#“Sooner or Later a Man's Gotta Face His Demons”

[randomfoggytiger]

"Sooner or Later a Man's Gotta Face His Demons"

(Fictober, Day 31)

An end to my first Fictober-- what a fun time it's been~.

*****

They were on a stakeout, an aspect of the in-betweens, of the wait-and-chase, hunt-and-catch, nine-to-five that came with the job. More mainstream work-- the everyday kind excluding conspiracies and monster men, generally-- that required hiding in plain sight. It was an opposite set of skills to their usual modus operandi, a good exercise to knock the rust from their joints and reacquaint themselves with procedure. Less satisfying, but no less rewarding. 

The idling car was wrapped in fog, the yellow glare of the headlights splicing through the breathy autumn air. Warmth languidly settled on its passengers, coating them in a bone-deep relaxation that was battled every hour or two by fiddling with the temperature. No place to go but here, no other person in the world except the one on either side of the seat. 

Scully half-expected her breath to mark the air when she broke the silence. “Mulder, how come we’ve never investigated a case on Samhain?” 

“What do you mean?” The unspoken commandment now broken, he greedily cracked open a sunflower seed. The sacred dark was next to be disturbed: the driver side door popped open unceremoniously-- the window still fixedly stuck-- and a shell was spit across the frosty road. Maybe, hopefully, it would snow soon.  

“Samhain? Gaelic pagan tradition? Predecessor to All Saints Day which precedes All Souls Day? Men and women and children parading in masks, going door to door to ward off demons? The door to the spirit realm being opened once a year? Any of this--” she paused, accepted the shelled compact of salt Mulder handed her, “--ringing a bell?” 

“You got any fairies you want to catch up with, Scully?”

“Samhain, Mulder.”

He shrugged. “We just… never got around to it.” 

“...'We’.” 

“There is a partnership here, Scully-- yin and yang, push and pull, give and take.”

She weighed his words, rolling the seed around in her palm. “So, we never investigated Samhain because I never brought it up.”

“And because you, the resident Irish Catholic,” Mulder reminded, pointing a finger in her direction, “never brought it up, I thought it was unimportant. Therefore, no Samhain.”

“I think you’re afraid.” Scully was surprised-- and pleased-- that she had so swiftly and so thoroughly appalled her partner.

“Afraid? We’ve already seen ghosts, Scully-- a few more spooks or spirits isn’t going to bother me. Besides, you seem to attract them in abundance, little Gaelic woman.” 

“And the ritualistic, celebratory bonfires have… no sway in your decision?”

The silence was back for a temporary pit stop, crackling with suppressed sheepishness and bubbling mirth as Mulder smirked, caught, and Scully grinned, amused. He reached forward to fiddle with the heater, and she sat back to avoid the expected colder blast of air. 

“Scully, did I ever tell you about the time we almost investigated a fire-breathing goblin in Minnesota?” 

“No kidding.” 

She shifted closer, letting her eyes drift to his recently razed hair. Remembered the patches over his surgical scars, remembered his determined eyes when he asked her to cut it shorter. Reclamation, they’d both thought; vanity they’d both bantered. Mulder the phoenix, brain on fire and rising from the ashes. Waited for him to dole out another of the hoarded secrets he’d been sharing since his recovery.  

“The locals called it 'the cinder leprechaun’ until an Irishman got into a public brawl over the finer points of Irish mythology. He was running for mayoral election; and you can guess how popular he was at the polls that year.”

“I see. And was he the first to witness this fire-breathing goblin?” 

“Almost; but not quite.” 

Mulder shifted closer as well, placing the sunflower bag in a coaster and scooping up his discarded coat from the back. Scully let him settle it around her, even let him tuck her in before nudging her partner back on track. 

“Mulder, who did see it first?”

“Two witnesses-- same time, different stories. Both sober or thereabouts.” 

She burrowed deeper into her new blanket. “Then what really happened?”

“Well, without being there to know for certain, I'd say it's the same as always, Scully.” Mulder left her in suspense-- not purposefully-- as he mulled over life, Samhain, and the pursuit of leprechauns. “The truth happened somewhere in-between.” 

Scully nodded, playfully tilting her head in his direction. "Where does my Samhain bonfire come into this, Mulder?"

As one unit they chuckled, grabbed another snack, and communed in the language of their own traditions.

Neither were disappointed.

*****

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023 and @fictober-event

[pinknatural]

CASTIEL, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, Michael says. YOU WILL JOIN THE ELITE GARRISON--LED BY ME, OF COURSE, TO RETRIEVE MY SWORD FROM HELL.

YES, MICHAEL, Castiel says.

--

“Are you sure you wanna go by yourself?” Sam asks.

“It’s gotta be me,” Dean says. He looks between Sam and Eileen and Jack and Claire and Kaia, tries to memorize their faces. He smiles weakly. “I’ll be back soon.”

He turns around. Michael lifts his hands. Dean takes a moment to commit his youngest brother’s face to memory. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Dean says, and Michael opens the portal.

--

Hell is loud. Screams from the tortured souls fill the air. Cries from demons fill the sound, and overtop are wails from the Cage. Castiel shudders at the sound of angelic screeching, grating and unexpected against his grace. He grips his blade tighter and dives between a layer of racks. 

He has his orders--fight the demons. Find the Righteous Man. Call Michael, allow him to retrieve his sword. Losses of angelic lives are unfortunate but perhaps necessary. Castiel recites them like a mantra, and a swarm of demons leaps for him. He flares his wings wide and bares his teeth and turns the full force of his hundreds of eyes onto them, and he fights.

--

The Empty is quiet. Eerily so. Every footstep Dean takes is muffled. He cannot hear himself breathe, cannot hear his heart, beating against his chest. For a moment, he’s certain he is dead, but when he puts his palm over his breast, he feels it, a steady tattoo against his ribcage. Dean tightens his grip on his angel blade, and he keeps walking forward. 

--

In the distance, Castiel spots Sarah fall. He dives sideways. He has always been smaller than his siblings, has always been a bit faster, and he slips between the cracks of the first circle, and descends deeper into the pit.

--

OOHH...LITTLE HUMAN, a voice, slimy and awful, says, curling around him like the worst kind of hug. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

“I’m here for my angel,” Dean says. He stares up at nothing, defiant. He’s glad he can hear his own voice.

THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG, the voice says. HE IS MY ANGEL NOW. SLEEPING BESIDE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TUCKED IN A LINE, DREAMING OF HIS GREAT REGRETS. AND OH, LITTLE HUMAN, HE HAS MANY. 

“I ain’t leaving without him,” Dean says, clenching his fist. His shoulder feels like it’s burning. 

LITTLE HUMAN, YOU ARE NOT MEANT FOR THE EMPTY. NOT WHILE THAT HEART BEAT-BEAT-BEATS INSIDE YOUR CHEST. LEAVE. YOU MAY RETURN WHEN YOU DIE. YOU WERE PROMISED TO ME, YOU KNOW. 

“You don’t want me stuck inside you forever,” Dean says, then he winces because okay, that was kinda dirty. “I’m kind of an expert at being annoying. I’m also an expert in tearing up afterlives.”

OH, HUMAN. YOU POOR THING. HOW EMBARRASSING. YOUR DESIRE FOR THE ANGEL LEAKS OUT OF YOUR PORES. 

Dean snarls. “Who are your greatest prizes?” he asks. “Which angels and demons do you have the most pride in keeping here? And who handed them directly to you?”

--

Castiel isn’t sure where Michael is. He isn’t even sure where he is. He assumes the Righteous Man is in the seventh circle, but he’s been through so many, been pushed back and pulled forward, and he could be anywhere. 

Angels do not get tired. Castiel thinks that if he could be, he would be. He feels another of his brothers die. A hoard of demons is attempting to sneak up on him. Castiel whirls around, flaring his wings, and he smites them all.

There are millions of angels. There are billions of demons. 

This will take a while.

--

HERE’S THE DEAL, LITTLE HUMAN. IF YOU FIND YOUR ANGEL, YOU CAN DRAG HIM OUT OF HERE AND NEITHER OF YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETURN. BUT IF YOU CHOOSE THE WRONG ANGEL, I WILL TAKE YOU TODAY AND NEVER LET YOU GO. BUT DON’T WORRY--I’LL MAKE SURE TO PUT YOUR SLEEPING RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR BELOVED ANGEL. 

“Deal,” Dean says, because of course he knows who Cas is, of course he does, but all of a sudden the darkness of the Empty is lit up in a brilliant white light, and thousands and thousands of--shapes--are before him. Angels, Dean realizes. In their true form. And he has to find one specific one, that he’s never seen before. 

This will take a while.

--

Castiel sneaks into a new circle. He will be found, sooner or later, but for now he is undetected. He inspects his surroundings--blood and fire and souls writhing on their racks. His grace brightens for a moment before he tampers it back down. This is the seventh circle! The Righteous Man could be any of these souls. Castiel creeps forward. 

--

Rows and rows of angels, floating before him, all blue-white with grace, all dormant and asleep. They are hard to look at, too bright and too confusing, constantly twisting and shifting. They look like something outta Escher, or a Mobius strip, or maybe just a tangled mass of wires. Four or five animal heads or no heads at all, thousands of eyes or maybe just a mass of wings, tucked over and over each other. Dean can only really look at each one with a glance. And he’s sure none of them are his.

--

The Righteous Man’s soul burns bright, brighter than any human soul Castiel has ever seen. He is doing the torturing, not being tortured, and the cheeks of the humanoid shape the golden soul has taken shine with tears. He is in agony, and he loves what he does as he carves into the soul before him.

--

There’s a smaller angel than the others. When Dean looks at it, it looks kind of like a conch shell, curling and swirling, and kind of like a bird, and kind of like a knot, twisted and tangled. It is small, but it is bright. Blue-white with grace but braided with other colors too, red and orange and yellow and green and purple and pink and colors Dean’s never even heard of. His left shoulder throbs painfully, and Dean stares at the angel with awe.

--

Castiel knows he is supposed to call Michael. He knows Michael is supposed to lift his sword from perdition. But--

the Righteous Man is so beautiful. So brilliant. Castiel cannot help it.

--

Dean’s shoulder is painful and the angel shifts and changes and Dean has to be 100% sure, but this angel is the most beautiful thing Dean’s ever seen. He can’t tear his gaze away.

--

Castiel reaches out.

--

Dean reaches out.

--

When Dean wakes up, he is alone.

--

When Cas wakes up, he has only time to inhale before he’s tucked into Dean’s arms, face pressed into his neck, held tighter, and tigher, and Cas reaches his arms around Dean and digs his fingers into his jacket and inhales Dean’s scent and breathes, breathes. 

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Ayato [VAMPIRE ENDING]

Monologue

The very moment,

Father lunged at Ayato-kun,

a bright beam of light flashed up around us.

The one who unleashed this magic,

was obviously Ayato-kun.

ー The scene starts in the entrance hall of the Vibora Castle

*Woosh*

Seiji: Guh...!? 

Ayato: All of you, stay away!

Yui: ( ...Such a strong force... )

Ayato: ...Oi, Kanato. Gimme that knife. 

Kanato: ...What do you mean?

Ayato: Come on, just hand it to me!

ー Ayato snatches the knife from his hand

*Cling*

Yui: Ayato-kun...?

Ayato: Hey, Yui. Listen carefully, okay?

You’ll forever be my ally, right?

Yui: Of course! So... ーー !? 

ー He steps closer and hands her the knife

*Cling*

Yui: ( The knife...? )

Ayato: In that case, I want you to do this. 

Use this knife, and stab me...

Yui: ...! I can’t do that!

Ayato: No buts! Just do it!

...I’m beggin’ you. Please...Put me out of my misery...

I want you to be the one...to put an end to everythin’...

Yui: ...Ayato-kun...

Monologue

As he wrapped my hand around the knife while speaking those words,

Ayato-kun closed his eyes. 

Yui: ( No way... )

( I have to kill him...? )

I can’t do that...How could I ever...?

Ayato: ...

Yui: ( Ayato...kun...? )

Monologue

It was almost,

as if Ayato-kun was crying. 

Even though there were no tears streaming down his face or anything. 

More so than ever before,

he looked pained...as well as sorrowful. 

Always so full of himself and selfish...

Yet, so very kind deep down...

That is the Ayato-kun,

whom I loved more than everyone.

I wanted to see him smile. 

Yet...

I’ve had enough,

of seeing him like this. 

In that case, I will...ーー 

Yui: ...

Okay...If that’s what you want...

Ayato: Yeah...

It’s for the best...

Yui: ( This truly is for the best, right...? )

( This will bring him peace. )

( If that’s what the man I loved more than anyone wishes for... )

*Rustle*

Yui: Ayato-kun, I love you. Forever, and ever...

Ayato: ...So do I, Yui...

Yui: ...Farewell. 

*STAB*

Ayato: Ugh...

*Thud*

ー The screen fades to black

Yui: ( ...Aah, and so... )

( Everything has come to an end... )

*Rumble rumble* 

Laito: ...An earthquake? What’s going on...!? 

*Rumble rumble* 

Ruki: I can only assume...That the loss of the Vampire King is causing a distortion of the Demon World. 

If a successor to those powers is not chosen, then soon enough this place will also...

*Rumble rumble*

ー Kino arrives to the scene

Kino: Phew, good god. Seems like it has finally been done.

Reiji: ...Kino? What are you suddenly doing here...?

*Rumble rumble* 

Kino: The moment I have been waiting for has finally come...

For me to take the powers from the King and rise to the top of the Demon World!

*Rumble rumble*

Ruki: ...You fiend. Don’t tell me that was your goal right from the beginning...!? 

Kino: Ahaha! Too late to realize that now!

I will take those powers... ーー !?

*Woosh woosh* 

*Rumble rumble*

Kino: ...! But how...Uwaaaah!!!!

*BOOM*

Ayato: ...Nn...?

*Rustle rustle* 

Ayato: ...Where am I...?

( It’s pitch black...and there’s nothin’ ‘round... )

...Aah, right. I...

( I died. She used that knife to... )

*Rustle*

Ayato: ( Yui...I did somethin’ pretty terrible to her... )

( I wonder how she’s farin’ all by herself now...? )

( Knowing her, she might just be cryin’ her eyes out... )

...Well, I guess there’s no point frettin’ over it. I’m the one who told her to kill me after all...

...

( Of course, now I know damn well what I should have done... )

( It was such a simple thing too. )

( I should have apologized much earlier...and relied on their help more... )

( Just by doin’ that, all of the pain I caused them...and her...it could have all been avoided... )

...If I could, I would love to go back in time and do it over...

If only that was possible... 

*Flash*

Ayato: ( Hm? Just now, somethin’...? )

*Rustle* 

Ayato: ...Aah, anyway, I’m hella bored. There’s nothin’ to do here after all. 

Guess I have no other choice but to take a nap...Pwaah...

...Aah, right. If this is the afterlife, does that mean the Old Fart is ‘round as well? 

Then I better find him sooner or later and give him a piece of my mind.

...Gotta tell him that his son is one hell of an idiot. 

ー Ayato goes to sleep

Ayato: Nn...

*TIMESKIP*

ー Ayato wakes up in his room at the Sakamaki manor

*Rustle rustle* 

Ayato: ...Nn...Huh...?

*Creaaak*

Ayato: ( This is...my bedroom...? )

ー Yui enters the room

Yui: Ah, Ayato-kun! You’ve woken up!

ー She runs up to him

Ayato: ...Chichinashi? Why are you here...!? 

Yui: Why, you ask...? You don’t remember? 

Ayato: Eh? No...How should I put it...

( The fuck...? What’s goin’ on...? )

Yui: You nearly blew up the whole manor with those powers of yours, remember? 

But you somehow managed to hold them back at the very last second...

You really are something else! Even Reiji-san was impressed that you managed to control those powers yourself!

But as a result, you lost consciousness...

Subaru-kun and the others carried you to your room...

Ayato: ( What is goin’ on...? I kept my powers in check...? )

( I thought I let them flurry out on control and blew up the manor two whole times...? )

( Am I dreaming now...? Or maybe...? )

Yui: ...Ayato-kun? Are you alright? Don’t tell me you feel unwell in some way...?

Ayato: No, I’m fine but...

Say, Chichinashi. This might be a weird question but...

How many times have I nearly blown up the manor now? 

Yui: ...Eh? Well, this was the first time, obviously? That’s why I was so shocked...

Ayato: ...

( ...Just like I thought. If this isn’t just a dream, then... )

( Time...has rewinded...? )

Yui: ...Hey, Ayato-kun. Did I say something stran...?

Ayato: Yui...!

ー He suddenly embraces her

*Rustle*

Yui: ...Ayato-kun!? What has gotten into you all of a sudden...?

Ayato: ...What do you mean? Nothin’. It’s just...

I’m just so glad you’re here with me...

( I’m sure all of this was made possible because... )

Yui: Ayato-kun...

Ayato: Hey, listen...I’m never makin’ the same mistakes ever...

Yui: ...

Ayato: ...Yui?

...Oi, why are you cryin’...?

Yui: Um...I don’t know why exactly but...I...

Ayato: ( Could it be that she vaguely remembers...? )

*Rustle* 

Ayato: Don’t worry...

I won’t do anything that’d make you sad...never...I promise.

Yui: Yeah...

Monologue

In what followed, I took initiative,

and personally asked Richter to become my mentor.

Of course, Reiji and my other brothers,

looked incredibly surprised,

but all of the stuff that guy taught me,

was actually pretty useful in one way or another. 

It was also Richter,

who told me I should this Kino guy working together with the Church,

out of the way sooner rather than later. 

To be honest, these powers I inherited from the Old Man,

are a bit much for me to control, even to this day. 

That’s why I’ve decided,

not to use them unless it’s absolutely necessary. 

Until that day,

when I will have to step up as a King in order to protect someoneーー

ー The scene shifts to the living room at the Sakamaki manor

Ayato: Hm? A Familiar? ...Who is it from?

Reiji: It would seem...That it’s from the Demon World. 

Ayato: Hm. Must be those Mukami’s then. Maybe somethin’ happened at Eden? 

*Flip*

Laito: Let’s see...Hmm. Seems like that isn’t the case. Seems more like an observation diary of some sorts.

Ayato: Haah? An observation diary? What do you mean? ...Give that to me!

*Rustle* 

Ayato: The leaves of the World Tree...Hmm, I see...

Hehe...They’re losin’ their minds again over some fallen leaves.

Reiji: Apparently Eden has been somewhat unstable ever since Father’s passing. 

Laito: They’re making such a big deal over a couple of fallen leaves...

Reiji: Well, if that is the only problem they have to deal with, they should actually be glad instead. 

After all, Ayato is the successor. Personally I feared for much worse...

Ayato: Aah!? What do you mean by that!? You Four-Eyes!

...Hmph. Guess I have no other choice. I suppose I can go check up on Eden sometime in the near future...

ー Ayato walks away

Laito: Heeh, despite everything, he’s grown to behave sort of like a King, hasn’t he? ...Ayato-kun, I mean.

Kanato: Almost as if he became an entirely different person. ...I wonder if he ate something which had expired? 

Reiji: I am quite surprised about it myself. 

...But, well, Father personally chose him as his successor.

ー The scene shifts to the forest

Yui: ( Eden...It has been a while, hasn’t it? )

Ayato: Oi, hurry up! This way!

Yui: Y-Yeah...

ー Yui runs after Ayato

Yui: ( Anyway, I wonder why Ayato-kun dragged me all the way over here...? )

ー The scene shifts to the World Tree

Ayato: Hmm, I see...I guess the tree looks a lil’ barren.

Yui: You think so...?

( Such a large tree... )

Ayato: Che, I don’t like this. Kinda feels like I’m losin’ to that shitty Old Man...

Yui: What do you mean?

Ayato: Eden can change a lot depending on who’s the King. 

Eden looks more run down than before ‘cause I’m not quite fulfillin’ my role as its King yet...

Yui: ...I see.

But you’ve been trying really hard as of late, haven’t you? Everyone’s saying it too? 

Ayato: Really? 

Well, I did mess up to the point of no return once already after all. 

Yui: ...

( I wonder why? I should have no clue what he’s talking about but... )

( For some reason, it sounds so very reasonable to me. )

Yui: ...Hey, Yui. I...

I’m gonna give it my everythin’ and one day, I’ll become a formidable King, surpassin’ even that Old Man of mine. 

So I want you...to be there by my side until then. 

Yui: Ayato-kun...

...Of course. I’ll be with you forever. 

Even after you’ve become a great King, for eternity...

Ayato: Yeah. That’s a promise. I can take your words for granted, right?

Yui: Yeah, sure. 

( I would never lie about that. After all, I... )

Ayato: Yui. Come here. 

*Rustle* 

Ayato: I love you. More than anyone else in this world. 

I won’t let you go until death parts us. ...No, scratch that. 

Even if one of us dies (1), I’m not givin’ you up. Better brace yourself, okay? Nn...

*Smooch*

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: ...

( I’ve already long made my resolve. )

( To be by the side of my beloved, forever...Because this is where I belong. )

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) Since the Japanese language does not specify pronouns in most cases, it actually isn’t clear here if he refers to his own death or Yui dying, hence why I phrased it this way.

[dobiemart]

say yes, please?

pairing, edward “eddie” munson x reader

summary, finally, eddie gets down on one knee. and it’s not to tie dustin bun’s shoe.

or

eddster proposing to his beautiful partner (aka you sexy bitch)

word count, 1.9k

byr, i read a fic abt billy loomis proposing and i audibly sobbed at it cause MAN WHYY IS THAT NOT ME IRL RN

“oh yeah ill totally write a story abt kurt tmr!” - my lying ass. it’s literally been a week. istg yall cannot hold me to anything but heres my apology for that fat ass fib

i asked my guy friend what he’d do if he ever proposed to a girl and he was like “id make it somewhat sweet or funny over like rose petals everywhere typa shit” and i said OKKAAYY SIR GET YOU SOME BITCHES OR SMTH

i wrote this while i was half asleep. its pretty messy but it had to get out of my mind asap

bolded italics should be read as thoughts

warnings, fluff, swearing, crying (y’know i gotta add the waterworks), mentions marriage ofc, eddie being a nervous ass baby (maybe ooc? listen, i was sleepy.), nd projection of my need to marry this man immediately in my own quirky way.

eddie munson was a simple, outcast of a man. the proclaimed ‘freak of hawkins,’ reigned  supreme on his throne and took his title as a ritualistic, satanic, demon worshiper with as much pride as people gave him. he was never one to openly care about what people thought of him, unless it was you.

no matter what he did, what bullshit rambles spewed out of his mouth, what atrocious crime he committed, you were there with him. you’d seen him at his worst, best, and in between, yet you didn’t ever leave. and eddie loved you for that.

he could go on and on about how much he loved everything you’ve ever done for him, no matter what it was. his heart swelled whether you brought him a glass of water, kissed his calloused fingertips after his band practice, or gave him a simple, ‘hey, eds!’ when he groggily dragged himself through your shared home.

the lists of reasons to love you could go on forever, and this was the day he’d admit that to you. if everything went according to plan, of cour-

“did you hear me, ed? i asked if you wanted some eggs with your toast,” you asked, clearly oblivious to his thought process. him spacing out wasn’t anything new, but he usually came around sooner. 

he seemingly thought out his answer, dragging his bottom lip through his teeth in the process. he eventually replied with a mumbled, ‘yeah, sure babe.’ before scrambling off to your shared bathroom in a hurry. 

you shook off his jittery attitude as a result of just waking up, and started your venture downstairs to the kitchen without a second thought over the interaction. 

the sounds of him hopping down the stairs were familiar, since he’d been doing it since you moved into a home together. he slid into the kitchen quietly, gripping your waist and thanking you for breakfast with a kiss to the nape of your neck. he gave a small huff as he lifted the fragile plate over your head and shuffled his way to the couch, a.k.a. his dining table. 

this was yet another thing he loved. being able to sit with you wordlessly and do anything he wanted comfortably. he’d lost count of the amount of times you’d laid together in comforting silence and basked in the presence of one another. 

“we should go to that arcade later, babe. ‘s totally abandoned now. i know you’ve been wanting to go,” he started with a mouthful of bread and juice, gesturing with his hands as he commonly did. “plus, it’s free this time. gareth found a way in.” 

he somehow made the offer of breaking into the arcade for a date a bit less illegal sounding, so you agreed. though, you communicated your answer with a simple nod and a smile instead of a full mouth of mauled food. 

only a snippet of a smile was visible on his face before he was off yet again, skipping up two steps in his frenzied state. eddie rushing to go somewhere was a rare occurrence, which fueled your curiosity even more. he was less talkative and was in a hurry, but it’s just your eddie being eddie.

after throwing on a band tee and ruffling his fizzy curls, eddie made sure to rush your beautification process. he shot you a whiney “c’mon babe! it doesn’t take that long,” every couple of seconds, somehow trying to speed up your already scrambling form. 

yet another thing he loves. watching you battle with your hair, debate with yourself on a clothing combo, and see if your samina would allow you to slap some beauty products on. without fail, you’d continue this routine every morning and it would put a smile on his face every single time. 

“alright eddie, just lemme finis-“ “yeah, uh huh, babe. you’re beautiful without it. we gotta go!” he cut you off while grabbing your hand, deciding your half-glossed lips would do. you obviously protested against this, but he was practically dragging you out the door.

he pushed you into the passenger seat with an apologetic kiss on the forehead, and made a mad dash to the driver’s seat. his leg was rapidly bouncing as he started up the van, almost matching the beat of the random metal song he had recently been playing.

though, you still didn’t ask questions. his jittery mannerisms weren’t a rare occurrence, so it wasn't a huge concern. just in case, you placed a gentle hand on his bouncing thigh and enjoyed the ride ahead of you.

---

after an ass-achingly bumpy car ride, you arrived at the beat up arcade on the lower class side of hawkins. it was the one you and eddie would frequent when both attended highschool, which made the nostalgia run through your veins.

grabbing your hand gently, he placed a kiss onto your hand before leading you to an open back entrance. you were glad he’d saved you the hassle of climbing through a window, but the nerves were still there.

“we’ll be fine babe,” he read you like a book, squeezing your hand for comfort. “i can see the gears turning in your head. don’t stress, okay? i got us covered.” 

“alright, eds. i trust you. but i'm telling’ you right now, if there are any spiders in this place���“ he cut off your pending arachnophobic rant with a slight tug, dragging you into the somehow already lit arcade. 

the only word you could use to describe the scene in front of you was woah. the playplace childhood shined its brightly coloured lights with a special fluorescent glow you’d grown to miss seeing. the older video games stayed with their solid black screens, but the claw machines shined amongst anything else.

you looked around in awe, sprouting a small smile before letting go of eddie's hand to roam and get a closer look at everything. his tattooed arm fell by his side with a small ‘thunk,’ yet he didn’t notice.

in his hopefully final moments of just being considered as your ‘boyfriend,’ he finally realized the most important thing about these moments. he wasn’t just loving things about you, he was truly loving you. every moment, every conversation, every look shared, it was all with you. no way would the hell-raising spitfire of hawkins ever get married, but for you, things could be different.

he stared at you from the doorway, reveling in the way simply seeing your childhood building made you this happy. he could stare at you all day, studying each feature of your face as if he’d just met you. though, he did make gareth fix the lighting in this place for a hefty price and a good reason. 

he slid over to an old claw machine when you were occupied, one of those plastic ball containers you’d get a sticky slappy hand out of if you were lucky. he fiddled with the prize slot before sliding a spare quarter into the machine.

the sounds of another machine filled your ears as you turned to see eddie bending over to move the joystick around. he looked giant compared to the tiny toy grabbing game, still towering over it while he was hunched over. the concentration in his doe eyes made your heart swell before the familiar dinging of the machine rang around the building.

“babe, c’mere!” he ushered you over, pushing you in front of the framed metal box and ghosting his hand over your lower back. ”i won you something, dunno what it is though.” 

“oh really? mr. munson finally wins at a game?” you lightly hinted at the fact that he’d never win when you were younger. either that, or he let you win. 

a light pink dusted over his pale, freckled face as you said his last name. hopefully it would be mrs. munson in a second. he coughed his flushed expression off, gesturing to the prize slot of the machine.

“yeah, yeah. check what your prize is already,” he was obviously rushing you, but you still didn’t know why. nobody could really be that eager to see what coloured bouncy ball would reside in the bigger container, so something must’ve been up.

you gave him a slight side eye in confusion before bending down to the metal opening, taking the transparent ball into your palm without peeking at the toy inside first. you shook it around, raising your eyebrow even higher at the unfamiliar rattling sound it gave. 

“huh, i’ve never gotten anything but those cheap sticky hands from these. but i do remember those limited edition lego figures they had at one point,” you babbled to yourself as well as eddie, questioning what could’ve made the noise. his leg bounces as he stood behind you, seemingly impatient about something. 

you eventually ruled down your lengthy guessing process, repeating your childhood rituals for luck. the plastic lid popped open with a quick snap, revealing a delicate, silver ring with your favourite crystal planted straight in the middle of the band. 

it took you a minute to process what you were seeing wasn’t a sick trick your mind was playing on you, slightly faulturing before spinning on your heels to face the only man that could’ve pulled of this wacky declaration of love.

there he was. edward munson, the devious cult leader of hawkins, down on one knee. he was still slightly trembling, with an even shakier smile growing on his face.

“well,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “y’know i'm not exactly great with speeches, but uh– say yes, please?”

as much as you tried, you couldn’t respond to him. you damn near fell to your knees and latched onto him, still gripping onto the container for dear life. no way this shit was actually happening.

he almost fell over from the force you threw yourself onto him with. his contagious laugh rang around the arcade, matching the joyful energy of the lighting. he wrapped an arm around your waist and slid back, sitting down comfortably with you hanging onto him like a koala. 

it felt like you were sitting there for an eternity with him, clinging onto him like it was the last time you’d be able to touch him. he slightly pushed you back a couple times, just to make sure you didn’t choke him out. your sniffles drowned out into his neck as you both still sat. 

“if you aren’t gonna say anything, i’m gonna take that as a yes.” he chortled as you finally pulled away, getting a full glimpse at your post ugly crying face.  

“of fucking course, eddie!” you semi-yelled at the man in front of you, giving him a soft slap on the chest. “is that what you were wigging out about all day?” 

“was it that noticeable? there’s no way. i’m literally a master at acting normal, babe.” he replied, still giving you small laughs between words. he slid his large palm into yours, stealing the small container and its contents. he carefully removed the ring he’d hand picked for you and put it on your left ring finger, placing a quick kiss over the crystal. 

you wobbly stood up, resembling bambi when he slid across the ice. you sniffled a bit more before slightly wiping under your nose and eyes, oblivious to the amount of tears and snot you released during the hug.

“y’know, you didn’t ask me properly, eddie.” you lightly joked while looking down at your now ringed hand, the love of your life’s hand adorning yours. “that’s very unprofessional of you, mr. munson.”

his smile grew impossibly wider, pushing back on one knee almost effortlessly. he dramatically sighed and placed a hand on his heart, before starting his true eddie monologue.

“would you, y/n l/n, make me the happiness dungeon master in the world and marry me?”

pov youre me waltzing back in after missing annotherr week of not writing buttfuck nothing.. naw cause HOW HAS IT BEEN A WEEK ALREADY-

anyways this might not be great but i thought it was cute and yeah

ur likes and reblogs are always appreciated my loves (i really need friends n shit so like talk to me rn please and thanks)

- a still sleep deprived coraline

© dobiemart 2022

[lavaffair]

Tongue Tied

Inukag Fluff Week Prompt: Secret/Stolen Kisses

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33168943

Miroku stared at the half demon with raised eyebrows as he growled impatiently.

“How long does it take for two women to get ready?” It sounded more like a complaint than a question, and the raven-haired man chuckled.

“Inuyasha, this happens every time, why do you seem to forget this?”

Inuyasha huffed in frustration. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

An annoyed, muffled voice interrupted the men in the living room. “Inuyasha, shut up! Miroku, baby, we’re almost done!” His girlfriend, Sango, called from behind the door. She and Kagome were getting ready for their night out.

A dumb grin immediately appeared on Miroku’s face at the pet name Sango called him. His girlfriend of four years, they have been in this successfully established relationship for a long time. Inuyasha had no idea he would have ever seen his best friend be so loyal to one woman. He was happy for them, no doubt about that, and he was glad there was someone in the world that made Miroku happy.

Miroku was such a huge playboy back in college, and it was not until they both met the girls that Miroku’s main focus turned to Sango. It was an overnight change, a switch that had gone off in his head at the sight of her. Suddenly no other girl mattered, with pointless one-night stands and aimless flirting meaning nothing to the guy.

Back then, Miroku’s mission was to somehow get Sango to agree to go on one date with him, and she would refuse every single time. It was entertaining honestly, and he and Kagome would place bets on the sidelines to see what would happen. The winner would treat the other to a meal of their choice, and the stakes only got higher as Sango’s feelings started to get more obvious.

Eventually, she cracked and agreed to go on a date with the persistent man. They were casual for a while, with Sango being not very confident in how true Miroku was with his feelings. Though, he proved himself every time. And as they spent more time alone together, Inuyasha and Kagome’s friendship only became stronger.

For Inuyasha, it was a big deal, although he would never admit it. He was never great with women, and he was stuck around Miroku most of the time watching him flirt with a random girl every night. He was not the best influence, and Inuyasha was not going to take dating advice from a guy who never took dating seriously.

Kagome was his friend and an incredible one at that. She was always there for him, and he found it really easy for him to talk to her about things he had never told Miroku. At first it scared him; being so open and honest to a person was new to him, but Kagome calmed him. She brought him reassurance and safety, and it engulfed him in a warm aura that he had not felt since his mother was alive. She meant a lot to him, and he was grateful for the events that happened in order for their friendship to grow stronger.

Which, of course, had led them to secretly dating each other for the last month and a half now.

“Aw, baby, they’re almost done.” Inuyasha teased with a shit-eating grin.

Miroku laughed, “You’re just jealous you don’t have a beautiful woman calling you baby my friend.”

Inuyasha chose to ignore the jab and smirked in return. “So I can get whipped like you? I’ll pass.”

The bedroom door clicked open, revealing the two girls who had been hidden behind it dressed to the nines. Sango looked great dressed in dark blue pants that shimmered every time she moved and a halter top with the same color. The top had a crossing design that wrapped around her waist and went underneath her bust. Although, it was the girl beside her that grabbed all of Inuyasha’s attention, and it was incredibly difficult not to make it obvious.

Kagome took his breath away with every second that passed, her wavy raven hair cascading downward and framing her face as if she was a painting. The dress she had on had his body temperature rising at a steady rate. The way the satin material melted into her curves had his heart skipping a beat. It was olive in color, and Inuyasha made a mental note to buy her more clothes in green.

He felt like he was going to die, and he could not do a thing about it except stand here pretending like he was not staring at the most beautiful person in the room. Kagome was having a hard time restraining herself as well, seeing Inuyasha dressed up a little more than usual while still staying true to his comfort and fashion had her mouth-watering.

They had to control themselves. This was not the time. They both agreed to keep this a secret for now, only because they wanted to test out the waters before announcing it to their best friends. As nosy as they were most of the time, it was a miracle that they had yet to find out. The new couple wanted to enjoy their private time together. Besides, it made things a lot more fun. Miroku and Sango would l find out eventually, with it probably being a lot sooner than later since Inuyasha and Kagome were realizing that they definitely could not go back to strictly being friends.

The attraction was there, deeply welled into the ground with no chance of coming loose. Their friendship had blossomed into something they both had not expected, and it took a long time for Inuyasha to come to terms with it before he came clean to Kagome. He was a nervous wreck that day, but so was she, and when he had laid out his heart to her she was right there with him. It was surreal for the two of them, which is why they decided to keep it a secret for the time being. Everything was very new to the pair, as they had not planned on ever falling for each other in the first place.

Quickly, Inuyasha played it off and groaned, “Finally! You guys took forever.”

“Thanks! You look great too. You dress up nice.” Kagome fired back, but he could tell it was just a gimmick.

Sango, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. “It must be so nice to put on a pair of pants and a shirt and call it a day. Maybe even cologne if we’re so lucky.” She smirked, “Kagome and I, on the other hand, love to go all out. We’re hot already, so we don’t have to, but we want to.”

“Yeah, we all agreed we’d go out dressed up for once! We never do this as a group, and it’s going to be fun!” Kagome chimed in. Her smile was contagious, and it was taking everything within him to not launch himself at her and kiss her.

Miroku cleared his throat, “Well unlike someone over here, I think you both look wonderful.” He walked over to Sango and slowly slid his hand down to her bottom, “I think your butt looks great in these pants.” That earned him a slap to the hand.

“Ever the charmer.” Inuyasha retaliated.

“Let me praise my woman in peace.” He said as he feathered his girlfriend's cheek with kisses.

Kagome stuck out her tongue in mock disgust, “Ugh, Inuyasha, let’s go before they decide to bail on us.” She grabbed her bag and walked out in front of him, secretly allowing his eyes to look at her as he followed her out.

Their friends were quick on their tail, and out of the door, finally making their way to Miroku’s car. When they had all sat down inside, Kagome felt around for her phone and realized she had left it inside.

“Wait! I gotta go back for my phone. I left it on the bed!” She yelled.

“Ugh.” Inuyasha complained, “You’re so forgetful. I’ll go with you.” He unclicked his seatbelt to get out of the car, “We can give these two some alone time.”

Kagome giggled and wiggled her eyebrows at Sango, “Have fun. We won’t be long!” She scurried out of the car.

The journey back to the apartment felt endless as the couple felt the tension build between them. As soon as they were both out of sight, their hands met and entangled with one another. They walked in silence, the air felt too heavy between them to spare even one word to one another.

When Kagome turned the key to let them both back into the apartment, Inuyasha's hands were on her quicker than the flash, his lips crashing into hers before she could even get the door closed.

“You little liar.” He whispered into her mouth. “You left your phone on purpose.”

She kissed him back, her arms wrapping around his neck in an attempt to bring him closer. They were both smiling into the kiss as they savored finally being alone together.

“Did I?” She kissed his nose, “What if I actually left it here? You did say I’m forgetful.”

Inuyasha looked at her with awestruck eyes, taking her in completely before kissing her again. “I don’t believe you.” He kissed her face all over, leaving no inch of skin without a touch from his lips.

He left her in a fit of giggles while he continuously kissed her all over, making sure to leave some around the ticklish spot on her neck. “ They're gonna get- haha suspicious if we-“ More giggles, “-Take too long!” She let out.

The half-demon slowed down, kissing her forehead and nose before withdrawing. “It’s not my fault you look so good in this dress.”

“Hmm. If I remember correctly, you didn’t say that when I first walked out.” She teased, “But I do remember hearing you tell Miroku that he’s whipped.” She raised her brow.

Losing the battle, he pressed his lips against her plush ones once again. “Well, he is.”

She laughed, and he took in the beautiful sound. “You sure you’re not talking about yourself?”

He could not take his eyes off her lips, pink and a little swollen from their shared kisses, her big brown eyes, and the freckles that danced on her nose. “Oh no, definitely not.” He lied.

That earned him another giggle from her, and he wanted to keep kissing her so that he could get her to keep laughing. “I wonder who’s the liar now.” She tapped his nose with her finger, earning a little nose scrunch from him. “Now if you excuse me, I need to go get my phone. Sango’s probably spammed texted me by now!”

With one last kiss, Inuyasha let her go into her bedroom to find her cellphone. It was exactly where it was, right on the bed with five texts from her best friend. Although, that will not be the story she tells when they get back into the car.

***

The bar and lounge were packed as any normal bar would be on a Friday night. There were people sitting on the stools right by the bar, as well as the tables and couches that were spaced throughout the room.

The group of four were lucky enough to find a couch with a table and claimed it as theirs before someone else could take it. The music was blaring loudly in the building as the group of friends were figuring out food and drinks for the night. They had agreed on a bar and lounge because clubs are rowdy, don’t have any food, and Inuyasha cannot handle them whatsoever. However, he can definitely handle a bar and lounge. It was a plus that they also sold food along with their drinks.

Inuyasha and Kagome, seated side by side, did their best to fight the urge to hold hands. Unfortunately, they were not seated at a table where they could get away with it. Their hands were on full display, and therefore, could not interact the way they wished they could. Their best friends, on the other hand, were already showcasing their relationship to everybody in the room.

“Alright, what are we getting to eat?” Kagome spoke up, a slight jump coming to her the more she got excited about their orders.

Just as much as he loved to eat, so did his girl, and every time she was able to eat he noticed that she did a little dance in her chair from excitement. She never noticed how often she did that, and he quickly realized how cute it was that she did.

Sango looked through the menu with her best friend, “We have to get wings. I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them, and wings are part of tonight’s menu.”

Miroku laughed, “Babe, get whatever you want. Kagome, the same goes for you. We’ll pay for the tab.”

Kagome scoffed, “You guys always pay! Let us do it for once.”

Inuyasha nudged at her, hoping no one noticed how he poked at her thigh. “Not a chance. It’s not up for debate.”

“Agreed.” Miroku continued, “All you ladies need to do is sit there and enjoy your night.”

Sango rolled her eyes, “We’re paying next time! No excuses.”

Kagome flexed her arm to show off her strength, “We’ll arm wrestle next time and the winner pays! Meaning, Sango and I will pay.” She smirked.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow, “Did you forget I’m stronger than all of you?”

“Mmm, you wouldn’t dare beat me.” His girlfriend struck back, a playful smile present on her face. All he wanted to do at that moment was kiss it away.

“Haha!” Miroku laughed, “She’s got a point.”

While the girls continued to check out the menu, Inuyasha let his hand linger closer to Kagome’s exposed thigh. It was not much, but to him it was something. This allowed him to remind himself that she was all his and vice versa. They could not be openly affectionate yet, but it was getting harder and harder to hold back.

Once the girls put in their food orders along with everyone’s desired drinks, there was nothing else they could do but wait. The night was still young, and normally the little dance floor in the middle of the room did not get packed until people were drunk. If the girls chose to dance, they would have to wait.

“Alright, so, what are we doing after this?” Sango asked, her voice rising an octave higher to attempt to speak over the music.

“What?” Inuyasha asked, “We’re already at the spot we planned to come to, and you wanna go somewhere else?”

“Inuyashaaaaa,” Kagome dragged on. “Don’t be such a party pooper.” She smacked his cheek playfully, a low growl immediately vibrated deeply in his chest. His girlfriend could not hear it, but oh boy could she feel it, and she was reveling in the effect she had on him.

It was not fair, and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to take her away and kiss her senseless again, he wanted to bask in her warmth and in the comforting sound of her giggles.

He already wanted to go home.

He relaxed and raised an eyebrow at her and put on his best-annoyed face. “I’m not a party pooper, Kagome.”

“Au contraire! My friend, you never want to stay out past 2 AM because you’re tired.” Miroku laughed.

“Face it, dog boy, you can’t hang.” Sango teased.

Kagome watched him pout, his annoyance extremely clear on his face, and all she could do was giggle at him. She understood why he hated staying out so late, seeing as how he worked so hard at the shop and knew he was very tired from his job. She knew he knew that they were just teasing him, but he was still going to complain about it.

“Tch. I’m gonna go get the drinks, maybe you guys will get tired after a few shots.” He stood up and made his way towards the bar, his broad back on full display for Kagome to see. She really could not believe how lucky she was, scoring someone so handsome and attentive like him.

Would she admit that it drove her a bit mad that other girls had their eyes glued to him when he walked to the bar too? No, not unless he asked her to. But it did bother her.

Quickly, she shot out of her seat, alarming her friends from her sudden burst. Sango looked at her concerned, and a little confused.

“I’m just gonna go help him out.” She lied. “Four drinks isn’t easy to carry back.”

“Don’t get lost.” Sango called back to her, but it went straight through one ear and out the other.

Kagome sauntered towards the bar, her brown eyes directly on her white-haired target, and smoothly positioned herself right beside him. He was standing beside the long table with no drinks in sight, casually waiting for the bartender with a pout still on his face.

“Baby,” Kagome chimed. “I was just kidding. You’re not a party pooper.”

He did not look at her and decided to keep staring at the fluorescent bottle displayed in front of him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She wrapped her hands around his arm and nuzzled into him, selfishly hoping the women at the other tables were watching. “You look cute when you pout.”

A blush crawled into his cheeks, staining his face red while he tried his best to look like the compliment did nothing to him. “I’m not pouting.”

She laughed again, and it sounded breathless and full of admiration all at the same time. “Do you want me to kiss it away?”

He looked at her eyes, and then at her lips, and back up at her eyes again. Those full, plush, soft lips that he could kiss all day long, for the rest of his life, enticing him to follow through.

“You’re okay with Thing 1 and Thing 2 knowing about us now?” He looked straight into her eyes, making sure to catch any hesitation or discomfort at the question.

“No,” she bit her lip to suppress the grin she had on her face. “Kissing you in secret is always fun, and we can do that anywhere, but I don’t want to hide us anymore from our friends.” She squeezed his arm for emphasis.

“If you’re okay with telling them now, so am I.”

Inuyasha looked down at her, a beautiful pink colored her cheeks at her revelation, and he could not help but smile at her. He kissed her forehead, careful not to smudge her makeup, and grinned. “Babe, get ready to be shown off to everyone. Because after this, everyone’s gonna know about my hot, annoying, and sweet girlfriend.”

She wrinkled her nose at him, “You gonna keep the annoying part in there?”

The half-demon laughed and patted her head. “That’s the part of you that made me fall for you so hard.”

“Drinks for Inuyasha.” the bartender interrupted.

It was Kagome’s turn to pout as the couple made their way back to their friends. With two drinks in each hand, they carefully placed them down on the table and sat back down.

“Inuyasha..” Sango asked, her voice coming off more threatening than usual. “What did you do to Kagome?”

His girlfriend's plush lips were still in a cute little pout, and he could tell immediately that she was trying to get back at him for calling her annoying. They were both messing around with each other as they normally do, but looking at her soft lips and with their previous conversation still fresh in his mind, Inuyasha knew what to do.

“He called me annoying.” Kagome answered, “So, I’m giving him the silent treatment.”

He could not stop his eyes from rolling at her, a humongous grin showing on his face. “Oh, relax, you know I didn’t mean it.”

Kagome’s brown eyes narrowed at him, but instead of looking angry, she looked like she was challenging him. “Hmm, remind me of what you said back at the bar then.”

That was it, the urge to kiss her again was too strong, seeing her so playfully riled up at his antics. She looked so good in this green dress, with her wavy hair cascading down her arms and face, her blushing cheeks that makeup could never compare to, and her challenging eyes that were staring right into his.

It was an instant pull, like a magnet, that led him to immediately latch his lips onto hers. Inuyasha felt her body give a little jolt in surprise, but she quickly molded her lips right against his, the feeling of kissing him was too addicting. She fisted her dainty hands onto his leather jacket and latched on for support while her body turned into putty because all she could think about was kissing him back. One of his large hands lay firmly on the small of her back while the other was caressing her cheek.

If they had a choice they would do this forever with one another and never go back to reality again. But half-demon or not, they both needed to pull apart to get some air. Their chests heaved dramatically while they stared at each other, both of their faces the reddest they have ever been.

“Finally.” Miroku snorted, “I was wondering when you two were going to crack.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened. “W-what?”

“You guys aren’t exactly the best at keeping secrets, you know.” Sango added.

“Yeah, especially when you guys look like you will jump each other at any second,” Miroku smirked, his eyes flicking back and forth from the couple in front of him.

Kagome huffed, “I figured this would happen.” She could not help but laugh. “Why didn’t you guys just say anything?”

“You placed bets, didn't you?” The half-demon glared. He, too, had his suspicions that their best friends had figured it out a while back, but for Kagome’s sake, he continued with their agreement on staying a secret until later on.

“‘Course we did, we wouldn’t be your best friends if we didn’t place bets.” Miroku’s violet eyes looked into Sango’s, and he smirked. “Also, we both liked to watch you two pretend like you weren’t into each other. It was fun.”

“Keh. Assholes.” Inuyasha scoffed.

“Never mind that,” Sango pulled Kagome in for a hug. “I’m so happy! This couldn't have gone more perfect!”

Kagome was in a fit of giggles all over again, and immediately she was pulled off from her best friend and into her boyfriend's arms.

“Well, guess we couldn’t keep it a secret after all.” The half-demon smirked.

A bright smile that Kagome could not hold back appeared on her face. “Nope, I guess not.”

They kissed each other again, and again, and again. By the time the group of friends all left the lounge, Inuyasha and Kagome looked spent, with swollen kissed lips and a drunken look in their eyes.

[hiro-gari]

omggg I love your writing! could you write a garou x reader where garou realizes he has feelings for y/n and at first is in denial and is all like "romance no, hero hunting yes" but as he tries to distance himself from y/n, his mind always goes back to their good memories together, and so he ends up confessing but he's all awkward about it lol (we all know this poor boy is not good with words lmaooo)

HI, thank you so much!! 🥺💖 Of course, I love this poor, clueless guy T-T

Tongue Tied

Garou x reader

SFW, some cursing

It had only been three days. Somehow, it felt like ages.

But this was for the best. For himself, and for you. A clean break with no explanations, and no lingering attachments. With how smart you were, Garou was certain you’d be able to make a convincing argument against the violent path he’d devoted himself to. Your presence alone might even be enough to sway him. Or, maybe, you’d overwhelm him with your acceptance, as you had so many times, and you’d support him leaving, if it meant achieving his dream.

Either scenario sounded awful. So he avoided them both, and disappeared without a trace.

The problem was, you were everywhere. No matter which City or run down suburb he wandered into, he saw you; a silhouette amongst the crowd that would seem a bit too similar, a laugh that could have been yours, that song you mentioned you loved drifting from some shop. Though absent, Garou couldn’t escape you.

So he poured all of his energy into his goals, fighting until he was depleted, over and over. To hell with the class and rank of his opponents, any fight was better than letting his mind wander, right?

~

The Class B hero on the ground before him never stood a chance. It could barely even be considered a victory; he was only a tally to add on the list of heroes that Garou the Hero Hunter had put in the hospital.

Although this guy might have ended up there sooner rather than later, with the way he was panting after barely a few blows had been exchanged. He was on his knees, the contents of his pockets strewn across the street. It wasn’t the coins that caught Garou’s attention, though, he could do just fine without it.

However, in his hand now were two very intriguing pieces of paper. They were a pair of tickets to some horror flick he never would have paid any mind to, if it weren’t for you.

“You’ve never seen it? Really?! I thought you’d be all about it, being a monster guy and all.”

A softness came over him at the memory. Wouldn’t it be something, to sit next to you in a dark theater, watching some slasher film rife with Hollywood jump scares? It would be just the perfect opportunity to stretch his arm around your shoulder reassuringly, to take in your sweet smell as you relax into his chest. It was a late night showing too...

He crumpled them tightly in his fist, gritting his teeth.

Enough.

The man on the ground made a pitiful show of flailing at him meekly. It was puzzling, as he hardly had a scratch on him.

“H-Hero Hunter-... we will take you down...”

“Shut it. I’m not in the mood,” Garou growled back, swatting him away effortlessly, “you could’ve at least put up a fight.”

Ignoring the hero’s indignant spluttering, Garou sauntered off, taking his time, in hopes that backup might arrive. The distant voice over the loudspeaker, however, was making it seem less and less probable.

“-please evacuate immediately and seek shelter. This is a disaster level Demon.”

No doubt that’s got all their attention right now. Figures.

The large screens on the buildings nearby showed aerial footage of the destruction as the newscast announcers prattled on in a panic.

“We’re receiving reports of massive destruction to areas of City S! Dozens of businesses and residential areas have been flattened in a matter of minutes. The train station has been obliterated, cutting off transportation in and out of-”

He stuttered to a halt, straightening suddenly. The first time you met, hadn’t you said…

“I’m here every day of the week, Monster Boy. You’ll have to stop by again sometime, I’ve gotta catch the 6:00 train home.”

“Y/N.”

He took off at a full sprint.

~

The skyscraper sized monster, satisfied with the destruction he’d caused, was lumbering off towards the next town, trailing heroes behind them.

For the first time, Garou paid them no mind. The block was nearly unrecognizable with all the rubble strewn around. He felt somewhat relieved to see the café you worked at was still standing, though the front sign was nowhere in sight, and not a single intact window remained. It seemed the area had been evacuated before any casualties. However, it was becoming clear you certainly weren’t returning to work any time soon, and the realization hit him like a blow to the chest.

In the back of his mind had always been the comforting thought that you’d be here. Here with your smile, your harmless banter, your laugh; simple things he could always count on to come back to if things went awry.

Now they were gone, obliterated in an instant, and it pissed him off to no end. A new mission presented itself clearly, outshining all thoughts of hunting heroes and becoming a monster.

I’ll find Y/N again. I swear it.

The promises he made to himself were always the strongest.

It wouldn’t be an easy feat. He knew very little about where you lived, or the places you went outside of this, but he was already forming a plan in his mind. He could start with the list of all the stops the 6:00 train made from here, and thoroughly scour each of the residential areas until he found you.

And when I find Y/N, I’ll say everything. I’ll say-

The crunch of footsteps falling on broken glass snapped him out of his thoughts, his muscles tightening defensively.

“Garou?”

It couldn’t be, surely.

But there you were; a bag over your shoulder, a phone in your hand, slowly making your way toward him from the corner you’d be hunkered down in. The look on your face that told him you hadn’t forgotten how he’d disappeared without so much as a goodbye, and he felt an unfamiliar pang of guilt settling in his stomach.

“Y/N-”

You cocked a brow at him, relaxing slightly as you came closer. All the things Garou wanted to say fell flat as you eyed him, studying the countless new scars he’d acquired since the last time he’d seen you.

“What are you doing here?” You tried cautiously, unnerved by his uncharacteristic silence, “All the heroes have moved on, chasing down that big oaf,” you gestured toward the receding chaos behind him.

“I was getting to them,” he replied with a tilt of his chin, “what are you still doing here?” It came out sounding like an accusation, and he kicked himself internally.

You shrugged, undeterred by his sharpness as always,

“Waiting for someone to come pick me up. With the way things have been going, I’m sure I’d be taken out by a monster in no time,” you added with an awkward laugh.

He needed to say something, and he was painfully aware that this was his chance, here and now.

I’m your Monster Boy. You could let me take you out.

It didn’t seem quite right, and the way it came out sounded even worse.

“I can be the monster that takes you out.”

No. That’s a threat. Fuck.

You blinked at him, looking equally horrified.

“I meant-” He waved vaguely, shaking his head, “you know what I meant- are you laughing?” You were trying not to, practically doubling over with the effort, but this attempt of his was appalling, almost to the point of hilarity given the circumstances.

“Garou,” you said, shaking, “I have no idea what you’re trying to say here.”

Words. Words weren’t gonna work.

But in his palm, crushed and slightly damp with sweat at this point, remained some hope of salvation. He fumbled with the pieces of paper, trying to straighten them to the point of legibility. He held them between his thumb and forefinger, and leaned unnervingly close as he pointed at the title.

“This movie. You said you liked it, right?” You tilted your head in confusion, his stare making it all the more difficult to concentrate. If you squinted, you found you could barely make out the words, and you nodded slowly.

“Great!” He breathed a sigh of relief, grinning. “So we’re going.”

Your eyebrows shot up suspiciously at his sudden change of tone.

“It’s late,” you crossed your arms, looking up at him slyly, “and I’m here on the street alone with a monster. Do I have much of a choice?”

The edge in your voice was a challenge. He’d be damned if he backed down.

“Will you…” he pointed to you, for emphasis, “Go see this movie. With me.” He paused a moment, considering. “Please, Y/N.”

Your face changed completely, and for a moment, his heart sank. It almost seemed like you were about to cry, or maybe even try to swing at him. Had he said it wrong? But then you were flinging your arms around his neck, pulling him closer as you buried your face into his shoulder, stretching up on your tip-toes.

“Of course I will,” you said quietly, letting him feel your words as you breathed against his skin. “Have me home at a decent hour though-”

Your words became a squeak of surprise as he wrapped his arms around you tightly, and hoisted you up with ease until he was carrying you.

“Better get going then,” he planted a kiss on your forehead apologetically, feeling your face blush red hot. You weren’t complaining though, and he took that as a green light to get moving. You were his tonight, and that thought alone was enough to make him giddy with excitement.

“Why- why did you come here, really?” You asked, repositioning yourself so you could study his face. His brow furrowed. Words always came so easily to him, so why did he always find himself so tongue-tied with you?

“Felt shitty. Didn’t see you for days. It sucked.” His concentration deepened with each pause, searching for the right words with seemingly immense difficulty. You kissed his cheek, nearly making him stumble, and he felt a small smile growing on your lips.

“I missed you too, Monster Boy~”

[certified-sloth]

Ok- first, the main ship here is Barbatos and MC, but I might've made this a bit longer than the other fics because I got carried away LOL

I'll let you know before you proceed, there'll be sad Mammon moments

Enjoy!

Time is limited (Barbatos/MC)

"Isn't it about time you admit to your feelings?" The Demon Prince asked his servant, causing the butler to stop in his tracks and look at Diavolo with a calm smile.

"I don't think I know what you're talking about, My Lord." He answered as he placed the kettle down and stood beside Diavolo as his Lord is working on documents.

He hummed and looked at his servant with a straight face. "It's only a matter of time before they leave the Devildom, bottling it up would keep you distracted from time-to-time." He stated, aware that his servant is denying what he said.

Barbatos frowned and looked away. "I don't see why I couldn't handle it."

This made Diavolo furrow his eyebrows. "Barbatos." He called out, causing the butler to turn to his Lord. "...yes, my lord?"

"They aren't like us. Their time is limited, and you know that. I won't want to force you, I just wish to push the thought to you and consider it than regret about it in the end." His lord responded.

Barbatos forced a small smile on his face. "As you said, my lord... they aren't like us, I don't intend to burden them with my feelings."

This made Diavolo sigh in defeat as he turned back to his papers. "Well, I understand. However, if you ever come to change your mind, I'll let you go and meet them whenever." He said as he looked through his workload.

Barbatos stared at his Lord for a moment before going back to help him with work.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"You... WHAT?!" Mammon screeched as he looked at you surprised. You winced from his sudden outburst as his mouth is hung open.

"Mammon, please-" you were cut off as he whined and hugged your waist.

"But- why HIM??? You've got me, my brothers, a human, even an angel- ya really gotta hit Barbatos of all PEOPLE?" he ranted and looked up at you helplessly.

You smiled a little and ruffled his hair. "Didn't you say you'd support me no matter what happens?" You remind.

He froze and glared at you. "Yeah but not like THIS-" he shut up as he noticed your suddenly gloomy expression.

"O-Oi! Don't go lookin' sad at me now!"

You smiled sadly and looked down. "..do you think I have a chance?" You asked quietly, your first demon still heard it.

Oh how Mammon wanted to say no at that, but he doesn't want you sad like this. No matter how far his greed goes, he can't pull your happiness away from you.

He sighed in defeat and patted your back. "Look- cheer up, won't ya? Barbatos doesn't show his true emotions much, so don't lose hope just yet- ...here, remember Lord Diavolo announcin' a party? Don't ya wanna have a dance with him?" He comforted.

This lightened your mood a bit and smiled a little. "Thanks Mammon... you're the best." You responded.

This made the demon blush slightly and look away. "O-of course I am! I'm the GREAT Mammon after all!" He answered.

"Go to sleep already! I needa go and do something." He said as he stood up and was ready to leave, until...

"...no matter what happens, i'll always be your first man, right?" He asked, turning back to look at you.

You giggled and nodded without hesitation. "Yes, my one and only bestfriend." (Cue Levi crying in the corner- sorry-)

This made the avatar of greed smile. He loves you, but even he knows he'd rather want you to be happy even if it weren't with him.

Having to know he's still your first man, was enough for him somehow.

And so, he left and went to talk to Lucifer about your plan for the party.

The oldest was surprised, but still agreed and informed Diavolo about it.

The demon prince was more than delighted to help.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

You walked around the ballroom, looking around in amazement.

It's your last day in the Devildom before heading back up to the human world, Diavolo had planned a party specifically for the exchange students.

Diavolo had noticed you and smiled, before glancing at an entranced Barbatos.

He grinned and ushered his Butler to approach you, making him look at his lord in slight panic.

He soon mouthed something to his servant. "At least indulge yourself, just this once."

Barbatos sighed in defeat as he walked over to you rather nervously. It looks like he can't compose himself this time.

You turned to look at him and smile brightly. "Hi Barbatos!" You greeted.

Ah, this just made Barbatos' heart sink even more. He smiled a little and went to kiss the top of your hand. "Greetings, MC."

Asmo looked at their direction and whistled. "Ooo~ he's smooth~"

Mammon grumbled and ate away on a backstabbing sandwich.

Satan looked at his older brother in curiosity. "You aren't going to stop them?" He asked.

"...why should I? They're happy, I don't wanna take that away." He answered. Catching Asmo and Satan off-guard.

The two were surprised with Mammon's sacrifice, so all they could do was Asmo giving him a comfort hug while Satan offered him another sandwich.

"Would you care for a dance?" Barbatos offered which made you hum happily, taking his hand as you both danced gracefully on the dance floor.

Barbatos had soon tucked your hair behind your ear as he smiled rather gently.

"You're wonderful, MC." He complimented. You smiled. "You think so? Well, you're amazing, Barbatos." You responded.

Diavolo watched the two happily with his arms crossed. Lucifer stood beside him.

"They look quite the match, Don't they?" Diavolo turned to look at Lucifer.

The avatar of pride hummed in agreement. He has to admit, you have quite a good taste.

Barbatos sighed sadly. "It was a mistake in my part for spending time with you in the last moments..." he said as he gripped onto your hand a little tighter, but not enough to hurt you.

You shook your head. "It's not, Barbatos. You're busy, I could understand that." You assured.

He stared down at you before, letting himself give in and lean closer. "...May I?" He asked.

You nodded as you both shared your first kiss on this very night. You smiled into the kiss, this was definitely going to be the most memorable moment of your whole life.

Diavolo looked at the both of you in surprise and grinned, turning to Lucifer like a happy child looking at his mother after seeing something he likes.

Lucifer chuckled and shook his head dismissively. Now Diavolo was happy to the roof, not only did Barbatos went in for it, Lucifer CHUCKLED.

Asmo squealed and snapped a picture with a huge smile.

And just when Satan was about to turn his attention back to Mammon, he had already left.

The 4th-born went to Lucifer and notify him about Mammon, so the eldest excused himself and went to look for his younger brother.

He found him at the garden, sitting on the grass while looking up with a sad smile.

He approached his brother. "I really expected you to go against them, I'm surprised you accepted it." He spoke through the silence as Mammon looked at him.

The 2nd-born laughed and shook his head. "I love em, Lucifer. I ain't that selfish, I'll need time but, i'll let go of them sooner or later." He responded.

This made the 1st-born smile and sit beside him, patting his younger brother's head. Mammon blushed in embarrassment but still rested his head on his brother's shoulder like the old days.

"...did I do the right thing?" He asked quietly, which wasn't really like him.

The eldest hummed and leaned his head on his brother's.

"Yes you did. I'm proud of you, Mammon."

[echos-lighthouse]

Erased Memories Chapter 1: Erased

AN: This is the first chapter of Erased Memories

This is an AU about everyone forgetting that Sun Wukong existed. Lot’s of angst and fluff potential

This is VERY long I highly suggest reading it on AO3. In case you can't, (and for master list reasons) I’m also posting it here.

This came out sooner than originally anticipated thanks to anxiety and insomnia. Love you guys

After the light died down, Wukong found himself in the middle of the street. A truck drove by, almost running the Monkey King over. He barely managed to dive out of the way. “Ey! Watch where you’re going!” The driver yelled. Wukong quickly ran to the sidewalk so as to not get hit by a car. After reaching the sidewalk, he took a moment to look around. No rubble, no smoke, no Spider Queen minions. It just seemed like an average day. “How did that happen,” He murmured to himself. Wait. “Did I miss the fireworks!?”

Pedestrians turn to look at him. He may have yelled that part a little too loud. After the people stopped looking at him (which was uncharacteristically quick) he looked a little ways down the street to see a familiar noodle shop. He tried to avoid the pedestrians as he walked by. They all seemed to be more pushy than usual. He walked into the shop, shut the door behind him and leaned against it with a sigh.

“Welcome to Pigsy’s noodles! Home of the world’s longest noodles! What can I get ya?” The man (or rather pig) behind the counter said. Wukong jumped at the suddenness, but when he realized who it was, he  came and sat down at the counter. “Hey Pigsy. What happened to Spider Queen?” Pigsy glanced at the monkey, looking at him like he had three heads. Not that he hasn’t had three heads before, but he was sure he only had one at the moment. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” Pigsy asked. “Uh… yeah? I train your kid? He’s my successor?” Wukong reminded him. Pigsy’s face scrunched up. “Successor? He’s just a noodle boy. Look, I don’t know how you know I have a kid, and I don’t know who this ‘spider queen’ is, but if you’re not gonna order anything I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” The Pig said, threateningly hitting his rolling pin like a bat. Knowing Pigsy would definitely pick a fight, Wukong thought it would be best to leave. He didn’t want to have to hurt him. Again.

“Wait, before I go, where’s Tang?” he asked, heading for the door again. “Who’s Tang?” Pigsy was still clearly pissed, but there was a slight bit of confusion on his face. “Nevermind,” and with that, Wukong left the restaurant.

“Where would that nerd be?” Wukong asked aloud while walking down the street. He was hoping Tang would know what was happening. He didn’t personally know Tang, but MK had shown him a picture of the guy on his phone, and if his memory served him right, Tang was often found at Pigsy’s Noodles, or at the library. He decided to head there next. Then he  realized he had no idea where the library was.

Looking around the streets, he noticed a familiar kid riding a golf cart, heading back to the restaurant. “Kid? Kid!  MK!” Wukong excitedly shouted to him and ran over. “Uh, hey… sir? Do you need something?” He asked. “Yeah. What happened to Spider Queen?” The young apprentice’s face morphed into one of horror.

“Spider!? WHERE!?” He started looking around himself looking for a non-existent spider. “Kid, there’s no spider on you,” Wukong said. MK let out a sigh of relief, before laughing nervously. “Sorry about that. Can I help you?” He asked innocently. Wukong frowned. “Do you not know who I am?” He asked. MK thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Nope, sorry dude,” MK didn’t know who he was. Wukong’s heart sank a bit before saying, “Uh… Do you happen to know where Tang is?” MK enthusiastically nodded.

“He’s at the library right now. I just got back from delivering noodles to him.” The library. “Where is that?” He asked. “Around the corner? Says ‘LIBRARY’ in big letters, it’s hard to miss dude,” MK said before taking off again. Of course it was obvious. Now MK was going to think he was crazy. Was he? He had to be if no one knows who he is. Or remembers Spider Queen. Right?

The library was familiar in a way. He had never been here personally, but it had a nostalgic feel to it. It kind of reminded Wukong of Tripitaka. Speaking of Tripitaka…

There Tang was, at the front desk, eating noodles and reading a book. “Tang?” Wukong asked cautiously. If Pigsy and MK didn’t remember him, Tang HAD to know who he was. Right? The guy is a huge Sun Wukong geek. There’s no way he would-

“Go see someone else. I’m on lunch.” He said, not even looking up from his book. That was out of character. Wukong needed to talk to him, and to do that he had to get this guy's attention. He just did the first thing he thought of doing. Even if he would regret it later. “Well I’m Sun Wukong. Isn’t it cool to meet your hero in the flesh?” He asked, almost flirtily. Tang looked up from his book to scan Wukong before shoving more noodles in his mouth.

“Is that like an OC or something?” He asked, turning back to his book. Wukong’s jaw dropped. Tang? TANG!? Tang didn’t know who Sun Wukong was!? What was happening? Suddenly, the phone was ringing, but Tang didn’t move to pick it up. “Aren’t you going to get that?” He asked. Tang slurped the last of his noodles, looking in the carton as though it were hiding more noodles. “I���m on lunch.” He said again.

Wukong groaned before asking another worker where the records of “Journey to the West” were. After finding out where they were, he meandered his way over to the books and plucked the first one off the shelf. He opened it up, and the first chapter didn’t even MENTION him.

He thought back to what happened before he realized no one remembered him.

He was fighting the lady bone demon. He jumped to gain force in his punch, but she faded away into a patch of cyan smoke, slowly dissipating. His fist only met air. Then the whisper. “I will erase the memory of you from this world.” It was quite haunting. He didn’t know what to make of it, looking around for the darn demon. Suddenly, a blinding glow encompassed his vision. When his vision cleared up again, the first thing he saw was a perfectly blue sky, and he was standing in the middle of the street.

“Sun Wukong, was it? Were you here all night?” Wukong woke up to Tang gently kicking his side. He groggily sat up, lifting the book up off his lap. It was the first volume of “Journey to The West.” He didn’t even remember falling asleep. He stretched as Tang picked the book up. “Journey to the West? I love this book!” He cheered. “Do you like it too!? I’ve been wanting to discuss it with someone, but no one else reads it or wants to discuss it with me.” Wukong felt a pang of guilt at Tang’s disappointed face.

“Sorry, no. I’ve never read it. I WAS in it though.” He said with a smirk. Tang squinted at Wukong as he stood up. “Are you sure? There weren’t any monkeys in it aside from Six Eared Macaque. Plus if you were in it, you’d have to be immortal or something,” He laughed as though that wasn’t a real option.

“Hey! I was in it! You know! Sun Wukong, the great sage equal to heaven, the monkey king, the leader of Tripitaka’s band TO THE WEST.” He pointed at the book. Tang just laughed again. “Alright, whatever you say,” Wukong was losing him. “How am I supposed to prove to you… Ah! I got it!” He said. He scooped Tang up and started running out of the library. Tang just accepted it. Being kidnapped was a pretty good excuse to miss work, right?

Wukong turned the corner back to Pigsy’s Noodles. He slammed the door open, where MK was talking to Pigsy. “We’re not open. Get out,” Pigsy said angrily. Wukong ignored the shop owner, and threw Tang into a chair, before picking up MK by the shoulders. “MK! Have you seen the staff yet!?” Wukong asked. MK blinked in confusion before stuttering an answer, “Uh… no? What staff?” He was clearly confused. “Come with me.” Wukong said, enthusiastically taking MK out the door.

“Hey get back here with my boy!” Pigsy yelled. Tang snickered. “Wow. Two kidnappings in a day. Gotta be a record of some sort.” Pigsy turned to the new guy sitting at the counter. “Who are you exactly?” He asked. “Tang. Huge fan. Love your noodles. Can I get a free bowl?” He asked with a teasing smile on his face. “No.”

Wukong carefully navigated his way between pedestrians as he took MK to where he had trapped the Demon Bull King. His staff should still be there. Although just to be sure. “Do you know who Demon Bull King is?” He asked as he walked into the surprisingly shallow tunnel. He set MK down as they walked in. “Kind of. Redson talks about him a lot, saying that guy is his father, but that’s all I really know about him. Why?”

Wukong didn’t look down at MK as they continued further in. “Because if you don’t know who he is, then he’s still trapped under the mountain with my staff. That’s a good thing.” He stopped MK as they were about to enter a giant room, surrounded by pipes. This was it. There was a mound of dirt with a tree, and a red and gold staff sticking out of the dirt. But there was also a lot of people surrounding it. “Who are they?” MK asked.

“That’s Princess Iron Fan. I’m assuming you know her son, Redson, and the others just look like robots. But we need to get through them, get that staff, and get it back to Tang so I can prove to him I was in ‘Journey to the West.’” He whispered. MK’s eye’s sparkled. “You’re in ‘Journey to the West’!?” he whisper-shouted. “Yes now look. I’ll hop on the robot bulls there, there, and there. I’ll distract Princess Iron Fan and Redson while you get the staff.” He said. “Wait, I’m sorry, what bull bots?”

Instead of answering MK’s question, Wukong leaped right into action. He  jumped and stealthily landed on one. Then he jumped on the other two, before landing directly in front of the royal family. “Why Hello Princess Iron Fan, Redson, it’s great to see you two again after so many years. It’s been a while. We should catch up. How’s the hubby?” His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Princess Iron Fan growled. “He’s been trapped UNDERGROUND for a while now, no thanks to… actually I don’t remember who trapped him here,” she seemed surprised, but her demeanor eventually lead to not caring. Wukong was going to go on a rampage. “ME! It was ME! I trapped your HUSBAND under MY STAFF! How do you not REMEMBER THAT!? He shouted. The princess gave him a disgusted look. “Really, I think I would have remembered you,” She said. “Mother, who is this?” Redson asked. Princess Iron fan shrugged, to which Wukong made a condescending face.

“Hey! What is he doing there!?” Redson called, pointing at something behind Wukong. Wukong turned around to see MK with his hands on the staff, trying to pull it out. Shoot. Kid’s been seen. “A little help?” MK strained to get the staff out of the mound. “No can do kid, you need to know you can do this by yourself. Besides, I’m busy,” he said. The bull bots’ eyes began glowing red. “With what!?” MK shouted. Wukong turned to face the crowd of bull bots. “Taking out the trash.”

As MK continued to pull the staff out, Wukong was destroying bots left and right. “I got it!” The kid finally called out. “Great! Let’s get out of here,” Wukong said. He zipped over to MK, summoned a cloud, and they rode it out of the cave. “After them!” Redson called out. As they left the cave, a group of bull bots followed them out with Redson on a hoverbike. “Uuuuh, would you mind picking up the pace, like, now!?” MK screeched.

Wukong suddenly stopped the cloud, as a thought came to mind. “Why did you stop!? I said FASTER! How do you driv-”

“Are there any citizens behind us?” Wukong asked quizzically. “Oh no. Just a junkyard, the ocean, and an ARMY OF BULL BOTS AND A DEMON BOY WHOS GETTING CLOSER BY THE SECOND!” MK yelled. Wukong smiled. “Perfect,” was all he said before turning to face the bull bot army. He summoned a bunch of golden energy, and created a large golden explosion, causing all the bull bots and Redson’s hoverbike to malfunction and start falling.

“Woah! What was that!?” MK asked, his eyes practically shining with joy. “I’ll uh… I’ll tell you in a moment, kid,” Wukong said. We sounded kinda woozy. “Uh, Mr. Monkey, are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine, hey, you should call me Monkey Kin-” Wukong was cut off by the cloud beneath them suddenly disappearing. “AH! Mr. Monkey WHAT’S HAPPENING!?” MK yelled as they began to plummet to the ground.

Out of nowhere, there was a flash of green, and MK realized he had stopped falling. “Mei!” He said happily. “Hey MK! Pigsy told me you were kidnapped by some monkey guy so I came to get you,” She said. Her voice was kind of muffled from her helmet and the wind, but it was still easy to make out what she was saying. MK gasped as he realized something.

“Mr. Monkey! We need to go back and get him,”

“Why? Didn’t he kidnap you?” She asked, confused. “Yeah, but he seemed to have a pretty good reason though. Plus, he kind of saved me from an army of bull bots,” He chuckled nervously. “Bull bots?” Mei asked as she turned around. “It’s a long story I’ll explain later,” They saw where Wukong was falling and Mei picked up her speed. But the Monkey was falling fast. “We’re not going to make it,” MK cried. “Not if you keep shaking me we won’t!” They were just about to reach him, but they were too late. He hit the ground so hard it made a small crater in the street below him. “NO!” MK yelled. Mei stopped her bike, and MK jumped off to go see Wukong’s limp body laying in the middle of the crater. “M-Mr. Monkey?”

Wukong suddenly burst into a coughing fit, causing MK to jump. “Oh Mr. Monkey, you're still alive!” He quickly hugged him as Wukong stopped coughing. “Kid. There’s something I need to tell you,”

“Yes Mr. Monkey?” He said. Wukong coughed again. “Show the staff off… to… Tang… bleh.” The monkey fake fainted. “He’s okay,” MK said softly.

--

“Redson! Demon Bull King? Bull bots!? That’s where the weird Monkey-”

“Wukong,”

“Not NOW Tang,” The shop owner grumbled. They had been talking while Wukong had MK out, Tang  offering comforting words (and maybe sneaking a bowl of noodles) and Pigsy freaking out for MK’s safety. But when the kids brought back a passed out monkey and a tale of a golden explosion, they realized Wukong probably didn’t have any ill intent for MK.

“But how is he not dead?” Mei asked, poking the monkey’s cheek. “He’s immortal,” Tang said ominously. “What?” the others asked in unison. “Earlier I found him in the library, claiming to have lived through the events of Journey to the West. The problem with that, is that he would have had to be immortal. Considering the fall didn’t kill him, I say it’s a pretty good chance he is what he says he is,” Tang explained. He reached over the counter for another bowl of noodles, but Pigsy whacked his hand away.

“So he was being honest?” MK said, looking back at the sleeping monkey. “Well, most likely. If what you say is true, and you saw a golden explosion, then it’s quite possible, since the one in the records say Pigsy was the one to that.”

“I don’t remember ever-” Tang looked over at Pigsy. “Uuuh reading that Pigsy had powers like that,” He said. Tang’s face lit up. “You’ve read Journey to the West!?” He asked excitedly. Pigsy couldn’t look at him. “Yeah, something like that,”

After a moment of (awkward) silence, Pigsy spoke up again. “I have a friend who can help with your friend’s condition,” Tang chuckled. “Oh he’s not my friend.”

--

“Pigsy! It’s great to see you! How have you been?” The blue and orange giant asked his friend as he hugged the air out of him. “I’d be better if I could breathe!” Sandy put Pigsy down. “Well what brings you here buddy?” He asked. Pigsy simply pointed to the limp monkey he had dropped when Sandy picked him up (Pigsy was the only one who could carry him). Sandy leaned down to get a closer look at Wukong. “I know my teas are great, but I don’t think it can bring people back to life,” he said.

Pigsy blinked for a moment. “He’s not dead, just in critical condition,” he explained. Sandy looked up at Pigsy, then down at the monkey again. “Hmmm. Well I know just what to do about that!” He picked up Wukong and lead the group into the boat. Sandy led them to a small living room and he started to get the tea prepared. “Why do you have so many cats?” MK asked. “My therapist suggested it. Apparently I was harboring a lot of anger, and cats and tea help with that a lot.”

He served the rest of them tea before helping Wukong gulp some down. After Wukong woke up, he was instantly berated with questions. “So you’re actually in Journey to the west?”

“Did you know Tripitaka?”

“How do you all know who we all are?” “What do you want with MK?”

“Woah, woah guys calm down. Let him tell his story.” Sandy told them. They all turned to look at Wukong. “So uh… Where do we begin?”

He told them about the Journey to the west, and the lady bone demon. He told them about DBK, and spider queen (RIP MK), and waited for their reactions. “So everyone who’s ever known you, has forgotten you?” Tang asked. Wukong just nodded. “That’s rough buddy,” Pigsy said. “Actually, what about Quan Yin?” Sandy said. “Quan Yin?” Wukong felt his heart swell with hope. “Yeah! If it’s a demon’s curse, then a goddess or other celestial being should be resistant to it right?” MK said with a smile. Wukong’s face slowly began to light up. “You’re all right! We need to find Quan Yin!” He said excitedly.

“How do you suppose we do that?” Pigsy asked. Wukong stood up with a grunt, still beat up from the golden explosion and his fall. “We need to go to Flower Fruit Mountain.”

--

Over on flower fruit mountain, a monkey sat in a big cave behind a waterfall. He looked up at the mural again, looking at the familiar face he didn’t have a name for. The mural was strang. Macaque wasn’t sure why he hated it, but everytime he saw it, it enraged him in some way. The monkey at the top. Who was he? Why did he feel like Tripitaka owed him something. He didn’t get it. He wanted answers. He wanted them from the mural.

He looked out the waterfall at the other monkeys playing about the paradise. It was also familiar. Why was this place  so familiar!? Macaque walked back inside staring at the forsaken mural infrustration. He felt like he was missing something. But what?

“I think I can help you, you know,” a demon said in the distance. “I thought I told you I don’t want your help,” Macaque yelled back. “You did. But I could help you get revenge on the people in that mural. Especially Tripitaka,” The demon whispered in his ear. He turned back to the demon. “No. I already told you no. Leave me alone.” The demon sighed. Oh well. I’m sure you’ll be getting your answers soon anyways.”

-----------

So this story came about because I wanted to know what would happen if Lady bone demon made good on her promise to Wukong from Revenge of the Spider Queen.

Pigsy has totally adopted MK change my mind

So Tang never had Sun Wukong in common with MK, so he never came to Pigsy’s Noodles to snag free noodles from him. He’s still a huge fan and buys noodles every day

I love Tang so much

One time Tang fell asleep in the library and stayed there all night. He almost got fired

Sassy Tang we stan

I mean, I’d excuse you from work if you got kidnapped

MK and Mei already knew Redson

Uh, yes, Lady bone demon reversed time a bit

I FORGOT THE SCENE ALL I REMEMBER ARE PIPES IM SORRY

They should've called them bull bots

He exerted too much energy with that golden bomb thing

Lol drama queen Wukong

Love how Tang and Pigsy barely know each other and are already acting like an old married couple

Sandy and I love tea and cats. I love his tropes

Also yes Sandy is basically Mystake don’t @ me

So yeah basically first episode rewrite but if no one knew who Wukong was and he was only a driving force in person

Macaque: ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST

I feel like I should mention Tripitaka has a similar level of respect as the crystal gems did for Rose Quartz, and he's held in extremely high regards to both the heavens and the people, regardless of whether or not they’re avid JTTW fans. This is mostly for angst lol

[justsomemorewritersonthisapp]

Piggy back rides from Monaca's F/O (i thinks that's the way to say that, I'm not really into writing tumblr side lil. Just like a big sis figure i guess?)

> of course! And do not worry, Mod Angie understands what you are saying! They are under the cut! Hope you enjoy Anon! <

> and i tried to make it Gender neutral! Though i couldn't find any gender neutral for that.. also some bit of Servant x S/O <

> some blood and gore are here ! Please be careful ! <

< spoilers incoming ! <

Monaca was having a bad day, she didn't have the chance to murder any Adults, and the kids killed hundreds, not leaving her one Adult, the kids honestly thought they were helping her since she's in a wheelchair. What's worse though is that her own wheelchair broke, making her burst out tears

Luckily her servant who she calls 'big sis F/O' saw what happened, they called Servant while Monaca was bursting out tears in her room.

" pppssstt, Servant! Monaca's wheelchair broke, can you fix it for me? I'll comfort Monaca. " Of course, Nagi- Servant nods " Aha, of course. I could do that..! " Nagito walks away to the direction the wheelchair was put in, as you climed on the ladder.. you walked to the door, bracing Monaca's hurtful words..

Though instead, you saw her sleeping, guess she slept. You closed the door, walking back to your and Servant's room.

" Servant, are you aware of when are you gonna fix it? " He nods " I think so, it may take 2-3 days fixing it. Though you shouldn't trust me and my scummy words F/O.. " Nagito sighed, laughing a bit " Servant.. Nevermind, will get out of here together, and fix your issues. It's clear that you need some deep help. " You looked at him, his face flushed with red, looking back at you, he let out a giggle " Ah F/O-san, your too nice.. " You smiled, you hugged him. And he hugged back.. eventually you two passed out.

You woke up by some 'awwwwws' you groggily moved up carefully removing Servants hands off of you. Then you realized who the people 'awwwed' your head snapped at the kids direction, quickly getting up making Servant wake up as well " K-Kids you don't understand, we just fell asleep- uh- um- that's all! I promise.. " Thats when Kotoko boo'ed " Maaannn, and here i thought that that you two had fun! That's no adorbs! " Nagito got up, blushing for a bit " H-hey, thats enough for now, we'll have to do our work later.. " " Awwwhhh man, nnow i thooughht this wiill make you two tell eeachootherrrrs feeeelinggss.. " Jataro gloomly said " Whatever.. let's just go. These two will tell eachothers feeling sooner or later. " Nagisa shot back, Masaru was quiet, a bit too quiet. He and the kids followed Nagisa.

You felt like you forgot something, then you realized. 'oh sHIT MONACA!' You hurriedly tried to dress up, and ran out of you and Servant's room then climbing up the ladder and

" monACA I'M HERE..! " you pant, trying to breathe. Monaca was quiet, looking at you from her bed, guess she just woke up too. She laughed " Ahaha! Don't worry it's not something to apologise over, i know you didn't mean it.. just try to don't do it again.. " her faced darkened at the last statement though you didn't catch it

Monaca looked around, trying to find her wheelchair. Thouhh it isn't there.. " A-Awe, my wh-wheelchair isn't here.. is mr. S*sob*-Servant fixing i-it Big sib F/O?? " she looked like she was gonna cry, you tried to cheer her up by he one thing you thought of.

" M-Monaca, don't worry- i can give you a piggyback ride while Mr. Servant fixes it..! " Though it was for the best, Monaca was surprised " Nobody has done that to Monaca before.. " She nodded happily and you gave her a piggyback ride, though it was hell when climing down the ladder. " Ahahah, this is fun Big sib F/O! " Monaca chirped , obviously having fun with this, you gently placed Monaca in the chair. Before going to make her food. As you placed it beside her, her eyes sparkled " W-Wow..! Monaca feels like a princess, thank you big sib F/O! " she bit the food you made, it tastes heavenly to her.. nobody has done that for Monaca. And she tried to eat it slowly to remember the food

Ah she finished her food, you went to wash the plate. After a few seconds you went back to Monaca, whos impatiently waiting " You took so long! How! Did! It! Take! So! Long! " Monaca cried out, you silently made her go on your back. Too tired to deal with her tantrums. As you two went out to find some adults, you found 4 adults. You killed them one by one, except for the last one, they ended up surviving but you still caught up, with Monaca praising you " P-please! I w-w-want to live, please g-give me a chance! I- I will do- do anything pLEA‐ " Whack. They layed there, not moving. Blood everywhere, and honestly it smelt bad, you felt really bad. But knowing the warriors of hope. They will kill you for betraying them. You dropped the bat you were holding a few seconds ago " Wooooow! Your really cool Big Sib F/O! " Monaca praised you once again. It's starting to feel like it's okay to do this stuff. it's scary how a child isn't scared of a dead body, their used to this stuff now? H-ho..

You ignored your thoughts " Thanks Monaca.. " you said to her, before going back but you two heard a crash. Its very loud. They must be close, you peaked at the people.. huh? Two people.. the other has the wrist band, must mean they are in the game also.. she also has a microphone, weird for a weapon but okay, the other girl seems to follow around her too. But she heard something

" Omaru? D-did you hear so-something? " The female with the long skirt asked, shit you must have been too loud. 'I gotta get out of here befo‐' " Toki, i didn't hear anything. Are you sure it's something? I mean we fought a Monokuma, it must've hit something.. " Oh okay, thank the lord that that girl is stupid " U-Ugh! Fi-fine!! But if something c-comes out then its your f-fault!! " the girl yelled at the other before the two walked away

Well thats an experience..

You walked back to the headquarters, Monaca still on your back of course " Ugghhhh, those demons will get what they get in the end! " Monaca yelled before plopping into bed, you tucked her in before leaving...

...

..

.

" you'll be a good use for us, F/O. "

> Hey hey Anon ! Hope you like this , i am aware that it literally as no relavence for what you requested.. But i hope you still like it nonetheless ! Thank you for requesting . It feels so good writing for a WOH <

> please hydrate and stay safe ! There are people who deeply cares about you ! Love love ! <

[randomfoggytiger]

Fictober 2023: Week 4

First Fictober, fourth and final week!

*****

Days 22-31

"Life’s Just a Path”-- If Melissa were alive post Fight the Future and Millennium, she'd never let her sister live it down.

"I Think He’s a Hard Kid to Love”-- Post Schizogeny Scully is sent on a case with Mulder to unofficially help Skinner's friends, one of which is a bear. (Prompts and artwork contributed by my two sisters.)

"Mulder Will Be Back”-- Jeffrey Spender sneers at Mulder's "hubris."

"Easy for You to Say”-- Post First Person Shooter Mulder is enamored with his little battle girlfriend.

"No More Paranormal than a Change of Wardrobe”-- Freshly-dating Mulder and Scully's lifestyles don't quite match yet; but it's worth it.

"What Must a Mother Go Through”-- Post Emily Mulder reasons Scully out of her Mrs. Peacock comparisons.

"Watch Over You Wherever You Go”-- One Breath Maggie ruminates on the many reinterpretations of her daughter's necklace.

"Your Ideas Are Weirder than Ours”-- The Lone Gunmen are woken by two very grumpy-with-each-other special agents.

"Doesn’t Make Him Less of a Miracle”-- AU Mulder tries to fight colonization and wrangle his "sea monster" child at the local ball pit.

"Sooner or Later a Man’s Gotta Face His Demons”-- Post Amor Fati Scully prods Mulder on a stakeout about his lack of Samhain hunting.

*****

Trivia

Title References

Day 22, Quote: Melissa Scully, A Christmas Carol.

Day 23, Quote: Mulder, Schizogeny.

Day 24, Quote: Jeffrey Spender, The Beginning.

Day 25, Quote: Scully, First Person Shooter?

Day 26, Quote: Scully, Chimera.

Day 27, Quote: Scully, Home.

Day 28, Quote: Maggie Scully, A Christmas Carol.

Day 29, Quote: Byers, E.B.E.

Day 30, Quote: Mulder, Existence.

Day 31, Quote: Mulder, Fire.

*****

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023 and @fictober-event

[demonologist-in-denim]

Dean, Sam and Cas encouraging a reluctant Crowley to undergo a second round of the cure.

Dean: How long you gonna keep putting this off, man? You know you don’t belong down in Hell anymore. You belong here. With us.

Crowley: *half willing, half terrified* Dean...

Dean: *laughing softly, a memory coming to mind* I said it once before, didn’t I? *Obviously quoting* Sooner or later, you’re going to have to face it.

Crowley: *looks at him curiously*

Dean: You’re ours.

Crowley: *blinks, remembering where he’s heard that before. What it meant then. What it means now. Swallows, hard*

Dean: Which means that your demon ass - *he holds up the syringe containing his own purified blood, smiles softly, encouragingly* is going to be a mortal ass pretty damn quick.

Crowley: *eyes the syringe, then Dean*

Dean: So are you gonna roll up a sleeve? Or do we gotta cuff you again?

Crowley: *chuckles, wipes the dampness from his eyes. and rolls up a sleeve*

[lost-in-purgaytory]

Dean Winchester’s Lonely Ex-Boyfriend Club (AO3) 

​Description: Ficlet. Dean and Cas are getting married! Pretty much everyone they ever met is attending, and that includes exes - some react more maturely than others. Inspired by all the headcanons I have seen about Benny and Crowley at the wedding. Some background about Dean/Benny in Purgatory, bitter Crowley, implied wedding hookups, and of course some cute Dean/Cas fluff.

“So… finally settling down with that angel of yours now, are you?” Benny teased in his soft voice, leaning on the bar.

Dean took a swig of his perfectly ice-cold heaven beer and looked over his shoulder with a fond smile at Cas, who was dancing wildly with Charlie and Gabriel, margarita in hand and wearing approximately half a button up shirt.

“Looks like it,” Dean sighed proudly and shook his head at how unbelievably lucky he was (now that he thought about it, how unbelievably sappy he was too). He huffed a short laugh through his nose at his damn happy self and took another sip of his drink.

Benny appraised him thoughtfully. “Well, you sure look happy.”

Dean nodded and tucked his chin down sheepishly, eyes crinkling. “You know, I really am, man. I really am.”

It was surreal how happy he was, actually - totally foreign and amazing. It wasn’t like he never had a happy moment before in his life, he’d had several, but there was always this voice in the back of his head saying ‘this is only temporary’ and ‘you’ll lose this - probably sooner rather than later.’ But that little voice was gone now. For the first time, Dean was truly at peace. Like some kind of zen master, appreciating every god damn second of his hopeful eternity. There was some real hippie shit going on inside of him right now.

“It was a long freakin’ road getting here,” Dean continued, lost in his own amazement, completely starry-eyed. “I mean, you were there for part of it, so you have some idea. But I never thought… I mean, damn…"

Benny’s signature smirk didn’t waver, but there was a sadness in it too. “And here I thought you were lovesick before, mate,” he joked.

“Oh, shut up,” Dean smiled back, actually having to fight off a blush thinking back to all those times Benny teased him about his affections for Cas back in purgatory - affections which Dean vehemently denied at the time (kinda hard to do when you're crying out a dude's name in your sleep every damn night).

Dean took another large swig of beer, as Benny’s gaze intensified over him - humor and a hint of soulful longing. Exes at the wedding, man… awkward.

But Benny was family, who earned his spot in Dean’s life and his invite to the wedding… just as much as any other guest; more than some of the other guests actually. Like Crowley, for example who was nursing a tumbler of whisky a couple seats over.

If it wasn’t for Benny fighting by his side so loyally as a trusted friend, through the muck and the dark, Dean might never have found Cas in purgatory.

And if Dean was being completely honest with himself (which he was trying to make a habit of, nowadays), Benny helped him in more ways than one. Turns out Dean had needed a big strong vamp with an accent to lead him into some no-strings-attached temptation in purgatory. Under pretense, of course, to maintain plausible deniability.

'Come on boy, we've both got needs and we're not exactly flush with options in this wasteland.’

'We gotta let off some steam every now and again if we wanna stay sharp.’

'What happens in purgatory, stays in purgatory.'

‘Nothing to be ashamed of, love. And don't worry, I won't bite. Unless you ask nicely.’

Apparently, Dean needed that nudge to help him let go of some of that inner shame that kept him from truly accepting that he was attracted to men. And more importantly, Cas.

It probably wasn't normal to invite your ex-vampire fuck buddy to your heaven wedding to your angel best friend, but when had his life ever been normal?

Benny was a crucial player in putting Dean on the right path, into the arms of his angel. And that was all that mattered, so Dean was grateful.

Benny’s constant teasing about Dean being in love with his ‘mysterious angel boyfriend’ made him come to terms with the fact that he had real (scary) feelings for Cas that couldn’t be denied, and made him realize (too late) that he was in love with Cas, as the portal spat him out with Cas still trapped on the other side.

Not too late, he realized suddenly, looking back over his shoulder, floored by the easy smile on his Cas's face as he spun Claire in a circle, in a clumsy imitation of swing dancing. He would have to interrupt soon and teach Cas some real swing-dancing, get some more one-on-one time with his husband.

His goddamn husband.

“I must say…" Benny interrupted Dean's thoughts before they could drift into a domestic daydream, "there were plenty of times I thought, Dean buddy, Hot-Wings clearly aint worth all this trouble,” he shook his head affectionately. “But lookin’ at you now, I figure I was wrong. Happy looks good on you, my friend.”

“Thanks, man,” Dean beamed, holding up his beer for a toast. Benny clinked their glasses together amicably.

“Oh spare me,” Crowley grumbled next to them. “If I have to hear one more heartfelt expression of love and respect, I might just puke all over this cute little reception.”

They both collectively ignored him. Crowley took this as a signal to down the rest of his drink and order a refill with a demanding snap of his fingers.

"Your angel better treat you right," Benny said, politely flagging for a refill of his own.

"No doubts about that," Dean assured.

Suddenly, Cas was at his side, tugging at his sleeve. "Dean!" Cas enthused. Instinctively, Dean tucked him closer into his side and gazed lovingly down at Cas and his endearingly excited expression. "Claire is setting up something called 'limbo' - the dance, not the metaphysical plane. I'm not exactly sure what it entails but I am told it is a tradition."

"Damn right, it's a tradition!" Dean grinned. He couldn't wait to watch Cas do the limbo. Oh, and they had to do conga line at some point. There were still so many human things he wanted to show Cas. A lifetime of things. "Wish my knees weren't so fucked. The limbo's one of the rare things I completely suck at."

Cas cocked his head and squinted his eyes, in the most beautifully Cas way. "This is heaven, Dean. You no longer have any physical ailments or limitations."

Dean pondered that for half a second. "Well, in that case…" he pulled Cas in closer and placed a kiss beneath his ear. Cas melted into him and Dean couldn't wait to get him alone after the festivities, their honeymoon could last for eternity if they so desired. "Might as well take these bad boys for a test drive."

Dean, blissfully happy, dragged his equally blissful husband to the dancefloor, completely forgetting his manners and leaving Benny chuckling at the bar without so much as a 'see you around'.

"Typical, is it not?" Crowley drawled, swirling his drink. "Fool takes one look at that bloody angel and disappears."

"I hate to tell you this, pal," Benny said, sauntering into Crowley's space. "But the jealous ex at a wedding doesn't usually get much sympathy."

"I'm nobody's jealous ex!" the demon growled.

"My mistake," the vampire returned flirtatiously. "Six tequila shots for me and my new friend, please," he ordered casually, without taking his eyes off Crowley.

Crowley raised his eyebrows questioningly, looking Benny up and down with new intrigue.

Benny shrugged. "Open bar. No point sulkin' around all evening." He pushed a shot glass in front of Crowley with his knuckle. "Aren't demons supposed to be the life of the party?"

"You should know I take challenges very seriously..." Crowley threatened, a smile gracing the corner of his lips for the first time all day.

"Countin' on it."

"Well then. To being the life of the party," Crowley announced suavely, lifting the glass from the bar.

"Cheers," Benny agreed, and they downed the hatch.

If they snuck off together at any point during the evening, nobody noticed, too busy paying attention to the happy couple.

[marlborodean]

spn quotes: season one

i’m collecting a bunch of quotes from the show! favorite lines, good points of characterization, etc. all organized by episode and character, and with timestamps!

w/ncest shippers get lost

season two.

1. PILOT

Dean—

[Sam: So we kill everything we can find.] Save a lot of people doing it, too. (08:51)

I can’t do this alone. [Sam: Yes, you can.] Yeah. Well, I don’t want to. (09:30)

[Officer: So. Fake U.S. Marshal, fake credit cards. You got anything that’s real?] My boobs. (28:50)

Sam—

When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45. [Dean: What was he supposed to do?] I was 9 years old. He was supposed to say, “Don’t be afraid of the dark.” (08:30)

You think Mom would’ve wanted this for us? (08:58)

We were raised like warriors. (09:06)

[Dean: Are you just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?] No, not normal. Safe. [And that’s why you ran away.] I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. (09:09)

[Dean: You’re really serious about this, aren’t you? You think you’re just gonna become some lawyer, marry your girl?] Maybe. Why not? [Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you’ve done?] No, and she’s not ever going to know. [Well, that’s healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you’re gonna have to face up to who you really are.] And who is that? [One of us.] No. I’m not like you. This is not going to be my life. (22:45)

If it weren’t for pictures, I wouldn’t even know what Mom looks like. What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom’s gone, and she isn’t coming back. (23:17)

2. W*ND*G* ( x )

Dean—

Her brother’s missing, Sam. She’s not just gonna sit this out. (14:55)

[Hailey: And you’re hiking out in biker boots and jeans?] Well, sweetheart, I don’t do shorts. (15:54)

I’m supposed to be the belligerent one, remember? (25:13)

The way I see it, Dad’s given us a job to do, and I intend to do it. (26:31)

All that anger, you can’t keep it burning over the long haul. It’s gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man. [Sam: How do you do it? How does Dad do it?] Well, for one, them. I mean, I figure our family’s so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. It makes things a little bit more bearable. And I’ll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can. (27:05)

Sam—

[Dean: No, you’re not fine. You’re like a powder keg, man. It’s not like you.] (25:06)

3. DEAD IN THE WATER

Dean—

You don’t think I want to find Dad as much as you do? [Sam: Yeah, I know you do, it’s just—] I’m the one that’s been with him every single day for the past two years while you’ve been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we’re gonna kill everything bad between here and there, okay? (04:09)

Well, maybe you don’t think anyone will listen to you, or... or believe you. I want you to know that I will. (11:58)

You’re scared. It’s okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn’t feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that everyday. And I do my best to be brave. (20:14)

What if we missed something? What if more people get hurt? [Sam: But why would you think that?] Because Lucas was really scared. [That’s what this is about?] I just don’t want to leave town until I know the kid’s okay. (29:48)

Sam—

People don’t just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them. (03:51)

4. PHANTOM TRAVELER

Dean—

It’s your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp. (05:18)

Sam—

[Dean: It’s your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp.] (05:18)

[Jerry: Well, he was real proud of you, I could tell. You know, he talked about you all the time.] He did? (07:09)

Hey, hey, it’s just a little turbulence. [Sam, this place is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I’m friggin’ 4.] You need to calm down. [Well, I’m sorry, I can’t!] Yes, you can. [Dude. Stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap. It’s not helping.] Listen, if you’re panicked, you’re wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down right now. (30:26)

5. BLOODY MARY

Dean—

Do I look like Paris Hilton? (18:08)

Her boyfriend killing himself, that’s not really Charlie’s fault. (29:54)

Now listen to me. It wasn’t your fault. It you want to blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or, hell, why don’t you take a swing at me? I’m the one that dragged you away from her. [Sam: I don’t blame you.] Well, you shouldn’t blame yourself, because there’s nothing you could’ve done. (31:24)

Sam—

[Dean: Hell, why don’t you take a swing at me? I’m the one that dragged you away from her.] I don’t blame you. (31:37)

Charlie. Your boyfriend’s death, you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn’t have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen. (40:37)

6. SKIN

Dean—

He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home with Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends, you could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. [Sam: What are you talking about?] You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. (24:21)

Sam—

[Rebecca: It must be lonely.] Oh, no. No, it’s not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It’s my family. (39:02)

Misc—

Shifter: Evolution is about mutation, right? So maybe this thing was born human, but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. (27:14)

7. HOOK MAN

Dean—

I told you, you don’t have to be a college graduate to be a genius. (14:59)

[Sam: Hey, be quiet.] Me be quiet? You be quiet! (19:48)

Sam—

[Dean: You’ve been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!] This wasn’t really my experience. [Let me guess—library, studying, straight A’s. What a geek.] (21:30)

8. BUGS

Dean—

Growing up in a place like this would freak me out. [Sam: Why?] The manicured lawns, how-was-your-day-honey? I’d blow my brains out. [There’s nothing wrong with normal.] I’d take our family over normal any day. (08:21)

[Sam: You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad.] What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family. (20:26)

Hey, so with that kid back there, how could you tell him to just ditch his family like that? [Sam: Just, uh, I know what the kid’s going through.] How about telling him to respect his old man? How’s that for advice? (23:20)

Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth. He’ll just think you’re nuts. Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you gotta go to the hospital, okay? [Matt: Yeah, okay.] Make him listen? What are you thinking? (32:44)

Sam—

Remind you of somebody? Dad? [Dean: Dad never treated us like that.] Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. ...You don’t remember. [Dean: Well, maybe he had to raise his voice but sometimes you were out of line.] Right. Right, like when I said I’d rather play soccer than learn bowhunting. (11:46)

[Matt: Larry doesn’t listen to me.] Why not? [Mostly? He’s too disappointed in his freak son.] I hear ya. [Dean: You do?] Matt, how old are you? [Matt: Sixteen.] Well, don’t sweat it, ‘cause in two years something great’s gonna happen. [What?] College. You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad. (20:04)

[Dean: Hey, so with that kid back there, how could you tell him to just ditch his family like that?] Just, uh, I know what the kid’s going through. [How about telling him to respect his old man? How’s that for advice?] Dean, come on. This isn’t about his old man. You think I didn’t respect Dad, that’s what this is about. [Just forget it, alright? Sorry I brought it up.] I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough. [So what are you saying, that Dad was disappointed in you?] Was? Is! Always has been. [Why would you think that?] Because I didn’t wanna bowhunt or hustle pool, because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which to our whacked-out family, made me the freak. (23:20)

Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full-ride? Proud. Most dads don’t toss their kids out of the house. [Dean: I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth.] You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad, I don’t know if he’s even gonna wanna see me. (24:05)

9. HOME

Dean—

And then you tell me that I’ve got to go back home, especially when... [Sam: When what?] When I swore to myself that I would never go back there. (07:56)

I remember the fire, the heat. Then I carried you out the front door. [Sam: You did?] Yeah, well, you never knew that? [No.] (12:38)

I don’t know what to do. So, whatever you’re doing. if you could get here... please. I need your help, Dad. (14:45)

Sam—

[Dean: I remember the fire, the heat. Then I carried you out the front door.] You did? [Yeah, well, you never knew that?] No. (12:38)

Misc—

Missouri: All those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes wounds get infected. (27:15)

10. ASYLUM

Dean—

[Sam: This is a job. Dad wants us to work a job.] Yeah, well, maybe we’ll meet up with him. Maybe he’s there. [Maybe he’s not. I mean, he could be sending us there by ourselves to hunt this thing.] Who cares? If he wants us there, it’s good enough for me. [This doesn’t strike you as weird? The texting, the coordinates?] Sam. Dad’s telling us to go somewhere. We’re going. (07:05)

[Sam: We deserve some answers. I mean, this is our family we’re talking about.] I understand that, Sam, but he’s given us an order. [So what, we gotta always follow Dad’s order?] Of course we do. (12:17)

[Sam: I mean, why are we even here? ‘Cause you’re following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier? ‘Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?] (36:52)

Sam—

[Dean: We’ve got to burn Ellicott’s bones, and all this will be over, and you’ll be back to normal.] I am normal. I’m just telling you the truth for the first time. I mean, why are we even here? ‘Cause you’re following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier? ‘Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval? [This isn’t you talking.] That’s the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own. I’m not pathetic like you. [So what are you gonna do? You gonna kill me?] You know, I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. (36:43)

11. SCARECROW

Dean— 

[Sam: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him.] Yeah, it’s called being a good son. You’re a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. You don’t care what anyone thinks. (08:08)

[Sam: You know, if you’re hinting you need my help, just ask.] I’m not hinting anything. Actually, uh... I want you to know... I mean, don’t think... [Yeah. I’m sorry, too.] Sam.... You were right. You got to do your own thing. You got to live your own life. [You serious?] You’ve always known what you want, and you go after it. You stand up to Dad. I mean, you always have. Hell, I wish I.... Anyway. I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy. [I don’t even know what to say.] Say you’ll take care of yourself. (25:04)

Sam—

[Dean: Dad doesn’t want our help.] I don’t care. [He’s given us an order.] I don’t care. We don’t always have to do what he says. [Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives. It’s important.] Alright, I understand. Believe me, I understand. But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge. [Alright, look, I know how you feel.] Do you? How old were you when Mom died, 4? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel? (07:25)

[Meg: I had to get away from my family.] Why? [I love my parents. And they wanted what’s best for me. They just didn’t care if I wanted it. I was supposed to be smart, but not smart enough to scare away a husband. Well, it’s just.... Because my family said so, I’m supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my own way instead. ...I’m sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know.] No, no, it’s okay. I know how you feel. Remember that brother I mentioned before that I was road-tripping with? It’s kind of the same deal. [And that’s why you’re not riding with him anymore? ...Here’s to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard, but at least we’re living our own lives and nobody else’s.] (21:11)

[Med: You’re running back to your brother? The guy you ran away from? Why, because he won’t pick up his phone? Sam, come with me to California.] I can’t. I’m sorry. [Why not?] He’s my family. (31:13)

12. FAITH

Dean—

Looks like you’re gonna leave town without me. [Sam: What are you talking about? I’m not gonna leave you here.] You better take care of that car. I swear I’ll haunt your ass. [I don’t think that’s funny.] Oh, come on, it’s a little funny. (04:44)

[Sam: Maybe it’s time to have a little faith, Dean.] You know what I got faith in? Reality—knowing what’s really going on. [How can you be a skeptic, with the things we see every day?] Exactly, we see them. We know they’re real. [But if you know evil’s out there, how can you not believe good’s out there too?] ‘Cause I’ve seen what evil does to good people. (08:10)

[Roy: I looked into your heart and you just...stood out from all the rest.] What did you see in my heart? [A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn’t finished.] (15:27)

You never should’ve brought me here. [Sam: Dean, I was just trying to save your life.] Sam, some guy is dead now because of me. (19:30)

The guy is playing God, deciding who lives and dies. That’s a monster in my book. (22:42)

[Layla: I wish you luck. I really do.] Same to you. You deserve it a lot more than me. (30:38)

[Sam: To cross a line like that, that preacher’s wife—black magic, murder. Evil.] Desperate. Her husband was dying. She would’ve done anything to save him. (31:35)

God save us from half the people who think they’re doing God’s work. (32:04)

[Sam: What’s happening to her is horrible. But what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself, Dean—you can’t play God.] (32:58)

Must be rough, to believe in something so much and have it disappoint you like that. (40:57)

You know, I’m not much of the praying type, but I’m gonna pray for you. [Layla: Well. There’s a miracle right there.] (42:00)

Sam—

[Dean: I’m gonna die. And you can’t stop it.] Watch me. (05:23)

[Dean: You’re not gonna let me die in peace, are you?] I’m not gonna let you die, period. (07:04)

How can you be a skeptic, with the things we see everyday? [Dean: Exactly, we see them. We know they’re real.] If you know evil’s out there, how can you not believe good’s out there too? (08:18)

[The guy is playing God, deciding who lives and dies. That’s a monster in my book.] No, we’re not gonna kill a human being, Dean. We do that, we’re no better than he is. (22:42)

Misc—

Layla: I guess if you’re gonna have faith, you can’t just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don’t. (41:19)

13. ROUTE 666

Dean—

[Sam: Look man, everybody’s got to open up to someone sometime.] Yeah, I don’t. It was stupid to get that close. (13:06)

[Cassie: Whenever we get—what’s the word?—close? Anywhere in the neighborhood of emotional vulnerability, you back off or make some joke or find any way to shut the door on me.] (15:19)

Sam—

You told her. You told her the secret. Our big family rule number one—we do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half, I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a couple of times, and you tell her everything? (04:18)

Oh, my life was so simple. Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms. [Dean: So I guess I saved you from a boring existence.] Occasionally I miss boring. [So, this killer truck—] I miss conversations that didn’t start with “this killer truck.” (29:31)

Ever make you wonder if it’s worth it? Putting everything on hold, doing what we do? (39:10)

14. NIGHTMARE

Dean—

[Sam: Well, with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people—I’m sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it’s not that insane.] Yeah, but it doesn’t justify murdering your entire family. [Dean—] He’s no different than anything else we’ve hunted. Alright? We gotta end him. [We’re not gonna kill Max.] Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say, “Lock him up, officer. He kills people with the power of his mind.” [Forget it. No way, man.] Sam— [Dean, he’s a person. We can talk to him. Hey, promise me you’ll follow my lead on this one.] Alright, fine. But I’m not letting him hurt anybody else. (25:01)

[Sam: We’re lucky we had Dad.] I never thought I’d hear you say that. [Well, it could have gone a whole ‘nother way after Mom. A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, then we would have had Max’s childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him.] All things considered. (38:27)

As long as I’m around, nothing bad’s gonna happen to you. (41:27)

Sam—

Well, I know one thing I have in common with these people. [Dean: What’s that?] Both our families are cursed. [Our family’s not cursed. We’ve just... had our dark spots.] Our dark spots are pretty dark. (19:13)

I was connecting to Max. The thing I don’t get it why, man. I guess because we’re so alike? [Dean: What are you talking about? Dude’s nothing like you.] Well, we both have psychic abilities. We’re both— [Both what? Sam, Max is a monster. He’s already killed two people, now he’s gunning for a third.] Well, with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people—I’m sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it’s not that insane. (24:43)

If I just said something else, gotten through to him somehow. [Dean: Don’t do that.] Do what? [Torture yourself. It wouldn’t have mattered what you said. Max was too far gone.] When I think about how he looked at me, man, right before.... I should have done something. [Come on, man, you risked your life. I mean, yeah, maybe if we’d have gotten there 20 years earlier.] Well, I’ll tell you one thing. We’re lucky we had Dad. [I never thought I’d hear you say that.] Well, it could have gone a whole ‘nother way after Mom. A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, then we would have had Max’s childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him. (38:03)

15. THE BENDERS

Dean—

Look... he’s family. And I kind of—I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you. [Kathleen: I’m sorry, I can’t do that.] Well, tell me something. Your country has its fair share of missing persons. Any of ‘em come back? Sam’s my responsibility, and he’s coming back. I’m bringing him back. (08:56)

When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him. You know, like it’s my job to keep him safe. I’m just afraid if we don’t find him fast.... Please. He’s my family. (15:04)

Demons, I get. People are crazy. (28:08)

If you hurt my brother, I’ll kill you, I swear. I’ll kill you all. I will kill you all! (35:54)

16. SHADOW

Dean— 

[Sam: What are you gonna do when it’s all over?] It’s never gonna be over. There’s gonna be others. There’s always gonna be something to hunt. [But there’s got to be something that you want for yourself.] Yeah, I don’t want you to leave the second this thing’s over, Sam. [Dude. What’s your problem?] Why do you think I drag you everywhere, huh? Why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place? [’Cause Dad was in trouble. ‘Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom.] Yes, that, but it’s more than that, man. You and me and Dad. I want us to be together again. I want us to be a family again. [Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before.] They could be. (24:04)

Sam— 

What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I’d sleep for a month. Go back to school, just be a person again. (23:42)

Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before. [Dean: They could be.] I don’t want them to be. I’m not gonna live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you’re gonna have to let me go my own way. (25:02)

Misc—

[Sam: Go to hell.] Meg: Baby, I’m already there. (30:22)

17. HELL HOUSE

Dean—

People believe in Santa Clause. How come I’m not getting hooked up every Christmas? [Sam: ‘Cause you’re a bad person.] (27:01)

Sam—

Man, we’re not kids anymore, Dean. We’re not gonna start that crap up again. [Dean: Start what up?] That prank stuff. It’s stupid, and it always escalates. (04:24)

Kind of makes you wonder—of all the things we hunted, how many existed just ‘cause people believed in them? (37:17)

18. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

Dean—

[Sam: What makes you so sure?] Well, because I’m the oldest, which means I’m always right. [No it doesn’t.] It totally does. (03:38)

Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault, okay? [Michael: It’s my job to look after him.] (20:53)

I know how you feel, I’m a big brother, too. But you got to go easy on your mom right now, okay? (21:24)

Dad did not send me here to walk away. [Sam: Send you here? He didn’t send you here, he sent us here.] This isn’t about you, Sam, alright? I’m the one that screwed up. It’s my fault. There’s no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me. (25:35)

Dad never spoke about it again. I didn’t ask. But he, uh... he looked at me different, you know, which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order, and I didn’t listen, and I almost got you killed. [Sam: You were just a kid.] Don’t—don’t. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it. (29:26)

Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to. It’s okay, I won’t be mad. (33:57)

[Sam: Sometimes I wish that...] What? [I wish I could have that kind of innocence.] If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could, too. (40:05)

Sam—

Dean, I’m sorry. [Dean: For what?] You know. I’ve really given you a lot of crap for always following Dad’s orders, but I know why you do it. (34:39)

Sometimes I wish that... [Dean: What?] I wish I could have that kind of innocence. [If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could, too.] (40:05)

19. PROVENANCE

Dean— 

I’m sure that this is about Jessica, right? Now, I don’t know what it’s like to lose somebody like that, but... I would think that she would want you to be happy. God forbid have fun once in a while. (20:47)

Sam—

I had a girlfriend. And she died. And my mom died, too. I don’t know, it’s like... it’s like I’m cursed or something. Like death just follows me around. Look, I’m not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody— [Sarah: You’re scared they get hurt, too.] (30:39)

Misc—

Sarah: I know, losing somebody you love—it’s terrible. You shut yourself off. Believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else, too. (31:27)

20. DEAD MAN’S BLOOD

Dean—

He does what he does for a reason. [Sam: What reason?] Our job. There’s no time to argue. There’s no margin for error, alright? It’s just the way the old man runs things. [Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, alright? Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you’re cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show?] If that’s what it takes. (14:51)

Sam—

I’m happy he’s okay, alright? I’m happy that we’re all working together. [Dean: Good.] It’s just the way he treats us like children. [Oh, God.] He barks orders at us, Dean. He expects us to follow him without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal. [He does what he does for a reason.] What reason? [Our job. There’s no time to argue. There’s no margin for error, alright? It’s just the way the old man runs things.] Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, alright? Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you’re cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show? (14:51)

[John: You left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam. You walked away!] You’re the one who said “Don’t come back,” Dad. You’re the one who closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off that you couldn’t control me anymore! (19:27)

[John: Sammy, it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn’t accept the fact that you and me, we’re just different.] We’re not different. Not anymore. With what happened to Mom and Jess, we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone. (29:20)

Misc—

John: This is never the life that I wanted for you. [Sam: Then why’d you get so mad when I left?] You got to understand something. After your mother passed, all I saw was evil, everywhere. And all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you prepared, ready. So somewhere along the line, I stopped being your father. I became your drill sergeant. So when you said that you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about, my only thought was that you were gonna be alone, vulnerable. (28:21)

21. SALVATION

Dean—

For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault. [Sam: Yeah, you’re right, it’s not my fault, but it’s my problem!] No, it’s not your problem, it’s our problem! (05:42)

You’re just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it? [Sam: Yeah. Yeah, you’re damn right I am.] Yeah, well, that’s not gonna happen—not as long as I’m around. [What the hell are you talking about, Dean? We’ve been searching for this demon our whole lives. It’s the only thing we’ve ever cared abut.] Sam, I want to waste it, I do, okay? But it’s not worth dying over. [What?] I mean it. If hunting this demon means you getting yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing. [That thing killed Jess. That thing killed Mom,] You said yourself once that no matter what we do, they’re gone. And they’re never coming back. [Don’t you say that! Don’t you—not after all this, don’t you say that.] Sam, look. The three of us, that’s all we have. And it’s all I have. Sometimes I feel like I’m barely holding it together, man. Without you or Dad.... (37:51)

Sam—

So Mom’s death, Jessica—it’s all because of me? [Dean: We don’t know that, Sam.] Oh really? ‘Cause I’d say we’re pretty damn sure, Dean! [For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault.] Yeah, you’re right, it’s not my fault, but it’s my problem! (05:34)

Misc—

John: I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home. I want Mary alive. I just want this to be over. (21:10)

22. DEVIL’S TRAP

Dean—

You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there. [Sam: You didn’t have a choice, Dean.] I know. That’s not what bothers me. [Then what does?] Killing that guy, killing Meg... I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t even flinch. For you or Dad, the things I’m willing to do or kill, it’s just... it scares me sometimes. [Azazel!John: It shouldn’t. You did good.] You’re not mad? [For what?] Using a bullet. [Mad? I’m proud of you. You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you, you watch out for this family. You always have.] (29:41)

Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? ‘Cause I really can’t stand the monologuing. [Azazel: Funny, but that’s all part of your M.O., isn’t it? Mask all that nasty pain, mask the truth.] Oh yeah? What’s that? [You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is, they don’t need you. Not like you need them. Sam—he’s clearly John’s favorite. Even when they fight, it’s more concern than he’s ever shown you.] (36:52)

Sam—

[Dean: Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that? You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I’m gonna be the one to bury you. You’re selfish, you know that? You don’t care about anything but revenge.] (19:24)

Misc—

Azazel: He’s gonna tear you apart. He’s gonna taste the iron in your blood. [Dean: Let him go, or I swear to God—] What? What are you and God gonna do? (35:09)

[spacepaprika]

HERE’S A STORYTIME THAT NOBODY ASKED FOR 🙃

“Sticks And Stones”- Mammon x MC

(Trigger Warning: For mild language, talk of suicide and anxiety attack)

You had noticed that Mammon had been very quiet lately. Everyone in the House Of Lamentation did- Mammon ALWAYS made himself known when he walked in the room, especially when Lucifer’s booming voice came right after. At first it was dismissed by you and the brothers: You all thought he was in his room, planning some elaborate scheme for whatever he was gonna steal next. He did it all the time. But after not coming out of his room except to grab what was left out of the fridge that Beel already emptied that day, or to use the restroom for nearly four days now, you started to become concerned. If it were Levi, it would be normal. But Mammon..?

You decided to take action.

“Hello? Anybody home?” You knocked on his door at least three different times before finally hearing a faint “Come in” from inside the room. You slowly open the door, shutting it behind you. “Mammon?” The name seems to echo in the room. You don’t see him at first- but then you notice a little curled up heap on the couch that wasn’t there before. “Mammon?” No answer from the heap. You place a hand on the heap, and the heap squirms under your touch, sitting up to reveal a disheveled-haired, tired demon boi. “Hmm? Oi, it’s you. Whaddaya need, human?”

That was it. No, “Of course ya’d be visitin’ The Great Mammon!” No, “Ey, human!”

Nothing.

“Did I wake you?” You asked nervously.

“Nah, I’ve been awake, it’s fine,” the man answered, stretching in a manner that told you No, he had not been awake. “Sorry,” you mumbled. “I said it’s fine, now ya gonna answer my question?”

Oh, right.

You make your way over to what’s left of the room on the couch, and plop down, looking at the demon. “Mammon, we’re worried about you, you haven’t left your room for days an-”

“We?” He cuts you off. “Who the hell is ‘we’?”

You attempt to finish. “Me, your brothers-”

“Heh, that ain’t cute, ya know.” He stretches again. “Ya don’t have to throw in my brothers just ‘ta try ‘ta make me feel better.”

You’re thrown off by his lack of concern. “What do you mean, to make you feel better?” You start to get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. This isn’t like him at all.

“My brothers,” his voice nearly cracks. “They don’t give a damn.” He sighs. “I’m nothing to ‘em. I’m just a scumbag, a klepto, as worthless as the dirt under my feet.” He looks down as his feet, and you can feel an eerie presence settling in, like something bad is about to happen. You are quite sure what to say, and the demon continues.

“I’m the worst of the all. I may be a high ranking demon, but I’m the lowest one to exist. I don’t even gotta steal nothin’ yet, I just walk in ‘ta a room, an’ it’s like I’m a target. It’s okay for Satan ‘ta get mad, or for Levi ‘ta buy a bunch of shit from Akuzon. It’s okay for Beel to eat us outta house an’ home, an’ for Asmo ‘ta be out all night, bangin’ demons an’ witches an’ whatever the hell else gots a pulse. But me...” his voice trails off, and you notice that his eyes are really red. Did you not notice that before?

“I’m nothin’ ‘ta no one, MC.” The way he says your name sends chills down your back, and not in a good way. “I hate myself, ya know. Even if nobody else did, I still do.” His voice cracks again, and he begins to shake. “But ev’ry day is a reminder that I’m worth nothin’. It’s kinda why I started stealin’ after we left the celestial realm. Cause that’s when the name-callin’ started. I figured that if I had enough stuff that was valuable to people, then I could sell it, get some Grimm, an’ then I’d be valuable too...”

The man in front of you, the one who blows everything off, the one who sometimes seems to have more pride than Lucifer,

starts to cry.

His voice has grown hoarse and shaky. “I’m a burden ‘ta my brothers, I’m a burden ‘ta Diavolo, I’m a burden ‘ta this whole stupid exchange program, ‘ta the student council,” he mutters the last part, but you can still hear it. “‘Ta you...”

You sit there in a trance. This isn’t the Avatar Of Greed that you know. Sure, you always thought his brothers were harsh on Mammon, but you thought it was a natural demon thing. You wondered if his brothers even knew, or cared, about the toll this took on him.

The demon man starts to ramble, talking one hundred miles an hour. “It wasn’t like this back in the celestial realm, I was just another one of the guys. I don’t know what made it change. But if I go out that door again, if I talk or try ‘ya steal somethin’, it won’t stop, it won’t ever stop, th-they’ll never shut up-” His breathing is shallow, his tears flowing, the words tumbling out of him, unable to stop. “I wouldn’t be any worth ‘ta them if I were dead or alive, maybe I never was, maybe it’ll be like this forever, no matter what, maybe no one will ever love me, maybe I should just kill myself-”

You grab him by his wrists and yank him up- with strength you didn’t know you had- to face you. His eyes are dull and empty of the usual gleam he has, now looking like swirling voids. He’s surprised, and grows quiet, his eyes red, his hair a mess, his vulnerability...

It’s beautiful.

“Mammon, it’s your turn to listen.” You give him a hard stare, still trying to send warmth in your eyes for him to see. “You are stupid, you’re so stupid, for thinking of doing something like that, and not thinking about me. I love you, Mammon.”

He freezes for a moment, trying to process what you’ve just said. “Wh-whaddaya mean, human...?” He mumbles, sitting up completely and scratching the back of his head, completely lost. Yeah, he can be pretty stupid, but it’s really cute.

“I love you, Mammon,” you repeat, tears now welling up in your eyes, embarrassed for confessing to him at a time like this, and even more so for not having done it sooner. “Please don’t die, Mammon. I love you.”

The boy stares at you through his tears, his eyes lighting up after a moment, a little nervous to believe what he’s hearing. Maybe it’s just a dream? “D-do ya really mean that, MC? Y-ya aren’t just playing s-some stupid prank?”

Gaining confidence, you get inches away from his face, feeling your cheeks warming up. “Yes, Mammon. I love you.” You close your eyes, and the gap between your lips. The demon immediately melts into you, hugging you and crying into the kiss.

You break away to look at him and play with his hair. “Please live for me, Mammon. We’ll live together. You’ll always have me. What do you say?”

His tears are happy now, unable to speak from being so choked up but nodding a “Yes” eagerly and hugging you tight, almost a little too tight. But you giggle and kiss the top of his head.

About an hour later, you’re still on the couch, your new boyfriend’s head laying in your lap. The boy is all smiles as you play with his hair, his tears having long stopped and the usual, mischievous gleam is back in his eyes, brighter than ever. There’s a knock at the door. “Hey, normie and scumbag, hurry up and get down here before Beel eats your food.” You see the man wince at Levi’s words as he sits up. “Don’t listen to him, I’m here now,” you whisper into his ear, and he nods, getting up and holding your hand as you both make your way down to dinner (or what’s left of it).

[skellebonez]

Smoke, Flasks, and Unfinished Tasks: Chapter 2

AO3 Link!

Chapter 1 Link!

Summary: Clearly riding around on a cloud in the rain with no plan is not going to find the trio. Team Monkie Kid needs an actual plan to figure out where they are. Unfortunately, while no one really likes Monkey King’s suggestions they may have to go through with them.

Warnings: None for this chapter, mind AO3 for future chapters.

Chapter 2: This Altitude Ain't the Only Thing I Got Over You

Pigsy would have still been pissed off if the Monkey King didn’t look so... so damn sad.

He hadn’t spoken since his little outburst. Tang had only barely gotten him to stand and take a seat at one of the restaurant tables before offering him a fresh towel to dry his fur (as much as he could anyway, Pigsy would still need to clean the seat later). It almost surprised him that he was taking this so much worse than the rest of them... but then again he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised at all.

Sun Wukong had changed quite a bit over the years he was gone, more so now that the trio was inserted into his life on a regular basis. More so than even on that journey they took together all those centuries ago. He knew the monkey always had a huge soft spot for kids (even if the “kids” were grown ass adults apparently, but he was one to talk) and the idea of three kids he was in charge of and caring for vanishing into the void of who knows where with no one to punch in retribution was the line drawn in the sand for him.

He just sat there, towel over his shoulders and head and looking down at the warm bowl of plain noodles and broth in his hands dejectedly. Every so often he took a sip or slowly ate a single long noodle so at least Pigsy knew they hadn’t completely lost him yet.

“What do we do now?” Tang asked softly behind him, tone one of clearly tampered down worry. The scholarly man had done his best to help in whatever way he could, mostly by checking social media for any trace he could find since Mei was on there more than anyone else they knew and any sightings of Mei or Red Son or MK always drew attention now.

Unfortunately, her online trail stopped not even 20 minutes after they left. It gave them a good idea of where they were heading, though. Mei’s last post was a selfie of her hugging a very disgruntled Red Son, a cheese tea stall and MK making a purchase behind them, with the caption “Pre-training treat time! Let’s see if this Spicy Boy likes spicy tea!”

It would have been cute if it wasn’t the last thing she posted and if no one seemed to post about seeing them afterward...

“We know what stall they were at, yeah?” Pigsy pulled up a map of the city on his phone and sat down at the table with Sandy, letting Wukong sit alone for the moment but making sure he could hear their conversation. “If they borrowed one of Sandy’s boats it’s gotta be somewhere. We find the nearest docks and start there, maybe-”

“It’s not there,” Wukong interrupted suddenly. His tone was stilted, soft and thoughtful but held back. “I checked the docks when I flew over the ocean. No blue boats. Why does no one have blue boats?”

“Hmn...” Pigsy rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. “That’s something though, makes it faster. We just gotta check with any dock masters, see if they remember a blue boat or if it was confiscated.”

“I can do that,” Sandy offered, Mo jumping onto his shoulder with an approving meow. “All the dock masters know me, some of them owe me some favors. If I tell them it’s my boat they’d definitely help out.”

“OK... OK, that’s a good start!” Tang smiled approvingly as he seemed to get some zeal back into him. “I’m going to keep checking online, but I can call or stop by the stalls and see if anyone working at the time remembers seeing where they went!”

“Good, good we’re getting somewhere!” Pigsy finally smiled himself, looking over the map and making a note of when all the surrounding stores closed. “If we can find the dock where the boat was left, even if we don’t find the boat, and the direction they left the stall in, we should be able to figure out a vague idea of the path they took. We’re gonna need more of a plan, maybe someone should go to the weather station and see if we can get them to let up the storm, but we have something now.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Wukong agreed from behind them, gulping down more of his broth. “So that’s good. But...”

When Pigsy turned around he frowned again, matching the expression on the face of his once-brother. “But?”

“I think we’re going to need more help,” Wukong sighed, grimacing as he looked out at the storm. “For the three of them to just vanish... They’re strong. Way too strong for any random human to take them. Way too strong for a lot of demons. If they didn’t do this on purpose, and they would never do this on purpose, the person who did this is...”

Suddenly Wukong’s disposition made much more sense. Suddenly Pigsy realized the one thing he had overlooked, the one thing all three of them except the Monkey King overlooked.

Mei was the descendant of a dragon. MK was the Monkie Kid. Red Son was Red Son.

For someone to take all three of them at the same time they would have to either be incredibly smart, incredibly powerful, or a very dangerous combination of both.

“Shit... SHIT.” Pigsy smashed his fist into the table, angry at himself for not realizing it sooner. He’d underestimated his kids and now it was obvious that even if they found them with his plan the only one any way equipped to do anything about this was Wukong himself. And he looked worried. “Well then who the hell are we supposed to ask!?”

Despite how angry and gruff his question was, Wukong didn’t seem to take any offense to it. He ran his fingers over the fur on his face, humming for a moment before nodding to himself. “I think... first, we do your plan. Then, we need to see the Spider Queen.”

“Oh HELL no,” Tang shouted, hitting the table himself as he stood and startled everyone in the room with his outburst. “There is no way we are teaming up with HER! She tried to eat Pigsy! AND MK!”

“And you.”

“That’s besides the point Pigsy.”

“We’re not teaming up with her,” Wukong said quickly, holding up his hands in an attempt to placate the angry man. “But she has always had a knack for gathering information, sometimes even without her knowing, because of her spider minions. If we can convince her with some kind of trade we could get at least some kind of intel on the local demon action. It’s worth a try if I can intimidate her just enough to keep her from fighting.”

Tang almost growled under his breath, which was very interesting to everyone else being he was the only human in the room, but eventually he nodded and sat back down. “Fine... but I do not like it.”

“That’s fair... because I’m pretty sure you are really not going to like my next suggestion...” Wukong tensed as everyone looked right at him, faces a mixture of disbelief and worry. What could he possibly suggest that could be worse than going to the Spider Queen in an attempt to gather information?

“... I think... we might need to get help... from DBK.”

----------

“Something up, Noodle Boy?” Red Son leaned over, game controller surrendered to the Monkey King after losing best of three against Mei. “You’re being oddly quiet.”

“I... I dunno Red,” MK muttered, watching one of his best friends and his mentor battle in Monkey Mech. “Does anything feel... off to you?”

“Off?” Red hummed under his breath, looking around with a concerning gaze. “No? Why?” His tone sounded even, but it was clear to MK that just asking the question had made the fire demon’s senses raise.

“Wasn’t it supposed to rain today?”

“Yeah. Again, why?”

“... I’ll tell you later.”

[planetsam]

S2 prompt if you ever feel so inspired: Michael Sanders AU. Walt spends the time between asking to adopt Michael and when Michael returns to Roswell getting his life cleaned up. Not being able to help Michael was the shake up he needed. When Michael returns to Roswell Walt is able to become a foster parent. Gruff!Dad Walt is able to eventually adopt Michael. Michael learns about his mom from Walt much earlier and when Caulfield comes around they are more prepared and get Nora out safely.

Michael’s perched on the bed and all Walt can think about is how he looks like a bird about to take flight.

He’s been told a messed up story about the kid and though he’s grateful for him to be out of those hell places, there’s a difference between knowing a thing’s going to be hard and having it sitting perched on a makeshift bed in a makeshift bedroom clocking the exits. Michael’s eyes are focused on him even before he knocks on the wall to ask for entry. Michael says nothing and Walt fights the urge to smack his head against the wall. He’s lost his damn mind doing this.

“You gonna let me come in or should I try again later?” He asks and Michael flinches.

“It’s your house,” he says.

“And it’s your room,” Walt reminds him. Michael looks down and mumbles something along the lines of thank you and it makes Walt want to build a time machine, go back and kick his own ass until he gets his shit together a lot sooner, “you don’t gotta thank me.”

“Sorry,” Michael mutters.

“You don’t gotta apologize either!” He winces at the own exasperation in his voice. This kid needs professional help and neither of them is in a position to do that. Michael seems to curl in on himself, his eyes squeezing shut and his fingers clenching on the bed sheet, “be careful of your—“

“I need to get some air,” Michael says and scrambles to his feet.

“Don’t—“

“Excuse me.”

Michael doesn’t make it an option as he barrels past him and scrambles out. Walt hears something thud and fights the urge to reach for the bottle. He can tell why someone would think the things that are in Michael’s too thick file. Demons are a easier sell pretty much anywhere that isn’t here.  Walt scrubs his face and looks over at the shape watching from the couch. The damn dog is more judgmental than the people of the town but she helps.

“Well don’t get up and help or anything,” he says and goes after him.

Michael’s standing a few feet away breathing hard. Walt walks past him and looks at the other side of the car, the one that was facing the house. He sighs at the massive dent in it and looks back at Michael who looks like he’s going to be sick. At first Walt thinks it’s with fear, but then he doubles over and spews the contents of his stomach. No-one’s puked here since he went through withdrawal but he supposes that’s as good a run as he’ll ever get. He waits for Michael to be done and collect himself before he straightens up.

“Can you pop it back out?” He asks. Michael goes pale, “the dent, can you pop it back out?” He asks.

“I didn’t do that,” Michael blurts out.

“I’m not deaf,” Walt snaps, “or as stupid as your other fosters,” Michael looks stunned and it’s an odd look for such a young kid, “and I’m not going to hurt you.”

It’s clear Michael doesn’t believe him and Walt can’t say he blames him. The world’s a messed up place, he figures he knows that better than most people. He was probably younger than Michael when he learned it, but Walt’s not one to compare. No-one should be in that fucked up contest. Walt sighs and scrubs his face and pushes the itch for a bottle out of his head.

“I can help you fix the car,” Michael says abruptly, “I’m good with my hands.”

Briefly Walt wonders if the feeling of ‘this is never going to work’ is ever going to go away. Maybe it’s just part of being a parent. Walt remembers that he never wanted kids for a damn good reason. But one’s here and he’s gonna have to deal with it.

“Let’s go inside,” he says.

“You don’t have to call them,” Michael volunteers abruptly, “I didn’t mean to lie—“ he freezes as the sound of groaning metal echoes, “that’s not me!”

“Would you stop lying long enough to catch your breath? I know damn well it’s you,” Walt says, “why the hell else do you think we’re in a junkyard?”

Michael’s so surprised that whatever he’s doing cuts off and Walt hears something snap. He looks over to see one of the racks has cracked and watches one of the cars slide off and land on it’s roof. It looks almost comically like a bug that’s been turned over. Walt’s known for a long time he wasn’t cut out to be a parent to a regular kid. He’s got no idea what he’s going to do with a god damn alien. He figured this was a good place to start but he wasn’t expecting it to involve so many broken cars from the onset.

“How—“

“I knew your mother,” Walt says, figuring it’s best to rip the bandaids off in one go. Michael sways on his feet, “you gonna be sick again?”

Michael manages a nod before he hurls this time.

It might be the first honest thing he’s said.

Walt supposes it’s as good a start as any.

He steers the boy back inside and gets him into the chair. Nora hops off the couch and trots over, laying her head on his lap. Walt doesn’t have ginger ale but he’s got ginger beer which he guesses will have to do. He sets the can in front of Michael who looks ill at the sight of it.

“What do you need?” Walt asks. 
“Acetone,” Michael says.

“You better not be killing yourself in this house,” Walt mutters, getting the bottle out, “what’s this do for you?” 
“It makes things hurt less,” Michael says.

“Don’t drink too much then,” Walt tells him. Michael takes a few mouthfuls under his watchful gaze and then sets the bottle down. Some of the color has returned to his face. Walt takes the acetone and reminds himself he’s gonna have to lock it up and hope the kid respects him enough to listen, “well you don’t look half dead.”

“Is my mom dead?” Michael asks abruptly. Walt winces at the swerve but Michael’s apparently not done, “when did you see her? Do I look like her? Did she talk about me? Who was she with? Was my dad there? Could she move things with her mind too or did she read thoughts or channel electricity?”
 He cuts himself off breathing hard. It’s the most desperate Walt’s seen the kid since he’s been back. He’s got no business dealing with a desperate kid like this. He can picture his own old man’s reaction. Michael keeps look at him like a starving man and Walt has to remind himself he’s a kid who just found out someone knew his mother.

“I don’t know is the answer to most of that,” Walt says, “I saw her when I was about your age. She wasn’t the worst last thing to see with two eyes,” Michael looks surprised, “she mentioned you. Said you had her whole heart. You do look damn like her,” he leans back, “she said her name was Nora.”

“Did she say what my name was?” Michael asks. Walt shakes his head and Michael looks down, disappointed.

“Michael’s a good name,” he says.

“What about her powers? What could she do?”

“Well I saw her make fields grow,” Walt says. Michael perks up, “and some other things but that was the most impressive,” he looks at the boy, “can you do that?”

“Kinda,” Michael says, “I’m not good at it though, I usually make the planters explode.”

Walt blows out a breath and tries not to think about how this is going south faster than he could have thought.

But they’re here and they’re just going to have to deal with it.

** “This is ridiculous.”

Walt keeps his mouth shut as Jesse Manes checks his watch again. He guesses it was inevitable that the two would go at it eventually. He just prays to every God he knows that Michael didn’t do any of that alien shit. It’s going to be hard enough to explain this to the social worker as it is.

“Have we been called in yet?” Jim Valenti asks as he joins them.

“No,” Jesse says.

Jim nods.

Walt wonders what the hell he’s doing sitting with two people who represent the government. He’s been in trouble with the law enough to not want to be here. He’s also been in trouble enough in his school days to not want to be in there either. But he’ll take the slap on the wrist over the cuffs. When they are motioned in he’s the first up. Michael twists the second he walks in and gives him the barest head-shake. Walt lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. No alien shit then.

“What happened?” He asks.

“Your foster son fought with one student and attacked another,” the principal says.

“Why?”

Michael doesn’t answer.

“I told you—“ Kyle Valenti starts up in a tone that makes Walt want to plug his ears.

“The question wasn’t directed at you,” the principal cuts in, “Mr. Guerin, would you care to explain?”

Michael flinches like he’s the one whose been hit and Walt wishes things were different but he can’t be Michael Sanders if the paperwork doesn’t go through. Kyle looks smug. Alex whose been silent the whole time shifts in his seat. The look his father gives him is eerily familiar to Walt, the urge to grab Michael and get the hell out of there is a strong one. Alex wavers and then looks at the principal.

“His name’s Sanders,” Alex Manes pipes up.

“Not yet,” Kyle says.

“I started the fight,” Alex continues, “I was teasing him because he doesn’t have parents. Kyle got involved because he can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“No, I got involved because I don’t want to be in the locker room with someone who likes boys.”

The air vanishes.

Walt’s surprised to see Michael look equal parts devastated and furious. Alex looks angry as well, but anyone can see how hard his father is gripping his shoulder. It’s only Jim Valenti who looks ashamed.

“So it’s Kyle’s fault,” he says.

“Huh?” Kyle whips around.

“It’s his fault, clearly. You going to suspend him?” The principal looks surprised, “I think being off the team for the rest of the year sounds appropriate too.”

“Dad!”

The principal nods slowly. Jim hauls his devastated looking boy out. Alex lets out a sharp breath that Walt might mistake for relief until he sees Jesse’s hand hasn’t moved. Michael has seen it too and though Walt wants to tell him to mind his own business he knows that’s not what’s about to happen.

“I think that’s a fair resolution,” he says and sticks his hand out to Jesse in a sign of friendship. The main claims to be full of honor but it takes him a moment to pry his fingers off, “you boys want to apologize to each other?”

They both mutter sorry and Alex seems hard pressed not to rub his shoulder.

They’re all sent home. In the front seat Michael looks straight ahead. Walt gives him a moment, then a few more. When it’s clear he’s not going to be speaking up, he finally looses whatever patience he has left.

“I’m waiting for a explanation,” he says.

“His family killed my mom,” Michael snaps.

“We don’t know that!” Walt shoots back, “do you think she wants you getting yourself locked up or worse?” Michael looks down, “that wasn’t a rhetorical question!”

“No,” Michael says finally.

“How did Valenti get involved?”

“I was fighting Alex and he tried to back me up. He said because Alex likes boys.”

Walt would normally say that you need backup in life, that Michael shouldn’t let his stubbornness get in the way of that. But he can see how this doesn’t fall under that. He doesn’t like the Manes family on principal, not after the shit they’ve done, but even he’s not stubborn enough to see that Alex is like them. He might one day be, but right now he’s the same kind of prepubescent nightmare Michael is. Walt wonders if that’s a nightmare across all universes or if being in earth has just made things like that for Michael.

“It sounds like you did the right thing,” Walt says, finally catching onto Michael hanging on his every breath.

“You don’t think it’s wrong Alex likes boys?” Michael asks quietly. Walt cringes and Michael’s face falls, “got it.”

“No, you don’t,” Walt says, “I don’t care who you like, I just don’t want to be called into school for you pulling anyone into the bleachers or wherever you kids are making out these days. We have your hearing in a few weeks and we’re on thin ice with the noise complaints as it is.”

It’s nauseating how fast Michael whips to look at him. And how quickly he dives forward to hug him. Walt claps his shoulder as Michael jumps back into his seat. Sure maybe he never counted on raising a kid liking other boys, but he didn’t count on a kid period. And in the face of being an alien, well, Walt’s seen what Max is doing with his blackouts. Michael’s in trouble no matter who he wants to make out with. At least Walt can console himself there’s no risk of a cross species baby. He’s not sure he’s ready to add being a grandpa to his list of jobs.

“How long’ve you known?” Walt asks.

“Always I guess,” Michael says, “it’s like being a—“

“Not on school property,” Walt cuts in sharply.

That’s the last thing they needed added to this mess. There’s only one thing that could make it worse. 
Thankfully he and the Manes boy hate each other.

** Michael staggers in and Walt sighs deeply.

He’s done his best to keep liquor out of the house, for one he’s not strong enough to deal with that and two Michael’s got enough reason to drink. He doesn’t need to throw temptation in his face. Michael’s grown up into a good man, a man Walt’s damn proud of. He hasn’t done any of the stupid shit the other seniors are doing. Walt knows he’s a good man, he also knows how one drunken night can lead to a lifetime of regrets.

“You know I’ve got half a mind to keep you from that and let you feel the hangover,” he says finding Michael fumbling with the medicine cabinet.

“M’not drunk,” Michael slurs out.

“Sure you’re not,” Walt says sarcastically, “come on,” he says, “let me—“

“No!” Michael gasps and Walt suddenly finds he can’t move. Michael doubles over with a sound that goes straight through him, “just gimme a minute.”

“Okay, okay,” Walt says, “take your time. Breathe.”

Michael sucks in air and sobs on the exhale. Something in Walt aches to comfort him but he’s being held back. It’s been a damn long time since Michael lost control of his powers like this. Walt waits and after a long time he finds he can move. He forces himself to approach carefully, though he doesn’t think Michael will hurt him. He just doesn’t want him to stop him either. He crouches down on Michael’s level where he can see he’s shining with sweat, snot and tears. Like the first night he came. Walt doesn’t ask anything stupid like what’s wrong, he can see the way Michael’s got his hand clenched to his chest.

“Jesus,” he says and Michael pulls it closer with a whimper, “easy, easy,” Walt says. Comforting hasn’t ever been his forte. He settles his hand on Michael’s shoulder and eases him down to sit on the floor. He crouches in front of him, “let me see,” Michael shakes his head, “come on, give it here.”

Michael sobs as he supports his hand and eases it away from his chest. Walt pulls back the makeshift bandage. His hand is a mess of torn and twisted skin and misshapen bones. It looks bad. Walt can’t imagine how it must feel. Michael hasn’t offered any bullshit like it’s an accident. So Walt has nothing to go on but that it isn’t.

“We need to call your brother,” he says. 
“No,” Michael tells him.

“Why the hell not?” Walt questions.

“This can’t just vanish,” he says, dragging in a lungful of air, “they’ll know.”

“I don’t give a damn—“

“Jesse Manes did it,” Michael says and Walt finds he can’t breathe, “he did it because I got between him and Alex.”

“Why would you do a stupid thing like that?” Walt demands, “Manes boys are trouble, you know that. I thought you and Alex hated each other.”

Michael’s throat bobs.

There’s a frantic knock on the door. Michael tries to push himself up so fast he nearly falls over. Walt stops him from trying to scramble up and helps him brace his hand on his other one. He gets to his feet and gives Michael a warning look before he goes to the door. For a moment he lets himself be stupid and say that it’s going to be Max here or Isobel, someone who can actually help. But the stupidity only lasts as long as it takes him to look through the peephole.

“What do you want?” He questions sharply.

Despite having been frantically knocking on his door a moment earlier, Alex jumps. Walt can’t say he likes Alex, the boy seems to put sticking out like a sore thumb above everything else. Like survival. But he can’t say he hates him either and there are definitely teenagers he hates. Alex sneaking around with his son though, that’s a big mark against him. The worry on his face lessens that mark only slightly.

“Sorry to bother you so late, is Michael home?”

“He’s home alright, you wanna tell me what happened to his hand before I press charges?”

Alex pales but his jaw clenches and he meets Walt’s eye. Which is more than Walt would’ve expected from the boy whose been sneaking around with his son.

“I can tell you but pressing charges isn’t going to do any good,” Alex says, “Sheriff Valenti won’t do it.”

“He will if he knows what’s good for him,” Walt snaps.

“He doesn’t,” Alex replies. He looks anxiously over Walt’s shoulder and even under the mess on his face, he fucking lights up.

“I told you to stay put,” Walt says, turning around to see Michael leaning against the wall. He looks back at Alex who looks maybe five seconds from charging through his front door if he doesn’t move aside, “oh now you two don’t want to sneak around?” He looks between the two of them, “well does Romeo or Juliet want to answer me?”

“I didn’t want my father finding out,” Alex says. He looks at Michael’s hand, “I told him not to tell you.”

“Jesus,” Walt repeats.

He’s not a praying man but he’s going to need all the strength he can get if these two are planning on continuously sacrificing themselves for each other. One of them is going to do something stupid if he doesn’t move and he’d rather not deal with the telekinesis part of that. So he steps aside and nods Alex in. Alex scrambles forward so fast they nearly add another injury to the growing tally. Michael sinks down with a pained sound as Alex falls to his knees, his hands fluttering over Michael like he doesn’t know where to touch him. Michael tries to smile up at him but winds up folding over his hand. Alex pulls him close and even though it’s his own damn house, Walt turns away to give them a moment.

Thankfully he hears the car.

He shuts the door.

“You boys better get upstairs,” he says, “I think your dad’s here.” It’s hard to say who goes paler, “upstairs,” he repeats.

“I should—“ Alex starts.

“I wasn’t asking,” Walt says, “be glad I’m letting in you in his room at all after this,” he adds, helping get Michael to his feet, “and keep the door open.”

He takes the eye patch off. When he opens the door and Jesse goes a shade paler at the sight of that mess, he’s glad he did. It takes him a moment to recover and Walt wonders if he knows how involved his family is. He supposes that’s a question for another day. 
“Is my son here?” Jesse asks.

“Why would your son be here?” Walt counters, “did something happen?”

Jesse’s got some major balls on him to stand there.

“My son is involved with your—“ he begins

“Let me help you out, my son,” Walt says. Jesse presses his lips together, “don’t tell me you have as big a problem with adoption as you do with your son liking boys,” he says.

“You’re noble looking after him,” Jesse says.

“I’m not,” Walt shoots back, “I’m keeping a promise to a friend,” Jesse’s eyes narrow. Walt figures if he’s in for a penny, he’s in for a pound, “you’re damn lucky my boy’s a better man than the ones they produce here.”

“I’d watch your tone,” Jesse starts.

“I’d get the hell off my property,” Walt says.

Jesse holds his gaze for a moment longer but Walt’s faced down worse than some insane army man on a power trip. He’s sure as hell not folding. Not once Michael’s been hurt. Jesse at least seems to have enough sense to know Walt’s insane enough to take him on. Hell Walt’ll be insane if that’s what it takes. Jesse glances up and Walt ignores it. Michael’s barely standing and he sure as hell ain’t stupid enough to be by the window.

“If he comes by tell him I’m looking for him.”

“Do I look like a damn answering machine?”

It’s not easy to turn his back on a man he knows would shoot him, but for Michael he does and gets back into the house, making sure to slam the door behind him. He can’t tell if his heart is racing because of that, because Michael is hurt or because Michael’s got the boy he’s been sneaking around with in his room. He figures one thing at a time and goes for the first aide kit. Only to find it’s gone.

The door’s not closed all the way—because Michael has yet to meet a rule he doesn’t like to skirt. But it’s closed enough that he can peer inside quietly. Alex is splinting Michael’s hand. Michael barley lets him see him cry but both of them are snot nosed and teary, though Alex seems to have his wits about him. It’s not the worst splinting Walt’s ever seen. It’s on his lips to announce that Alex is sleeping in there over his dead body, but Michael’s laying his head on Alex’s lap and Alex’s fingers are moving through his curls.

He’s sleeping there for one night and one night only.

** “Is Michael here?”

Walt turns to look at Alex. It’s almost normal now to see him without his makeup and piercings, though Walt’s not sure he’ll ever get the image of him shipping off and looking out the window for a boy who wasn’t there out of his head. He’d ripped into Michael so badly that the boy had stopped whatever spiral he was on. College hadn’t been his favorite time but at least he could say he got his boy through that. Even if he’d continued to live at home. Walt’s not about to take that from him.

“No,” he says, “can I help you with something?”

Alex stares at him long and hard like he’s trying to read Walt’s mind or find out his secrets. He looks like he’s in shock, not an easy thing for someone whose been through the shit that Alex has been through. Walt sighs.

“Let me guess: you know.”

Alex looks so relieved that Walt knows his guess was right. Michael’s an adult. Hell Liz knows already. So it’s not like this is the first person to find out. But Alex is a Manes who looks uncomfortably like his father when he’s in his uniform. But Walt knows that a part of him still loves his boy. The fact that he’s not here with a team of scientists is proof enough of that.

“Do you—“

“Of course I know,” Walt says, “he’s my boy,” he drops his tools, “I knew his mom too,” Alex’s brow furrows, “oh you don’t know about that?” He shakes his head, “your family goes way back with his.”

“We do?”

“Yeah,” Walt looks over as Michael pulls into the driveway. He gets out of the car and stops dead when he sees Alex standing there staring at him, “you’d better come over here,” Walt says.

“I thought we were avoiding each other,” he says. Alex’s throat bobs before he straightens up.

They’re both adults, entitled to make their own mistakes. But Walt’s not sure he’s got it in him to watch them act like fools for another second. It’s been ten years of this pining, dancing around each other bullshit. Even now that they’re in the same place, neither seems to be able to get out of each other’s way long enough to do something productive. Even just standing next to each other they’re both struggling to be taller, though they damn well know Alex has an extra inch on Michael.

“Can we stop the dick swinging contest,” Walt says, “you both are ridiculous,” he looks between them, “well?” He prods Alex.

“I know,” Alex says.

“Know what?” Michael jabs. Walt swears he raised a smarter child. Alex looks annoyed, “what do you know?”

“He knows you’re an alien,” Walt says. Both whip to look at him, “I’m not standing here watching you two be idiots,” he says.

“Could you go inside then?” Michael asks. Walt raises his eyebrows, “please?”

He figures he can give them a moment before they need anything filled in. But if they start making out in his yard he’s going to ground them both. How that will work, he doesn’t know, but he figures it’s a start. There’s no making out, there’s just some arguing and a lot of gesturing from Michael. Alex eventually sits down because he’s still getting used to his missing leg. Michael paces like a wild animal. Walt watches and wonders if parents of straight human children have to go through shit like this. When they come inside neither of them is moving slowly or has shut up. What he isn’t expecting is for Alex to stay in the doorway and Michael to go upstairs and return with a bag.

“There’s an alien prison we’re going on a rescue mission,” Michael says.

“Bye Mr. Sanders.”

They’re both gone just like that.

It’s a full day before they pull up and Walt has decided he’s going to murder both of them so it’s a moot point. But he wants an explanation first. Just so he doesn’t have to have any guilt on his conscience when it comes to it. He’s fully ready for the murder too when Kyle ‘no longer an asshole’ Valenti gets out and jogs around to the passenger side. He’s not ready to see Michael helping out an old woman. She’s old and bald and wearing rags, but he’d know her anywhere. When she looks at him, she’s so surprised she nearly faints. But Michael keeps her upright.

“Walt Sanders,” she rasps, “you’ve gotten tall.”

Funny because he doesn’t feel tall.

Especially when she takes his hand.

“Hi Miss Nora,” he says.

“I guess I have two dance partners now.”

Walt looks over his shoulder as Alex gets out of the car. Even though he’s holding his mom’s hand, Michael is already watching him. Miss Nora sees it too. She squeezes his hand to get his attention and Walt looks at her. He has no idea if this is a thing where she comes from, but there’s nothing but soft pride in her eyes when she looks at Alex and Michael. And nothing but sharp humor when she looks at him.

“Well maybe just the one,” she says, “but I think you’ll do.”