#(may: FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK)

[badbirchenergy]

Her opponent's warning does not go unnoticed, as the Hoennite side-steps quickly out of the way of the incoming wave. It was only a matter of time before Gold's Feraligatr would turn the tide of the match, in a literal sense, by utilizing the vast depths surrounding the sandbar. Despite the jab she feels in her heart for Vanhi, May flashes her opponent a wicked grin—things are getting interesting.

Vanhi, still reeling from the impact caused by his opponent's ambush, is unable to dodge the Surf as it towers above and soon crashes upon him. The critical hit is disorienting enough to rattle the Blaziken's senses, causing him to completely lose track of the ferocious reptile in pursuit of him. May scans along the coast, and it is evident quickly that Mojo's brutal assault is far from over.

Beyond the shallows, a violent vortex soon appears, surging with frightful intensity. The waters of the Surf attack are sucked into its voracious grip, Vanhi being pulled along with it. As he loses control of his body entirely, the Blaziken is ripped from the sands and soon finds himself submerged within the Feraligatr's deadly trap.

No matter Van's unparalleled strength, the position he's now in is bad—very bad. May is at a loss for words as she struggles to conjure a command that will free her ace from his opponent's clutches; Gold has managed to gain the upper hand, indeed, so she'd need to be just as strategic to gain it back.

Her starter's bloodcurdling cry elevates over the massive roar of the whirlpool, breaking her from her thoughts—it's now or never, lest her chances of victory go under quite like Vanhi.

She builds the command from deep within her chest, voice booming:

"High Jump Kick!"

Mojo closes in, jaws agape, though May's call reaches the Blaziken above the chaos unfurling. His muscles tighten, regaining their agency enough for him to remain stable beneath the water's surface. With eyes burning, Vanhi finally catches a glimpse of Mojo as the colossal Feraligatr torrents up from the depths—it'd be a risk, trying to use the other beast as a launchpad to free himself from the maelstrom's grip.

But, there genuinely seems to be no other choice.

Swiveling around in acrobatic motion, Vanhi's blood rushes like dynamite through his legs to the soles of his taloned heels. Aiming for the snarling beast, he lunges feet-first within the whirlpool with full intention of landing a hit strong enough to catapult himself from the deep. However, cursed with vision blurred amidst the swirling vortex, his aim slips at the very last, crucial moment—instead of meeting the skull of the Feraligatr, the struggling dual-type's left leg finds itself ensnared between rows of razor-sharp fangs that rip past feather and right into flesh.

Despite not seeing what's unfolding beneath the waves, her ace's agonizing cry is enough to tell May they've missed their chance. "Fuck."

Gold can't help but admire May's reflexes in giving a command like that, and Vanhi's for executing it. His eyes aren't tricking him either - the Blaziken's reactions are steadily getting faster. Some Pokemon had the ability to gradually increase their speed, didn't they? It made sense if Vanhi did too.

Of course, that made Gold's job harder. Even if Vanhi wasn't hitting Mojo for type advantage, being able to keep out of reach and steadily wear him down was just as effective here. As bull-headed as the Feraligatr was, smashing through a makeshift wall of concrete hadn't done him any favors. Blood trickled from a gash above his eyes where a shard had cut between the scales.

So then, that meant Gold had to work with what he could do. He needed to get the Blaziken off its feet and, ideally, into the ocean.

"Surf!" Gold swipes a hand to May (a motion to move) and then catches Mojo's gaze to flick his hand towards the ocean.

Mojo lumbers a few steps into the shallows and swipes his tail hard. The wave it creates is far too large to be natural; a huge rolling tidal wave of water that threatens to swamp the Blaziken entirely as it rolls right up the beach, raging past May - and, coincidentally, briefly blocking the Feraligatr from view of both trainer and Pokemon alike.

Mojo takes the time to dive into the ocean, slipping under the waters and surging up the side of the island. He's much faster in water than on land and Gold knows May's realized the Feraligatr isn't there anymore. He doesn't quite see what the Blaziken does to blow a hole through the surf but the water surges past it, flooding the small forest and wetting the sand.

Which is what Gold had hoped.

"Hyper Whirlpool!" He yells. Mojo, still unseen beneath the waves, causes the ocean to rage into a swirling vortex. Its as violent as a storm, sucking the water out as though the start of a Tsunami - including the surf that was just starting to settle. Gold breaks into a grin as the water wraps around the Blaziken's ankles in the ensuring suction and yanks the towering bird off its feet, dragging it out into the shallows and then further, just where it gets deep enough for the monster to be hiding.

Mojo breaks from beneath the whirlpool towards Vanhi, jaws open into a savage void of teeth.

[l1tw1ck]

i found your writing through the mike schmidt x male reader tag and absolutely adore it! i will never write him cis ever (/lh), that man is trans and autistic as hell (/pos).

may i request mike getting his tdick sucked and his cunt eaten out? i prescribe him stress relief by multiple intense orgasms until he's completely spent and feeling nothing but peace and bliss. it's what he deserves <3

bottom!ftm michael x top reader

trans autistic mike is So real

cw: afab language, cunnilingus, squirting

"You deserve this, you've worked hard this week." You say softly, in between Michael's bare thighs. You press gentle kisses all over his plush flesh. "Just relax and let me take care of you, okay?"

Mike whimpers in response, twitching just because of your proximity to his cunt. He hasn't had sex thanks to his job and the most he's done to make up for it is humping his own arm or a pillow before falling asleep. He sucks in a breath as you kiss his dick, a burst of electricity and pleasure running through him. You drag your tongue up his pussy and lap at it, giving him lots of love with your tongue. Mike moans your name shakily and leans back. He blinks rapidly, his eyes staring straight at the ceiling as you bring him closer to his climax. "Fu- fuck-" He gasps. You dip your tongue inside him, searching around his insides as your fingers delicately rub his precious and super sensitive t-dick. "Ohmygod~" Mike cries out. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-"

One of the reasons you're able to focus entirely on Mike's pleasure and ignore your aching dick is the words and sounds that come out of his mouth. Just hearing how good you're making him feel encourages you.

"'M gonna- gonna-" He shakes almost violently, squirt splashing all over your face. His breathing increases rapidly as he goes through the aftershocks of squirting for the first time in two weeks. You lick up any slick that made it on his legs and scoop up a bit more from his cunt before pulling away, just what he likes you to do.

[cowpokeomens]

noah is into a nice messy making out sesh. i’m talking he clashes his teeth into yours but doesn’t care one bit. spit down your chin and up your nose. tryna suck your tongue out your mouth. tongue fucking you. biting a wee bit too hard on your lips that it leads to bleeding but he licks that up no bother. all whilst moaning unnecessarily loud, running his hands all over your body, groping around and digging his nails into your skin. he’ll also pull on your hair to guide you in the direction he wants you before he tugs your head back to go to town on your neck :)

OKAY YEAH???? WAHT PROMPTED THIS ANON???

Okay yeah so. Holy shit where do I begin. So:

• Noah

Yup!

Okay seriously like he’s sooooooo fucking demanding I swear if he wasn’t 7ft tall we would all just call it like it is and say he’s a brat, anyways- so demanding. Doesn’t bother asking for what he wants, just takes it. Very into the animalistic desire you two have for each other. Especially in the first few months of your relationship, whatever that relationship may be. Like when he’s horny he’s on a one track mind of fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck so there’s no such thing as a cute smooch here and there, he’s grabbing you by your hair in the middle of movie night and dragging you into his lap to suck your face off. Would grip your waist hard enough to leave bruises, presses his fingers into said bruises for weeks. It takes .02 seconds for him to stiffen up with you in his lap, and then he’s grinding into you so aggressively that he almost bucks you off his lap completely. What the fuck. I’m never going to be okay again.

[queenklu]

Seeing AI discourse about writing college papers reminded me of the time I got Called In To A Professor's Office over a paper I wrote that he thought was plagiarized.

See, the thing I had realized about myself by that point was that I am...VERY BAD....at reading the assigned books. I have every intention of doing so while in class, but the instant I'm out of class the book no longer exists (what adhd). So by the end of the year I would always wind up getting screwed over in the book buy-back with books I'd literally never cracked the spine on, because it turned out speed-reading sparknotes could get me through class discussion and I'd developed a System(TM) for panic-writing an essay the night before.

This system was: find an online pdf of the book. Skim. Read summaries. Pull quotes from pdf. Bullshit. Estimate the page number for any citations because no one actually checks those, and use the publication data from the syllabus for the works cited. This works Very Well if you are, like me, a sarcastic asshole who knows teachers want to read an entertaining essay instead of yet another regurgitation of whatever sounds academically "best."

So here's this history class, which actually turns out to be an english class in disguise, and we are told to read and write an essay on The First Autobiography Ever Written in the English Language, which just so happens to be about a lady who had FOURTEEN kids, suffered a psychotic break, and spent the rest of her life campaigning to become a saint.

It's called The Book of Margery Kempe. I cannot express to you how smug I am to find a pdf of the exact same copy we'd been told to buy, down to the same publishing house and year of publication. I won't even have to bullshit page numbers.

...It's written in Middle English.

Here begynnyth a schort tretys and a comfortabyl for synful wrecchys, wherin thei may have gret solas and comfort to hem and undyrstondyn the hy and unspecabyl mercy of ower sovereyn Savyowr Cryst Jhesu, whos name be worschepd and magnyfyed wythowten ende, that now in ower days to us unworthy deyneth to exercysen hys nobeley and hys goodnesse....

This is fine, College!me thinks. A little tedious, but clearly the entire class has successfully done the reading enough to talk about it, so it must be doable. They probably had discussions about the language and I forgot to pay attention.

So I write the essay, pulling quotes from this middle english pdf that I can only half read, but that I can certainly form opinions about. Is it my best essay? No. Is it snarky? Yes. Is it in MLA format? That's mostly what they'll be checking for.

Then the Professor pulls me aside after class and asks to speak with me in his office. I have another class that I have to go to, and because I'm commuting in to college I won't be back on campus until two days later; he says that's fine, and all of this is settled and we've parted ways before it hits me how fucking fucked I am.

It must be the book.

He's going to call me out on not buying the book.

Can he tell I didn't read the book?

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

And I have two days to stew in it.

By the time our meeting rolls around I am a Mess. He is going to fail me. I am going to die. If I open my mouth at all I will burst into tears. Perhaps there is the slimmest chance if I act Normal this will be fine??????

P: So I read your essay...

Me: *using my Normal face* ⊙.☉

P: ...and I'm just wondering...

Me: ⊙.☉'

P: ...where you got the quotes?

Me: ⊙.☉'''

P: .....because the version of the book we read....isn't in Middle English.

Me: ⊙.☉??????????

P: I actually thought you might have plagiarized it--

Me: ⊙.☉!!!!!!!

P:--but to be honest it's written so entirely in your style that it's impossible this essay is plagiarized.

Me: ........⊙.☉.....

P: .... Anyway.

P: Just wanted to chat.

P: Uh. You're free to go.

Me:

HERE'S THE LESSONS LEARNED:

Just buy the book Cite the pdf. The professors Do Not Care how you've read the book as long as they can plausibly believe you've read it.

Just read the book Listen. I wasn't going to get anywhere near an ADHD diagnosis until my 30s. And if they can't tell you didn't read the book, then is it really the same as not reading the book? I think Margery would agree you gotta make some shit up to get anywhere in life.

Being a sarcastic asshole in my academic papers saved me from a plagiarism charge.

[prettyboypistol]

Can you do the tf2 mercs walking on their crush (m!reader) masturbating

includes scout, medic, spy, sniper, engi, demoman, heavy, soldier

minors dni

Scout

Oh. God.

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

Immediately slams the door with a loud "SORRY"

thinks he has a heart attack, but honestly? he was okay to die happy then and there.

Scout's always been a bit of a voyeur anyway, and just accidentally bursting in to see his totally-not man crush jerking it? Jeremy nearly jumped into bed too.

the image will randomly appear in his mind over the next few weeks, causing his face to burn bright red for a moment.

He can't look you in the eye for about a week, let alone talk to you.

the memory totally locks into his jerk it material for the next week.

Medic

honestly? mans would probably just continue on about what he was doing. crush or not, medic is a busybody.

"Oh no no, I don't mind, anyway I've been looking for my forceps and I was here last-"

Internally screaming fr

totally gossips to Archimedes

Ludwig makes sly comments after catching you about how your stress levels seem lower.

may or may not brush up on your thighs a little more during medical procedures

Asks to inspect your dick fr

Sniper

"Whoops, sorry mate, didn't know." Externally as he shuts the door

AAAAAAAAAA FUCK FUCK FUCK internally

Warns other people not to bother you, and if someone's insistent, he shuts them down with an evil look in his eye. "I said he's busy."

He thinks the little yelp you let out was too fucking cute.

Whenever he thinks about it, he hides his face in his hat

He feels like such a gross pervert because he's aroused by seeing you, especially since it was an accident.

doesn't talk to you ever again but you have a much taller and deadlier shadow that follows you. Not that you mind or anything, but a "hi" would be nice.

Demoman

"Nice cock, mind if we compare?"

Very easygoing, might even slip in a coy "aww, without me?" to ease the tension.

He still asks the question he had tho, not really bothered by the situation

"Eh, we all jerk off. It's not a big deal"

Still shuts the door after you throw a pillow at him as he laughs

as soon as the door shuts, his brain finally comes back online.

Oh.

OH SHIT.

Tavish teases you constantly after, maybe using the accident to drop a few sly flirty lines your way.

Heavy

makes fun of your dick size on reflex. sorry i dont make the rules.

"I'll show you a man's cock!" energy, but still respects your dignity and leaves you to yourself.

assures you that it's all natural, and that every man gets horny.

Yes, even him. Especially after he saw what you looked like.

The way your face turned red and you yanked the blankets up, god, he was an awful person.

loudly clears his throat before he leaves, but the blush is still able to be seen.

you can see the tent in his pants, poor man couldn't hide it if he tried.

Engi

he didn't mean to, really! He just wanted to see if you were still interested in weapon upgrades!

He just... froze. You couldn't tell exactly where he was staring, but he was definitely staring at you. You shout at him to leave when his brain finally starts working again

"oh my god I'm so sorry I'll leave-" SLAM

absolutely tries to block out the memory and shames himself for being a peeping tom and refuses to touch himself to the thought.

You get a lot of gifts at your room for your weapon

Soldier

Jane accidentally lets EVERYONE know about what you're doing.

"GOOD GOD PRIVATE, PUT YOUR DICK AWAY"

You tell him to shut up, he gets onto you about back talking a member of the army.

He realizes what you're doing immediately, but powers through the feeling of discomfort for the sake of "not having favorites"

you are absolutely his favorite though

Whenever Soldier decides to mess around, on those blue moon events, he thinks of you and your chest/torso. good god, you are hot.

[degeneracyismylegacy]

My room stinks of cat piss from being unable to buy litter for my cat.

I'm so fucking ashamed.

I just packed a box full of my books to sell because I desperately need money.

I try to write and put some zines together that maybe some people may buy but the constant anxiety because of money makes me almost incapable of making art.

I have enough writing for the bext issue but I have to draw and I struggle with it big time.

When I came home from my appointment with the social worker my partner was disappointed that she couldn't provide an urgent aid and was upset which brought me down a downard spiral of self hatred and split like they think that whatever I do is never fucking enough, even though I rationally KNOW they don't think that but still.

I just wish we could go shopping for cat litter, some more food and some beers to numb the pain but we can't and it'll be another excruciating week before we get our money that will disappear just as quickly as it did this month.

Fuck this life.

Fuck everything.

I'm exhausted of having to explain over and over and over again that working full time drives me into psychosis and have the social worker in front of me look worried because they KNOW that in this economy if I only work part-time I won't be able to live.

Might as well end it if it's how it's going to be at 26yo. Fuck that. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

[echantedtoon]

Demon Bride Ch17 Heart's Progression

"....Fuck-"

You blinked slightly caught off guard by the sudden cuss coming from the usually grumpy demon but didn't fight against him when he suddenly growled and pulled himself away from your touch. Narrowing his eyes as he did so, opened his mouth to speak- But paused and looked back up the hallway just as Kyogai's form quickly disappeared after Akaza. No doubt if he said anything that'll set Akaza off, the Upper Moon would come back and might not be so lenient a second time. So, for now, until he left Kaigaku decided it would be best to just remain calm which was hard to do when your otherwise unbeatable heart was pumping faster than a bumblebee's wing beats. He never felt something like...this. Something that thumped against his chest from the inside out. He HAS felt heartbeats before but mostly from prey. He's hunted deer and wild boar and felt their rapid heartbeats before he made them his dinner. His excellent hearing has heard the feared heartbeats of many humans when he scared them from the border. But having.. something. Like THAT. Inside your own chest. Feeling it from YOUR own flesh and blood. Actually hearing it pumping in excitement. From a simple touch. From Y/N no less!! It still thumped and it made him growl, black nails threatening to rip the black fabric as they dug over his heart. 

"Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck- Dammit! Shit!" He felt like he couldn't breath. The overwhelming scent of peach blossoms overwhelming his senses. He felt light headed. Vision literally blurring. "..Burns.."

"Kaigaku? Kaigaku, are you alright?" That voice sounded both as smooth as the most beautiful honey to him right now and too shrill for him to properly process.  

It was getting more difficult to breath. He stumbled two steps before having to lean against the wall in time for a soft but calloused hand to grab him by the shoulder and turn his body back. He was meant to snap at her, to intimidate her back into place as she should be before someone like him. But it never came- Lavender met blue. The pain of new feelings I'm his chest almost ceased. Throat felt as dry as sand and lungs felt as burnt as smoke.

"Kaigaku? You're starting to scare me. Why aren't you answering me?"

He had to leave-

"That-...You-....DONT THINK YOU DOING THIS CHANGES ANYTHING!!"She blinked. Good. Get her back so you can have space to leave. However..there was a strange throbbing in his shoulder when she removed her hand almost...as if...he wanted it there- "WE MAY BE EQUAL IN TERMS OF 'SAVING' BUT YOU STILL OWE ME!! I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR HELP ANYWAYS!!" 

With that he turned and stomped off towards the hallway leaving you there. Staring after him for a moment before frowning again. Well that was a fine way to treat someone after you risked your neck just to save his sorry arse from being turned into a puddle. Is a simple thank you too much to ask?  

"HEY!" You snapped back up when he called you from the other end of the hall and you scowled at him. What did he want now?  You waited for him to insult you from the stiff way he was standing there fists tightly balled but he just stared face red (he must really be mad for his face to have that color) and steamed before pointing at you. "JUST-...STOP FUCKING PUTTING YOURSELF INTO DUMB SITUATIONS LIKE A DAM IDIOT!! YOU'LL END UP WORSE THAN YOU WERE TO BEGIN WITH!! NEXT TIME I WONT BOTHER SAVING YOUR SORRY ASS!!"

...Was that supposed to be an insult or a concern??? 

You never got the chance to ask before he continued  to stomp off rather quickly away leaving you both dumbfounded and annoyed. Well screw him too! Last time you'd stand up for him. With a huff you just turned to walk back off towards the direction of the garden,Eri was probably wondering where you went leaving like that. Well it turned out she was still in the garden checking over the spider family, but you were surprised to see three other small pale white children joining the girls. The three new children were younger than the girls, boys, and all had a different pattern of red dots on their bodies. They all happily chewed and swallowed sugary candy alongside what looked like dumplings. You guessed they also belonged to the pale woman because they all looked the same.  Akaza and Kyogai were there too. Talking hushly with one another and not noticing your presence waiting by the doorway. Deciding it would be better to not interrupt them, you just stood there waiting for all to finish. The entire wait took maybe ten minutes before they were finally done, but it felt like forever,  before someone finally noticed you. Akaza was the first one when he just happened to look over and catch your eye....And that's when your earlier confusion from Kaigaku came back full swing. Because as soon as the two of you made eye contact, he ignored whatever Kyogai was pointing out to him towards the spider family and in long strides started towards you. Uh oh...Was he going to change his mind about flattening Kaigaku? Or were you in trouble now? But what happened next shocked you more than anything? As soon as Akaza was in front of you he bowed.

"Miss Y/n. I was just informed of your entire predicament. I want to personally apologize for everything you had to experience during your stay here. I will be sure to...'talk' with Enmu about his stunts next time I see him."

You noticed his hands balled into fists at that and winced. "Uh...Just tell him. Don't use your..force. please?"

The fists slowly relaxed as did Akaza with a smile. "If that's what you'd like then I'll respect your wishes. But I must commend your bravery in defended the widow from his perverted antics. I would have smashed his hand myself."

.....OH! THAT'S WHERE YOU REMEMBER FIRST SEEING THE LADY AND HER CHILDREN!! You erased it from most of your memory by now. But you nodded and smiled. "Yes but any decent person would've done it in my place. I really don't need any praise or thanks. I'm just glad they're alright."

Akaza smiled even wider, happier..As if he just found the most precious diamond in the world. Which confused you. "You are humble and very kind. The children have told me of your kindness." 

"Why wouldn't I show kindness? Everyone deserves it, especially those who come from difficult situations. You also are a very good person. I could tell from the moment you considered my words." Reaching up a hand, you gently pushed him up blinking. "So please don't bow yo me either." You smiled. "Let us just show each other mutual respect and promise to be good to one another."

"Be....g-good to each other?" Golden blue eyes widened. "Do you mean-"

"Yes. However I'm afraid I won't be here for  too much longer. Once Enmu returns my blood results, depending on what they say, I'm going to have to leave soon. I'm only waiting to recover and to see if I have anything harmful in my veins. I don't think I do however because surely if something bad were to happen it would've happened by now...." You blinked at the silence. "Mr. Akaza?"

Akaza stood there frozen staring distantly at nothing for a good while. "...It's been so long.."

"What?"

"I-Its been so long since..I mean I have gotten asked by some to be.."  He shook his head and looked at you more seriously. "But never by a human before ..At least not since ..her."

Huh? Really? No one's asked him to be friends before? But he seemed so nice. The poor man. You felt sorry for him especially knowing you'd be leaving soon anyways. You'd be his friend however even if it was only for a short amount of time. He however seemed very flabbergasted at you offering to be friends. His face by now was all red as he leaned back up and put a hand over his mouth in thought.

"This is so soon," he mumbled to himself, "Usually human women treat me like I'm an annoying authority figure  or a scary monster. I've never been-... By such a beautiful woman. I... I-Its all so sudden!" He looked back to you who blinked. "I... I'll need time to process everything b-but when I return we will speak more on this subject."

You smiled. "That's perfectly reasonable." Can't blame him. After all you both just met today. You couldn't be friends right away with a total stranger. You probably embarrassed him by accident. "What will you do now?" 

He coughed turning his red face away. "I-Ill be completing my mission and then processing your...sudden proposal of.." he coughed again.

Maybe you shouldn't have proposed the idea of you two being friends after all. "Oh. I'm sorry if that embarrassed you. You can just forget I even mentioned it if that helps-" 

"N-No. No. It's alright. I just need time. *Ahem* In the meantime I must bid you fair well. For now at least."

''Are you leaving now?"

"Yes. It's a many day journey and Id rather get it over with as soon as possible but fear not. I'll return within a few months time." 

Nodding you still smiled. "Well then I wish you all a safe journey. It'll be sad to see them all go but Im sure they'll be safe In your hands."

Akaza didn't say anything after that. Just nodding still read faced before bowing to you and spinning on his heel to face the small crowd. Kyogai noticed the movement and stopped talking with Eri to raise a brow at the flustered Upper Moon Three. Akaza barked out something in that noise based language of theirs and after a few exchanges between the many demons standing there, the entire spider family began to march. One after the other, following Akaza as he silently lead the way past you. Mother, daughters,and sons. Everyone of them disappearing after him never to be seen by you again. You waved good bye to them as they passed. It would be sad to see them go but it wasn't your choice. You just wished them the best. At last it was only you, Eri, and Kyogai who stood there silently. Eventually Kyogai was the one to break the silence as he cleared his throat gaining your attention quickly. Kyogai had an almost embarrassed look to his features. One powerful hand nervously fiddling with the drum sticking from his left shoulder as the other one still held the storybook ever so gently with care. Ah. Did he want to talk about the book? You hoped you weren't in any trouble. Kyogai was a gentleman but you would still apologize if you had too. After a moment he turned to Eri and said something you couldn't hear but she obeyed immediately, turning and running into the mansion past you so fast that it stunned you into pausing for a moment. ...You did not know she could be so fast. Your head spun after her disappearing form to stare. She was strong but it did not occure that she was also faster than any human. Demons really were powerful. It made you thankful that most demons you encountered were reasonable or in Kaigaku's case just all bark. Speaking of reasonable demons- Kyogais presence startled Y/n at first causing her to jump at the gentle tap someone gave to her shoulder and found herself in a large shadow which lead up to a pretty embarrassed looking demon. Kyogai could still only stare for a long moment before he gulped down whatever lump was in his throat and motioned with a hand. 

"Please. Follow me. We can t-talk I'm a more comfortable place. That... isn't so open."

You didn't argue. Not wanting to make this more awkward, you followed the taller demon back inside briefly turning to look over your shoulder wondering where Eri went- 

"What did Akaza ask you before he left?"

You blinked up at Kyogais back but the taller demon remained silent otherwise not even bothering to give you a second glance. "Oh. He asked me how long I was staying and apologized but that was about it. He seemed rather flustered."

He could understand why. In the small time he's known Y/n, she has proven herself to be very kind and considerate of others, others she hadn't even known for very long. Were all humans like her?...No. Obviously not. Her first reaction to meeting him for real was to pretend to be asleep but she hadn't reacted afterwards like he thought she would. She hadn't yelled at him or accused him of doing something as low as attempting to eat her or even blame him for what happened. If anything she was more concerned about him and the wounds he sustained which really weren't that extreme but she took it up on herself to try to treat him despite her own wounds, insisting that he gets treated first, asking how he felt, without even batting an eye at her own wounds. And how she complimented his work. His passion-

BU-BUMP!!

Ah. There was that feeling once again. That feeling that rocked his core and sent a happy feeling careening through his veins. One that he knew about, he had to. He studied a bit of romance in order to write it better in his books, and even asked some of his married servants about their experiences with it in order to get a more professional opinion. So yes. He KNEW about romance, but never had he himself experienced it before first hand. Until now at least. And with someone he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to. Hmm...This could indeed become a problem.

And he was sure he wasn't the only one. 

Akaza...

Kaigaku...

Sigh. This was complicated and tricky. Why do these things always happen to him?

"I see. That was kind of him. Akaza is a kinder demon despite his fierce stance." He meant that too. He'd much rather deal with Akaza than most of the upper moons. "...Will the study be fine to talk?"

"Huh? Oh. Yes. That'll be fine."

He didn't say anything after that but you still followed him all the way to where you first stopped Akaza from flattening Kaigaku, and all the way to a sliding door which he opened but paused and stepped aside to allow you to walk in first. With a smile you thanked him for the kind gesture, and walked with Kyogai following closely behind. The study wasn't anything very special looking. It looked like many of the other rooms you've seen. There was a slightly larger table stacked with neatly places papers and quills and ink stones, a few large shelves stacked with scrolls and other books, a large lantern above the desk, and a rather large comfy looking cushion for sitting on. Overall a regular room. The sound of a door sliding back shut made your attention slide back to Kyogai whom paused in the silence.  It was just the two of you alone here just standing in the silence. The book in his hands suddenly felt heavier than he remembered as he just stood there staring at her blinking, a strange smell of rose coming from nowhere. ...Before he shifted the book in his hands.

"So...You found my book," he eventually said unsure where to start.

"Actually a servant of yours did. They just thought I might've liked to read it." 

"Yes. Yes. Eri confirmed that. Um...I heard you were cut-" 

"Just a paper cut. It's even all healed now." Which was strange but you just shrugged it off. Two paper cuts in one week. How annoying. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Ah. Yes." Again he paused awkwardly not sure of what to say. "I..see you took great care in taking care of my book. Thank you."

"It was a good book. Why did you lose it?" 

"That might've been my fault unfortunately. I hid it in a place that wasn't such a good hiding spot. I'll be sure to fix that."

"Why would you hide it?" That confused you more. "It's such a beautiful work." Was suddenly trying to steal it?

"I..Well...No one really knows I do this." 

"Wait. Really?! But you're so good at it!," Y/n insisted catching him off guard.  "Eri thought so too and those children."

After a moment he smiled sadly and huffed a sad laugh. "Well..." Sad eyes glanced back to the book in his hands. "I'm afraid not everyone thinks that. Most demons do not think  writing is a very important thing to be bothered with."  

"Obviously it IS! If your Master gave you the job of Record Keeper then it he must see the importance in it! And who cares about what anyone else thinks? If it's important to you, shouldn't that be enough?" 

Again surprised he gave a small chuckle. "You certainly have bold opinions but my job and just writing as a hobby is very different. ..Always will be." With a wide reach the book was safely placed on a nearby shelf with many other books. "I've heard others opinions clearly."

"Who even told you that?!"

"My father." The sudden shock stunned you into silence not that he was surprised. "Yes. I was expecting that reaction. You don't have to worry about that. We are ...no longer in contact you could say. Even if I could do it professionally, I doubt many demons would wish to read it."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" He expected your outburst what he wasn't expecting was for you to grab his hand and making him whip to you suddenly. "I think it's beautiful. You have such talent! If your kind don't see that then you should find a human publisher. I'm sure lots of humans would love your work as much as I do. So...Please don't put yourself down." ...silence. "Kyogai?"

He just stood there for a long moment just...staring at her. His heart beats beating faster than a bumblebee's wing beats and soon his face turned red. Her eyes blinked beautifully as his own hand slowly curled around hers. She was...so tiny compared to him. Even Eri who was his youngest servant was taller than her. She seemed so fragile compared to others. It reminded him of how she was when she first ended up here. He didn't like that image. He didn't even like the what if thoughts of her being hurt again. She be much more safer somewhere like here. Where she could read all the time and-

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!!

He was quick to shake his head before letting go. "I appreciate all your words...Hm. But I will consider getting a human publisher." That sounded like an idea that might be worth exploring. If his writing was more appealing to humans than maybe he was aiming at the wrong audience to begin with...Speaking of humans that gave him an idea. "Would..you wish to read more of my writing?"

"You wrote more?!"

"I've lived for many years, I have more than one book." He turned back to the shelf and a hand reached up to slide over the many books...before stopping on one. This one had a red cover  and less thick than the last one you had  and you blinked when he held it out to you. "This one is complete and you should also enjoy it." 

...You slowly took it from him in awe. "I ..I Don't know what to say." You smiled. "Thank you."

Kyogai only nodded. "I know your stay is not permanent." Which is what hurt him the most he realized. "But if it helps to keep you entertained in your stay, then I will allow you to borrow it. All I ask is that you return it in the same condition as it was." 

"I'd love to. I'm sure Eri would love to hear it too..Speaking of which, I have no idea where she went."

"I asked her to bring us some lunch. You didn't eat yet haven't you?" 

"No. I haven't. You want me to eat with you?" 

"Ah! W-Well.." He cleared his throat before turning his head away. "I just figured since you were here you could have it. "

"Oh. Makes sense. Thank you!" 

He gulped and just nodded with a small smile. Maybe...This could work. Maybe she..and him...He might have found something he never knew he might want. He guessed only time could tell. 

A  pair of legs walked down the hallway rather quickly. A large tray in the hands of the person  who carried it all. One plate with just a plain meal from the kitchen and the other a slightly more fancier feast with fried meats and rice. Smelt delicious and made her hungry from just carrying it. 

"HEY! YOU THERE! STOP!" The legs holted at a familiar face stomping towards her and frowned. "Where the hell did you get that fried meat?!" 

"From the kitchen, Lord Kaigaku."

"I've been asking about that for days from your stupid chef! Is that mine? It's about time since all I've ever been eating is soup and sorry excuses for vegetables!" 

"I'm sorry, Sir. But this food is for Lord Kyogai and Mistress Y/n."

"....WHAT?!" 

"They're eating together...Sir."

"....Is. That. So?...*inhale* Well then. I have an order for YOU.  When dinner time comes around, you're to bring ME some of this meat and make sure you bring enough for that human too."

"S-Sir?"

"I plan on making a statement to them." 

*********************************************************************************************

Something's bubbling in one corner. Something stinks of chemicals on the desk. The world in here was dark save for random candle lights. What lied inside was not for the faint of heart and where brave men wouldn't even dare venture. So maybe that's why he did. He was considered insane after all. Insane enough to poke the sleeping dragon. He knew the monster inside knew of his presence long before he just blatantly opened the door with a loud creak.

"Why does Lower Moon One feel the need to enter a place he doesn't belong too?"

That voice. Beautifully malice. It sent a literal shiver through his spine just hearing it in front of his forbidden presence.

"Answer me."

"F-Forgive me.~ I lack the proper equipment for a job you tasked me with.~"

"And that would be?" 

"Blood work~ You ordered me to look over Kyogai's pitifully harmed human. Unfortunately she was almost perfectly fine. A small hairline fracture in the tibia right above the talus bone. It shouldn't last longer than a few weeks before she's all healed and frolicking on her merry way until her final breath. But I took a blood sample to be sure there isn't any nasty surprises in her system. The only problem is that I lack the equipment to run that type of testing, so I wondered if you'd be gracious enough to lend me yours just for this?"

A nasty pause to match the monochrome stare.

"...You enjoy sick pleasantries too much."

"I do.~ I just adore it so!~ *sigh* But I'm sure it's one of my best assets."

"About the only appealing thing about you."

"I thank you. Is that a yes?"

"...One test. Then you leave."

"Oh thank you.~ Shouldn't take more than a moment.~" 

With a hum he just waltzed himself inside. Judging by the smells, it seems the Master was testing his theory that by crossbreeding flowers he could make an antidote for Wysteria poisoning. If only. Perhaps with luck he'd be able to do something with it. Oh  well. The small pleased hums from him seemed to not detour his working progress. One suitcase on the table. One click of it opening. One deadly hand reaching inside.

Oh he so loved working this job. Red was always such a pretty color. "There you are.~"  It was mostly dried now but the glass was still stained with a few pretty droplets. He would've waited longer to test the blood sample but he was honestly too excited to wait longer. He had a month to report his findings back to Kyogai after all. "Let's see if you're hiding any nasties in there shall we?~"

The vile did not do anything but glisten in the dark as a smiling face touched the cork. A small tug was all that was needed to pull off the top. 

AND SENT THE WORLD ON FIRE-

IT BURNT HIS NOISE AND THROAT. THE AWFUL SENT OF WYSTERIA CLOGGED HIS VEINS AND SENT THE HANDS TO HIS MOUTH. HIS NOISE. HIS FACE. GLASS CLINKING PRETTILY AS IT ROLLED ACROSS A WOODEN SURFACE. NOT BLOOD. NOT BLOOD. POISON TO LUNGS. COUGHING AND HACKING DID NOTHING TO CLEAR HIS SINUSES...

It wasn't helping that there was soon after a strong hand around his throat and red eyes piercing his mind.

"Are you deliberately bringing me poison?"

"Not poi- *hack cough* poison. That's blood!"

"No blood can hold Wysteria. Human and demon wouldn't last long after eating it..."

There was something beyond the wysteria. Something...coppery.  A glint of red beyond the glass. Something...VERY VERY FAMILIAR TO HIM. SOME....P E R S O N. HE KNEW.

"....Where did you get this?''

"The h-huuuu- *gasp* -man."

"No human can smell that deeply of demon and wysteria."

Burning returned when a hand released it's captor.

"G I v e   I t  t o  m e. I have something I want to see."

[canyouhearthelight]

Leather Houses, Ch. 3

Chapter 3 of 4 for this one!

This chapter is significantly longer than the other two if my word count is correct. Which makes sense, because this is also the chapter that took the longest to write, despite @baelpenrose encouraging me every step of the way for several months. As before, a reminder that this is a horror story. This chapter in particular gets a bit squicky on the blood and medical stuff, so read at your own risk.

For those out there who don't vibe with this kind of fiction, never fear! One last chapter after this, and I have a short retelling of a fairy tale close at hand, and a cyberpunk story after that (hopefully).

So… My name is Joannette Perkins, I guess? Matt has called me Joanie since we were seven. That's one of the few things in this whole mess that hasn't changed.

I haven't heard from him in over a week. He went to this doctor we'd never heard of before, trying to get some answers about the latest change in our - my, I guess now? - reality. He was supposed to be back at my house by five-thirty at the latest. Six o'clock rolled by, then seven, with no Mike. I tried calling his phone, but it went to voicemail. When I called the doctor's office, they acted like they'd never heard of Mitch Anderson… despite the fact, earlier that same day, they had an entire file on him dating from his birth.  I hung up the phone before she finished his last name, jumped in my car, and hauled ass to his house.

Whatever higher power exists in the universe must have heard my desperate prayers, because the sight that greeted me when I pulled in the driveway I knew as well as my own tasted like salvation.  No feeling of dread, no nausea, no pulsing veins. Just plain, white siding. Black shutters.  Concrete porch, brick lined foundation.

Mitch’s house was just a house. He wasn’t erased. He may still be alive.

But that meant that the so-called-doctor’s office was lying.

I bolted into his house, key already in hand instead of digging it out of the potted plant. Slamming the door, I looked around. Nothing seemed out of place.  After a mad dash to his bedroom, I snatched his planner off the dresser.  Matt was always so meticulous, and I had never been more grateful.  I flicked through the pages, not trusting anything in the past - just because… Mitch? Matt? Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck why couldn’t I remember my best friend’s name? - was supposedly immune to what was going on, I didn’t trust it to spread to his planner.

Finally, I reached today’s date. DCol 3.5.  Sure enough, I recognized that shorthand, and it matched what I remembered. He promised to be back at my house by 5:30PM at the latest.  Here it was, creeping up on eight o’clock, and he was nowhere to be found.  The house wasn’t transformed, but I was also battling to remember his name.

Swearing soundly, I glanced around the room. Mail.  He kept mail somewhere… his desk.  Where was his desk?  Storming through the house, I finally found a small sideboard in the living room, stuffed with neatly-filed mail.

Michael Andrews.  Every last thing in that drawer was addressed to the one name I couldn’t think of.  Logically, this had to be the right name - why keep me from even guessing such a normal name, if it wasn’t the name I was looking for? I mean… Mitch? Has anyone actually known a guy named fucking Mitch? Not even ‘Mitchell’. Just…. Mitch.

I scrambled to look at the messages in my phone.  To only mild chagrin, I saw they were nothing out of the ordinary.  Breakfast dates, good mornings and good nights, cutesy little nicknames and plans for weekend after weekend.   A romantic getaway coming up, to help ‘rekindle’ our relationship.

“Lazy fucks,” I muttered.  The only fight Mike and I ever had was over who was taking Amanda Bradford to prom.  I punched him because he took her, he hit me back because I hooked up with her in the limo.

We both dumped her, our black eyes and broken hearts a matched set. Mike and I were platonic soul mates, and how dare she do that to us?  We also both casually ignored the fact that our friendship was likely the reason we were both single. Codependency? Never met her. Anyway.  It was very clear that whoever was behind this didn’t do their homework.  Yet another piece of information we - I - could use against Them: They were fallible.  Anything that made mistakes could be beaten.

In the end, I tucked Mike’s planner under my arm and headed back to my house to plot my next move, along with anything I knew to be accurate that I thought may help me - plus his phonebook, which was currently so thin it did nothing to level his table anymore.  My biggest concern was the difficulty I had in remembering his name.  Every other detail was crisp and clear, but the name kept getting garbled.  Had they realized they couldn’t just erase people without either of us noticing?  Were they still able to mislead me, so I couldn’t ask around about him?

For the last seven days, I had done everything I could think of to find out where Mike vanished to.  He obviously didn’t disappear in the same way everyone else in town had, since his house was still just a house when I drove by twice a day to collect his mail. Calling the ‘doctor’ with the right name didn’t help, either, since it seemed he didn’t put me down as his emergency contact.  I called bullshit every time, since he had no living family and I would have been his emergency contact even if there wasn’t some fake hot-and-heavy relationship dangling in the new background.  I even drove past the address for ‘Doctor Collins’ several times, and the building looked… boring.  Like a normal medical practice.

Except that Sanderson had never had a doctor’s practice in town.  We had always driven over to Hendrix for that.

Today was the day I planned to walk into that clinic and find out exactly what happened to Mike.  A week was past, no word of him, plus more and more people were disappearing around town and leaving those horrid leather buildings. Yet his house still stood, as though he just stepped out for a minute. As reassuring as the sight was, it seemed an offense in the face of everything else going on - a sick taunt from an unknown player.  I vacillated between relief and revulsion every time I drove by, but didn’t dare park in his driveway.

Instead, I decided to lay low at my own house and get what little rest I could before what I had planned for tonight. As much as my conscience told me I should be seen around town and try to act normal, another part of me couldn’t stand to be reminded of the nightmarish ghost town I lived in now.

As hard as it was to believe, I managed to doze off into fitful sleep at some point. When I woke up, it was dark outside and the clock read nine at night. I shook the sleep out of my head and picked up the planner on my bedside table. 

DCol 3.5

Right. “Doctor” Collins’ clinic, looking for Mike.  I pulled my tennis shoes on and dug a permanent marker out of the kitchen junk drawer.  In the largest letters I could manage, I scrawled “Don’t Sleep” on the back of my forearm, and “Save Mike” on the inside.  The fog was already trying to descend and push him out, fighting back with every letter of his name that I managed to write. In the end, I was breathing heavily and leaning against my counters. It took a few minutes to catch my breath, but eventually I stood up and was brushing my hair out of my face when something caught my eye.

Save Mike.

At least it works, I realized guiltily. I made sure to keep my arm in my field of vision as I looked up the doctor’s office and set the GPS on my phone to take me there. With the nagging voice coming from my pocket, I grabbed my keys and climbed in the car.  It took several wrong turns and a strong reminder not to throw my phone out of the window, but I eventually pulled up outside the nondescript clinic, squinting against the darkness.

I glanced around and saw no other vehicles at the clinic or even on the street nearby. Made sense, I supposed - whatever weird shit they were doing here, witnesses were probably a bad idea.  I was pretty sure that walking in the front door was still an awful idea, so I slowly made my way around the building looking for another entrance.  There had to be one for deliveries, ri - 

Bingo. Ugly standard door with a deadbolt, meet girl with a juvie rap sheet shorter than it probably should be. It took long enough to make me mad at myself, but I managed to get both locks open.  I held my breath and screwed my eyes shut, throwing a silent prayer to anything listening that the alarm wouldn’t be armed.

Apparently the right person heard, because the only sound was the creak of the door hinges and my heart thundering in my ears.  Not giving it a chance to catch up, I darted inside and made sure to lock the door behind me - if nothing else, it would hopefully slow someone down if I got caught.  Unfortunately, that left me in a dark, unlit hallway without even a moon to shine in.

I patiently stood, chanting “Save Mike, Save Mike, Save Mike” over and over while I waited for my eyes to adjust.  The words had started to lose any sense of meaning by the time it occurred to me that I should have been able to see something by now.  Carefully, I lifted a shaking hand in front of my face.

I may as well have been blindfolded. I blinked hard a couple of times to confirm that my eyes were, in fact, open, and tried again. Nothing, and I had to suppress a shriek when I accidentally touched my own nose. A deep breath later I held my hand as far out in front of me as possible and started carefully inching forward. “Save Mike” I mouthed silently while I tried to think how far into the building the front desk would be.

When I was roughly where I estimated a door would be in a normal doctor’s office, I started waving my hand in the vicinity of the right height for a door handle.  My fingers only touched more air, so I slid forward slowly, thinking I may have been off by a couple feet.  Still nothing.

“Save Mike,” I whispered, trying to remind myself why I was in such terrifying circumstances.  I kept moving forward, step by step, fingers grasping for anything.  When I was roughly three feet past where the front door of the clinic should have been, I still hadn’t reached so much as a wall.

This is it, I thought. I’m in another nightmare, that has to be it. Trying to orient myself, I squatted down and placed my palm flat on a cool, slightly damp floor.

Don’t think about why it’s damp, I sang nervously in my head. Save Mike…

I inched my hands in the vicinity of where I was, keeping my hand on the floor.  It was much rougher than I expected. Nonetheless, I didn’t find anything in the area right around me.  I sat down, stretched one leg to my left and my right hand in the opposite direction.  I wasn’t tall by any means, but if I really was still in a hallway, it would have to be pretty damned wide if I couldn’t touch either wall like this.

My hand still met nothing but air, but right when I was about to panic, I stubbed my toe on something very large and very blunt.

Bingo!  Scooting as quickly as I could on my butt, I soon had both toes and both knees against a hard surface.  I scrambled to my feet and reached both hands for a doorknob.

I regretted that decision for the rest of my life.

The second my palm flattened on the wall, my fully-dilated eyes were scorched by a bright light.  I bent over my knees, groaning involuntarily and rubbing away tears.  After several moments, the pain subsided and I carefully cracked one eye, shocked to still be alive.  Instead of being caught like I had feared, my eyes were greeted by blurry gold lights glowing from the walls of the hallway.  I blinked several times to clear my vision, turning to the other wall to be greeted by the same blurry shapes.  No matter how many times I tried to clear the spots, they only got clearer.

Instead of dull lights, I was staring at what looked like letters.  I had no idea what they said, and I don’t know why my brain thought “letters”, but there was no doubt in my mind that was what I was looking at. Confusion made me turn my head in the direction I came from, showing that the symbols went on as far as I could see.  When I looked in the direction I had been going, I saw the same thing.

“That makes no sense,” I whispered to myself. “There’s no way…”  When I spun again, I saw the words on my arm.

“Oh god,” I remembered in horror. “Mike. MIKE!” I took off at a jog, choosing a direction at random. “Michael!”

I jogged for what seemed an eternity, shoving down thoughts that tried to make me confront the impossible nature of the hallway I was in.  Mike and I could figure it out later, I just needed to find him first.  I saw nothing even vaguely resembling a door, however, and no matter how far I went, the hallway stretched as far as I could see in both directions.  My breath was getting shorter and shorter when I decided to distract myself by focusing on the letters lighting the infinite corridor.

I was able to confirm my hunch that they were either letters or a repeating pattern - some symbols were more frequent than others, with entire sequences repeating.  I was covered with a thin sheet of sweat when I realized that they all repeated after a certain point.  Over and over, to the point that I could measure how far I had come by each repetition. It was maddening.

When I was breathing heavily and shaking with exhaustion, I stopped and screamed in frustration.  “Dammit!” I shouted. “Where’s Mike!?  I just want to find him and I’ll go!  Hell, show me a door, and I’ll just leave. I’ll find another way, if he’s still alive.  Just stop running me around in circles!”

My voice echoed, repeating the last word. Circles, I thought. Am I, though?  Am I running around in circles?  Out of ideas and desperate, I walked over to one wall and started slapping my palms against it.

I mean, it worked in the movies, right?  And it’s not like I had anything to lose - I was trapped in what seemed to be an infinite hallway, out of breath, with no food or water.  I had gotten in here somehow, so there had to be a way to get out.  I slapped and poked and prodded until my palms were numb and bleeding, nails broken back to the nail bed. There was just enough light that I could see the handprints I was leaving on the walls.

Absolutely nothing happened.

My back slammed against a wall in defeat, probably smearing bloody handprints as I slid to the floor. I banged my head back against the hard surface until I saw stars. As they cleared, I started laughing miserably. “I’m going to die in here,” I gasped, tears leaking from my eyes. “Why the hell did I think I could save anyone? I can’t even save myself…”  Twisting to the side, I started pounding on the wall with the so-far undamaged side of one hand. Something snapped in even that, and I ended up resting my forehead against the wall, sobbing.

No food, no water, no Mike, no dignity. I just sobbed and snotted with every last shred of energy I had left. I couldn’t even be bothered to wipe my face, and gave up breathing through my nose entirely. At one point, I was trying to catch my breath and turned my head to rest one cheek against the cool material.

Even that, I only got to enjoy for about five seconds, because the wall gave way and dumped me back on the floor. I was blinded by light again, although this time it was white and from overhead. “Ow, fuck,” I swore.

The groan that answered me from nearby sent me shooting to my feet, swearing even more.  I shaded my eyes from the bright light, squinting into the room I had somehow opened.  Something lay in a heap on a table, strapped down around various parts of its mass.

“Jesus fuck, Joanie,” it groaned miserably. “Learn some new shit for once…”

I ran over, my heart pounding. “I’m going to make your face some new shit, you son of a - well, no, your mom was a fucking saint, but still!”

“Took you long enough,” he managed through dry, cracked lips.

“They tried to make me forget you,” I admitted, bracing myself on the edge of the table while I tried to remove the restraints with trembling and painful fingers.

“Are you bleeding?”

“We can talk about it later. We still need to figure out how to get out of here.”

“I don’t even know if I can walk.  They injected me with something.  Said I keep resetting or something. That I never remember?”

“Don’t know what they’re talking about, don’t care.  Walking may be the least of our issues,” I rushed out as I got the next restraint loose.  “That door I came through was something way beyond locked.  I thought I was going to die before I found you.”

Poor Mike looked incredibly confused, and I couldn’t exactly blame him - I sounded like a lunatic. “The office isn’t that big… unless they moved me?”

“Hell, they could have moved us both to another planet for all I can tell.  That hallway is not standard issue, that’s for damned sure.”  As much as I loved Mike, I knew for a fact that if I told him anything else about the hallway now, the idiot would want to see it. “I solemnly swear to tell you everything once we aren’t here anymore.”

I barely managed to get the restraints removed completely because my hands were slick with blood by the end, although I never could have told whose it was at that point.  Carefully, I helped Mike into a sitting position and made sure he was somewhat steady before looking for something to drink for the both of us. After pausing to re-steady him three or four times, all I managed to find were bags of IV fluid.

Grimacing, I stabbed one and started sucking it dry, desperate for anything to keep me going. It tasted like stale electrolyte drink, but it took every ounce of willpower to stop halfway through the bag and give it to Mike. At the first taste, he jerked his face away and spat it out. Years of practice cleaning cuts and making him eat when he was sick at least left me well-equipped to grab the back of his head and stick the corner of the bag back in his mouth. “It’s the only thing I can find to drink,” I scolded. “So we can stand here until we die of old age and dehydration, or you can quit being a big baby.”

The scowl he threw at me before he started drinking ranked just below the top ten most terrifying things I had seen that day, but eventually the bag was empty. I snagged another, stuffed it in my bra, and shoved the scalpel in my back pocket for good measure.  From this side, the door was pretty obvious, so I mentally oriented which way I needed to turn when we went through it - you know, in case direction actually mattered when you were dealing with eldritch physics or whatever made impossibly long hallways with golden runes and invisible doors.

“Okay, bud,” I grunted as I helped Mike to his feet. “Time to boogie. Through the door, hang a right.”

“Uh huh,” he panted, nodding.

“Before you know it, I’ll be shoving you in the shower,” I promised, reaching for the handle and mentally bracing myself.

“Ass.”

“You very much underestimate how bad you smell,” I muttered. “You’ve been here at least a week.”

“Real fun….” he trailed off as the door to the lab or whatever closed behind us. “Where the hell are we?”

I hiked him higher up on my shoulder and started walking. “I told you, I don’t know. But there’s air, so that’s nice.”

“Are we underground? This is - “

“I. Don’t. Know,” I repeated slowly. “And I. Don’t. Care. This should be the direction of the door I came in if I’m remembering right, so we’re going this way. Not sure it matters to the hallway, but it matters to me, so let’s get going.”

“What do you mean, if it matters!?” Great. Mike was starting to panic. Doing an awesome job, Joanie!

Hiking him higher on my shoulder again - dragging a man six inches taller than you was not an easy task - I took as deep of a breath as I could. “When I got here on the outside, this was the fake doctor’s office, complete with fake back door. As soon as I got inside, the door closed or vanished, or something. It was pitch black, I couldn’t find a wall, and because I couldn’t see, it took forever to realize I had walked way too far to not have slammed into the front door. Blah, blah, blah, kept going like a dumbass, blah blah, turned around, found a wall, it lit up…” I waved my spare hand around. “So at least there’s light?”

That seemed to help, because he at least started walking instead of half-stumbling, half-being dragged. “Whatever they injected me with messed up my eyes, I think.” He rubbed them, almost punching me in the cheek.

“Hey, we don’t want to barf, so that’s something,” I joked. I am soooo not telling him that he can probably see them fine, they’re just gibberish.

“Are there any more people missing?” he asked after a few minutes of walking.

“Not that I can tell. You were the last one, so far. And your house is still… you know, your house. Maybe the program or whatever got stuck?”

A rueful chuckle shook him as he stumbled against me slightly. “Sure. Leather houses, people who don’t exist anymore, hallways that can’t exist but do…. A program makes as much sense as anything.”

“That, a psychotic break, magic, or aliens are pretty much our options.” I dragged him more towards the middle of the hallway as he stumbled again.

“Sure,” he sighed. “All of the above, hell. Why not?”

A damp skittering noise made me look down. “Did you kick something? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Huh?” Mike stopped and stared dumbly at his feet. “What would I have kicked?”

“The… gravel…” I trailed off as I realized the gravel I had cut my hands on before was gone. The floor was completely smooth now.

Which explained the noise even less.  Especially when I heard it again.

“Mike, we gotta move. I think the tunnel is closing up behind us, or falling apart, or just found a new way to fuck with me.” I gripped the wrist over my shoulder firmly and grabbed his waist hard enough to make him yelp. “Let’s go…” I urged, dragging him as fast as I could.

“Joanie,” he tried to complain, panting slightly. “I can’t…”

A loud, sucking, grumbling noise cut him off.

“Never mind,” he finished, finally picking up the pace. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“That’s the spirit!”

We were both panting soon - Mike from trying to run after whatever they did to him, me from trying to keep him upright as he kept stumbling sideways.

“Fuck!” I swore when my shoulder barked into the wall. “Dammit, Mike! I get that you’re unsteady, but at least try to wobble in both directions!”

That damned skittering again. Every nerve ending in my body was now set to ‘gotta go, don’t get eaten, don’t get buried’.

“Then quit steering me into the wall!” he argued back. “I’m doing my best, here. But I can go forward or where you send me, not both!”

“I’m just trying to keep you from running me into the wall, dumbass!” Nopenopenope, I did not hear another gurgle, I definitely did not. Nope.

“Running me into the other one isn’t -” This time he steered me into the wall hard enough to knock me down, wrenching my arm from around his waist painfully.

Swearing, I pushed myself up from the floor and leaned my back against the wall, bracing myself to get up. “Damn it, that’s what I was talking about!” I managed to get up, but Mike was still in the way.  How he hadn’t fallen when I did was beyond me, but nonetheless I ducked back under his arm and started walking as fast as I could away from whatever was making those horrible noises behind us.  I gave up entirely on steering him toward the middle and just focused on going forward and avoiding walking into the wall on my side.

“Janie,” Mike panted eventually.

“Mm hmm.”

“Those noises are getting louder.”

“Nope. No they aren’t. There aren’t any noises.”

“It sounds like a really big stomach full of marbles is behind us.”

I groaned, curling my shoulder away from the wall again. “If you keep talking about it, I can’t keep pretending not to hear it, Mike.” 

The wet growling noise happened again, and this time Mike was the one sent stumbling.  Fortunately for us both, he flung his left arm out and braced himself on the wall beside me.

Well. I thought it was fortunate, at least.

“What the fuck!?” he shouted, jerking his hand away like the wall burned it. “That can’t be there!”

“Keep walking….” I insisted, nudging him forward. “And I told you that you kept walking me into the wall!”

“Walking…. Walking….” he singsonged before hissing in my ear. “Janey that wall can’t be there because of this.” He grabbed the hand I had wrapped around him and stretched my fingers out.

Dragging them against a wall.

“Oh, hell no,” I muttered, gently pushing him ahead of me. Bracing my hands on his hips, I kept leading him. “Go, go, gogo go go go.”

He started jogging. “Don’t need to tell me again…”

“Great,” I complained. “First time in my life you ever listen to me the first time, and it’s because a hallway is trying to eat us.”

He jogged a little faster. “Not helping, Joannette!”

“You’re going faster, so I beg to differ, Michael!” The growling and skittering happened again, close enough and loud enough that I smelled something rank and my hair blew against my face.

“Heard it!” was the only thing Mike said before speeding up.

By this point I could touch both walls with my fingertips, something I very much regretted wishing for previously. “Do you see anything ahead?” I cried, panic edging into my voice. “A light, eyes, words, anything?”

“I think I see a door, but it’s too far away!”

Like hell it was. “I don’t care what that receptionist at work told you, you are not disabled, dude! You did cross country… Move your ass!”

“That was in high school!” he shouted back, speeding up more anyway. “And I’ve been tortured for a week!”

Another fetid growl brushed against my cheek. “And I’ll make that seem like a fucking vacation if I get eaten by the Hall of Eternal Stench!” I squeaked, bracing my hands on his shoulders and pushing as hard as I could to make him go faster.

The further we went, the tighter the hall was getting, much more noticeably now. My elbows were tucked against my sides, palms still dragging on both walls, by the time Mike shouted that we were almost there.

“It’s not locked!” I screamed. “I didn’t lock it behind me!”

My blood turned to ice as something sharp drew down my back. I bolted forward, slamming into Mike and knocking him to the floor. I barely managed to steady myself before what felt like the same thing dragged past my ankle.

Not five seconds later, Mike started screaming. Not from fear… this was like the time he had broken his ankle and seen bone sticking out.

He was screaming in pain.

Before I realized what I was doing, I grabbed the scalpel from my back pocket and slashed as far as I could behind me, whipping my whole body around from the force of adrenaline.  Whatever was behind us hissed, and I could see a dark flicker retreat past my ankles.

“Mike?” I asked as calmly as I could, trying to force my eyes to see whatever it was. “Are you still alive?”

Panicked, wheezing shrieks answered me.

“That works,” I tried to assure him. “I need you to crawl forward until you feel the door, okay?” My voice was trembling, but I wasn’t screaming, so I counted that as a win.

After some scuffling noises behind me, I heard his voice smaller than it had been since he’d hit puberty. “I’m.. I’m there.”

Thinking hard and still trying to see something in front of my face, I carefully backed up until my feet bumped into him. “That’s you, right?”

“Ye-yeah.”

“Awesome. The door handle should be on the right.” No. It was on the right from the outside. “Left! Left! The handle should be on the left. I need you to scoot as far to the left of the door as you can, okay?  You can sit against my legs if you need to.”  Something as dark as the hallway was flickering across the now-faint runes on the walls.   I couldn’t even force my brain to make up a shape, there were too many… somethings. Limbs, things, creatures - 

“I - I - I moved.”

“Can you climb up my back to stand? We’re only going to have one shot at this.”

Clumsily, he used me as a ladder to get to his feet.  Something had him leaning against me heavily.

“Mike, can you walk?”

“My foot, I… I think it cut something. I tried to stand on it, but it won’t take any weight. Like my ACL, but lower.”

Fuuuuuuuck, that wasn’t good. “You’re my best friend, Mike.  My best person.  I wouldn’t have done all this stupid shit if you weren’t.”

“I know,” he answered hesitantly. “And I’m glad to be your person.”

The shapes on the walls were incredibly close, but still too far away for me to hit anything as I slashed outward.

“How close is the door?”

“My hand is on it.”

“Awesome.”  Still lashing out at the darkness, I could tell the sigils were fading and we were running out of time.  Mentally, I mapped where the door and handle were, arm burning as I ran out of energy.

“You love me, Mike?”

“Love you. You’re my best friend.”

“Love you, too. And I’m sorry.” Closing my eyes, I whipped around and reached past him.

<Prev Masterpost Next>

[the-arcade-doctor]

COME FRIENDS. WE MUST CATCH THE JAY SO THAT THEY MAY TASTE M E L T.

[ FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK-- ] [[ For a limited time only, Springy has joined the party! ]] "First time, bucko?"

[sweetsanguinerush]

He Left. My fear has come true.

FuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK please my God bring him back to me, may this be a terrible night and thats all, let him come back please come back we can make this work i can make it work Mommy Needs You i haven't felt this way in so long it's so fucking painful come back to me my sweet boy i promise i will never hate you, i could never be mad at you, i would do anything to make this work come back to me and we can do it, i can and will sacrifice so much for you my love, we can build a life together. I was looking into staying healthy during pregnancy earlier today for US because I LOVE YOU I FUCKING LOVE YOU I ADORE YOU why did you have to go so soon?? everything was so good?? i was going to join your game... we were going to have a good night on my birthday.... we were going to have a beautiful wedding..... we can still, right darling? You'll come back to me, you have to, i love you...

[sociieties]

yata misaki, a man with the worst luck on the planet. if the gods are real, then they must take pleasure in using him, specifically, as some sort of drawing board of all of their terrible ideas. whatever the case may be, his life is no longer enjoyable. at least — today is the day that he will die. he'll soon be petrified and someone will knock him over and he will die. he will die and he will be dead. why?

because he just opened the door to the bathroom to give takehiko some clothes to change into and why is this happening? girl? ( sports ) bra? but...? why's there a girl here? shit, that's takehiko. but takehiko's a guy...? that's most definitely a chick. shit. shit, shit, shit, fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. he's too stunned to move, mind running nonstop while all other sense of his body has otherwise left him standing still with doorknob in one hand, clothes in the other. fuck his life, why didn't anyone tell him that takehiko was a girl!? / @valkyrrhic, liked.

[zenotia]

I'm not bilingual, in spite my best efforts, but I do have a love for language and how it is used, so I have a little to say here.

For a character learning a language:

(In learning language) "I'm a character and I speak like a person. This is called... uh..."[Character] stops, their brow furrowed as their face scrunches up as if they were taking a particularly difficult poop while they snap furiously with their [dominant] hand. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck... uuuuhhhh..."

(In Native Language) "Fuck it! It's *dialogue!*"

I love writing language barrier frustrations. Communication is such a vast and rich thing with huge areas of study, and I particularly love the areas of transition between those cultural regions.

Character can't figure out how to communicate an advanced concept, so they break it down by shoving two more simple terms together- such as "fizzyboom" instead of "bomb," or "longstop" for "home." Coincidentally, this may end up with some legitimate and sometimes very incorrect vocabulary in some languages.

If a character is struggling to understand a dialect of a language they know, it's fun to have idiom nonsense like above- especially if you have one relevant idiom with different meanings or connotations. "Break a leg" is a good example.

I personally don't write many bilingual characters who have issues with language, though I did have a Finnish character who spent his adult life in like Kosovo and Chechnya doing journalism on what it is to live in these places, especially as a queer person. Nikki (nickname for Nikolai, nicknames are apparently big in Russia) was fluent in English, but he has a special connection to the word "товарищ" (tovarich)- a word for "friend" or "comrade" that has a unique and niche connotation/value to that character.

So I suppose my addition to the largely fluent bilingual characters is to choose a few favorite words from their native language that they use instead of other (say, English) terms.

im going to have a stroke

[wish-upon-a-dying-star]

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck why did I think I was allowed to be happy why the fuck did I ever think it was going to be okay I know it won’t be but I always get my stupid hopes up

this time I have nobody to blame but myself he’s gonna leave me and it’s all my fault he probably hates me now why am I so stupid and selfish I could have just been honest with him months ago but noooo I tried to hide it and now he knows and probably thinks I’m a disgusting fucking pig I’m just a freak that he wants nothing to do with

what am I supposed to do I gave up so much for him I don’t think I’ll be able to come back if he ditches me I promised myself I’d never let anyone get that close to me ever again and look what happened he got too close and now everything’s falling apart

I’ve been putting it off too long if this doesn’t resolve this may be my last post idk if I have a reason to stay here anymore idk if there’s any purpose to my existence there’s no point in carrying on if it’s all in agony

[artystaroc]

Gonna cause violence, why is my laptop so garbage right now?? Why does photoshop have to exist the way it does??? I hate it here.

[thebuttsmcgee]

The genuine relief and accomplished feeling of sending a kinda detailed ask to someone and they start their answer with "thank you for giving me a reason to finally talk about this" and they go into a passionate answer is just. Subliiiiiime.

[ukulelecal]

YOOOO I JUST GOT AN IDEA FUCK