed her curly fly aways behind her ear. ‘Alright… what about the end of the world? You were involved with a cult August. You were planning on destroying the world with me in it?!’

August didn’t look up at her yet, he seemed remorseful.

‘What’s stopping me from getting up and calling Nathan right now and —‘

August snapped his head up at her, his dark blue eyes showing a reflection of darkness she’d never seen him give her.

Yet she refused to back down.

‘Well? What do you have to say to yourself? To me?! Our daughter?!’

He just stared at her before looking back down at their sleeping baby.

Rage pumped through her veins. She felt lost, confused and the worst of all… disconnected.

‘So you have nothing to say?’ Her voice was cracked and broken from the tears that was building the the lump that was forming in her chest.

‘I thought I was doing the right thing Mya. This world is so full of darkness, pain… hate. I wanted to rid it of those things. Am I the bad guy because I want a new and peaceful place to raise our children?’

She burst out in hysterical laughter, ‘You? Who do you think you are?! God?! No one is capable of wiping out the “bad” in this world because they’d be taking themselves out too! Do you even know the kind of pain you put me through?! Would you kill me because I grieved you?!’

He pressed his lips together and looked over at her. He hesitated at the question. ‘I’ve had this conversation with myself over the past year. It started that the day at the graveyard… I saw how my death effected you. It wasn’t fair to you… to the both of you.’

She reached across the table and ripped a piece of paper towel off of the roll and pat her cheeks and nose.

‘I’m sorry.. and from now on I want to spend every waking moment trying to make up for this disaster I’ve ensued.’

Ava stretched in her sleep, causing her father to look down at her in a hurry. ‘Uh oh.’ He chuckled as she then snuggled back into his chest. ‘She’s so beautiful, Mimi.’ He then carefully ran his hand over her little head. ‘Everything I’ve ever wanted…’ He was gushing over how much hair she had, and how soft it was.

Mya sniffed as her heart tightened at the nickname. He was the only person that was allowed to call her that.

‘What was it like?’

‘What?’ She asked.

‘The pregnancy… the birth— with me not being there? I want to know what happened.’

Mya sighed softly and sat back in the chair. Her arms were folded lazily over her belly. She didn’t even know where to start.

***

A loud thunder clap shook the house, causing her to be startled out of her sleep. ‘Ah!’ And with that sudden jerk, it scared the baby. The baby twisted and turned in her womb, kicking and punching. Mya hissed at the pain, ‘I’m sorry honey… shhh… it’s alright.’ She rubbed her rounded belly, doing her best to soothe herself and her startled baby.

Mya looked over at the time, it was 1:19am. Cradling her belly with both of her hands now, she let out a tired sigh, ‘looks like you’re gonna be up for the rest of the night Hmm?’ She smirked, ‘Your father was a night owl… you and him alike in so many ways already.’

The baby began to kick around again, this time landing a strong one on her bladder, ‘Oh! That’ll do it! Why don’t you take it easy on me?!’ She whined playfully as she pushed the sheets off of her lap and pulled her legs over the sides of the bed, one by one.

Letting out a small whimper and placing her hand on her lower back, she waddled her way towards the bathroom. But before she could make it to toilet she felt herself leaking down her maternity tights. ‘What? Not again.’

Being pregnant came with a lot of complications. One of them being not being able to hold your bladder they way you use to.

But this time… this wasn’t urine.

‘MA! I happened again!’ She called out. Mya then carefully pulled down her tights and underwear to see this strange looking piece of tissue.

‘What’s wrong honey?’ Ericka said as she looked at her hunched over daughter.

‘Ma… I think my water broke…’ Mya murmured, her voice trembling as she never broke her gaze with that mucus membrane.

‘What? Why would you think—‘ she walked around her daughter and she saw it for herself. ‘Oh my god…—‘

‘Ohhh!’ Mya whimpered as she placed her hand on her belly. It felt tight to the touch. And she felt crampy as if she was having Braxton hicks. But this was different. Sooo much different.

She held her breath as she reached out for her mother’s hand. She gave her a gentle squeeze and breathe through the pain. Within seconds, it was gone.

‘That was your first contraction… honey, I’ll get the bags ready.’ She said softly, panicking as she rushed out of the bathroom.

Mya took in a deep breath and did her best to stand up straight. ‘OK Mya. You’ve prepared for this day! You got this.’ She coached herself as she quickly waddled back into her bedroom.

Contractions were 7 minutes apart at this part and were pretty moderate. Ericka helped her breathe through them.

‘This isn’t so bad… I think I may go without the epidural.’ She giggled as she carried the car seat out to the car.

What a naive way of thinking.

The whole ride was uncomfortable. The contractions dropped from 7 to 4 minutes. And they gotten stronger. Each one of them had her whole body tensing up, holding her breath.

‘You have to breathe Mya! It’s not helping that you’re holding your breath, you’re going to pass out!’

‘Ughhhh! I’d rather die at this point!’

Ericka sighed and clenched her jaw together for a moment, ‘I wish I could tell you it gets easier… you think this is bad?!’

Mya sniffed as she felt so overwhelmed and in so much pain at the moment. She then began to sob. ‘Maaaaa!’

Her mother looked from the road back over to her quickly, ‘What? What is it?!’

Mya whined as she began to sob uncontrollably, ‘I’m hungry! And I can’t eat anything!’

Her mother sighed and reached over to grab her hand, ‘I’m sorry honey but to keep you and the baby safe—Ah!’ Her words were interrupted by a firm grip from Mya.

‘Ughhhhh!! Ooowww! Ow! Owwwwww!’

‘Breathe Mya!’

***

By the time they made it to the hospital, she was only 2 minutes apart and the baby was beginning to crown.

She laid on the bed, trying to focus on her breathing, ‘Can I get my epidural now?!’ She breathed out. Her mother pat her head with a cool rag.

The nurse looked down at her with a saddened expression, ‘I’m sorry doll… I’m afraid it’s too late. You’re dilated 8cm now. The baby could come at any moment now and it’s—‘

‘WHAT?! What do you mean it’s too late?!’ She was then hit with an even stronger contraction. ‘UGHHHH! FUCK! August! You son of a bitch! I hope you’re having a goddamn blast where you are or id kill you myself!’

‘MYA! You have to calm down!’ Ericka snapped at her. ‘That wasn’t a nice thing to say about him…’

She finally began to calm down from her moment but in that instant, she broke down in another sob. ‘I miss him ma… I wasn’t suppose to be doing this by myself!’

‘You’re not… I’m here baby… we’re going to get through this together… that’s a promise.’ She said softly as she pushed her daughter’s sweaty, curly hair out of her face.

She wiped her tears with her wrists and looked down at her belly. Another contraction came, this time she closed her eyes and breathe slowly.

‘Good Job sweetie… just breathe.’

***

‘When you feel another contraction sweetie, push OK?! Press your chin into your chest and push with all your might, understand?!’

A nurse held her left leg and her mother held the other. Mya gave the doctor an impatient nod before she was smacked with strong one. ‘Ughhhhhhhh!’ She groaned out as she pushed. The doctor counted as he helped loosen her so the baby could pass easier. ‘OK! Good! Take a breath— when you feel it coming—‘ then she began to push once more.

‘There you go! Here’s the head! You’re doing great sweetie!’

Mya sighed heavily, as she tried to take a moment to breathe but they just kept coming! ‘UUGHHHH! OWWWW!’ She yelped out. She felt like she was being torn apart slowly.

It was like none of those classes mattered! She wasn’t prepared for this kind of pain!

‘I know honey! You’re gonna feel a lot of pressure and a little bit of a burn alright? Just give me one big push!’

‘GRRRRRR!’ And she gave the last push with all her might.

Finally the room was filled with the pained tears of her sweet baby.

‘It’s a girl.’ The doctor said as he carefully cleaned out the baby’s throat and nasal pathways.

‘A girl? A girl!’ Mya repeated as tears filled her eyes. Her mother squealed happily before kissing her head gently.

Not only was she a surprise… but it was what August would’ve wanted. What he said he wanted.

The nurse cleaned off the baby and laid off and laid her on her chest. She had her tiny little fingers in her mouth, sucking away.

‘My girl,’ Mya began to sob, ‘My sweet baby girl! Ava.’ She laughed through her tears as she ran the pad of her thumb over her pink cheek.

‘Ohhh, she’s so beautiful Mimi…’ her mother cooed softly as she gently placed her hand over her tiny covered head.

***

‘She came out looking just like you… a head full of hair… her eyes didn’t come in until later but she stole those from you too.’ She giggled as she looked at him with their baby girl.

August smiled softly as he ran the back of his fingers against her soft cheek. ‘She’s beautiful… I couldn’t imagine-‘ he said as he looked back at her across the table, ‘the pain you went through. With me not being there — it was such an important milestone and I missed it. Im sorry for that… but I won’t miss anymore… I promise.’

Mya tapped her finger on her arm, swallowing her spit. Her eyes roamed his face; taking all of those features she adored so much. That mustache that Was trimmed to perfection, paired up with that 5 o clock shadow. His blue hues were hidden by the darkness but she knew they were glued onto her.

Damn, she missed her man.

‘So what are you going to do if Nathan finds out you’re alive.’

‘He won’t…’

‘How?’

‘Mya… I’ve been gone for a year and you’re already forgotten? I always have a back up plan for my back up plans.’

She smirked gently; trying to hide that giggle that was threatening to come out. She then shook her head as her head fell, ‘I haven’t forgotten how smart you were… it’s one of my favorite things about you.’

August carefully moved the baby so her head was resting on his chest. ‘She’s so tiny… is this normal?!’ He chuckled as he looked up at her, this time his dark blue orbs glistening in the moonlight.

‘Completely. She’s 3 months. She was born 5lbs & 13oz… 18inches long.’

August smiled softly as he began to pat her baby bottom gently. ‘She’s perfect.’

[starcursedluvrs]

doomsday teaser

actor!gojo x techie!geto AU :)

hey y'all! thank you for all the love on Talk, I really appreciate every single like, comment, and reblog. i've started part II, and it should be out within 2 or 3 weeks (i'm a busy lady sorry). in a mean time, here's a little bite of another fic i wrote/am still working on. it's a techie!geto x actor!gojo AU where suguru is a wardrobe crew head for a hit broadway musical, and satoru is the star. this one is for all the former (and current) theater kids (kids as in people above the age of 18, MDNI!). there will be lots of smut and angst and plot to come, but for now, plz enjoy <3

wc: 845

With that, Suguru took a deep sigh and finished walking down the narrow hallway. His shoes squeaked considerably less as he climbed the winding iron staircase up to the cast’s personal dressing rooms. When he got to the top, he was distracted by a white-haired man violently shaking the vending machines in an attempt to release a chocolate bar from its clutches.  

Then he saw those eyes. 

Those beautiful, bright blue eyes. They looked like they contained the entire sky.

Suguru started sorting through color theory in his head to think about which piece of fabric would go best with those brilliant irises. 

“Do, uh. Do you need some help there, doll?” Suguru offered, flustered. 

The man just stared back at Suguru for a moment, before responding, “Sure, crazy bangs. That would be great.” 

“Not sure crazy bangs is such a great comeback from someone who’s attacking a vending machine,” Suguru bantered back. 

“Hey, it’s not my fault my boss man loves chocolate. Gotta stock up for him.”

“Oh, are you Mr. Gojo’s manager?”

“Never thought about it like that. Huh. Guess I am.” 

“Will I see you around then?”

“I guess you could say that, crazy bangs,” the white-haired man said with a smirk. 

A tense moment passed as the two men locked eyes. The mysterious blue-eyed beauty scanned Suguru’s body up and down with no shame. Suguru should have felt self-conscious, but he found himself oddly endeared by the man in front of him. Suguru felt a slight blush prickle over the skin of his cheeks.  

“So when is Mr. Gojo arriving?” Suguru asserted to break the silence. “I have some things I wanted to run over with him in terms of quick changes.” 

“So. You’re costumes?” 

“Yeah.” Suguru answered. Did he say the wrong thing? 

“Makes sense.” The lengthy white haired man smirked and turned on the ball of his foot and started walking - no, sashaying - to the door of Mr. Gojo’s dressing room. As the man opened the door, Suguru caught it behind him. 

“Why does it make sense, doll?” Suguru allowed a soft smile to appear on his lips. For the first time in a while, Suguru was flirting. 

And he was having fun. 

“Because. You’re so serious. You costume and props people always have sticks up your asses.” The man retorted with a snort. 

Suguru rolled his eyes, a verbal bite lingering on his words, “We’re just trying to do our jobs.” 

Even though the blue-eyed stranger was  taller, Suguru seemed to tower over him at that moment. 

“Well, I’m just trying to do mine.” Suguru couldn’t tell if this guy was a douche or if he was also flirting back. He hoped for his sake, it was the ladder. Unfortunately, he also had a job to do. No matter, he still had time to get to know this attractive stranger.

“Great. So, do you have an ETA on your client?” 

“Client? What client?” The man looked so confused. 

“…Mr. Gojo…” 

“Oh, we’re still playing that game.” 

“What game?” 

“You seriously don’t know who I am?” 

“You’re Mr. Gojo’s manager.” Suguru stated. 

The white haired man burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. It took a second for him to collect himself.

“Hot and funny. I’m keeping you around, crazy bangs.”

Suguru’s brain short circuited at that. Attractive stranger also finds him attractive. Noted.

“Haha,” Suguru offered a weak, uncomfortable laugh,”Not that I wouldn’t want that too, but I really have a job to do, doll.” 

Those blue eyes blinked in disbelief. 

“Wow. You’re serious, ok. Let’s start over.”

The man stuck out his hand, which looked as if it was crafted of the finest porcelain.

“I’m Satoru Gojo. It’s nice to meet you, what’s your name?”

Suguru looked at Satoru until it finally clicked in his head. So this was the brat Nanami was talking about. 

Suguru shook his hand hesitantly, as another question crossed his mind. “You said you were Gojo’s manager though,” Suguru pointed out.

“You’re putting words in my mouth, I said I had never thought of it that way. I guess I am kind of like my own manager because I don’t have one. I manage myself, thank you very much,” Satoru turned his nose and dramatically looked away from Suguru.

“But… who’s boss man?” 

“Oh that’s what I call Nanami. I asked him what his favorite candy was and I’m stocking up on it so that every time I annoy him, I can apologize with a chocolate bar.” 

A deep rumble left Suguru’s chest as he laughed at Satoru’s comment.

“I’m sure Nanami loves being called boss man.” 

“Oh please, he’ll grow into the nickname. Didn’t get your name yet though, crazy bangs.”

“Suguru Geto. Wardrobe Crew Head.” 

“If I see you around later, maybe I can show you how it feels to have something other than a stick up your ass.”

Banners by @bunnysrph

[rehfan]

The Steddie Throuple fic is DONE.

Below is only the first part. Read the WHOLE THING on AO3 HERE.

Choosing to Be Brave

Pairing: Steddie X Fem!Reader; Steddie X AFAB!Reader

Characters: Steve Harrington X Eddie Munson X Reader (fem! AFAB!)

Warnings: smut talk for this portion — see AO3 posting for full tagged warnings please — 18+ only please — young readers no no no! DNI!

Summary: (from Tumblr post/prompt) Eddie watches Steve eat you out like he’s starved

Chapter One Word Count: 1611 // Entire Work Word Count: 7260 — ONLY TWO CHAPTERS IN TOTAL

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CHAPTER ONE

“You want to do what?”

Eddie’s soulful eyes burned into you. He knew you would cave. He knew what power those eyes had over you. You felt yourself melt a little and you knew you were done for. Your gut twisted with nerves. You knew he was only asking, not demanding, but the pressure you had put on yourself was overwhelming and you felt a little sick.

Until now, you, Steve, and Eddie had only kissed and felt each other up. Frottage at most was what was happening in your throuple relationship - at least just between you and the fellas. You were the interloper in their already established relationship; or at least, that’s how you felt. Your skittishness toward the physical extended to the point that you only met with them one at a time, per your insistence.

Because they had already been together before you got involved, it had taken you almost a year as their friend, with you contemplating becoming their girlfriend, to come to terms with the idea of polyamory, the concept of which had been totally foreign to you before you met these two and so they had sat you down to explain it to you.

They were both bisexual and had both been instantly attracted to you upon meeting you. When you first met, you knew they were together and had just assumed both were gay, but when, a few months into knowing you, they both approached you and explained their preferences for both men and women - and specifically their preference for you - you were taken aback. You felt totally blindsided by them. After all, they had become good friends with you and it was… weird to be thought of as anything more.

Respectfully, they had stepped back but left the door of possibility open for you at any time. In the meantime, they continued to be your friend, getting to know you better as the days went by and being as patient as they could for you because they were convinced you were worth it.

Now, a year later, you could see the wonderful possibilities of a strong, communicative relationship with both of these men. With Eddie you had wonderful nights out to concerts and clubs, a mutual appreciation of microbrews, and a love of vintage cars and motorcycles. With Steve, you could head off to sporting events and go out dancing in your best dresses and high heels. And with both of them, you had two hands to hold during scary films and wonderful conversations. Everything was fantastic: what one wasn’t interested in, the other was and you found yourself pleased that all of your interests could be engaged with both of them.

And they loved your company. Eddie was teasing and brash, Steve softer and kind. They were adorable together too. Recently, they had decided that you shouldn’t have to cook for your birthday week and had traded off days where each would make something for you. It became almost competitive and absolutely hysterical for you to watch when, on the last day, they attempted to bake you a cake from scratch. You were well out of the line of fire when the frosting started flying and gripping your sides with cackling laughter when they finally presented the sugary disaster to you. You ended up kissing them both deeply in front of each other that day - something that had never happened before. As you broke the second kiss, both men looking at you hopefully, you excused yourself to your own room and had a small mental breakdown. You created that situation and were instantly overwhelmed by it.

The next morning, things were as they had always been. The boys were fine. You relaxed about it. Life went back to normal. Only it wasn’t normal. You had broken a barrier and weren’t sure what to do now but wait it out and see if they eventually got fed up with you.

You thanked the gods above that they had each other to work out their frustrations on. You could only imagine how they were in the bedroom with each other. Well, you didn’t have to imagine — Steve’s bedroom wall was shared with yours and the boys weren’t quiet. But they seemed content with what they had with one another and that gave you some solace.

Even so, you worried that they were becoming frustrated with your lack of participation, but they never said. Each greeted you with a kiss good morning and a kiss good night. Each touched you affectionately throughout the day. Each spoke pleasantly to you and with each other. There were no problems that either one of them were telling you about, even at your weekly check-in meetings - otherwise known as Friday night dinner. You, on the other hand, knew that the more time that went by with nothing from you, the more these boys would reconsider being with you. Men had needs, after all.

The one time you managed to have both of them in bed with you, all three of you had been dead asleep and fully clothed having come from an out-of-town gig for Corroded Coffin that lasted well past midnight, made a packet of money for the boys, involved you and Steve acting as roadies, and ended the evening waylaid by a busted tire on the highway that took thirty minutes to fix and wound up getting all of you back to your shared apartment well after 2pm. You had to admit: the snuggle factor was tremendous with both boys buffeting either side of you as you slept and the added warmth that cold night in January was another high point.

But nothing had happened. Both of them were too exhausted to try, plus they had this incredible code of respect for you. When you woke in the morning, the only sensation was one of warm comfort. Steve had smiled at you through sleepy eyes. You had brushed his hair out of his face and kissed him. But that’s all. He had stretched and yawned and had gotten up to make breakfast, leaving you to wake Eddie. He had slept like the dead. You had peppered his face with kisses until he had started to come around and had wrestled you in the bed, causing you to yelp and giggle. It had been the best morning you had spent in the entirety of your relationship.

But that was January and now it was March. Even though both men had not given you the slightest hint that they were dissatisfied, you felt in your gut that you were on thin ice. You had to conquer your insecurities when it came to the bedroom or you were going to lose them both, you just knew it. You had to choose to be brave and trust they would be good to you. That’s all there was to it.

Friday dinner had been consumed and dishes cleared away when you awkwardly cleared your throat. “Uh, fellas?” Steve was washing the dishes, Eddie drying, and you were wiping down the table. Both turned to you. God, they were beautiful.

Eddie’s forehead crinkled, “What’s wrong, princess?”

“I was thinking, uh…” Jesus, this was difficult.

Steve looked at Eddie and Eddie did the same. Each was just as mystified as the other. Eyebrows raised on both sides, they regarded you again, abandoning the dishes and coming to you. Eddie on your right, Steve on your left, you didn’t feel intimidated, you felt safe and at home. Still, the words to explain yourself wouldn’t come.

Suddenly, you had an idea to take the power out of your hands and place it into theirs. “I was wondering: what’s one fantasy you’ve had about me in bed?”

Steve and Eddie exchanged another surprised look. “Don’t look so pleased, you idiots,” you said, blushing. “I’m just asking because I… I mean. I might be… willing…”

“Oh Steve,” said Eddie, “I gotta hand it to you man, you were right: wait and she will come.” He leaned in toward your ear. “Only question is how hard you want to come.”

You felt yourself blush again and a warmth spread to your belly, wetness to your cunt.

“Jesus, man!” said Steve.

You couldn’t look them in the eye. “I just wanted to know.” Your voice was small.

Fingers were under your chin, pulling your head up and to your left. Steve. His sweet brown eyes met yours. “Are you sure, baby? I mean, we have a pretty active imagination when it comes to you.” You got even more wet than before and you pressed your thighs together to help give yourself some relief.

“Listen,” Steve went on, “we were waiting for you, it’s true. We can continue to wait. We are nothing if not patient. Because we know that when you are ready, you are going to be divine.”

“Completely delicious,” added Eddie, huffing his warm breath against your neck. You closed your eyes slowly and re-opened them. Steve was still regarding you with his thumb and finger under your chin.

“He’s not wrong,” agreed Steve. “But you want to know one fantasy I have? Just to know it? Not to do it, but just to hear about it?” You nodded. “Well…” Here he glanced up at Eddie. “Actually, I’ve always wanted you…naked, splayed out before me, and I want to… eat you out.”

Eat. You. Out. You couldn’t breathe for a moment. Your heart stopped for a full five seconds, you were sure of it.

Eddie’s breath stuttered. “And uh… I know we’re taking things slow and everything, but if you’d let me… watch?”

“You want to do what?”

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Want the rest? LINK TO AO3 HERE. Enjoy!

Tagged Folks: @chickensinrainboots / @ali-r3n / @silky-luxe / @harrys-tittie