#(I'm also in crunch time now so don't expect fastness)

[desultory-novice]

If Adeleine and Noir's parents were watching them, like ghosts or angels, how do you think they would feel watching the entirety of the Apologies AU play out?

Could it be... We are witnessing it through THEIR eyes!?

Hmm. That would require a little more fleshing out of the nameless parents than I was intending to give them, but you all can adopt the siblings if you really want! You may send (thoughts of) food, warm clothes, and other gifts to the following address:

Attn: Noir & Adeleine Cubicle 2000, Shelter #95 3-5 March Street, Factory City Shiver Star, Milky Way Galaxy

(Not a real address.)

...Coincidentally, isn't it OC takeover week...?

A warning for all you weirdos out there. Send anything "funny" and we'll see how funny you find it when you lose your hands.

Noir...!! He doesn't mean it, everyone. We used to get some mean letters, but the last one was like a re~ally long time ago!

.........Yeah.

[nonhumanresources]

Author Of Her Own Story

Lil late but hey, this was meant to come out in October so y'know. It hasn't snowed here yet so you get some autumn vibes now instead. Also, this is the first story I'm posting from the commissions I opened up a few months back. More to come! This one was commissioned by @champloon, he's a cool dude! Go check him out!

Summary: Ryan attends the 16th Annual Harvest Renaissance Fair after several year of attempts, clad in the armor of a tinfoil knight and ready to have an incredible time. A disagreement with a vendor leads to a truly unforgettable experience with the patron saint of the harvest.

What to expect: Dragon transformation, TG, apotheosis, macro, forced language change, and some good old fashioned jousting.

Length: 4.5k words.

If you'd prefer to read this story in an easier format, here's a Google Drive link!

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Ryan’s greaves crunched on gravel as he stepped out of his car, raising one hand to block the noonday sunlight. It gleamed off the vehicle and his armor alike, wreathing him as if in some holy mandate—one that included a Honda, at least. He checked his pockets—wallet, phone, keys—then set off on his knight’s divine journey, into the great unknown. 

Of course, it was only about thirty yards from his parking spot to the ticket booth for the Sixteenth Annual Harvest Renaissance Fair, but it still felt like some kind of mythical journey. After four years of work, inopportune family trips, and a particularly bad cold, he’d finally made it to the premier local late-summer festivity. Ryan had spared no expense on his cosplay; of course, with amateurish skills at the craft, “sparing no expense” meant using four rolls of aluminum foil to construct the vague approximation of a knight’s armor, but it had still come out alright. The foil wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso in large segments, secured to dark clothing, with a wooden sword slung in a sheath on his back and a shield on one arm with a crest he’d copied from an internet search emblazoned across the front. He’d opted for no helmet, leaving his long, brown hair to flutter in the wind. A leather bag was slung over one shoulder, half tucked under armor, less fitting but a necessity for any convention. He’d seen better, but it was difficult to look at him and think anything other than ‘knight,’ so he considered that an accomplishment.

Click on the read more for the rest of the story, as usual. I love comments and questions so don't hesitate to let me know what you think!

Ryan joined the ticket queue behind a witch and some kind of troll, anxiously awaiting his turn. Now that the day was finally here, he could hardly wait. This costume had been half completed at least a year prior, but his failure to attend had killed any motivation. Now, he was determined to make the most of it. The ticket line wait was made even longer by the blazing sun overhead, though fortune was clearly smiling on him this particular day, and the foil armor actually reflected a shocking amount of the heat back out into the sky (and onto those unlucky enough to be standing next to him, not that he could notice). 

“Next!” a voice called out. The witch and troll duo shuffled away, leaving Ryan at the front of the line. He rushed forward and pulled out his phone. He flashed a QR code ticket to the elf sitting within the small ticket booth, who flashed him a practiced, tired smile as soon as it went though, and she stamped the back of his hand with a small pumpkin decal.

“The King welcomes you to the Harvest Fair,” she declared, talking fast. “All the kingdom’s greatest performers are present today, and eagerly await your fawning approval.” The elf glanced behind Ryan and groaned slightly, then pulled out a pamphlet, pointing at different sections of it as she rushed. “Map’s on page one and two, lore is right after that, read through it or talk to an actor and you can get an explanation on this year’s quest to serve the Goddess of the Harvest and whatnot. Vendors and food are inside on the left, performances are at the stage, jousting tourney starts in—” she glanced at her watch, “hour and fifteen, and bathrooms are marked on the map. Knight photoshoot times are listed if you care. Good day and happy harvest. Next!” 

Ryan blinked. That was… some kind of way to treat a guest. He opened his mouth to ask about the quest, but the elf attendant was already waving the people behind him forwards, and he had to shuffle sideways to avoid getting his toes stepped on by a dwarf. 

Well. He wasn’t about to let one rude employee ruin his day. She’s probably just overwhelmed running the booth all by herself, he reasoned. Not an excuse, really, but she had at least given him most of the information he was wondering about. He could always find an actor inside to get the rest if need be. As he walked through the front gate and caught his first glimpse of the fair, his heart swelled again, and he couldn’t stop himself from grinning. Flutey, medieval music floated over crowds who bustled between small, erected wooden castles and shops, while an incredibly colorful crowd meandered through the fair, taking in the sights and smells. Ryan took a deep breath and dove in. 

The swell of people enveloped him immediately. Ryan rubbed shoulders with all manner of mythical beasts, races, and t-shirt wearing regular folk. He had to stumble to the side in order to circumvent a witch pushing a stroller covered in a paper mâché cauldron, then immediately duck sideways to avoid getting cleaved by a large ax that was resting on a barbarian’s shoulders. The whole affair was an utter jumble, but there was something magical about it all. And it’s not just the fairies, Ryan thought to himself, grinning. 

The flow of the crowd had naturally taken him away from the stage, off to the left, towards the smell and sound of sizzling food. Ryan’s eyes went wide seeing a man no more than four feet tall walking away from a small hut with a turkey leg that seemed nearly as tall as he was. He’d eaten before leaving, though, just in case he was tempted to buy overpriced festival food, so he cut sideways through the flowing sidewalks and ended up getting dumped out into the slower moving foot traffic of what seemed to be the vendors’ area. He took a breath and used the opportunity to pull out that small pamphlet he’d received back at the entrance. One side panel listed events, confirming the upcoming jousting match; opening it up to the proper page on the inside, he found a large, illustrated map. He was shocked to find he’d traveled nearly a third of the length of the fair in arriving where he had. Standing on his armored toes and peeking over the top of the crowd, he was able to confirm that the entrance was quite some distance away, now. 

Must be moving faster than I realized, he thought. The vendors’ area, labeled as The Harvest Market, took up a massive chunk of real estate on this side of the festival, which made sense based on how much of a community-built event this was supposed to be. 

Might as well start here. Ryan tucked the pamphlet away and turned, stepping up to the first vendor he saw. 

Various period-agnostic pieces of armor and filed-down weapons sat across tables and custom-built wooden shelves, providing the air of a blacksmith, perched atop a tablecloth likely purchased at a HomeGoods. A basket full of whittled walking sticks sat off to one side. Behind the tables, in the shade provided by a canopy poorly disguised as a storefront, a somewhat mousey man sat and squinted out into the sunlight (not to mention the light reflecting off of Ryan’s armor), dressed in a brownish tunic and coarse pants to give a sort of peasant-y vibe. A small name tag affixed to the tunic read Phil. He stood as Ryan approached and gave a wan smile. 

“Welcome, Sire Knight!” he called, loud enough to be heard over the din. “I’ve wares to sell, should they be of interest to ye of noble ilk. Or nay, is it a quest ye seek?” 

Ryan opened his mouth, then closed it before responding. That was more in character than he’d expected; he had some decent practice with voicework, but being put on the spot with an unpracticed tone was still difficult. “Ah. I seek to… browse. Good sir Phil,” he added hastily. 

Phil nodded. His smile seemed to be propped against the side of his jaw, as if it were leaning on a wall. “Certainly. Rianne’s blessings to you, then, Knight.” 

Ryan let silence fall for a moment, examining a dagger with a leather wrapped hilt. “Uh.” He coughed awkwardly. “If one… were to be seeking a quest, what would that entail?” 

Phil, who had been moving to sit back down in his fold-out camp chair, straightened. “Aha! As the gods will it, so it be done, a Knight hath been sent to help!” 

“Yes,” Ryan said, shuffling from one foot to the other. “And that help is?” 

Phil’s grand presentation deflated slightly. “Why, only the quest of a lifetime? Rianne’s request, an epic journey only the bravest could hope to complete?” When Ryan only gave an apologetic shrug, he let out a disgruntled sigh. “The one on page four of the festival pamphlet and on the website when you scan the QR code on your ticket? That quest?” 

“I got stuck on the map,” Ryan joked half-heartedly. 

Phil groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay, well, doth the great knight feel inclined to consult page four of the festival pamphlet to receive his divine request from the goddess of the harvest, or would he prefer to browse some more?” 

“Would you mind giving a condensed version?” Ryan asked, hopeful. That elf at the ticket booth had said to ask an actor, after all. 

Phil threw a longsuffering sigh upwards (which, Ryan thought, seems kinda uncalled for, all things considered). “It really would be much easier if you just read it.” 

“C’mon, I prefer acting anyway!” 

“And I prefer when knights arrive ready to act,” Phil retorted. 

Ryan folded his arms. “Aren’t renaissance fairs all about acting and improvisation?” He was feeling more and more put out by this being his first real interaction, after all the hype. 

“First of all, it’s the Harvest Renaissance Fair,” Phil corrected, holding up a finger, “and second, I’ve had no less than sixteen tinfoil knights come through here with their dashing looks and ask me to read three paragraphs to them, and I’m getting real sick of it.” 

At this point, Phil was looking quite worked up, and it seemed obvious there was no getting through to him. Ryan held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, okay, listen, I—”

“No, you listen,” Phil growled, cutting Ryan off. “I’m clocking out. If you’re so interested in toying with precise narrative structure, then why don’t you try writing it yourself and see how much you like it? As the gods will it! Or god, in this case.” The man snapped his fingers and made a rude gesture in Ryan’s direction. It was his turn to grunt in frustration as Phil turned away after the frankly very confusing comment.

“Would you just wait one—” Ryan stopped himself and sighed. Whatever. It’s just one sourpuss. Don’t let it ruin the day. “Whatever. May your Harvest be merry, Sir Phil.” 

Ryan furrowed his brow. “Excuse me. May the long nights bring light against fell dark.” 

What. The hell. Something was wrong. He’d been trying to give Phil a few strong words, and perhaps an expletive or two, but the words came out… wrong. Obviously, that was not in fact what he’d said, twice. If it happened once he could chalk it up to distraction, but this was concerning. For his part, Phil just waved a dismissive hand from the back of his stall behind a large tote and said ‘bah!’

Ryan’s head felt… tight. Like his mind was pressing up against the inside of his skull, straining against the bone. He bent over, grabbing the edge of the table. With his head hanging low, he was able to watch as the sun flickered across his hands with an almost incandescent blue light, and with a series of small pops, claws erupted from each fingernail, poking into the fabric of the tablecloth. 

Okay. Revision. Something isn’t wrong, something is seriously wrong. Ryan stumbled backwards, yanking his hands up to his face. Of course, embedded in the fabric as they were, the entire tablecloth came with them. With an enormous clatter, the weapons were unceremoniously tossed against each other and to the floor, crashing together all the way. Ryan couldn’t even attempt to help; the tablecloth was already tangling up his arms, hands balled up into the mass.

It must have just gotten caught on my sleeve. The claws had to have been some trick of the light off his armor. Tin foil was reflective, after all. Of course, he couldn’t actually check until this stupid fabric was taken care of. Unfortunately, each flex only swept more and more of it into the action, wrapping him up in layer after layer of fabric. He tossed one corner over a shoulder to keep track of it and somehow it managed to tangle up his whole arm. A series of knots almost cartoonish in their complexity were forming, and he seemed to be at their mercy. Several passersby were starting to stop and gawk, and Ryan could feel himself sweating as he struggled. 

Finally, he hit a sweet spot and felt the fabric start to slide after tossing multiple layers of it over his shoulder. He took full advantage and yanked, the knots unraveling themselves like magic one after the other, hands finally, thankfully, sliding free. Ryan tossed his arms up into the air with a shout of triumph, not even bothering to check and discover that not only were they clawed, they were also blue. This was also the exact moment his chest decided to acquire a new look and promptly exploded outwards.

Ryan stared down in shock. He was used to being able to see his feet; this was distinctly not possible anymore. He found himself tipping forwards, and his arms pinwheeled wildly, trying to step forwards and catch himself. A numb tingling flashed across both legs, and they suddenly erupted into thick blue skin, pants straining. This did nothing to help steady him. He opened his mouth to yell, feeling like he was moving in slow motion, and it opened instead as a muzzle, pushed outwards and fused with his nose into one long snout, the yell emerging as a roar. 

Just before he ate it, there was one final shhhRRRIP! from behind Ryan. He felt more than heard as his tailbone dropped the ‘bone’ suffix and became a full-on tail, the weight counterbalancing him. As if he was on a hinge, he swung back upwards. The tail impacted the ground with a dry smack, and Ryan was left standing stock straight, arms by his side, legs pointed inwards from their failed attempts to save him. With two belated flaps, a pair of wings unfolded from his back. 

Around him, the crowd burst into applause. 

This was so unexpected as to shock Ryan straight out of his stupor. His hands immediately flew to his face, finding a snout, horns poking out from his nose, his cheeks, his head, a pair of whiskers drooping down from either cheek. It only took a cursory glance to determine that the rest of him was similarly lizardlike. His entire knight’s armor had up and vanished; in its place was the tablecloth, tied across his shoulder and draped over his frame like a dress. A belt decorated with hanging jewels cinched it at the waist, and he was barefoot, though there were two large paws rather than actual feet, now. He was covered in vibrant blue scales from head to toe, but the ones across his neck and the front of his body were a hazy golden yellow instead, continuing on down the base of the tail that swayed behind him. He caught a glimpse in a polished shield and saw an unfamiliar reflection of a reptilian face that boasted yellow stripes across the snout, too. 

Okay. Take stock. What can you actually do here? Ryan’s mind raced. She had to get out of there, find somewhere private to figure all this out. A change like this was bad enough; in public, it was one of her worst nightmares. The insane dragon body was the biggest factor, obviously. The new clothing was embarrassingly scant compared to a full suit of armor, but functional. She….

Oh. Wait. Okay, point three: Ryan was now most certainly a girl, and somehow the pronoun reference in her own head had already shifted. Disconcerting to think about directly, but it seemed fine to leave it alone, so she let that one slide for a bit. Not like she could pass as a man right now anyway. 

Last thing: the crowd. She needed a way through. Ryan raised a hand, and the voices all died down to a murmur. She opened her mouth to politely yell at least one expletive and several panicked requests for people to please get out of the way now. 

“Thank you! Thank you!” The raised hand became a wave as a feminine voice cut the silence from deep in her own throat. Ryan swallowed hard. Again. This time, she pictured the words before speaking them. Please get the HELL out of my way. Just eight words. 

“Please, refrain from praising a humble goddess, citizens!” Wrong eight words. Ryan felt himself withering inside. This was out of control. 

Someone stepped forward from the crowd, an elf with a badge that read ‘Nurse,’ looking concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay, Rianne?” 

It’s Ryan, she tried to say. It didn’t work. “Your care lifts an immortal soul,” was what came out instead. “But Her Lady of the Harvest is well. ‘Twas naught but a minor altercation with a disagreeable sword!” Rianne—Ryan—let out a hearty laugh. Inside, she was yelling. She couldn’t stop herself from going along with this. 

Maybe… maybe she had to play along. That made about as much sense as the rest of this. She chose her words carefully this time. “Though… if thou insists, take all pains to assuage your doubts as to my safety,” she said, holding out an arm. That was as far as she managed to push it towards Please give me an x-ray and tell me I’m just in some kind of nightmare bodysuit. 

The elf reached out and grasped her arm confidently. The moment the nurse made contact, though, she froze. Her gaze connected with Ryan’s, and she could tell that the nurse knew that this wasn’t any kind of improv. That was real, bonafide dragon flesh. A strange haze passed over her eyes, and she stepped back before Ryan could do anything. 

“Our Lady Rianne is perfectly healthy!” she declared to a flurry of applause. Ryan tried to reach for her, but she vanished into the crowd, whispering into the ear of some kind of half-demon fellow whose arm she grabbed along the way. There went that lifeline. 

Rianne. That wasn’t a mispronunciation of her name; that was the name of the Goddess of the Harvest that Phil had mentioned. The one who was supposedly giving out quests and making requests of brave adherents, and who ruled over the entire festival, granting blessings of bountiful harvests and community bonding. That was…

Oh, gods, that was her. Ryan had somehow become Rianne, and now she couldn’t stop talking like a goddess. She couldn’t fathom the reasons behind it, but that must have been why she sounded like a bad reenactment of the legend of Saint George. 

The worst part was, that almost certainly meant that she was stuck here. The goddess of the festival couldn’t very well leave. Even if she tried there was probably some kind of contrived method of keeping her put. She was well and truly screwed. 

Although. Although. A thought surfaced that made her flush. This crowd… they were focused on her, yes, but it was positive attention. Clearly the goddess of the fair—one whom they all must assume she was some kind of mascot representing—would be popular, especially among those undertaking her quests. So, if she was so popular… 

…what was keeping her from enjoying the fair like this, anyway?

Okay, listen up. “My dear merrymakers!” Okay, that one was better than her original thought. “Let not one accident cause you grief. It is a day of joy! Please, continue the festivities!” Her mind raced, trying to come up with something she could say that would get interpreted in a favorable way by her new rules. “Worship comes in many forms, and today that form is togetherness. So please, show Her Lady how you can bring this community together first-hand!” 

A last round of cheers, and the crowd began to disperse—all but a loyal sect clamoring for attention. Rianne did a mental fist pump as one stepped forwards, pointing down the row of vendors, towards the stage. Maybe this would be fun after all. 

~~~~~

Tessa the elven nurse dragged her friend, Anthony, through the crowd. Her vision was sharp, the colors bright. By the time she finally stopped, Anthony had gone from laughing and plucking at her grip to worried. He came to a halt and looked down at his shorter friend. 

“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked, the demonic costume creating a humorous contrast to the caring question. 

“Rianne,” Tessa hissed, pointing towards the dragon. What she’d thought was just an actor. 

“Yeah, we get a goddess every year,” Anthony replied. “Is there something wrong? Did she actually get hurt?” 

“No!” Tessa almost wanted to scream. “Dude. Look closer. She’s real.” 

Anthony cocked an eyebrow. “Did you get hurt?” 

“Anthony!” 

“Okay, okay, fine, I’ll look!” He turned away from his friend, who raked a hand through her hair. She felt like her skin was on fire. This was… it was good, actually. Her blood was electric. At first she’d thought it was a fever; now she recognized it for what it was. She was filled with belief.

She watched Anthony’s face. Saw the skepticism melt into shock. “Hooooly shit,” he breathed. 

“This is insane.” 

“I know,” Anthony said, reaching for his phone. “I have got to tell the guys.” 

~~~~~

Rianne had no way of knowing that as she was paraded through the festival grounds, word of her divinity was spreading through the fair, and it was spreading fast. The next hour went by in a blur. She blessed vendors, received offerings, gave a toast, she had officiated a real ass wedding. Her head swam. Her paws buzzed with power. Whatever Phil had been on about was nonsense; ‘writing the narrative’ felt intoxicating. What she really needed, though, was a break. 

Sadly, breaks were not an option, as just then she found herself being introduced to the festival organizer, who was vigorously shaking her paw and bowing their head in supplication. 

“Now, Rianne, could you watch over our most cherished tournament, the Fall Joust?” The organizer flashed a grin full of fake teeth to the crowd. Suck up, she scoffed. Rianne had plans, anyway. Definitely not. 

“Nothing could please me more!” she crooned. Great. Her goddess side had other plans. So it was that she found herself sat on an actual, real-life throne in the center of the covered wooden platform that lined the side of the jousting arena, the organizer on her left, a recently-crowned King Of The Festival on her right, who had earned the title by winning a costume party. It felt small; her horns scratched the ceiling of the room. Had she grown taller? Her scales felt itchy, even in the shade. Something felt… off. A paw brushed the side of her buxom chest, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from making noise. Every part of her body was acting up all at once, and she was not keen on sitting through multiple jousting matches. 

The viral spread of belief had, by this point, reached its tendrils throughout every part of the fair. It wasn’t quite dominant, not yet, but it was approaching a critical point—one strong enough that Rianne was able to detect it. There was a taste in the air that her godly form translated into the ambrosia of belief, and lots of it. 

An announcer droned on from a box somewhere at the end of the field. Conversations continued on either side of her. Rianne heard none of it. She folded her arms over her stomach and tried to keep from hurling as she rubbed against her own sensitive skin. 

“...for their contributions to the fair. And lastly, we have one last guest to thank.” A bit of the announcer’s tone crept through into Rianne’s ears. “The one to whom this festival is dedicated. Our… hm?” Feedback came through the mic as it was suddenly covered due to commotion in the announcer’s booth. When he spoke again, moments later, there was true reverence in his voice. “Our immortal goddess, Lady Rianne of the Harvest! Please, everyone, put your hands together for the first TRUE appearance of the Goddess herself!” 

Oh, God.

Rianne’s body could no longer take it. She fell forwards from her chair, stumbling out into the jousting arena on all fours as she quite literally doubled in size, body stretching to a full fifteen feet long. As waves of shock and understanding rippled through the largest crowd the festival had to offer, the belief in Rianne grew stronger and stronger, and she grew right alongside it. Paws rubbed along scales uncontrollably as she erupted like a glorious, godly volcano, dwarfing first the attendees, then her own previous size, then the arena itself. It was only once she tried to stand, head now poking at least twenty feet above the roof of the covered seating, that she had the presence of mind to yank her (miraculously growing) dress down and snap her legs together to try to keep from flashing the crowd, face turning a brilliant shade of maroon in the process. She managed to only knock over a couple of wooden fence supports as she wobbled out of the arena, one paw tucked between her legs, the other held tight over her chest. 

“B-blessed Harvest!” she cried out, trying to smile and failing to fully remove the flustered expression from her face. She needed out of there fast, and at this size, there was no one able to stop her. “Your grace is EXTREMELY well received! P-please calm your prayers, lest Her Lady expose… f-frighten you all with her godly form! And rest assured she will return, year after year, to ensure Her will be respected and celebrated!” As she spoke, some of the energy crackling across her form was sapped out, and she felt the words cement themselves into reality. She would be back. Rianne’s stomach dropped like a rock. This was going to happen again. Year after year, she’d be back here, transformed into a dragoness once again to celebrate the harvest. She snapped her jaw closed before she could damn herself any more.

The entire festival could see her, now, and they all erupted into raucous applause and cheers. Rianne choked out one final “Happy Harvest!” before turning tail and running, the glimpses of her rear through the slitted dress as purple as the cheeks up above, each softly embedded paw print in the landscape bigger than the last as she dashed off to find a couple buildings to hide herself behind. The only thing that the goddess could think of that embarrassed her more than accidentally flashing a festival of supplicants was that, deep down, she knew that she was excited for next year’s Harvest. 

[afictionaladventure16]

It's the End of the World as We Know It (Pedro Pascal x Latina!Reader)

Chapter 1

Pedro Pascal Masterlist

Word Count: 2k

A/N: I don't know why I do this, but I got the idea and I couldn't stop writing so... enjoy! I think I'm just gonna test this fic out, if it doesn't get much attention I might delete it.

Warnings: Mentions of unaliving someone...

For the longest time you thought if a zombie apocalypse would ever happen you wouldn’t make the mistakes those people did in movies and for the longest time, it was always a conversation starter. What would you do if a zombie apocalypse happened? Most people joked around about how they’re go steal the most ridiculous things from places or how they would begin to do the most heinous crimes. 

It wasn’t until a year ago when things began to take a turn for the worst that you realized that maybe it could just happen and all those things you ever said were impossible. 

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” the man said in a sing song voice. 

What you didn’t think about all those times you’ve asked that question or you were asked that question, was what would happen if a zombie apocalypse were to happen; what you also didn’t realize is that almost all men would revert to ways that felt stoneage. The moment the government fell through with protecting its citizen from a deadly fungus is when all hell broke loose. People began to realize that crimes were technically legal since there was no goverment or some sort of person in power for there to be consequences for those peoples actions. 

You hid behind a counter of a diner that was now in ruins, you knew this diner pretty well, having a couple of breakfasts here from before the fall. You couldn’t reminisce now, right now you had to think of survival. All you had was a small pocket knife, you silently cursed at yourself for being such a klutz and dropping your gun. 

Because there were no consequences, it meant that people began to lose their minds and slowly if they weren’t being attacked by the infected then they were being attacked by the living. This meant that your trust, went from zero to negative one hundred, giving that you had issues with trusting people before the apocalypse even began. Maybe that’s why you’ve been able to live so far. 

“Papi just wants to play,” he said as he snickered, walking around the diner, looking under the tables. “He just wants to play with a nice cute little Latina like you.” 

You rolled your eyes at the mans comment, “I am so gonna enjoy this,” you whispered to yourself as you slowly crept around the counter. You looked over the counter, spotting the man on the other side of the diner, his back facing you. You took in a deep breath before slowly making your way behind him, you were so close. You kept playing the motion you needed to do in your head, grab by the neck and stab, that’s it, it’ll be easy because he isn’t expecting it from behind. 

You took another step closer, you heard the glass underneath your foot crunch. You grimaced at the sound, the man quickly turned around, so much for a sneak attack. “There you are,” He said with a smirk. 

“Shit,” you muttered as he lunged forward, you were quick enough to dodge his lunge. You ran out of the diner. 

“You can’t run from me!” He said as he aimed his gun towards you, shooting a warning shot towards the ground near your feet before running after you. 

You ran as fast as you could down the ruined street, you quickly glanced behind you to see how far he was. When you turned around you saw the pothole in front of you, but before you could react you were falling. In a panic, you quickly got back up, but the man had caught up pulling you back onto the ground, “I told you, you couldn’t run from me!” He smirked. 

“Let me go!” You yelled as you began to wiggle out of his grip. 

“Oh no, no, no, I can’t let you go yet, the fun hasn’t even started!” He pinned your arms above your head, holding them there with one hand as his other began to trail it’s way down your side. 

You screamed as loudly as you could, hoping that someone out there could hear you. 

~~ 

Pedro never imagined himself in this type of situation. In a ‘It’s the end of the world’ type of situation. He had played Joel in the Last of Us, but never did he expect to be in the Last of Us, but in real life. “This really has to be some kind of sick joke,” he said to himself as he looked for supplies in an old CVS. “It’s the only explanation.” 

Pedro could remember the day it all happened very clearly, although he felt like it was all just a bad hit from an edible. He spent a good amount of the day locked in his cellar, hoping that it’ll be fine after a couple of days, but when it wasn’t he knew he’d had to leave eventually. He didn’t know if he’d live and part of him was prepared for that. 

Somehow he had made it a year, travelling around the Los Angeles area without being caught by raiders or any groups that were recruiting to restart civilization. Part of him like the solitude, the other part missed his friends. He didn’t know if society could come back from such a tragedy and he didn’t know if he could ever trust someone ever again. Especially since he saw some of his closest friends lose their minds to the craziness and he saw others die at the hands of people they thought they could trust. 

“Ah!” He exclaimed, “score!” he found a box of bandages he knew would come in handy. He tried to stuff as many as he could into his backpack along with some toilet paper he had found as well. Toilet paper was as good as gold to him. Once he had finished rummaging through the store, he headed out. It was near dark and he knew he had to find somewhere to sleep for the night. 

He began to look around for somewhere secluded to sleep, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard that gun shot ring out. For a second, he thought it was aimed towards him and when he didn’t hear a second shot, he began to looked around. Not spotting anyone, he shrugged it off and continued his search. 

It wasn’t until he heard screams that he knew something was up, he hesitated to follow the screams. What if it was a trap to lure him? But it could also be someone who needed help. He groaned to himself, “Why do I have to be so nice?” he argued with himself as he walked in the direction of the screams. 

“The fun hasn’t even started!” he heard some man exclaim. Pedro turned the corner, spotting a young girl on the girl with a man on top of her. If there was anything he hated in the world, it was men taking advantage of women. 

“Let me go, please,” you cried, as you kicked and screamed. 

Pedro raised his gun, aiming it at the man, the man opened his mouth to speak, but Pedro beat him to the punch, “You heard the girl, let her go.” 

The man quickly turned around, instantly raising his hands at the sight of the gun, “Hey, man. I was just having some fun, you know how it is.” 

“No, I don’t know how it is,” Pedro hissed. 

“Come on, man,” The guy gestured over to you. 

You looked over at Pedro, waiting for him to pull the trigger, but he just stood there. You scoffed, grabbing your knife that was on the ground and jamming it into the guys neck. “That’s for touching me without my consent, asshole,” you seethed, you watched as the mans eyes widen as he fell to the ground. 

“Now why did you do that?” Pedro asked. 

“Because it was obvious that you were going to let him go,” you said as you grabbed your knife from the now dead body. 

“You don’t know that.” 

“I think I do,” you wiped your knife along the man that was on the grounds, shirt. You then glanced up at the man that somewhat saved your life. 

Pedro sighed, “looks like you’ve got a bleeder,” he gestured towards your shoulder. 

You gently touched the cut that the man had done earlier, one you had completely forgotten about, “flesh wound,” you shrugged. 

“Here,” the man took his backpack off, you quickly took a step back as he pulled something out of one of the pockets. “I just scored these from the CVS around the corner,” he said as he held out some bandages. 

You looked at the bandages and then at him, “what’s the catch?” 

“No catch,” he said, still holding the bandages out. 

You were quick to grab them from him, “thanks.” You sat down on the ground, beginning to inspect the wound. 

“The name’s Pedro, by the way.” You knew who he was, it took you a minute, but you recognized that voice from movies and T.V. shows. You had been a fan, when there were such things as fans and actors and pop stars. 

“I know,” you said as you gave up attempting to clean your wound. You needed your backpack, the one that was somewhere around this area. 

“You do?” 

“Apocalypse only happened a year ago, I’m pretty sure not everyone has forgotten what T.V. was yet. Surely no one could forget the Chilean Pedro Pascal, especially after this fiasco and the fiasco you played on T.V.” you said, hinted towards the Last of Us, which aird right before the apocalypse. He hummed in response, you both stood in silence for a second and it took you that long to realize that he was waiting for your name. “Y/N.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N,” he said with a smile. You couldn’t help but give him a small smile back. “Do you need help with that?” 

“No, I got it,” you said as you began too look around, trying to figure out where exactly you were at and where exactly you lost your backpack. “I Just gotta find my pack,” you explained. “I, uh, lost it while running away from this guy,” you gestured to the dead man on the floor. “Along with my gun.” Pedro couldn’t help but stare at you in awe, you were beautiful, in a way that he could stare at all day and for once in what felt like a lifetime, he wanted to be near someone. 

“Need help?” Pedro asked. 

“I don’t trust strangers.” 

“Strangers don’t know each others names,” Pedro remarked. 

“I don’t trust acquantances.” 

“Acquantances don’t know someones life story,” he grinned. He didn’t know why he was trying so hard to get you to let him stick around, maybe it was because he missed people and seeing you try to fight someone off gave him the feeling that you could be someone to trust. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t socialized in almost over a year and he was becoming desperate? 

You rolled your eyes, “I don’t trust people.” 

“Neither do I, Y/n, so, why don’t we not trust people together just enough for you to get that wound cleaned?” You sighed in defeat, this man really wasn’t gonna let it go. 

“Fine, you help me find my pack and my gun, get this cleaned and that’s it,” you stated, “and only because I can’t defend myself all too well, at the moment, especially not with this,” you held up your small pocket knife. 

“Was that so hard?” 

“A bit, yeah,” you began to walk down the way you came from. 

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” Pedro muttered to himself.

“We’re not friends,” You retorted as you looked back over at him. “Especially if you’re gonna quote Casablanca.” 

“What do you have against Casablanca?” You rolled your eyes again, but what you didn’t know was the irony behind everything that had just happened and maybe if you had known, you would’ve laughed it off. You weren’t there yet, you were still on edge about trusting a man who had just saved you. He had just saved you, shouldn’t that be enough to trust him? One would think so if society was the way it was before but not everything is the same. It’s the end of the world as we know it and you were just trying to survive. 

Pedro Pascal Taglist: @Sophieelizabeth01  @tracysnook @cilliansangel  @change-the-world-someday  @graciegoeskrazy @oggystine93 @t-stark35 @twkobii

To be added to a taglist CLICK HERE. If you want to be added to this fics taglist, let me know!

[bluetomorrows]

I want longer games with beautiful graphics and how dare you suggest that I'm kidding

So that whole "I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and I'm not kidding" thing is making the rounds on Twitter again and since I don't like to give genuine opinions on that site I'm gonna talk about it here.

In short, I disagree with the sentiment. I DO want game developers to have higher pay, reasonable hours, and deadlines that aren't cruel. I want an end to the crunch that infests AAA development. But a lot of people who post things like that don't understand what it means for a game to be short or have bad graphics. Frankly, this isn't even as much me refuting this statement as it is a chance to rant about those topics.

Game length is a funny thing. When video games first transitioned to the home, the experience was essentially the same as the arcades that were so popular at the time. Atari games were mostly short score-based rounds or head-to-head multiplayer. Even games like H.E.R.O. and Adventure which deviated from that structure to do a version of the more traditional single-player progression we're used to still didn't last very long. It was a mix of both the limitations of the primitive technology and what players had come to expect from the arcades. When the NES came along expectations changed. People didn't want just arcade games, at least not the kind from the 70s. At launch Super Mario Bros. was the clear stand-out game, far surpassing its arcade-like counterparts in critical and commercial success. They wanted bigger and better experiences. So now games have to last, they have to have that progression that's standard now. This evolution was much more smooth and slow outside of North America where there was no video game crash. However, North America's explosion in video game renting also helped push forward this mindset. If you can just beat a game in the rental period before you have to return it to Blockbuster, then you're never gonna purchase it and give the game publishers the returns they really want. So how do you make a game last on still primitive hardware? NES developers came across two main options: bullshit difficulty, and replay value. The former was easier to implement. If the game was insanely hard, then naturally it would take you more time to finish it. The latter required actually talented game developers. A game should be fun to play, and ideally more fun every time. The basic idea is as you get better at the game you'll be able to have a more satisfying experience playing the levels.

Let's take the NES Castlevania trilogy as an example of these schools of level design. Castlevania 1 is a brutal game, but that's really only your first time. When you replay it you now have a grasp on your own controls, but also the patterns of the enemy. You know how to use the sub-weapons effectively and when to spend hearts on them. The visceral gameplay flow here will make you feel incredibly badass but only when you've mastered it, the first time around you'll be weak and scared. The controls are very precise and one wrong move can cost you a lot, but you'll learn the best strategies to deal with it. Castlevania 2 employs the BS difficulty on yourfirst run. The solutions to the puzzles are obtuse and NPCs will give you strange and sometimes misleading advice. You need a player's guide to get through it. But there's the ending stinger. Gaming's first alternate ending. Depending on how fast you beat the game you'll get 3 different endings. Only by mastering the game can you achieve the best ending and see Simon survive the game, therefore encouraging you to replay it to achieve the true ending you want. Castlevania 3 combines the great replayability aspects of both games. It keeps the visceral skill-based gameplay of the original while taking the idea of different content in different playthroughs from Simon's Quest. There are now multiple paths to take to Dracula's castle, and the option to recruit three other characters to your group, although only one can travel with you at any time. 2 primary routes plus 3 possible character combinations mean 6 pretty unique experiences of the game, on top of the inherent skill progression the player experiences through gameplay.

The multiple pathways of Castlevania III's map

So how long is Castlevania 3? Like 3 hours? Not really. Because you're not expected to put it down after that first playthrough. It'd be ridiculous considering how much cartridges cost. Is Castlevania 3 a short game? Yes, but really no. It's a thing I see people very often struggle to understand. Classic Sonic games for example were designed specifically around replayability, the speed-based gameplay being inspired by Yuji Naka seeing through 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. tons of times and seeing how fast he was doing it. Doing the same thing faster is a very easy way for the player to feel they're improving. So many people play these games once and dismiss them when they're not really getting the full experience. If you watch a newbie play Sonic and an experienced player play the same stages it's practically a completely different game.

However when Sonic was coming out a new type of game was starting to appear on the market. Games that didn't need to figure out ways to make themselves last longer than they could, but instead could just last.

Due to the technical limitations of the NES and its contemporaries, the first games to really challenge the ideas of length at the time were RPGs. The main gameplay was turned-based combat, something not very intensive for the system so more resources could be given to the world maps and story. The drawbacks to RPGs in this era are that many still padded gameplay with ridiculously tough enemies and high encounter rates, and the ones that really pushed things forward with grand worlds and stories often never left Japan due to the higher-than-usual cost to localize them for other markets. Still, the effects were felt. These games didn't need to be replayed to make you feel like you'd gotten a full experience. They were able to last, while still holding on to some of the replay philosophy these developers learned during the previous generation.

The massive map of Mother/Earthbound Beginnings for the Famicom/NES. The game drew praise for the fact that every NPC had unique dialogue.

This genre would really come into its own in the next generation of systems as developers across the board were given more freedom in game length due to the improved hardware. Games outside of RPGs could still take inspiration from their world design and how simple action gameplay could only be one part of the design and mechanics of a game. With the advent of the PlayStation 1 and SEGA Saturn and the insanely higher amount of space afforded by CDs, developers were no longer limited by technology and could design their games to be as long as they really wanted.

Also the N64 was there.

This laid the groundwork for the "long" games we're seeing now, something far too complex for me to really analyze. The point is game length was now something a developer had to choose, not something chosen for them. Sometimes they even give the player the choice, allowing them to beat the "main game" or do side content for 100% completion. I'd say nowadays it's strange if a game releases without any side content for you to do. Replayability was becoming less and less important to developers. The only real push back against this came with the adcent of games specifically calling back to the NES and SNES era, specifically by indie devs, a movement that has one grown in popularity as we've entered the 20s.

So here's what I'm getting at: what is game length now? What does it mean for a game to be long? How many short games are truly short? How many truly short games are good?

Well to answer that question I made a spreadsheet. I compiled a list of 50 of my favourite games and the information on them on howlongtobeat.com. I've used this site before and generally, it's accurate, the player base isn't too skilled or too bad at games. In the cases where two versions of a game were listed, I chose the one I played, unless both versions only had very minor differences, in which case I chose the one that had a larger data set. For each game I noted how long it took to beat the base game, the base game plus some of the optional content, and how long it took to get 100%, as well as what option of the three I would recommend to others. I also listed the style of replayability of each game. Whether it was based on skill improvement, alternate paths, or had little replay value. Mind you just because a game was listed as having little replay value doesn't mean you can't replay it and have fun, if the game is good then the game is good, but it just means it wasn't really designed for that.

I tried to have a varied set of games to measure, first-person and third-person, and on-rail shooters, rhythm games, RPGs, action games, and puzzle games are all included, but there may be a bias towards platformers as it's what I've played the most of.

The results were rather interesting. Keep in mind that the games chosen are all ones I consider to be quite good, so this is supposed to represent what the average good game does. I found that the average base game lasts about 9 hours, extended to 14 hours with extras, and 25 hours if you go for 100%. I recommended completing the main game + extras about 50% of the time, with the other two paths each taking up about a quarter. Overall the average time I recommended spending with each playthrough was 15 hours. The longest recommended playthrough went to Super Mario Odyssey with 62 hours as I recommended going for 100%. The shortest time was surprisingly another Mario game, that being Super Mario Land at only one hour. But I think that's actually a perfect encapsulation of what this was trying to prove, as Odyssey has little replay value, while Super Mario Land has the skill curve via repeat playthroughs that I talked about earlier. More games weren't really built for replay value than I expected, in fact I expect the number is a bit inflated as I play more retro and arcade games than the average person. But the market has shifted, content outside of the main campaign is now the lasting appeal. But the question I ask is, should it be? Now there are some games on my list like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and Yakuza Kiwami where I feel as though if you're not going after all the side content you're kind of missing the point of the game design, however there are other games like Doom (2016); a game that has more post-game content than the base game, yet all that content is completely pointless. Sure you unlock some cute figures and a couple extra skills, but searching around for obtuse secrets just feels like the antithesis of the design of that game, which should be fast paced reaction based action. The addition of it here has always confounded me. My best guess is they were trying to replicate aspects of the original Doom, where exploration was a much bigger part of the game, but here it doesn't work. I WOULD like to play more of Doom (2016) so I can get better at the main game, not so I can find all the doodads, and a game like it should find ways to encourage replay.

I make a special note in the file of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland and how it encourages replayability. Beating the game 100% unlocks "Extra Mode" a version of the game that is nearly identical with the one difference being that Kirby has half the health. I do dislike this approach in other games I love; Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze both got "Main + Extras" scores instead of "100%" scores because they pull this at the end of the game, but I don't mind it so much here. Kirby is supposed to be a breezy relaxing game, where taking damage shouldn't be that much of an issue, but this flips that on its head and legitimately changes the way the player approaches the game. But Extra Mode isn't the real thing I want to highlight, what really elevates the replayability of Nightmare in Dreamland is what you unlock after beating all of Extra Mode: Meta Knightmare. Meta Knightmare swaps out Kirby for Meta Knight, and even though he doesn't play dramatically differently from Kirby with the sword ability, he nevertheless again encourages the player to approach the same stages differently. This more serious character should cut down enemies like butter and speed through stages without breaking a sweat, and that speed aspect is even more encouraged by Meta Knightmare removing the ability to save and prominently displaying how quickly you completed the game. Things as simple as a change in aesthetic and scoring change how the game is played and give the player more unique experiences out of a game that's "only two hours long". Mind you this doesn't involve creating tons of side content and extras, it's small changes that have a massive psychological change in how the game is played.

If you want to check out the list yourself I've linked it here. Special cases where games extend playtime through other means are noted where necessary, although they aren't common.

I think the vast differences between games on this list really highlight a point I think I already knew: Games should be as long as they need to be. Typically video games are made to be played for fun, and making long games or very replayable games typically suits that goal, but ultimately gaming is an art form. War & Peace would be a worse story if it was very short, just as The Great Gatsby would be worse if it dragged itself out for another 300 pages. The idea that games SHOULD be shorter isn't something that supports game developers or players, it's something that speaks down to the idea of games as an art form.

So yeah, I don't want shorter games. I don't care if it takes me forever or if it's over in an instant. I just want the games to be good. If I want some specific length then that's my problem, not the developer's.

I think I've made my point about game length being fluid, but that's only half the statement, what about graphics?

Since the dawn of time (1992), man has sought the best and most realistic video game graphics. In olden times, neanderthals were amazed by the 3D worlds of Wolfenstein 3D and Virtua Racer, "games will never be more realistic than this" they said. Now we know that they were stupid fucking cavemen who didn't know how butt ugly their games are, they don't even look like real life. Not like Tekken, now THAT'S some real graphics.

This happened to my buddy Eric

Of course, then we realized that Tekken was also dog water graphics when the PS2 came out. And now it's 2023 and all the PS2 games look fake and gay and actually, I think Wolfenstein and Virtua Racing look pretty alright. This is a point I specifically want to address because when I see people parrot this opinion when they say they want "games with bad graphics" the examples they point to for games to aim for are titles like Hades or other more stylistic, non-realistic games, typically by indies.

This is very frustrating because those games have great graphics.

Why the hell should good graphics mean realistic graphics? Just like with pacing game graphics should be whatever the hell they need to be.

Here are some games that have good graphics in them I think

It's not about the horsepower or however gigaflops per tera butt it can render, it's just about good art direction. Good art direction can be realistic, completely stylized, or somewhere in between! To say a game like Hades has bad graphics is... how do I put this?

Basically, fuck you.

When going for realism the most common obstacle is not entering the uncanny valley, and when going for a more stylized approach the the most common obstacle is making sure everything is still clear to the player at all times.

And no, I don't want games to look bad. And that goes for both

Stylized

and realistic

Just let games be games man. If you truly believe that they're a unique art form capable of creating meaningful experiences, then let them do what they want. You can say developers should be treated better and you're right if you do, but that doesn't mean they have to make more boring art.

[alolanrain]

🅱️lease more of the A/B/O headcanons, I am BEGGING you

and you shall receive, though I'm still on my old people shtick. I also focused a lot on the fangs this time around. slightly nsfw so I'm putting it under a read more.

Lt. Surge- oh fuck me, am I right?

\ is actually a Beta but EVERYONE assumes he's an Alpha. he's got the trade mark anger and cockiness of one but in reality he's just a veteran happy to whoop some kids ass's and get paid for it.

\ very big dad energy to his Gym Trainers and will get all growly if their hurt or sick. though they don't get sick as often as they get hurt by the electric types around the gym.

\ his instinct are stronger then the normal person's so he's totally bit a Pokémon back when he was younger and now his mouth is filled with electrical burns/wounds. if he sticks his tongue out it looks like an Ariados web of raised wounds. he's not a fan of crunching down on hard things and it sucks because he was an ice muncher, still is in his heart but now he has to actually suck on the cubs - it helps keeps his patience in check sometimes because his mouth would be full and he can't speak.

Koga - I hate you yet I also adore you, in a way

\ an Omega but acts like an Alpha but a lot of the older league members know because of the Slick Incident of 94.

\ prefers to be chased by possible bed partners instead of being the chaser, but there's a few people he'd chase for if given the chance.

\ really REALLY tiny fangs, even for an Omega and got made fun of it during childhood and early adult hood. so now he has these teeth cap things that make it seem his canines are longer.

Clair - hello, hello

\ Alpha but acts more like a Beta and even submissive like an Omega behind close doors. it's almost natural for her since she grew up in Lance's shadow and was expected to present as a Beta at most.

\ she prefers more dominate Omega's as bed partners and would sometimes actively seek out Omega's that were taller then her. gender doesn't matter to her as long as the partner is just more dominant. in the end those people actually become her friends a lot of times afterwards and it's nice.

\ very long and skinny fangs and her parents kept taking her to the doctor in the Blackthorne City to figure out what the hell is wrong with her. nothing way, the teeth just naturally grew like that.

Lance - ya old ginger fuck

\ Omega and hates it. became both Johto and Kanto's champion just to prove his parents wrong after calling him worthless.

\ chunky semi short fangs and he teethed a lot while growing up and still continues to teeth to this day. the E4 of both regions have gotten him plenty of those chewing stims as little gifts during the holidays or when he's super stressful near the ending of the League's seasons. his favorite are the crystal shape ones that are a bit more tougher then the usual squishy rubber.

\ likes to fight his bed partners and be pressed into the bed, genuinely doesn't want the control in the end and it feels nice to him when it's stripped away. this means he's very particular about his partners and also wants someone bigger then him, though if their really strong then body size doesn't matter.

Brawly - lemme see those gains-PFT

\ above average Alpha for the Hoenn region, it helps that he's training almost every day and is on top of what his body needs food wise and focusing on what's missing like calcium or other vitamins.

\ very spry and energetic and acts like a puppy, this leads to Wallace and Steven in keeping an eye on him during league parties and gala's Brawly attends because he can get worked up really fast.

\ unlike most Hoenn Alpha's that seek their pleasure, Brawly almost exclusively gives. he doesn't mind receiving but prefers his partners to be the canter of the attention for most of the night.

[tooti-fruiti]

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES [CHAPTER NINE]

Tacos and honey

You stared at the tacos as Sans reached for one and ate it without chewing.

Which is funny because he said he likes "a little crunch" in his tacos.

You expected the taco to fall out of his shirt but it never did.

Must be some sort of magic.

"WELL, DIG IN (Y/N)!"

"hey sans, i think the human might need some milk for the taco. humans have sensitive tongues and usually drink milk after eating something spicy."

"OHH, I SEE!" Sans turned around to opened the fridge.

This gave Papyrus enough time to throw one of the tacos away.

Then he quickly gave you an empty taco shell.

"eat this, quickly." He said.

You quickly ate the shell as sans turned around, catching on to what Papyrus was doing.

Sans turned around and looked at you, shocked to see you had finished your taco already.

"WOWIE! I'VE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE FINISH A TACO SO FAST! YOU MUST HAVE REALLY LOVED IT!"

You started fanning at your mouth, pretending that it was on fire.

"Yeah but next time, no rocks and grass please!" You said as you grabbed the milk and started chugging.

"OH? WHY?"

"I'm...uh...allergic to grass and can't eat it. And rocks hurt my teeth." You said after finishing the milk.

"OHH! I SEE!" Sans said as Papyrus also ate his taco without chewing. "IS YOUR MOUTH NO LONGER BURNING?"

"Yeah, it stopped. Thanks."

"OF COURSE HUMAN! YOU'RE MY FRIEND!"

Papyrus coughed, grabbing Sans' attention.

"now...about my payment." He said.

Sans let out a groan. "YOU KNOW I HATE IT THERE BROTHER! GO BY YOURSELF!"

"how mean." He teased.

"I'll go." You offered.

"uhh i'm not sure that-"

"GOOD IDEA (Y/N)! I CAN STAY HOME, CLEAN UP AND NOT HAVE TO GO TO MUFFET'S DISGUSTINGLY SWEET BAKERY, WHILE PAPYRUS STILL HAS COMPANY!"

"disgustingly sweet?" Papyrus asked. "you mean delicious?"

Sans rolled his eyes, smiling "JUST GET YOUR HONEY BOTTLE!"

Papyrus shrugged and led you outside.

After he closed the door behind you, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"i don't think you wanna come with me, toots." He said.

"Why not?"

"are you afraid of spiders?" He asked.

"If it crawls up on me, then yeah."

"Well. Muffet owns a spider bakery. And...she is a spider."

"As long as nothing crawls up my arms or legs, I'll be fine." You say.

Papyrus shrugs and put the cigarette between his teeth and starts walking.

"i asked because my friend, undyne, showed me a human animation and all of the humans were scared of spiders and i didn't want you to get scared shitless."

"Yeah I get it." You said. "Thanks for helping me avoid Sans's teeth shattering tacos, by the way."

Papyrus chuckled. "you're welcome. i mean, i had to do something cause i knew you weren't gonna eat it and i didn't want sans to get upset."

"Yeah I know what you mean, I wouldn't want to see Sans upset either."

You two walked into up to a purple building with the sign "Muffet's" above it and walked inside.

You expected the place to be filthy and covered with dust and cobwebs.

But it was actually quite neat and tidy inside.

It was a beautiful purple and you saw a cute spider girl with pigtails.

You expected that she would look terrifying but she wasn't.

Papyrus sat down at a booth and gave the table a pat.

You sat across him as he turned and he waved the spider girl over.

When she saw him, she groaned and rolled over because she was wearing roller skates.

"Papyrus!" She said. "When are you going to-"

She stopped talking when she saw you.

You stared at her, uncomfortable that she was staring at you.

"Um...hi?"

"Papyrus. Why would you bring a greedy, filthy, human into my bakery."

Papyrus saw the offended look on your face and spoke up before you could say anything.

"she's not greedy, muffet. she's just here to keep me company while i get more of your delicious honey."

Muffet groaned. "You know I only give you honey if you pay for it, or if you make me laugh."

Papyrus leaned against the table. "alright, what do you call an undercover tarantula?"

"...what?"

"A spy-der."

Muffet tried not to laugh but she couldn't help it.

"Okay fine! I'll go get the honey bottle!" She said, laughing as she rolled away.

Papyrus chuckled. "works every time."

Muffet soon came back with a bottle of honey and a juice box.

She tossed the bottle at Papyrus and offered you the juice.

"I apologize for insulting you earlier, dearie. We spiders are just very...wary of humans. Many of my friends and family have been stomped on by humans. You understand, don't you?"

You took the juice box and looked up at her. "No, I don't understand. But I appreciate the apology anyway."

"Wonderful!" She clapping all of her hands together. "I would offer you something much greater than a juice box, but that is the only human friendly beverage that we have."

"It's alright." You said as you stood up.

Papyrus happily took a swig from the honey bottle and sighed. "that's some good shit muffet."

Muffet rolled her eyes. "Thank you for coming." She grumbled before returning to her other customers.

Papyrus chuckled and walked out of her bakery with you.

[Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more and have a good day]

<-Chapter Eight

Chapter Ten->

[tarn-ati0n]

Elite Four Bruno, Live commentary!

- I know that Bruno is supposed to be the fighting type elite four member, but I also know that he starts his battle with an onix. So, instead of putting Pidgeot in front Ive decided to start with Sylt and deal with his onix by using surf. THEN I can switch into Pidgeot and take on the rest of his team. Let's see how this goes.

- WHY DIDN'T HE START WITH ONIX??? AND SINCE WHEN IS HITMONTOP A GEN 2 POKEMON??? MY MEMORY IS BETRAYING ME!!!

Ok, keep calm. Sylt needs to get out of there as fast as possible, I don't believe she can take more than 2 hits. Do I immediately switch into Pidgeot? Or do I send in Ashley? Chocolate and Tectra could also work...

Ok, so I'm absolutely not sending in Atlas. She has to take a break this battle. It's probably going to hit me with a fighting type attack, and since Pidgeot is also flying type it isn't not very effective. Both Chocolate and Ashley could take a hit.

Ok. I'm switching into chocolate to lower it's Attack, then use Acid and hope it does an ok amount of damage. If not, I'm switching into Ashley.

- Hah! It went for counter, but since I switched Chocolate in it didn't do anything, perfect! If Acid does enough Chocolate can take care of it.

- I went for Acid, it didn't do much but now it's special defense is lowered. The Hitmontop went for Counter, but it didn't work for some reason. Not that I'm complaining. I just have to keep using Acid, Crunch isn't very effective.

- Acid hit, but now it went for Dig. Which is perfect, because now I have the opportunity to send in Pidgeot

- Hitmontops Dig missed, and his quick attack afterwards did next to nothing. Pidgeot got another Krit with Aerial Ace and he sent in Hitmonchan next. I think it has thunder punch, but tbh my memory was wrong many times now. Either way, I'm not risking anything. I'll use Fly for now. If it know Thunderpunch it's a U-turn into Ashley.

- ok, so turns out he doesn't only know Thunder punch, but also Ice punch.

His first Attack, Ice Punch, missed because Pidgeot was faster and already in the Air. But Fly didn't kill it, so She had to take a critical thunderpunch in the next round which killed her.

Hitmonchan is in the red Area now, so I'm assuming Bruno will use a potion next round.

I definitely need Pidgeot back, so I'm switching into Ashley, revive Pidgeot when Bruno heals Hitmonchan, and then see what happens.

- just like I expected, Bruno healed his pokemon, so I could revive Pidgeot. Now it's up to Ashley to defeat Hitmonchan, then I have to wait for an opportunity to send in Pidgeot back out again. Lava Plume!

- ok, Ashley's lava plume didn't even do half, but his thunder punch did even less. I actually think I'm gonna risk it and use Fire Blast now, hoping that it hits and possibly burns him.

- She missed. Fuck. Ok, Ashley can take one more thunder punch. I'm just gonna try again and hope for the best.

- missed again. Ok, forget operation Fire Blast, I have to heal Ashley and go back to just using Lava Plume.

- skipping ahead two rounds here, Ashley defeated the Hitmonchan, but NOW Bruno sends out his Onix (not a fighting type). I want to switch into Sylt now, but I'm also scared that it's gonna use a rock type move... ah fuck it, no risk no fun. You can do it Sylt.

- ok, so the Onix went for Earthquake, which Sylt would normally tank no problem, but unfortunately it was a crit. I HOPE Sylt is faster than onix, if not, were fucked. Surf!

- YEEEEEES, Sylt is faster and one shotted his onix. Bruno send in Hitmonlee, so it's time for Sylt to get the fuck out of there.

I would switch into Ashley now, but she already took some hits, so Chocolate gets another spotlight.

- Damn, immediately after switching in Chocolate gets hit with a critical high-jump kick, that leaves her with only 5 hp. I have to switch out now.

I can send in Pidgeot, hope that she survives, heal her, and then Aerial Ace the shit out of that Hitmonlee.

- perfect, it went for Blaze kick, but since it's Attack was still lowered thanks to Chocolates Intimidate Pidgeot survived no problem. I'm still playing it safe though and heal her before I try to attack

- it's high jump kick immediately cut down Pidgeots hp in half after healing her, so I just have to hope that it uses this move again in the next round. Then I can use Fly, the move misses, and it takes damage. Then, when Fly hits, it should kill no problem.

- perfect, exactly as planned. He's down to his last pokemon, machamp, but that's nothing Pidgeot can't handle. Fly!

- damn Pidgeot couldn't handle that. It knows rock slide, a move that still hits you even when you are in the air. She didn't stand a chance.

That means I also can't send in Ashley, Chocolate is still on only 5 hp and Sylt can't switch in either because Ice type.

My only two team members who still have full hp are Atlas and Tectra. Atlas is 4x weak to fighting, and that thing is level 46, so I don't think she can take that on.

No, wait I know what I'm gonna do. It's pretty risky, but it often worked in the past, I refer to it as the "Sandstorm Lesbians"

The way it usually worked is, I send in Atlas. She used Sandstorm. Next round I send in Tectra. She has an ability that makes her harder to hit during Sandstorms. Always Worked like a charm.

As for the lesbian part... I don't know, they just always worked well together in double battles so I kinda internalized tha-

Whatever, that's not important.

Before, this took a few turns to set up properly, because I had to use the move Sandstorm.

But thanks to Atlas's new ability, she summons a Sandstorm immediately after coming into battle.

So, new plan:

Send in Ashley, get the Sandstorm going then switch into Tectra and take advantage of her ability. What could go wrong.

- ok, the Machamp used Cross Chop, which hurt Tectra a little bit too much. She can't survive another hit, so I'm hoping that she's quicker, quick claw Activates or machamp misses. I need her to get a move off. I'm going for Dig.

- ok, so we were faster, but Dig did a pitiful amount of damage. The Sandstorm is still active, so you know what? I'm sending Atlas back out there. Get Revenge for Tectra!

- weeeeeel, Atlas was faster than Machamp, but he literally survived with only like... 3 hp left. And since he's also holding an oran berry, not even the Sandstorm was enough to kill. It lets hope Ashley is quicker and can hit it with Lava Plume.

- yes! Bruno used a Full Restore, but Ashley's Lava Plume burned his Machamp! His attacks are significantly weakened now! One more Lava Plume and he's defeated!

- finally, the Lava Plume + Sandstorm + Burn damage won us the fight. One E4 member left.

[meganuzlockediary]

Pokemon Black - Crushing Clay

14th July

So Clay was actually easier than expected. Before I faced him he was terrifying so I chose to do some catching. After beating the surprisingly tough Herdier Duo (almost lost Pignite) and lowering Driftveil bridge I head into the city. There are loads of encounters here but not many are useful. For now I ignore Ducklett, I don't think he is the answer and is a good back up to catch for later.

I head to the Cold Storage none of the pokemon here are ideal so here is where I get what I thought would be a Pokemon I would be catching only open later encounters. I was wrong. I catch an Audino who I name Lucy!

She has a great ability, for what she is and actually saves me against Clay later.

I also trade my minnccino for a Basculin in Driftveil city. As much as I would love to use basculegion in legends arceus the way to get him is just dumb and hard so I'm fine using him here.

Finally I catch a Karrablast on route 6. Not a great encounter but I do have easier evolutions on so if I get a shelmet at anypoint it will mean a strong steel/bug type on the team which might do some damage against some of the elite 4.

With all of these in my party I race through cold storage training Basculin and Audino up before challenging Clay.

Ok Clay has some Insane threats and against my original 4 encounters he is pretty tough. Hence the back up even if they are sackable. I start with Simisage vs Krokorok, A leech seed for recovery gets set off and I get one seed bomb heal locking him for a bit until I can wear him out. Unfortunately he takes quite a bit of damage and Crunch lowers defences. I switch into Basculin for excadrill, in this case honeclaws is scary but at least it isnt swords dance. Unfortunately Basculin does Literally nothing and goes down to two hits dealing next to no damage.

I bring in Audino and discover just how insane she is. Shee currently has secret power and Attract. In building secret power Paralyses the opponant! It works first time! I am not certain if it was a 100% chance but I'm glad it was. I pull an attract next as she takes minimal damage before wrecking shop with Dig! She does a pretty decent damage with each! With Excadrill paralocked and unable to do any real damage I wipe him out pretty succinctly! Last is palpitoad! I use the same strategy and it works! Imagine this now with leftovers and leech seed recovery! I am thrilled and Lucy has earned a new respect I never thought I'd give to a Audino. We will see if it lasts!

I'm not too sad about Basculin but I am another badge down and crawling my way through this game as fast as I can.

Badges Won: 69 (nice)

Pokemon Lost: 33 (RIP Basculin)

Pokemon Used: 153

[vannybarber]

Eyes Forward

Summary: Let's face it, long haired Chris is irresistible. So you take your chances.

Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: SMUT, oral (f to m), handjob, rimming (f to m), LONG HAIRED CHRIS, fluff 🥺 this gif can absorb me 🥵.

Watching the two beautiful brown skinned goddesses grind and makeout on the screen, you couldn't help the puddle forming in your panties. This wasn't the first time you and your buddy Christopher have watched explict films together. In fact, it was one of you guys' favorites genres.

You and Chris had found a show called 'The Wire', which has a 9.3 rating on IMDB. A rating that high on such a stingy app had to be good. A sex scene between the two women had arrived, which threw you both off because of how unfiltered it was. But you weren't complaining. Neither was Chris.

He was fixated on the TV, watching the view before him, a boner visibly formed through his grey sweats. Trying to adjust himself, he fails as he gets distracted again by the close up of them.

Getting a sudden burst of bravery, you maneuver your left hand onto his bulge and rub it in a slow motion. He whips his head at you, puzzled, but somehow absentmindedly grinding himself onto your hand.

You put your index finger to your mouth and point back to the screen with a small smirk. He follows your silent orders without protest. It's not like he could form words at the moment anyway.

The scene gets more intense as the woman straddling Sonja, the actress, breasts show on the screen and she takes them both in her mouth. Chris sucks in a breath, which is quickly covered with a cough as you add pressure to his covered length. You let a giggle escape from your pressed lips.

You turn your body so your front is fully facing his right side and switch hands, laying your right one back on his pants and your left around his neck.

"Y/N..", he says through gritted teeth.

"Shh and keep your eyes foward." You nibble on his ear and squeeze him to affirm your instructions. Moving your lips down to his neck, planting long but soft kisses, he groans, thrusting himself up in your grip. Getting at his hints, you push your hand inside his pants and slowly smooth a soft but firm way down his shaft. It almost shocked you how long it took your fingertips to reach the head.

You look up at Chris and his eyes are slowly closing so you squeeze him in your hand. He shoots his eyes open and looks at you.

"Do not close your eyes. Keep them open and watch the TV" you command in a rather stern voice. "Don't they look amazing?" He nods his head in agreement.

"The one with the short hair has beautiful tits." You smile because he's absolutely right.

"Yes, she does. Look at the way she's sucking them." As you comment on the scene, you rub your hand up and down his cock as much as possible, but grow frustrated with the restriction of his clothes. "Take your pants off."

He moves to shove his jeans down and kicks his feet out the holes. Getting a better view, he is well endowed. You take both hands and stroke him. He can't help but watch, but the scene is over so you don't scold him.

"You like that baby?" You coax him, moving a little faster. You both make eye contact and he breathlessly lets out a 'yes'. You bit your lip and smile. Catching him off guard, you dip your head down and take him in your mouth.

He maneuvers his right hand onto your ass, giving it a squeeze. You moan around him, making him groan and thrust up into your mouth. Suddenly you pull back. He quickly gets worried.

"What's wrong?" You cup his cheek.

"Oh nothing. As much as I love you feeling on my ass, I want you to see me sucking your cock."

With that, you slide off the couch and on your knees in between his legs. He sighs, appeased and adjusting himself so he could get the perfect view.

"Hope you weren't worried there." You joke, smiling and winking at him. He grins, shaking his head. He's still rock solid and throbbing when you grab his cock again and sliding your mouth back on it.

After bobbing your head up and down for some time, you take him out and push his legs further out to drag your tounge from the very bottom, swirling around his tight hole. You let out a hot breath over it, resulting in him letting out a small whimper while you pump him faster.

You move back up, tongue still on him and lick up his wide shaft and take him back in your mouth, finishing him off. A few more seconds and you feel him twitch.

"Fuck, I'm 'bout to cum" he groans out. Warm shots of his seed score in your throat and slide down your tongue. Satisfied, you suck up and off him, making sure you collect every drop. You open your mouth, and show him the mess he made in you. He nods with approval.

"Swallow."

You gulp down all the sweet content and smile at him. Getting off your knees, you strip from your clothes, pussy aching from the need to have him inside you. He watches as you remove everything, all your forbidden parts coming into view.

"Like whatcha see, Evans?" You smirk at him.

"Yeah, but I'd like it better if it was inside it." He doesn't have to say any more. You climb on his lap and pull his shirt over his head, ginger locks falling back into place.

"Ya know, I'm really loving this look. You should keep your hair like this." You comb your fingers through his silky hair, mesmerized with it.

"If it makes you do shit like this, I'm just might." He traces his fingers on your thighs and moves them up your hips and on your back, pushing you towards him. Your lips plant on his, moving in perfect motion, not missing one beat.

Mouths staying connected, you grab his cock and meet it with your entrance and sink down slowly to feel it stretch every wall. You suck in a breath and moan, fully seated on him. After getting comfortable, you pull away and start moving on him. Looking in his eyes, you search for his breaking point. The move that's gonna do it for him.

"You like that baby? You like when I bounce on your cock?" His eyes shift almost at your verbal attack. He slaps your ass in response but also a warning. You just grin. It's working.

"Gotdamn Y/N, you're so fucking tight." His face crunches up, head thrown to the cushion of the couch. You squeeze him as a thanks. Workouts pay off.

"A tight, wet pussy and a big ole cock, what'd you expect?" You kind of laugh as you move faster on him. You could feel him touching every spot inside you, that sharp ping of pleasure hitting you everytime you slide back up.

"Fuck, daddy you're gonna make me cum," you whine out, not being able to handle the feeling, like you asserted before. You flatten your palms on his shoulders and try to bounce as fast as you can, but the ecstasy is weakening your ability. Chris takes notice and quickly solves the issue.

Pushing you towards him, he adjusts your knees up a little closer to his hips and grips your ass and starts fucking into you. You wrap your arms around his broad shoulders and drop your head down beside his.

"Mmm Chris that feels so," you let out a whimper when he hits your spot 2 thrusts in a row, "so good."

"Mhm you thought you were the one in control, didn't you sweetheart?" The sound of your ass hitting his thighs accelerates your want to cum. You need it so bad.

"Shoving your hand down my pants, tryna seduce me, but who's the one getting her pretty little hole fucked??" At every word, a thrust gets harder and your mind goes even more blank.

You can't even form words, only adorable tiny noises and moans leaving your vocal box. He grips your waist roughly, not satisfied with your answer.

"You better fucking answer me or I'll stop right now and make you suck me off again and this sweet little pussy won't get to cum." He slaps your sore pussy and you inhale a single, but deadly breath.

"I am! I'm getting my little h-hole fucked," you scream. It was humiliating, but that's what made it more arousing. You tried to be in control, but failing effortlessly once he was deep inside you.

"Good baby. Daddy's fucking this hole way better than anyone else could, so it's only fair that it belong to me now, right?" He looks up at you and grabs your face to look him in the eyes. "This pussy is mine, yeah?"

At this point, fuck it.

"Yes, Daddy my hole belongs to you! All my holes are yours." You could feel that familiar pressure rising in the pit of your stomach as he fucks up in it. You grow excited, but more determined to make it last.

"I'm gonna cum," you moan as he lets your face go, but not breaking eye contact. "Make me cum, Daddy. I wanna cum all over your cock. I want it so bad. More than anything!"

"Just let go, baby. Let go for Daddy." His voice is soft and encouraging. You do as he says and let your orgasm take over your body. He could feel your hot cum spreading all over the head of his cock.

In retaliation, he shortly follows, filling your pussy to the brim, quite more than he ever has before.

"I feel so full." You sigh, content and fulfilled. A dopey smile is on your face and your body is limp. He rubs your back and plants kisses on the side of your face and on your shoulder blade.

"I'm gonna go give you a bath. Alright, bear?" He turns his head, waiting for you to look at him and give the 'ok'. You lift your head.

"Can we just stay here for a little bit longer please?" He kisses your nose and wraps his arms around you, securing you to him.

"Of course." You lie your head back down and close your eyes.

You could get used to this.

I know I said I was gonna finish this a long time ago, but I got distracted per usual 😭 hope you guys liked it 🧡

masterlist

[hawksugarbaby]

Kirishima x reader- Magnum

Smut

Chapter includes: Temp play (cold), blow job, sex in a small Space, slight praise.

After an hour or so in the freezer you were sufficiently cooled down, the hot summers day had gone cold as the sun lowered and you had spent your time teasing kiri. You had also ran out of ice lollies. 

But it was time to get out of the freezer. Because you were surprisingly getting cold, there was only so much your quirk could do especially since you were keeping two people warm, it was more work with the air cooling down. "Can you help me back out?" You asked, flailing your arms over the side of the freezer, It was a little too tall. 

Kiri on the other hand wasn't paying attention. His mind had been wandering for far too long. Popsicles. How dare they make you look so enticing. He couldn't stop the thoughts plaguing his head, and he felt a little guilty thinking such lewd thoughts about you. 

He looked up for a moment, he hadn't realised you were trying to get out the freezer until now when you were in a rather compromising position. You were bent over the side of the freezer your arms dangling and you continued to try to hop over the side. "W-what are you doing?" His face burned red and hot, images getting more vivid the longer he stared. "Trying to get out of this freezer, its getting kinda cold"

Suddenly his confidence grew 3x what it was, he stood up and you sighed thankfully expecting him to help you out. Instead he grabbed your hips pulling you back into the freezer and sat down again "I could warm you up?" He whispered lowly into your ear sending shivers down your spine that you knew weren't from the cold.

"H-how do you plan on that?" Despite your best efforts of sounding alluring it came out a mess. You chewed on your lip, your ragged breaths coming out foggy and your heart hammered in your chest. He shifted you so you were straddling his lap and your face erupted in flames feeling the hard tent in his jeans. How hadn't you noticed that before? It should have been VERY obvious.

He hadn't spoke, he kept his lips clamped shut he tilted your chin up, Your (e/c) eyes met his, the black pupils swallowed the crimson making him look more shark like than ever. He leaned in meeting your soft, warm lips with his icy cold ones. He swiped his tongue (which was even cooler) over your bottom lip asking for entrance and as if under some spell you granted.

Why were his lips so cold? 

You shivered and he pulled away with a grin holding an ice cube between his pointy teeth, it was melting fast and you looked away "where did you even get that? How did I not notice you put that in your mouth?" He shifted, and a bag of ice cubes was propping him up, you had thought the freezer was empty, guess you were wrong but how was he not absolutely frozen. 

Your thoughts didn't seem to matter since he shrugged and pulled you forward locking your lips again, the icy cold cube melting against your tongue, trickling down your throat. You moaned into the kiss as he pulled you deeper under his spell, your hair stood on end, and you had goosebumps all up your arms. He pulled away from your lips and traced kisses down your jaw leaving drops of biting cold water off of his lips on their place. 

"K-kiri what are you doing" you shuddered, his lips travelled further down your neck the ice cube starting to melt rapidly the closer it got to your chest where your fire was stored. It was a strange sensation, the freezing cold felt… good? It was different, very different, but it wasn't at all bad. "Your enjoying this a lot more than i thought you would" he murmured against your neck, he was right about that much You didn't expect this reaction in the slightest!

His shark teeth nibbled along your neck down to your collar bone, occasionally they would accidentally pierce your skin and a pearl of blood would stain the vest he had given you. Hot purple marks littered up your throat and neck, down your shoulders across your chest, competing with the cold kiri was dragging across yor skin. 

"Slow down kiri, i can't be the only one getting attenton" you giggled, so innocent sounding for such a sinful situation. You grinded against him making him groan, the obvious tent in his shorts getting more obvious "is that your quirk at play or are you just happy to see me?" You teased, he rolled his eyes as if he's heard that joke a hundred times before and looks down at you. There's no innocence left in his eyes, they burn with desire and lust while he watches you unbuckle his leather belt and unbutton his constraints.

"No underwear huh? And in shorts too? How brave" you tease when his cock springs out of his shorts, laying flat against his stomach. Your only thoughts are 'Big… Very Big!' Almost on instinct you reach out and wrap your hand around the base of his shaft making him moan out, "i haven't even done anything yet!" You shout, both your faces are bright red and hot, the tips of your ears are burning like someone was holding a lighter to them. Kiri's eyes were squeezed shut as tight as possible, his fists were balled and the bag of ice crunched every time he moved. 

You moved your hand up and down slowly, watching his reddening face intensely. It looked like you were doing everything right, it definitely sounded like you were doing everything right from the tiny grunts escaping his mouth. You picked up your pace drawing a long moan from his throat, and you chuckled "Y-(y/n)" he groaned. Your name sounded so salacious coming from him right now, you weren't sure you could ever fill in another form without hearing kiri in the back of your mind and you wanted desperately to hear more like that. 

You would ignore the heat bubbling in your stomach, your thighs rubbing together for friction, and your now soaked underwear until you could satisfy kiri. You stopped your hand movements eliciting an annoyed growl and you shuffled forward again and sat on your calfs between his thighs. "Kneel" you instructed and he did as he was told. "Y-you don't have to if you don't want to (y/n), we can stop any time just say the word and its done" he said. You grinned contemplating how in the space of an afternoon you went from friends stuck in a freezer to, in a relationship while fucking in the freezer, either way you were glad to have someone so caring now. 

"I know" you grinned. You reached behind him and grabbed an ice cube popping it in your mouth and in an instant it was just cold water sitting on your tongue "just like a popsicle right?" You laughed nervously while kiri laughed genuinely. How in the hell did he find that remotely funny. 

You scooted closer wrapping your hand around the base and wrapped your lips around the head. he let out a high pitched moan, one you would never expect from him and you looked up at him through your eyelashes. His nails were scratching at the silver 'walls' of the freezer and his eyes rolled back the red on his cheeks, impossibility dark and his mouth hung open. "C-cold" he said barely above a whisper. 

You bobbed your head up and down using your hand to get what you couldn't fit. Nothing like a popsicle. “Holy shit” he whispered and without thinking gripped your hair pushing you further down his cock without thinking, making you choke and gag. Your waterline filled with tears a few running down your face leaving red trails “s-sorry” he grunted, you hummed accepting his apology the vibrations driving him crazy. 

You drew your head back watching his face for miniscule reactions, his nose twitching, his lip quivering, his hands tugging your hair and knotting it. You hollow your cheeks as you went taking as much as possible in his mouth when his member twitched, you looked up through your eyelashes "it hasn't even been that long" you said, though it was muffled but he could clearly hear what you were saying "shouldn't you be glad, your the one doing it" he rubbed his hands over the purple map of where he'd been and trailed his hands down squeezing your breast and rolling his thumb over your hard nipple. You couldn't argue with his logic so you used your mouth for other purposes setting out an unrelenting pace. He grunted and whispered curses and praises that bounced around the freezer then into your ears. 

"S-shit (y/n) i'm gonna c-cum" he said, his tone sounded almost embarrassed making you chuckle. You pushed your head forward. You were all the way down when he twitched again, this time cumming into your mouth almost making you choke. You pulled off swallowing what you hadn't and looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and swollen pink lips. you were both panting heavily and suddenly you were being pushed down against the floor of the freezer with your knees bent so you could fit. 

”aw getting impatient are you” you teased, he growled and pushed another ice cube in your mouth, his substitute for a gag even though it would melt in no time but you took it as a sign to shut up. He pulled his wallet from his pocket and fumbled through pulling out a condom and ripping it open with his teeth then rolled it on. 

”you want to do this right?” he asked, the harsh intensity behind his eyes replaced by softness and his hand rested gently on your cheek where you nuzzled into it ”yes. I want this” you assured him. 

Kiri had never cared for foreplay, it was the part he always skipped when watching porn, if he for some reason was reading fanfiction he would skim over it and go to the good stuff, and now in this situation, you were both far too desperate for him to even think about it. He knew you weren't a virgin, everyone knew you weren't, you wore it like a victory badge (some people do. Don't judge) and though he was upset it wasn't him he could never judge you. but God was he about to make you forget anyone else was your first, he would make you feel so good you would never say their name again.

He sucked on your neck adding to the gallery of hickeys trailing his hands down your stomach and pulling your shorts off. "You ready?" He asked and you nodded pointing to the bag of ice cubes. The cold made your heart race and the more you had the slower they melted. He raised his eyebrows, he hadn't expected you to like the ice as much as you had and he was really enjoying it. 

He dragged the bag over propping it up in the corner and put an ice cube in his mouth, you glared about to get one yourself but the firm "no" from him was enough to make you retract your hand and pray. His icy cold hands held your hips in place and he leaned down kissing you again with his freezing lips drawing a moan from you. "You make such pretty noises (y/n), you should do it more often" he mumbled biting your bottom lip gently. 

You whined desperately and he smirked "okay okay" he lined up with your entrance and pushed in. Your eyes rolled back and you bit back a moan. "Holy fuck" kiri grunted staying in one place "are you okay?" He asked. You nodded rapidly and reached up gripping his shoulder hard. He pulled out and slammed his hips back into you "A-AH KIRI!" You cried digging your nails into his shoulder "you're so gorgeous" he gushed. What a moment to be all sappy. 

He thrust at a relentless pace drawing a moan from you with every movement, You were convinced If you put this on pornhub you would make bank. "Kiri please" you whimpered stretching your arm to the bag of ice that was centimetres out of reach "fine, since you've been so good" he praised and pressed an ice cube against your tongue while his other hand trailed another down your stomach where it melted and dripped off your sides pooling around you. 

"Kiri god im so close please" you begged bucking your hips to meet his. Every time you said his name he went a little more feral and you had officially broke him. He pounded into you at inhuman speed gripping your hips so hard they would definitely bruise and the heat pooling in your stomach reached boiling point. "KIRI!" You screamed arching your back as your orgasm washed over you. Your mouth hung open in a silent scream while he thrusted a few more times until he came too. 

You huffed propping yourself up on your elbows and he pulled out. "That was incredible" you panted. You were a shivering mess, your quirk no longer able to heat you up but there was no way you were walking for hours. "Fuck yeah it was" he grinned switching immediately back to his cheery self "sorry i went to hard didn't I" he kissed the top of your head helping you put your shorts back on which was a very hard task for such a cramped space. "No it was amazing" you grinned trying to pick yourself up but to no avail. "Im really tired now though" you giggled. He nodded picking you up like a gentleman and climbed out of the freezer with ease. 

He carried you to your room and swaddled you in blankets to get the heat flowing through you again and snuggled next to you. "Is it to early to say I love you?" He asked "depends, how long have you loved me For?" "Since first year" he admit "then i'd say no" you nuzzled into him feeling your eyes get heavy and fighting to keep them open "then i love you" he wrapped his arms around you protectively even though there was nothing to protect you from "i love you too eijiro." 

And into a peaceful sleep you sank yet your dreams were far from it

[yostresswritinggirl]

A Yearly Memory

~Zhongli x Reader

Warnings: None

Characters: Zhongli, Lesser God!Reader

Relationship: Ambiguous

Word Count: 1.2k words

A small drabble because I got self-conscious seeing y'all greet the Geo daddy- Happy Birthday, Zhongli hnghhh, first time greeting a fictional character kek and writing in tumblr sooo Enjoy a happy new year and let's hope this one does end happy!

Made this at 2:55 AM so don't expect much kek

Can you imagine 6000 and more years of the same day passing, taking time to organize a feast for that particular date? In their circumstance, time isn't relevant, for Gods who lived beyond a millenia. Honestly, everyone who lived in Celestia saw time as irrelevant and passing, nothing but the sun and the moon exchanging thrones in the sky for 365 rotations.

But for Rex Lapis who prides himself the oldest archon also relives those 6 milleniums ever so clearly.

And in his passing, and even before, he has grown accustomed to the importance of 'time' and 'day' and 'night'.

Yet, he stood atop a grassy cliff, overlooking the harbour of his own land where comes a perfect view of the moon parallel to where he stands.

In this particular day every passing year, he finds himself here as if pulled by the winds himself for reasons he cannot fathom.

"Morax-? Morax!" Calls from behind him accompanied with light footsteps crunching the blades of grass under it. His amber eyes only widen slightly before willing it to pull away from the waves that bounced the moonlight.

"God of Memories— (Y/N), I was not aware of your immigration to Liyue, are you perhaps here to document the coming of the annual departure to a new cycle?"

Your form finally catches up to his side, straightened after gathering yourself from what seems to be a marathon just to find him. The ex-archon besides you possessed a slight smile at the height difference. For it was ironic that despite the same age you had lived (and maybe even more for you, as you had existed whence the first memory had came), he was still very much heads above you, contrasting to him as you don a younger appearance to his olden self.

You carry with you a device he does not recognize and when his eyes bounces back to where yours shine in hidden mischief, you looked at him almost offended, incredulous.

"Mr. Newly-Retired, I've heard you abandoned your position to live among the humans you once overlooked," you didn't even bother to answer him.

He'd perked up, tensing his shoulders, ready to be lectured by yours truly. For after all it was you two left that remained longest standing in the history of higher beings, he'd known you'd feel betrayed that he had just abandoned your side like so.

He opens his mouth to explain— "And so, to start your new chapter, it's only fair we impart to you some human tradition!" and it stays open in confusion.

The glint in your eyes finally surfaces full blown and he couldn't help but relish in that cheeky smile you matched it with, arms shifting to lift the contraption hanging from your neck. "I'm fairly certain I'm accurate on my counting so

Happy 6052nd birthday, Zhongli!"

He hides his raw surprise and fluster in an airy chuckle, following your twinkling giggle as you nudged him with an elbow.

Is that why he's subconsciously sentimental of this day ever since? For it was the exact date but rolled back thousand of years ago, to when he first set foot on Teyvat?

"Birthdays... I didn't even notice, and quiet so early too. Thank you, (Y/N), I am grateful for your time and consideration." Zhongli would flash a smile so sentimental and pure that it almost brings you to your knees with the innocence it carries. He's so precious— precious!

"Y-yes, you are welcome! I would have brought some fresh silk flowers as a gift," he'd tilt his head in silent inquiry as you once again fumbled on the rectangular box, "but such gifts wilts too easily, swept aside in just four days! Too quick and easily forgotten." Now the god before you would love to protest, for everything you'd leave behind for him will always be immortalized in his heart and mind.

"So I created this thing over here! I call it a Kamera!" Despite his confusion over the contraption, your triumphant grin only sends him fluttering and urging you to continue. For others it was a rare sight to see someone else do the talking when Zhongli was part of the conversation, but the man in question also enjoys lending an ear, indulging himself especially when it comes to knowledge he has not heard of. "It freezes a moment in time, capturing it in a parchment to be kept forever. As your first celebration, I wanted to capture it clearly for us to look back to together! Like so!"

Without another word, you had grabbed his forearm to urge him lower, using the same hand to loosely wrap around his neck. He'd almost had to kneel from the height difference as he stumbled upon your forcefulness when a click and a fragment of light sounded from afront before he could get his bearings.

"Tada! Oh look, you look so good in an image, it worked perfectly!"

Your energy matched a very particular person Zhongli had to deal with but yours were refreshing and contagious despite the nigh hours of the night.

He had patted his sleeve straight as he watches you mercilessly flap a piece of paper that somehow appeared on your hand. He has questions, a lot, and he was once again interrupted by you: shoving the paper to his face like it was a trophy of a competition you'd been waiting for your whole life.

It was a portrait but accurately colored and captured to a size as big as his palm. Your arm around his neck with a wide, closed-eye grin while looking straight ahead and him (clearly unprepared) with an obvious surprise and touch of obliviousness, glowing amber eyes slightly trained to your profile.

He was glad he was a professional in keeping a calm composture, because he saw just about the most obvious red dust on his cheeks, now immortalized for everyone who sets their eyes upon on the paper to witness.

"Ah, I'm so happy it worked even when I had to rush it to be on time! Here, keep this, as your birthday gift!" You practically shoved the device and the image to his arms with buzzing excitement and pride. "Happy birthday, again!"

An advance technology constructed with the sole idea of being a gift for him? His appreciation is beyond words that rendered him speechless and you patiently watch him take into account everything that has been thrown at him.

"Zhong-zhong... you're too quiet—"

A snap and a flash blew your pupils and forced you to cover your eyes to rub the spots dancing in your vision. He was a fast learner but damn, he could have warned you of his impulsive ministrations.

As you whine over your semi-blinded state with jumbled protests spewing out of your lips, the man before you holds a euphoric smile over the new paper clutched between his fingers.

It was the best gift he'd ever received in his lifetime.

"Thank you, for this and everything. I hope you know how deeply I appreciate you."

Morax's smile, the God of War, however faltered at the edges when he saw the darkened stare looking down upon him. The twitch of your eyebrow makes a sudden sweat fall off his.

[devinescribe]

Next Time, No Death, Yeah?

Chapter 10 of '100 Promises'

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Warnings: Swearing, weapons, violence, blood

You were somewhere in Tokyo. Where? You'd find out sooner or later.

Currently however, you were walking through an abandoned mall. Everything was abandoned, so it didn't make this one anymore special than the millions of buildings in Tokyo. There was broken glass under your shoes that crunched when you stepped on it. "That's fucking satisfying," you whispered. "You're weird," Last Boss said from besides you. "Ok, if anytime you talk it's an insult to me imma hit you," you said, glaring playfully at him. It was an empty threat, he noticed, seeing as your tone of voice was too light and playful to be a real threat. "I wouldn't test her patience. She can be a real bitch when she wants to," Niragi stated, walking in front if both of you. Last Boss saw your eyes narrow, like a cat about to pounce on its prey. You reached your hand out, and tugged on his hair. "I just said if you insult me I'll hit you," you laughed. "Ow. Fuck you," he cursed, rubbing his scalp as you laughed. You shrugged your shoulders walking faster, ready for anything to happen. 'What could go wrong?' You thought. 'All the militants must be pretty trust worthy if the have weapons.'

Well, that's what you thought when you first got there. Now, not so much. One of the militants had tried to escape, seeing as they got all they needed from the Beach. Hiding behind objects when the man had a gun seemed like the best idea. "Alright, so what do we do?" You questioned Niragi, who kept looking from the side of the cement wall you two were hiding behind. "Stop the guy, and try not to get shot," Niragi responded, a tone of sarcasm in his voice. You noticed, but really it was a solid plan. Not getting shot was the best outcome for both of you. "Sounds like a good plan to me, let's go!" You shouted. He found it amusing how only a few days into the borderlands, you had already adapted. There was so much change, and usually you didn't do well with change. But yet here you were. "He's going to run out of bullets. And he can't change them that fast. So, let's wait till he runs out, then we grab him and take the gun away," you suggested, pointing at a mirror that showed the reflection of the man. "His bullet case is strapped onto his belt... You damn genius," he said, petting the top of your head. You leaned into his touch, enjoying the feeling. You smiled, shrugging your shoulders. "You the left, I'll take the right," he instructed. "Oki doki, let's goooo I'm bored!" You exclaimed, loading up your pistol. He kneeled down, peeking out the side of where you were hiding. "On the count of three?"

"Yeah."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

You both ran at him, being concentrated on the gun. He tried to shoot, but he had already ran out. He reached to grab bullets, but you aimed your gun, shooting it at his arm. He dropped his gun, yelping in pain. Niragi kicked the gun away from him. "Nice shot (N/N)," he complimented, high fiving you. He turned his attention back to the man on the floor. Blood was passing through the hand that covered his wound, staining it crimson. "Damn, any last words? Regrets? You know, death to the traitors and all," Niragi asked, crouching down besides the man, pointing his gun at the man's chest. He gulped, and took a shaky sigh. ''Yeah. I only regret that a girl took me down," he said. Your eyes widened, and you grabbed the knife from its sheath on your waist. You bent down to his level, stabbing the knife into his stomach, and twisting it. He screamed in pain. "This girl knows how to murder and get away with it," you said. You let go of the knife stepping back. He immediately pulled the knife out, making both you and Niragi laugh. "Hey, dumbass. That makes more blood come out," Niragi snickered. The man tried making pressure on his stomach his shirt staining dark red. "Alright, I'm bored. Someone else can do that. I got his blood on me, I feel nasty," You said, grabbing Niragi's hand and pulling him along with you.

Once you entered a random store, you looked down. There was blood covering your hands, and your swimsuit. You cringed in disgust. "That was pretty fucking badass," Niragi said, walking around the store. You sighed, "I guess." It dawned on you that since you were a militant, you could wear actual clothes. "Wait, so on supply runs what do guys collect?" You asked. Niragi turned to face you. "Anything and everything that could be useful. And of course, we are allowed to bring back personal items if wanted," he answered. You smirked, grabbing some backpacks off of one of the shelves, giving one to Niragi. "These would be easier to carry things around in," you suggested. "Ok, well then you take the pink strawberry one," he said. You rolled your eyes, trading backpacks with him. "Suck up your fragile masculinity you stupid fuck~," you sang before laughing. He shook his head, following you around. It really was like you two never skipped a beat. Sure, your whole lives had gotten derailed, but being back together made most things ok. The longest you two had been without each other had been the two months you stayed with your grandmother. After that first summer without him, you always asked if he could go with you. Even though you had called each other every night, you couldn't go to sleep. It wasn't like he was with you every night, but knowing you'd see him the next day would always comfort you. You didn't know why, it just did. So every summer both of you would have two months of peace at your grandmother's house.

"Alright, that's two bags full for each of us. Let's see if we can fill a third?" He asked. You both put the bags in the car. The person who was guarding the cars thanked you both. She looked down at your hands, and back up at you. You gave her a friendly smile seeing her stare. You sort of forgot about your blood stained hands. She smiled nervously, waving you both away.

"What was her problem?" You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest as you both walked back. "Blood," he answered, pointing at your hands. "Oh... well, sounds like a her problem," you said nonchalantly. It was quiet. Something you hadn't taken the time to appreciate before. Living in the city, there was always something making noise, it was never quiet. But now, looking at the desolate city of Tokyo, you sighed happily. It reminded you of the quiet up at your grandmother's house when you were little.

"Hello? Earth to (Y/N), Earth to (Y/N)," Niragi teased, waving his hand in front of your face.  You shook your head snapping out of your daydream. "Sorry... spaced out. What else do we need to do?"

On the way back, people were more talkative and cheerful. They had done a lot, running through the empty streets to find things. You were quite excited to return back, as Chishiya had mentioned talking again when you got back.

"(Y/N), piece of advice. Don't go to the parties at the Beach... everyone's to drunk to notice anything, and no one stops anyone from doing anything. So be careful," Kuina said. You two had been talking for a while besides the pool, watching others splash each other with water. You nodded, looking around. "It also seems you've caught the attention of Chishiya. He seems to think you're quite smart. That's near impossible, good job girl," she complimented. You laughed, shaking your head. "This is the first time in months I've been... truly happy, I guess you could say," you said, looking down at blue water in the pool. "What do you mean by that?" She questioned. "Well, back in our world, I thought my best friend was dead, so... I wasn't in the best mental state," you answered. "Ew, sorry, I just made this conversation about me. Ick, I hate it," you shuddered, shaking your hands. "Please tell me something about you Kuina?"

"They seem to get along well. She keeps him in line, she could be very useful," Ann observed after hearing what happened at the supply run. "She's also quite the wildcard, if you ask me. Dangerous, but calculated. Seems like she'd be a methodical killer in a show or something," Last Boss commented. This drew some attention, as he never spoke about others that often. It was often short answers, but it seemed you'd peaked his interest.  "Well, it's no use just talking about their skills. Put them to the test!" Hatter suggested, a bit too cheerfully for everyone in the room. "Haven't they proven themselves already? She's pretty high up for a newcomer, and Niragi has been here for a while, he's a high rank as well," Ann questioned, turning to face Hatter. "They've proven themselves as individuals. But if we have a pair that is on the same level physically and mentally, who seem to find fun in the games, that trust each other..." Hatter started, trailing off. Ann caught on to what he was saying. "It's an advantage for us in the end... in using their connection, it makes them stronger players?" Ann said, suggesting her thoughts. Hatter smiled widely, "Bingo! The easier the games are to clear, the faster we can all leave!" Of course, Ann was a bit uneasy at the idea. You had both proven yourselves to be useful, even in the short time you'd been there. Niragi, while annoying to deal with at times, did have amazing abilities with guns. He was able to complete games without hesitation to hurt others to get his goal, and that's what made him such an asset to the Beach. People feared him. The more you fear a person or punishment, you are more likely to not do what lead to dealing with that person or consequence. You were already building quite the reputation. Although coming into the Beach with Niragi, you would expect people to avoid you. People backed away from you even more now, seeing as you were a militant, and a dangerous one at that. You two were equally as intelligent and dangerous, the only difference being you thought things out before rushing in. He was more impulsive. A do now, think later kind of person. You, however, you thought first, thinking of outcomes, and followed through.  It would be interesting to see how you two worked together.

Wow that took a while to write for no reason at all.

[blubberingmess]

[Dead heart]

Pairing: zombie!Bucky x reader

Summary: "Help plea--" the moment he turned around, you knew you had made a big mistake.

Warnings: blood, stupid (Y/n), Please don't do this irl. Just ran away.

Note: look what I found in my draft. Also the title... it sounds familiar...

It all happened so fast you didn't even know if it's real, it's like from a show you once watched. Everything is falling apart. People are dying, eating each other's flesh and guts like monsters. As soon as you got bitten-- and not got eaten alive-- either way, you'd be as dead you'll ever get.

Within a few months after the massive virus outbreak, the world have now more zombies than humans. Every corner of the city stinks of dead rottening flesh and guts of the unfortunates. So you moved out to a more rural part of the country, away from the city where the zombies are just... everywhere.

You've never seen anyone for a month now, not even a single group of teenagers that claimed "prepared" for zombie apocalypse.

Pathetic.

And now you're being followed by a horde.

"Shit," you mutter to yourself as you shot the last bullet of your gun at the zombie, exploding it's head everywhere. You saw one of them tried to grab you by the shoulder but you quickly threw the empty gun at its face, giving it a huge dent but unfortunately, not enough for it to be killed. It only continues to limp towards you with others.

So you run, forgetting about your things back at your small camp not too far. You started shouting with all your might. "Help! Please! Somebody!"

The woods might not be the best way to go but you don't have a choice, you're panicking. Your heart is beating erratically against your chest as you run further into the woods, only getting a small sense of relief when you saw a person - a man - standing with his back turned to you.

"Mister! Mister!"

You saw his head perked up at the sound of your voice, head going left to right to find the source of the sound. His body looked stable and well built, like really well built. His arms are bulging through his shirt, maybe that's why he doesn't have a weapon with him - but that's still stupid though. He's wearing a black long sleeve top, cargo pants, and boots. His clothes looks clean, not like a zombie so you continued to shout.

"Help plea--" the moment he turned around, you knew you had made a big mistake. Some visible red veins are scattered around the left side of his face as well as his neck. His left eye is cloudy and grey and red rimmed, but the other is in a light shade of blue. He looks alive but at the same time, he looks just as dead as the zombies behind you.

You were about to stop in your tracks when you clumsily trip over a stone and came tumbling down right in front of him on all fours. Looking up, you saw him already staring down at you with that dead look on his face before looking up at the horde of zombies limping your way.

He doesn't look like he's rottening, maybe he just got bitten before you found him.

Sitting up quickly, you didn't know why but you turned your back on the beefy-- clearly strong-- looking zombie and whimpered as the zombies continues to limp their way towards you. But then they suddenly stopped to your surprise, standing there and just staring at - you don't know who - you or the zombie behind you, or both at the same time.

It's all quiet, only the soft breeze and the tweeting of birds from a distance. Confused, you watched the horde slowly turns around and started limping away, as if eating your brains out isn't their main goal anymore.

You heard a grunt and slowly look up with your eyes still wide open in horror, breathing unstable and ragged. Uncomfortable, you whimpered, closing your eyes tightly.

"Please, don't hurt me."

The weird zombie kept his eyes on you for a few moments, analyzing your features albeit being upside down before turning his heels and walking away, leaving you still leaning back with your eyes tightly closed. You heard the crunches of leaves and opened your eyes to see the zombie man is gone and is now a few feet away from you, lazily walking away from your fatal position.

The zombie is walking away from you, a living breathing not so fresh looking human.

You quickly stood up from the ground, watching as the zombie walks away. He didn't even tried to harm you, instead, he actually helped you. He somehow pushed the horde of zombies, but how?

You decided to stalk the mysterious zombie, noticing that he's walking with a direction, on his own trail like he knows where he is. Maybe he's going back to his zombie family, you mentally kicked yourself in the butt at the absurd idea. Or maybe he's taking a casual walk in the woods - okay, now you're going crazy.

You've made a noise a few times, randomly tripping over some stumps and rocks, broke a twig or two as you follow him through the woods. You heard him sigh a few times, stopping to turn his head to the side before walking again, shaking his head.

You didn't noticed it but whenever you got to far, the zombie would stop, only resuming his walk when he hears the loud crunching of you shoes against the dried up leaves.

After a few minutes of walking you saw him began heading towards a small cabin next to a small lake. The place is secluded and quite beautiful, you wonder who could be living here and then you remembered the zombie.

You sprinted out from your hiding place behind a random dead tree and pulls out your pocket knife - it's not much, but it's the only weapon you have - pointing it at him.

"Hey!" You shouted, stilling him on the porch of the cabin. Shaking your head, you bravely took a step forward. "I won't let you harm anyone who's living there. Not on my watch."

Oh look at you being a hero.

The zombie just stares at you dumbfounded before it turns into an amused look. He slowly tucked his hand in his pockets before pulling out a key, a smug smirk on his face when he saw the look of shock on yours. Opening the door, he kept his eyes on you as if silently challenging you 'oh yeah? What ya gon' do 'bout it?'.

He walks in leaving the door open. Is he... inviting you in?

You look down at the pocket knife in your hand, still shiny and sharp, the only weapon you have left - and probably useless.

Inhaling deeply, you stand up straight and started making your way closer towards the cabin. In all honesty, you expected the inside to be trashed and abandoned but no, it's so far from that.

Most of the furnitures are made out of wood, it looks expensive. The inside is clean and warm... like a home. It doesn't smell like the dead either, that means someone must've been living here for quite some time now.

You heard the grunt again and snapped your eyes towards the sound; from kitchen, frowning when you saw the zombie gently placed a steaming cup of coffee on the counter before stepping back, giving you space. Finally noticing his left hand; a prosthetic. You unconsciously tighten the grip on your knife.

Bucky noticed you staring at his metal arm and can't help but hide it behind his back, surprising you at his action, like he's uncomfortable at your staring.

"I'm... sorry." The zombie only nodded his head, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

"B-... Bucky," the zombie rasped out. You felt your eyes almost bulge out from your eye sockets at the sound, not expecting him to talk since, well, he's a zombie.

Bucky? What's that? Bucky noted your confusion and points at his chest, eyes still on you as he spoke once more, now much more slower for you to understand.

"Bucky." His name.

You nodded your head, pointing at yourself as well with your still slightly shaking hand. "(Y/n)."

He's a friendly zombie isn't he?

[one-spidey-boii]

BUMMER SUMMER || peter parker; ch seven

read ch six here

masterlist

an; you guys, i hit 100 followers. that’s crazy. 100 may seem like a bitch ass number compared to other accounts, but i couldn’t be more proud. thank you!! i hope you continue to enjoy this story and leave feedback.

warnings; mentions of battle wounds (i.e. blood/scars/etc), future smut, mature language, fluff, angst, both peter and oc are 18+!!

word count; 5.1k+

edie's pov

i tried to help peter clean up, but he wasn't having any of it. so i was left to my own devices while he scrambled to get everything in order. after he leaves the room for the first time, i try to stand up. i wrap the blanket around my body and move towards to edge of the bed. everything is going just fine until i put weight onto my legs and attempt to take a step. my feet crumble beneath me and i snap a hand up to my mouth to stifle any noise that threatens to come from the pain. so for a while, i just sit. on the floor. waiting for peter to come back.

when footsteps sound off from down the hall, i brace myself for whatever reprimand i'm going to get from peter, but what comes through the door makes me sigh with relief and choke up with fear. not the kind of fear you get from jump scares or creepy noises, but the kind of fear you get when you know you've been a disappointment.

"what the hell are you doing on the floor?" tony asks as he waltzes over to help me up. his voice is unreadable. i let him wrap an arm around my upper back and lift me up onto the bed, but i'm too afraid to say anything. he pulls a chair over to sit in front of me and he rests there awaiting an answer, but i choose to avoid it altogether.

"where's peter?" i ask shyly. yeah, it's a good way to change the topic, but a part of me really does want to know.

tony raises one eyebrow and pauses to take in my features before replying, "i told the kid to stay out of the room until i got here. he's sitting in the living room like a lost puppy."

my head tilts at his words. why would he do that? wouldn't he want peter here with me?

"i wanted to talk to you without mr. parker in the room. and when i ask you this- i don't want you to think about him when you answer, got it?" i nod my head reluctantly, and he continues on with a sigh, "kid, do you wanna go home?"

"w-what? no! absolutely not." my insides tense up at the thought of being sent home after only a couple of weeks. mr. stark said he needed me here, why is he trying to send me home?

"just listen to me, okay? you've already gotten hurt for reasons i don't understand. and... i gotta be honest- i don't want to send you home, but i don't want you going back out there either."

"what happens to peter if you send me back?" my question comes out as a whisper, i want to challenge him somehow. surely he won't take this away from peter too. tony just sighs and shakes his head.

"don't worry about him right now. what we need to talk about is if you're-" i cut him off.

"you're going to send him home too." i accuse, borderline horrified at the idea, "how could you do that? you know how much this means to him." i take in a sharp breath of air as pain shoots up and down my side. it's silent for a few seconds.

"i don't want any of that. who else am i gonna have to protect all my toys?" he asks with a playful smile, but i know he's still hesitant about all of this, "i'll cut you a deal, alright?" i nod, "you don't go out until you are one hundred percent healed up. let peter handle all that. and i'm making happy stay here until you're ready to patrol again."

i immediately shake my head in protest, "happy hates babysitting! don't make him do that!" i plead, trying to pull the guilt card for happy's sake- and to be honest, i don't want anyone worrying about me and watching over my shoulder until i'm better, "peter can look after me. he got me this far." i say lightly, trying to make the situation a little less of a bummer.

tony takes in my features again, analyzing my words. he brings his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose, but to my luck he eventually nods his head.

"fine, fine. but you'll keep me updated on your recovery and only go out again when i say so, alright?" he bargains once again. this time i take his deal and nod my head with a smile. tony slaps his knees once and stands up.

"now lay back down and rest, young lady. i'll be expecting an update when you get up." tony says with a playful twinge to his words, but i know he's completely serious. before he's entirely out of the room, my mouth begins to move before i even realize it, "you know, peter does take good care of me."

i don't know why i just said that.

tony stops by the door and takes once last look around the room, "yeah, yeah," he pauses, "i know he does." and with that, he's gone.

-

it didn't take me long to fall asleep after mr. stark left. my body was tired and weak after working to heal as fast as it could. if only i was peter and i could heal on my own.

when i wake up, i panic slightly when i can't see anything. the light of the room is subdued and i can't even make out the ceiling above me. i move a hand to my face to find a piece of paper. it's taped to my forehead and covers my entire face. i peel it off and take in the messy handwriting scrawled across the page.

'left for patrol. mr. stark said to set out some fancy healing cream for you. it's next to your bed. he also said to leave it on for 5 minutes at most cause blah blah i don't remember why. be back before you know it -peter'

at the end of the note by his name, there's a faint 'x' next to it. the letter had been hastily erased, but my stomach jumps at the gesture. i wish he didn't feel like he had to erase it.

i fold the note carefully and set it on the cart next to my bed, next to that is the cream i assume he was talking about. i look over the text on the tube and read the directions. on the back it says something about enhanced cell regeneration, remove after five minutes, and does not diminish the appearance of scars.

i swallow thickly, nervous about applying this weird stuff to my skin. my fingers slowly twist the cap open and i squeeze a small amount onto my hand. the cream is clear and almost jelly-like as i rub it along my side. it stings at first, making me inhale with clenched teeth, but almost instantly it numbs my entire side along with my hand.

i'm afraid to keep it on my hand so i hop out of the bed and walk over to the sink to wash it off. only then does it occur to me that i hopped out of bed and walked over here. thank goodness for tony stark and his high tech, well, everything.

looking in the little mirror above the sink, i take in my tired appearance- complete with bags under my eyes and sunken cheeks. it's hard to look at myself this way, i have never fallen so low. i have never been hurt so badly before.

i just rest my now wet hands against the sides of the sink and let my head drop. i take notice i'm still in my bra and underwear, but since i'm alone at the moment i'm not worried about being seen. my cheeks do flush at the idea of peter seeing me this way, clad only in a dark purple bra and mismatched pale blue underwear.

after what feels like five minutes, i grab a hand towel and wet it under the running water of the faucet. the numbing properties of the cream are working surprisingly well- i don't feel anything as i wipe it away and wash it off.

still, my heart drops at the sight of the scar, now partially healed, but still red and angry. the line of it is jagged and violent looking. with hesitant fingers i run them along the length of it. it's horrible and ugly and for the first time in a long time- i feel ashamed. i now have to sport a scar for the rest of my life, one that i never saw coming.

i force myself to look away and tuck my hair behind my ears. my hair is riddled with sweat and it sticks to my neck, making me yearn for a shower. i let my feet carry me to the bathroom connected to my room. there i make the decision to take a bath instead when i spot the bubble bath under the sink.

after preparing everything, i slide my remaining clothes off and slip into the hot water of the tub. the bubbles are already everywhere and they easily cover the surface of the water. i close my eyes and let out a sigh.

my thoughts drift to peter, and i let myself think of him. i know something is going on inside his head, and i know it's because of me. it tugs on my heart every time he avoids or ignores me even during the slightest of encounters. i never wanted our friendship to turn into this and it bugs me beyond belief that i can't figure out why it's happening.

my eyes shoot open when i hear my name being called throughout the compound, followed by the sounds of something crashing. i sit up in the water and wait for it to stop sloshing around so that i can listen closer.

"edie?! oh my god mr. stark is going to kill me. i'll be dead by morning- edie! where are you?" it's peter, and from what i can tell he's freaking out, obviously. i let out a sigh of relief and call out to him.

"i'm in my room! it's okay, peter." the loud noises stop at my bedroom door.

"oh thank goodness. c-can i come in?" he asks, out of breath. i take in my current position— very naked and taking a bath; but covered completely by bubbles.

still a little hesitant and increasingly nervous, i call out again, "uh yeah. come in."

before the last words leave my mouth, a loud crunch and thud comes from the front of my room. i can barely see it through the crack of the bathroom door, but i know something is broken. it's silent for a hot second.

"um. oh yikes. i, uh, broke your door. not on purpose though! but it is, uh, not on the hinges anymore." he utters nervously. i can't help but laugh.

"what? who knew you were sooooo strong!" i tease, stretching out the words. some shuffling comes from my room.

"wait, where are you? what's going on?" his confused voice make me giggle. ew, giggle? really? i stifle the thought and take on a serious face.

"i'm in the bathroom, parker. stop freaking out." i reply, not at all annoyed despite my words and tone.

the shuffling behind the door stops, "you're pooping? and talking to me at the same time?" peter asks hesitantly. okay, now i’m annoyed.

"no you dipshit, im taking a bath. and everyone poops by the way, there's a children's book about it!" i yell. most of the time his innocent demeanor is endearing, but right now it's just making both of us uncomfortable.

suddenly the door creaks open wider and peter pops his head in the room, one hand covering his eyes. he still has his mask on and i roll my eyes. what is it with this boy and wearing his mask all the time?

"i just wanna make sure you're okay...a-are you okay?" he asks with a shaky voice. i can't help but smile at how nervous he is, but then again, so am i.

clearing my throat, i speak, "you can move your hand. i'm covered by, uh bubbles." peter slowly parts his fingers and peeks at me through them.

"hi." he whispers from the door.

"hi, peter." i whisper back.

he lowers his hand down to his side and steps completely into the spacious bathroom. he shuffles for a moment and decides on leaning against the doorframe with one arm up by his head. i eye him up and down, trying to get a feel for what is going through his head. he looks ridiculous standing in my bathroom, still clad in his spiderman suit that clings to his body like a second skin. it outlines the muscles in his arms, chest, and legs- truly not leaving much to the imagination. i feel my cheeks flush.

then for the second time that day, words are coming out of my mouth without my permission, "do you wanna sit?" i pull my hand out from beneath the water and tap the edge of the tub. the eyes on peter's mask widen and his arm slips from its position on the door frame. i just smile at him, despite my brain kicking me for saying anything at all.

to my surprise, he nods and settles himself on the edge of the tub down by my legs.

he whispers again, "hi."

a rush of heat floods my body at his new position and it's my turn to stutter, "hi." i'm suddenly all too aware of just how naked i am, only a thin layer of bubbles separating peter's eyes from seeing every bit of my body. and a tiny part of me doesn't hate the idea. an even smaller part wonders if peter is thinking the same thing.

"i'm glad you're okay." he says, a soft confidence laced within his words. his hand comes up to rest by my shoulder on the tub, just barely touching my skin. i nod my head and look down at the suddenly very interesting bubbles. i forgot that peter was the one who caught me when i fell in through the doors. he was the one to take care of me while we waited for mr. stark to arrive. he was the one who had to watch me bleed. with that thought, i look back up at him and gently rest my head on his hand, happy to find his eyes on mine.

"take your mask off peter." i whisper, still feeling foggy inside my head.

he shakes his head, "no."

"no?" my eyes widen at his words.

"no, e."

"come on, pete. it's not like i haven't see you before. what's the big deal?" as i say this i lean up in the water and stretch my hand to graze the edge of his mask. just as i'm about to pull it upwards and off his head, peter grabs my wrist roughly and holds it in his hand.

"if i take my mask off, all of this becomes much more real...and i don't want to see you like this." he says and looks away from my gaze. my stomach drops and i pull my hand away from his grip. all the comfort and confidence is instantly replaced with horrible, ugly nerves.

"what do you mean 'like this'? what- you can't look at me now? is it the scar? or is it because i invited you in and god forbid i'm naked under all these fucking bubbles? you didn't have you come in here, parker." my heart hurts and i spit out his name like it's venom on my lips. i can't stop my mind from reeling. peter looks at me and scoffs.

"you really don't get it, do you?" he questions as he stands up from his spot.

i sit up farther in the water, eyes glaring into his, "get what?"

his eyes widen as he rushes to put both his hands on my shoulders, shoving me back down into the water with unnecessary force. my head hits the back wall as water sloshes out of the tub, "for fucks sake, edie, cover yourself up!" his voice booms and i stay put. then it dawns on me. does he think-?

"i wasn't trying to-" i plead but he cuts me off.

"it's not that i don't want- fuck!" he pulls his mask off his head and stares at me with fiery eyes, "i do want to..." then he makes a growling noise that comes from the back of his throat, "what do you want me to say? what am i supposed to think coming in here?" he rambles on. i draw my eyebrows together and sink down into the water even more.

"i wasn't trying anything, peter. i-i'm sorry if you got the wrong idea," i whisper, defeated by how this whole thing is turning out. my head throbs from hitting the wall of the tub and my heart hurts from peter's words.

"yeah. okay, edie. i'll see you in the morning." and with that, he walks out of the bathroom, leaving his mask on the edge of the sink, the eyes glaring back at me.

my vision becomes blurry. just the idea of him thinking those things about me is enough to make me shut down completely. i stand up and step out of the tub, bubbles still clinging to my body. i walk over to the full-length mirror and my eyes lock on the scar. it looks the same as before, ugly, and a single tear runs down my chin.

peter's pov

i'm so unbelievably angry with myself. i can feel every part of my body on fire due to the complete and utter rage coursing through it. when people say they're so angry they see red, they aren't lying. there’s no way to erase what just happened between edie and i. the look on her face and the fast beat of her heart will forever be burned into my head. but above all my anger, that one thing i feel the most, is fear.

the fear i’ve ruined my relationship with edie all together because i'm too much of a coward to speak the truth. the fear that she now sees me as someone who would think those awful and cruel things about her. the fear that she thinks i don't want her just because of a scar.

none of it is true. sitting there, inches from her body made my head spin and my heart jump around my chest. i wanted to touch her, to feel her soft skin underneath my fingers as they danced down her neck and shoulders. instead, i panicked and said things so far from the truth.

i discard my suit and stand in the annoying thong that mr. stark insisted i wear to avoid having a visible panty line. he said it would be more embarrassing to have that than wear a goddamn thong. whatever, it doesn't even matter now. my brain is practically swimming in my head and making me sick to my stomach. i strip completely and prepare myself for a cold shower.

-

the next morning is quiet. i wake up earlier than usual for no good reason. maybe my brain just doesn't wanna give me the satisfaction of sleep. i step out of bed and tug a pair of sweatpants on over my hips along with a white t-shirt over my head. taking a deep breath, i make my way to the kitchen for some sort of breakfast, coming up with toast and a glass of orange juice.

my thoughts drift to edie, probably fast asleep in her bed. i hope she got to sleep last night, after everything that happened. that's the least she deserves.

something in my gut twists and i'm overwhelmed with the need to do something about this shitty situation. i'm fucking tired of walking on eggshells and making things worse, none of this is worth it.

with a deep breath, i allow my feet to carry me across the hardwood floors to edie's room with a glass of orange juice in my hand. the door is still off the hinges from when i ripped off accidentally. and there she is, sitting on her bed with a book in her hands. she looks peaceful and for a second it loosens the knot in my chest.

i clear my throat, "orange juice?" i extend my hand with the glass towards her.

her head snaps up and she meets my gaze. with an unreadable expression on her face, she sets the book down in her lap and gently closes the cover. my arm starts to shake from holding it still for too long and i pull it back to my chest. her head tilts the slightest bit at me, her eyes wandering over my body.

i shiver under her watch, suddenly extremely self-conscious about my clothes and my hair and the small pimple forming on my chin and-

"will you go to the store and get me some paint?" she asks, her question throws me off, "i can't stand these blank walls anymore. i'm thinking a soft yellow color will do just fine," she finishes. i bob my mouth like a fish and can only nod my head at her.

before i go to leave the room, she makes one more request, "leave the orange juice?” there is the smallest hint of a smile on her lips, and that’s enough for me.

edie's pov

when peter got back from the store, i had just finished the book i started last night. with no intention of sleeping, i pulled it out of the suitcase i had yet to unpack and got comfortable on the bed. just as i set it down, peter skid to a halt right outside my doorframe.

out of breath, he says, "i got two gallons of paint and a couple of brushes and those wheely things and...uh here." he holds the buckets of paint and bags out in front of him.

i smile at the boy. after last night's events, i've come to a conclusion; everything that happened up to that point was just a weird fluke in our friendship. all the strange feelings and awkward glances could be boiled down to one thing; us being alone in the compound. it was just hormonal teenage tendencies and it's truly nothing to worry about. every one of my feelings were just the result of built up emotions that showed themselves in weird ways. things can go back to normal now.

"thanks, pete. could you help me pull the bed away from the wall?" i chirp at him. for a second it seems like he's frozen in place, then a smile spreads across his face and he lets out a breathy little laugh.

"uh, yeah. of course." he replies and grasps the opposite side of the bed that i'm on. with a simple tug, the frame scrapes across the floor and comes to rest in the middle of the room. we both stand up straight and his eyes meet mine, he smiles wider.

"alrighty, let's get going then, yeah?" i huff out. with that, we each pour out paint into our respective pans and get to work. i take the south two walls and peter claims the north. i find myself enjoying the silence that falls between us.

every once in a while, i feel his eyes on me. i know when the other side of the room is completely silent, he's watching me. it doesn't bother me, i know he must feel bad about last night. that person wasn't peter and i know that. i just hope he'll forgive himself.

when i get to the parts of the wall i can't reach, i drag a stool in from the kitchen to stand on. unfortunately, it isn't enough height to allow me access to the top of the high ceiling. with a huff, i hop down and look around my room for something else to use. peter has turned his attention back to his side of the room and seems to be having a much easier time reaching the top, he’s much farther along than i am too.

after finding nothing else that could help, i climb back up on the stool and stand on my tiptoes, stretching as far as i can, giving me just enough height to get the job done. i smile at my victory and continue with a sense of pride. throughout this whole time, not one thought drifted to the scar on my side.

peter's pov

she looks beautiful, her frame stretching to reach the remaining white spots on the wall. i just finished the first coat on my side of the room when i set my paint roller down and stand back to admire her. the cotton fabric of her shirt is riding up her side, showing enough skin to let me see a part of her scar. i haven't seen it since it was first being mended back together by the fancy laser pen. it looks a lot better than it did, without the blood and all.

yet, it's still hard to look at. the line of it stretches along a good portion of her body. the marred skin still red and bruises are starting to form around the edges. my mind flashes back to the feeling of her in my arms when she collapsed, then to the sight of her in the tub. two contrasting events that made my feelings for her change.

edie's pov

"gotcha bitch!" i yell in triumph as i finally reach a part of the wall i was working on longer than i'd like to admit. the victory doesn't last long though as i survey the remaining sections of white. hiding my annoyance, i hop off the stool and move it to a new area, heart set on staying positive during these...trying times.

i'm back to painting for a few minutes and the other side of the room has gone silent again. i try to hide the small smirk that creeps along my lips, knowing what the silence entails. i know i vowed to forget everything that happened last night, but i'm growing to like the new attention from peter, whatever it may mean. i continue painting.

warm fingers brush against my exposed side and my body flinches at the contact, causing the wandering fingers to pull back. i squeeze my eyes shut and lower my hand holding the paintbrush. i don't want to turn my head. i don't want to move at all, but knowing the fingers belong to peter gives me a sense of relief, he's just curious. so i let him be.

peter slowly lifts my shirt ever so slightly and places one finger at the top of my scar, right under my ribcage. he drags it down along the jagged line, slow enough i'm not even sure it’s actually happening. his fingers feel nice on my hot skin, making my body shiver. he continues to run a single finger around the outline of the wound. every time he reaches my hip, his touch lingers just the tiniest bit longer.

this is okay. he's just curious. it isn't scary, it's...nice.

when he presses his lips to my skin, my heart explodes. i want to stop him, to tell him he doesn't have to do this. he doesn't have to touch me this way. i don't want him to touch me this way.

oh, but that would be a lie.

"peter..." i whisper, hands shaking along with my legs that still stand on the stool.

he trails soft, wet kisses down my side and hums a 'yes' at the sound of his name. each kiss is placed delicately on the edge of the scar, following the sharp line of it.

"what are you...?" i trail off when he lets out a soft hush between kisses. my head is reeling and my heart is beating faster than i ever thought possible. once peter reaches my hip, i force myself to slowly turn my body towards him. he's now eye level with my torso and i tentatively slide my fingers through his soft hair. he tilts his head up to look at me with his warm brown eyes. he wraps his arms around my body hesitantly and rests his hands on the small of my back.

"hi." he whispers sheepishly.

i let out a sound that can only be described as a sad laugh that got caught in my throat. i'm simply beyond words as i just stare down at the sweet boy with the widest, brightest smile i can manage. he breaks our gaze and peppers more kisses across my stomach. his touch is so gentle, so soft and careful.

"so so beautiful," he mumbles each word between every perfectly placed kiss. his lips linger in all the right spots, igniting a fire in my belly- among other places. the feeling is intoxicating. he is intoxicating. i want more. more of him and his sweet words.

i grab his fingers and thread them through my own. his lips break away from my skin and he peers up at me again, the smallest smile on his face. he takes my hands and wraps them around his neck, then he does something that throws me off my feet, literally. his hands slide down my body to take hold of my thighs and with one quick motions he lifts my feet off of the stool, making a gasp rise from my throat. peter lowers me down to his level and taps my legs with his fingers, whispering a soft come here, prompting me to wrap them around his waist.

i suck in a deep breath, staring into his dark eyes, "what is going on?" i ask in disbelief. he lets out a deep chuckle and kisses my forehead as he simply shakes his head. i furrow my brows at him.

he carries me over to the bed, still in the middle of the room and sits down on the edge, holding me tight in his lap. i'm in awe at his strength. and the way he treats me like the most precious thing in the world. peter leans forward and rests his forehead against mine. after a few long seconds, he whispers gentle words against my lips,

“i’ve wanted to do this ever since we got to this stupid compound.”

|| taglist; @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @whycantileaveyou @lovewolfspirit @kitykatnumber

let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist :))

[harryfreakinstyles2]

Torn (Part 5) H.S.

“What the hell are you doing here?" I whisper. My pulse instantly starts to race, partially from his presence and partially from the terror of being in a room with him and Julie at the same time.

"Julie invited me yesterday. I figured the offer still stood. And I figured you wouldn't invite me." He whispers back eyeing me down. He definitely did not like my reaction to his presence.

"You need to leave now. This is a bad idea." I whisper. I look behind me nervous but the view of the front door is just out of sight from the kitchen wall blocking the living room. Putting my hand on his chest I push him back out the front door. Hoping he will not fight me on this and just leave.

"No, I'm not leaving. We're friends now, so what's the problem?" He says testing me and even though his voice sends a shiver up my spine I want to kick him in the shin for being an ass right now. He leans in even closer so he is only inches away waiting for my response. My pulse starts racing and I hope he doesn't notice. God this boy is stubborn.

My breathing has become rapid and uneven. I notice my hand is still on his chest when I feel his heart start beating faster. I pull away quickly embarrassed I take a step away from him to help clear my head.

"Who is it, Allie?!" Julie yells from the living room making me jump slightly.

"Fine." I say coldly to him not wanting to argue with him when everyone is right inside and turn back into the apartment. I can feel him following close behind me. Why is he doing this to me? Why does he have to make this harder for me. It's like he enjoys watching me suffer.

"Look who's here," I say with a fake cheerful voice to the group as I walk back into the living room and take my seat on the floor.

"Harry!!" Julie says in her high-pitched squealing tone making my ears ring slightly.

"Hey! You guys don't mind if I join you right?" Harry responds casually while avoiding the scowl on my face.

"Of course not! But you'll have to sit on the floor with Allie because we are out of seats," Julie informs him with a smile and my body tenses. What the hell I figured at least she would have him sit with her. This just keeps getting worse.

I watch him as he slips his shoes off and makes his way towards me. He is trying to hide his delight, but I can see his smile forming which both irritates me and sends another chill up my spine at the same time. He purposely sits closer to me than necessary but luckily no one else notices. He is wearing a light grey hoodie and his usual black skinny jeans and looking so good it makes me want to scream. I start eating handfuls of my popcorn to keep myself occupied as I try not to glare at his cheerful attitude.

After a few minutes of Dylan arguing with Maya and Julie about what movie to watch the girls finally win with the classic "The Notebook" as their choice movie of the night. I have avoided speaking since I sat back down not wanting to bring attention to myself and not being able to focus on anything other than the inch of space that separates my body from Harry's. I keep my legs crossed Indian style with my popcorn in my lap trying to keep my distance. Julie finally gets up and starts the movie and then continues to shut off every light in the entire living room. And I sigh annoyed that I can't seem to catch a break tonight.

The first thirty minutes of the movie roll by without Harry moving an inch. He is completely focused on the movie. Every now and then a slight laugh escapes his perfectly shaped lips and I can't help but smile to myself even though I am still pissed at him for coming here in the first place. Realizing that Harry seems to be on good behavior tonight and is done torturing me I finally start to relax. With my popcorn gone I lean over and place the bowl on the floor next to me as I stretch my legs out in front of me. I grab my blanket spreading it out over of me as I relax back against the couch. I can see Harry looking at me from the corner of my eye. I turn to glare at him again and he makes a gesture for me to share my blanket with him. I sigh reluctantly and hand him the edge of the blanket closest to him. Pulling the blanket over his legs he takes the opportunity to close the inch of space between us. Our legs are flush against each other and our shoulders are touching, my body instantly starts to react to his as my pulse brings to race, and I can feel every inch where his body touches mine and I feel like I am on fire. I try not to move so he won't notice the effect he has on me. I casually look behind me and both Julie and Dylan are passed out leaning on Maya who is still eating a bowl of chips. Luckily both her and Sam are so focused on the movie they don't seem to notice Harry and I sitting so close together on the floor. I turn back around focusing my attention back on the movie when I feel Harry's fingertips rest just above my knee under the blanket. My eyes widen, and I do not dare to pull them away from the movie. Slowly his fingertips start to trail up my thigh and in this moment I am so happy I decided to wear pants instead of pajama shorts, so he cannot feel the goosebumps that follow the path of his touch. His slow pace is torture as my heart pounds and my breathing uneven with every inch he moves up my thigh my body tingles more. I know I should move or swat his hand away but I can't. I flinch startled from a loud crunch of Maya eating her chips behind me snapping me back to reality. Remembering the room full of people and my best friend behind me I rush to my feet to create as much space between Harry and I as I can.

"I'm getting some more popcorn!" I announce much too loud not caring as I break the silence in the room and startle everyone on the couch. I head for the kitchen stepping over Harry's long legs carefully while I glare at his barely visible face in the darkness. I see his huge grin on his face knowing he had his intended effect on me.

I stick the popcorn in the microwave and place my hands flat against the counter trying to return my breathing to normal. The effect he has on me makes me feel like I could burst into flames every time he looks at me. It has been so long since I have felt this way about anyone I almost forgot what it was like. I hear someone enter the kitchen behind me but I don't turn around. He is fucking killing me.

"Hey Allie," I hear a soft voice say but not the one I expected.

"Hey! What's up?" I respond turning around surprised to find Sam standing in front of me.

"Umm, I know this is random but I was just wondering if you had any plans this coming Friday night?" He asks while staring at the floor his usual awkwardness heightened tonight.

Right now?! You have to be kidding me! I know exactly where this is going and I panic not wanting to answer his question. But maybe this is good. Maybe this is exactly what I need. Maybe this will make Harry stop his merciless taunting.

"Uhh, I work in the morning but besides that, I'm free," I say casually bracing myself for his response.

"Is there any chance you would like to go out on Friday? With me?" Sam mutters too fast while still looking at the floor he says exactly what I have been anticipating for months. Why he waited until now when things are complicated I have no idea. But things are not complicated really I realize. So despite the gorgeous guy who just had me almost hyperventilating sitting on my living room floor two minutes ago I answer with a simple, "That sounds great."

My answer takes him by surprise and his head snaps up so fast I feel like he may have whiplash but a smile takes over his entire face and I cannot help but smile back.

"Awesome! I'll text you this week and we can make a plan," he tries to say casually but I can practically feel his excitement.

"Sounds good," I answer with a smile.

He turns and walks into the bathroom across from the kitchen and I sink back against the counter once again and sigh deeply. This is not where I saw tonight going. The microwave beeps and I grab my popcorn pouring it into the bowl and go to head back into the living room to face Harry again. Turning to leave I nearly smack right into him. He looks pissed but there is also a sadness in his eyes that I have not seen before and it cuts me to my core. His mood has shifted from five minutes ago and I can feel the tension between us. He doesn't say a word and I know he heard Sam and I's conversation. I rack my brain to find something to say to him but it's blank. I don't have any reason to need to explain anything to him but I still feel like I need to.

"Harry," I say reaching my hand out to touch him but he pulls away quickly.

He turns walking away from me and I don't say a word as I follow him back to the living room. What is there to say. I watch helplessly as he puts on his shoes and walks right past me and out the door without a word. I feel like my head is spinning so much has happened in the last ten minutes I can't think straight. I don't know why he is so pissed. Nothing is going on between us. Besides him torturing me. He has no reason to be upset that I am going on a date with Sam. But I think he is and it confuses the hell out of me.

"Is he okay?" Julie says looking at me confused by the strange scene that just unfolded.

"Yeah, he said something about not feeling well and that he has to be up early for work so he decided to head home I guess," I say shrugging my shoulders as I lie to her with ease. I realize I don't even know what he does for work. My stomach turns with guilt for lying to Julie again but I couldn't explain what just happened even if I wanted to.

Sam smiles at me as I walk back to my spot on the floor and take a seat, but I pretend not to see it because I can't return it right now. I feel utterly helpless and like a complete jerk. Why didn't I say anything. And why should I feel guilty, it is not like I am cheating on him. We are not even together. We barely know each other. But for some reason I can not focus on the last bit of the movie with Harry's sad eyes stuck in my head. Not be able to take it any longer I pull out my phone.

Me: "Can we talk? Please!" I text Harry and wait for a reply.

He doesn't have a reason to be mad at me when I told him we could only be friends. He knows that is all I can offer him because of Julie. But it still does not stop me from feeling guilty and shattered by the look on his face when he left. I continue to check my phone every two minutes for the remainder of the movie but Harry never texts me back and the pit in my stomach keeps growing. Everyone gets up starting to chat when the movie finally finishes, but I feel even less like talking than I did before.

"I am heading to bed. Night everyone," I say to the group not waiting for a response and walk into my room and shut the door.

Collapsing on the bed with a sigh. I pull up Harry's contact on my phone, his name just the smirking emoji. I thought it suited him. I put it just in case someone saw him pop up on my phone. By someone I mean Julie. I hit the call button this time and listen to the ringing through the little speaker. It rings again and again until it finally gets to the automated voicemail.

"Ughhhh!" I groan loudly. I wish I would have said something to him. Anything would have been better than this.

Accepting that I will not be hearing from him tonight I put my phone on my nightstand and grab my planner to make sure I did all my homework that's due for class tomorrow before sleep finally takes over.

[a-tale-of-legends]

So I caught myself some new members in my Inclement Emerald run which includes a Vulpix( which I just evolved into a Ninetales), a medicham( a Pokemon I've been looking forward to catching and using on my main team) and a shuppet now Bannette. Here's the cool stuff:

Banette is a Ghost/Normal type

Ninetales is a Fire/Fairy type

Medicham is medicham. I'm just very excited to use medicham for the first time.

Now, if you remember, I mentioned that I had a Flareon in my team, right? I am currently conflicted. In terms of bulk and coverage, the Ninetales wins. Especially with that Fire/Fairy combo. But also, Flareon( at least this version of Flareon) has not disappointed me yet. The only thing that's bothering me is how I think he's starting to lag behind. He's good, in this game, and has been a create backup for when almost all my team members are wiped out and need a good physical attacker.

I guess I'll explain the team so far, and what they're role is:

Vivian, Sceptile: Vivian is arguably the least standout of the bunch, with the expectation of her speed. She is a speed demon. She has a jolly nature, which isn't good for Sceptiles cause they're mostly special attackers, but I seem to have a bias towards her and jolly nature's in general, so I'm not changing it. She can mega evolve, but I like her with just a miracle seed to do some damage. Oh and she's a grass/ dragon types in this game ( naturally without mega evolution)

Gresh, Mawile: Can mega evolve and physical tank. Has a bold nature too. Handles a lot of fights on his own sometimes, and a great iron defense, baton passer.

Mirage, Flygon: Can also mega evolve ( yes, Flygon can mega evolve in this rom!!!). Has an ability called Sand Song when she does mega evolve, which is bascically liquid voice but ground. This is amazing with Boomburst. But she's already a beast without mega evolution, the only thing holding her back is her special defense ( she has a lax nature, but after Rin, I think it's a good trade off). She mostly used physical attacks, but Boomburst hits hard if needed.

Mandy, Manectric: Oh boy. Funny story, I was not at all planning on using a Manectric for this playthrough, but I was scared of Winona ( and for good reason), so I needed an electric type. And man, even after that, Mandy has been great. She's very fragile, low defenses, but she's fast and hits hard. Her attack stat isn't as great as, say, Jasper ( Flareon in question), but it's decent enough for her to use moves like crunch or psychic fang. She's the one that I was planning on replacing with the medicham, but I felt like I just had to mention her due to how amazing she's been.

Caspian, Milotic: Caspian is great. I love him. It made me realize how I've been using Milotic wrong. He can take hits very well, and leftover + recover means he's hard to kill. He has moonblast and ice beam for coverage. All around, he's great. He too can mega evolve into a water/fairy type, but I don't think I'll use it, since I like him the way he is ( unless the dragon elite 4 is a pain in the ass)

Now, in general, I switch around my party members accordingly to what seems fit. But with the exception of Mandy, the team above is one that I plan on using long term and for a while Jasper was part of that team. He was, after all, the speedy physical attacker. But he doesn't learn a lot of fire type moves, and while the option to gain different eeveelution moves is great ( he knows swords dance, foul play and extreme speed), his fire type moves are kinda eh. I know that a special move won't do him good ( he has an adamant nature and unlike Vivian, does not have a good special even without the nature). Then there's the Ninetales and Medicham- diverse fire type and a good physical attacker ( also Bannette, but shh).

I. Am. ✨ Conflicted ✨ on what to do here. I was thinking about changing Jasper to an Umbreon- another tank for the team, but I'm not sure.

Okay. Ramble over.