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[akascow]

UGHHH the way viktor was afraid of people forgetting his accomplishments and how his memory will be short lived only for it to ACTUALLY HAPPEN is SO FUCKING HEARTBREAKING

because he was never included in the hextech credits, his name isnt as publically known and ppl will only see him as That One Guy who started a cult and tried to take over the world or smth (IF that. like do most people even know thats viktor in there or is it just another Piltover’s nameless baddie of the week to them… sad)

and the FEW people who knew him and his contribution to hextech are either just dead or probably saw him as a villain as their last memory of him, was he even worth saving in their mind??

the ONLYYYY person who understood him and loved him for who he was (other than sky ofc, who also died lmao) was taken with him in death, so viktor’s story wont even live on in honor for how he truly was and what he really stood for, bc jayce is the only one who can accurately describe him post-mortem

and people will probably think jayce (THE GOLDEN BOY, MAN OF PROGRESS in the eyes of piltover) died trying to fight him bc no one knows what their conversation was about before they went out, or how jayce was willing to sacrifice himself too because he shares blame in it all, so theyll likely just villainize viktor for that as well, 'the one who killed jayce talis- creator of hextech'

and no one is alive to mourn him :( so fucking depressing

also i dont blame jayce for 'taking all the credit' like some people do lol ive seen ppl say he was egotistical and taking it all in for himself and pushing viktor aside, but he literally always says viktor is his partner and never implies that HE ALONE developed hextech or that hes the sole creator in it all

like its always been 'OUR inventions' and 'my PARTNER' and 'WE created this' whenever jayce talks about hextech. he literally corrects viktor from "your [jayce's] hextech dream" to "our hextech dream" the very first night they partner up bc, despite knowing this man for maybe 4 hours max, he already recognizes the importance of their partnership and that hes not the sole idea-man in this project anymore

i think that whole negative idea was probably developed from jayce signing every single page in his notes,, but itd make more sense to me that he'd do that- not out of arrogance- but he might share the same fear that viktor has: in being forgotten for his work... so he signs every page making sure no one can take a piece out of context and pass it as their own years down the line, or erase the possibility that forget the origin of the creator, especially in a world where a species like yordels are seemingly immortal, names hold a lot of weight as time withers tangible things away

and im assuming jayce recognizes that the fact that being from the undercity could have easily silenced viktor's ideas and contributions in the eyes of the public, and jayce doesnt want to diminish his work towards it. two very important lines jayce hears from viktor that night are "do you think i want to spend my whole life as an assistant" and "a poor kid from the undercity, no one believed in me, i was an outcast the moment i stepped foot in piltover" and he probably took those to heart (paraphrasing those quotes bc i have the memory of a goldfish or smth)

i feel like its moreso piltover to blame (? imo) lmao they set up jayce as the golden boy, and piltover is all about names and status and wealth. they very obviously discriminate against zaunites (and viktor himself states that too) like yeah we dont see the whole process of The Man of Progress being made,, BUT viktor expresses how he doesnt want to go out in front of people in Progress Day, so jayce is very much just respecting his wishes and boundaries to not drag him up there when hes clearly uncomfortable at the thought yk?

viktor might also recognize himself that piltover will use his knowledge as a celebrity idol for people to look at rather than as an actual scientist for people to acknowledge and appreciate. he wants to be known for what he did, not a soulless face for people to gawk at. makes sense tho, irl u usually dont remember celebrity actions unless theyre negative, but you do remember scientist's accomplishments rather than what they look like

ppl bring up the hexgate blueprints at the end and how it only has Jayce's name on it as another argument and idk i feel like it has multiple things to stem off that before getting to the 'jayce took credit for everything' idea?

maybe they were changed after the whole cult incident, like viktor's name taken off, which yeah thats obviously depressing in itself. i think its more likely bc piltover wont want their whole gimmick to be associated with that incident, rather than jayce purposefully leaving viktor's name out of it... thats probably the strongest explanation imo. we gotta remember viktor is quite literally jayce's best friend- do you really think jayce would take away his best friend's accomplishments like that? lets be real yall HAHA

my own guess is that jayce was actually the sole designer in the hexgate design, and while they can share custody, maybe viktor doesnt take credit for things that werent his ? like yeah they worked on the hextech ideas together but it could be more like jayce drew up the plans and viktor helped with the science of it idk, but thatd explain why only jayce's name would be on it (in a non depressing way that kind of makes sense), bc jayce designed the hexgates specifically

maybe viktor didnt want his name on it either bc reasons i said above, tho this is unlikely to me bc he probably wouldnt want his name taken off if he was scared about legacy erasure,, but these are just theories idk

anyway i think blaming jayce for viktor's erasure is kind of - uhm -stupid because jayce has always made it his goal to not just save viktor but to include viktor every time he brings up hextech in conversation, whether it calls for his mention or not. because jayce knows drilling viktor's name association as co-contributer to hextech into the heads of other people is important, considering viktor's background, and jayce's own current social status as the golden boy: the leverage he holds when he speaks. people will listen lol

[mejaemin]

200 - lee minhyung

wc: 1.2k

summary: mark cannot lose you, so in a desperate effort to let you know, he does so in the way he knows best

warnings: fighting, they make up dw, i mentioned a crude joke towards woman being made but it was never explicitly said

an: what did i eat today that made me to a triple upload ?!?! and none of those three were pre written ?!?! crazy.. but anyway here’s my first (solo) work for markle sparkle !!! lowkey i prefer the minhyung version of 200 over the regular.. but anyway pls enjoy this !!! also tysm to @viasdreams for helping me come up with an idea for what the argument should be about 😙😙 ly queen

listen 🎧! : 200 - minhyung’s version

───── ⋆⋅ ⊹ ⁺ 𐔌 ᩧ ຼ ͡ ৯ ♡໒⁀ ᩧຼ ꒱ིྀ ⁺ ⊹ ⋅⋆ ─────

mark is so done.

it’s been about a week since “the incident”, and a week of going through extreme withdrawals and torture on his end from being shut out. within your circle of friends and quite a few people outside of it, your “argument” has become quite a popular topic amongst the people.

it’s honestly very petty of you, but you can’t help it. your whole situation just doesn’t sit right with you. for reference, you were hanging out with mark and his friends last week, nothing new. it started when his one friend started making sexual jokes, and of course it’s gross but boys will be boys, so you chose to distract yourself in your phone rather than torture yourself with listening to that nonsense.

the real problem arose when said jokes started turning strange, almost feeling objectifying towards women. it was quite uncomfortable to have to sit in the middle of a conversation, but thankfully you didn’t need much incentive to leave when mark started laughing along with the group. you immediately snapped your head around to look at him, giving him a look, and you could tell that was all you needed to do because he was immediately leaning towards you, but you paid him no mind and just left.

he was following behind you, and you ignored him all the way until you were halfway down the block. he grabbed your wrist, and maybe your hormones were a little off balance because you did make it out to be a little more than it should have been, but you turned around and snapped at him. in public, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, you and mark had an argument about why it was so inappropriate for him to laugh at such crude jokes. of course, in the heat of the moment it went nowhere, and ended with him driving you home (he drove you to the hangout, and despite being angry he still didn’t want you walking) in silence.

as soon as you got home, you bid him a very upset goodbye before sitting in your frustration. you managed to calm down, able to admit that you were a little harsh on him, but upon remembering the fact that he just couldn’t get why you were upset made you upset all over again. thus, you got heated all over again and decided to block mark on everything until you were able to be calm about things again (that was an excuse, and the real reason you did that was just to be petty).

the next few days he tried contacting you many times, even through other people, and you completely ignored it. at some point you did start feeling bad, but you were already too deep into it to go back now. so, you kept on, even going to the length of ignoring him when you saw each other on campus. he truly looked like a kicked puppy, well, as far as you could tell without making direct eye contact, and it sucked, but you kept walking. he had yet to admit he was in the wrong, and maybe you both were, especially you for not letting him admit it, but oh well.

after about a week and a half of avoiding your boyfriend, you’re laying on your couch, alone, scrolling through your phone when you get a notification from one of mark’s friends. the text doesn’t say much, simply a pair of eyeball emojis followed by a screenshot of mark’s profile on spotify.

he’s a music major, and you’re aware of the fact that he sometimes posts his projects on spotify or other platforms.. however, this time is a little different. the numbers on his account are way larger than they were the last time you checked, and there’s a whole other album added onto it. immediately you’re going to your own app to look at his profile, and you see that it’s for real. the numbers next to all his songs have changed from under a thousand to ten times that, and there’s an ep with five songs under the ‘latest release’ section.

immediately disregarding whatever grudge you were holding, you play it. the first song, titled 200, begins with the quiet strumming of an acoustic guitar, and you hook it up to your speaker to really feel it. he starts with his vocals, and your heart picks up. despite being more involved with rap, you always told mark you loved his vocals. you always asked him to do more songs with them, because to you they sounded godsent. it seems that after all this time, he’s finally decided to listen. there’s no doubt in your mind that he’s talking to you, the lyrics full of love and mentions of little things that have always been staples in your relationship. it’s really the cutest, and your heart hurts at the fact that you’re ignoring him while he releases a song all about your relationship while simultaneously reaching a notable point in his career.

immediately grabbing your things, you get into your car and make your way to mark’s apartment. on the way, you unblock him on everything and send him an apology message before driving to him, as close to the speed limit as you could. he tries calling you, but you ignore it in favor of the fact that his apartment is close and you’re already almost there. on the way you listened to the rest of his ep, and all the songs are including the same things, all about love with one of them even including an apology with him nearly pleading for you to come back to him.

as soon as you get to his door, you unlock it with the spare key he gave you and let yourself in. he’s in the kitchen, his back facing you, and you waste no time in running up to him and closing him in your arms.

“oh my god, markie, i’m so sorry..” you squeeze him tight in your embrace, and although he’s startled and more than a little upset, he turns around and returns the favor.

“it’s alright, babe, come sit.” he pries you off of him, leading you to the couch where he sits down with you, keeping an arm around your shoulder.

“i heard your songs and i just, i’m sorry. i feel really stupid, and i shouldn’t have ignored you, and i really hope you can forgive me.” you ramble, saying anything and everything to help explain just how terrible you felt.

his thumb rubs reassuring circles into your shoulder as he turns his head to face you completely. “it’s okay, baby, i forgive you. and i’m sorry too, i was being immature and there was nothing funny about what he said.”

you nod, feeling a little more relieved, yet still very stupid now that you saw how easy everything was discussed. “so… we’re okay?” you ask, eyes meeting his with an unsure look.

he turns his body to face you fully, using one hand to hold your face and lean in to kiss you. “of course. let’s not do that again though, okay? i was on the verge of death, bro, i swear.”

seeing how quickly he returned to normal, you giggle, nodding as you lean back into his arms. “of course, mark, it was torture for me too. now.. you seriously made five songs about me in the span of a week and a half all because of this?” you tease, and that’s how you spend the rest of the night, celebrating his success and loving each other like the way he says in his music.

───── ⋆⋅ ⊹ ⁺ 𐔌 ᩧ ຼ ͡ ৯ ♡໒⁀ ᩧຼ ꒱ིྀ ⁺ ⊹ ⋅⋆ ─────

[hansoeii]

Hey! Your art is so inspiring! I saw one of your posts where you sold merch at a convention and I was just wondering how you got into that? I'd love to sell my own merch, especially at a convention because itd be a lot of fun, but it seems pretty intimidating as well! Any tips/tricks and advice? Thanks!

Hey!

I got into it through friends a few years ago! But you can apply for each convention online on their websites at specific times. Usually applications are open for a few months, but it depends on the con. Most of the time you apply and the organizers decide if you get in or not (if you don't get in, don't feel bad and instead just try again next time! A lot of people apply and not everyone can get in), but at some cons you can just buy a booth and you immediately have it.

I highly recommend just going to a con and talking to the artists there! We always love to chat as long as it's not holding up business. But you learn so much by just doing, honestly. I started in 2022 and ever since my set-up has improved sooo much!

But here's some of the most important tips:

- get a waiter money pouch for cash and keep it strapped to your waist at all times! Simple cash boxes are stolen a lot of the time.

- don't accept food or drinks from strangers at cons! Last year several people got poisoned at a con I attended and ever since I don't accept food and drinks any more, no matter how nice the person seems.

- get a helper! As fun as cons are, they are EXHAUSTING. You sometimes spend up to twelve hours a day at your booth, and when you have to do everything on your own, you'll lose your mind. Get someone to help you take care of food and water, someone to take over when you need to use the toilet, or someone to simply just talk to when the con gets a little boring.

When it comes to setups, just go to cons and see how other artists do it and write down what you'd like to do for your own!

I hope this was somewhat helpful! It's a really big topic and I can't really talk about everything in one post, but if there's anything specific you'd like to know more about, my inbox is open!

All the luck to you on your con adventures!

[httpknjoon]

what do the lonely do at christmas | myg

plot | that time when popstar!yn found herself on bassist!yoongi's bed on a cold December morning.

w.c | 2.8K

pairing | bass guitarist!yoongi x popstar!reader

genre | fluff, slight angst, enemies to lovers

note | one out of two/three holiday-themed drabble for this series! it's late, I know. but I can't let them sit in my drafts again haha so here it is. enjoy!

main masterlist | series masterlist | want to request?

DAY 67 of Love Is... On Tour

They make songs. Together.

After a show at Wells Fargo Center, Yoongi stayed locked in his hotel room to work on the music for your EP. He has read the lyrics you sent to him and listened to some melody ideas you recorded in your voice notes. In the last two days you two have been collaborating, you are full of visions and excited to tell him all of them. He finds it more surprising that you two haven't had any fights since then.

Is it New Years yet? I'm getting bored, so can we skip ahead? I just wanna forget That I'm at home with nobody to hold

So far, you already recorded two out of the six songs you planned to release in the EP. Usually, Yoongi takes his time in making and editing songs. But considering that this is a holiday EP and you have less than a week before the management's deadline, he works on it at every chance he gets. It's not that hard when you already have a clear vision of what and how you want the extended play to be.

Working is a great distraction compared to scrolling on his phone, which did no good for him. Mainly because he recently saw a post from a mutual friend of his and his ex. That's when he learned that Sara threw a baby shower in what was supposedly their house. He felt something cracked in him when he saw how far along her pregnancy was.

Tempted, Yoongi scrolled through the carousel of photos, admiring the decorations and colors of the house Sara probably picked herself, things that Yoongi had never seen personally. A single photo made Yoongi pause.

It shows Sara and her then-ex-boyfriend holding her growing bump, also showcasing a ring on her finger— not the emerald-cut diamond one he proposed to her. A new one, signaling that she is engaged for a second time this year. That photo was enough for Yoongi to turn it off and focus on his music.

Ding-dong.

Yoongi's head snapped, irritated when the unexpected doorbell noise filled his room. Frowning, he gets up from his chair to check who the person might be.

It's you.

Looking like a curious puppy, you stood before Yoongi's door with two cups of warm drinks you asked Cal to buy on the way back to the hotel. Yoongi looked at you through the small peephole, taking notice of your large, thick white cable knit sweater that falls just a few inches above your knees and the mystery cups you're holding. He opened the door when you began rolling your eyes and tapping your foot.

"What took you so long?!" you instantly asked the moment you saw him, handing him the other cup.

He snickered, ignoring your attitude. He takes the cup before pushing the door wider to let you in. Yoongi followed behind you when you walked inside. He sits back on his chair, in front of his small set-up, while you sit at the edge of his bed. Usually, you will take the couch. But the bed is nearer his working setup.

This is how you two have worked since you started. You only get up when you want to see his screen or when recording something.

"What are you doing here?" he asked since you just finished your show earlier. He figured you might prefer to rest and just work early tomorrow.

"I have an EP to work on, duh!" you replied, taking a sip from your hot chocolate as you tapped on your phone. "Anyway, lemme show you something..."

Probably a new idea. Yoongi thought. He knew it from the moment he saw you opened your phone's notes app.

"Here." You handed him your phone, letting him read something you wrote earlier today.

Maybe he met you somewhere in the desert While he was soul searching, he found someone better Guess you make him happy like I couldn't do Cindy Lou Who

Yoongi reads down the words, "It's a sad song?"

"Yep," you nodded. "Have you heard the song, What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas?"

Yoongi was quick to shake his head. He is not really fond of Christmas songs and doesn't listen to them if not needed. But he could tell by the title that it's probably a sad song too.

You pulled up your legs on his bed, making yourself comfortable, "It's a great song from the 70s. It has a lot of covers too. It's a sad Christmas song and I am so into it that I thought of writing one too."

Yoongi nods, listening, as he scans the rest of your lyrics, "Hmm..."

"What?" you quickly responded to his humming.

With how his eyes squint and his lips form a thin line, you know that he has something to say about your work. You learned after your first night of working together, making you realize that he has the same habit when you rehearse for a show.

"It's great, but I feel like we should just change some irrelevant lines? Like, maybe he met you somewhere in the desert." he read one of the lines. "What does desert get to do with Christmas?"

When he was met with a long silence, Yoongi looked up to you. But he find you just looking at him, chewing on your bottom lip. You looked away before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I found out my ex was cheating on me when paparazzi caught pictures of him and that actress kissing in Coachella." you explained.

"Oh..."

An apologetic look was instantly written all over his face, which is something you haven't expected. You thought he would keep the blank expression he always has. But his eyes and slightly gaped mouth said otherwise. You hate pity or anything like that, especially when it comes from someone who once read you too well. So, you grinned, even though it was forced so much that it almost made your cheeks hurt.

"Want to see the pictures? It's literally everywhere." you joked to change the mood. His eyes widened like he thought you were serious. So you chuckled, "I'm kidding! I won't show you that myself. You can just search it up if you want to."

"I'm not interested. No one really enjoys seeing a picture of their ex," he mumbled, returning your phone to you.

Your eyebrows crooked together when you heard that. He sounded too serious like he was the one in your shoes. You watch him sulk back to his seat, turning his back to work on one of your songs.

"You're acting like you were the one who got cheated on here. You're literally engaged to someone." you quipped.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

He whispered mindlessly. Yoongi didn't really think about it and let it slip out of his tongue. He doesn't really like bringing up his personal dramas in his workplace. He never would have realized what he said if you didn't ask him,

"What do you mean by that?"

Yoongi turned around, meeting your eyes, "So, how do you like that song to turn out?"

You're not dumb. Of course, you noticed him dodging your curiosities. He has never shared anything about himself since you two worked together. It's not like I care, you thought. But you know that there is a small itch at the back of your head, trying to get him to talk more. And maybe you know a trick to satisfy that itch.

"Let's order some wine first."

"With your hair so long, lips so bed— wait, that's wrong!"

A bottle of red wine is carelessly placed on the perfectly white duvet of Yoongi's bed. Surprisingly, it is still safe from any stain. The nearly finished cup of now-cold chocolate drink you brought is on the nightstand. You were giggling in front of the microphone and pop filter after making another mistake.

"The words are scrambled." you continued giggling before drinking from the glass of wine you were holding.

It has been almost two hours since you got in his room and Yoongi knows that the effect of your wine is getting into you. Earlier, before you could finish your first glass, you two already agreed on the instrumentals of the song you called cindy lou who. You let Yoongi make some changes in your lyrics, but it's nothing major.

"Something that feels delicate and maybe some piano." You described your idea before humming the tune you were thinking of.

By the second glass of wine, you are recording a rough draft of the song. So that you know if your ideas work well. Yoongi suggested to layer your vocals in some parts while you thought of adding a subtle harmony. Surprisingly, you two worked smoothly.

"Should we add some harp? Noah would have liked that."

You were almost done with your third glass of wine when Yoongi heard you mention your ex's name for the first time.

"Maybe we should stop drinking..." he said.

Even though he's in his fourth glass as well, Yoongi is doing better than you. You looked at him while he clicked something on his setup. You wondered if he could feel the cozy, warm feeling you've been feeling from the wine. Because that plain expression cannot really tell you anything, which makes you feel a little frustrated with how you're the only one who seemed to be a little giggly.

"Fine." you rolled your eyes, letting him take your glass from you.

He got up to get something in his room's mini fridge before going back to you, "Water?"

"It's cold," you replied before you could even touch the bottle.

"Okay, diva."

Your eyebrows raised with that, "No! I mean I cannot drink cold water when I'm singing or recording. It's not good for my throat... I'm fine, anyway. Thanks."

"I thought it would help you sober up," he explained, leaning to his chair.

"I'm sober!" you exclaimed defensively. Just a little fuzzy. But you won't admit that to him.

His lips formed into a smug smile, like he was saying, yeah sure. You puffed before fixing your headphones and crossing your arms over your chest. You looked annoyed. Yoongi knows because your nostrils are flared while there's a small pout on your lips. He bites off his inner cheek to stop himself from smiling.

"Should we record again?" he asked.

Still a little annoyed, you didn't say anything and just nodded your head. The instrumental began playing in your headphones seconds later.

‘Tis the season to be jolly But how can I be when I have nobody

The same song plays on your phone while you tap your fingertips in tune with the sleighbells playing in its instrumental. After finishing recording the song, you stay to see how it will turn out. Yoongi didn't seem to mind even though it was already past midnight.

"Do you want to hear the song I mentioned?" you asked him while he worked on the song.

Busy, he answered with a short sure. So, you played the song in a non-distracting volume, reached for the glass of wine you abandoned, and sat on his bed. You were quiet, sometimes humming to the song, but mostly staring at the view outside.

A silent night I know it's gonna be Joy to the world But it's gonna be sad for me

As the snow falls outside, you think of how this is so not how you expected your December is gonna be this year. With Noah being your original bassist, you thought you two would get to enjoy the snow in various cities you're touring in. And maybe even spend Christmas together during your break. But instead, you are now in your new bassist's, with whom you have dumb fights most of the time, hotel room, making holiday songs.

How surprising is that? You thought to yourself before taking one gulf of your wine.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when Yoongi slightly groaned as he stretched his limbs from his chair. You paused the song and collected the wine bottle and your glass like you were ready to go.

"Are you kicking me out yet?" you asked.

He turned around, just to you about to get up from the bed, "What?"

"Maybe my presence distracts you." you joked, which sounds nicer than maybe you don't want me here in your room anymore because you don't like having me here.

He chuckled, a little tired, "No, it's okay. I know you're waiting for the finished version."

"Good. Because I really like your room. You have a great view of the city. The snow looks perfect here." you rambled.

Yoongi looked outside, seeing the wonderful view you were talking about. He wordlessly agrees before getting back to his screen. Watching him, you mumbled.

"If you're tired, we can just finish that tomorrow."

Just like you, the guy also performed hours ago. You two don't along at most times, but you are not that petty to make him overwork.

"No, I'm fine," he shakes his head. "I'll finish this in an hour, just wait there."

"Okay," you put down the bottle on the nightstand.

Yoongi heard the music play again while he edited the song. Eager to finish it tonight, he continued working for what seemed like a few minutes for him. He made sure to add your suggestions and put some elements he thinks would be perfect. After listening to his finished product through his headphones one more time, Yoongi put on a satisfied smile.

"And it's do—"

Yoongi's smile fell when he found you asleep on his bed with the empty wine glass in your hand. It was already 1:24 AM, and he looked at the time. Seeing how peaceful you are in your sleep, he would hate waking you up. Instead, Yoongi got up cleaned up his nightstand, and carefully took your glass. He tried not to chuckle loudly when he heard your small snores. After gently putting the duvet on you, Yoongi took one of the pillows and threw it on the couch that he would take over tonight. He knows it would be awkward to take up the big, empty space next to you.

Dimming down the lights, Yoongi tried to find a comfortable position on the couch. And when he did, he finally closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep.

If it weren't for the buzzing noise next to you, you would have seen where your celebrity crush ended up taking you for a date in your dreams. Groaning, you reached for your phone beside you. Seeing Cal calling, you begrudgingly answered the call.

"Hey, Cal." your voice sounded weak as you just woke up.

"Where the hell are you, YN?! I've been ringing your room. You have a virtual interview at 9."

Your eyebrows furrowed while slowly sitting up, "What do you mean? I'm in my room— Oh, no. Fuck."

The first thing you see when you sit up is Yoongi's compact studio setup, which you don't remember being in your room. You looked around and it just confirmed that you are not in your hotel room. Yoongi is nowhere to be found, you don't hear any noise from the bathroom either.

"Y/N?" Cal spoke again, worried by your sudden pause.

"I-I'm in Yoongi's room." you stuttered, trying to remember your last memory. You were relieved to find yourself still in the same clothes you went with last night.

You heard a gasp from the other line, "Oh my god, YN! Did you hooked—"

"No, no, no! Still in my clothes. Just fell asleep making songs." you babbled, cutting her suspicions off. "Where the fuck is that sock?!"

Is it a talent to lose a fucking sock while asleep? Because if it is, you just added a new title under your name. You were in a hurry, shuffling the bed for that one sock with heart patterns. Cal can only imagine what you look like right now.

"Here!" you exclaimed, immediately putting it on. You rushed to the door after. "I'm going there right— Yoongi!"

Yoongi was right before you. He shared the same shock as you except he was calmer with his eyebrows raised and eyes widened.

"I have to go for an interview. Cal's gonna rip my head off. I'll check the song later. Thank you for letting me stay!"

You were so in a hurry that you were literally spewing words and didn't realize that you leaned to give a quick kiss on his cheek. It registered as you were moving back, making you two stop for a moment, looking at each other in surprise. He gulped, feeling his throat running dry. while you feel every blood run to your cheeks now, feeling warm.

You blinked, "I-I'm gonna go."

Yoongi watched you run to the elevator before looking at the two cups of coffee he was holding.

note | i still have a christmas drabble! haha! hope u liked this one though <33

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[adhd-and-peppermint]

Tentapets!

took a break from comic shit after the recent release to sketch some designs for a concept I've been playing with (pun intended?) these last couple of weeks after being um...introduced to a very specific internet culture 🤣

never ever ever ever in my LIFE would I have thought that I would be drawing tentacle art of all things, but I guess anything is truly possible. <Charachters and names are random>

Although I've seen many many posts exploring this same concept by now, I'd definatley like to at credit the first one I saw by @notsafeforhumanspost (TW: some weird shit, y'all)

Being who i am, i only drew all the cute and aesthetic concepts of it and cackled at the parts I would not be able to draw due to the existance of certain roomates (as far as they know, they are completley innocent slug-like creatures that are totally not intended for any other purposes). I am very much having a blast though with these, especially thinking of different enclosure types, sub-species, and what shenanigans the tentapets would get up to (such as nesting in your damn house plant pots instead of the expensive encolsure you bought)

I plan to sketch many, many more adorable tentapet varieties and play around with what innocent shenanegins they would get up to. Who knows though, if said roomates are out for a bit and I can sneek something more fun in, I think I just might.

anyone's welcome to suggest tentacle or enclosure design ideas! again, trying to aim for funny and cute, and not super into eggplantation soooo yeah plz dont suggest any of that plz.

@lastresortacontact

Much love for @bucketsofmonsters

[st4rwritez]

Hihi! Can I maybe request a CC fic. Where reader and CC are just relaxing day in after a celebration with family and friends for xmas. Basically just relaxing with each other and enjoying each others presence/cuddling. Ooo you can throw in an activity like baking cookies or sth. Just generally very fluffy.

Thank you!

Haiiiii first post of my drop today!! Also my first last fic of 2024 🌚

Under the covers

Pairing: Caitlin clark x reader

Rating: Fluff!!

Summary: as the request saidd

No spell check sorry chat

౨ৎ ˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 ౨ৎ ˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 ౨ৎ ˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 ౨ৎ ˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 ౨ৎ ˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩.

It was the day after a Christmas party with Caitlin’s side of the family, usually being the calmer side of parties during the holidays.

Yet of course it was one to drain Caitlin’s social battery.

Of course with being a know known celebrity you would expect her social skills to be a bit higher than before, but to your surprise it seems as if they have went down after her renowned fame.

If she wasn’t at practice or a game the only other place you could find her was in your shared apartment.

But you didn’t mind, it just meant more caitlin for you.

You let an eye slip open seeing the morning sun shine through the windows of your bedroom shining softly on your face.

Turning to face Caitlin you placed a light kiss on her cheek in an attempt to wake her up.

You saw a soft smile play onto her face as she draped her arms over your body trapping you with her.

“You’re not going anywhere” she murmured into your hair as she rested her face on top of your head tightening her grip on you making you giggle.

You both laid there for a little cuddling, and giving soft kisses to each other as caitlin made cheesy jokes in an attempt to keep you from getting up for the day.

After a long bit of stalling you finally wiggled your way out of her grasp and went to your drawer to grab new clothes.

As you were grabbing a new t-shirt and some shorts out of your drawer, Caitlin’s hands snaked around your waist, head resting on your shoulder.

“Caityy c’mon i have to get dressed and than you have me for the rest of the day” with that her hand let go of your waist lingering momentarily

“Fineeee” she dragged out dramatically leading herself to her own closet to get dressed.

10 minutes later it was the same thing again, as you were walking out of your room to the kitchen caitlin caught you from behind hugging you.

“Why are you sooo clingyy” you said laughing as she placed a kiss on your neck.

“I don’t know you said i could have you after you got dressed and to me it looks like your dressed?” she said with a smug tone of voice

Removing her arms from her waist you grabbed her hand “okay i did say that but how about i propose a new thing to you” you said pulling her to the kitchen.

“How about a little baking??” You said looking at her as a smile grew on her face.

“Fineee” she said as she thanked went through the cabinets looking for ingredients for something.

Finally you both had gathered ingredients for cookies, both agreeing on it you both got to work.

You ended up getting all the measurements while caitlin mixed.

In the middle of it she added “we really need stand mixer” as she limped her arm.

After about 2 hours and 4 failed cookie dough attempts, you both finally got a cookie dough you were happy with.

As you shaped caitlin clinged to you again arms around your waist from behind as you shaped the cookie dough onto the metal baking sheets.

“Babe you gotta let go for a second i need to put the cookies in the oven” you said but still she didn’t give up forcing you to waddle your way to the oven with her holding onto you to put the cookies into the oven.

As you closed the oven she turned you around pulling you up as she picked you up holding you from underneath your thighs.

“Caitlin i swear” you couldn’t lie tho you were happy about her clinginess rarely did you get this much time with her now that she was in the wnba.

She kissed you on the lips softly before placing you on the counter letting go of the kiss she said “you know you love me” before she rested her head on your shoulder placing pecks on your neck every now and than.

You both stayed there moving to the living room eventually chatting and making your time together of use.

Before you knew it the cookies were done, you sat on the couch as caitlin got the cookies on a plate for the two of you placing them onto your guys small coffee table.

You both ended the night watching a show and eating the cookies you both made, making the day memorable for the both of you.

[ambrosiagoldfish]

i’m going a teensy bit feral reading your adam x third spouse story so i guess im just asking for part five and for it to hopefully have focus on dad beat dad and how lucifer would react to seeing the reader again after so long and like what would happen n stuff 🤭🤭 ofc if this is dumb ignore it i like what you’re doing with the story already !! the part im most excited for is the finale tbh but there’s a lot of time in between what you have rn and then so i’m just yapping abt stuff that could be cool in between. thsi is so jumbled omg sorry i just wanna see more of your writing it’s so good

idk how to end this uhh i love you bye 🫡

Benefit of the doubt PT.5

Adam x 3rd Spouse! Reader

Warnings: GN! Reader, confronting the past, next to no Adam (I know, sad, but it’s for the plot), Reader focused chapter, this is set during ‘Dad Beat Dad’, swearing, the next 2 chapters will have a LOT more Adam DW ❤️❤️

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Request Box: OPEN

Word count: 4322

A/n: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the support on all the other chapters. It’s been 8-ish months since the last update and for that I want to apologize. I’ll save it for its own dedicated post to not full int his page too much. But if you’ve saw one of my post from the other day, I have posted this on A03 and I’m giving myself 8 total parts. 7 will be the finale and 8 will be an epilogue styled thing (not even sure if I’m wanting to do it so when we get there, you guys can tell me if you want it!! ) so yeah, enough rambling, you’ve all been waiting so long for the next part so here you go!! <3

Reblogs are VERY appreciated!

(My posts have been flopping so much, I would love you forever if you did 😭)

Old memories have a habit of slithering their way back into a person's mind, and even sometimes, people

The first few months at fhe hotel were a lot more enjoyable than you originally expected. Most days went relatively the same, Charlie would choose an activity to do and you would observe the progress they made.

At first, progress hadn't shown much promise but as everyone grew closer, things began to look up. Angel had gone clean with his drug abuse and was distancing himself from his line of work. Sir Pentious started to actually trust the people around him and has done no major constructional damage to any buildings as of late.

Everything was going so smoothly that, when you had woken up one morning to the sounds of screaming, running, and just general chaos. You thought everything was finaly going into the ground.

You quickly run down to the lobby, thoughts of what could be happening run through you. Did one of Pentious experiments fail and explode? Were we being attacked by one of the many gangs in town? Did Alastor decide the hotel was actually boring and started destroying it, starting with the occupants? Whatever it was, you hurry faster to the lobby.

But what was meeting you there was… unexpected to say the least. Party streamers, banners, cookies. It looked like some kind of welcome party heaven would do, albeit with less flare and taste in decor. A banner that read ‘Wellcum Daddy’ was being hung up by Razzle and Dazzle, everyone was either cleaning or baking something, and Vaggie seemed to be ordering them around.

You look at the clock, huh, it’s way too early for any kind of Charlie’s trust exercises. Not to mention, she would have told you about the curriculum and there was absolutely not a 10 AM home-EC class listed on your schedule.

You quickly run up to Charlie who seemed to be preoccupied with helping Vaggie put something up “Charlie, what’s going on?” You tap on her shoulder, She jumps a bit before just realizing it’s you,

”Oh- Y/N, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to get you!” She apologizes when Vaggie pops in,

“Don’t be, I told Nifty to go wake you up, but looks like she had better things to do” she points over at Niffty swifty stabbing bugs and removing cobwebs out of habit

“It’s fine, just… what’s everyone doing, what’s with all the party supplies and sweets?” You say, arms to the festive lobby around you.

“Oh well…” she took a deep breath “you know that The deadline is fast approaching and while we’ve made progress it’s not much” she paused, trying to even brace herself for what’s coming out of her mouth, “I have asked… my dad to come over and hopefully get us a meeting with heaven” she stops, completely caved in on herself.

“Wait, so… your dad is coming here?” you thought about the times she had asked you to get them a meeting with heaven but you had already explained to her that it would be next to impossible for someone like you. You had to practically beg just to monitor the hotel

Charlie Picked herself back up and looked at you with a shakey demeanor, “Yeah In about… 55 minutes”

You blink a few times before giving a small chuckle “Well, would you look at the date! I think it’s time I used my 1-per-month trip back home! If you’ll excuse me-“

“Wait! No-“ she trips over herself “We need you here, if dad can see, not only the progress we’ve made, but also that we already have an angel supporter, there’s no way he could say no!”

“Charlie, I don’t think it’s a good idea-”

“PleasePleasePlease! I will pay you back, promise! But I- we could really use you there!” Her eyes looked at you, similar to a puppy. She hands clasped together In plea.

You looked away in thought. Seeing him again was the last thing you wanted to do at this moment, any moment for that matter. The last time…well to be honest, the whole exchange hadn’t meant anything to you in quite a while. He could say whatever he wanted about you… it was the words he had to say about Adam that kept your heart ablaze in anger at the Morningstar.

Trash? He should really look in the mirror before saying that about your Adam. But… this could be a good opportunity for the hotel -as much as it pained you to admit- You can only sigh, “fine.. for the hotel…” You let out a small chuckle raising your arm in defeat.

Charlie jumped up and down with glee, repeating a matra of ‘Thank You’s’ before continuing “I get it might be difficult since you’re an Angel.” She tries to give some comfort. But that caught your attention.

“Because I’m an Angel?” You honestly didn’t mean to say it out loud but it came out as a question.

She looks at you confused “yeah, you know, considering I don’t think angels have too kind of thoughts to my dad for being… the devil” she laughs nervously

Oh. Oh. So that’s what she means. So she doesn’t know about your past with him? Not too much a surprise, I doubt Lucifer would bring up any of his failures. But that also made you realize one other thing. Charlie doesn’t know about your marriage with Adam.

Look, you didn’t mean to keep it a secret. In fact you had already assumed they knew. I mean you were sitting literally right next to him and Vaggie already knew who you were. You just thought she would have told Charlie, but knowing this now… it may be best to keep it a secret.

You let out a quick “I understand.” and with that, you all went your separate ways, you did contribute to the decor the best you could, as well as helping Sir Pentious and Nifty with the baking until finally, it was time for Charlie’s dad to arrive.

You walked over to a more remote place in the hotel lobby, look… you may have to interact with him today but you will not be doing it that soon. Instead, you decided your best choice of action was to sit and watch quietly until Charlie decided it was time for you two to meet. And in the meantime, you can mentally brace yourself.

Charlie sighs deeply “Okay everybody, it’s showtime!”

With that she swings the door open revealing the one, the only (thank Father) king of hell himself, Lucifer. Immediately Lucifer pulls his, obviously nervous daughter into his arms. He greets her with excitement before moving on to Keekee, and eventually Razzle and Dazzle.

He eyes the room, clearly covering up any distain for the hotels “character” to protect Charlie’s feelings. At least until he got to the bar which even he couldn’t lie his way through.

Even from the distant view you were from, you could see Alastor and Lucifer weren't going to be the best of buds anytime soon. As soon as they were introduced to one another they immediately got into it. Huh, at least now you have something in common with Alastor at least! If that’s even a good thing.

Their quarrel lasted a few minutes, everyone either waiting for it to be over, completely ignoring it, or enjoying it as entertainment. It lasted what felt like an eternity and was only interrupted when a short and plump woman by the name of ‘Mimzy’ came into the scene.

The old time-y dressed woman was one of Alastor’s friends, you honestly didn’t think he had those but you digress. Eventually once the commotion dies down, you see Charlie give you a nervous smile and wave for you, ‘that’s my cue’ you thought. Anxiety still felt taught in your heart but still you pushed through.

You walk out of your hiding spot, walking up to be next to Charlie. Still trying to keep your presence hidden for as long as you could, savoring those last few moments of peace before a wave of interactions.

Charlie clears her throat and puts on a more professional demeanor despite her nervousness, getting the attention from her dad, “And last but certainly not least, i’d like you to meet our Angelic sponsor-“

“Y/N!?-“ the fallen Angel suddenly started coughing, clearly having choked on his own words. He clears his throat “Sorry! I just wasn’t expecting… you to be here” he lets out a chuckle.

“You guys know each other!?” Charlie looked shocked, her voice pitching up in bewilderment.

“We’ve… met before,.” Your voice was low, But still you pushed through “Though, it’s hardly relevant to anything of importance now. Isn’t that right, Morningstar?”

Lucifer's face contorted into an uncomfortable shaky smile, fingertips digging into his Apple-shaped cane. Perhaps he felt some type of remorse for the way things happened back all those years ago, but even if that’s true, you had no plans to forgive him.

He clears his throat “Yes it’s- unimportant Sweetie.. “

You 3 stand in awkward silence for a moment, all you can do is glare daggers at the short ex-Angel in front of you. Eventually though, you couldn’t stand the scilence any longer, “Well Charlie, I have to get something done in my room and I’ll be back to help with the tour in a few minutes, if that’s ok?”

Charlie looked like she wanted to protest, for you to stay with her through the tour, but she knew you wouldn’t just leave and not come back. “Um, yeah that’s fine! Me and Alastor can get the tour started and you can meet us around the 4th floor?”

You gave a quick nod as agreement and make your way to your room. Sighing, you flop down on your bed, feeling the soft warmth as you sink into comfort. Pulling out your phone, you quickly typing a text to Adam but your thumb simply hovered over the send button, anxiety washing over you. Your message was simple,

‘I promise that everything’s ok, but he’s here’’

You were hesitating, should you even tell him that he's here? You didn’t want to worry him over something so insignificant. He has a show tonight, he wouldn’t be at his best if he was constantly thinking you would be in the same room as the devil.

Or even worse, he could just cancel the show completely and march down here and a cause a ruckus which at best would completely destroy the Hotel’s plans and at worse… No, you can’t think of that.

You look at the message again before just setting your phone on your nightstand. 10 minutes… that’s all you need before you go back out there…

…Lucifer was having… let’s just say a tinsy bit of a bad day. Not only has he been forced to interact with that insufferable yellow-toothed sinner but also, he has been reunited with someone he hadn’t seen in a millenia, you.

The anxiety of the day was only topped off with the added stress of being with his daughter. Don’t get him wrong, he LOVES his daughter and is always happy to see her, but the way she talks and acts with these sinners… Ugh, it reminds him too much of himself back in the day.

Her hotel too… He may have given her the place but he never gave it much thought beyond it being a pipe dream for her. He was just trying to do something for his daughter, especially with… Lilith being out of the picture. He just wanted to cheer her up, and unfortunately it seems ‘grandiose plans’ run in the family.

Even now as Charlie and that Red haired Buck show him around, Charlie explains excitedly about different things they have at the hotel. It reminds Lucifer about how she was when she was little, that glow of joy never seemed to fade away from her despite the conditions she lives in.

But even still, as much as he’s trying not to zone out and actually listen to his daughters rambles, his mind keeps trailing back to one, singular thought. You.

What were you doing here? He knows you were there to ‘support the hotel’ as Charlie puts it. But this is the absolute first he’s hearing about it. Why wouldn’t heaven tell him that another Angel was down here, let alone, you most of all. The last time he saw you was… not the best first meeting

Were you here in secret? You clearly weren't fallen, considering you still had your halo and you didn’t look like you’ve been damaged anywhere close to what you’d be if you had fallen. Not to mention… Adam, the exterminations were his idea so why would you even consider an alternative when you are his-

“Uh, Dad?” Charlie interrupted Lucifer’s thoughts, a look of worry on her face. ”You’ve got a little bit of… horn? Sticking out”

Lucifer looks up and sees that he’s subconsciously beginning to phase into his full demon form. He quickly takes his hand and pats the horns as if he was just dusting off his coat, causing the horns to seem to fade away like dust. Wow, today really seems to be getting to him.

“Ah sorry Sweetie, it’s nothing just… uh..” He thinks for a moment, he has to talk to you alone, just for a second. “*Ahem* I was just realizing I had to… use the bathroom, I seem to have had one too many drinks on the way here. Can you tell me where the… bathroom is?” He lets out a chuckle to hopefully cover his lie.

“Oh, it’s just down the hall and to the right, I can take you there-“

Lucifer quickly lets out a loud ”No!“ Before clearing his through again “I can get there on my own, just wait here and I’ll be back!”

Before Charlie can even answer, Lucifer rushes through the halls of the hotel, yelling a ‘I’ll be back soon’ to his Daughter before turning the corner. He lets out a deep breath as he lays out the plan in his head. Figure out why you’re here, and get back to Charlie as fast as inhumanly possible.

Picking his feet up again, he makes his way to the lobby of the hotel, he looks around for a moment before spotting the check in desk. ‘They usually keep visitor information there, right?’

He quickly scours the desk, looking for any forms or documents that have your room number, before finally setting his eyes on your room number. It didn’t take long to find you seeing as there were such few occupants in the hotel.

He memorized your room and repeated it to himself while walking to your door. Past the first, 2nd, then finally, halfway through the hallway on the 3rd floor he finds it. Before he can knock, a sudden wave of worry floods his senses. Seriously, Why would he hesitate now?!

He shuffled around nervously, starting to doubt this little mission of his. Should he really be doing this? Is he really worried about you being here or is the real reason he came here because he wanted to… apologize to you? It’s true that the guilt of what happened all those years ago was still there. But… Digging up old memories just because he’s selfish and wants to apologize to you? He takes a deep breath.

He had to make things better or… at least get some things off his chest. So, with a heavy fist and an even heavier heart, he gently knocks on the hard wooden door…

This had been the longest 10 minutes of your life, trying to decide wether to send Adam the message, or to even return to tour with Charlie at all. As much as it pains you to say, you still become anxiety ridden when he’s in the room or even the mere mention of him. That spark of defiance you had in the lobby earlier being nothing but a small bit of courage. But you remembered that you had promised Charlie you’d be there for her, and you certainly weren’t one to take back a promise.

Before you could decide what to do, you hear an ever so faint knock on your door. Curiosity peaked, You thought Charlie was supposed to be waiting for you on the 4th floor? Had you taken too long and the tour went south? You quickly made your way to the door and hoped you wouldn’t see a very angry Charlie on the other side.

As the wooden-door creaked open, your face slowly turned bitter at The short, impish man who stood on the other side. Lucifer Morningstar. To be honest, you much would have preferred the angry Charlie, TWO very angry Charlies over this.

The man shuffled awkwardly in place, gripping his cane. Neither of you could break the silence . He avoided any eye-contact with you and even you couldn’t hide The disgusted expression on your face when looking at him. Finally after what feels like 3x the eternity you’ve lived thus far, you spoke In shaky words, ”What do you want?”

Lucifer pushed out his words as well as he could, meek they were, but you understood what he said “Can we please…talk?”

Your fingers gripped at the door, nails embedding into the wood, leaving scratches. It took all you had not to slam the door right in his face, but even if you had, it wouldn’t have solved any pressing issues. If anything, it might make him against Charlie’s idea with the hotel, which you couldn’t afford. You take a deep breath before letting out a quick but unsavory,

“5 minutes”

The short demon shuffles his way into the room as you follow in behind him, locking the door to prevent someone like Nifty or Charlie from walking in. Lucifer stands timidly by your nightstand as you stand on the complete opposite side of the room, facing him. Lucifer runs his neck as he lets out a shaky sigh “I just want to know what you’re doing here…” he pauses, he looks like he has more to say but decided not to.

You can only laugh to yourself ���I’m here because I believe I think Charlie’s idea has potential to be great. The exterminations, they have to end… that’s why I’m here”

Lucifer seem a bit… surprised? Surprised with your stance on the exterminations. you figured he needed more than that so you continue “I… I’ve never been one for the exterminations. I've been against them from the start. I just didn't know what else to do. Nothing else seemed…right.“

He stayed silent, processing what you told him. He really didn’t understand you, he had a completely warped view of you. “If that’s all you wanted to know I’d rather you take your leave-“

“No!” You step back at the sudden raise in voice but he quickly clears his throat “No, there’s another thing. I would… I’d like to apologize to you about how things went… when we first met.”

You stared at him, the silence once again feeling the air. You didn’t dare break it, you watched as the impish man looked around with anxiety, trying to find the right words. “It’s always been there, in the back of my mind. How we- I, treated you. It was unacceptable… Lilith kept telling me to let it go, that she was done thinking about it, but I just couldn’t.” He takes a deep breath “so, I’m so sorry for hurting you, Y/n…”

Lucifer Morningstar. The man in front of you looked more akin to a puddle than a person at this point. Sweat dripped from his face, a scrunched mouth filled with a sour taste. He wasn’t looking at you, focusing his attention to the ground. Finally, after many long seconds later. You step forward, grabbing his attention.

“As much as I appreciate the apology, I don’t forgive you.” Lucifer began to speak or at least say he understood but no matter what his reaction was going to be, you interrupted him ‘“-I don’t forgive you, because I’m not the one who deserves it”

To that, Lucifer's head was struck with confusion, “what do you mean?” He tried to make sense of your words, shifting eyes looking around in unease before landing on a framed photo of a candlelit man, an old and forgotten, yet familiar smile on his face… ”You mean… Adam?” Despite his best efforts around you, saying the first man’s name still dripped his words with venom. That same sour taste filling his mouth at the mere mention of him. ”What does-” he stops himself, he knows why.

You breathe in slowly, “What you said to me, all of those years ago, hasn’t meant anything to me in a long time. I’ve gotten through it 10x over and finally understand that I am more than those words” you take another step towards him, closing the gap, “so… there's no use for your apology to me. But Adam… you’ve hurt him more than you couldn’t possibly imagine“

The room was filled with dense air, like any sudden move could kill the king of hell or even you at any second but still you continue. “Adam deserved so much better than what he was forced to have from you, so if anyone deserves your apology, it’s him.” He goes to speak but you shut him down again “but we all know that you are too prideful to do so, and Adam… he’s too stubborn to hear it”

You don’t yell, scream, all of your words coming soft from your lips “So… what you’re going to do, if you truly mean what you say. You will go back to your daughter, forget this conversation ever happened, then you can march back to your big castle with your Loving wife, and leave us be, for the rest of eternity.”

With that, you step away from him, words that have been bubbling inside you for centuries finally having been let out. It felt like several hundred pounds had been lifted off of you. You begin to walk to the door to let him out, wanting the conversation to be over, When you hear him speak a faint ”Ex-Wife actually”

You pause, your teeth already biting your tongue. Honestly, if you really thought about it, it was poetic. The Angel who ruined two marriages, leaving Adam nothing but a broken heart and baggage, ended up with a failed marriage himself.

But even still, you still felt a slight pain of pity for him. Through clenched teeth you let out ”I'm… sorry to hear that. It must be hard.”

This kind of thing, no matter the person, is always tough. You knew the aftermath of it through Adam, even now he struggles with so many issues from it. In that regard, you felt pity for the ruler of hell, but the rest of you felt… glad? Glad that he finally understands just a thorn of the pain he inflicted on Adam.

“The 5 minutes are up so… go now… please.” Your voice shakes near the end, your will power for everything you’ve done starting to break. Lucifer looked equally as defeated, you could tell he wanted to say more but he just nodded his head before walking out the door. slowly, silently, you close the door back before sliding down it as your legs give out.

You wanted to cry, scream, do anything but sit there, but you couldn’t. Your voice hurts from talking, your feet hurt from standing, everything just… hurts.

DING DING DING

A luminous yellow light follows the sound, you lifted your head and saw your phone on your nightstand. Adam… You used all of your strength to make it to your bed, practically having to crawl to avoid any more tiredness in your aching body. You finally land on the soft mattress to pick up your phone, seeing the plethora of messages from Adam.

DIXKMASTER69

Yo Bitch, everything good??

You’ve been typing for like 10 minutes

Answer me

Hellllloooooo??????

Oh, that’s why he was texting. You had completely forgotten your half written message you were debating on sending earlier. You start to delete it and rewrite it when suddenly,

INCOMING CALL FROM DIXKMASTER69

You sigh at the screen, your phone vibration sends chills through your aching arms, it acts as a lifeline for you not to fall asleep on the soft plush beneath you. You press the answer button.

‘Fuck Babe, finally! Are you ok?!” Adam’s voice sounded angry but you know he was just worried “you’ve been texting for like 15 minutes”

“Yeah, don’t worry Adam, I... must have fallen asleep while trying to message you”

“It’s 12 in the afternoon, you dont normally fall asleep in the middle of the day” Adam questions, his voice having obvious worry for you.

“Today’s just been very tiring. But I promise I’m fine, it’s just happened a lot today.” You hated lying to him, your other half, but you know this is something that he shouldn’t have to worry about.

You hear him groan, “how many times do I have to fuckin’ tell you not to overwork yourself for those sinners”

“I know, I’m sorry” you pause “I… I have to go now but I promise I’ll call you later, yeah?“

He was quiet on the other side before he lets out “Yeah, just don’t overdo yourself ok?” His voice was soft, no hint of sarcasm or anger, just him.

You let out a small breathy laugh “I promise. Have fun at your show tonight. Talk to you later, love you.”

“Love you too”

CLICK

You sigh to yourself, you still have the tour to do. It’s fine, everything is fine.

Tomorrow will be a better day. it has to be.

-

TAGLIST: @tired-of-life-86 @nervoussystemss @qopia @lovelyemily @hcneyiced @v3r41ynn

@ghostdoodlen @nxptvne-13 @ximenavc-che

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(I really hope I didn’t forget anyone if I did, just asked to be added in the comments!!)

Shoutout to these specific asked as well, love you all <3

[cassiesc0rner]

Impurities VII

Synopsis: You're the new girl at East Highland High, your only goal is to get through school. Until you come across Nate Jacobs

Genre: angst

Pairing: Nate x fem!reader

Warnings: manipulation, jealousy, (homophobia?), lying,

Song rec: Hush - The Marias | Caged Muse - Lilithzplug | listen before I go - billie eilish |

WC: +6,9k

Other parts: previous part, next part

A/N: This might be my saddest part and things are getting crazy but I hope you’ll still enjoy it nonetheless :)

Holy shit

That was all you could think once you woke up the next day. To say that you felt tired would be an understatement. You felt like you got run over by a truck.

Your head hurt—no, scratch that, your whole body hurt, you were tired, and for a moment, you totally forgot what happened the day prior. But once you took in your surroundings—the oversized bed, and Nate's cologne, you remembered it. Every. Single. Thing.

You pulled the blanket over your head, feeling like the room was way brighter than usual. You stayed like this until you heard the door of Nate's room. Your head peaked up under the blanket, and you looked at Nate who stood in front of his bed.

"Good morning, princess." He said as he smirked. He was wondering when you'd wake up, given that it was 1 PM already. "Morning.." You mumbled, before pulling the blanket back over your head.

Nate chuckled as he strolled over "How are you feeling?" he asked, despite knowing you're probably hungover. "I'm never gonna drink this much again.." You groaned, your voice muffled by the blanket.

Nate cooed as he sat down next to your legs. "I'm sorry," he said, running his hand over the blanket where your leg was "I should've kept a better eye on what you drink." he apologized, successfully masking his true intentions.

Nate had no regrets at all, last night had gone better than he could've imagined. Seeing you give in to him, endure his rough side and actually liking it, was everything he ever wanted.

"You hungry?" he asked, changing the subject. You groaned "Starving." you mumbled into the blanket.

"Good, I'll get us something to eat." he declared standing up and stretching, his shirt riding up just enough to distract you momentarily. "There's a glass of water for you on the bedside table. I'll be right back." He announced with a smirk.

You were surprised by Nate's sudden mood shift, but you were sure it was because of your rather exciting night together.

You took the chance to freshen up while Nate went to get breakfast. Once you took all your strength together to get out of bed, you took one of his shirts and walked towards his bathroom.

When you looked into the mirror however, your eyes widened and your heart dropped.

Your throat was littered in red and purple hickeys.

You remembered how Nate's mouth was constantly on your neck last night, of course this had to be the outcome. You weren't sure how to feel other than utter panic, because there's no way your parents wouldn't notice.

You sighed before stepping into the shower, deciding that it made no sense to worry about it now done there wasn't much you could do.

After you got out of the shower and dried your hair, you put on Nate's tee and made your way over to his bed. Luckily your headache wasn't as present anymore and you were just tired.

You plopped down on his bed and scrolled through your phone as you waited for Nate to return. You saw pictures from the party yesterday, which some of the students posted.

You decided to text Max, in order to thank him for everything. You felt bad for him because he had to clean up everything alone, since you left earlier with Nate.

You: Heyy just wanted to say thank you again for helping me and trusting us with your place! 02:42pm

You waited a moment after sending the text, feeling a little better now that you thanked him. You wouldn't have been able to plan this huge party without him, and you wanted him to know that you didn't take it for granted.

But as you continued to scroll through social media, you suddenly remembered Nate's words before the two of you left the party. They echoed in your head, loud and clear, "You're not gonna talk to him again, you understand?"

You sighed. Maybe it was the exhaustion, or the fact that you were finally sober again, but something about that warning unsettled you more now than before. Yesterday you were way too drunk to notice how weird he was behaving, brushing it off as him just being his overprotective self.

But now you weren't so sure.

You glanced down at your phone as Max's reply popped up almost instantly.

Max: No worries, I'm glad everything went smoothly :) 02:43 pm

You smiled faintly, but you still had an unsettling feeling in your stomach—which could've also been a result from the drinks you had, but you were sure it was something else.

Fear.

You couldn't get past what happened when he found out that you and Max were texting, and meeting up without him. You'd rather not risk it happening again.

You put your phone down, and allowed your head to sink into the pillow as your mind went back to the previous night. Each memory seemed so vivid, the way Nate had pushed you past your limits, the way you finally felt less insecure.

The sound of his footsteps ripped you out of your thoughts. You quickly sat up as you waited for him to open the door. Suddenly, you felt anxious as his words rang in your ears over and over again.

The door swung open, and Nate stood in the doorway, smirking at you as he put the bag of take out on his desk. "Miss me, princess?" he asked cockily as he took in your expression.

You nodded before leaning back against the headboard. "Yup, but now you're back." You chuckled, hoping Nate didn't notice how nervous you were.

But he did, of course he did.

He had enough time to analyze your behaviour, and he knew that something was off. You were acting way too relaxed again, almost as if it was forced. "Yeah," he said slowly as he looked at you "what's with you?"

"What? Nothing." you shrugged, Nate's gaze flickered to the phone in your hand just as you locked it.

Now his smirk faded. You wouldn't do the same mistake twice, right? "Y/n," He started as he took a step towards the bed "Was someone texting you?" you shook your head "No, I was just about to text my mom when I'd be home. You know her, always asking me where I am and if I'm okay." You chuckled as you averted your gaze towards your phone.

He didn't buy it one bit. "Then why did you just lock your phone?" He pressed, crossing his arms as he stared you down and when you took too long to respond he continued "Don't lie to me, baby. You're terrible at it."

You groaned, still seemingly looking everywhere but him "Nate why is it so important to you? I was literally about to text my mom!" you defended yourself. But Nate completely ignored it "Unlock your phone."

Your eyes went wide "Nate, you can't be serious right now.. let’s not do this again." But Nate only continued to stare at you. "Unlock it." Your heart raced, as you gripped the phone tighter.

"Nate.. please." you whispered softly, as the memories of the previous fight came back. And for a second he seemed taken aback, questioning himself if he was overreacting.

You just couldn't help it, the thought of reliving that day made you shudder and the way he yelled ‘Stop fucking lying, Y/n!’ was probably engraved into your mind, just like the pressure of his grip on your arms as he shoved you against the wall of his room.

Or the way you suddenly couldn't breathe anymore.

And now, as you watched him inch closer to the bed, you swore it would happen all over again. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" You asked, trying to sound as calm as possible "I promise, it's nothing you have to worry about."

Nate let out a humorous laugh "Then why were you acting so fucking suspicious?" he asked as he reached the bed "And also," he continued, as he furrowed his brows "wasn't that also what you said, when I asked you why you met up with Max?"

"Jesus, Nate, I'm not even acting suspicious!" you groaned in frustration. "Yes, you are!" He shot back, "Locking your phone when I ask you what's wrong, avoiding eye contact? Just stop wasting time and–"

You put your phone beside you, as you sat up straight "Nate, please!" you pleaded again, "Why do you have to pick a fight over this right now? Just because I apparently texted someone?" Nate frowned, taken aback by your sudden outburst.

"I mean, seriously?" You continued, the words rushing out of your mouth before you could stop them "When are you going to stop being so insecure and just love me, without constantly suspecting I'm cheating on you?"

The room went quiet.

Nate flinched, as if you had slapped him. For a moment he just stared at you, processing what you had just accused him of.

And then something shifted, his jaw clenched and he seemed eerily calm.

Fuck.

"Insecure?" He repeated, his voice even lower than usual. The silence afterwards made your chest tighten, somehow this was even worst than him yelling at you.

Because right now, you had no idea what was going on inside his head.

You swallowed hard as he stared at you, almost like he was staring right through you, his expression unreadable. For a moment it seemed like he didn't breathe with how motionless he was.

"What did you just say to me?" He asked, his tone calm. You shifted uncomfortably as you tried not to lose it. "I–I didn't mean it like–" But Nate was already shaking his head, his mouth stretching into a mocking smile. "Nah, you meant it."

He stepped closer to you, slowly, almost as if he didn't want you to notice. "You think I'm insecure?" he repeated, like he was trying to make sense of your statement. Then he chuckled bitterly, almost mockingly as he reached the side of the bed, causing you to inhale sharply as you scooted away.

"Tell me something," he said, taking a step closer as his eyes were locked on you "if I'm so fucking insecure... then why do you look so scared of me right now?"

Your breath hitched as he leaned in closer. You opened your mouth but nothing came out, while Nate was watching you predatory, waiting for you to say something.

"You know what I think?" he continued quietly, leaning in just slightly. "I think you know you fucked up. And now you're trying to make me the bad guy, so you don't have to feel guilty about it."

"Nate..." you whispered. He tilted his head slightly, studying you. "Who was it, hm? Who were you texting?" His voice stayed low, almost gentle, like he was asking about the weather. But you could feel the threat lurking underneath it.

"I—I told you, it was nothing," you stammered once again, forcing yourself to hold his gaze. Nate's smirk faded, his eyes narrowing just slightly. You sighed, knowing you didn't stand a chance against him. "I was texting Max..."

Nate chuckled drily "Max.. really? Why am I not surprised.." he responded sarcastically. "I just thanked him for yesterday, nothing else." You explained, as your hand shakily worked to unlock the phone.

Once you did, Nate took the phone from your hand before his eyes scanned the text messages between you two. His jaw tensed for a moment, but other than that his expression was void of any emotion, causing you to fear he might be even more angry.

"That's it?" he asked, his eyes still glued to your phone.

"Yes, I–I only texted him because I wanted to thank him for the party yesterday. I felt bad because we left so early and he had to clean everything up himself, and–"

"I didn't ask for a speech," he cut you off, his tone less cold. "I believe you." he continued, a faint smile making its way onto his face. You sighed in relief "You do?" you asked once again.

He nodded "Yeah, I do." he stated, his gaze intense as he just stared at you for a moment. Then he tossed your phone back on the bed "But let's be clear about something." he sighed as he leaned in closer.

"You're not talking to him again. Got it?"

His tone left no place for any arguments, so you just nodded "Okay.." you swallowed harshly when Nate's gaze didn't falter "Say it." he demanded.

"I.. I won't talk to him again." You complied quietly. Nate watched you for a moment longer, before a triumphant smile appeared on his face.

"Good girl." he praised, his hand stroking your bare thigh, and for a moment you forgot how possessive and scary he was just mere moments ago. "See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

You forced a smile and nodded, still feeling slightly uneasy. Nate on the other hand seemed perfectly at ease, as if the entire argument didn't even happen.

"You hungry?" He asked casually, before he walked back towards his desk where the take out rested. You simply nodded slowly "Yeah.." Nate smiled for a split second before he opened the bag.

You were left staring at his back, completely confused. Was he actually mad just now, or was he just acting like he was to get his way? He was so angry just mere moments ago, what happened?

You decided to just let it go, glad your fight was over. You were more than sure that you could relax the rest of the day, at least until you'd get home.

Or so you thought.

After you two were done eating, Nate had pressed a kiss onto your lips before he disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower.

You were watching TV as you waited for him to come back, the thoughts of your previous argument slowly resurfacing. You just couldn't get past how his mood shifted so many times.

Suddenly you sensed a faint vibration. Thinking it was your phone, you reached for it, but the vibration continued.

It was Nate's phone.

You still heard the sound of the shower running, so you decided to reach for his phone and take a look at who was calling him.

Not because you were particularly curious or anything, you just thought that it might've been his parents and maybe it was something important.

But it was just a random number, no caller ID or anything. Maybe it was just a scam call, but something inside you, told you to answer the call.

You could still hang up, right?

You slid your thumb over the screen to accept the call, but decided to remain silent as you held the phone to your ear.

"Hello.. Nate? Oh my god.. I can't believe you finally picked up."

You froze as you took in the sound of a female voice. It was a voice you didn't recognize and it frightened you for a second. Nate didn't have any sister, and he barely talks to any girls from school.

Cassie?

Just as you were about to say something, she continued to speak "Listen I–I know that this is pretty late, but I just needed to talk to you, about everything that happened."

Your grip on the phone tightened. "I want to apologize for how things went.. I didn't know Lexi would put stuff like this into her play."

Your eyes widened, totally confused at what was going on. Which play? Why was she apologizing for someone else's play?

"I.. You know that I always stood by your side. I literally dropped everything for you, no one's gonna love you the way I love you! Even after everything Maddy told me about you.. About those dickpics on your phone."

You nearly gasped, your mouth agape in both confusion and realization.

You were listening to none other than Cassie.

Did Nate actually have dickpics on his phone? Does that mean.. he sent dickpics to other girls while he was with Maddy?

No, there's no way, he already told you how crazy Cassie was. Not to mention, that Nate was not the type to cheat on his girlfriend– she was the one who cheated.

But why were you still listening to her?

"I mean.. you're not into that.. right? Or is that why you broke up with me? B-Because you realized you're into boys?"

That's when it clicked and your face started to form into a scowl. Those dickpics weren't his own, they belonged to other guys.

You started to feel dizzy, the urge to hang up was immense, feeling overwhelmed with the situation. But you felt like you'd miss out on a lot of information if you'd hang up now.

Why would she say stuff like this? She's so sure that she's talking to Nate, there's no reason for her to lie.

"God, what am I even saying, I'm sure Maddy just lied about that. Is.. Is that why you choked her at the carnival? I–I get it, okay? I mean, I know you hate when I bring up Maddy, and we talked about this before, but I just– I want you to know that I don't blame you. She was pushing you and you just snapped."

What the actual fuck?

You stopped breathing for a moment, unable to believe what you just heard. He choked Maddy, at the carnival, because his anger got the best of him?You felt like you were about to throw up.

"I always did what you wanted me to do, I even dressed the way you wanted me to, I–I did everything just so you'd like me, so.. what did I do wrong?"

Your hand was trembling as you tried to comprehend everything that she just threw at you. There was no way that she was telling the truth. She sounded just as crazy as Nate described her.

But why did you still believe her?

Did he tell her how to dress? Was that why he bought you all those outfits? You had so many questions, but you couldn't ask anyone. You were just about to hang up when Cassie sighed, ready to continue her rambling.

"I just.. I can't let you go, not after everything we've been through. I need to know if you.. ever felt the same way about me? I.. saw you with her.. with that new girl..." her voice cracked slightly.

"I saw you holding hands. I didn't think she would be your type but.. I guess all she has to do is listen to you the way I did, right?"

You were surprised by how sudden her mood seemed to switch from desperate to bitter in the span of mere seconds. But other than that you were beyond disturbed with everything you just found out.

You felt like everything you knew about Nate was a façade he put on to gain your trust. But why would he go through so much trouble just to have you as his girlfriend?

Cassie was right, it was odd that he picked you. You weren't popular, you didn't dress to his liking and you two didn't even know each other.

"Nate please.. please say something, anything. Yell at me if you want to I.. I just wanna hear your voice."

Your eyes fluttered shut in an attempt to calm down. Then you slowly removed the phone from your ear and hung up.

You wanted to scream at the top of your lungs, you wanted to cry because you were so shaken. When you heard the shower turn off you quickly put his phone back onto the bed. Almost like you felt disgusted to hold it.

You stood up and started to put on your own clothes again. Quickly tossing his shirt onto his bed and picking up your bra.

But you weren't quick enough to get fully dressed when Nate emerged from the bathroom, only a towel around his waist.

He smirked when he saw you in only your bra and panties. "Hm, what do we have here?" He teased as he took another step closer.

To his dismay however you took two back, your dress clutched tightly in your hand as you glared at him. "Drive me home." You demanded sternly. Nate's smirk fell as he inspected your body language.

Something was definitely off.

"What?" He asked softly, but the question was directed towards himself more than you.

"I want you to drive me home." You repeated as you turned away from his gaze and stepped into your dress.

Nate swallowed harshly, his mind racing with all the possible things you could be mad about. He had to find out quickly before it was too late. Nate slowly approached you as you adjusted your dress, your mind racing with thoughts as well.

He placed his hand on your shoulder, causing you to flinch. A frown crept onto Nate's face as he looked around his room.

He was trying to see if anything was out of place, despite knowing that there was nothing you could've possibly seen to get you this disturbed.

"I still have to talk to my parents and everything and it's getting late." Once you fixed your dress, you turned around to walk past Nate. But he had other plans, he grabbed your arm and swung you back almost against his damp chest.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked as he leaned in closer, the scent of his expensive shower gel intoxicating you as you blinked up at him. "I already told you.." you trailed off as he leaned in even closer.

You swallowed harshly before you removed your arm from his grip, and walked towards the door "Are you gonna drive me home or do I have to take the bus?" you asked, your tone serious.

Nate clenched his jaw before he nodded "Yeah.. sure, I'll drive you."

The ride to your place was quiet. Nate occasionally tried to make conversation, complaining about the driving skills of some of the drivers.

But you only replied with short answers, which only infuriated him further. You nervously tapped your thigh as your gaze was fixated on the scenery outside, and the sun which was about to set.

Once he stopped in front of your house, you thanked him and unbuckled your seat belt. Nate squinted his eyes at you as he inspected your strange behaviour.

Usually you'd kiss him goodbye, with a smile on your lips. But that smile was nowhere to be found and Nate finally decided he had enough.

"I'll see you tomorrow." you said softly, as your hand reached for the door handle

Click.

The sound of the lock echoed through the silence and you immediately froze. You slowly turned back towards Nate, who's fingers were casually tapping against the steering wheel.

He looked straight ahead, almost like he didn't just lock you in his car with him. You weren't sure what to say, you knew deep down that he wouldn't let you go unless you told him what was wrong.

And of course he wouldn't let you go until he successfully convinced you that you're worried about nothing.

Nate's dry chuckle broke the silence and interrupted your thoughts momentarily, his gaze still directed to the front "Y/n.." he started. You gulped in return, waiting for him to continue.

"Are you gonna tell me what's up? Because I'll stay in this car with you until you do." he added, before he slowly shifted in his seat to turn towards you.

You simply glared at him, even more anxious now that you knew what Nate did to Maddy when she pissed him off. "Are you gonna hurt me if I don't tell you? If I don't do as you say?" You replied as you took all your courage together.

Nate's jaw clenched before he snickered "What the fuck are you on about? Have I ever hurt you?" he asked, his tone bitter as he unbuckled as well now.

Your gaze flickered towards his hand, feeling even more frightened now that he was less restrained. "Is that a serious question?" you responded, trying to sound as calm as you could.

"Yes, it is. Because if I remember correctly I never fucking hurt you." You sighed when he continued "Was there anything I haven't done for you? Literally anything?"

You furrowed your brows "That's totally besides the point." you defended yourself "Okay, then answer my other question, when have I ever hurt you?" he asked again.

"Remember when we fought about Max for the first time?" You reminded him, to which he sighed "Jesus Christ, why is it always Max?" he scoffed before he added "Is this still about our argument earlier?"

You shook your head "No, you literally asked me when you hurt me and I was about to explain it to you, before you started putting words into my mouth." Nate sighed, his hand gripping the steering wheel.

He despised the way you were talking to him.

It was so out of touch with how you usually talked to him. And the fact that he wasn't even sure what got you this worked up, made him even more angry.

He exhaled sharply through his nose before shaking his head, as if he was trying to hold himself back.

"This wasn't me hurting you," He muttered, his voice even lower "This was me trying to protect you from guys who only want to fuck you. I mean, you have no idea how the boys talk in the locker room, and trust me, Max is one of them."

You blinked in response "You slammed me against the wall, Nate. Do you really think that was necessary?" He turned towards you again, debating on what to say without pushing you further away.

"And I already apologized for that, didn't I?" When you didn't respond, he continued "I didn't realize that I went too far, I was scared because I didn't want to go through the same thing I went through with Maddy."

Maddy.. Is that why he choked her at the carnival?

"I just wanna know what happened while I was in the shower. Did anyone talk to you? Was it Max?" He asked, his tone less harsh and more concerned.

You shook your head, before you looked out the window, wanting nothing more than to get out of his car as soon as possible "I answered your phone." you finally admitted, your tone calm.

Nate's jaw clenched tightly as a million thoughts ran through his head, was his dad calling him and said something weird? Maybe it wasn't even his dad, and one of his stupid teammates?

He nodded encouragingly waiting for you to continue. "It.. kept ringing... and I just thought it might be something important and you were in the sho–" Nate cut you off "I'm not mad that you picked up, Y/n, you don't have to justify your decision."

You nodded in response "It was Cassie." you finally explained. You made sure to look at him as you did, to gauge his reaction.

But to your dismay, he only sighed and shook his head. Then he suddenly chuckled drily. "Seriously? You talk to fucking Cassie for once and you instantly think I'm a monster, is that it?"

When you didn’t respond immediately he continued “This is exactly why I didn’t want you to talk to her when you offered it last week. You believe everything people tell you.”

It was your turn to sigh now "No Nate, I just don't understand a lot of things.. I feel like you're hiding so many things from me while I'm an open book to you." you frowned.

"Cassie's absolutely insane, if you couldn't tell by now, do you really believe what she says about me?" Nate asked in disbelief.

He knew damn well what she told you about him. That he's an aggressive asshole, or that he'll drop you eventually, he was aware of the fact that she'd say anything to make you dislike him, to ruin your relationship.

"She told me about the carnival."

Nate's face remained unreadable, but you could've sworn you saw his eyes twitch for a moment, as if he was nervous. But he quickly masked it with a scoff "Oh and you believe her? You really think I would try to strangle Maddy?"

You remained silent, before you squinted your eyes at him "I never mentioned that she told me that."

Fucking hell.

There it was again, that subtle twitch. "Well, you didn't have to, I know what she tells people." He explained, before swallowing harshly.

Why did you make him so fucking nervous all of a sudden? He was supposed to have everything under control.

You sighed, knowing that he had a point, but he wasn't as calm and collected as he usually was and that made the whole situation really suspicious.

"I mean.. she thought she was talking to you, Nate. I didn’t respond to anything she said.” you answered, your tone laced with frustration.

“And what about.. about the nudes on your phone?" Nate glared at you "Which nudes?" he asked, even more confused now. "Cassie mentioned some dickpics you had on your phone."

Nate shook his head and chuckled again, before you continued "You know, it's totally fine if you're bi or anything, it doesn't matter but–" he interrupted you, slamming the steering wheel as his breathing grew heavier.

"I'm not fucking gay, Y/n, Jesus Christ!" he raised his voice, causing you to flinch. Then why was he so defensive? "The fact that you actually fucking believe anything that comes out of her mouth is insane."

He didn't deny having the pictures on his phone. And judging by his outburst you weren't wrong "Then why did you have those pictures on your phone?" you pressed, wanting to know more.

"Maddy thought it was funny to.. mess with my phone. She put those dickpics onto my phone to mess with me, okay?" he explained, but his words seemed rushed, like he wanted to defend himself even more.

You didn't respond right away, watching him for a moment before you asked the next question that pushed him. "And you just.. kept them?"

His jaw clenched as he turned towards you "You're making it sound like I wanted them there. Do you think I sit around looking at–" he cut himself off, inhaling sharply.

His hand lifted from the steering wheel before it dragged down his face, as if he wanted to wipe the frustration away. "Y/n, I'm not into that shit alright?" He continued, his voice more quiet.

The way he said it 'not into that shit' made your stomach twist uncomfortably. You frowned, sitting up straighter "You mean.. guys?" you asked as your brows furrowed.

For a moment silence set in as you waited for him to answer. "I didn't mean it like that." He scoffed, shaking his head "Yeah, you did." you nodded in response.

His fingers tapped against his thigh, the familiar smug smirk visible on his face. "Look, I'm not gonna feel bad for not being into dudes, sorry if that offends you."

You scoffed "It's not about being into guys, Nate. It's the way you acted like it's disgusting or something." you explained, sighing heavily afterwards.

His smirk faded, because yes, a big part of him did find it disgusting and his thoughts were a mess regarding that topic. But he couldn't let you in on that yet.

"I didn't say that, okay? Sorry if it sounded like that. I'm just starting to get pissed off because this is so absurd." he said, as looked straight ahead again for a moment.

"I mean, did you seriously believe I'm into guys?" he asked, his voice sounding almost amused, before he turned towards you again for what he was about to say next. "After the way I fucked you last night?"

You averted your gaze, caught off guard as your breath caught in your throat. "Or what? Was I pretending back then?" You shifted in your seat as the memories flashed before your eyes "No, that's not what I–"

"And I asked you to be my girlfriend, did you forget that?" his eyes narrowed, watching you intently as his hand moved towards your thigh.

You didn't want to admit it, but he made sense you couldn't deny that. So why did you still feel so.. unsure?

Nate noticed the way the wheels were turning in your head, and he loved it. He was so fucking good at this– twisting your words until you weren't even sure why you were even arguing anymore.

"I didn't forget.." you quietly responded, your gaze falling to your lap. "Do you see what I mean now, how this doesn't make any sense?"

You sighed as you nodded slowly. "And also, I didn't wanna tell you this because I didn't want you to think I'm weird, but.. Cassie and Maddy were best friends."

Your eyes widened as you remembered that Max told you that back in his car. But you obviously couldn't tell Nate. "Oh.. who did you date first?" you asked, despite knowing the answer.

"Maddy, so tell me, do you really think Cassie would've dated me afterwards if she knew I choked Maddy?" You shook your head, agreeing that this was absolutely absurd.

Nate smiled softly, as his thumb stroked over your thigh. "Cassie is a liar, even if she acted as if she wasn't aware that you were the one on the phone, she probably was when you weren't responding."

God, you felt so stupid. Why did you believe some random girl who you didn't even know over your boyfriend? He did so much for you and even if he had a short temper sometimes, he wouldn't do something like that.

"I'm sorry.. I'm so stupid." you sighed, closing your eyes as you leaned against the headrest. "No you're not, you're just too naive and believe people too quickly." he reassured you.

"You could've just told me what happened right away, and we wouldn't have had this argument." you nodded again, placing your hand over his on your thigh.

"I'm so sorry," you apologized again, this time leaning in to hug Nate "I love you and I shouldn't have doubted you like this.. not after everything you've done for me." you mumbled into his neck.

Nate wrapped his arms around you, stroking your back softly "It's fine, baby. I'm not angry, I just don't wanna lose you." he reassured you, sighing in relief before he added "From now on no secrets anymore, yeah?".

You hummed in agreement "No more secrets." you smiled softly, before releasing him again "I'll go inside now, I still have to talk to my parents." you groaned.

Nate nodded, pressing the button to unlock the door again. Then he leaned in towards you, grabbing your chin before kissing you deeply. You kissed him back, your hand resting on his cheek.

When you broke the kiss and smiled at him, he smirked "Text me later, I'm curious about what they want from you this time." You nodded before saying goodbye and getting out of his car.

You waved at him as he drove off, before you made your way into your home.

As soon as Nate was out of sight, his jaw clenched again. He was furious– not at you, but at Cassie. What the fuck was she thinking? Why did she even mention all those things?

He had to talk to her and tell her to stay the fuck away from both of you. Now that everything he was scared would happen did happen and she had nothing to blackmail him with, he could finally cut her off for real this time.

And he wouldn't be nice about it.

As you entered your home you sighed, trying to calm down from the intense argument back at his place and his car. But then you remembered that you still had to deal with whatever your parents had to say.

You decided to deal with it right away instead of postponing it any further, and made your way into the living room.

You were met with the sight of your parents who were currently watching TV. When they saw you, your dad sat up straight before he turned the TV off "Y/n, you're back." he said with an apologetic smile.

Your mom also smiled at you, but her smile seemed almost condescending. "How was the party?" she asked as she crossed her arms "It was really good." you answered, before sitting down on the armchair.

"Well, now that you're here we can finally talk." She added, before glancing at your dad. "Your father got a new job offer.” You swallowed harshly as your heart seemingly stopped for a second.

You were well aware of what that meant.

It wasn’t the first time you heard that sentence, but right now it carried way more weight than ever before.

Your gaze wandered from your mother to your father, who was sighing “You can’t be serious.” you muttered, your voice lower than usually.

“Y/n, it’s a really good opportunity. I’d get the same amount of money and less hours. I’d finally be able to spend more time with you.” he softly explained, causing you to scoff “Don’t you think it’s a little too late for that?”

You crossed your arms as you fought back tears, your mind wandering to all the moments you had with Nate, completely unaware of the guilt clearly visible on your dad’s face.

“I know it hasn’t been perfect,” he admitted as he moved forward, placing his elbows on his knees “But I’m trying to make up for lost time. Time I spent working for us” he emphasized.

“So moving again is your way of fixing things?” you asked shakily, more than frustrated by how unfair your parents were treating you.

“This is about Nate, isn’t it?” Your mother suddenly interjected “You never complained this much before when we moved.” You froze as your gaze was fixed on her.

“I–that’s not true!” you protested, your brows furrowing in anger. She shrugged as if this wasn’t a big deal “It’s obvious, you’re attached to him because he’s your first boyfriend.” you squinted your eyes at her.

“But trust me, Nate isn’t the right one for you. You’re young, you’ll meet someone else, someone better.” Her words angered you even more, and you struggled to stay calm.

How could they do this to you, now that you finally found friends and a boyfriend who loved you so much? You scoffed before getting up “You might think you know him, but you have no idea how fucking ridiculous all of this is!”

Your mothers face turned into a scowl as she gave you a disapproving look “Language..” she scolded, before continuing “You’ll get over it, trust me.. even if it’ll be hard at first.”

You felt like everything you and Nate worked for was crumbling apart. You knew you were powerless regarding the decision of your parents, but you wished they’d let you have a say in this as well.

Your father jumped in in an attempt to reason with you “I’m sorry, I really wish it would work out here but it just doesn’t.. I realized how burnt out I am currently. And with the new work it’ll all get better. And I’m sure you’ll meet new people.”

You did feel bad for him, but it just felt like this realization should’ve come earlier, since he’s been this absent ever since you were a child. You simply nodded, tears stinging your eyes as you glared at him.

“Where are we gonna move, and when..?” You asked shakily “Urbandale.. it’s a city in Ottawa.” your mother replied, causing your eyes to widen “We’re moving to Canada?” you asked in disbelief.

Your father nodded “I have an appointment there next week, to check out the area and our new place. I’m sure it’ll be just as nice and calm as this neighborhood.” You blinked at your dad, unable to say anything.

“If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be able to move there next month.” You bit your lip nervously, trying to distract yourself from the tears that were threatening to spill.

“I’ll go now.” you answered sharply before you exited the living room. As soon as you went towards your room the tears started running down your cheeks.

You closed the door behind you, breathing heavily as the words kept repeating in your head. You couldn’t believe that they were actually serious, totally rejecting your feelings.

You quickly wiped your tears away and pulled out your phone, shakily swiping across the screen as you searched for Nate’s contact.

You knew that he was probably still in his car and maybe he’d pick you up again. Your parents might be against it but they couldn’t stop you.

You sighed one last time before you pressed the call button. It rang a few seconds before he finally picked up. “Hey, is everything okay?”

That sentence alone made you sob, stopping you from answering right away. “Baby.. what’s wrong?” he asked again, his tone concerned.

“C-can you pick me up again? I.. can’t sleep here tonight..” you shakily responded as you moved away from the door, running your hand through your hair in frustration.

“I’m on my way, give me five minutes.” he instantly assured you before hanging up and turning around at the next crossroad, not even minding the traffic laws as he sped back towards your place.

He knew that something huge must’ve happened for you to actually call him, and ask him to pick you up. He cursed your parents for making you feel this way, his jaw tensing as he tried to stay calm.

✎ Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, feel free to give me feedback!! :♡

- Cassandra

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[lovemybluebully]

Santa Always Comes Through

Goddammit, Hugh has the fucking cutest smile. 🥰

A little side quest from the other fic I'm writing for some Christmas-y action. 😁🎅🎄 Starts off a bit angsty, but I promise it's all necessary for the cuteness to shine. Sorry I didn't have this ready by Christmas day, but I just started typing it up the day before and I've been really busy the past several weeks. I feel that Christmas runs through the end of the month anyways so it's still legal to post this. 😊

Logan's nightmares of his past are keeping him from getting any sleep, so Wade comes up with the perfect Christmas gift for him.

"Deadpool and Wolverine"-verse

M/M Tickle Fic

Word Count: 5,336

Logan bolted upright with eyes wide in a panic and sweat glistening all over his body as the haunting screams followed him out of his dream. His emotions were high, disorienting him and he was unable to place exactly where he was at the moment. His vision was hazy, and he just couldn't focus on anything around him, currently trapped between reality and the dream world he'd just escaped.

He then felt a touch land on his shoulder as he instantly popped his claws in a knee-jerk reaction and turned to swipe at what had made contact with him. A loud yelp from the offender followed by a few curse words started to bring Logan out of his trance as he heard familiarity in the voice, calming him.

As his eyes finally cleared and he regained his sensibility he found Deadpool standing there, holding onto his bloody stump of an arm where a hand used to be. That appeared to be the least of the man's worries though as he just looked back at Logan with thoughtful concern.

"Easy Logan. Deep breath now. It's just me," he spoke softly as to try to get his roommate to relax. A light returned to his eyes as Logan finally seemed to recognize him, though there was confusion all over his face.

"Wade?" He now looked around himself again and saw that he was in Wade's apartment, sitting on his pull-out bed from the couch. The same place he'd been sleeping for several months now. Safe and sound.

The sun had set hours ago, but he could see make out the snow that was quietly falling outside the nearby window. Beside that was the Christmas tree that Wade had dragged him into the woods to cut down and then persuaded to help him decorate; the colored bulbs dimly lighting up that side of the room.

Only once the smell of blood hit his nostrils had Logan realized what he'd done; his formerly terrified face transforming into shame and guilt as he retracted his claws and turned his attention back to his friend.

"Wade, fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-," he started trying to piece together an apology, but Wade only hushed him with the wave of his still existing hand.

"Hey hey, don't worry about it," he then bent over to retrieve his dismembered hand before placing it back onto the end of his arm as his skin quickly began to knit itself back together, "No harm, no foul. See? Good as new."

He smiled as he now wiggled his working fingers in the air, but Logan didn't smile back.

"I don't like doing that," he looked down and gingerly rubbed the knuckles on the back of his hand where the claws had been out moments ago.

"Ah, it's okay. You couldn't kill me if you tried and boy did you try when we first met," Wade chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as he sat down on the bed beside him with Logan now averting his gaze back up.

"That's not me anymore, Wade. Hurting people that I care about is the last thing I ever want to do," he allowed himself to lean into the other man as arms were wrapped around him.

"I know you don't, big guy, but it was an accident and I'm one hundred percent okay. Please don't beat yourself up about it. Besides, tomorrow is Christmas, and this year is extra special because Santa brought me the best gift of all......my new best friend," Wade smiled and fondly nuzzled against Logan's neck, finally getting the man to crack the start of a smile.

Logan remembered where he had spent the last Christmas, waking up in a dirty alleyway from another night of drinking himself into blacked-out unconsciousness. With no one in his universe wanting anything to do with him, not caring if he was alive or dead, though most wished for the latter.

And now in the blink of an eye, all of that had changed. It had taken him a while to get used to how physically affectionate Wade was with him, but now it was something he craved. And the fact that anyone was willing to invest that kind of effort into someone like him was more than humbling.

"I'll never know what you saw in me. A pathetic, drunk, empty shell of a man with no hope of ever finding happiness again......the worst Wolverine of them all. I was ready to die. Hell, I'd tried plenty of times."

"Well, you wouldn't be who you were if you weren't those things though. And that's not all that you are, and you've let me see that other side of you, no matter how much you tried to keep it hidden. There is compassion inside of you, and you give your loyalty and devotion to those that have earned it. You may resist it, but in the end you always end up doing what you feel is right, like how you took that stand with all of us at Cassandra Nova's fortress. And then with me at Paradox's. None of us would be here today if you truly didn't care," Wade explained while Logan quietly listened before giving a tired sigh.

"Yeah well I've got a lot of making up to do for what I've done. Saving a timeline from going out of existence seemed like a good start," he trailed off as a despondent look came over his face. Wade knew the topic of the X-men was still a fresh wound in his heart.

"I know I can't speak for them, but I've no doubt that they would be proud of you and everything that you did here. Not just anyone could have done what you did. You were willing to give your life to protect my family and friends, people you didn't even know. That's elite hero status in any book."

"I accept the fact that my past was necessary to set me on course to helping you and everyone in this universe, but I'm gonna carry the regret of losing them for the rest of my life. Ya know I just really....miss them. And I wish I would've let them know in person what they meant to me instead of always bein' a selfish bastard.....acting like they were only a second thought," Logan hid his face in his palm, trying to contain his vulnerability.

"You think they didn't know, but believe me, they did. I know there had to have been plenty of ways you showed it, even if you didn't realize it. If you really were as bad as you think you were then why didn't they kick you to the curb? Why did they let you stay? It's because they loved you and they know you loved them back. Even an idiot like me is capable of seeing that," he felt Logan's body stiffen against him as he made a choking noise in an attempt to hold back his tears.

Wade tightened his embrace around him as he slowly rubbed his back.

"I really meant it when I said you were the best Wolverine. I'll never be able to fully express how grateful I am for what you've done, but I promise I'm going to spend the rest of my existence making sure that you know that you matter. I've got my own regrets in life too but meeting you will never be one of them. So thanks for making it easy by passing out at that bar so I could drag you along into my fucked-up life."

Logan let out a soft wheeze of a laugh, putting his own arm around Wade to squeeze his shoulder while his other hand wiped at his eyes.

"Well, mine couldn't get any worse. But you know I would've never gone with your stupid ass if I was sober. Can't believe you thought pointin' a gun at my head would actually persuade me to go with you," they released each other as Wade shrugged his shoulders at Logan's last comment.

"I mean I'd met a plethora of other Wolverines at that point, and I don't know, maybe you could have been one that didn't have a metal plate in your thick head," Wade playfully poked him in the forehead as Logan leaned away and smiled.

"I get it. Gotta be at least one version out there like that. Disappointed in what ya got?"

"Of course not, don't be crazy now. That's my department. Like I said I got the best of the best. The greatest part of it all being that you actually like me."

Logan smirked at that.

"In small doses. But bein' that it's Christmas I'll let you think otherwise," he rubbed both hands over his tired, bloodshot eyes.

"You're too good to me, Wolvie. Santa really did deliver this Christmas. What did you ask him for?"

"Don't tell me you still believe in Santa Claus at your age," Logan scoffed as he laid back down onto his pillow while Wade's eyes widened in shock and offense.

"What do you mean? He's totally real. He's actually a mutant too and one of the most powerful in existence. The man is omega level status, and he sees everything. Sees you when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake......you know the song."

"Sounds creepy."

"Well it's not. I promise you I'm not making any of this up. He's real. So just humor me and tell me what you would wish him for," Wade looked down at him expectantly as Logan thought it over for a moment.

"A good night's sleep....inner peace....Is that too much to want?" Logan sighed and shut his eyes with sleep far from finding him, "Might be too tall of an order for him to fulfill."

"I don't think so. I think that if you believe enough then he will come through in some way."

"I'm willing to try anything at this point so I'll give it a shot," the X-man nodded. His insomnia always kicked in extra hard once he would wake from a nightmare; his brain replaying the horrible scenes of his past on an endless loop.

"Any way I can help? If there's anything I'll do it, no question," Wade offered, wanting nothing more than for his friend to feel tranquil, but Logan only groaned.

"I don't think there's anything ya can do. The voices just get extra loud sometimes and I can't turn them off. So unless ya know a way to shut them up then I don't think there's any chance I'll get proper sleep."

Wade felt a little helpless as he honestly did not know what to do. They had tried many things before to try to help Logan sleep; white noise, hot tea, a relaxing bath, nothing seemed to work particularly well.

As he stared down at the shirtless man, he wracked his brain trying to get a solid idea in there. And suddenly he had one. He wasn't sure what made the idea come to his head considering the mood that Logan was in, but he just had a really strong feeling that it was going to work

"You know what, I do. I know exactly how to get your mind turned off and get you completely exhausted in the process," Wade smiled broadly as Logan seemed to perk up at that, though his eyes remained shut.

"Ya do, huh? Well enlighten me then, what is this miracle method ya speak of?"

Wade let his actions do the talking for him as he grinned and placed his hand on the other man's stomach. As his fingers began gently stroking the sensitive skin Logan was unable to stop his reactions as the giggles manifested and he begin to squirm a bit.

"Heheheh-Fuhuhuck Wade, ya serious? Your bihihig idea is to t-tickle meheehee?" Logan finally opened his eyes to look up at the merc in confusion, though he didn't try to stop him as his hands remained resting on his chest. Wade just nodded as he smiled.

"Trust me, this is a foolproof plan."

"You're a foohoohoohool. Now cuhuhut it out," he half-heartedly demanded between snorting snickers, but Wade's fingers continued lightly exploring his stomach.

"I promise you, this is going to work. We're going to fill your head so full of endorphins that you won't have room for anything else."

Seeing not much protest from Logan invited him to put his other hand onto the muscular belly while ten lithe fingers now softly teased and tickled him.

"I-I dohohohon't know-eehehehehe. Seeheeheems a bihihit of a strehehetch," he giggled, not knowing what to think about this. 

Normally when Wade tickled him the attack would be brutally merciless, and Logan would be in full-blown hysterics and fighting with everything he had to get away. But this was different. It was gentle.....and borderline soothing in a weird way.

"You have any better ideas? Didn't think so. Now you just lay there and relax and let me do all the work," Wade instructed as his hands fanned out to his waist, slowly but firmly tickling up his sides.

"I'm sss-supposed to juhuhuhust sihihit here and let ya tohohohorture me?" Logan shook his head, still in disbelief that this was really happening. That he was letting it happen.

"Torture? Please. I know you love being tickled," Wade grinned, digging a little harder into his ribs and making Logan's arms clamp down tighter against his sides.

"Hahahahah-Delusional bahaahaastard," Logan chuckled and squirmed with his arms crossed over his chest, digging his heels into the bed as he tried to bear the playful groping. 

He definitely didn't love being tickled, but being honest, he didn't hate it either. It was just one of the many things he'd had to get used to with being around Wade, who always seemed to glow with pride every time he managed to get a smile on Logan's face. The gleeful look that came over Wade when he had found out that Logan was ticklish was something he'd never forget.

Wade finally made it up his sides to where Logan's arms were as his hands repeatedly bumped against them, trying to get underneath to continue towards his armpits.

"C'mon, let me in. Put your arms up," he kept up with the determined nudges as Logan vigorously shook his head and laughed with a nervous edge to it.

"Wade nohohoho, I can't. I'm-ehehehehehe too ticklish thehehere."

"You gotta do it. We need to step this up a notch. You want to get some sleep, don't you?" Wade gave a smirk as Logan reluctantly nodded after a moment, "Well then open up, buddy."

Very hesitantly, Logan began to lift his arms away from his body and once there was sufficient room Wade's fingers finished crawling up until they were wiggling full bore into his sensitive armpits. Logan broke into hard laughter as he arched his back and attempted to keep his arms out of the way.

But that only lasted mere seconds and soon his arms had slammed back down onto Wade's hands, except it wasn't stopping him.

"Shihihihiiit! Aahahahahahaha!" Logan wheezed for air from how intense the sensations were, rolling around from side to side with Wade's hands tickling away under his arms, "Thihihihihis is fuhuhuckin' stuhuhuhupid!"

"No it isn't. Usually you're pretty awake when I get you and even during those times I've noticed it makes you more mellow and relaxed. With you being sleep-deprived you're already weakened so get ready for the I-told-you-so once I tickle you into a blissful slumber," Wade declared proudly, knowing it was necessary for the tickling to get more intense if his plan was going to be effective.

"We'll seeheeheeheee! Buhuhut c'mohohohon! We-We're gohohohonna wahaahaahaake Altheahahahahahah!" Logan put his hands over his mouth to try to smother his laughter, but even with his warning Wade didn't let up one millimeter.

"She's all good. I got her some nice earmuffs to sleep with so she doesn't have to deal with my snoring anymore. So I'm sorry to break this to you, but there's no one coming to save you. You're all mine, my precious little Logie," Wade loved to tease him as it always seemed to make Logan feel more helpless, which would increase the giddiness he felt even more.

His laughter accompanied by his never-far-behind snorts easily spilled out through the cracks between his fingers though it was covering up his smile, which Wade found to be unacceptable.

"Hey, it's not as fun if I can't see your face. Move your hands out of the way."

"St-Stohahahap tihihicklin' me ahahaahand I wihihihill!" Logan stubbornly proposed with the response muffled by his hands.

"Cheeky little bugger, aren'tcha?" Wade drawled with his best Australian accent, tickling more furiously under his arms as Logan leaned his head back and howled but still kept his hands in place, "Move it, or lose it, bub. And trust me, I know how to make you really lose it."

The Wolverine shook his head as eyes widened in flustered worry. He knew exactly what Wade meant by that, but he was still too hardheaded to remove his hands and could only try to appeal to his goodwill.

"Nohohohohooo Waahaade! Pleheheeheease dohohohon't!"

Wade grinned bigger as he pretended to look at an invisible watch on his wrist.

"Time's up. And I'm sorry to break this to you, but you're not going to find the word 'mercy' in 'mercenary'."

"Yehehehes I cahaahaahaan!" Logan argued while Wade squinted his eyes as he thought it over for a moment before cursing himself.

"Dammit, you're right. Well spelling was never my strong suit anyways. But I am pretty good at this...."

With that he yanked his hands out from Logan's armpits and dug them straight into his belly as Logan squealed and his own hands came flying down to try to stop him. Wade had been right though. His lack of sleep had him far too weak to be able to effectively fight the other man off.

"Aaaheeheeheehehehehee! Waahaahaahaait! Okaahaahahahay! Loohoohoook! I mohoohoohooved 'em!" Logan made a last effort and drew in his knees to try to curl up and guard his stomach, but Wade was already in prime position to not be bothered.

He was positively delighted at now being able to see his friend's infectious smile.

"Ah, one minor detail I'm afraid. I forgot to mention that even if you moved them it was still inevitable that your irresistible tummy was in my crosshairs. But don't focus on that, just keep trusting the process," Wade assured as his fingers scribbled furiously all over Wolverine's remarkably ticklish abdominals.

"I caahaahaahaan't! Baahaahahahahaha! Pleeheeheeheheease Waahaahaahaade! Lehehehet's fohohohor-forgehehehehet thihihis whole thihihihiiiing!" Logan tossed his head around as he laughed hysterically with tears appearing in his eyes while his weary body feebly thrashed in reaction from the relentless tickles.

"Just hang on a little longer, buddy. We're almost there," he gazed down at Logan's laughing face, always amused at seeing how powerless he was during these moments, "Hehe, you know I'll never ever get over how cute it is that the big, bad Wolverine is so ticklish. Coochie coochie coo, Wolvie."

"Yoohoohooou ahahare suhuhuhuch-," Logan wheezed in another harsh squeal as Wade probed into his navel,"-suhuhuhuch an ahaahaahaasshole!"

"True. But I know you wouldn't have me any other way. Now it's time to put you to sleep, you cutie patootie...." 

Not that Logan would have been able to stop him if he tried, but Wade quickly leaned his face down and blew a big-breathed raspberry right into the center of his stomach. The sensation billowed out in a wave through his entire body that made Logan laugh so hard that not a sound emitted from his gaping mouth.

And then another blow came. And then another. And another. Wade was on a mission and knew his raspberry technique on Logan's unbearably ticklish stomach could always push the feral mutant over the edge into a mindless hysteria.

Which was exactly what he needed. To get out of his mind.

All Logan could focus on was the intense tickling that was unrelentingly tingling across his stomach, though his energy was completely sapped to do anything about it. He was far too exhausted from everything he'd endured that day as his body barely twitched now with each blow and the only noises that came out of him were crude gasps and the occasional desperate wheeze of a laugh.

He was too caught up in it all to notice that Wade had stopped tickling him entirely, though once he finally realized it he found that his eyes were quite content with remaining closed. His chest expanded and contracted rapidly as he tried to catch his breath, feeling his body slowly melting into the mattress in intense relaxation.

"No.....No more.....tickling....," he murmured from his lifeless form; his limbs feeling so weighted down that he couldn't even move them, though he had no desire to either way. His head felt fuzzy inside; the high feeling from laughing so much completely taking over and pushing out every other thought and feeling that had been there prior.

"You're right, honey badger. No more tickling. I think you've had just enough," Wade spoke softly in agreeance as he gently rubbed the man's chest to lull him further into his relaxed state. Logan only grunted as his head lolled over to the side, not even noticing when Wade pulled a blanket over him. Sleep was now imminent.

The last thing the X-man heard before he completely lost consciousness was Wade whispering into his ear.

"Merry Christmas, Peanut."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Logan slowly blinked open his eyes to see the daylight coming in through the apartment windows. Though judging by the position of the sun he was very surprised to realize that it was almost mid-day.

Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth he rolled over from his stomach to sit up and almost jumped when he saw Althea sitting nearby in her over-stuffed armchair with Mary Puppins snuggled quietly asleep on her lap. The elderly woman seemed to come back to life once she was able to hear his movements.

"Awake at last. Thank fuck. Now I can finally breathe normal again," she exhaled exaggeratedly and shifted her position in her chair as the cushions squeaked and groaned in response.

"M'sorry," Logan muttered, rubbing his eyes to try to clear them fully, "But ya didn't need to put yourself out on account of me."

Mary heard his voice and woke up as she jumped down off of Althea's lap and up onto his bed, wearing an obnoxious looking Christmas sweater that Wade had undoubtedly put on her.

"Wade told me he would make my life even more miserable than he already has if I woke you up. That insufferable motherfucker has got me by the balls," she stood up out of her chair to stretch before beginning to hobble across the room to the kitchen.

"Well I appreciate it anyhow," Logan smirked at the blind woman's colorful use of vocabulary while he pet and scratched behind the small dog's ears with her cumbersome tongue flapping at his hands, "Who's a good girl? Yeah, you're pretty fuckin' cute, aren't ya?"

He leaned down to nuzzle the top of her head, chucking faintly as she happily licked at the side of his face.

"Came to see your favorite person, huh. Ya like me much better than your idiot papa Wade, don't you?"

"Well well well..."

Logan jumped, and pulled Mary close with a protective arm around her as his claws sprang out on his other hand, turning towards the voice. With a Santa cap on his head, Wade smirked as he placed a finger on the tip of one of the claws and gently pushed it away.

"I knew you liked her more than you pretended."

Logan let out his held breath and immediately retracted his claws.

"Fuck Wade, ya gotta stop sneaking up on me. It's not good for your health," he shook his head as he placed Puppins off to his side and onto the floor where she scampered off into the kitchen towards the smell of food.

"I like to live on the wild side. Keeps me young. Besides I know you'll learn to relax one day and realize that you're safe here. Little by little we're gonna get you there."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, it's just programmed into me," Logan rubbed a hand over his face, wiping away the remnants of Mary's enthusiastic kisses.

"Don't be sorry. Like I said, we'll get you there. But enough about that, allow me to be the first to say....," Wade jumped onto the bed and wrapped Logan in an inescapable hug, planting a big kiss on the top of his head, "Mwwwaah! Merry Christmas, baby!"

Logan couldn't help but laugh as he passively fought to push Wade away from him.

"Ya moron! Get offa me!" He finally succeeded when Wade let go on his own will.

"Oh, you know you love me. C'mon Mr. Scrooge, I'm just trying to spread the Christmas spirit here," Wade poked his ribs a few times, causing Logan to squirm away with a grin.

"Take it easy, I get it. Don't worry, I think I've got the spirit."

"You think?" Wade raised his brow line skeptically as Logan shrugged and looked down at his hands.

"Well, I can't say for sure. Been a long time since I've even taken notice of any holidays. But in my head....all inside of me....I feel good. Like, really good," Logan's eyes glanced back up as he smiled humbly with his response making Wade's heart melt.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that. It's all I really wanted this Christmas. For you to have a peaceful frame of mind and be happy."

It was Logan's turn to feel a twinge in his heart, not used to having someone around who cared about him so much.

"Wade I seriously haven't slept that good in......fuck...years. I don't know what to say," Logan was literally speechless, not knowing how to express how thankful he was. Literally no one had done anything with his best interest in mind for as long as he could remember.

"You don't need to say anything, Logan. But I do, and that would be I told you so," Wade grinned, making Logan spit out a chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess ya did, huh? Well, I got no argument against that."

"So I don't think I'd be too far off if I were to say that it sounds like you got exactly what you wished Santa for," Wade tilted his head as Logan considered that. 

It may not have been how he had expected it, but the end result was all the same. He was rested with any bad thoughts far from his mind, and above all he was happy.

"Hmph. Made a believer out of me. I guess Santa really is real."

"He sure is. And he has specifically instructed me that I am to help you get to sleep every night for the rest of your life," Wade nodded while Logan rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Yeah okay. Very funny, shithead."

"Did I stutter?" Wade asked bluntly as Logan sobered and studied his face, looking for even a hint of a bluff.

"Wade, ya can't possibly think that you're going to tickle me like that every night. That's just insane."

"Hmmm. Yeah, you're probably right," Wade seemed to be accepting reality, putting Logan at ease for the moment, "Not every night, just most nights."

"Stop it, that's not funny," Logan was trying to stay serious, but he was unable to hold back his smile. The Christmas spirit had really gotten him bad for the first time in a long time.

"And I'm totally down to help you out during the day too. In fact, you're looking a little tense right now. I think we should get you relaxed again. It is the season of giving after all."

Logan stared off against the smirking merc for a few moments before he made a move to get away, but Wade swiftly pounced and tackled him back onto the bed with fingers drilling into his sides. The Wolverine broke into spastic squirms as he hollered out in laughter, though having strength on his side this time he managed to shove his energetic roommate off of him.

He quickly tried to crawl away, but Wade was in full attack mode now, grabbing a hold of his leg and proceeding to scribble at the sole of his bare foot. Logan stumbled as he fell back down onto the bed with his deep cackles echoing around the room until his other foot kicked his assailant hard in the chest and made him let go.

In an instant, Logan found himself sprinting to safety as he ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him just as the mischievous merc was almost upon him. He quickly locked it as the doorknob jiggled aggressively from the other side before Wade calmly spoke to him through the door.

"Hey, just take your time, buddy. Whenever you're ready just come on out and we'll continue this. Consider it an extra Christmas gift. Ho ho ho!"

Logan shivered at the thought, deciding that he really did need to relax now with his nerves so jumpy. He figured a shower would help a little as he padded over on his wobblily legs and turned on the water.

As he waited for it to warm up, he turned his head to see his reflection in the large mirror hanging on the wall above the sink, walking towards it to get a better look. The first thing he noticed were that his cheeks were burnt in blush and his hair was looking more wild than usual from the tussle he'd just been in, but he saw something else. 

His eyes were different than how he remembered seeing them before; completely clear, not one red vein popping out and the bags underneath them having disappeared. There was a light in them now with a glint of hopefulness showing through, and the smile he broke into at seeing this just enhanced everything.

This was a man he didn't recognize. A man that had refused to show his face in a very long time. A man that now had accepted that not all was lost, and that things were going to get better. And it was all thanks to one obnoxious loudmouth of a mutant.

It always was the one you'd least suspect that could better your life, but here he was. Happy and living in peace. And he promised that he was never going to take that for granted.

Shutting off the water he now opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the open. He noticed the other man sitting on his bed with his legs crossed and staring at his phone, though he looked up when he heard the footsteps approaching.

"Oh, there you are. Ready for round two?" He teased, deciding to let Logan have a break and having no intention of going after him again. To say he was shocked would be an understatement when Logan laid down with his torso across his lap and placed his arms behind his head.

"What's this?" Wade asked suspiciously as Logan shrugged and wiggled himself into a comfortable position.

"Think I lost a little bit of my Christmas spirit. Thought maybe you could help me with that," he smirked, and when Wade saw the blissful shine in his eyes, he now realized this wasn't some kind of trick and grinned back.

"Yes, I can see that now. It would be my pleasure. I think a few belly rubs and you'll be as right as rain," he lightly began to tickle the now quivering stomach as the feral man on his lap didn't hesitate to giggle.

"Mehehe-Merry Christmahahahas, asshole."

"Merry Christmas, Wolvie."

[kalaidekalou]

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

"It's about bloody time, darling."

This went through a lot of iterations and tbh I’m not even sure if it’s exactly what I wanted but I’m content to post.

This is a companion piece for a fic I wrote for PhantomStutter for a Secret Santa on the Bloodweave Inn server.

Preview and link to the complete version:

The ticking clock was the worst part. The room itself wasn’t so bad—an expansive, endless stretch of soft gray light that shifted and flickered like twilight caught between clouds. It wasn’t oppressive, but it wasn’t particularly welcoming either. It simply was  as though it had existed for eternity and would continue to exist until the end of all things. And somehow he knew this despite only being a resident of the place for the last… Well, how much time did pass? The ticking, though. That grated on Astarion’s nerves. He lounged in one of the high-backed armchairs that dotted the space like forgotten furniture of a long-abandoned parlor, his legs draped elegantly over one armrest. The large grandfather clock stood like a monolith at the center of the space. Ticking. Every now and then, Astarion would fling a pillow at it, or even a smaller chair. But the damned thing remained unscathed, undisturbed, ticking on with smug indifference. It’s not that he hated the place. Not exactly. It’s not like he was spending an eternity in Avernus or any of the other Nine Hells for his misdeeds. But it wasn’t heaven , either—not the warm embrace of Elysium or the radiant afterlife he might have hoped for before his undead passing. The irony not lost on him. He hadn’t been so naive as to think himself immune to death—immortality or not, adventuring came with its risks—but it was the how of it that gnawed at him. The chaos of that final moment, hearing Gale’s panicked cry, the sharp flash of a silver blade—it still stung. He reached for his phantom wound at the memory. His end had been messy, sudden, unceremonious.  And deeply and maddeningly unsatisfying. So... anticlimactic. Limbo was dull, though not unbearable. He had, after all, survived far worse. And it wasn’t without its entertainments. One of the so-called perks of his limbo—if one could call it that—was the occasional opportunity to slip into the living world. At first, Astarion had eagerly roamed the streets of Baldur’s Gate, unseen and untouchable, drifting through the familiar alleys and squares he’d once haunted in life, trying to figure out why he could visit. He’d sometimes catch a startled scream or gasp when someone glimpsed the faint shimmer of his misted form, and—on maybe more than one occasion—he may have indulged in a jump scare or two, just to keep things interesting. It was hardly his fault if the living lacked composure. He’d even lingered near comforting faces, friends who he cared for dearly—Karlach growing old alongside Wyll, the two of them eventually settling into lives of guiding young adventurers rather than diving into the fray themselves. When their time came, Astarion had hoped, foolishly perhaps, that one or the other might stop by this dreary limbo.  Even a brief visit, a simple "Hello, we missed you, and life was dreadfully boring without you," would have sufficed. But no, of course not. Their good-natured heroism and selflessness had likely earned them a direct passage to some well-deserved paradise, leaving no reason to fester in a place as unfinished as this.  Lae’zel, who had fought valiantly until her very last breath, had certainly earned her place in the afterlife of her people—though Astarion wouldn’t be surprised if she’d ended up in the arms of Selûne instead, given that Shadowheart had remained steadfastly by her side until the end.  Once, he could have sworn he saw Halsin’s figure in the distance of this unending place, just out of reach, but all too soon it disappeared after stepping through the clock's veil that marked some unseen boundary. At least that moment gave him some comfort—proof that all this waiting served some purpose. One by one, they all passed on, leaving Toril behind for whatever lay beyond. All except Gale. The person he had hoped would be the first to join him. 

link to the full fic

[eternalbuckley]

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ WISTERIA VINES. (an aemond targaryen series)

— chapter one: Your Romeo. Your Juliet.

SUMMARY: You and Aemond find out that you got the roles of Romeo and Juliet but didn't know yet about the other one. You only found out that Aemond will be Romeo through a phone call with Helaena. And Aemond got the news about you from his older brother. How do you both react to these news?

word count: 4,415

genre: just some tiny angst i think? | no specified reader, queer!reader, bipoc!reader and plus-size!reader friendly

warnings/tropes: modern au, Y/N and they/them pronouns are used a few times, english is not my first language, slightly proofread and edited — if I forgot something, please let me know!

a/n: i'm more than excited to finally share the first chapter of this series. i've been working on this whole project for a while now and i really hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as i enjoy creating it! this will be my last fanfic this year, so i hope you'll have a great start into the new year or had a great start (whenever you're reading this) <3 reblogs, feedback and comments are highly appreciated and welcomed! ♡

disclaimer: please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work or post this anywhere without my consent. i don’t give you my permission to use my writing for any ai related things, don’t do it. do not translate my work and post it anywhere — i give you no permission to do that. i only post my stories here, so if you find my work anywhere else please let me know!

dividers by saradika-graphics

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ navigation | wisteria vines masterlist | main hotg masterlist | series taglist

You nibbled nervously on your nails while you sat on your couch in front of your opened laptop, rocking with your leg as you waited for an e-mail from the production team that produces the ballet show of Romeo and Juliet of the upcoming ballet season. Ever since you’ve first seen a performance of this production, you wanted to be a part of the ballet as well, especially in the role of Juliet. You’ve always dreamed of it and worked hard for your dream.

You’ve already worked with the choreographer before and would love to be able to work with her again. You’ve worked with her on two different productions before; the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. You loved working with her and were fascinated by how she was able to put her visions into reality.

You first got into ballet shortly after you turned five and started having ballet classes. It didn’t fill you with joy in your early stage of being a ballet dancer, you sort of disliked it, but you grew to love the art of this dance over the years. One of the main reasons for falling in love with ballet was a performance you saw with your family in a theatre when you were almost seven years old. You were fascinated by the dancers, the costumes and the whole representation of the stage. It was magical for you and since then, you were determined to get better each day, hoping you’d be as good as the dancers you saw on stage. Eventually, you were allowed to use pointe shoes for the first time when you were thirteen years old – causing you to be the happiest person.

Officially, you have been a professional ballet dancer for a few years now. When you were seventeen, you had the opportunity to be able to dance in a bigger role in a Nutcracker production, which changed you into a better person and was a big step for your ballet career. It was one of your favourite times you’ve ever had, thanks to different people who were involved in the whole process.

“Come on…” You whispered to yourself and refreshed your e-mail inbox for the hundredth time today, hoping there would be an e-mail for the production. You wished there would be a positive message – a message which would tell you that you were a part of the production in the next ballet season. You’d be happy enough to be a part of the production in general, but your main aim was to get cast as Juliet. But after all, you would be happy either way.

You stood up with a sigh and walked into your kitchen to get yourself a glass of water. While you poured the water into your glass, you got a notification on your phone – an e-mail.

‘Casting Results for Romeo and Juliet’

You widened your eyes and immediately sat down your glass on the counter to sprint to your laptop and refresh your inbox to read the e-mail. Your pulse increased and your palms started sweating as your nerves almost exploded. You deeply breathed in, opened the e-mail and read the first lines.

“Hello Y/N,

we are more than happy to tell you that you have been selected as our Juliet for the Romeo and Juliet ballet of the following season. Congratulations!

The complete casting list will be released in the following days. The date for the first rehearsal will be sent to you with the official casting announcement – please make sure you’re prepared for everything!

Until then, relax as much as you can. We’re sure everything will be more than perfect this season! We’re very excited for it.

See you at the first rehearsal,

your production team :)”

You reread the lines multiple times, you couldn’t entirely believe it yet that your dream has just come true. “OH MY GOD!” You happily screamed out loud, jumping on the spot multiple times – you were more than happy. A few tears slipped out of your eyes while you unlocked your phone to call your best friend – Helaena Targaryen. Your hands shook a bit from feeling overwhelmed by the news.

You met her through ballet classes you took together when you were nine and ten years old, and you became best friends very quickly, grew up together and were inseparable. You were thankful to have her at your side. You were there for each other whenever you needed each other and built each other up whenever the other one wasn’t doing well. Especially when Helaena had a knee injury when she was eighteen and sadly had to give up on ballet. She wasn’t doing well mentally and lost her love for it. For a while, she tried to avoid it at every cost after her injury. Even you. You never blamed her for acting the way she did, you understood her. You would probably act the same way if you had to stop the thing you loved because of an injury.

It wasn’t an easy time for Helaena, but over time, she found other interests, and slowly got happier again when she discovered her interest in fashion and designing. It filled her with joy to create her own clothes and bring her ideas to life – it was Helaena’s passion. Being able to design clothes in the way she wanted brought her self-confidence back and gave her a voice. While you thrived in the world of ballet, she thrived in the world of fashion. You support each other in every step and success you’re able to make. Over the years, she had designed your costumes for different performances you were a part of. Seeing you in her creations whenever you danced on stage made her proud. Both of you moved in together shortly after your nineteenth birthday and had been living together for six years by now.

Your phone rang a few times until Helaena eventually appeared on your display. She wasn’t home because she was currently in Winterfell for a design job.

She smiled at you and leaned against the bed headboard in her hotel room. “Hi babe, what’s–“ Helaena began to speak but immediately sat up and gasped as soon as she saw your happy expression, “Did you get a part?!”

You nodded quickly while you walked over to the couch in your living room and sat down cross-legged. “YES! I will be a next Juliet,” you grinned proudly and excitedly while you put your phone against the plant pot that stood on the coffee table.

She clapped, “Oh my god, yes!! Congratulations, babe, you deserve it so so much,” she matched your excitement but then became a bit more serious for a moment, “Wait… Do you already know who your Romeo will be?”

You shook your head, “Not yet, the e-mail said that the complete casting list will be announced soon. I don’t know when, but I hope soon, and I hope it will be someone who’s…” You noticed her serious expression and how she nervously bit down on her lip, “Wait… What do you know?” You furrowed your eyebrows – you were confused.

“Nothing…” She cleared her throat to hide the nervous tone in her voice, but you knew she was lying because she wasn’t looking at you anymore.

“Helaena,” you said warningly, “Tell me what you know?”

She sighed and nodded her head. “Aemond just called me before you did,” she began, and your face faltered for a moment – you knew what this meant, “He will be your Romeo.”

“Oh… Uhh,” you cleared your throat in surprise, “That’s fine. Really. I’m sure it will be fine, I mean… He’s a wonderful dancer, and I adore his passion, but…”

“You’re afraid it will be weird between you? Considering that you’re not together anymore?” She interrupted you without a second thought. Her face showed sympathy as she asked you a question you tried to ignore for yourself.

Your shoulders were slightly slumped, and you nervously bit down on your lower lip. “Yeah,” you nodded slowly and shrugged. “But we’re professionals, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work through it in the next months. I doubt there will be any problems; we ended on good terms. In some way. We agreed to stay friends, remember?” You inhaled and put a few hair strands behind your ears.

“Babe,” she tilted her head, “You two can’t really be in the same room with each other. Every time you stare at each other like two lovesick puppies that obviously still love each other. When was it the last time you actually saw each other?”

You were aware that you and Aemond were extremely professional and wouldn’t let personal feelings ruin any experiences for your careers. But even if you agreed to stay friends and that you wouldn’t let any personal feelings between you, you had to stop dancing with him entirely. The weird tension between you was too heavy after your breakup. You and Aemond used to be dance partners, even before you got into a relationship. You only hoped it would end well.

“I don’t know. It probably has been a few months by now.” With an apprehensive sigh, you leaned against the backrest of your couch and placed a cushion on your lap to play with the fabric. “And besides, the moments you mentioned probably happened shortly after we broke up. I’m sure he and I moved on and can be professional. You know how important our careers are for us.”

Helaena hummed teasingly and nodded her head, “Of course, of course…. I’ll pretend I believe it now.” She chuckled as you rolled your eyes and huffed. If she were here, you’d have thrown the cushion at her. “Whatever! This only means that I’ll finally be able to design another dress for you,” she smiled and clapped excitedly. You chuckled and smiled at her through the screen, her excitement made you happier.

You talked for a few more minutes with her before she had to end the call because she got called by one of her clients. You sighed after the call ended. This was not what you had planned. This was not what you thought would happen. You weren’t exactly sure how to feel about it that you’d be dancing together with Aemond, especially in such a story as Romeo and Juliet. If you were honest, it didn’t bother you that you’d have to dance with him, but you were nervous. More than nervous that something might not work out in the way it should be.

You weren’t lying when you told Helaena that you and Aemond decided to stay friends, but she wasn’t lying either. You barely saw each other or were able to stay in the same room for long without staring at each other when the other one wasn’t looking. There were still feelings between you. Feelings that both of you tried to ignore and deny, even if it was obvious that they were still there. Especially to Helaena – she knew what you and Aemond still felt for each other. She deeply hoped that you would get closer again someday and maybe be honest with yourselves and each other.

You met Aemond and the rest of Helaena’s family when you were having a sleepover at her place for the first time when you were ten – it was like a little celebration of your friendship. During the first years of your friendship with Helaena, you barely talked with Aemond or any of her brothers, you barely knew them, only the things Helaena had told you about back then. The interests were too different, even if Aemond was into ballet and a ballet dancer as well. You couldn’t really find a way to connect with him.

Surprisingly, you had talked with Aegon more than with Aemond, despite the slight age gap. Aegon was like an older brother to you and treated you like a second sister – even if he technically had two already. He was happy to see that Helaena had someone who shared her interests and didn’t judge her for the way she was. You had met the other half of their family only a handful of times so far. Even if everyone tried to be polite with each other as much as they could, you were able to notice the tension between everyone – some had more and some had less tension, but it was there.

But over the years and the older you were, you grew closer to Aemond and became friends. You found interest in each other and realised that both of you had sides inside you that neither of you were aware of. You had been spending more time with him after Helaena had her injury and wasn’t able to dance anymore. Whenever you weren’t with her, you spent your time in the studio with her younger brother. You started to like him more after you got to know each other better. You trusted him, he trusted you. Both of you motivated each other for your dancing and after some time, you tried to dance together, and it was like you were made for each other. Dancing with him always seemed more than easy and the chemistry between you made it even more magical. You supplemented each other, which resulted in both of you being able to dance in a Nutcracker production together when you two were seventeen. It was the start of the best time of your lives.

Both of you were able to turn your hobby into your career and danced together in many productions, even the teams behind every production were mesmerised by the chemistry between you. Many times, you were asked by other dancers if you two were in a relationship – which you had to deny every time. Although, you had a crush on each other, but you never told each other, even if everyone around you seemed to notice the underlying feelings between you.

Especially Helaena noticed it, then and even now, and she loved teasing you about it. Even Daeron and Aegon seemed to notice something after some time. They cracked jokes about it many times before, about how well you’d fit together. Both of them didn’t even notice the glares Aemond gave them or how his and your cheeks heated up. Nevertheless, it took some more time until Aemond got the courage to officially ask you out on a date when you were rehearsing for a production. You didn’t realise in the first place that he was asking you out but once you did, you agreed happily.

You were the one who was able to bring out a happier and more cheerful side of Aemond, one he mostly only shared and barely let out due to different things that had happened in his life. Especially since he was ten years old and got into an incident with his younger nephew and lost his left eye to it. Since then, he has been wearing a prosthetic eye, which brought him his own difficulties from time to time. There had been days when the pain would be unbearable for him, and nothing could help him to ease the pain. Before he had been with you, he wanted to get through this alone and show everyone that he was strong enough, but he slowly let you comfort him and be there for him, the more he trusted you. But even then, there had been days when he pushed you away and wanted to be alone.

In your presence, he was mostly able to forget about his burdens and worries and could feel peaceful because of you. Especially whenever you danced together, he was much calmer and able to forget about his problems during these moments. He may have gotten rude comments about him being a ballet dancer from different people throughout the years, but he paid them no attention. Ballet saved his life in a way only you could understand.

Luckily, your relationship didn’t end because anything negative happened between you. It was rather a decision the two of you had made together almost a year ago, so both of you could focus more on your careers as ballet dancers without any distractions. You had been quite busy with your schedules and barely saw each other that much anymore, given that you and Aemond had to work on different performances and were busy with your training, classes or rehearsals all day. At the time, it was the better decision to part ways and stay friends.

Even if that worked in some way, neither of you wasn’t truly able to move on. Even if you had agreed to stay friends and act normally, it wasn’t easy to see each other afterwards. You kind of grew apart even more and only saw each other rarely. Before and during your relationship, Aemond used to visit you and Helaena a lot, but after your breakup, he rarely stepped into your and Helaena’s apartment. Only if he knew that you weren’t there.

It hurt Helaena to see her younger brother and her best friend growing apart like that, she felt kind of helpless. She didn’t want to get between you, but she understood your decision and tried to be there for each of you as much as she could. Even if it could be difficult for her sometimes – she tried her best, and so did you and Aemond.

After a while of thinking about old memories, you cleared your throat and got up from the couch to distract yourself. You didn’t want to spend the rest of your day thinking about your ex-boyfriend and what you experienced together. You wanted to focus more on being happy that you were finally going to have the opportunity of your life – you were a next Juliet in the ballet world.

You walked into your kitchen and took a sip from the glass you poured yourself before you received the email with the news of the casting. Your phone lit up with a message from Aegon – he congratulated you on getting the part in the production. You smiled and shook your head, Helaena must have texted or called him after her call with her client. You quickly opened the message and replied to him before you started to cook yourself dinner.

Meanwhile, Aemond cut some vegetables for his dinner and was on the phone with Aegon. He just told him that he got the part of Romeo and was more than excited to start the rehearsals – but Aemond didn’t know yet that you were going to be his Juliet. He hoped that the other dancers he’d work with would be as professional as he was.

“How was the first concert, by the way?” Aemond asked his older brother and got a pan out of his kitchen counter – fully unaware that Aegon was texting you.

Aemond furrowed his eyebrows when Aegon remained silent, “Brother?” He placed the pan on the stove and continued to cut the vegetables.

“Hmm? Yeah?” Aegon cleared his throat on the other side of the phone, “Sorry, what did you say?” He changed the position of his body while lying on the couch of his hotel room, a quiet groan leaving his lips as he tried to find a comfortable position.

“Your first concert… How was it?” Aemond repeated his question with a short sigh and added the vegetables to his pan and turned on the stove. But he didn’t get a reply again, which caused him to snap slightly, “Aegon, are you even listening, or what are you so busy with?” Aemond hated it when his brother wasn’t listening or was only half-listening.

“I’m just–“ Aegon paused and thought about his next words for a moment before he continued, “I’m wondering… How does it feel for you to know that you’ll dance with Y/N again?” He furrowed his eyebrows in contemplation.

Aemond stopped his movements, and the grip on his knife tightened with Aegon’s question. “I have no idea what you mean?” He hoped that he just misunderstood Aegon, that it was just some mistake, but how could it be a mistake? Aegon used your name, he must mean you, it could only be you. The words echoed in his mind as he gulped with the consideration that Aegon was telling the truth – that he’d have to dance with you again after everything that happened.

Aegon chuckled nervously. ‘Didn’t he already know that he’d have to dance with Y/N?’ He asked himself and cleared his throat. “I uhh…,” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he couldn’t save himself anymore, “Helaena called me before you did and told me that Y/N got the part of Juliet. And you’ll be Romeo. So… They’re your Juliet. I thought… You already knew.”

Aemond stared at his cutting board, did he hear his brother correctly? You were going to be Juliet? No, he must have misheard something, right? This newfound information caused him to stay quiet for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information. On one side, he was happy that he got the part of Romeo, but it meant to dance with you. He felt conflicted about it, he knew that dancing with you always felt magical and easy, but he wasn’t sure how it would be after everything that had happened. Even if it has been a year since the end of your relationship, he didn’t know what to expect. He should’ve expected that this could happen, but he didn’t.

“I certainly didn’t know that at all. I only got the news of my part…. They’ll announce the complete list of dancers soon, but I didn’t know about Y/N.”

“Sorry, I–“

Aemond cut him off and shook his head, even if Aegon wouldn’t see it. “Do you know if they know that we will... You know,” he cleared his throat, he felt somewhat tense, “Dance together?”

“I don’t know, perhaps?” Aegon replied, quite unsure of his answer, “If you already have told our sister about it, then I’m quite sure that Y/N knows too by now.”

Aemond hummed and pursed his lips. Should he text you and congratulate you on getting the part for Juliet, or should he wait until you see each other for rehearsal? But what if you didn’t know yet that he would be your Romeo and that you’d find out because of him? It could be strange. After all, he knew what the whole Romeo and Juliet ballet meant to you, so it wouldn’t be weird to congratulate you for getting the role you always wanted, right? But he wasn’t sure if he should reach out to you after all.

“We’ll talk later. I’ll prepare my dinner now. I’m sure that you… Must prepare for your show tonight. Bye,” he quickly ended the call and let out a desperate sigh. This wasn’t how he thought he’d spend his next months.

You haven’t seen each other in months, how would things be between you two? He was excited about the production if he was thinking about his career, but he was nervous about his personal feelings.

Later that evening, you found yourself sitting on the couch of your living room, one of your favourite blankets wrapped around your body while a movie was playing on the TV in the background. You shivered a bit, even if the room was warmed up by the fireplace. But you weren’t sure if you shivered because you were cold or because you were feeling nervous. You stared at the screen of your phone, eyeing the chat with Aemond – you were considering if you should text him or not. After all, you were about to spend your next months together, almost every day until the last performance at least. It wouldn’t hurt to text him quickly, right? But did he even know about you being his Juliet?

Your thumb hovered over the chat with him, your nerves causing your hands to sweat a bit, and your pulse beat strongly in your ears. It was just a simple text; it shouldn’t be anything you should worry about. But your pulse was still beating strongly, your mind flooded with a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

Little did you know that Aemond was in the same situation as you while he was lying in his bed. His blanket covered half of his body while only the small lamp on his nightstand brought some light into his bedroom. One arm was placed under his head while he held his phone in his other hand. His thumb hovered over your chat as well. He desperately wanted to text you and let you know how happy he was for you that you were going to be Juliet. He was happy for you, but the thought of dancing with you caused his nerves to hit him deep inside. Aemond rarely felt nervous, but if it involved you? Completely different. You made him feel things no one else could, even after your breakup and not having seen each other in a while. The thought of you increased his pulse immediately.

After some more thinking, both of you tossed your phones away, letting out a long and exasperated sigh. Both of you covered your faces with your hands while your shoulders relaxed. This wouldn’t be easy. If you couldn’t even text each other a simple ‘Congrats’, how should things go when you would dance together? How were you supposed to spend your days together in such intimate moments? You’d have to be close – very close with each other and trust the other one. You were sure you could trust each other, but you were afraid of what else might happen.

And that’s when it hit both of you all of a sudden – he immediately sat up, his shoulders tensed while yours did as well as you both realised what it meant to be dancing as Romeo and Juliet.

You’d probably have to kiss each other.

On stage.

In front of so many people who would watch the performances.

It would most probably be a part of the choreography, and neither of you could change it, even if you could – neither of you wanted it to be changed, either. It is such a delicate moment between the characters and displays the feelings between them – it would be foolish to erase that moment. The next months surely would be interesting.

[selfshipgushing]

hey guys! I just wanted to remind y'all of some things

number 1, please don't vent in the inbox. as stated in the FAQ, complaining like "auhg today was shitty" and "saw a double kinda upset" is fine, but otherwise pleasseee don't vent. /nm this is a gush account and I wanna keep things positive if that's okay :]

and number 2, uh, this is gonna sound very Strange. but I am blacklisting talking about getting your f/os pregnant. some of them I know they're jokes !!! I know this. but I've gotta a large handful that are. certainly. not jokes. and are NSFW. jokey jokes are one thing I don't really care but uh. I think I'm gonna put a blanket blacklist on this because. sometimes I cannot tell what is a joke. and what is not. so. not much else to add. again I'm not mad and if u made a jokey joke and aren't blocked there's no issue here but the ones who have been outright just gross have been. and for now on those asks are not allowed. says me.

also number 3, this was something I wasn't gonna mention because I delete these asks when they crop up but no shit talking other people's f/os!! I got one ? last week? and I feel like I should remind yall of this. no asks about how, "I saw that someone posted about x f/o and even tho I actually hate them so much and can't fucking stand them, good for them :) they suck btw" or even the shit I got a while back in here for my own husband !!! leave !! why send anon hate to a gush box I fear you are dumb !!!

anyways. I'm not angry or anything I just want to remind. please be mindful of the rules <3 I've had to delete so many asks lately.

[sarahaktozier]

Anonymous asked: hii, saw your post asking for requests so... i think some headcannons on first impressions between eddie x reader (maybe they bump into each other during lunch, love this ideia for some reason), which reader is introverted and has a whismgoth/soft goth style (not exactly onto the subculture) would be awesome if you're ok writing it. thank you!

A\N: Hi! thanks for requesting this love the idea. sorry it took so long btw. i hope it's how you imagined it.

-okay, first of all, i can see him taking interest in th interoverted girl who is Whimsigoth and no one really pays attention to

-he had definitely noticed you before and stared at you several times (not in a creepy way, of course :))

-you had also noticed him and thought him and overall the hellfire club was cool, unlike the other students in the school.

-you where in your last year and so was he, even though you had a 2 year age difference (i saw somewhere that Eddie is 21 so we are gonna stick to that)

-before actually meeting you and talking to you, Eddie asked whoever he knew and could about you. "you and her are in the same history class, right?". "what is her name?" "how old is she?" yeah, literally everything

-and you always observed him. you noticed all the crazy shit he does and find it interesting\amusing\funny.

- you never had the courage to go and actually talk to him though.

-when you met was most likely the most awkward memory of both of your lives.

-you were walking in the cafeteria and the two of you bumped into each other.

-you where literally a blushing mess when that happened

-and he just scratched the back of his neck helping you pick your books up "uh....yeah...sorry about that"

-you'd shake your head trying to hide the blush "it's alright"

-after some moments of awkward silence and him helping you to pick your books up he finally talks "i like your style"

-you'll just smile, feeling a little flustered by the sudden attention "t-thanks"

-he'd chuckle finding your shyness interesting and kinda....cute?

-he would ask you to sit with him for lunch and even though you didn't really like talking to people you agreed.

-he introduced you to the hellfire club

-it would only last as a small 'hi' though because he would sit on the corner of the side of the table that was your side and you too would start talking.

-he would talk about DnD, metal music, etc. etc. etc. until.... "wait, you like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Metallica?"

-your eyes lit up instantly and smiled "and here i was, thinking you can't get any cooler" he'd say with a smirk

-and of course, at the end of lunch you forgot to ask any actual information about each other: last name, age, etc, etc, etc.

-it's a good thing though, now you both have excuse's to see each other again ;)

[bloomingkyras]

GEN 2 : CHEF IT UP!

Urmm...I don't know if this officially Her's era or just me,that still in my "TJOL blues" lol. But yeah.. u guys already saw the previous post. And its officials. Run down what happen before "the error" are under the cut and sorry if its tooo long✌🏻.

After their love one pass away, Rose' got a letter and a will for them. The will said that She and Olivia inherited a house and money from both their parent. Since Raylan are their only half blood brother, he only got half of it. And they move to the new house after Rose' make a decisions to left Tomarang behind and be with Olivia since she alone in San Sequoia

Before they move back, Rosé manage to finish her 1st years in school at Tomarang Highschool and continue her last of Highschool at San Saquoia with Valedictorian. She currently enroll in University with Culinary and Art at Britechaster University and move into her boyfriend's apartment there. (*will get to this later)

Olivia in other side, currently working with an interior designer and with an approved of both Rose and Raylan, they will be taking the house that they got inherited,although at 1st the lawyer worried about Rosé but she told him that, the money that she and her siblings got are already enough. And she want to build her own house with her own saving.

Her gen rules. Rose' will continue her globerttrotter chef once she done with some story progression and Uni life. Alright lets get to the drama..

*family house by Nina Schmidt

[the-oblivious-writer]

Shatterpoint

Debra Morgan x Reader

Part One: Debra’s Perspective

Summary: You die doing what you always do, putting other lives before your own. It's what Debra Morgan both loved and despised about you.

Warning(s): Swearing, (major) death, graphic depictions of violence (blood/gore), gun violence, phycological trauma, depression, grief/loss, and vomiting

Notes: Someone requested Debra Morgan angst so......... here it is! I ended up writing a part two from Dexter's perspective (platonically), so that'll be out tomorrow. I've been wanting to write platonic fictional dude characters x reader for some time now

Dexter’s Perspective

The first time Debra breaks down, it's in the middle of the Miami Metro parking lot. You're three days dead, and she's just found one of your forensics reports tucked into a case file – your neat handwriting mapping out blood spatter analysis, methodical and precise. She vomits behind her car, heaving until there's nothing left but bile and grief.

The second time is at your funeral. She watches them lower your body into the ground and something inside her splinters. The sound that tears from her throat isn't human. Dexter has to physically restrain her from jumping into the grave after you. Later, she'll have no memory of this – just the dirt under her fingernails and bruises on her arms where her brother held her back.

The third time destroys her completely.

It's been two weeks since that convenience store security camera caught your last moments. Two weeks since a frightened kid with a shaky trigger finger turned your chest into a crime scene. She's standing in your shared apartment, trying to pack up your things because that's what people do, right? They pack up the dead's belongings and pretend it helps.

Your forensics kit is still by the door where you left it that last morning. She opens it, and your scent hits her – latex gloves and that shampoo you loved and something uniquely you. The organized compartments blur through her tears. Each tool precisely placed, because that's who you were – someone who brought order to chaos, who could look at blood patterns and tell stories of violence with scientific detachment.

She starts throwing things. Your carefully labeled evidence containers shatter against walls. Your case files scatter like dead leaves. She's screaming, but she can't hear herself over the roaring in her head. Over the echo of your voice from that last argument:

"You can't keep running forever, Deb. I love you, but I can't chase you anymore."

The neighbors call the police. Fucking ironic, isn't it? Angel finds her surrounded by the wreckage of your professional life, clutching your laminate to her chest. She's laughing now, a horrible broken sound, because isn't this exactly what you were afraid of? Her inability to handle emotional intimacy, to face her feelings instead of drowning them in rage and whiskey.

They take her to the hospital. Put her on leave. Make her talk to department shrinks who use words like "complicated grief" and "post-traumatic stress" and "survivor's guilt." As if labeling her breakdown makes it more manageable.

She dreams of you. Not the you from the security footage, bleeding out under fluorescent lights. But the you who used to wake her from nightmares about the Ice Truck Killer, who knew exactly how she took her coffee, who could make her laugh even at crime scenes. The you who saw her walls and loved her anyway.

"I'm sorry," she tells your ghost. "I'm so fucking sorry."

But you're not there to forgive her.

Dexter finds her one night, sitting in your office at Miami Metro, organizing blood slides with obsessive precision. Trying to find patterns like you taught her, as if understanding the science of death will somehow make losing you hurt less.

"You're starting to worry me," he says, in that awkward way of his.

She laughs, sharp and bitter. "Starting to? Fuck, Dex, I'm starting to worry myself."

The security footage plays on repeat in her mind. She's memorized every detail – how you raised your hands, trying to de-escalate. How you stepped in front of the teenage clerk, protecting her. Your body jerking back, a crimson flower blooming across your chest. The way you looked surprised, almost confused, as you fell.

She keeps working cases, because what else is there? But every crime scene becomes yours. Every victim wears your face. She gets reckless, aggressive with suspects. Takes stupid risks because maybe, just maybe, if she's fast enough, smart enough, brave enough, she can save someone else's you.

Angel takes her gun after she nearly beats a convenience store robber to death.

"This isn't what they would have wanted," he tells her gently.

"Yeah? Well, they're not fucking here to want anything, are they?"

She finds one of your hair ties under the bed and falls apart all over again. Remembers how you used to gather your hair back before leaning over evidence, that little furrow of concentration between your brows. How she used to tease you about being so serious, so focused. How you'd smile and say, "Someone has to be, with you charging around like a hurricane."

The hurricane is all that's left now.

Some days she can almost pretend she's healing. She goes to work, follows leads, eats when Dexter reminds her to. But then she'll catch a glimpse of the forensics lab, or smell latex gloves, or hear someone mention blood spatter analysis, and she's right back in that convenience store, watching you die on an endless loop.

The department shrink asks her what she thinks you would say if you could see her now.

She doesn't tell him about the letter she found in your forensics manual. The one that begs her not to let grief make her harder, not to let loss change how fiercely she loves. She's already failed you there.

Instead, she says, "They'd probably say I'm proving them right. About running away. About not being able to handle my feelings."

But that's not entirely true, is it? Because this time she's not running. She's standing perfectly still, letting grief consume her, letting the absence of you hollow her out until there's nothing left but echoes and regret.

The security footage plays on. You raise your hands. The gun fires. You fall.

And somewhere in Miami, Debra Morgan keeps breaking, keeps shattering, keeps failing to put herself back together.

Some things just break, and stay broken, and all we can do is learn to breathe around the shards.

-----------

A/N: Not me changing my format...

[mllekurtz]

My 2024 in Writing

I saw @rowanisawriter do this and I thought I would give it a shot too!

2024 was not an easy year for me. It started out with a wave of creative energy, allowing me to get the bulk of the Shadowgast Witcher AU written down, then I got blocked in April/May, picked myself out of the gutter in June (and ended up discarding most of what I wrote then lol), wrote a bunch of shadowgast stuff I haven't posted yet in July and August, and then had some very, very bad mental health for a while, and spent basically the entirety of October napping on the couch with my cat and dog. Then Veilguard came out! I was so inspired by it, I've been happily writing Veilguard fic since mid-November.

Words written: 201k

Words posted: 46k

Days written: 229/366

Fandoms: Critical Role (184k words) and Dragon Age (17k)

Fics posted: Critical Role strange magic (commuter au) the end of all our exploring (pre-c3 fic) losing hand chapter 5 (part of my birds of prey series) Fox's Claw prologue (first bit of the Witcher AU sequel)

Dragon Age the art of mending broken things (Lucanis/Neve getting together) we all fall in love sometimes (act 2 Lucanis/Neve) the toughest part of the body (post-canon Rook/Neve) to fade or at least to kneel (act 2 Lucanis/Neve)

What I learned: that forcing myself to write when I feel down sucks, it just does, and I won't to do it anymore. I actually expected my annual word count to be much lower because of the Bad Mental Health months, but what I wrote when I was feeling good more than compensated for that.

I also noticed a switch from writing fics about characters getting together to established relationships. Falling in love has always been easy to write for me, but clearly my focus shifted to staying in love, which is just as interesting.

What I want to write next year: I have a long, long list of Veilguard fic ideas that I'll try to get through, most of them Lucanis/Neve, some of them featuring Aglais, my Rook. I will probably bury myself even deeper in rarepair hell because I've been having thoughts about some niche pairings that I'll turn into something at some point. I will definitely come back to shadowgast and work on my long wips, some of which could go to kindergarten by now.

Last thoughts: I write for myself, but I share for others. I am so grateful to anyone who's commented, kudosed, liked, or otherwise talked about my fics with me: most of my motivation to keep sharing my writing comes from you. I'm also happy for the new friends I've made, and for the old ones that stuck with me. ♥