#- that one day he is going to change his mind and that'll be it; he'll just walk out and they'll be done

[lisbonsteresa]

doing horribly

[daytaker]

The Gang React to You Petting Their Hair

Lucifer

"I am only going to say this once: stop."

You get one warning. One. If you do not cease and desist, he is throwing you out of his study, so help him Diavolo's Dad. No, he does not like it. No, not even a little bit. You really aren't going to stop? You're just a glutton for punishment, aren't you?

....You're very lucky he's too busy to hurl you bodily from this room. He'll just endure it for now.

Mammon

"Hah?! What's the big idea?! This is the revered hair of THE Great Mammon, I'll have you know. So that'll be 100 Grimm a touch, thanks! ....Hey, no, wait, why'd you stop?"

Once he's done turning bright red and clearing his throat, he'll try to capitalize on this whim of yours by offering you a discount on hair touches. A very poorly-planned scheme, because you're not going to pay to do something he'll start begging you to keep up as soon as you stop.

Oh, so Mammon is willing to let you touch his high-value hair for free? You're so honored. What a good boy you are, Mammon. (You can expect a bit more sputtering and some denials that he is anything like a good boy, but bro's into it big time. If he had a tail, it would be wagging.)

Leviathan

*shrieks in confused, touch-starved otaku*

Wait, no, he didn't say to stop! What's with these mixed signals? Petting his hair then stopping just because he shrieks a little bit? Did you want to touch his hair or not? Is it greasy? Oh god, when did he last bathe? ...It was only the other day. You have no reason to be disgusted. You're just a bigoted normie who assumes all otaku are crusty and gross!

Ahhhh?!?!?!?! Again?! Fine! Just don't change your mind again, because that's super confusing! And yeah, obviously he's blushing, you're petting his head and it feels nice and kind of tickles! ....Mm.... You know, once he's settled into it, it's really relaxing, actually...

Fast forward an hour or two and he's probably conked out with his head in your lap, drunk on affection and mostly asleep.

Satan

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

It feels weird. Why are you doing that? Wait, you're petting him? Like he's....a cat? Hmm. Interesting. He'll allow it. But you should do it properly. None of this mussing his hair around with wild abandon. You have to be gentle and use small movements. Maybe use your knuckles? Gently though. There, that's it.

So this is what it feels like. Admittedly, he probably wouldn't take kindly to this if anybody else was doing it, no matter how well they imitated proper cat-petting technique. But you're a special exception, so in the future, if you feel the need to do this, just let him know. And for the love of all things unholy, don't breathe a word about this to his brothers.

Asmodeus

"Oh, you like my hair? Isn't it soft? I'll show you the conditioner I use."

Asmo loves having his hair played with! Or brushed, or combed, or tugged (just not too hard, please!) His hair is silky smooth thanks to a mixture of his natural good looks and his shampoo/conditioner combination. He'll let you borrow them if you're interested. Your hair will look amazing! And it'll feel even better!

This is cozy. He'll just settle in and let you do this as long as you want. Careful you don't get too handsy; he knows how irresistible he is.

...Well, maybe if you're a little handsy he'll let it slide, but just because it's you.

Beelzebub

"Are you....petting me?"

Kind of weird, but it feels nice, so he isn't complaining. It's a little bit embarrassing, just because it makes him feel a little bit like a puppy, but then again, who doesn't like puppies? He'll be able to continue to go about his day not minding you petting his hair now and again. The only awkward part is how damn tall he is. You might need to keep a step stool handy.

Belphegor

"Nnngh, knock it off...! ... ... ...I changed my mind, do it again."

His initial reaction to being woken up to you stroking his head is annoyance, because dammit, he was sleeping. But once he shakes the cobwebs out of his brain, he'll realize that it actually felt really good and he could absolutely fall asleep under these circumstances.

He'll wait a little while, hoping you'll give it another try of your own accord, but if you don't, he'll eventually cave and grumpily ask you to do it again.

Diavolo

"Hahaha... That's enough, now."

He isn't actually a fan. Maybe it's the fact that he's a prince and has been acting as an autocrat more or less for centuries, but being stroked like an adored pet feels really degrading. Of course, he won't hold it against you, but seriously, stop.

Barbatos

"Are you finished playing around quite yet?"

Another one who isn't into this at all. He's more than happy to spend his free time petting you, if that's what you're interested in, but he is a petter, not a pettee. Read into this what you will.

Solomon

"You're so forward!"

Solomon likes it very much. Too much, possibly. Are you flirting with him? There's something incredibly intimate about touching someone's hair, don't you think? No, please, continue.

Simeon

"Um, what are you doing? ...As long as you're enjoying yourself, I guess!"

Simeon is more bewildered by this than most. Like, are you trying to scratch an itch for him? Is this one of those "viral memes" he's heard so much about? Well, it feels nice, and it isn't as if it's hurting anybody. He'll indulge you for now.

A little to your left, please. Ahhhh, that's the spot...

Luke

"Hehe, that tickles... Hey! Is this a Chihuahua joke?!"

It feels kind of nice, but as soon as he takes a second to think about it, he realizes that you're treating him at best like a little kid, and at worst, like a dog, and he isn't having any of that. He'll scold you for treating a Celestial being so casually, remind you that he's actually a lot older than you, technically, so who's the real baby, and secretly pine for more pets for the rest of his life.

[llamagoddessofficial]

Can we get some Horror fae headcannons? I'm twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the big boyo to appear while I lose myself in your fae realms

Goodness, do try not to get lost. Though if you do get lost, he's certainly the one for you.

Quite similar to his non-fae self, really. Quiet, large, wild, bloodthirsty when required but completely unafraid to show his soft side to those he loves.

He does have a bit of a... 'reputation', in both realms. A reputation for being a frightening beast that you do not want to encounter out in the wastes.

Apparently, he did something unspeakable in Summer - banished from that court, he found himself immediately warmly welcomed into Nightmare's fray. He was one of the first of the Winter court.

He and Nightmare aren't exactly "friends", in the way Nightmare and Killer almost seem to be. But there's a certain degree of trust between Horror and Nightmare that just isn't there with anyone else. A level of mutual, unspoken understanding. They rarely talk to one another, but somehow, they seem to know each other very well.

(There seems to be some truth to the Summer rumours, given his absolute visceral hatred of even the word.)

Living in Nightmare's court means Horror has ample food. People are still scared of him, though.

Big fuzzy guy!! His wings are the biggest and softest out of anyone's; cuddling him will be like hiding in the thickest blanket imaginable. If you sit on his lap, you can pull his wings over you and fall asleep snuggled up like that. Rest assured, if you do that, you will never meet a happier skeleton.

Tricking you simply does not cross his mind. He's too slow with words for that kind of nonsense. If he wants to keep you forever, why does he need to steal your name? He'll just bake you the best pie you've ever had, that'll do it.

Or chase you down when you run. That works too.

Not good at telling you he likes you. He can show love just fine - gestures of devotion are part and parcel of who he is. But when it comes to the talking side of romance? An absolute wreck.

Killer helps. "hey, my buddy over there thinks you're cute," [points to the enormous shaking & sweating anxious monster who's unsuccessfully trying to hide behind a candelabra]

He tends to disappear for several days in a row, to go on long treks through the snow. They clear his mind. He probably knows the realm better than anyone alive. He would really like it if you came with, making you the first person to ever be invited along, but he doesn't mind if you don't want to go. He doesn't expect everyone to be interested in multi-day snow hikes.

(You could sit on his shoulders the whole way, though. In case that changes your mind. He'd also show you untouched natural wonders beyond comprehension. And he packs snacks)

His love language is bringing food back for you from his 'trips'. Baked salmon from the ice rivers, steaks of venison from the winter forests, slow-cooked rabbit from the plains, and on rare occasions bear stew from the mountains. If you're vegetarian it'd be good to tell him immediately because this will become a pattern.

He also likes making furs into clothes for you. For someone who struggles with shaking hands, he's surprisingly good with a needle and thread.

You'll never be cold, when he's around. And you'll never sleep alone.

[flowersforchoso]

intimacies ୨୧

cw: contains suggestive themes.

(bi-han x f.reader)

he enjoys spooning in the morning. and whatever he's in the mood for, sensually rutting or ploughing into you will result in an orgasm that'll take moments to recover from while he is invigorated anew; revitalised, having nourished his virility. clinging to him as the pleasured haze fades, pleading for him to remain.

"stay for a bit, please." your arm wraps around his bicep as you look up at him, attempting to change his mind

he looks away and grunts, "i have important things to attend to." yanking off your arm and rising from the bed to prepare for the day. the lack of post-coital affection stings. you think its something you'll never quite get used to.

when he enters the room with just a towel around his waist, you bite your lip while admiring his physique, which compels him to speak

"are you aware its rude to stare?"

you smile at him, then retort, "forgive me for being unable to resist your good looks."

your words halt his movements. he just stares at you, denying the thrill of a comment, then proceeds to don his uniform and accessories; the mask completing his ensemble.

"i'll see you later" he announces without casting another glance, leaving you with the early quietude

you'll forever be ignorant of the curve of his lips behind the mask. and that this brightened mood carries on throughout the day.

sometimes, he's all over you feverishly planting kisses everywhere, no inch of skin untouched. he's had a bad day, and needs to unwind, or he's feeling particularly affectionate—the lines are blurred. but one thing is certain: the thread of patience would snap any minute. you're pressed flush against him; impossibly close, to the point it feels suffocating as his hands roam around squeezing, groping, fondling you everywhere. the pleasurable onslaught is dizzying, causing your knees to slightly buckle. he palms your breasts, eliciting a whimper out of you, "bi-han," while trying to wriggle free. he pauses to look you in the eye, an annoyance swirling within his iris. "what is it?" he queries, but it sounds more like a chide. you didn't mean to put him off, ruin the mood, muttering a sheepish "nothing," savoring the few seconds of a breather. his cheeks are tinted red. the image of an uninhibited man before you. he moves to whisper, "then be quiet" directly in your ear; the words burrow into the canal. and resumes his ministrations. this time, you can't quite escape it.

even though he appears annoyed, he actually likes it when you bother him with silly questions. "can cryomancy be taught?" you ask all of a sudden.

"no."

you gasp, beaming with innocence, "will our babies be cryomancers?"

or anything really,

"bi-han!" he frantically rushes into the room upon hearing your cry with concern etched on his features. "is something wrong? are you hurt?" he asks, examining your body for injury. "yes" you reply before patting your lips, "here."

he's a man in love so he'll indulge (just don't go overboard with it.)

when you invite him to rest his head on your lap, he obliges. you play with his hair while humming a melody that relaxes and lulls him to sleep. moments like this are his favourite; he feels completely at peace bathing in your warmth.

knit a vest? buy a hair tie? write a letter? whatever it is, its the thought that counts. he's filled with gratitude and cherishes it forever

if you're going to be away for extended periods of time, a lackey is assigned to ensure your protection. dark eyes and stealthy movements follow you about, all oblivious to you. he takes his responsibility to you seriously

loves to share meals with you, especially his. its just a really intimate activity to indulge in but if you tried to feed him, he'd refuse.

he is bashful if he walks in on you undressing or having a bath. regardless of how many times he's seen you in the nude, he murmurs an apology before turning away. the moments after are so awkward because he's ridden with guilt for being aroused by your figure, oscillating between respect and objectification. underneath his crude, tough as nails exterior lies a gentleman.

fun times with board games. if he doesn't know how to play, you teach him and vice-versa. this is when you notice his competitive streak.

asking for his opinions, particularly on changes to your appearance; a new hairstyle/color, outfit etc. he always seems unethused or negative about it but in actuality, it's the opposite and this reflects in his behaviour. he just wants the visual feast to himself; stave off wandering eyes and potential competition.

one of the very rare times you see him crack a laugh is when you blurt out random chinese. he's taken aback at first since what you said was gibberish, wondering where it came from; until you tell him you've been practicing to impress him. "don't embarrass yourself" he reprimands, though there's no real bite to it, then rewards your efforts with a baritone chuckle

[vampykween]

toxic ex(?)husband!simon where he's all alone in his home, wife moved out across the city with their two girls, steps on something on the carpet and its the earring the missus lost a few days ago while moving out. it was a simple diamond stud earring, the pair being a gift from him during date night, once upon a time a long long time ago. he might bawl or lose himself in alcohol. or come crawling back; people change after all, right?

simon would actually spiral so hard over this. he's left alone in a house that's far too big, empty with all the furniture you took, along with all the laughter and joy you and the girls brought to the home. he hangs onto the earring as he storms around every corner of the house as if that'll make his girls materialize right in front of him. he's so fucking angry at himself. he vowed to be better than his father, and sure he doesn't drink himself under the table and smack around his family, but was he really any better?

he thinks about cracking open a bottle of Kentucky, the one you got him for his birthday, even though he's always insisted on not doing gifts (you always got him one anyway). if he drinks away the pain, perhaps it'll ease the ache of losing his family (again, only this time it really was his fault), but then he sees your face flash across his mind and he knew you'd hate for him to drown himself in alcohol; at least he hoped you cared, he wasn't sure if you really did anymore and he can't even blame you.

after he's sufficiently drunk, he decides he didn't even care if he drank himself to death in his now empty living room, he considers calling you. it isn't too late, only half past ten, so he knows you're still up; he's not sure what he would even say though. there aren't enough apologies in the world to win you back, you've made that abundantly clear, but god he misses your voice. the voice that nagged at him, that yelled at him, that kissed him with so much love. how could he have taken you for granted? he knows you'll get onto him about calling so late when it's not about the girls, but he needs you so badly it hurts.

"simon?" he lets out a drawn-out sigh of relief, he hadn't expected you to answer really. he goes to respond, but it feels like every word is lodged in his throat. "si, im tired. i really can't with this," you reply tiredness was evident in your tone. he hoped the girls weren't being too much for you, then again it's not like he was ever much more help when you all were under one roof. the way you whispered out the shortened version of his name made his heart race, perhaps this phone call would go much better than he expected.

he finally finds his voice after a moment, "baby... i miss you," he slurs out. he's not sure what he's expecting you to say back.

"you really have a knack for being too little too late, simon. goodnight, and please don't call me like this again. you don't get to drunkenly pour your heart out to me now." well that was definitely not what he wanted you to say. there's an edge to your voice that, despite the situation, sends him reeling. he secretly prays that this will all be some sick nightmare, that he'll wake up, roll over, and pull you into his arms. except he's awake, standing drunk and alone in a house that no longer feels like home.

[midnightcinderella]

People who would suffer at NRC

Each dorm has at least one of these students and god help them. This is very self-indulgent and each trait applies to me. If you relate, then rip to the both of us.

No proof-reading, we rawdog this shit. Word count: ~1300 Notes: no gendered pronouns for reader. mentions of ADHD, depression, and anxiety. mentions of illness. no romantic relationships

Heartslabyul

People with ADHD. Rip to us fr.

You'd forget at least a handful of rules a day, but it's really not your fault. Riddle better get off your case istg.

The ones who are more devoted to remaining productive make big colorful signs all over the damn place.

In their own rooms would be stuff like a box that says "keys and wallet go here" or a sign by the door with a checklist of what they need before they go, like homework or textbooks.

There are signs in common areas, too. They'll say stuff like curfew times or reminders of jobs that need to be done around the dorm.

There's always backlash if Riddle tries to take them down for being an eyesore because not only do they help ADHD students remember what needs to be done but students without ADHD, too. No sane person is gonna be thinking about feeding flamingos 24/7.

Savanaclaw

People with asthma. Place is dusty as shit. And hot. And humid at times.

I'm surprised the beastman students haven't taken any measure to seal off the inside of the dorm to prevent and from getting in. Guess everyone doesn't mind inhaling dust straight into their lungs.

Not to mention regular exercise is a dorm-wide tradition. Shoutout to my fellow mile walkers <3

If you have asthma and a dander/dust allergy, I'd just drop out tbh.

People who easily overheat/sweat. Double rip to us.

Get ready to go back and forth with your dormmates about smelling bad after sweating. It's a common occurrence. Someone sasses you, you sass back, and you're friends again 3 minutes later.

Everyone will think you're dying when you're dripping sweat after some stretches outside. No, you're not tired, you're just hot.

Octavinelle

People who are bad at math/bad with money. Listen.

The dorm isn't full of people who are as business minded as Azul, but there are students that offer accounting help for a fee. Negotiate that fee for the love of god.

Thankfully, you won't be scammed out of house and home because:

(1) it's generally frowned upon to scam people within Octavinelle; you don't hurt one of your own. It's about loyalty.

(2) someone is likely to take pity on you and will throw you a bone, telling you about a huge sale or where to find good job opportunities.

People who are gullible. Once again, double rip.

And once again, thank the lucky stars that loyalty is such a big thing here so you might be tricked into doing someone's job for them like mopping the Lounge, but nothing that would hurt you too badly.

If a study partner tries to feed you false information for shiggles, that'll get shut down real quick by another student. If your grades go down, then the whole dorm goes with you.

Good thing that doesn't happen often, and Azul offers his study guides for a highly discounted price to his own.

Scarabia

People who don't do well with sudden changes in temperature. Man, listen.

Hellishly hot during the day and even more hellishly cold at night. Dante would be thrilled.

God forbid you have any athletic activities close to sunset because you'll have to shower off that sweat quick before you freeze to death.

If anyone has a problem with the sound of the hairdryer after sundown, they're just gonna have to deal with it or risk catching your inevitable cold.

Speaking of, if sudden changes in temperature make you sick, double rip. I know your pain.

Kalim may not be able to come see you in person, but if he finds out you're sick, he'll send meds and some warm food. If that food was made by Jamil, then you owe him one.

You don't wanna owe him one.

If you need to leave your room after sundown, you're going to do it wrapped up with a blanket over your head. If someone mistakes you for a ghoul, that's their own problem.

Pomefiore

People with depression. Listen. Someone without depression could find it hard to keep such a strict regimen day in and day out; do not expect too much out of us.

If you think that means you're getting out of it, though, you'd be wrong.

Group accountability is a thing here. If you need help sticking to your routine, you're getting it. You can't refuse.

You're all going to be beautiful together, goddammit.

If that chronic fatigue be hittin ya, you might get a pass for a few steps of your routine. But if a particularly caring dormmate decides you have to do the full routine and straight up does it for you, lol.

Depending on how you view that sort of help, it might be really nice. Or maybe a little humiliating.

The dorm kitchen is only going to have healthy ready-made snacks. So if it's a day where you can't cook or go all the way to the cafeteria, that is what you're working with. Either that or you crawl your way over the the Shop for a candy bar.

Ignihyde

People who struggle with technology. Yes there are young people who aren't great with technology. We exist. Mind your business.

No matter how many classes you take teaching you how to use MagExcel, it never sticks for long. Even if you pass the exams, all your knowledge leaves to go buy milk by the time the week is over.

You're gonna need to interrupt people's gaming sessions to ask for help. It may annoy them, but you're doing it anyway because you refuse the reinvent the wheel 12 times.

People who prefer paper over screens. Call me old fashioned but staring at screens all day Hurts My Eyes.

You'd get physical copies of your textbooks if you could, but those free pdfs your classmates pass around are too tempting to pass up. They're free, for god's sake.

You also might be limited to board games on game nights. They're not bad, but there's not a whole lot you can do with them. You're a wiz at Cards Against Reality tho.

Every so often Ignihyde has a dorm-wide game night where everyone sits around in the common room with their headphones in, playing their own games. Together.

Though the board game players are in the next room. Oddly enough, they're the rowdiest of the bunch, and it sounds like they have the most fun by the way they're yelling and cheering.

You have seen some nerd fights start over a game of Ichi.

Diasomnia

People who have anxiety. One, Lilia is a menace. Two, your housewarden is the Malleus Draconia. Meep.

Whether it's Lilia or Malleus you run into, it feels like your heart will explode at any time.

Not to mention it's so dark in and outside of the building for no good reason. What's a fella gotta do to get some fucking sunlight in here? You're sick of worrying about what could be behind every corner.

You once wondered if Malleus needed a UV/heat lamp, but knew better than to ask. That doesn't mean you're not curious, though.

People who dislike loud sounds. I don't think I have to explain this one.

At first you thought that staying near Silver meant that you'd be staying away from Sebek, but that wasn't the case and you were at a loss as to what to do.

Then you tried going in the other direction whenever you saw Malleus, but all that did was send Sebek after you personally, asking very loudly why you did not want to be around Lord Malleus.

At one point, you got sick of his shit and muzzled him via magic. Then Malleus showed up and you were all oh shit. But then all he did was chuckle about how you were getting along so well. You took that to mean he wouldn't ever stop you from muzzling Sebek.

You were right.

[karumbusarr]

you know, when sun jae figures out that sol is from the future, he so confidently says that he'll diligently run to 2023 to meet sol there.

we don't even question it.

realistically it's 15 years and no one in their sane mind will ask anyone of that but with sun jae, having met the 2023 sun jae in both timelines and knowing how down bad insane he's been yearning for sol despite him not having a chance yet unable to let go... we don't even question it. we don't even question the whole 'ah life moves on, people move on and drift and change' thing that'll definitely be a question with any other couple.

we just naturally accept it, yes ofc sun jae will wait and reunite with sol again, 15 years is nothing.

sun jae doesn't even have any questions, he just naturally accepts that yes ill take care of myself for the next 15 years, where's the face mask?

in the world of so called situationships, cheating, falling out of love, long distance relationship struggles, commitment issues and so on... this pure, intense love is just so wonderful to witness. ofc some situations are reasonable and can't be helped but these two who'll go against time and fate for each other just to be together... i know it's a drama and it's idealistic but just for a few hours, you live in this space where two people purely seek each other because they wouldn't want to be anywhere else, no matter how many years they've to wait.

in so many romance dramas and movies, the question of actually wanting each other comes up, with the whole second lead involvement and misunderstandings and more, but here, there's nothing. you know both of them only have eyes for each other and it's so beautiful, that's what pulls you in.

two dumbasses adoring each other and falling hard so badly that time is just a small obstacle to overcome.

sun jae, in every timeline, from the heartbroken one to the living life well one, from the high school kid to the college kid, has only ever wanted sol. he fell for her kindness and never changed. she fell for his kindness and his wonderful being in itself and now she's down bad just like him. to think he helped her through vicious hard times the college sun jae won't even be aware of.

i feel that these two pull us in so well cuz at the end of the day we all want to be loved unconditionally and these two show us that, how it must be, to be so intensely woven into each other.

and to add on to that, in every timeline, they've also always been best friends with the same kids they used to run around together in their school days. yes it's a drama but don't we all want to have life long friends who'll always be there?

in all forms, love persists here, beyond time.

lovely runner is so filled with love, kindness and devotion in all ways that you just can't help but fall in love, just as sun jae and sol fell for each other.

now, isn't this a lovely thing for all of us to witness and experience together?

[sanguineterrain]

Hi! I love your writing so much and I'm really excited about you doing requests :) Would you consider writing a drabble (inspired by Window Pains 😉) in which Jason and Reader are in a relationship filled with trust and safety (and blood lol) but Reader becomes overwhelmed by the responsibility and worry over patching Jason up and pretty much keeping him from dying all the time? Reader breaks things off and it hurts Jason more than he ever anticipated (I'm a sucker for angst 😌).

sucker for angst eh? if you insist 😎

jason todd x gn!reader. tw jason almost dies, reader is guilty and scared and doesn't want to lose him etc etc. breakup. marinate in the unresolved angst! hehe

prompt lists are here! i reblog all fics to @sanguinelibrary

Now with a pt 2!

****

You're shaking by the time you get back to Jason's apartment.

His heart had stopped. He'd been alone in a warehouse, comms fried, clinically dead for three minutes.

He'd died.

"He'll be okay," Dick had said, but you'd seen the way he'd cradled his baby brother's head in his lap.

He very easily could've not been okay.

"Take it easy," you say as Jason hobbles through the threshold.

You trail behind him with his duffel over your shoulder and the bag of medication Alfred had prepared in your hand. Jason slumps onto the couch. He hisses when the movement jostles his bandaged ribs.

"Why aren't you in bed?" you ask, setting his duffel down.

"'Cause I'll keep you up. Pain meds always give me nightmares. 'S why I told Bruce not to give 'em to me. But does the old man listen? No, of fucking course not."

"Jason, I don't care if you wake me up with your nightmares. Your body needs to heal. It can't do that if you're on a lumpy couch."

"Baby, it's not a big deal," he says, not even looking at you. "I'll be fine in a couple of days anyway. Babs said there's some trafficking ring in Crime Alley. If I time it right, I can get—"

You throw the bag of pills onto the table. Jason doesn't flinch but he does look at you, one brow raised.

"Wh—"

"You were clinically dead for three minutes!" you shout. "What don't you understand about that?"

"What are you talking about?" he asks, face pinching. "I was fine. I'm alive. I'm here. Close calls happen all the time."

"You died! Your heart stopped!"

"Not the first time," he says evenly.

As soon as he says it, you can tell he regrets it. You crumple all the same, bracing yourself against the couch.

"I can't sit around waiting for you to die, Jason," you say quietly. "That'll break me for good."

"Baby, you were there. You're always there in time, and Dick was—"

"Dick could've been a minute late, and then I would've had to hold my dead boyfriend until the ambulance came," you say, closing your eyes.

You can't get the image of Jason, pale and lifeless in Dick's arms, out of your head.

"I wouldn't have... sweetheart, I would've been okay. I'm always okay—"

You cover your face as you start to cry. Jason makes a soft noise.

"Baby, don't cry, please. I wasn't—I'm sorry I scared you, honey."

"I can't do this, Jay, I can't lose you," you cry, palms wet with tears.

"You won't! I'll be more careful, I promise—"

"I can't keep you alive, Jason. I can't—can't do it anymore."

You pick up your bag and your phone, walking towards the door.

"Baby," Jason starts, fear bleeding into his voice. "Sweetheart, stop. Stop it. Where are you going?"

"I'm going home," you say, wiping your cheek. "I'm done, Jay. I can't do this."

"No, no, baby, please. Please, baby, it's late, don't go. I don't want you to go. This is home," Jason says desperately, trying to stand up from the couch.

"Jay, sit down before you pull your stitches," you say.

He ignores you. You open the door and wince when he grunts in pain. He's too slow to stop you tonight, and that's all the reminder you need to leave.

"I'm sorry," you say. "I love you, Jason. But I can't watch you kill yourself."

"Please—"

The door shuts behind you. You start walking before you can change your mind.

You'll never be too late to save Jason Todd.

[woneuntonzz]

ᯓ★ 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡-𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞

💿 ; uh-oh... did he really forget your special day?

ot7 idol!riize x afab!reader ( 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 .ᐟ )

📨 requested by anon !! ≈

contains: fluff, cussing, vv light-hearted (i think), some are funny —i tried

- - - - - - - - - - - more under the cut .ᐟ - - - - - - - - - - -

shotaro - “the cold never bothered me anyway~”

When he got home from dance practice, he was exhausted like he'd always be after a long day of work, dragging himself along the considerable space of your apartment, and letting his body fall into the sheets. “Get up, your sweat is getting all over my sheets! I just changed that!” Your passive aggressiveness wasn't so passive anymore, and he'd bring himself to stand up. He just stood there, eyeing your figure pacing around the room. You finally looked into his lost eyes, “I'll change them for you.” he says.  You thought he had texted you earlier that day that he'll see you that night because he had a surprise, but his behavior could say otherwise. “Jerk.” “Wait, what did I do?” he tried to reach for your wrist, your soft hand. “Lovely?” Thankfully, the calendar was hung by the door, and when you slammed it with all the force you had, the calendar would fall. He picked it up and hung it back, then he saw the date. Shit. It even had a doodle of a little birthday cake on it. Your body was slumped on the couch, and suddenly you'd feel a pair of arms snaking down your body, both of which you pushed away but he persisted. “I'm sorry lovely, please let me make it up to you.” he had his face buried in your neck from behind, he left a little kiss, and an electrifying feeling.  The night would end up with the two of you in bed, getting all comfy and cuddled up, and for good measure, you made sure he wore the thing —the thing he seemed to despise so much and swore you'd never catch him wearing, ever— whilst you had a studio ghibli movie marathon, and of course before that you had to have a little photoshoot. “Pose for the camera Queen Elsa!” “This dress is a little itchy, did you even wash it?” “Did you even remember my birthday?” “Okay, sorry. You win." Still, he gives you the sweetest smile he could pull out, and at the end of the day you'd be all cuddled up in bed, the zipper of the dress he wore opened all the way so he could comfortably lie himself, your arms around his neck and his around your waist. He'd let you bury yourself into his warm embrace, placing a tender kiss on your forehead that lingered for long until he softly uttered, “I'm really sorry lovely, I shouldn't have forgotten, happy birthday.” “It's okay, I know you have a lot on your mind, you have a come back to prepare for after all.” Even with your serene voice, he'd still feel guilty for having forgotten your special day, and it would be the sweet sounds of your lips moving against each other in the same rhythm that'll relieve you both of the negativity.

eunseok - “open the door.”

He was feeling uneasy all day, but he had to hide it since he was in a fan meet —well, meeting fans. Behind all his smiles and heart poses, there was an itch in his brain he couldn't quite pick up on. Oh, right, my girlfriend's gonna be here —he'd skillfully and discreetly search for you within the crowds of fans. He knew he would have spotted you easily for being so fond of you, but you weren't there. Odd, he figured he should just wait for you to pop up next to one of his fansites. But the day has already ended and he still hasn't seen you.  Finally he got to check his phone. He'd finally caught up to the ant that crawled around in his mind. He tried messaging you a little, hi birthday girl —and with a cheeky expression on his face, he'd add, you're hotter than the flames on your birthday candles —you left him on read.  It was easy for him to explain that he had work, and you knew, because you said you were going to be in that fan meet. But unlike the last time where he greeted you happy birthday first thing in the morning, you pretty much concluded that he forgot. He did have plenty of time to greet you before the fan meet, so why didn't he? When they got back to the dorms, he made sure to call you as soon as he had locked himself up in his room. “I'm really sorry princess, I wish I could've seen you today, why didn't you come?” “I did… oh my God you don't love me anymore.” “NO, there's no way… I'm really sorry, step on me, use me, abuse me—” “I forgive you, stop.” Your laughter, filled his ears, and it was all he needed to hear. “And how bold of you to assume I had a birthday cake.” He'd laugh for a bit, then suddenly he'd reply with a stern voice. “Open the door.” “Are you outside?” He kept himself eerily quiet on the other side of the line. “Eunseok?” “No. But I got a cake delivered for you.” —it was a cake of your favorite character, and a little note was stuck to it, see? you're definitely hotter than your birthday candles (there's actually no candles lol the shop ran out :D).

sungchan - “good morning, baby.”

You were already used to your boyfriend's frequent absence, he is an idol after all, and despite that fact, your love for each other is inevitable. He was out of the country for a music video shooting, he had told you the full details, given you updates, and even promised to call you so in some way you could be with him whilst he explored around the tourist spots with his other group members.  It's 11:50 pm where you're at, where he was, he's probably working. You sighed, you had about ten minutes left before your birthday ended.  You sat on your bed, body pressed against your thighs, resting your head on your knees whilst you hugged them. You were all alone with your tiny projector, rewatching the episodes of the netflix series you had started with him, and promised to finish with him. You could almost feel his arms around you as you reminisced of the times when you two would just huddle against each other, him whispering sweet little nothings as you watched your shared favorite series. You'd never move onto the next episode without him, so before that new episode could start, you turned it off. You went back to your spot, still sitting up, blankly staring at the white space of your wall. His presence, his touch, his voice, it would all remain a wish as your eyes slowly shut themselves, filling your vision with darkness and guiding you to dreamland.  “...miss you… I love you so much… sorry…” —the sound of his voice, it was very close to your ears, but it sounded faint. You longed so much for him that you slept through it, thinking it was your dreams, because if it was you wouldn't want to wake up for a while.  Waking up, you'd feel trapped, trapped in… “Good morning, baby.” his arms.  You stared into his eyes, they were tired, but still they displayed affection, only for you.  You gently moved his arm, and as his hold on you loosened, you sat up to check the time, 12:00 pm. “Bambi? what are you doing here?” “We finished filming earlier yesterday.” he'd sit up too, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, very gently, he'd lay your head against his beating heart. “I kind of —forgot about your birthday.” he'd start caressing your hair. “I meant to call you before we got to the airport, but then I checked the time, you were already asleep.” You shifted yourself, laying your side against him. He'd trap you in his arms once again, holding you so close and tightly like he'd never want to let go of you.  You look up at him, unable to hold himself back, his lips would fall into yours, the warm sensations taking over as you drowned yourselves in each other's fervor. 

wonbin - “i forgot to feed my cat.”

“You give me the rest of your ice cream if he forgot.” “Bet.”  It was a music show day for RIIZE, work, as usual. Anton and Sohee bickering wasn't anything new, but them betting over something? Wonbin knew he'd fallen victim. “What are you two betting on?” The youngest two just stared at him, Anton bit his lip, holding back a smile. “Say Binnie, what day is it today?” “Tuesday?” —Sohee's mouth formed a little 'o' whilst Anton rolled his eyes, shoulders drooping down dramatically. “What? it's Tuesday.” “Wow, she should really stop with the princess treatment.” Wonbin only laughs at Anton's retort. “Happy Birthday Y/n.” Wonbin panicked at the mention of your name around staff, mainly his worry was at that, then, he realized. “Birthday?” “Aww, Binnie forgot.” Wonbin's mouth went agape, dismissing Sohee's teasing.  Wonbin shook his head, grabbing his phone that rested beside him on the waiting room sofa, he messages you, meet at the vending machine? :> You'd meet him by the vending machine, you had to bring along one of your own group members so as to not raise suspicion, while also pretending to be there for nothing more than a refresher.  “Happy birthday.” he quietly utters, as he reaches down to grab the soda from the dispensing slot. He'd give you the soda, and it had a little note on it.

i love you, i hope you never forget, like how i forgot your birthday :3 You saw him suppressing his laughter, he was lucky he's adorable, and you could never get mad at him since you were in the same line of work, it was easy for you to understand. But of course, being the best girlfriend you are, you'd give your fans a little tmi in your birthday live. “How's my pet cat? Well, Binnie forgot about my birthday, kinda hurts, but pets are pets. You don't feed them, they forget.” —he was watching when you said that, let's just say Sohee and Anton didn't keep very quiet.

seunghan - “i ate shinchan twice, wink, wink.”

The bright wave of sunlight was enough for you to tell that this day was going to be the best day of your life, and it would be for as long as your friends were around. They'd throw you a surprise birthday party and you'd spend the next twelve hours playing cards against humanity and being unhinged young adults trying your damndest not to get a noise complaint from your apartment neighbors. Despite the effects of your friends' urging to continue the night with some drinking, you'd refuse because you were expecting company later that night, him.  You hadn't changed from your birthday fit, it was in your favorite colors too. You kept it on, wanting to show it off to your boyfriend.  You expected a smiley Seunghan, running up to the couch to pick you up and spin you around, peppering kisses all over your face, but when he walked through the door, his head hung low. When he looked up and met your eyes, he could only let out a frail smile. You could see his exhaustion through his eyes.  He sat down on the couch, next to you, and laid his head atop of the couch's backrest, and his eyes fell on you, then on your lips. You knew what he needed, and so you planted a soft kiss on his lips, that would later turn into a heated one. You'd straddle his hips, “What were you up to today babe? you're looking a little too beautiful right now.” he uttered against your lips.  Your giggle would cause a ruckus in his heart. It was so delightful, yet he didn't foresee it. “What are you laughing at?” “My friends got me a shinchan cake, they told me to keep it all for myself, but I want to share it with you.” his slightly furrowed eyebrows would soon soften.  “Oh fuck, sorry, happy birthday babe.” he gives you another quick kiss. “I forgot I was supposed to buy you something.” “Well, what is it babe?” “Can't say, it's a surprise.” “What if…” you leaned in closer to his ear. “... you save that gift for my next birthday and give me something else tonight?” Seunghan was late to practice the next day. 

sohee - “birthday, yes. happy, never.”

Sohee woke up in a haze, not to be that kind of person, but he definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He still had his special mc duties though, so he was up and went on about his day. Well of course, every morning would never be complete without messaging his girlfriend, good morning bub :D But before you could reply, another message would follow shortly,

gonna be vv busy with m countdown todei, but i'll talk to u again as soon as i get off!! —you smiled. This alone was already the sweetest birthday present of all.  The thing is, it wasn't meant to be anything more than just the usual for Sohee. He'd proceed with his job, beaming at everyone and the cameras, elated, but only because he was looking forward to hearing your voice again towards the end of the day.  “I filmed a TikTok with Taeyong, I'm so happy.” —finally, he was able to talk to you again.  “I can tell.” you chuckled, looking at his smile through your phone screen.  You were happy too, but he seemed to have forgotten something.  “I filmed a TikTok too, do you want to see it?” “Yes! Is that even a question?” you shook your head, chuckling once more.  You showed him the video using your laptop. You held your phone close enough, flipping Sohee's view to the back cam, and he'd watch your TikTok wide-eyed. When the video was done, you flipped it back to the front cam, showing him your brazen smile. “Happy birthday bub, you're so hot.” You laughed. “You didn't forget, right?” “No, no!” You kept laughing, he definitely didn't forget, he's definitely not sweating buckets because you've caught him. “Okay, maybe I did —but you said in the video 'happy, never', you're happy, right? I can take a quick run to you right now.”  “I'm happy, I had fun with my friends today.” “That's so emo of you though, suddenly you beat me at my lip sync game, lip syncing to some emo ass audio, you can't even sing the lyrics to our songs.” “Excuse me?”  “Just kidding hehe, I love you and you're so hot.” He took that quick run to your place, and you'd add another video into your TikTok drafts. 

anton - “i'll ra-pa-pa-punch your face.”

He'd be woken up by Sungchan saying, “'Ton, we have a recording today, get up.” He'd groan softly, somehow still so worn out even after passing out for nearly eleven hours.  He sat up, still groggy. He checked for his phone, and the time, Already 9:00 am? —he'd go on about his morning routine, like usual. He got on the van with the other members, yawning like it was his last when he got it. He'd only be able to displace his drowsiness once he got out of the vehicle, scrolling on his phone. The date, recording day, and —suddenly he was wide awake. The boys were gathered around the control booth, listening to the demo of their next title track. “Oh, and Y/n will be the co-producer for this album.” The members spared Anton a glance, as if checking up on him.  When you got in the studio, you would be warmly welcomed by the boys, all but him. He acted like it was the very first time he'd meet you. To be fair, your relationship was a secret to everyone else, and you couldn't really be open about it at work, but he acted odd. He was a wee bit distant, and a lot more reserved. It wasn't your first time working with RIIZE either, so it was odd to say the least. At some point Wonbin would ask you, “Are you gonna beat up Anton?” because your smile would diminish when it was Anton's turn to record.  When it was time to say goodbye, the boys would greet you happy birthday in chorus, Anton would bow with them, but he didn't speak, even more of a reason for you to avoid his eyes until he left. You didn't want to think much of it, and so you continued to work, staying out late in the studio with the other producers, and you'd keep working till they left —though, they wouldn't leave without wishing you happy birthday and urging you to rest and celebrate at home, but you insisted.  You'd drift asleep, head propped on your fist. You were thinking, thinking of what could've gotten into Anton, why was he acting that way? “Happy Birthday love.” you almost jumped off of your seat, awakened by Anton's voice in the recording booth. “Was the door not locked? how did you get in there?”  “The door was quite unlocked, I'd say.” he uttered to the microphone. “And I kind of forgot your birthday —and the present I bought.” his eyes pointed towards the gift bag that rested on the floor next to you.  “Thank you Tony, but, you could've just told me. It's okay. I was worried about why you were ignoring me…” He rushed to answer when he saw your fleeting smile. “I just felt bad. I'm really sorry, it's stupid. I didn't want to approach you empty handed so I went back to the dorms to grab your present.” Your sudden laughter caught him off-guard. “I know, I know, it's embarrassing.” “No, no. I just can't believe you're still in there.” he was still in the recording booth, talking to you through the microphone input.  “Well, I also wanted to re-record my parts. I couldn't focus earlier because you were boring holes into my soul.” “Well, I'm sorry if YOU forgot my birthday.” “Chill, I was only joking, love.”

well this kinda sucked self-indulgence at its finest (pls don't bully me for almost making anton's into a whole ass fic hehe) ; 💿

[galaxy-fleur]

I hope more dad leon questions are ok?

something something that's been on my mind, what if remake leon (after reaching early 30s ) suggest his s/o that they have a baby but she is reluctant and unsure about it?

while leon is craving for normalcy and an escape and his emotion got the better of him but she's afraid of not being able to do it or whether she'd be a good mum and the like

Hmm, I don't think that would be a big issue, honestly? If we take that you two assumedly have been together for a while now, it's not like you feeling hesitant about it would make him feel upset or angry with you. Yes, Leon wants a simpler, cozier life (if we're talking about a scenario of him actually having the opportunity to do that). He wants that with you, though. You're a team, and your thoughts and desires are not any less valuable than his own. I'd even say that he tends to neglect his needs sometimes.

So I can see this going two ways.

He either backpedals on the whole idea once he sees you're a bit uncomfortable and doesn't bring it back up for a while because he doesn't want to make you feel pressured, or... you two have a more open conversation about the whole thing. Granted, the first option will probably lead to the second one eventually, but still.

Having kids is scary and a lot of work. No matter how you have children. He wouldn't want you to go through with something so life-changing if you're not completely sure and eager. And if you're not, that's fine, too. He's willing to wait. To talk about it more, lay out your options and take it one step at a time instead of just jumping into this idea.

And if you'll never feel ready? Well, you'll just have to adopt a puppy. Or so he jokes while pressing a kiss to your forehead. Or perhaps a parrot. A big one. He heard those are technically like toddlers that never grow up. A perfect option. Plus, Sherry would love that.

Point is, he wouldn't want you to feel nervous of disappointing him or holding him back just because you're not as on board with it as he is. He wants a family with you because he loves you. He wants a future with you, whatever that may look like. If you'll want kids one day? Just know he'll be ecstatic to hear that. And if you don't? That means you two will get more time to spend together, with no distractions getting in the way. He'd be a damn fool to complain about that.

Either way, he will remind you that you are not alone in this. If you are just worried about not being a great parent, he'll reassure you that he'll be right there with you, every step of the way. Though the joys and the hurdles, the wins and losses. He wants it all, not just the good stuff. So you have nothing to worry about.

Adoption is always an option, too. If you are someone who headcanons his backstory as him losing his parents at a young age, that'll just makes the whole idea that much more heartwarming to think about.

[sxcret-garden]

HI ITS 🪐 ANON AGAIN, SO I FINALLY REMEMBERED WHAT I WAS ALSO THINKING ABT THE OTHER DAY so most likely of any of the the ateez members (i don't have a specific one you can choose BAHASHFKCNMXKD) with an s/o who is like pretty quiet in bed like bcs sometimes people take it as a bad thing but IDK i'm not super loud so it just makes me wonder :")

Aaaaaaa i'm finally getting to this as i try to empty out my askbox a bit!! Sorry for the long wait 😭 gonna answer this as an mtl, explanations are under the cut~

most

Jongho

Yunho

Yeosang

Mingi

Seonghwa

Wooyoung

San

Hongjoong

least

I put Jongho first cause I think even if you don't make noise at all he wouldn't mind, so long as you have other means to communicate whether you like what he's doing at the moment or if he should change things up a bit. Will definitely be more talkative in this case and fill the silence with praises and muttered "I love you"s, and always asks if you feel good. The type to hum in response when he does tickle a sound out of you, and if he manages to make you moan as he makes you cum, he will certainly tease you about it with a soft smile afterwards - don't be fooled though, this guy adores every single sound you make, and will figure out over time how to lure those sweet whines out of you

Yunho does like hearing your voice during sex, and even as you're making out and fooling around before getting to business, but I think he actually prefers a partner who's on the quiet side. Little whines and silent moans do so much more to him than if his partner is super loud, and you bet he'd get drunk on hearing your voice like this alone. Whispers all the things he wants to do to you in between kisses, and if all you can respond with is a weak whine against his lips he'll just feel that much more turned on (and this might lowkey make him want to ruin you....)

I think Yeosang is a bit similar to Yunho, in that he prefers a partner who isn't super loud. He does like having you talk to him during sex, because the communication makes him feel comfortable during the whole process, but if you're not one to moan a lot or to cry out when he hits just the right spot that's totally fine with him. Even just the way your breathing speeds up and becomes heavier as you're nearing your high is a sound he'll appreciate and that'll make him eager to keep going. Whisper praises into his ear about how good he's making you feel and the guy is melting under your words alone

I see Mingi as the shy type if he hasn't been with a partner for long enough, so I think he'd absolutely understand if you're not very vocal in bed - whether the reason is because you're shy about it or because it's simply not your style. However, he will encourage you to let out your voice a bit more when he's having sex with you, because he's just really really curious about all the sounds you might make while he's pleasuring you. Very patient and will do his best to ease you into the process, and whenever you let out even the most quiet of moans he'll be right there to tell you how beautiful your voice sounds to him and how much hearing you turns him on

Seonghwa would definitely be surprised if you're barely making a sound, eventually stopping what he's doing to question whether you're enjoying yourself or if you're just doing this for his sake (which he really doesn't want). It definitely feels a little unfamiliar to him at first to have such a quiet partner, but that isn't to say he wouldn't get used to it. Would definitely talk to you more than he would with a more vocal partner, and will naturally slow down a bit to make sure you're liking what he's doing. However, he would certainly also sometimes nudge you to make more sounds, because no matter how understanding he is, there are times where he's just desperate to hear your voice during sex

I put Wooyoung so low because I'm convinced he'd have sooo much fun with a very vocal, loud partner, and because I think he's very vocal as well. He too will be surprised when he learns that you tend to be very quiet in bed, and this will just instantly make him that much softer for you. Doesn't know what to do with himself when he gets to hear your soft whines and deep sighs at the way he's touching you, and will soon find himself addicted to luring those little noises out of you. He just can't stop himself and will go as far as to overstimulate you out of pure curiousity and because it's fascinating to him how you can make him feel so many feelings at once with a simple quiet mewl

Now San is one who needs the verbal communication, even if it's just you two moaning at each other's touches. Gets seriously worried if you don't make a single sound because he's scared you might not like being intimate with him or that he's set you off in some way. However, he will be soso soft for you in an instant once he hears you give him little whines and moans or even if you whisper a curse through gritted teeth - the latter especially is gonna be such a huge turn on for him. I feel like he'd naturally match your energy and sex with him is gonna be a lot softer if you're on the quiet side than if you're very vocal from the start (but that doesn't mean he won't be willing to be rough or more experimental if you ask him to!)

I feel like Hongjoong lives off of dirty talk and getting the most desperate noises out of you, which is why he's last in the list! Not to say I don't see him enjoying himself with a quiet partner, but sometimes this guy just needs someone to talk back at him and his teasing as he's fucking you, someone to whisper the dirtiest things into his ear and to let him hear the sweetest whines when he's going just a bit too slow on purpose, and sometimes also someone to shower him with praises while you're making love at the end of a rough day. Just loves hearing your voice so much and the way you talk to him during sex just turns him on the most out of everything, so he just thinks it's a shame he doesn't get to hear more of it! Though he will be the most understanding ever if you're not comfortable with the idea of being a little louder too

[frickingnerd]

something that'll last forever

pairing: claude von riegan x gn!reader

summary: after claude finds out that you've been proposed to, he realizes that if he doesn't confess to you now, he'll lose you forever

tags: confession + proposal (claude to reader), lorenz proposing to reader, best friends to lovers, wholesome fluff, claude being serious for once, holding hands & kissing

claude knew that eventually the day would come when someone else would show interest in you and where he'd have to tell you how he felt about you. but he didn't think that day would come so soon…

he heard about it from hilda. apparently, lorenz had proposed to you! you still hadn't given him a clear answer, but it was clear that this was a proposal you couldn't easily turn down. after all, he was the first and only man proposing to you. though claude planned to change that!

claude had invited you to his room, under the premise of just being nosey about lorenz's proposal. of course, he hadn't told you that he'd propose to you as well. he wasn't even sure how he'd go about it. but he knew that he had to do it. now or never!

“let me guess…” you plopped down onto claude's bed next to him. “you want to talk about lorenz's proposal…”

claude got a bit nervous when you addressed the topic so casually. was it that obvious?

“you're not the first one to ask me about it. everyone wants to know all about it. the ring, the location and what he promised me…”

claude was a bit relieved to hear that he wasn't the first one to ask. though he certainly was curious about everything that happened. and how you felt about it.

“and? did his promise sound good? good enough for you to marry him?”

claude had never been as nervous as he had been now. if you'd tell him you wanted to accept lorenz's proposal, then what was he supposed to do? propose to you anyways? or let you live in peace, unaware of his feelings for you…?

“well…” you hesitated. “i haven't given him an answer yet. i think that says it all. but i haven't rejected him either…”

that answer was as vague as it could be. it sounded like you weren't even sure yourself yet if you wanted to marry lorenz.

“is there something that would help you make up your mind…?”

claude sat up on his bed, holding eye contact with you. his gaze was so intense, as if he feared you'd slip away once he took his eyes off you.

“maybe…”

you stared back at him. but you didn't specify what could potentially change your mind. almost like you didn't want to say it out loud. just like claude didn't want to say out loud how he felt about you, because he was terrified of your answer. but he had to.

“alright…” he took a deep breath, to prepare himself. “then let me say something, that might help you find clarity”

his hand found its way into his pocket, grabbing the ring he had gotten for you. but he didn't pull it out. not yet. he just needed to remind himself that it was there and what he needed to do now.

“i know i'm not the type for this serious talk. but you're my best friend and i don't want to lose you. i don't want to ruin what we have, but i want you. and if i don't say it out loud now, i'll lose you to lorenz and have to regret not telling you how i feel for the rest of my life…”

claude took a deep breath, pulling out the ring.

“marry me! i swear to you, that i'll make you just as happy, if not happier, than lorenz ever could!”

the tension was unbearable. it was only a moment of silence, but it felt like an eternity to claude. he could hear his own heart beating so loudly, that he was sure you could too. never in his life had he feared something as much as he feared your answer.

“i don't want to lose you either…”

you carefully reached out your hand towards claude, grabbing the hand he was holding the ring in.

“if you truly mean what you said, then i don't have to think twice about it. i've loved you ever since our first year at the officers academy. through the years, my feelings for you never changed. you're the person i love the most…”

claude smiled happily, pulling his hand away from yours, so that he could cup your cheeks and press a kiss onto your lips.

“i know i joke around a lot, but i am serious about this. i meant what i said. i'll make you happier than anyone else can!”

[siriusleee]

a better year

a/n: i linked this one to ao3 a week or so ago, but i figured i'd do it now i'm procrastinating the next chapter to adamantine chains lmao this is my take on the bookstore au tags: mentions of sex but nothing explicit, cursing, signs of ptsd, , original female character, retirement from the military, bookstore au 6.7k words summary: He takes her shoes off of her while she insists she can do that herself. He slips the right one off when the fireworks go off outside; the entire town is bathed in their light. "Midnight," she says as Simon rises up on one knee in front of her, ready to tell her goodbye and good night. She kisses him over the mask. She doesn't mention it the next day.

The official order rolled in on plain white paper, an unceremonious carrier of his future. He was the first to go: a sign that the team was being unraveled slowly. After all, they're not young men anymore. 

"You'll receive your pension; it's enough that you shouldn't have to work again. And we've made sure that you have an official background. It's not much, but it's what we can do."

Laswell doesn't move her eyes from his, her fingers clutching a pen so hard her knuckles are white. 

"It's for the best Simon," she says, setting the pen down carefully on her desk, "and if it makes you feel better: everyone will be released soon. I'm sorry."

He's not dumb; he knows these things only last so long. Forced retirement is something to be celebrated - celebrated that he lived long enough to have one, celebrated that his body isn't rotting in some foreign country, a home for worms. Celebrated that the 141 made it out mostly intact. Mostly together. 

Johnny claps him on the back and promises that when Laswell brings him that paper when Johnny gets his own forced retirement, he'll come to find Simon. 

Simon doesn't stay in England - he doesn't like the way the gray settles around him. He leaves the apartment Laswell set up for him untouched, a note for Johnny for where to find him. 

He finds a small house to rent somewhere in the American Southwest, spitting distance of Alejandro's territory. It crosses his mind more than once to make the trip across the border, to see how Alejandro's doing; to see if Rudy is still scared of fantasmas . 

But he isn't a fantasma anymore; he's just Simon Riley.

And it's just Simon Riley who paces the aisles of her bookstore, trying to find something to take his mind off of the fact that he is utterly and completely bored. 

"This is the third time you've been here this month. I'm not putting you into debt am I?"

Her accent is different from everyone else's in town - still decidedly American, just not from here American. Simon ignores her, his eyes focused on the row of books in front of him. She sighs heavily, but drops it, leaving him behind to stock the end cap. Last week's murder mysteries replaced by this week's contemporary romances. 

"I need to lock up you know - I can't stay here all night." She speaks as if it's not odd that Simon only comes in on Thursday nights - the only night of the week she stays open late to rearrange the end cap displays, to vacuum the floors to perfection. 

"You haven't even cleaned the windows yet," Simon replies, pulling a fantasy book from the shelf: something about a world full of malicious fairies and a secret world beneath New York. It's something new. 

"For your information, I did that before you got here," she says, pushing herself up from the floor with a groan. "And I have a life. I can't sit here all night and wait for you to pick a random book off the shelf."

"I never said you didn't."

Simon places the book as she dips behind the counter, a lukewarm cup of coffee left beside the cash register. She drinks from it, wincing at the taste as she rings the book up.

"That'll be seventeen forty-five."

Simon gives her a twenty and she breaks the change, counting out how many pennies he's supposed to have on her fingers. 

"You going to be back next week?"

"Why?"

"I want to close early next Thursday; I need to know if my best customer is going to be here or not."

Simon doesn't speak as he takes the plastic bag from her hands. She waits for him, eyes never leaving his as she sips her coffee, waiting on him to answer. 

"I can come by Friday instead."

"I'm closed Fridays."

"What about Wednesday?"

"I can stay late Wednesday."

He leaves her with just a crinkle of the plastic bag and the chime above the door.

***

He spends too much time at the gym ignoring Johnny's text messages. Johnny tells him Price was next - swearing that he was going to retire to the countryside where he can smoke his cigars in peace. Maybe find himself a nice girl to cook him dinner every now and then.

His fingers hover over the buttons, almost messaging Price to tell him congratulations. But Simon's not sure it really is. 

He's alone at night; no one's in the gym at two in the morning. No one's there to watch the way he slams the weights down when he's done or hear the way he gasps for breath after lifting too heavy - the tear in his chest that never quite healed right burning him from the inside. 

The walk home is quick; the stars shine brighter than anything he'd ever seen in England. The closest he ever got to seeing them like this was in the Middle East, but he hardly noticed the stars then. He wasn't expecting to be left looking up.

He sits in the shower at home. He can't stand the way the water hits his skin, but can't stand the idea of sitting in the water either. So he stays huddled in the corner of the bathtub, the water barely touching him. 

Simon Riley thinks about death. 

He thinks about what would happen if he died right now. 

He thinks about what it's like to die twice. 

***

The door is locked when he comes by Wednesday; he feels foolish standing there with his hand still pulling on the door, knowing it won't open beneath his touch. Foolish to think that she would-

Foolish when his heart ticks a beat as she comes around the corner. Foolish when he steps inside just a second after she unlocks the door.

"Sorry, my last employee must have locked the door on their way out. So did you like last week's book?"

"It was alright."

The silence is almost awkward as she locks the door behind him.

"Let me know when you're ready. I just made coffee in that pot behind the counter; you can have some if you want. I shouldn't drink it all myself."

She leaves him behind to disappear into the store room. He paces the aisles aimlessly, waiting for something to jump out at him. It's quiet tonight; the music that's usually playing softly over the speakers is absent. Simon can hear her through the storeroom wall moving boxes around, the sound of a box cutter piercing the quiet every so often. 

She reappears, a box in her arms that she drops heavily onto the counter. Simon watches her over the bookshelf of non-fiction works as she pulls each book out, scans it into the computer, and stacks them on the counter 

When the box is empty, she breaks it down and leaves it on the counter. She looks up, almost catching Simon staring at her. He ducks away, taking a book on the Korean War with him. At the counter, she can barely see him over the stack of books in front of her. 

"Last week was fantasy and this week is the Korean War? You certainly have varied tastes."

Simon hands over the fifteen twenty-two he owes her, her hands linger in the distance between them. 

"Do you have a job?"

"What?"

Simon's taken aback at her candor. I used to have a job he thinks, as he pockets his change. 

"No, I don't."

"Do you want one? I need a weekend worker. It's just me on Saturdays and Sundays now my other guy quit to go to college. I can't pay you a ton, but I kind of get the feeling you don't need it."

He falters for a moment; that's all it takes. If he's being honest with himself, he misses taking orders, missing feeling useful to someone.

"I can do that." 

"Can you start this Saturday?"

"I can do that."

She's locked the door behind him before he realizes they don't even know each other's names. 

***

Her name's Billy.

"What's your name; I probably should have asked that before I hired you."

Simon doesn't answer, placing the box down slowly before he answers. It's odd, telling someone his name. His real name. 

"It's Simon. Simon Riley."

She looks him over, elbows resting on the counter. 

"What?"' He asks, uncomfortable under her x-ray analysis of him.

"Just didn't peg you for a Simon. You know with your general countenance; the mask and all that."

She doesn't ask why he has the mask on. Simon gets the feeling that she never will. 

She works him like a dog; he's moving some of the shelves around when he thinks that this is probably the reason her last employee quit. It's like being ordered around by Price again, but this time his enemy is the dust. He doesn't stop moving until well after noon; sweat gathering in the small of his back. In her office, Billy is on the phone, yelling indistinctly at the person on the other line.

He doesn't have to watch her to know she's angry when she slams the phone down. He expects her to storm out of her office, to slam the door shut behind her. But she doesn't. When she comes out she's calm.

On Sunday she shows him how the books are organized, and she has him switch around the genres.

"Romance sells best during the spring, and mystery best in the fall and winter. So we need to pull the mystery books up to this front aisle and move the romance towards the back. These shelves roll so they're easier to move."

She's meticulous; Simon moves the same shelf four times before it's lined up exactly where she wants it. His constellation prize: cash wages handed to him at the end of the day.

"No paycheck?"

Her nails tap against the counter, the white paint chipped.

"I haven't processed your paperwork yet. I can take the money back if you want."

Simon pockets it.

They lock up together. It's warm outside, but she still tugs a hoodie over herself whenever she finishes, tucking her keys into the pocket.

It's a complete coincidence that they set off in the same direction. 

Simon wants a cigarette; his fingers itch for the pack in his pocket. But she'd said earlier in the day that the smell was disgusting and she couldn't breathe whenever someone with cigarette smoke on them passed her by.

They split up two blocks away from the bookstore. She motions up to the upstairs apartment of a shitty duplex. It's not the kind of place he expected her to be in.

"This is me. I'll see you next Saturday right?"

"I'll be there."

"Good night Simon."

She doesn't wait for him to say anything; not that he would have known what to say. She's up the stairs and inside (she didn't unlock the door; he has to restrain himself from going upstairs to tell her to lock it next time) before he can think of anything to say.

He smokes a cigarette at the bottom of her stairs; watches the outline of her against the curtains in her window. A fat black cat peers down at him, peers down at the cherry of Simon's cigarette in the darkness. The street lamp is burnt out, the shadows dark. He stubs the cigarette out on the sole of his boot and throws the cigarette butt out in the street. 

He's almost certain she'd chide him for that - the same way she did a kid who had the audacity to throw a cigarette down in front of her shop. 

His apartment is extra cold when he gets home.

***

"Maybe Price has it right: a life in the countryside. A pretty girl to cook you a few meals. Maybe a dog to curl up at your feet," Johnny drones on the other end of the line. Simon doesn't answer, his focus on cutting the potatoes in front of him into meticulous cubes. Johnny doesn't need him to speak. 

"What about you L.T.? What have you been up to?"

"I'm not a lieutenant anymore Johnny."

"You'll always be L.T. to me. And don't ignore the question."

Simon drops the potatoes into a pot, waiting on the answer to unstick from the back of his throat.

"Not much. I go to the gym a lot."

He doesn't tell Johnny how he has to break his gun down and put it back together three times each night before he can sleep.

"That it?"

"I'm working at a bookstore."

"A bookstore! A few months out and you're domesticated."

"Watch it, Johnny."

A pause.

"I have to go L.T.. Gaz is yelling at me."

Their goodbye is the silence that follows. 

***

Billy's arguing with a customer when he arrives Saturday morning.

"Listen, dude, I don't care what price you want to pay. This is my business and I set the prices. If you don't like it, you're not being forced to come here."

The customer drops it when Simon steps behind the counter. 

"I hate that guy," Billy tells him as she hands him a box cutter. "He comes in every week and tries to get me to lower my prices. It's a bookstore; I'm not getting rich off of this. I can't afford that. Anyway-" 

She sweeps her hair behind her shoulders. Simon catches a hint of a tattoo behind her right ear and a glint of cold chain disappearing beneath her shirt.

"Finals are coming up for the local community college so I had two different study groups book the tables in here today. They're usually pretty good, we just have to make sure to keep the coffee pot refilled for them because they'll drink it dry. It's $5 if they want coffee - per person don't let them try to swindle us - but they can refill it as much as they want."

Her fingers tap against the counter. Her nails are blue this week.

"If they ask about selling us their textbooks, tell them to come back next week. I have a shipment of children's books coming in - you can sign for it if I'm busy. Do I need to show you how to use the cash register or can you figure it out?"

"I can figure it out."

"Ok. The code is 4532. For now, do you mind breaking down the boxes in the back room and taking them to the dumpster? It's hard for me to reach to open up the dumpster lid."

She doesn't wait for him to answer before she disappears into the back room.

This Saturday is busy. 

Simon's about to snap at a kid who won't shut up about how the comic section is too small when Billy appears beside him. 

"I'll take over here Simon. There's lunch in the back room."

He's thankful for her in that moment.

He's more thankful when the storeroom shuts behind him and locks. The table has a small bag with his name written on it. A sandwich from the deli across the street and a bottle of water inside.

There are no tomatoes on the sandwich.

Just like he always orders it.

***

He smokes a cigarette again outside her apartment. But this time he tucks the butt back into the pack. He'll throw it away at home.

***

"I want to put a coffee shop in here," Billy tells him when the store is slow. She traces the right side of the store with her fingers.

"And I want to open the shop up earlier and stay open later."

"Why don't you?" Simon asks without looking up from his task of the day: putting 'half-priced' stickers on books that aren't selling well.

"I'm not making enough money. I have just enough to pay you and my weekday employee and the overhead cost of this place, plus pay myself. There's not any extra coming in. The bank-," she pauses, red nails scraping at a piece of tape on the counter, "the bank is willing to give me a loan on the coffee shop stuff - the machines and all that - but I don't have the money for the renovations. My contractor told me he'd have to build the cabinets, open up the drywall and put an extension on our water pipe. A water filter needs to be installed. It's just - it's just a lot."

She slides the stack of books he's already put stickers on off of the counter and into her arms.

"Maybe next year."

***

The next time Johnny calls, Simon can hear the strain in his voice. 

"It's my turn L.T.. Laswell said I failed the psychological and I can't stay."

"You going to keep good on your promise to come to be my annoying neighbor Johnny."

"Not yet. I want to go home to my mom for a little bit. Maybe next year L.T.."

"Next year's going to be a big year I guess," Simon says more to himself. 

"What's that L.T.?"

"Nothing Johnny. We should be happy we made it out."

Simon knows Johnny's not happy: not happy he never received the rank he wanted, not happy he has to go back home and take care of his mom again.

"You're right L.T.. I'll call you again when I'm home. How's the bookstore thing?"

"It's going alright. Bye, Johnny."

"Bye."

In the silence after the call, Simon thinks he should get a cat. Something to make the apartment less quiet; something to give him purpose when he's there.

Something that won't crawl all over him at the end of the day.

***

He needs something to do with his hands.

That's what he tells Billy when she arrives at the store on Saturday morning and Simon's ripping up a portion of the carpet, a stack of flooring waiting to be installed.

"So you have to do it when I'll have customers here?"

"Tell them it's a new addition; they'll be alright."

"I'm not paying you extra for this."

"I didn't ask you to."

Billy looks at him, one foot tapping a sharp staccato muffled by the carpet. 

"Fine."

She pauses for a moment, Simon's knife running down the carpet to separate it from the floor beneath. She picks up one of the pieces of flooring, turning it over in her hand.

"What is this?"

"It's vinyl. It's waterproof in case you spill something."

Billy drops the plank back onto the stack and leaves to unlock the front door.

Simon revels in the way his shoulders burn at the work, the way the rough concrete scratches his knuckles once everything is pulled off the floor and he has to start laying down the underflooring. He revels in the way his back cramps as he's bent over.

In the way he feels useful.

It takes him all day to get half the flooring down.

Billy doesn't speak to him about it, doesn't ask where he got the money from, or why he's suddenly doing free renovations on the place. 

Simon knows she appreciates it by the way she drops down his lunch - no tomatoes, just a water to drink- beside him without expecting a thank you. By the way, she chides the little kids who come over to ask him a million and one questions, he doesn't know how to answer and brushes them away from him. 

She catches him smoking in the back alley on his break. She's polite enough to turn back when she realizes he has his mask down and keeps her back turned to him.

"That shit's going to kill you."

"It can only hope." 

Simon can tell she's giving him a withering look at him from her position half inside the doorway.

"If you come in smelling like that cancerous poison I'm not going to talk to you for the rest of the day."

He must smell because she doesn't speak to him for the rest of the day, not even saying goodbye when they depart at her apartment.

Simon hides the cigarettes in a drawer when he gets home.

***

It's Price that reaches out to him first, a quick phone call, a holdover from their days in the field.

"Are you holding up?"

Not "how are you holding up?", but "are you holding up?" The difference between three letters is so vast Simon doesn't know how to cross it.

"I'm doing fine."

"Johnny told me you've got a job?"

"Just something to keep me occupied."

"Is that all you've got?"

"What more do I need?"

The receiver is filled with the sound of Price inhaling a cigar; Simon can almost smell him through the receiver.

"You're not Ghost anymore Simon. It takes more than that to survive this."

Survive this . As if this is the most dangerous mission Simon's ever been on as if being forcibly retired has some sort of great mortality rate. 

"Understood."

He listens to Price's dial tone for five minutes before he hangs up.

Maybe it does.

***

He paces the town at night. Once the gym doesn't become enough to wear him out, doesn't help his brain relax, he walks the streets. 

He thinks more than once that someone is going to call the cops on him and report him for being suspicious. 

But Simon Riley isn't Ghost anymore. Simon Riley is someone not worth noticing. 

It's almost surprising how well the little town sleeps with the remnants of Ghost stalking through it; how now one seems to have any idea of what he was once - and still is - capable of.

He steals a lot of time sitting on people's steps, on the stoops of little houses, picking the petals off of the flowers in big pots, and lining up the shoes and toys that were left disarrayed in the chaos of the daytime. He wonders if someone is going to catch him on their security camera and name him the town freak, but no one does.

He keeps up at it enough that he can feel the shift in the air, feel winter creeping in. He notices it in the way more and more boots are left outside, by the plants with plastic coverings over them, protecting them.

He finds himself, more often than not, taking the long way around to stop at the bottom stairs of Billy's apartment. Most nights the lights are off, and the window open. He wants to tell her to stop doing that, to lock the window, but he doesn't know how to say it without giving away his nights. So instead he keeps watch, hands buried in his pockets as he counts the moths in the streetlights. 

Sometimes though the lights are on and he can hear the sound of her house through the open window. Sometimes the cat peers down at him as if prepared to leap through the window screen at him - sometimes she grabs the cat, never looking down at Simon; more often than not the cat curls up in the windowsill without budging. 

A few times he could hear her talking to someone, the conversation muffled from above. He wondered about who she could be talking to so late at night. Why she was up in the middle of the night to talk to someone? 

He makes his way home as the town starts to wake up.

***

He moves once - to a tiny house in the middle of town, just enough to have a yard big enough to cross in two strides.

He tells Johnny it's because he was tired of the noises of the neighbors. 

He tells Johnny it's because he's taken up woodworking and needs a spot for the tools.

"What are you building you old bastard?"

"Some cabinets."

"For what?"

"Mind your own business, Johnny."

It takes weeks to get them perfect. Eventually, though, they're good enough to put in the back of a rented truck. 

He does it on a Friday when no one is around. He tells himself that it's easier that way, no one walking underfoot. 

That night he lets himself admit - just for a moment as he sits on the shower floor - that he didn't want to see her face if she's disappointed by it.

***

She refuses to open the door for him the next day, opting to yell at him through the glass instead.

"You cannot keep making renovations to my store without asking me!"

"It's no big deal; open the door."

"No big deal: you put a floor down, you handbuild cabinets, and you broke into my store to install them!"

"You gave me a key."

"Not for that!"

It's a stalemate: Simon poised with his hand on the door handle, her hands tucked into the pocket of her jacket.

"I still have to do the plumbing."

She massages her eyes before leaning forward to turn the lock. Simon steps inside with the biting wind.

"You're fucking irritating, Simon Riley."

I know .

She makes him put up the Christmas tree - a fucking monstrosity that takes up the entire front window. It takes him all day to get the decorations to her standard; her yelling through the store at him to move something incrementally to the left or right.

Billy leans on the counter, shuffling through official-looking papers and refusing to look at Simon when he's finished.

"Thanks to you," she says, never looking up at him, "I have to start getting the paperwork processed to be able to serve food and drinks here."

"Is it difficult?"

"It's not easy."

Their conversation pauses just long enough for her to check out a customer. She turns back to Simon as soon as the door shuts.

"Why are you doing all this Simon?"

He doesn't answer, and he realizes as he stands there, hands folded behind his back and spine rigid that he needs to tell her something, but all he notices is the black ink mark on her cheek. She doesn't pressure him to answer, but she doesn't let her eyes leave him.

Simon breaks first, eyes cast down to the floor.

"Ok," Billy whispers under her breath, "you don't have to answer, but just let me know when you're going to do something else. Can you text me next time before you start?"

"I don't have your number."

She doesn't ask for his phone, instead, she tears a corner of a piece of paper off and scribbles her number on it. Her hands don't shake when she holds the paper out to Simon, but his shake when he takes it. Simon can tell Billy notices. He stuffs the paper into his pocket, pushing it past his keys and his phone. 

"Hey, Simon," Billy chews on her lip.

"What?"

"Are you busy tomorrow night?"

***

Johnny's chatting his ear off, Simon's barely paying attention to him as he stares at the shirts thrown out on his bed.

"- L.T.? Simon?"

"What? Johnny, what?"

"Are you even listening?"

"No, Johnny. I'm not."

The static of Johnny's disapproval.

"What could be distracting you from my wonderful conversation?"

"I'm busy Johnny."

"With what?"

"Nothing Johnny. I just have somewhere to be later - I'm trying to get ready for dinner."

"Dinner? Like with someone else?"

Simon hangs up on him.

***

Simon wants to pretend that he doesn't have the path to her house memorized; doesn't have each step calculated to know when exactly to stand on the bottom step at 6:59 so that he can knock on her door right at 7. But he does, so he hovers on the bottom step for an extra minute.

She doesn't answer when he knocks; she yells through the door for him to come in. In his pocket his phone buzzes every few seconds, Johnny sends another message insisting that Simon tell him who he's eating dinner with. Simon thinks for a moment about blocking his number for the night.

Billy smiles at him from behind the counter, elbow-deep in bread dough. All at once, Simon feels overdressed taking in the large shirt covered in flour Billy's wearing. 

"Hey. Sorry, dinner's going to be like 30 minutes later than I said. I couldn't get this shit to rise properly for like an hour."

"It's alright."

Billy must sense his apprehension because she jerks her head at a chair pulled up to the counter. 

"Come sit down."

Simon appreciates the order. Billy rolls the dough out on the counter, measuring the thickness with her knuckle with a precision Simon would expect out of her. He has to keep himself from staring at her; instead, he analyzes the rest of the apartment. 

He can see everything but the bedroom from his one spot; that door is firmly shut. It's clean but the type of clean houses have whenever someone new is coming over and everything is thrown into a closet. After a few minutes, Simon thinks he needs to speak.

"What are you making?"

"Rolls. I made - uh - what is the fancy word for it - beef bourgine?"

"Beef bourguignon?"

Billy smiles down at the dough as she cuts squares out.

"I'm glad one of us can say it - I can cook, I just can't speak French."

"Do you always cook like this?"

"Only on special occasions."

Special occasions . 

It's awkward at first for Simon to sit there while she moves about the kitchen, putting the rolls in the oven and cleaning the counter; Billy doesn't speak much and Simon knows she doesn't feel the need to fill the silence either. 

His phone buzzes again - under the counter he checks it.

Johnny:

don't leave me hanging lt tell me whos it is

"Your girlfriend?" Billy teases without turning to look at Simon from the other side of the kitchen. 

"Not exactly," Simon says, muting the phone and shoving it back in his pocket. 

"Do you have one?" Her voice is prying, but she doesn't look at Simon as she pulls bowls down from the cabinet. 

"A girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

It bubbles inside him - just once - the urge to tell her about himself . He swallows it down.

"No."

"Not even back home?"

"Back home?"

She grins at him slyly, setting two glasses of water down in front of the two of them.

"Why do you think I have to keep paying you in cash? Your um….paperwork didn't exactly list you as being an employable American. And you have - you know - an accent."

Simon doesn't realize he's leaning toward her until his elbows hit the counter. 

"No, not back home."

She seems satisfied by that answer - or she doesn't have time to ask anything else. Behind her the oven timer beeps and she turns to pull the rolls out. They're barely out of the oven whenever she ladles the stew into the bowls and pulls two rolls off one for each of them.

 Pushing the bowl towards Simon she opens her mouth - Simon thinks she's going to ask something else but she just shakes her head. 

"I'm going to eat over there, so you can eat too," she says passing him a fork. 

"No cameras?"

"None you can see."

She retreats to the other side of the room and drops down on the couch so that she's facing away from him. Muffled behind a door to the right, Simon can hear her cat meow once. 

They eat in silence; Simon knows she's only eating slowly to give him time to finish without her accidentally turning to see his face. He doesn't need it: he realizes he hasn't had a meal that hasn't consisted of a sandwich or some form of potatoes in weeks; he eats fast, slowing down just as he finishes to keep from embarrassing himself. 

He sets the bowl down with enough dramatics that she can tell he's done without having to turn around. It's quiet again when she comes into the kitchen and takes his bowl to rinse it out in the sink. The sound of the water makes his skin crawl; it clashes with the domestic feeling of being taken care of. 

She laughs quietly to herself as she dries her hands on her shirt, lifting it up just enough to expose the little shorts she has on underneath.

"Something funny?"

"Not really funny," she says, hands stilling in her shirt, "I don't know - it just - I - well it's about this time of dinner that guys usually try to take me to the bedroom. I was just thinking about how different this night would be with anyone else."

With anyone else . 

That bothers him some.

"I don't suppose that's what you came here for," she grins at him as she speaks, resting her elbows on the counter. "Besides we don't even know each other."

"We work with each other every weekend," Simon retorts, not sure why he feels the need to prove her wrong.

"And we barely speak the entire time."

She points at him, her bright yellow nails glinting in the light.

"I've never seen you in anything other than long sleeves, even on the hottest day. You could have like fucking tentacles under there and I wouldn't know. And you don't even know anything about me."

For once, Simon doesn't think - he does.

He pushes his sleeves up slowly, each one nearly to his elbow. Billy leans forward, just enough to see the tattoo ink and scars that mar his forearms. Her fingers twitch against the countertop like she wants to reach out and touch him, but they stay still.

"Do you - do you only have tattoos on your arms?"

Simon reaches up to hook one finger in his collar and pulls it down just a half inch - just enough to show her the ink there.

"Your turn," Simon says, dropping his hand down. Under the counter, it lies fisted on his thigh.

"My turn?" Billy asks eyebrow cocked at him.

"Do you have any tattoos?"

She licks her lips once; Simon can see her thinking. After a pause she reaches down to grab the edge of her shirt - Simon's heart clenches. She lifts the hem up, just enough to show him the edge of a tattoo on her side, disappearing beneath her shorts and rising above where she lifted. She laughs a little as she drops the shirt.

"Is that all we need to know about each other?"

"It's a start."

***

He finally tells her he was in the military four Sundays after the first one. She'd told him at work she was too tired to cook and apologized, promising to make it up to him. So when he showed up at her door with a pizza and a promise that he was just dropping it off on his way home, he was surprised when she asked him to come in.

Each week they coaxed something new out of each other: a snippet about their families, about their travels. He loves Kentucky; she's from the East Coast. Her father died young. He's from England.

She's curled up in the recliner the cat on her stomach - they're watching something on television but they're both not really paying attention to it. So he blurts it out - a new confession in this weekly therapy.

"I was in the military."

"I guessed. The British Armed Forces?"

"The SAS."

She frowns and Simon stiffens.

"Is that like a unit or something?"

"Yeah."

This time she grins.

"Is that why you always lock my door behind you when you come in?"

"No. I do it because you never know who could come in when you're alone."

"You mean when you're not here."

Yes.

"No."

She rolls over, clutching the cat to her chest so as to not dump him on the floor until her feet hang over the arm and she can eyeball Simon across the room.

"I can shoot straight."

"Can you?"

***

She can. She takes him through the desert on Friday afternoon, bundled up against the cold. Out where they can target practice without anyone bothering them.

She hits every target.

***

"Christmas is this weekend."

"Yeah."

"So you know we're closed right? I'm not paying you time and a half."

A pause longer than he's used to.

"Are you doing anything for Christmas?"

"No."

"Do you want to come over?"

***

She makes Chinese on Christmas. A tradition she says because when she was younger the only places open were Chinese restaurants and her dad couldn't cook. They didn't have real dinners until she learned to cook herself, but it was always Chinese on Christmas.

The cat has a bell around its neck for the holiday and it latches onto Simon for the night. She wrinkles her nose at the cat and calls him a traitor. The cat doesn't seem to care. 

"I didn't get you a present," she says, putting her bowl on the coffee table. From his spot in the kitchen, Simon speaks.

"I didn't get you one either."

"Well, you're slowly building me an entire coffee shop."

"That's not present."

"Well, it's not exactly in your job description either."

He leaves his half-eaten bowl on the counter to drop down on the couch. She's sideways in the armchair, shirt riding up and a bruise on her shin. She's back to white nails.

"I can make out with you for Christmas; other guys have liked that present."

Simon's heart nearly stops. 

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just kidding Si."

Just kidding .

***

She begs and pleads with him to please go out to the bar with her for the new year. He doesn't have to drink, she says, she can drink enough for the both of them. 

She does. She doesn't even make it until eleven.

He carries her home on his back. Her door is unlocked and wants to think about how dangerous that is, but all he can think about is her warm breath on his neck.

He drops her unceremoniously onto the couch - he thinks about carrying her to the bedroom, but that's one place the door has always been shut to. 

He does take her shoes off of her while she insists she can do that herself. He slips the right one off when the fireworks go off outside; the entire town is bathed in their light.

"Midnight," she says as Simon rises up on one knee in front of her, ready to tell her goodbye and good night.

She kisses him over the mask.

She doesn't mention it the next day.

***

By summer, Simon has the entire cafe portion of the store finished. He's embarrassed when she hangs a sign over the area: 'Simon's Spot'. 

"What?" She asks, peering down at him from the top of the ladder. "You built it."

***

He breaks during the summer. Billy calls him on a Tuesday, asking if he knows anything about air conditioning systems.

"You built the cafe, so I know you're handy."

He doesn't. But he can figure it out. 

After hours the bookstore is sweltering. Billy has the blinds pulled down in a futile attempt to keep out some of the heat and the setting sun. Her shirt, already cropped short, clings to her with sweat when she unlocks the front door for Simon. 

It takes him two hours but he figures it out. When it kicks on she looks up at him, one arm resting on his shoulder, and tells him he's her hero.

He makes it all the way to her apartment - the promise of something for dinner and a cold drink as for payment the ruse - before he does it. 

It's dark inside, dark enough that when he locks the door behind him, he slips his mask off. She turns to ask him something - he doesn't hear it; he's too busy kissing her, pushing her back against the kitchen cabinet. 

It's messy - the kissing - he can't remember the last time he kissed somebody like this - all teeth and tongue and need.

When they stumble into her room, he doesn't take his shirt off, and she doesn't ask why.

***

"Come visit me L.T.. Scotlands beautiful this time of year."

"I'll have to book two tickets Johnny; that's not cheap."

"Alright, you cheap bastard you can afford it."

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

I haven't seen it yet but full hc for the m6 with an MC on the ADHD spectrum

The Arcana HCs: M6 with an MC who has ADHD

~ @themushroomgoesyeet hope you like these! I'm writing half from personal experience, half from what I've read and heard. Please let me know if there's anything that need correcting! ~

Julian

ADHD is a less familiar subject for him, if only because his areas of specialty so far have been contagious diseases and battle wounds

He's also not really one to judge you for difficulty keeping a sleep schedule, self-medicating with caffeine, or spending days on end obsessively learning everything you can about a specific subject

What's abundantly clear to him, though, is that you do not deserve to live with the guilt that comes from your own brain hijacking every commitment and interest that it doesn't prioritize

He knows what it's like to feel guilty for something that wasn't your fault, and he doesn't like seeing you live with it

The way he sees it, he's even more to blame for his shortcomings than you are, because you're actively working against your own brain and he's just ... sad (you'll have to tell him that this is not true)

This is going to become one of those shared challenges you tackle together as a couple

He'll write down all the bad effects of too much caffeine to motivate him to reduce your combined intake

You remind him to go to bed with you at a decent hour and call it "poetry time" instead of "bedtime" to trick both of your brains into not thinking of it as the end of the day

Asra

They love you. They love you so much. They never, ever want to get in the way of your preferences and vision

He enables you maaaybe a little more than he should

Staying up late is a great idea! Spending the entire day on your current fixation with no break to go outside or talk to people? Hey, don't let them ruin your fun ~

Thankfully, he cares about you far too much to leave you to engage in anything genuinely self destructive

Once the amount of caffeine you've consumed goes from "inadvisable" to "concerning," once your sleep schedule goes from "not ideal" to "dysfunctional", they'll step in in the gentlest way

Another cup of coffee? Let him get you some soothing tea. Another all-nighter? Snuggle him first, let him help you meditate a bit and see if you don't get drowsy

Nobody can combat executive dysfunction like this magician

All it takes is them feeling the slowly building dread through your bond, and they're lovingly poofing you off of the couch/floor/counter and into a very ticklish hug

His lifestyle is heavily ADHD coded as it is. He remains completely unfazed by the roller coaster that your brain can be

Nadia

To her, you are the best possible version of her opposite

She has a hard time changing between trains of thought. You reboot yours every time you walk through a door!

She sometimes forgets to slow down and appreciate the small things in favor of the bigger picture. You, on the other hand, are constantly pausing to notice them

And don't get her started on how much she admires your capacity to learn so much specialized knowledge in such a short period of time. It's truly astonishing and she adores it

However, she can tell that leaving it unchecked and untreated will make it difficult for you to function in the Palace's normal setup, much less follow regular routines

Quick to find a specialist in your condition and set up a few sessions with them, coming up with ways to work with your diagnoses and exploring medication options that you like

Insanely good at helping you keep your mind on track and regulate your attention and focus levels, even when it means pulling you away from a task that's about to eat up half your day

Likes to idly study the chaotic way you manage your personal spaces and try to figure out what the method to the madness is

Muriel

What, you think he's not used to living with a chaotic being that'll start three projects in a row before randomly walking out and not reappearing for several hours? Please.

Truthfully, there are some small things that annoy him. He likes predictability, and your base state of functioning is taking the next random tangent. That's not easy to not worry about

However, he knows that living with him takes plenty of patience as well. As long as you two can be patient with each other's quirks, and respectful when you lovingly intervene, that's what matters

He still loves hearing you ramble

He likes watching your eyes light up, listening to the excited lilt of your voice as you infodump all the new specialized knowledge you've gobbled up

That aside, he does love learning. Each of your new fixations is a new field of education for him by proxy

He's also someone who thrives on habit and routine and isn't afraid to put his foot down when your wellbeing is involved

He will scoop you up in his arms and lovingly carry you to bed when the bags under your eyes get too prominent and you start to nod off mid-sentence

Portia

Portia looks at you like you hung the moon. Portia thinks that every magical thing you do is mind-blowingly amazing. Portia assumes that all of your little quirks and non-habits are just you being you

Hey, if finding one specific food and eating it and only it for days on end is something you want to do, cool! Maybe it's secretly satisfying some magician's craving!

You're going to think about one thing and one thing only and learn everything there is to know about that thing? That's some badass scholarly behavior right there.

Well - except for the part where you forget something exists as soon as it's not in your hand anymore, or where time really does seem like a social construct, or where you somehow get physically and mentally stuck in one spot without being able to move

That looks ... miserable

Nobody can manage chaos like she can. She'll help you snap out of it, she'll remind you to eat and sleep and take your meds, she'll regularly ask when last you went outside or took a bath

And when you mess up - when you miss an event, or fall behind schedule, or leave things to pile up until they're too much - she'll be right next to you with an encouraging smile and plenty of grace

Lucio

This works either really well or really poorly, depending on the day, how he's doing, how you're doing, what you're both supposed to be doing, what the weather's like ...

It's unpredictable, but that's the fun of it!

Much of the time, your strong points support each other. There are few feelings Lucio hates more than boredom, but with a brain like yours around, there's always something new to try or think about

Few things cause the kind of bone-deep discouragement and guilt that constantly missing things does, but nobody values the importance of trying again like he does

On the other hand, sometimes you accidentally enable each other

Lucio's still learning the self-regulation involved with choosing to do something unpleasant and important over doing something enjoyable and completely useless

And if your brain decides that said pleasant thing is the only thing it's going to function for, well, not getting sidetracked is almost impossible. Good luck to you both

Thankfully, you both have a lifestyle that allows for unusual schedules and working styles. As long as you have each other to keep trying growing, you'll never get stuck for long

[qoldenskies]

I think even if Donnie _could_ one day handle being poked fun at, it would be too traumatizing for Leo to make the jokes.

yes absolutely!! donnie definitely needs the comfort NOW, he's in a really fragile physical and emotional state of mind, but i think theyre going to struggle with handling him like that looooong after he just wants things to go back to "normal" (aka, he wants relative independence like before, and he wants to not always feel like the center of attention like any hint of conflict/tension is going to make him topple over. they'll probably be checking up on him WAY too much over things that arent hurtful at all)

i think donnie will be more relaxed around leo because of the change in his behavior (sometimes it really stung, even way before this all happened, and its one of the reasons donnie struggled to distinguish leo's behavior under the curse from how he acted normally) but he'll also find it kind of unnerving, because he doesn't want him to walk on eggshells around him. honestly it was a perk of them choosing to be twins in the first place; he didn't want leo looking over his shoulder and always worrying about him.

the change is still somewhat triggering donnie's developed hypervigilance. he's looking for some kind of trick when they handle him like he's made of glass, and i think that'll inform his behavior when things are cooled down as well. he cant help but wonder if they're only treating him like this because they have to. he cant help worrying about the idea of them being fed up with having to, when they tried to make that claim about giving him "special accommodations" under the curse before (it was just regular equity for being disabled and having really set boundaries).

[everydayyoulovemeless]

Yandere Charon Alphabet

➼ Word Count » 1.7k ➼ Warnings » Yandere Themes, Mentions of Suicide ➼ Genre » Romantic, Yandere, Whumpee/Whumper

Affection - How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

He's very subtle about how he feels toward you. A part of him is scared that once you realize how obsessed he truly is with you, you'll sell him off. On the outside, nothing seems to have ever changed, but inside he's battling with himself to keep it under wraps. He can't make it obvious and he can't let you know.

Blood - How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

As messy as he needs to be. Charon is incredibly protective and is excellent at his job. If it ever gets out of hand, he'll just make some excuse about how it was necessary at the time to ensure you're safety. That's his job, isn't it? Keeping you safe?

Cruelty - How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

He doesn't necessarily abduct you. It's more so him getting you to agree to stay in this one spot because it's dangerous. That being said, you can hardly tell the difference. He's the exact same as you remember and nothing really changes.

Darling - Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

It depends. You're still his boss, so whatever you say goes, however he definitely decides who's a threat and who's not. He doesn't care if it's someone you're close to, if he doesn't like them, he'll have no qualms about killing them. He has you to look out for, after all.

Exposed - How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

He doesn't share anything with you. He's still the same old, same old in this regard. There's nothing about his past that'll help you out specifically, so why bother telling you? He's supposed to be your bodyguard, not some bum drinking away his sorrows.

Fight - How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Angry. He's only doing what he's doing to shield you from the horrors out in the wasteland, can't you see that? Why fight him on something as trivial as that? He'll restrain your wrists and stare you down until you're calm. He's stronger than you--bigger than you--he knows you'll realize this eventually and quit trying to challenge him on this.

Game - Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

He doesn’t enjoy it at all. This isn’t a game to him, it’s real life, and he doesn’t take kindly to you doing anything reckless. He’ll grab you roughly, pulling you against his chest as he breathes silently in your ear. He tries his best to be gentle, even in these states of anger, but he always accidentally leaves bruises along your wrists.

Hell - What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

There was once a time when he felt so paranoid about you getting killed that he grabbed you and ran to the nearest shelter. He kept you there for a day, refusing to tell you what was wrong, and for a good majority of the time he kept his hand clamped firmly over your mouth. It was terrifying for you, but it was over once the next day rolled around.

Ideals - What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

He's not sure yet. His main goal is keeping you alive, so he supposes he'll see how long he can keep it up for. Ideally, nothing would change and you'd go about your life in the wasteland with him, but he feels that first he's gotta break you in--make you a bit more agreeable-- before heading out again.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Charon gets jealous fairly easily. He knows what he is. He recognizes that he isn’t the most attractive guy out there. You could get anyone, and a part of him's afraid you’ll realize this and leave, or just drop him off like everyone else has done to him. His jealousy stems from his fear of being abandoned again, but he refuses to let any of it show. He’ll push it down, bottling it away until it becomes too much for him to hold.

Kisses - How do they act around or with their darling?

As he always does. He's quiet, protective, and helpful--even if it's slightly more so. He's not affectionate--never has been--and doesn't plan to start now. You won't realize anything's wrong until it's too late.

Love letters - How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

He didn't have to. You came up to him. You bought his contract. It was you who wanted this and he didn't even have to lift a finger.

Mask - Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

No. In fact, he makes sure that everyone else is aware of the lengths he’d be willing to go for you.

Naughty - How would they punish their darling?

It’s tricky because, as much as he seeks to be in charge of the relationship, that contract keeps him at bay. That being said, he wouldn’t do anything unless you signed off on it first, including punishments for things he deems to be bad. However, even if it's not physical, he wouldn’t be against isolating them for a bit. Just taking you out into a (mostly) empty building and camping out there for a week. He'd tell you that it's dangerous outside and you shouldn't be so hasty to leave. But that’s as far as he would go.

Oppression - How many rights would they take away from their darling?

None. You’re free to do whatever you want—go wherever it is you want to go. Just know that it’ll be with him.

Patience - How patient are they with their darling?

As patient as he needs to be. For most things, at least. He doesn't yell or get visibly upset at you, but he'll occasionally restrain you and stare you down in an attempt to get you to follow along. Why do you always have to be so reluctant to trust him? Isn't that the whole reason you bought his contract?

Quit - If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

God no. If you were to ever die, he’d probably end up killing himself. That was his one job, and he still ended up failing it. He wouldn’t ever be able to move on after something like that. However, if you were to sell his contract to someone else, he’d feel a bit indifferent, but I think he’d eventually move on, lumping you into the others who were just out to use him. The only reason he goes yandere for you, to begin with, is because he assumes you actually care for him and see him as a person.

Regret - Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

He sees it as him doing it for the greater good. Everything he does is in your best interest and made it be for your benefit. So, no, he wouldn’t regret anything.

Stigma - What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

You were nice to him. You treated him as a person, and he wasn’t used to it. You were nice to everyone you met (even if it was overly so at times) and that made him grow a desire to defend you from anything that could cause you harm or change your innocent little worldview. His expectations of being sold off also played a huge part in it. He'd do anything you asked--be as loyal as he could as long as it meant you'd keep him around.

Tears - How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

Indifferent. He doesn’t feel anything when it happens and just lets them express themselves however they feel they need to.

Unique - Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

Not really? He’s pretty average in terms of the classic yandere trope and doesn’t stray very far from it. The only real difference would be that his motivation is your safety and not as much to win you over.

Vice - What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

The contract. If you ever felt that he was getting out of hand with his actions then you could dangle the thought of selling him off to scare him back into place. It’s a cruel thing to do—exploiting his fear of abandonment—but it’s the only weakness he’s got in terms of getting him to relax.

Wit’s end - Would they ever hurt their darling?

Not intentionally. His job is to ensure you don’t get injured, so hurting you sort of defeats the purpose of his contract. Although there are times when he does so accidentally. Sometimes when you get too rowdy he forgets how much stronger he actually is compared to you, but the most he leaves behind are a few bruises from gripping you to tightly.

Xoanon - How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

He sees himself as a tool for you to use, even if you insist that he's so much more than that. He wants to protect you by any means necessary, so to that degree, he worships you as someone so much greater than the usual wastelanders he's met. You're better than anyone he's ever met, and he'd do anything to keep you alive and happy.

Yearn - How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

Constantly bottling up his emotions causes him to 'snap' a lot more often than he'd like to admit. If his jealousy goes unchecked, he might end up slaughtering a few people in cold blood just so he can release some of that built tension he feels. But other than the occasional bloodfest, he prefers to keep it under wraps. He doesn't want you to catch wind of how he feels and will keep it secret for as long as he can manage.

Zenith - Would they ever break their darling?

Not in the sense that you change completely, but rather that you trust him a whole lot more than before.