#when you put on a false front for everything and everyone outside of that

[firesnap]

I have so much love for the people who are reclaiming that character from its creator. Like, good. You guys have made more content with it than he ever did. You've taken the disjointed bits and never elaborated on parts and half-finished explanations and fleshed it out with more care than that one guy ever had for anything or anyone.

[mistymisfit]

A leaky faucet and other problems (or how he asked you to move in together)

wc:2.3k

warnings: suggestive content, a creepy neighbor, living in an old ass apartment problems

a/n: inspired by actual things that have broken in my apartment and my need to tell everyone I love them when I drink

He's tired, that he can know for sure. His body is sore, begging for some rest as he finds his place on your bed. In your sleep, you cuddle yourself closer to him, arms wrapping around him and legs tangling with his own. You were under the blankets, covered head to toe and even wearing a sweatshirt, and still needed more warmth. He knew you were more sensitive to the cold than him, but still felt it a bit excessive. Yes, your place was cold, but it wasn't a shivering-there's snow outside type of weather. It was early fall, so the temperature could drop during the night, but never enough to warrant this type of protection. Then he felt the freezing gust of wind coming through your window with a noise that felt straight out of a horror movie. Why didn't you close it? When he tries getting up again, you stop him. A sigh of his name and your soft hands made him drop his head in his pillow.

"Where are you goin'?" You slurred, barely conscious.

"Your window's open, 'm just gonna close it,"

"Don't bother," You pulled him closer. "It's stuck."

"I'll just give it a shot." He gently takes your arm off him, tucking you in before he even goes to the window.

You sigh, he knows you'd roll your eyes if they were open. He struggles, putting all his weight, trying to get your window to slide and close. And you sit on the bed, turning the little lampshade on your nightstand to see your boyfriend fighting with your bedroom window in his underwear.

"Jay, just come to bed," you insist, and as tempting as it sounds, he won't give up.

"You'll waste a lot on heating this room,"

"My heating doesn't even work." You yawn, and he turns back, staring at you in disbelief.

"Babe," You could feel the lecture coming after that sigh, so you beat him to it.

"My lease is up in a few months, I'll move before the winter, and it'll be my landlord's problem,"He doesn't seem content with your explanation, but takes it anyway. It's better than arguing at six thirty in the morning on a Sunday.

"Fine," He mutters, slowly dragging his feet back to bed with you. "I'm still fixing that window tomorrow "

You called him, all giggly and drunk, asking if he could pick you up from your friend's birthday. He had been waiting for you to do so, and insisted that no matter how late, he'd drop whatever he's doing and drive you home. So he shreds the Red Hood gear, hides it under a false bottom on the trunk of his car, and drives to whatever location you sent him. You're especially handsy, clinging to him as soon as you could. Greeting him with a big toothy grin before tugging on his jacket to lean him down so you could kiss him. Your friends cheer, and he pulls away embarrassed. Since when do you like PDA? He lets out a nervous laugh as you wave your goodbyes to your friends, walking out wrapped around his arm.

You don't stop praising him the entire ride to your apartment, telling him how good of a boyfriend he was, how perfect he was, and listing everything you liked about him. Completely unaware of how his face was burning red, the blush reaching up to his ears. You even reached to kiss his cheek on a red light. He just makes you settle down on your seat, asking you to sit still for the reminding blocks, muttering a low "Jesus fucking Christ"

Jason all but had to drag you to your elevator, and you're all giggles when he asks you to give him your keys when he can't find his. You hold them out in front of you, but when he goes to take them, you're fast to grab his jacket once more to kiss him. What the hell, he thinks, might as well give you what you want. So he pushes your back against your door, your lips parting in a gasp when he pushes his knee in between your legs.

That's when another door next to you slowly opens and an old man peeks his head out to see what's going on. Your entire demeanor changes, hiding behind Jason and whispering: "Please, open the door".

"I'm sorry," He apologizes.

"Ah, no worries," The man pushes open his door a bit more and Jason doesn't miss the way he's eyeing you"Do you need any help?"

"We're good," He does a great job of pretending to be cordial but firm "goodnight"

You're quick to walk inside, tugging on his sleeve so he would follow you. Putting on every lock on your door as soon as you're both inside, clearly shaken by the presence of your neighbor. He decides to have some mercy and question you about it tomorrow when you're sober. But that night, he didn't push you when you said you were okay, and only helped you get undressed and ready to go to bed before he left out of one of your working windows.

A few weeks later, he caught that same man trying to open your door. You wouldn't be home in a couple of hours, that's why he went ahead and did some much-needed grocery shopping for you. He just cleared his throat behind him, startling him and intimidating him from his height alone. Jason had broad shoulders, and even behind his clothes, the man could tell that he had the muscles needed to beat him up quite badly.

"I just wanted to come in and say hello, but her door's always locked," He explains, Jason stays quiet. Why wouldn't it be? But more importantly, has he tried to break in before? The guy can see the set of keys in his hand, brows furrowing as he thinks "You're her boyfriend, right?"

"Yes" His reply is short, as he eyes him up. Assessing weak points and how fast he could take him down if needed.

"And I take it you live with her?"

"I do,"He lies, hitting the man's shoulder as he walks past him to get to the door "and back off"

His warning is enough to scare him as he nods walking back to his apartment as fast as he can. You've got some explaining to do once you get back. And you do, he calls you to sit on the couch with him as you thank him for taking care of the groceries. You had already started to talk about what to make for dinner and what movie you could watch together before he left when he interrupted you.

"Baby,"You stop, recognizing the stern tone that just screams don't play with me "is there anything you wanna tell me?"

You shake your head no, and he shifts closer to you before insisting: "not even about your neighbor who tried to break in today?"

"Mr. Davis?" You sigh defeated, "He's just an idiot, a harmless idiot"

"So that's his name," He raises an eyebrow, already planning how to fuck with this guy's head in a way that will leave him too afraid even to get out of his place for the rest of his life. "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because you get all scary like this!" You push his shoulder, effectively doing nothing "I can tell you're coming up with some strange way to scare him"

"I'm not!" He lies, looking away and telling you all you needed to know to see you were right.

"You are!" You laugh, the tension suddenly dissipating as you grab one of the decorative pillows to hit him. He takes the pillow from your hands and throws it away, before he can even think of retaliating; you're straddling him, and his hands went to your waist by instinct alone "Promise you won't do anything"

"Don't make me lie," He pleads, and you roll your eyes at the cheeky smirk on his face."You said you wanted pizza and to watch a horror movie? Right?"  

"Jason"

"Fine, I promise" He gives in, and you smile before he adds: "not to leave him with injuries that'll last for the rest of his life"

He's barely had time to say hello and explain how tired he was after training before you were on him. He was expecting a quick peck on the lips as always, he always kisses you when he sees you; it's routine. But when he notices your devious smirk before pulling him in he knows you're up to something.

"Mind if I take a shower first?" He asks, hands on your waist, keeping you in place. Since when is your hello kiss a hello make out?

You shake your head no, but follow behind him to your bedroom. He shakes his head, scoffing as he sits on your bed to take off his shoes. You sit behind him, peppering kisses on the side of his face and then his neck.

"Needy, aren't we?" He smiles, turning to kiss you. He melts into your lips, a hand cupping the back of your head as yours sneak under his clothes before pulling up his shirt to help him out of it. "C'mon princess, 'm filthy"

"Don't care,"you sighed against his lips, hands finding their way under the waistband of his sweatpants. "I like you like this."

"Okay," He laughs nervously, and takes your hands off him.

"Ask me to join you in the shower." You offer

"Yeah?" You nod along him, smiling.

Then he hears it. Tap, tap, tap. It's an insufferable noise coming from your bathroom. Do you not hear it? He takes a deep breath so it won't get to him. He's with you now, and somehow you're trying to get into his pants just 'cause. There's no way he's ruining this with you, so he kisses you again, trying to knock the air out of your lungs in the hopes it'll silence the incessant noise. It doesn't. Not even when he grabs your hips to guide you to straddle him. Not even when he hears your pretty moans of his name, begging for more. And not even when you grind on him, making his breath stutter.

"I'm sorry," Jason stops you, your big eyes staring at him as you wait for him to speak. He almost forgets what he's going to say, too lost in your gaze to form words but (un)luckily the dripping noise pulls him out of it. "what's that noise?"

"What noise?" Your tone is soft, almost curious. Did you really not hear it? Or had you become too accustomed to it?

"Your bathroom..." He licks his lips, his eyes involuntarily going to yours. He quickly moves up his sight before he speaks: "Do you have a leak?"

"Oh, yeah" You smile, like it's the most common thing in the world "it's my faucet, but I've already called my landlord, and said he couldn't get it fixed until next week"

"Really?" He raises one eyebrow, anger boiling up inside him as he tries to hold it back. Maybe he should pay a visit to your landlord without your knowledge too; you couldn't be living in these conditions anymore. He sighs and pushes it back, he knows you wouldn't like it "You know, I could get some tools and fix a couple of things for you"

"Maybe later" You suggest your hands lifting up your shirt before he stops you.

"Ten minutes, I have a safe house nearby" He's blushing now.

He's faster than ten minutes, you know because you barely sat down to read a couple of pages before he was back. You put the book down to watch something way more entertaining, your boyfriend doing things for you.

"Baby,"

"Yeah?"

"Not much seems to work around here," He sighs, your eyes laser focused on how his arms flex as he tightens your leaking faucet, effectively fixing it in just a few seconds. Something you were told you had to wait a week for. "Plus, you've got a creepy neighbor that you won't let me beat up"

"hmm, It's closer to my job than my last place" You explain, half paying attention to what he's saying.

"You'll move out, won't you?" He's beating around the bush, avoiding what he actually wants to say.

"I already found a place, it's smaller, but it's a new building" You smile as you lean on the door frame; you almost laugh at your own joke before you say it "and I'm not bringing the creepy neighbor with me"

"Don't sign the lease," He blurts out, nervous. It's now or never.

"What? Why not?"

"Let's move in together," The serious stare he gives you leaves you speechless, he was ready for that? "I mean, I already spend a lot of time here... would be nice to have more space than half a drawer for my clothes"

He fidgets the wrench nervously waiting for your answer. He could take no for an answer, but it didn't mean it wouldn't shatter his heart in pieces. But just a few seconds later, not allowing him to overthink your lips twist up in a smile before you jump at him. He catches you not even taking a step back or loosing balance, but dropping the tool in the process. You're quick to kiss him all over his face, your lips never staying on the same place for more than a few seconds.

"I'd love that, you can have a full drawer if you want" He scoffs as he kisses you again, slowing down your sudden burst of energy

"You're gonna fuck me in the shower now?"

"Yes" He nods, poorly concealing his excitement.

[theweewooshow]

you taste like cold and lonely nights

bucktommy | 1.5k | prompt: kissing out of habit

Buck is so goddamned embarrassed.

He’s not even sure how this happened.

He’s babysitting and house sitting for Maddie and Chim while they take a pre-birth vacation for a few days and he very nearly burns their house down.

He stepped outside for a minute to see what Jee was doing in the backyard and then the smoke detector was going off and when he went back inside, the oven was pouring smoke.

He swears this house is actually haunted. That’s the only explanation for why it would spontaneously start smoking the minute he looked away from it.

He turns the oven off, fanning away the opaque smoke as he opens it up to stare at the ruins of what were supposed to be snickerdoodle cookies.

He fans the smoke away from the smoke detector with a kitchen towel and after another minute, the noise stops.

When he opens the back door to let the house air out, he sees Jee looking at him curiously from where she’s assembling the collection of rocks she’s found.

He grins sheepishly and says, “The cookies might take a little longer than expected, but we can have some later, okay?”

She nods and turns back to the rocks and Buck thanks his lucky stars she’s not in the mood to ask any questions.

He returns to the mess and grabs the sheet tray from the oven with the towel in his hand. Half the cookies are pale and gooey, underdone, and the other half are miserable little pieces of coal that stare at him menacingly as he shoots off a text to his group chat Maddie and Chim, letting them know what happened.

How long was the smoke detector going off? is what Chim texts back a handful of minutes later as Buck is cleaning up the mess. Buck furrows his brow as he looks at his phone.

A few seconds later, he hears the telltale sound of a firetruck nearby and he groans audibly.

He forgot that Chim was telling him about their new Hildy security system and how it was hooked up to literally everything in the house, including the smoke detectors. She must have alerted 911 somehow when the alarm went off and they dispatched the fire department.

He texts Chim back, too long.

The series of emojis he gets back has him plotting and scheming Chimney’s demise as he closes the oven and waits for the fire department to show up.

He gets up and heads to the door when he hears the fire truck in front of the house and wonders which fire house he’s about to embarrass himself in front of.

He thinks the 133 is the closest, which is probably a good thing since he’s kind of in Captain Mehta’s good graces. Maybe he can convince him not to let his team tell everyone in the fire department about this.

When the knock at the door comes, he’s already armed with an excuse as he swings the door open to see who’s on the other side.

It feels like all his higher brain function comes screeching to a halt as he wordlessly stares—his eyes flitting from Tommy’s face to his team a few yards back.

“Buck?” Tommy says, confused. He looks at the house number and then back at Buck, like he’s making sure they got the right house—which makes sense since they never got around to coming over here for dinner before they broke up.

“Uh, Tommy, hi,” Buck says when he regains some sense. “Sorry. I, I set the smoke alarm off and Chim has this new Hildy thing that apparently calls 911 when the smoke detector goes off for long enough.”

“Oh, this is Chimney’s house?” he asks.

“Yeah, uh, he and Maddie bought it a while ago. It was haunted, or people thought it was haunted because they thought people got murdered here, but it turns out that was a lie. Except I still think it’s kind of haunted because the cookies I put in the oven were burnt to a crisp after only being in there for like five minutes.”

Tommy nods and chuckles. “Okay, I’m getting a picture of what happened. Give me a sec, I’ll let the others know it was a false alarm.”

Buck appreciates the discretion as Tommy turns back to the others in the driveway to update them, shielding Buck from their line of sight.

When he comes back to the door, Buck is tense as Tommy says, “I just need to do a walkthrough to make sure everything’s alright.”

Buck nods and says, “Oh, uh, sure, sure,” and lets him inside, trying to slow his heartbeat down. “So, why is the 217 responding out here?” Buck asks as he leads Tommy into the kitchen.

Tommy says, “Mehta and his men are at a warehouse fire and we were nearby after finishing up at another false alarm nearby. Those Hildy things are not very good at determining what actually warrants a call to 911.”

“You should definitely tell Eddie your thoughts on Hildy sometime,” Buck says as they come to a stop.

Tommy takes in the whistles lowly. “Yeah, definitely haunted,” he says, a sarcastic lilt to his voice, picking up a blackened cookie off the baking sheet and tapping it against the sheet tray. It thunks loudly against it.

“Yeah, ha ha, laugh it up,” Buck says.

“I’m not laughing at you. Just—you are the only person I know who gets himself into situations like this. Cookies spontaneously turning to char in the oven and AI sending the fire department to the house. It’s kind of Classic Buck.”

“Yeah, I definitely Bucked this one up.”

Tommy glances back over at him after he wipes his hand off. When they make eye contact, they both burst out laughing.

It feels good to laugh, the tension in the room dissipating a little. The laugh lines around Tommy’s mouth and the scrunch of his nose makes something ache inside Buck.

“Maybe it’s me who’s cursed,” Buck says after his laughter subsides.

“Nah,” Tommy says, waving a hand, “These things happen. No curses this time, probably just faulty wiring that created hot spots in the oven.”

“Probably,” Buck agrees.

They stare at each other for a moment before Tommy says, “Well, since I’ve confirmed it was just a false alarm, I should head back out, let you get back to it.”

Buck nods and leads him back to the door.

“It was, um, it was good seeing you,” Buck says, meaning it. He’s been kind of afraid of seeing him again, but seeing him was good. He looks good.

But when Tommy smiles at him, standing only a foot away from him, it’s like he’s transported back to the loft, to all the times Tommy smiled at him in front of the door there.

He’s leaning in before he realizes what he’s doing, his hand sliding up to Tommy’s neck as he drags him into a soft kiss. It’s out of habit to kiss him goodbye at the door like they’ve done a hundred times before.

His brain catches up to what he’s done and he pulls away, about to apologize profusely when Tommy’s hand comes up to wrap around his wrist, like he wants to keep him there.

So Buck stares into Tommy’s eyes and stays put. He leans in again, pressing their mouths more firmly together.

Tommy kisses him back, their heads tilting, their mouth sliding together in a dance they know intimately.

He feels pinpricks in the base of his scalp as their tongues press against each other, as the distance between their bodies closes on instinct, as Tommy’s free hand comes to rest on the small of Buck’s back.

They kiss and they kiss and they kiss, and Buck revels in every single second of it, memorizing the way they fit together.

A knock at the door startles them out of it, snapping them back to reality.

Buck can see Tommy’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallows and says, “Um, I have to—“ He points over his shoulder and Buck nods stupidly.

“Right, right. You should, you should get back out there,” he says, his heart pounding in his throat.

Tommy turns to leave and Buck feels like crying or maybe screaming. But then Tommy puts his hand on the doorknob and freezes there, not turning the handle to open it.

Something like hope bubbles up inside Buck.

“Hey, Tommy?” he finds himself saying after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah?” Tommy asks, looking back at Buck, his expression open and vulnerable and scared.

“Press send next time,” he says, and then watches as Tommy opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words.

Tommy looks only a little embarrassed as he nods and says, “I’ll do that. Bye, Evan.”

A minute after the door closes, that bubble of hope blossoms as his phone pings with a text.

drop a kudos or comment on ao3! <3

[ninjago-clippies]

Heyo folks, ready to have your hearts SHATTERED???

I wrote this to make people cry I hope you enjoy it : D I am so hype for monstrosity I can't wait for June 1st

🚫No Ship Present🚫

Kai Focused

Phantom Tags: angst so much angst, depiction of panic attacks, mention of hunted food being cooked

“Ugh, this sucks!” 

Sparks crackled through the dry shrubs Kai had just added to their little campfire, the flames burning a couple inches higher and illuminating the faces of the group around him. Everyone looked exhausted, faces pale and muddy and clothes torn. They had been hit by some kind of freak storm, rain pouring down on them in buckets. And because being soaked to the bone and nearly freezing in the night cold wasn’t enough, something had torn through the curtain of rain and attacked them. 

Now they were all soaked, shivering, and injured. No one had come out unscathed. 

Jay inched a little closer to the flames, rubbing his hands together and sighing dramatically. “This is just great. Trapped in the wilderness, no shower, no video games??” 

“No food.” Cole echoed, his legs splayed out in front of him. He had a hand on his stomach, and a longing look on his face. “What I wouldn’t give for a bowl of Chen’s noodles right now…” 

“Do you think of anything besides food?” Nya asked, tightening a bandage on Jay’s arm. “We’re trapped in a cave in the wilderness, and all you can think about is Chen’s Noodles??” 

“Whaaat? They’re good!” He said defensively, eyeing the tiny ball of mystery meat Kai had put over the flames. The mass of meat that had been some kind of rabbit sluffed off a bit of something, which dropped into the flames with a wet sound. Cole grimaced, shaking his head. “Better than whatever that is…”

“How are we all supposed to share that?” Jay complained, gesturing to it with both hands. “It’s tiny!”

“We’ll all take small bites.” Lloyd said patiently, rubbing his arms as he glanced at the mouth of the cave. They’d covered it with a false door made of leaves, but anything with any real power or senses would probably sniff them out regardless. He shook his head, turning his eyes back to the flames. “Any food is better than no food. I’m sure something will come along soon.” 

“Cole isn’t allowed any bites.” Jay humphed, resting his chin on his knees. 

“Hey! I need to eat too!” Cole sat up straighter, scowling at him. “That’s not fair.” 

“You’ll eat the whole thing! I’ve seen you take smaller bites than that thing has in it!” 

“Oh, real nice, Jay! I know how to share, I’m not gonna-“ 

“Cut it out!” Kai’s voice echoed through the small space, hushing all of them. 

The shout had been too loud… something had definitely heard. 

For a minute, they all cowered and held their breath, listening for any sign that their position had been given away. There was the crackling of the fire, the pattering of rain on stone outside the entrance, the almost peaceful sound of the water hitting the leaves on their shield, and… nothing else. 

When nothing happened, everyone relaxed. 

“There is no need to worry.” Zane said, his voice low and calming. “Everyone will have a fair share. There is no need to save any for me, so the rest of you can take what you need.” 

“I’ll hunt something else later.” Kai promised, turning the meat over the fire. A bit of grease dripped off it, sparking the flames and making them jump. “I promise. It’s just… not everything out here is edible.” 

“You’re doing your best, Kai.” Nya said, still sitting at Jay’s side. He glanced at her through the flames, wrapping his arms around himself tighter. He wanted her to cross over to his side, wanted some comfort. More than anything, he wanted to feel her wrap her arms around him and squeeze. Nya always gave good hugs… but she couldn’t do that for him now. 

He had to be strong, had to put on a good face for the rest of them. He knew the most about this place, and he had to be on guard at all times if there was going to be any escape from it. 

“We need to think about what we know so far.” Lloyd started, sitting up a little straighter. “This land, whatever it is… we need to think about all the information we have, then decide how to proceed. It’ll work out better if we have a plan before we leave this cave.” 

Kai scoffed, eyes focused on the fire. He stuck his hand into it, turning over the leaves and twigs. “What kind of plan can we have? I know the most about this place and I still don’t know much. There’s monsters every ten feet…”

“Let us bring together all of the information we have learned so far.” Zane suggested. “We know that the land we are in is vast, perhaps triple the size of Ninjsgo city by my estimations.”

“Can you tell exactly?” Lloyd asked. 

“Unfortunately, I cannot.” Zane’s head dipped as he shook it. “There is some kind of strong magical interference here, not to mention the cloud cover blocking the horizon. I cannot say how far we are from anything in these conditions…” 

“So, it’s big.” Cole concluded. “And it’s full of monsters.”

“Monsters that want to eat us.” Jay added, rubbing his wounded arm. Nya put a hand on his shoulder, scooting a little closer to him. 

“We’ve seen how dangerous they can be. The last one nearly killed Kai…” 

Across the fire, Kai rubbed a matching wound on his own arm, one he’d patched up himself while Nya was taking care of Jay. He sat up a little straighter, boosting the fire under the food with his powers again. “I’m fine. But Jay is right. The creatures in this realm are dangerous. More than anywhere else we’ve been before…”

“We have to be more careful.” Lloyd agreed. “We wouldn’t want to end up being some monster’s lunch.” 

Cole groaned, leaning back against the cave wall. “Man… lunch sounds so good right now. I’d love to go to that all-you-can-eat sushi place downtown. Unlimited noodles, two dollar potsticker plates-“ 

“Ugh, Cole! Stop it. My stomach hurts enough as it is.” Kai complained, running his hand through his hair and grabbing a fistful. “There’s been barely anything edible around for days! I don’t want to think about food.” 

“Sorry.” Cole sounded exhausted and apologetic, crossing his arms loose over his chest. “Can’t help it…” 

“At least I’m not defenseless.” Kai held up his hand, igniting all five fingers. The flames danced across them nimbly, jumping the spaces between and eagerly lighting the space around his face. His flames seemed brighter here, almost glittering even in the darkness of the cave. “I haven’t been in a lot of places where using my powers felt like this. It’s… weird.” He closed his hand, extinguishing the flames and looking back at the others. “But good. If I had to do this without my powers…” his voice trailed off, and he shut his mouth quickly. Better not jinx an already bad situation.

“We’re all counting on you, Kai.” Nya said, her expression more serious than he’d ever seen before. Kai looked over, meeting her eyes across the fire. “We need your help to make it back. You’re stronger here. You can make it.” 

He nodded, his lips set in a firm line. He didn’t need to tell her that he wasn’t really feeling stronger here. Not after that last fight. 

“It’s going to be alright.” Lloyd agreed. “What’s important is that we stay together. We’ll find a way to get home.” 

“Will we?” Jay put his arm around Nya, his eyes reflecting the flames as he stared blankly into their hopeless future. “Home seems so far away. What if we never get back…?”

“We will.” Kai assured them, hugging his legs to his chest. “I swear. I’m going to get home. We all will.” 

There was a sound outside the cave, a roar that ripped through the sky and shook the ground. The cave trembled, the fire dimmed, and Kai covered his head with his arms. 

It sounded like chaos, like a violent death made audible pouring from a monsters’s throat. The fear it instilled in him was almost instinctual. He wasn’t scared, it was more than that. 

Before this, he’d never understood what kind of a coward would choose flight over fight. To him, there was no situation too far gone. No matter what, he would keep pushing forward. 

But this sound… these things screamed their terror right into his bones. The sound made his muscles tense, as if his legs might start running for him. His stomach turned, and he had the sudden heart wrenching feeling that whatever was outside, it was going to kill him. He had no chance of fighting it. Not in a million years…

Kai gripped his sleeves as the roaring continued. He could hear the thumping of something a hundred times bigger than him stomping by their cave. Each footstep seemed to shake the earth in slow motion. Kai grabbed the ground, crawling into a corner not visible from the entrance and curling up tight. His heart was practically in his throat, the beating resonating in his ears as it became harder and harder to breathe. His chest heaved against the bandages wrapped around it, a fresh wound going sticky and hot with blood from the disruption. Kai’s knuckles were white on his shirt sleeves, his vision restricted to his own lap, and even then, only when he could manage to see through his blurred vision. That sound, even as it faded away, practically bore down on him. 

‘Stay down’ it seemed to be saying. ‘There is no victory for you here’

When the sound stopped, Kai stayed curled into a tight ball for what felt like an hour. He couldn’t get his arms and legs to stop shaking, and for some reason, they didn’t seem to want to unwrap from around him either. When he finally fought the urge to cower and pried himself free of his own limbs, he noticed that his face was wet. He licked his lips, and tasted something salty. 

His blurred vision hadn’t just been from disorientation. 

Kai took a trembling breath, then another, then another. With the cave floor cooling his knees, the master of fire slowly brought himself back to his senses. His lungs stopped burning, his heart quieted down. After ten minutes or so, he wiped his face and shakily crawled back over to the fire.

The stick holding his food had fallen into the flames. When he grabbed the end of it, it was scalding hot. It didn’t hurt him at all, actually more than anything he found the prickling heat grounding, and focused on it as he dragged himself back to reality. He took a bite of the food and chewed, wiping the extra grease from his mouth with his sleeve. He had to stop shaking. He had to focus. For them. 

He looked up across the fire at the empty space in the cave. The dimming flames illuminated the five chalk scrawlings he’d made. They were crude renditions, with lopsided heads and mismatched limbs, all staring back at him in a ghostly white. Even so, in the twisting firelight, he swore he almost saw them move. 

“I’ll get out of here. I’ll get home.” He promised, his words unconvincingly weak from the panic he was still shaking off. “I swear, I’ll make it back to you. Whatever it takes.”

[sturniololuvz]

hii!! i'm not sure if you've wrote something like this before, but i just thought of it! the triplets little sister (maybe 15 or 16) is getting ready for prom and the triplets see her in her dress for the first time. i thought this would be really cute! i love all of your work!

thank you!! i love the way you like worded this request! 🩷 made my heart happy

“She’s All Grown Up”

The apartment buzzed with energy.

Y/N had been locked in the bathroom for the past hour, curling her hair, touching up her makeup, muttering something about false lashes and how if one more person texted her about the limo, she was going to lose her mind.

Chris paced outside the bathroom, arms crossed. “How long does it take to get ready?”

Nick leaned against the wall, grinning. “You can’t rush greatness.”

Matt snorted. “Or a teenager on prom night.”

“Shut up,” came Y/N’s voice through the door. “You guys are not allowed to see me until I’m ready.”

Chris rolled his eyes but secretly smiled. He remembered when she used to wear light-up sneakers and cried when she had to get rid of them. Now she was talking about eyeliner shades like it was a foreign language.

A few more minutes passed. Then…

“Okay,” she called, voice nervous but excited. “Ready.”

The bathroom door creaked open.

And the world paused.

She stepped out slowly, dress shimmering with every movement. It fit her perfectly — elegant, soft, and totally her. Her hair curled in delicate waves, makeup done just enough to show she tried, but still looked like herself.

Nick blinked. “Holy shit.”

Chris’s jaw dropped. “No.”

Matt put a hand on his chest like he’d just been personally attacked. “You’re joking. You’re not allowed to look like that.”

Y/N looked at them nervously, holding the sides of her dress. “Is it too much?”

“Too much?” Chris walked toward her slowly, wide-eyed. “You look… grown. Like, grown grown.”

Nick shook his head. “You look beautiful.”

She blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Really?”

Matt smiled, soft and proud. “Really.”

Chris exhaled sharply, eyes still on her. “You’re gonna make everyone at that prom look stupid.”

“Especially your date,” Nick added. “If he doesn’t treat you right, he’ll be answering to us.”

She laughed, rolling her eyes. “You guys are so dramatic.”

“We’re brothers,” Matt said, taking out his phone for pictures. “It’s our job.”

Chris leaned in and adjusted the strap on her dress. “You sure you wanna go to prom and not just stay home with us and eat pizza?”

She gave him a look. “Nice try.”

Nick pulled her into a quick hug. “We’re proud of you, Y/N. You’re growing up. Just… maybe not too fast, okay?”

She smiled and squeezed him back. “Deal.”

The boys watched her leave for prom with her friends — proud, a little emotional, and definitely ready to interrogate her the second she got home.

Because no matter how grown she looked in that dress, to them…

She was still their little sister.

It was close to midnight when the front door finally creaked open.

The apartment was quiet except for the low hum of a movie playing in the living room. Nick was half-asleep on the couch, one leg slung over the armrest. Matt was scrolling on his phone, and Chris had been pretending not to check the time every five minutes.

But the second they heard the door — they were all alert.

Y/N stepped in, hair slightly frizzy from the dancing, makeup smudged just a bit, and her prom dress long gone. In its place was a hoodie (Chris’s), fuzzy socks (probably Nick’s), and the tired look of someone who’d had a long but good night.

Chris sat up. “Hey, hey, Cinderella’s back.”

Y/N smiled sleepily and kicked off her shoes. “Hey.”

Matt leaned over the back of the couch. “Well? Tell us everything. Was it fun?”

She nodded, flopping down between Nick and Matt. “It was good. Kinda boring at first. But the music got better. The food sucked, obviously.”

Chris dropped down on the floor in front of them. “And your date?”

She raised a brow. “Was fine. Chill. Nothing to interrogate. He was nice.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “Nice how?”

“Nick,” she groaned, laughing. “Nice. Like, he opened doors and made sure I had water after we danced. He was cool.”

Chris leaned back on his hands. “Did you have fun?”

She looked at him — eyes softer now, almost vulnerable. “Yeah. I did.”

Matt grinned. “You looked really happy.”

She gave a small shrug. “I felt really pretty. Like… for real. Not just dress-up. It was weird, in a good way.”

Nick reached over and ruffled her hair. “You are pretty. Even like this.”

“Especially like this,” Chris added, motioning to her hoodie and tired eyes. “This is the real you.”

Y/N leaned her head on Matt’s shoulder, letting out a slow breath. “I’m glad I’m home.”

Nick pulled a blanket over her. “Told you you’d miss us.”

She smiled, eyes fluttering closed. “I always miss you guys.”

Chris watched her snuggle into the couch, her guard slowly dropping.

“You know,” he said, quieter now, “when you came out in that dress… I really felt like I was watching you grow up.”

Her eyes opened slightly. “Did that make you sad?”

He thought for a second. “A little. But mostly proud. You’ve turned into someone really amazing.”

“Thanks, Chris.”

“You’re still our little sister though,” Matt added. “Even if you go to prom. Even if you move out one day.”

Nick smirked. “You’ll always be the kid who cried when her grilled cheese was cut the wrong way.”

“Hey!” she protested, laughing through a yawn.

“Just saying,” Chris said with a smile, “you can grow up all you want. We’re still gonna be here.”

“Always,” Nick echoed.

“Forever,” Matt added.

Y/N’s voice was soft now. “I love you guys.”

Chris leaned back, watching her drift off. “Love you more.”

They stayed there — brothers and sister, wrapped in a quiet kind of love — while the movie played and the city outside kept moving.

But inside, everything was still.

And safe.

⸻

[kimbappykidding]

Hot things Ateez do that drive you crazy

Hongjoong - How he speaks about you when you're not there

Some guys like to complain about their girlfriends in front of their friends to maintain a false sense of masculinity. That was not Hongjoong. He really didn't care who knew about his feelings for you and expressed them willingly no matter who we was around...or what state he was in. It was Wooyoung's birthday so all the guys had gone out. You hadn't heard anything from them and then suddenly got a message from Seonghwa that they were outside. You opened the door surprised to see Mingi and Yunho carrying a very clearly drunk Hongjoong. "Y/n!" he cried seeing you and rushed from their arms to yours. "Y/n I missed you so much and I nailed mini golf". "Did you?" you asked "you won?". "No I came second to last but I got it in the pirate ship!" he cried ecstatic and you nodded "wow well done!". The guys helped you get Hongjoong to bed and when he was all tucked up, you thanked the guys for bringing him home. 

"Was he much trouble?" you asked. Seonghwa went to say no while Jongho and Wooyoung nodded. You laughed "well thank you for putting up with him, I know he can be a handful sometimes". "Yeah especially when drunk but he was in Y/n mode tonight" San said and you paused "Y/n mode?". "Yeah where he basically just can't stop talking about you" Yeosang explained and when you still looked confused Yunho showed you a video. It was of Hongjoong and he was smiling to himself. "Hongjoong why are you smiling?" you heard Wooyoung ask and Hongjoong smiled more "Y/n likes this song". "Oh yeah?" Wooyoung replied and Hongjoong nodded "she's the best. She's so nice and kind. She's also so smart and her job is so hard but she smashes it. Not to mention she's pretty, she always smells nice and her hair is so soft". The video cut out and Wooyoung smiled "that's when he reached the video limit but it went on a while longer. The guys all nodded and you felt so touched. "And he goes into Y/n mode often?". Mingi nodded "yeah pretty much anytime he gets drunk and you're not there". You blushed "that's so sweet!".

After the guys left you got into bed beside Hongjoong and watched him softly. "Tomorrow you are getting a reward but for now you'll just have to settle for this" and you kissed his forehead. In his sleep Hongjoong smiled and moved closer to you. As if he couldn't be any more adorable. 

Seonghwa - How he stands up for you

One of the things you liked most about Seonghwa was how he was the perfect balance between being nice and assertive. He tried to be polite and kind to everyone but if someone tried taking advantage of him or treated him badly, he let them know he wasn't taking it. He was especially good at this when it came to you.

It was your birthday and you'd been planning a weekend away to Japan for ages. He'd told work almost a year in advance and had everything ready. You were leaving from his work as it was closer to the airport and so you arrived with your suitcase and his ready to go. When the guys saw you they smiled "all ready for the trip Y/n?" Yunho asked and the manager looked around. He was a new manager and clearly wanted to make an impression because he'd been really rude ever since he started to try and assert dominance. The manager frowned "oh is that Japan trip this weekend? I need you to come in this weekend Seonghwa". You were a people pleaser so immediately thought this was it, your weekend plans gone but Seonghwa had other ideas. "I can't come in this weekend I'll do next weekend" Seonghwa said in a tone that left little room for discussion but the manager still tried. "No it has this weekend so the trip will have to wait". "No, we've had this planned for a year and the company has known for that amount of time too. It's Y/n's birthday and we're going to Japan". "But this is your career, are you really putting you girlfriend's birthday ahead of your work?" the manager asked in a sneering tone that made you feel bad but Seonghwa just stood up taller. "Put my girlfriend before my job? Every single time and if you disagree with that then we're going to have a problem. Y/n is nothing but supportive of my career. She never complains about the late nights or long working hours. She’s always there to pick me up when I’m sad of give me energy when I’m exhausted so really it's in your best interest to make her happy because she's what makes me happy. So I ask, are we going to have a problem?" Seonghwa asked staring right at the manager! You and the boys all watched awe struck through Seonghwa's speech and waited for the manager's response. Finally the manager looked down "no not at all, have a nice trip" and he left the room. The boys all cheered and you laughed hugging Seonghwa. A little later when you were waiting for the taxi you kissed Seonghwa and he laughed "what was that for?" holding you close. "For fighting for me" you said and he smiled "I'll always fight for you Y/n and I’m going to personally make sure you have an amazing birthday...starting right now" and he gave you an earth-shattering kiss. You didn't doubt his promise for a second.

Yunho - His body

You had a thing for tall guys and had dated a few in your time but none of them even mastered their height like Yunho. He always knew exactly how to style himself or pose in photos. Not to mention he used his body magnificently when dancing. He had such long legs but never looks uncomfortable or awkward. He was meant to be a performer and watching him always reminded you of that. You came to Ateez's training room to meet Yunho after work. You hadn't seen each other in a week and Yunho was working late tonight but asked if you wanted to get a late dinner. You agreed and hurried along the corridor anxious to see Yunho. You found him alone in a practice room and he ran to hug you when he saw you. He engulfed you, wrapping his arms around you and holding you securely against his chest. "I missed you" he said and you smiled "I missed you too" and gently kissed him "you almost done?". He nodded "yeah let me just run through the number once more, can you tell me what you think?". You nodded "sure thing" and got comfy on the floor "hit it". Yunho pressed play and started dancing. When he finished, your jaw had dropped and you stared amazed. Yunho chuckled "so it wasn't terrible then?". The opposite, you were amazing. The way you move your body is just...so hot". Yunho paused and a smile appeared on his face "is it huh?" he asked coming towards you. He gave you a hand to help you up and yanked you close to his body. You nodded "so hot, you roll your hips so well and your legs seem to go on forever, not to mention your face”. You were smirking the whole time so don't pretend you didn't know what you were doing to me". Yunho smiled "I did think you looked like you were enjoying it". "Very much" you nodded playing with the collar of his shirt gently "what time did you book the table for...". "We have an hour to go" Yunho said and you smiled "you so planned this!". Yunho smiled "and? I haven't seen you in a week! That does things to me". "Well you're doing things to me" you replied back and Yunho nodded "that's the plan". Your dinner could wait.

Yeosang - Oblivious to other people flirting with him because he only sees you

Yeosang had a very beautiful face. His eyes were stunning and he looked like some mythical elf or an angel or something. So anywhere you went he tended to attract attention and had lots of people flirting with him. The funny thing is he never noticed because his mind was only on one thing...you. You were both kpop idols and your relationship wasn't public so you couldn't act like a couple at events. However Yeosang would always acknowledge you in some way with a smile or just eye contact until he could come over to you later. You were used to seeing idols check him out or ask him about his muscles (*cough*Soobin*cough*) but tonight the interviewer was really flirting with him. You could tell she was attracted to him just from how she looked at him and how she positioned herself in front of him. Then she directed every question she could to him and must’ve told him he was in shape 5 times in their 2-minute interview. Yeosang clearly had no idea though, he didn't even register she was flirting and just kept thanking her formally. His members were all trying not to laugh and your members were smiling too more than a little proud of your boyfriend. Later at the afterparty all the press was gone and so Yeosang came right over to you and hugged you from behind "how’s the most beautiful girl in the world". You smiled "good, how's the most in shape boy in the world because you’re really in shape Yeosang and I don’t know if anyone's told you that". Yeosang paused "what?" and you laughed "don’t tell you didn’t realise that interviewer said it like 10 times!". He chuckled "the guys mentioned something like that but I didn’t notice! Honestly I kept just listening out for you to speak and was a bit stunned with how amazing you look. You know I can’t speak for like 3 minutes after I see you". You shook your head "you're that type of guy that is so nice and respectful that you just want to rip his clothes off". Yeosang blushed slightly but smiled "well if you really feel that way we can leave early?". You nodded "yes please" and Yeosang nodded "anything my girlfriend wants" and he led you out of the door, his eyes still on you the whole time.

San - His performance skills

San and yourself had been family friends as kids and mainly got along because you both liked performing. You went to dance class together as kids and always enjoyed being on stage together but didn't see each other again until he became an idol and you were hired as his backup dancer. You were thrilled to be working together and quickly resumed your friendship but the second you saw him perform you were in awe. Your number was next so you were waiting in the wings to go on when you heard the fans scream and were confused why. Then you saw San shaking his hips while running his hands down his chest. You'd seen him go for it in practice but this was something else. You'd never seen anyone move like this and the fact he was only wearing a half-intact crop top really helped. You were staring so much that you almost missed your cue to go on and had to be prompted. When you got off stage you felt so warm because dancing with this San was such a turn-on. You were hoping to go get some air but it was the intermission and San followed you. He gently touched your waist and smiled "woah you were so good out there, you looked so hot" he said and you shot him a look "me? I looked hot?". San smirked "why did you find something else hotter?" coming closer to you. His skin was glowing and he looked so good it hurt. You couldn't even lie "you" you replied honestly "you're so sexy" and San smiled. "Really? I happen to find you incredibly sexy too, dancing with you gave me a lot of ideas, fancy going home with me after this and trying them out?". You nodded "very much so" and San smiled "good, try and last through the rest of the show" and with a wink he walked away.

Mingi - Even if he's scared he protects you

Mingi was scared of lots of things and so were you which either made you a perfect couple or a terrible one because you'd both scream if any bug appeared. However Mingi had one great motivator and that was you. If you needed him, his fear went out the window and he only thought of you.

The start of your holiday was off to a shaky start when minutes through walking through the door you spotted an eight-legged “friend” on your jacket. The spider moved and you screamed and so did Mingi. He yelled and hit it off you and then threw a magazine at it for good measure. He then grabbed you and picked you up, carrying you to the other side of the room where he jumped onto the bed still holding you. Only then did he let you down but you both still clutched one another. "Is it dead?" you asked "I can't sleep if it's not". Mingi frowned but he heard the fear in your voice and knew you were telling the truth. So he grabbed some big boots and approached the corner. "Mingi...are you sure?" you asked and he nodded "I just won't think about it". He reached the area and at the count of 3 lifted the magazine. With a war cry that turned into more of a scream, he began attacking the floor. You could see his hands shaking and felt just as scared as him but finally he held up the shoe triumpant "it's dead!" he cried and you cheered running to hug him. Mingi happily accepted you into his arms and you rubbed his arms "you're shaking like a leaf". He nodded "I know". "I can't believe you did that, it was so scary but you were so brave". He nodded "well you needed me" and you melted. "Wow...you’re amazing, you know that". He blushed and bashfully tried to push away your comment but you wouldn't have it. You made him look at you and smiled "you're amazing Mingi, my hero and I love you". Mingi blushed bright red but smiled "love you too" and kissed you. Once you separated he paused "your hero huh?". You smirked "yep want me to prove it to you?". His eyes lit up and he nodded taking your outstretched hand eagerly. This holiday promised to be extremely eventful.

Wooyoung - Endlessly flirts with you

One of the things you loved most about Wooyoung is how he always made you feel beautiful by how he acted around you. You could be doing the most ordinary thing or be wearing something baggy with messy hair and he'd be amazed by you.

You’d recently moved in together and it was such a stressful experience. First you had a work emergency the day you were meant to pack meaning you had to do it all at night. Then the van to move all your stuff never showed up and to top it all off the road leading to your new house was closed. So by the time you'd gotten to your home and moved all the boxes inside were feeling pretty tense and frustrated. You would leave unpacking for another day but had to get the basics running like the fridge and the bed etc. Wooyoung had sorted the fridge and came upstairs to find you finishing off the bed. You'd assembled the frame and were pushing the mattress onto the bed with lots of sighing and a few choice swear words. Wooyoung smiled as the mattress finally admitted defeat and fell onto the frame. You let out a sigh of relief and Wooyoung laughed.

You turned to see Wooyoung watching you and put your hands on your hips "how long have you been watching me fight that thing?". "Only a few seconds but honestly you didn't look like you needed any help". "Yes but some might've been nice" you replied when you frowned "why are you staring at me?". "Because you look so hot" he smiled and you blushed "how? I'm all sweaty and dirty from moving everything". Wooyoung shrugged "In my eyes you’re the most beautiful person I've ever seen and it makes sense. You helped buy this house with me and I did just see you take on an opponent more than double your weight, very impressive". You blushed shaking your head but Wooyoung wouldn’t let up "even the way you roll your eyes is hot, you have such beautiful eyes..." and he trailed off his voice going husky. You turned to him "really?". "Really?" he nodded coming closer to you "but I love every part of you, your eyes, your ears, your cheeks, your hair" he said gently touching each one "and of course your lips" but he used his own lips to press them. You of course kissed him back straight away and unpacking was well and truly left for another day.

Jongho - How effortlessly he hits those high notes

Sometimes you forgot how insanely talented your boyfriend was and then he'd do something amazing to remind you.

It was your sister's wedding and everything was going great until the singer your sister had hired for their first dance got violently ill. It wasn't his fault of course but your sister was freaking out because she'd wanted live music and not a tape. You were unsure what to do when Jongho who'd be calm through all of this spoke up. "I could sing if you'd like?" he asked and you all froze. "I know the song and think I could imitate it" he said "but of course if you'd prefer I didn't that's fine too". Your sister shook her head "no I'd love that thank you so much!".

So Jongho was rushed to the stage to stand with the band and you watched anxiously as the music started but you never should've doubted him. The minute Jongho opened his mouth you relaxed. His voice was so beautiful and smooth it was like honey. You saw your parents smile realising everything was going to be okay and saw your sister and her wife relax. The song was beautiful but challenging, there were several high notes and difficult notes...however Jongho smashed them all. The last note was the highest and he met it wonderfully. The crowd applauded both for your sister and her wife as well as Jongho.

He turned around and clapped the band, not taking any of the applause for himself before stepping down from the stage to come to you. "Good?" he asked you and you shook your head "you're amazing, you did all of that live and without any planning or warm-ups. How are you so talented?". Jongho shrugged "oh it's nothing, any singer could do it". "Yeah but it wasn’t any singer it was you and you saved my sister's wedding". "I wouldn't say saved..." he argued but you shook your head "are you kidding me? My parents will be here any second now to propose for me". Jongho smiled "a proposal huh?" pulling you closer and you wrapped your arms around his neck "they asked not me". Jongho smiled "right..." and before he could ask any more questions you kissed him. 

When you separated you held onto him tightly but Jongho wasn’t done. "Maybe I can sing at our wedding too" he whispered in your ear and that's when you lost it and marched him right out of the hall and into your room.

[pablitogavii]

can you do an image where Gavi and you have a kind of private relationship like where your friends and family know about you guys together but you never show affection infront of people and then one day after barca win the league he’s all affectionate and his family or friends are all cooing at you guys and you are all blushing and shit. Sorry if it’s too specific <3

Privacy

Pablo was a very private person especially when it came to his relationships with people outside of football.

He wasn't much of a talked and in private was very shy to show affection in public because he didn't want it plastered all over the internet..he wanted to keep that between you and him behind closed doors.

His family and friends know just how affectionate he can be behind cameras and they always respected his wish for privacy when it came to your relationship.

"If they all know, they will make you hate me.." Pablo said to you one night after making love together and just cuddling together and loving on each other.

You knew Pablo struggled with his quickly acquired fame and he was fearful of loosing his ground and people he loved because of it...that's why he was careful with everything he does publically.

Everyone knew you were in a relationship but you still controlled what you did in front of cameras..you kept affection to the minimum and instead saved it all for when you were alone. Some fans even hated on him for 'not being a good boyfriend' for not being affectionate to his girlfriend which is completely false..they just don't have the whole picture.

Today was a special day for Barça and Pablo himself winning his first title with the team of his dreams and you were in the stand with his family of course there to support him.

"Vamos hermanita!" Aurora grabbed your hand while you walked through the crowd towards the pitch to meet with Pablo and the rest of the team with your family passes on your neck.

Paparazzi were everywhere shooting pictures while reporters were pushing to the front asking questions and pushing their mics into our faces to answer.

"How do you stay with Gavi when he doesn't treat you right!? We don't see any affection from his part?" was one of many questions commenting on our relationship that they knew nothing about and that made me sad..people were so quick to judge and hate on him for no reason. Aurora on the other hand grew angry from all these false accusations.

"Mi hermano loves this girl like a queen that she is! And for you to suggest otherwise only shows how ignorant and uninformed you are!" she was yelling at the microphone being pulled back by her mom who knew the reaction was what these vultures wanted.

"Lo siento hermanita! I couldn't help it.." she said knowing that Pablo asked her never to comment on his relationship because he didn't want your pictures plastered on the internet in various blogs and magazines. You were a normal girl and wanted to keep being that even after starting to date Gavi.

"It's alright Rora.." you said knowing she only wanted to protect her younger brother which was completely normal.

Pablo was standing on the edge of the pitch seeing and hearing the whole thing clenching his jaw and being down with all of this bullshit!

When you arrived, he walked up to you raising you off your feet making you snake your thighs around his waist while he spin you around happily. All of his family, friends and yourself were shocked with his actions..he was never this public with his affection towards you!

"Pablo? You're holding me..in public?" you whisper to him when he put you down but still keeping his strong grip around your waist while high fiving all his friends and kissing his family.

"Yes, I am!" he said like it was the most normal thing in the world and you felt your cheeks blushing as cameras flashed pictures of the two of you hugging from every side of the pitch.

"Want to take a picture with the cup princesa???" he said when it was his turn to grab it and you felt so proud to see him hold it in his hands knowing how much he deserve it.

"Um..just us?" you said still little taken back by his sudden display of affection in public that happened for the very first time. He nodded with a proud smile on his face.

"I want to show them you're mine..and that I treat you right because that's all you deserve mi vida!" he whispered into your ear making your face even more red at his words.

"A..and aren't you scared how that will affect our relationship??" you remind him of his fears seeing that he had new determination on his face..when you challenge Pablo Gavi, get ready to loose!

"I am..but I trust us to survive anything together..I know we love each other and it's time we show that to the world mi amor" he said leaning down and kissing your lips which made the whole crowd go crazy and your family and friends clapping and cheering loudly.

"Now let me take a picture with my two trophies!!" he said and you smiled with blushed cheeks as you stood together numerous pictures taken of you. Pablo kissed your head, lips and cheek while flashes were capturing every affectionate moment you shared.

"Gavi! Gavi! Can we have an interview with you and Y/n???" they asked and Pablo sighed grabbing your hand and wanting to get this over with finally.

You were never by his side when he gave an interview so you felt very nervous about it but feeling his tight hold, you were reassured that he was right there besides you.

"You're such a beautiful couple and many have doubted you because of the lack of affection they saw between you??" was the first question and you felt tense until Pablo started massaging your hips reassuring you that he was alright with answering this.

"I am a very private person and I like to keep my affection to when we are alone..to when I'm not overwhelmed with cameras.." Pablo answered and you smiled at him knowing how anxious he is talking for cameras feeling proud that he was still explaining himself.

"So why did you decide to change that today? We saw some beautiful moments between you two while taking pictures with the cup?" she asked and I felt my cheeks blush.

"Hearing people say that I don't treat her right really hurt..because I was raised to treat woman with love, respect and kindness..she is my girl and I always make sure to treat her right even though it's not caught on cameras" he answered and you smiled nodding your head in agreement.

"Anything you would like to add Y/n?" she asked and Pablo turned to look down at me with a soft smile on his handsome face.

"Yeah..Pablo is really the sweetest boyfriend to me..someone who always takes care of me and loves me softly. It makes me sad to see people hate on him and spread false information. Nobody knows about our relationship but the two of us and our families.." you said feeling Pablo kiss the top of your head lovingly.

"You certainly shut up the haters today and we hope you continue enjoying your love freely. Congrats to both of you!" she said and you smiled walking back towards your family holding your hands and smiling brightly.

"I'm glad we can do this now.." you said turning around in his arms and placing your hands on the back of his neck as he leaned down and kissed your lips then resting his forehead against yours.

"I'm sorry I haven't shut them all up sooner mi vida...I'm sorry you had to deal with the hate because of me.." he said and you cupped his cheeks shaking your head and pecking his lips one more time.

"It's alright, cariño..these things take time and I always knew how much you loved me even when you didn't show it publicly" you said and he smiled nodding his head.

"From now on, I want the whole world to see how much I love mi anjo precioso!" he said raising you up again carrying you to where his family and friends were so y'all could celebrate together.

I hope you enjoyed reading it! <3 Thanks for the request!!

[guster-animations]

Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 17 Production Blog

wonder surprise

TOKU TRANSLATION MASTERPOST HERE

from this website

-

Looking at the Next Episode

Happy new year. Did you eat many delicious things over the New Year? Whether it be food samples or documents, in preparatory meetings or on filming sets, it seems like the weight for all of the producers in the snack-filled “Gavv” has increased… We’ll keep working just as hard on “Gavv” this year!

Lage9 has begun to actually try. I wrote it last time, but Director Shibasaki focused a lot on the transformation scene and action. A unique point about Kamen Rider Vram is that it’s a Granute transforming. We started by asking, “Would they put the transformation belt in the mouth on their stomach?”. The action also makes the best of Lage9’s special traits. Action Director Fujita expressed his merciless strength with camerawork which heavily used slow-motion. It has unmatched coolness! The brashness of Eitoku’s suit acting is also wonderful.

Next is the pudding party. The subtitle also references pudding, because “caramel”… The names “Vram” and “Vrastam Gear” (the transformation belt) originate from the word “frustum” [the bottom part of a cone shape]. Picture a cup container of pudding— that’s a frustum. The idea for the name came from Shinichi Kaneko of Ishimori Productions. He also came up with the name “Granute” and the crab Granute’s name “Rojo”. He’s full of extensive knowledge and imagination. Mr. Kaneko will immediately tell you which Rider and scene it is when the specific topic comes up at script meetings. He’s so amazing!

And then Vram’s transformation scene. The giant pudding being made, and the spoons attaching themselves at the end, came from the genius imagination of the special effects director, Hiroshi Butsuda. The Tokusatsu Research Institute’s CG team was in charge of that transformation scene. I feel like the finished scene is a complete work of art comprised of the knowledge and ideas of many people. Everyone is putting all their effort into this in 2025 as well, and we’ll power-up to finish this!

(Written by Naomi Takebe)

The Episode in Short

Happy new year. Please keep supporting “Kamen Rider Gavv” this year as well!! Thank you for watching this first episode of the new year.

Huh, what’s this?!

“There were people who missed Gavv because of the New Year rush.”

”Whaaat? I did it!” [?]

“The man is silent…

TTFC!!”

“It’s a plenty good business.”

(If you missed a broadcast one week, you can still enjoy the show with the free services TVer, ABEMA, and TelAsa Video!)

The “Kamen Rider Outsiders” series, which Director Shibasaki (seen here being happy in his spiny lobster slippers) is part of, is also available for unlimited viewing on TTFC.

Okay, I’ve already done everything I wanted to do. There’s a theory that you forget everything you didn’t finish at the end of the year, but let’s go look at the things left over from the start of 2025!

That’s right, Hapipare is naturally decorated for New Year’s too.

I think there will be more interesting things in the program in the future, too!

Creepy-crawly Granutes!

The hunting ground Lage9 chose this week was a “bank fraud prevention seminar”. His eyes are both perceptive and elegant… it’s truly amazing.

It’s ironic that Lage9 kidnaps them and makes them falsely happy in a place where they’re meeting in order to not be deceived… even though he may have a secret motive other than collecting Human Presses.

And this time Nyelv, the one who found Lage9, comes to him with his own invention. Lage9 acted humble in front of the Stomach family members until now, but Nyelv liked him for his real, ruder personality. Good thing Nyelv didn’t get angry at him! (Can he even get angry…?)

Shoji and Takizawa are both people who can play an incredible range of personalities, and the two of them are humorous people when they’re not in character. The Stomach family cast members have all appeared on the Super Hero Time TikTok channel, so if you’re interested, please give that a look!

By the way, Shoji is good at turning off the highlights in his eyes (Laughs).

↑ The right eye has highlights, while the left doesn’t

This is from “Kiramager” episode 38, “Watching My Uncle’s Moon” (the title should be enough). In this scene, where Shoji’s character Takamichi is fascinated by an illusion, the highlights of his eyes were erased in post-production.

(Huh? What’s this mysterious scene? He’s doing El’Dunnade in front of Glajewel… Those interested should check TTFC!) [i haven’t watched kiramager please forgive me if these make no sense]

If he had an opportunity to be a victim of Illusia again, now being able to erase highlights by himself, the editing team’s workload would really decrease (Laughs).

Well, I said that half-jokingly, but Shoji is as conscious as the production team is of how he should move in relation to the camera to create the picture they are aiming for. I really do have the feeling that he’s good at finding how it will look when he stands, tilts his head, or touches his hat in a certain way.

What?! Is he really the same person whose eyes were blinded by the shininess of his own clothing during his first transformation?? (Mysterious laugh [?])

I conspired with Steel, who was also starting out at the time, to take a photo. So there is such a thing as hiding your own expression… (Laughs).

Including those sorts of fun things, it’s good to have Shoji back on the set, now in a more mentor-ish position and with four years of experience!

And speaking of people happy to have a reliable bodyguard appear, we have this episode’s disturbance, the Granute Chor. Their human form is portrayed by Nanami Kameda, and the voice of their Granute form is Tomoaki Maeno!

Their human form has an elegant femininity, but when they return to their Granute form, they have amazing roughness. Mr. Maeno made a lot of ad-libs in his performance. There will be heated scenes with the human form portrayed by Ms. Kameda in the next episode too, so please look forward to that!

By the way, Chor’s strategy is a simple one where they turn the people who catch their scarf flying away into Human Presses, one-by-one. It’s definitely too slow and dull of a method for Lage9, but Chor feels like this is a reliable method for everyone else, and somehow ends up supporting him (Laughs).

Finally Transform! Kamen Rider Vram

The scene where Lage9 transforms into Vram for the first time. Director Shibasaki insisted on showing him transforming from his Granute appearance in the first transformation.

So this means he…

takes off his black cloak

removes his human disguise and changes to Granute form

equips the belt

and transforms

Taking off clothes and then putting things on? It’s a very elaborate sequence.

Eitoku portrays both his Granute form and Vram, so the stop-change cut (filming actors in the same position before and after transforming) of the transformation was an Eitoku relay. Actually, we’ve already done this plenty of times with Vice (Laughs).

The mask’s field of vision is restricted during the listless transformation pose, so it must be hard to twirl the hair…!

He looks thin in the suits. Chor is peeking out from behind as if to say, “Vram’s here, I don’t need to do anything now”. Their colors match together amazingly. I can’t believe how cool pudding can be… the design already has great strength.

Lage9 already had great physical strength before he transformed into a Kamen Rider, so he gives an incredibly overwhelming fight.

He even surpasses the strong and muscular Gavv…

The staff's full-force debris attack (not actually) even scared them away!

The year has begun, and the two Riders can’t do anything to him.

With Vram’s transformation, the conflict with the Stomach family dramatically changes. Please don’t take your eyes off this in 2025!!

(Written by Minami Takishima)

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 25: [HOST] asmo / shopping trips

ao3 link

note: the symbiote is now nicknamed charlie, and i think that's all the extra info you need? also whoaa second to last!! one more and i'll finally have finished this (which i really should've have done ages ago shfbdjshf)

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

Asmo is - inarguably - an excellent shopper. He knows his brothers’ tastes, inside and out (not that he necessarily agrees with all of them, but he knows them). Certain brothers are easier to buy for than others, but he at least knows that, given a day, he can come back with something they’ll like - clothes, ornaments, or otherwise. Thus, it isn't a surprise that he’s put in charge of new clothes when the House of Lamentation first takes in its new ward.

It’s simple in the early days: find an old t-shirt, wash it well with a scentless detergent, then shrink it down to the size of a small smock. For IK, it seems comfortable and familiar.

She creeps out of the closet still clutching her old gown and stands there silently. Asmo resists the impulse to clap, and instead asks, “Comfy?”

IK doesn’t seem to know what he means. Moving slowly, he points to her, then to his own soft smile, then tilts his head to the side. After a moment, she nods.

“That’s enough for me,” He sighs, then stands up. “Alright, my darling. You’re doing great. Think you can come down with me?”

Every step up is slow, but it feels like they’re scaling mountains. Asmo spends a week stitching together a simple blouse and skirt, and hopefully leaves it in her room overnight. The next day, IK wanders out into the common room and asks him to help her do up the buttons. On the same morning, she lets him brush her hair.

Every occasion is momentous; every stride without fear is victory. In these conditions, it’s very easy for certain demons to gain false confidence when overlooking these precipices.

Two facts: first, Asmo is an optimist with confidence to a fault. Second, he’s just as capable as certain demons of making poor decisions on impulse.

IK’s first shopping trip is a disaster. Several weeks of excellent progress with forays into the outside world culminate in one impatient customer in a department store. They barge past in the shoe aisle and brush a little too close, a little too quickly, and just as quickly find themselves - and the entire store - surrounded down by a forest of angry black tendrils.

Another fact: Asmo has little sympathy for those who bring ill fortune on themselves. By the time Lucifer and Satan arrive to salvage the situation, Asmo is still berating the pushy demon for starting this whole mess in the first place. To be fair, Lucifer doesn’t help much, as he immediately falls to scolding Asmo, which leaves Satan to attempt to talk things out with an irate manager.

IK is just about the only one who comes out of the situation happy - Charlie, while still wreaking havoc for everyone else, has gotten rather good at self-soothing its skittish host. While Satan loses patience with the manager and begins shouting louder than everyone else, and while that poor pushy demon attempts to get either Lucifer or Asmo’s attention, Charlie leads IK through to the kitchen appliances section and begins happily destroying the place.

It takes longer than everything else to track IK down and remove several sharp instruments from the various extra limbs Charlie has sprouted. They discover in the aftermath that Charlie has also learnt to shoplift, which means IK comes away with a figurine from the front desk that Satan’s too irritated with the shop owner to return.

The bills afterwards are eye-watering. It’s a good thing Diavolo finds the whole escapade so amusing, or else they might never have been able to show their faces in public again.

It’s quite some time before Asmo’s brave enough to try again. So long, in fact, that IK outpaces him - she goes grocery shopping with the twins, accompanies Levi to one of his quieter pop-up cosplay events, and spends a day at a petting zoo with the angels. That terrified little baby hiding under a table feels more and more like the distant past, but for some reason… he’s still cautious.

There are just too many wild cards, and not enough contingency plans for them all. Sure, it’s been a long time since seeing a stranger has been enough to send Charlie into crisis mode, but impatient shoppers manage to set new lows every day.

It’s not about the clean-up afterwards. However brief it is, that flash of terror on IK’s little face always manages to break his heart all over again. It’s worth as many finger-pricks as it takes to avoid that, even if he has to stitch every little outfit by hand.

Still! There’s a first time for everything, but there’s also a second chance at everything. Nearly three months after that cataclysmic first trip, Asmo decides it’s finally time to try again. Redeem himself, so to speak.

They’ll go around some quieter local stores, instead of big chain outlets like the one from last time. Solomon’s had success showing IK around second-hand witch shops and apothecaries, and he knows from Satan that she likes the old shoe-maker down the street from the cat cafe.

Clothes aren’t as much of a concern now that he’s gotten the hang of sewing, but there’s lots more to see. The issue is that IK makes it so difficult to tell what she actually thinks of anything - it doesn’t help that, in all her practising of her smiles, she’s also learnt the Polite Smile. (Asmo’s not sure from who, but he has his money on Simeon.)

“Darling,” He says worriedly when IK nods obediently to the seventh ribbon in a row. “You know you can tell me if you don’t like something.”

She thinks about this for a while, then announces, “I don’t like beetroot.”

“That’s di— I mean, beetroot’s good for you, darling.”

“It looks like chopped blood.”

He sighs. “...never mind. That doesn’t matter. I mean, you can tell me if you don’t want all this stuff.”

“Charlie likes ribbons,” IK says. “They’re fun to rip up.”

Maybe we need to get some dog toys for it. “And what about you, darling?”

IK looks a little lost. A moment passes without a response, and Asmo sighs.

“Alright,” He says after a moment. “We’ll get the ribbons for Charlie. But promise you’ll tell me if you see something you like, okay?”

“Okay,” says IK, still looking gently puzzled. But she seems happy enough when he pays for the ribbons at the counter.

…it’s easy to forget how many more steps there are to go. It wasn’t all that long ago that she was confounded by smiling - though this isn’t quite the same thing.

Charlie likes everything from clacky hair-clips to lollipops with a fizzy centre. IK doesn’t like scratchy jackets or heavy bracelets. It’s hard to tell who’s talking - where one ends and the other begins.

“But what do you like?” Asmo asks what feels like a hundred times, and each time she looks as if he’s asked her a stupid question.

“I like blankets,” She’ll say, and he’ll find a fluffy patchwork quilt. IK will run her hands over it inquisitively, then nod and say, “Charlie loves it.”

He asks again and again, and each time there’s a new answer. “I like riding on Beel’s shoulders.” “I like Simeon’s cakes.” “I like Mammon.”

And he asks again after they leave a haberdasher with several spools of brightly coloured thread. IK must be thoroughly sick of him by now, but she answers valiantly, “I like Momo.”

Momo is her toy panda. Asmo had bought it on his way home from some promotional event, and she’s loved it ever since. Momo is named after Asmo, because IK loves both of them.

Asmo pauses. IK is almost stumbling on her feet. They’ve been browsing for ages - he’s been so determined to find something IK loves, and not Charlie.

“It’s late, isn’t it?” He asks apologetically, and reaches down to carry her, swapping all his bags to one arm with ease. “We should go home.”

IK doesn’t seem to hear him. She answers his first question again, face scrunched as if working hard to remember, “I like Levi’s jellyfish. I like my room.”

“I know, I know…” For some reason, he feels like crying. “You’re tired, huh? Come here, come here…”

His arms are definitely going to complain tomorrow morning, but for now he can hold everything up without much thought. IK clings to him and continues listing, “I like tea parties. I like the Little Ds.”

“That’s enough, sweetheart,” He murmurs, turning onto the main road to start heading home. If anyone tries approaching him, he swears he’ll snap. “I know.”

IK finally goes quiet. She lays her head on his shoulder, inadvertently poking her little horn into his neck. It already feels like there’s something lodged in there, so it doesn’t make much difference.

“I like this,” She says after a moment. “I like you. And Charlie likes you. Okay?”

He pauses in the middle of the street and earns a few side-eyes from the demons around him.

“...okay,” He whispers. “That’s enough for me.”

[fanficshiddles]

Eternally Mine, Chapter 10

‘I’m sure it’ll just be a false alarm, I didn’t smell any smoke.’ Loki said to Claire as they all made their way outside the building.

Since it wasn’t a scheduled test, they had to wait until the fire brigade came to check everything out and make sure there really wasn’t a fire.

They all crowded round in the football grounds to wait. Chris noticed Louise shivered a bit as she wrapped her arms around herself. They didn’t have time to grab her coat on the way out, as they all had to leave out of the emergency door in the hall.

‘Here, take my jacket.’ Chris shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and helped her into it.

‘Thank you... God, it’s huge.’ She giggled as the sleeves were ridiculously long on her and it went down to her knees.

Chris chuckled and put his arm around her.

Claire looked at Loki. ‘I’m cold too.’ She pouted.

Loki laughed and took off his jacket as well to give her.

‘Losing your touch, lil bro.’ Chris teased with a smirk.

Loki just glared at him in response.

It wasn’t long before the firemen turned up and headed inside to investigate.

Jessica and Spencer went over to join Loki, Chris, Claire and Louise. Jessica still had a glass of wine in hand, making the others laugh.

‘I’m not wasting it, or risking putting it down.’ Jessica shrugged.

‘Damn. Wish I had thought of that.’ Claire sighed.

‘Hey guys, the firemen are just writing their reports then heading off. It was a false alarm.’ Michael said when he went over to the group, he was going around telling everyone. ‘You can head back inside.’

‘Great. Bet it was some punk ass kid pulling a prank.’ Claire scoffed as they began to head back inside.

A lot of the students had already rushed back into the hall to continue with the party. Chris was about to step in the hall when he suddenly halted. He grabbed Louise’s hand firmly, tugging her back. He reached out to the side and put his hand over Loki’s chest to stop him from going further too.

‘Something’s not right… we need to get out of here.’ He said firmly.

‘What?’ Loki frowned.

‘I smell something unfamiliar. Or someone.’ Chris turned around.

‘You’re such a worry wart, it’s fine. I don’t smell anything.’ Jessica said as she pushed past him and continued in.

Loki was about to continue too, but Chris grabbed his shoulder. ‘Brother… trust me. Something isn’t right. We need to get the girls to safety.’

Loki looked at Claire, who looked concerned, so did Louise.

‘I say we trust his instincts.’ Claire said, she had a bad feeling in her stomach now.

Chris kept a hold of Louise’s hand as he led her back out of the school, Loki and Claire followed. They tried to get others to leave too, but they all didn’t believe him. Apart from Toshi and Severus, who followed them out.

‘What is it?’ Toshi asked with a frown.

‘Just a very strange smell that wasn’t there before.’ Chris said once they got outside.

‘The firemen?’ Loki shrugged.

‘No. Not them.’

There were suddenly screams that erupted from inside, making Claire and Louise jump.

‘You get them to safety, we’ll go see what’s going on!’ Toshi demanded, she reached under her dress, at the side opposite to the side the slit was on, and she pulled out a few daggers, then ran into the school. Severus was hot on her heels.

‘Go help them. I’ll take Louise and Claire back to yours, then I’ll be right back.’ Chris said quickly to Loki.

Loki nodded. He cupped the back of Claire’s head and kissed her forehead.

‘Be safe!’ Claire whispered, her voice was full of worry.

‘Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.’ He winked at her and turned into a bat to fly inside.

‘How are you going to get both of us back? Is the limo still here?’ Claire asked Chris, but before she could even finish, Chris turned around and crouched right down on front of her.

‘Climb on my back, Claire.’

‘What?’

‘Just do it! Or I’ll leave you here.’ He said sternly.

Claire looked at Louise, both of them were confused and scared. Claire clambered onto Chris’ back and put her arms around his neck to hold on. Chris hoisted her up a bit further. It was not a very graceful manner for her since she was wearing a dress.

‘Keep a tight hold.’

Chris scooped Louise up into his arms, bridal style, making her squeak in surprise. He was able to hold her in the right way so his elbows were holding on to Claire’s legs to help keep her up.

They both ended up closing their eyes when Chris started running fast, then he took large leaps as he levitated up onto the top of houses as he headed towards Loki and Claire’s place.

‘Holy shit!’ Claire screeched when he leapt across all the buildings with such speed.

Louise felt the adrenaline rush too, though all she could think about was the fact that he was carrying both of them with such ease, like they weighed nothing more than a feather. She couldn’t quite believe it, but it was actually happening and she knew she wasn’t dreaming. So she had to believe it.

Having Louise in his arms like he did was making it difficult for Chris to focus, her smell was wafting straight into his nose. Though he kept focused, he needed to get them to safety and then get back to find out what the hell was going on.

When he jumped off the final building to land on Loki and Claire’s street, both the girls let out a screech from the feeling of the drop in their stomachs. He couldn’t stop a smirk spreading across his face and he chuckled at their reactions.

After running over to Loki and Claire's house, he crouched down so Claire could slide down from his back. He carefully placed Louise down to her feet, though he was so reluctant to let her go, he knew he had to get back to the school.

‘Stay inside for now, till we get back. Hopefully we won’t be long.’ He said as he ran a hand through his hair.

Claire and Louise nodded as Claire unlocked the door.

‘Be careful, please.’ Louise said quietly.

Chris smiled warmly at her and reached out to cup her cheek, he brushed his thumb against her skin and then stepped back to let them get inside. He waited until they were both safely inside and the door was shut, before he turned into a bat and quickly flew back to the school.

When he got back, he could smell the carnage before he even got inside.

The vampire teachers were fighting off a group of hunters, so was Toshi. Though Severus, Spencer and Jessica had managed to get all the students out of the school and away to safety before they returned to help.

A hunter was sneaking up on Matt, Chris launched across the room and zoned right in for his neck, tearing into him straight away.

Across the room, Loki and David were fighting back-to-back as three hunters tried to take them down. They ducked at the same time when arrows or bullets were fired their way, until the hunters got close enough for them to tackle. Loki wasn’t overly keen on tearing into them quite like the other vampires did, unless he really needed to like in the past, but he was able to punch or kick them hard enough to knock them down.

Chris rushed over to help them, biting the necks or shoulders of the ones Loki wouldn’t.

‘Come on, Loki. Take the prize of the blood, these assholes deserve it anyway!’ Chris snarled as he tore flesh from one of their necks, blood and bits of skin fell from his mouth.

Loki just growled in response and spun around quickly when he heard a hunter approaching, he ducked down and slid over to him, knocking his feet out from under him. He then pounced on top of him and grabbed hold of the hunter’s own knife, he drove it right into his neck. The smell of fresh blood was tempting, mouth-watering, but he refused.

‘Coming your way, hound dog!’ Toshi shouted from across the hall.

Chris’ head whipped round as she tossed a hunter directly at him, since she had a few to deal with over there herself.

He caught the hunter from mid-air, slammed him down to the ground and cracked his neck to the side, instantly killing him with a snap.

Toshi jumped up and took down one of the hunters with her thighs, slamming him to the ground. Another hunter ran up behind her and was about to get her, when Severus returned and side-swiped him into the wall before biting into his neck.

‘Hey, save some of the blood sucking for me later.’ Toshi called to her soulmate.

Severus smirked as he let the man fall to the floor with a thud, he turned to face Toshi and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

‘Don’t worry, there’s always room for your blood, love.’ Severus purred and winked at her.

Near the doorway, Loki had the final hunter pinned down, a hand around his throat. There was blood coming from his head from blunt force trauma.

‘You… won’t… win… Hunters will take over… we will take everything… including your humans…’ The hunter said weakly with a smirk.

Loki saw red at his words, he snarled and hissed loudly as his fangs emerged, he dove down and bit his neck. He ejected as much venom as he could into him, until the hunter was screaming in agony, then Loki just tore his teeth out of him.

It took Loki a moment to calm down, his chest was heaving like mad as he came back to his senses. Everything was quieter, the hunters had all been dealt with.

‘That’s more like it, lil bro.’ Chris said with a grin as he walked over towards Loki, he was breathing heavy too after the fighting.

The vampires and Toshi all gathered together, looking around at the carnage that was left in the hall.

‘Any casualties?’ Chris asked, looking at everyone.

‘Two students were hurt initially, but we got them to the hospital. They’ll be fine.’ Severus drawled as he put his arm around Toshi.

Chris nodded. ‘Good… How the fuck did they get in here in the first place?’

‘It must’ve been during the fire alarm when we were all outside.’ Loki said as he spat some blood and flesh out of his mouth. ‘That asshole said our humans were at risk too.’

Toshi felt Severus’ grip on her waist tighten, making her smile slightly.

Chris’ eyes widened. ‘How do they know about our partners?’

‘I know as much as you do.’ Loki shrugged.

‘Let’s get back to yours. We will deal with this mess in the morning.’ Chris huffed and looked at Loki, who nodded in agreement.

‘Who’s all coming back? I think we have a lot to discuss.’ Loki looked around the group.

David, Matt, Jessica, Spencer and surprisingly Severus and Toshi all agreed to meet back at Loki’s. Hannibal needed to nip home first then would come along.

‘Where’s Michael? Is he ok?’ Chris asked.

‘We made sure he got home, too. No point on a human hanging around, just in-case.’ Jessica said.

Chris nodded. ‘Good. We will speak to him tomorrow, ask more about what the firemen found. Let’s head back to Loki’s now. Make sure Louise and Claire are ok.’

[g0ttal0ve101]

Just Like Before

NOTE: lukai from mia narrative real 😽! this is so random but aye double upload this month cause the Halloween special 😝

⚠️tw: mentions of SA ⚠️

Mia Jacobs had been rough around the edges for as long as she could remember. No matter who stood in her way or what defied her, she was unbreakable. She never started fights but would end them her way, come Hell or high water. Most people called her bitchy and pissy, others called her much worse things. On one occasion, she had actually beaten Lindsey Hall’s ass, prom queen and little sister of everyone’s favorite valedictorian. That story usually scared people off, if not for the additional stories of her terrifying reign. Despite that enigma she insolated herself in on the outside, there was no doubting she had a heart of gold. It was hard to reach even to those closest to her, but once it was, there was no telling what lengths her generosity would go.

Seeing as she spent most of her time with her boyfriend, Carl, he was the prime recipient of her rare kindness. Unlike many before him, he appreciated being one of the only people on Earth who could say that Mia Jacobs tried her best to resolve any problem he had — down to little things like homework and driving lessons all the way to talking him out of suicide. (But that’s a story for another day.) This aspect of her character was, for the most part, overlooked or unseen by those who she willingly or unwillingly surrounded herself with.

What she didn’t know was that this trait would be playing a major role in her afternoon.

The day played out as any ordinary Sunday. Underneath the busted car she was working on, the late crisp September breeze put her in a better mood than usual. She thought about calling it a day and going to hang out with Carl for the rest of the night, but it just didn’t feel right to leave her progress in such an awkward position. She pushed on for another half hour before finally crawling out, grabbing her bottle of water and sighing heavily. Oil and grime decorated her gloves and left cheek as she tried moving the stray strands of blonde hair from tickling her nose. It was no use. As much as she loved having long hair to style, it could be irritating.

While finishing up her last sip, Mia suddenly caught the glimpse of a screen glare from the corner of her eye. She assumed Carl must be calling because he was bored or horny or sad or all of that combined, hurriedly grabbing her phone to pick up the call. Her suspicions were proven to be false once she saw the big user ID printed flat in front of her place, presenting her the opportunity to answer.

Lucian Williams. Truthfully, she didn’t even remember saving his number in the first place, but that didn’t stop her from picking up anyway.

“Uh, hello?”

“Hey, Mia…uh, are you busy?” His voice was shaky as though he was ready to burst into tears at any second.

Like mentioned before, Mia was instantly alerted of his distress and jumped the gun to fix it. “Not really — are you okay? You’ve literally never called me before.”

“Can you pick me up?” he blurted out.

Again, she answered without hesitation. “…Yeah. I’ll be there in five.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. See you then.”

Then she hung up. It was then she realized that her way of communicating was a little off compared to others. Rather than staying on the line and trying to feel for what she was getting into, she immediately agreed to get him and figure out everything in person. In her eyes, she knew it could be perceived as “weird” behavior — in reality, it was more intimidating than weird.

Mia set out onto the slick road with puddles of water splashing against the freshly clean truck. It wasn’t hers so she could care less about what it looked like when she gave it back since the client was kind of a douchebag — he couldn’t keep his eyes off her tits for a minute even while talking to her — and needed to be reminded of his place.

When she pulled into the gravel driveway of Lucian’s home, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy. The little blue house was beautiful, decorated by wind chimes, various pots of flowers, and a bunch of garden ornaments, too. It was warm and welcoming, which reflected Lucian for the most part. Maybe that’s what it was. Lucian was just too pretty himself to reside anywhere less. Before she was able to take in his precise decoration status, the front door swung open. It surprised her enough to jump back.

“Jesus. You scared the hell outta me.” Mia said in response to her heart flying out of her chest..

Lucian rushed down the porch steps and to her side. “Sorry…do you need to get home at a certain time?”

“You act like someone’s gonna bust my balls over it.”

“Well, Carl…”

Mia scoffed from the mere suggestion. “Trust me, he’ll be fine for a few hours. Now tell me what this is all about. I’m guessing Kai isn’t around?��

Jumping into the passenger seat of the car, both Mia and Lucian were hit with the overwhelming scent of cigarette smoke. “…Yeah. Is this your truck?”

Fixing her hair in the rear view mirror as she waited for him to get settled in, Mia laughed. “One of my client’s. It’s pretty nice, huh?”

“Other than the smell.”

“Yeah, stay away from cigarettes or I’ll beat your ass,” she joked with a sly smile.

Once Lucian was secured in with a seatbelt, they started their way down the street. She didn’t know where he wanted to go and honestly, didn’t care much either, so she figured any corner was safe ground to hit. Despite this, Lucian seemed nervous enough to present his explanation. “Is it okay if we just drive around a little? I don’t really want to go anywhere, I just needed to get out of that house.”

Again, a vague statement, but Mia took it. “Oh, I don’t care. I was kinda hoping I could ride this bad boy around a little bit anyway, haha! Besides, it’s the least I can do. You’ve never asked me for anything else.”

“Actually…can we stop by the liquor store?”

“You got liquor money?” Mia sarcastically asked, figuring that he was joking or something. But once she saw those eyes, she knew that he wasn’t.

He laughed nervously. “I didn’t bring my wallet for nothing…”

Not in a hundred years did Mia think she’d hear something like this come from Lucian’s mouth. There were some rumors she heard down the grapevine that Lucian used to have a problem with drinking in middle school, so much so that he actually had to be admitted to a hospital after being found completely unconscious and unresponsive in his ex-boyfriend’s bathroom. Mia always thought it was an outlandish idea. She couldn’t picture Lucian taking a sip of liquor, let alone downing so much that it caused him to be hospitalized. But after hearing this, she couldn’t help but wonder if that story was true.

Clicking her tongue, she tried to think of the nicest way to say what she was thinking. It did her no good.

“What do you like?”

“Whiskey. Sometimes tequila.”

“Is that what landed you in the hospital the last time you drank?”

Lucian froze. Evident by his wide eyes, he didn’t know that information reached her, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have asked her the favor in the first place.

His answer came out shakier than he wanted it to. “I was fourteen when that all went down, y’know? I was just being irresponsible…I can definitely handle it now.”

“Yeah?”

That wasn’t a good sign. Not at all. He tensed up before she even got another word out.

“I’m gonna be honest. You can bat your eyelashes and sweet talk me all you want, but at the end of the day, I won’t let you go off and make dumb decisions. I’ll put it this way — would Kai want you to start drinking again?”

She didn’t think she was too rough, but alas, tears streamed down his face anyway. She should’ve figured that would happen — Lucian wasn’t the best at handling someone being snippy with him.

“No,” he muttered with the eyes of a lost puppy. “I’m sorry. Forget it.”

It was hard to keep her cool. Mia wanted to shake him around and ask him what was wrong so that she didn’t feel so helpless, but she knew that would only end in disaster. She had to be tactful in the way she spoke to him. He wasn’t like Carl who was willing to give up any and all information to her at the snap of her fingers. He was more reserved than that.

Understanding this, she pulled into one of the many deserted parking lots she knew of. Usually she took Carl here so they could stargaze and talk about sentimental things, so she figured it’d make a nice setting for her to get to the bottom of…whatever the hell was going on with Lucian. Nothing about him was normal at that point. His eyes, his hair, his voice, his posture, everything was just throwing up hazard signs. Mia recognized them almost instantaneously upon seeing him walk out of the house.

Lucian, appearing uneasy with the sudden stop they were making, fixated his gaze toward the freshly-clean floor. Once the engine reared off, the sound of crickets began ringing louder than ever. Mia twirled the keys around her index finger while trying to think of what to say. Again.

“You wanna talk about it?” Her voice was softer than he’d ever heard it before. “You don't have to if you don't want to.

Sniffling, he wiped his tears away with his sleeve for a third time. “It’s embarrassing…”

“I won’t judge.”

Lucian swallowed against the lump in his throat and rubbed his forearms in an attempt to subconsciously comfort himself. “…Kai, uh…Kai got upset with me last night, I think. He left when I was sleeping and just didn’t come back…won’t answer my calls either.”

It took less than a second for Mia to respond. “Why’d he get upset?”

Lucian knew all too well.

/—/—/—/—/

It was the first time he felt this way. Underneath the piles of blankets and sheets he had on his bed to protect himself during the night, Lucian was half naked and bleeding at the mercy of Kai’s teeth and tongue. It was wonderful. Despite staining the mattress red and having a hard time regulating his shallow breaths, he couldn’t help but feel that strangely distinct yet distant sensation rising within himself. Kai looked better than ever. Hotter than ever.

“What’re you squirming around for?” Kai hummed, grabbing at his hips and applying the slightest amount of pressure on them to ensure he wasn’t getting up. “Does it hurt?”

None of the wounds felt like anything. The adrenaline zipping through his veins made him feel like he was floating and the dopamine rush was making him feel like he wanted more than just a bite.

“N-No,” Lucian murmured.

His rapid breaths caught Kai’s attention. “You sound like a scared little bunny-rabbit. You hear that?”

Sliding his slender hand up Lucian’s ribcage and onto his left pec to feel his heartbeat, Kai’s smile seemed to be wider than ever. His teeth were stained red, his hair was disheveled, his eyes were eager, but God Lucian could only focus on his touch.

“You’re getting all hyper just for me.”

Lucian laughed nervously. “Is it really that noticeable?”

Kai smirked. “What, your heartbeat or…?”

The joke nearly flew over his head. With a bright red face and an even faster heartbeat, he clenched his legs close together and whined playfully.

“Aww, don’t be like that.” Kai’s hands reached both his bare shoulders as he leaned in to whisper in his ear. “It’s cute.”

“Kaaaiii…”

Lucian didn’t have a chance to complain before he was captivated by that feeling again. Kai’s tongue grazed up his neck and toward his ear as he giggled, obviously trying to get his boyfriend to ease up a little. After a few more hickeys and tons of kisses, he finally gave in.

His once shallow breaths became airless begging as he placed both of his palms against Kai’s shoulder blades, letting him have full access to his upper body. And as always, Kai gave him what he wanted.

“I wonder what your organs look like in that little tummy,” he hummed. Pulling out his favorite pocket knife, he placed it right above Lucian’s belly button. The cold blade made him shiver. “So pretty, I bet…so, so pretty.”

Lucian grabbed at the arm wielding the knife. “Not too deep, okay? It’ll hurt.”

That playful expression Kai once wore fell instantaneously after hearing such a thing. His eyes widened like saucers. “I love you. I’ll be nice, I promise. I love you very, very much.”

His voice made him melt. “I love you too.”

As the last syllable came from his mouth, Kai slid the blade just hard enough to draw blood. Lucian didn’t even realize it was already over until Kai lurched down to play with it a little, smiling like an idiot. His adrenaline numbed any sort of pain it might have caused.

“You squirm when you’re nervous.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No.” Kai’s lips met the wound as he locked eyes with Lucian. “I like it, bunny.”

bunny.

In the matter of seconds, something switched. The arousal Lucian once felt melted into pure terror as he felt Kai’s kisses lowering dangerously close to the elastic of his pajama pants. It didn’t feel good anymore. It felt like at any second, he’d hear the zipper or smell the alcohol or feel the painful sensation of a hand wrapped around his throat. And to think that it was happening again, Lucian’s breathing hitched and wavered rapidly. He didn’t move or say anything — he just stared at the ceiling and tried to regain control over his mind.

Squeezing him tighter and forcing himself to shut his eyes, Lucian attempted to return to normal. He told himself to picture a puppy frolicking across a colorful meadow, peaceful and happy just to be alive. When that didn’t work, he tried to imagine going to the beach and putting his feet in the water while watching the sunset. Again, to no avail. Every scenario he tried to eject himself in spat him right back out into the same memory he was trying to escape. And for the first time in forever, he started to slip.

The smell of alcohol in his stepfather’s heaving breaths as he grinded his hips against him was something he couldn’t forget. It was so vivid in his mind, yet so vague. So real, but so far away. It happened so many times that the memory complied itself into one big rotting mess inside his brain. Sometimes he’d be face down against the mattress, sometimes it was against the shower wall, and sometimes he’d just be on the floor without any recollection of where or how it started. Sometimes he was twelve. Sometimes he was five.

But those dark eyes never altered.

Kai might’ve said something. Lucian couldn’t hear it. It wasn’t until he pulled away completely that he realized something was wrong.

“Lu?”

When Kai’s voice finally reached him, Lucian’s mind became a clean slate again. Though temporary, it felt more than relieving. However, no matter how hard he tried to look him in the eyes, Lucian avoided it at all costs. And though he was bad at reading faces, Kai understood it.

Shifting himself off Lucian’s hips, Kai straightened his posture and tried his best to keep his cool.

“Hey, hey, it’s just me…”

Lucian hadn’t noticed the tears trickling down his face until he heard his words come out airless and shaky. “S-Sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Kai reached to wipe his face off but retreated the gesture when he saw Lucian’s subtle flinch. It dug into him deeper than any blade could go. “I don’t like it when you cry, Lucian. I really don’t. Please stop.”

While this might seem ignorant to outsiders looking in, these words carried heavy weight between the couple. On any other day, Kai relished in making people suffer. He was a sadistic and apathetic individual at heart — heart-wrenching sobs and cries tended to be music to his ears. But not Lucian’s. It could never be Lucian’s.

“Did I hurt you? Are you crying because it hurts? I’ll fix it for you. I’ll make it better.”

Choking on every syllable that left his mouth, Lucian’s words were distorted into sobs and hiccups. “It’s okay. I-I’m fine,” he whimpered, trying to keep his lungs from collapsing.

“Are you scared of me?”

Kai’s face said it all. In that moment, Lucian realized how badly he fucked up. Kai was terrified to be perceived that way by somebody he loved — by Lucian. He expressed his fear of being perceived as dangerous time and time again and yet, Lucian was crying and trembling in his grasp.

“…I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. His voice was so low, Lucian could hardly hear it. “I love you so much.”

“Kai, I—!”

“C’mere.”

Kai pulled him close before he could even open his arms to welcome his embrace. Both of his hands, warm and soft, rested against Lucian’s shoulder blades, but that fuzziness that inhabited his stomach during times like these was no longer there.

Rather than resting his forehead against Kai’s chest and dozing off like he usually would, Lucian remained still. He didn’t know what to do. His stomach was bleeding through his shirt, his eyes wouldn’t stop producing tears, his heart was pounding, and his mind was in a spiral. He didn’t know what to think or say or anything, really. All he could think of was Kai’s face when he asked that horrible question.

are you scared of me?

Lucian wanted to scream and rip his hair out. It had nothing to do with Kai. It was all his fault. If he could just tell him why, tell him everything he’s gone through, tell him anything, then all of this could’ve been avoided.

But he remained silent.

/—/—/—/—/

“So he was touching up on you, you got freaked out, and — no offense — but he didn’t really fucking help you, and somehow you’re in the wrong here? Bullshit.”

Knowing she was ready to bash Kai’s head in, Lucian rushed to his defense. “I mean, what else could he have done? I was acting like an idiot and he didn’t know what was going on. Everything was going so smoothly before that and I…”

“Okay, okay, so he was kissing you?”

“Yeah. Kissing me.”

“Where?”

Appearing confused but intrigued by her line of questioning, Lucian took a deep breath. “My neck at first. He likes giving me love-bites sometimes, haha…”

Anyone with eyes could see that. The patches of dark hickeys across his collarbones and throat were kind of hard to miss since his skin was so pale. Telling by the way he spoke about them, Mia assumed Lucian had no idea how noticeable they really were. It was sort of funny in a way.

“But then he moved down to my tummy and started kissing one of my fresh cuts.”

“Cuts from what?” Her voice suddenly became serious. “Lucian, I will beat your ass if you’re hurting yourself.”

“What?! No! It was a stray cut!” he assured her, purposefully leaving out the part where Kai inflicted the wound himself. (He wouldn’t call it a kink, but they were both seriously into it.)

“It had better be.”

Subtly changing the subject back to the original point before she asked too many questions, he sighed. “I’m telling you he didn’t do anything wro—!”

Hushing him by placing her index finger against his lips, she shook her head. “Lemme figure this out for you. You guys were making out and on the verge of fucking, right?”

Bashfully looking off, Lucian recalled the engraved memory out loud. “No, never. Well, not never, but not yet at least. Wh-What I mean to say is that he hasn’t gotten all excited for me like that before, okay? This was the first time! Probably the last time too…” His saddened voice trailed off with a sigh. “Anyway, we weren’t going to do anything. He was just pampering me and being all cute. I was enjoying it, I-I really was.”

“What do you think caused you to freak out then, babe?”

Biting his tongue, Lucian’s face was redder than Mia had ever seen it. “I guess maybe it was how I couldn’t see his face anymore since it was against my tummy, or that maybe the kisses felt too much like…back then. I don’t know. It’s not like he’s never kissed me down there before.”

It was a tough situation. Mia couldn’t help but feel for him. Not too long ago, she was in the same predicament herself, trying to figure out how to deal with her trauma while still maintaining a healthy relationship with Carl. There wasn’t much advice she could think to give him in that aspect considering it was a unique process for everyone, but she wanted more than anything to assure him that she was there as support.

“…Well, there is one thing that might have caused it.”

Mia’s head perked up. “What?”

Playing with his shirt, he avoided her eyes again. “Whenever he calls me Bunny, I kind of think about…my stepdad.”

The mere mention of that man stiffened the air. As far as she knew, nobody was granted the opportunity to know anything about him — not even Kai himself. To know that he felt comfortable enough to even mention his existence in her presence indicated just how much he trusted her. It was a nice feeling, but terrifying at the same time. Why her? Why not Kai?

Mia calculated every syllable that came from her mouth so intentionally that it felt like she was talking in slow motion. “That must’ve been really scary then, Lu. You’re way better than me. If I were you, Carl probably wouldn’t have any teeth.”

The subtle humor and praise interwoven with her reply helped Lucian crack a smile again. Even if it was weak, it was a sign she was doing something right.

“I dunno. At least you try to protect yourself, right?” he murmured.

Her heart squeezed. It was true, she always tried to defend herself. And to think Lucian’s first instinct was to just take it without a fight…

It was too much for her to think about.

“I guess this is pretty dumb on my part, huh?” Lucian said shakily. “Kai has no idea about any of it. My parents, my stepdad, my biggest fear…I hid it from him. Now it’s coming to kick me in the ass and all I can do is cry. I’m such an idiot…”

Grabbing his arm, Mia pulled him close to give him a hug. He was more tense than usual, but still embraced her tightly and planted his forehead against her shoulder. She felt his fast heartbeat and sighed. Poor thing.

“You don’t owe anyone an explanation. Not me, not Kai, none of us. Do you understand?”

“But—!”

“Listen to me, Lucian.”

Their eyes met. Lucian was on the verge of tears again.

“I know this might sound crazy coming from me but in my opinion, you two are gonna get married one day. Seriously. So, who cares if he doesn’t know yet? You have plenty of time to ease him into it and prepare yourself.”

Lucian’s breathing steadied a little more. It was working.

Releasing him from her tight grasp, Mia planted her hand against the top of his head and pushed his bangs off his forehead. “That boy praises the ground you walk on, okay? Do you really think that’s gonna change because you tell him about your past? Seriously, do you believe that?”

It was a supposedly hard question for Lucian. He furrowed his eyebrows and dabbed his sleeves just beneath his waterline to collect the excess tears that were fighting to fall with a pitiful sniffle. Following that, he shrugged.

“I’m just…I’m scared that he’ll look at me completely differently. I mean, I’m afraid what he’ll think when he finds out I’m not a virgin, Mia. If he found out another man already took it from me…what would he think? I’m scared. I know it’s stupid, but I am.”

“It’s not stupid,” Mia assured him. “I was scared of the same exact thing.”

“…You too?” His eyes were wide. And although he didn’t specify what the question was inferring, Mia instinctively answered.

“Yeah. My brother raped me when I was six, so it’s not like I had a chance to choose when I lost my virginity either.”

Mia had almost forgotten how sympathetic Lucian could be before she saw the flood of tears streaming down his face. There was no use now — that boy was bound to sob his eyes out before this conversation was over. That was okay. It made Mia feel good that he felt safe enough to do so.

“It’s not fair!” he whimpered, covering his face out of shame. “You shouldn’t have t-to feel like that…!”

“You shouldn’t have to feel that way either,” Mia emphasized. She pulled his arms away from his face so she could see his eyes again. “That’s what this is about, right? You went through it too?”

Lucian’s expression read like he had seen his entire family get murdered in cold blood right before his eyes. Somehow he grew paler and colder to the touch, his trembling body seeming more fragile than ever before. Mia recognized that look. She hated it more than anything.

“…Mhm,” he mumbled. He couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

Mia’s expression remained unwavered. She knew if she reacted even in the slightest negative manner, he’d be completely shattered.

“And you’re still the coolest guy I know,” Mia hummed.

“…Really?”

“Really. I don’t think anything less of you. Do you think any less of me?”

“O-Of course not!”

“Do you think Kai would think less of me?”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“No,” Lucian airlessly laughed. “No! He wouldn’t at all! He’d probably just give you that one look he makes when he feels bad a-and ask me what he should do to make you feel better.”

Weakly smiling, she turned the question back around. “So if you tell him, what do you think he’d do?”

Lucian hesitated this time. Slowly but surely, that same smile reappeared on his face as he wiped his tears. “I dunno. I think he’d be really upset…n-not at me, but…I dunno. I don’t want him to see him like that.”

“It’ll be okay, cariño. Trust me. I’m sure Kai just needs some time to cool off, yeah? He’ll be back in your arms soon. Knowing him, probably tonight.”

“…You think so?”

“I know so.”

And with that off his chest, Lucian’s mood improved almost immediately. He wiped away all his tears and rolled down the window, leaning his head out to catch some breeze through his hair. To top it all off, there was a subtle smile on his face. Pretty.

The conversation varied from there going back and forth about how their lives were fluctuating since they’ve last seen each other. They talked about all the kills they racked up, how they should plan another date to catch predators, and gave each other advice on how to clean up bodies (Lucian was surprisingly good with that kind of thing) and what other torture methods they could use (Mia was unsurprisingly good with that kind of thing). Before they hit the road again, however, Lucian decided to backtrack toward the original conversation they had.

“I know this is gonna sound really weird, but…how did you, like…stop being scared of having sex?”

It was laughable. Cocking her eyebrow upward and smiling from the mere thought of that being a concern, she answered as truthfully as possible. “Where is this coming from?”

Lucian bounced his leg nervously. “…It’s hard to explain.”

Now things were starting to make more sense. Tapping her finger against the wheel, she examined Lucian’s expression. He sat there terrified, practically rubbing off all his nervousness onto Mia.

“Well, everybody’s different. It’s not some sort of mental switch where you can just turn it on and off, y’know? For me, I felt better taking the more dominant role so that I knew I was in control of everything that happened. I’m still like that with Carl I guess, but it’s different with him. Way different.”

Her sly smile and the click of her tongue told a story on its own. Lucian was foolish enough to ask for more details.

“Different how?”

“Not that you care, but Carl has a dick. Like, he’s a whole ass dude. Usually I get with women.” Pulling back her hair into a quick bun, she continued to explain the difference. “To say I was pretty fucking scared to do anything with him is an understatement. I just fronted like I wasn’t. Not saying that’s what you should do, but that’s what I did.”

Lucian nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s understandable…”

With a smirk, Mia gave Lucian a hefty pat on the back. “Are you asking me this stuff because you wanna do it with Kai?”

He blushed. “Eventually, I think.”

“Hahaha!”

“W-Why’re you laughing?!”

Covering her mouth to shut herself up, she took a deep breath to recover from her sudden burst of energy. “¡Que mono! Lo siento, lo siento…debería haberlo sabido que esto eventualmente sucedería.”

Lucian furrowed his eyebrows. “C’mon...I can’t understand what you said, but I’m guessing you’re teasing me.”

“No, dummy. I’m saying that it was inevitable. I mean, you guys are always on top of each other hugging and kissing and whatever the hell you do — biting?”

Low blow, but painfully true.

Lucian folded his arms and stuck his nose in the air playfully. “We do wound-to-wound blood transfusions, yeah. I mean, he’s bitten me just about everywhere by now other than my, y’know…”

“Ass?”

. . .

“He has not bitten my ass before, no.”

“Maybe you should try it. He’s clearly running outta room on your neck.”

“Mia!”

Practically dying from laughter, Mia lurched over the wheel. Lucian tried to convince himself that it wasn’t funny, but the stupid smile stuck on his face said otherwise. She was pretty good at doing that to him.

“Esos dientes de ese chico me asustan...si te chupara la polla entonces estarías jodido, haha!”

“Wh-What?”

“I said you two are super duper cute together and Kai, uh, Kai has a super nice smile.”

Lucian squinted his eyes. “Tell me what you really said.”

“Uh, invite me to the wedding?”

“Mia!”

/—/—/—/—/

When Lucian stepped out of the truck and into the driveway, all of the warm security from their conversation wore off. Mia said her loving goodbyes, giving him a big hug and preaching that this support system would always be in place. He thanked her a million times, but not before realizing he didn’t give her any money for gas. He tried to stop her before she pulled out the driveway but she purposely ignored him, playfully honking her horn and waving her hand out the window. Again, he found himself smiling like an idiot.

The door shut behind him with a loud thud as he let out a dreaded sigh. Everything about that place was suffocating without Kai being there to ease his thoughts. Initially, he planned to check every lock to help him relax a little, but once he realized that one of the windows was wide open, he knew it was pointless. Somebody was already in there with him.

“Kai?” His voice was shaky but clear, reverberating against every wall in the house. “Kai, I’m home. Where are you?”

Like a deflated balloon, his confidence and enthusiasm began to shrink. He sighed and began untying his shoes on the floor, hoping by the time he was done that Kai would say something back. But alas, nothing.

It wasn’t until Lucian’s eyes wandered from his laces and to the hardwood floor that he saw a pair of big combat boots standing inches from him. He gasped and jumped back in surprise.

When their eyes met, it felt magical. Lucian’s once chilled heart melted back into his original state as he scrambled to his feet and launched himself into Kai’s open arms. The sensation of Kai’s skin making contact with his skin and warming it up again was far beyond any pleasurable experience he ever had. It almost brought tears to his eyes — if he hadn’t cried so much that night, he probably would’ve.

“I missed you so much…”

“I missed you too, Lu. I’m sorry I left.”

Lucian’s face scrunched up in joy once his eardrums were pleasantly rewarded by the sound of his soft voice again. “It’s okay! I left too, so now we’re equal! Let’s eat dinner a-and watch a movie and cuddle!”

When he pulled away to see Kai’s expression, his heart sank. No smile was present on his face whatsoever despite being reunited. For some reason, he looked nervous. Lucian took a few steps back.

“Kai?”

“C’mere.” Kai reached for his hand and led him into the darkness of the house, unbothered by the lack of light. Lucian struggled to keep up.

After trekking up their staircase and turning the corner, they stood in front of their bedroom. Kai released his hand and fidgeted with the rings on his fingers for a second, swinging the door open and supposedly inviting Lucian in. He followed.

Lucian noticed the big fortress of sheets and blankets in the middle of the room first. It was decorated with fairy lights and organized with every pillow and stuffie Kai could’ve possibly found laying around. The mere sight overwhelmed him with a strange amount of nostalgia. Whenever they were younger, they’d make pillow forts all the time — binge candy, watch movies, talk shit, everything and anything two middle schoolers would do. Back then, everything seemed much simpler. Neither of them knew what the other went through. Neither of them had to worry about it.

Everything falls back on their past now. Lucian knows how to treat Kai with the reminder of his tragic past. But Kai knew nothing about him and could hardly piece together the pieces he left behind. It was a mess. He was a mess.

“Thank you, Kai. You’re the sweetest.” Lucian’s voice was gentle as he pulled his boyfriend close for another sensational embrace.

Kai relaxed in his arms for a moment or two before wriggling away. “Go inside, Lu.”

Obeying his orders, Lucian got onto his hands and knees and crawled inside.

The interior looked like how he’d imagined it — various different patterns from the sheets and blankets holding the roof up with warm lighting and a soft covering for the floor. Lala (Lucian’s favorite stuffed animal) was propped against his pillow with care alongside a colorful slip of paper.

The writing was done with purple crayon (Lucian’s favorite color). And although it could’ve been mistaken for a toddler’s doodles, Lucian understood immediately that this was his boyfriend’s best work. He slowly paced his eyes on every letter.

4 luciAn

im sory 4 makeng U cry lAst nite i dont wAnt U 2 b scArd of me i wil nevr do it AgAin Am sory 4 it

i love U luciAn so lots

xoxoxoxoxo

On the bottom, Kai had attempted to draw the two of them holding hands with a bunch of hearts around their heads. Lucian teared up and probably would’ve cried if he hadn’t done so earlier that night.

It was a big deal. Lucian knew this must’ve taken him a long time. He knew how much Kai hated writing and reading or really doing anything that involved a pencil and paper. By holding this crinkled paper in his hand, ripped in various spots from the amount of times he had to erase, Lucian knew he had put everything he had into making it up.

“Kai, come here.”

Kai, standing outside of the fort bashfully, crawled inside with a bright red face. He looked like at any second, he was going to explode. Lucian couldn’t help but grin like an idiot, his eyes full of adoration.

“I wrote that for you,” Kai murmured. Again, he was fidgeting with his rings to try and make himself feel better. “Can you read it?”

“Mhm! You did so good, honey!”

“…I did?”

“Yeah! I understood all of it! I’m gonna keep this forever!”

Concealing his mouth behind his palm, Kai practically vibrated with excitement from the praise he received. Lucian pulled him close again, only this time, he was able to comb his hands through the ebony curls on the back of his head. Kai wrapped his arms around his shoulders in return.

“…Are you still scared of me?” Kai asked with an audibly hard swallow.

“No, never.” Lucian whispered into his ear, causing him to physically shudder from how close his voice was to his eardrums. “I’m sorry for making you feel that way, honey.”

They pulled away and looked into each other’s eyes. Neither of them were very fond of eye contact, so whenever this did happen, it usually came right before they started kissing. Lucian’s butterfly-diseased stomach begged him to get on with it and let all his worries pass over, but his mind refused it.

“…Kai.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Mhm.”

Lucian bit his lip a little and looked away. “Would you ever date somebody who wasn’t a virgin?”

It was painfully obvious what he was getting at. But with Kai being Kai, he didn’t notice in the slightest.

“Like, they got fucked by someone else or they fucked someone else?”

“Either…?”

Kai shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind it, I think. I’d just want the other guy dead.”

All the weight on his shoulders was uplifted. Lucian nodded and smiled a little to himself, fidgeting with his sleeve as he scooted closer to Kai. “Yeah. That makes sense.”

. . .

“We should have sex on our honeymoon.”

The soul left Lucian’s body the moment he said that. With his eyes bulging out of his head, he waited for further explanation — not that he would be able to say anything if Kai didn’t elaborate anyhow.

Tapping his finger against his chin, Kai looked toward the ceiling with a red face. “Y’know, like in all those old movies. Unless you never wanna do it. That’s fine, too.”

“N-No! I do!”

“You do?”

“Of course I do, wh-when we’re totally married and old and stuff! I-I mean…do you?”

Kai processed the question longer than anticipated. With a warm smile on his face, he narrowed the wide space between them a little and nodded. “When we’re totally married and old and stuff.”

Grabbing his chin, he gently pressed their lips together. It felt just like before.

[smellyratboy]

Culture Shock (3 times Italy shocks Will Graham, +1 he shocks Italy)

1. While Will has been to Florence in the past, his time there was brief and...rather traumatic. Between being thrown off of a train, shot, drugged, and kidnapped, he didn't remember the small details of Italian bathrooms. Anyways, that was years ago at this point. He is just excited to be in a beautiful country and able to enjoy it this time. After arriving at the apartment Hannibal had rented under a false name, Will is in desperate need to freshen up in the bathroom. Upon opening the door, he is greeted with what one would usually expect to find in a bathroom. A shower, sink, toilet, and ... a second, smaller toilet?

"Hannibal," Will calls out into the hallway. "Yes, Will?" Hannibal replies, now standing in the doorway. "What's that?" he asks, pointing to the strange porcelain bowl. "Have you never seen a bidet before?" "That's not a bidet," Will argues. "Bidets are those hose things attached to toilets, right?" "You are thinking of Japanese style bidets, much more common in America. I have always personally preferred the European style." "But what is it for?" Will says while looking sceptically at the bidet. "Washing genitals, feet, even small infants on occasion. I had one installed in my master bathroom, though I doubt you remember." Will comes to love the bidet, and wonders how he ever lived life without it.

2. Italian grocery stores are nothing like the ones in America. Freshly baked bread, meats and cheese prepared right in front of you. Fresh fruit. Will loves it. He and Hannibal are in line for the cheese counter, looking to pick up something for dinner. Will is abandoned, however, as Hannibal has sniffed out a fresh batch of ciabatta being put out. "Ottanta?" the man behind the counter yells. Will looks at the paper ticket in his hand. 80. Must be me, shit. Will tries to conjure up the merger Italian he knows to order the cheese Hannibal wants. "Uh, si. Posso...posso pecorina, per fevore." The man laughs. "Americano?" he scoffs. Will doesn't have time to respond before the man starts fiddling with a machine which grates the cheese. Will is so confused by the interaction that he doesn't even register how much it costs, he simply pays and walks away in search of Hannibal. Once back at home, Hannibal thanks Will for getting the cheese. "I apologise for leaving you, but I see you were able to fend for yourself." "It's no problem. I think it's best that you weren't there. When I ordered the guy laughed at me for being American. Can you believe it?" "What did you say when you ordered?" "I just asked for the pecorina, I guess my accent gave it away but— what is so funny?!" Will pauses his story because Hannibal, a man who never lets out more that a light hearted chortle, is laughing so hard that he is snorting. Once his laughter dies down, he asks, "This is very important, Will. Did you actually say 'pecorina'?" "Yes..?" "I suggest you find out what that means, darling." Will curses and vows to never step foot in that grocery store again.

3. "Geez, it's like a ghost town out there," Will exclaims. He has just come back from an early afternoon walk in order to digest his lunch. Whenever he goes on walks in the morning or evening, the streets are packed, shops are open, and the roads are busy. But today, he decided to set the most of the sun and take his walk just after one. And everything was empty. Windows were shuttered, and the only people Will saw were those on their balconies having a cigarette. Hannibal looks at him confused. "What did you expect? It isn't even two yet." "What do you mean? The sun's shining, why isn't everyone outside?" "I believe that your upbringing in the South has skewed your perception of heat," Hannibal remarks. "This time of day is far too hot to do anything productive, so many stay inside and have a short nap. You haven't noticed?" "No, I guess not." Over the course of the next few days, Will tries to get into the habit of napping in the afternoon, but as soon as he starts to relax, he gets the feeling that he's being unproductive. He should be up and about, not lying in bed when the sun's still up. Even Hannibal, whom Will has never even seen yawn, is fast asleep by three in the afternoon. "Couldn't sleep?" Hannibal asks as he emerges from the bedroom, his hair adorably mussed up. "No. It just doesn't feel right. Plus, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I did go for a nap, so I think it's for the best." It isn't until a few nights later, when Will is too tired to sleep with Hannibal, that he decides a nap in the day is worth being more awake at night.

+1. The waitress had just placed a pot of parmesan on the table. Hannibal orders another glass of wine while Will immediately sprinkles some cheese on his clam linguine. The waitress and Hannibal pause their conversation and both stare directly at Will. "Oh, uhm, nothing for me, thanks." The waitress then glances at Hannibal, who mutters something in Italian that Will doesn't understand, but he hears the word Americano thrown in. The waitress nods knowingly then walks away. "What was that about?" Will asks. "Will, my beloved, you have just ruined a perfectly good plate of pasta." "Because I don't want wine with it?" "No, because," Hannibal leans in to whisper, "because you added cheese to it." His eyes dart around. "If you eat fast enough, perhaps no one will notices." "No." "No?" "No, Hannibal. I am tired of pretending that being an outsider is bad thing. I am going to out parmesan on my pasta and enjoy it." Will ignores the dirty looks and scoffs. He doesn't care. At least he didn't ask for a cappuccino with dinner.

[breakerwhiskey]

258 - TWO HUNDRED FIFTY EIGHT

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

I could really use your dits and dashes right now, Birdie. I could really use anyone to talk to. Harry and I—well, all that growth and warming up and being more vulnerable…I guess I was lulled into a false sense of calm, because things finally…I didn’t think we had more to say to each other, but I guess we did.

It was you…it was you saying “our date”. Can you believe that? All of this time, everything that’s happened, and it was a little jealousy over a person I question is real half the time that finally tipped Harry over. And, you know, I’d been suspecting that she was jealous of you but…Jesus.

When I told her about your message, I guess—well, I was happy! I am happy, I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say. But she—she read something into it because she asked me if I’m in love with you. Which is just…

Don’t take this the wrong way, Birdie, but that’s absurd to me. I’m grateful for you—more than I think I can ever fully express—and I hope that I’ve brought…well, something to what sounds like your fairly complicated existence, but I don’t know you. Not really. I know that you’re caring, and regretful, and scared—I know enough to consider you a friend and to want to really get to know you and cement that friendship. But I don’t know you like I…

I don’t know all the different kinds of laughs you have—the one when you’re being polite, when you think someone is being stupid, when you actually find something hilarious but don’t want to admit it, when you’re embarrassed or flattered, and the one that’s just genuine joy. I don’t know if you have any scars or birthmarks or that you broke your arm falling off a bike when you were eleven and haven’t ever really ridden a bike since. I don’t know the names of your parents or if you have siblings, or what you would spend your perfect day doing.

And it’s not just…the minutiae, it’s…I wouldn’t recognize you in a crowd. I can listen to any song and not have it remind me of you. I can wake up and not have you be the first thing on my mind.

I didn’t—I didn’t say all that, but I told Harry she was crazy, which, well, was the wrong thing to say because she…she blew up at me. She said that she’s felt this before, that she knows what it’s like to be on the outside when I’m on the inside with someone. That that’s what it’s always like with—

I know—I know that you can’t ever really know what someone is experiencing. How a person sees the same events that you’re both going through. But I’d—I’d really had no idea that Harry felt so left out all the time. That my friendship with the guys put her on the outs. That the easy way I had of being with everyone we ever met—with Sissy and K and Francis and Sylvie—how the way that I liked everyone and everyone liked me felt like she was always standing in front of a locked door. And that I was doing that now, that Birdie is my person and that Harry just gets the scraps of both.

I…well, it put some things into context I guess. She’s selfish, possessive, resentful of the fact that she had to share me with all of New York and now she has to share me with the world. She hates the fact that I spent all that time not talking to her and then started telling every inner thought and private secret to anyone who could listen. She’s jealous of you and she’s jealous of my radio.

And I’m not—that’s not me calling her selfish or possessive or any of that. That’s how she put it. Her exact words. And what does she want me to do with that? I—I didn’t say anything. I just walked away and came back up here. After all, it’s her turn to be the one left holding the emotional bag.

I know she’s listening right now. I know she’s gone down to the little visitor center and turned on her radio because I know she knows that the first thing I’d do is get on here and talk to you. Talk to the void.

Except it was never the void, was it? All this time, I left to find people, to hope I’d have someone else to talk to, and I was just talking right to Harry all the while. And that’s the real truth of it. So I might as well talk straight to her right now.

Sometimes I was so happy that we were the only two people in the entire universe. And then you told me what you did and I found myself wishing that I’d drive out into the world and find it full of people and then come back home to tell you and you…wouldn’t be there anymore. And I’d realize that it had all been some weird illusion, or dream, or nervous breakdown and that the whole time I’d been holed up with you, the world kept turning and it was you that wasn’t there. That you were somewhere else entirely, somewhere I’d never be able to reach. Somewhere beyond my control. I’d fantasize that I didn’t have to look for you anymore, because that’s what I was always doing.

Back in New York, back in the world, I would look for you in every room. Any party I ever went to, any museum, it didn’t matter if you weren’t supposed to be there, if you weren’t invited, any time I went into a new place, I’d turn and hope you’d be there. Every time you weren’t was a tiny heartbreak and every time you were was even worse. And there would be a tiny, pinprick moment when I’d just get to look at you, take you in, see you out of the context of us—laughing at someone else’s joke, rolling your eyes at an art critic, sneaking another piece of cake…it would be a split second where I’d get to observe you exactly as you are without me and then it’d be over because you’d somehow know I was there and you’d look over and we’d lock eyes and then…then nothing. You would look away, or I would, and eventually we’d wander into each other’s orbits, but you never came straight to me.

And then we lived together—we lived in the same house for six years, each other’s only company and I was still looking for you. I would still relish every moment that I was in a room without you realizing I was there and every time you’d eventually notice and you wouldn’t…you might say something, maybe, but you wouldn’t look back for long. You wouldn’t chase me. You never chased me. Not until now.

And that’s the grand irony of all of this, isn’t it? I kept looking for you and the moment I left, the moment I stopped looking, you started. And try as I might, I was never really speaking to anyone but you. Even when I talked to Birdie or Fox or was just trying to speak to anyone—anyone who could hear, it was…I was always just trying to talk to you. I spent months hoping it was you, that we’d be able to say through morse code what we never could say out loud.

And now you tell me it isn’t enough? That you still want more of me, that you want all of me, leaving nothing left for anyone else and I—I can’t do that. The part of me that can forgive you—however small it might be at times—that’s the part of me that wants to talk to anyone who would listen. That wants to like everyone she meets. That has wanted to be in the world. You can’t take that part of me away and still have…me. I can’t just be made up of the parts that you shaped. There has to be more of me, because I don’t think you’d want me otherwise.

I stand by what I said almost eighteen months ago—we can’t move forward if you keep caging us in. I’m going to keep moving forward and I’m not going to look back to see if you’re following.

I loved you, Harry. I did. I still lo—

But I can’t keep looking for you. It’s your turn.

[a door opens behind Whiskey]

[click, static]

[leviathanlazarus]

Reaching for Stardust - Part V

Read Looking For Space here / RFS on wattpad / Playlists

Word Count: ~4700

Warnings: drinking, some sexual content ;)

Hi <3

---

The drive to the airport felt ungodly. The morning air was thick and humid and the sky was too cloudy to see the stars–pure darkness led the way. No sun, no moon, no nothing, and I kept dozing off in the passenger seat, feeling sorry I’d let Josh talk me into sitting up there next to his dad. Josh was awake, caffeinated but only temporarily I knew, and he kept chatting with his dad and singing along to songs that were drifting listlessly in and out of my own ears. I was still in a daze when we arrived at the airport but uncomfortably alert when it came to TSA time, although we both made it through without issue. Then came the time for us to march our way through the infinite-feeling space, the fluorescent lights lining every wall and tile and creating a false daylight that guided us along. 

We located a Starbucks before we found our gate which we both used to our advantage–Josh could maintain his pep while I could actually gain some–and sat outside the gate, carry-ons in front of our feet, as we sipped our drinks and people-watched, taking note of who would be boarding the plane with us. 

“He looks stressed,” Josh said quietly, nodding at an older man standing, leaning against the column just beyond the rows of seats, who was all tight shoulders and an even tighter face, staring at his phone. 

“Sort of looks like he’s waiting for someone,” I said, taking another drink. I looked past him, half-expecting to see someone else rushing up to meet their friend or husband or whatever he may be, but the back and forth of the external crowd kept moving. I was feeling a little stressed myself with the caffeine triggering more anxiety than excitement–flying was a rarity and there was always some part of me that felt like something would go wrong, but that feeling was even more palpable now, a harsh bite against my gut that sent a red warning sign off in my head. 

It must have showed in some way because Josh put his arm over my shoulders and leaned in close. “You okay?”

I nodded, sipping my drink again. “Yeah. Nervous to fly, I guess.” 

“It’ll be okay,” Josh assured me. “It’s always better once we’re fully in the air, right?” He knew how much I hated take-off. On the other hand, he loved it. 

The shuffle to our seats was slow and it felt laborious, everything and everyone so cramped, but we eventually got our bags in the overhead compartments and settled into our seats. Josh gave me the window and I was immediately fixated on the outside of the plane even without being in motion, trying to sink myself into our surroundings so I could sink the heavy feeling that was still torturing me. I didn’t even necessarily think anything bad was going to happen during the flight–the feeling wasn’t that specific–but it felt like something dangerous was coming. 

I froze up against the seat when take-off began; Josh took my hand and held it gently between us, not saying anything. He didn’t need to. The contact, that soft touch, was enough to make the bad feeling drift a little further away and remind me that the literal physical, lurching feeling of our ascent was temporary–I squeezed his hand when things got a little rocky, as they always did, and kept my eyes out the window, watching the wing gradually tilt more and more, and then we were really soaring. 

“Here,” Josh said, handing me the right earbud of his wireless set. I put it in my ear and Van Morrison was there, giving me some words about searching his soul that felt so right on that it was as though both he and Josh could read my mind. With that and the scenery below me, the two hours began to fly by. I watched the streams of clouds, stared down at the blue rivers, distant green fields and the terracotta mountains that looked so shallow and small from way up above, listened to Van in my right ear and the subdued chatter of passengers in the left, while Josh intermittently stroked my hand, arm and leg, lost in his own world of the book he’d smartly brought along. I always liked watching him read, honestly–he couldn’t control his facial expressions with anyone or anything, certainly not when he was by himself with a book, and I observed him for a couple minutes here and there between gazing out the window. Soon enough, the pilot was announcing our descent and Josh was squeezing my hand to keep me level. 

Josh had also been smart by reserving a car rental before our trip. Despite his ADHD brain and general attachment to the big picture versus details, he’d really come through with this trip. Of course, that was almost entirely because it’d been a secret from me.

I’d imagined lots of walking around the city but when we started to drive to our airbnb, it became clear that we really were staying in the suburbs. That didn’t diminish any of the allure, however–I was transfixed by this new place, mystified by the soft blue sky, the palm trees lining the streets, the thick vegetation growing in people’s lawns and the breeze that drifted through the car’s cracked windows. The air smelled so different and felt different, too–its warmth was unfamiliar but inviting. The neighborhood we were staying in was so different, the streets lined with little bungalows that sat close together but were largely protected by those deep green gardens everyone seemed to be so fond of. 

The neighborhood clearly wasn’t where affluent people lived and the exterior of our airbnb solidified that, but the inside was surprisingly chic and spacious. Dark hardwood floors led the way to an open living room and kitchen, with a small enclosed porch off the living room; the kitchen was all dark tile and granite, the counters bare except for a Keurig machine and a toaster on one end. 

“This is so you,” I said to Josh while we made our way down the short hallway, hauling our bags behind ourselves and over our shoulders. The walls were a warm sienna brown and there was indigenous artwork everywhere. “I see why you chose it.”

“I mostly chose it because of that porch, actually,” Josh said. “It was hard to find a place with any kind of real yard space. That’s the best I could do. Though I bet we’ll be spending most of our time out on the town, you know?” In the master bedroom, which seemed to harbor the most natural light out of everywhere else in the house, he dropped his bags onto the floor and stood at the foot of the bed, hands on his hips, observing. “I like it.” 

I followed suit, happy to free myself of the extra weight of clothes, shoes and toiletries threatening to burst the seams of my bags. I was a notorious overpacker; Josh was skilled at paring down to basic needs and a few “special” things only. I liked the bedroom too–it deviated from the main parts of the house. Its walls were a pale blue and bright windows and sheer curtains that would no doubt make sure we got up early each morning; the king-sized bed that was tucked perfectly with crisp white sheets and harbored a couple interesting throw pillows–one was shaped like a clam shell and the other was a conch shell. Cute, though we weren’t quite ON the beach. We would be soon, though. One thing Josh made sure to tell me as a selling point was Tybee Island being a short drive away. 

“It’s nice,” I affirmed, getting one arm around Josh and holding him close. Since we’d landed, my prior anxiety and dread had disappeared–it felt impossible to have such a heavy heart in such a foreign and beautiful place. “But there’s two other bedrooms. What are we gonna do with those?” 

“Maybe there’s ghosts,” Josh said, grinning and raising his eyes as he looked at me. “Savannah has a lot of them.”

“Can we do a ghost tour one of these nights?” I asked, remembering the slew of information I’d seen on those during my Google research. We had three nights to tear the town up, as far as I was concerned, and why not try to connect with some spirits? 

“Of course, my spooky darling.” Josh got his arms around me in turn and spun us around, careening us both forward so my back collided with the bed and he landed on top of me. He was still grinning, his hands positioned on either side of my head keeping him from crushing me, though he knew I loved feeling his full weight on top of me any chance I got. “I’m so glad we’re here. It’s gonna be the best trip ever.”

I put my hands on his chiseled, hard waist. “Best birthday ever?”

He grinned even bigger, teeth biting into his bottom lip as if he were trying to pull it back. “It could be. Why not?” He let the weight of his lower body fall, pressing his hips against mine, and brought his mouth to my neck. “I’m in a beautiful place with an even more beautiful woman.” 

I giggled softly at the ticklish sensation from his facial hair rubbing against my skin. “So really–what inspired all of this? I mean, why pick this city?”

“Why not this city?” Josh replied, then nibbled my earlobe, making me giggle louder and his whole body making contact with mine and his languid touches that made their way underneath my clothes made me forget how badly I wanted a real answer.

We drove into town later on when we were mostly unpacked and hankering for a real meal for the first time that day. Josh let me decide and we ended up at what seemed to be one of the most popular diners in town, with a line of waiting, hungry people trailing down the sidewalk. Josh and I shifted weight from foot to foot during our own wait and I kept peering at the old apartments across the road and down the street, with large, long windows that were frequently covered in tangled green vines. Everything looked old and full of carefully constructed detail. What had been curious to me, as we’d walked from our street parking spot to the diner, was how there seemed to be very few houses in the actual city, just lots of apartments within what used to be full houses, though many of them looked big, maybe even bigger than the houses in our temporary neighborhood.

After lunch, mostly stuffed with french fries and a giant sticky pecan roll Josh and I had shared, we set out on foot. That was when we saw the sprawl of independent houses–large, colorful, beautiful and no doubt expensive. They were set close together like the apartments though, lacking true yards, but I could imagine waking up within all those big windows and stepping out into the heart of the city each morning and how accomplished those people who actually live those lives must feel. It was like this everywhere though, really–visiting a new place and speculating how the native inhabitants lived, what brought them there, how they got to their place in life, what they did every day.

I often felt like a bit of an imposter when I was in a new place, like everyone there could tell I was just a visitor, but Savannah may have been the most profound in that way. It was a tourist city for sure, with Josh and I being far from the only ones who probably stood out. That helped, to not feel so alone in living up to the stereotypes of a tourist while we perused through little shops selling Savannah and Georgia t-shirts alike, magnets, keychains, mugs and beach bags. Josh kept trying on different pairs of sunglasses everywhere we went, not settling on a new pair until I had managed to settle on a t-shirt with an alligator printed on it, and he wore them as we walked down the boardwalk by the river. 

The sun was high and hot but the breeze helped; more than that, the array of characters along the boardwalk served as a distraction as we moved in and out of those shops and then finally sat on a bench with big iced cocktails. There was a man playing a trumpet in the middle of it all, spouting a different, comical tune for every person who walked by him. I expected Josh to make a point to parade past him just to hear what the man would play, but he stayed sitting next to me, sipping his honeydew and mango drink while I sipped my strawberry margarita. 

“We should go out tonight,” Josh said as we watched a huge boat go by, more music soaring from somewhere inside of it. 

“Even though we’re celebrating your birthday tomorrow?”

“We have every day and night we’re here to celebrate,” he told me, knocking his plastic cup against mine. “Let’s make the most of this first one.”

“That rooftop bar I saw on Google earlier did look really cool,” I said, my eyes still on the boat as its tail end moved further and further away, the people on it getting smaller and smaller. “Can we go there?”

“Anywhere you want.” 

We ate dinner in this small and tightly packed restaurant modeled after a trailer, with photographs of actual trailers backlit by sunsets hanging on the walls. The place was cute but loud–Josh and I had to yell at one another across the little square table, trying to surmount not only the clamor of our fellow patrons but the loud array of pop and soft rock that blared in from the speakers. We ate fried chicken and fried pickles and I had another, albeit smaller, margarita, and then we headed back to our rental to change. 

We both kept ourselves free of glitter for the night but Josh declared us “two stylish cats” nonetheless. Josh was wearing a fitted white tee and a pair of shiny gold pants he’d found at a thrift store and they’d gotten a little tighter since he initially bought them–his glutes, quads and calves were delectable curves accentuated by the fabric–and the bull pendant to top everything off. Once we were both ready, I scouted out an uber to bring us back downtown. I was itching to give Josh his birthday present a little early but kept it in its little wrapped box back in my suitcase, silently deciding this whole night was a gift to both of us in and of itself. 

“Do you think there’s a password or something?” Josh asked me while we approached the main door to the rooftop bar. It was tucked away in the corner of a cobblestone courtyard, not far off from the boardwalk, with a large fountain in front of it. Neon lights glazed the water, making the endless streams glow in hot pink, electric blue and vivid green, giving real truth to its name of Electric Moon Skytop Lounge.

“Doubt it,” I said, though I hadn’t thought about it. I took Josh’s arm in my own, linking us together as we made eye contact with the bouncer standing outside. “Maybe just a door fee or something.” But there was not, just the usual ID check. As always, whenever I caught a glimpse of it, I stifled a giggle at Josh’s old driver’s license photo, with his short-cropped curls and goofy smile, the face of someone I hadn’t met yet but who the universe had generously placed in my path. 

An elevator took us to the roof. The place wasn’t quite packed but it wasn’t dead–it was the perfect sort of in-between, with half of the actual bar flooded with people leaning over the glossy cocktail menus or their phones and the rest of the space harboring plush leather seats. There was no door to the actual outside roof–it was just a huge gap in the space, a wide open entrance and exit that was letting the comfortable breeze waft in and dissipate the clashing scent of various colognes and perfumes from the patrons. 

The cocktail menu was extensive and I couldn’t decide what flavor I wanted–what would fit this mood, with the balmy darkness beckoning us outside, the loud dance music that most of the people were neglecting to groove to, the bar backsplash of bright white lights that bounced off Josh’s crisp t-shirt? 

“You should stick with tequila,” Josh recommended while he scanned the menu along with me, our arms touching. “We’re OLD now and can’t mix drinks as well as we used to.”

I scoffed. “We are not old, Joshua. Young forever, remember?” I caught his smile in the corner of my eye and I smiled too as I resumed my perusing of the menu. “Alright, then. Moon Margarita it is.”

“Wait!” Josh exclaimed, grabbing my arm. “Shots. We should do shots.”

My stomach clenched at the thought. “The birthday boy wants shots? For real?”

He laughed, bouncing next to me. “Yes, for real! Come on, please? When’s the last time we did shots?” 

“Not since we were with the guys, I’m sure.” I sighed and patted the menu, finalizing my decision. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Two shots and two cocktails each later, Josh and I were perpetually giddy and as electric as all the lights shining on the river, sitting at a high-top table at the edge of the patio and sharing a cigarette. He only ever pulled those out on special occasions, keeping a pack to himself that would last for months, and the nicotine was curling through my blood, buzzing in my brain, making everything seem even more brilliant. Sitting there with him, I no longer cared that he’d kept this all a secret–it was a beautiful, fun and special secret and I was actually glad it was just the two of us. At the core of it all, that’s kind of how it had become and years prior to knowing Josh, the thought of that would have nauseated me–being tethered to one person had always seemed scary but, more than that, like simply a bad decision. I’d never questioned it with Josh, though. We had our tribe–my friends, his friends, his family, my family–but the bond between the two of us felt unbreakable in a way I hadn’t known before. The world could crumble around us and I was confident some piece of Josh and I would remain. 

“God,” I said, tapping the cigarette into the blue glass ashtray on the table, then laughed. “I’m wasted, Josh.” 

He laughed with me and took the cigarette back when I passed it across to him. “Me too, darling. But in the best way. Like, just the right amount.” He turned as he took a drag, lashes fluttering as he looked out over the water. “This is great. I really love this place.”

“Me too,” I echoed, following his gaze to the river. “This might be the coolest bar we’ve ever been to.”

“The bar, yes. Or lounge, whatever,” Josh said with a wave of his arm, his hand holding the cigarette letting the curls of smoke soar through the air. “But the whole city, too. I just love it. It’s got such charm.”

I tilted my head, so drunk and forever enamored, and smiled. “It does. So do you.”

He extended the cigarette back to me once more. “Charming enough to buy you another drink?”

“Wait, no,” I protested, putting the cigarette between my lips as I rifled through my bag. Through the obstruction and the slight drunken slur that was happening, I said, “I should’ve been buying you the drinks the whole time. It’s your birthday.” 

“Hey, hey, no, absolutely not,” Josh scolded, laughing, and began to get up from the table. “We’ve been over this a thousand times.” He came over to me, kissed my cheek, and whisked away, calling out, “Be right back!” 

I sighed but laughed just the same and worked on finishing the cigarette as I checked my phone. It wasn’t quite midnight yet but I figured I’d forget later on to text Jake happy birthday, so I sent that text with a selfie of Josh and I in front of the fountain in Forsyth Park and a little sentimental message about missing him. I felt myself slipping into too much of the inebriated heartache and willed myself to stop, bringing my attention back to the glittering black river and the sounds around me, the feeling of the night air and the moon suspended within it, right above me. 

When it was, in fact, officially midnight, Josh and I were walking out of the cobblestone courtyard back up to the streets, preparing to hitch our next uber. I was looking at the map with the little cars following zig-zagging lines when I noticed the clock change; I pulled Josh aside and behind a thick oak tree while real cars wheeled past us on the dark road. 

“Happy birthday, beautiful,” I said, hugging him against my body, with my lips right against his ear. 

He giggled, a sound frequently reserved for drunken nights. “Thank you, darling. Another trip around the sun. I feel wiser for it.”

“You are wiser,” I agreed, closing my eyes, keeping him there. He hugged me right back and left us to slightly sway on the sidewalk, our faces brushed gently by each other’s hair and the night breeze. 

Back in our temporary home, we were a further mess of drunken giggles and increasingly heated touches until we were actively ruining the white sheets with our mingling sweat. I felt less head-drunk since we’d started kissing and touching, Josh’s hands extra exploratory and wandering, but the body buzz was exacerbated; I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled from my chest as Josh kissed, and inadvertently, tickled my neck and ears and I couldn’t stop my own hands from wandering in turn. His skin was warm and soft beneath my fingers and the muscles in his arms flexed while I grazed over them and he tried to maneuver us both, to get the rest of our clothing off. My fingertips found the column of his neck and I traced up his throat to his jaw, caressing the sharp lines there and the softer lines of his mouth before I brought that back to mine to devour. 

“I’m ready for a present now,” Josh said when he pulled back, dark eyes shimmering in the moonlight filtering through the window. 

“Blowjob?” I asked in earnest, mentally readying myself for the task. 

“Ha!” Josh let out loudly, throwing his head back, which made me laugh in disbelief. He shook his head then and tapped my nose with one fingertip. “Nope.” With that, he crawled down the bed until he was on the floor in front of it, grabbed my ankles to yank me down, then planted his face right between my thighs. 

“Shit,” I hissed, squeezing my eyes shut while I latched onto his hair with my fingers. I hadn’t been expecting that and the sensation was so sudden and intense that I was already trembling. Josh remained there, his hands gripping my thighs, and sent little vibrations up my spine with his muffled moans; it didn’t take long until I was seeing stars and clawing at his scalp, trying to push him off in my hyper-sensitive state. 

Mercifully, Josh did. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he came back up and pressed his hips between mine, kissing me and sliding through the slick wetness that was all thanks to him. I shut my eyes and let go, let myself become lost in all of his touching and the song that expanded in the room with our mutual moans, sighs and soft words. I felt like I was slurred and nearly unintelligible, but Josh was as eloquent as ever; he sighed praise and affirmations into my ears and against my cheeks and lips while he thrust deep and intentional within me. 

Lying in the afterglow, we snuggled underneath the warm sheets; I pet Josh’s curls back and traced lines down his neck and chest while he curled himself against me. “I love you, Starshine,” I said, mostly sober then and not even all that tired. But Josh’s ability to become so quiet and still once we were in bed together was almost contagious, even if my mind didn’t always slow down at the same pace. 

“Mmm,” Josh hummed against my collarbone. “Love you more.” He looped his arms around me and squashed me into a hug while squashing his own face into my neck. “I want us to be together forever.”

I laid one arm over my head to give us both more breathing room. “I think we’re doing that,” I told him. It was true. “I’m either gonna be with you forever or be with nobody forever. You know that.”

Josh nodded. “You’ve told me. Sometimes I just need a reminder.”

I played with the curls at the base of his neck. “I love you more than the sun, moon and stars combined.”

He giggled softly. “That’s a lot of love,” he said, then popped his head up to pop a quick kiss onto my lips. “I love you more than the whole universe.”

I chuckled. “You always have to one-up me, don’t you?” 

Josh settled back down, his eyelashes fluttering against my neck. “No. Just stating facts.”

“Wait!” I said, suddenly alarmed and wide awake, and shot up from the bed to scramble around for something clean to wear. “I have to give you your real present.” I rifled through my bag to throw on a t-shirt and shorts before I retrieved the box wrapped in sapphire blue paper from the small pocket that had been keeping it safe. 

Josh sat up and I met him halfway up the bed, placing the box on his sheet-covered thigh. “You really didn’t have to get me anything,” he said, laying his long fingers over the paper. “This trip was more than enough.”

“I like getting you presents. It’s just one thing,” I said, wishing I’d remembered to give it to him earlier. “But I saw it and thought of you.” 

He leaned back and to the side, straining to reach the lamp on the nightstand. “I imagine I’ll need some light for this. Jewelry?” he asked, grinning at me before he looked down, concentrating on peeling back the paper. 

“How’d you know?” I quipped, smiling too. I never had to worry about whether or not Josh would like what I got him–the bull pendant from our first anniversary was still hanging around his neck and I was sure he’d be pleased with the change. 

When the box was opened and Josh was holding up the chain in one hand, the pendant twirled in the air and the tiny jewels caught the light and it really did look like a small, brilliant golden star he could keep over his heart. He laid the pendant down in his open palm and traced the sharp triangles and gemstones with his fingers. 

“I absolutely love it,” he said, his touch moving up the length of the chain, then he looked up and smiled at me. “It’s very me.” 

“I thought so, too.” I leaned over him and kissed the top of his head. “For my Starshine.” 

Josh put the chain over his head and the starburst–I was committed to it being a star now, not a sun, because it just suited him so well–settled over his chest, right beneath the shiny bull pendant. He grabbed my arm with one hand and the back of my head with the other, pulling me to him, pressing his lips to mine that caused a different kind of starburst in my own heart. 

“Thank you, darling,” he said before kissing me again. 

It was always gratifying when Josh was seemingly at a loss for words. I toyed with the pendant while I stroked his shoulder with my other hand. “You’re welcome,” I replied, knowing he would be in my orbit forever, he’d be my stars and moon and universe forever, he’d be mine forever. 

---

Tagging: @jjwasneverhere @colorstreammind

[mxtxfanatic]

I mean, I don’t think Lan Xichen stupid; he is just unwilling to see his loved ones in a bad light and, like you said, does not care about much else outside of that. Lan Wangji does speak up for Wei Wuxian, and that is the moment Lan Xichen contradicts him in favor of Jin Guangyao’s intentional slander:

Jin GuangYao took the handkerchief, wiping away as he forced a smile, “I can’t leave, can I?” He was the only one left to clean up the mess. How could he leave the scene? He reassured the crowd as he ranted, completely exhausted, “Young Master Wei really is too impulsive. How could he speak in such a way in front of so many sects?” Lan WangJi spoke coldly, “Was he wrong?” Jin GuangYao paused almost unnoticeably. He immediately laughed, “Haha. Yes, he’s right. But it’s because he’s right that he can’t say it in front of them, correct?” Lan XiChen seemed as if he was deep in thought, “Young Master Wei’s heart really has changed.” Hearing this, pain flashed across the light pair of eyes under Lan WangJi’s knitted brows.

—Chapt. 72: Recklessness, exr

But the reason I said that nobody following Wei Wuxian to the labor camp to verify the Jin Clan’s crimes is Lan Xichen’s (and everyone else’s) negligence is that Wei Wuxian publicly charged the Jin with corruption and amassing power to become like the same clan that they all just had to put down lest they be killed. This isn’t about “punishing another clan’s disciple,” this is about making sure another war isn’t gonna need to happen some years down the line! A person caring for righteousness at most and the safety of their people at least would have followed up. Lan Xichen does not. Therefore, everything that happens after to his clan is his own fault for failing to care past “I can’t leave, now, jgy got tea poured on him!” Just like everything that happened to the Nie Clan post-emergency conference is Nie Mingjue’s fault for willingly standing with Jin Guangyao’s lies as long as it meant that nobody would side with any Wen, regardless of their innocence. It's not that the Lan are particularly isolationist, either, but that the entire cultivation world is "it's none of my business" about inhumanity committed against other, less powerful people and only care if their loves ones or power is on the line, hence why it took the QishanWen finally just outright attacking the Nie Clan for the Sunshot Campaign to start, despite the fact that they had already burned down the Cloud Recesses and had killed 2/5 great clan leaders in living memory.

And following that thread back to the Sunshot Campaign: nobody criticized Wei Wuxian during the war except Lan Wangji. It is a whole commentary on the hypocrisy of the cultivation world and why Lan Wangji is different, because when everyone could benefit from his ghost path, they all loved it—in fact, they thought Lan Wangji was unreasonable for criticizing Wei Wuxian!—but when it was peacetime and Wei Wuxian refused to bow to hierarchy and play the part of the servant to their whims, then suddenly his cultivation is “a crooked path” and the yon tiger tally “needs to be controlled by other clans, not one person.” Lan Wangji was the only one consistent in how he treated Wei Wuxian’s cultivation, and that was because he was operating under the false assumption that Wei Wuxian’s change in personality came from his nee cultivation and not from a missing golden core and having to survive so many traumatic events around the time of its removal. Wei Wuxian doesn’t practice demonic cultivation, and he isn’t deemed “uncontrollable” because of it but because he refuses to “fall in line.” He is slandered as a “demonic cultivator” because people are jealous and covetous of his power.

As long as Wei Wuxian refused to become blindly loyal like Wen Zhuliu or morally repugnant like Xue Yang and as long as he didn’t remain a humble background ornament like Jinzhu and Yinzhu so as not to seem more powerful than their “betters” (the gentry), Wei Wuxian was doomed to never be accepted by the greater cultivation world. There was no “holding doors open for him despite his lineage,” because if there’s one thing rich and powerful people hate, it’s someone who’s better than them and won’t let them forget it. A

Why Lan Wangji Endures

I breifly touched on this topic before in this post, but I wanted to go more in-depth with it in combination with this post. When Lan Wangji says this:

"...When I went to see him, I told him, ‘Young Master Wei was already in the wrong, why add onto the wrong committed?’ And he said....... He can’t affirm whether what you did was right or wrong. But no matter what, he was willing to shoulder all of the responsibility together with you...."

—Chapt. 99: A Hatred for Life Part 2, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

...he is not making a statement on the morality of either his or Wei Wuxian's actions. In fact, his opinions about the moral righteousness of their actions are separate from his opinions on his clan's (and the greater cultivation world's) meted-out punishments. Why? Because the rules and laws of the cultivation world are now wholly separate from what is moral, and so Lan Wangji has matched Wei Wuxian in cleaving his sense of morality from what is considered acceptable by the status quo. Lan Wangji cannot confirm to Lan Xichen (or the Lan Clan, or the cultivation world as a whole) whether Wei Wuxian was right or wrong because they are not operating under the same understanding of "right and wrong." At the same time, Lan Wangji's (summarized via Lan Xichen's) speech above is not in conversation with his brother but actually in conversation with Wei Wuxian's speech back in Yiling:

There was no such road. No solution existed. Wei WuXian spoke slowly, “Thank you for keeping me company today. Thank you for telling me the news about my shijie’s marriage too. But, let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on. I, too, know what I should and shouldn’t do. I believe that I’ll be able to control it as well.” As if he’d anticipated such an attitude since a long time ago, Lan WangJi nodded slightly and closed his eyes. And that marked their farewell.

—Chapt. 75: Distance, exr

Wei Wuxian was put into a dead-end situation where any act of self-defense or defense of innocents was an automatic crime. In the end, he experienced the ultimate consequence of death because his act of self-defense led to the death of an important individual, a death that was seen as "unforgivable" in the eyes of the cultivation world, unlike the deaths of Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. Likewise, Lan Wangji's actions in protecting Wei Wuxian against his clan were met with punishment, because even though he had good cause in rescuing the Wen remnants' only protector, going against his clan is "unforgivable" in the eyes of a society ruled by tradition and orthodoxy over morality. This is why Wei Wuxian says that the self must judge the self, and why Lan Wangji is following that creed by enduring the Lan Clan punishment while maintaining an unshakeable belief in Wei Wuxian's righteousness.

It was never about Lan Wangji doubting his or Wei Wuxian's morals. It was never about Lan Wangji putting love above righteousness. It was always about how Lan Wangji so much believed in Wei Wuxian's morality and the righteousness of his actions that he was willing to protect the man when the entire world said he was in the wrong, when his own family stood opposite him. And just like Wei Wuxian eventually accepted the consequences of his actions and used his last moments to attempt to destroy the Stygian Tiger Seal, Lan Wangji, too, endured being whipped 33 times by the discipline whip, then went on to rescue Wen Yuan and raise him and the other Lan disciples with morals so strong that they could transcend the mob mentality that their parents never learned to unsubscribe from. Lan Wangji's steadfastness in the face of the incredible hypocrisy and corruption baked into the system he lived in is why Wei Wuxian is able to resurrect into a world where the new generation can look up to him as a hero and a mentor rather than a scourge and a terror.

This endurance is Lan Wangji's ultimate act of love.

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Yandere Cult Leader! Headcanons

Warnings: Toxic Behaviour, Obsessive Behaviour, Possessive Behaviour, Delusions of Grandeur, Narcissism, Manipulation, Indoctrination, Implications of Smut, Implications of Sexual Coercion, Kidnapping, False Imprisonment, Implication of Murder, Implications of Torture, Implication of Sexual Punishment/Reward, Implications of Pregnancy (Not of Reader), Poisoning, Stockholm Syndrome, Religious Themes, No Pronouns used for Reader except ‘You’.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when he sees you for the first time, a quiver in your walk and your voice as you explain to him that your car just swerved into a tree, seemingly of its own accord, leaving you with no means of transportation, knows there is something different about you. Almost whimsical.

♡ Something that makes his stone heart stammer.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when you shamble up to his front doorstep and plead for help, welcomes you with open arms into his house – the only one for miles – and tells you to “Take a seat. Please, make yourself comfortable !”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, after finding out that you’re unfamiliar with the area, that you’re not privy to where anything or anyone is, hence you didn’t see whatever caused your car to swerve, can’t help but feel something hidden, dark, light up in the back of his mind.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who insists you “Stay the night; we’d be more than happy to have you !” And actively resists your declination, your promise that you’ll “Be fine if I can get to a hospital.”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader whose only elaboration on who “we” are comes in the form of taking you out the back of the house, which now you see is more like a manor, the front of the architecture being deceptively small and mousy, where, as far as the eye could see, a town slept. One filled with people – hundreds, it seemed – dressed in clothing so similar to one another that they formed a moving pattern.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, despite knowing there are always vacant houses available for any ‘late comers’ to his Association, tells you otherwise – that you will be “Staying with me.” Just until you’re better. Or the next morning, at the very least.

♡ With no phone signal and a growing headache, throupled with your limp, you feel you have little chance of survival out on the open road; especially at night.

♡ And, with what you suspect to be a concussion and no room to argue given how far from anything and everything you were, you accepted what you thought was a gracious offer.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader knows he has to act fast – while you’re still vulnerable and malleable.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when he has one of his associates draw you a bath, takes your clothes and puts them somewhere only he knows, providing you with clothes of the same material and disposition as everyone else at the compound town.

♡ “For your comfort,” he says, smiling vaguely. “Those city garments looked awfully dirty and uncomfortable – especially since you’ve just had a nasty accident.”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when you ask for an ambulance, does one better, bringing you the ‘in-house doctor’ who tells him exactly what he wants to hear. That you’ll “Need to rest for the next week or so, just to be safe.”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who thanks whatever deity aside from himself exists who has gifted him such a lenient timeframe to grant you ascension into his Family.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, standing just outside your guest bedroom, can’t help but smile, knowing that a week alone with you will be a cakewalk. He’s converted people in a single night before now. Albeit through practices he just can’t bring himself to use on you. Not in isolation, anyway.

♡ Despite the unfamiliar sense of urgency that twists his heart in directions it has never known.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who wastes no time in spinning a frivolous, magnificent story for you, proclaiming himself the mayor of this small, humble town, made up of hard-working folk – farmers, labourers, clothes makers; people who were driven from the city after industrialisation made it impossible for them to financially support themselves.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who revels in the way your eyes glimmer when he divulges his accolades to you, though does so with the modesty of one who sees it as their everyday life. Yet, he knows he has not captured your adoration yet. Another idol lives in your heart; a pop star, a film actor, a god of some description. Not him.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who promises to stamp this out of you. In time.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, in the couple of days after you arrived, commits every ounce of his free time to getting to know you, to understanding what makes you tick, what makes you submissive.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, being the only one in the Compound to understand your culture references outside of this town, having access to sources his Family does not, uses all his knowledge to create an image of himself as a relatable, well-adjusted member of society. Both yours, and his.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader can see you’re becoming more comfortable with him the longer he spends in your presence. And he picks up on your body language to know when you want to be left alone, when you want to speak with him, when you’re starting to feel uncomfortable for one reason or another, and acts accordingly.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when you start to ask if you’ll be able to leave soon, knows what must be done.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader understands that, to create the perfect disciple, one must first give them the illusion of choice, and the illusion that, when given the chance to leave, they are making the right choice by deciding to stay.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader no longer accosts you when you go to leave the house anymore, instead feeding into your little fantasy that “You’re looking a lot healthier now ! I think you’re almost fully healed.” Even getting the doctor to confirm his false pleasantry musings.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, from the top floor of his sprawling manor, watches you interact with his Family. You’re so easy to track even without his assigned Protectors following you. You stick out with your mannerisms, your smile fresh and not derived from worship of him, but a million other things running through your mind.

♡ You’re a challenge. Oddly resilient to his attempts to charm you as not to want to spend every waking second in his presence as his disciples do. Then again, you’re much more strong-willed than them. Have something to live for.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, despite his goal of initiating as many people into his Family as he can, can’t deny that the more he knows about you – what little information you divulge to this perfect stranger – he feels…drawn to you. In the same way his disciples are to him.

♡ This, he cannot allow. Though he does humour this schoolboy feeling of his interest piquing, his heart fluttering whenever you laugh at his jokes, or relay something to him he never knew before.

♡ Sure, maybe he’s only known you for about a week at this point, but he knows potential when he sees it.

♡ And he’s seen it in you.

♡ Now it’s just a case of getting you – and it – to conform to his will.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, just like whenever he’s feeling overwhelmed or needs to dispel energy of a most nefarious nature, beds his willing disciples – those he knows will not say no, who will gladly take his seed, those who will bear him the fruits of his labour.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader lives for validation, and he’s essentially created his own serotonin farm to stroke his ego whenever he feels it deflating.

♡ And nothing makes Yandere Cult Leader’s ego swell more than seeing the women of his town with his children, knowing that they shall be his successors, the ones to continue his legacy, or fall into his personal army if they are too weak in the mind to take up his mantle.

♡ And that, he knows, is the root of all power. His power, at least.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when he realises that people will start looking for you soon, decides to take matters into his own hands. He won’t let anyone take you from him. Not when there’s still so much he has to show you – to teach you.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who fabricates your demise – an unfortunate car accident – sacrificing one of his family collective to take your place in the car, similar to you in every aspect in your physicality; your hair colour, your height, your eyes. And the parts that can’t be faked – moles, tattoos, patches – he has his associates cover up with a fire sparked when the oil leaked into the car engine.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, in the meantime, starts thinking of ways to keep you inside – to stop you from seeing anyone else besides him, from potentially escaping.

♡ That, and he underestimated your likeability, noticing his disciples beginning to take to you with something akin to haste. Something akin to that which he felt for you.

♡ Attraction.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who sees this liking displayed when everyone is gathered in the hall for his talks, wherein he sees the odd person or two talking with you during his speeches. Something unheard of – straight-up forbidden – until now.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader decides not to punish you for this transgression. After all, you’re new ! You don’t know how everything works here (he’s made sure of that). But the initiator…

♡ Yandere Cult Leader makes sure they learn their lesson – a little etiquette in obedience. And you won’t be seeing them again for a while.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader doesn’t just see you as a distraction for himself anymore, but a potential weapon against his power.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader isn’t stupid. On the contrary, he’s entirely lucid and knows exactly what you’d call his little establishment. A cult. A blasphemy of heretics.

♡ And he can’t have you blabbing your mouth – as much as he loves hearing you tell him stories – to the wrong people. Or realising what you’ve been roped into.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader takes your health into his hands and begins adding a secret ingredient to your meals. One which is tasteless, scentless, yet weakens you with each passing day.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, now having the excuse to do so, rarely lets you out of the house (not that you can leave, anyway) insisting that you aren’t well enough to do so.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader makes sure he’s your main source of care and entertainment during your time of declining health.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader uses your weakened, bed-ridden state to feed you more glorious tales of his philanthropy and godliness. And you, with little else to do – little else you can do – listen. And believe.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, as the weeks go on, can see that the defiance in your eyes, the initial hesitation and wariness you displayed in your first days here, is starting to fade, along with any fight or hope you have of ever leaving this place.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader feels his heart clamour when you request his presence, an associate of his coming to retrieve him from his office on the rare day he isn’t there to care for you himself.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, when he can see you’re particularly pained, looks over his shoulder and, as if he’s letting you in on a secret, flashes you a smile.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader calls you his “Special little Lamb. My Saint,” and gets up, locking the bedroom door, returning to your bedside.

♡ His hand slips beneath the bed sheets, finding your thigh. First, with reassurance. Then, with something else. Hunger. Promise.

♡ And you, in your state of delirium, either cannot or choose not to resist as his hand travels further beneath your night shirt, creeping ever closer to your epicentre. All the while, he’s crawling on top of you, an archway to another world. A cage.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader tells you to “Keep quiet. We don’t want the others getting jealous now.”

♡ And all the while, as he’s taking care of you, making you gasp, too feeble to even make a sound, he tells you how he thinks “The Gods will heal you, if only you acknowledged them.” His gaze turns hard. There is no humour, no levity, within him. “Join them.”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, one evening, when he’s at your bedside, after months of his attempts to break you, feels his heart soar when you tell him you “Want to become part of the Family.”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader can’t tell if he’s eventually gotten through to you, either with his promises of restoration or his nights of gratification, but he sees your conformity as loyalty. Finally.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, seeing that he has you in his iron grip, ceases his poisoning and begins work on your ascension. Immediately.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, as your condition begins to improve, tells you that you are to become his ‘special assistant’ – an occupation everyone in his town would kill and die for.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader whose articulation of what ‘special assistant’ means comes in the form of a collar.

♡ And not just any collar. A shock collar. 

♡ Not that you know this. Yet.

♡ yandere Cult Leader who, when you’re able to stand, move, and even participate in everyday activities, has your ‘coronation’ organised. A celebration (and display of ownership_ of you and all that you will be bringing to the Family.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who watches everyone’s reactions carefully, picking out those who showed doubt, even a sliver, and those who seemed overly-accepting of your presence.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, that night, as you went to go to your room, pulled you into his, locking the door behind him.

♡ “An assistant as special as yourself can’t be expected to sleep all by their lonesome,” he tells you, his hand on yours. Iron.

♡ “Not when it’s my job to serve you.”

♡ Yandere Cult Leader is a master manipulator. A lucid one at that. Though, his narcissism clouds his sense of self.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who, that night, takes you for the first time, deeming it to be the claiming ceremony’ – one which has been a tradition since the inception of the Association.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader convinces you that this is the right thing to do, regardless of how much you want to do it.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader who doesn’t stop until he sees every ounce of resistance leave your eyes, and not just towards his advances. Extending far beyond tonight – into the rest of your life as you come to accept that this is your fate, one spent with a demon in a  god’s clothing.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader uses sexual gratification as a motivator (or punishment) depending on your behaviour.

♡ If you do something that displeases him, that risks making him lose face if only for a second, he can be vile. Promising the most promiscuously torturous and painful outcomes should you defy his word again.

♡ Such motivators of these punishments can be as simple as wanting to take a walk outside the Compound, asking him a question about the Uncaring Outside, or not doing what he asks of you immediately after he’s told you what he wants.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader is most unkind when he is displeased. And he’ll let you know how easily replaceable you are, how quickly he can find a willing body to take your place in his bed at a moment’s notice.

♡ And you know he’s right. That’s why you obey like you do, why you take the slings and arrows your existence is heir to now, why you plead and beg and cry that you’d “Do better next time ! Please, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry–”

♡ However, if you have displayed good behaviour, he’ll call you by any name you want to hear – “Sweetheart”, “Darling”, “Angel” – anything that reinforces your perceived importance to the Cult Leader.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader has you glued to his side forevermore. Anyone who tries tot ake you from him is deftly dealt with. Which is why you never see the people who’ve come searching for you, who stumbled upon the leader’s human enclosure as you had. Albeit with less guidance from the Leader.

♡ Yandere Cult Leader promises you that “Nobody out There loves you as much as I do. If they did, they’d have come to join you, wouldn’t they ?”

♡ God forbid if you disagree. The Leader didn’t groom you to be opinionated; he tamed you into his pet.

♡ And if you ever want a fighting chance of escaping this place alive, you have to make him believe that you’re dedicated to nothing but him.

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously and it is greatly appreciated :-)

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