#the shit thrown at us from the rest of the world and bearing it and still maintaining the label despite the pain it can provoke/invoke

[seilon]

hm

[leychin]

SACRIFICE

fem pronouns used

Shigaraki is mad at you.

You've been in the infirmary for a month, he hasn't visited you.

Hell, he's gone out of his way to avoid thinking about you. He can't afford it. It makes a prickling feeling threaten to burst in his chest and his throat burn. You're an insolent pest who has done nothing but worm you way into the crevices of his already withering heart, and he hates it. He hates what that means because its a weakness, and he hates what that mean's because that means he cares for someone more than he cares about himself, and he cant let that happen. Shigaraki has goals, dreams of a new world, and things to do.

He sighs, he knows that's not true. He's not that child anymore, and he knows your value to him. Everyone in the league was someone he cared for, and of course you weren't an exception to this rule. If he had to guess what this feeling was, he would chalk it up to frustration. Not because you're a bad subordinate, but because you were too fucking self sacrificing.

Its been a month since the fight with the Meta Liberation Army and you still haven't woken up. He wants to believe it was deserved, and that you got what you were asking for. Hell, you could stay in that room for as long as he wants. See if he gives a shit.

But he does, because this guilt is eating him alive. You saw Re-Destro grab Shigaraki and toss him, and when Destro went for the finishing blow you jumped in the way instead to hold him off, to let your leader get away, or just to grab his bearings.

When Shigaraki finally regained some semblance of balance, he saw Destro toss your body into debris. You didn't get lucky with where you landed like your leader did. He fell in empty desolate fields and your head collided straight with the remnants of a building.

The rest was a blur after that, Shigaraki woke up as the leader and with a broken foot. But he remembers the feeling of seeing your head bleed out, and he remembers how sick he felt at the thought of losing you. He hates that feeling.

"You oughta see her boss. She's been asking if you've been alright since she woke up." Dabi advises, and it makes Shigaraki tsk. He knows you've been asking about him, but he doesn't know how to show his face to you now. He's been trying to turn these feelings into anger for so long, and to push you out of his heart he's not sure if he'd be able to do it with you looking at him like he's the most important person in the world.

But he eventually sucks it up, because now he's standing outside of your door. The muffled beeps of the heart monitor you're hooked up to mimicking his own steady heartbeat. Realistically he knows theres nothing to be worried about; he knew you weren't mad at him, but something disgusting swirled in his chest and it spread like decay to the rest of him.

When he opens the door, and you meet his eyes and smile so brightly he has to fight the urges to scratch at his neck. He knew you would be happy to see him, everyone said you would be. So why is this upsetting him?

"Im so glad you're alright." Those are the first words you say to him, and he wants to rip his hair out at how soft your voice was now. So relaxed, and so peaceful like you didn't almost die that day.

Shigaraki huffs, before stepping fully into your line of sight to show the boot he has to wear on his leg for a while "Most of me is at least." and you laugh at that, you missed his dry humor and you want to tell him everything you've been thinking in this last month.

But your head pounds, and Shigaraki is quick to reach out to you with all five fingers and carefully touch your head. You freeze, but when decay doesn't come and he instead hands you your glass of water wordlessly you stare at him with wide eyes.

"Oh.. I can control it now." He says, unsure of how to explain that his 'awakening' came to him as he saw you slumped over that building, the blood leaking from your head and how angry he was that you would've thrown your life away for him, because your belief in his ability to create a future for everyone was so strong you were willing to never see it because it was your leader, because it was him.

Shigaraki opts to show you instead, taking two fingers and tapping the flowers on your nightstand. The spread was much slower than five fingers, but they wilted regardless.

Then carefully, Shigaraki lifted your hand and pressed his five fingertips to yours. The moment was oddly intimate; the only sounds being your heart monitor (that seemed to be picking up slightly) and the faint sounds of tv in the background.

"...I thought. I wouldn't be able to keep you in my party anymore." Shigaraki says, notably with his fingertips still pressed to yours "I was mad at you, I didn't understand why you did that. I thought you were stupid, and you would die." its a genuine, human fear that Shigaraki goes out of his way to hide from his friends, he's always felt that he had to be strong for them, but in this moment it all seems to tumble.

"I wanted... to keep leveling up with you." Shigaraki tries to explain "I didn't want it to be over yet. Not with you. Theres a lot I want to do with you still." and in that moment, Shigaraki realizes he doesn't see you the way he sees spinner, or toga, or even Dabi. It's something else that he can't quite place. "Don't do that stupid shit again." is all he says instead though, unsure on how to voice the latter half of his thoughts.

But its not lost on you, and you simply smile at him one again as you move your fingers so that your fingers are interlocked with his hand, and Shigaraki is confused, but slowly copies your action. Its nice.

"I won't, if you come and actually visit me this time." You offer.

Shigaraki pretends to ponder for a moment, before his own lips pull into a genuine smile for the first time since he's woken up "I'll think about it."

He'll come see you again every day until you're released from the infirmary, and then every day when you two work for your world together.

[daandyli0n]

(warnings: implied child death/murder, slight blood, eye contact, possible eyestrain)

Some More Updated Refs For The Rewrite! This Time: The Emily Family!!

@that-darn-clown @hello-there-world

more design details -

Henry:

anxious and awkward man. why did he decide to open a business where he'd mostly be around loud sounds and people? because he genuinely loves his work, that's why-

trans :] transmasc specifically (yes, he and Anna are t4t)

Henry pre-murders: goofy and socially awkward man who's just trying his best. just let him vibe with his kids, jfc.

Henry post-murders: angry, sad, and depressed man. only found solace in his work, and it's why he kept building animatronics for the company; it's one of the few coping strategies he had after Charlie was murdered.

his whimsy is gone entirely by 2012 (Fnaf 3) 😔

he has stability issues (always had, but they got worse with age. when he was still working at Freddy's and Fredbear's he'd almost appear to trip on nothing, or would balance himself on stuff like tables or the wall. this is me projecting a bit), hence the cane.

and, of course: Autism <3

Charlie:

gives off "tomboy, but probably actually transmasc but hasn't fully realized yet" vibes to me, hence the alt. outfit.

(fun fact: my headcanon for Charlie is that she's actually transmasc and bigender, but she died before she could really. realize that)

really likes the star aesthetic. if it wasn't obvious.

hair buns are actually meant to resemble bear ears :] she's a Daddy's Girl <3

really likes the bright green and black/white stripe combination. that long-sleeved shirt she wears in both outfits is her favorite.

both of the twins inherited certain things from their father (like the autism): for example, the freckles, the small tooth gap, the general nose shape, body shape, you get the idea.

kinda pissed and stressed all of the time as a ghost.

realized i forgot the Security Bracelet in her ghost design...shit. pretend it's there, because it's supposed to be.

take a wild guess how she died by looking at her ghost.

like Cassidy, and unlike the other MCI ghosts, Charlie is transparent and not desaturated as a spirit.

doesn't wear her animatronic mask often because she doesn't really. see a need to. the others use it as a way of scaring people, and she doesn't really wanna scare anyone. if she's showing up to you, she either needs help, or she thinks she looks scary enough. she Does wear it on occasion, though.

someone give my girl a BREAK.

Sammy:

has kinda always had Resting Bitch Face...and anger issues, but surely that's not important-

i dunno, i like contrasting The Emily Twins in some ways. Charlie is green, Sammy is orange. Charlie is seen as more loud and outgoing (which, again, gets her confused for an extrovert), Sammy is viewed as being quieter and less approachable. Charlie is more rugged but well-liked (kinda), Sammy is more "proper" but has a smaller circle of friends, comfortably slipping into the background (he's never liked the spotlight that having a somewhat popular/well-known parent brings, anyway).

Sammy kinda got. Really Angry after Charlie was murdered. they were two halves of a whole, she was one of his closest friends, someone who really Knew the Real Sammy Emily. and...she's Gone. just like that. why wouldn't he be angry? it certainly doesn't help how her body was found; thrown amongst the garbage like she was nothing. like she was trash. Sammy practically lost his world that day, and yet people were surprised that he was angry.

Sammy stopped really taking care of himself health-wise as the years went on, as he tried to hunt down Charlie's killer (unknowing that her killer lived only a few blocks down, and was a man he and Charlie had considered family). mostly, Sammy lost an unhealthy amount of weight (shown by his clothes no longer fitting him) and hardly really slept unless Henry forced him (take one look at those eyebags and tell me that's a sign that this man has gotten any good sleep since like. 1982). don't worry, he'll gain the weight back. :]

Sammy Wants To Kill A Certain Hare Man. That's What The Fire Is For :) (Fnaf 3)

[squintyeyedjoel]

Through Your Eyes | Part 1 - Hit the Ground Running (Joel x Reader)

A/N: Ahhhh! This is here!!! So. This is just an idea that I had, and I literally texted my friends screaming about it, and it’s been nonstop for the last few days, it just kept developing. It’ll be multi-part, unsure yet how long, it keeps growing. I’ve always loved Jackson Joel, his relationship with Ellie, and I’ve wanted more of their dynamic since day one. So here is a weird hybrid of both the game and show universe, but mostly game. I haven’t decided where exactly this will or will not deviate from canon yet, so bear with me. Here we go!

I do not own The Last of Us or it’s characters. Sadly. But I carry them in my heart. Does that count for something? My soul says yes.

Warnings: Tooth rotting fluff, and Joel is a warning in and of himself in this one. Canon typical swearing. No specific age specified for reader, aside from her remembering life before the outbreak, so I leave that up to you. No use of Y/N. Mention of loss. (Spoilers if you haven’t watched the show/played the game.) Ellie is a menace and having a Hard Time™️. Arguing? Banter. Some of Joel’s Texan accent. (You’ve been warned.) I guess kinda sorta spoilers for TLoU 2? Like if you squint? And not really???

Word count: 8,885

Thank you to @fordo-kixed-rex and @grippingbeskar for your endless hours helping me over goodness knows how long since I started this, for reading this over for me and letting me know I’m not crazy, and screaming with me about this man that captured our hearts first in the form of pixels.

Series Masterlist | Masterlist | Next

Xxx

The door slamming below made some trinkets on your shelf rattle. That’s the third time today. A soft groan drifted up to you through the floorboards, coated in frustration and anger.

When you’d arrived in Jackson, the only new, private space available had been a spot above somebody else’s house. Technically in somebody else’s house. And technically it wasn’t even a place. When you arrived, you realized someone had literally volunteered their attic, spacious as it was, with several windows and a private doorway leading down through the home.

A mattress had been tossed in the middle of the floor, and it’d been so long since you’d seen a real, honest to goodness mattress, you didn’t care about the rest of the place. It suddenly felt like a castle.

That first night you’d flopped down on the fluffy padding on the floor, smiling as your body bounced a few times from the impact, the springs inside whining in protest, before you promptly fell asleep.

Sunlight streaming in through one of the windows early the next morning woke you up, making you blink bleary eyes open when it danced across your peaceful features.

With a stretch and heavy sigh, you didn’t move a muscle, but simply darted your eyes around your new small space, fully taking in the barren walls and the pile of junk leftover from whoever owned this house before the world went to hell. Curiosity got the better of you, pulling you to the pile like a magnet, on a search for something, you weren’t quite sure what yet.

Several hours later, you were lost deep in thought, the tip of your tongue sticking between your teeth in concentration when someone clearing their throat just off to your side made you jump. “Fuck!” You hissed, tossing the little metal toy you had in one hand in surprise, the screwdriver from your other hand being clutched in your grip like a vice, reared back and ready to be thrown at the intruder.

“Just me,” the man from downstairs mumbled. What was his name again? “Sorry.”

Sighing, you deflated, letting your hands fall to the mattress below you with a thump, your face scrunched in pain. “Shit, I bit my tongue.” Reaching up to rub your jaw, you glared at the man. “Maybe knock next time?”

He stared at you for a long minute, his eyes watching as you cradled your face, mumbling forlornly about your tongue. “I did,” he finally said lowly. “Twice.”

“Oh.” You heaved another sigh, this one heavier than the last, before plopping back on the mattress behind you, wincing and reaching under your back to pull out the plastic action figure that had poked you in the back. Looking at it, you grinned softly. “Was that your gun, or were you just happy to see me?”

Something between a scoff and a snort left the man still standing awkwardly by your door, pulling your attention back to him.

Everything had been so rushed when you’d moved in, something about a patrol spotting clickers nearby and the lack of space giving everyone a headache, you’d barely caught a glimpse of your housemates as someone ushered you past them, up into the attic late last night. You’d also made a point to stare at the floor as you walked past, not wanting to see the ire of the people who’d been woken up to open their home to you.

With no desire to dwell on your time before Jackson, you focused on the man in front of you, taking in his curious eyes and weathered features. The tilt of his brow told you people tended to run from him, his jaw set in a stern angle as his eyes darted around the room.

“Sorry, I know it’s a mess, I’ll clean it up.” Pushing up onto your elbows, you tossed the action figure to the side. “I assumed that pile was from before the outbreak, I hope I didn’t-”

“It was. All that was here b’fore Ellie and I moved in. Seemed a shame to waste it, and didn’t bother me none to sit in a corner, so….” Taking a few steps, he picked up the little metal car you’d been scraping at when he walked in, smiling fondly. “I had one’f these.” His expression darkened. “‘till my brother broke it.” After staring at it a moment, he looked up at you, handing it back to you gently. “What were you doin’ with it?”

“Oh.” Flustering a bit, being caught out for something you usually kept relegated to your home wherever that happened to be, you took a minute to think, staring at the chipped blue paint on the little car. “I…. I like to restore things. Bring little pieces of what we lost back. Especially toys. I remember as a kid…. As a kid the joy of just one new toy was….”

“Nothin’ like it,” he agreed softly.

You nodded, meeting his eyes, the kindness you saw hidden there catching you off guard. You’d expected judgment. In this world nowadays frivolous things weren’t usually accepted so readily.

“That yours?” He pointed to the little fanny pack overflowing with various tools, the contents spilling over the mattress.

Eyes darting over to the bag, you nodded again before looking at him with a soft smile. “Yes it is, kind stranger.”

This time his scoff was decidedly amused, and he rolled his eyes, making you grin.

“Joel.”

“That’s right!” Setting the car down, you got to your feet, dusting the back of your pants off, then your hands, before you extended one for him to shake. “Nice to finally meet you more than a passing face in the ‘welcome to Jackson’ shuffle.” He nodded as he shook your hand, his grip firm and warm. “Thank you. Again. For your attic, I mean.” Dropping his hand after holding it longer than you should have, you turned to look around at the space.

“Tommy said you needed your privacy. Didn’t say why, but I can respect the need.”

You turned back to him, hands on your hips where they had settled as you’d looked around. “That’s not by choice.”

His features darkened. “What’d’ya mean?”

“Oh! Nothing like that.” You waved your hands in front of you. “Nothing weird, I swear!” Chuckling nervously, you shifted your weight to one side. “Because I tinker, I often…. People don’t like the noises…. The smells….”

He just stared at you, silently waiting.

You looked down to your feet. “I’ll just pack up. I’m sorry, I’ll be out of your-”

“No,” he cut you off, reaching for your elbow gently but firmly. “No,” he said again, a bit softer. “Just explain a little less…. Vaguely, please.”

“It’s very hands-on. Lots of tools like hammers and whatnot, sanding…. And then if I can find it, paint thinner for some, or just paint for others…. And it doesn’t always help, despite all the windows being open, but I try to keep the place ventilated…..”

“People complain about a day job?” He sounded upset for you. 

“They get upset when I do it when I can’t sleep.”

He hesitated. “How often is that?”

“Whenever the nightmares come.”

Understanding flickered in his eyes. “Well people are stupid.”

You blinked before a laugh burst out of your mouth.

“I used to be a contractor, and I’ve been doing some odds and ends here since moving into town. I don’t mind some smelly noise.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at you. “Let’s just try to come up with a schedule of some sort, maybe nothing too loud after nine at night or somethin’. Not for me, I don’t mind, but the neighbors might, and I dunno about Ellie. Girl sleeps like the dead, so probably….”

“Ellie?”

His smile grew brighter. “Come downstairs for breakfast.” He gestured behind him with a tilt of his head toward the stairs, his body beginning that way. “Maybe she’ll say hello between bites.”

Xxx

Walking down the stairs, you looked around in the daylight, trying to discern what was your host’s and what was left behind twenty odd years ago. 

Outlines where pictures once sat on the wall, faded by years in the sun now decorated the outdated wallpaper, a layer of dust along a line of decorative trim halfway up. A fancy carpet was tacked to the stairs, worn in the middle most of the way up, zagging to the sides near the top, and you watched as Joel carefully stepped in the threadbare bits without thought, one of the steps squeaking under your weight when you didn’t follow suit. 

Noted. 

Once you were at the bottom, an open door down the hall showed a small little workshop, tools strewn everywhere. You smiled, glancing up at Joel to see him follow your gaze, realization dawning on him as a hand came up to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. 

“Stay here,” he mumbled softly, holding up one finger before he jogged toward the door, pulling it shut. “Sorry about that. Had a, uh…. Last minute request.”

“My ears are burning. Are you talking about me again?” A young female voice yelled amusedly from around the corner behind you, a girl in her early teens stepping out with a plate full of food in one hand, a fork loaded in the other, and a mouthful as she continued. “Yeah, you were. It’s me. He’s talking about me. I asked him to fix the hole in the ceiling,” she looked at him pointedly, before turning back to you, “like fifty thousand times-”

“Since yesterday,” Joel murmured, making you chuckle.

“It only showed up yesterday,” the girl said unamused.

“I’m just sayin’,” Joel held up his hands in surrender before walking around the girl and into what you assumed was the kitchen. “Point was, I got right on it.”

Rolling her eyes, the girl set her plate down before wiping her hands on the front of her jeans, coming over and introducing herself. “Hi, I’m Ellie,” she spoke pointedly over her shoulder, “since grumpy in there didn’t feel the need to introduce us.”

Some dishes clattered and quiet grumbles were heard  as you smiled at the girl, introducing yourself. “If you ever need any help around here, just ask. I’m pretty handy, if I do say so myself.”

“Finally,” Ellie groaned, “Someone besides that lug who can help me out!”

You leaned in closer to her. “Why, you got bodies to hide, or somethin’?”

She leaned in as well. “You have no idea.”

“Time for food!” Joel called loudly, placing a steaming pile of scrambled eggs and bacon on the table. “Ellie made ‘em so I’m not makin’ any promises-”

“Hey!” You smiled at her protest.

“-but it’s nourishment, so…. Good as any.”

“I’ll have you know,” Ellie began, looking down her nose at Joel as you all sat at the table. “Tommy’s been teaching me how to cook.”

“Then we’re all doomed,” Joel deadpanned.

“Tommy, I met him last night. He’s….”

Joel and Ellie spoke at the same time.

“Oh no, what’d he do now?”

“His baby brother.”

Silence hung between you as you looked back and forth between the two of them, Joel’s eyes shut as he let out a sigh.

“He’s my brother,” he amended, adding quietly, “so you can tell me what idiotic thing he’s done now.”

“Joel,” Ellie warned.

“I’ve heard it all, just lay it on me.”

You shook your head. “Nothin’. Was just asking how he knew you two.” You gestured between them with your fork. 

Joel tucked into his food after a moment of silence, staring down at his plate.

“I tried to tell you,” Ellie muttered, shaking her head as she cleaned the crumbs off her dish. 

“That accent I keep hearing pop through, is that…. Texas?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Joel kept his eyes down, slowing his eating just a bit.

“I thought it sounded like home,” you smiled, the corners of your mouth pulling higher when his head shot up to look at you.

“You’re from….” 

You nodded. “Born and raised. Ain’t nothin’ quite like the Lone Star State, is there?”

“No, ma’am,” Joel grinned.

“What do you miss the most?” It was an honest enough question, you expected something like barbecue, late night drives down country roads, or the smell of bluebonnets each Spring….

But the joy on Joel’s face fell ever so slightly, just enough that you could see, the light in his eyes dimming, as his shoulders rounded forward just a bit. He stared at the table top for only a moment, lost in thought. You could have sworn his eyes flitted to the watch on his wrist briefly before he shook his head, lifting it back up, his gaze meeting yours and smiled again, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “Too many things to mention. What about you?”

Holding his gaze for a moment longer than you should, you smiled softly before turning back to look at your plate. “Gotta say I feel the same.” Stabbing a bite of egg, you brought it to your mouth, chewing thoughtfully as you pondered what had just happened. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

“Please do,” he said softly. 

More silence filled the space, Ellie heaving a sigh after a few minutes. “Well this has been fucking amazing-”

“Ellie,” Joel chastised.

“But I’m gonna go-”

“Sit,” Joel said in the most authoritative voice you’d heard yet. Gesturing with his fork, you caught the smallest smirk crawl up his face when Ellie groaned before plopping back into her chair in a graceless heap.

She stared at him in some sort of bored challenge before grumbling, “What?”

“I need your help before you go and skedaddle-”

“‘Skedaddle’? Is that even a fucking word?”

“Yes,” you answered before biting into a piece of bacon, smiling sweetly at her when her eyes flew up to meet yours.

“Just checking,” she grumbled, slumping further back into her chair as she heaved a world weary sigh. 

“As I was sayin’,” Joel pushed back from the table with both hands, leaning back in his chair so that the front legs left the floor slightly, balancing on the back two. “I need your help gettin’ a bed frame upstairs for her, and a few other pieces. Tommy’s droppin’ them by in a few here.” He checked a clock hanging on the wall, making you knit your brows in confusion as you glanced to the watch on his wrist. Closer inspection showed it was shattered with what looked like a bullet hole, making your eyes widen slightly. Suddenly his reservations about missing something in Texas made a bit more sense.

“Joel,” Ellie whined, going practically boneless in her seat, limbs draping behind her like a broken starfish.

“We should be able to handle that without her, don’t you think?” You mused, pushing your empty plate away and settling into your seat with a satisfied sigh, arms crossed over your chest. 

“Yes, totally, bye!” Ellie sat up so fast you got whiplash. But she didn’t make it completely out of the seat before Joel was saying her name again, and motioning her back down with just his eyes. 

“Sorry. I tried,” you shrugged, giving her a sad smile. “You should just listen to your dad and-”

The two of them interrupted you in tandem.

“I’m not her father.”

“He’s not my dad.”

Joel cleared his throat. “Now, I’ve asked you to stay and help- nicely, I might add- and unlike you, I don’t ask twice, let alone fifty thousand times,” he looked at her pointedly.

“Ugh, fine!” She threw her hands up, letting them slap back down on her thighs before pushing her chair back all the way, the scrape of the feet against the floor making you cringe. She finally got to her feet before she froze, looking at Joel with an exaggerated look you couldn’t quite place.

“What?” He asked after a long silence in a tone that said ‘why did I ask’.

She pointed to the other room. “Can I go this time? I mean….” Joel sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. “Every other time I’ve tried to execute my rights as a human being and leave this fucking dining room, you’ve stopped me. So, before I get too far and have to backtrack again, I wanted to-”

“Just go,” he waved a hand.

“Thank you,” she called, climbing the stairs, expertly missing the squeaks, a door slamming shut a few seconds later.  

“But be ready to help in-”

“Yeah, yeah,” her muffled voice came through the door before some 80’s song began playing softly. 

You chuckled, Joel picking his head up from where he’d cradled it in his palm to look at you with a raised brow. “I got food and a show.” His head fell back into his hand. “I’m teasing.” He grumbled something unintelligible into his palm. After the chorus of the song played, you stood up, taking the empty dishes over to the sink.

“You don’t have to-” Joel protested from his seat.

“I’ll never get used to hearin’ music again,” you changed the subject as you turned on the water, running it over the plates as you wiped them clean. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I’ve always loved music. It’s just…. After so long in the silence, coming here and having a teenager drown you out with a synthesizer, it’s so….”

“Normal?”

Looking over your shoulder, you smiled at him. “Yeah. And after everything, that’s just….”

“Not normal?”

You snorted. “Exactly.” After you turned the water off, you flung the stray droplets from the tips of your fingers before drying your hands on a dish towel. “I appreciate all the help, I really do. But, you don’t have to go outta your way for me.”

“It’s not outta the way. It’s just upstairs.” He looked proud of himself, the pleased grin pulling higher when you made a face of disbelief at him.

“None of that allowed up there.” You pointed toward the ceiling where the attic extended to. “That is a bad pun free zone.”

Joel shook his head ruefully, leaning his chair back even further on the rear legs, propping his boots up on the corner of the table, one ankle crossed over the other as his hands slowly came behind his head. “Darlin’, this whole house is one giant pun.”

You arched a brow, leaning back against the counter, your hands braced on its top at your sides.

“Ellie tries, she loves her joke books…. But me….”

“Bad dad jokes without being a dad?”

His whole demeanor deflated, just slightly, but enough for you to see. The light behind his eyes dimmed, his smile faded, and his arms dropped almost imperceptibly. “Something like that,” he mumbled, before the smile renewed, just a bit too tightly. After a brief moment, he dropped his feet back to the floor with a clatter, the chair coming back onto all fours with surprising delicacy. “Well, let’s get up there and take some measurements before the furniture gets here.”

Xxx

Joel had followed you up the steps, mumbling a “Lady’s first,” as he stepped out of the way, gesturing forward with one hand.

You arched a brow. “Oh, fancy.” He pulled a face, making you laugh softly. “Nice to know chivalry didn’t also die on outbreak day.” Starting up the stairs, he sighed as he fell in behind you.

“Oh, it did. I’m bringing it back.” Glancing over your shoulder you saw a smug look on his face, making you roll your eyes as you turned back to the task at hand, making sure to avoid the squeaky parts of the steps, sticking to the worn tread of the carpet. An amused hum buzzed out of Joel’s chest when he noticed, making you smirk. “Fast learner.”

Pushing open the door to the attic, it let out a mighty squeak. 

You grimaced. “Not quite fast ‘nough, it seems.”

Joel knit his eyebrows at the door as he reached out, swinging it back and forth, the hinges protesting loudly each time. “It just needs to be tightened up.” Stepping closer, he examined the brackets with a more studious eye. “This takes a….” He turned to you, before glancing at your pile of tools still on the bed where you’d left them. “It’s a specialized screw head. Used to use them all the time before the world went to shit. Surprised they already started complainin’. Normally they last twice as long-”

“Everything complains around you, Joel,” Ellie grumbled as she walked past him, going straight for one of the windows, her forehead falling against it with a dramatic thump before she just stared at the city below.

Joel scoffed, staring at the teenager for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I have one down in my shop in the garage. I’ll go grab it.”

“You got a screwdriver that can turn that musty old shop of yours into a kick ass room for me?” Ellie called after him as he took the steps two at a time. As his heavy footfalls disappeared below, she turned back to look out the window.

“What do you mean?” You asked against your better judgment. “Don’t like your room?”

She sighed. “I just want my own space. Why does he need a room for just his tools? They don’t need privacy! They don’t go through at least one crisis a week, or have to deal with him, or have music they want to play super loud. They’re fucking tools.”

“Well, hey, we could trade? I could take your room, share the garage and tools with Joel, and you could be up he-”

“No,” Joel’s tone was final. You hadn’t even heard him come in. 

“I think it’s a great idea,” Ellie started. “I mean, she’s offering, and-”

“I said no, Ellie.”

“Joel-”

“No!” His grip on the door handle tightened. “We aren’t having this conversation again. Drop it.”

The two of them stared at each other with loaded looks, an unspoken conversation being exchanged between them. 

“We’ll compromise.” Joel’s attention snapped to you, Ellie’s following soon after. “You ever need a place to ‘get away’? You can come up here and keep me company.” Ellie smiled. “That goes for you, too, Joel.”

“Why you gotta be like that?” Ellie mumbled, smiling when you arched a brow at her.

“There’s a catch.”

“Fuck,” the teenager moaned, turning back to look out the window, her head thumping against the frame.

“You have to help me with my projects while you’re up here.” Your eyes flicked between them. “Deal?” When neither of them agreed, but neither of them protested, you moved on. “Good. Now,” stooping down to pick up the various toys and tools that had taken over the floor the night before, you turned to Ellie. “I noticed during breakfast that you like to draw.”

“How-”

“Sketchbook on the counter by the oven. Next time wait until after the bacon is done. You got grease stains all over the pages.”

“I had an idea, I couldn’t wait….”

“How are you with paint?”

She shrugged. “Never…. Never really had the opportunity to use it. I’m sorry. What the fuck is that?” She pointed to the bag around your waist.

Looking down at the fanny pack you’d zipped your tools back into before putting it on, you lifted your gaze back up to her. “My fanny pack?”

“Ellie….” Joel warned, seeing the girl’s face begin to morph in a way he knew all too well.

“It’s called a….” She started snickering before she cleared her throat. “I’ve never seen one before.” Ellie’s eyes shot over to Joel, her features schooled into something almost professional, but it quickly melted into something more sarcastic.

“Very handy,” you said slowly, watching her through narrowed eyes. “Anyway, as I was saying, I’ll get my hands on some paints, and you can help me finish some pieces.” You turned to Joel, brows raised expectantly.

“I’ll ask Tommy when he brings the stuff,” he mumbled, leaning on the door and causing it to squeak again, pulling his attention back to the traitorous hinges.

“For now,” you focused back on the teenager, hands on your hips, “help me clean this place up a little before they get here? Maybe go grab the towel off the kitchen counter to dust off the windowsills?”

Ellie nodded with a small, sweet smile, but you didn’t miss how it twisted into a smirk as she walked past you toward the door. “On it, Miss Fanny.”

You stared after her with wide eyes, noting she had waited until she was a few steps down the stairs before saying it so you were less likely to retaliate. Smart.

Flicking your eyes over to Joel, an amused expression pulled at his features as he pointed toward the bag on your hip with his screwdriver. “It’s because of the….”

“Yeah, I got that,” you snarked. “What I don’t get is why she called you grumpy.”

“It’s kinda obvious,” he drawled, turning the screws on the top hinge.

“You don’t seem grumpy to me.”

“Give it time.”

Xxx

After the door no longer moaned, the hinges good as new, Joel took some measurements around the space while he talked about how he’d been meaning to build some shelves and stuff for storage up here anyway. It’d take a day or two, but he’d have them up and be out of your hair in no time. He also stepped out of one of the windows onto the roof, making you and Ellie exchange a confused glance.

“Joel? Last I checked, the attic was strictly inside the house,” Ellie asked cautiously.

His head appeared around the open window frame, scowling at the both of you. “I’m looking to see if I could put a doorway in here for a private entrance.”

“That’s not-” but he doesn’t let you finish.

Disappearing back around the window frame, his voice drifted back somewhat muffled as he turned away. “It’ll just make things easier. Once you get tired of the two of us, you can come in without having to look at our ugly mugs.” Ellie shot a sideways look at you, making you stifle a small laugh, tucking it into your hand as you looked away. “Could even make a little deck up here at the top of the stairs, good sun, you could plant somethin’ for eatin’. Plus it’s a good spot to,” his feet shuffled on the roof before stopping again. “It’s a good vantage point if things go sideways…. Again.”

Stepping up to the window, you went to poke your head out but had to step back as he hopped back in. “Joel, you don’t have to do all that. It’s-”

“It’s my house, and I want that vantage point,” he huffed, dusting off his hands before turning to close the window.

“The Contractor,” Ellie hissed in an eerie voice with a smirk, drawing out the words in a ridiculous way.

“Knock knock,” a voice said behind you, making you jump slightly, turning to find Tommy. “Sorry,” he said quietly, having the decency to look sheepish. As he pushed the door open a bit wider, it squeaked softly, pulling his focus to the hinges. “You need to fix that, Joel-”

“I-” The older brother looked at the younger, dumbfounded. It quickly melted into annoyce as he whispered an exasperated, “What did you do?” Stepping quickly toward the door.

Tommy stepped back slightly. “Nothin’! I just got here, big brother! So just hold your horses and don’t jump-”

“He just fixed those a few minutes ago,” you offered softly, understanding dawning on Tommy’s face.

His eyes shifted to his brother, wide and somewhat worried. “Now, Joel, I didn’t do nothin’. They’re old, like you, and-” he turned his eyes down to the floor when Joel’s head snapped up to level him with a menacing gaze. “-and,” he repeated pointedly, “before you jump up my ass about somethin’ I didn’t do….” He lifted his head just enough to look at his brother again. “Can we please talk about this like the grown men we sometimes are now?”

Joel simply stared at his brother for a loaded moment before turning back to the door, wiggling it back and forth, making a sour face as it squeaked again softly. “You had to’ve done somethin’….”

“I guess not then,” Tommy sighed, hands that had been held up in surrender falling down to his sides in defeat as he sent an unimpressed glare toward his brother. “You’ve gotten meaner as your hair’s gotten greyer.”

Joel rolled his eyes, turning to inspect the hinges more closely, but reached up a hand to run through his hair after a moment, bringing it down to rub at the back of his neck in what looked like embarrassment as he kept his back to the room.

Ellie strolled over easily toward the two men. “You’re an old man, Joel. That’s how it’s supposed to happen…. I think. I mean, look at Santa Claus….”

Joel slowly looked at her over his shoulder before he let out a strangled grunt of frustration, cleaning his throat to try and cover it up as he shook his head, turning back to his task in an attempt to hide.

Ellie went on as if nothing had happened. “I mean I think that’s how it works.”

Tommy snickered, tucking the lower half of his face into his hand, pointedly ignoring Joel looking at him through the crack of the door by the hinges.

The teen turned to Tommy. “You’re an old man, you tell me. Am I right?”

The hand fell from his face, and Tommy immediately stopped laughing, glowering at Ellie while Joel lost it, a series of growing snickers falling from his mouth as he turned his face into the wall to try and subdue the sound.

You looked on, watching the whole exchange with a smile. Joel may not be her father, but these three were every bit a family unit. They teased and called each other names, but it was all in fun. All from love. You had no doubt that when push came to shove, they’d be there for one another in a heartbeat, and probably be willing to sacrifice close to anything in the name of that bond, that thing they shared but they didn’t dare put that name to. For family.

Joel was still chuckling into the wall, his forehead pressed against it as he rocked it side to side in disbelief. “I swear I didn’t tell her to say that.”

“Fuck you, Joel. I say what I want,” Ellie proclaimed.

“Ellie,” Joel groaned, finally turning to face the room with a sigh, as Tommy snapped a, “Language!”

“Oh, bite me,” she mumbled, turning and meandering slowly to the window to begin dusting again.

“So, Tommy,” you began, clasping your hands in front of yourself. “I hear you have furniture for me?”

His eyes widened in recognition. “Shit! Yeah.”

“Language!” Ellie mocked him from her spot across the room.

“It’s downstairs. Why don’t you come with me, take a look and see what all you wanna bring up while Joel finishes on this door.” He turned to his brother, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Come down when you’re done, we should know by then.”

He nodded, fiddling with the screwdriver in his hand. “Give me five minutes.”

“I used to work with you, Joel,” Tommy called, starting down the stairs. “We both know it’ll take you ten.”

Joel laughed humorously. “Fuck you, Tommy!”

“Language!” Ellie yelled again. 

Following the younger Miller, you smiled. He stepped on every squeak in the steps, almost like it was on purpose.

Once the two of you were downstairs, Tommy stepped out onto the front porch, showing you a small array of furniture leaning up against the outside of the house. 

You were about to start pointing to some of the pieces when he began talking to you about something else altogether.

“So how’s it been today? They been treating you okay?”

Crossing your arms over your chest, you tilted your head back to look up at him, holding his serious gaze. His eyes were kind, and you realized he was asking just as much from a place of worry for them as for you.

“Yeah. It’s been great so far.” He looked relieved. “Ellie cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast.”

He smiled proudly. “You have me to thank for that.”

You couldn’t help the grimace tugging on your features. “So I hear.”

Tommy scoffed, hands going to his hips, making you chuckle.

“Ellie called him grumpy earlier, but I haven’t seen any particular reason why.” His eyebrows shot up near his hairline. “I asked him about it and he said to ‘give it time’.” 

He rolled his eyes with a muttered, “Sounds like him.”

You lowered your voice, taking a step closer. “Am I missing something? If he’s not always sunshine and rainbows, that’s fine, I get it. This world we live in now ain’t always deserving of it. But still, I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”

Tommy took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Joel stepped out the front door.

“What should I take up first?”

Turning and pointing at the bed frame you knew for sure needed to go up, you smiled. “Definitely that, please.”

Joel nodded, grabbing the headboard and footboard. “Tommy, will you grab the rest of the frame? The girls can be putting it together while we take up the rest.”

The man beside you nodded, staying silent until his brother disappeared back in the house.

“Joel’s not always the easiest to get to know.” You scoffed. “It’s true. I’ve known him my whole life, and I still have days where I wonder why he’s so prickly. He has his reasons,” Tommy looked up toward the attic windows before looking back down at you. “And I’m sure he’ll tell you them eventually, I can already tell he trusts you more than most others here in Jackson.”

With a shake of your head, you chuckled. “You’re crazy. He just met me. I’m sure he-”

“You saw a side of Joel right out the gate some wait a lifetime to miss.”

Staring up into his eyes, your own wide, you saw nothing but sincerity.

“Tommy! Come on, man!” Shaking his head, Joel picked up the rest of the pieces of the bed. “And you say I’m slow.”

The younger Miller held your gaze as he spoke. “That’s because you are slow, big brother.” Lifting his eyes to follow the older man, they narrowed playfully. “Come on, come on, lift those feet!”

“I’m gonna hit you,” Joel grumbled as he passed back over the threshold of the house, Tommy hot on his heels. As Joel continued to complain, Tommy stopped, looking back at you pointedly before turning and heading inside, shouting something you couldn’t make out up at his brother.

Xxx

Once a few of the pieces were set up around the attic, you dug some things out of your backpack to put out, get settled in. Pulling a chair up to the small dining table, you got your screwdriver out of the pack on your hip and began scraping at the paint on the blue metal car from that morning.

“What’cha doin’?” Tommy asked, pulling another chair up and swinging his leg over it, sitting on it backwards. He rested his chin on his wrists on the back of the chair as he stared at the toy in your hands.

Not stopping, you answered him. “I restore things, especially toys.”

Your eyes flicked up to find his face twisted in confusion before darting back to what you were doing. 

After a moment he asked in a quieter voice, “Why?”

You shrugged. “Why not?” Pausing in your efforts, you looked up at him. “It makes me happy, and it makes others happy. And if there’s something people need more of these days, I’d say that’s it.” You turned back to your project.

“Toys?”

You froze, your hands flopping onto the table as you lifted your gaze to look at him flatly.

“Happiness, dumbass,” Joel grumbled lowly from across the room, tightening the screws on one of the window sills.

“How would you know?” Tommy sat up straight in the chair, glaring over at his brother. “You wouldn’t know happiness if it bit you on the ass.”

“Oh, I think I’d be plenty happy if someone bit me on the ass-”

“That’s not-” Joel’s chuckle cut his brother off. “I like how Ellie said it earlier. Bite me.”

“Okay. But not on the ass.”

“You know what….” Tommy pushed away from the table, turning toward his brother.

“Even if I don't, I know you never do.” Joel turned to face his brother, screwdriver once again in his hand. “You’re not the brightest-”

“Boys!” They both turned to look at you, startled, Ellie jerking awake from her spot on your bed where she’d been napping for the last hour. “Enough!”

“Yeah, shut up,” Ellie grumbled, rubbing her eye with the palm of her hand. “I don’t even know what you were arguing about, but I know it was stupid.”

“How would you know?” Joel turned his head slowly to look at his brother, his eyebrows knit in disbelief that he was arguing with a teenager.

She stilled, her hand falling to her lap with a plop. “Because I know you.” She turned to you, speaking over a yawn. “What were they arguing about?”

“That toys and happiness aren’t necessarily important nowadays, and that devolved into name calling.”

Ellie nodded. “Sounds right.” She looked at the two men. “Grow up.” She arched a brow right back at them when they lifted theirs at her. “I babysit for the kids across the street, and if it’s one thing they are severely lacking, it’s toys. We watch the movies down at the town center or a video Joel brings back from a run, and they won’t shut up about all the toys and stuff. They don’t care about the animals or the songs, I mean they do, to an annoying degree, please, somebody, explain how giving children that age singalongs was a good idea, but I digress-” she took a big breath, the corner of her mouth twitching up when you failed to suppress a snort of laughter. “Anyway. Some toys around here wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“I’d be more than happy to restore toys for the kids here in Jackson. But up here there isn’t really enough space for that type of output, plus the noise and smell would eventually bother you, despite what you say, Joel.”

Tommy looked at his brother who shrugged. “We talked about this earlier. Briefly.”

“I see,” Tommy mused quietly, turning back to you with a smirk.

“Would you mind sharin’ your garage?”

Joel grimaced.

“Come on, Joel,” Tommy teased. “Be a big boy, and-”

Joel rounded on his brother, getting close to his face. “You don’t stop talkin’, I’m going to-”

“Okay, so that’s a no,” you chuckled.

“The old book store,” Joel’s voice had calmed, and he turned to look at you. “It’s empty, is filled with shelves to display stuff, and has a wide showroom in the middle you could convert into a workshop.”

“Are you sayin’ she opens a toy shop?” Tommy asked, his voice tight with disbelief.

“Why not?” Joel looked at his brother before turning to Ellie for her input. “Like she said, it’s a need in the town, would boost morale-”

“How?” Tommy scoffed.

“Happy kids, happy parents.”

Joel made a gesture after Ellie spoke, like a ‘there you go’ as he turned his attention back on his brother, smiling as understanding softened the other man’s features.

“A need, morale,” Joel turned to look at you, a playful curl of his upper lip as he went on, “and I get to keep my garage.” The mock disdain melted into a smile and a wink before he turned back to his brother. 

“For now,” Ellie muttered under her breath, her face instantly schooling into something sweet and innocent when Joel whipped his head her way. 

Xxx

With a sigh, you set one of the things on your shelf back upright, looking at the blue metal car that sat beside it, fully painted and restored. It was one you weren’t willing to get rid of, and it held pride of placement on one of the shelves Joel had built not long after that conversation about the shop.

You’d opted to stay out of these arguments, letting them sort their differences out on their own, but something felt different this time. The weight of Joel’s sigh hurt just a little bit more, felt a little bit heavier, and at breakfast this morning, his eyes seemed…. Sad.

Walking to the door that led downstairs through the house, you opened it, smiling when it swung without a sound. Making sure to step on the proper parts of the steps to stay silent, you walked almost all the way up to Joel before you finally cleared your throat to get his attention.

He’d been cradling his head in his hand, but he snapped up to look at you.

“Sorry,” you mumbled.

He stared at you for a long moment before shaking his head, looking at the floor. “No, no, don’t worry. Am I in your way? I’ll move, just let me-” 

“Joel.”

At the sound of his name, he relaxed, slumping back against the wall with a sigh, scrubbing his hand down his face as he looked up at the ceiling. “I know.” He shrugged slightly, tilting his head back into the wall with a soft thump, rocking it back and forth. “I don’t know what it is. I can’t….” He looked back down at the floor for a second before his face screwed up. “Goddamnit!” His hand moved up to thread through his hair, tugging at the ends in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m doing. It was so much easier with-” Joel stopped with a shuddering breath, his eyes wide and frantic as they flew to you.

He’d done this a few times, started down a train of thought about someone or something in his past, but always stopped just before actually naming them. You couldn’t tell if it was a decision made out of pain or a desire to maintain privacy. Either way, you didn’t push it.

“She’s just being a teenager, Joel. That’s what they do. They drive you crazy, it’s kind of their job.” The corner of his mouth twitched up just slightly, but just as quickly fell back into the frown that twisted his face so painfully. “Didn’t you have teenaged girls in your family? Nieces? Distant cousins?”

He let out a wet laugh, swallowing roughly before he answered in a raspy voice, “Somethin’ like that.”

You leaned on the wall across from him, sliding down to sit on the floor, knees pulled tightly to your chest.

“Did you need something?”

His question pulled your focus back up to his face from the pattern of the weave of your jeans you’d been staring at.

“Yeah. I mean no.” He tilted his head in question. “I needed to come down and check on you two.”

He swallowed again, nodding. “Thanks.”

“Want me to go after her? We’re still learning each other, but we get along well enough. She’d probably listen to me. Maybe.” You grimaced. “I mean I hope so.”

Joel laughed softly. “Don’t do it on my behalf, you don’t need to villainize yourself, too. She needs to trust ‘least one of us.”

“She doesn’t think you’re a villain, Joel,” you groaned, getting back to your feet, taking his outstretched hand he offered in help.

“She sure don’t think I’m a hero,” he said lowly, his hand holding yours longer than it should, his thumb tracing your knuckles as he held your gaze. 

As you studied his face, eyes tracing the laugh lines by his eyes, the scars here and there, the strong angle of his jaw and light smattering of facial hair, you found yourself wishing he never actually had to let go. “I think you’d be surprised what people see when they look at you, Joel.”

He let go of your hand, taking a step back. Somehow you’d both gotten nearly toe to toe as you talked.

“I just need to get my jacket from upstairs then I’ll go look for her.”

He nodded, leaning back against the wall as you went back up to the attic.

Once you were back inside, you spotted Ellie at your desk, painting a little model plane you’d been working on. Looking over at the private entrance Joel had installed, you saw the door was not quite shut all the way. Smiling softly, you set your jacket you’d taken off the hook on the back of a nearby chair, then you walked over, shutting the door softly, clicking the lock into place. Closing the last few feet left between you, you leaned your hip against the edge of the desk as you watched her detail the left wing. 

It was weird to see her so subdued. Normally she was such a spitfire, something sarcastic or sassy coming out of her mouth at all times. You laughed every time she opened her mouth.

Keeping your voice quiet, you finally asked, “Wanna talk about it?”

She didn’t answer at first, but when she did it was as quiet as you had been. “Not really.”

You studied the way she painted the lines meticulously. “That’s fine.”

Pulling up a chair, you sat beside her, arm braced on the desk, head cradled in your palm as you continued to watch her in silence. 

The sounds of the town below you slowly drifted up through the open window. A songbird flitted by. Crickets began to chirp as the sun went down, and a lone owl hooted across the valley as the stars began to shine. One by one they started their march across the sky, twinkling in their dance with the moon, a slow procession of light for those of you left down below.

After a few minutes, you handed her the cup of water to rinse the brush. “He’s trying, you know.”

She rinsed and dried the brush, switching to the next color. A few more minutes passed before she answered. “I know.” 

After the wing was done, she rinsed the brush again and spoke while she dried it on the towel. “We need more paint. We’re running low on these basic colors. I could mix some of the others to make more, but they wouldn’t be quite right.”

“Okay,” you agreed softly. “I’ll see what I can do. There’s not much here in town, but I know there’s a lot out there left over from before.”

She whipped her head toward you, eyes wide in excitement. “Maybe you and I could go together to find some?!”

“No, no,” you didn’t even let her finish before you began objecting. “It’s not safe out there for you. You’re too young.”

She looked back down at the plane, her features immediately turning sour. “You sound like Joel.”

“Well, he and I agree on this.” Picking up the paintbrushes and moving them to the side, you leaned forward on both forearms, trying to catch her eye. “Do you trust me?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Leaning back a little bit, you sighed. “You always have a choice, Ellie. You know that.”

“I know,” she grumbled. “I just…. Yes, okay? Yes, I trust you. Why?”

Pushing the chair back, you got to your feet, going to the door back downstairs. “Because I have a plan.”

“What is-”

Turning back to her, you raised one finger and wagged it at her. “Ah ah ah! You said you trusted me. Now do it.”

Opening the door, you stepped through, laughing when you heard Ellie’s muffled voice call through as you shut it, “This sucks!”

Making your way back downstairs, you found Joel at the dining room table, nursing a whiskey. 

“Do you trust me?”

“You know I do, why?”

Smiling, you sat in the chair beside him. “Ellie’s doing really well with her painting, isn’t she?”

His brows narrowed in question, but he answered. “Yeah….”

“Problem is, there isn’t a lot of paint here in Jackson, and she’s already running low on some of the basic colors.”

“I noticed. She was complainin’ about it last week. I was gonna look for some on my next run for her.”

Sitting forward in your chair like you had at the desk with Ellie, you leaned on your forearms as you started in on your idea. “Well, where I stayed before coming here is about a week out. I had a stockpile. All different colors, types, whatever she could want for a long, long time, it’s all there.” Joel’s eyes were wide, you could see his wheels turning. “If we could each take a horse, maybe even a small cart or something, we’d cut that time in half, be there in a few days, and we could go raid my old supply. I had some real specialty stuff, stuff she’d love. Craft brushes…. I just need someone to come with me to keep me safe. I know what I’m doing, but once everything is loaded, the horses will be slower and I need someone to watch my back. Whaddya say?”

He started to smile. “You had me at ‘stuff she’d love’.”

Xxx

The day to leave had come. You’d be leaving tomorrow to get your old stash while Joel watched your back.

You were about to close up the shop for the night when someone came in. 

Smiling up at the woman, your features softened when you saw the tired expression on her face. “Can I help you?”

The woman sighed, the most exhausted sound you’d heard in a while. “Yes! My daughter is sick, and I want to give her something to cheer her up. I can trade you some bread for it. Fresh made this morning.” Flipping a towel back on the small bundle in her left hand, a golden loaf of bread came into view, making your mouth water, the shop filling with the yeasty aroma and making your stomach growl softly.

You would have done it for free, given the circumstances, but since you were leaving the next day, the bread would be handy. And damn did it smell good. “Sure! How about something soft for her to hold while she’s laid up in bed?”

She smiled gratefully. “Sounds perfect.”

Pulling a basket down from a shelf that was filled with a few teddy bears Tommy and Joel had found on supply runs and you’d cleaned up, you set it on a table in front of the woman.

“Beautiful day today,” you said offhandedly, looking out the front window and smiling, your grin growing when you saw Joel appear across the street and wave at you through the window. You waved back, making the woman in front of you look over her shoulder to see what was going on. 

She heaved another sigh, rolling her eyes before turning back to the basket. “Don’t bother. That one’s never gonna crack.”

Your smile faltered, hand falling down to rest beside the basket as you looked at the woman in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She scoffed. “He’s a tough ass. I don’t think he’s ever smiled in his life. Probably made his mom cry when he was born. Something is just off about him.”

Snorting a laugh, you shook your head. “That’s crazy. I live with him.” You paused, ignoring her raised brows as she looked at you through her lashes. “Well, above him. In his attic.” Turning your head just slightly, your face twisted at the way that sounded, too. “But not, like, in a creepy way. His brother set it up.” You tilted your head to the side, staring out the front window, before turning to look at the woman point blank. “I’m renting a room from him.”

The woman looked up at you in pity. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not so bad.” You shrugged, reaching out to straighten the ear of one of the bears.

Resting her hand on your forearm, she gave it a gentle pat. “That’s the right attitude.”

After she picked her bear and you had the bread, you locked up and walked across the street to meet Joel. “Got some extra food for the trip.” You held up the loaf with a grin.

“Good. We’re gonna need it,” he grumbled, his face a sour expression, hands in his pockets as you both turned toward the house.

“What bit your ass?”

“Tommy mentioned to Maria about our little trip. The council didn’t want to lend us the horses for ‘just paint’.”

“Okay. So now what? We walk?”

“No,” he ground out. Turning the corner by the stables, you found a group of people buzzing around, preparing bags and supplies for them and their horses. When you looked back up at Joel, he sighed, speaking lowly. “We have company.”

Xxx

Tags: @dilf-din, @lupinpetersclearwaterodairparker, @what-the-heckin-heck, @telarnidaniela, @kalea-bane, @morgaussy, @enjoythelittlethings, @paleidiot, @telepathay Wanna be tagged if/when I write any future Joel stuff? Here’s how to sign up!

[vellichorom]

that post regarding papa.isa / papa.iwa doing numbers so i'm going further in-depth about my thoughts because i'm So Right

-- @/Zoeyhoshi, quoted around the time the Focus On the Hawks manga was initially set to be released;

( this is not an official description nor is it stated in the manga but could Probably be inferred by the given timeline of the game & regardless likely doesn't go without precedent; )

okay so now that that's out of the way,

here's a bunch of ryuuji & isa/shuu relationship thoughts that have caused me such brainrot ;;

perceive this as papa/isa & i kill you;

to ME ( & this is rather flavored with headcanon so bear with me ); ryuuji kawara, a man realizing a baby & then some beforehand too late that he's just No longer in love with his wife / girlfriend, spends ALL of his time possible at work, with his team of prodigy teenage exploits, honestly just dicking around & refusing to- you know, be a Responsible Grown Ass Man & do something about his life,

& he starts doting on the sad little partridge who's thrown himself into his work to an unhealthy degree & is no doubt having a hard time just being ALIVE after being orphaned & physically disabled by a terrorist attack when he was just a baby, practically hovering over his shoulder, making sure he eats, gets out & has fun, & this is EASY for ryuuji, because they both have a mutual interest in science - as well as each other. ( not in a weird way get out of here, )

& isa's been given the short end of the shit stick ALL his short life thus far; he was born into a rich family that abhorred him since day one for Never being up to their standards, has resented them & felt nothing for anyone around him Since day one, was involved in a terrorist attack that Physically fucked him up for the rest of his life, & was almost immediately indoctrinated into the extremist hawk party at like. age 6 & stayed with them onward. CAN YOU IMAGINE,

so isa's growing up in a sterile, hostile environment & having his progeny used to develop techniques & weapons against humankind. i can't imagine it's the warmest place to RAISE an already jaded child, let alone when they're destined to become the smartest one in the new world order, but i digress.

IN STEPS RYUUJI, showing him all the warmth & kindness that he's yet to experience from ANYONE in his life before, & oh my god. it's wonderful. it is indescribably luxurious- it's so fantastic that ryuuji kawara would be the Only Person that shuu would show respect for, the only person he'd ever do ANYTHING for, the person he would somewhat come to live for, no matter how much he denies it or portrays ryuuji like a fool under his breath.

ryuuji imprints on isa as though he were his own child & finds fulfillment & content enough just to pal around with him for the rest of his days, & isa imprints on ryuuji as though...

he were everything to him, likely. of course, construed to the mentally & emotionally stunted shuu iwamine as Romance, or something along those lines. familial feelings Must have died with his parents, & you want to tell him they probably just transferred to ryuuji during the extremely stressful period toward the beginning of shuu's young life? get out of here,,,

BUT IT'S IN FACT VERY POSSIBLE;

ryuuji loved isa & isa loved ryuuji & shuu still loves ryuuji !!!!! a man admired for his brilliance who also showed shuu the most tender affection he has ever felt in his whole life & that has warped him beyond belief & kind of caused almost everything in hatoful boyfriend to happen

& my god can you imagine being ryouta finding out about this; can you imagine your dad abandoning you prior to your birth & putting all his love & care into someone who screwed you & all your friends & literally almost all of your society over because of it. i can't help but imagine he tries not to dwell on it but... ouh, the resentment he harbors in his heart about it... unfathomable,

OHH my emotionally distant & stunted horrible idiot BASTARDS ryuuji & shuu..... not a week goes by where i don't think about them,

i hate them so much

here's also the abridged discord post version of this post jic i left out some details i wanted to discuss & i think i did

[topazadine]

🐎Story/WIP Tour Tag⛰️

Thank you @the-golden-comet for the tag! This one looks interesting and I am not sure I can do it justice, but I'll give it a shot. I absolutely loved Captain Hart taking us all around the world!

Our tour guide through Breme and Sina today will be Mordrek Willets, spy with the Sinan Intelligence Services. He doesn't appear until the fourth book in The Eirenic Verses, but you'll get a little sneak peak of him today.

Here, we're looking at his diary entries of the different places he has visted in Sina and Breme, which will be coded with the country color.

Kulniryi

Capital of Sina, home to the Royal Ocean Palace, Queen Alnan College, and of course, Thieves' Quarter, home to yours truly. Major international port, which would likely be the perfect place to launch an attack if the Fuarese Union gets sick of being Sina's vassal state. Kulniryi Harbor is one of the deepest and largest ports in the world - or so Queen Susuma says. Able to accommodate dozens of merchant ships at a time, it's no wonder that vessels from all across the globe come here. At least I can always be assured a beautiful woman to romance at one of the dozens of pubs. Loud, ugly, but perhaps the most beautiful city I've ever seen. So clean, and I must grudgingly admit that the black Royal Ocean Palace looks striking against the pale granite cliffs.

Santal

Suburb of Kulniryi. Most notable for Wet Cat Tavern, run by my good friend Ganbold. He's done me far too many favors over the years. Given that he was able to gracefully exit the Sinan Intelligence Services in a much more ... diplomatic way than me, it's always brimming with good intel. And Ganbold is more than happy to calmly and rationally persuade anyone who may not be behaving correctly to leave. Without any dangerous tactics, of course. Also home to the Haratshi family. I don't really want to talk much more about that.

Heretic's Way

This was the path that the heretical Princess Yiella took out of the future land of Sina with her lover, Seinn Luridalr Breme, who subsequently blocked their exit in quite a fantastical way. Anyway, Heretic's Way is perfect for those seeking a more discreet way to travel around Sina, given that everyone's terrified of the place. Not really sure why. Sinans aren't known for being particularly superstitious, but it seems the entire country has thrown away their brains when it comes to this one little path. Or maybe it's because they keep finding half-eaten bodies scattered willy-nilly about the premises. Briar bears, to be sure. I wouldn't know anything about that. Just secondhand information.

Eavelnen

Utter piece of shit town. Ugly, useless, and the one single pub is filthy. I was pretty sure I caught multiple diseases, but at least the alcohol's strong enough to burn away any parasites that might have got their hooks into me. Can't really say much more than that the air is perfumed with horse manure and body odor. You can smell the place from a mile away.

Traifalnar

What a strange little place - like one of those fairytales they read to children. It's built on a swamp, so there are dozens of little bridges that create a lacey network of streets. The buildings are sunk into the murky soil by heavy timber pylons that are probably rotted half to hell by now, so they're girded by strong wires that hold them all up, leaning against one another and distributing the weight. The townsfolk use these wires to send baskets or messages across the streets when they're too lazy to get out and walk. Its pub, Firefly's Rest, is pretty cute, I must admit. But god, the bugs. No wonder all the townsfolk wear citronella cloaks all year round.

Wieleiss

A forgettable town. It's one of the smaller military outposts but damn, do they take themselves far too seriously. The rolling foothills of the Rimuk Mountains - aftershocks of Breme's Saint Luridalr creating her fantastical barrier - start around here, so the town has a lovely view of the hills if you're staying at the Inn Wieleiss, the tallest building in town. I will admit that their inn is excellent: clean, with a well-stocked bar. The security leaves something to be desired, though. Probably because the soldiers themselves are not of the finest quality this far from Kulniryi. Of course they're taking bribes. The place has almost no industry. They're basically private security at this point.

Yunnoun

Spooky town. Butting right up against the Rimuk Mountains, it's the most fortified outpost in the entire country, always ready at a moment's notice to attack. Most of the populace is connected to the armed forces in some way, whether they're soldiers, military wives, or contractors. Their stables are enormous and maintained with almost neurotic precision. Of course, the Sinan army does not use horses in warfare - most of the soldiers have to go right up the Rimuk Pass to engage - but they are very useful for ferrying supplies, and most soldiers are accomplished in equestrianism anyway, as they may be asked to ferry messages to other outposts. Horseback riding is a good way to keep them from getting lazy, too. There are four entrances, each guarded by multiple soldiers who do not take kindly to those without proper identification. The military headquarters squats in the center of the town, with the barracks stretching out like spiders. Its training grounds is incredibly extensive and can accommodate hundreds of soldiers at a time.

Nyulinsk Defensive Tower

A tower hammered into the Rimuk Mountains, which has always been a sore spot for the Bremish. We stuck a military fortification on their most sacred mountain: Mt. Luridalr, so named after their beloved saint. Of course Queen Kulni did that just to piss them off, and it has worked marvelously for hundreds of years. More than a few soldiers have been picked off the top while trying to perform maintenance, so the poor tower is beat all to hell. There are singe marks from flaming arrows on the interior - it has always fascinated me how well the Bremish archers can get their arrows into those tiny slits. I imagine it has something to do with their precious High Poetry. I have not been inside so cannot speak much about the interior. Queen Susuma doesn't trust me enough, I suppose. As well she should not.

Rimuk Pass

This was supposedly where Saint Luridalr stood while bringing up the mountains: it's almost like an empty doorway in the middle of the enormous range that spans the length of the continent. Well, it used to be an open door. The Bremish have fortified it to hell and back with layers upon layers of brick; I imagine dozens of their soldiers have died attempting to protect their country by building a bigger wall. And, of course, during battles, which take place almost exclusively at the Pass. Our army has installed convenient footholds to climb up the side and drop down into enemy territory. Once they are beyond the Sinan border, most know that they are unlikely to return. Many have defected upon realizing how defenseless they will be on the other side - and how little Queen Susuma cares about getting them back unless they are somehow related to the royal family.

Dropbone Caverns

A strange, curving, and terrifying network of caverns buried under the Rimuk Mountains: impurities in the rock when it was wrenched from deep in the earth. There are at least two rivers that wind through it, having percolated from the very top of the mountains on their way into the groundwater. I can confirm that this long filtration process makes for very hard water. Delicious, though. The Bremish, being superstitious fools, refuse to use the Dropbone Caverns - or any caverns under the Rimuks - as points of attack. They believe that their dead reside in some mythical Cave of All Fallen, where Saint Luridalr waits with them for the end of the world. From there, they believe that their goddess Poesy will rewrite the world and they will reincarnate with their loved ones after a long "dream." Utterly ridiculous notion and very tactically unwise, but the taboo is so strong that the Bremish Army sporadically performs sweeps through a small section to ensure that none of their people have set up camp there. Being as they only check perhaps once or twice a year, and daren't traverse very far, most of the caverns remain unmapped. There are deep ravines that can easily become one's tomb if they aren't careful.

Vieleste

Beautiful Vieleste is a military outpost close to the Bremish entrance of the Dropbone Caverns. It is also home to the Vieleste Meronym, one of the High Poet Society's religious centers. An easy rule of thumb is that if there is a meronym, there is likely a military presence as well. The High Poets and the Bremish Army are closely entangled, given that the poets help enchant weapons for the military's use. I have never heard of anywhere in Breme where there is not at least the tiniest military outpost near an official meronym, though the High Poets have retreats throughout the country where their members can work in privacy. Anyway, Vieleste is a unique place in that some of the buildings have been erected atop the ruins of older homes that were crushed by boulders triggered by the Sinans. To think that they live atop the graves of their ancestors ... very disturbing, to be honest. I have been told this is because they believe though the boulders were sent from malice, they are hewed from the Rimuk Mountains, and thus they are sacred.

Gold Cascade

Oh, how can one even speak of the Gold Cascade without breaking down in tears at its beauty? It is born from a lake at the top of one of the Rimuk Mountains, which few have ever seen. The Bremish refuse to climb the mountains, and the Sinans rarely go for pleasure. I find myself deeply curious about what it may look like up there, at the top of the world .... This thunderous waterfall is so named because at sundrop, it is lit up in glorious golden hues, making it seem a stream of citrine pouring down the mountain. Some also believe that Saint Luridalr herself hid a treasure trove at its base, but I doubt it. She did not seem the avaricious type from what I have been told. At certain times, the Gold Cascade is wreathed in rainbows, while it steams during the summer. A unique ecosystem has grown up around it, including hardy fish and beautiful ferns. However, its strength has carved out underclings through the rock that surrounds it, creating vortices that could easily drown anyone who attempts to swim there. There are a number of superstitions about damned souls, and some believe that the Cave of All Fallen begins at its base.

Miskinint Lake

Technically a sinkhole, but I'm not about to argue with the Bremish about this. It is fed from the Gold Cascade further upstream, which then turns into the Great Gold River that nourishes most of the populace until it peters out into smaller rivers around the Windswept. I have been told this is a popular swimming hole and diving spot because of its steep cliffs and great width. There are specialized species that live here, including the Miskinint crayfish. Absolutely delicious with sheep's butter.

Caichaille

A very small, isolated town near the Rimuk Mountains, upways from Vieleste and its ilk. Perhaps 100 people live here, though it may be less. There is a cave entrance close by that has been firmly closed with a large iron door, and only the High Poets are allowed inside this cave to provide alms to the dead. The town itself is ringed with a defensive boulder wall, but there is a poet's retreats on its outskirts. A really ugly one, to be honest. It looks like someone just threw together a bunch of boulders and called it a day. I imagine it was probably a young High Poet forced to do this to prove her power.

Vercingetorix

Previously named Paulemaule, its current name is in honor of one of Breme's five saints, whose claim to fame was learning how to poison arrows and kill scores of Sinans through some incurable disease. Saint Vercingetorix was eventually caught and tortured by Sinan forces, and the secret to this poetry died with her. Some of her body parts were recovered by the Bremish and are kept as relics at the meronym. Given that she killed Sinans through an epidemic, Saint Vercingetorix is the patron saint of healing, and her meronym is renowned for its focus on the medical arts. Many desperately ill Bremish come here in hopes of finding a cure for their ailments. There is also a small military outpost, as expected, but I have seen that it is poorly maintained and ill-equipped to deal with an invasion.

Bewerian

The capital of Breme, it is the largest and most prosperous town. It is separated from its adjoining suburb, Goldnin, by Mermina's Bridge, which spans the Great Gold River. Mermina was one of Breme's five saints, who reversed a terrible drought of the Great Gold River through her poetry. Bewerian is home to the Bremish Council and the War Committee, which is their central place of governance. The War Committee is subordinate to the Bremish Council, and both are informally whipped by the High Poet Society, which works autonomously and could rescind its promise to help the military at any time. There is also a court here, where the most serious of crimes are prosecuted: sedition, treason, murder, child abuse, and assault. I have been told that the trials are mostly perfunctionary and that being convicted is a near-certainty. The punishments are brutal yet appropriate, such as castration for a serial sexual offender. Can't say I have many complaints about that.

Goldnin

The primary suburb of Bewerian, this is the home to Breme's principal marketplace and the Goldnin Meronym, where the most powerful High Poets train and perform their arts. I suspect that placing the meronym in the suburb was to demonstrate their independence from the government and military, forcing high-ranking officials from the Bremish Council to make the commute if they wish to consult with the poets. This is also the location of the War Academy, where soldiers train or wait for deployment. The training grounds are large and well-equipped, while there are numerous dormitories and barracks. One can see child soldiers here, as young as 11 years old, developing their bloodlust. There are also children they title "Future Boys," who can be thrown there by their parents when as young as 6 or 7. They are forced to perform manual labor until they reach the age of entrance into the Academy.

The Windswept

A vague and mysterious area of Breme set aside for the nomadic tribes: the original inhabitants of Breme, who were slowly pushed aside as more people turned to an agrarian lifestyle. While the nomads have representation on the Bremish Council and their own system of governance, they are often treated as second-class citizens by the settled peoples, who view them as backwards and archaic. In many ways, it feels like they are an enclave within the overall country, making their own rules and settling their own disputes through ancient processes. This area is less resource-rich than the settlements, yet carefully maintained by the tribes for maximum efficiency. Seasonal migrations help to cycle the soil and allow it to rest. There are large herds of feral horses, wolves, wild pigs, and even some strange, savage flightless birds that frequently cause problems. Large herbivorous creatures known as auraks live here and are hunted down using the fearless Bremish wolfhounds, domesticated from wolves and known for their indefatigability. Apparently the settled peoples think aurak meat is disgusting and prefer their livestock.

All these fascinating places will feature, at sometime or another, in the Eirenic Verses. If you'd like to get a good idea of what Goldnin and Bewerian are like, check out 9 Years Yearning, the first book in the series!

Tumblr tag list: @kuebiko-writing, @ryns-ramblings, @cain-e-brookman, @halfbit, @macabremoons,

@theverumproject, @aquadestinyswriting, @urlocalwitch555, @sarahswriting, @drchenquill,

@davycoquette, @mysticstarlightduck, @aalinaaaaaa, @gioiaalbanoart, @theaistired,

@somethingclevermahogony, @wyked-ao3, @avaseofpeonies,

[carmenized-onions]

these are my thoughts

-the amish story?? we're starting with the amish story???? so you want me to bawl my fuckin eyes out, is that? i hate you onion.

-its been 0ERR minutes. damn right. feel the burn carmen berzatto, feel it!!!

-i actually had to switch tabs and play the countries of the world quiz cuz ohhhh my god carmy talking to chef david is never an easy pill to swallow

-mikey called me? i have been officially adopted into the family? im all warm inside. but as a middle child, i am offended. deeply. we also care for people and have to like keep the peace! also ouch, id feel so guilty as a baby getting the big bro attention when the big bro's actually baby is being left on read.

-oh shit oh shit we're back ahhhhhhhh please chef david/carmy needs multiple warnings. also so real so real so real receiving praise from someone who always criticized you is not as sweet as you thought it would be. actually somewhat repulsive.

-i mean,,,, great introspection there carm, but maybe like 0ERR minutes too late buddy

-"The only fuckin’ good thing in my life" ....okay maybe i change my vote and i support tony folding. im folding.

-“Hey asshole—” Richie stops, when he sees David. “Ah. You’re needed, Chef Carmen.” dont back down richie dont back down call him out in front of the stupid exec he put over everyone else. also did you notice in season three no one said 'cousin' once? not onceeeeee. carm deserved it, but damn did it hurt. please heal me onion

-“Want your coffee?” He corrects, like stroking your ego will make you fold. It does. ehehehehehe yeah yeah ill do itt

-fuck me this is dark.

-“Cousin get my fucking bag, now!” she called him cousin.

-ummmm can this be an x richie jerimovich now actually?

-carmen is definitely the joke. i know im tony, but id be on my hands knees for her too.

-onion. “And no one wants you to acknowledge that you’re the guy— Like you can take the compliment, but you can never say ‘I know, I’m doing it on purpose.’” how have you managed to capture the human experience of being the dependable people pleaser into words and such good words????? i could only wish to be as good at writing as you are. profession well chosen.

-'You laugh, and it quickly turns into a groan as you try to come up with something. “I uh… Oh! I fuckin’ hate the nickname ‘Jack’, that’s something.” “Oh?” He leans forward, teasingly intrigued— You’ve thrown him a bone, because you’re the guy, too. He’s able to focus on this in lieu of himself.' ahahahah i knew this was coming, if she liked jack it would've stayed jack but noooo its chip! i been waiting for this one, turn it up! also yes so 'the guy' of her, turning the convo to you only to help out the other guy cuz the guy never wants to be the center of attention unless its actively helping someone out ugh i love you onion

-i think im gonna try to minimize the comments, its like ive got one after every sentence, jeez cool it dude.

-sydmikey crossover kind of , wow. its hitting me. i wonder what they wouldve been like together.

-'and neither of you know this is a lie, yet.' actually fuck you onion.

-shit forgot the richie carmy fight was happening right out the window???????????????????????????

-lol. bear in the freezer 1.0

-you're making me miss mikey even tho im reading mikey but damn i miss my bestie and he should be enjoying the bear with us rn (even tho the bear is shit rn 0ERR but like if it wasnt)

-“If that’s what getting a star takes, I don’t want it.” oh fuck. us squidink truthers out here winning.

-'Richie’s a good dad. You will never find a good time to tell him this.' i know what you're referencing and i despise you for it. tony will tell him.

-'“Yeah, well you need to read Mark Wolynn’s ‘It Didn’t Start With You.’” Richie’s got lists of books now, instead of zingers. They somehow hit harder.' they hit very hard my man, very hard. #teamfuckeveryonebutrichie

read the rest so quick that i felt like i lived it. i hate you. you write so well. my best friend died dude ,you gave me a best friend who knew me and saw me and you killed him???

those are my thoughts. ive been reading this on an off since 10am, it is now almost 5pm. i was meant to be studying. truly the best form of procrastination is reading your work. i hope my review, tho lacking, it welcomed.

-jude the dude <3

So fun fact before we get into this, I am currently at my parents house packing all of my shit because I move into my apartment next thursday!! Thank y’all for being patient w/ me. I would fucking love to get the next chapter out tommorow (and answer all my asks) but we’ll see. I really need to prioritize packing but I,,,,, don’t want to. 

So now as my form of break I’m answering asks between boxes LMAO. SO ANYWAYS LETS FUCKING YAP FOR A WHILE!!~

(also please continue to send in essays, I've got quite the backlog if you're worried I didn't get it!! I probably maybe did!! Just busy fucking couple weeks)

I was so excited to do “what are you amish” as an opener, the doc was literally named ‘amish’ in google docs. I knew it was gonna shoot everyone dead on impact. Speaking of doc names, you ever wonder what the docs of these chapters are named?

(mushy potato is still chapter 13 I just had edited it a lot and made a new guy) I’m a little unhinged. 

Anyways FEEL THAT BURN CARMY BABY!! This was such a distressing chapter. I think it only adds to the stress to have those really sweet (mostly) moments with Mikey and then go into actually on the fucking brink with Carmen. 

I APOLOGIZE TO ALL MY MIDDLE SIBLINGS!! I think we babies and middle kids should team up tbh to beat Older Sibling’s ass. Middle/Babies are 100% also taking weight on our shoulders and I feel like this is never appreciated, so I wanted to have Tony be a baby, cause it goes against that type of a Baby Sib never being the dependable one. 

I love my middle brother dearly though. I think I see trio siblings fall into the categories of

Oldest - On a hierarchy level, emotionally responsible for everyone. 

Middle - Often financially/emotionally responsible, keeps family connected.

Baby - On a personal level responsible for emotions! One-on-One dynamics, yknow?

At least, that’s where my family and coincidentally the Berzattos seem to fall. I have to stop yapping about this let’s MOVE ONNN

SOOO REAL to get praise and not feel good. It’s so wild. It’s such a wild experience to get the praise you always wanted from someone and then realize immediately oh what the fuck i don’t give a fuck what you think and quite frankly i should’ve never been trying to impress you?? It’s such a weird human experience. Can a psychology major explain this to me. 

0ERR MINUTES TOO LATE LMAOOOO— But yeah, from what I noticed, some seemed to fold after seeing how fucked the rest of Carmen’s Friday went. I feel like it also completely changes the feeling of Something to Do. Should I do a poll again? Actually no I wanna do a different poll hold on…

RICHIE! NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT? NEVER GIVE UP!!! I did notice the lack of cousin in S3, which completely made sense and hurt deeply, however I live in a world where I wanted everyone to at least a little bit understand each other. 

-ummmm can this be an x richie jerimovich now actually?

This is the poll I wanna do. Because I’ve seen a lot of RiChip or SquidInk truthers coming to the light. What the fuck would Mikey’s ship name be actually? Mikchip? McRib. What? 

You had me blusshinn with quoting the guy scene!! Thank you for saying so. I was fucking tweaking like ‘is anyone going to understand what the fuck i mean when i’m saying this or do i just need to go to therapy’. Turns out we all do. So. That’s good. THANK YOU!! I 

WAITTIN FOR THIS ONE!! CHIP ORIGINS!! I was considering having the Chip origin be another scene that would essentially be ‘off screen’ but it just felt so apt to do here. I actually had an entire other conversation planned for Mikey/Chip to have here but it just didn’t suit them. I’m so glad I went with this. And aufgh, my heart… It was always so fucking sad for me while writing this and switching back and forth between scenes and being like “GOD I DON’T WANNA GO BACK TO CARMEN/MIKEY ERA” they were both very difficult to write for different reasons. But going back to Carmen was always tough cause it was like oh yeah. Mikey’s dead by this one. And he’s not suddenly gonna come out and give someone a painful back massage. This SUCKS!!

I cooked with neither of you know this is a lie, yet. Everyone knows I caramelized the shit out of that one. 

More people need to fight in front of the restaurant. I want those bitches on STAGE. It’s so much more fun when it’s public and weird. 

Now are we a squidink truther or richip gang affiliate we have to choose one jude or are we doing a polycule because i dont know if that’s possible

LISTEN BE HONEST WHEN IS THERE A NORMAL TIME TO GO UP TO YOUR FRIEND AND BE LIKE “hey i think you’re a great father” WHAT? WHAT? I’D start fucking tweaking (crying in public), personally.

All the book reccs were brought to you by my family doctor prescribing them to me. I literally have them on a sticky note next to me. Shout out Dr V! Love you baby!! #teamfuckeveryonebutrichieanddrV

The last scene was very much so my full deep dive into time distorted grief poetry, which I fucking loved doing so thank you to everyone who enjoyed it (you!!). Bro, getting to the end was so hard because I also fell in love with best friend Mikey writing it and I was like man,,,, does he have to die though,,, can we like,,, make him into a marvel superhero or something and pivot genres?? I hate this,,, So listen Mr Storer killed him I just poured a fuck ton of salt in the wound. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW, ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO SEND IN MORE THOUGHTS I LOVE TO GET THEM IT’S NEVER LACKING!!! Back to packing I go. I think I’ll tackle the desk next? Wish me luck brothers.

[novankenn]

Altered Destiny

= Two =

Knowing that the staff of Beacon would be scrambling to come to his rescue, Jaune made slow and painful progress back towards the cliffs. The clearing near the ruined bridge would be the perfect place for a bullhead to land and pick him up. Using the sheathed Crocea Mors as a make shift cane, he kept a hand pressed to his side.

Every breath was painful, and was let out in a gasp of burning agony. It was then he began to notice the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He knew it was not a good sign, and he started to desperately hope that his aura would mitigate some of the damage he had inflicted upon himself.

Lost in his own thoughts, he never noticed the snapping of twigs or the rustle of brush behind him. The first sign that Jaune noticed, alerting him to the danger he was in, was the loud grunting snort that happened as he was partway into the clearing. Ignoring the lance of pain in his chest, he twisted about.

It was the largest boarbatusk Jaune had ever seen, and considering that the only one he had seen before this was the one in Professor Port's class. It was nearly as tall as him, and Jaune instantly knew he was even in more danger than just be injured. he was in not condition to have a battle with such a grimm, or any grimm for that matter.

Jaune: Shit, shit, fuck!

Trying to calm his racing heart, Jaune forced himself through his agony to straighten up. Drawing Crocea Mors, he activated his shield. He knew that a rescue was on its way, and would be arriving soon, so all he had to do was hold this beast off until help arrived. That he could do. He was going to count on his shield and aura to weather the attacks that he couldn't avoid... in the vain hope that assistance was not far away.

Like so many choices that day, it was a mistake. The creature charged forward and curled in upon itself. The rolling attack came much faster than Jaune's already broken body could react to. By a fraction, he was able to get his shield into partial position, absorbing only a fraction of the impact.

Crocea Mors was torn from his grip and fell uselessly to the ground, his shield clattered to the side. Screaming in agony, Jaune was thrown backwards, tumbling and bouncing along the uneven ground, until suddenly he was airborne, and then falling.

Jaune's mind couldn't comprehend what was happening, as it was all too fast. He hadn't considered his proximity to the chasm, or the immense force a boarbatusk could bring to bear with its rolling attack. His aura shatter upon impact with the ground some hundred feet below the lip. While it kept his body from becoming a smear, it wasn't able to prevent the shattering of his bones, or the rupture of several of his organs.

It was a pure miracle, that his chest still rose and fell. Blood began to spread out about his broken body, and his breathing grew even more ragged and raspy. Slowly his eyes began to dull.

Jaune: Mom? It hurts mom. It hurts.

As his life slowly started to fade, a glowing ethereal figure approached. She could see the threads of his destiny starting to unravel, and even though she was supposed to not interfere in the mortal realm, she could see the multitude of choices and trials he would have faced. This was never to have happened, it was a dark twist of fate, that she chose to correct.

Jaune: (In a nearly soundless gasp) Mom?

Ethereal Figure: Hush, my child. This not the fate you were destined for. So rest...

Jaune's breathing grew shallower, as the light of life in his azure eyes faded away. Reaching into the weave of life, the figure caught hold of the snapped threads, and held them. Channelling her other worldly essence, she weaved them together again... rebuilding his broken body in the process.

His eyes didn't open, but his breathing steadied. Under the divine glow that surrounded his body, his armour fell away, removing the restrictions that would hinder his recovery.

Ethereal Figure: You are whole once more, my child. This world still needs you, so be more careful, and do not waste my gifts to you.

Leaning forward, the figure placed a gentle kiss upon Jaune's bloodied forehead.

Jaune: (nearly inaudible) Mom?

The figure chuckled as she stood. Looking up into the air, she could see the arriving technological marvel. Knowing Jaune would be safe she faded away.

{Table of Contents}

(AN: I know there is nothing funny about what is happening... the attempts at comedy are coming... I just need to set the situation. Please bear with me. I promise I will attempt to make things more light-hearted... for the most part.)

[hinatastinygiant]

36 | Juniper

Pairing: Tokyo Revengers x Fem!Reader

Wasteland Masterlist

At the bottom of the basement you were thrown down to, the man turns on the light and faces you. Through the blood all over him, you can now see his light purple/ silver hair and the tattoo on the side of his head. He gazes down at you with his lavender-colored eyes and says nothing.

“What the hell do you want from me, huh? Do you want to kill me? I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’ve got friends who will find you and fucking-“

“You’ve got such a bad temper, don’t you?” he scoffs. “I’m not going to kill you. You can live down here and survive.”

“Really?” you chuckle sarcastically. “On what?”

The man walks over to a pantry on the opposite wall as you and opens the door. Your jaw drops the second you see just how full it is.

“Can I make you something?” he then offers. “You seem hungry. How ‘bout some rice?”

“Sure,” you nod quietly as he reaches for one of the many bags of rice. This guy must’ve been planning for something like this to happen for years.

“So, do you mind if I ask your name?” you ask softly as you approach where he starts to cook the rice.

“I’m Mitsuya,” he answers as he leans his back against the small countertop. “And you?”

“Y/N,” you reply. “Your wrist?”

“Six,” he responds, showing you the inside of his left arm at the same time.

“Does that mean you just came back from your latest kill,” you grin as he fixes his sleeve and turns around to wash his hands in the sink.

“I don’t kill any more than I have to,” he answers sharply. “I only go up about once a week. I make sure to get the maximum days out of a kill and-“

“So you’re dismembering people and then hiding away in here?” you scoff. “You make it sound so easy.”

“I only kill when I have one day left. I’m not going to be greedy about it, Y/N,” he tells you. “How much do you have?”

Without giving a verbal answer, you show him the fourteen on your wrist. You can see him swallow dryly when he sees it, his body language becoming more distant.

“I did think about killing you, too. But seeing as you’ve got my gun…” you hum. “I guess I won’t.”

“Well thanks for that,” he gulps. “I hope you don’t change your mind.”

“My friends are waiting for me up on the surface. Is this a hostage situation or…”

“No!” he shouts, banging his wrists on the countertop below him. Just then, the pot of rice begins to bubble over and he faces away from you to turn down the intensity.

“No,” he then whispers softly, still facing away from you. “We can’t leave yet. Not until I have one day left. It’s not safe up there! I- I just killed someone!”

Shit, you think to yourself. This guy is similar to Chifuyu in the way he’s lonely as hell. He’s definitely been by himself from the beginning and it’s really gotten to his head. Perhaps you can keep him happy by staying for the rest of the day and sneaking out while he’s asleep at night. You’ll just have to convince him to keep his guard down.

After you agree to Mitsuya’s terms, the two of you sit down to eat the simple meal he has prepared for you.

“So what did you do before all of this?” you ask him once you finish your food. “I mean like for work or something.”

“I was a photographer,” he answers as he stands up from the table.

You watch closely as he walks over to the desk in the corner of the room. He then returns with an old-fashioned camera in his hands.

Mitsuya sits beside you and starts to show you different pictures that he had taken before the world turned upside down. There are so many different pictures of people doing ordinary things you never even thought twice about before.

After a while, the photos suddenly switch into a world that matches what you’ve grown used to seeing. Empty, overgrown roads. Abandoned houses, buildings, and cars. It makes your heart sink just seeing that.

“You’re really good, you know,” you smile softly over at him, just waiting for the pictures to stop. They’re quickly becoming more than you can bear.

“Can I take a picture of you?” he then questions. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there’s no people in the pictures from after the world fell apart. I know it’s kind of a weird request but-“

“Yeah,” you shake your head. “Sure, why not.”

Mitsuya smiles softly as he nods his head. You watch as he then lifts the camera up to his eye. You don’t move, not a smile or a fix of your hair like you might’ve if this was a ‘normal’ situation. But fixing your appearance hardly seems necessary anymore.

When Mitsuya presses one of the buttons on top, there’s a bright flashing light that makes your eyes water.

“Good one,” he gasps as he looks to view the image on the small screen. “What do you think?”

“Yeah, looks good,” you nod, wondering how long you’ve had dirt all over your face and huge bags under your eyes.

“Care to tell me a bit about the girl in the picture?” he then asks you.

“I don’t know where to start,” you shrug.

“Tell me what she’s thinking. What she thought while I took the picture,” he answers.

“I was wondering why I didn’t shoot you the second I saw you outside the pharmacy. It would have been so easy to just shoot,” you admit.

“Do you find it easy killing people?” he hums.

“It’s getting easier…”

“And that scares you. Why do you do it then? Attention?” he continues to question you as he puts the camera down.

“Attention from who?” you scoff. “Both of my parents are dead. They have been.”

“Killed?” he asks.

“A long time ago,” you nod.

“So it’s anger then.”

You shrug, unable to think of a good response to his spot-on assumption.

“You shouldn’t let it get to you, Y/N. That’s going to be your downfall.”

“Probably,” you nod. “But thanks for the advice.”

Later that night, Mitsuya sets up a cot for you fully equipped with a blanket and a pillow. He then lays down nearby on his small couch and covers himself from head to toe with his blanket as if he’s hiding even deeper down his hole.

You wait quite a while before silently sitting up and sneaking out of the cot. You look around for your gun and, unfortunately, find it just below where Mitsuya is sleeping.

With a deep breath, you creep closer to him and reach down to grab it. However, just before your fingers are able to graze the top of it, Mitsuya’s arm slips out of nowhere and grabs onto yours.

“You’re not leaving,” he says darkly.

“I’m not going to be your fucking prisoner,” you scoff, pulling your arm out of his grip. You then grab your shotgun and hit him in the head with the handle.

Before leaving, you steal some of the food from Mitsuya’s pantry. Then, you pull down the ladder to the ceiling door.

One step after another you creep out. But just as you get to the top, you hear movement from below.

Without looking back, you run as far away from the house as you can. Though, as you’re running down the street, you can hear footsteps approaching from behind.

“Fuck off!” you shout as you grow closer to the airport. “My friends will fucking kill you the second they see you, asshole!”

Mitsuya keeps up the chase even as you rush into the airport. Thankfully, you end up bumping right into another person. Unfortunately, it isn’t Chifuyu or Hinata.

“Akkun,” you huff, trying to catch your breath. “Please, you gotta help me. This guy…”

Akkun watches you with interest before he sees your pursuer. Yet instead of killing him on site, he walks right up to Mitsuya and hugs him.

“Seriously?” you groan. “What the fuck?”

“I didn’t know you were still alive,” Akkun says as he pats Mitsuya’s back.

“How do you know each other?” you ask, still out of breath from all of that running.

“Atsushi was my counselor back before everything happened,” Mitsuya grins.

“Counselor?”

“Yeah, and he was mine, too,” Chifuyu chimes in, showing up out of the darkness of the long hallway. “So I can vouch for that most likely being true.”

“What kind of counselor?” you question Chifuyu.

“Mental health counselor,” Akkun intervenes. “C’mon, Mitsuya. Come in.”

Mental health counselor? What did Chifuyu need counseling for?

Wasteland Masterlist

[wanderingxrivers]

May Poetry Journal Part 2

05/16/2024 I am an idiot, at least that's how I look too loud, too many questions humiliated in front of everyone they say they like my questions but do they really?

Swelling, swollen don't swell shut, can't afford it Maybe I can work with one eye

05/17/2024 there's a blanket thrown over the world tucking in spring flowers for their rest ere summer comes with storms and days and days of no rain no respite from the scrutiny of the summer sun

I feel untethered floating along, a kite with no string a balloon released from a child's fist breezes blowing me to and fro I crave the earth and its solidity encase me in roots tangled in soil deep and warm

a wreath of green embraces my wrist gifted by my dearest child love strung with each bead i am full to bursting

I'm six again--screaming it's not fair! it's not fair! my hands are tied it's beyond my control the destination we all reach and it's still not fair

I feel alone face around me, words on a screen, and yet i move in the world, no one truly by my side.

05/19/2024 He's slipping away body keeping on for a brain gone dark and every breath I take it feels wrong its a crime that I am here and he is not fucking cancer

05/20/2024 There is a hole in the world shaped like him and the world turns anyway because there is no stopping sunrises, sunsets tides rush in and rush out time moves even as I cannot

05/21/2024 The lights are off chairs on tables, floor swept another life at its end Stories untold--lives lived only in dreams someone say "sike"

05/22/2024 All I feel is too big too much too exhausting so in the box it goes because the alternative is too painful

Sands shift under my feet I'm trying to find an even keel Nothing feels solid (I wish it had been me)

05/23/2024 5 AM, 5:25, 6:30 all sounding off, ticking off the steps until 8 AM - fetch him to wakefulness 9:45 we begin to bury our shit 10 AM - clamp down hard emotions in check, let nothing leak out we keep control 6:30 PM, the chains fall off Demons of the day unleashed and I am exhausted I sleep and again, 5 AM, 5:25, 6:30

05/25/2024 overexposed, - a live wire all I want is to be liked

05/28/2024 over and over work, cook, work and cook one unending cycle of tasks I resent it I resent my place stuck in time, an unending loop

05/29/2024 mask on mask atop yet more masks no one can see the broken bits Gotta be a person Gotta be presentable and personable

I want to talk to bridge this chasm to come closer like what we once were but I also know the reactions the anger and the coldness that will follow so I stay silent masks upon masks

In a pair, we are alone I am me and he is he we are not us there is no united front only two and not one we dance off rhythm stepping on toes stumbling over steps we should know choreo forgotten and lost I miss us.

05/30/2024 There's silence in different weights different voices gone times and places heavy, pulling shoulders down into the earth light, easy to bear others still of various discomforts little digs under my armor voices that will not follow the path the map is clear, and yet they veer off it let me take control please

I feel too much stretched too thin hormones and emotions running high why can I not fill my pockets with stones, with weights, with something to bring myself back to earth?

shattered pieces of me scatter like glass beads across the floor

05/31/2024 everything is everything and nothing

Again and again, rhythm, rhyme, wake up and go to work and cook the meals and go to sleep in one continuous rut until the end of time

flavor of the day: everything is fucked

[whatlovelybones-if]

It would be too much to ask for you to share again the scenarios of when mc and J met or when mc defended him from the bully?

J can feel their skull rattle with the amount of force with which the kick was aimed at their head. They grit their teeth, trying to tough it out. They will turn out fine, of course, after all this was a usual occurrence for them.

“God, you're so creepy,” their assaulter grimaces but keeps a smirk on. “Where did all your earlier bravado go, huh?”

The playground was filled with Joey and his friends, no teacher in sight at all. Although J doubts that a teacher would have cared either way. Just how many times did they go for help and complained about all the bullying, just to get themself thrown aside and their pain waved away.

Adults could not be trusted to keep them safe. So they learned to grit their teeth and bear it all. The mockery. The bullying. The punches and kicks.

J knew they didn't fit in with the other kids. Their interests were very different and it was hard for them to find a crowd with whom they could share their interests and hobbies with. For now, they were labelled the ‘class freak’ with their dark clothes and moody attitude.

“Go fuck yourself, all of you.” J glares at them, nose bloody and bruised. The kids around him bristle, not appreciating the curse word that this eleven-year-old threw out with no care in the world.

“What did you just say to us, you creep?” Joey glares back at them. “All those beatings didn't knock any sense into you at all?”

“I have an idea,” a girl pipes up from the crowd of his friends, holding a lighter in her hands. “Let's burn off that spiked tongue they have there.”

“Are you out of your mind, Liz?” Another girl asks, eyes wide in horror at the suggestion. “Haven't we done enough?”

“Shut up, Martha,” Joey rolls his eyes at the bespectacled girl, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “I, for one, think it's a brilliant idea.”

Liz sports a grin matching his as she hands him the lighter. His friends look at each other in slight fear.

“Joey, I don't think we sh–”

“Shut up! I'm gonna make this freak show think twice before ever spitting words like that at us again!”

Joey seemed almost hysterical as he said it and J struggled to get themself far away but the kick from earlier had made them extremely disoriented.

“Stop, no! Get away from me!” J tries to crawl away despite the headache and dizziness, only to have their head forced to face Joey as he tries to pry their mouth open.

“Say ‘ahh’, creep,” he rejoices in the black-eyed kid's struggle and it seemed like he had almost succeeded before a hand rests on the nape of his neck. He is then roughly pulled back, the air getting knocked out of his lungs as he lands on his back.

J coughs out a little, propping themself up and wiping their bloody nose as they try to get a good look at the person who had pulled Joey off them. Your back was turned towards them and you were leaning towards the fallen boy. J didn't know what exactly was happening but seeing the terrified looks Joey and his friends were sending towards the unknown kid meant that this encounter was proving nasty for them.

“Didn't your mother teach you about playing nice?” J heard you say. It was the kind of voice that soothed them almost instantly, pleasant and melodic.

The shudder that ran through Joey spoke of a different perspective however. He sees a cold emptiness in your eyes that has him travelling to the depths of his worst nightmares. The chilling smile you were sending him wasn't supposed to be directed by any person, let alone a child.

“No answer?” You tilt your head and stare at him with so much intent that he feels like he might go mad if this goes on any further.

“Where did all your earlier bravado go?” You mock him with his words, their smile only getting more unsettling with time.

“We'll leave,” Martha says, the only one brave enough to come close to you two. You turn your gaze on her and she immediately regrets this decision however. Yet, she tries to steel her resolve and speak further. “I swear, Joey wouldn't do anything like this again.”

Well, to be more specific, she'll try her best to not let him do anything like this again. But Martha had a gut feeling that talking to you was like playing with fire: one wrong word and you will burn Joey, her and everyone else around you.

“You heard that, Joey?” You grin at the trembling boy on the ground. “She swears you wouldn't do something like this again.”

He nods vigorously, eager to just get out of your presence and collect whatever dignity he has remaining. Just as he starts to smile when you take a step back, your foot swiftly aims towards his mouth.

Joey screams in pain as he feels a couple of his teeth getting either chipped or knocked out. Blood gushes from his mouth like a gory faucet and Martha covers her mouth in terror while Liz tries to hide herself further into the crowd.

“Just a little reminder of that promise,” you say with a giddy voice. “You shouldn't be playing rough on the playground, you know.”

Even with the stinging pain that spread through his whole mouth, Joey heard the hidden warning in your voice: ‘Say this was the result of your own actions, or else...’

J was silent as they saw the ghastly scene unfold in front of them. A day at the playground taking a turn for the worse. But, surprisingly, all they cared about was how good it felt to see him being taught a lesson.

‘Good riddance,’ they thought as Martha tries her best to drag Joey away from you, afraid that you'll decide to do something worse than kicking his teeth in.

“Can you get up now?” J blinks looking up to see the face of the person who just made a grisly mess of their classmate. Their breath catches in their throat when their eyes meet yours.

The breeze waves your hair around in the air softly and it feels like you were both in a cheesy movie scene. Your eyes were bright and tinted with a sort of kindness that wasn't what they expected from you. However, there was something more hidden in their depths that J couldn't exactly put their finger on. But the niggling confusion in their head gave way to an emotion that doubled down on their heart at the sight of your beautiful smile.

Their inky gaze is fixed on you, their heart singing a song that has them soaring like a bird in the sky. Just like that, they fell in love, hard. J fell for you with the intensity of a thousand ocean waves. And since then, the only constant star, the only thing that will ever truly matter to them, has been you.

[stranger-marauders]

fractured

fourteen: playing hero

chapter summary: Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Max try to entrap Dart, only to find that he brings friends with him. Kate and her father find their plan goes horribly wrong.

chapter warnings: language, canon-typical violence

word count: 2.6k

series masterlist | masterlist

AFTER STEVE, DUSTIN, Lucas, and Max had prepared for the night ahead, they sat on the bus that had been left in the junkyard, waiting for something to happen.

Steve, to pass the time, clicked his lighter on and off, flipping it in his hand as they sat in the dark.

He thought about Kate again. Even though it would’ve been helpful to have another close-to-adult person helping with the situation (or anyone that wasn’t a middle schooler, really), he was glad she wasn’t here. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt or something because of these things, the “baby Demogorgons,” or whatever Dustin had called them earlier. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

Steve wished he would’ve told her sooner about his feelings, especially now more than ever. Maybe he should’ve done it whenever they were at the diner when they were filling each other in on their lives, maybe whenever they were at Melvald’s. Maybe he should’ve done it whenever he’d thrown her into the pool and she had called him an asshole and told him that she hated him (lovingly, of course), maybe during a Miami Vice commercial break. He replayed what he wanted to say to her over and over again in his head, not wanting to screw it up. He didn’t want to be too formal, partially because he thought she would laugh at him, but he didn’t think she would like it either if he just said, “Hey, Kathy, by the way, I’ve been in love with you since before I can remember,” because he didn’t want her to think that he was insane. Besides, it was Kate. He had to make it perfect for her. She had such a way with words that he didn’t, and he didn’t want to come across as ingenuine or stupid. He couldn’t screw things up again, not when he had a good chance of losing her for good this time if he did.

He couldn’t stand the thought of living his life without her again. Especially in the year that they’d been apart, Steve had struggled to look to the future. More importantly, he struggled to see it without her in it somehow. He felt stupid whenever he thought about what he actually wanted. The older he got, the more clearly he could envision what he wanted in the future. As of right now, he wanted kids. No specific number, but he wanted more than one, just because being an only child wasn’t any fun for him whenever he was growing up, especially living in that big house all alone. He knew he wanted to travel, partially because he hadn’t traveled much other than to Disney World once and some of the highlights of the Midwest—all of the traveling as a family stopped after his father cheated on his mother, and the only traveling that was done at all now was for business or for his grandmother that lived in Fort Wayne. While the number of kids changed, the places he wanted to go changed, the ideal job changed, the girl was always the same. Steve knew more than anything that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kate Hopper, and that was that. He knew it probably sounded stupid, cliché even, but she’d almost been there for his whole life already—why not spend the rest of it with her, too?

He just had to hope that Kate felt a fraction of the same way about him.

Steve had finally been introduced to the “random girl” that Lucas had brought with him, Max Mayfield. She now sat across from him on the bus, almost looking at him in anticipation. “So, you really fought one of these things before?”

He looked up, nodding to her. He didn’t think he would ever forget that night at Jonathan’s house.

“And you’re like, totally, one hundred percent sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Shit, don’t be an idiot. Okay? It wasn’t a bear,” Dustin said. “Why are you even here if you don’t believe us?” Max stared at Dustin in shock as he continued. “Just go home.”

She stood to climb to the top of the bus, using the ladder that sat just below the emergency exit window that they’d popped open. “Geesh. Someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime?”

Steve watched as she disappeared up the ladder as Dustin continued to pace. “That’s good. Just show her you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

Steve winked at him.

“Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

Without another word, Steve started to play with his lighter again.

“You know, if we die out here, it’s gonna be your fault.”

“No one’s gonna die, okay?” Steve said. “I have shit I have to do before I die.”

“Oh yeah, like what? Literally, what could be more important than this?”

He rolled his eyes, trying not to show how desperate he was. He wasn’t going to lose his cool in front of a thirteen-year-old kid about Kate, especially not when he had already done it that day. “It doesn’t matter.”

Dustin scoffed. “You’re worried about that right now? Seriously?”

“I mean—”

“I’m sure she’d think you’re really cool for this, Steve, okay? She’ll probably be drooling over you once she hears about this shit.”

Before he could reply, they heard a screech from outside the bus.

Dart was here.

Dustin and Steve looked from out their makeshift window from inside the bus. “You see him?”

“No,” Steve answered.

“Lucas, what’s going on?” Dustin called to the top of the bus.

“Hold on!” Lucas replied. After a moment, he replied, “I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock! Ten… Ten o’clock!”

“There,” Steve said softly, pointing to the creature.

“What’s he doing?”

“I don’t know,” Steve replied. “He’s not taking the bait. Why’s he not taking the bait?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry?” Dustin suggested.

That’s when an idea struck him. “Maybe he’s sick of cow.”

Without another word, he moved away from the window, Dustin turning to him. The older boy looked at him, and Dustin started to panic. “Steve? Steve, what are you doing?” As if he needed to ask.

When Steve walked toward the opposite end of the bus, he ignored Dustin’s question and picked up his nailed bat. “If I die, tell Kate I love her for me, okay?” He hadn’t realized it, but that was the first time he’d ever said it out loud—he hadn’t realized how amazing it felt to say it, either. Before Dustin could reply, he threw the lighter at Dustin. “Just get ready.” Without another word, Steve left the bus, bat in hand.

He slowly moved away from the bus, looking for the creature. He whistled for it, calling it like it was a dog. “Come on, buddy.” He swung the bat around, whistling for it again.

The other three kids, meanwhile, were in a total panic on the bus.

“What is he doing?”

“He’s gonna die before he tells Kate he loves her.” When Lucas and Max turned to Dustin with unreadable expressions, he shrugged. “What? Like it’s not obvious.”

Outside the bus, Steve still searched for Dart, still whistling as he took shaky steps. He thought he was going to throw up.

“Come on, buddy,” he said, almost shaking as he flipped the bat around. “Come on, buddy. Come on. Dinner time. Human tastes better than cat, I promise.”

That was when he saw it, the monster lying in wait in the fog. The creature in question almost appeared to be a big, slimy dog, but with the signature tulip-shaped head of a Demogorgon.

Before he could act on the creature’s appearance, Lucas from the bus shouted, “Steve, watch out!”

“A little busy here!” he shouted back, not taking his eyes off the creature in front of him. He was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to break eye contact with a murderous animal to assert dominance, but the problem with this creature was that it didn’t have eyes.

“Three o’clock! Three o’clock!”

Whenever Steve turned around, a pit grew in his stomach—he was completely outnumbered. The Demogorgon-like creatures had already surrounded him on all fronts.

Dustin opened the door to the bus and shouted, “Steve! Abort! Abort!”

Before Steve could even begin to react, Dart began to head for attack, the others following in his place. Steve was about to get torn apart by these things.

Steve rolled onto the car next to him, throwing one of them through the windshield. He turned, smacking another one in the face with the nailed bat. Even though he heard the three kids from the bus shouting for him to come back right now, he knew he needed to at least try to stall, distract the creatures that were currently attacking him—he knew he wouldn’t make it back to the bus if he just ran for it.

Whenever he finally did run back to the bus, he ran as fast as he could, not daring to look back behind him. Steve barely made it through the doors as he fell into the three kids, Dustin shouting “Shit!” as the door closed.

“Are they rabid or something!” Max shouted.

Steve pushed a sheet of metal against the door, trying to ensure that they couldn’t get inside the bus with them.

“They can’t get in! They can’t!” Lucas shouted.

Steve pushed his feet against the door, his body stretching across the width of the bus. They all screamed as they watched one of the creature’s claws go through the metal, just about breaking through the metal sheet.

The three kids huddled in the back of the bus as Steve beat the ever-loving hell out of one of the creatures that had broken through, the beast screeching in response.

Dustin talked over his radio again, trying to get in contact with someone, anyone. “Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God? Anyone!”

Another Demogorgon-like creature started to attack them from the back of the bus as Dustin continued, “We’re at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!”

When Steve finally stopped the creature in the front of the bus from attacking them, he stood up as loud banging sounded from the top of the bus. Max watched as one of the creatures peered over from the open emergency exit door of the bus and roared in her face, its tulip-shaped head opening to reveal rows and rows of teeth. Max screamed in fear as she realized that Lucas, Steve, or Dustin hadn’t been lying about anything they’d told her, after all.

“Out of the way! Out of the way! You want some? Come get this!”

Before Steve could attempt to smack it with his bat, the creature looked at something outside of the bus, running away. Steve still stood defensively in front of the kids, not wanting to let his guard down.

Steve was the first one off the bus, leading them out with his bat in hand.

As Lucas stepped out, he asked, “What… happened?”

“I don’t know,” Max responded.

“Steve scared ‘em off?”

“No. No way,” Steve replied firmly, swinging the bat over his shoulder. “They’re going somewhere.”

He had no idea where they could possibly be going—he had no idea they were going to the lab, and more importantly, to Kate.

Standing in the control room and waiting for the soldiers to arrive at whatever spot Will had mentioned was almost agonizing for Kate.

She couldn’t quite explain it, but she had a creeping feeling in her gut that something wasn’t quite right about the situation that they’d put themselves in. She felt like it was too easy, getting those soldiers in there. Since their voyage began, they hadn’t run into any issues as they navigated the tunnels, nothing that she would have expected to happen. Kate didn’t think that a journey without issue was a good sign, especially not when her father had almost died whenever he’d gone down into those tunnels.

It all seemed too easy, and because of that, Kate was not only immensely bothered but anxious about what was to come as she played with the blue hair tie around her wrist.

“Almost there, ladies,” one of the men in front of the main monitor said, helping navigate the soldiers currently in the tunnels.

“Roger,” one of the soldiers responded over the radio.

Hopper and Kate inched closer as they watched the monitor with anticipation. While Kate hadn’t asked her father his opinion on it, she could somehow tell that he shared similar thoughts to her: this was too easy.

“Wait. That’s where I was,” Hopper said, stepping closer to watch the screen that displayed what the soldiers were seeing. Somehow Hawkins Laboratory had made body cameras that still worked all the way in the Upside Down and the tunnels, and Hopper seemed bothered by where the soldiers were displayed to be currently.

“What?”

“It’s that damn graveyard,” he explained.

“Sir, there’s nothing here,” one of the soldiers said over the intercom.

“Looks like your kid’s full of shit, Doc,” the man sitting in front of the monitor said.

Before he, or anyone else, could reply, low growling sounded over the intercom.

“That sound,” Kate said, shaking her head as her eyebrows furrowed together. “That sounds just like…” She had no idea that the sounds reminded her of the Demogorgon she’d encountered the year before. “I–I don’t know, I can’t place it.”

“Got some kind of fog moving in now,” a soldier in the tunnels replied.

“We’ve got movement,” a woman said that stood in front of the radar.

“You’ve got company, fellas,” the man said to the soldiers, alerting them of any possible issue.

Before anything else could happen, Kate suddenly heard shouting from outside the room and in the hallway, jerking her head in the direction of the sealed vault door. The only word she could make out came from Mike’s own voice: “trap.”

“Shit,” Kate whispered. Her heart dropped down to her stomach when everything finally clicked into place for her.

Will had set them up to die.

Even if Kate had figured out what had happened, it was far too late to do anything about it now. The only sounds that came from the intercom were gunfire and screaming, and the monitor quickly turned to static as the yellow dots on the monitor slowly died off, only red ones remaining. All of the soldiers had died, and now something else was being picked up by the monitor instead.

“It’s a trap,” Kate said, gaining her father’s attention.

“What?”

“It’s a trap,” she repeated urgently. “Will, he—”

Kate cut herself off whenever some low growling came from outside of the glass separating the monitor room from the gate, the same growling that had been on the intercom. Her eyes went wide as she exchanged glances with her father, making them both move over quickly to the glass. They pressed up against it, looking to the room that contained the gateway to the Upside Down.

They both watched in horror as a Demogorgon-like creature came out of the abyss.

next chapter

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[buckybarnesdiaries]

fallin' all in you

bucky barnes x reader. ⎢ masterlist.

Bucky takes care of you after a hella day.

word count: 1.216.

warnings/tags: none. bucky being the best man on earth.

author notes: as i said so, i didn't plan to post anything today but this is a product of my mix of feelings because of my period and the first time (of many) watching monday. i'm drunk too and i haven't re-edited it, so enjoy my little fluffy shit. i love you all. none of my stories contain reader’s body descriptions to be inclusive.

join the tag list here.

It had been a hell of a day in the hospital, running from one side to another and attending a difficult surgery. As soon as you closed the door of your apartment behind your back, you took off your shoes and left them thrown along the hallway, leaving a path of clothes to the kitchen too. Conscious that Bucky would complain about the little mess you had done, you really didn't care about it. He knew you'd have a stressful and long shift. Grabbing a bottle of wine from your personal reserve, you opened it up before continuing your way to the bathroom.

The first sip came while waiting for the tub to be filled with warm, warm water, using one of those bath bombs your sister gave you with a floral smell and rose petal inside it. For a second, your mind blanked, keeping your eyes on the dense bubbles eroding in the middle of the crystal water until turning it completely white. Once it was ready, you didn't lose time on sinking your body to your neck, resting your back against the huge tub, closing your eyes while taking another gulp from the bottle.

The house was silent like a cemetery, just what you needed. Peace, calm, no noise. A minute to relax, feeling the pleasant temperature slackening the contracted muscles in your legs and arms. You rested your drink on the floor, next to the bathmat, to dip your hands and place them on your relaxed thighs.

You weren't sure if you were just too submerged in the nothingness of your mind for too long, after making your brain overwork during the day, or if you really fell asleep in the tub when you heard the front door being closed —but the fact was that the water was a little cold. Tilting your head to the hallway, you just waited with pouty lips and puppy eyes for Bucky to show up. And he did. He did show up with the same gesture on your face, causing in you an exhausted half-smile as he rested his shoulder against the wooden frame, crossed arms.

“Y'know? When I've come and seen all your clothes spread on the floor, I thought you were cheating on me”.

“Yeah, could be an option…”

“But then I thought… what a drag, right…? Fight, packing, move”. Bucky kissed his teeth while squeezing his bottom lip funnily.

“Uh—huh, don't have the energy to breathe, imagine having to bear with you… such a pain in the ass”. You joked, sitting up a little enough to rest your arms on the edge of the tub and your right cheek on them.

“Long day?”

He didn't need to ask and you didn't need to reply using words, the tiredness taking control over your face and body spoke by itself. Bucky removed his jacket to hang it on the doorknob and rolled up the sleeves of his t-shirt to kneel close to you. Beckoning his left forefinger to urge you to turn around inside the bathtub, you gave him your back, curling up your knees to your chest not knowing what he was going to do. But watching his flesh hand borrowing your shampoo, gave you a clue. His iron digits offered you the bottle of wine before taking care of his new mission.

Kissing the back of your head, Bucky focused on rub hand against hand to place them on your hair. His fingertips massaged slowly your scalp, starting by the roots and making some gentle pressure on your temples. It was like a dream, everything you needed at that moment —and everything you deserved. Your boyfriend was such a loving man whenever you needed him to, without asking him to pamper you, Bucky knew exactly at any second what to do to make you feel good, to feel better after a long, tedious day in the hospital.

He washed your hair without any rush, enjoying the intimacy between both inside the bathroom. And you could swear that you were about to fall asleep when he took the wine from you to take a sip and leave it close to the sink, on the floor. Grabbing the showerhead, as he took off the stopper, Bucky checked that the water had a proper temperature on his forearm. Not too hot, not too cold. Rinsing your hair with all the care and tenderness in the world, he helped you to finish your relaxation routine.

“You're a blessing”.

Your boyfriend chuckled because of the delighted purr you let out on his neck, whilst wrapping you in a cozy towel, carrying you onto his arms to your shared bed. Bucky left a kiss on your forehead, disappearing afterward to find one of his shirts to put you on.

“D'your hands hurt?” He asked then, staring at you drying your skin before wearing the piece of clothing he was offering you.

“They're good for now”.

“You sure?” You just nodded as he held them onto his palms to bring them to his lips and kiss them both. “What else can I do for you, darling?”

“Cuddle me?”

You couldn't help but pout again at him. Bucky leaned forward, pressing his lips on yours so loving that the gesture almost dizzy you. Licking his bottom one, almost brushing yours, he nodded one time.

“Lemme take my clothes off”.

You did, tucking in your side of the bed and waiting for him not more than a minute. Your boyfriend locked the front door and turned the lights off before meeting you. A sigh of relief escaped your lips as soon as his strong, toned arms wrapped around you, sticking his bare chest to your back. Bucky intertwined your legs and fingers together, spreading a bunch of tender kisses on the back of your neck.

“What I'd do without you?” You whispered holding back a yawn, feeling warmer by his body and caresses under the clean sheets.

“Wash your hair by yourself”. He chuckled, causing you to turn under his firm grip with a smirk showing up on your mouth.

“And also find my own clothes after the shower”.

“That's obvious”. Your boyfriend replied with a feigned deep tone of voice, stroking your cheek gently using his thumb. “Want to talk 'bout it?”

“About finding my own clothes?”

“Nah, 'bout washing your hair by yourself”.

You both laughed lively, still feeling like you were about to pass out at any moment, shaking your head. You couldn't help but sink your face into the crook of his neck, taking a deep breath of his strong scent under his jawline.

“Sleep now, doll… I take care of you”. Bucky murmured tightly embracing you.

His fingertips roaming your back —as if it was the first time he touched you, with so much delicacy and adoration— caused you to fall asleep in the blink of an eye. Bucky wasn't tired, actually, but watching you sleep peacefully under his caresses and soft kisses was his favorite thing in the world. He used to fall in love with you once and again every single day, but the trust you used to put on him every night when the noise and all the chaos were shut off (...), that made him feel sure that there wasn't a life for him without you.

feedback is appreciated, please, leave a comment to let me know if you liked it.

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[amorgansgal]

Of Wailing Winds, And Naked Woods

Arthur has found a place to rest away from the difficulties of the world and the misery the gang is facing, but he finds his sleep is disturbed by an old friend.

Warnings: Depiction of illness (TB)

‘Hey. Hey! Pssst. Wake up!’

Arthur mumbles in his sleep and pushes the finger that is poking his cheek away. He rolls over onto his side and tries his best to fall back to sleep again, the welcoming lure of a deep, dreamless sleep is one way he can escape from everything that happens in his waking life.

‘Hey, don’t ignore me. Wake up!’ the woman’s voice whispers.

It takes him a moment to realise that this is strange. He is camping out in the forest, near Owanjila lake. There shouldn’t be anyone here to wake him. Tilly and Hosea aren’t here to wake him up with coffee, nor is the piercing yell of Grimshaw knocking pans over his head or Dutch yelling his name from across camp. If there is someone here, then perhaps he should be in for a ruder awakening. O’Driscolls shooting shit up and trying to rob him or a bear ripping through the canvas material! Not the soft, light teasing tone of a woman.

He cautiously peeps open his eyes, before rolling over onto his back. He is greeted by the dark grey material of his canvas tent and the only sounds he can hear is the heavy drip, drip, drip of fat rain drops hitting the tent from tree branches overhead. He can hear the rumble of the storm rolling over the hills and mountains, disappearing into the west.

Arthur sits up. He doesn’t feel tired anymore. He stretches and finds that the usual joints that would click and cry out in pain, are no longer hurting him. He inhales deeply and finds the air doesn’t irritate his lungs. He stops. Unable to believe it. Maybe its gone. Maybe the illness that has sent burning needles through his lungs, made his throat raw and made his mouth taste like nothing but blood has been cured. He cautiously coughs and isn’t overwhelmed by the furious, burning desire to cough and cough and cough until there is nothing left.

‘Psst!’

He jumps at the sound and stares at the tent flaps. A woman’s giggle echoes through the woods and a shiver runs down Arthur’s spine, as he hears nails run down the material. He swallows harshly and picks up his revolver.

‘Who’s there?’ he barks.

The tent flap shifts aside and Jenny pokes her head into the tent. Mousy brown hair, grey eyes and that irrepressible grin she always wore slides into view. ‘Me, silly. Why are you so grumpy?’

‘I’m always grumpy!’ he mutters. He frowns at her. How did she get here? He rode out alone. He camped alone. The gang are miles away. ‘What are you doing here?’

She frowns slightly as though the question has thrown her off. ‘I… I don’t know. Same as you, I suppose.’

‘Wha’s that suppose to mean? Same as me? You ain’t supposed to be here, you should be in camp, you’re meant to be-’ and the words get caught in his throat. Jenny is dead. Shot dead months ago. A bullet to her stomach. Making her cry and whimper at every jolt in the road while she was in the wagon, even though she was still trying to make jokes and laugh and pretend everything was fine.

‘Where am I meant to be? I think I’m where I’m meant to be. I think most of us are here though,’ she says.

‘What?’

Jenny gives him a teasing smile and then turns her head, as though calling to someone just outside the tent. ‘Hey, c’mere!’

‘Jenny?’ he asks partially confused and partially wary. How is this happening? Who is she speaking to? Where the hell are they? How can Jenny, flesh and blood, rosy cheeks, breathing and alive Jenny, be here? Talking to him, watching him, laughing at him?

Then right by his ear, he hears a small voice whisper as though confused and scared, ‘Papa?’

~~~

He jolts awake, the fierce, painful cough ripping open his throat, making him gasp for air and tears blind him as his body is wracked with coughs. The iron tang of blood seeps onto his tongue and he manages to sit up. He grabs his canteen and swallows the stale water therein. A few gasping breaths and he’s gained some semblance of control, though his body is still fighting him, still failing him.

He wipes a rough hand over his mouth and finds himself blinded by sunlight. He looks up at the opened tent flaps, the world beyond looks like a beautiful painting, the sway of emerald green trees, the grass moving like an ocean of soft greens and purple flowers, the bright bolt of blue sky, it all promises so much for those who get to live in it. He ignores the certainty that he closed the tent flaps last night and busies himself with packing away the camp, so he doesn’t remember hearing his son’s voice so close to him. Only fools believe in anything like that.

[captain-kinda-trash]

Hi! I wanted to request some headcannons for rottmnt boys with a reader who gives great hugs and gets a plush hoodie this winter, so hugging them feels like hugging a teddy bear now

Of course!! Thank you so much for the request!!

Teddy Bear (ROTTMNT Headcanons)

This was what I had in mind while writing 🤔🤔⬇

Leo

Let's just be clear about one thing

Leo LOVES your hugs

CANNOT get enough of them

Long night of fighting for justice? Huggies

Gets into an argument with Donnie? More huggies

Hell, even walking past you in the lair, he'll do little grabby hands and act like a whiny baby until he gets his daily hugs 🙄 😩

But then you get a super soft, super fluffy, super warm sweatshirt?

Dead

He's dead

You're basically like a human heater for this cold-blooded blue boy

Since you've gotten it, you can hardly stop wearing it, because it's the most comfortable thing ever-

And Leo has gotten even more excuses to hug you

"Leo, im cooking!"

"bUT YOUR SOO COMFFYYY 🥴"

Will, without a doubt ask you to carry his lazy ass, just because he wants to snuggle into your sweatshirt

And don't even get me STARTED on movie nights with him

Because what begins as a cold-blooded turtle hanging onto your arm like a baby koala

Ends up being Leo curled up in your lap or somehow wrapped around you with this hot sweater

So while he's practically purring with comfort, you are sweating like a dog

Not to mention, this bitch is just heavy

like 200+ pounds of straight muscle, so I hope you don't have to use the restroom any time soon because it's going to take a while to pry this big baby off of you

I'd also like to mention, that you don't need to tell him not to steal your hoodie

because he’s gonna do it anyways 😎💙

You discovered this one day, when you slipped the article off to bake with Mikey

After a nice batch of cookies was made, your jacket was gone and you began parading around the lair to find it 

Only to see Leo, snuggled in his bed and playing on his phone, with your hoodie practically swallowing him whole

If he hadn’t looked so comfortable, you would have been angrier, and just settled for scolding him playfully for stealing it

it was hell trying to pry it off of him,  though...

This turtle knows how to wrestle and he will not hesitate to kick your ass over this fluffy sweatshirt 😤

These two things (hugs and your hoodie) combined just make Leo melt into a puddle, and he couldn’t be happier to have all of your teddy bear hugs :>

Mikey

um, have you met this turtle?

KING of hugs

It’s so great how both of you share the same energy

Though he’s more cold-blooded, like Donnie, he needs all of the hugs

It’s just your thing

With Raph, you have fist bumps, Leo, you’ve got a cool handshake, Donnie is more for high-fives 

And for Mikey, it’s hugs 

He practically tackles you to the ground in tight hugs whenever you get home from school/work and come to the lair, like a happy little puppy

Speaking of puppies…

That’s what he says your hoodie feels like whenever it first arrives in the mail.

Immediately, you throw it on, and Mikey is all over it, petting the soft fabric and squealing in excitement 

Can he please wear it?? 🥺

Little Mikey didn’t even have to ask before you shed the hoodie and let him try it on

And OH

MY

FLUFFY...

The amount of cuteness that this turtle radiates when he’s smiling like an idiot and flapping the oversized arms around is just-

He vows to get his own since it’s so warm and comfortable

But he’s very respectful and gives it back to you

Only to attack you in another hug and lift you off of the ground because you look so adorable

“You’re like a little teddy bear!” *excited squeal!*

Mikey 100% respects your space so if you’re ever snuggling, he’s instantly aware of your getting sweaty or uncomfortable and will let up or loosen his arms

Winter days?

Snuggles all day and night

when Mikey (politely) asks to wear your jacket, he’ll throw it on and give you piggyback rides around the lair, because we love fun

And for Christmas, you get him his own, and he’s IN LOVE 

Sweater buddies 

He gets one in his favorite color and little ears on the hood and once a week, when they need to be thrown in the washer, you’ll keep him warm while he waits.

(Leo gets jealous of all the attention you’re giving Mikey >:o)

Donnie

we all know that Don isn’t the biggest on physical affection

If he wants a hug, usually he’d be the one to initiate, which is totally cool, since usually he’s forced into a hug by his brothers (secretly loves it tho)

He does enjoy your hugs, though he can be a bit awkward and stiff with them at first

If he’s feeling down, needs to be warmed up a bit, he’ll immediately seek your comfort

Even out of his brothers, you’re secretly his favorite 

Sure he loves Dr. Delicate Touch, but sometimes Donnie would rather go to someone who isn’t very pushy with solutions, and is willing to listen

And we can also all agree that he has an immaculate fashion taste ✨💜

When he sees the fluffy sweater draped over your arm, he’s immediately running over, analyzing the fabrics, and rushing to get you to try it on

Why? Fashion show 

Loves the warmth of your hoodie

And I because “it’s so soofff”

Donnie’s blood runs the coldest out of all of his brothers and he has the most sensitive shell, so he just adores your sweater

Is definitely contemplating on getting one for himself, though he wouldn’t tell you at first, because you might think he’s trying to copy your awesome style, and that would just destroy his massive ego 😩💅

He enjoys it when you sit in his lab with him, maybe rested against his side with your hoodie on, as you play on your phone/read/draw

Also up for snuggles when it’s extra chilly in the Lair, or when his brothers aren’t around, because once again, damaged ego

Movie marathons?

Hell yeah

Donnie will always make sure your comfortable before he gets comfortable on the couch, so you won’t shift around while watching the movie

He’s also very vulnerable when he takes his battle shell off, and in more ways than one

You know he’s got real, strong trust when he does so and will let you carefully hug him from behind with your hoodie on, since it’s so soft

Donnie will also snatch your massive jacket if he gets the chance, and disappear into his lab for days with it on

And he’ll never tell a soul this…

But he loves it the most, because it smells like you, 💜

so it’s like having you right beside him while you’re gone, or when he’s busy building something 

Also, tries to use his classic and sarcastic charm when it comes to asking for your hoodie back

“Come on Don, it’s cold outside! I need it!”

“But would you take it from such a luxurious face as this?” 😏

“😒”

“Right, giving it back-“

He totally gets his own hoodie, by the way

Purple (obviously)

But it just isn’t the same as your own, so Donnie might just have yours on and then wrap his own around his waist

Yep

He sure does love his teddy bear 💜

Raph

Okay but Raph is an actual teddy bear-

A big, mom-friend, weapon-wielding teddy bear

He LOVES giving hugs, and most would recognize this, seeing the various pictures and instances where he pulls all three of his brothers in for a great big group hug ❤

He's constantly reminding himself that you are much much more prone to injuries than his brothers, so he holds you like a little baby when he hugs you

(Unless he gets super excited or has a really rough night, so just be aware that you might be restricted of breathing privileges in that case-)

Usually so gentle 🥺

Just picks you up and wraps those huge freaking arms around you like giant pillows

And he LOSES HIS SHIT when you come back with this fluffy ass hoodie

Has this infatuation with petting the fur and running his fingers over it

He has never felt something so soft in his entire life 😩❤

And then when he hugs you with it on-

aUGGGH ❤❤

"Why are you a like big teddy bear?!"

"Buddy, you're just getting a taste of my own world-"

Poor Raph, being the size he is and having such a spiky shell, can't just wear your hoodie like his brothers :(

I mean, sure he could take it so easily

But he doesn't want to disrespect your things, or make you upset, because this man is The Gentleman™

So, rather than asking to wear it, he'll ask to spend more time with you

Not just for the hoodie ofc, but because of your sweet gentleness and warmth

Better quit your job babe, because your new occupation?

Raph's cuddle buddy

He refuses to let you become uncomfortable, makes sure there are the right amount of pillows, blankets, and room for you to move around while you snuggle together etc.

Raph is also a heavy sleeper, so once he gets comfy and warm enough, he'll probably doze off and trap you in his big "arm cage"

Really, his nature is pure and gentle and everything you could ever imagine when it comes to hugging his little teddy bear ❤🐢

@getacactus @turtle-babe83

Hope you enjoyed this little ditty! I LOVED writing these!! 💜💜

[idy-ll-ique]

Just Peachy.

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x F!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: mentions of injuries and blood, overall very fluffy and cute

Requested: nope

Summary: in which Y/N gets hurt and Ransom is the perfect fiancé.

Author's Note: hiya peeps! ok im gonna say it,,, im a hoe for soft!ransom idc idc. enjoy!

---

"If anything happens while I'm at work, if you get hurt, don't hesitate to call me, alright? I'll be home in 15 minutes. Just call." Wise words by Ransom Drysdale, her fiancé.

Was she going to do that? Nope! Y/N grumbled from her position on the ground; she was walking down the stairs when she had tripped and fallen, ending up in a heap on the floor with one ankle definitely broken and a cut on her temple. Slowly, as the pain got too much to bear, she started crawling to the best of her abilities towards the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

As she neared the bathroom her hopes went up, until she saw the cupboard above the sink on top of which the first aid kit was kept. "Who fucking keeps it so high up?" she cursed under her breath as she grabbed the sink, slowly standing up, praying the sink wouldn't break under her as she applied her full body weight on the poor thing. She was successful.

Now putting her entire weight on her good foot, she reached up and, severely underestimating the weight of the kit, yanked it up, causing the heavy box to come crashing down on her. "Damn it, fucking son of a—" she cursed loudly as the box knocked her off her already weak feet. She fell on her back with a grunt and the heavy box landed on her chest, forcing her to exhale a breath. "Fuck."

Y/N forgot to hear a painful crunch.

She started lifting her hands to push the kit away when a sharp pain shot through her left wrist, causing her to wince. "Oh, great, another broken limb? Just what I needed. Great. Fucking peachy," she muttered and shoved the box away with her right hand, moving to sit up. She tried to crawl out of the bathroom but this time, with only one hand to support her, the task was perilous.

Ransom tapped his fingers on his desk at work in the tune of his favorite song, frowning at the blank open document in front of him. He was working on his second book, but today, inspiration was nowhere to be found. No ideas were coming to his head on how to proceed with the next chapter. I wonder what Y/N is doing, he thought and smiled softly at the thought of his fiancée.

Ransom and Y/N met at a party thrown by a mutual friend. He was being his usual, bitter self in the gardens outside the lavish mansion (yes, a mansion) when Y/N had approached him first. "Hi there, I'm Y/N. I noticed you were being too quiet and you slipped out, and wondered if you wanted to talk to someone?"

He wanted to push her away for talking to him like that, especially since he left the house for a reason, but instead he just smiled at her. A genuine smile. "I'd like that a lot." And so, they talked. Ransom was proud to announce that he had first fallen for her nature, her personality and her demeanor instead of her looks, which was what made their relationship special.

At least for Ransom, given the type of man he used to be.

Y/N was extremely gorgeous in his eyes. That was simply an added bonus. By the end of the party, both of them had walked into the house again and Ransom had put on quite a show about asking her out to dinner, which she readily agreed to. She knew what kind of a man he was; spoiled, full of himself and had a big attitude problem but that one talk with him changed her perception of Ransom Drysdale.

He was truly nice to the people he cared about, one of them being her. They talked for a short while and he was nothing short of polite, sweet and funny at times. He flirted endlessly since that was part of his personality but she didn't mind, she liked it, even. Ever since that day, they were inseparable and now, 4 years later, engaged.

"Fuck shit, fuck shit, fuck shit…" Y/N chanted as she slowly crawled to the living room, the pain in her body increasing by the minute. Finally putting her pride aside, she grabbed her phone off the couch and called Ransom, falling to the floor with deep breaths. Ransom's eyes snapped away from his laptop and landed on his phone when it started ringing.

Grinning, he picked up the call when Y/N's smiling face came into view. The moment she spoke, though, his grin dropped. "Hugh…" Y/N choked out, eyes filling with tears when the pain finally caught up to her. "Y/N? Bubba, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, immediately leaping to his feet. He shut the laptop, grabbed his coat and stormed out of his office, towards his car. Work be damned.

"It's— it's nothing. I'm sorry for calling, I know you're busy—" He nearly scoffed. "Babe, listen to me. You're more important. I'm coming home, I just left the office. Speak to me, bub, tell me," he insisted as he drove like a madman towards his house. "Just got hurt a little bit," Y/N mumbled and Ransom's heart broke. "Darling, I'll take care of it when I get home."

Thankfully, 15 minutes later, he reached home. Ransom hurriedly parked his car and threw open the front door, freezing when he saw his fiancée lying near the couch on the floor, the phone still in her hand as her eyes snapped away from the ceiling towards him. "Ransom," she stuttered and he walked towards her, kneeling next to her. His thumb swiped the blood on her temple.

God, did he want to punch her on her stupid, beautiful face for telling him she was just a little hurt. "Bub, what's this?" He picked her up and placed her on the couch, moving to take her hand but it fell limp… in a weird angle. His eyes widened. "Is your wrist broken?" he whispered and Y/N nodded, turning away from him. "And you had the fucking audacity to tell me it was nothing?!" he screamed.

She kept silent as he checked the rest of her body, finding out that her ankle was broken as well, the skin around it swollen black and blue. "You're a fucking dumbass, you know that?" he muttered as he called a doctor, sitting on the floor next to the couch. "I didn't want to disturb you." She was wheezing and he turned to her, only to see her clutching at her chest with a pained expression on her face.

"Baby?"

"Hurts." He sat up and ripped the t-shirt off her, eyes darkening when they landed on the bruise forming on her chest and between the valley of her breasts. "What the fuck happened when I was gone?" he hissed as he covered her up again. "I… I fell down the stairs first and broke my ankle," she began, fidgeting. "Well you should've called me then!" he insisted, exasperated.

"I didn't want to be a burden," she admitted in a small voice and Ransom's resolve broke. He teared up a bit and pressed his lips to hers, shaking his head. "You're not a burden, Y/N. I told you, if you're hurt at home, call me. I meant it. Even if it's a paper cut, call. Even if it's a skinned knee, call. I'm always here for you, and I always will be here." Y/N sniffled under him.

"Ransom…" He gently sat her up and sat next to her, only to pull her on his lap as he held her close. "Don't you dare think you're a burden ever again. I signed up for this. A burden is something you're not willing to carry. This? I'm willing to carry this to the end of the world," he whispered, squeezing her body as tightly as he could without crushing her. "I love you, Ran."

I love you, too.

"I know, sweetcheeks." And he grinned when her head shot up and she promptly slapped him on the cheek. "You're so full of yourself, Drysdale," she huffed. "You still love me," he hummed as she snuggled into his arms. "Fortunately for you, unfortunately for me, yeah, yes I do," she sighed.

Soon, the doctor arrived, patched her up and said the worst thing she had ever heard in her life.

"Bedrest for 2 weeks till the ankle heals."

And seeing Ransom's shit-eating grin had caused her to glare so viciously at him that even he had cowered. "Babe, doctor's orders, can't help it." After the doctor left, they were now laying side by side on their bed, staring at each other. "I can't just sit here with nothing to do!" she whined, snuggling closer to him. He put an arm around her, sighing.

"Well, face the reality, kitten. You're staying here and that's an order."

"Funny you think you can boss me around, sweetheart."

"I know I can't but this time, I will. I'll strap you down to the bed, mark my words," Ransom said with a roll of his eyes. "Kinky," Y/N snickered and Ransom kissed her nose with a smirk. "You are not getting up, Mrs Drysdale," he whispered and she pouted, jutting her lower lip out as far as she could along with giving him puppy eyes. "Please, Ran?" Ransom laughed.

"No." She groaned loudly. "Ugh, fine! I'll just get up when you go to work," she spoke smugly and Ransom turned to her, eyes wide. "Oh no you don't." He leaped up from the bed, making her whine. "Where are you going?! I need cuddles, Ran, I'm hurt!" she insisted and he got back into bed, taking out his phone. "I'm making calls to work. I'm gonna work from home now."

"You don't have to do that!" she insisted vehemently but Ransom refused to hear it. "I have to! To make sure your cute, dumb little ass stays in bed like the doctor said," he huffed. After one phone call, he sighed in relief and relaxed against the bed. "Pays to be a Thrombey, ya know," he chuckled, ruffling Y/N's hair as she snuggled into his side.

She was a mess. Her left hand was in cast, and so was her right ankle. After the doctor left she had taken off her t-shirt, leaving her in her sports bra, the wound on her chest a deep purple with flecks of red. There was also a bandaid on her temple for the small cut. "I figured." It was quiet for some time. "You never finished the story, babe. How did you get so hurt?"

"Well, first the stairs incident, I told you. After that, I was going to the bathroom to get the first aid kit but it was too heavy. I didn't know that so when I lifted it, it fell on me. I broke my wrist from hitting it on the floor too hard and the first aid kit fell on my chest," she huffed, "The pain was too much so I called you." Ransom frowned. "You should've called earlier."

"I know. Sorry."

"It's okay, baby, I'm here now," Ransom smiled, giving her a loving kiss on the top of her head. "I'm getting tired," she yawned as the adrenaline started wearing off. "Sleep." Ransom adjusted himself so he was now half-lying on the bed, back resting against the headrest as he gathered Y/N in his arms. She fell asleep a few minutes later.

---

"Ran…"

Y/N touched his side of the bed, only to be met with cold sheets instead of his warm body. She blinked the sleep away and sat up, rubbing her eyes and letting out a yawn. Running a hand through her messy hair, she stood up and limped towards the stairs. 2 weeks had passed and as the doctor said, her bedrest was over.

Her ankle had healed but not fully, while the wrist was still in a cast. The wound on her chest was also feeling loads better. She walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen area only to see Ransom cooking breakfast. "Ran," she whined and he turned around. "Y/N! Get your ass in bed, why are you here?"

"It got lonely." She wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing a soft kiss to his bare back. "Alright, fine." He spun around and grabbed her waist, lifting her and placing her on the kitchen counter. "Sit here." Y/N smiled lazily as she placed her head on his shoulder, watching him cook. He was making eggs. Omelettes.

"How did you sleep?" he questioned when the silence stretched on. "I slept well. The ankle doesn't hurt as much, nor the wound on my chest. But the wrist…" She sighed and Ransom looked at her with a sad smile, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "It'll get better, I promise. I'm not going to stop taking care of you."

"I'd like that very much," she replied shyly and he grinned. It was true, Ransom had truly taken care of her well. Breakfast, lunch and dinner in bed everyday for 2 weeks, he worked in their room and they had cuddled more in the two weeks than they had in their entire relationship. Y/N was super happy with their arrangement.

Of course, sometimes Ransom would be too busy, leaving her alone in the room while he worked downstairs or had a meeting with someone. But then he'd make it up to her by offering more snuggles and kisses. "My best girl," he murmured, placing the omelette he was making on a plate. He then carried the plate to the dining room, leaving her on the kitchen counter.

He returned just as fast, gathering her in his arms and pressing a kiss to her temple as he carried her to the dining table as well. "You're strong," she teased and he huffed. "I better be, or all that working out will be for nothing." She laughed and he placed her down on a chair. "Eat well, I'll be back." With another kiss dropped to her head, he went back to the kitchen area.

Y/N wondered how she became so lucky to have him as her fiancé. Yeah, sure, Ransom wasn't a very nice person in general but to her, he was the best. The man who once called his aunt unsavory things punched someone in the face when they had the audacity to call her the same things. "You better watch your fucking mouth or I'm gonna break all your teeth."

It hadn't affected her much anyway but seeing Ransom's reaction had sent a pleasant tingle down her spine. He was ready to do anything for her. And she had to admit, lately, he was being very soft. She had noticed the changes in him around a year ago; he'd become… domestic, almost. It was fun to see him like that.

His family, well, they were less than pleased when Ransom had first introduced her to them. They thought she wasn't good enough for him and had even tried to break them down. But that had only made them stronger. Ransom was in love with her and nothing his family said was going to change that. "Y/N?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and blinked at Ransom. "Yeah?" He laughed and sat in front of her with his own plate of food. "You were lost in thoughts; the food's getting cold, honey." She cursed softly and laughed along, finally finishing her food.

How had she gotten so lucky?

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Show some love, likes and reblogs will be appreciated <3