#they had to stop playing for a bit while security kicked this one guy out lol

[highhhfiveee]

okay here me out. abby teasing reader about having a crush on mike, and when he's around very 'subtle' teasing from abby to reader... SORRY IF THIS DOESNT MAKE SENSE BUT ITS BEEN ON MY MIND.

it makes sense! i was working on a little ficlet for the "mint" series and i think this works with it (,:

self care

a "mint" ficlet. read the og here: 🍫

wc: 2k tags: mint!mike and reader, fluff, no warnings, just cute stuff (:

mike lets out a long sigh as he turns the car off, rubbing his hands down his face. security work is exhausting, and while he understands working overnight shifts, he doesn't see how it's healthy.

he's always tired, always irritable, always ready to call it quits and say "fuck work", staying home until he's caught up on his winks.

it would be a dream for him, he thinks, but he knows it's not realistic. he's doing this to better his life, better abby's life; it would all be worth it in the end, he hoped.

he exits the car with no urgency, trotting his way to the front door. he's excited to see you and abby, eager to sit and eat breakfast with you guys, tell you about his night.

he turns the knob and it gives with no trouble, which makes his heart rate tick up. the door is never unlocked.

he bursts inside frantically, beginning to panic a bit when he sees that you aren't in your usual spot on the couch, cuddled into one of the blankets or sweeping your green mint wrappers into your hand. the tv wasn't on. there wasn't anything happening in the kitchen.

it was eerily quiet, too quiet for his liking.

"y/n?" he calls, wildly hanging his security vest and kicking off his shoes. "abby?"

mike wonders why the two of you aren't answering, beginning down the hall with his hands balled into anxious fists. what if something had happened to you two? what if he went into one of the rooms and found something undesirable, something that turned him frigid and reserved? what if someone had hurt you?

the light's on in the bathroom, framing the closed door in a fuzzy ring of yellow gold. mike hears voices, muffled but persistent, and music. it's all it takes for him to lean against the door, grip the doorknob and count down before he charges into the wood, slamming the door open and yelling into the bathroom.

you and abby squeal, bodies wracked with fear. you both have green paste all over your faces, spread around your eyes and mouths in a precise layer. you're holding onto your chest as you try to calm down, tapping on your phone to stop the music you're playing. abby heaves angrily, marching over to mike and giving him a moderately powered shove. "not funny, mike!"

"i wasn't trying to be funny," he utters, huffing along with you two. "i thought someone had broken in or something. the door was unlocked and i called for both of you but you didn't answer. i was terrified." you frown, shaking your head in disappointment at yourself.

"i'm really sorry, mike. i took the trash out earlier and i guess i forgot to lock the door when i came back in. i would never try to put abby in harm's way."

"no, no, it's okay," mike returns, taking a deep-rooted sigh of relief now that he knows you two are safe. "i know you wouldn't. mistakes happen, i just lost it a little. wouldn't want anything to ever happen to you two."

your cheeks heat up at "you two". you're flattered that he cares about your safety at the same level that he cares about abby's, or at all really. you knew that abby meant everything to him, but you wondered just how much you meant to him, exactly.

"that's totally understandable. sorry i didn't hear you calling either, we were kind of caught up in the music and face masks," you chuckle shyly, pulling the sleeves of the forest green sweatshirt you were wearing over your hands. it's mike's sweatshirt, one that he thinks he remembers giving to abby sometime ago. you look good in it.

"y/n was teaching me about 'self care', and how doing little things for myself is important. we started with skincare, see?" abby places her hands under her chin, using them to hold her face as she smiles.

it hadn't been your plan to use your $40 face mask on abby this morning, but you didn't mind. you'd been in the bathroom, humming along to the soothing ambient music that floated from your phone speakers and smothering your face in green like you'd be starring in Wicked when she appeared in the doorframe, bleary eyed and lethargic. "may i pee?"

you exited the bathroom and closed the door behind you, opening it back up once you heard the toilet flush and the faucet run. "what's on your face?" she asked, shaking the water off of her hands.

"it's a face mask. this one is my personal favorite. it's specifically for moisturizing the skin, but there are so many other ones that do different things. i do them sometimes as a part of self care."

"what's self care?"

"i can explain it to you. want to try some of the mask after you brush your teeth?" she nodded happily, beginning to shed any trace of sleepiness.

"my skin is a bit dry." you laughed at her, helping her with her toothbrush. after, you'd sat her on the bathroom counter, scooping product with your middle and ring fingers and smearing it across abby's delicate skin.

"so, it's just like...taking care of yourself? literal self care?" you nodded, filling in whatever gaps you could find.

"mhm. just doing small things to make yourself feel better, happy, more fulfilled. we all need to take care of ourselves, living these lives. it's important to remember to take time for yourself when you need it, okay? taking breaks is good. humans need rest."

"mike never rests," she admitted, pouting at the thought of mike working all the time, tired and distant from the strain on his mental and physical health. "i don't even think he knows what rest is."

"i'm sure he does, he's just working hard to make sure you're never in need. he cares about you a lot, and wants you to be safe, and happy, and taken care of."

"which is nice," abby muttered, turning to look at her face in the mirror. she smiled, humming in contentment before facing you again. "i just wish he would go do something. take off from work and go out. go on a date." you jovially scoff at her words, tickling at her abdomen.

"what do you know about dating, huh? does mike even like dates?"

"i think he'd like a date with you." your entire body flushed with mortification, and you stepped back from abby, stumbling over your words with nervous laughter.

"t-t-there's no way he would, abby. that's silly. i don't even like him like that, it would be unprofessional..." you bit at your bottom lip, avoiding abby's eyes.

"oh please. you're my unpaid babysitter, not a salaried nanny," she reassured curtly, and you frowned at her, playfully insulted. "plus, i know you have a crush on him, y/n. it's so obvious. i saw you nearly die when he gave you those mints. i'm sure he see stuff like that too if he wasn't so clueless about everything."

you nodded, gnawing at your bottom lip so hard you drew blood. "well, jeez, thank you for the exposé, abby. still, i don't think he feels the same way. he has no time to think about me." abby only squinted at you, her lips pursed with amusement.

"or so you think." you'd waved her off, pivoting the subject by showing her your skincare collection, explaining all the different tubes and bottles. you'd fanned them out over the counter, grouping things by step.

"and this is vitamin c...usually comes before your moisturizer and helps with dark spots, dullness...you have to wear sunscreen when you wear it, but you should be wearing sunscreen everyday anyway bec----"

mike had burst in at this moment, scaring the shit out of both you and abby. how you'd forgotten to lock the door, you didn't know, but you're glad mike had gotten home before anyone else could enter.

now, mike just tiredly returns his sister's smile. "that's nice, abs."

"yeah, was telling y/n that you should try it. you need to rest and take care of yourself." mike nods, pursing his lips in that tickled way that abby did earlier.

"that so? do a couple of face masks, take a bath, and make some tea to renew myself?"

"sounds like a plan to me," abby cheers, looking towards you. "add going on a date to the list and now, we're talkin'."

"a date?" mike ridicules, shaking his head at abby's frivolous suggestion. "a date with who?"

"i may know someone," abby teases, winking over at you so unmistakably that you're sure you're going to combust with the number of times you've flushed hot. "someone not too far, in fact."

mike can tell that abby is killing you, prodding at your private, adult feelings and decides to make her stop. "okay, abs, that's enough. wash your face while i go talk to y/n, okay? and no eavesdropping."

"i can try, but not promise."

"abby," mike asserts, and she shrinks under his serious stare, mumbling, "okay, okay, jeez."

you follow mike out into the living room, once again tugging at the sleeves of his sweatshirt. it drapes over you nicely, about one size too big, and the color looks so nice against your skin, rich and earthy.

"thanks for looking after her, as always," he commends, eyes still trained on you as you return his kindness with a soft "yeah, always. sorry again about the door." but mike dismisses your apology with a wave.

after a moment, he says, "that sweatshirt's nice," rubbing his fingers against his stubbled chin.

you drop your gaze down, smiling at the clothing item. you liked it a lot. it was super comfy and smelled like their place, pacifying you through the late night and early morning. "oh thanks. i left my sweater at home and abby let me borrow this one. it's so cute on her but it's super big."

"yeah," mike snickers, letting out some air through his nose. "that's 'cause it's mine." your body's color is replaced with flaming red, burning from the top of your forehead to the soles of your feet. how many more times could you be embarrassed this morning?

"oh my god, i'm so sorry. here, i can give it back," you panic, beginning to pull the item over your head, careful to not get your face mask on it. mike stops you with a hand to your elbow, a gentle graze that doesn't move even when you have the sweatshirt back over your torso.

"hey, hey, no need. i gave it to her but i like how it looks on you. you look really beautiful...face mask and all." you blush vehemently, whimpering out "thank you" and bringing your thumb to your mouth to gnaw at so you don't say something else you might regret. you're sure mike can read your jitteriness, and you try to slip into a cool girl attitude when his eyes toss coyness your way.

you'd been babysitting abby for a while, and something about the way you continued to despite the hours and not being paid softened mike. of course he intended on paying you, but even when he did, he would always remember you as so kind, so generous; such a beautiful soul in a beautiful body.

"so...about that date?" he proposes, and the two of you hear a hushed, "yes!" around the corner of the wall. you both turn towards it, catching abby as she runs across the hall to her room.

"abby!"

"i said try!"

how flipping CUTE! i love cute shit like this, and after writing so much smut, it was nice to write something oh so sweet (((: gonna be posting smut next though lmao, just something slight, something slight. hope you enjoyed!

faire's seedlings ✿

@leahdhopkins4321-@pyr0-kai-@angstywhore-@sunazroo-@nyxthoughtss-@mirophobic-@fayethor-@marixsimps-@regretfulme-@ithinkitszeph-@707xn-@cattt777-@violetta-ximena-@amnesia33-@topnerd03-@fastnights-@laprvphette-@savage-aespa-@mfdxz-@0-tatiana-0-@dusstory

[jobesbabe]

fashionista / Dominik Szoboszlai x reader

summary- You’re offered your first modeling gig, and it’s with a super hot hungarian football player named Dominik.

warnings- fluff, reader is modeling for the first time

a/n- hey guys! i’ve been inactive for a while and still deciding if im gonna continue the domi series (summer baby) or just do imagines/ one shots. anyways heres something for ya!

You could have sworn Bailee was crazy when she signed you up for that modeling audition. She took your headshots herself, priding herself on getting all of the right angles. Those pictures had took at least five hours, but they must have paid off because here you were, getting a call back from Nike.

Though it wasn’t the most glamorous brand, it was a huge brand. You knew people would see whatever you wore and you were excited to do it.

Nike had called you asking if you had ever played or watched football, and your response was perfect for them. You loved football ever since you were a kid and still watch it as an adult.

Satisfied with your answer they told you to come in at 6 am Saturday for the shoot and they would get things started.

Jittery and somewhat tired, you showed up to the job ready to see your outfit.

A nice security guard named Lewis escorted you to your dressing room where a woman was waiting for you with a rack of clothes and a carrier case of makeup and hair tools.

Her name was Milly and she was to prepare you for the shoot.

“I heard the guy you’re shooting with is a football player himself. I think it’s someone who wears those Nike boots on the pitch?” She told you while brushing the roots of your hair out and applying some product to it.

“Really? I wonder if I’ve heard of him.” You told her.

She nodded. “He’s hot anyway, I saw him walking in. He was like a greek god mixed with an angel,” You laughed at Milly.

She put your hair up into a slick back ponytail and then braided the ponytail.

Thanking her, you looked at the outfit laid out for you.

You were to start the shoot in Nike pros, a white sports bra and Nike Blazers, with some nike socks under them. Emerging from your dressing room in your outfit, you spoke with someone who you assumed was directing the shoot because of what he was wearing, and his very evident supremacy in the room.

He told you not to worry about the shoot, and you were all just there to have fun.

You began your solo part of the shoot, in this outfit taking probably about a hundred photos

While you were shooting, you saw a man come out of his dressing room, in a black nike compression shirt and shorts with air force 1 shoes on. He was tattooed, with a chiseled jawline and gelled hair.

You knew who he was.

Anyone with half of a brain in the football world knew who he was, but you had been crushing on him since he transferred from Leipzig to Liverpool.

That was Dominik Szoboszlai.

Trying to avoid his eyes, you kept focusing, eyes locked on the camera.

When your eyes met his, even for just the split second that they did, he bit his lip and raised his eyebrows.

“Y/n, can you pick up the football and rest it under your arm?” The directior asked you.

You did as you were told, “ah yes! perfect.” The photographer took probably a hundred photos of you like that before calling Dominik over.

You went to move and the director put his hands out to stop you.

“no, no hold that pose, we’re just adding Dominik into the picture,”

He directed Dominik to join you and put his arm around you for a duo picture.

You looked pretty short next to him, and your heart was racing.

You two held the pose for a while and took some various other photos.

“I need to grab a water, but stay there, You two can move about but stay on set,” The director told you and Dominik.

You nodded, dropping the nike football to the floor and doing kick ups as a challenge to yourself.

“Pass it over, let’s play together,” Dominik said in an accent that somehow made your heart melt.

You passed around for a few minutes like this, bantering with each other, unaware of the photographer taking hundreds of candid photos of you and Dominik.

He was laughing, you were laughing, and it was the most fun you’d had in a while.

There was chemistry between the two of you, and you couldn’t tell if you were imagining it or not, but everything just came natural for you.

Soon, it was time for his individual shoot, but you stood where he had stood watching.

He made eye contact with you a dozen times and winked when the photographer’s back had been turned.

You had definitely not imagined that.

When the day was done, you returned to your dressing room and changed into a square neck black top and some light jeans.

You noticed a bag of goodies like clothes and PR from Nike to you, including the 23/24 third liverpool kit, with the name Szoboszlai on the back. You smiled, thinking back on how you thought the purple had looked best on him.

Someone knocked on your dressing room door, and you made your way there and opened it.

“hi,” Dominik said, wearing a white eyelet style button up,

“Hey Dominik, whats up?” you asked him releasing a deep breath that you didn’t know you were holding in.

“Domi,” he said. “You can call me Domi,”

He smiled and you met his eyes. Suddenly, as if remembering what he had came here for, he began to speak again.

“I came here to ask you if you’d like to go to dinner with me after this?” He smirked.

“Are you asking me on a date Domi?” You asked.

His head tilted. “You are quite beautiful,” He said.

“and you are quite handsome,” you told him.

“So it’s a date?” He asked.

“Yes, it is.” You told him.

“Shall we?” He asked reaching for your hand.

You nodded and interlocked your fingers in his.

That just so happened to become your first of many modeling jobs and dates with your now-boyfriend Dominik.

A/n - ugh i’ve had this written for a month im so sorry!! Its also kinda cringey so idk.

comment & repost if u enjoyed this!

[simplydannie]

I just love protective brother Veneer okay!! Also, some ideas I’m playing around with to update my AU…again lol

Fame comes with a price… sometimes that includes handsy, creepy fans. It’s all fine, until it comes down to his sister… that’s where Veneer draws the line.

She did it.

The Mistress had found her six superstars. The six she was to bring up from Under Rageous to sail in stardom in Mount Rageous. That’s what they were referred to by the agency, the powers, the higher ups in Mount Rageous…The Six.

And the queen and king of these six were the twins, Velvet and Veneer. Each star knew and used the essence of the Troll…but somehow these twins had an hypnotic effect on the crowd. They brought in the most money, their music was the most downloaded, their images the most searched. The other four stars and starlets only looked upon the twins with envy as they continued to rise and rise.

The twins were treated like royalty by the agency, including Mistress. They were her little money makers…..Unfortunately, she didn’t care much for their well being, including the seductive eyes that would be thrown at either of her stars. Veneer began noticing this. He saw how they would look at him, especially his sister. Mistress told him not to worry, she told him it’s just all part of the job….but he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it one bit.

As a brother, his instincts kicked in…he was protective. What if one day these maniacs decided to take action on her?…

They were on a press tour to kick off their new album. They were being interviewed by DJ Orbit…only the best of the best would make it on his show, and they were there. Veneer was only half paying attention to what was being asked. His little facade began to fall as he saw the hungry eyes of the production team eyeing his sister. Unknowingly a scowl came over his face…

“You good there bud?”

Veneer just realized he was being talked to, “Huh?” He turned to see that Orbit had asked him a question. Velvet elbowed him. Get your act together, her eyes seemed to say.

Orbit laughed, “My question went out to both you: how do you come up with these songs that just captivates the people? Velvet already answered, what’s your take?”

Veneer was lost for words. If he had been paying attention he’d know what Velvet had said and would have followed up…He had to BS it now, “Well, as always, I follow my sister’s lead. She’s the brains who knows how to take any idea and make it..….” Again, they were eyeing her, he could see it. It stopped him in his tracks and kept him from saying anything more…

“And make it…?” Orbit seemed to push for an answer.

“…AMAZING! Make it amazing!” Veneer finished off.

“Of course what do we expect from the amazing Velvet herself! That’s all the time we have for today! We are greatly looking forward to this new album! It has already been labeled the most anticipated album of the year. Velvet and Veneer everyone!”

They cut.

“Thank you guys. Now as always, your fans await.”

As they stood up, Veneer kept eyeing the production team behind the cameras. They noticed his glare and turned away…That’s what he thought.

“What the hell Veneer! You can totally tell your mind wasn’t in that interview.” Velvet scolded as they headed to their next stop.

“Sorry! I was distracted…There were some creeps eyeing you..”

“Really Ven? Tell me something new I don’t know.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

“It’s all part of the job.”

The twins were lead through two doors that lead to the outside of the studio. A red carpet was laid out that led to their limo. On either side fans chanted their names. As they walked by the fans attempted to reach out and touch their skin, their clothes, their hair, anything. They were ushered through by security and as always, followed by cameras. Fans were asking for pictures and autographs. To keep their image, they obliged. Veneer stopped to take pictures with one side while Velvet went to the other. Throughout the whole time he eyed his sister, keeping careful watch over her.

She came across a group of boys who reached out and grabbed her arm. With a teasing smile she withdrew, but again they reached to touch her hand, her arm, her hair. Before he knew it, Veneer was between the boys and his sister.

“Aw, thank you for the support, but I would like if you didn’t touch my sister that way.” Veneer did his best to smile and pull her back.

“Knock it off Veneer. You’re going to make us look bad.” She whispered to him, but he stayed, still attempting to keep a smile. She pulled away from him and returned to her fans going down along the line. The star cameras that followed them hovered over Veneer….they were watching, so he put on a smile and kept going continuing to keep a watchful eye. They continued to reach out to her, one fan in particular got too comfortable and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her in for a picture. Velvet attempted to pull her self away teasingly, but he had a good grip. He planted a kiss on Velvet’s cheek causing the crowd to gasp and aw in unison…But something snapped in Veneer…

He ran over and pushed the guy away from her…

“What the hell dude!”

“Veneer! Enough!” Velvet warned as the star cameras surrounded them. The crowd went quiet.

“S-sorry.” He murmured to her.

“Thank you! Thank you everyone! We really have to go now! Oh my gosh I love you too!” Velvet chimed to the crowd. The boy reach again pulling her in for another picture and planting another kissed on her cheek….Veneer could see how uncomfortable she was, but for the image, she played it off, which encouraged the guy more.

“Give me your number. I’ll definitely show you a good time.” He licked his lips….That’s when Veneer pounced...

“AAHHHH WHAT THE HELL!!! GET OFF ME SHIT FACE!!!!” The guy screamed as he was tackled to the ground by Veneer. Velvet called out her brother’s name, telling him, warning him to stop. The cameras hovered around them.

“Cameras off!” Velvet demanded…but they didn’t shut down. The recorded as Veneer began beating on the guy that was sprawled out on the floor. He kept attempting to get up, but Veneer continued to drag him down.

“Stop. Touching. My. Sister!” He said as he kept pounding the guy on the face. The crowd gasped and yelled. Security came and pulled Veneer off the bystander. They hauled him away towards the limo along with Velvet.

“WHAT THE HELL VENEER!” She screamed once they were alone in the vehicle.

“How could you let him touch you like that? I know you felt uncomfortable.” He responded.

“Who cares! It’s all part of the job!!! They recorded all that!! All of Rageous just saw what you did!!! To a fan!”

“No. They saw what I did to a creep.”

“This isn’t going to be good Veneer! You do this just as we’re about to release a new album! Oh my god they’re going to be mad! You screwed up Veneer!!!”

The Six were gathered into a conference room. A table at the center, the Mistress sitting at the opposite end scowling at her computer. A set of eyes turned to smirk at the twins….their cousins, Cashmere and Luster, the other sibling duo, though they weren’t twins.

“Screwed up big time didn’t we Vincent.” Luster smirked.

“Of course he would brother. What rises must eventually fall.” Cashmere smiled with an evil glint in her eye.

“Screw you.” Velvet said.

They all hushed as Mistress stood up from her desk. She walked around and stood in front of her six stars, casting a foul glare at Veneer.

“What the hell….was that.” She demanded.

He took a moment, but he finally answered, “He was touching her. He was getting to handsy. He just…wouldn’t stop.”

“Have I not told you all that this job comes with a price. A price you all must pay for. Fans adore you, they lust for you. You are there to satisfy their wildest dreams and greatest desires.” She said.

“But….That’s…..That’s wrong.” Veneer said.

“If the rest of your peers understand it, how is it that you don’t!” Mistress’s temper began to rise. Veneer fell silent. Looking around him he saw that everyone was willing to pay that price. Of course he would, but he couldn’t see that being done to his sister. For years it had just been them two, a protectiveness had grown in him to protect her always…but it seems that was all gone now. He hung his head low in defeat.

“I’m sorry…” He finally said.

“Cashmere and Luster, it’s your turn to shine.”

Cashmere smiled wickedly, “Of course Mistress. Let’s go brother.” They both smirked at the twins as they left.

“Thanks a lot Veneer!” Velvet scolded.

“Take him to his quarters. I shall deal with him accordingly when i am done dealing with this mess he created….Oh, and skip his dinner as well.” Two giant Bergens came in and grasped Veneer by both his arms dragging him off to his room.

“Wait? What? What’s going to….Why are you locking him up?” Velvet asked.

“Children that act out need to be punished.” Mistress replied.

“….You’re going to punish him?…..How?….He didn’t mean too.”

“Velvet. Your job is to control your brother in everything he does. Fail to do so and he will continue to act out irrationally. If he continues to act out irrationally he will be discarded and replaced.” She walked up to the young Rageon, her eyes glaring down at her, “Have I made myself clear?”

Velvet had no words. She just nodded. A fear came across her heart as the Mistress dismissed them…What was she going to do to him? No dinner, no food…All for protecting her. Velvet knew there would be consequences, but she never thought it would be something like this, something over a simple little thing…Like her brother protecting her. The jerk deserved that beating, he deserved every bit of it…but this…this was fame. They weren’t supposed to live their life…They needed to live the life the fans wanted, the life the fans painted for them.

Was it a mistake leaving Under Rageous? Yes it was dangerous….but they were somewhat free…

[mayonnaise2004]

The Lost Boys + Chaotic child

We love father figure vampires

Note: Once I finished writing this, My niece Sammie was born!! :D

Probably found you on the boardwalk, ALONE???

“Hey uhm… where are your parents?” “To be honest, I have no clue.”

He knew you would fit right in when you were grinning ear to ear as a train passed through the shaky bridge.

Not worried about you in slightest.

You wanna go out alone? All right. Wanna go to the frog brothers shop? Make sure to piss them off.

Usually sits back and watches as you cause chaos on the boardwalk.

He knows people like you in Santa Carla usually are left alone.

Chuckles at the fact Santa Carla would be fucked If you ever turned.

If he gets tired of you (which usually happens) he’ll leave you with Marko or Paul for the night.

The infamous quote “if you have so much energy, why don’t you go run to the cave and back?”

Getting a lot of smacks to the head

May or May not have left you on the boardwalk a few times because you pissed him off (star was ANGRY)

He found you hanging around with Laddie one night, He tried to get you back to your parents but.. the boys had already fed on them.

Definitely the type of guy to scream at you in German if you get laddie into a Sugar high

He loves you to death though.

Slips melatonin into your candy if your being a bit too wacky on the boardwalk

When he heard David say you were chaotic, He thought he’d be used to it (Hence Marko and Paul) , but oh no.

He’s definitely used to energetic behaviour, But he has snapped at you once or twice.

Has absolutely forbidden you from going anywhere near Marko and Paul whenever your out of hand.

Has definitely persuaded you from lighting the boardwalk up. Multiple times.

He found you hanging around a juke box playing ‘Twisted sister.’

He automatically took you under his patched leather wing.

“YO PAUL, THEY LIKE TWISTED SISTER!”

Loves the fact your his mini me

Causing chaos on the boardwalk every night (Which leads to you two getting kicked off.)

Scaring innocent pedestrians

Giggles like a idiot if you make David snap.

Saying “Sei il mio bambino caotico e ti amo.” While ruffling your hair.

Dancing like idiots during the saxophone man concerts

Found you wandering around the boardwalk. He just liked your shoes 😭

“Stop offering weed to me. Im like, twelve”

Bonding while mocking angry beach n@zis

Randomly ruffling your hair

Smirking as a security guard lectures him about his ‘Sibling.’

- “Umm, this isn’t my sibling, This is my fucking child.”

Acting like maniacs on the boardwalk.

Snatching laddie and running off (While Dwayne screams.)

Giving you energy drinks and watching in fascination as your pupils shake violently. (Paul.. no..)

[piracytheorist]

Episode 31 reactions!

Okay, first off, mind. blown. There's some VERY good action in this one!

Yor's coworkers are at the "Well, we're still better off!" jealousy stage. It's a small thing but something I can definitely see people like them do. Sharon seems to be the most passive-aggressive one, so it was a bit revealing that she was the first one to go like "Hey I got beer and sausage, I'm not jealous at all!" Our truest selves come out in the hardest times...

A very beautiful shot of the ship!

By the way, if Yor's coworkers knew what she was going through, they'd definitely stop being jealous.

Yor appears a little too nervous, if you ask me. Granted, we only saw her once before working, and when she was imagining what she'd tell Anya she sounded quite secure in her abilities. But now that she's been living in a family, her way of work has indeed changed, if anything else because she's worried they may find out the truth about her.

At first I thought McMahon had kicked her in the shin, but upon rewatching I realized he kicked the leg of the chair. I'm sure if it were the Shopkeeper he'd probably kick her leg, if not stomp down on her foot just to get her to focus.

Gram was sneezing again? Should I pay attention to this or is it just a baby being a baby?

Yor is smart to try and think how the enemy would think in order to be prepared for their plan, but she doesn't take into account the fact that some of the assassins are actual psychopaths who don't care about taking innocent people's lives in their effort to do their job. That's what being too kind of an assassin will do to you XD

And it's driven to the point even more with Yor being cute like that - and probably remembering the times she played with Yuri when he was little - and Olka saying she doesn't look like a criminal. She really doesn't. Sweetest assassin ever <3

The "mmm" Yor made at the end was the exact same "mmm" Anya made while stuffing up her face with food XD

Loid is not impressed, and this is only the beginning.

It's so fun having the actual, physical copy of the manga in front of me as I watch the episode! I notice here that when Anya talked about Yor missing, she also told Loid "You miss dinner all the time", but the anime omitted that. STOP DENYING US THINGS!

Anyway, Anya calls him out for catching feelings, and Loid is quick to drop his voice a couple octaves to show how secure he is.

I AM NOT LONELY I AM NOT.

Sure buddy, sure.

The office guys are on the opposite side of relaxing and actually enjoying themselves on this trip, going out and drinking a little too much, while the "Greys", Yor and McMahon are walking on eggshells.

The anime team obviously had enough time available for this chapter, as they have a couple of added lines from the office guys, so I doubt they omitted Anya's line about Loid missing dinner due to time issues. I wonder what might be the reason - it's not like they're trying to make us think he doesn't miss dinner? We know the guy's schedule is tight as a drum.

Anyway. Assassin-ing time and holy shit.

I'm pretty sure I gasped at this.

And the rest of the scene, of course!

Obligatory mention that it's been proven time and again that torture is not an effective means of interrogation. People can and do lie while being tortured for information, so the things they say may or may not be accurate. Torture may make them speak, but whether they speak the truth or not is another issue, unrelated to torture itself. So while there can be various goals of torturing someone (illegitimate, of course, like punishment, making an example out of a "traitor", or in very few real-life cases, gratification), obtaining information has proven to not be a feasible one. I understand the point of the scene was to show McMahon's abilities and to establish that there are multiple people on board after Olka, I just needed to say that.

I've been certain they'd go the "dumping bodies into the ocean" route. A cruise is a great setting for that!

The knock on the door was intense! Especially since it's put right after the scene of McMahon and Furseal walking back to the room, but just those few seconds of slowed down tension make you think "Oh no. It's not them. It's them".

I expected the "Oh, it's just room service!" and of course, I expected the "I didn't order any" reply.

Great animation of the attack and Yor protecting Olka and Gram though I'm begging the animators to look a bit into trigger discipline, at this point whenever I see a gun my eyes go immediately on the trigger and I go D: whenever there's a finger on it that shouldn't be

But oh, McMahon is good, and resourceful!

The assassin points his gun at them, Furseal freaks out while McMahon marches on.

We also finally see one (1) eye under the reflection of his glasses. I get that the reflection makes it easier in animation and such, but still I appreciate this detail, especially in such a moment.

And more action! Yor being a badass and at the same time caring for the baby!

"I can excuse murder in self-defense but I draw the line at scaring a baby"

THE GUY WAS STILL WIGGLING. WHILE HE HAD A DAGGER THROUGH HIS SKULL.

(probably last uncontrollable movements from his dying nervous system but still. it was fucking chilling and I love it)

Also, I can understand Yor being strong enough to break the door. But I think it takes a different kind of strength to throw an object, even a sharp one, and make the object break through the door, a human skull, and then latch onto a wall. Absolute unit.

Seeing the body was freaky, too! If I'm correct, I think this is the very first time we see a person being murdered on screen in the story.

Ah no wait we do see a guy in the second episode getting a dagger to the back and falling down. But it was much more palatable than seeing a dagger go through someone's skull and practically nailing him to the wall.

I'm gonna think about this for a long time, lmao. It was brutal!

I just noticed this on my rewatch! McMahon is wearing a ring in the shape and place of a wedding ring! He then goes on to tell the ship's services that the "mister and missus had a fight" though in the manga he says "me and my wife" so is his cover that he's on board with his wife?

And here's the same thing that shows Yor's side. She sees assassins as people doing their job and "cleaning out trash" especially in her case, not people who do this job just because they have no issue killing.

I mean, I don't want turtleneck guy to defeat Yor, but he's got my respect for now.

He also says there are other members from the gangster family on board? Just how many people did manage to get on this ship XD

The eavesdropping guy tells turtleneck guy that he sells his information equally and practically tells him good luck getting ahead, so now I'm thinking, there's another eavesdropping guy, or is he selling all his intel to other assassins that weren't there in that scene?

Also, good luck getting them to work together without getting greedy and/or paranoid, lol

Furseal was actually blushing while wearing the mask XD and the plague doctor mask on the baby!

The poison guy thinks he's some dude. He has no idea who he's dealing with.

This arc will be perfect for creepy shots of Yor, won't it XD

Furseal asks for his button back and dude! Priorities much? This button saved all your lives XD

Blonde mask guy tries to go for Olka right in the middle of the crowd like wtf and the moment Yor grabbed his hands I went like "BREAK THEM. BREAK HIS FINGERS." And then she did <3 We stan <3

That's it. That's their dynamic in one shot.

While Anya is having an overdramatic tantrum, we see how even when Twilight is trying to not be on the lookout - he even says he just has to stay away from suspicious people - his skills are so fine that they kinda work subconsciously. He spots the listening devices (I mean, there are a ton of them) and notices all the suspicious people even if he doesn't make a conscious list of all of them.

Then Twilight has a fucking breakdown over one (1) silly keychain. I mean it is a skeleton keychain so his mind immediately went "IT'S EITHER THAT OR MY OWN DEATH" is anyone even surprised

Anya is still learning how easily Twilight overreacts. And like the scene with the sandbox in the hospital, she realizes she caused him a little too much anxiety and tries to take some burden off.

This entire tension is going on and Twilight is still stuck on whether he should buy a stupid keychain. This man is incapable of relaxing, you tell him to relax and he goes like "Okay spy mode on standby, parent with anxiety mode is on".

I love how this reads a bit like "Papa considers hating frogs as much of a dealbreaker as being an assassin!"

It's so weird - though fitting - to think that Anya believes she can keep this up indefinitely. She has no idea how easily they could discover each other's identities and believes she can stop that from eventually happening. It makes sense for her age, though.

It's also a bit sad, how quick she is to think that she would be abandoned if they found out about each other. It's probably what makes her go "I have to keep this up as long as possible". Her young mind can't comprehend an alternative.

And oop! Taking part of the next chapter too, I see!

I might have lost it during these shots.

"You go around having battles" is definitely something Anya would come up with. It's why she's so hard to write and why Endo should receive an applause for how accurate to her age and experience he writes her.

Next, Twilight's biggest foe; the unreadable expression of a five six year old who is trying to take responsibility for her actions.

I love how when Twilight is facing actual danger and difficult missions he's all cool and collected. Meeting Desmond? Piece of cake. Taking down entire groups of people aiming guns at him? No problem. Anya acting unpredictable? THE WORLD IS ENDING.

However funny the scene is, it slowly drifts into a sadder territory. Twilight actually worries over Anya's mental state, and though he has no idea Anya is having the time of her life, there must be a part of his understanding of her trauma that is true. Now why he undermines completely his own trauma... It's projecting, isn't it?

Anyway, he concludes that the Handler knew from the beginning that Anya needs some vacation in order to recover from her trauma, and for some reason, instead of going like "Yo give her a break" she conjured up this entire idea for a vacation... But in reality, the Handler was only saying that in order to justify his time off in paper.

Like, the man can be so off sometimes that I want to shake him and then hug him because god I cannot imagine going your entire life like this and not even comprehending the idea of actual time off.

Anya: Have fun! Twilight: Cannot compute!

Like yeah it's funny but how am I supposed to not feel just a little bit sad with how he's completely unfamiliar with the concept of relaxing and having fun 😭😭

This is going to be a disaster XD

Anya prepares to run for it, realizes he can change and wear everything within seconds, and freezes... But then Overanalyzing TwilightTM takes control and he starts spending long minutes in front of the mirror freaking out about how his weird ensemble will manage to fix Anya's mood.

This truly is his most difficult mission. Anya is the perfect age to teach him about how sometimes he cannot control how people will react to his manipulations... and then there's the mind-reading, too.

Anyway. I love how Anya goes like "That's not how I expected to win some time but it works" and just steps back into the corridor XD

OH MY GOD

I love me a good fight choreography! Here Yor pushed Olka down from the shoulders, and at the same time pushed Furseal's knees to the front so they'd bend and he'd go down just enough to miss the sickle. Awesome!

The guy just starts a fight right in the middle of the crowd. And Yor has no choice but to stop him, Anya has to hide and also keep Loid from coming out of the store...

That IS a very interesting cliffhanger! I nearly screamed when it ended there, lol. It even ends in the middle of the page! I had to cover it with my hand to avoid spoilers XD The things I go through in this crazy experience XD

Overall, awesome episode! Though I felt that the Twilight panicking scene dragged on a bit. I don't know why. Maybe it's just that I'm an angst ho and I wanted a bit more angsty vibes from that scene. It's not bad, but maybe I still haven't realized just how much on comedy the show belongs in. It has a peculiar but for some reason very efficient balance on everything.

[shootingcookielover]

Introducing: Jay!! My ducktales oc!! (If it wasn't blatantly obvious lmao)

Do you want to know more about them? No? Too bad!

Jay, aka January was the first ever clone F.O.W.L. created. However, due to a lab accident, Jay ended up not only with scrooge's DNA, but also Bradford's. Deeming the clone a "failure", Heron drops the created baby off at an orphanage.

(Bradford becomes enraged when he later learns of this - a child with his and scrooge mcduck's dna?? Just out there??? Has Heron no concept how problematic that could shake out to be???)

Jay spends the first 9 years of their life kinda bouncing from foster home to foster home (kinda developing a bit of a thing abt people seeing them eat. Because of how their beak is a bit weirdly aligned, they can't eat quite the same as most others, and people stare.). But eventually they scrape together enough resources for like, one of those online-dna testing kits that spit out who you're related to.

Turns out their parents are Scrooge McDuck!!! (And some random vulture guy? Weird)

Thus, Jay sets out to become an adventurer like their dad, to meet him one day on their adventures!

Except, first adventure they immediately get trapped in a parallel, kind of very hellish dimension. They get out after three years, but they're pretty traumatized - and pretty much pu off of adventuring forever.

(Though they do find and keep a magic amulet in [hell dimension] that they use to cast spells. Mostly teleportation spells, really.)

Deciding they don't really want to meet a guy who's whole schtick is adventuring, they instead begin their search for dad#2, that vulture guy.

They find out he works for scrooge mcdad (of course he does) but don't judge him too harshly yet. From what they can find online (public libraries for the win!) the guy doesn't really... Do anything. Let alone go on adventures.

So Jay decides to find out where he lives and well, just kinda shows up at his door.

Much surprise is had, it's not quite the family reunion Jay was hoping for but they haven't been kicked out so they count it as a win.

Staying with their dad is pretty great, actually. He even hires a private tutor for homeschooling, since Jay missed 3 years of school and has a lot of catching up to do.

(they definitely hoard food in their room somewhere, just in case. They also have a bug-out bag ready at any given time. Just in case.)

Turns out, Dadford doesn't only also hate adventuring with a passion - he has a whole secret organization to take over the world and stop all adventuring! Forever!

(Jay found a secret stash of files on the computer they use for video games.)

Thus, at the ripe age of 13 they become the youngest FOWL agent ever!

And because they are kind of a big security risk now that they know, they get moved out to live in the outpost at the library of Alexandria instead, together with a bunch of the villains Dadford recruited.

(including Phantom Blot who Jay has an ongoing rivalry with just because they use magic sometimes lol)

(they and the villains play mario kart/party together on sundays)

Eventually, (three years later) season 1 happens and seeing the mcduck family successfully overcome the rift that della's absence left, dadford decides to put one of his better pawns into play.

Through some posturing, magic pyrotechnics and a fake mystical artefact, Jay gets planted into the mcduck family as scrooge's "magic child/clone".

(this happens during the episode "The Depths of Cousin Fethry", while huey and dewey are out meeting their cousin, scrooge, louie and webby go to find an invaluable treasure and return with Jay. Cue scrooge introducing Jay as his kid and Huey and Dewey going "wtf did we miss")

They go along on an adventure or two, mainly because saying "I hate adventuring and I don't want to do it because I was traumatized and hate it" doesn't make sense for someone who was just created from an ancient magic artefact. But after a couple adventures they can finally just put their foot down and stay home. It's chill.

They draw sometimes, do a few commissions.

Scrooge wants to bond with them so they teach him how to play video games and they watch some shows together.

Eventually, the last adventure rolls around.

At the point where Webby pretends to be June and kidnaps... Herself (yknow what part i mean. Probably) Jay comes with the clones, obviously shocking Webby.

But they make it to the library without any particular incident - except Huey getting discovered, obviously.

Jay stays behind to "escort June and Webby". They've very much realized the switcheroo that Webby pulled and use their (thus far mostly benign) magic to switcheroo back.

They nod to June, explaining that they didn't say anything earlier so that Director Dad doesn't get on her case too bad about "failing".

After that, Jay kinda just goes off to hang out a bit. Drink some pep. Chill.

On the way to Webby's cell, she wakes up and takes out June. (Because of course she does. She's Webby.)

Cue the rest of the finale.

Right up until Dadford is fighting McDuck and his fam. Because now, he calls Jay forward, who kinda immobilizes the fam with their magic for a bit.

Dadford throws his employees into the death pit, but oh shock! He picks up to throw Jay in as well.

And he does. He does throw them in.

Luckily, Jay is a master at magical teleportation and nobody realizes they weren't, in fact, erased from existence.

Bla bla bla, scrooge signs the papyrus, "family is the greatest adventure of all", boom the other vilalins show up to defeat dadford once and for all.

But what's this? It's Jay, with a magical barrier, protecting her dad from being turned into a non-sentient vulture!

They teleport themself and Dadford outta there.

At this point they're assuming they got thrown in the pit as a sort of surprise/back up, to make everyone think FOWL was already defeated when they were still there and alive. Yknow, a backup plan.

They live on the street for a bit, but Jay manages to get a job, securing the two of them an aprtment.

Dadford doesn't rlly come out of his room for a while.

Jay gets it; having ur thirty year-long plan derailed like that couldn't be, yknow, pleasant.

At some point, Louie finds them at their job and basically blackmails them into helping him out during adventures. (They kinda hide in his shadow, basically/louie summons them, so when something particularly dangerous happens they can subtly magic it away.)

Dadford eventually emerges from his room and drops the bombshell we all already knew: he very much did intend to kill Jay that day.

Jay is kinda shellshocked. They sort of robotically just return to their routine; go to work.

Louie summons them to deal with an adventure again, and wouldn't u know it? Its an adventure in that hell dimension that Jay got stuck in as a kid.

This, coupled with the revelation that one of their dads tried to kill them, kinda makes them very uncareful. They get revealed to the rest of the family but manage to get everyone out of there.

They reveal that Louie's been blackmailing them and the fact dadford tried to actually kill them sorta spills out in the same, emotionally charged rant and to their surprise scrooge offers to allow them back in the mansion, despite everything.

Jay hesitantly accepts, but mentions that they would like to keep working their current job. This is agreeable to everyone.

Jay returns to their apartment later, under the cover of "going to work" and find dadford packing his things.

They're like, what r u doing? Where would u even go?

And he's like, idk, i'll dip into my grandma's account or smth, its not like u want me here anymore, what with the attempted murder.

And Jay's like, I didn't say that.

Stunned silence.

So anyway, Jay sighs and tells dadford he's allowed to stay at the apartment and that Jay will stay at the manor again.

This is how far ive gotten. If u have any ideas/thoughts/complaints, drop 'em somewhere i can see 'em!

If anyone's even read this far lol.

If u have, have a virtual cookie, you've earned it🍪

[specialagentlokitty]

Ziva x reader - the gentle gangster

undercover ziva and gender neutral reader if you're up for it? perferably with some hinted autism too! either way, happy holidays!!! - Anon💜

Sitting behind the security guards in the quiet bar, you hummed lightly to yourself at the music that was playing, and looked over to your father.

“Yes?” He asked quietly.

He held a hand up to the other man he was talking to and turned to face you.

“He’s lying to you.” You mused.

Your father furrowed his brows and turned to the other man, the other man laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

“Come on, you really don’t believe that Ozzy, right?”

“I believe anything my kid tells me, they’ve never led me astray.”

One of the guards turned around and walked in, grabbing the man by his shirt and dragged him back across the lines.

“Call the new recruit over.”

They did and you watched as the woman came over, her eyes flicking between you all.

“Yes sir?” She asked.

“Ziva, I want you to teach this asshole to never lie to me again, and I want the money he owes me in three days.”

“Please! I need more time!”

“We don’t make deals with lairs.” Ziva hissed.

She dragged the man away and you stood up, hands clasped behind your back as you followed her.

Ziva immediately noticed you following her and she sighed quietly, she was hoping to just lightly beat the guy up and turn him loose, but with you there she didn’t have a choice.

She dragged him outside and tossed him to the floor, landing a swift kick to his stomach.

You watched for a few minutes before you stepped forward, stopping her from hitting him any further.

“Leave him.”

Ziva nodded her head and followed you back inside.

She would come to notice of the upcoming months how you would carefully watch her or follow her, at first she put it down to you being suspicious.

Which you were.

But as she walked into the large home, she stopped when she saw you walking down the stairs, adjusting the tie around you neck with a heavy frown.

“I was called here?” She asked.

“Yes, there is a formal party and you will be my security serial at request of my father. There is dresses or suits upstairs, whichever you choose.”

Ziva nodded her head and went to get ready, sending a quick message to Vance letting him know about what was going on before she browsed the dresses.

She picked one that could easily hide weapons and tried it on, smoothing it down and sitting patiently while some maids tended to her hair and makeup before she went downstairs.

Guest were just starting to arrive, and you were stood at the bottom of stairs.

Seeing her, you looked her up and down before giving a small nod and smiled.

“Perfect, did my father update you on the details?”

“No.”

You sighed and pulled her aside in a different room, explaining who would be there, why, and what the party was for and her role in it.

Once everything was all cleared up Ziva guided you into the ballroom, leading you over to your father.

Ziva had to keep her distance, but she kept her eye on you as well.

You stayed close to your father, even as he talked to his supposed business partners and made deals throughout the night.

A few hours passed by, and Ziva noticed you tapping your side, shuffling a little bit on your feet struggling to pay attention to anything.

Walking over, she leant close.

“May I speak with you outside?” She asked quietly.

“Yes, of course.”

You followed Ziva out to the back, buttoning your blazer jacket up as you folded your arms across your chest.

“What’s the matter?”

Ziva gulped a little, she had never been scared, but you held a lot of power, and she saw what you did for lairs, and without a way to call for backup she would have a struggle fending for herself.

Sighing, she shook her head a little bit.

“You just seemed to be having a hard time inside, uncomfortable.”

You hummed, resting your arms on the balcony as you rested your chin in them.

“I’m not a fan of these events.”

“Why do you attend?”

You looked over at her before looking back over the lightly lit room.

“I have to, I’ll be taking over the business when my father retires, I have to earn the respect of the others.”

Ziva nodded her head in understanding.

She turned around and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back on the balcony.

It was silent for a few minutes. You felt the nerves leaving your body, and you were slowly relaxing.

“Thank you Ziva, I did have my doubts about you, but I have no doubt you’ll be with us for a long time.”

Standing up, you removed one of the rings from your right hand, you held it out to her, giving her a warm smile.

“Consider this as a good gesture, a token of my appreciation for you and everything you’ve done. You have the up most respect in this family.”

Ziva gently took the ring and put it on, giving you a small smile.

“Come inside when you’re ready.”

With that, you left, and Ziva sighed heavily, looking at the ring that now adorned one of her fingers.

Regret started to fill her, you had so much trust and appreciation for her, and she was going to be throwing it away in a few months once the op was completed.

You were gentle and caring, unlike your father, he was ruthless and uncaring.

She had grown fond of you, and the way you cared for everyone that was part of the family, and the younger recruits, maybe she could try get you out of trouble, warn you somehow or keep you from being out away.

Yes, your family was single handed my responsible for the betray of many navel personally, and one of the biggest money and arms trainers in the state, but you weren’t interested in that.

She knew of your plan to stop all of that, and stick to money laundering which wasn’t great, but it was a lot better

[lucy90712]

Pedri- Injury

A/n: my requests are open so feel free to send me more requests.

Also this is based loosely off the time Pedri slid into the goalpost during the match against real sociedad in 2020

wc: 1600+

It's been so long since I've been to one of Pedri's matches as there has been a few away games and when Barcelona have been at home I've been too busy to go but today I told my boss that I needed to leave early so I can make it home to change and then head to the stadium. I felt awful leaving early as I'm the one that gets most things done but I've really missed going to games so I'm doing it for myself and for Pedri. He's been asking me for months when I'll next be able to make it to a game and last week I gave in and promised I'd make the next one so I'm keeping my promise although he doesn't fully know that. As well as going to the game I'm going to surprise Pedri before the match because I'm hoping it will make him more motivated for the match.

The reason I wanted to go home and change first before going to the game is one because my work clothes are uncomfortable and two because I wanted to wear one of Pedri's jerseys that he has given me. I didn't have much time to change if I wanted to make it in time to surprise Pedri so when I got home I ran upstairs and threw on the jersey with some jeans and grabbed my bag to head straight back out the door. Driving to the stadium on a match day is usually a nightmare but Pedri taught me a back way which cuts out loads of the traffic as one time I was really late to a game because of traffic. Taking my route it took about half the time it usually would so I managed to get there in plenty of time and find a good parking spot which very rarely happens although I'm sure that I'll still forget where my car is by the end of the match as I always do.

Once I was parked I headed in the opposite direction of most people as I wanted to surprise Pedri which meant going in a different entrance. Of course there was loads of security at that door but they all know who I am and I have a pass so they allowed me in after a quick conversation. Walking along the corridor I stopped and talked with loads of staff members as they haven't seen me in a while so they wanted to catch and up make sure I'm doing ok which was very sweet of them. Eventually I made it to outside the changing room as all the boys were coming back from their warmup which meant I could surprise Pedri before he got himself ready which is what I was aiming to do.

Loads of the guys waved or smiled at me as they walked past and of course I smiled back but really I was just looking for Pedri who was taking forever. Eventually I saw him walking with Gavi who clocked me standing there first so we both just waited for Pedri to notice as well. It took him so long that Gavi started laughing which quickly got Pedri's attention and made him turn his head so that he saw me. When he did he ran towards me and hugged me so tightly that my feet came off the floor for a few seconds. He put me down and rested his forehead against mine which allowed me to actually look at him and see the smile on his face which was big as I've seen it in a while. I love looking into his eyes but I knew we didn't have forever to just stand there together so I pressed a kiss to his lips and pulled away but he didn't let go.

"As much as I love this don't you need to go love" I questioned

"I probably do but I'm just so happy you are here I don't want to leave" he said

"Well you said you wanted me to watch you play so it might help if you actually get ready" I joked

"That's true I'll see you right after the match" he said running off to get ready

I had to laugh at him because he skipped off like an excited child but once he was gone I went off to the part of the stadium where friends and family of the players watch from. My leg was bouncing in excitement right until all the players came out on the pitch and I settled down a little bit. After kick off I got all nervous and excited again like I always do but this time I was even more nervous than usual as Pedri always puts so much more pressure on himself when I'm watching as he wants to impress me even though he knows I'll be proud either way. My heart sank when the other team scored as I knew it was going to be a long match but I still had faith that the boys could bring it back. It wasn't a long wait as just a few minutes later Barcelona equalised and then scored again to make it 2-1 before half time.

Things were looking good even after half time until the other team got a chance and of course Pedri ran to try and stop the ball going in but he was slightly pushed and so he fell. He slid across the pitch and straight into the goalpost and at speed too. Straight away I knew he was really in pain as he rolled onto his stomach and didn't move other than putting his hand on his thigh that hit the post. The medical team came running out onto the pitch and give him some treatment but I think everyone knew that he would have to go off as even it it wasn't serious it could be if he kept playing. It was so hard to watch him laying there in the end I had to watch through my fingers as he was helped off the pitch and straight down the tunnel to go and be checked over properly.

Before I could stop myself I got up from my seat and went to go and find Pedri as all I cared about was him being ok and I hoped he would want some company. Luckily I haven't been to the physios room very often but I do know where it is so when I made it out of the stands I ran straight there and knocked on the door to make sure I was ok to go in. When I was told to come in I saw my poor boyfriend laying on the bed with his eyes closed looking like he was suffering which broke my heart even more than it already was. He didn't know I was there so I walked over to his side and slid my hand into his and leant down to kiss his cheek which made him open his eyes and I could just see the pain in them. As he was about to say something the physio came in and did a checkup which luckily showed that he didn't have any injury but they said he should rest for a few days just to be sure.

"You ok?" I asked once the physio left the room

"As much as I can be" he replied

"You we're playing so well out there I'm just so proud of you" I said trying to raise his spirits

"Thank you love I just wish I could've stayed out there" he said

"Well maybe it's best I don't come to your matches anymore I don't seem to bring you much luck" I laughed trying to lighten the mood

"Sure you may not always bring the best of luck but I love having you here and I'd take the bad luck any day to have you here watching" he said

"How are so sweet even when you're hurt" I said

"I try my best" he smiled

We laughed for a minute before I went and grabbed his stuff and then went back to help him back to my car so we could go home. He was walking much better but I still held onto him and helped him into the car because I won't let him get more hurt on my watch. On the drive back home we talked about the rest of our days as we haven't seen each other since early this morning and Pedri always asks me about my day no matter how boring it is. When we made it home I helped him inside and then let him shower while I made dinner which as always he ate in about 2 seconds but I'm so used to it that it doesn't phase me anymore.

After dinner I was about to ask Pedri what he wanted to do but I got my answer before I could even ask as he grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs to the bedroom. I wasn't quite sure what was happening until he laid down and pulled me on top of him and immediately put his arm around me which told me he wanted to cuddle. Cuddling with Pedri is my favourite thing to do so I snuggled in and let him trace shapes on my back and sides. No words were exchanged between us we just laid there in silence which we do quite often but it never gets awkward and honestly I quite enjoy it. Eventually we both started to yawn so I turned the lights off and got back into bed and settled back down with my head on Pedri's chest for about two seconds before he got me to look at him and peppered my face with kisses before then actually allowing me to get some sleep.

[boargrill]

He'd had his eye on the prince for a while. A sweet young man, big and plump, the kind of prey that would get any predator's attention. It was only fitting for a royal morsel like that to end up in the claws of a dragon.

The prince was a clever one. He behaved himself as the dragon carried him across the sky, and only as they lowered for the landing did he tense, ready to run. He barely got a couple steps in before a single claw grabbed him by the shirt and casually pulled him back.

Prey secured once again between his claws, the dragon could take the time to admire his prize. He was quite large for a human, about as big as some of the bigger knights he'd seen, but not at all threatening. He was soft, round, with curly hair and pink cheeks. Really cute. He had little shiny stones hanging from his ears, the same sky blue color as his eyes.

There was a tiny yelp, and it took him a second to realize why. Without noticing, he'd taken to squeezing the prince's belly under his clothes. Little guy was getting redder by the second, twitching nervously within the dragon's grip. He wasn't getting anywhere, though. His efforts were only rewarded with more teasing, as the dragon gleefully played with him, squeezing and pinching the soft parts of his body. Those fancy clothes were getting in the way, though. They had to go.

It wasn't too hard to get his pants off, but the shirt was a bit tricky - especially with the prince fighting it every step of the way. He lost again, of course, and was left exposed, all his fatty meat on full display for the predator. His frantic attempts to free himself only managed to make it all jiggle seductively. The dragon couldn't resist anymore. He needed to have a taste.

The adorable mousy squeal that came out of the prince's mouth was almost as rewarding as the feel of all that soft meat under his tongue. His mouth watered. His stomach grumbled. The want was too big to resist. He lifted up his prey, and gently placed the prince's head in his open mouth.

The man fought like never before, but just as hopelessly. Feet kicking in the air, hands trying to get a grip on anything to get him out, none of it mattered as he was pushed further into the dragon's maw. It was almost cute, really. A quick flick of the tongue over his tits sent him on a new round of panicked twitching. Once his pillowy-soft belly came to rest in the dragon's mouth, there was nothing he could do to stop him tasting every little bit of it, and soon his round butt and thighs got the same treatment.

Really, the biggest obstacle in gulping him down was the sheer size of him. There was just so much. He felt his throat expand as much as it would, and still fit snugly around his prey. It was a slow process, but he was determined to see the meal through. Bit by bit, the plump prince moved further down his gullet, until he was safely contained within his stomach.

The dragon leaned back with a satisfied sigh. The prince was filling him up nicely, a warm, comforting weight in his belly. He didn't seem to fighting much now. Maybe he'd fallen asleep? He poked at the bump of the prey's body. The bump pressed back.

Cute. That was a really cute human. Really tasty, too. Once he'd gotten his post-meal nap, he'd have to let him out to play with him some more.

He rubbed his belly, feeling out the soft shape of his prince curled up inside. Soft and warm. He drifted to sleep with his taste still on his tongue.

[misc-obeyme]

So uh... this Princess Rose event, huh??

I don't even know where to start! I wasn't gonna write a post about it 'cause I have too many thoughts, but damn it I couldn't resist so here we are.

SPOILERS & SCREENSHOTS under the cut.

SPOILERS & SCREENSHOTS under the cut.

First of all. I love that Mammon's initial motivation for all of the following shenanigans is "business deals." Like... my man, do you even hear yourself?? And then how his whole pitch is that he's holding up the economy? I wouldn't have accepted that nonsense from anyone else, that's for sure.

And let's be real, Asmo's assertion that his beauty makes other people happy was also something I let slide due to my affection.

What can I say, I love both Mammon and Asmo so very much.

I mean, to be fair, financial security is definitely nice and certainly reduces stress. So he's not wrong.

Oh no! Not a recession! Once again... are you hearing yourself!?!?

I will say that the non key route was once again a complete disappointment. You don't even find out what happens at the end?? It's just them being like, oh yeah? We'll see who wins! And then it ends. So you don't actually see who wins at all unless you play the keyed route. Sometimes the non key route is okay, but for other events it's pretty pointless. This was one of those.

Aside from that, though, I quite enjoyed this event. It was sufficiently hilarious, courtesy of the other brothers being their usual selves.

MAMMON IN THIS EVENT THOUGH.

We already knew that when Mammon wants something, he will work hard for it. This is further evidence of that because he chooses Lucifer to teach him ON PURPOSE knowing full well that Lucifer will not go easy on him. And then he steps up to the challenge!

However, I quite liked how Asmo wasn't a slacker, either. He wasn't like oh I'm pretty so I've got this in the bag. No, he chooses Barbatos and also works hard to get himself ready.

And like despite EVERYBODY expressing how they don't think these guys are gonna get anywhere, they both bust their asses anyway.

Asmo is not having it, guys.

Have some faith, Lucifer.

I'm pretty sure this was the only thing Luke said in this event, but he didn't hold back, huh?

BUT THEN.

That ending.

Sir. I'm going to need you to stop being so cute. My life depends upon it.

I think you could say that while they ended up being twin princesses, neither one of them would have won without the other. I think it was the fact that both of them sacrificed their own chances in order to help the other that caused them to win. Because doing something like that really demonstrated the nobility that they were looking for in the first round.

It's just more proof of how the brothers truly care about each other. Even if they argue all the time, when things get serious they can count on each other.

Can I tell you how excited I was when Asmo was ready to go run down that demon with MC? I liked that he was so badass about it and just kind of kept brushing off MC when they were like aren't you late for the show?! Can't you let me handle this?! And he was just like nope, I won't stand for any demon smearing my brother's reputation like that.

I really think they need to let Asmo be a little more evil. Like yes, he's beautiful and he has perfect skin, but he will absolutely kick your ass and he won't even break a nail doing it.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this event. I really need to go back and play the other Dame event on Lonely Devil I just haven't gotten to it yet.

Now for some random screenshots that made me lol.

Yes, okay, please go ahead.

I loved that Lucifer said this to MC. He's so done with everything, he's just like please stop trying to make jokes.

At least he's honest.

Beel demonstrating his unusual type of synesthesia - the ability to taste numbers.

New tongue twister just dropped!

Okay and Levi in this event had so many excellent one liners, he gets his own section. I can't deny that I'm on a bit of a Levi-loving kick lately, so maybe that's why, but I just thought he was so funny.

He's so precious.

Okay, I'm done. I always take too many screenshots and then I want to post them all. Because I just think all these guys are so funny. I can't help it.

I realize that I didn't mention anything about the gender aspects of this event, what with the whole Dame situation, but do I really need to? I've seen some excellent posts about that already. And honestly, anyone who thinks that the Devildom doesn't already have completely different ideas on gender hasn't been paying attention.

And also I don't have time to write anymore, this post is already too long. I apologize for the length lol. But thank you for reading!

--

[th3sp4rr0w]

Day Fourteen

A03 Link <- Starts at Chapter/Day One for those just joining us :))

Prompts For Day Fourteen Bleeding Through Bandages/Field Medicine/No Anesthesia

Alt. Prompt For Day Fourteen Human Shield 

Prompts Used for Day Fourteen All

Tw's; Blood, Injury, Dubious Medical Accuracy

Chapter fourteen under the cut :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nets burned as the agent dragged them to their doom.

Danny held Jason’s hand as they tried to scramble to follow; each time they had tried to get their footing, they’d catch on the netting, making things worse. It was like someone was laughing at their struggle, finding amusement as they desperately tried to make it even slightly more bearable for themselves.

He couldn’t help but blame himself for Jason being here. The boy said himself that he only came to find him because they were twins and he was so, so stupid for running. He thought back to the panic-filled night before; meeting with the spirit of the city, Nightwing and Batgirl, the bomb ass cookies Agent A made, and felt he may have... overreacted. It’s not like they actually said that ghosts were dangerous, and he could’ve explained and then they wouldn’t be in this situation-

The agent bumped them against the wall. They shouted and jerked to no avail.

Did he bring the agents to Gotham? Were they there for him? Were they tracking him more closely than he’d thought they were?

He didn’t know what to think anymore. Even if they had been in Gotham beforehand, he’s nearly positive the bats would’ve figured out a way to keep Jason safe. It was his fault Jason had gotten captured. Why hadn’t he just run when he had been offered the chance?

At least he was good at doing things like worrying about food and water while they were trapped here.

He tried his best to remember what twists and turns they took. He wasn’t sure about the other boy, but he sure as hell was planning on getting out of here eventually.

The agent abruptly stopped at a room, knocking twice before opening the door. They were shoved inside where two other agents were waiting.

They each grabbed one twin by the shoulders, wrenching their hands apart. They each gave their own protest, Jason’s a bit more violent as he kicked, but it didn’t matter. They didn’t say anything. They barely looked at them as they held them up in the nets.

He debated trying to use his ectoblasts, but he’d seen ghosts go inside these nets before. Every one of them that tried to use their powers-

He vaguely saw Jason’s hand glowing. Ohnononono, fuck-

“Robin-!” he shouted, too late. He tried to blast the guy holding him.

He immediately started screaming as the net electrocuted him. He winced in sympathy.

The agent was unscathed. He needed to figure out what this net was one day, but he’d never been able to snag one.

The agent laughed. “Having fun there, little ghostie?” he taunted as Jason writhed in pain in his grip. “Like our tech? Makes catching you little shits so much easier-”

“That’s enough, Agent L.”

Agent J was back, holding two different collars. They went up to Jason first, feeding it through the net before getting it around his neck. He tried to struggle, but after getting blasted by the net, he didn’t seem to have much energy. Agent J secured it around his neck, messing with the settings for a bit before moving on.

Danny watched out of the corner of his eye as Jason sagged in their grip. They started pulling him out of the net as the agent walked up to him holding the collar.

“Phantom,” they greeted. “I see that we finally got the better of you. How’s it feel knowing that us ‘basement dwellers’ managed to best you?”  

Danny snapped his teeth at the agent’s fingers. They laughed vaguely, grabbing him by his jaw.  

“Don’t play with me, little ghost,” the voice was enough to send chills down his spine, “I control you. I control your life here. We have another subject; I’m sure the queen wouldn’t mind if there was a little accident with one of you that left you full ghost.”  

They leaned in further. “And it wouldn’t be you. No, that’d be too easy; it’d be your little friend over there, struggling with his powers. And don’t think I haven’t picked up the resemblance,” they whispered in his ear. “I know you two are family of some sort.”  

Danny froze. The agent chuckled. “That’s what I thought,” they muttered, low enough that only he could hear them. They secured the collar quickly.  

“Alright, boys,” Agent J said. “The queen wants us to report to her before all of our experiments; we can’t touch them further until we get approval.” Danny could hear the eye roll as they turned towards the door. “We’ll have to comply. Oh,” they looked over their shoulder, smirking as the agent holding Danny’s net dumped him out next to Jason on the floor. “And we had to shove Phantom’s head into the counter to get his collar on. He was being quite belligerent today,” they said.  

The agent had him by the head before he could register the words, slamming his head hard into the counter. He yelped as the agents laughed brightly. They left, talking amongst themselves.  

He held his head a few minutes before pulling his fingers away. They were slicked with green.  

He heard Jason groan and turned, finding him sitting up. “Shit,” he muttered as he made his way over.  

“Phantom,” he muttered, “You’re bleeding. Let me take a look-”  

“We use codenames alone?” he asked.

Jason leveled him with an unimpressed look. “Phantom, we’re in a random ass room that we haven’t checked for bugs or cameras yet. We assume they have them until we clear the room,” he said lowly.

He nodded, then got an idea.

Apologetic-Guilty-Reassurance-Understanding

Jason jumped. “I forgot we could do that,” he muttered. Then-

Surprise-Scared-Determined

Danny smiled at him. “See, Rob, isn’t that so much better? We don’t have to worry about getting overheard.”

Jason smiled back. Reassurance-Okay-Determined

He took him by the head. “Water?” He asked lowly.

He tried to stick a hand in his chest, but when he went to go intangible to do it, the collar shocked him.

Pain-Surprise-Hindered

He pushed out the emotions before he could think about what he was doing.

Alarm-Surprise-Concerned

“I’m okay,” he wheezed. “Stupid collar. I can’t get the water,” he said. “It’ll be fine,” he continued. “It’s your hand we need to worry about.”

Jason looked over to his hand. It was still mangled. “What about it?” he asked.

“That’s going to heal in about, oh, 5, maybe 6 hours. If it heals like that, it’s gonna be a bitch to deal with,” he said.

Jason winced. “Yeah, sounds like it,” he said.

He pulled his hand up close to his chest, beginning to use his other hand to ghost over the bruised flesh.

“Here, Robin, let me-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the other boy had pushed his pointer finger’s joint back into its socket. Jason inhaled sharply before letting it out, moving the finger slightly to make sure it was in its proper place.

Danny looked at him, stunned. “Dude-” he breathed.

“Shut it,” Jason responded. Pain-Determined-Stubborn

Danny raised an eyebrow and glared. Stupidity-Disbelief-Impressed

Jason looked at him, smirking a bit. He set another finger. Pain-Determined-Smug

Danny shook his head. Jason breathed through his first aid.

It wasn’t like this wasn’t anything Danny himself hadn’t done before. He’d, arguably, done worse; he had to set his leg by himself one time. That sucked. It sucked even more when they had to re-break it because he didn’t do it right.

After Jason was done checking and setting the bones and joints in his hand (Danny tried not to shudder in sympathy thinking about it), they searched the room. Danny had checked his pouches, but none of the medical supplies Jason had looted from the van had ended up in them.

They eventually found a half-assed med kit in one of the cupboards. The closest thing to finger splints they had was popsicle sticks and tape, but they were better than nothing.

As much as Jason had tried to do that part alone, Danny didn’t let him. Almost every finger was broken; Danny splint them together using the sticks, then wrapped it all in medical tape. He did it as tight as he could get it, and considering Jason hadn’t stopped him, he assumed he was doing something right.

Getting past the fingers, they weren’t sure what to do about the bones in his hand; eventually, they settled on wrapping it and his wrist tightly with an ace bandage and putting the wrist brace in the kit on carefully over the whole thing.

Having finished with Jason’s hand, he went on to treat the cut on Danny’s head. He tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but a few seconds of Disapproval-Disappointment-Determined and he folded like a deck of cards. Robin instructed him to soak a cotton ball in a bit of rubbing alcohol, which he gently grabbed from him and used to clean the cut. He didn’t let him waste a bandage to put on a cut that was going to be gone in 20 minutes, but he could admit it was probably smarter to clean the wounds before they could get infected.

He still didn’t know if they could get infections to begin with. He assumed so; but it’s not like he’d ever actively tried. It just never happened to him.

It was somewhat calming tending to each other’s wounds. It was... kind of nice, having someone to check over as intently as they checked him. It was nice knowing that he wasn’t alone for once.

Yeah, he had Tucker and Sam, and yeah, sometimes they got a scrape or a bruise. And while he still looked those over, cleaning them methodically and placing bandages over them, they weren’t... he wasn’t setting their bones. He wasn’t wrapping gauze and bandages over their torsos.

It was kind of nice having someone else with a serious injury to look after. He always felt like such a burden being the only one.

“Hey, pull your shirt down for me,” Jason muttered.

“What?” Danny asked.

“I dressed your chest and back wounds earlier,” he clarified. “I want to check on them since we were thrown around a bit.”

Danny blinked. “You dressed my wounds while I was unconscious?”

Embarrassment-Flustered-Indignity

“You were unconscious. I wanted to make sure you weren’t gonna stay that way!” He hissed.

Danny snorted, despite the situation. “Fine,” he started peeling off the first half of the suit.

It stuck to skin about halfway through. Jason helped him as best as he could with one hand, unsticking the suit from the wound.

The patch jobs were gone, which caused Jason to tut. Danny shrugged; he didn’t know why, if you transformed with gauze in ghost form, they’d stay going human, but it didn’t do it the other way around. He assumed it had something to do with the clothing thing.

Jason wrapped him up again, even as he actively bled through. It took a few layers, but eventually they stayed white instead of going green in some spots.

Danny stared at him. Grateful-Satisfaction-Appreciation

Jason paused, smiling a little. “Thank you,” he said softly.

Danny looked at him. Parts of his body glowed faintly green all the time, but it was the radioactive green of the pits. The J on his cheek was the brightest, drawing your attention in. He shuddered thinking about it.

His white hair was fluffy, defying gravity just like his own. The only difference was the small patch of jet black in the front of his head.

He thought back to Sam gossiping at the lunch table. It really wasn’t that long ago that the news dropped about poor little Jason Todd, beaten half to death by the Joker. Danny wasn’t sure if it was comforting that it was Robin that the Joker beat, or not.

He was suddenly extremely grateful that none of the gory details had ever been made public.

Jason looked up at him. “Do I have something on my face?” he asked as he finished securing the bandages around Danny’s chest and back.

“What?”

He laughed lightly, pulling his hand away from his work. “You just, you’re kinda staring a bit,” he said.

Danny flushed green. “Sorry!” He squeaked. “It’s just... man, I can’t believe we were twins the whole time. My friends back home are gonna freak.

“I get it,” he said, dusting off his hand as best as he could. “My family didn’t really have time to react, but my grandfather figure looked like he was going to pass out,” he said.

They kept their voices down as they chatted and laughed quietly, describing their friends and-

“Man, my sister’s the best,” he said. “I’m not about to say her name, obviously, but she’s just... she’s great. She’s always been there for me, no matter what stupid thing I was getting myself into that time,” he smiled lightly. “I’ve missed her these last few days.”

Jason nodded. “You really only got found out a few days ago, huh?”

Danny’s smile turned sad. Melancholy-Nostalgic-Pining

Jason winced. “Sorry-”

“No, no,” Danny said, trying to be reassuring. “It’s just... yeah, it was only a few days ago,” he said. “I still don’t know how they figured it out,” his voice was a bit lower than it had been the whole time they chatted.

Jason was quiet for a moment. “I-”

The door swung open. Jason closed his mouth with a faint click! as the agent walked in with an air of superiority.

Her goggles were pulled up, pinning her hair back and out of her face like a head band. She had a scar that ran from somewhere in her hairline down her face, going through her right eye and ending on the underside of her jaw. She had a grin on her face.

“I see you maggots found the medical supplies,” she said dryly.

She grabbed the box. “You’re lucky the madame asked us to bandage you, anyways,” she hissed. “Otherwise... well.”

Danny saw something in her pocket glint in the light. Danger-Behave-Worry

Jason tried not to look at him, Reassurance-Understanding-Calm

She looked between them a moment. “You things truly are a marvel,” she muttered. She put the box up on the counter and grabbed each of their jaws, pulling them until they were side by side. She was grinning. “Just think of what we’ll be able to do if we can find out how to do this for ourselves,” she said, awed. “We could send a few into that hellscape the doctors’ opened up.”

Danny tried to keep calm, attempting not to send his overwhelming fear over to Jason.

He could feel Jason’s Questioning-Confusion-Concern .

She looked between them for a moment. “I will take pictures of your patch jobs here and note down that you were inteligent enough to do it on your own,” she said, dropping Jason’s jaw to fish out a camera. “I’ll be back in an hour to take notes. Although...” she faked contemplating something for just a moment. “Madame did say she wanted to see how your wounds healed from start to finish,” she said. She looked at Danny. “Oh well. Guess I’m just going to have to show her,” she pulled the silver thing Danny had seen in her pocket out.

She flipped open the knife, trailing it against his face. He tried not to flinch back.

Anger-Impulse-Determined

Reassurance-Scolding-Still

He glared at Jason a moment, who was about to intervene. He subtly shook his head. The other boy scowled.

The agent mumbled something under her breath before she dug the knife’s tip into his cheek and ripped it open. She smiled a bit, bringing her camera up and taking a picture of the oozing green thing.

Jason stared the entire time. Danny kept up the wave of Reassurance-Scolding-Still until she finally went to grab the med kit, cleaning the wound before she placed a bandage on it. She kept complaining that if it were up to her, she wouldn’t waste supplies, but, “The madame wants, so she shall have”.

She took pictures of her patch job. She pulled down Danny’s suit again, taking pictures of the bandages there. She photographed his scars.

“Give me your hand,” she said as she turned to Jason.

“No.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Hand, now.”

“I’m not a fucking dog,” his voice was dangerous.

Alarm-Unease-Concern

Jason barely looked at Danny. The agent stood in front of him for just a moment longer.

“I remember you,” she said. “The little thing parading around as a hero that threw flaming bottles at my vans,” she grabbed a fistful of his hair and dragged him up to her level, “You’re already caught, dog. You’re already shoved in a fucking crate-”

Jason drove his knee into her stomach.

Danny had almost forgotten that being Robin meant he had training from the bat. He actually managed to get the upper hand for a moment, and despite knowing they were in danger for it, he couldn’t help but feel... impressed.

He couldn’t help it as he watched him fight. Impressed-Inspired-Defensive was all he could send out.

He knew it wouldn’t last as the shock wave coursed through him. Following his twin’s footsteps, he tried not to cry out. He had a feeling they would’ve accused them of faking it anyways.

How did they know to use pain to control them if they thought they couldn’t feel it?

He convulsed a bit and he vaguely registered Jason doing the same as the collars lit up. The agent got back up, grabbing Jason by the hair once more. “What part of you’ve been caught,” she hissed, dragging him over to the counter, “Don’t you fucking understand, dog?”

She slammed the back of his head on the edge, over and over. Lazarus green blood spilled from the wound it created.

Danny kept quiet. It’s not that he didn’t want to get involved. He knew if he did, he would make Jason’s punishment that much worse.

That was how this facility ran. Any of them, really. The threat from earlier buzzed in his ears.

“I’m sure the queen wouldn’t mind if there was a little accident with one of you that left you full ghost.”

He probably should’ve let Jason know. He tried, through the link, but that’s not really what that was for. It was more for vague emotions and messages. It wasn’t exactly as refined as to send out a message of “these people are fucking crazy and want to murder you dead dead”.

He settled for Danger-Alarm-Warn as Jason tried to wrap a hand around the agent’s wrist.

“Careful, ghost,” she whispered. “There are far worse experiments to be a part of,” she said, leaning in close.

That led them both into a loop of Scared-Alarm-Danger.

She looked at them for a moment before throwing Jason down and kicking his injured hand. She picked up her camera, checking it over. She hummed before grabbing Jason’s hair once more, positioning his head for a good angle and snapping a photo. She roughly grabbed his arm, lifting it up before grabbing his hand and jostling it for a second, causing the boy to hiss through his teeth.

“Oh, don’t try for sympathy points now,” she said as she gripped his hand tighter. “We’re long past that, mutt.”

She laughed. She fucking laughed. She gripped his wrist tightly and took the pictures she wanted.

She looked at them for a moment before going on her knees. As soon as he was released from her bruising grip, Jason scooted back towards Phantom. She laughed before snapping a photo.

She left the room, promising to be back in an hour, and left them with one final message;

“And you’d better not dress his head wound or I swear to God and the heavens above, I will make you feel actual pain.”

The door closed harshly behind her. Danny immediately started looking over the wound on Jason’s head.  

“Dude,” he said, “I need to-”

“Why didn’t you let me do anything?”

Danny paused and checked the link. Now that she was gone, Angry-Tired-Overwhelm was all that was on Jason’s side of the link.

“Robin, I-”

“I could’ve done something. We could've done something!” He insisted.

Danny pursed his lips. “Do you really think this place is bugged?”

He heard Jason hiss as he prodded at his wound. “She seemed surprised we were patching each other up, so maybe, maybe not? We’d have to check,” he said, slightly out of breath by the end. Danny nodded.

“Phantom? What are you not telling me?”

Danny inhaled slightly. “Look, Rob, I just. I don’t want to say anything unless they can’t overhear it,” he said. “Otherwise, they’ll have another thing against us. We need all the cards we can get,” he whispered. “And for fuck’s sake, stop mouthing off! I know, it’s tempting, but please resist,” he said. He tried to wipe away green blood from the wound on Jason’s head to no avail. “For me?” he added.

Jason was silent. “Okay,” he said eventually. “But for the record-” he winced, “This sucks.”

Danny snorted. “You got your head beat into a countertop. I’ll bet it sucks,” he said.

Jason snorted back. “How’s the cut on your cheek?”

“Stings. That’s weird, it usually goes away by now,” he said, touching his fingers lightly to his bandage.

Jason turned around, looking at him. “You’ve already bled through it,” he muttered.

Danny shrugged. “I dunno why. Let's check for bugs or whatever, yeah?”

The other boy nodded and started with the underside of the counter.

The room was bare, all white with bright, florescent lighting. The cabinets underneath the counter held various equipment, none of which (according to Jason) held any sort of audio recording devices. The top cabinets, where they found the med kit, held some cotton balls and several vials of unmarked substances. Danny didn’t know a lot about this sort of thing; He’d never gotten kidnapped by a rogue intending on torturing him... in this context at least. He had a healthy amount of fear in it.

As far as either boy could tell, there were no bugs or cameras. They did decide to stick to code names, but they were a bit looser with what they were willing to say.

Danny told him of Agent J’s threat.

He was quiet. “I think it’s an intimidation tactic,” he said slowly. “If it were actually true, they would’ve already gotten rid of you.”

Danny looked at him, startled. “They want to observe halfa’s right now, right? Why wouldn’t they get rid of the weaker one? Not that you’re weak!” he backtracked.

Jason waved him off. “Because I’m easier to control. It’s pretty obvious I’m still developing,” he said, green slightly flushing his cheeks, “And it’d be a perfect opportunity to observe what any future replicates would go through in terms of power development and things.”

He nodded, “Makes sense. But I don’t want to risk it anyways,” he looked Jason in the face, “I don’t want to lose you. I just met you, and I like having you around,” he joked.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed, “We should keep that in the back of our minds. These people don’t seem like the type to make a threat just to make a threat. We need to bide our time, be on our best behavior, see how things run,” he cut himself off with a yawn.

Danny yawned after. They both looked at each other. They giggled.

“Sleep first?”

Jason nodded. “Sleep first.”

Danny scooted closer to Jason, who’d started messing with the latch on his cape. He helped him take it off and spread it across them evenly, being careful not to hit his hand during the process.

He lay Jason down on his chest as he used his own arm as a pillow.

It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable , but what were they going to do? It’s not like Danny had any energy drinks on him, and he was exhausted. He could imagine Jason felt a similar way.

Jason dropped off first. His emotions evened out to nothing and, although he didn’t breathe while he was asleep, he looked more at peace.

Danny followed soon after as he stroked down Jason’s arm, attempting to soothe them both into a fitful sleep.

Being cuddled up against someone somewhat familiar after days of being pressed up against complete strangers was... nice. It soothed something in his core in a way that only Jazz had managed to do before. He suspected it was the familial bond thing; they may not have known each other most of their lives, but they were together now. In a way, wasn’t that what mattered?

He just... had to believe they’d make it out of here. Jason was Robin; of course, Batman would go to hell and back for any of his birds. That’s what he was known for online (and what made Danny convinced the whole Gotham vigilante clan was a myth). They just needed some time. They’d come.

They wouldn’t be coming for him, but it didn’t matter. Tucker and Sam would notice he was missing, and they’d probably think to search the GIW labs they’ve been tracking all over the country. They’d... they wouldn’t forget about him just because he wasn’t right there. They loved him. Jazz did, too, she wouldn’t let their parents’ disdain for ghosts and ecto-contaminated beings infect her love for her baby brother. He hoped.

There was once a time he’d had an unshakable belief his parents loved him. Even as Phantom, he thought they might disown him and kick him out. He never thought that, if they thought he was Phantom, that they’d...

He still remembered what the bat felt like against his head. How he felt, not only physically, but emotionally when it happened. He forced himself to stop thinking about it; Jason was right next to him, and he was asleep, plus they never found a trash can while searching the room. If he was going to be sick, it was going to be on the floor and only the ancients knew if they would clean it up, or if they’d get... creative.

He hoped they would never get creative.

Sitting there thinking was absolutely boring. It was like watching paint dry, but he’d rather be bored than wake Jason; the poor boy needed this.

He shifted slightly. He thought about the agents and something in his core flared. That was when something strange happened.

He felt it get soothed. It was like something minty cool had been rubbed on his core, and usually that would make him squirm but now it just... relaxed him. He shifted again, closer to Jason. He messed with the cape to cover them a bit better before closing his eyes again.

He drifted off to sleep with a lullaby playing in his core.

He should definitely ask Frostbite more about family bonds as ghosts when he gets back.

It was peaceful for all of 15 minutes when the door opened with a bang, startling them both.

“Rise and shine, ghosties,” the agent from before said, taking in the scene quickly. Jason startled and tried to use his injured hand to prop himself up, leaving him hissing in pain. The agent rolled her eyes.

“Well, dog,” she said, “Looks like you did a good job at not licking your wounds,” she grabbed his hand roughly, as she did before. Something in the action sparked anger somewhere in Danny and, disorientated, he... may have misjudged the situation.

“The only bitch I see here is you,” he mumbled, then caught himself.

The words didn’t make her mad, no. Instead, she looked delighted.

She took out a button from her coat pocket and pressed it.

“This must be what she did earlier,” he thought to himself before searing pain overtook their bodies.

Like before, it was electrifying and it was painful. Attempting to think of something better to distract himself and not make noise, he focused on the emotional connection with Jason.

Reassurance-Calm-Sorry

He thought of how awesome it would be once he got to introduce Jason to Ellie. The clone hadn’t been around much, too busy on her world tour and harassing some couple she met in Kansas and their son that visited sporadically, but she was still family. She and him were enough like siblings that they could-

He would’ve frozen in realization if it weren’t for the convulsing caused by the collar. He found the connection he had with Ellie and yanked, attempting to send out the signal.

Help-Danger-Alarm

Jason looked at him oddly as they came down from the shock waves. Danny shook his head slightly. “Not now,” he mouthed when the agent looked away for a moment.

“Honestly,” she began, “You things really can’t have the intelligence to bandage your own wounds and not know that you’d be punished for not holding your tongue.”

Danny fought the urge to mouth off more. He probably would’ve if she didn’t just prove she’d punish Jason for his doings if they weren’t careful.

“That tells me a lot, you know,” she continued. She pulled out her camera, taking pictures of the closing wounds on Danny’s face. The bruise from Jack remained stubborn, but everything else had started to heal somewhat.

She mumbled to herself as she took the photos. She didn’t bother replacing a lot of his bandages.

When she moved on to Jason, she was a lot rougher with him than she was with Danny. She dragged him by his hair so she could take pictures of the head wound she’d left earlier and yanked on his injured hand.

She had hovered on his head wound a little longer than they felt comfortable with. They were just waiting for it; for her to accuse them of treating the gaping thing, of cleaning it or something. All Danny did was wipe away the blood a bit and make sure it wasn’t too deep of an impact wound; that counter was sharp.

Something whispered in Danny that it was meant to be like that; sharp counters produced more damage, he bet.

She didn’t accuse them of anything. She threw Jason down and told them to clean it up.

“I can’t get clear pictures without all that matted hair in the way,” she snapped.

She promptly left without much more fanfare. They’d looked at each other.

“That was so suspicious, right?” Jason asked quietly.

“Ancients above, yes,” he replied. He stood up, still slightly disorientated from their impromptu nap and grabbed the med kit.

He sat back down on the floor. Jason leaned in. “What was that earlier?”

Danny looked at him and blinked once before remembering. “I have a clone,” he said casually.

Jason did a double take. “Say wha'?”

Danny rolled his eyes, making Jason scoot over so he could tilt his head back. “Technically, she’s my daughter, but she’s also my cousin and sometimes my sister- it's complicated,” he waved it off as though it were a bad smell, then began to clean the wound with some rubbing alcohol. “Anyways, the ghost thing decided we’re not-identical enough that we have an emotional thingy like we have. We forget about it a lot since it’s harder to activate when you’re super far apart like we are most of the time, but-”

“But it’s enough that you can hopefully send a distress signal,” he finished.

“Pretty much,” he said as he began to press gauze to the wound. He didn’t really have a way to secure it...

Jason exhaled, sensing the problem and taking some of the long bandages and wrapping his head, making sure to keep the gauze in place.

Danny vaguely wondered if he figured out he didn’t have to breathe in this form yet. He’d already decided unless it was immediately important, he wasn’t going to tell Jason, but he wondered if he should just blurt it out since the boy seems intent on doing it. Nah, he needs to figure that out on his own time. He would’ve just freaked out if someone had pointed it out to him.

Jason laughed a bit. “Uh, I’m still confused as to why you have a clone? But that’s great-”

Danny whispered into Jason’s ear in case someone was listening. “I have a creepy ass billionaire godfather intent on kidnapping me to make me his heir. He’s a halfa, like us, but he’s a frootloop. He made a bunch of clones. Ellie was the only viable one,” he explained.

Jason looked at him. “Wow, and out of us I thought I was going to be the one with the weird life.”

Danny laughed. “Man, not with my... what would you call them? Adoptive family?”

Jason grimaced. “It’s not like they chose to adopt you? The people that raised you?” he offered.

Danny shook his head, “Nah, that implies that my sister means nothing to me and she’s literally the only one keeping me from losing my shit half the time, so?”

“We’ll workshop it?”

They looked at one another before laughing a bit.

It wasn’t funny, but sometimes, you have to laugh, right? It’s better than crying at least.

“Okay, let’s figure this out,” Danny started. “Uh, obviously bio family is out.”

Jason snorted. “Duh, that would be blonde bitch and deadbeat asshole. What about... foster family?”

Danny shook his head. “See, again, implies they knew. What about...”

Before they knew it, their once-serious discussion had devolved into a fit of giggles. The door opened and all laughter stopped.

The same agent was standing there, now with a pipe. She was once again grinning. Agent J was standing behind her, ready with a notepad and pencil, camera hanging around their neck.

Even if he didn’t have the connection between them, Danny could tell Jason was terrified. He was doing a good job at pretending he wasn’t, but he had started picking up the small tells. The clenched fists, the set jaw. His biggest indicator was that he had stopped breathing.

He doubted he even noticed as the agent walked towards them slowly, dragging it across the floor. She turned towards Jason.

“It’s your lucky day, ghostie,” she said, brandishing the pipe. “We’ve already gotten approved for a new experiment!”

Fear-Betrayal-Panic

Danny thought back to what Jason had told him of what happened before they came here. As the agent raised the pipe, his body moved without his permission.

He might take the threat seriously, but that wouldn’t stop him from protecting his twin. Especially when that twin was already hurt.

The agent was already swinging when Phantom went in front of the other boy, taking the hit for him. It was Jason who whimpered as if he’d been struck.

“Phantom,” Agent J called out. “What is the meaning of this?”

He took a deep breath. “If you exhaust Robin now,” he began, “You won’t have both of us ready for more experiments. Robin is hurt worse than I am right now; his injuries could skew your results, anyways,” he said.

Agent J raised an eyebrow. “Very well,” they mumbled. “Agent V, switch subjects. And I am very disappointed that you did not see this oversite, yet the ectoscum detected it easily. I may have to bring that up with the department head,” they looked at the other Agent through their goggles.

Agent V looked at Phantom for a moment before lowering her own down. She got up close. “You’ll pay for that,” she hissed.

She raised the pipe again. This time, Danny did not move, taking the hits.

If this was an experiment, he needed to talk with the department head. What were the merits of beating the shit out of a 15-year-old boy?

He took it, out of options. It was either him or Jason; he was pretty sure he was having some sort of panic attack, curled up in a ball with his cape. He reacted like he was the one being struck over and over again. Danny could not muster up any annoyance, like some might have; he knew what it was like to feel the phantom pains of getting hit when you were completely fine.

When Agent V finally tire of bringing the pipe down on Danny’s body, she smiled, tucking it into the belt of her coat. She left without another word.

Agent J took pictures of his wounds. There was very little blood, but he could already feel parts of his body bruising and he was pretty sure some of them had become so tender they had split open. He had very few cuts, according to Agent J’s mumblings, but had several... abrasions? Over several parts of his body.

He was pretty sure that was a fancy word for scrape because that’s sure what those looked like to him.

Agent J grabbed the medical kit from where Danny had left it and tutted. “Did you two waste all these supplies or was it the incompetence of the staff?” they muttered, mostly to themselves. They left the room.

They came back with a better med kit and treated him. They kept jotting down notes as they did so.

Danny ignored them. They could do whatever they wanted.

He kept looking at Jason, who still had that faraway look in his eye.

What he went through just now? That sucked. Danny had a feeling if he’d let Jason go through it, it’d suck more.

He closed his eyes. They had to get out.

They were going to get out. 

[dragonmuse]

(TheArtBoss noticed that Stede admits to being briefly attracted to Izzy when he beats up that guy in Sing a New Song and asked for Stede’s POV on that moment) 

Stede only caught the tail end of Justin Case’s debut (and so far only) appearance. He’d been busy de-dragging backstage. Being on the road was putting his skin through hell, so he’d been faster to remove makeup. He’d been talking idly to Eddy when they both realized music had been playing irregularly for a bit and also no one else had come backstage. 

They made it out to hear Izzy crooning ‘every me and every you’  as he went from kneeling to standing with impressive alacrity. Stede couldn’t do that without making a few sad noises these days. On his feet, Izzy staggered to stage right and to Stede’s surprise a hand came out, grabbed the chain and yanked him out of view. 

“Any idea what that’s about, honey?” Stede asked over the audience’s smattering of applause and wolf whistles. 

“Not a damn clue,” Eddy was staring at the spot Izzy had been. “Who knew he had it in him?” 

“It does seem out of-” Stede stopped, then wrinkled up his nose. “It’s Lucius’ birthday.” 

“Oh,” Eddy nodded slowly. “Right.”

“I think we’ve witnessed the end of  some kind of obscene mating ritual. This is worse than the Discovery channel.” 

Eddy laughed at him, “C’mon, I’ll buy you a drink. That’ll take the edge off.” 

With the impromptu number over, the bar had been rushed. It was hot, sticky. Stede decided to dip outside for a moment to cool off while Eddy used a combination of charm and brute force to get the bartender’s attention. 

Which meant that Stede stepped right outside just as Izzy landed a punch on a man who had at least a foot and probably about fifty pounds of muscle on him. The man went down hard and before he could push himself back up, Izzy leveled a kick so hard into his ribs that it landable with an audible crack. 

Izzy, in the streetlight, dark hair sweaty and loose around his face was heaving in breath like the air was trying to evade him. The tank top swayed, revealing an acre of pale skin and arms that were very defined.  

Stede said something to Lucius though the details got a little lost when Lucius pushed away from the wall and claimed the man with a barking command. 

Stede, flustered and a little heated, went back inside. Eddy hadn’t yet secured drinks (had it only been a minute or so? Maybe less), so Stede found an abandoned table and sunk into one of the chairs. 

“You all right, my love?” Eddy asked as they sat down beside him with two drinks. . 

“Oh yes,” he shook himself, taking the cool glass from them and pressing it against his face for a moment, then taking a sip. Just tonic water with lots of ice. “Thank you, honey. That’s perfect.” 

“I know what you like,” Eddy smiled. “So. What’d I miss? Roach came back in here crowing about a fight.” 

“Oh, Izzy beat someone up outside.”

“We’re...calm about this?” Eddy checked in, eyes going wide. 

“Given the state of things, I think the gentleman had attempted to do something to Lucius, so yes. Fine with it.” 

“Good, okay,” they relaxed  around their drink. “So what’s got you making the frowny face then?” 

“It occurred to me that I may have made some...incorrect assumptions about some things.” 

“All right, what kind?” Eddy sipped her drink. She’d taste like gin later, Stede thought. That would be delightful. 

“I thought...I don’t know, it’s foolish now that I have to put words to it. But I assumed that maybe you wound up sleeping with Izzy because of..mmm, convenience? Proximity?” 

“I mean yeah, sure,” Eddy tilted her head, “that was part of it.”

“But not all,” Stede nodded. “Of course it wouldn’t be. You were attracted to him. At some point.” 

“...yeah?” Eddy set down her drink. “Course I was. I wasn’t a gem, but I wasn’t the type to just stick it in any available hole.” 

“No! No, of course not. It wasn’t anything about you. I just never found the man palatable, let alone attractive, so I projected that out, I think. Onto you. Lucius too maybe.” 

“Love, you had to know Lucius has enough choices out there not to bother with someone he doesn’t think is hot.” 

“Yes, I do, truly,” he sighed. “I tried not to think about it maybe.” 

“And Iz beating the shit out of someone explained this to you?” 

Stede groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “Maybe.” 

“...oh love,” Eddy laughed at him and Stede knew he deserved it. “What is with you and finding gruesome beatdowns hot?” 

“I don’t know!” He said into his hands. “It’s horrible! Why am I like this?” 

“Probably could get some egghead to dissect it, but sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to it,” Eddy patted him on the arm. “Look, when Izzy and I started up, he was...mm. Intense. Smoldering, there’s a word for it. I didn’t think about it too hard, but looking back...yeah I thought he was sexy as hell. Doubt he’d’ve believed me then if I said. Certainly wouldn’t now.” 

“You still find him attractive?” Stede peeked at her through his fingers. She leaned back and considered that. 

“Mm. Yeah, I guess. Suppose I prefer blonds now.” 

“Thank you, honey, but really I wasn’t asking out of jealousy. I just like to know these things about you. All the things about you.” 

“Then a thing about me is that the idea of putting my nethers anywhere near Israel ‘Fuck You’ Hands is about as appealing as putting my hand in a blender in this point of my life,” she shrugged. “But I get why Lucius is still into it. And why you may have had a moment.” 

“Half of a moment. A quarter. Microscopic slice,” Stede grumbled. 

“You can still hate him even if you think he’s attractive,” Eddy said soothingly. “Hell, an imagined hate fuck is a great thing to jerk of too.” 

“I don’t want a hate fuck.” 

“Not like a real one,” Eddy agreed. “But nothing is going to stop our heads from doing what they do. Just do me a favor?” 

“Mm.” 

“Don’t think about him while we’re doing it. I’d know somehow and I’d never be able to finish.” 

“Eddy!” 

She shrieked with laughter, even as Stede pouted indignantly at her. 

He did not jerk off imagining a hate fuck at any point on their trip. Once they got back home....well. That was between his hand and himself, thanks very much.

[kikis-writing-world]

Somewhere Safe

Pairing: Eddie Munson x F!OC (Melanie), Wayne Munson x F!OC (Marjorie) Melanie is very "blank slate" and is basically a reader with a name, described as having "familiar tuft of hair" but I believe that's it.

Word Count: 4.3k

Warnings include, but aren’t limited to: Domestic abuse/violence (OC has been struck and yelled at, but the details are left out/vague. She is possibly dealing with PTSD/the immediate anxiety that comes with processing recent trauma. Please take care of yourselves, loves.) Mentions of past violence/fights, mentions of past traumatic childhood. Mention of beer and weed, no consumption.

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says ’creator chooses not to use warnings’.

A/N: This was once a part of a bigger piece that honestly, I don't even remember the plan for. I don't know why it's an OC and not a reader insert, but I couldn't be bothered to go back and change it. I think this is still quite nice as a stand alone, so I hope you enjoy it. Just the Munson men being sweet, oblivious, dumb but well meaning men lol Divider by @saradika

Eddie was buzzing as he got home from band practice. More than the couple of beers he drank or the joint they had passed around, he was high off the music. Riffing with the guys was the most addicting of all the vices he knew, and he knew his fair share. The adrenaline of the blaring noise as he pictured himself on stage in front of thousands. The triumph when they play something perfectly, nailing the tricky timings and working together to make a masterpiece. It was like nothing else he knew. Even playing live, the handful of unenthusiastic drunks that are only at The Hideout for the cheap beer have a way of dulling the thrill. In Gareth’s garage, there was no Debbie Downers to kill the vibe. Just him and his boys living the dream.

The music was fresh in his head, coming out in a hum as he opened his bedroom door and flipped on the lights. He toed his shoes off carelessly, barely taking the time to kick them out of the way. One shoe rolled helplessly over the carpet while the other bounced hard against the wall next to the door. It likely added to the numerous scuffs on the ancient paint, Eddie’s bad habits furthering the wear and tear on the trailer.

With every bit of concern he couldn’t be bothered to show to his old, beat up Reeboks, he set his guitar case on the floor. Unlatching the lid, he handled the Warlock with near reverence, with a care that didn’t match the tempo of the music he still hummed. Once she was secure, hanging in front of the mirror, he brushed his fingertips over the strings. The muted twang of the disjointed, open chord joining his mini performance for no one. The strings continued to sing out as he shrugged off his jacket and vest as one, tossing them blindly on his bed.

"Oof-"

“Hmm mm mm-AUGH!” Eddie interrupted his humming with a shriek as he heard his mattress exhale in a huff. He spun, eyes wide and hands raised to- he wasn’t sure, but they were raised. He stared, heart beating wildly in his throat as he finally noticed the unexpected, human-sized lump under his covers.

He lowered his arms slowly as the lump squirmed but didn’t otherwise move. Over the self-imposed deafness of loud music and the panic sending blood rushing through his ears, he heard a sniffle. Realization hit the same time a second wave of fear did, a different fear. Not for himself, but for someone else.

“Mel?” He called quietly, shuffling towards his bed. The lump moved in response. Arms grew from the balled-up form until fingers curled over the edge of his old, ratty comforter. The blanket was pulled down, revealing a familiar tuft of hair, a forehead, and one single eye before stopping.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Melanie answered softly, regretfully. Her voice was raw, cracking as she spoke. He could hardly hear her behind the comforter held to her face

Eddie grinned, approaching the side of the bed to stare down at her, hands cocked on his hips. “Was this bed just right, Miss Goldilocks?” He teased. Despite trying to lower his voice to match hers, it came out just as boisterous and loud as he usually did. The ringing in his ears would take a while to regulate.

Her fingers dug tighter into the edge of the blanket, but she didn’t come out any further. “Sorry, Ed, I shouldn’t have come over wi-”

“No, no, no.” He cut her off quickly, sitting on the edge of his bed. “It’s fine.” He reassured her, resting his hand on her shoulder - he hoped. He was pretty confident he wasn’t sitting on her but he couldn’t really tell where any part of her was under the blanket. She was too curled in on herself.

She halted her apology, blinking sluggishly up at him. He ran his thumb back and forth, trying to comfort the girl still hiding under his comforter. He was about to ask if she planned on coming out anytime soon when she revealed the other side of her face.

Eddie’s thumb and the rise and fall of his chest, the only parts of him that were moving, froze. Her left eye, the one she had kept hidden until now, was swollen. A deep red bruise, nearly purple, had already started blooming in the inside corner of her eye near her nose. The cheek underneath was splotched dark red and was puffy. Eddie had been in enough fights to know what it looked like when someone was clocked in the face. Still, he had to ask.

“What happened?” His voice was low, nearly growling. Seeing the injury had turned his blood cold, sobering him quicker than a cold shower and hot coffee injected directly into his veins combined. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. His mouth was suddenly dry. He knew it had nothing to do with the weed he’d had earlier.

She shook her head, “nothing-”

“Don’t.” He interrupted before she could even start. “That’s not nothing.”

Her eyes watered before she turned away, shaking his hand off her arm as she rolled to face the wall. “I don’t want to talk about it, Eddie.”

He stared down at her back, arm still outstretched towards her as his fist clenched and unclenched helplessly in the air. He wanted to find out who hurt her. He wanted to hurt them. He wanted to hurt them worse than they hurt her. He wanted to shake her until she told him who to direct this anger to. He wanted to ask Wayne for the combination to the gun locker so he could take Wayne’s hunting rifle-

Eddie stood suddenly, needing to stop his train of thought before he did something stupid. He strode from the room silently, stomping heavily through the trailer.

Mel curled up on herself as she listened to Eddie’s retreating feet. She clenched her fists into the blanket, biting her sore lip as she tried, unsuccessfully, yet again to stop herself crying that night. 

The glasses resting in the drying rack rattled together as Eddie passed through the kitchen. She was sure he was leaving. The next sound wasn’t the creaking of the squeaky front door as she expected, but the sticky, peeling sound of the refrigerator door opening. It slammed shut a moment later, making the glasses rattle again before the stomping of Eddie’s return.

She couldn’t stop the trembling through her body as he approached, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. The stomping, the slamming, the rattling; she squeezed her eyes shut, prepared for him to yell and scream and tell her to leave and never come back and-

The bed sank as Eddie sat down again, a gentle hand aiming for her shoulder once more. “Here,” he offered. To his credit, his voice was several decibels lower than the last time he tried to speak quietly. He could hardly hear himself speak, but he was terrified to spook the shaken girl in his bed. He could see the way she shook under the covers.

It took a moment for her to blink her eyes open, the left one aching something fierce. She turned to look over her shoulder at Eddie. A bag of store brand frozen peas filled her vision. It was opened and half gone, a rubber band looped around the bag to keep it sealed in the freezer. She looked past the bag to Eddie’s concerned frown.

“Put this on your eye. It’ll help the swelling.” He instructed, waiting for her to take the bag from him. His fingers twitched, itching to press the bag there himself. He refrained. She was reminding him of the possum he’d chased one night when he was drunk. He wanted to help the animal that had gotten itself stuck in some old fishing line, but all it knew was Eddie was big, loud and threatening. The only reason he hadn’t ended up in the hospital for possible rabies was the poor creature caught the sleeve of his leather jacket when it tried to lash out. He didn’t want to scare her, like the possum, so he waited impatiently.

Mel rolled over, sitting up against the wall behind Eddie’s bed. She wiped the tear stains off her face - haphazardly on the right but delicately on the left. Her hand shook as she took the frozen peas from him. Gingerly, she pressed it to her face. She hissed at the cold, forcing herself not to flinch away from the initial sting.

Eddie winced in empathy. He knew the feeling well. “It’ll start to feel better, I swear.” He promised, standing slowly. “Wait here, kay?”

Mel nodded shallowly, keeping the peas on her face as she moved.

Satisfied with her response, Eddie gave her a weak smile before rushing back out of the room again. He was too antsy to walk normally, practically running into the living room at the front of the trailer. All of the earlier adrenaline was being funneled into doing whatever he could to help his friend, who came to him when she needed somewhere safe to hide. The thought made a zing of pride zip through his chest. He brushed it off quickly. It was selfish. He wished she didn’t need a safe place to hide at all.

Mel could hear Eddie in the living room from her spot on the bed. He was muttering to himself, making little grunts and groans of strain now and then. When he started approaching again, his footsteps were slow and heavy. Her brow furrowed in confusion before the ache of her abused face forced her to relax once more. She leaned over, trying to see down the hallway.

She saw the TV from the living room before she saw Eddie. It was a small, black and white TV set that didn’t like to work when the humidity was too high. Despite its size, it still weighed a ton.

“What are you doing?” Mel asked as Eddie continued into the room slowly.

“Movie night.” Eddie grunted. He stopped in front of his dresser, staring at the mess littering the top. Guitar picks, a lighter, a couple empty beer cans, a few pencils - nothing important.

“What about Wayne?” Mel asked, starting to sit up. Before she could move closer to help Eddie make room for the TV, he had the set balanced against the dresser with one hand as he swept the dresser clean with the other. Everything clattered to the ground, bouncing here and there until it settled on the carpet. “Eddie!” She huffed, looking at the added mess to his already chaotic bedroom.

Eddie was unbothered, both at the idea of upsetting Wayne’s morning routine after a night shift and at the mess he’d made. Wayne’s morning routine was sacred, and messing with it could ruin the man’s whole mood. Eddie shrugged it off, knowing his uncle would understand once Eddie had a chance to explain the situation. “He’ll deal.” He answered simply, pulling the power cable free from where it had gotten trapped under the TV.

Mel worried her lips, gnawing on the already tender flesh. She really didn’t want to upset Wayne. He had never been anything but kind to her before and she hated the idea of losing that. She couldn’t stop the memories in her mind, twisting and mixing until it was easy to picture Wayne above her, screaming and yelling as she held her aching face.

Eddie was oblivious of her concerns, taking her silence as acquiescence. He plugged the TV in, using the outlet in the wall freed by the amp still sitting in the back of his van. It should be fine there for the night, he’d deal with it tomorrow. He hummed a made up song as he worked, rarely able to concentrate quietly. He jogged into the living room and back quickly, this time with the VCR.

“Here’s the plan, stan,” Eddie joked lightly as he connected all the cables. “You’re gonna pick a movie, any movie in the damn place, and we’ll watch it. Ladies’ choice tonight.”

Melanie was skeptical. Eddie always seemed to have a problem with her movie choices unless she picked the one he was not-so-subtly hinting at. She didn’t have time to argue as Eddie continued.

“You decide, I’m gonna take a 3 minute shower. Honestly, it would be torture to get to close to me right now. I reek.” He laughed, taking an exaggerated whiff of his own underarm as he stood straight. “I bet I can finish before the popcorn is done!” The laugh that escaped Mel was more of a begrudged huff. Eddie took it as a win regardless.

“You’ll burn it and the whole trailer will smell worse than you do now.” Despite the jab, there was little heat in Melanie’s tone. It was entirely flat but Eddie still considered the sass another win.

“Ugh,” Eddie gagged dramatically. He hated the smell of burnt popcorn. “Fine, I’ll make it after my shower.”

“You sure Wayne-”

“-Won’t mind. Totally. He only looks like a big mean bear, you know that.” Eddie laughed. “If he’s any kind of bear, he’s a gummy bear.”

The sound Mel made was more identifiable as a laugh this time. She shook her head fondly at Eddie. “I’ll make the popcorn,” she insisted quietly, pulling the comforter off her legs. “Go shower.”

Eddie gestured for her to lead the way, swooping his arm out and letting her pass him towards the kitchen. He followed, stopping at the bathroom door. He waited, watching as she opened the cupboard and found the familiar box of microwave popcorn. She knew her way around the Munson kitchen, but he was still hesitant to leave her right now. When he was sure she found it, he closed the bathroom door behind him.

The popcorn was ready before Eddie was out of the shower, even with Mel keeping the peas on her bruises. It was starting to feel better, the cold numbing the pain. She put it down briefly when she needed to open the package, and again as she took the hot bag out of the microwave.

She found the big, stained plastic mixing bowl that served as the designated popcorn bowl and dumped it all in, tossing it around to make sure the artificial flavoring spread to all the crispy kernels. The shower turned off as she sat back in Eddie’s bed, popcorn on her lap and the chosen VHS halfway inserted into the VCR. All Eddie would have to do when he got out was push it in and it would start playing.

Mel ate a piece of popcorn, happy she hadn’t left it to Eddie to burn. She stared down at the bowl in her lap, picking pieces now and then to munch on as she waited. Being alone with her thoughts again, the commotion from earlier today echoed in her ears.

The bathroom door opened, interrupting the spiraling thoughts in Mel’s mind. She looked up, putting on a brave face for Eddie, but he didn’t appear.

“Mel?” He called from around the corner.

“Yeah?” She answered, anxiety growing as she wondered what was wrong.

“I kinda forgot to grab clothes…” Eddie admitted, a soft chuckle floating through the air. “Can you just, not look for a minute?”

Mel rolled her eyes, shaking her head fondly yet again at the man before calling back that she would, closing her eyes and waiting.

“Thanks. I’m a dumbass.” He laughed, his voice getting louder as he entered the room.

Mel kept her eyes closed, using the opportunity to press the peas harder to her eye. It was soothing now that she was getting used to the freeze. She heard Eddie rummage around, opening a drawer, then another. Fabric against fabric as he dressed.

“All clear.” Eddie announced, barely a moment before dropping onto the bed beside her.

Mel opened her eyes, startled and grabbed for the popcorn bowl before Eddie upturned it completely. Several kernels spilled onto the comforter as Eddie maneuvered his way beside her. When she glared at him, he grinned as he picked them up and ate them, one by one.

Eddie had dressed in an old, well loved WASP t-shirt. The black cotton was worn through in places, leaving the shirt littered in holes. The blue and red checkered pj pants looked more like Wayne’s style than Eddie’s. The older Munson must have either bought them for Eddie or handed them down. His hair was wet, water dripping in rivulets down his neck. They were easy to see because of the messy way he had piled all his hair on top of his head and secured it with an old, stretched out elastic. The hairdo made a messy bun that she half expected to see a little bird making a nest in.

“What’re we watching?” Eddie asked as he reached over, pushing the tape into the VCR.

The sun was hardly visible when Wayne Munson stepped out of the power plant at the end of his shift. The sky was lightening and distant birds had started to sing, signaling its impending rise. When Eddie was young and had trouble staying in his own bed - not that he could blame him after all he’d been through in his short life - Wayne would say “it’s so early even the sun isn’t out of bed yet, boy,” as the child crawled under the blankets beside him. The thought made Wayne grin as he climbed into his old, beat-up truck.

Wayne was a simple man with a simple routine. Some would call it boring, but he would call it appreciating the simple pleasures. His morning routine post-night shift had three main steps.

The first step was to head to the Cherry Street Diner, one of the few places open this early. The diner was open 24 hours, serving fresh, hot fare during the day and running a smaller, mostly pre-made menu at night. The food was still made in-house by the cook, but it was wrapped in cellophane and stored in a cooler until it was ordered. Any time of day however, they served coffee, which was what drew Wayne there in the first place.

The diner was abuzz with activity, the shift change rush in full swing as his coworkers grabbed their pre-made breakfast sandwiches and coffee in paper cups. Wayne waited patiently for the dust to settle before sliding into his usual seat at the counter and ordering a coffee, “for here.”

With the diner empty, Marjorie, the pretty, plump, middle aged divorcee that worked the night shifts, would chat with him while he sipped his coffee. The coffee might have been what drew him in, but Marjorie was the reason he kept coming back. Looking forward to her undivided attention in the quiet morning hours helped make the long shifts a little more bearable. He even pretended not to notice she switched him to decaf on the sly. When she started switching the coffee, she had also stopped nagging him about switching to get a better night’s day’s sleep, so he played along. Before leaving, Wayne settled his bill and thanked Marjorie for the coffee and her company. She flushed and smiled brightly as she thanked him for his company in return, as she did every morning. The sight chased off the exhaustion that had seeped into his bones, if only for a moment.

When Wayne got home, he started making himself breakfast: the second step in his morning routine. He turned on the coffee machine Eddie got him a few years back for Father’s Day, needing the caffeine after the long shift. Nothing he’s made in the old machine has ever tasted as good as the coffee at the diner - another wonderful quality of Marjorie’s - but he couldn’t think of a way to ask for her help without giving up the goat about his secret, second morning coffee.

With the coffee machine gurgling, Wayne dropped two slices of bread into the toaster. As he opened the cupboard for the jar of peanut butter, he checked the fridge door for any notes. Wayne wished he could be more present for Eddie, to make sure the young man was taking care of himself properly and staying out of trouble, but the fridge notes are working for now. Eddie would let him know if he they were out of something at the grocery store or if he planned on disappearing for an extended period of time and didn’t want Wayne to worry. With no note, Wayne assumed nothing was awry.

Once the toast popped up, Wayne smothered it with a layer of peanut butter. He poured himself a mug of coffee, leaving the rest of the pot for Eddie when he woke up - not that he needed any extra energy.

Wayne sunk into the old, lumpy sofa that was likely to become his bed today. There was a roll away cot tucked into the corner of the room, but it was a pain in the ass to pull out and unfold. The damn thing wasn’t that much of an improvement from the sofa for all the effort it took to drag out without the broken wheel snagging the carpet the whole way. On any given day, Wayne was just as likely to sleep on the couch as he was to sleep on the cot.

Setting his breakfast on the coffee table in front of him, he grabbed the remote for the final step of his routine: watching the morning show until he passed out. Spending his days sleeping and his nights working, Wayne often felt disconnected from the waking world. Spending his breakfast letting the cheery hosts talk about the goings on in the world made him feel connected again. He’d never admit to it, but he liked the celebrity gossip segments just as much as he liked the news.

Wayne pressed the power button on the remote. The trailer was quiet. The muted birdsong outside had picked up in volume now that the sun was rising above the horizon. The zap of power surging through the television screen, followed by the static of it coming to life, was missing. Wayne looked up curiously, finally noticing the TV was missing.

He cursed under his breath, groaning as he pushed himself up from the couch. His knees protested - the old joints ready for him to get off his feet and sleep.

“Eddie,” he called gruffly on his way through the trailer. As he reached the bedroom door, he rapped his knuckles three times before pushing it open a few inches.

The room was awash in blue light from the “missing” TV. It glowed with the blank screen from the VCR, waiting to start another tape after the previous had run to its end and ejected. Eddie was already awake, pressing a finger to his lips as he shushed his uncle as loudly as he dared. Wayne recognized Melanie as the figure curled into Eddie’s side. It wasn’t uncommon for Wayne to find the two curled up together, despite Eddie’s insistence they were only friends. Wayne knew better, seeing the secret glances between the two young adults, but he also knew that telling Eddie to do something about it would be mighty hypocritical considering his own situation.

Melanie, pressed into Eddie’s side, snored softly with her head on Eddie’s chest. Despite the room being tinted blue, Wayne could see the dark purples and reds surrounding her left eye and cheek. He also noticed the frozen peas, unthawed, soggy and likely inedible, towards the foot of the bed. He had been the one to hold frozen vegetables to Eddie’s injuries enough times to put two and two together.

He pushed the door open, concern creasing his brow as he asked “what happened?” He kept his volume down, mindful of the sleeping girl, but his tone left no room for argument. He expected an answer.

Eddie shook his head, shrugging with his free shoulder. He didn’t have the full story yet either.

Wayne swallowed hard, jaw set. He couldn’t see any bruises, blood or swelling on any of Eddie that was showing, but that offered little relief. “She okay?”

Eddie looked down at Melanie, seeming to consider the girl before answering. The room didn’t need to be lit for Wayne to recognize the look in the younger man’s eyes. Not only was it the look Eddie always had when he didn’t think the girl was looking, but Wayne was sure he had a similar look on his face anytime he watched Marjorie working.

A moment passed before Eddie looked up with a grimace and another half-shrug. Melanie snuffled softly in her sleep, wrapping her arm tighter around Eddie. The blue light from the TV made the boy look nearly purple as his face heated.

“You okay?” Wayne asked next, watching Eddie for any signs of lying. He had gotten better at lying with age, but he still had a few tells Wayne knew to watch for.

Eddie didn’t hesitate, nodding once. He was okay, but upset. Wayne understood, he was upset too.

The elder Munson sighed, rubbing his tired eyes as he considered the situation. When he opened his eyes he saw Eddie watching him, waiting for his judgment. It took three steps for Wayne to cross the room, turning the TV off and plunging the room into darkness.

“Take care of our girl,” he grumbled, turning around. He used the sunlight streaming down the hallway from the kitchen to guide his steps, trying not to step on any of the junk on Eddie’s bedroom floor. He leveled the boy with a serious look as he added “let me know if I need to get involved.”

Wayne didn’t wait for Eddie’s reply, hearing him call a quiet “thanks, Wayne” as he shut the door to the bedroom. As he sat down to eat his toast in silence, he made a mental note to buy a newspaper on his way to work, assuming that in the one morning that he missed his show, the world remained turning.

[barkingbakugo]

Eddie x Reader | Stranger Things

Warnings { drug use

"Thanks." I smile at the guy watching over the register before heading back outside to my car. As I head back with my bag filled with candy I see Dustin's excited face in the passenger seat. I get in and close the door behind me,"Here you go, and happy birthday." I give him a forced smile that turned genuine as I hand him the bag to which he sequels. I raise my eyebrows and start chucking in shock at the noise he just made. "Thank you y/n! I can't wait to rub this in Lucas' face." He flashes his smile before digging into the bag and handing me a candy bar, "Here you go, since you bought all this it would be rude of me not to share." I take the candy giving him a 'Thank you' before starting the car and driving to the roller rink.

It had been a good 30 minutes into skating with everyone when I decided I needed to steal some candy from Dustin's bag. It was the perfect time since he was busy laughing at Lucas trying to skate. I take some gummy worms from the bag after sitting on top of the table. "Can I steal some?" I hear suddenly from behind me. I turn around on the table and look down a bit at the voice. "Eddie..? When did you get there?' I genuinely ask cause my guy wasn't there before. He chuckles, "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you." I hand him the bag of gummy worms and he sticks his hand in. "It's all good just make some noise next time. You aren't skating?" I ask noticing he's not wearing skates. He shakes his head, "I don't do skating I'm just here for Dustin." I swing my legs to the edge on the table so they dangle. I observe his jacket and shirt as I rip half the gummy worm in between my teeth. "Nice W.A.S.P pin.." I gesture my head to his pin on his jacket. "Oh thanks..What's your favorite song..?" He asks leaning in a bit almost as if he's trying to catch me slipping. "Sex drive." I replied, "Why? You testing me?" I scoff with a dry chuckle as he leans back a bit with a grin. "Possibly, sorry it's just some people say they're into the band when they only know one song." He says a bit defensive but I can tell he's not actually offended. Why is this guy so cute? "God you're one of those people..? Just so you know I'm not lying..I can list you off all their albums.." I start listing them but he stops me only two albums in. "Nope I believe you." He didn't wanna sit through me doing that which made me smirk slightly. We sat there for a bit in a comfortable silence as the heads of gummy worms were being torn off.

"For some reason I don't believe you.."I chuckled handing Eddie the joint we were smoking behind the skate building. "I'm being serious.."he says with a sly grin which makes me laugh. "Okay so say Robert Trujillo did let you play his guitar how did they not just call security on you? You did sneak backstage." I question still intrigued by his story while he takes a couple of hits off the joint. "I was just too cool to be kicked out." He replies with a shrug. I didn't believe the guy but I couldn't decide if I wanted to let him have his moment or not.

I didn't.

"Or did you beg them not to kick you out?" After I asked that he puts his hand to his mouth and hesitates to defend himself but he doesn't. "Were you there?" He asks in a bit of shock and we both burst out laughing. "Sorry sorry.."I say throughout my chuckles. Eddie passes the joint as we come down from our laughter. "It's fine...but I promise the rest of it is true. I did play his guitar after begging to stay." He reassures me and I finish the joint. "Have you heard they're new album? Master of Puppets?" He curiously asked. "Mm..." I blow the last hit out into the air. "No actually, I want to but I just haven't gotten around to it." I said before he gets excited and crosses his arms over his chest with half a smile. "You should give it a listen soon cause it's so good..." he starts to go on about his love for the album but the whole time I couldn't get my mind off of how cute he was. I didn't know if he felt more comfortable around me because we just smoked but he just seems a bit more happy and open even though we just met. I loved it. "What?" He questions breaking me out of my thoughts. "Huh? Oh..." I didn't notice my stupid smile on my face as he was talking. Maybe I was the one who was too high. "Sorry..It's just you're cute when you get excited." I slightly slap my hand over my mouth out shock that just slipped out. "Okay wow.." I giggled with a light blush. I put my hands on my cheeks and he raises his eyebrows but soon grins to himself. The grin. "I mean I know I'm cute but thank you for reminding me." He says confidently making me playfully roll my eyes and he continues after a moment, "I'm glad you said that because I was going to ask you if you wanted to possibly go out sometime..? Maybe go for dinner then afterwards go somewhere to listen to the new album?" He asked sounding a bit unsure due to being nervous. Wait. I couldn't believe that this guy was really asking me out. He had the looks, music taste and personality. I'm dreaming bitch. "Y-Yeah..that actually sounds really nice." I answered with a hint of excitement. "Eddie..!" We both snap our heads to the side of the building where Dustin is standing. "We are eating cake..! Finish up the flirting and come sing happy birthday to me..!" He shouts not even wasting his time walking over to us. I pierce my lips together before smiling at Eddie which he returns. "We should.." I start and gesture to where Dustin was just standing. "Yeah...also I'm excited for our date. Tomorrow? I will pick you up at 7?" He asked and I nod with a goofy smile still feeling like I'm dreaming. We make our way inside chatting about our favorite music now. I'm so happy.

[fictional-men-have-my-heart]

Day 25

Hello all! Welcome to day 25! Merry Christmas to those celebrating, and I hope everyone had a good day regardless, celebration or not.

I'm gonna use a few of my previous musings here to create a bit of a list regarding what you'd give the gents of the 141, Los Vaqueros, and Konig for Christmas. Imagine having a small little Christmas together before everyone goes their separate ways prior to a short leave.

(I made the dialogue attributed to "you" italicized this time since there's so much more than usual.)

Gaz has been pulled in by Price to prepare food this time, since he's shown his skills before and now is the designated help.

You had tried to help, but got shooed away by Gaz and the Captain.

"Go bug Soap or something, keep him out of here please."

You did just that, finding Rudy, Alejandro, and Soap gathered in the living space with cards in their hands.

Ghost is sitting off in a corner, a book held in his hands.

A small tree had been set up in a corner, much smaller than the majority of your sundry crew. Lights were strung about it and lined the edges of the ceiling, casting the room in a warm off-white glow.

"How'd ya always beat me, Colonel?" Soap gripes, watching the man slide the small stack of chips toward himself.

"You've just got to be better at perception, cabrón." Alejandro gloats.

You settle onto the couch, the gents playing gathered on the floor around the coffee table.

"Want us to deal you in?" Rudy asks. You shake your head in response.

"I'm worse than Soap when it comes to cards."

You watched for a while, Konig appearing in your peripheral after a little. You gestured to the couch beside you and he sits, watching the ever-growing frustration on Soap's face and the mirth on Alejandro and Rudy's.

Ghost seems to finish the book he had, and begins watching too, even trying to offer pointers to Soap.

"I wouldn't do that Johnny." He murmurs. Soap looks over his shoulder.

"Lot of bloody help you are." He huffs. Ghost then moves to sit on the floor with them.

"Deal me in next, I'm gonna kick your ass sergeant." You raised your eyebrows and shared a look with Konig, thinking things just got even more interesting.

Dinner was even more cramped than the first time, having added a 6'10" body to the mix.

Alejandro had laid claim to the couch next to Konig when you got up, and you merely shrugged, sitting on the floor again.

You stopped everyone before they retired to their bunks, a grin on your face at the confusion your teammates wore.

You had been working for months to secure and hide a few things for them.

For Price, you had grabbed cigars he liked and a warm beanie.

For Ghost, a new book similar to the one you had first borrowed, plus some ghost-themed bookmarks.

For Soap, a sketchbook and good drawing pencils, a small bar of soap drawing tucked inside the cover.

For Gaz, a blank recipe book where he could write his own. (Though you encouraged him to share).

For Alejandro, you found a good quality travel-sized sewing kit and a thermal shirt, since he was all the way in the UK with you all for now.

For Rudy, you gave him a few CDs of bands he'd mentioned he liked to dance to.

For Konig, you bought a couple of CDs of classical piano music and a small travel booklet of some songs.

The team was somewhat speechless at the gifts, that is until Soap stood and crushed you in a hug.

The rest of the team followed, with Konig and Ghost offering you thank yous and a fistbump and handshake respectively.

They promised they'd try and bring something back with them when they returned, but you had waved them off.

"Merry Christmas guys. Travel safe."

[sandwich2451]

The Violinist, chapter 6: The Boat Thief

Chapter six:  The Boat Thief

"And when I looked into your eyes All I saw was my reflection."

The Pit and the Pendulums were the first to go down - and Vezi already knew how and more importantly, she knew she could stop her own team from sinking. 

Siren song, is, undoubtedly, very subtle, but sirens do need it for a bunch of shit. Like communicating with each other on a level of sound humans can't hear. Thankfully, Vezi isn't human. 

She looked over at the Goldbugs, who were grinning from ear to ear when the Pit and the Pendulums crashed and sunk. Vezi hunched over towards Xavier and said, "Goldbugs are sabotaging the boats." He looked back at her as he rowed. "How'd you know that?" "Siren in the water. He's in herbology with us - not the most subtle guy. Overuses siren song like he's addicted. Also, he jumped into the water two minutes ago." Xavier's eyebrows furrowed.

"So what do we do about him? I can't, like, magic up a fish or anything." "Yeah, you can't because your life drawings are made of graphite. My  drawings are made of sound - he'll be able to see them." "And how are you going to make it? Sing?" Vezi attempted to shrug. "I could. I also have a harmonica with me, though, which is a bit less disorienting. I'll play while you guys get the flag." Xavier looked confused, but didn't comment on the harmonica. He nodded. "Great. I'll tell Ajax-" 

"Don't," she cut him off. "He'll blab to Enid. I'll keep watch, by the way. God knows you guys aren't careful enough." She thought for a moment. "Also." She leaned back towards Vyama. "Can you take out one of the Black Cats. Just knock them out or something. Thanks."

They got to shore. Vezi caught Wednesday saying something to Enid before she left for the flag and narrowed her eyes. Xavier and Ajax had already gone, leaving Vyama and Vezi to tie up the boat. 

While they were doing that, Vezi got hit by a pebble. "Jesus Christ," she said, turning around to see a hand. "Vyama?" He looked up from his work. "There's a hand there. Do you wanna go get it? Bring it back to the boat." He nodded and set to his next task. 

Vezi, at this point, was alone together with Enid and Bianca. She narrowed her eyes, suspicious of both. Thankfully, Bianca left, leaving only her and Enid behind. Vezi called out to her. "Were you planning to sabotage us? You still could if you had the guts." Enid hesitated, then stood up, cracking her neck and flexing her hands, causing her nails to grow into claws. "Okay spider girl, you asked for it." 

Vezi, at this point, was standing outside of her canoe. "You sure you can take me on?" "I'm confident." She attempted to slash Vezi, who simply cocked an eyebrow and took a step back. Then she advanced again, her bottom left arm swinging a hook into Enid's midriff. "I've done this before, honey, I can do it again." Vyama was coming back to the boat, without Thing, unfortunately. Vezi looked up after she kneed Enid for good measure. 

"Slight change of plans. Get in the other boat. We're taking it." Vyama and Enid both looked at her like she was mad. "What?" Vyama called out. Vezi rolled her eyes and threw another punch at Enid, who had by now recovered. "Just do it, you idiot." He nodded, after a moment of hesitation, and started untying the Black Cats' boat. Vezi saw Xavier and Ajax running towards them, flag in hand. 

She nodded towards the other boat, stunted Enid's balance by kicking her left leg's knee and threw one last punch at her ribs. "At least I won't get threatened with suspension this time," Vezi muttered to herself and then she ran towards the stolen canoe, that Vyama had already untied. She jumped in and started rowing, seeing how Wednesday was just coming back with the flag. 

Vyama hissed at her, "Why steal their boat? We have no idea what its perks are. And it's slower." He looked at the raven perched at the front in disdain. "And the raven isn't even secured well." 

"I sabotaged our boat," Vezi explained. "A few holes in the hull, which shouldn't be apparent until they're about halfway there. I thought it might help us." "You sabotaged your own team?" Vyama hissed. "No, I sabotaged the Black Cats. See? We're halfway there and the Goldbugs haven't even left yet. Believe me, I did us a favour."

"Surprisingly," Weems commented, "All three teams from before are still in the game. But what-" She peered through her binoculars in confusion. "Why, it appears that the Black Cats and the Jesters have switched boats!" A collective gasp rose from the people cheering. "And the Jesters are pulling ahead - ahead of the Goldbugs too. Will they claim victory this year?"

Vezi stiffened. "Siren," she simply said, and stopped rowing and pulled out her harmonica from the chest pocket that had been sewed oh so conveniently in her uniform. She started playing the tune of "Murderered Mermaid Song" - pretty fitting, wasn't it?

She grinned as she heard his howl from in the water - seemed like he was going to sabotage them next, but he'd swum away from the boat to the coast. Bianca looked at their boat, frowning. "Scared him away," Vezi informed Xavier and she put the harmonica away. 

"Tell Ajax to try and flip the switches. They won't be for self-sabotage, I'm sure of that." A few seconds later, harpoons appeared on the sides of the boat. Vezi tilted her head. "Not bad."

They were in the lead, but like this, no one could sabotage them from the sides. And seeing as the siren had been scared away, there was nothing that could be done to stop them from winning. 

They were the first to get to land. Ajax and Xavier got out of the boat with the flag, Vezi and Vyama following them. He nudged her. "Good game. Couldn't have done it without you." She smiled sarcastically. "I know that." 

"And in an unexpected turn of events, The Jesters win the Poe cup!" Vezi smiled when she saw the two other teams climb out of the water. "Black Cats would've won," she commented. "You guys weren't prepared for sabotage at all. Frankly, it was kind of embarrassing." Vyama huffed and punched her shoulder playfully. 

Xavier and Ajax were holding up the cup, shouting garbled words that probably were supposed to sounds like this: "Thank you! We did it! For the gorgons!" And because of an arachnid, but who cares for specifics?

Vezi caught Wednesday glaring at her and tilted her head, smiling. "You won!" Mel shouted, hugging her. "I really, really owe you. You're an angel." Vezi was laughing on the inside. As if an angel would fist fight a werewolf and then proceed to steal a boat. "I know, Mel, honey. I know."