#these are the type of shots you can only get when you legitimately watch the show and you just happen to pause hgghfj

[spinnysocks]

stupid lion guard screenshots :3

i'm freeing these from the depths my phone lmao

[drabblesandimagines]

Kitty (part 6)

Parts 1-5 are available via my masterlist.

Pairings: Rei x (afab) reader Fluffy fluff, some medical jargon but nothing too descriptive! --

“Oh, back already?” Kazuki calls as you step through the front door. You can hear the sounds of daytime television drifting through. He likes to watch it when he folds the laundry.

“Yeah. Why?” Rei asks, slipping his shoes off. You haven’t spoken about the hand-holding. What is there to say, really? You mutually dropped hands as the elevator door opened, like you were afraid of getting caught. You’re trying to balance taking your own trainers off when he grabs your hand – anchoring you once more.

You smile a thanks and, again, let go as you go to greet Kazuki.

“Nothing, just curious. How was Kyu?” Rei withdraws one of the envelopes and hands it over to the blonde, who nods in appreciation.

“Fine. Nosey.”

“Nosey?”

“Asking Kitty questions.” Rei drops down on the armchair with a yawn – the late night catching up on him – and removes his phone from his pocket. “Sounded suspicious.”

“Dude, that’s his whole job.”

Kazuki turns to you as you sit down next to him, realizing he’s not going to get far with Rei who’s back to his game from earlier.

“Did you like the café?”

“Uh-huh,” you nod. “I re-remem-remembered I like c-coffee!” It’s strange rediscovering these little things about yourself. It feels momentous, like at any moment that will be the floodgate that triggers all your memories, but, really, it’s a small piece of the jigsaw puzzle. There was coffee at the house, of course there was, you served it to him every morning but you’d never taken a sip for yourself. There was enough danger in sneaking food. Water you could take from the bathrooms, greedily guzzling from the taps.

“Did you have one of Kyu’s? They’re good, right?” You nod. “I can never get Rei to try. I don’t think he has the palate.”

“Too bitter,” he grumbles.

“Well, we can enjoy the grown-up drinks and Rei can share with Miri.” The blonde teases back. Rei slouches back further in the armchair, ignoring him.

The TV blares out an upcoming promo – something about a doctor giving advice about how to live a longer, happier life. “That reminds me. Kitty, I think you should see a doctor.”

“A d-doctor?”

“Yeah. I mean, you were in that place a while and not treated well – we probably should get you checked over. There’s a clinic we use when we can’t handle something on our own – it’s no questions asked, cash in hand, under the table type stuff, but they’re legitimate doctors. I think they’d be good to give you a once over. Only if you feel okay with that, though.”

“N-no, makes s-s-sense.”

“Great! The only thing is, it’s an after-hours sort of deal so it’ll need to be an evening trip. Rei, you’ll be okay to stay here with Miri after dinner, right?”

“I can go with her.” Rei’s bolt upright now.

“You hate the doctor. Remember when you went with me so I could get a tetanus shot?”

“You screamed. I thought you were under attack.” He replies, deadpan.

“It was a big needle! I’m not sure they’ll even allow you back in after the damage you caused.” Kazuki turns to you “Plus, you’re okay to go with me, right?”

You nod - hoping you’re not hurting Rei’s feelings. It might be better to have Kazuki there too, you reason, trying to put the pieces together of their last visit.

In the afternoon, Kazuki goes to pick up Miri and Rei’s coerced you into another go of Morio Kart. You’d say you were getting better but that’d be a lie - Miri can and will beat you in a race more often than not, so you’re not sure it’s much of a challenge for Rei. The speed boosts and the drifting is the worst, you can never time it right and end up lagging behind, sometimes by over a lap. On the left-hand side of the screen you can see Rei’s character is already over the finish line and driving automatically around the course now, whilst you’re been flying off the same bit of the track for an embarrassingly long time on lap two.

“May-maybe you sh-should j-just skip. I’m h-ho-hopeless.”

“No, you’re not.” You can see him smiling to the side of you. “Here.” He scoots closer to you, looping an arm around your waist and placing his hands around yours and guiding your fingers. “Just need practice.”

You watch what he’s doing, but the angle of which his arm is seems almost unnatural. “I-is that co-com-comfortable?"

"Mm. Not really." He pauses the game a moment. “Can you scoot forward a bit?”

You shuffle forward, nearly on the edge of the sofa and he clambers behind you within a blink of an eye. His thighs are either side of your legs, his chest pressed up firm against your back. His head is above yours but he leans slightly to the side and his breath tickles your ear.

“Is this okay?”

“Y-yeah.” You’re glad he can’t see your face – you’re sure it’s now as red as Kazuki’s beloved sweatshirt.

He unpauses the game and he talks you through what he’s doing but you’re not retaining one word, his fingers are still on top of yours and operating the games controller. You can feel the bass of his voice vibrate comfortingly through your back and you let out a breath, relaxing into him.

“Kitty, are you even listening?” He asks in a teasing lilt.

“N-no.” You laugh as you say it. Saying no was still a new addition to your vocabulary, but being so close to Rei in that moment made you feel so… buoyant. He finally gets your character over the finish line.

He chuckles, lightly. “That’s okay, we’ll go again.”

He sets up a race for a solo player, and takes you through another race. You try your best to listen to him this time, to take it in, but it’s hard to concentrate when he’s so close to you…

“I think I’ve lost you again in your thoughts, hmm?” He rests his head on your shoulder as he speaks.

“S-sorry.” You speak before you can think. “No, I’m n-not sorry.”

You can feel him smile into you. “It feels nice.” He mumbles.

“It does…”

The front door opens with a bang and you jump, sliding off the sofa entirely and slipping through Rei’s arms.

“Papa Rei, Kitty, I’m home!” Miri yells.

--

“Good luck,” Rei wishes the two of you as you leave, then frowns. Is that the right thing to say before a doctor’s visit? But you give him a bright smile and a thanks, which seems to reassure him. You can tell he still feels a little excluded, but someone has to stay with Miri and he has reluctantly conceded that Kazuki is less likely to be refused entry and is probably the best to handle any medical instructions given.

The drive is quiet, which is odd for Kazuki. It’s only when you get near that he speaks up.

“It’s nice to see you and Rei hang out, you know?” He keeps his eyes on the road. “I mean, Miri’s changed him a lot, but since you've been around… He seems a bit lighter.”

“I’m g-glad.”

The clinic is on the outskirts of town and the car park’s empty when you pull up. The lights are all off, but Kazuki seems confident as he leads you to a service door around the back. He knocks on it three times and it’s answered by a burly man, who appears to recognize him. He holds his hand out and Kazuki stuffs some bills into it, before he nods and opens the door wide enough for the two of you to enter. You stick close to Kazuki and come out in what appeared to be a make-shift waiting room. There’s no-one in there at the moment, but there’s dried blood smeared across the floor under one of the chairs.

Kazuki chuckles at it, directing you to a chair facing away. “Yeah, you might see some of that…”

It isn’t long before a door opens and a tall brunette woman in a white doctor’s coat stands there, looking around. She meets Kazuki’s gaze and nods, beckoning him forward. He gets to his feet and you follow the two through down the hallway into a consultation room. She gestures for the both of you to take a seat, before shutting the door behind her. She’s no name tag on, but you think that must be deliberate. “Kazuki, it’s been a while.”

“And is that not a good thing, doctor?” He winks.

“Bad for my pockets. Who’s this?” She nods her head over to you, as she takes a seat.

“Ah, well…” He begins to relay the story for you, thankfully, as the doctor nods thoughtfully. Kazuki runs through the basics.

“And you don’t remember anything?”

“L-little bits a-a-are coming b-back.” You keep your eyes focused on your lap, hoping if you don’t meet her gaze your stutter won’t increase exponentially. “N-nothing h-h-helpful.”

“Hmm. Do you often get headaches?”

“N-no.”

“Memory loss can be a symptom of post-concussion syndrome. Any recollection of black-outs after, er, injury?”

You nod. Kazuki shifts in his seat.

“It’s hard to tell what the recovery period for that can be, unfortunately. These things might just never come back.” She twirls her pen between her fingers. “But your short-term memory’s okay?”

“Y-y-yeah. I re-member m-most th-things a-about the h-house.”

“And this stutter, have you always had that?”

“No.”

“Does it hurt to talk – your jaw, or anything?”

You shake your head. “S-sometimes, I-I feel s-sick.”

“And you,” she turns to Kazuki. “have you noticed any improvements in her speech?”

“Oh, for sure. I think you’re still nervous around new people, eh, Kitty?” You nod. “But when it’s just us, it’s getting better all the time.”

“Psychological, then. To be expected.” You like her, she’s straight to the point. You don’t want sympathy - it brings too much attention. “Any chance you could be, er, pregnant?”

You shake your head firmly.

She checks your blood pressure next – noting it’s a little low – before she checks your oxygen levels and seems happy enough.

“Can I listen to your chest?” She’s already digging a stethoscope out of a drawer and directing you. “I’ll listen via your back. Just unclip your dress and lift your top up for me.” You turn to face the wall and as you do, you see Kazuki avert his eyes to the ceiling respectfully. You unclip the dungaree straps behind you, and pull up the top. The stethoscope is cold – a cliché – as she orders you to inhale and exhale out a number of times.

“All sounds okay there. You can get dressed.”

As soon as you’re resituated, she sits down and faces you both. “So, I think we should do some bloodwork. You look on the malnourished side, so I’m sure we’re going to see some pretty severe vitamin deficiencies. I can have the tests completed in under an hour if you’re okay to wait.” Kazuki nods. “I can give you something for anxiety too, it might just take the edge off any panic you feel, help you to relax a bit. It might help the speech, might not.” She taps the pen against the desk, before she leans back in her chair. “It’s up to you whether you take them, but if you do, fair warning they’ll make you feel more anxious at first but then it’ll settle.”

You nod. You’re really hoping not to have another attack like last night. She stares at you for another minute, seeming to think something over.

“I could run x-rays to check for old injuries but, to be honest, you walked in fine and, if we found anything, there’s nothing we can do here. As you’ll know,” she looks at Kazuki, “this is usually just emergency trauma, but I understand the need for discretion in this case.” She wheels over a cart, and snaps a new pair of medical gloves on. “You good with needles?”

“I… I t-think so.”

“Mm. Look at him, not at me. I’ve no time for fainters.” She states, and you follow her instructions.

An hour later you leave the clinic, a bag of vitamins and prescription drugs in your hands and instructions for Kazuki to get more meat on your bones. The car is warm on the drive home and Kazuki’s voice is comforting – he’s running through all the meals he’s gonna make, all the nutritional benefits, but it’s getting harder to keep your eyes open and the long day is catching up on you. It’ll be fine if you just close your eyes for a second…

At some unconscious level you’re aware you’re being carried but you’re somewhere in the middle between awake and asleep and you’re so, so tired. Your eyelids feel weighed down and, try as you might, you just can’t open them and all you seem to do is snuggle further into whoever’s arms to a light chuckle. You hear a door open and there’s a voice you recognize, laced with panic.

“What happened?!” Rei.

“Easy, she’s fine. Fell dead asleep on the ride home and she looked too peaceful to wake up.” Kazuki’s voice rumbles through your cheek. “Can you take her whilst I get my shoes off?”

“Mm.” You’re passed from one warm chest to another. You should really open your eyes, stop being a burden. You do try, but it’s so hard… “What did they say?”

“She’s vitamin deficient in practically all of them and needs to put some weight on, but that’s probably to be expected. Talked about the memory loss – could be something called post-concussion syndrome? Might be temporary, might be permanent. Doctor seemed to think she’s come out relatively lucky.” Kazuki yawns. “You okay with taking her up to her bed?”

“I’ve got her.” He shifts you gently, getting a better hold. You sigh, burying your head deeper into his chest. He smells nice, comforting.

“You like her, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” Rei bristles.

“No, Rei. I mean, you like her.”

A pause. “Yes. Is… is that wrong?”

“Of course not, you idiot. It’s sweet.”

“I care for Miri but this feels… different.”

“Not a lot of dating growing up, huh?” Kazuki chuckles.

“None.” Rei grunts. “Not my style of hit.”

“I don’t mean for a mission, I mean for… for feelings.”

“Oh.” Another pause. “None.”

“Well, you’re in luck because I have a great history with the ladies.” Kazuki winks. “I think she likes you too, though, for what it’s worth.” He yawns again. “Go on, get her to bed. You can’t stand there holding her the entire night – that’s my first bit of advice.”

The next thing you know, you’re being laid upon the soft sheets of the bed and you nuzzle your head into the pillow, missing the warmth. A blanket is tucked in over you and you exhale contentedly, somewhere between the world of awake and dreaming. There’s hot breath for a second at your forehead and chapped lips press against it far too briefly.

“Goodnight, Kitty.”

-- Part 7.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

TW:

Talks of past trauma, abuse, and torture.

Talks of fears such as being weak or controlled.

Mentioned possibility of a meltdown/panic attack.

So like a lot of people like to HC that Killer and Cross are often paired off together as partners on missions, and I can’t help but wonder how it’d effect Killer to have a partner again.

He’d probably start trying to test Cross’ strength, purposefully acting out or doing things to judge Cross’ reactions; even if that puts Cross or the mission in danger.

Because Killer doesn’t actually understand what it’s like working as equals with a partner. The strongest leads, the weaker one is subservient. You can throw up all the facades of being equals — joking around, shoulder pats, thanking for saving the other at a close call — but it’s all just an act at the end of the day.

Or at least it is to Killer. Chara was the only partner he ever had. And for the longest time, Chara ruled over him; despite how buddy buddy they looked on the surface. Killer knew his place for the longest.

But then he became stronger. He got to decide what happened to Chara. He decided they didn’t deserve to live anymore. And that was his right.

He was stronger than them. He worked hard to be, waited and watched and learned. He earned it.

Like Hell he’s letting some righteous, holier than thou soldier call the shots. Especially not one that has a Chara lurking around him.

Especially not when it’s only happening because the Boss decided Cross would be good at handling him. At reeling him in. At controlling him, is what Killer heard.

Killer has spent many lifetimes having chains latched on to him. Not even his mind or body is under his control anymore. His emotions aren’t even his.

So I’d like to think that Cross and Killer would definitely get off on a bad start at first. Which is probably both confusing and irritating for Cross; given that he was in the Royal Guard, and likely knows very well how to work in a team and how to follow the chain of command.

Cross thrives in that type of environment. Killer balks at it.

So it’ll probably be a long road of Cross trying to realize why exactly Killer is so opposed to him. To realize how Killer is viewing Cross and this new ‘partnership’ as a threat, as yet another set of chains, and not a legitimate partnership that could even potentially be friends.

To realize how Killer is afraid of being controlled further, of being “weak.” Worried what Cross could do if he’s stronger then Killer, worried about slipping back into that mindless obedience that his old partner drilled into him.

And it’ll very likely depend on advice from the others, likely Nightmare, for Cross to realize that; because Killer will never admit it, probably wouldn’t even realize that it’s there, and it’ll probably take pushing him into Stage 1 and a meltdown to even be realized.

But I think it’ll be cute and sweet to watch them become true equals. Actual partners and friends. Maybe more if you wanna go down that route.

[bluelocksource]

Barō Shōei’s trivia (source: twt & Egoist Bible).

"Live the way you want to live. Win the way you want to win. This is my empire."

☆ Character's colour: Red.

☆ Weapons: High precision mid-range shot & ability to break through the opponent's defense.

☆ Nickname: King of Villains / King of Heel**

☆ Birthday: 27th June.

☆ Current age: 18 (3rd year of high school)

☆ Zodiac: Cancer.

☆ Hometown: Akita prefecture.

☆ Family: Father. Mother. Himself. Two younger sisters.

☆ Visual acuity: 1.5

☆ Current height: 187 cm.

☆ Foot size: 28.5 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: Right foot.

☆ Blood type: A.

☆ Motto: "Organize."

☆ School: Akudou Academy High School.

☆ Team before joining BLUE LOCK: Akudou Academy High School football club.

☆ Starts playing football: At age 6.

☆ Favorite food: Pudding. "When I was a kid, my mom bought me pudding when I got a flu."

☆ Disliked food: Waffles. "No matter how you eat it, it'll end up messy."

☆ Favorite color: Black and gold.

☆ Favorite animal: Nomad male lion.

☆ Favorite season: Around the end of rainy season. “If you’re a Japanese, you’ll get excited for no reason.”

☆ Favorite football player: Mario Balotelli.

☆ Favorite song:Any songs by Utada Hikaru. "Midsummer Rain" by Utada Hikaru.

☆ Favorite manga: Cobra. "Crystal Boy is cool."

☆ Favorite movie: The Dark Knight "I watch it to cheer up myself before the big game."

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: Bamboo shoots. "The small packet has just the right size to eat."

☆ What goes best with rice : "I don't add anything. Rice has a taste, idiots.”

☆ Hobby: Cleaning.

☆ Magazine he often reads: 'Gekisaka' (football news website) and 'Number' (Japan's sports magazine).

☆ Ideal type: Someone who likes tidiness and who he can clean together with.

☆ What makes him happy: Be shown legitimate and overwhelming respect.

☆ What makes him upset: Mess and clutter.

☆ What he thinks his strength is: Possessing a self ego.

☆ What he thinks his weakness is:“Ha? Who do you think you're talking to? I’ll end you!”

☆ Favorite/Best subject: P.E. (always placed 1st in all sports for 3-year at Musuo Middle School).

☆ Dislike/weak subject: Art, because it’ll get his hands dirty.

☆ What made him cry recently: He said the only time he cried was at the time of his birth.

☆ Usual sleeping time: 8 hours.

☆ What he usually ends up buying from convenience store: Sponge that cleans well.

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: He’s more worried about the cleanliness of the bathroom, so, he’ll clean the bathroom first before he takes a bath.

☆ Fixation: Quickle wiper cleaners.

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: A lifetime supply of Quickle Wiper.

☆ At what age he stops receiving presents from Santa: "From the moment I got a soccer ball on my 6th birthday, all I wanted was a field."

☆ What was his last wish from Santa: What I need now.

☆ How he spent his holiday: Clean up every nook and cranny of the house. After that, he’ll treat himself with hot tea and pudding.

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: "It doesn't matter what I'll do. By that day, I'll leave proofs that I've lived on this Earth."

* The crossed words are the changes made from twitter’s answer to the answer from Egoist Bible.

** In this context, the word 'heel'is used in pro wrestling which means a wrestler who portrays a villain or "bad guy" and acts as an antagonist to the heroic protagonist or "good guy" characters.

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

[teamdilf]

Consider with me. For just a moment.

Would you ever write a sci-fi AU of lost souls?

It’s honestly just Karlach with a big ass gun for me, but could you imagine Astarion—

Oh, so I've never considered this and I kind of love it. I have pondered a modern AU, and a far off into the future fic looking at how Astarion fares in a contemporary world long after all of his friends/family have died. My conclusion is that the man has learned how to use a gun - and is a good shot, but laments that the days of daggers in a large fight are over. He prefers killing up close, and I'll bet he gets a TON of side eye when he's like, "I used to be able to watch the life leave people's eyes as I buried my blades into their guts" because he's still a little feral, even hundreds of years later.

So, sci-fi AU? We'll have sharpshooter Astarion (who gets stabby whenever he possibly can because see above). Petra is a lounge singer in a dive bar on a space station singing for room and board. Karlach is a bad ass with a big gun, because of course she is. Something happens to get the Tadpole gang together (space tadpoles? Sure!), and Petra somehow winds up the leader of this crew of misfits. Astarion steals them a ship and they take off in search of a cure for their alien infection.

Antics include: A space chase because Astarion accidentally stole a police ship (the man cannot plan his way out of a paper bag), Gale getting them out of trouble with a well-placed bribe after Wyll name drops his dad because in this universe, fancy magic types make good credits, legitimate concern that Karlach will burn a hole through the hull and they'll all wind up spaced, and Petra whining that it's tough to dye one's hair purple when your timed shower is only 3 minutes.

Astarion recognizes Petra's hardship, but everyone else thinks she's being a princess.

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Card Game Job

Ok, time for the show to try and justify its use of playing-cards in the leader i guess? (still waiting for the timebomb) --- Ah, a beautiful establishing shot of a riverside, then a shot of a toppled tree. Nice to see a place get shown rather then hidden behind infinity-point font.

Kids dad is running out of money for their medication, its gotten to the point they need to sell their truck. (Fuck) kid dies within 1 minute of taking the medicine. --- Look I know this guy is scum, but lets not use the "he's pleading the fifth and listening to his lawyer and therefore must be evil" propaganda bullshit, allright? He's evil because he's holding sick childrens lives hostage, not because he's pleading the fifth.

hedge fund primarily made up of his own money? That sounds like a lie. --- Poor Lucy, Not only did she get fucking kidnapped, not only does she have to watch workplace harassment seminar videos but also IT looked into her browsing history? Poor Lucy.

Coffee and Beignets delivered (place your bets for poison?), button-cam in place.

Suck-up is gonna be the achiles heel. (Suck up is also the true mastermind behind the price-gauging) Breanna is placing office bugs.

Guy got second in a TCG once years ago and is still pissed about it. Initial prediction: Sell him a Black Lotus? --- Back from commercials, Breanna is loredumping. Apparently there is a rare and unique card in the castle somewhere. (no one knows what the finder gets outside the card. Im betting its Willy Wonka rules and the finder gets the company) --- They've taken the bait and now legitimately think the company might be for sale.

redirected his e-mail server. Honestly a lot more we could be doing with that. (you know what happens when a hedgefund CEO type doesnt have access to his own e-mail for a day? What can happen if you can send e-mails from his server in his name? I sure as heck dont know but am afraid of the answer)

Ok, either he is actually selling or we're getting counter-conned. (yeah, number 2 is definitly the real power here. We're scamming the wrong mark) --- and we're doing a national-treasure cluehunt. (its gonna suck, cause all the riddles are gonna be clueless riddles about a fictional cardgame we as an audience cant solve.)

Why the slo-mo on the walkout of the theatre? This scene does not ask for that. --- Sad Breanna is sad that Parker wont accept their help. (Parker is acting a bit OOC here, she knows better then to refuse a booklet of passwords)

Harry is here to unionise the securityguards.

Breanna has bought Parker time by attacking his pride and re-focussing him into "proving himself" by playing the actual game (he knows he cant lie about the riddles) Big Thug is off to find Sophie (dont worry, Elliot is with her)

Elliot is not happy that he's being volunteered for a Joust. (weird, i know he likes horses) --- Cordozar is wearing secret Clark Kent glasses to cheat. (When is team leverage gonna catch on that they're conning the wrong mark) --- And "Rage" has killed Elliot's dragon. Ah the classic "its all part of the show" fightscene. Love myself one of those.

Ok its the lake-pond. Nice little thing with harry signing to take the earbuds out for a private talk. --- "you have to be a killer" breanna says one thing he doesnt like and he imediatly calls for a time-out. Look for anyone who wasnt paying attention, obviously this all ends with Mr. Poet not selling his company because his passion has been re-ignited, and may even end with him getting his castle back. But I just want to note how charming it is to see Sophie con a man, not because she is after anything he owns but because she just needs him to be happy and distracted for a bit. --- What do you mean it took Breanna this long to realise she could hack his glasses/earbud thingy or his assistants cardgame-supercomputer... I guess she is new at this like Harry is so it sort of makes sense for her to miss that... --- Climatic "place to belong" community-speech is a bit on the nose and overdone but its a cliche that is overdone for a reason. (guess what, most cliche's are cliche because they work. saying something is cliche is a statement of fact not an insult)

"guess im not that good", nice line. 8.9/10 --- "lets just say the new owners are happy, and even happier to avoid a class action lawsuit". Game night at the theatre. --- Unfortunately this episode did not assist in justifying the sequel series bond-based trailer.

[styxnbones]

For cass: essentials 5, 8; life 7; death 3; clans 10, 12

ty im so happy ppl are interested in cass!

Essentials 5: as I touched on in the last ask, her sire is Astrid Hallman- originally a 10th gen Carrier Malkavian. Many year's prior to Cass' embrace, Astrid diablerized her own sire and became 9th gen which meant that Cass was embraced into the 10th generation as well. Cass first met Astrid as one of the rare gigs she would take for more legitimate private investigation type work among the many criminal contracts. Astrid was paranoid (as she always is) about being followed/hunted by someone and didn't want to approach the cops so she managed to get Cass' contact information. It was a simple job- extremely clear that no one was on to her and easy enough to prove, and Astrid payed quite well. A month later Astrid contacted them again, and again wasted their time. Same the next month. However Astrid was paying well and also had the benefit of being hot so Cass didn't mind. Eventually this turned into a proper relationship despite the red flags on both sides. Until, inevitably, Astrid's paranoia turned on Cass and caused her to think they had been lulling her into a sense of security while actually having found her out, which caused her to frenzy- killing Cass in the process before frantically embracing her when she realized what she had done. After that, still too afraid of having been sold out for diablerie, and now with the added problem of an unintentional childer, Astrid's controlling tendencies shot up to 11. She rapidly blood bound Cass and used that along with Dominate to keep her shut up in the apartment for a number of years until Cass could gradually chip away at her resolve and make a break for it. Their relationship is manipulative and controlling on both sides, since Astrid is chronically Paranoid and Cass's curse takes the form of Megalomania/NPD. Though, while Astrid genuinely loves Cass in her own fucked up way and just wants them both safe from the many dangers she perceives around every corner, Cass's resentment has only grown as time spent away weakens the blood bond.

8: technically, Cass isn't in v5 and therefore doesn't have any Touchstones TM, but if she was Lila and Rowan (who I mentioned in the last ask) would definitely be among them

Life 7: Cass is baptised and her dad had intended to raise her presbyterian- which was part of why her mother divorced him and went back to the US. Consequently she never actually grew up religious, and even with a small amount of dabbling in the occult since entering kindred society she still doesn't really buy into the Noddist mythology though obviously the existence of the supernatural is now undeniable.

Death 3: As is evident, Cass is a Malkavian. However, she hates the assumptions people make when that comes out, especially since she prides herself on being "the sanest malk you'll ever meet," so they often deliberately mislead people about what their clan is. It's easiest to go for Giovanni/Hecata as all the proof they'd need is to let someone watch them feed since they have the Grip of the Damned flaw. Likewise with Lasombra and the Cast No Reflection flaw, though that is preserved for very specific company.

Clans 10: Toreadors are a bunch of inattentive airheads as far a Cass in concerned. Good to have around if you can tempt them with something shiny, and they're rarely a serious threat.

12: The closest Cass has ever gotten to a Tzimisce was witnessing some poor fleshcrafted creature they found on it's last legs in a warehouse attempt to lash out at the coterie before being put out of it's misery. It was honestly pretty pathetic so she doesn't hold much respect for whatever particular Tzimisce did that, but having heard more about what Vicissitude can do in the hand of a master she's certainly wary of them in general.

[coolcattime]

3, 20, 22, 24!

Quick warning, this is probably gonna turn into a ramble about my hyperfixations! Question 22 is under the read more section and will contain spoilers for Telltale's The Walking Dead. Question 24 will also be under the read more, because I want to post some pictures with and and also this post is getting a little long 😅

3. 1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed

First! Your Turn to Die: Death Game By Majority. January 2022, my best friend came to my room and told me that we were going to play this together, a game at the time I had heard of but didn't really think was my thing, and I'm so glad they did because my god do I love this game so much. It's a horror adventure game where you play as Sara Chidouin who, alongside her best friend Joe and 9 strangers, finds herself in a death game where they will all be voting for who will die. I highly, highly reccomend this game if you find the concept interesting at all, especially because it's free. There's a Steam release coming soon (which I think is coming along with the last part of the game), but right now you can download and play for free or even play it in browser.

Second! The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles! I finally branched out from just the original Ace Attorney trilogy and I'm enjoying it! I'm currently on the 5th case of the 1st game and genuinely I missed playing Ace Attorney. Ryunosuke very quickly became another favourite messy... I would say lawyer but he isn't a lawyer for the first three cases so he became that slowly. But jokes aside, I love all the characters and also it was really fun to (by coincidence) read the Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of the Speckled Band a few days after playing the case inspired by it and retroactively realising they joke about the solution of the book in the game.

And third! The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me! I love The Dark Pictures games and this one has my favourite type of character in it: mean lebsian! So clearly it's a 10/10 best game!

20. A boss you think is really cool

I don't play a lot of games with boss fights but I really like the Mr. Freeze boss fight from Batman: Arkham City! I think the concept of a boss literally adapting to what you do so it won't work on them anymore is awesome, even if it wouldn't work outside of the more stealth focused boss like this one. I don't actually remember if I've ever played this boss fight (gonna be honestly, I cannot remember the sequence of events in Arkham City, other than the Catwoman sections), but I have a distinct memory of watching my dad play this fight. He tried to do the same thing twice, and when it didn't work was genuinely shocked because he didn't think the game meant it. And honestly that memory stuck in my head.

22. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

So I thought about this for a little while, because there's a couple of different game endings that I think about a lot but there's only one ending that legitimately made me nervous to replay a play with my bff and that is Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 2. It made me turn Jane from a character that was kind of okay to one of, if not my most hated character from a video game; and god was I really scared to play season two with my friend for fear of them really loving Jane (note: they did not, they also do not like Jane).

To give a little context: I played Episode 5 when it went live, like 11pm at night, achievements still not unlockable. And I was excited. By the time of the finale of the episode, I had already cried once (damn beautiful Lee dream sequence) and was not ready for the baby to be dead. I was not ready for the fight between Kenny and Jane and like, gonna be fully honestly, the first time I played I shot Kenny. I shot my 4th favourite character from the series and cried and had a tearful goodbye. And then the baby started crying.

I think this is the biggest betrayal I'd ever felt in a video game. Like to this day, I really can't gel with the idea of leaving a baby in a car in a snowstorm in a zombie apocolaypse to prove a point. I think it's genuinely very messed up and could never really fathom the idea of staying with Jane after that.

I played through the Alone with AJ ending, though I liked both the Kenny endings a lot more and ended up getting an ending with him when I did my replay for achievements.

Being fully honest, I think this ending stuck with me not just because it made me just so angry with a fictional character but because it seems to come so out of nowhere for it to be Jane. Like I fully expected an ending fight with Kenny and Luke, but then it just isn't.

24. A game with a cool art style

Firstly! Darkest Dungeon! The first one, though I do also think the second one looks really cool, I just personally prefer 2d artstyles. I think this game is beautiful and frankly just looks how a game about gothic and cosmic horror should.

And second! Your Turn to Die (again). I think it has a kind of rough start art wise (like there is some very ugly pixel art in the first half an hour), but once it gets going, it kind of feels like playing a manga. Like there's some screens I would love to show, but they are definitely spoilers and, as much as I really want to make a full post just rambling about this game, I don't really wanna spoil the game when I don't have to. ((Also all my saves for this game are on my friend's laptop and I'm not playing a couple hours for one screenshot))

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Sygna Suit Hilda

Remember when Reddit made all those speculation pairs, and kept putting Nate with Victini?  Did anyone else always have the feeling this would be the outcome?  Like, it's battle princess Hilda, man.  Of course she gets the god of victory.

General Overview At this risk of pointing out my own hypocrisy, remember when SST Red dropped, and it's like wow, what do you offer to the man who has everything, this is so boring?  It's like that but slightly less ridiculous.  She doesn't get gauge acceleration, passive healing per action, guaranteed defense drops, and a two-bar spam that's AoE and bypasses damage reduction.  Instead, she has to settle for capping every stat and having Rising Tide, with a 200BP move to back it up as DPS.

SS Hilda is nothing short of a perfect unit.  On entry she caps attack, and a single use of trainer move gives capped special attack and crit.  +15 in one action.  Cap for Rising Tide is 18.  So you use V-Create once, and thanks to Downside Up, which I thought was going to be a Steven-specific ability but I guess just goes to everyone nowadays, and you get +18.  In two actions.  If you can fast-ramp with your teammates, she wins.  Congrats.

Hilda has other moves, in Searing Shot and Confusion for...some reason. They're useless.  All they accomplish is burn and confusion, if you put the energy in on grid.  It's to check Gauntlets.   She's SS Serena tier, in that her backup stuff is just for show and preventing her from getting walled.  Oh and in case anyone was expecting lower stats, I think this is the new cap at like base 520.  Victini's insane.

So why don't I love this?  Honestly, it's because Emboar.  SS Kris may have been the same type twice, but Suicune was a support to Ferligatr's striker.  Lyra had a similar deal.  Elesa’s got two supports, a Tech debuffer, and a damage dealer.  Usually, when you keep to a similar type, you at least alter up their battle role.  Hilda does not do that.  This is the equivalent of dropping your starter for the major legend in post-game.  Hilda's Emboar has exactly no reason to exist now, not even by Hilda metrics, and I doubt grid expansion will save it.  It is worse in every meaningful way, and that bothers me so much.  I'm not saying I wanted her to have Genesect, but I am saying we could've done better here.

Move Level and EX? EX on a striker is great for CS stuff, but honestly 1/5 no EX is probably fine just given the absurd DPS of V-Create.  Legitimately consider this: it's better DPS than Leon's Charizard and Inferno.  It's that good.   Hilda wants for nothing in her grid, unless you desperately need that sync nuke from EX to be at maximum value.  But trust me, it's overkill. Her DPS gets things done just fine.

I will make a note that 5/5 actually does have at least some value.  4/5 gives guaranteed burn, and accuracy buffs each successful attack to respond to something like Latias or Cresselia.  Not super worth it.  But 5/5 can debuff both defenses when attacking a burned foe, which is...something.  You can also get Propulsion, which...no.  Not super worth it.

Team 1: SS Hilda, Anni Raihan/SS May, literally who cares it's not like she needs anything Fast ramping!  Anyone who watches Zinfogel's channel knows the deal: Anni Raihan at 3/5 has Propulsion on Sandstorm and can fast-ramp with Head Start 1 lucky skill.  Really any combination that results in -3 cooldown works.  In fact, another immaculate combo is SS May.  That's two people and I can pretty much promise success.  All you want is any support that can't die in one move, and congrats, you got turn-2 sync, and I cannot image a stage surviving Hilda.

Team 2: SS Hilda, Blaine/Tech Ninetales/Kukui, Skyla SS Hilda's interesting, in that her only real hiccup is gauges early on.   In a CS context, this means she needs some help with it.  But an F2P budget isn't just possible, it's dominant.  Blaine or Tech Ninetales sets Sun, Skyla buffs speed as well as some defense and healing support, and Hilda just goes.  But honestly, if you don’t want to use Sun because it’s optional, defense debuffs will do just fine.

Team 3: SS Hilda, Flannery, Support Seadra Anti-Cobalion.  SS Hilda is more than capable of blitzing Cobalion’s fight, and truth be told, Flannery’s here just because 4/5 Hilda isn’t going to be a common thing.  But you can still take risks with Searing Shot to get the burn by herself.  Seadra buffs speed.  I am making the assumption this is preferred, though if not, Support Weezing is another good option for defense buffs.

Team 4: SS Hilda, Summer Hilda, Hilda Next update will let us do this, and Hilda's one of a few that actually has a good combo.  Summer Hilda covers defense and is a solid tank, keeping the team alive, and also being able to debuff defense of the foe at 3/5.  Base Hilda is here to help gain speed for gauges, but also kicks off theme skill multipliers with matched Fire to Victini, who is the real damage dealer here.  This is a thing we can reasonably do soon.

Final Thoughts SS Hilda's outrageous.  Even with other possibilities, I feel like it's just slight variation on what's already present.  SS Hilda gets her buff game in just two turns, and can explode stages like nobody's business thanks to four sync damage nodes and Rising Tide alone.  She's a striker, so CS is dead, and most Gauntlet stages can't handle her raw DPS either, with Burn and Confusion being fairly decent answers to gimmicks.  Hilda...really doesn't have a clear flaw.

[kendrene]

Her personal phone buzzes almost as soon as they end the call. True to her word, Sam has already sent her an email.

Lena scrolls through it and logs into her Spotify account to peruse the selection. Sam has linked some True Crime shows — while hearing about murders may give her some fresh ideas on how to dispose of Sam's body, Lena doesn’t think they’ll help her sleep — several horror ones —  “are you fucking kidding me?” — and no less than five finance focused podcasts.

The latter may actually put her to sleep, Lena isn't sure the quality of her rest will be improved.

She's about to write back and admit it was a legitimately good prank, when her eyes fall on a link at the very bottom of the email.

I think this one's right up your alley, Sam wrote, punctuating the statement with a ;) Give it a shot!

Lena sighs and clicks on it without bothering to see what it's about.

Can't be worse than the others, can it?

She presses play.

"These ancient stars are incredibly dense." A woman's voice fills her office. "So dense in fact that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh as much on our planet as an elephant— 5.5 tons to be exact. Can you imagine?" The speaker laughs, soft yet bright. "White dwarfs are tiny too, if compared to the sun we're all familiar with. Typically, their radius is .01 times that of Sol. Mass wise they are about the same."

Lena pauses the recording and releases a breath she hasn’t realized she was holding. For a moment, the stranger's voice transported her elsewhere. To the top of a quiet hill, a sailboat at sea, away from the city and the headache pounding against her skull and L-Corp's very pressing problems. Someplace where it is already night, where this unknown woman is sitting next to her, whispering the ancient secrets of the stars in Lena's ear.

A quick internet search — the podcast is aptly named Starstruck—  yields a photo and a name.

Dr. Kara Z. Danvers, graduate cum laude of UC Berkeley and one of the youngest astrophysicists in the country, is a tall, handsome-looking blonde with shoulders for days, and the sort of perfect smile that’d put a dentist out of business. Her eyes are such a vibrant oceanic blue she seems to be staring out of Lena's laptop screen and right into her soul. Lena feels, somehow, that she should already know her.

Fuck. She inhales Kara’s accompanying biography slack-jawed.

She’s exactly her type, too.

You could have put her podcast at the top, Lena types to Sam, unable to tear her eyes away from the photo. Actually, she could have been your only suggestion.

I know, Sam sends back, almost immediately. I wanted you to suffer a little.

I hate you.

Will you still hate me after I tell you she has a Youtube channel too?

Lena types up an answer, deletes it. Types it up again — some slightly more colorful language included — and doesn’t hit send.

Thought so.

Sam is lucky that there’s a country between them.

One extra round of Googling later, Lena pulls up the YouTube channel in question, which makes things a 100% better, but also 1000% worse. Because now she has visuals — now she can watch Kara talk about the mysteries of the universe in crystalline clear 4k resolution. She stares enraptured as Kara talks about solar eclipses and climbs the sheer side of a mountain in the Italian Dolomites in a tight tank-top, all bronzed arms and powerful back muscles. The moment she gets to the top and turns to the horizon, the shot panning dramatically to take in the view, the montage shifts forward into night.

A different angle. There’s so much noise the camera can barely pick up the shot. Kara points to a light hovering shy of the nearest peak, and as the image zooms past her finger to bring it into focus, she explains the concept of planet alignment.

The screen fades to black, changes to a feed of Kara walking along the crest, her shoulder camera shuddering a little with each step. Another climb, this time by moonlight, and Lena’s heart is racing every step of the way. But, seemingly bottomless ravine right at her feet notwithstanding, Kara is calm — collected. She leans against the cairn at the very end of her trek as the sun is breaking over the horizon. Looks straight into the camera and smiles. Pink, otherworldly light illuminates her.

She isn’t even out of breath.

“Miss Luthor?” Red-handed, Lena jumps and shuts the laptop’s lid. It’s only Jess. “I, uh, was going to go home? If there’s nothing else?” Jess frowns at her tablet, then at Lena’s face which must be burning supernova-bright. “Are you alright?’

“Yes. yes of course.” God, it’s well past 6. Did Lena really just waste her afternoon on YouTube? “And no. There’s nothing else. You can go home.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Positive.” Lena cautiously re-opens her laptop. The video looped back to the start and froze on a frame of Kara halfway through the first climb. “Please, close the door on the way out.” She ought to watch it a few more times, Lena thinks, hitting resume as soon as Jess ducks out of the office. To better understand its concepts.

For science.

She goes through the rest of Kara’s content like a madwoman, and Sam was right, it helps her sleep, but she runs out of things to consume in a matter of days.

Lena is addicted. She’s a junkie and she’s hooked. Without her fix she becomes intolerable to be around.

The Venus transition - Lena is a CEO with insomnia. Kara is an astrophycisist with a podcast. OR A different Supergirl reveal. Read it on Patreon.

[dysfunctionalmaki]

To Realize

Main Masterlist

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Stark!Reader

Summary: Natasha's been connecting all the dots about how she feels about you, it's up to her to how she'll handle the situation.

A/N: This was supposed to be a oneshot until... I wanted to base it on the whole Black Widow movie :"))

Warnings: none, let me know if there's any.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Your last interaction with your father didn't go well, he simply told you that Secretary Ross is now after you and Natasha after helping Steve, and Bucky to get in the Quinjet while T'challa was after them.

Quickly tackling the king of Wakanda on the ground, while Natasha shot something at him to give Rogers and his friend time to take off, as soon as the jet flew away, you removed your arms that are restraining him.

"Your father will hear about this, and you too Miss Romanoff." The exact words that came out of T'challa, and now you're on the run with Natasha, considered as a global fugitive.

Your father looked at you with disappointment when he mentioned that Ross will be chasing you and the latter, you looked at Natasha before she took your hand and leading you out, taking you to who knows where.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

"You miss your daddy?" Natasha spoke while driving, you chuckle at her words then resting your head against the car window. "Hmm, kinda, so what are we doing here in Norway?" You ask the latter.

"Well, you've noticed that Ross is after our asses after assaulting the King of Wakanda, and helping Steve and Barnes escape the airport, I believe we should lay low, right?" She propped her elbow by the window, resting her head on her knuckle as she drives with one hand. "Oh? I didn't know that." You replied sarcastically, making Natasha roll her eyes.

"What I mean is, why Norway of all places?" Now you're kindly asking, arms crossed over your chest and slowly drifting off to sleep, exhausted after hours of traveling, without Daddy's private planes, sports car, and Quinjet also.

Natasha noticed how your voice softens, a long yawn coming out of your mouth, and quickly glancing at you. "Ross has no jurisdiction here, his boys would stay away from here for the time being." She answered, you softly nodded and replied with an 'okay' almost a whisper with how silent it was.

In a split second, you're already fast asleep at the passenger seat, both arms hugging yourself and your head resting against the window. Nat maintained her eyes on the road as she attempts to reach for a blanket she stashed in the backseat, after few shifts in her place, the Russian managed to grab the cloth.

She gently placed the soft blanket over you, and now focusing herself on driving, for some reason, she has always felt this warm feeling in her heart when she's alone with you, adoration maybe?

Your peaceful state while you're in deep slumber, and hearing your soft snores as she admires the view of the landscape, she would offer everything she has just to stay like this most of the time.

The thought caught her off-guard, why would she want to spend all of her time with her friend's daughter? She shrugged the thought off from her mind, she knows what love feels like, she felt it with Bruce until Hulk decided to drive off somewhere they won't find him.

She did get sad because of it, but she chose to move forward and move on, successfully removing any romantic feelings for Banner, focusing on her work as an Agent and an Avenger.

But why is she feeling this way with you? Her heart melts when she sees you getting all excited when you've successfully upgraded your techs, how she would automatically smile when her eyes would catch you smiling, and how she feels warm when you're there to ease her mind when a mission didn't go as planned.

She's now connecting the dots, using the silence and peace surrounding her, she got time to think about herself and her feelings towards Tony Stark's daughter.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

After half an hour of the drive, you slowly wake up from your nap, looking around the surroundings you're in the middle of the woods, Natasha's still driving. "Good uhh... Evening?" You greeted Nat with your groggy voice.

Natasha stopped the car beside the safehouse, which is a caravan and you don't mind, you can't really call your father to get you a 5-star hotel to stay in. "Did you manage to replenish your energy?" She asked, unbuckling her seat belt and you did the same.

Getting out of the car, she has her gun out and you also have one on your hand, staying alert until both of you heard a loud snore in the room. Natasha immediately returned to her relaxed posture before heading into where the sound belongs, and she found her contractor sleeping.

Kicking his foot that is off the bed, the man immediately woke up. "You're sleeping in my bed." Natasha commented, "I'm not even under the covers." He replied, then his eyes trail at you, awkwardly looking away noticing that the two seemed close.

"I've got what you asked for, fake IDs, drivers licenses, and some VISAs, also for Miss Stark too, just like what you've told me to do." He says as he handed out the fake identifications to Natasha, while reading, the Russian frowned upon what she just read. "Really? Fanny Longbottom?"

"That is a legitimate name." He defended himself, them Natasha handed your fake IDs, taking a good look at them and you're amazed about how real they seem to be. "Thank you...?" You softly spoke.

"Rick, Rick Mason." He introduced himself, and you shook his hand also introducing yourself, with little chit-chat soon after the man left leaving you and Natasha alone.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

An hour has passed it's already dark out, you're currently sitting by the front door, knees up to your chest, and you already felt homesick, Natasha's company is nice honestly, but the feeling of being far away from your father and home sucks.

Natasha looks at you while you're way too busy gazing at the woods, she knows you aren't used to this type of setup, running away from authorities, and far from home, she felt bad for you.

She walks up behind you, making sure you're aware of her presence before placing a hand on your shoulder. "I'm going to watch a movie on my laptop, feel free to join me, I'm also eating the ice cream we bought at the convenience store earlier." She softly spoke before leaving you alone.

Minutes after, you finally stood up from where you are sitting and closing the front door, almost dragging your way to Natasha. Two bowls of ice cream in front of her, and her laptop already on, she was waiting for you.

You placed yourself beside her, head resting on her shoulder then she plays the movie on the screen, lazily taking a spoonful of the cold treat in your mouth, and eyes glued on the screen, but you weren't paying attention to the movie, you're spacing out.

"Hey, Y/N? Are you okay?" Of course, not, Natasha knows damn well you aren't okay, she thought that it's a dumb question. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" You answered just like your father, she paused the film and causing you to look at her. "No, you're not okay, and that's okay." She says before taking you into her arms.

You're surprised actually, Natasha isn't usually the one who initiates physical contact but here she is, her arms wrapped around your body. You needed this, you needed to feel home and somehow being hugged by Natasha feels like it.

Burying your face at her shoulders then you knew you're melting in her arms, it almost brought the tears out of you, as if her touch is enough the lift the burden you've been feeling.

Natasha feels like home.

You try not to think anything about the affection she just gave, but damn, you think you'd go batshit crazy if you won't get to experience this again.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Let's be clear here, you've had a crush on Natasha while she's still Natalie, then as soon as Fury revealed that she is some secret agent, you were so amazed that you started liking her, though she didn't contact after that.

You weren't part of the Avengers initiative, but you did join them in the battle of Sokovia, but she and Banner have a thing going on, so you've decided to set those feelings aside. Which you successfully did for a few months, and after Bruce flying who knows where maybe you can make a move?

So you did, you would jokingly flirt around Natasha, and your father would give a questioning look then you slowly back away, but you were also a great friend to Nat, it's just that you can't seem to get all romantic with Natasha.

Just as much of a playboy your father is, that's all his, you suck at this type of thing, so Nat probably thought you're just a caring and affectionate person.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

You gently pull away from Natasha's grasp, and she looks at you with her emerald eyes. "Better?" She asked, placing a hand on your cheek softly caressing your skin. "Much better, thank you." She smiled with your answer, the next thing you know is that you're way too close to her, and you're looking at her plump lips.

This would be a perfect time to make a move.

You hold the back of her hand that is on your cheek, slowly closing in, and Natasha is leaning closer, so near that you could feel each other breathing, just when your lips were about to touch hers... the power died.

Nat cleared her throat and awkwardly moving away, removing her hand away from you and she stood up. "I'm just going to check the power generator." She says before going outside.

Her face turned red as soon as she was out of your sight, she got way too vulnerable with you, she almost kissed you but she sure knows she's going to like it but no, not at a time like this.

She tried to get the power back on, only to find that there's no more fuel in the generator, she came back inside finding you eating ice cream in the corner, and probably waiting for her to come back.

"I'm going to a gas station, do you want to come with me?" She asked, you nodded before getting off your ass and bringing yourself into her car, there's this awkward tension between the two of you, and as soon as she started driving, the silence swallowed the two of you.

"Can I turn the radio on?" You asked her, she simply nodded while eyes fixated on the road, you played the radio, and Sia's Cheap Thrills came on. "Damn, even here? When is this song going to die?" You commented.

Natasha taps her fingers on the steering wheel according to the beats, despite hearing the song over and over whenever you would turn on the radio, you still liked it.

Midway through the song, you felt chills on your body, and as soon as you look at the window beside you, suddenly you see an RPG heading towards the car.

"Nat—" Before she could react it has already hit the car causing an explosion, now the vehicle is hanging on the edge of the bridge, and with one wrong move it'll head straight down to the water. "Ooh, fuck that hurts." Hissing as you try to collect yourself and trying to fight the headache it caused.

Natasha on the other hand is in pain and boy, she's mad. "I'm pretty sure Ross has no jurisdiction here, and you should know that I'm a better shot when I'm pissed off," Nat spoke before firing few bullets at the person, you look at her and biting your lip, finding her hot.

"Wow, that's hot..." You spoke under your breath but Natasha heard, glaring at you. "Really? At a time like this?" She says, before heading out of the car when you tried to get out Nat stopped you. "How long can you hold your breath?" She asked. "Last time I beat Sam it was a good 4 minutes and a half."

"As soon as this psycho comes close enough, I'll push you into the water, it's not after us." She says you look at her as if she's speaking lies. "Nat, I'm not leaving you here–" before you could protest, you felt her lips against yours it was quick but you know damn well, that Natasha kissed you.

"I'll meet you down there, I promise." She says before a shield comes charging towards her, and managed to avoid it, yet it hit the car, now you're falling off the bridge and you suddenly noticed a small case on her hand.

You quickly got out of the car before it could hit the water, then you swam heading to safety where the one who ambushed wouldn't see you.

Closing your eyes hoping that Nat would come back to you in one piece, there's no way you'll let her die after kissing you, of course, you wanted to fight but your body just wouldn't.

You can't risk losing Natasha now.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Next Part: To Remember

[dootdootwriting]

hello!! i saw ur post abt requests being open and i wanted to ask for a one-shot/headcanons of what it would be like to be diluc’s “partner in crime”, basically going out to fight the abyss and the fatui agents together and yk dark knight hero stuff in general; how they would work with each other and how they would both get each other’s backs etc… reader can be gender neutral and have the vision of your choice! thank you in advance :)))

ps if this is too cringe for u just ignore it jfhshdhd

nothing is cringe anymore anon, embrace the cringe. also this request is cute as HELL so dwdw

i made reader an electro catalyst user! that way y’all do the Big Damage. also unrelated but popped into my head as i read the ask but do you think diluc hates the abyss order so much in part because of kaeya? i’m just *thinks about their backstory very hard*

...

Format: headcanons Characters: Diluc Pronouns used: none Type: fluff Warnings: violence and danger, swearing

DILUC

- originally is opposed to you helping him, only because it’s an extremely dangerous job and he can’t run the risk of losing you

- that being said, he knows you can hold your own, and when he comes back a few too many times being much too tired for his own good, he relents and allows you to start helping

- is actually pleasantly surprised by how much more FUN it is... before he did it just to get rid of the abyss order and protect mondstadt, but now going out with you and beating the shit out of abyss mages and hilichurls is legitimately fun

- sometimes you guys make bets. for example: whoever takes out an abyss mage first makes dinner the next night, whoever racks up the most kills owes the other ten kisses, etc

- also thinks you’re hot as FUCK as he watches you cut through monsters. you’re shooting LIGHTNING out of your FINGERTIPS and the look on your face is stunning. moving on

- speaking of the lightning, he loves loves loves causing overload damage. it’s a team effort! he sets something on fire and you electrocute it all the way to hell. iconic

- power couple tbh

- don’t be fooled though, he’s also extremely protective. if you’ve got your guard down even for a second the abyss order will take advantage of it. when he sees something approach you from behind as you send a mitachurl to its doom, he’s there in seconds with his claymore covered in flames

- picture now something out of a superhero movie where something explodes in the background and the two main characters kiss as the flames engulf them from behind. yeah this is you guys

- i may be getting a little too excited about this prompt,,, but listen there’s so much potential,,

- if you get injured in battle it’s ON SIGHT. anything he sees that isn’t human in front of him is scorched, chopped, and now dead. *liyue merchant voice* CHOP SUEY!

- he’ll take care of you as soon as he’s done. first, it’s time for RETRIBUTION

- really really really likes bandaging any injuries you might get and loves when you do it for him too. for him it’s a sign of trust and intimacy. you’re a pair, a team, and also hopelessly in love with each other

- when he’s had a particularly rough day he likes to take it out on any abyss order camps that might be nearby. he’ll drag you away from whatever it is you’re doing and bring you with him for backup just in case

- also adding in that you two LITERALLY fight back to back. diluc says it’s the most advantageous position and in addition to that it’s really fun.

- you’ve both saved each other from countless close calls

- and actually, sometimes, when the battle is won, you’ll walk back to dawn winery laughing, high off of victory and leftover adrenaline

- it’s one of the only times you see diluc really, truly smile - and it’s beautiful. it’s broad and genuine and you can see the stars reflecting off his eyes

- 10/10 couples bonding activity

[xjoonchildx]

greedy | myg x reader | chapter one: you like milkshakes?

summary: being a loner has never bothered yoongi until now.  until you.

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre: mafia AU, pining, eventual smut

rating: 18+

word count: 4.3K

notes: confession, i am struggling these days with my insane attraction to min yoongi.  this guy has it all.  looks and talent and mystery and sweetness -- he’s the total package. so i really wanted to give him a story in this AU that i’ve come to love so much and i truly hope you guys enjoy it.  

i also hope you guys know how much i appreciate every single one of you. i see your reblogs and comments and likes and i try to answer every one because it truly makes my day.  you guys make my day.

i could not post this fic without shouting out the amazing @hobi-gif because honestly, if hope didn’t read it, did i even write it? and i’m sending major love to three people who are such a source of laughter and support for me, @ladyartemesia​ @ppersonna @taetaewonderland. you guys keep me in stitches.

this fic is a continuation of the Guarded Series but can be read as a standalone piece! Chapter 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05

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

Yoongi had fucked up.

He’d misread the massive man’s approach, tracking him in one direction when the guy was actually headed in another.  That’s how the asshole managed to catch Yoongi off guard with one meaty fist to the face. 

It didn’t matter that it was hundreds of pounds of fat -- not muscle -- behind that punch.  It was wielding more than enough momentum to blow up the side of Yoongi’s face like a bomb. 

That’s the night he landed in the ER at Songdo at nearly two in the morning, pressing gauze to his bleeding face.  

That’s the night he found himself chuckling inside an empty exam room, reading triage paperwork that made him sound like some kind of war hero instead of just an idiot who got caught looking the wrong way.

That’s the night he met you.

“Rough evening, Mister Yun?” 

Yoongi had looked up from the floor just as you’d breezed into the room, tablet in hand.  That moment marked the second time he’d been caught off guard that night.

“That looks like it hurts,” you’d murmured sympathetically, eyes raking over the bloody mess on his face.  Your gaze was clinical -- professional -- as you assessed his grossly swollen eye and the half dozen bleeding cuts that surrounded it.  

But then you’d stopped looking at him -- and stepped back to really look at him.  

Yoongi had taken one look at your enormous, dark eyes and your soft, sweet face and he was dumbstruck.  He’d blinked back at you with the only eye that could still move.  

“You’re a doctor?”

“Nope,” you’d replied casually, turning to reach for a pair of latex gloves. “I’m a janitor. But I’ve always wanted to give this medicine thing a try. You don’t mind, right?”  

Your eyes had sparkled then, bright with humor -- and Yoongi couldn’t help but grin despite the pain pulsing from the left side of his face.

“Here’s the deal, Mister Yun,” you’d said, pulling on your gloves.  “I’m a resident.  And I’m more than qualified to handle the -- situation -- on your face, but if you feel more comfortable waiting for the attending, I’m happy to step back.  Good luck seeing him before sunrise, though.”

“Nah,” Yoongi had chuckled.  “I think I’ll take my chances with you.”

“Good call.”

You’d leaned in close after that, gloved fingers firm under his chin as you turned his face from side to side.  You’d smelled fucking amazing.  The light, fresh scent that lingered on your skin sure as hell beat the disinfectant odor in this place.

“What happened to you tonight, Mister Yun?”

“It’s a funny story, actually.”

“Oh, great,” you’d said dryly.  “‘Cause it turns out, I love funny stories.”

Yoongi had flinched when you’d peeled the gauze back, exposing the angry wounds to the air.  But he’d forced himself to sit dutifully still as you got to work cleaning the caked blood off his face and eye.

“Thing is, I work for the circus,” he’d started, hissing under his breath when you swiped across an open cut above his eye.  “One of the elephants got rowdy while we were practicing a number tonight and just kicked me right in the face.”

You’d stopped dabbing at his eye then, one brow raised and a cynical slant to your mouth.

Yoongi liked that you knew he was full of shit right away. 

He liked that you’d played along anyway.

“God, I hate when that happens,” you’d said with feigned outrage, cutting your eyes at him as you dropped a piece of bloody gauze on the tray at his side.  

“I know, right?”

That’s when Yoongi had won a real smile from you, wide and genuine.  That's when Yoongi made the mistake of looking at you for just a moment too long.  

He knew it by the way your smile fell away as you cleared your throat and turned your focus back to his damaged face.

“Well, I have good news for you Mister Yun,” you’d said after a while, eyes scanning the freshly cleaned wounds.  You’d run your gloved fingers gently over one particularly deep slash over his eye and Yoongi felt a shudder run up his back.  “I’m pretty sure you’re going to live.”

“Well, that is good news.”

There was that smile again.  

It seemed like no time at all before you had him all patched up -- cuts sanitized and sealed with skin adhesive; swollen eye cleaned and medicated.  Yoongi had felt a strange kind of disappointment as he’d watched you gather your supplies, pull your gloves off and drop them in the trash can near the door.

“You’re all set, Mister Yun,” you’d murmured. “Watch out for those elephants, okay? I’d hate for them to ruin a perfectly nice face.”

Then you were gone.

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

Thing is -- Kim Namjoon is a rules guy.

It doesn’t matter that he runs a criminal organization -- or that the men in his employ are gangsters in custom ties and suits.  He expects dirty work done clean because that’s what sets the Gajog apart.

Rotate hospitals.  Use fake names.  Pay in cash.

All of those protocols are in place to keep any one of the Gajog from drawing unwanted attention.  Truthfully, Namjoon’s operations usually run so neatly his men rarely have to seek treatment for anything beyond the occasional black eye or broken bone.  That’s why he’d rather trust his men to legitimate doctors in legitimate hospitals than hand them over to some back-alley hack.

Thing is -- shit has gotten a lot more heated of late.  

An audit of the Gajog books has turned up millions in missing won, stolen over time by street-level guys all over the city.  Yoongi and Hoseok are the ones on the front lines, tasked with confronting those men -- getting them to pay and getting them back in line.

Sometimes they play ball.  Sometimes they don’t.

Tonight is one of those nights.

Yoongi knew the moment they arrived at the crumbling warehouse in the Nowon district that shit was probably going to get messy.  Their contact was fucked up -- sloppy drunk -- and belligerent from the jump.

After that, everything was a blur.

At some point during the scuffle, Yoongi heard his hand crunch under the heavy weight of the man’s steel-toed boot. The pain was still flaring hot from his knuckles when Hoseok finally took the guy down.  

Right now Yoongi should be at Asan or Gachon or any of the other half-dozen hospitals in the city.  He should have dragged his tired ass and bloody hand across town because those are the rules.

But instead -- for the second time in a month -- he’s sitting under the sickly fluorescent lights in an empty exam room at Songdo at nearly three in the morning.

Hoping to see you. 

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

Yoongi is gingerly flexing his aching fingers when a light knock sounds at the door.

It was a long shot that you’d be here tonight -- and an even longer shot that you’d be the one treating him. But when the door to the exam room opens, it’s you on the other side.

Yoongi’s pulse picks up in response.

“Sorry to keep you waiting tonight Mister -- ”  you stop dead in your tracks, eyes wide on his before darting back down the tablet in your hand.  You scan the screen slowly then look back up, gaze critical.

“ -- Mister Woo.”

“Yeah, sure,” Yoongi replies casually.  “It’s no problem.”

You approach him slowly then, disbelief etched into your delicate features and Yoongi takes in every detail.

It’s like he’d forgotten how pretty you are since the last time he saw you.

You’re nothing like the flashy women who like to hang around the usual Gajog haunts.  You’re the kind of pretty that doesn’t cost hundreds of thousands of won a month to maintain.  The kind of pretty that doesn’t come off at the end of the night. 

Yoongi swallows thickly as you eye him, lips parted like you’re about to fire off a hundred different questions.  But you don’t.  

You play along.  

Again.

“Right.  Let’s get to it then, Mister Woo,” you say carefully, slipping on your gloves.  “What happened to your hand?”

“Well, you see, I’m a hot air balloon operator.”  

His mouth quirks into a smile and your eyes flash in response.  

“Wind was nuts today and the basket came down on my hand.  I think I might have broken something.”

“Hmm,” you murmur.  “Hot air balloon operator, huh?”

Yoongi winces when you take his hand between your gloved ones, gently applying pressure to each knuckle.

“Yeah.”

“That’s an interesting way to make a living, Mister Woo.”

Yoongi chokes down a groan when you press against one particularly sore spot.  You back off the pressure, turning to make a note on your chart.

“Well, I’m an interesting guy,” he whispers.  

You look up at him then, dark eyes focused and intense.  

“That you are.”

You’re looking at Yoongi like you can see inside him and the scrutiny makes him squirm.  He lowers his eyes to the floor and keeps quiet while you clean his hand and apply ointment to his cuts.

“Mister Woo, it looks like most of these are surface abrasions, but the knuckles concern me.  I’m going to have to send you for an X-ray.”

“Yeah, okay.  It hurts like hell.”

“I bet it does,” you say quietly, typing into your tablet.  “Someone is going to come and take you back when they’re ready.  I have to go check on some other patients, but I’ll be back when we have some images to go over.”

“Sure,” Yoongi breathes.

You take another long look at him before standing to leave and Yoongi wonders for a moment if he’s made a mistake. Maybe he’s misread you like he misread that brawler who caught him with the nasty punch all those weeks ago.  

You could be off to flag a security guard.  Or leaving to call the police.

He really should have just followed protocol.

Yoongi sits in the quiet of that exam room waiting -- ready -- for trouble that never comes.  Because when a knock finally sounds at the door, it’s not the Korean National Police.  

It’s the X-ray technician.

Maybe he didn’t misread you after all.

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

It takes hours for you to come back.

“Mixed news tonight, Mister Woo,” you say upon your return.  “You have hairline fractures in three of your knuckles, which explains the pain.  Unfortunately, that means I’m not going to be able to do much for you beyond wrapping your hand.”

Yoongi nods.  “Got it.”

“And you should probably lay off the ballooning for a while,” you say under your breath as you lay out your bandages.  “Just a suggestion.”

“Good idea,” Yoongi chuckles.  “Safety first.”

You fix him with another one of those long, indecipherable looks before getting to work on his hand.  But you don’t say anything and the longer the silence stretches on, the antsier Yoongi feels.

“So…” he exhales, clearing his throat, “... you like milkshakes?”

“Everyone likes milkshakes,” you return evenly.  You don’t take your eyes off his hand or the flexible material you’re carefully wrapping around his sore knuckles. 

“Lactose intolerant people don’t like milkshakes.”

“Lactose intolerant people like milkshakes as much as the rest of us,” you argue.  “They just can’t tolerate them.”

“What are you, some kind of doctor?”

Your lips quirk with the threat of a laugh you manage to suppress but Yoongi catches the expression before it disappears.  You seem to relax after that.  He does, too.

“Dijeoteu has the best milkshakes in the city.  Ever been there?”

“Can’t say that I have,” you admit, taping off a bandage.  

“It’s not far from here.  Open twenty-four hours.  I hang out there sometimes.”

“So you’re a milkshake-drinking hot-air balloon enthusiast,” you murmur, inspecting your handiwork closely.  “Anything else I should know about you, Mister Woo?’

Yoongi scratches the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Not really.  That about covers it.”

You hum thoughtfully under your breath as you finish wrapping the bruised knuckles.

“All done.  How does it feel?”

“Better,” Yoongi admits.  “Thanks.”

You gaze at him then, thoughtful -- expression soft with something that looks almost like concern.  Yoongi drops his gaze down to his bandaged hand.

This is the part where you’ve finished -- the part where you leave.  

This is the part where he should say something to you but he has no idea what or how.

“I would say come back soon, but this is a hospital and that seems wildly inappropriate,” you announce, voice breaking clear through his stupor.

You turn back to him just as you’re walking towards the door, and for a moment Yoongi thinks you’re going to give in and ask him any one of the dozens of questions that must be swirling around your mind.

But you don’t.

“Try to take care of that hand, Mister Woo.”

Yoongi nods.

“Thanks, Doc.”

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

YOU

Doctor Lee is on his Houdini shit tonight, apparently.

The ER is packed -- waiting room crowded with crabby patients -- and you are, once again, running yourself ragged to get to every last one.  Lee is, once again, nowhere to be found.

“Page him again,” you call out as you pass the charge nurse outside an exam room.  

A quick scan of your tablet confirms the toddler behind this magic door has been vomiting all night.  You shut your eyes and wish a slow, violent death on your absent attending.  Vomit is the single worst phenomenon in medicine.

“I’ve paged him three times,” Nurse Ko calls back.

“Page him again,” you repeat, forcing a smile and pushing into the room.

Thirty minutes and one change of scrubs later you are checking charts on the next patient in line.  You pat the pocket of your new scrubs and realize you’ve left a half-eaten energy bar around here somewhere.  

No chance you’ll get that back.

Lee picks this moment to reappear, back from doing God knows what.  He strolls down the hallway like a man with nothing on his to-do list.

“You paged for me?” he inquires casually.

“A few times, actually,” you mutter.  “I’m getting killed out here.”

“Relax,” Lee purrs, condescension dripping from his tone.  “We’ll get it done.”

You bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from firing back the half-dozen nasty responses that spring to mind. There is no we when it comes to Doctor Lee.  He’s always been flighty and inconsistent, but these days he’s practically a missing person.  You’re still not sure how hospital management hasn’t figured out that he’s making his resident run the overnight ER.

“There’s a guy down the hall who says he swallowed a magnet,” you say, waving a hand in that direction.  “If you can pick him up I can get to this head trauma.”

Lee sighs like it’s a major inconvenience that you’ve asked him to do his job.

“Yeah, I’ll grab it.”

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

It’s nearly four in the morning by the time you have a chance to catch your breath.

You walk out to scan the waiting area and to your relief, there are only a handful of patients yet to be seen.  Then your eyes land on one young man -- slumped into a chair in an oversized coat, hat pulled low over his eyes.

You freeze.  

The man in the chair must feel your stare from across the room because he straightens, giving you a better look at the face hidden under the brim of his hat.  You let go of a breath you don’t realize you’ve been holding.

It’s not him.  

It’s not the mysterious man with the fake names and the bogus stories and the insanely handsome face. You shake your head as you look back down at your tablet, silently chastising yourself for even entertaining the thought.  

You shouldn’t still be thinking about this guy and you know it.

But it’s driving you nuts that you can’t figure him out.

He’s never tried to play you for pills and that seems to be the only thing people lie about these days. But if his problem isn’t drugs it’s certainly something because no one lands in the hospital that many times, with that many phoney stories unless they’re up to no good.

So you ignore the nonsensical disappointment you feel when the guy in that chair is not the guy. 

Because deep down you know he’s either in trouble -- or he is trouble.

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

Your pager goes off for a second time and you silence the alert, tossing it onto a nearby blanket.

It’s not like you’re hiding out in here -- not really. 

It’s just that you’ve already had one patient cough up blood on your sneakers and another swing at you when you refused to give him narcotics, so this night is off to a spectacularly bad start.

Besides, Doctor Lee could use a taste of his own medicine.  

This week has been the worst, by far.  You’ve been seeing at least three patients to his every one and you’re exhausted.  If there’s any justice, he’s walking into the exam room where the infant with explosive diarrhea is waiting to be seen -- you check your watch -- right about now.

The door to the linen closet cracks open and you groan, hiding your face in your hands.

“What, you thought I didn’t know about your little hiding place?”  Nurse Ko asks with a grin.  “I find everyone’s hiding place, eventually.”

“Haven’t found Lee’s yet,” you gripe. 

“Yeah, well he’s sneakier,” she laughs.  “Here, I brought you something.”  

She tosses a granola bar at you and it lands in your lap.  

“Thanks,” you sigh, ripping it open.  You take a bite and Ko leans against the doorframe.

“I don’t page you for my health, you know.”

“I know,” you whine around a mouthful of dried oats.  “I just needed five minutes.”

“Well, I’ve got a guy out here who says he’ll only see you.  Doesn’t want Doctor Lee and says he’ll wait as long as it takes.”

A piece of the granola bar lodges in your throat and you cough around it, spluttering while Ko looks on, amused.  She waits for you to collect yourself.

“Is he -- ”

“ -- hot? Yes. Very,” Ko smiles.  

Your cheeks flame with embarrassment at both the observation and the fact that it’s coming from a woman in her sixties.

“I was going to say young,” you grumble, standing and dusting your hands off with a towel.

“That, too.  Come to think of it, I know I’ve seen him here before.  You have some kind of admirer, jagiya?”

You flush.

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

“Good evening, Mister Kim.”

You hope the air of nonchalance you affect when you enter the exam room is enough to mask your jitters.  

Your mystery patient looks back at you with those dark eyes and a half-smirk that makes your heart trip in your chest.  You take a steadying breath as you look down at your tablet.

Get it together, girl.

“What brings you in tonight?” you inquire lightly.  “Sword-swallowing accident?  Lose a fist fight with a bear?”

Your mysterious patient chuckles under his breath.  

“Where would you get a couple of outlandish ideas like that, Doc?”

You look up at him just as the teasing smirk on his face becomes a full smile and heat blooms in your chest and face.  You force yourself to tear your gaze away.

“I dislocated my shoulder.  Did you know I work air traffic control at Incheon?”

You shake your head with amused weariness as you make notes on your tablet.

“Crazy night.  One of the planes nearly slid off the runway and I threw my shoulder out trying to get it back on track.”

“Did you save it?”

“Saved it and all 227 people on board.”

“Bravo, Mister Kim.” 

“Just doing my job,” he shrugs.  

You set your tablet down on the exam table with a thump, eyeing him as you reach for a pair of gloves.

“The charge nurse says you asked for me.”

“I did,” he admits.  “You never told me what your favorite kind of milkshake is.”

You cock your head to the side as you look at him.  

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mister Kim,” you murmur, feigning ignorance. “According to my records this is the first time I’ve ever seen you.”

“Oh, yeah.  Right,” he chuckles.  

“You need some help getting undressed?”

“Yeah,” he admits, slipping one arm out of his leather jacket.  You lean in to help him pull the other side off, compelling yourself to ignore the way he smells like soap and sweat and man when you’re this close.

“It’s strawberry.”

You blurt the words out, anxious to give your brain a task that doesn’t involve analyzing this man’s smell.  Something about the mischievous twist to his mouth tells you he knows you’re flustered by his nearness.  

“I would have guessed chocolate,” he muses, reaching one hand down to grab the hem of his shirt. He drags it up his abdomen and you will your eyes to stay on his face -- refusing to give him any indication that you have more than a clinical interest in what lies underneath.

“Everyone likes chocolate,” you argue, taking over when he can’t get the shirt up any higher.  You push it over his head and carefully work it off his shoulder.  “I don’t want to be like everyone else.”

“Mission accomplished, Doc.”

He gazes at you then -- chest bare and eyes sharp beneath those inky lashes --  and you feel a bolt of awareness run the length of your spine. You pray the heat you suddenly feel all over your body is not manifesting in damning spots of color on your face.  

You remind yourself to get back to work. 

He sucks a breath between his teeth when you press gently against the inflamed muscle and tissue.

“My shoulder’s been shit for years,” he confesses.  “I screwed it up when I was a kid and it hasn’t been the same since.”

“So this happens to you from time to time?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then I’m going to have to refer you for an MRI,” you say, and he groans when you press into his shoulder again.  “There could be a lot of scar tissue in here, but I won’t be able to know what’s going on until we get some clear scans.”

Your eyes flick back to his.  

Every word that’s ever come out of this man’s mouth is a lie -- but there’s something that feels honest about the way he’s looking at you right now.  Something that makes you feel seasick, unsteady.

“Turn to the side for me,” you say quietly, and the thin paper that lines the exam table rustles as he complies.  The relief you feel when he pivots away from you with those eyes and that look is whole-bodied.  

“For now, the best I can do is probably pop -- “

Your words trail off as your eyes lock on a wound that sits just a few inches from his spine, just above the line of his jeans.  The edges are white and soft with age -- the area long-healed -- but the trauma is unmistakable.  

Textbook.  

The anger you feel as you stare at the wound doesn’t make any sense.  

But you feel it anyway.

“Is it still inside of you, or did they pull it out?”

“What -- ”

“-- The bullet Mister Kim,” you interrupt sharply.  “If it’s still in you, I promise it will come out the second they load you into an MRI machine.  The hard way.”

The muscles of his back flex as he stiffens.  Tension bleeds into the lines of his body and into his voice when he finally speaks.

“It’s out.”

Neither of you says another word.

The room feels hollow now, painfully quiet without talk of elephants or hot air balloons or milkshakes.  The two of you work together silently to crack his abused shoulder back into place.  Somehow he manages to endure that pain without making a sound.

In the end, it’s you that has to speak first.

“That should hold you for now,” you say tightly, standing to toss your gloves in the trash.   You grab your tablet to make notes.

“You mad at me, Doc?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” you mutter, fingers flying over your screen.  “I don’t even know you.”

“Then why does it feel like you’re mad at me?”

You tear your eyes away from the screen to find his.  

There’s no teasing or humor there anymore.  He looks boyish and unsure like this, peering back at you with somber eyes from beneath long black bangs that have fallen into his face.

“No more stories, no more bullshit.  Tell me who you are.”

The words are out of your mouth before you can think better of them -- before you can consider how stupid it is to interrogate a complete stranger with a now confirmed history of violence.  Before you can consider that you have no right to the anger that now streaks white-hot through your veins.

“I can’t,” he breathes quietly.  “I’m sorry.”

You shake your head in disgust.

“Are you dangerous?”

Before he even speaks, you get your answer.  You get it in the way color erupts across the bridge of his nose and cheeks.  The way he looks away from you and down to his hands.

“I guess that depends on who you ask,” he whispers.

“I’m asking you,” you fire back.

He doesn’t answer.

You stand there for what feels like an eternity, waiting for him to say something in his defense. Waiting for him to pull another gag and tell just one more ridiculous story.  But the seconds tick by and he says nothing.

“A nurse is going to come by with a sling. She’ll help you get dressed, too,” you say tightly, walking to the door.

You don’t know why your heart feels like it seizes in your chest when you turn to give him one more look.

“Take care of yourself, Mister Kim,” you say quietly.  “And don’t come back.”

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

Glossary:

Dijeoteu: dessert

Jagiya: sweetie, sweetheart

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

Tag List!

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[stormblessed95]

https://youtu.be/PJBAl5Y1iiA

Hi stromy so ive been seeing this video since I joined this fandom

Is this real or as usual manipulated?

What's your opinion on this

Yesterday was apparently a tkkr day, so I'm getting this one out of the way first thing in the morning so that we can stop focusing on them and get to more fun asks and topics. Lol if it comes from a tkkr insinuating that taekook are kissing, you can just go ahead and assume it's manipulated or fake. This comes from this video of BTS surprising fans on the set of FRIENDS:

Not only is it all just angle of rotation because you can't see where they are truly sitting from the tiny camera only focusing on those hiding up front. But it's also insinuating that taekook are so unprofessional they would be sitting there kissing each other on camera and with fans just on the other side of the booth, like they don't have any ounce of self control. This is not a fanfic, but their actual lives. You can see when other people are sitting in those back corner spots too that when we get the wider angle shot, they are close but they aren't THAT close while hiding. Then you see the same shot from the front camera and those 2 people look practically on top of each other.

Here is the moment from that clip, you can watch it at 2:10 in the video. If this is taekook kissing:

Then how is Tae .2 seconds later looking over the top of the counter too:

You briefly see his face as JK moves and then Tae is moving upwards to peak over. Not to mention that if that angle is what proves taekook is kissing, then so is YoonJin I guess:

But WAIT we actually got another angle of them sitting there just like too, and I guess yoonjin WEREN'T kissing and their faces weren't as close as that fish angle lense made it seem from the front. Shocking:

And another angle, this time TaeGi in that back corner, yoongi practically hidden behind Tae lol, shows once again that while they are all sitting practically on top of each other, no one is within kissing distance either and that's just a bad angle of a corner to sit in

This is the same type of BS they did when they took the video of Tae and Jin from their blanket kick choreo and said it was taekook kissing on stage, where it was again the angle of the fancam, no lips were actually touched and it wasn't even the members of their ship, but that BS video claiming its taekook has millions of views and people legitimately believe it, just like they believe this one. It's the most legit looking camera angle I've ever seen though. Lmao unfortunately they don't even know the members of their own ship and thought Jin was JK, but this is a video for the Taejin shippers, not them lol

But you can see Jins mouth is next to Taes mouth a little easier in the blurry zoomed in photos, even from the same angle lol

Blanket kick kiss choreo was the gift that kept on giving for TaeJin and Jihope shippers for sure. Lmfaoo from that same performance where this TaeJin happened, a few feet away Jhope was pretending to dominate Jimin on the bed that was on stage and they had their own holy crap it looks like they actually locked lips moment during that choreo too 🤣

It also reminds me of when they thought Taekook were having an intimate hug at an award show that still gets circulated as them today, but if you look at the uncropped photo, JK is standing legit right next to them (with Jimin lol) and Tae is hugging a backup dancer.

Lmao it's just, they KNOW these things aren't true. Or at the very least, the ones who makes these videos know and then don't even care and spread rumors and bad camera angles and edits as fact. And then those things spread until everyone believes it happened without ever double checking the sources.

Basically what the moral of this little side tangent is, don't trust sources from a taekooker unfortunately. Hope this helped.

[so-writing]

Sugar, Honey, Ice and Tea - Matthew Tkachuk (7)

all parts in the master list

Minimal editing. Also hit me with some predictions for the end of this and also any thoughts at all about it. Is it trash, is it good? I am curious about what you think!

--

Matthew didn’t usually drink much during their time away from home. If the Flames won, he’d usually have a beer or two to celebrate and that was it. This past week had him consuming more alcohol than he had in a long time and he had no idea why.

The roommate situation put him on edge the moment he found out who he was going to be staying with and his mood soured even more when he discovered they’d have to share a bed so maybe that was why he was taking shots and downing beers like he was on summer vacation. 

He remembered bits and pieces of the previous night: she kissed him and then disappeared, he continued to take shots long after she’d gone, they had a conversation about moms in their hotel room. 

That was it though. He had no recollection of changing into his pajamas and crawling into bed. When his alarm went off, he woke up in bed alone and as he surveyed the room, he realized all her stuff was gone. 

Sure, they were going home today but damn, she must have really wanted to get the fuck away from him. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge that it might have hurt his feelings a little bit so he pushed the thought away and began to get ready for the day.

*

The feeling of peace you got when you quietly closed the door behind you and wheeled your luggage away from the room you shared with Matthew Tkachuk was incredible. 

The past week had been a roller coaster that you were dying to get off of and all you had to do was get through this last game and the bus ride home. That would be easy though, you’d have no interaction with Matthew during the game and you knew damn well he would rather cling to the top of the escape hatch on the bus rather than sit next to you. 

It was finally over. Your mouth was practically watering at the thought of sitting down in your apartment, by yourself, with a bottle of wine, Netflix and Chinese takeout. 

You watched as the Flames won the game and as much as you didn’t want to notice it, you did. Matthew was playing like shit, barely dragging himself around the ice as he tried to keep up with his teammates. His personal play was entirely unremarkable and you were sure he was going to hear all about it as soon he got to the locker room. 

“How happy are you to be free of Tkachuk?” 

“So fucking happy, you’ve got no idea!” 

You laughed along with another of the assistants as the two of you helped organize the remaining luggage for the driver to load beneath the bus. 

“He played like shit today, might be bummed you two aren’t going to keep sleeping together.”

“Oh, don’t even. ‘Sleeping together’ implies something entirely different that what we were forced to do.”

“I know, I know,” he shook his head and laughed easily, “but honestly, did you think about it? I know you two aren’t exactly besties but come on, look at the man.” 

Did you think about it?

Of course you did. You thought about it multiple times. Matthew had stripped down in front of you, once completely and another time almost there. There was no denying that you’d gone to bed at least once thinking about what it would be like to spend the night enjoying yourself underneath him instead of sleeping next to his grumpy ass. 

You were taking that shit to the fucking grave, though.

“He’s a complete prick, and I don’t know if you heard, but I slept on the floor a few days ago, so no. I wouldn’t fuck that man with your dick.” 

That response sent him into a fit of laughter, “I mean I get that it was a rough week for you but I’ll be honest, I respectfully disagree. That pest could fucking get it anytime he wanted.” 

“Gross,” you playfully rolled your eyes as the two of you finished your task, “spend a few hours with him not in a strictly hockey setting and I promise you’ll change your mind.”

“Doubtful!” 

When all the luggage was loaded, the two of you made your way onto the bus. None of the players were there yet so you both took advantage of the back two rows that only contained two seats each. The entirety of the team didn’t completely fill the bus so you, stupidly, assumed you would sit alone on the trip home. 

Shoving your AirPods into your ears, you opened Spotify and settled into both the uncomfortable bus seat and the several hours long trip home. 

Not even ten minutes later, a body dropping into the seat next to you pulled your concentration out of your music and when you looked to see who it was that sat next to you, you couldn’t yourself from rolling your eyes. 

Matthew Tkachuk gave you a tight smile before rummaging around through his book bag and producing a paperback book. 

No he wasn’t. There was no way he was reading that. Dumb hockey bros weren’t into high fantasy. There was no fucking way he was reading ‘A Game of Thrones.’

He was though, and you watched him like a hawk as he parted the book where his mark was placed, almost halfway through, before you felt like you had to say something.

“You’re legitimately reading that book,” you pulled out an AirPod and gave him an inquiring look, “really?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged his shoulders, “I loved the show, figured I’d give the books a try.”

“They’re really good, much better than the show in my opinion.” 

Matthew’s smile stretched across his face, “that’s what I’m thinking! I know I’m barely into it but the books are so much more detailed.”

It was a cute moment, the two of you sharing an interest, but you were determined to remain all business with him.

“Why’d you sit here?” 

“I don’t know,” he ran a hand through his curls, “why not?”

A quick silence formed between the two of you before he tried again, “what are you listening to?” 

“Uh, Bring Me The Horizon, you probably won’t like it.” 

“Try me.” 

Matthew handed you his phone and you opened up his Spotify account and typed in the song you were listening to. 

“So the band is Bring Me The Horizon, right? What’s the song called?” 

“Sugar honey ice & tea.” 

“Okay.” 

++

You settled into a comfortable flow with Matthew. One of your pods was in his ear as he read AGOT and listened to the whatever you were playing. He didn’t mind when you fell asleep on his shoulder, leaning his head against yours as he continued reading his book. 

“Hey,” he was gentle, “wake up. We’re home.”

“What?” 

“We’re back in Calgary.”

“Oh, okay.” 

“Are you good?” 

“Yeah, I just, yeah. Can you ask someone if they wouldn’t mind taking me home? My car’s here but I’m so fucking tired.”

“I can take you home.”

“Matthew, no, you cant. You need to rest. I’m fine, I’ll be fine. I’ll get an Uber or something.” 

“No.”

He was firm in his response. Your eyes were heavy with sleep and you were in no condition to do anything on your own. 

“Whatever, I don’t want to fight with you, dickface.”

Matthew chuckled to himself as he guided you into the parking garage toward his car. You let him open the passenger door and help you into the Audi. 

“What’s your address?” 

You mumbled it quickly, earning a smile and a “we live in the same building” declaration from him. 

Far too sleepy to notice anything around you, you nodded in and out of sleep as Matthew drove from the area to your building. His quick glances in your direction were lost on you and it was only when he was trying to get you out of the car that you really woke up. 

“Fuck, Matt, I’m so sorry. I’m just so exhausted.” 

“I get it,” he helped you get your bags out of his trunk, “you didn’t have a great week and I had a lot to do with that.” 

The two of you headed up to your second floor apartment in silence, you trudging up the stairs with little effort while Matthew followed you, making sure you didn’t fall. 

“This is me. Where are you?” 

“Oh, uh,” his cheeks lit up red as his eyes traveled toward the ceiling.

“Of course, superstar Matty Tkachuk lives in the penthouse on the top floor,” you teased, “if only we could all be so lucky.” 

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your apartment,” he slid around you let himself in as soon as you opened the door and surveyed his surroundings, “I really like it.” 

*

He didn’t expect her place to be so cute, but it was and he smiled wide when her black cat rubbed against his legs.

“He’s called Onyx.”

“I like him,” Matthew leaned down to scratch his ears, “who takes care of him when you’re gone?” 

“My neighbor. She’s a sweet lady.”

“I’m glad."

“I’m sure this is peasant shit compared to your place, but we do what we can.” 

He stopped petting Onyx and looked up to meet her eyes. 

“I would never think that about anyone. Jesus Christ, do you really think I’m that much of a fucking asshole?”

She didn’t say anything, but her face turned beet red and she turned away from him before turning back again.

“I’m sorry. I’m so used to you being awful that any small morsel of kindness is unfamiliar. Sorry.” 

“It’s fine. You should sleep though.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

He paused for a moment before breaking out in a big grin, “can I take Onyx up with me?”

“Absolutely not! Onyx is a heathen like the rest of us on the lower floors!”

“He deserves 360 degree views of Calgary.” 

You paused, turning to look directly at Matthew.

“Do you have that?”

“Yeah.” 

“I am so fucking jealous.” 

“You can come up and see too, as long as you bring Onyx.”

“As much as I don’t like you, I’m absolutely going to take you up on that, Matthew.”

He hated ‘Matthew’ and she knew it. He had tried to correct her a few times but she wasn’t budging. He wasn’t going to argue now, though, because she was adorable standing in her own apartment with her cute cat rubbing against her legs and—No. No, no, no. Matthew did not like this girl because this girl was fucking terrible and she hated him.

Except, he did like her and she was the opposite of terrible and she had an adorable cat. 

What the fuck was he doing?

[lovely-necromancy]

A Cure for Insomnia CH.2

Getting back to your little one story cottage, you can only manage to rush in and run about in a mad dash as you try to accomplish getting ready for work and getting something to eat. Running through choices in your head as you change and freshen up, nothing sounds good. There's not much time since your shift starts at nine and to make it to the store you need to leave by eight twenty. You got home at eight fifteen, and while Nate, your manager, has never seemed to give a fuck what you did at work you're still in your probationary period and would like to keep the easiest job you've ever had.

It's a really simple gig, seeing as the store you work at is actually a front for some illegal activity. The variety of crime you aren't sure of, but you are aware there's no way you guys do no business and yet they can afford to pay thirty dollars an hour. Thankfully just keeping your mouth shut and being nice to little Jo, the owner's daughter, is enough to keep you in the cushiest job in the world. The store's front is a regular old book store, all the books are real, the registers work, you're able to sell books and you've run to the bank to do the weekly deposits twice for Book & Nook. The front is very legitimate or it would be if the amount of customers ever equaled the sales made.

Again you don't ask questions, because for thirty dollars an hour you get to goof off for a couple hours a day, plus you get a bonus when you watch little Jo at the shop. She's a real sweet eleven year old, she's got tourettes and took a shine to you the first time she saw you tic. While you both might not suffer the same disorder she finds the common ground nice, like it's not just her. It's not even hard to watch her or enjoy her company, she'll come bouncing in with her excited chittering and hands clapping spilling all the latest gossip that comes with being in middle school. And boy is there a lot of gossip.

It's really nice seeing that Jo has friends at school and is even considered a “popular” kid. You remember how tough school was because no one understood you and teachers never cared enough about your personality to bring up the fact that it was clear to most faculty members that you had Autism. You excelled academically so what did it matter if you got picked on for oversharing information or for finishing assignments the minute they were handed to you. As bittersweet as the parallels are you're so glad Jo doesn't have to go through that. Never would have thought a southern school could be so accepting, much less a middle school at that.

Tearing through the kitchen you honestly can't find anything that you want to eat right now. And even after a long night of hiking/dissociating you don't think you're that peckish at all. Figuring it's best to at least take something to quell any future nausea you grab a Pedialyte Pop from the freezer. As fast as you entered your home you left, and not before ensuring twice that the door was locked and secured. While living on the outskirts of town saves you from many potential robberies, and worse salesmen, there's still the chance of some lunatic with an ax hiding out in a closet to murder you. Better safe now than sorry later.

Pulling into park behind the shop right at nine is a blessing. You run into the shop to clock in blurting out a quick 'Morning' to Nate, who was carrying a particularly large box, as you passed by him. In a flash you were back at your car retrieving your newly prized deer skull. Lungs burning a bit from the all out sprint you just did you took a little extra time to close the trunk and lock your car up to catch your breath, and avoid any light headiness you might get from the empty stomach workout. Eager to share the wonders of death with your best work friends, and by that you mean Nate your manager...and only other coworker, you rush back into the building.

The shop was quiet as usual as you made your way through the door though you were in the back room where only employees could roam you had the slightest suspicion that the front of shop was just the same. It's there you find Nate, now lugging a medium sized box around to a side table. He did this a lot you suspect some type of smuggling but hey plausible deniability and all those legal matters. The taller dark haired man sees you and just as he's about to wave you over, notices your prize with a raised brow.

“The fuck d'you bring in the store?” he doesn't seem amused by whatever it is he thinks you're up to. “Deer skull.” Lifting it up in one hand and pointing at it, “Found this guy on my hike last night...or rather this morning actually.”

“YN, we talked about this, you said you'd get some sleep last night. No adventures remember.” he's only two years older than you and yet he acts as if he's ten years. He must be an old soul, or enjoys the role of care giver...or you're making him go gray prematurely, anything's possible.

“Eh, I remember saying I'd 'try' and get sleep.” for someone who's body is running on fumes your cheekiness is astronomical, “operative word being 'try', remember.”

It's a long silence as Nate decides if he wants to deal with your bullshit at this moment. After a minute or so he concedes leaning back on the table behind him. “Let's hear it.” and you perk up immediately.

“Cool, so I was walking along the tree line and spotted him, tried to find more but seems there's only one piece. Judging by the size of his antlers I'd say he was nearly fully grown. Now my plan is to do whatever treatments taxidermists do to bones and,” you continue to word vomit at the tired twenty-six year old in front of you, about the joys and wonders of taxidermy and the likely hood of ever finding a skull so nicely preserved.

“I can do that in here right?” even though it's been phrased as a question, you aren't asking permission, you're just being polite and letting Nate know the storage room will house your creepy deer skull antics for today...maybe the week you need to find a taxidermist book to figure out what you need to do.

Nate gives up and leaves with his box of new books to let you have full run of the back to do your weird vulture culture shit. He figures he's just too old to understand the new obsessions with the macabre. He hopes his cousin won't take to shit like this, the kid's weird enough as it is, no need to put another target on her back. Nate sets off to take down the Harry Potter sets in favor of this new comic series little Jo wanted.

Already taking his silence as the go ahead you place your found skull on the table and rush off into the store front to find a book on taxidermy and hopefully more specifically about bones. The set up and organization of the store reminds you a lot of the scene in Brendan Fraser's The Mummy 1997 where Evie is on the ladder and somehow causes all the book shelves to fall like dominoes. So unsafe, yet all book stores and libraries seem to have this set up. With the tall shelves it makes it difficult to accurately get a read on the spines. You don't even know what section taxidermy actually falls under, education maybe?

“Nate, where do you think a book on taxidermy would be?” you called out as you passed by him.

“...hobby?” that didn't sound right but you'd give it a shot anyway.

This should be fun, the hobby section was so disorganized and it took up nearly half the store too, Book & Nook had everything from fishing, to crochet, cooking, the art of film making, hell even had a cryptid hunting book a book that you may have to look into a bit later. You closed your eyes and let your intuition guide you, when you looked up you saw a thin black...vine, no whisp? It undulates in less than rhythmic movements nearly like a snake but it has no head, and not unlike a tentacle but without suckers. It's another hallucination so you were keen to ignore it until it stretched past your head, giving you an added auditory hallucination where you swore you could hear wind rushing past your ears, it swirled around you until it flew to the shelf and tapped on a book. Cautiously you walked over to it, it's never good to play into these delusions. Once you got close enough the black shape was gone but on the shelf was a creme colored paper back titled “Manual of Taxidermy: Complete Guide of Preserving Birds and Mammals.”

Walking to Nate with the book in your hands you asked him to read it and make sure you weren't having an episode and making everything up right now. You'd have to try harder to go to sleep tonight if that were the case.

“Oh you found your book huh?” he said looking down at the title.

Well this is getting weird fast, but you nod nonetheless. Might as well thank the weird hallucination gift right. Leaving him to do whatever it is he plans on doing the rest of the day, you go to the back. And just as the book instructs you set to cleaning the skull by setting it in some water and changing it as many times as the water runs murky. The book is quiet helpful to a beginner like yourself but it does seem a bit outdated from the bits of information you know from taxidermists blogs and vulture culture posts on the internet. Reading it in between water changes is a great way to pass the time though, not like you guys get any real customers anyways.

The bell rings as the front door opens and closes alerting you to someone's arrival on your third water change. Needing a little bit of mental stimulation you walk out into the front where Big Jo and Little Jo are talking to Nate. Little Jo sees you and skitters away from her father to rush you, she stops about a foot away and holds her arms wide open. She's a hugger but upon meeting you had never even thought people could be touch adverse so keeping in mind that you might not want to be touched she's learned to invite you into hugs and it's your choice to allow it or not. Placing a hand on your bicep you give a squeeze, checking your tolerance you find the thought bearable. Placing your arms outstretched at your sides Jo rushes your torso for her hug.

After she nearly body slammed you into the wall, and  let her death grip go she was off on a tangent about so many things. Her excited rapid blinking tic, one she developed after meeting you, triggering your own.

“Ok so you remember how last week I told you that Jessie Kinsleton said that Micheal Saleisa told Gigi B, not Gigi S. that Meghan,” you had no clue the lives of eleven year olds had gotten so complex, from the gossip you heard from Jo it seemed that the school's sixth graders were plotting for a war with an ice cream parlor up the street. No clue why, maybe just to fuck the system, kids are weird, preteens are weirder...and angry.

But you nod to Jo listening to her every word, and trying to calm your eyelids so you could actually open your eyes. After being told the sequence of events that would happen in the Tween Armageddon, something to do with Marco Salvator ordering three dozen donuts and a flock of geese, your eyes finally gained their ability to see back. Black whisps, much like the one from earlier, wandered all around your vision, it looked like a  dark smoke had settled eye level within the shop and was snaking through the isles.

Catching the movement of your eyes Jo looked around the shop too. Seeing nothing she turned back to you concerned, “Hey it's okay, nothin's there.”

Hearing the drop in volume of the normally chatty tween, Big Jo and Nate pause their conversation to turn their attention to you and follow you're gaze.

“Kid, you ain't sleepin' again?” Big Jo can already gauge by the bags under your eyes but he's a polite man so he feels the need to ask rather than state his assumptions.

“Day 6.” You answer simply, ever since you've started at Book & Nook the whole Cowell family became acutely aware of many of your disorders. By their record your longest time spent awake was ten days, you however adamantly say that you were an hour's mark away from ten full days so the longest you've been up is nine days in a row. And those are just the cases they know of since you've moved to Kepler.

Big Jo shook his head as a stern father would, which he is, “I have half the mind to send you home to rest.”

“That won't work.” you really don't mean to sound so coarse but it's so irritating having to go over this at least once a week.

“What about those gummy things Dia got you?”

“Long term that kind of stuff has no effect, sure it'll make me drowsie for an hour or two but even if it made me sleep one night I can't use it all the time. And before you ask the same questions again, caffeine has no real effect on me so limiting my intake will do nothing and weed doesn't do a thing for me either.” you state plainly, monotone as you present facts that everyone in the room already knows.

Looking at the stern face of Big Jo's and the exasperated face of Nate you continue, “I know it must be frustrating for you to not be able to help, but I'm content living like this. I like my late night adventures and when I do sleep it's really pleasant.”you threw in a smile for added comfort.

“Kid tha's not the point, there's somethin' wrong with you, medically I mean.” he's pinching the bridge of his nose, probably counting to ten to calm himself from raising his voice.

“Tons of people suffer from insomnia and there isn't anything a doctor could do for me except look for underlying conditions.” Big Jo's about to retort when you continue with, “Plus my dad and uncle both have insomnia as well so my case is due to the genetic lottery I lost.” You say with a hint of finality of your situation, you had to come to terms with this condition all the way back in high school. Having a decade to get used to your strange condition and the limitations it places on you from time to time. Whereas the Cowell family's only had two months to process this information, and you understand it'll take awhile before they stop being concerned. Same thing happened with you parents and friends back then too.

For now you're only met with more head shakes as if they were saying 'what are we going to do with you'. Leaving your medical issues aside Nate and Big Jo continue to talk shop, when the set up Nate just put on display catches Jo's eye.

Like lightening the tween was away from your side and by the new display shelf it looked like it held graphic novels. That's a first since you've been here, you walk over to join Jo knowing the second you do she'll start on about what's got her so excited. Most people might say you over indulge the child and coddle her but you actually just think it's really important to take interest in what makes kids happy. It helps them find their voices and also shows them that it's normal to get excited and like things.

“We got the TAZ graphic novels in?!” you hate rhetorical questions but smile and nod at her anyway.

“Have you read them? No, well you've listen to the podcast...what omg! Ok so there's these three brothers and their,” Jo begins regaling you with tales from the podcast known as The Adventure Zone and how fun they've made dungeons and dragons seem with their amazing story telling and funny characters.

You aren't sure if a show where the main group of heroes being called Tres Horny Bois is exactly age appropriate but when you look to Big Jo he kind of just shrugs it off. Turning you attention back to Jo who's now monologing about mongooses you just smile at the weird family you've found yourself in.

Let it be said that a tween with a slightly unhealthy fixation on something can find anyway to drag it back to that fixation. The day flew by with Jo explain the inner workings of dungeons and dragons, fifth edition, to you, her father, and her cousin after you mentioned why she didn't play. Apparently she'd love to but wanted a story fitting for her friend's to adventure. So being the good older cousin, father, and weird family friend you all were you came up with a story plot for her to use with her campaign.

The Jos had a lot of fun bonding over this little workshop and you guys even had food delivered so you and Nate could stay later. What was meant to just be a quick workshop turned into a mini family game night after you made several nearly impossible puzzles that wouldn't be used in Jo's campaign due to no one at the current table understanding how to solve it even after you showed them several times.

Overall it was fun and you think you might actually be tired enough to go to sleep tonight. You tried to stay and help clean up but Big Jo put his foot down and told you to go get some rest, he'd seen the way you occasionally look around the room as if something was moving behind them all. You may have started off as a cashier two months ago for him but his daughter has opened up a lot since meeting you and discovering that tics aren't so uncommon and there are people who wouldn't care or make a big deal out of them. Because of that you've earned your keep in his family, he already has you down on the list for Christmas cards.

Knowing you can't fight the six foot four man you roll your eyes and bid everyone good night, little Jo coming in to steal another hug from you and thank you for helping with her game. Checking on your skull you see the water's clear and dump it in the sink of the break room before leaving the skull to dry overnight, it's for sure gonna make Nate scream tomorrow, you can't help but chuckle at that.

Leaving through the back door and into the dusk colored parking lot you notice your trunk is popped open slightly. You definitely heard it shut earlier this morning. You blink before your head jerks to the right, unsettled by possibility of a break in and not risking it you head back inside.

“Hey, I think my car may have been broken into.” you stand awkwardly in the door way unsure of how to proceed.

Big Jo and Nate are out of the door as fast as they can. They find your car unlocked with the trunk popped, you know they weren't trying to brush you off when they asked several times if you did in fact lock your car this morning. After hearing your affirmative response each time, they began to inspect your car checking to make sure all wires are properly secured under the hood, Nate even retrieved the jack out of his own car to take a look under the car, ensuring the brakes hadn't been messed with. They started the car up just fine and it didn't appear tampered with. Even though nothing looked out of place and Nate's car, sitting in the same parking lot, hadn't been touched you appreciated them checking to make sure you were alright.

Knowing you're perceived as a woman by most, even outside of this small town, makes you uneasy when it comes to terms of abductions and violence. You know the chances and hear the stories whether it's from the victim's mouth or a podcaster's telling the story the dead can't. Nate offered to follow you home and make sure you were ok but you declined and said you'd call them both when you got home. Big Jo said to just call his home phone because Nate would be coming over tonight anyway, and if they didn't make it there before you called Dia was already at home and would pass the message along. You'll probably still try and give the shop a call if Dia answers, it wouldn't sit right with you if you wound everyone up just to not and at least try to settle their nerves.

With one final check of you car, the men even going so far as to lift seats up and feel under them, they sent you off. You drove carefully on the road tonight, ready to pull off into the shoulder at the slightest hint that something was wrong. Not even the radio was on something that you really didn't like driving without, but if there was the chance for you to catch a shift in tone of the machine you wanted to. Eventually you did end up making it home in one piece and you had called the Cowell family home, from the safety of your car, and got a spazztic eleven year old asking if you'd made it home alright. It took a little bit of coaxing but Little Jo calmed down and shouted to her parents that you were on the phone and alright.

“Kid,” looks like Big Jo took the phone away from Little Jo, “Everything ok on the drive.” Big Jo could hear the movement and shutting of your car door, he'd have to say he was relieved you waited until you were on the phone before exiting. He knew you lived out past the quiet zone in Old Lydia's house. A fact that did little for the unease he felt when he thought you were being watched.

“Oh, yea drive was fine, too quiet but fine.” you said simply as you began circling the cottage. Nothing seemed out of place on the outside, even looking above eye level where people tended to get sloppy in stalking or home invasion cases, everything seemed fine.

“Hope you don't mind if I keep you for a bit.” You had just unlocked your door and stepped in.

“Nah, kid 's fine.” you give a hum of acknowledgment as you look through the kitchen in cabinets, under cupboards, and even under the table.

“You're a smart kid.” he's taken that fatherly overtone that makes you roll your eyes. You understand the sentiment of parents and parental figures having pride in their child or ward but it's always been so weird to you when they feel the need to bring it up. Especially when they bring it up in situations that are dangerous, like can you not make it sound like someone's about to die.

Finding nothing in the living room, hall closet or bathroom you make sure all the windows are locked and dowels are in place to keep them from opening. And you double check that both the back and front doors are secured. You can hear the hushed whispers on the other end of the line, Dia must have just found out about your car, as you rustle through your kitchen utensil drawers taking out two forks before you make your way to your bedroom.

Once in your room you checked your closet and under your bed. Finding nothing you  went to the window in your room, the one right by your bed, you checked the lock, secured it in place with two dowels, and then covered it throwing a thick blanket over the curtain rod to ensure no one would be viewing you in your sleep or the precautions you were about to do. Turing around and locking your bedroom door you then jam one fork into the closed door crease, right below the locking mechanism, and jammed the other fork perpendicular through the prongs. You attempted to open the door with all your weight but only could get an inch in before the forks would stop more movement.

“Kid you alright over there?” it's rushed, he probably heard the commotion with your make shift lock.

“Yea, just had to add another lock to the door.” you trust the Cowell's but you understand how stupid it'd be to let them know exactly how you were defending yourself. Even if it wasn't them there's no telling if the person who broke into your car was outside and just good at hiding. You could also be too jumpy from your true crime shows but you figure it's better to be safe.

“I think everything's good Big Jo.” taking a final glance around your room eye's landing on the bed, “Think I'm even ready to go to sleep tonight too.” a small half laugh leaves your mouth.

“Alright kid, you call if you need anything got it.” it's an order not a request.

“Got it, good night.” Big Jo might think that'd been rude coming from anyone else but from you he can only roll his eyes at the brevity and the dial tone he's met with. He has his own sweep to do, if they were targeting his employee there was a reason. He hasn't had any problems since coming to Kepler but someone always eventually comes along who can't take a hint.

Even combing through your home with Big Jo on the line you didn't feel safe having your bed by the window anymore and moved it away and in front of the closet door. You'd rearrange your room later but for tonight this would have to do. By some grace of god you were actually able to shut your brain down tonight and rest. Maybe it was the excitement and merriment from hanging out with the Cowells or more likely the situation you find yourself in of perhaps being a target for something insidious.

Whatever the case may be you are off to the land of dreams before you know it. And unbeknownst to you the same eyes from this morning watch your home. They may not have seen what you did in there but they'd be sure to catch you when you come out. They'll wait all night to catch you if they have to.