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#what do you mean you’re supposed to play nice even if the other kid started it????
aetherdecember · 8 months
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Another snippet from my Flipping the Coin au. Probably won’t make it into the actual fic, but I’ve been obsessed with these two and keep finding myself writing moments like this ^^
Mordred was sprawled over Arthur’s chest, with his thumb tucked in his mouth, and blue eyes serious as he listened to the story with the gravity of a judge. The two of them are slumped in their favorite armchair, the red velvet blotchy from numerous spilled drinks, sticky snacks, and misguided attempts at crafts. It was too warm for a fire, but in the dim evening, with the lone table lamp for light and the window cracked open for a breath of air, it took Arthur back to countless evenings spent in another room. One built of stone and lit only by candle flame.
Aloud, Arthur read, “Because he was the king…”
Personally, it wasn’t his favorite retelling, but Mordred had seen his name on the cover and insisted on hearing it, so he had conceded. Maybe he should’ve waited until Mordred was older before telling him that there were stories about characters who shared their names, but in these last few years, the events from long ago had been so close to mind Arthur had wanted to share it. He assumed Mordred would fixate on the sword fighting and tournaments. Instead, Mordred had picked a book that started with babies being sent out to sea.
“Two by two, he carried—“
Mordred pulled his thumb out of his mouth. “Did you really do that?”
“No.” Arthur marked his spot with a finger and ruffled the thick, black curls. Still damp from the bath, they were in need of a comb. And soon, if Arthur hoped to avoid dealing with tangles. “I never did that.” Dipping his fingers to tickle the back of Mordred’s neck, he smiled as Mordred giggled and tried to escape. “I could never.”
Sitting up, Mordred’s knobby limbs found all of Arthur’s soft spots as he settled knees first on top of Arthur’s chest. “If you had to, could you?”
“Would you,” Arthur automatically corrected.
“Would I?” Mordred’s pitch went comically high. “Nooooooo! Would you!”
Arthur gave him a look, one that Mordred immediately leaned in and mimicked with a giggle. “Would I, Arthur Penn, a man far removed from the ancient past, cast a boat full of babies into the ocean? Absolutely not.”
“What if Merlin told you to?”
He’d never had to. History hadn’t played out like that. But Arthur couldn’t tell his young son that he definitely knew it hadn’t happened because he couldn’t even explain his own past and all that entailed. All Mordred knew was that his father was named after King Arthur, so that meant he’d been named after Mordred. Because they were father and son and that was how it was supposed to be. He didn’t know that in another life they hadn’t been related and that the first time Merlin met Mordred he had helped save him.
“Nope.” Arthur popped the ‘p’. Out of Mordred’s sight, he set the book on the ground. It was time for a better story anyway. “Not even then.”
“What if Merlin did it?”
“Listen, let me tell you about the—“ He almost said ‘the Mordred I knew’ but luckily stopped. Instead, he says, “—the story I heard. It took place when Uther was still king. The first time Arthur met Mordred he was only a little boy…”
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DPXDC prompt: Dead on main. No trick only treat.
~~Сhildhood friends and deals~~
The Justice League has to summon a ghost from another dimension to address the threat. They don’t know what price the Ghost King will take but there’s little time to bargain. Another spirit threatening them has already seized all the computers on their base. John doesn’t know what else to offer. A summoned ghost starts to look bored. Gold, jewelry? A favor from a member of the League? Like the Ruler of All Dead needs it. No one dares to make another offer, and the King is in no hurry to set out his demands. Maybe try to pull off a soul sale scam?
Suddenly, Red Hood breaks into the hall, walks up to Phantom and shakes his shoulder vigorously. Red Hood: You, get Technus out of here right now. I need access to the files and fast. Phantom: That’s rude, dude. Where did you grow up? in the cave? No "hello, no how are you, Danny", really? Red Hood: I’ll pay the usual price. Phantom: Deal.
What is the price? John sees Batman and gets in his way. The usual price, his guy said. Means Jay was already out of the deal alive and well. This hyperprotective bat would only piss off the ruler if he interfered.
The King quickly deals with his subordinate using a thermos and remains to watch working Hood. Red Hood: What do you want? I’m busy. Danny: You and I have a contract~ Red Hood: All right, all right. Jay throws M&Ms right in the face of the ghost. But king doesn’t look angry. He opens the package and starts sorting the candies by color. Phantom quickly eats up all the green ones and passes the red ones to Hood. Jason takes them without any questions.
Strange. John has never seen a summoned creature share its reward with a human. And the son of a bat looks too comfortable with it. Wait, since when do super-powered beings think that candy is a decent wage?John makes one of the most likely deductions using his experience. Constantine: Batsy, how long has your son been sleeping with the King of Ghosts? Batman: He…what?!
~~~~~~~
Dick *knocking at the door*: Little Wing, you hate ectoplasm and everything what is neon green, so why? He’s dangerous! Jason who turned on the music to not listen to his crazy family: ~He’s poison but tasty~
Dick: NoOOoo
~~~~~~
Jason: And now everyone thinks that I sold my virginity to you for a bargain or something, because interdimensional creatures like you aren’t supposed to help for nothing. Like you’re playing favorites. I’m gonna fucking kill John. Danny: Well, I wouldn’t say no to that. Jason: What? Danny: I mean, to k-kill John, yeah. How dare he.. Jason: Omg, you’re still so terrible liar, Fenton.
Danny: Sorry :(
Jason: No. Say it again.
~~~~Twelve years ago~~~~ Maddie wasn’t thrilled to learn that Danny was trying to make friends with Todd’s son. Their neighbor was terrible. And his son was definitely a street rat and probably a juvenile delinquent. Maddie: Danny, honey, there’s got to be a reason this boy is talking to you. Even kids from the crime alley are always looking for a bargain they can make or a fool they can fool. Danny: But Jason is so cool! He knows so much about books and alleys and.. Maddie: But you don’t want to be a fool, do you? Danny: Okay, Mom, I get it.
So, if Danny wants a cool friend, he’s got to offer a bargain.
He didn’t have a lot of pocket money for every month but Jason needed it more anyway. And his lunch that Jack was picking for him was big enough for two and only bitten on Tuesdays. Nice. Jason: Do I understand correctly? You will pay me and give me food, and I, what? Protect you from bullies? Danny: No! I’m not weak, I don’t need to be protected. Just..maybe we could sit together at lunch and walk each other home sometimes? Jason: Nay Danny: But why? You want something else? Jason: Money’s fine but your homemade food is…strange. Danny: I can bring sweets if you want. Jason: Deal. 3 pop tarts for a joint lunch, a party size bag of M&Ms if you waste my time out of school.
~~~~
Sometimes they share sweets when they hang out but more often Jayson takes them home to save in case his parents have money problems. Sweets have a long shelf life stored and he may not be afraid to poison himself. Over time, candy becomes their currency and a secret language for all occasions. Need help without unnecessary questions? M&Ms. Problems with learning? Skittles. The question is about family? Snickers. There will be a serious conversation? Pop Tarts.
Jason: One snickers and a pack of gum. Danny: Yeah, Jason? What do you want? Jason: My mom wants to meet my friend. Come to lunch on Sunday. Danny: Okay, you managed to pay for my expensive services. Jason:…and you just lost the gum from the deal.
~~~~~~
Jason threw a package at Danny: Three pop tarts. We need to talk. Danny: All right? Jason: Why are you avoiding me all week?! Danny: Well, it’s just..you’re Wayne now. Jason. Still Todd. And what about that? Danny: You can hang out with the cooler guys now, I didn’t want to embarrass you. Jason: Bullshit! I’m still the street rat, and you’re trying to avoid our contract. me. And I don’t even need money from you anymore. What the hell? I thought you are my friend. Danny: And I am!
~~~~~~
Robin: What’s a schoolboy doing in an alley at night? Danny: Um, I…nothing? Don’t tell my parents, Mr. Robin sir. Robin: It will cost you so many Chunky Bars, you have no idea. Danny:...Jason? Jason: N-no. Danny: Damn yes. What are you doing in green shorts on the street at night?! Jason: Cosplay. Danny: Oh yeah? Then I’m just your hallucination. Don’t hesitate to ghost me. I’m going home, Disgrace In Pixie Boots, bye. Jason: fu%&c$#u
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╰┈➤ 18+ none of these stories belong to me! this is a masterlist of all the fanfics i’ve read and reblogged! just thought it would be nice to have them all in one spot! (if your fic is on here and you wish not to be, please let me know!) some will have summaries if provided <3
ᡣ𐭩 how you can help palestine . fic recs m.list
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@eupheme
⭒ Sugar Sugar
Your eccentric neighbor Wade may drive you a little up the wall… but, you’re willing to put up with him if it means he’ll introduce you to his new, grumpy-looking roommate.
⭒ Trouble Will Find Me
His eyes darken. Fingers pinching against your skin, as he adjusts his grip, “‘s a bad idea, sweetheart. Supposed to keep you out of trouble.”
@imaginedisish
⭒ Lover You Should've Come Over
You've been pining after Logan since you joined the X-Men, and you're convinced he'll never love you back. He’s obsessed with Jean—always has been. Or...maybe he's not.
@not-neverland06
⭒ Kid?
You walk in on Logan and Jean in a compromising position and feel your heart break. You really thought he loved you, you were so wrong. (Or were you?)
⭒ Nasty Dog
You'd thought you'd had a good thing going with Logan. You weren't officially anything to each other, but you were getting close. You truly saw a future with him, but he made it incredibly clear he did not feel the same
⭒ We're Dating?
You're on probation from the team and official house arrest after a little accident with your powers. Logan knows you're going stir-crazy so he takes you to the arcade for some fun. And then your friendship takes a weird turn.
@thebestandworstdayofjune
⭒ The Refrigerator Light
you are somehow unprepared to run into Logan while on the quest for a midnight snack... in the house you both live in.
@superhoeva
⭒ On His Six
Six months. Six months ago you’d started as the new counselor. Six months, and Logan can’t get you out of his head. 
@little-miss-dilf-lover
⭒ Company
keeping LOGAN HOWLETT company when you notice him having a bad day
⭒ Cowgirl
LOGAN HOWLETT is the kind of guy that likes to fuck up into you during cowgirl.
⭒ Aftercare
thinking about sitting on logan’s lap after you’re done fucking.
@moonlight-prose
⭒ In Dreams We Rest
stuck in another universe and unsure of where he stands, logan expects things to even out as they always did. but when you cross his path and you have no idea who he is, he's in for a rude awakening.
@proxima-writes
⭒ Room For Rent
logan finds a new roommate.
@happy74827
⭒ Feels Like Home
You decide to take it upon yourself to become best friends with Wade’s new grumpy addition to the family (much to Logan’s dismay).
@ovaryacted
⭒ Logan + Overstimulation Drabble
@sunsburns
⭒ Guess
logan howlett loves to swear up and down that he’s too old to mess around with a pretty young thing like you. you’re out of his league in everything you do, from the way you can get up early in the morning and stay out late at night, stumbling back into your apartment in a fit of giggles, humming the last song that played at the club you were returning from.
@imaginedisish
⭒ Is It Casual Now?
I know baby nooo attachment, but we're...KNEE DEEP IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AND YOU'RE EATING ME OUT IS IT CASUAL NOW?
⭒ Liquid Smooth
A simple mission deep in a forest alone with Logan quickly gets out of hand when you just have to go and pick a flower...
⭒ Unchained Melody
You and Logan decide to go to Rogue and Remy's wedding together, but you don't know what together means. Logan helps to clarify...
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iheartmapi · 1 month
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Mapi angst? Pls🥹
Answer: This is my first time writing angst but I hope you’ll like it 😭
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What I dreaded the most
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Summary: You’re Barça’s youngest player, which makes your teammates call you the “kid” of the team. The team is supposed to play a match but you’re nowhere to be seen, which causes Mapi to be anxious and worried. She later learns that there was a good reason for your absence.
TW: mention of a dislocated shoulder, car crash, hospital, brief mentions of pain and wounds
Angst with happy ending.
Word count: 2,261
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Y/n Y/l/n was Barça’s youngest player, her teammates were quick to jump in on calling her the team’s “kid”, upon her first time hearing her being called that she couldn’t help but feel as if it was meant to be a subtle punch in the gut, like “kid” was something derogatory, perhaps it was a bit childish but slowly over time she started feeling warm whenever one of the girls called her that, even if it was a simple “hey kid” or maybe even “kiddo”, there were many variants, but all became a familiar and nice nickname.
Out of the entire time you’ve grown the closest to Mapi, the girl’s eccentric and often times unpredictable personality absolutely charmed you, the two of you enjoyed joking with each other, frequently talking with each other during breaks at training
Today, was the day of a match for Barça, Mapi was in the locker room, sitting down on a bench whilst talking with Ingrid and Aitana. There were only a few minutes left before they’d have to go out, yet you haven’t arrived yet, this weirded out Mapi as well as Ingrid and Aitana when they brought it up, you weren’t one to be late to anything (Mapi liked that trait of yours) so what the hell happened? Mapi couldn’t help but shift anxiously in her seat, her mind thinking of the worst outcomes; something must’ve happened to you, or perhaps someone? You were her close friend, she always had this natural worry in the back of her mind when it came to you, maybe because you were so young…She looked around the locker room, hoping that you’d finally appear somewhere and explain that something came up or something. “Did she tell you guys anything?” Mapi looked up at her teammates, concern written all over her face, “Nah, listen Mapi…you have to calm down” Ingrid assured her, patting her shoulder “You should listen to Ingrid, Maps, I mean maybe Y/n caught something? You know how it is” Aitana agreed with Ingrid, Mapi appreciated that they were trying to get her to calm down but nonetheless it didn’t help her, she sighed and lowered her head. “We can always try and call her” Aitana proposed and immediately retrieved her phone, Ingrid nodded and did the same.
And so the girls started calling Y/n’s number, but to no avail, it seemed like her phone was either turned off or hadn’t been charged, this only made Mapi‘s panic worse, other teammates tried to call her as well but no one got an answer.
“Something must’ve happened, she’d never pull something like this” Mapi frowned “I have to talk to the coach” she added and stood up from the bench she was sitting on, Aitana and Ingrid wanted to tell her to give it up since she was completely off contact, so what could the coach do? But they let her go anyway, Mapi marched to find the coach, and when she did she didn’t save any of her concerns from the coach, she needed to search for you since this was incredibly weird, but in the end all she got was a “We can’t do anything about it María, you have to focus the match is about to start, Y/n will probably come over in some time anyway”.
Mapi came back to the locker room with her head held low, Aitana and Ingrid were still on their phones trying to call you up, as well as Keira, Patricia and even Alexia…it was clear they were feeling irritated at this whole situation, some more than the others. They had to break it to Mapi that they couldn’t just keep on trying to call you for hours on end since they had a match to play, Mapi was feeling terrible at this point, but they were right, even if she wanted to she couldn’t just run out of the stadium to go looking for you right now.
She sat back down on her bench, taking a sip of water to try and do anything that could calm her down even a minimal precent, Alexia came up to Mapi, sitting down next to her on the bench, “You shouldn’t be worrying so much, I’m sure Y/n’s fine, wherever she is…” the blonde tried to comfort her teammate, Mapi looked over at her friend smiling slightly “Yeah I guess you’re right Alexia…we’ve gotta focus on the game” Mapi’s smile falterd after she said that, she could feel it’d be hard for her to concentrate on anything else other than you right now, she wished she could listen to all the things her teammates were saying to her, but they couldn’t help her at all.
There was no more asking or calling now, they had to go out and play at this moment. As Mapi stood there on the green pitch she felt as if she was doing this for the first time, like she was a stranger among her teammates, it was as if her own feet were misleading her, she could see Ingrid, Aitana, Alexia and the rest looking at her with confused looks, as she was barely managing with her defense. Mapi’s concern for you overtook all her senses, and in result as the first half neared its end, it was no shock that Mapi was taken off the field for someone else to replace her.
Weirdly shaken up and distressed she made her way back to the locker room. She sighed, she sat back down on that same bench she was sitting earlier in a much calmer state than now, Mapi held her phone in her hands, she still had a hope that as her screen light up she would see a notification from you, wherever it was a message, call or anything else. She blinked and there it was, as if what she was hoping for came true, there it was, clear in a simple black coloured font
Y/n:
It’s bad Mapi
Attached to your message was your localisation, Mapi’s eyes widened, in that moment she knew that she had to drop everything to see where in God’s name you were all this time, her levels of worry were going through multiple roofs, she grabbed her bag and sprinted out of the stadium, she had to go to that localisation at this exact moment.
The setting was only a little bit off from the city, the countless buildings were clearly seen in the distance, she neared the localisation that you sent her, it wasn’t hard to miss the absolute train wreck of what seemed to be a car crash ahead of her, Mapi pulled up, close to the scene. She got out of her car, running towards the collision, red and blue lights flashed, two cars were crashed against each other, it looked like one of them quite literally rammed into the other one, there was an ambulance, where he could see a couple of paramedics rushing here and there, and finally there was a cop car, one cop was speaking with a civilian who was leaning against the ambulance, they had some bandages on them, but it seemed like they were the less hurt party in all of this.
Even if it sounded bad taken out of context Mapi couldn’t care less about them or anything else than finding you right now, she ran up to one of the paramedics, asking all about you, if they knew anything, “There’s a woman inside the ambulance-“ the paramedic told her, Mapi didn’t even want to listen to them finishing their sentence, she hurried to look inside the ambulance. Surely there was a woman inside…but it wasn’t you. It wasn’t possible for you not to be here, where the hell were you?! Her hands were shaking, were you dead? You couldn’t be, she walked further…then she felt as if a massive rock was taken off her heart, she was you sitting on the roadside, your head in your hands, you were patched up, some bandages on your legs, but what made Mapi feel at ease was the fact that you seemed to be doing alright, she ran up to you, gripping your shoulders with her hands, you looked up at her clearly startled but your gaze softens slightly as you realized it was Mapi.
Mapi looked you up, searching for any wounds, cuts or anything of that kind, she was glad to see that you were still pretty much in tact. “Jesus Christ Y/n! I- I was so goddamn scared!” She exclaimed barely catching her breath, “What happened..please I’m begging you tell me!” Tears started rolling down your cheeks, covering the dried tracks of the small droplets from before you saw Mapi, “I’m..I’m not sure Mapi It- It was all so sudden” your voice broke as you tried to come up with anything that had sense to tell her. Mapi cradled your face in her hands, her thumbs wiping away the salty tears “Alright- Alright- listen please just tell me if everything’s alright Y/n, I was so scared…I knew something went wrong I just wasn’t…expecting all of this, please tell me you’re fine!” You sniffed, quickly nodding your head in a “yes” motion. “Dios mío…” Mapi muttered to herself
“Y/n I’m glad, seriously I’m glad, I don’t know what the hell I’d do if something was wrong..” Mapi revealed, a single tear running down her cheek, “Come here you big dummy…” she sniffed as she finally smiled, Mapi’s arms lowered slightly resting lower back on your back, she pulled you against her, wanting to hold you tight as if to ensure that some imaginary hurricane wouldn’t just come and snatch you away, she was tired from worrying the entire day.
The second she pulled you against her you suddenly felt a piercing pain go through your body like an arrow. You winced loudly in pain, Mapi’s heart started beating abnormally again, she looked at you, her eyes wide like cherry pies. “Y/n? Y/n?! What was that? What happened?” She started blabbering any word that came to mind as she tried searching for any way to do something, you started sobbing, tears falling like rain, staining your shirt that was already slightly dirty from the car crash.
The first logical step was to take you to the goddamn hospital, Mapi had to pick you up, lead you there- do anything to get you there without accidentally hurting you more. “Where does it hurt? I have to take you to my car, we HAVE to go to the hospital Y/n” Mapi asked, you managed to choke out a “My shoulder…” through tears, Mapi wrapped her arm around your waist, making sure your “safe” side could lean on her. “It’ll be alright, ok? I promise you Y/n, everything is going to be fine, you’ll be fine” with that she helped you somehow make your way to her car, Mapi supported you with each step the two of you took, finally the two of you got into her car, she wasted no time in immediately speeding off towards the closest hospital, the only thought keeping her going was getting you help. As Mapi was driving with you wincing and still crying from the pain next to her on the passengers seat she suddenly heard her phone buzzing, she guessed it must’ve been someone from Barça, the coach, Alexia maybe someone else…but there were too many things going on right now for her to be able to pick it up, she’d call later.
The white walls and typical sterile scent wasn’t comforting at all, Mapi was sitting in a chair outside of your hospital room…you had to get a scan right now, the doctors concluded that a dislocated joint could’ve been the cause of your sudden pain, then Mapi remembered she was supposed to check who was calling her earlier…she took out the sleek device from her pocket and checked missed calls, surely it was one of her teammates; Keira, Mapi pressed the contact to call her back, Keira answered quite quickly .
“Maps! What’s going on? We’re all worried over here!” She heard Keira’s voice on the other end, Mapi took a deep breath before beginning to tell her what just happened.
“Yeah…they said it’s possibly a joint, the doctor assured me that she should be fine though” Mapi said with a hint of disdain for the possibility that her friend’s state could be worse, Keira sighed. “We have to trust them Mapi…alright I don’t want to keep you up so long, we’ll talk later, yeah?” Mapi answered simply “Yeah…later” before hanging up. Just then she saw you being escorted back into the room, Mapi’s heart dropped, she hated seeing you like this, hurt and helpless, “Can I come in? That’s my friend” She asked on of the nurses, the woman nodded, and so she waited as the nurses put you back onto your bed and left the room.
“Did they tell you anything, Y/n?” Mapi immediately asked as she pulled up a stool for herself to sit on, you nooded, “Yep…” you turned your head to look at Mapi “Dislocated shoulder, I should be fine though, already got all the necessary things scheduled…I definitely feel better tho- thanks to you Mapi” you added and smiled weakly, Mapi laughed gently, she carefully tucked a stray strand of your hair behind your ear.
“I was so worried, everyone thought I was going to lose it…” she chuckled
“I’m already imagining that…” you laughed with her as well “But there’s no need to worry anymore Mapi.”
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shalomniscient · 2 months
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maybe hot take but i do think it’s entirely possible to romance arlecchino even if you didn’t know her before clervie died, it’ll just take a really, really long time. the slow burn of the century, even. obviously there are things you have to be, like an ally to the house and a fatui member, but beyond that it’s really just a waiting game. it’s the progression from colleague to ally to trusted confidant before she would consider even looking at you platonically. and then maybe years of being just friends, at least to her, before she realises that maybe what she feels for you at this point goes beyond the bounds of friendship.
of course, when she realises this, she vanishes off the face of teyvat for a good month or so to go on a nice emotional crisis bender. maybe she even deploys you to some other corner of the continent to very pointedly avoid your presence because uh oh, feelings, and she has 0 clue what to do. sucks to be her, though, because she is also very pointedly miserable without your company. not in super obvious way—it’s arlecchino—but her kids and subordinates will notice that she’s slightly… off. always looking to her side where you’re supposed to be, but aren’t. it takes her a while and maybe a trip to that old broken arena, looking out at the vast sea before she finally reconciles her feelings with herself.
she loves you. not the same way she loved clervie, never the same way—but she loves you.
when she calls you back to her side she most certainly does not breathe a word of this to you. and it’ll take her even more time to do that step, carefully assessing your every action and reaction. she asks the children about you more, and they share knowing glances. your likes, dislikes. hobbies and even guilty pleasures. she almost unconsciously starts to court you, but plays it off as fortunate coincidences.
the director of this new play at the epiclese happened to give me two tickets for free. care to join me?
there’s a new item on the menu at hotel debord. i intend to try it; i believe some of the children may enjoy such things. however, a second opinion would also be valuable. shall we?
(the fact that the play is a romance one and the menu item is a couples’ special is a fact she conveniently avoids bringing up.)
i imagine she’d confess eventually in a surprisingly casual way. maybe you’re both standing on the shore, watching the sunset. the both of you talk about unimportant things, but it’s only with you that arlecchino wants to indulge in these unimportant things, if only to hear the sound of your voice. she’d say the words under the light of the pale moon, always having been more comfortable under the silver light than that of the sun’s. she won’t say the words outright, no i-love-yous, but something just enough.
you are valuable to me, she’ll say, watching the waves roll, as if simply stating another unimportant thing. but her body betrays her, the subtle tense of her shoulders and the way her fingers twitch by her sides. you are not expendable.
it’s fine, though, because you’ve known her long enough to know what she means. and when she finally kisses you for the first time it’s with the slightest hint of hesitance and uncertainty, but there is a sincerity in her that you could not deny if you tried. that night you walk back to the house with your arm looped in hers, and as she watches you watch the world she thinks she could never go back to the one she had before you.
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voltronisanobsession · 9 months
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I saw your child of aphrodite imagine, and it got me thinking, imagine a child of ares as the opposite. They are the most put-together looking imaginable, have a sort of cutsey or croquette aesthetic fashion taste, and are the most kind, loving, and gentle person you would ever meet. So when the assumed aphrodite kid absolutely demolishes the opposing team in capture the flag and gets claimed by ares everyone looses their goddamn minds.
Reader being the Opposite of a Child of Ares
OMG I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK‼️ I actually really love this AHHH
Not proofread 💯
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Another entirely unexpected arrival at camp, campers think it’s the most obvious place where you belong, the Aphrodite kids are ready to accept you into their cabin and everything when you get claimed.
The way reader is so put together has everyone entranced. You always pause to find a reflective surface to fix your hair during camp activities, making sure it falls and frames your face perfectly. Walking with grace and avoiding any muddy puddles to avoid ruining the loafers you walked into camp with. Even when you walk by some campers they can smell how fresh and expensive the perfume you wear is. Even your outfits look expensive and flattering on you, the unique style capturing your natural beauty even more!!
So many people think you’re gonna get claimed by Aphrodite by the end of the night, but everyone is surprised when they don’t see the familiar symbol of the goddess when dinner ends. I mean, she usually claims her children by the first day after all!
Nonetheless, the campers are sympathetic towards you, patting your shoulder as they wish you a goodnight while you’re just confused.
“It’s ok, maybe Aphrodite will claim you tomorrow! Don’t let it keep you up at night.”
You don’t even get a chance to tell them you already have a mother before everyone just disperses to their cabins. I find it hilarious to imagine that reader knows Aphrodite isn’t their godly parent while everyone else is just convinced she is cuz they don’t even know who your mortal parent is (kinda sad if you think about lowkey💀)
You’ve just given up on correcting people cuz you’re too nice (and kind of a doormat💔), using your own time to figure out who your real parent is while people keep yapping about Aphrodite.
Despite that, you’re know as a kind, social butterfly. Whenever someone needs help, whether it be from choosing an outfit, doing braids on the younger girls hair, or needing a sparring partner, you’re quick to volunteer. You’re kind to everyone even the Ares cabin even if they sometimes let snide remarks slip on what you’re wearing that day.
Fast forward to Friday😍 pass dinner again and you’re STILL not claimed people just assumed you’ve somehow angered your supposed mother.
It was revealed that the game for the night is capture the flag earlier in the week and everyone is bustling with life. I feel like Ares!Reader lives in some form of constant confusion since no one tells you anything so when people excitedly give you the run down of the game, they’re surprised when you want to play as well!
Usually the Aphrodite kids sit out on harsh games like this so it catches them off guard when you start putting on armor and grabbing a weapon so you can join the game.
As much the campers like you, the leaders are hesitant to choose you for their teams since they believe that you won’t be much help😭💔
Putting you as defense with some other campers for the flag, nobody really expects you to fight well if enemies make it past their offense group. Lowkey kinda hurts you that they think you need to be watched after but you still stand your ground, tense as you hear yelling eachoing throughout the forest.
When you see campers from the opposing team come running into sight, you get ready to clash against them until your partner tells you to guard the flag instead. While watching them fight, your skin practically ITCHES to join.
Your heart beat fastens watching them, gripping the sword harder as more enemies trampled from the forest, your own teammates stumbling after them. When one camper, Percy you learned his name was, managed to wiggle through your teammates, many of his team fought through the barrier as well.
Raising his sword, you finally gave into your urges to fight, swiftly meeting and blocking him with your own sword. He didn’t have much time to react before you forcibly shoved him backwards which caused him to stumble into the people behind him. With everyone surprised with your new fire, this gives you an upper hand as you begin swinging your sword at the green eyed boy in front of you. You’re all offense now, forcing him and his team into defense as you push them further away from the flag.
You’re absolutely merciless and fast that you manage to fling Percy’s sword from his grasp and continue to pick out his teammates one by one once he’s no longer a threat. Like it’s not even funny, you’re like a bull as you swing your sword like a maniac.
Everyone is in chaos as they try to get away from you😭😭 your own team doesn’t even know if you’re on their side or not LMAO💀 and from the corner of your eye you see that same boy you taught earlier climbing up the rock your flag was on. So without a second thought you disarm the person in front of you and fling the sword at Percy with as much force as you can.
People gasp as it goes straight into the rock beside him. Had you aimed a few more inches to the right you would have definitely killed him, no doubt. He could only stare back at you in shock, the friendly face he was used to seeing twisted in an unfamiliar, threatening look. The way you looked at him made it feel like you were going to pummel him into the ground if he even dared to continue going for your teams flag.
Even as the sound of a horn faintly echoed in the background, the group of campers were captivated by the bright red symbol glowing above your head. Glancing up, you could only breathe out a soft “Ares” before it slowly faded away into nothing.
It was quiet for a moment before someone jumped on your back and started yelling with joy. Everyone quickly surrounded you, cheering and screaming at how amazing you were. No one saw it coming and that’s what made them even more excited.
Coming out of the woods, campers would still surround you and praise you for your amazing fighting skills!!! When you revealed you never even held a sword before this week, no one believed cuz nobody could just do all that without any training!
Now that Ares claimed you as his, I think reader would have difficulty adjusting to the harsh and brash atmospheres of the Ares cabin.
You’re very different compared to them despite having excellent combat skills and fighting tactics. Your overall appearance and personality makes you stand out against your siblings, which is something they sometimes target you for.
They’ve seen you get stepped on by other campers though, so in their weird way, this is them kinda trying to toughen you up. They’re lowkey proud when they see that you have more witty comebacks whenever they throw comments at you.
Clarisse is one of the few campers that treat you the same, still throwing sly remarks and insults your way, but she does acknowledge that you are one of the strongest, if not the strongest, people in the cabin.
Overall I think Reader is the only camper that everyone gets along with that’s in the Ares cabin! Whenever there are group games or activities that involves fight, everyone is calling dibs on you. You still manage to keep your grace and loving nature even when surrounded by your siblings. Your open personality scares them at first since they’re not used to being fretted over and showing emotions, so it’ll take them some time to get used to your affections!
Ares!Reader shows others that you can be a badass fighter on the field while being a kind person off field! Love this reader tbh😝
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evergone · 1 year
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I'm [Nott] a Bad Person
Theodore Nott x Reader
Warnings: swearing, bullying
Description: The reader and Theo are accused of causing a fight, but they swear they didn't do it.
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Professor McGonagall’s office was a little too **Gryffindor-esque for your tastes. The couches, wallpaper, and even the rug on the floor underneath her desk were all some shade of dark red and you had no other way to describe it other than ‘detestably Gryffindor.’ Even so, the fireplace opposite the door warmed the room and gave it that undeniably homey feel you always got when you returned to Hogwarts after the long, hot break between years. She had a few paintings hanging from her walls, but either the subjects were busy elsewhere or she just had a thing for landscapes. One in particular caught your eye, a painting of the Forbidden Forest where you had certainly never been. After all, it was forbidden and you, ever the obedient Slytherin, would never break a rule.
“Do you know why you are here?” The professor asked and your attention slid back to the situation you were in.
“I know why they’re here,” Theo responded from your left, “But Y/n and I are victims.”
“Oh, please, you lot started this whole thing!” Granger squeaked like that little mouse the weasel kid used to have.
“Do you ever shut up, Granger?” Theo retorted.
Your lips tightened as you attempted to stifle a laugh and Theo sent you a quick smirk. McGonagall cleared her throat, again regaining your limited attention span as she tapped impatiently on her brown wooden desk; creating a dum-dum, dum-dum sound under the pads of her fingers like a heartbeat. Furrowed brows and an intense stare told you more than enough about her absolutely foul mood, and you reminded yourself not to play around with her.
“Each of you, tell me the story,” she said, “You first, Mister Potter.”
Theo muttered an ‘of course’ under his breath but you pretended not to hear it. If anyone was to get in trouble you were going to make damn sure it wasn’t you. You had a reputation to uphold; the nicest Slytherin anyone would ever meet. A façade, obviously, you were just as ruthless and cunning as your housemates, but the nice façade was what made you so. It was truly a shame Potter and co. had found you out, but you intended to cover your ass so well that no one else would ever know the truth about you, save for your friends.
“Well, uh…” Potter began to recount his version of the tale.
Apparently (and I say ‘apparently’ because despite his story being almost entirely accurate, you were going to make up a completely different one to get away with this), he had come to you in a free period to ask about how to befriend dragons quickly, knowing as well as most that your family had been breeding dragons since the dawn of dragonology. You were skeptical of him, having never quite interacted with him directly, only through the wild stories Draco or Pansy would tell you or small altercations in the halls that you always pulled Theo away from. Draco could do as he wished but you wouldn’t see yourself or your boyfriend being implicated in his shenanigans.
“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” you had told Potter.
“And why’s that?” He asked.
“All my friends say that you’re — and I’m quoting them here — ‘a mudblood mingling cunt,’” you said, “And though I have no care in the world for blood purity, I do like my friends quite a bit. They wouldn’t hang out with me if I got caught with you.”
You always had a wonderful way of putting things. Your monotonous voice mixed with your incredibly harsh words made for the most readable and expressive conversations. Potter’s little muggle born girlfriend (or girl friend, whichever it was) had almost jumped out of her own socks at your foul language. Personally offended, perhaps? You didn’t mean to hurt her, it just sort of slipped out. Maybe if you were actually a nicer person you’d apologise.
“Just… give me a hand? I know you helped Cedric,” Potter pleaded.
You shrugged, “I really can’t talk to you,” you said, “Though… I am weak to bribery… Maybe if you find me something I want I’ll help you out. Bye.”
And then you pushed through the group to go find your friends who you were bound to find eating in the courtyard instead of studying. Smart kids never studied and neither did dumb kids. When Crabbe and Goyle were there it was easy to tell the difference, but other times, not so much. Allegedly (again, I say this to protect the integrity of the tale you would later tell), you stopped half a step through and turned to show Potter your badge.
“Draco says you really like them,” you laughed, “Get a closer look.”
Desperate for your help and willing to do anything, Potter leaned closer to watch as the red ‘Support Cedric’ turned to the green ‘Potter stinks’ but then a forth colour emerged, a deep purple with no writing. He opened his mouth to ask what that colour meant, but was abruptly cut off when the badge squirted the most revolting smelling purple goo all over him. Again, allegedly, you had cursed it to do that when it saw his face… You would argue that someone must have cursed it prior to giving it to you without your knowing.
“Now you really do stink!” You had smiled sarcastically, “Bye now.”
You then continued on your journey to find your friends, leaving Potter drenched in the most malodorous thing he had ever smelt.
Later that very same day, he had approached you at lunch with a bribe. Oh, how you loved to be bribed. You were like a politician in that sense. He placed two objects in front of you: a book you knew was from the restricted section titled ‘Advanced Curses and How to Master Them,’ and a purse full of coins which, after peeking through the opening at the top, you realised were all gold.
“You know, you shouldn’t bribe people so out in the open, Potter,” You motioned to Theo, Pansy and Draco, all of whom were giving you looks that asked what in the name of Salazar were you doing, “It’s… counterproductive.”
“Merlin’s beard, L/n, just take it and help me,” Potter said.
“Is he bothering you, Y/n?” Theo asked.
You’d glanced between your boyfriend and Potter, wondering what to do in the situation. Potter noticed you’d become flustered at being put on the spot like that, even mentioned it to McGonagall. Truthfully, your head was telling you to say no because you knew as well as anyone how Theo could be when you were uneasy. He was awfully protective. But your heart wanted you to say yes so you could start a little fight and make your friends and Theo proud. You were never quite as provocative as they were when it came to the whole Slytherin-Gryffindor thing and it made you slightly self conscious, to be honest.
You would tell McGonagall that your head won, and Potter had started the fight. Theo was only defending you from the very scary Gryffindor who had decided to attack you just because you didn’t want to help him out earlier. But, in all honesty, your heart had won, or so the story goes.
“Yes, Teddy, he’s been bothering me all day,” you had said.
“How ‘bout you leave, Potter?” Theo asked, but it was hardly a question.
Potter rolled his eyes, “We had a deal, L/n.”
“I don’t think she would’ve agreed to anything with you,” Theo said and (allegedly) shoved Potter from across the table.
It was at that point that all hell broke loose. Potter’s explanation of the situation was riddled with what you would call lies about getting his shit rocked by Theo’s incredible fighting skills. You’d bloodied your boyfriend up afterwards using a little glamour charm you kept handy in case of emergencies. That was yet another way you were like a politician, you were incredible at deceiving people. On the off chance McGonagall noticed the charm, Theo had agreed to take the fall and stage an argument with you where you’d break up with him. The relationship wouldn’t be destroyed, you’d just act strained for a week or so while he did detention.
“Miss L/n, these are a lot of accusations being thrown,” McGonagall said, her eyes staring down at you over her nose, “What say you?”
You let your bottom lip quiver, but you wouldn’t dare cry. That would be too much and she wouldn’t believe you for a second. You may have had a good reputation, but she loved Potter and co. and had a huge bias in their favour. You had to be so convincing that she wouldn’t have a single doubt.
“I just didn’t want to get involved,” you said, “Professor, I’m a Slytherin, there’s a certain… standard that I’m held to. I told Potter that I didn’t want to help him because everyone would be upset with me and he tried to bribe me of his own accord.”
“She’s obviously lying, Professor, please—”
“Miss Granger, Miss L/n didn’t interrupt your telling of events, I suggest you don’t interrupt hers.”
You continued to lie through your teeth like a professional. You’d think McGonagall would know to use a truth serum when dealing with teenagers, but she was too trusting. Photographs of former students were framed on her desk, others who likely lied to her as you were doing. They were mostly Gryffindors, for obvious reasons, but there were Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and the odd Slytherin as well, all of them moving slightly in celebration of their graduations. Potter and co. would likely end up on that desk one day and while you’d hope yourself and your friends would end up on Snape’s, he had never come across as the sentimental type.
“One of you aren’t telling me the truth,” McGonagall said with a sigh once you had finished your recount, “Know that I’m disappointed in you but I cannot be bothered to deal with this today. If I hear about troubles with you lot again I will not hesitate to give you all detention.”
A chorus of ‘yes, Professor’s filled the room before she shooed you all out to go your separate ways. At the door to her office which she had closed behind the four of you, or rather, the two and two of you, Theo turned to the others.
“Don’t start things you can’t finish, Potter,” he said with a snarky tone.
Potter and Granger hardly acknowledged the remark, and you found yourself missing the weasel boy who would have leapt at the opportunity to throw something back. At your core, you liked to consider yourself morally good, but Merlin’s beard, you were a bit of an instigator, perhaps even a bully, weren’t you? You glanced at Theo, who you hadn’t realised had begun a little bit of a rant about blood superiority, and laughed out loud.
“What?” He asked you, his head on the slightest tilt that it was hardly noticeable.
“I think you and the others have turned me into a bad person,” you giggled, biting your lip.
“Y/n/n, that’s so fucking mean,” he said, “You are so rude.”
“I learnt from the best,” you teased as you poked his arm.
Theo shook his head and captured your arm in his so the two of you could walk back to the Slytherin dorms together.
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xoxochb · 3 months
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yooooo happy 300 followers!!!! I’m so glad we’re moots <3
Anyways I’m requesting I LOVE YOU, I HOPE THAT YOU’RE OKAY with Leo Valdez and Lay All Your Love On Me by ABBA if that’s cool, and if you haven’t ever written anything with that song before
ok, have a nice day!
⋆·˚ ༘ * don't go sharing your devotion, lay all your love on me!!
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warnings: idk how to feel about the ending but that’s it
pairing: leo valdez x daughter of poseidon
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leo wasn’t one to get jealous, he was never like this before, but once you started dating things had been different. every time you tried to even speak to another man leo would classify as ‘attractive’ he would come over and wrap an arm around your waist or maybe a kiss to your lips if he was feeling confident enough
he supposes he feels this way because he’s insecure about himself. how could he get a girl as beautiful as you to be with him? he asks himself everyday what you saw in him, what made you want to stay with him. you assured him everyday that you loved him and he was the only boy you wanted to be with and even though you’re always reminding him of this he still can’t come to his senses that you actually, genuinely like him
today was one of those occasions where you had been talking with another boy, some aphrodite kid you didn’t know the name of. he was talking absolute nonsense, it started off as compliments then went on to asking you your favorite flowers, then onto many subjects that were awfully flirtatious. you wish leo would have been here, but he left when the boy pulled you away so now you’re stuck with an idiot who doesn’t get the hint you don’t like him
when you finally found an excuse to leave you hurried to find your lover. you searched his usual spots and when you couldn’t find him there you got worried. you feel as though you searched the whole camp at this point the only place you can think of is the beach, so that’s where you go. with your luck that’s where you find him
of course it’s the last spot you look
you sit beside him on the sand “hey”
“hey” he mumbles
you frown. he never greets you like this, it’s always a bone-crushing hug or a kiss with an ‘I missed you’ no matter how long you had been apart. but now he sits with a saddened demeanor, playing with the grains of sand, even refusing eye contact. perhaps you had done something without knowing it
“did I do something wrong?” you ask
there’s silence for a moment before he speaks “it’s me”
your heart breaks for him. why must he always blame himself for everything? “what do you mean?”
“why do you like me?”
poor boy. you want to take all his sadness and self doubt and throw it into the deepest depths of the universe, places nobody coil reach
“oh leo” you take his hand in both of yours, holding them delicately “if I gave you every reason we would be here for eternity”
he cracks a smile. there’s your leo
you continue speaking, “I love you because you are the sweetest boy ever. you always make beautiful things for me, you put yourself first always, you make sure that my needs are fulfilled before yours, you worry when I haven’t eaten, you take care of me when I’m sick, you build fires to keep me warm, you comfort me when I’m sad and calm me when I’m angry. you always try your hardest to make me laugh regardless the situation, you always make sure I’m happy. and not to mention that you’re an amazing kisser and incredibly sexy. but anyways what I’m trying to say is that no other boy would treat me as good as you do and I swear on the river styx I would never even think of being with anyone else but you”
he looks at you with adoration “really?”
“really” you confirm
you slip your shorts off, revealing bikini bottoms “now c’mon fire boy, lay all your love on me”
oh he surely would if you asked like that
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wayfayrr · 10 months
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I can't believe that I almost missed Sky's aniversary!!! happpy twelvth birthday to skyward sword! <3 I'd just like to say thank you to @yourlocaltreesimp for reblogging something that reminded me that today is the boys birthday - this peice is all because of them I wrote it in 40 mins so sky could have something for his bd before the date changes It's a continuation on my self aware sky fic with some headcanons and a small drabble under the cut about how the both of you celebrate his birthday <3
[masterlist]
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✦ After about a month and a half of being with you, the both of you are quite used to living together. With Sky getting a grip on how to handle being a real flesh and blood person now - the both of you have even started on getting paperwork sorted for him to be recognised as a real person even if he’s never seen apart from your side
✦ The past few days though he’s had this energy around him, like a little kid excited for their - oh that's right, you’d almost forgotten the anniversary of his game was coming up. No wonder why he’d be so excited about it. 
✦ In the time it’s taken you to realise the date he’s taken his chance to be a little more clingy, you can blame nostalgia for him wanting to be closer. The feeling of the day he was created making him come to terms with just how lucky he was to be standing right next to you - his saviour lover. 
✦ If you were to do anything for him, say buy him gifts, treat him to an expensive meal, take him for a date, set aside the day for him or heck even spend the morning in bed cuddling with him? He’d fall for you all over just being flattered to the core over how much you care about him, if there was even a sliver of a chance of him loosing his possessive tendencies before that chance is shattered beyond repair now. You’re his and he’s never letting go.
✦ with how nostalgic he’s gotten, it’s not all that much of a surprise that he’s asked if he can play through the game on his own, with you sitting right next to him naturally 
“Are you sure about this Link? I mean I’ve not touched it since you well, since you crawled out. Who’s to say that he won’t figure it out as well?”
“It should be fine, what would be the odds of it happening twice? Besides if it does I’d bet he’ll feel the same way my dove.”
He’s not certain which is as clear as day, of course he doesn’t have a clue what could happen if he plays. What would happen if the version of himself he plays as hates him more than anything? If he gets jealous? If he tries to bring him back? Link hasn’t considered any of that, not that I can hold it against him. After that first day out of the game he’s mellowed out so much, it really was his desperation that made him terrifying - not that that doesn’t slip out every now and then of course. If he really wants to play? We’ll deal with the consequences of it together.
“If you’re really sure then love, want me to grab some snacks while you set up the switch?”
“I’d love that, thank you, darling.”
A soft kiss to my cheek is all that I need to become a blushing mess as he moves to turn everything on, including the new tv I had to buy after he shattered the old one, not too expensive but still more of a hassle than I wanted to have to deal with. Seeing as he’s never had any previous experience with any technology like this he’s picked it up like a natural, so in no time at all we’re back to sitting together on my couch to play. It’s nice like this, all gentle and domestic. If you didn’t know Link wasn’t originally a ‘real’ person you wouldn’t even be able to tell, he fits in like he was always supposed to be here with me. The clothes he’s nicked only adding onto that feeling of belonging like he’s just any other boyfriend stealing his partner's clothes. 
“Guess now is the moment of truth to whether or not I’ll be dealing with another nuisance stealing my heart then.”
“I wouldn’t let him take your heart, that belongs to me and only me.”
“Alright then, are you gonna make a save then my lovable anomaly or are you just gonna threaten someone you’re not sure even exists?”
“I’m making it my dearest player, I just had to make sure you were fully certain of where I stand.”
True to his word, he did make a save file - although he did name it something different than his own name - not before kissing me yet again though. Playing it with him was nice, seeing his reactions to his past where he didn’t have to get traumatised? It’s one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long while. It did seem I was right though, he didn’t manage to get to demise before we had a shocked link staring at the both of us like his world had been ripped apart. His reaction was so different to my link’s though.
He’s petrified. 
“Wh- What’s going on - who are you both – wh- wh-” … “And why do you look just like me?”
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itsabouttimex2 · 11 months
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Yandere Mentor Macaque
He’s not supposed to be getting attached. It’s a dangerous game, growing close to others. It was bad enough for him with other demons, and he can’t imagine it’ll be much better with a mortal.
And here he is, growing to like you anyways.
He hates to admit it, but maybe Wukong had the right idea, teaching his skills and techniques to some worthwhile kid. And if his rival has miraculously managed to pull a worthwhile thought from his dusty and spacious skull… why not get involved in that action himself?
MK is a bright and sunny kid that people can’t help but flock to, though he’s sometimes plagued by self-doubt or flights of whimsy. To counter that, Macaque chooses to train you, noting your maturity and intelligence. Your lack of friends and social skills aren’t a hindrance to him. In fact, it’s all the better if you can stand on your own two feet without needing someone to swoop in and save the day for you. He doesn’t want to have to step in and pull you out of the fire when things get rough. He’s just going to teach you to protect yourself.
“C’mon kid… fix that stance.”
You shift your legs, sliding into a defensive position just as he sends another one of his shadow clones at you. It clashes against your staff as you dig your feet into the ground to try and hold out against it. The moment it dissipates, he sends another.
You shrug off the blow and counterattack, sending the first clone flying as a second one kicks your legs out from behind you, leaving you crumpled in a heap on the ground.
“Heh. Is that really all you can handle?”
Believe it or not, this is him being nice.
I’m hard pressed to say whether he’s a better or worse mentor than Wukong. He’s definitely more serious, far more straightforward. He’s not gonna make you clean his house or cook his food to “learn the meaning of patience and hard-work”, but don’t expect him to offer any emotional support either. MK’s growth is equally physical and mental, but you? All of your training is to make you stronger or teach you new tricks.
Which doesn’t sound so bad, right? Getting stronger while learning new techniques and shadow skills? Even if you aren’t growing as a person, at least you’re growing as a warrior.
And growing towards him.
He doesn’t know why that matters to him. Why he likes having you around, why he likes teaching you. And he doesn’t know why the thought of you running off and finding friends that cut into your time spent with him makes him so angry. But he does know that he can prevent it from happening before someone steals you away from him.
“Just stay the night, kid. The sooner we get back to training, the quicker you’ll learn that new trick.”
It makes sense. A lot of what he says does. He’s good at playing nice, good at playing innocent. And he’s pretty damn convincing, too. So you stay a night. It can’t hurt to stay one night, can it?
You aren’t wrong. He wouldn’t ever truly harm you. And from here on out, he’s not letting anyone else hurt you, either.
So just stay another night. One more. Sometimes it’s because the weather is rough, and you need to wait out the rain. Or because even though the storm has passed, the ground is still muddy enough to impede travel. Sometimes it’s because you stay too late and it gets too dark to walk back home. Or training is a little rougher than usual and your whole body aches and strains to move afterwards, so he lets you crash on his couch.
You’ve been here a while. It’s starting to feel like home.
Do you even want to leave?
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daydream-believin · 2 months
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Like A Boiled Frog (You Don't Even Scream) [ch 1]
notes: might proofread this before i post this to ao3 but here have the raw milk version (pasteurization is for losers amaright)
series summary: every time you think things cant get any more batshit, hurricane throws another pile of guano at you. every time you think the hole cant get any deeper, you fall further. and you’re not sure what frightens you more: the town itself, or your increasing reluctance to leave.
or: au where mike has that pizza shop for wayyy more than a week and you find yourself a horror protagonist. or at least one’s love interest.
chapter summary: get haunted bitch. now go drive to utah in a manic episode. go meet a nice walking corpse, maybe it'll fix you. or make you worse. probably that second thing lmao
word count: 7985, oh dear (thats with me cutting out some stuff lol)
warnings: uh, swearing, manic behavior, self-harmful thoughts/behavior, mention of hallucinations/hearing voices, shit this is sounding bad, i mean its canon typical violence so idk man no lifeguard on duty
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You know how in Source Decay, John Darnielle says / I wish the west Texas highway was a mobius strip / I could ride it out forever / when I feel my heart break? / Well, that guy’s a bitchass snake oil salesman for romanticizing this. Fuck that guy.
Although, this is the first time you’ve ever been able to set a cruise control and actually just leave it at that. What with there being no other cars on the road out here at this hour for you to run into. You even forgot about it at one point.
Little puffs of fire danced in your peripheral vision, like fairies flitting about. It was easy to spot them out in the night air, all those pumpjacks that littered the desert. There was nothing but these small fires, with the tiny, dotted additions of the glowing red eyes of windmills to light up the way for miles.
And you tried not to think about how if you broke down, no one would be around to find you. Every now and then you would startle at the shadowy specter of a tumbleweed crossing your path, but you were acutely aware of just how alone you were out here.
On that train of thought, your gaze fell to the passenger side, to the little bear toy you had buckled into a seatbelt like it was a person.
“Can you believe this, Fredbear?” you asked the inanimate object.
Fredbear did not answer, of course. Would be insane if he did, right?
Hmm …Why did part of you expect him to.
***
The august sun was beating down hot on your back as you walked home that day. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was only last week.
The neighborhood was as full of life as it always was. The kids running around in a game of tag, the teens playing basketball, and the adults walking their dogs. You could hear some faint music playing in the distance, most likely from the stage setup in the square downtown, not too far away.
There were many yard sales set up, it being the thing to do on a sunny Saturday afternoon like this. Despite your very strong instincts to rummage through all the boxes in these sales like a raccoon looking for dinner in a dumpster, you were broke, with no money to spare for impulse purchases on random junk. And thus, being a mature adult, you walked right past them.
That is, until a yard full of children’s toys caught your eye. One of your cousins’ kids was turning 6 in a few weeks. Might as well buy presents now before you forget again and have to rush to the store in a panic 8 minutes after the party had already started, sweat rolling down your back as you search the toy isle for something the birthday boy would like, while your phone keeps buzzing in your pocket nonstop because both your cousin is texting and your aunt is calling to ask where you’re at because you were the one who was supposed to be picking up the pizza.
 I mean, just a hypothetical scenario here.
You didn’t really find anything good as you dug through the bins of miscellaneous action figures and toy cars. As you could recall, the kid really liked Iron Man right now. And sharks. Alas, you found no Iron Mans or sharks in those bins.
The other table’s baskets were full of stuffed animals. You could maybe get lucky and find a stuffed shark in there. But stuffed animals are notorious for being hard to clean; and yard sale plushies sometimes come with more than just one new friend. You weren’t about to be the reason your cousin had to fumigate her house for bedbugs. Again. So, you decided to close this case for now and skedaddle on out of there.
You took another look back at the table as you walked away.
Well.. The toys you could see at the top of the bins did look like they were well taken care of… It couldn’t hurt to just look, right?
Yeah no. You found no sharks unfortunately. What you did find, however, was this funky little teddy bear wearing a top hat and bowtie.
A real character, that one. The bright gold fabric of its body made it stand out amongst the other toys. The smile stitched onto the bear gave it a weird, smug look. And you hadn’t seen a plushy with eyebrows before.
That being said, this thing’s aura was so... unsettling. You stared into its black eyes, that seemed to stare right back at you, with a strange feeling twisting in the pit of your stomach.
“You like that one, do ya?”
You almost jumped out of your skin when the old man running the sale spoke to you. You had Not heard him come up beside you like that. Creepy.
“Yeah, it’s…” you tried to think of a positive word, “very intriguing. Looks like it’s ready for a party.”
“My granddaughter called him Fredbear. Found him over in Utah, many years back. In a yard sale, just like this one,” he gently took the bear from you, and looked down at it wistfully, “My granddaughter..  liked how smartly dressed he was. A perfect guest for her tea parties. You were right about that…”
The old man stared at the doll for a little longer after the conversation faded. You felt extremely awkward now. Perhaps you really should have just left without unearthing this obvious sentimental piece.
“My grandchildren are no longer here with me,” you felt a little uncomfortable with how he phrased that, “so, I’ll tell you what. Promise me you’ll take care of him, and he’s yours. Free of charge.”
“Oh, I couldn’t. I’d be happy to pay for him, really,” you felt bad taking free stuff from the elderly.
“No,” he said with a tone of finality, placing the bear firmly into your hands, “the day’s almost over. I’d like to help this old friend move on. It’s time.”
Well that somehow was both sweet and foreboding at the same time.
So, you thanked the old man and started back on your walk home, Fredbear cradled in your arms. He waved goodbye to you. The grandfather, of course, not the teddy bear.
You probably aren’t going to wind up giving this one to your cousin’s son. There was something about it that told you not to. Maybe it was the way the old man talked about it. You felt compelled to take care of the plush yourself. Kind of like an honor thing. Or a pity thing.
It smelled a little funky. But that’s nothing a little TLC couldn’t handle. And some dish soap.
Maybe you were just. Feeling a bit childish lately. Too small and easily broken. Moved to tears by little things that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Disregarded and treated like your fears weren’t real.
Deeply afraid.
Yeah, you’d give Fredbear a nice soak in the sink with a fun dish soap bubble bath. And maybe after that, you’ll both feel a little better.
You were alone in your apartment that night, as your roommate was always gone these days. And when you made your tea, you brought Fredbear a mug as well. A little tea party, for old time’s sake.
Looking back, maybe that was your first mistake.
***
Static rolled from your radio. You gave up on fiddling with it hours ago, but you’ve got nothing better to occupy your mind now.
You turned the knob absentmindedly, never really expecting to get anywhere. Or any signal, that is. A muffled country song here, the broken-up voice of a DJ there, nothing strong enough to stay for more than a few seconds. However, a few seconds of a clear transmission was all you really needed when you rolled past a certain signal.
“zZz-Hurricane—“
Now that was a word that got your attention. Not that you were anywhere near the coast at the moment. You know, unless the person reading this is looking to buy some oceanside property in Arizona. In that case feel free to slide into my DMs.
“zZZ-Peach Days! -Zz celebratio— zzZ-year—peaches peach—-ZzzZ-Heritage-zZ,” you let your gaze flicker downward, towards the dimly lit red text of the frequency number display as if that would provide some more insight.
And then suddenly, the fuzz was completely gone, as if you were near the tower itself,
“So Hurry On To Hurricane City!” the spokesman encouraged cheerfully. You could practically here the giant pageant smile in his voice as he delivered his slogan. This man was your friend, obviously. Then, however, his tone shifted as he closed the ad copy, “Because you know the party can’t start without you…”
You held your breath as the silence dragged out a few agonizing seconds, until “ZZZZZZZZ!!!”, in a jolt, the transmission went completely out. Explosively. You even flinched.
You stayed on the station for a good twenty minutes after that, waiting to see if you could hear anything again. You could feel your heart pound against your ribs until the terrifying feeling faded. There was nothing else but static, of course, and for so long you almost thought you must have imagined it. If not for the way those dull words repeated in your head, over and over.
THE PARTY CAN’T START WITHOUT YOU.
THE PARTY CAN’T START WITHOUT YOU.
THE PARTY CAN’T START WITHOUT YOU.
You hadn’t really had a destination in mind when you took off. No goal other than to get out of there as fast as you could manage. The idea of the West had been bouncing around your brain a lot lately, hence your current trajectory, but you really hadn’t had a clue where you were supposed to be going when you left.
I mean, you still didn’t have a destination. You had no clue what that advertisement was even about. Where they were even fucking talking about. Hurricane City?
Yet, somehow, you knew those words were meant for you. Not anyone else. you. There was a party and the party was waiting for you.
Guess you’d have to look for a map or something in town. Perhaps use the library computer. Man, you would regret throwing your phone into the lake in a fit of passion as you left town, but honestly, this is the longest you’ve known peace in quite some time. Just gonna have to live a little retro for a while. Not the worst thing in the world.
You’ll get a new one later, once you’ve settled in to… wherever you’re going. Whatever new home lies over that horizon for you, you guess.
The sun was breaching the beige skyline of sandy shrub brush as you finally rolled over the state line. You needed to eat. Your stomach growled loudly at just the thought. Funny. You hadn’t even thought about eating in the last.. twenty hours. Which means you should be absolutely shaking right now. Yeah, that’s why you’re shaking. That’s it. You’ll pull into the first diner you see.
You were hoping to at least be in Roswell for breakfast, but there was no way your body was going to be able to keep running if you waited that long. Looks like it’s just going to be the first place you come across.
Hopefully they don’t put green chilis in their pancakes or something.
That sounds insane but it’s an actual thing you’ve seen before in this state, trust. There are no laws nor gods when it comes to Hatch green chilis.
***
Your sleepy brain was not ready for the bell that rang as you walked through the door. Embarrassingly enough, the tinny noise startled you. You almost tripped, to be honest. Thankfully your wobbly Bambi legs held up as you managed to catch yourself.
The hostess wasn’t in sight as you awkwardly stood in the entrance, but there was a whole heap of noise coming from the kitchen.
“Hold on just a second, Sweetpea!” a voice called out to you.
Well, guess you’re holding on a second.
Your eyes scanned the top of the walls, perusing the vast cookie jar collection that the owner had accrued over the years. They were never dusted, despite being on shelves that lined the top of every wall in the tiny shack of a diner, and thus you could easily tell that a few new additions had been made. You know, because those cookie jars were way less filthy.
That’s gotta be a heath-code violation.
After you heard a bit of garbled yelling, the hostess rushed out to take her place in front of you. Smoothing down her polka-dotted apron, she grinned at you.
“Table for two?”
You blinked. It was too early in the morning for fully intelligent speech.
“Uh. No. Just me today. Thank you.”
Her big, bedazzled cat-eyeglasses fell a little farther down her nose as she scrunched her face in confusion, “alright then. Just the one of you today...”
She grabbed a paper menu as she led your shambling body to a table near the window. Which was shut away with ancient looking vinyl blinds that you were too afraid to open, lest they crumble and the cost of replacing them be put on your on tab.
She had already disappeared back into the kitchen by the time you got yourself in a seat. You glanced around the room. You weren’t the only patron here, as a few tables held a few bodies, but you were the only one without your face buried in a newspaper. And to be expected honestly, you were the youngest person in the room at seven in the morning.
The hostess, who was also the only waitress in this tiny local business, placed two glasses in front of you. The dull sound they made hitting the table drew you out of your revelry. There before you were two cups, a steaming mug of fresh coffee and a short glass of milk. You looked up in confusion.
“Don’t worry, it’s whole milk. Builds strong bones.”
That... wasn’t your concern.
You looked back at the cup in confusion and by the time you turned back, she had already moved on to the next table, refilling mugs and having loud banter with the other customers. Her regulars, by the sound of it. You felt too apathetic to try and call her over again.
You shrugged, to no one in particular, as you did not have a breakfast partner with you, despite the waitress’s insistence otherwise. Wait, was she mocking you? Eh, maybe it’s just supposed to be for the coffee. Nevertheless, you would not be drinking the milk, so you just left it there.
Despite the prevalence of the local newspaper in the room, there wasn’t a dispenser or anything at the front of the restaurant, like there usually is. As you drummed your fingers on the tablecloth, bored out of your mind, you kinda regretted throwing your phone in the lake a bit more. Maybe not the best of moves.
But hey, at least you aren’t constantly quelling the incessant buzzing you’d be hearing if you’d kept it.
You busied yourself stirring your coffee while you looked over the menu again, just for something to read. Of course, you were ordering a waffle. Because this was a diner, and, yeah, you do like waffles. And pancakes. And French toast. Doodoodoodoo can’t wait to get a mouthful.
That voice kept echoing in your mind. The party can’t start without you.
“More coffee, Babycakes?” the waitress snapped you out of your thoughts.
“Oh! Yeah, thank you,” you moved the mug to the edge of the table, closer to her, “Say… I know this is an out-of-pocket question, but have you heard anything about Hurricane City? Maybe something about peaches?”
“Oh!” she snapped her fingers, “You mean the Peach Days. It’s a little heritage festival they put on every summer in Hurricane, you know. It’s a hoot, my family makes a trip out there every few years or so for it. Not this time of course, clearly, since I’m here talkin’ to you and not in Utah—”
“In Utah?”
Of course, it was Fucking Utah again.
“I know it’s soundin’ far, but it’s only ‘bout a day’s drive from here. Two days if y’ain’t crazy about following an itinerary like my husband,” she brushed a hand over her apron before you lost her attention to the other customers, “I swear that man would plan out a schedule for every second of the day if he could���”
After she wandered off to go top off more mugs, you lamented the fact that you still hadn’t ordered yet. That’s what you get for being nosy about peach festivals, you suppose.
Thankfully though, soon enough you had your hearty breakfast and were back in front of the wheel, on your way to the friendly neighborhood Walmart. Where hopefully no cops or employees would bother you as you crashed in the parking lot.
You took Fredbear to the backseat with you for good luck. Maybe it was the gold color, or the fancy getup he had. Maybe you just needed a cuddle buddy to not feel so alone in this parking lot swarming with people.
Much to your disdain, it was now a bit into the morning hours, and the sun was fully up.
You had tried to find as shady a spot as possible, but it’s not exactly like trees grow in this biome. At least not naturally. Windbreak tree lines were definitely a thing, but those protected buildings people cared about, and this was a Walmart. Nothing around here but concrete, rocks spray painted blue, and cigarette butts.
So after tossing and turning in the bright blinding sunshine for way longer than you should have, and making promises to higher deities was proven to be unfruitful in your attempt to find some semblance of peace, you finally just had to admit defeat. And here by rescinding any aforementioned promises to higher powers.
You laid Fredbear back down on the seat and tucked him in with the blanket when you got back up. At least one of you could be cozy and well rested. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be you, however.
Well, it’s far from the first all-nighter you’ve pulled without having time to take a nap during the following day. Sleep deprivation isn’t real, silly. Teachers just made that up to scare you. It’ll be fine.
***
You know you never really realize how much we structure our lives around other humans until you take a drive through the middle of nowhere. How essential it is to have enough gas to make it to the next town. From town to town, your life becomes segments. Only within the eyesight of other humans are you ever safe. Only within the bounds of the settlement can your soul be settled.
Gas stations become oases. Which is the plural of oasis, apparently. Anyway, you start seeing them like mirages. Dingey, weather-worn gas pumps become as good as a sparkling illusion of precious water in the Sahara. The empty shells of buildings you passed by, long since forgotten, became like mausoleums in these graveyard towns. Villages. Hamlets. Mostly hamlets.
“Are we there yet?” a small and very annoyed voice called out.
You had just written it off as your imagination until you heard the noise of shuffling fabric. Normally your audio hallucinations aren’t that detailed. Paralyzed, you held your breath, not daring to make any noise that would distract your ears from hearing whoever, whatever, was in the back seat. Your mind went to stories of skinwalkers and misshapen monsters and hitch-hiking serial killers.
“… Are we there yet?” the voice repeated, admittedly sounding even smaller to you now.
Yep, that’s a real person alright. Or a real thing. Your eyes were probably bloodshot from the way you haven’t blinked this entire time, just staring straight ahead on the desert highway. Taking a deep, shaky breath to steady yourself, you turned down the rear-view mirror…
Christ almighty. You had a stowaway.
Your stomach turned immediately. God, come on now, don’t puke up what little you had on your stomach. You need that.
“Hey Buddy,” you tried to sound as friendly as you could, “What’s your name?”
Clad in a little striped shirt and cargo shorts, he started kicking his feet in impatience, which would be cute if it weren’t for this situation y’all are in, and the adrenaline pumping through your veins, “We’ve been in here forever,” he whined.
If this was a skinwalker, he was a pretty darn adorable one. And definitely not a hitch-hiking serial killer. At least you hoped. But no, this was a greater form of terror: responsibility.
“Haha, yeah, we have been in here really long, haven’t we? How long do you think we’ve been driving, can you tell me?”
When did you pick up this child. When you got gas in Gallup? Albuquerque? Dear lord, if he’s been in here since Roswell, you’re about to have the world’s biggest headache on your hands, both metaphorically and physically. But there’s no way he’s been in here for fucking 10 hours, right? right??
Okay, okay. Maybe you’re just a little panicky right now and not thinking straight. Maybe teachers hadn’t been making up sleep deprivation just to scare you after all. You have been purposely not drinking anything for the lack of available restrooms. People get dehydration hallucinations, right?
The boy just stared at you, blankly. Probably fully realizing you were a stranger and not whoever he thought you were. In lieu of answering you, he started fidgeting more with the toy bear you had had in the back. You really hoped that hadn’t been what lured him into your station wagon in the first place.
Don’t be getting shy on me now, kid.
You put your blinker on, ready to merge off the road and onto an incoming rest-stop that you thanked your lucky stars for.
“Honey, can you tell me what your phone number is?”
He looked up at you, finally tearing his attention from the bear, and you could see gears turning in his head.
“…435-555-1987?”
You repeated it back to him, and he nodded. Alright, time to find that payphone.
Said rest-stop payphone was thankfully near a picnic table so you could sit him down and be able to watch him carefully the whole time you made this call. Because judging by the fact this situation was happening at all, he was a slippery one.
You got out of the car and opened the back door, but he was hesitant to get out. Which, fair, you are a stranger trying to get him to a second location.
“What’s up, Bud?” you tried your hardest to not sound like a predator but boy was that a real nebulous idea, wasn’t it?
“Fredbear wants to come too,” he mutters.
“Well, sure then, let’s bring him, we’ll have a little picnic.” With no food, but hey, whatever lie it takes to get him sitting on that bench.
It was really cute the way the kid set the bear down on the table and positioned it like they were going to have a picnic together. When you find this kid’s parents, you’ll let him keep Fredbear. Toys like it when they’re given to new children, right? Wasn’t there a movie about that or something. Wincing at the grubbiness of the payphone, you reluctantly dialed the number.
“Hello, Jeff’s Pizza on Main St, are you ready to order?”
You closed your eyes, counting the seconds as you breathed in for 4 seconds, held it for 7, and released for 8.
“Hello? Are you there?”
“Yes!” you practically shouted into the receiver. So much for calming down, “please don’t hang up,” you pleaded.
“Listen, we don’t take solicitation,”
“No, uh, sorry. I’ve found a lost child who told me this was his number. Is the owner of this restaurant by chance frantically looking for their son?”
You heard some muffled conversation happening behind the phone, “Well, no, I don’t even have any kids… and I uh, am currently understaffed. Im the only one here.”
you cursed under your breath.
“Uh, alright, well…” you could tell this was getting really awkward for him.
“Could you tell me where y’all are, I’m unfamiliar with the area code,”
“Uh, Hurricane, Utah?”
… If you weren’t on the phone, you fucking swear you’d be screeching at the top of your lungs like a chimpanzee right now.
“Thank you, you know, just in case he’s just remembering an advertisement he’s seen or something,”
“Oh, okay,” there was a pause, “well I hope you find the parents or, whoever,”
“Thank you,” you’ll put him out of his misery and hang up.
“Are you sure that’s your number, Hon?”
“Uh-huh,”
“Why don’t you tell me it again, maybe I dialed it wrong,”
“435-5--” his face scrunched up in concentration, “435-555—I don’t know…”
You tried not to look visibly stressed at this answer.
“Do you know where you live?”
He moved the bears paws along with whatever little game he was playing, before looking up at you, head tilted in confusion, “Hurricane?”
Okay. Police time. If not for him, for you. The skinwalker possibility just went back up. Because, honestly, he had to have gotten in your car as a coyote or something. No way you wouldn’t’ve noticed a whole ass child entering your car.
“How does ice cream sound, huh Buddy?”
“I want ice cream!” he said hastily as if you’d change your mind if he hesitated.
“Ice cream it is then, but only if you’re good for me and the officers, okay? And tell them everything you can remember. You’re smart, right?”
“Uh-huh,”
“Great,” you smiled over clenched teeth.
After herding him back into the car, you had to take a moment to gently rest your head into the steering wheel. And it took everything within you to not smash said head into it. Or scream in agony. No, no, we mustn’t scare the child.
Tuba City wasn’t too far away. The police station was downtown, as most are. Luckily, across the street there was a paleteria with a courtyard area. The little guy got very excited when you got pulled into the parking space, so eh, what the hell, ice cream first. Maybe after a treat and some playtime in the courtyard he won’t be as wiggly and will be able to tell the cops what he knows about just where the hell he came from.
The noise of the bell chiming made you flinch as you two walked into the paleteria. You hadn’t thought you were that tightly wound right now but apparently you were wrong. The lady behind the counter greeted you warmly, and you responded in turn, trying to play it cool.
God, imagine if she got an off-vibe from you and the kid and called over the police from across the street before you even have a chance—
Deep breath. Okay. The kid you had started referring to in your head as just “Little Boy” was leaned against the display case, his breath fogging up the glass in front of him and probably leaving little handprints for the shopkeeper to clean later.
“I’m sorry about that,”
“That’s… Okay. What can I get you?” she seemed a little confused. Strange, but you brushed past it just as quickly as she did.
“Ah, what do we want?” you asked Little Boy.
He excitedly tugged on your pantleg and pointed to the popsicle he wanted, looking up at you with puppy dog eyes. He doesn’t need to convince you, but you quickly realized you were not going to be able to say no to any else after this if he deployed the same cute begging look.
“One of those cute little Tweety Bird faces,” you pointed.
“Anything else?” she handed you the popsicle and you gingerly took it.
“Nah, that’s it” you were too nauseous to eat right now.
You paid, throwing the change into the tip jar, and turned to give Little Boy the popsicle she handed you.  The words caught in your throat as you looked down to find your pantleg absent of any tugging by any Little Boy. You quickly scanned the tiny paleteria. He was nowhere to be found, anywhere in the room.
“Uh, did you see where the kid went?” you tried not to sound too panicked.
She was taken aback, also quickly looking around the room to find no one, before shaking her head, “Did you have a kid with you?”
You furiously nodded in confusion,
“I’m sorry, then I didn’t see them,” she pointed to the glass door that led to the courtyard only a few feet away from y’all, “Try outside, maybe?”
You burst outside, searching the area in a panic, but you couldn’t see him anywhere. Not hidden in the tangle of the garden, not splashing around in the fountain, not at, under, on top of, or around any of the tables.
You went to call his name, but your voice caught in your throat when you realized you didn’t have a name to call. And.
And.
Something hit your shirt. A water droplet. You looked up into the clear, blinding blue sky. Your nerves tickled as another droplet ran down your cheek. Oh, you were crying. Huh.
You took the closet seat you could find, counting the things processed by your 5 senses. It’s all you could do to not start bawling for no reason. Maybe you’ll calm down and be able to think straight soon.
Why can’t you think straight? Everything feels so fuzzy.
You should be terrified, and in a way, you were. In your heart of hearts, you knew the truth: Little Boy wasn’t real. Or at least turned back into a coyote and ran off.
As you stared vacantly into the open air, you realized you still had a dripping popsicle in your hands. Supposedly “Tweety Bird” shaped, it just looked like a yellow skull missing its mandible bone to you. How fitting.
You pulled it to your mouth. Yum. Tasted like AAAAAAAA. Or orange, according to the package.
Attempting to lick the melted yellow liquid off of your hand, you accidentally stuck the ice pop on your face. Great. Now you’re sticky all over.
God, you’ve really gone and lost your fucking marbles this time, haven’t you.
There was a bulletin kiosk a few feet down your field of vision. On that bulletin kiosk was an old poster, barely visible as it was buried under layers of other flyers. It caught your eye and seemed to burn your retinas. What little you could see was the word Freddy and part of what looked like a version of the bear you’d been toting around this whole little expedition, but that was enough.
Something clicked. You looked down at the bear hanging by your side in your other hand. The kid had shoved it into your arms so he could more easily lean on the display case, right before he disappeared the very moment you took your eyes off of him.
You know, you hadn’t really felt alone since bringing Fredbear home. And not in a good way.
Guess the name you should’ve been calling was Freddy.
You had to get rid of that bear.
***
You had been walking home like you always did, same route. But you noticed something peculiar about this time. The house that the old man had his yard sale in was now stripped of all decoration, with a For Sale sign proudly standing in the grass. No cars, and no blinds or curtains on the windows, so you could see into the den which was now devoid of any furniture.
You’ll admit it, you crept around to the other windows, searching for any signs of life at all in the empty rooms. None. No furniture, no people, no trash. The yard sale was yesterday. How did they clean this place out so thoroughly in the short amount of time between when you’d seen it last and now.
A little confuddled, you went home as usual. While strange as hell, this wasn’t a missing person’s case or anything. And it’s probably why the man was so adamant on giving you Fredbear because it was the end of the day. He had a deadline. He was skipping town.
God, you wished you could just skip town.
You frankly thought nothing of it when you unlocked the door to your apartment to see Fredbear was already seated on the couch, like he was all set to marathon whatever 30-year-old cartoon you wound up watching that night. And it’s not like your roommate hadn’t done something like this before, move a stuffed animal or action figure into a funny position for you to find later.
You hadn’t seen him much lately. Or like, at all. The only reason you knew he was still alive were the dirty dishes in the sink, dirty clothes on the floor of the bathroom, and the aforementioned moving the bear around.
Looking back now, was he moving the bear around?
If you locked the deadbolt that can’t be unlocked from the outside, you’d be guaranteed to catch him in person for once. But you weren’t willing to go through the trouble and emotional toil of doing that, however.
In the name of feeling less like a ghost haunting your own home, getting yelled at for intentionally locking your roommate out might be a wee bit counterproductive. Sure, you’d be seen and spoken to, but the harshness of his words and tone would send you into a worse episode than you were already in.
Well, at least Fredbear seemed ready to keep you company tonight...
The fact that they put unskippable advertisements on streaming services you’re paying for in the first place is criminal. Or at least regular cable tv in a trenchcoat.
You got a drink while they prattled on about luxury cars you couldn’t afford and real estate companies you weren’t going to have the privilege of patroning any time soon. Embarrassingly, as you poured the pitcher of water into a glass, you got a little distracted.
The cheap glass’s glass was only about a millimeter or two thick. You could easily just crush this cup in your hand, in one swift movement. The muscles of your arm began tensing up at the thought.
But thankfully, a loud, blaring advertisement coming from the TV snapped you out of it. And so, you promptly decided to Not Do That, because picking all of those tiny glass shards out of your flesh would be a bitch. And that was not how you wanted to spend a perfectly good Sunday night. And of course you didn’t need the questions at work tomorrow.
You returned to the couch, curiously, and you swear, that damn teddy bear followed you with its eyes. Even though they were a shiny, solid black, and the idea itself would be insane.
As you settled back down, you grabbed the remote to turn down the volume of the cheery music playing. Mysteriously, it wasn’t just a commercial with bad sound mixing, the TV itself had been turned up. Now that it had your attention, the thing that was being sold to you seemed to the state of Utah. You know, those Visit [X] ads that were commonly played between cooking shows and ghost hunting documentaries.
“Oh hey, you’re from there, right?” you poked at fredbear. And immediately felt pathetic. God, you’ve got to stop talking to inanimate objects and like get a boyfriend or something. Geez.
The imagery on the screen was just, you know, normal southwest stock footage:
A drone shot of Zion national park
Old men golfing
Owls living in holes they’ve dug into cactuses
Rock archways
A family laughing as they shared a pizza being served to them by a man in a bear suit that looked just fredbear,
“Oh, well there you are, I guess.” you once again absent-mindedly spoke to your toy friend.
Kids swimming in a fancy resort pool
A Navajo cultural event
More rock archways and red sandstone cliffs
Kids crowding around a claw machine filled with toys just like the one sitting next to you
Kids crowding around a stage as an animatronic band played
Kids crowding around a birthday cake, the light of candles bouncing off their faces as they sang along…
The fake sounding voice of the announcer rung out, “Visit Utah! You know the party can’t start without you!”
Your mouth felt dry. Good thing you now had that glass of water.
***
Of course, you did what any smart, sane person would do and feverishly ripped through the layers of old flyers to get to the advertisement for what you now knew was Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place. A themed diner and nickel arcade that made most of their money hosting birthday parties, by the looks of it. You knew the type; you had been an American child once too.
Good thing none of the cops were hanging around outside to fine you for littering, because the amount of paper you just released into the breeze was in fact criminal.
There was a short list of locations at the bottom of the poster. They had a few scattered over Utah, or at least they used to, judging by the harsh weathering of this poster. The closest one being in Bigwater, explaining why this poster was out here in Tuba. But the word Hurricane stood out to you like it was lit up in neon. It burned like sunlight.
It appears you are in fact on your way to Hurricane, Utah. As if you didn’t know that already at this point, you being out on the canyon rim instead of your much preferred and beloved Rockies. Well, congratulations bitch. You’ve only got another three hours to go. Better get going. Have fun!
***
Oh, this place was creepy as hell. Or it’s just late at night, and you’re sleep deprived and paranoid. In the spirit of being honest to yourself, ‘sleep deprived and paranoid’ has always been your natural state of being, but right now it’s definitely ramped up to an eleven.
But even though it’s been close to 48 hours since your last brain-reset, this place still had a certain energy about it. Like New Orleans, or the woods around lynching bridges did. That spooky oh I am Not Safe here type of energy.
The gas station-man gave you a real weird look when you stormed in and asked where the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place was. Normally you would’ve chalked it up to you being a clear foreigner asking for directions as if it’s 1995, to a children’s arcade close to midnight nonetheless, but now you weren’t so sure.
You eyed the fridge full of wine in pint sized bottles and little juice cartons. But nah, you probably needed to have a quick reaction time to whatever was waiting for you in this Venus flytrap you’re willingly walking into. You grabbed a Monster instead and you know what, yeah, that probably wasn’t the best decision either. If you weren’t high strung before, you definitely were now. You felt like you could punch a bear. A Freddy Fazbear.
You bought a local map alongside the energy drink, feeling like you were gonna need it. Man, low-tech was actually kinda annoying after a while. You got the gas station-man to begrudgingly mark Fazbear’s down onto it for you. Apparently, it and all other locations within town had closed down some twenty years ago. Not many people are still around who remember why, he said, but it had something to do with the faulty animatronics. Teenagers told ghost stories and dared each other to spend the whole night in the dining room. But otherwise, beyond the rumors, the original Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place was just an empty, scorched building. And the other various locations like Jr’s or Circus Baby’s had been sold off, passing so many hands who knows what businesses were in there now. But you could still kinda tell, if you paid attention, in the same way you can tell if something used to be a Pizza Hut.
What you really wanted, according to gas station-man, whose nametag read Gary, was this new location that was opening soon, simply named Freddy’s Pizzeria. It’s set to open for business in September, so you’re lucky. He marked it one your map as well.
You don’t know why Gary was so nice to you. Maybe it was the harrowed look in your eyes. Maybe it was the twitchiness. Maybe Gary is just very bored of this tourist town and was looking to fall madly in love with a random troubled soul he met at midnight in a gas station and would wind up running away with to some far-off place. If that was the case, sorry Gary. You were too busy with the metaphorical torture labyrinth to care about romance at the moment.
You couldn’t decide if the haunted Fredbear would want to see an old location or the new one. You asked, but of course the fucker didn’t answer. Just sat there with his smug grin and glassy eyes that followed your hand movements. So, you quite literally tossed a coin. A new mint, the face side had Eleanor Roosevelt on it. And she marked the fact that you were going to try the new location first, and then try the original building next. Cool.
***
Your patience was kinda at its limit here, you’ll admit. You really should get some sleep soon. Or eat. Since you were hellbent on getting here and nothing else, the only thing on your stomach besides that wretched Tweety Bird popsicle is half a monster energy. Guess you’ll go by a fucking Denny’s after this. If you survive.
If you were going to die horrifically, you’d really rather the forces that be make it snappy. This was getting ridiculous.
You pulled into the parking lot. The building clearly wasn’t new but had been freshly painted. Nothing creepy so far. As you stared down the building, sizing it up, you noticed there was one car parked in the front, and a few of the windows were lit up.
Cool, so there was someone in there. Great. That makes, well whatever this is, much harder.
The door was locked.
You could hear music playing from inside. You banged on the door as loudly as you could manage, and it still took a couple of minutes before the music stopped. And then a very disgruntled man in coveralls was in the doorway, tiredly asking just what the fuck you wanted at this time of night.
He smiled to cover up his rudeness, but the smile stretched a little too wide, inhumanly wide, and a shiver ran down your spine.
You took him in, unashamedly raking your eyes over his form. He stood awkwardly, as if ready to bolt at any moment. What you could see of his build made him out to be weirdly skinny. That unnaturally wide smile gave way to some exposed teeth on the left side of his face. His eyes were shadowed by his bangs in the backlight of the door, but you swore they almost glowed themselves. His complexion was greyish and bordered on almost purple in this lighting.
Despite all this, he was still pretty handsome. Well, you did always think some of those creepypasta guys were boyfriend material. Maybe, you wouldn’t mind getting chopped up into little pieces if this guy was the one doing it. Okay, and maybe you’ve been sleeplessly chasing ghosts too long.
Startling you, he reached his hand to grab your shoulder, a little too fast.
“Hey mate, are you okay?” He asked nervously,
It snapped you out of your stupor, realizing you had yet to say a word to him, “Uh, yes, I just wanted to…”
How do you even fucking ask this. “Hey, can I bring a stuffed bear to your dining room so maybe it’s spirit will leave me alone? Maybe conduct a séance or something?” Seriously, did you even know what you were doing here? Shit. Okay.
“I wanted to ask if I could check out your facility?” came out like a question because even you had no clue what you were saying.
“Come back tomorrow in the daylight, then,” he began closing the door, shaking his head in annoyance, “or perhaps when we’re actually open.”
“NO!” you slammed your foot into the door as he closed it, “AAGH!”
“Jesus Christ! WHY.”
Dear lord, this man now 100% thinks you’re a crackhead.
“Just, don’t close that door, okay,” his brows scrunched together as you grit your teeth to swallow down the pain, “I need you to help me.”
“I really don’t have any money to spar--”
“I’M HERE BECAUSE OF A GHOST,” you interrupted. Finally, you managed to get that out somehow, if nonsensical.
A look of recognition flickered in his glowing eyes. He lowered into your space, kind of intimidatingly. Or intimately. Yeah, no, this was hostile, don’t fool yourself.
“What kind of ghost,” he asked suspiciously.
“Uh,” shit, okay, “the weird, haunted doll kind? Uh, like the ones the McElroy brothers are always bidding on on eBay. Or maybe this is kind of a Ben Drowned kinda situation, I’m not completely sure.”
He blinked, “okay, I only understood a few of those words, but—”
“It’s a Freddy teddy bear that really wanted me to take it to Hurricane, okay?” You really were at the end of your rope at the moment, “I have literally driven here for days straight on no sleep and barely any food and I need this Unauthorized Fucking Thing to find it’s eternal peace or kill me in some horrible way so I can hurry up and get on with my goddamn life,”
“Uh, see… the thing is,” he started to retreat back again, slowly moving his hands like he was trying to calm down a spooked animal.
 You realized what was about to happen, and it must have been visible in your eyes, since his huge unnatural placating smile returned,
“I actually don’t want anything to do with that, sooo…”
“PLEASE—” you reached out in blind panic, but he dodged it. (now if only you could’ve dodged the scooper like that Mikey)
The door slammed in your face.
Your breathing was ragged and fogged up the glass as he locked it again. You stared up at those glowing pinprick pupils of his as he gave you an apologetic little wave goodbye. And then he fucking made a big show of pointing at the closed sign before turning tail to disappear back into the darkness of the empty restaurant.
Okay.
Just a little setback. You’ll go to the older location first, now, and come back when this asshole is sleeping. Can’t be too hard to bust out one of those windows, and you doubt he has an alarm set up already. It’s his fault, really. If he didn’t want property damage, then he should’ve just let you in. Not like you haven’t warned him that you were desperate or anything.
Just gonna go to the other location. You’ve got your map, you’ve got a tank full of gas, and you’ve got chutzpah.
Now what you don’t have? Is a car that will start.
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desos-records · 1 year
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alright let’s talk about Lockwood & Co vs Adults
(mostly about the show, I started the books before the show came out and I’m not done, be nice)
Lockwood tries so very hard to act older than he is and he essentially Had To after losing his family. We aren’t told the specifics, but he doesn’t seem to have any adults in his life. Or many people in it period. George has only known him for a year, Flo used to live with him but hasn’t for at least a year if not more, and Kipps is. well. Kipps.
But other than that he seems to have been alone: he’s the one who takes care of the business and the finances, finding new clients and recruiting new agents (he has a mortgage and insurance and he can’t even drive yet). It fits with the overarching theme of the older generation not just failing the newer one, but exploiting it too. Lockwood was abandoned by the generation that was supposed to take care of him (on purpose or not)--just like all the kids of his generation, George and Lucy included.
It’s a little simpler when it comes to George and Lucy. They both left their families by choice; they chose to be the mature ones, to do what they had to so they could feel safe and at home. George left parents who loved him, but didn’t understand him. Lucy left a physically abusive mother who exploited her for money. They’re both mature in very concrete, measurable ways that are natural extensions of their characters. George cleans and cooks and handles research. Lucy is emotionally mature, holding both boys (and people in general) accountable for their actions and making her able to pick out incredible nuances in emotion (of both the living and the dead).
But Lockwood’s maturity feels a little more like play-acting than the others. Partly, I think, because he didn’t get a choice. He’s been functionally an independent adult for god knows how long. He dresses in suits and is entirely too formal (in the books it takes forever for him to stop calling Lucy ‘Miss Carlyle’). But you can tell that it is definitely an act. His tie and trousers are too short, his coat is too big, and, god bless him, he wears the most beat up pair of sneakers I’ve ever seen.
His interactions with actual adults become a flashpoint. It’s most obvious in his interactions with adult men (partly just because most of the adults in the show are men), who he is trying so hard to look and act like. But in every case, they call him out on it and he’s reminded how young he is and almost always in a way that hurts.
The most obvious are Fairfax, Winkman, and what’s-his-face with the gold sword and guyliner, who are trying to kill him. In all cases, Lockwood can’t physically overpower them (Fairfax and Guyliner have guns, Winkman has an electric chair) and his words don’t mean anything to them. And Guyliner is even more dangerous because he knows his parents, knows something about the story behind Lockwood’s armor.
But what’s more interesting are the adults who aren’t trying to kill him.
Barnes picks apart the arguments Lockwood throws up in defense of himself and his agency, not with posturing, but with genuine (although rather harsh) concerns for their safety. For Lockwood, Barnes is a Captain Hook figure, but Barnes acts more like a disgruntled school principal than anything else. He’s working to protect a whole city full of kids that are, by necessity, thrown into harm’s way. And you can see it when Lockwood says that Barnes doesn’t like them much and it throws him off-guard.
The DEPRAC agent at the auction tells them to leave not just because he thinks they can’t handle it, but because they shouldn’t have to
Jesus, you’re children
Yes, he’s aggressive and antagonistic about it, which only makes Lockwood bristle more. Lockwood steps towards him trying to act with authority, even threatening, but all the agent does to break his armor is grab him hard by the shoulder and push him back. But despite that, he is trying to protect them. And he dies to protect them. It is the only instance of someone truly seeing them for what they are: kids. Not agents or weapons or meal tickets.
But it’s jarring. Lockwood can’t process any of that and that’s not his fault. In the world we’ve seen so far, Barnes and the DEPRAC agent are an anomaly. Most other adults don’t care whether they live or die (so long as they’re useful). Lockwood has every reason to believe that every adult is an obstacle at best and a threat at worst.
And it’s painful. All of it. And a little too close to home, this story of children only valued when they’re useful.
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moonlightisdancing · 1 year
Text
Snowed in & Undone/ j.m.k
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Pairing: Josh Kiszka x Female Reader
Word Count: 4515
Warnings: NSFW 18+ MINORS DNI, a teensie bit of yelling, being trapped(snowed in), soft josh, oral sex (m&f receiving), gagging, fingering, unprotected sex, breeding (lmk if anything’s missed!)
A/N: ‘U.P.’ is the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!
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Your mom is best friends with Karen Kiszka. This caused you to practically grow up with the Kiszka siblings, having weekly Sunday dinner with them after church for years. She had always hoped that you would “fall in love with the curly haired one” and insists that “he’s a nice boy, you’re just being stubborn.” But you couldn’t stand “the curly haired one,” Josh. He’s loud, obnoxious, very full of himself and worst of all a former theater kid. After graduation you had really hoped your mom would drop it. You liked Jake, Veronica and Sam, hell, even Sam’s best friend, Danny, was better to hang out with than Josh. You have made a conscious effort to avoid Josh since graduation, even taking a gap year in the off chance he would go to any real college instead of whatever the hell he was doing. You felt guilty for not liking him, but you had your reasons even if nobody else understood.
“Honey! The boys are going up to the U.P. this weekend for some skiing thing, Mrs. Kiszka said Ronnie’s sick and can’t go. She wants to know if you’ll go so she can change reservations, the pass is already paid for!” You hear your mom shout down the hallway into your room.
You have gone 6 months without seeing Josh, why the fuck would you WILLINGLY do it now? It was tempting though. A weekend getaway with the hot one, Jake? Naturally at the expense of the same weekend being spent with his weird twin brother, the thought of a weekend stowed away with Jake kept you thinking. You’ve always had a thing for Jake, ever since he sat behind you in preschool and complimented the red bow in your hair. He was a heartthrob in highschool, but somehow remained single the whole time. He plays guitar, he’s funny, he’s damn good looking and definitely out of your league. The more you thought about Jake the closer you got to caving in.
“Um… sure! I haven’t really seen Jake since graduation, so it might be fun!” You’ve officially signed yourself up for what could be the best or the worst weekend of your life.
You start packing a bag, with only 1 day’s notice it was a tough time digging through what might not even be clean clothes. You’d only been to the U.P. once when you were little, not even old enough to remember anything other than getting sick in the car from driving for too long. You toss through some clothes until you find ones you think will catch Jake’s eye in the cabin. It’s been instilled in you that red’s his favorite color. You never asked him but why else would he have complimented your bow so many years back? Excitement made it hard to sleep, you watched the clock hit 4:23. You were so tired you wouldn’t have remembered what time you started dozing off if it wasn’t Jake’s birthday. The excitement washes away and you’re finally asleep.
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“HELLOOOO!! WAKE UP!!” You heard someone right in your ear. It didn’t sound like anyone you lived with, and nobody who comes over is that fucking loud but one person, Josh.
“Dude, what the FUCK are you doing in my room?!” You start to open your eyes and turn towards who you presume to be Josh.
“We’re supposed to leave soon… your mom said to come wake you up,” he just stood bedside as if he belonged there, his presence shaking you to the core. He looked different, a good different. Haircut, a little stubble, did he get his eyebrows plucked…?
“Josh, I mean this kindly, get the fuck out of my room. Right. NOW!” You felt a little bad for yelling, but decided he deserved it for intruding.
You hear his footsteps leave your bedroom, Josh grabs your suitcase on the way out to start packing the Suburban. Feeling guilty for what happened, you slowly roll out of bed and get dressed in warm clothes to beat the December chill. You try not to let the situation bother you, this weekend was a spur of the moment and Mrs. Kiszka paid for your entire trip. You would finally get some time away from work and do something fun. Midway down the hall, your mom stops you to give you some money for your trip and a kiss on your cheek.
“I heard you yelling up there… Now you be nice to my future son-in-law, don’t scare him away, that boy will do good for you.” Was she seriously still on this?
“Mom, for the THOUSANDTH time, I hate Josh. Always have. Why can’t you root for maybe… his better half? Jake is so much cooler.” You’ve been begging her for years to drop this narrative, and yet she continues with it.
“Honey, Jake’s too quiet for you, and if I’m not mistaken he has a lady, or maybe I misheard Karen… You know he’s just- he’s an interesting boy that one. Not bad at all, sweet kid, he’s just a little odd, darling. I think Josh’ll grow on you.” She was adamant on you and Josh being together, but she was so wrong.
You head outside and hop into the van behind the passenger seat. You assumed the usual position, Josh driving, Jake passenger, Sam behind Josh. That’s how it had always been when you guys took trips together. Jake was the first one in, he got in the driver seat. Very odd, but no way Josh’s ego would let his 15 year old brother in the front seat. You would have to sit behind him but that’s not worse than next to him. Sam approaches the van, he’s getting into the passenger seat. ‘Not a fucking shot…’ You thought so loudly you were afraid you might have said it. Following behind Sam was Josh, speak of the devil and he will arrive. The devil gets into the seat behind the driver, making this the most unfortunate seating arrangement ever. You didn’t know how long of a car ride this was, but you knew every second spent next to Josh would be insufferable. Worst part was Josh brought an extra bag and instead of placing it between the two of you, he scooched himself into the middle seat and placed his bag on the seat behind Jake.
Halfway through and Josh still hasn’t really spoken to you. Your main source of interaction was little Sammy boy in the front seat, asking him how school was going and if he had any plans for college yet, how Danny was, boring older sister-esque stuff. You didn’t say much to Jake so he could focus on driving, the last thing you wanted was him getting into an accident with ¾ of the Kiszka kids and you, an only child. The Michigan roads weren’t as bad as usual, but still not the greatest with black ice and slushy snow. There was a silence in the van amongst the people, the only thing playing was one of their CD’s Sam put in for you to hear. He had just started making music with his brothers, which was just about the only thing 15 year old Sammy had going on, poor kid. Their music was probably the only bit of Josh you could stand. His voice sounds nice when he sings, so why is it when he speaks you want to tape his mouth shut?
Jake has been driving for who knows how long, looking at the clock would only make it worse. Staring out of the window you start to feel tired, this was uncommon for you but the lack of sleep last night was really doing a number. You start to drift off with the light sound of music humming in the background. You let your head rest against the seat, and slowly fall to the left. You’re so used to the original seating, you didn’t think about whose shoulder you would land on. Sam, right? You’d only done this one other time, and Sam didn’t mind too much until you started drooling and he pushed your head into the window so it had somewhere to lay. But this shoulder felt different then Sam’s, much more broad and definitely had less bone going on. You didn’t care, maybe it was his jacket, all you cared about was getting some damn sleep. You feel a cheek press against the top of your head, and you nuzzle into the feeling of comfort.
“Okay, we’re here guys. Just barely in time to check into our cabins. C’mon sleepyhead.” You feel a hand reach back and shake your knee to wake you up. Your eyes open to Jake staring back, his hand on your knee and Sammy peering over the passenger seat. Suddenly it hits you.
‘If Sam’s up there… who’s shoulder am I- oh my fucking god…’ You felt shivers go down your spine. You realized you had been asleep on Josh’s shoulder this entire time, simultaneously (and unfortunately for you) realizing it was the best nap you’ve ever taken.
‘He smelled nice, he didn’t push me off of him, he’s really warm, NO! Ugh’ You lift your head off of Josh’s shoulder to apologize to him, only to realize he had fallen asleep too. You wondered for a second if he thought the same thing, and you wondered why you felt so much comfort and content on his shoulder if you disliked him as much as you thought.
All four of you get out, grab your bags and head towards the check in area. You hear Jake mention two cabins to the lady at the desk. Your heart thumps faster at the thought of a cabin with Jake, quickly bringing yourself back down remembering Karen probably put the twins together, and the two youngest together. Bunking with Sam isn’t who you were hoping for, but he’s a good kid, the lesser of the two evils. Jake approaches the group with the keys for the cabins.
“Okay, me and Sammy are in 21, Josh and Y/N are in 22, sound good?” Another thought struck so loud you again felt people heard it. ‘No, Jake, it doesn’t sound good. Why would Karen break it up that way, this has to be some sick joke, maybe Ronnie isn’t sick at all and mom put this together.’
“Shall we?” Josh reaches his hand out for yours in a curtsy. All you could think was ‘What a dork…’ Instead you push his hand down, knowing if you grabbed his hand it would be accompanied with a kiss on yours. The group makes their way to their assigned cabins, the snow started picking up and made the 5 minute walk feel like eons. Once you reach the cabins, you wave a sad wave to Jake and Sam as Josh gets the door to your impending doom. He grabs your bag for you and enters the cabin, you follow slowly behind.
“You can pick which room you want.” He says quietly, completely not the Josh you know.
“Josh, are you okay? I’m really sorry for yelling at you this morning. I just- I went to bed late, I was frustrated was all,” you were on the verge of tears trying to make amends with someone you usually didn’t care about hurting. You hate to admit it, but your mom was right, he is a sweet boy. Maybe that’s why you feel so guilty, that and the fact he’s been different towards you since then.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter, it’s fine really.” His voice came out shaky, you knew it wasn’t fine but you didn’t know how to undo the past.
Trying to think of the right words to say, you begin lugging your bag into the direction of the smaller room. You figure it’s the least you can do after being so mean to him.
Each in your own rooms unpacking, you get deep in thought again.
‘Why do I hate him so much? He’s gotta know after 15 fucking years, there’s no way. Why’s he always so nice? Maybe it’s me.’
Your thoughts are interrupted by Josh tapping his knuckles on the door. You turn around to see him timidly standing in the doorway, probably because the last time he entered a room you occupied, he choked back tears.
“What’s up, Josh?” You try to approach him like a stray cat you’re trying to befriend for the first time.
“Jake just called me, him and Sammy are snowed in. I was gonna go help them, but we’re in the same boat, ‘bout halfway up the door…” He places one of his hands on the side of his head awkwardly fidgeting with his curls.
“So, what do you want to do then? I think I saw some board games under the coffee table. Or maybe a movie?” You were trying to make the best of an even more unfortunate circumstance. Not only were you stuck in a cabin with your least favorite Kiszka, but now there was 4ft of snow locking you in the cabin with him.
Josh’s eyes widened in excitement, “Wait, actually? Usually you don’t want… nevermind, I’ll be at the table when you’re done.”
‘Fuck. He definitely knows. I mean how wouldn’t he know. I can’t even talk to him without being a bitch. I wish I could like him. I really do.’ For once you actually feel bad for the consecutive years of poor treatment towards Josh Kiszka on your behalf. You decide it’s time to make amends, become his friend instead of his enemy. Hey, one day you’ll be married to Jake, right? Can’t have your brother-in-law hating your guts.
You try to stall putting your clothes in the dresser, just trying to figure out the right words to make this apology perfect. You have 15 years to make up for, that’s almost your entire lives, although you’d like to think you didn’t start hating him until the 6th grade. You walk out to the living room area, gathering the words and courage up. He made hot cocoa, started the fireplace and already had a game of Monopoly set up. He shuffled one of his playlists that had a mix of a bunch of old people you’d never remember the names to. You were met with his dorky smile as he waved his arms out and wiggled his fingers followed by “Ta-daaaa!” You tried not to blush, the sentiment was touching.
“Josh, before we start the game, can we talk?” You feel tension in the air, your palms growing sweaty.
“Sure, you can sit down y’know, I don’t bite… anymore…” You giggled because as far as you can recall, you don’t think he’s ever bit someone.
“I’ve been thinking lately about how I am with you. I feel bad for avoiding you and always making plans with Jake and Sam when you’re busy. You’re really sweet and fun. Maybe too much fun for me, I think I need to dial it up and we’d be okay. I guess what I’m getting at is I’m sorry, Josh. I’m sorry for always being a bitch.” You feel like you pulled words out of a hat and threw them together.
“Y/N, it’s okay. I try not to take anything personally. I just try to put the energy and positivity into the world that I’d like to get back. I’d hope that in and of itself makes us ‘okay’ not the fact you feel bad. Please, I just want what’ll make you happy.” All you can think is how he captures the essence of the sun perfectly. He radiates warmth and love, you finally realize that it hasn’t been Josh this whole time, it’s been you.
You get up and walk towards Josh, reaching for a hug. He gladly stands up and takes you in his arms. His body against yours feels warm and you’re fully engulfed in his scent as you nuzzle your face into the crook of his neck.
“I felt particularly bad when I fell asleep on you and realized I liked it.” You were afraid of ruining the moment, but Josh giggles at your statement.
“I felt particularly bad when I thought about moving your head to stop you from drooling on my shirt, but I wanted you to be comfortable. I was trying to avoid being a Sammy 2.0” You couldn’t even be mad at him after all the shit you’ve put him through.
Josh is still holding you tight in his arms, soaking in the first good interaction you’ve had in an overdue time. Can’t Help Falling in Love comes on shuffle, you hear Josh start humming only making you want to stay there longer. He starts to gently sway with you. You move your arms up from around his shoulders to around his neck as you pull away to look at his face. Taking in all of his features, you realize how gorgeous Josh really is. His coffee eyes sparkle with hints of amber and his light winter complexion paired with his curls gently resting across his forehead. His perfectly sculpted nose sat above his plump, deep colored lips. Had you spent any of these years getting to know him you’re afraid you would have fallen in love. Josh’s been looking at you this entire time and you’d wondered if he was thinking the same things.
“What’s going on in there, gorgeous?” He broke the silence, having you melt in your spot with widened eyes.
“You’re the gorgeous one,” You blushed, feeling it was the wrong thing to say, but remembering he started it first.
Josh’s cheeks grow rosy, “That’s two firsts in one sentence…” you raised your eyebrow at him before he continued “… being called gorgeous, and being complimented by you.”
It’s like his body was calling you, you cradle his face with one of your hands. Rubbing his cheek with your thumb, you start to lean in for a kiss, hoping it’s the right move to make. Josh leans right into you as if this was a familiar occurrence, making it feel as if your lips belong to his. The room around you feels as if it’s spinning, a feeling of ecstasy fills the space around you. He moves one of his hands from your waist to the nape of your neck, tangling your hair between his fingers, he pushes you in gently. You let out the tiniest moan, the feeling of his fingers on your neck sending shivers down your spine. You slowly inch forward forcing Josh backwards toward the couch, you’re yearning for his touch more than you ever thought. He plops down onto the old couch and you fall straddling him making sure your lips never leave his.
You knew what you wanted but you weren’t sure how Josh was feeling. Hesitantly, you pull away from him to ask, “Do you want to do more…?”
Josh looked at you with thin eyes for a second before he realized what he thought you were implying. “Wait like by more do you mean, it.”
You giggled at his terminology. It. “Only if you want to, I’m okay with this, too,” you say reassuringly, you’re afraid maybe you pushed your luck.
Josh doesn’t speak, but the expression on his face says everything. He has a fiery look in his eyes, his cheeks red to the touch. You start kissing him again, feeling him against you through all layers of clothing. Even if this was as far as it got, it was much farther than you ever imagined with either of them.
Josh slides his hand down the small of your back past the waistband of your leggings. He drags his finger tips across your asscheek making you whimper into his mouth. You grind forward on his clothed cock, eager for some sort of relief.
“Josh, please,” you’re begging him to do something at this point, you knew you needed more.
“What do you need?” You can’t tell if he’s being serious, or if he’s really gonna make you ask for it.
“You, I need to feel you.” You barely managed to whine out what you hope he wants to hear.
Josh decides not to waste anymore time. He taps your thighs signaling you to stand up.
“Take those off,” he says pointing to your pants, “and take that off too.” He moves his finger up to point to your shirt.
Josh begins standing up from the couch removing all of his clothing. He’s standing in front of you entirely naked leaving you in your undergarments. You stare at his cock in disbelief of the size. Without hesitation you get down on your knees infront of him, mouth wide open letting him take the reins. He grabs your hair into a makeshift ponytail as you work your tongue around his tip. He’s so big you’re not confident it’s going to fit in your mouth, let alone other places, but you try to take him entirely. You rest him on your tongue and brace your hands on his thighs, slowly working him down your throat. You drag the fingers from your left hand up his thigh and cup his balls. Josh bucks his hips forward in pleasure, causing you to gag, your eyes filling up with tears. He reaches his free hand to your face and wipes away the tears before removing himself from your mouth.
“I wasn’t done!” You teased him.
“Your eyes are watering, I’m not gonna do that to you.” He said gently before lifting you off the ground.
He holds you close to his body in a sheltering hug as he unclasps your bra. He follows this up with a strange question.
“Heads or tails?” You raise your eyebrow in confusion, because what the hell does that have to do with anything?
“Heads?” You say as you see him reaching for a coin.
He flips the coin and catches it, flipping it onto the back of his hand.
He sucks his teeth, “Sorry baby girl, tails.”
He signals you to the couch, you sit down on it but he flips you over, your breasts touching the back of the couch, knees sinking into the cushions. ‘So this is what he meant…’ you think to yourself.
Josh is standing behind you, you feel his hands on either hip, and his breath at the small of your back. You feel his teeth grab your panties as he pulls them down. Josh is on his knees, staring right at your heat, panties around your thighs. You feel him spread your asscheeks, getting a full view, and then you feel his breath again. He licks a stripe from your clit all the way to your entrance before dipping his tongue into you. You let out a moan at the anticipated relief you’d been searching for. He starts lapping at your clit like his life depends on it, working two digits into your entrance. It feels so good you feel like you might cum before the best part happens.
“Are you ready?” He asks, pulling himself away from you.
You didn’t want him to stop touching you with his tongue, but you wanted him more in a different way. You shake your head yes to him, but deep down you’re nervous if he’ll even fit. Josh lines himself up with your entrance, his hands spreading you wide open for him to see. He places his tip at your entrance before slowly pushing in. He moves his hands to your hips. You’re breathing halts, the sensation sends a fuzzy feeling across your entire body.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
“More.” You could barely speak through the high but you still knew what you wanted.
Josh pushes himself deeper until you feel his pelvis touching your ass, he lays across your back, arms around you and plants a kiss between your shoulder blades. He stays there for a second as your slick covers him. As he begins working at a slow pace, he reaches an arm down to toy with your clit. He starts to thrust at a normal pace, working you down to nothing for several minutes.
“Are you close?” He whispers into your ear.
“Uh-huh, are you?” You ask back.
“Yeah, but I want to see that pretty face when you do.” He lays you down on the couch, facing the ceiling as he works his way on top of you.
He wraps your legs around his waist, he shoves his cock back into your dripping pussy, tucking his arms under yours and around your shoulders. He nestles his face into your neck and digs his fingertips into your shoulders. You’re scratching up his back so hard, you’re anticipating open wounds and bloody nails. You feel Josh’s pelvis rubbing against your clit, making you tighten around him again.
“Are you on birth control?” He frantically asks, but you’re assuming for good reason.
“Yeah, IUD.” You respond through sharp breaths, fighting the urge to cum without him.
“Oh, okay, good.” He chuckles a little.
“Josh, I’m gonna cum.”
“Yeah, me too, c’mon show me what ya got.”
You start to moan through shortened breaths, digging your nails deeper in his back, body twitching under Josh’s, you can feel yourself tighten around him as you reach your climax. Following your release, Josh starts to slow down, taking longer, deeper strokes, pulling you down onto his cock by your shoulders.
“Josh, cum in me.” You never thought those words would ever leave your mouth.
He starts to kiss all over your collar bone between low register moans. He thrusts into you one more time, filling you with his cum, followed with a deep sigh. He immediately pulls out and goes to get something to clean you up with. He comes back with a roll of toilet paper as a temporary fix until you make it to the shower.
“Holy shit man, I can’t believe that just happened.” Josh says while wiping his cum off of you.
“Yeah, me either.” You admit.
Josh helps you sit up on the couch, and he places a kiss on your glowing cheek. You get up to get into the shower, barely able to walk and unable to figure out where to go from here. Do you try to take it further, and let your mom be right about the boy you fought years denying? You decided that was something you could figure out later, right now you just wanted to get cleaned up and watch a movie with Josh. You spend about 20 minutes in the shower before strolling out in a pair of pajamas Josh grabbed for you from your room. He made a makeshift fort and had ELF ready to play with some fresh hot cocoa and popcorn that was just popped. You snuggled up with Josh for your little date night, and let all the future explanations wash away as you fell asleep in the warmth and comfort of his arms.
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wingedquill · 1 year
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notes on survival (a preview)
so i blacked out and wrote like 4K words of a new fic concept. I don't think I'll be posting it on ao3 until it's entirely done (really do not need another currently-updating WIP) but wanted to share the first little bit on here with y'all (CW: kidnapping, violence against children) ---
Here’s how it starts, for Steve:
He’s ten.
He’s riding his bike. It’s a bit late in the day, but not that late, not nearly his curfew. The sun is still high in the sky, and he can hear kids shrieking with laughter a few streets over. They’d invited him to play with them, but he’d turned them down cause he wanted to check on the tadpoles he’d found in the pond last weekend.
He gets to a stop sign. A car pulls up next to him: old, gray, forgettable. The windows are down, but it’s summer. It’s normal. He wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
A bang. A scream. 
“Help!” a voice shouts from the trunk. “Someone help!”
The driver looks over. Makes direct eye contact with Steve.
He knows, even as he starts pedaling, that he’s not gonna be fast enough.
***
Steve can’t really remember a time when he’d been un-messed-up. Not clearly, at least. He has the vague, stretched-summer memories of baking cookies with his mom, of somersaulting off the diving board at the public pool and getting yelled at by a lifeguard, of hiding in the woods simply because it was the best way to avoid his chores.
They’re nice memories, he thinks. Part of him wants to put them in a box and never touch them again. But they’re nice.
He’s good at pretending they’re all he’s made of.
But now he’s here. Walking through the woods. He’s not avoiding his chores but he’s also not hiding, and that’s probably the only reason why he’s not vomiting into the underbrush. Nancy’s hand is cold in his, and it’s enough of an anchor.
He’s not alone.
“Will!” he yells, his lungs burning with the force of the yell. “Will!”
He wonders if he got a search party like this.
***
They’re bumping down a road that’s more potholes than asphalt. The other boy won’t stop hyperventilating.
“I’m sorry,” he sobs. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, if I hadn’t—”
“It’s okay,” Steve says, because that’s what you’re supposed to do when someone apologizes. You’re supposed to accept it. 
He doesn’t even know what the boy is apologizing for, not really. He isn’t a kidnapper. He hadn’t tied Steve up and stuffed him in the trunk. He had only screamed for help. That’s what you’re supposed to do.
“I’m Steve,” he says. It’s important that the other boy knows his name. Vitally so. The man who took them isn’t gonna care, and he needs one person here who cares about him.
The other boy sniffles against Steve’s shirt.
“Ed,” he chokes. “I’m Ed.”
***
He’s cold. He’s tired. He’s gasping for air and his sides are on fire. 
Second verse, same as the first.
“We gotta get your shirt off,” Robin’s telling him. “We need to, Steve, your dirty, lake-gunk sweater is embedded in those wounds, I don’t want you getting a massive infection on top of rabies. That’s like, for sure definite dead.”
He drags himself out of the hunting shack and into the Upside Down. Eddie and Nancy are huddled together by a fallen tree, Nancy giving him a quick rundown of how the hivemind works. Neither of them are looking.
“I can’t,” he chokes anyway. “They’ll see–they’ll know.”
Cross your heart and hope to die.
She bites her lip. She looks like his mom had, when she’d told him he wouldn’t be seeing Ed again. Like she’s cutting off one of his limbs to save the rest of him.
“Steve, they won’t care,” she lies.
He shakes his head.
“I’ll chance the infection,” he says. “I mean it Robin.”
She closes her eyes. Scoots around to the other side of him, putting herself between him and Eddie-and-Nancy.
“I’ll dress the wounds quick,” she says. “And give you my overshirt. That okay?”
He takes a deep breath. Hunches in on himself. He’s always been a bit too good at making himself unseen. A bit better than he would like.
“Okay,” he agrees.
***
“They’re looking for us,” he whispers. 
He tucks his face into Ed’s shoulder, wishes they could hug. A hug would make this better, he thinks, if he could just get his arms around to the front. If he could just hug, and be hugged, he’d wake up. They’d both wake up.
They’d both be at home in their beds. They’d be safe. Mom would make him hot chocolate like she always does after nightmares, and he’d check to see if the robin’s eggs outside his window had hatched, and he’d be okay.
“Yeah,” Ed whispers back. “Yeah, they are.”
Around them, the car’s engine roars.
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crazyk-imagine · 2 years
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Big Time Crush
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Pairing: James Diamond x Insecure!Plus size!reader Characters: Insecure!Plus size!reader, Katie Knight, Jennifer “Mama” Knight, James Diamond, Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia, Hortense “Logan” Mitchell
Briefly mentioned: Camille Roberts, Gustavo Rocque, Kelly Wainwright, Snoop Dog, The Jennifer’s Warnings: Shenanigans, Katie being a sweetheart, the boys doing their best to help James, plans not going the way anyone planned, jerky teens, don’t mess with someone the boys, Katie, and Mama Knight like, the pool is a good place for jerky people to chill in, Mama Knight always manages to find the oddest recipes  Word Count: 4,151
A/N: I honestly have no idea what happened to Dad Knight but we’re gonna pretend that Jennifer and he went through a divorce when the kids were young, and she kept her married last name
Late Christmas gift (fic) for requester @lilacprincessofrecovery​ 
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You sit beside Katie, Kendall’s little sister, who’s currently working on earning a quick buck or two from the “pool jockies” as you and Camille like to call them. You glance over at her cards and see that she’s close to winning another round of go fish. 
The jockies can’t grasp the basic rules of poker so you came up with a compromise and chose a classic game of go fish. 
You lean over and whisper, “the one across from you has queens and the one to your left has seven.” 
“You’re sure?” 
“I’m right about the queens. You just need one more than the one on your right and you’ll win.” 
“Okay.” 
Thanks to your little tip, she won which none of them liked. 
“If you don’t want to lose, then don’t play,” you advise. 
The one that sits across from Katie scoffs, heading back inside, most likely getting his luggage to go home for winter break. 
“It’s been a while since you had something to eat. Do you want me to get you anything from the snack machine?” 
“I think I’m gonna head inside and go play some video games. You can join me since Kendall’s at the studio, finishing up their latest album.” 
You smile, “alright. Be prepared to lose to the master.” 
“Oh, you’re on. Oh, actually can you get some candy. Mom wants to try this weird candy recipe and I was supposed to ask Kendall, but you know, I was in the zone before he left.” 
You nod, “yeah, sure. Anything specific?” 
“No gummies and no chocolate.” 
“That leaves room for a lot of choices, doesn’t it?” 
She raises her arms, “I’m not the one who made the recipe.” 
“Yeah, yeah.” 
“I’ll wait with you.” 
“You don’t have to do that.” 
“You’re the only other person here besides my brother and his idiot friends who is actually nice to me. My mom also wouldn’t like it if I came up without you.” 
“Aww, who’s a mama’s girl.” You pull out a dollar from your pocket, reaching for your bag when you realize you left it at the table. “Hey, can you do me a quick favor and grab my bag. I want to make sure I get enough for your mom. You’ve got me curious about her future creation.” 
She nods. 
You push the buttons for the candy when a shadow blocks the light, turning you find one of the guys from the game. 
“Hey, chubbs.” 
You furrow your brows, hoping he’ll go away before Katie comes back. 
“Maybe if you didn’t eat all this junk, you’d lose a pound or two.” 
“Just because I’m getting candy, doesn’t mean it’s for me.” 
“Isn’t that what they all say.” 
You furrow your brows, “you don’t have to be a jerk.” 
“You don’t have to be a jerk, cry me a river. Quite eating this crap,” he smacks the item out of your hands. “It’s not for you.” 
You don’t look up, keeping your eyes on the floor. 
“Can’t even look away from it for a second. Pathetic.” 
He walks away when one of his buddies calls him over. 
Katie stands beside you, handing you your bag. “Are you okay?” 
You put a brave face on and nod. “Yep, all good. Now, let’s get your mom the candy so she can get started on it.” 
Katie overheard what the jerk said and wants to make you feel better, but she’s never been good at it. She’s not letting you go back to your apartment until you absolutely have to, no one should be sad or alone during the holidays. Her eyes widen at the amount of candy you got. “Okay. I think we’re more than okay. This is already a lot more than what I planned on getting.” 
“You sure?” 
She nods, “definitely.” She grabs the candy from you and holds it close to her chest. “Let’s go. If she gets started now, she can be done but the time the boys get back.” 
“You guys don’t have any holiday plans?” 
“We did but then everyone canceled so we’re stuck here but now you can hang out with us.” 
“Oh, I can? I feel honored.” 
“My mom loves you.” 
“I’ve only met her once.” 
“And she thought you really nice. Wait, until she hears about you helping me win.” 
You push the elevator close door button, wanting to get to their apartment faster. “Don’t you dare.” 
“She won’t believe me anyway.” 
“Ha!” 
The young girl shakes her head, smiling, feeling proud of herself for bed able to keep you happy… even if it’s only temporary. She has an idea that maybe you don’t actually like what you see. She sees the baggy clothes you wear to hide yourself; it makes more sense with what that jerk told you earlier. “You look nice by the way,” Katie tells you, keeping her attention on the elevator doors. 
“Oh,” you whisper, not expecting her to say that. You glance down at your usual jean and sneaker combo followed by your cute festive, semi tight Christmas holiday shirt with a black jacket to keep you warm. “Thanks. I like your shoes.” 
She smirks, you had given her Christmas shoes laces as a joke not expecting her to wear them of course but here you are. “I know.” 
-
“We’re back,” the child announces, walking into the apartment. 
“Who’s we exactly?” Her mom asks, the last time she tried to get Katie a friend it turned out to be an adult who then stole her car- or rental car, it was a blur after realizing it was a car that was in her possession was stolen. “Oh,” she notices you, standing in the doorway and smiles. “Come on in. I’m so happy it’s you. How are you?” She hugs you, you weakly hug her back. 
The negative thoughts try to enter your mind again. ‘She pities you. Forever the fat pitied girl.’ You give her a weak smile. “We got the last ingredient you needed for your latest creation.” 
“Oh, that’s so sweet but I’m pretty sure my daughter was supposed to tell her brother to get it.” 
“She mentioned something like that, but I figured why not try the vending machine first. Save a few bucks, you know.” 
“I knew I liked you for a reason.” 
“We’re gonna play games.” Katie tries to pull you towards the couch when her mom stops her. 
“Oh no. You promised to help me.” 
“But-” 
“It could be fun.” 
“Don’t side with her, please.” 
“You two could make Christmas cookies.” 
“Oh, yay. I’ve been waiting make some myself but-” ‘She’s gonna think your fat, talking about cookies.’ “I- uh- never found the time.” 
“Let’s make the cookies… from scratch.” 
“I don’t like the look you have on your face, Katie,” you tell the young girl. 
The smile never leaving her face. 
“How about Mrs. Knight and I switch places?” 
“First, it’s Ms. Knight. And no, you two can make the cookies.” She turns to you, “I have faith that you’ll make sure the cookies come out right. Katie just wants to throw flour on you.” 
You nod, “I figured as much.” 
The older woman smiles, patting your arm, “you’re gonna have fun.” 
A nervous chuckle escapes you, “I don’t know.” 
“You will and while you do, I’ll be over there on the couch reading a book.” 
“Fabio?” 
The mother of the apartment says nothing. 
“Have fun with your book.” 
She nods and heads over to the couch, getting comfortable. 
“Alright,” you turn to Katie, “what flavor are we making?” 
“Chocolate chip.” 
“Excellent choice.” You order her to get all of the items and ingredients you’ll need and remind her of the sweet outcome whenever she huffs and puffs. 
“Now can we make the cookies?” 
“Yep, let’s get started.” You tell her which ingredients you need while you do the mixing. 
You two sit and play hangman while you two wait for the cookies to finish cooking. “Seriously? You used the word ambrosia. How was I supposed to guess that?” 
She smirks, “don’t order me around.” 
“Oh,” you shake your head, “you’re evil.” 
“I don’t think so.” 
“Of course, you don’t.” The timer on the microwave dings. “I’ll check on the cookies.” 
The boys enter the apartment and slump against the couch, two on each side of Kendall and Katie’s mom. “I smell cookies,” says Carlos, with a confused expression. 
“I do too,” Logan and James add. 
“Mom?” 
“Ask your sister,” she flips another page of her book. 
“Okay, Katie. I-” You scream, almost dropping the hot tray of cookies. “Geez.” You grab a towel and set it on the counter before setting the tray down. 
The boys stare at the tray of heavenly smelling cookies... all except for James, who’s jaw is open as he stares at you. 
Katie sits beside Logan who sits beside her brother, watching this whole thing with amusement. 
‘They think your fat for making cookies... even though they look like they want one.’ You purse your lips at this next thought. ‘They can eat them without the sugar going to their hips.’ You avoid her gaze and turn towards the sink, washing the dishes so Ms. Knight doesn’t have to. 
Carlos and Logan glance at one another, eyes switching between each other and the cookies. 
The brainiac shakes his head, the helmet lover nods; this goes on for a couple of minutes until Carlos reaches for a cookie and hisses. 
“The cookies just came out. You saw her take them out,” Katie points out. 
“But- it’s cookies,” the corndog lover weakly argues. 
“They have to cool.” 
“But I want cookies.” 
You dry your hands on a napkin and slowly turn around. “If I,” you pause when the five turn to give you, their attention. “If I get you some cookies, will you stop trying to grab them off the hot cookie sheet?” 
The boys nod. 
Katie gets out of the chair before you asked her to get you plates. 
You scoop a couple of cookies onto each plate and slide them in front of each boy, not forgetting to give a plate to Katie and her mom. 
A small smile tugs at the corner of your lips. 
“Don’t you want to try some?” You shake your head with a polite smile, “no, thanks for offering though Katie.” 
She furrows her brows. “But you said-” 
“I- I decided that I’m gonna stop eating so much candy.” 
She knows where you’re going with this and what thoughts are running around your mind. 
“Oh, okay. Well. I’m sure I can whip up something else,” Ms. Knight offers, collecting the boys’ plates. 
You shake your head, “it's- its fine. I should go back to my place.” You walk around the counter, grabbing your bag off the table. “Thank you so much for letting me hangout here.” 
“Do you h-ave to go?” asks James, voice cracking halfway through. “You could- we could hang- hang out?” 
An uncomfortable smile stretches across your lips. “I- I would but, I have to go. Maybe some other time?” You add even though you don’t really mean it, thinking he was just being nice to the “fat” girl. 
“Oh, yeah. Okay, next time.” 
A quiet, “bye” slips past your lips before the door closes shut. 
-
The boys or Katie’s mom didn’t see you much after that day. They couldn’t find you when it was only everyone in the apartment, Kelly, Gustavo, and Snoop Dog who were stuck at the studio. 
Katie wanted to invite you to stay and hangout with them since she knows your family always have plans, leaving you here alone. She was lucky to have found you a few days after everyone came back from break. 
“How was your guy’s Christmas?” you ask her, sitting in the cabana. 
“Not better than yours.” 
“Somehow I don’t believe that.” 
-
Just because the boys haven’t talked to you since you made cookies, doesn’t mean they haven’t seen you. 
Every time James sees you, he forgets everything he was doing or thinking. 
The others always encourage him to try and ask you out (not just because they’re tired of hearing him go on and on about you) but he always gives them some sort of excuse as to why he can’t or shouldn’t making it even weirder because... it’s James. But they see how he is whenever he’s near you and know that he has a big time crush on you. 
-
Kendall pulls together an idea, knowing that you and Katie are hanging out by the pool as usual so naturally he calls, more like yanks, Carlos and Logan with him. 
“Operation: Get James a date is happening today.” 
“Today? Like today-today? We’re not ready,” Logan tells him. 
“It happens and he will get a date with the one person who can get him to use less of his body spray.” 
“How are we gonna do that?” asks Carlos. 
“I’m glad you asked.” 
They rope James into coming over and helping them with their fake plan. 
“Okay, James. I’m gonna be honest with you right now,” Kendall starts. 
“We lied!” Logan blurts out. 
“That’s not what we agreed to do.” The leader smacks the brainiacs shoulder, who whines as he holds his arm. 
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. He should know. He needs to know what we’re doing here.” 
“What exactly are we doing here?” The pretty boy chimes in. 
“We’re helping you ask out the only nice girl here.” Carlos glances over at the offended duo and sighs, correcting himself. “Who isn’t dating anyone.” 
“What?” James eyes widen. “You’re trying to get me to ask her out?! No. No. No.” 
“You can do it,” Carlos encourages him. 
“It’s all going to be fine,” Kendall pats his shoulder. 
“Take these flowers,” Logan shoves the bundle of flowers into his friends’ hand, “and go find her.” 
James trips, using his hands to put some distance between his face and the floor, not wanting to damage his face; the flowers are a now mess on the floor. 
No one stops to help, only glancing over at him and continuing with their day. 
Luckily for you, you didn’t hear it, the music blasting through your headphones blocking out all and any sounds around you. 
He sighs and pushes himself off the ground with sad and slow movements. 
The other three reach out to comfort him but he continues walking past them and into the pool area since the kids from class were having fun first day of summer pool party. 
“She’s still there,” Logan weakly adds. “This is good.” 
“Let’s go before he floats in the pool, staring into the sun,” Carlos taps his helmet before running outside. 
-
You hide in the cabana, not wanting to see anyone or have anyone see you in the jean shorts, you haven’t worn in what feels like a millennium. You don’t even know why you’re here; you should be in your apartment watching some old romance movie that you find stupid because you haven’t been in love or in a relationship. 
You don’t even know why you left the cabana flap open, maybe it was some kind of subconscious self-torture because all you see when you look at the pool is everyone from class which consist of skinny girls in bikinis. 
Just as you pointed them out to yourself, the Jennifer’s give you a polite wave, something not everyone could get which made your harsh thoughts about yourself make you feel bad for thinking these kinds of things when they’ve been nice to you for almost as long as you’ve known them. Sure, they were a bit rough around the edges when you first met the girls but after helping them when they needed it, they’ve been nothing but kind to you. 
The smile falls from your face as you watch them settle onto the pool lounge chairs. ‘They didn’t need to buy new bathing suits. They didn’t gain anything during the holidays.’ You shake your head, sighing. ‘Don’t focus on that. You look cute too. Your shorts are perfect for your shirt.’ You tug your jacket closer around your torso, half tempted to zip it but deciding not to prevent yourself from overheating. You noticed James lazily floating on one of the bed floaties, staring up at the sky. 
Almost as if he could feel eyes on him, his head rolls to the side; he glances over at you. 
You both freeze, keeping eye contact with one another. You didn’t realize it at first but, you offer a small wave in his direction. 
He returns the slow wave. 
You quickly lower your head, trying to focus on your book. ‘Why’d you even accept their invite to this?’ You bite the inside of your cheek, letting go when the flavor of copper hits your tastebuds. ‘They probably invited you out of the pity. The fat girl friends with a child. They want something to laugh at.’ 
-
Katie draws James’s attention away from you. 
“What?” He asks, with an annoyed tone. 
“Get out of the pool and talk to her. She needs someone to talk to and I can’t do it.” 
“Why not?” 
“My mom wants to me to do something that other kids my age do.” She notices the raised brow and disbelief expression he has on his face. “Whatever that means. Go and talk to her. I’m tired of you not saying anything.” 
“I can’t talk to her,” he stresses the second word as if that would help. 
“You can. It’s easy. She likes music, you’re in a band. Find common ground.” 
“You make it sound like I’m going into battle... I’m not, right?” 
“You are and oh look, we’re here.” She shoves him in front of the cabana, hiding behind one of the oddly placed plants. 
James catches himself before he could trip, glancing back of his shoulder only to find no Katie. He sighs. 
“Hi James.” 
His shoulders tense up, eyes quickly moving onto you. 
“You know my name?” 
‘This isn’t awkward.’ You nod, “kind of hard not to when you’re the newest artist around here.” You purse your lips, since when did talking to others get to be so hard. ‘Have I always sounded like this?’ 
He chuckles, “that- uh- yeah, that makes sense.” 
You gulp before you ask him if he wants to sit in here with you. 
His eyes widen in surprise making you feel bad. 
Did you make him think you hated him because if so, that was not your intentions. 
“Yeah, okay.” He’s quick to walk over towards the unoccupied seat near you. 
-
Kendall and the other two exit the Palm Woods lobby with Carlos munching on whatever caught his interest in the vending machine today. 
“Where could he be?” Logan questions with his hands on his lips. 
This was not like their friend to just disappear for hours on end (even though it had been ten minutes. The debate between snacks Carlos had with himself was absolute hell). 
The boy with the extra accessory points to something in front of him, unable to respond as he continues to munch on his snack of the day. 
“Looks like he doesn’t need any help,” Kendall comments. 
“We can get rid of these costumes then, right?” Logan starts itching his collar bone. 
“After we-” 
“Nope,” the brainiac shakes his head. “Nope, besides Carlos already stained his so, we can’t use these.” 
-
“Are you gonna go into the pool at any point today?” James asks, with an innocent tone. 
“Uh- n- I don’t think I will.” 
“Why not?” 
You say the first thing that pops into your head. “I’m not a big fan of splashing.” 
“We could hangout near a corner... or something.” 
“We?” You turn your head to him. 
He scratches the back of his neck, a nervous chuckle slipping through the small smile he has on his lips. “Uh- yeah. I mean or we could- we could just stay here, if that’s what you want. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” 
‘If only he knew.’ “Maybe when there’s less people,” you grip the edge of your jacket, further curling it around you. “We could go for a swim,” your voice wavers at the word. 
Almost as if he knows what you’re thinking he offers something else. “Nah, I’ve already been in the sun for too long. I definitely don’t want to become one of those overly tan people, you know.” 
You chuckle, knowing exactly who he’s talking about and sadly, it’s usually the parents of the other kids that live here at the Palm Woods. “Yeah, smart move on your part,” you joke with him. 
The corner of his lip’s twitches, he got you to make a joke. He didn’t think he’d be able to make you smile much less make a joke, the butterflies in his stomach start fluttering faster than ever. 
“Have any of you beaten BTF yet?” 
He furrows his brows, “how do you know about that?” 
“It’s me. Katie gets bored when she beats the pool jockies and we’ve been practicing your guys’ video games so we can beat you.” 
He chuckles, “now that I know that you’re so going down.” 
“I’d like to see you try,” you playfully shove his arm. 
“How can you stand to be near it?” The pool jocky who was being a jerk before Christmas snickers. 
“What?” James asks, not understanding why this guy is being such a jerk to such a nice person. “Just don’t feed her, she’ll never leave if you do.” He turns around, heading towards the pool area feeling very highly of himself. 
Your brows knit together, a sad pout on your lips. “Let’s just go, James.” 
“What?” He spins around, standing in front of you. “No. He doesn’t get to talk to you like that and pretend like he didn’t.” 
“It’s fine. This isn’t something new.” 
“And I’m gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again.” 
You didn’t see anything because Logan and Carlos stop you from following him. “Would you let me at least-” 
“Nope,” the former shakes his head. “Not happening. Kendall and James have got this handled.” 
Carlos nods, “yeah. We just gotta trust them-” 
And then the quick screams of the Jennifer’s and pool splashing causes all of your eyes to widen. 
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Logan says, turning you around so your back is to the facing the front desk of the lobby as he avoids your gaze. 
James walks through the open doors, stopping in the doorway, smiling when he sees you and tries to slick his hair back. 
Kendall rolls his eyes, Katie walking up behind the two. “Please stop.” 
The two jump up, hugging one another as they let out a quick scream until they realize who it is and immediately push the other one away from them. 
“You’re fine, she won’t care if your hair is messed up-” 
“It’s messed up?” He asks, reaching for hair. 
“What? No. That’s not important. If I hear you did something to make her cry or anything to hurt, her feelings. You won’t know revenge until it happens to you.” 
A short chuckle slips past your lips as you place a hand on James’s shoulder. “Let’s not threaten people today, Katie.” 
“I’m not, just implying what could happen if he isn’t nice,” she says, a fake smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 
“Yeah, I’m not buying that.” You start to push James into the direction of the elevators. You two stare at the doors, unsure of how to talk to one another knowing that he did- whatever it is he did because he cares about you. ‘My stomach feels weird, but I don’t have an upset stomach?’ “Thank you.” 
“It was fun.” 
“Not as much as it’ll be when I kick your butt.” 
“Oh, you’re on.” 
-
Carlos tilts his head, “does anyone smell cookies?” 
“As long as you don’t smell toast, we’re good,” Logan adds. 
“Huh?” 
“Nothing.” 
“Could you two walk any slower,” Katie whines. She opens the door, shaking her head watching the two having fun. She wanders over, leaning over the back of the couch. “Any more BTF?” 
“You know it.” 
“Cookies are done,” Ms. Knight announces, scooping the cookies off the cookie sheet and onto a plate. 
Everyone runs over to the counter, wincing at the temperature. 
“What does BTF mean?” asks James as he breaks a cookie in half offering you the other half. 
You accept, “oh, that.” You chuckle, “it was actually something I use to make fun of Katie but when I tell you, I… will painfully admit that I’m a fan of your guy’s music because it means… big time fan.” 
He leans in. “Can I assume someone here is your favorite member?” 
“Nope, let’s go play some more. I’m so close to getting the scoreboard to be all BTF.”
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where-is-vivian · 1 year
Text
Worth The Risk?
from @jegulus-microfic's prompt, risky (805 words)
“Oh, fuck,” James rolls on his bed, hiding his eyes in the crook of his elbow. He locks his phone, that’s still in his hand, and he groans. Though he has a downward smile on his lips threatening to grow more. His cheeks burn him. “Fuuuuck.”
“James.”
James takes his arm off his face to look at Peter staring at him from his desk chair. His roommate is always reading sociology books at his desk; at the beginning of the year, James thought he was always working, doing his homeworks and all, but no, turns out he’s almost never working for school in fact, and that he spends all his time reading these books or playing Solitaire.
“You’re being dramatic,” Peter adds without deigning to give him a look.
Don’t worry. Peter is a nice guy. He’s actually pretty chill, and he’s nice to be around. He’s just pragmatic. He doesn’t get James’ love crises. He keeps pretending that he is a fatalist, and that what happens was bound to happen anyway.
James sighs, and sits up on his bed. But unlike Peter, he’s unable to stay still for too long. So quickly, James stands up, throwing his phone on his bed, and he starts pacing in their shared bedroom. Hands on his hips, then behind him, then fidgeting together, then back on his hips. Then back on his eyes.
“Aaargh,” James lets out, and he’s thankful Peter never seems annoyed by his antics. He just keeps reading peacefully. “Why is he taking so long to answer?”
Peter doesn’t answer.
“Do you think he’s busy?” James is starting to be scared. “Oh god, what if he’s busy.”
He shouldn’t have sent that text.
“But it’s already 7 pm. No one is busy at 7 pm.”
“James, people can be busy at any hour. And at 7 pm, unlike the both of us, many people are just doing their homeworks,” Peter calmly states, without lifting his eyes from his book.
James whines in frustration. He paces a bit more.
“What if he hates me? What if he refuses? How am I supposed to face him after that? We literally have 3 classes together… Oh no!” James stops his pacing briefly before accelerating. “What if he tells Sirius?”
Sirius is his big brother. James’ best friend. James doesn’t know how he would react if he knew about James’ crush for his little brother.
“I completely forgot to tell Sirius! It’s too late now… Oh no…”
“James, can you please, sit and stop panicking? This is just a text.”
James blinks at Peter. “Pete, this is not just a text. This is The Text.”
Peter turns around, to meet James’ gaze, and rolls his eyes at him. “You’re being even more dramatic than Sirius. This is fine. Regulus gave you his number himself. Honestly, he’s been thirsting over you for weeks, and everytime you speak in our mandatory maths class, he’s looking at you with stars in his eyes,” Peter starts to enumerate, looking up at the ceiling, sitting back in his chair. Now that he isn’t reading anymore, he’s giving James his full attention. “The other day he asked if you were into blokes, by any means, and then he mindlessly asked if you were dating anyone. He was less discreet than a backhoe,” James stares at Peter while he’s monologuing, enumerating all of this as if it’s proving a point. “He even bought the only book he’s seen you with— which, by the way, is probably the only book I’ve seen you with, ever.”
“Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas?” James asks, unsure.
“Yes. That one. Not that good of a book, to be fair.”
James snorts, but his smile threatens to be back on his lips. “It was a good book.”
“Regulus bought it, and he managed to finish it before you. The fool.”
Honestly, it isn’t hard to finish reading a book before James. He’s rather slow. But he didn’t know Regulus bought it too. Maybe it is a coincidence.
“That doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a coincidence.”
Peter raises his eyebrows at him, giving him a look that more or less means: Are you kidding me right now?
“What?” James shrugs. “That’s true. It’s probably not that meaningf—”
In the corner of his eyes, James sees his phone light up. And he hears it vibrating. He literally jumps on it, under the amused look of Peter. He unlocks it nervously, to see his conversation with Regulus appearing.
James: hi, it’s James, from maths class :) i wanted to know if you were free tonight? i think you’re cool, and i’d like to know you better
James: so if you’re free some time, tell me
Regulus: Hi James. Thanks. I am free tonight, and yes, I think it would be nice to hang out sometime. 
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