#...which is a weirdly random direction to take him?

[comput3rage]

Right?? I apologize in advance for how long this is, but I have a lot to say. Honestly, Thor's relationship w Loki is so interesting and So strange at times. Like, there's this:

This cannot be, but here I see a face I know so well/Loki should be dead, but here she sits, a broken shell

Which is our first introduction to Thor at all and introduces us to the undeniable fact that he thinks Loki should be dead. And then:

Odin passed judgement; we all watched her die/But if that is Loki she'll pay for her lies

Which immediately redirects his anger onto Odin. Thor insists over and over again that he wants Loki dead, even basically saying he'll kill her himself--

Either you take care of Loki, or I will

--But he sure doesn't do that when he has the chance. Not when he first sees her, not after he's dragged off by Odin's guards, not later. When Odin brushes him off, it's like he forgets what he's angry at Odin for, the fact that Loki is alive and mind-wiped, and instead of doing anything about that focuses all his energy on hurting Odin. But there's all the clues that what Thor is really angry about isn't Loki being alive, but what Odin has done to her, which might make the direction of his anger make a little more sense-

It's hard to tell if his anger is from seeing the woman who murdered Baldur still lives, or because of what Odin has done to her mind.

And

And your mercy's defiled Loki's brain

And

Loki deserved to die in her right mind

And then, of course, he smashes the lock on her compartment, which is an insane thing to do, and starts working with Sigyn, which is an equally insane thing to do. Imagine you're mad at your boss for not killing a terrorist so you respond by letting that terrorist loose on a train and allying yourself with a second terrorist who is also married to the first terrorist. That's insane. But it might make more sense if you're actually mad at your boss for doing some kind of unethical medical procedure on that first terrorist.

Now, I have a theory that for sure introduces some plot holes but fixes some other ones: Maybe Thor was working with Sigyn earlier than we know. Because, hey, if he didn't have any contact with her earlier, how did he even know she was on the train? Thor seems to have a lot of resentment and anger for Odin that definitely doesn't just stem from discovering what happened to Loki. He doesn't even like the Bifrost or have any personal attachment to it (FUCK you and FUCK your train) and Lyfrassir seems to think that all this is because he wants control of Asgard, but if that's the case he's going about it weirdly. And why was he "poking around with the master key" and opening random compartments? If his insubordination to Odin is because he wants control and not because of any suspicion or disapproval of her actions, that... Really doesn't make sense?

I definitely don't think Thor is a radical like Sigyn and Loki in this theory, but I do think he could have been allied in some way with the Midgardian resistance and maybe he was starting to lean in that direction. It would explain why he knows Sigyn is on the train at all(which could also be explained by what you said about Sigyn finding his compartment), why he's willing to work with her so quickly, and why she's willing to work with him. It's not like this is the only possible explanation for any of these things, but it is a really interesting possible explanation.

There is also the question of what Sigyn and Thor's plan actually was in the engine room, before they saw... the engine room. They were going to dismantle the train somehow, right? But why? What's the goal there? It completely goes against Sigyn's original plan to hijack it and free the prisoners at Hel, so we have to assume getting Loki out is her new priority. But what's Thor's new priority? How does this help him unless his goals are the same as Sigyn's?

Of course, Thor still has really complicated feelings about Loki. Which I think still makes sense in this theory; Loki did kill Baldur, who we can assume Thor considered a friend, and she had some goals we can still assume Thor doesn't agree with. But Loki was also his friend once and he might be growing a little more sympathetic to her cause. And, obviously, regardless of this theory, Loki isn't herself, even by the end of the album, and Thor can tell that. Putting aside my theory completely, it's probably hard to be angry at a woman who's essentially a ghost haunting her own body. It makes sense that he loudly insists he wants her dead but when they're face to face he's instantly the softest we've ever seen him and can't bring himself to offer her anything but a peaceful end.

Ultimately I think it's kind of great that their relationship is so confusing. The gaps in our understanding of what happened between them work because a lot of the story is about absence. What might fill in those gaps is what Loki has to say about their relationship, but we can't have that, because she barely knows who he is anymore. Wahoo.

You know Odin's descent into madness and everything going on with Loki and Sigyn is absolutely fascinating but it's also mostly outright stated or inferable based on information given in the album. Lends itself to headcanons but not a lot of real theorizing to be done because things are at least mostly explained. Thor, though? Jesus Christ. NOT explained. What the FUCK is going on with Thor.

[isfjmel-phleg]

In a lead-in to the 2003 series whose existence I prefer to ignore, we get a glimpse of Bart now living with the Garricks, which is where the end of Impulse left him after Max's disappearance.

He has a new bedroom in a new city, but it looks oddly familiar.

(Teen Titans and Outsiders Secret Files and Origins #1)

Bart's bedroom at the Garricks' house is set up almost exactly like his room at Helen's house in Manchester, including the loft bed. Even details like the baseball beanbag chair and the small trampoline are included (not pictured below, but you can see them in other panels in my post about the YJ boys' rooms)

(Impulse #76)

The Doylist explanation is that the artist for the later story was just recycling old material to avoid having to completely design a new setting, or else wasn't bothering to recognize that the character is living in a different house now. But in-universe? It looks like the Garricks are going out of their way to make Bart feel as at home as possible with them by keeping his room very similar to what he's used to--or perhaps Bart himself, still dealing with the loss of the family and home he had in Manchester, has chosen to try to recreate his old room. One less change in his life. One thing he can control.

[audliminal]

It's Just a Game, Right? Pt 5

Masterpost

"It's a pun." Tim murmurs, staring at the notes he's supposed to be sharing with Bernard. "I can't believe I didn't notice that sooner."

"Wait what?"

"The off-key notes are the key to the Caeser ciphers."

"Oh my god." Bernard stares at Tim's notebook. Just like Tim said, each off note is exactly the same amount of steps away from correct as the corresponding number of steps to move down the Caesar cipher. "Okay that's, like, kind of insane? Do we need to be looking for puns now?"

"Potentially? Double meanings are the basis of riddles, which are basically just word-based logic puzzles, so you know... Depending on someone's motivations they might find them equally valuable."

"Huh." Bernard tilts his head considering the new information. "Wait, does that mean that like, the Riddler uses puns? Is that a thing?"

"All the time, actually."

"Dude, why do you just know that?" Tim freezes, remembering too late that most people don't have access to dossiers on every rogue. "No, nevermind I know you're like, weirdly knowledgeable about the bats and the rogues; I shouldn't be surprised."

"Well, maybe everyone should pay a little more attention to their MOs," Tim says pointedly. "They are generally considered to be the most serious safety threat in Gotham, after all.

"I mean, I know generally what their deals are, I just don't go all Genius-Mode about it." Bernard laughs, then gets a thoughtful look on his face. Oh no, Tim thinks. "Hey, maybe the bats should, like, commission your help to deal with the Riddler. I'd bet you'd work through his weird puzzles in like, ten minutes!"

"I feel like they're doing fine as is."

"Yeah, I guess, but like. What if they could do it even faster, right?"

"Maybe." Tim fiddles with his pen. "Do you want to know what else I found?"

"Wait, you found more?"

"Not much; it came to a dead-end pretty quickly, but the implications are- concerning."

"Oh?"

"I noticed that the length of time for each photo seemed randomized, which I thought might also be a choice based on the music, since they always shift in time with a note, but there wasn't any logical pattern I could find there."

"I mean, that doesn't seem like a dead-end, that just sounds like we're missing something."

"Exactly. So I made a list of the durations between each incorrect note, and I ran that through a code checker, and it turned out to be encoded in base 26." Tim points to the corresponding list of numbers, and then below it, to where he's written out the translation.

"Dude." Bernard stares at the notebook, looking back at Tim with wide eyes.

"Someone is begging for our help."

"This is so cool!" Bernard exclaims grabbing at Tim's shoulders and shaking him lightly. "How have I not dragged you into solving ARGs before this you're so good at it! Just wait till I tell everyone on the forum!"

Tim blinks, Bernard's sudden excitement in direct opposition to the words had written down. When he'd cracked it, all he had felt was a spike of adrenaline, the anticipation of knowing there's somebody that needs help. But there isn't, is there? This whole thing is just a game. And the people that wrote this, that made these videos, that encoded these messages - the real people, are just having fun.

Tim takes a deep breath and does his best to match Bernard's excitement. But the words on the page keep staring back at him.

Help us please help us

[instant-delusions]

I am so glad you’re taking reqs!! Beach sex with rafayel on my mind 24/7 😔😳

not u reading my mind...💓💓

☆

𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐩! ˚⋆𓇼˚⊹ 𖦹 ⁺｡°

𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐥 𝐱 𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐛! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐰: 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐱, 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐞𝐱, 𝐜𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐬, 𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐯, 𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫

'it's 30°C in linkon right now, people! that means swimming, beach parties, sex on the beach, and beaches."

you groaned at the weather reporter's distasteful pun and reached out to turn the volume of your mini radio down. huffing, you kneeled on your beach towel, re-knotting the strings of your bikini top. your eyes almost rolled to the back of your head when you felt stares on you, clenching your fist, you turned around to give whatever man thinks he has the audacity to-

"rafayel." you exclaimed in a relieved tone, letting your fist sink. said man cocked his head to the side with his signature smile - he was wearing dark blue swimming trunks and a creamy shirt, which he left unbuttoned. sunglasses sat on his purple hair, and the sun shined so brightly on him, it almost made his strands look lavender. "is an excuse of a man giving you trouble?" he asked, his voice laced with a tilt of threat. you shook your head, stretching out your legs and supporting your upper body with your arms to look at him. "i'd take care of that myself." you started, pursing your lips, "what're you doing here? i didn't think you'd be the type to enjoy public beaches."

the artist crouched down to be on eye level with you and began to draw random shapes into the sand. "you'd be right. i'm just passing through to the private beach i rented." he pointed his finger westways, signaling to a lonely patch of sand surrounded by trees. you gawked at him after the words 'rented' and 'private beach' left his throat and shook your head in disbelief. "rich people have weird hobbies."

rafayel let out a fake 'ha, ha.' but the grin on his face was genuine. letting his magenta eyes travel around the beach, he took in the empty beer bottles and weird people hanging around. "come, join me. this place sucks."

so you did. even though your crocs were filling up with hot sand, it was thrilling to have a beach just for the two of you. after placing your (definitely not spongebob printed) bath towel, rafayel immediately lifted you over his shoulder and dropped you into the icy, salty seawater. resurfacing, you gasped - pulling your wet hair back from your face.

"you."

just hearing the pure, hot anger in your tone, rafayel booked it into the other direction. "you motherfucker!" you sprinted after him, hunter senses kicking in until you tackled him onto the ground. "you're under arrest, rafayel." a cheshire cat-like grin formed on his face, his eyes lighting up with mischief. "what're you gonna do to me, miss hunter?" he began, leaning closer to your face. "what's my sentence?" he whispered, slowly turning both of you around. feeling the energy switch abruptly, you broke eye contact. "i'll...keep you in a small fishbowl, like cosmo and wanda."

letting out a chuckle, he kissed your bare shoulder. "doesn't seem that bad." nuzzling deeper into your neck, he pressed hot mouthed kisses to your throat and collarbone, making you whine out needily. "please, rafa. not here, they'll see." locking eyes with him, you knew this was a useless battle. his eyes were glazed over, a hunger you knew all too well reflecting in them. "I don't care." he said, voice muffled by your skin. spreading your legs, you gave him space to settle, which he took with delight. "seems like you don't care, either." you reacted with a pout, not wanting to admit you were down bad this immensely for him. "I'm still dripping from your attack. it must taste bad. or maybe it'll make a fish like you nostalgic."

rafayel laughed at your attempts to cover your shyness, finding it weirdly endearing. it is very unlike him to choose to stay quiet, but he did - drawing a map from your collarbone, between your chest and down to your waist with his lips, wetting them with seawater and the taste of you. he tightened the grip on your thighs once you started squirming, letting his other hand travel just a bit higher to undo the strings of your bikini and let it fall down your legs.

"fuck, I can't wait to taste you." rafayel rasped, guiding your legs onto his shoulders. a bright blush erupted on your cheeks, and you covered your face with your hands, panicking slightly. it's not like this is the first time you've slept with him, though somehow the same feeling pooled in your tummy - a mixture of embarrassment and excitement. rafayel's passionate and upfront personality makes sex feel so much more like an adventure. kissing your inner thighs, he teased what was about to happen, making you cage him in as if it were a reflex. "tsk." he tutted, tapping his finger on the plump of your upper legs to warn you. "behave."

it's very unlike you to submit, but for him, you do. you arch your back, whine and moan as he parts your wet folds with his fingers and licks long stripes between them, stopping everytime once he reaches your clit - kissing, biting and sucking it. thinking about having the most sought-after man in linkon between your legs makes this even more intense, and you feel yourself getting wetter. rafayel notices this as well, pumping a finger into your hole to make more of your juices seep out. he just liked the taste of you too much, he can't help it.

"get on your stomach." he said, watching you turn over. luckily, you caught a short glimpse of his reddened ears and his wet chin. once you were positioned to his liking, he gave your ass a spank, watching it jiggle with delight. a yelp escaped you as he did it again, grabbing it forcefully and pulling you flush against his hardened cock. feeling him pulse through the fabric of his trunks had you mewling, grinding your backside against him feverishly. "impatient, huh?" he commented hotly, clumsily pulling his drooling cock out, "me too."

all this waiting had you dizzy. grunting, you reached back and took his cock in you hand, to which he let out a surprised gasp. you felt it oozing out pre and almost moaned at how turned on your lover was too. not-so gently, you guided him between your folds and pressed your ass to his pelvis, taking it all at once. feeling him fill you up so nicely, his tip prodding at your cervix and every twitch of his pale dick mingling into your walls made you moan deliciously.

"fuck, (y/n), you're driving me insane." he whined, pushing his hand to your upper back to press you down, rafayel started to languidly drag his cock along your walls. everyone knows this artist isn't known for his patience or for being monotone, so the rhythm faltered quickly, ending in him thrusting into you so hardly, your ass clapping against his thighs echoed through the beach. you feared the water god he talked about might feel the ripples on the sea, cursing you for being so naughty in front of his domain. you screamed out, helplessly scratching at the sand underneath you as some sort of anchor for your sanity, but you lost yourself to the pleasure the moment he wrapped his arms around you and pressed his chest against your back, freely moaning and cursing into your ear.

"princess, you feel so good. fuck, your pussy is creaming on my cock, it's gonna suck me dry this time, I swear." he babbles. rafayel talks a lot normally, but once he loses himself inside you, the words just flow out. "r-ra-af", you choke out between thrusts, "it feels so good, oh my god." your pussy flutters once he hits a certain spot, and he immediately notices - abusing it with no hold-backs. if there's anything he wants, it's for you to go above and beyond the lines of pleasure, so he starts circling your clit with three fingers quickly, drawing circle and infinity shapes just how you like it. with no warning, no build up, you fall apart quickly, screaming his name to the heavens while you feel your soul escaping your body with a mind shattering orgasm. after a few seconds, your body is drained off all strength, and you become a doll in his hands to fuck his cum into.

"(y/n), you should've seen your face right now, never saw something more beautiful. it was so hot, fuck-" he buries his head into your neck while he lazily thrusts into you a few times more, stuffing his cock so deep into your pussy you fear he might target your womb. he doesn't move, keeping his pelvis flush against your back while filling you up -

"fuck, it's yours. I'm yours. take it."

[radiance1]

Teddy bear Danny au strikes again! With its partner in crime being the Uncle Waylon au!

So, Teddy Bear Danny ends up in Gotham because he heard his dad mention some man named Waylon in passing, so he decided to put his (figurative) big boy pants on and head out to find him!

He even had a little bag his mom made him, that he filled up with snacks, his allowance, and various Fenton gadgets he could get his hands on without his parents noticing- like the lipstick. It could also, and he's never sure how his parents managed to do it, hold way more stuff than it should looking at how small it is.

So then he left Amity Park with his family none the wiser, thinking about how awesome it would be when he shows up with his uncle!

He went through a few cities, getting weird looks here and there, playing with some kids he's met, being kidnapped by a few, being kidnapped by decidedly not children, practicing stranger danger- sometimes and others following random people he's just met when they said they knew who Waylon Jones was after he showed them a picture!

A picture he drew himself in crayon, thank you very much. His family said he was quite the artist!

He never managed to actually find his uncle though, even with showing random people his picture. So eventually, he always had to hop buses to the next city he could, though he was unfortunately running low on his allowance...

So low that, when he managed to think about it, could only drop his off at one more city, if he didn't want to impose on the amount he set aside to get him and Waylon back to Amity Park. So, he set his sights on Gotham City, hoping that he would be able to find his uncle there!

When he did get there, he psyched himself up, striking a few poses he saw on Tv once and then running off to go find his uncle.

Once again, a few people looked at him weirdly, but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to, but for some reason he got kidnapped more so than usual, not even by kids! Which were his usual kidnappers, sometimes they even tried to mug him for some reason.

So he gave them a snack.

Some took it and let him leave, others... not so much. So he had run away from those ones, fading through a wall or hiding behind a dumpster, or losing them in the crowd were all very effective methods!

He showed some people his drawing, and nobody still didn't know who he was asking about! Which was stupid, in his opinion, because his drawing was very detailed and very accurate! He was about to give him, thinking that nobody would be able to help him, and was just about to head back home.

At least until he ran into somebody, quite literally falling over due to his sides. It was an accident, but still! People should really be considerate of Teddy bears roaming around!

The guy bent down and apologized for running into him, which was a very rare thing when he stepped out of Amity! So this guy had an instant improve on him on that alone, so he got up, dusted himself off and showed him the drawing of his uncle.

The guy who introduced himself as Brucie Wayne actually recognized him too! He said he was on his way to meet him, to be exact, and Danny saw an opportunity when he saw one, so he climbed onto Bruce Wayne and practically forced the guy to take him alone.

He gave him one of his favorite snacks as payment.

Actually two, because he was nice and fun. But no more than that because these are his snacks, and some were also for his uncle!

So when he got to the place his uncle was being held at- Arkham Asylum-, he was informed that his uncle is currently held here in captivity for something, something, something that he didn't bother to remember if he was being honest.

So of course, the most natural thing and reaction to do was to plan a prison break.

He stayed on Bruce's shoulder, using him as a free ride throughout Arkham Asylum while directing him towards his uncle via picture. It took a while of insistence, but they eventually got to his uncles, so he got down, gave Bruce a handshake, phased through the glass of his uncles cell and stared up.

And up.

And up.

And up.

Sweet macaroni! He didn't know his uncle was so tall! he was practically taller than his Pa! Which said something considering he was like, the tallest person he'd ever seen in the history of ever. But regardless he managed to find him, so he jumped around him a bit in happiness, and showed him the picture.

===

Waylon Jones, otherwise known as Killer Croc, was exceedingly confused about why there was a tiny, sentient teddy bear in his cell. Who seemed happy being in his presence of all things.

It showed him a crudely drawn picture of him after jumping up and down around him, and he doesn't exactly know the significance of it, but it implied that the toy was trying to find him, he watched it dig through its bag and pull out a wide variety of snacks, all of which were thrown at him.

Quite literally.

So he decided to just, sit down and eat them. Not everyday he gets free snacks like this, so.

While he was chowing down, it took out a crayon and paper and started drawing, then after that it showed him a picture of Jack- helpfully labeled- and his family, which the teddy bear was on there along with another girl in the kids section.

Which, huh, he supposes he has a nephew and niece.

Then in the middle of eating the last snack, guards stepped into his cell to extract his nephew. His nephew's time was up, it seemed, so he waved goodbye and stared trying to plan a prison break to meet his nephew outside of prison the next time they saw each other.

He could have never expected for him to be turned into a smaller, stuffed version of himself and phasing through the walls of his cell.

===

Danny liked his uncle, he was nice! But it was a bit unfair that he was still way taller than him, even when turned into a doll.

Anyways, he had a prison break to complete, and then he could drag his uncle back home to his family's utterly surprised faces!

[hheaven-sentt]

healing

summary: healing wounds you couldn't even see | leon kennedy x reader

word count: 2.1k

warnings: yearning and pining, depictions of injuries and first aid, leon being weirdly chill, softness

notes: i like dis one | ao3

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

You sense the knock before you hear it. You’re curled up on the couch, a few files spread out on the coffee table that you’d been pursuing for the last few hours. You’d grown bored with them, opting to stare out the window as the traffic down below on the street began to disperse and disappear. It was growing close to half past two in the morning. Which is why you almost expect the knock. It comes at exactly 2:18, and you practically jump off the couch to answer the door. Eagerness oozes from your skin.

He’s leaning against the wall, propped up with a single arm while the other cradles his stomach. With a sigh, he looks up at you, bright blue eyes looking a little more glassy than normal. A breath gets caught in your throat.

“Leon?” you ask, reaching forward to help him into the apartment. He grins up at you from his bent position.

“Sorry about the mess, sweetness,” he chokes out. He’s hurt, badly. You haul him into the apartment and set him up on the couch.

“I need you to count to ten and back out loud while I look for the first aid kit,” you say. He huffs a laugh. “I mean it, Leon. I need to know you’re still awake,”

Rolling his eyes, he says, “One,”

You smile as he continues counting, and begin your search for the kit. You find it just as he hits six for the second time, and you’re back in front of him as he reaches three. Crouching between his spread knees, you hoist the hem of his shirt up to see where the blood is seeping from. You grimace as you take in the injury. It’s a red and angry slash from his hip toward his sternum. You’re unsure of how deep.

“You wanna tell me what happened?” you ask, digging through the box for something to wipe away the excess blood with. He groans when you lay your hands on him the first time, and you have to remind yourself that he’s hurt and not enjoying this.

“Wasn’t paying attention,” he hisses between teeth. You’re threading the needle for his stitches. “Guess I should’ve been, huh?”

You shake your head. “You’re not reckless, Leon. What happened?”

He lets out a low whine as you sink the needle beneath his flesh. “Got distracted, thought I saw something I didn't,”

You know you won’t get a more direct answer out of Leon, so you don’t press for one. Instead, you continue sewing up his wound. “You see a medic, a doctor, anyone other than me?”

He laughs. “No, sweetness. No one’s as gentle as you,”

You try to fight the blush on your cheeks, and you’re thankful for the half dark room. He groans again as you tighten his freshly finished stitches. You spread an alcohol wipe across the suture, and you hear him let out a strained breath. Gingerly, you run your fingers over it.

“If it’s not better in two days, I order you to go to a real doctor and get antibiotics,” you say. “I can’t guarantee it won’t get infected,”

Slowly, he nods and lowers his shirt. You take the bloody part of it between your thumb and forefinger, contemplating on whether or not you should offer him another shirt. When you pull away your hand and see the transfer of red on the pads of your fingers, you frown.

“Need another shirt?” you ask. He grins. “I’m sure I’ve got something for you,”

You help him off the couch carefully, eyeing the way he favors his right leg. You draw your brows together, but don’t press him on the matter. Instead, you lead him to your bedroom where you force him to sit on your bed while you dig through your drawers for a shirt from a long forgotten boyfriend or something your brother left when he was last here. You find an old shirt you’d stolen from your dad at the bottom of a random drawer. It’s black and huge; when you wear it, it goes past your knees. It’ll do, you decide.

“Here,” you say, passing the shirt to him. He takes it. “You’re more than welcome to shower, but call for me if you can’t reach somewhere. Do not tear those stitches because I won’t redo them, Leon,”

Heat creeps up your neck as you say it, and you see the faintest amount of pink coloring Leon’s cheeks, but he nods and attempts to stand. It’s a slow process, but he does it on his own. As he passes you to head into the bathroom, he stops for a second, looking at you in the dim light illuminating half your face. He half smiles and takes your hand in his. He gives it a quick squeeze before dropping it, and then he goes to shower. 

It’s more than a want, the feeling you have for him. It’s an odd sort of craving. An itch you long to scratch and tear away your flesh at. In any other story, he’d be the villain. He’s mysteriously beautiful, ethereal in his ways. In any other story, he would break you down to your barest essentials and make you pick the pieces back up. And maybe you’d let him. He’s someone you shouldn’t share your secrets with, someone you shouldn’t care about this deeply.

Maybe he’s still the villain in this story, your story. But he’d only be the villain to everyone except for you.

You hear the water running in the bathroom. You anxiously bite your nails, pacing the living room. After a few moments, you hear the bathroom door squeak open, and you busy yourself with something to look more natural. He emerges a second later, hair still dripping as he runs the towel over it. Something lurches in your stomach, a breath catches in your throat.

He lays the towel over the back of a dining table chair. There’s something unholy about the way you look at him, something sinful. You attempt to school your features.

“Alright, sweetness?” he asks, voice low timbred and honey sweetened. You feel it in your bones.

You nod, swallowing thickly. “Really worried about you,”

He smiles at this, that sort of half smile that only lifts one side of his mouth and crinkles the apple of his cheek. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll heal,”

“Hopefully,” you chide, matching his smile. He shrugs. “Seriously, Leon. You have to swear to me that you’ll get that checked out by someone actually qualified,”

He raises his hands in surrender. “I swear,”

He takes a seat on your couch, and you move to join him. There’s something sacred about the time you share here, between the four walls of your apartment and the dust accumulating on your shelves. His arm is slung across the back of the couch, inviting you into his space. The other hand fiddles with the hem of the shirt you’ve lent him. Without thinking, you seize his hand, examining the splits and cuts surrounding his knuckles. They’re beginning to heal on their own, crusted over with scabs and skin. You run a gentle brush over them, and he twitches as you sweep across the tender skin.

“Does it hurt?” you ask, looking up to meet his eyes. You see something in them that you can’t place.

“Yeah,” he says, watching you. Then, with a breath, “Nothing I can’t handle,”

You frown. “Maybe we should get you a desk job. Come to work with me,”

He laughs, a bright sound to counteract the dim room. “If you could make that happen, I’d take it,”

You wonder if he’s telling the truth. From what you understand, he’s been doing this for a long time, longer than you’ve known him, and you’re not sure he would walk away given the opportunity. You hope that he would, but you’re not confident that he’d give it up. You’re not sure he knows how to do anything else. He squeezes your hand, bringing you back to the present.

“Sorry that I only ever seem to show up when I’m half dead,” he whispers. He phrases it like a joke, but you know he means it. You wave a hand.

“I’m getting pretty good at patching you up,” you say. “Maybe I’ll run away and become an EMT,”

He smiles softly. “You’d be good at it,”

“Don’t know if I could handle all the blood,” you say, shrugging. “It’s different with you,”

Even when he’s fully healthy, you look at him like a fresh open wound. He’s something that should scare you, make you faint, but adrenaline kicks in and you need to fix it, need to mend.

“You should get some rest,” you whisper. His mouth sets into a line, but he nods.

“I take it I’m on light duty for the foreseeable future?” he asks. You roll your eyes and move away from him.

He says a hushed goodnight, and you disappear into the dark hallway. You hear him shuffle as he gets comfortable on your couch, and a weird sense of guilt washes over you. He’d deny you if you were to offer your bed to him, you know him well enough to scratch that idea before it’s even born. Instead, you allow him his ego, and settle between the sheets.

You’re surprised that he’s still here when you wake, even more so when you see him still asleep on the couch. The blanket is pulled up to his chin, his face bent inwards so that he’s almost in a fetal position. It makes warmth radiate in your chest and you smile. You resist the urge to join him.

He wakes while you’re making coffee. You hear him shuffle around, the creak of the couch as he moves to sit upright. He lets out a low groan. You halt your work on the coffee and rush to help him. He’s about halfway to sitting when you find him, grimacing against the pain and stretch of his stitches. Gently, you pull him into a sitting position, and he looks at you with something you can’t place.

“Don’t look at me like that,” you say. He frowns. “You took a hard hit. You’re not going to heal overnight. I’m not magic,”

“I know,” he responds. You sit beside him. “Thanks for trying, though,”

You laugh. “Keep it up, and I won’t stitch you up next time,”

“We both know that’s not true,” he says, looking at you like you’re an angel. “I know you too well,”

You could kiss him, right here and now. You think, for a moment, that he might just reciprocate. Flush creeps up your neck at the thought, and you remember that he’s still looking at you.

“Where do you go?” he asks. You blink at him. “When you stare off like that. Where do you go?”

You shrug. “Just get lost in thought, I guess,”

He doesn’t pry further, just accepts the answer and remains silent. You can’t tell if you’re satisfied by that. 

“What made you come here?” you ask quietly. He looks at you, studying your features. You wish you could snatch the words from where they linger in the air. Clearing your throat, you add, “The first time, I mean,”

He shrugs. “Figured you wouldn’t ask questions,”

He’d been right. You hadn’t asked questions. You’d tried to, thought about what you could possibly ask, but the idea was too daunting and he was bleeding out in your doorway. You’d hoped that stitches were as easy as they seemed.

“I’m good at keeping secrets,” you say. He smiles. “Can I share something?”

“Anything,”

“I’m glad you showed up that night. For a while, I was angry. Felt like I couldn’t wash my hands enough to scrub away the blood. But I’m glad you came,” you say, feeling short of breath. He’s staring at you, and you worry that you’ve said the wrong thing. You worry that he’ll get up and bolt. Instead, he brushes a few stray hairs from your eyes and smiles.

“If it’s any consolation,” he says. “I didn’t stick around for your stitching abilities,”

The apprehension wipes from your bones and you let out a laugh. “You’re so corny,” you say.

He rolls his eyes and kisses you like it’s something he does every day. It’s sweet and soft, plush against the jagged beat of your heart. It doesn’t last long, but you don’t need it to. You’re breathless anyway.

“What was that for?” you ask, starry eyed and far away.

He shrugs, as if this wasn’t the single most important thing you’ve ever experienced. “Figured it was making you anxious, so I got it out of the way,”

His cheeks are pink as you look at him. “What do we call this?”

“Healing,” he says, and kisses you again.

[onboardsorasora]

Maybe Max is new to his neighborhood and hears about his direct neighbor, Daniel but never sees him. Realizes he sees lights in the townhouse next door at very random times but no one else seems worried.

Their mutual neighbour Vicky checks on the house for Daniel often. Because he apparently keeps weird hours. She feeds is fish for him.

Anyway he's heard a lot about this guy, the neighbors at their end of the cul de sac love him, even though he's often absent. And they take care of things for him. Daniel's lawn never gets unruly, and someone takes in his mail for him. Max wonders just how safe it is for so many people to have a key to your home. Especially if they know you're not there. They always talk about seeing him and Max can never say hes had the pleasure.

It's probably almost 3 months of that when Max gets home late one evening from a night out. He sees a lone lamp light on in Daniel's house and the front door is open. Max is on alert.

He goes to the house, slowly. He has Vicky on speed dial but it's like 1 am so he'll assess then call the police if anything. He goes up the stairs and pushes the door open, there's shuffling upstairs- definitely the sound of someone rummaging.

Max is no hero, he calls the police. Fifteen minutes later and there's a patrol car. The officer that gets out, Esteban, doesn't seem too worried about the situation. Which makes Max annoyed because he very clearly stated that the robber person was still in the house.

Esteban walks to the front door, doesn't even draw his gun.

"ki Ki ki" he calls out, weirdly. Max furrows his brow in confusion

"rraaa rrraa!" Calls from inside. Esteban chuckles and enters the house, Max follows him.

"Danny, you left your door unlocked again. Your neighbor is worried." Esteban reprimands up the stairs.

"ah shit. Right. My bad." A sharp accented voice groans then there was the sound of rapid footsteps down the staircase. A man jumped onto the bottom landing and Max swallowed thickly.

A tangle of curly hair, framed a hot face pulled back in a chagrined smile. Corded muscle bulged as he rubbed the back of his head. He wore a dirty tight blue shirt and large, navy almost cargo pants that Max recognized as those from a fireman.

His hot neighbor was a fireman.

"Sorry about all the trouble. Thanks for like looking out though." His neighbor, Danny, greeted, sticking his hand out for a handshake. Which Max took.

"oh it's- it's no problem. Can't be too safe y'know? I'm Max by the way."

"Daniel. Sorry we're literally meeting like a thief in the night or whatever. Vicky told me you'd moved in, but we've been short shifted at the station." Daniel explained and Max blushed that Vicky had updated Daniel about him.

"are we all good here? I'm gonna tell dispatch that you're buying a box of donuts for the night shift." Esteban teased and Daniel groaned again

"I'll remember to close the door!" He called when Esteban left.

"I take it this happens often?" Max asked and Daniel blushed.

"too often," he grumbled. "When I do a double or triple I tend to forget that doors aren't like self closing outside of the station."

Max snorted, he could see the problem.

"I hope I'm not coming off as creepy or anything but do you wanna like get some coffee? After I've maybe slept for thirteen hours?" Daniel hedged and Max smiled.

"We can have it at my place." Max offered and Daniel grinned back.

"Sure."

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

IT'S NEVER OVER - PROLOGUE (sept. 2005)

summary: if anyone asked sid, he wouldn't say that he liked pittsburgh more after meeting nat. no, that would be absurd.

warnings: short and sweet! (none)

a/n: hi, hello! am i posting this without having finished it? yes. i don't know how long it's going to be but i'm slowly chipping away at it and i'm pretty excited about it. it might even be my favourite series thing i've done so far, and weirdly my first one? i've had the entire thing outlined for months but i've been too busy to even think about posting it, so...here you go! i can't promise posts for this will be regular because the chapters are so long, but i'll try my best to keep you posted! hope you enjoy (a series mastrlist will be out soon too so you can get the gist of where i'm at in the entire process) xo

sneak peak | pinterest board

(It started with music, but Nat didn’t know that.) 

It was a total accident, a random encounter that Sidney couldn’t possibly have predicted – one that, without exaggerating, changed his life to an extent. On a whim, he’d decided to go into that coffee shop he’d walked past everyday for the past three weeks, and it was also on a whim he actually made it to the counter to order an uncharacteristic coffee – he was newly eighteen, being pulled in all sorts of sports-diet directions, the confinement of which kind of irked him, so to him, buying that coffee was a subtle rebellion.

It was also a complete accident that he’d wandered off to the right after taking his coffee from the counter, instead of left, or forwards, or even backwards.

Sidney wasn’t one to believe in fate or destiny: he believed those terms were too magical – they alluded to some other worldly forces coming into play, and he liked to stick to facts. Coincidences. Accidents. Nevertheless, he did find it almost inexplicable, the way that his life hurtled into a completely different route after a mere forty minutes inside a coffee shop that he’d just spontaneously decided to make a trip of. He couldn’t quite get his head around it all.

To him, it was a coincidence that he’d walked past her table. A coincidence that she happened to be blaring the only song he’d been able to listen to for the last four days. He’d barely made it three steps past her before he froze. 

She was wearing those over-the-ear headphones, the ones with orange sponges from the 80s, plugged into the iPod that had come out a few years back. He recognised it because everyone that had one in his high school before he left never shut up about it. Sidney admittedly did own one at the time, but he never really felt the need to show it off  – it was much easier than lugging around a cassette or CD player with songs burnt in.

The song still had him halting in his tracks and turning around, his body much further ahead than his brain because he had to steady his mug of coffee; his sharp actions had the liquid almost sloshing over the edge, but he managed to catch it just in time.

He wouldn’t have done either of those things: stop and turn, if it had been any other song he’d heard. He was just so taken aback by it – the exact, precise song. 

The girl at the table didn’t pay him a single dime of attention when he froze, despite the fact that his hip was practically nudging her table. She wasn’t even looking in his direction, her eyes gazing out of the window on her right, skipping over empty faces as people walked past. It was clear she was supposed to be doing work of some sorts: there were textbooks, novels, and flashcards scattered across the entire table, a pencil case half emptied with pens strewn all over. She had a pen clutched in the fist she was resting her chin on, not caring for the study cards at all – entirely enamoured by the view. 

Sidney followed her eyes. There wasn’t much to look at, just a street, and her chair was directly facing the side of a retail store, clothes and mannequins displayed in the window. 

In hindsight, Sidney didn’t really know what compelled him to do what he did next.

He couldn’t tell if she was bored and just looking out, not paying attention to the music flowing into her ears, or if she was just so absorbed in what she was hearing that she couldn’t physically bring herself to think about her work – that she’d tuned out the outside world entirely.

What caught his attention the most was the crease between her brows. It drew him to look straight at her; an alluring combination of chestnut hair and pale eyes – though not too pale that they made him uneasy. She was also probably the only person in the establishment that was around his age.

She had impeccable music taste, if he did say so himself.

Yet, he couldn’t shake the inkling that this girl was wholly feeling the brilliance and soul-crushing heartache of Jeff Buckley’s genius – and he found himself hoping she was.

That was why he cleared his throat and took a small step to the other side of the table. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, noting that the cafe was pretty busy, so he knew he could at least try to get away with what he was about to do.

He made sure to tilt his head up, because the hat covering his face would be nothing short of slightly suspicious in a public setting, and it wasn’t until he purposefully knocked into the chair that she flicked her eyes to look at him.

He held his breath, a moment when all they did was look at each other, until the crease in her brows disappeared and she reached to pause her music on her iPod, slowly sliding her earphones off so they rested around her neck. 

“Hi.” 

His assumptions had been correct. She was around his age – her voice was deeper than he’d originally anticipated – and when he found himself slightly closer than before, he was able to make out that she was studying for her SATs. 

It was September.

“Hi.” He replied, forcing a smile that he hoped would convey the apology he felt for intruding on her personal time and in her personal space. Her clutter was all over the table, and he knew that if she was hopefully as kind to strangers as he hoped she’d to be, that it would be somewhat of a hassle to shove some of it away, “I’m really sorry, but there aren’t any other tables free. Would I be able to–”

“Oh, sure.” She interrupted, immediately going to reach to sweep a space clear for him over the other side of the table. Sidney watched with a mildly amused gaze; she didn’t seem to care for the way her flashcards seemed to mix themselves up, or the way her textbooks snapped shut and she lost her page.

She flashed him a welcoming, slightly embarrassed smile as she piled the books on top of each other, and before Sidney knew it, he was sitting in the chair opposite, accidentally knocking their knees together in the process, and sipping from his coffee mug. He fought to maintain the thankful smile on his face, despite the utterly bitter taste of the coffee that seemed to fester on his tongue.

No wonder he’d never tried coffee before, it tasted like dirt.

The girl broke a small chunk of a muffin off, a smile breaking out on her face as she fought a small laugh.

Sidney blushed, “I’m not a big coffee-fan.” He reasoned, shrugging.

“I can tell.” She pressed her lips together momentarily, looking down at the plate before turning her attention back to him. Sidney felt stunned at the colour of her eyes. He’d never seen grey eyes before, but hers seemed to balance more on the green side – only when the sun struck the side of her face, they turned a watery, clear blue. There was also a tinge of brown thrown in there.

What was that called? Heterochromia?

He felt his mouth dry, and before he could stop himself, he was taking another sip of his coffee, this time managing to control the urge to wince, “Thanks for letting me sit here.”

She shrugged, gathering the flashcards and lining them up, “It’s no problem. Sorry for the mess.”

He let his eyes wander over the books once more, the green ‘SATs’ letters jumping out at him, “You got an important date?”

The girl swallowed, not entirely understanding what he meant. That crease formed between her brows again, and she opened her mouth to question him, but Sidney beat her to it, a finger pointing at her stack of books. 

She sighed, “Not entirely, they’re at the end of the school year, but one of my teachers gave us an assignment to get some study material done early.” 

Sidney couldn’t say he understood her stress – it was something displayed across the planes of her face; evident when she looked rather tiredly at the stack of books, and hesitated at the flashcards, before throwing them to the side. She folded her arms across the table, then switched so that her hands were interlocked in front of her.

She looked as though she didn’t quite know what to do with herself, and Sidney couldn’t tell if it was because of the presence of a stranger, or if she was already feeling some sort of academic guilt for throwing her attention away from her studies for a couple of minutes.

He saw her jaw clench, and at that observation, the thought that maybe he was paying a little bit too much attention to her crossed his mind, so he turned his focus to the cup of coffee. He was beginning to feel its effects; his knee was shaking softly under the table and he could feel an influx of energy spark at his fingertips. Or maybe it wasn’t the coffee at all.

He hadn’t thought about hockey for five minutes.

He saw her turn her face towards him out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up, “What about you? Are you in school, or…?” She trailed off, her eyes skimming over the logo that had flashed itself from the safe and unzipped confines of his hoodie. 

He felt his heart quicken at having been caught, worried that perhaps she’d shout out who he was – if she knew – across the entire cafe. He remained optimistic; she didn’t seem the type.

He cleared his throat, “Not anymore.” For some reason he hesitated. He could play off the logo as merchandise – he could be someone other than Sidney Crosby, the New Rookie of the Pens – or he could be honest. When he looked back at her, there was a challenge in her eyes, and Sidney knew then that she already knew who he was. “I just got drafted to the Pens for my first NHL season.”

She sighed, “Can I tell you something?” 

Sidney furrowed his brows, his mouth tilting down in a smile. He was new to the whole ‘local celebrity’ deal, but this by far, is probably one of the least impressed reactions he’d ever had. She clearly knew he wasn’t in school, but had still taken the kind courtesy to ask him the question, despite the futility of it.

He nodded. 

“I only know one Pens player.” Then she pointed to something out of the window, “That banner has been staring at me every week for the past three months.”

Sidney huffed a laugh, thinking she was joking, but followed her finger anyway. He was immediately faced with a street corner, tens of people walking past each other – he could even make out their voices if he concentrated hard enough, and it took a while to figure out what exactly she was pointing at, until his eyes settled on a billboard at least a block down.

He’d been told that for press reasons, the Pens had come up with the idea of a way of promoting him as a player, and a ‘person of Pittsburgh’, by plastering some action shots of him – still staged – around the city. He’d neglected to look up lately, fearing that if he did, he’d be faced with some images of himself, but he hadn’t escaped that entirely.

The billboard was small, and he wasn’t the only player on there, either, but he saw it nonetheless. 

When he spun back around to look at her once more, the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “There’s two other players, not just me.”

She shrugged, “I was talking about Sergei Gonchar.”

Sidney felt the blush colour from his chest to his cheeks as he slowly put his hands over his face, consumed by humiliation. He felt himself smile into his hands when he heard the girl huff a snicker. He’d had quite a few people as of late kissing up to his ego, and apart from his teammates, she was the first one to really deliver a considerable blow – and he was thankful for that; that at least someone still had the ability to look past who he was and tease him like he was a normal person. He was aware of the irony that lay there.

He gathered himself, unabashedly removing his hands and displaying the creeping blush for her to see, and sticking his hand between them, “Sidney Crosby, rookie center for the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

She rolled her eyes, not commenting on the state of his cheeks, her smile fading slightly but still remaining, “I was joking, I know who you are.” She took his hand in hers, gripping it tightly, “Nat Brooks. Student.”

Sidney swallowed, his blush remaining for other reasons, and pulled his hand away, flexing it under the table, “Is Nat short for anything?”

“Natalia.”

“‘S very pretty.” He mumbled, and she smiled sweetly.

“Sidney’s very pretty, too. It suits you.”

Something clenched in his chest.

[applestorms]

the demons got to me and i’m thinking about mello again.

god i so desperately wish we could’ve seen him interact with L in canon. near too, but mello in particular— i’ve already written my mello & misa parallels post so i won’t reiterate all that here but, fuck. i think their similarities would’ve been so obvious if we had actually seen mello’s hero worship of L in practice, like more than just his freak out at roger upon hearing about his death.

do you think he would’ve been loud, in his face about it? i don’t think so. i can’t help thinking back to near’s explanation of why L picked the two of them out to be his successors— the two quiet kids at the back of the room, glowering and watching while everyone else asked their questions. the obvious implication is that L picked them out because they seemed to idolize him, to respect him the least. near at least seems to have managed to stick with that mindset for most of canon… but when did mello’s view start changing? was he just better at hiding it? did his feelings ever become more, less mixed? did he worship L like a cold, distant god— or grow to respect the minor points of humanity that seeped out from the corners?

speaking of: how the FUCK did that conversation about the LABB murder case go? how much of that story was actually, directly told to mello, and how much was his own fantasy, filling in the blanks? he clearly projected onto BB. did he join the mafia with that knowledge in mind, that the desperate, inferiority complex-riddled serial killer was the archetype he fit into better than the world famous detective? did he care about justice, any kind of moral standard— did he bloody his hands or find ways to work around it?

mello knew was never going to be L’s successor, not if he played the game according to its established rules. did L ever imply such things to his face? actually, what the hell did L think of near? was he aware of the burden he put on those fucking kids, did he ever care for even a second? did he mistakenly assume his own immortality, even in the face of a supernatural murder?

(clawing desperately at the walls of my enclosure. L getting annoyed at his pet orphanage of super-geniuses for distracting him from his evil boyfriend is one of my favorite fic tropes of all time, if you gimme recs for that i’ll kiss you)

i wonder if mello ever saw the parts of L in near that everyone else seems to unable to see past. maybe he did, but even so— i think he, of all people, was most aware of all the ways in which near was himself. how easily he fit the role but all the ways in which he broke out of it as well, the similarities in their intelligence & methods of thinking but the minor details that meant near could win where L never could. where mello himself never could. he probably knew how that guy functioned better than anyone, maybe even better than near himself, though i doubt he’d ever do much with that knowledge. it’s one of the few places where i see mello & near switching in terms of passivity— mello knowing Everything about near but doing very little about it, paralyzed by his own self-doubt, while near comparatively struggles to claw as much Mello Knowledge as he can, poking and prodding and pushing him in every direction, all while getting continually blind-sighted as he explodes in random ways he can barely fathom.

i like to think that, in contrast with near’s extreme codependence, mello is actually quite self-sufficient. weirdly, he seems to me like the DN character to be the most likely to actually go to therapy at some point. i think he’s a lot more self aware than he lets on, if only because his inferiority complex drives so much of his self hatred, pushing him to always be better, stronger, more independent. i like to imagine that his apartment or room or wherever the fuck he lives is actually quite clean, that he pushes himself to learn how to cook, how to take care of himself. L never sleeps and near probably sleeps too much but mello needs a consistent, solid 7-8 hours a night or he starts getting cranky— the kind of person who functions better in the sunlight, to take from a fic i read recently.

i wonder how much of his life he remembers from before the orphanage. he seems like he might have emotional ties there, but something he’d never or only very rarely speak about— glimpses of a past life that keeps him up at night on occasion, where near is blessed with a complete lack of any earlier memories. mello just seems more inclined towards sentimentality like that, extreme in all his emotions, particularly when they’re utilized for the purpose of self-destruction. he wears a rosary, has a cross on his gun, chooses to die in a dilapidated church. good lord, he chooses to die in a church.

did he grieve matt? he apologizes, yes. but did he already know he was to join him so soon?

i desperately wish to see a version of mello who had the time to commit to his name and chill the fuck out for a while. get some meds, separate himself from the burdens of L, of the rivalry, and allow himself the chance to relax and breathe and properly heal. part of the reason why his death in particular hits me so hard is the fact that it all seems so possible with him, that he has the most potential to genuinely get over this shit— to not just stew in the corners of the earth and let time wash over him (like a certain someone), but actually, literally get his fucking life back.

he’s explosive, yes, he’s neurotic and emotional and lashes out at everyone and anyone he pleases— but in that same way, he’s honest. mello and near do not bullshit themselves in the ways that L and light do so consistently, they don’t bother lying to themselves or putting on airs about the kinds of people they are or the kinds of things they want. they know their place in the world, the expectations on their shoulders.

everybody likes thinking about ��L wins” and “KIRA wins” scenarios, but you know what i really want to consider? what the fuck would mello winning look like? i mean, he’s a character whose primarily fucking trait is the fact that he loses, that he’s always second place. i almost feel like mello winning could’ve been one of the best case scenarios— because for mello to truly win, to not just overpower near and tell him to suck it (a situation which would not make mello legitimately happy, just put him in the same situation as light killing L), he’d have to get over the biggest hurdle of his own bullshit and legitimately grow as a person.

i yearn to see a near that got the chance to grow up with his other half, and a mello who got the chance to live for himself again. they deserve that: quiet afternoons to bitch at each other and argue over whatever book they decided to read that week, near whining about having to do chores and mello yelling at him to clean up his fucking legos, matt shaking his head in the corner.

get those kids a fucking happy ending.

[1800miserablethot]

𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕩 𝔹𝕒𝕞 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕒

Plot: You all go swimming and some chick comes up and tries to flirt with you and Bam gets a bit jealous while watching. (Ya’lls friends don't help because they just tease him about it and it makes him even more jealous)

Setting: Iceland in the blue lagoon

><><><><

“Hanna you’re really letting yourself go, man,” Dico jokes, causing everyone to laugh and look at Hanna who replies, “I don't give a fuck,” which causes Bam to jump in and mumble “Pear ass body,” which causes everyone to erupt into laughter again. 

Bam looks around while laughing trying to spot eyes on you and when he does his smile falters and his laughter fades out. Instead, a soft glare replaces it as he sees you on the other side of the lagoon talking to a random chick who was way too close for Bam’s liking. “Uh oh, look’s like [Y/N] switching teams,” Bam hears Rake say which makes his glare darken, “shut the fuck up,” Bam hisses, his eyes going back over to you and the random chick. She wasn't bad looking, skinny yet toned body, and black medium-length hair that had streaks in it. “Bam if he was a woman,” Ryan joked but it goes one ear out the other. Along with the comment about the tattoo, the chick had on her upper thigh and the other near her boobs. His fist clenched knowing that the chick would probably try and draw your attention there, “No more hearing Bam and [Y/N] getting it on at night, instead we’re gonna be hearing her.” One of the other boys had said which another replied by saying “That’ll be hotter to listen to,” and that broke Bam. He snaps around and yells “fuck you assholes! That skank isn't stealing [Y/N] from me!” He must have shouted a bit too loudly because all his friends were now looking at him weirdly until Dunn finally spoke up, “Dude they heard you say that,” 

Bam stiffens at the realization and awkwardly turns his head toward your direction seeing you and the random lady both looking at you. He sees her giggle and you grin down at her and that causes his veins to boil with anger. When your eyes meet Bam’s he looks down before shaking his bangs out his face and looking away pretending to ignore you. You couldn't help but chuckle at how Bam was acting, quickly waving bye to the girl you make your way back over to your friends. “[Y/N] has a girlfriend,” Dico teases, “hell no, I’m taken,” you say which earns a snicker from Ryan and Rake when Bam chimes in by saying “By who, her or me?” You laugh softly at his bratty attitude, knowing that there was no bite behind those words. “Might be her if you keep your attitude up,” you joke which makes everyone else laugh and react but it only earns a scoff and an eye roll from Bam. “Fine, she can have you,” Bam retorts, going to get out of the water but you quickly grab his wrist and pull him back in. “Baby I’m kidding,” You cooed, turning Bam around to wrap your arms around his waist. Smiling softly at the pout that formed across his lips. “You know that I only want you,” You continued, seeing how his face started to flush a small shade of pink. “You better, asshole,” he mutters which makes you grin before you plant a small kiss on his pout. “You done pitching now?” you joke, moving your hands from his waist to grip his hips pulling him closer. You see his gaze glance over to what you assume to be the chick and when you glance over as well you are correct. Before you can say anything you feel lips crash onto yours, a tongue slipping its way into your mouth. You hum into the kiss knowing what he’s doing, so you decide to play his little game back. You move your hands up to cup the sides of his face, your nails digging into his skin as you deepen the kiss as much as you can. You keep him like this until you start to hear him huffing and panting into the kiss, you take his bottom lip in between yours and pull on it gently before letting it go which earns a groan from Bam. Seeing his half-lidded eyes flutter open to meet yours. “Now are you done?” you ask, your grin reappearing when he nods and takes your hand into his. You glance over quickly to see that the chick is now gone and you can't help but shake your head with a small laugh. Well, at least Bam got what he wanted. 

[yuyu1024]

Wallflower

Pairings: Mingi × y/n

Genre/tags: fluff and sweet. College au, classmates became partners for a project. He got interested first

Warning: cursing, mention of weight, fluff [lmk if i miss anything]

Words: 4.1k

Disclaimer:

- this story is just made up

- english is not my first language, please be nice 😊

Repost. I accidentally deleted my acct. 🥲

Likes and reblogs is much appreciated ♥️

My day started a bit hectic. I woke up late, didn't catch the bus on time and then had a hard time getting to my classes as school today is crowded.  The university is having a weeklong festival which does not affect the classes that much but it affects my timetable. My classes are from building A to C, then C to D then to A most of the time which means a lot of walking or running around to get in class. But having groups of people in line to something or all waiting for elevators will definitely ruin my routine.

I can't be pissed about it because it's not their fault that I got classes with this difficult schedule. All I can do is hope and pray I don't be late.

"Ugh!" I slide the door open for my last subject for the day, catching my breathe. "I'm 20minutes early.. finally!" I drag myself inside the empty room and make my way towards one of the seats near the window. "I'm so tired..." I sigh heavily.

I place my bag under the table while I take my ipad and pen over, preparing my notes for the class. But since I'm early, I might as well relax a bit. So I started playing music from my phone. It's only loud enough for me to hear. Or so I thought...

"What trash music is that?" A deep ass voice suddenly filled up the quiet room.

I pause the song and look around to see who just spoke. There he was, sitting at the seat at the back, just 4 rows from me. His head is lowered, he must've been sleeping.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't know someone was here." I hide my phone in a hurry.

I could hear him grunt as he stretches. But I don't dare to look back again. I'm terrified.

"You didn't answered my question..."

Suddenly, I hear the chair moving. He's standing up. The thumps of his footsteps gets louder and louder as he comes closer to me.

"I asked, what trash music was that?" He then pulls the chair beside me and sits down.

I'm still not looking at him. But based on what I can see on my peripheral view, he's huge!

"Ahm... Do you mean the genre or... the band?" My eyes is glued on my table.

"Band." He then leans his arm on the table and rest his face on his palm.

"I think... their band name is....stargaze or something... they're a band from another university."

"And you like them?"

I frown at the question, confused. "Ahm... they're alright."

"Alright?"

"Yeah...?" Then I turn my eyes to look at him. A sudden shock slaps me in my face. Fuck, he's gorgeous! Sharp eyes, sharp nose, pink and plump lips. He's very charismatic! But he's hiding most of his beauty under his cap. Well, its a cool look. Makes him look hot but yeah. I wonder what he looks like without it. Where his hair is all loose.

"Ahm... I only listen to this one song... coz' my roommate introduced me to this song." I added

"I see." His eyes then studies me.

"Why?"

"Nothing..." he then looks away and lay his head on his arm. But his face is still towards my direction. "Wake me up when our professor calls my name. Okay?"

"Wait. You're in this class?"

"Of course. Why do you think I'm here?"

"But... I haven't seen you before?"

"Maybe, you weren't just looking..." then he takes a deep breathe before closing his eyes.

"W-wait!" I whisper, "what's your name?"

"Song Mingi." He mumbles, eyes closed.

So random.

Why did this guy seat beside me and asking me to do him a favor? I really don't remember him being in my class before. Odd. But weirdly enough I agreed to his request and I did it. He said he was present when the professor calls his name. People whirl their heads to him when he spoke. They all knew him [except for me]. Then he just went back to sleep like it's nothing.

Why do I don't remember him?

Maybe, I'm just that kind of a wallflower, who also doesn't give a fudge on whatever people is doing around me as long as they don't bother me. So, in the end, I don't notice him. Especially if he's like this since the semester started. Just sleeping.

A few more minutes have passed, he shifts in his sleep. He got a tiny bit closer to me. I don't mind as long as I can still write on my ipad and not wake him up. I don't want to bother him. Maybe he's sleepy because he was not feeling well or something. But then, I felt sudden chills from my legs up when his finger slightly touched my free hand while I was writing something. I am left handed so, it was my right hand that he touched.

He is uncontious. Why am I bothered by that?

"Ms. Y/n!" The professor suddenly calls out my name making me jolt a little.

"Yes?"

"Who's that guy again? The one sleeping beside you."

"Ahm... he's... Song Mingi."

"Okay. Your friend there will be your partner okay?"

"Sir..  what? Wait. Partner for what?"

"Are you not listening to me the whole time?"

I was. He was talking about the project of us choosing any stories from movies or book that we can do a report on how we understand the story on our own and portray it. Like, what woukd you do if you are the character type thingy. If we woukd agree on the leads decisions not. That sort of thing.

"I am... sorry..."

"Okay. Just let him know about it." He says then the bell rings. "Okay, class will just email you more details about the project. Okay! Class dismissed see you next week."

Oh crap. What a day!

Students are one by one getting out of the room, some are still packing their things but the guy next to me is still asleep.

"Hey..." I quietly say, "Class is over..." He's not waking up. "Hey..." I reach out to his hand and gently caress the back of my hand onto his so I will not startle him. "Mingi..." I whisper

He slowly opens his eyes and looks straight back at me. "Hi..." His voice is so raspy and deep.

My eyes widens by the sudden realization that we are eye to eye and our face is just a more than a feet apart.

"Class is over." I repeat moving away. "We are partners now..." I add as I put my things back to my bag.

He snorts a laugh. "You're so blunt. I just slept beside you and now we are partners."

"Huh?"

"Like... I mean..." he stretches his arms out and then puts one arm around me. "I don't mind... you seem nice..."

"What are you talking about? I meant partners for out project."

"Oh." He pouts. "What a bummber. But I guess... we can get to know each other then..." he winks at me and then stands up, picking up his bag. "See you around, y/n!"

"Wait!"

He halts and turns to face me.

"Here..." I'm handing him my small notebook. "You slept the whole class so... I made you notes. You can use it to our project."

He smiles and takes the notebook from my hand. "Thanks."

"Okay... he will email details later today. But just in case... if you can... just meet me in the library at 5pm. I repeat.... If you can only. I'm always there monday to friday. I'll be doing our project there..."

"Wait. You're telling me your schedule? Instead of asking or giving me your number?"

I scratch my head, "yeah... coz I don't want to bother you? I guess..."

"Why not? We are partners... right?"

"Well..."

"Is it because I look like I don't care?" He laughs

"Hmm... a little?" I look away, smiling.

"I get it." He then takes a pen out and tears a piece of paper from the notebook. "Here is my number. Text or call me. And if you get shy and can't... or I didn't respond. I'm either in the rooftop sleeping or with my bandmates. You cab pick me up at the Music club room, 6th floor."

I take the piece of paper and stare at it. "Okay."

"Okay. See you."

"Ahm," I glance up to him, he's still smiling at me. "See you."

**

I first saw him Monday, it's now wednesday and still no show. I told him my schedule right? Is he waiting for me to text or call him? Ugh this is so frustrating. I'm such an introvert. I can't even dial his number even though he said I can.

How can we finish the project? It's due next week! Ugh.

I should be brave enough to contact him. I need him. It's our grades were talking about here!

That's it! I'm calling him!

I dialed his number, once..... twice..... until I've tried calling him for like 5 times. No answer. I gave up for a few minutes but then remembered he also told me he's usual spots where he hang out.

I first went to the music club. I assumed he was there because of the time. This is the usual free time of the students and if he's a member of the music club he must've been practicing to for the festival's battle of the bands this week.

But I had no luck finding him there. I asked his friends if they know where he could he be and none of them have an idea.

"He's usually missing." One guy said

"He's always missing!" The othet one added

"We just tell him when and where to show up... we don't even know his number. We just leave him messages through his sns every now and then." One explained.

Gosh. What is he? And why does his friends and bandmates don't know his number? Is the number he gave me even his?

Last resort, the rooftop!

This is the most I've walked this whole month. God! My thick thights can't do this! I'm so glad my fit is always casual and comfy because I can't imagine myself dressing like other girls from this school, skirt and heels and climbing these amount of stairs.

"Wow!" I gasp as I push the door open.

I am catching my breath so much. This guy is making me do cardio like shit. He forgot to mention which rooftop he's in! We have like 5 buildings here!

"Are you alright?"

I look ahead and see a six foot tall man, standing in the corner across me. "Yah!"   My voice cracks calling him out. "I've been looking for you!"

"Really?" He raises his brow, a hint of smile spreads acorss his lips. "I thought you didn't need me. You never called.

"I did!" I walk over to him and show him my call history.

"Ah..." he then shifted in his position asking me to stand beside him. "Sorry. I was asleep... I just woke up."

He's wearing an all black outfit. Same vibes as last time. Hip and charistmatic. Instead of a cap, now he's wearing a beanie.

"Oh wow..." I got taken aback by the view. I've never seen the university at this point of view.

"You've never been here?" He asks. I shake my head to say No. "Why?"

"Why would I?"

"No reason... just... hang out... with friends maybe or someone?"

"Well... I don't have friends... sort of... I don't hang out with them often and I don't have... a someone." I answer as I tip toe, sight seeing.

"How come?"

"Ahm...I don't know..."

"Hmm..."

"Anyways... Should we do our project here or...?"

"Do you mind doing it here?"

I look around and see that no one is around and there are old tables and desk that we can use. "I'm cool. It's more quiet here than the library." I smile

I march towards the other side where the tables and chairs are. I pull out my things and books I borrowed from the library to use for our project.

We stayed quiet for a few hours. I am impressed at how serious he is reading and searching online. I misjudged him. Maybe if I had the courage to approached him yesterday we could've done way more.

Yawning, "I'm tired." He says, closing the book.

"Are you going to sleep again?"

He looks at me as he leans his back lazily and spreads his leg apart. "Don't worry... I won't."

I smiled and continued writing on my ipad.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I answer without looking

"What are you doing later?"

"Hmm... go back to the library and return the books... then probably go back to my apartment..."

"Do you have a curfew?"

"Curfew?"

"Yeah... with your parents."

"No, I don't. My parent's are abroad."

"I see..." then he pulls my ipad away from me. "Can you come with me? Later?"

"What?"

"I'll be playing later... battle of the bands...1st round...can you come and watch me?"

"Ahm..."

"Please? I am your friend now right? We should be... we are classmates..."

"I... guess...?"

He takes the books and notebooks off the desk and starts to pack them all. "Let's bring these back to the library... then you can come with me."

"Already?! The battle of the band starts at 7pm... it's just 4pm."

He smirks. "Just... come with me."

What the heck is going on with me? Why am I just following him? Why am I agreeing to anything he's saying? Why? He's even carrying my bag for me. This is very unsusual of me.

"Here are the book she borrowed." He says to the lady in the reception.

I stand behind him, looking around. No one seems to care but I feel weird. He's holding my hand while he talks to the lady. He could've let go of me when we arrived right? Why is he still holding my hand.

"Ahm, sorry to bother you again." He adds, "Is the short cut at the end of the library hall accessible? They renovated it right? Can we go pass there so we can transfer straight to the next building?"

"Ah that. Sorry, it's still close. No one goes there besides the facilitators to check every now and then for the construction."

"Ah I see. So, no one... goes there?"

"As of now this week yes. No. People are busy for the festival so they stopped the construction for now."

"I see... thank you."

"You're welcome." 

He turns around, lips curved into the most cutest smile. "Are you okay?" He asks

"Ahm... yes... but..." I'm dazed now.

"Your hand..." he looks down at our hands. "Why are you nervous?"

"I don't know... should I not be nervous?"

"It depends." He starts to walk again, pulling me with him. "Did you already met my band members?"

"Yes."

"Good."

***

I am back with the music club team. Stuck with them in the waiting room which is filled with just pure male energy. Every one is so hyped and eager to perform. The vocalist are preping their voices and practicing their songs while the others are checking their instruments a few more times before their set.

While me, on the other hand sitting down in the sofa, knees together and hands on my thighs like I am getting scolded later. Fudge! I am so out of my comfort zone right now. I've only met them one time earlier and now I can hear them bicker and just blabber unecessary things that I should not be hearing. Why did Mingi brought me here? (~.~)

"Look at him! Show off!" One member yells

My eyes goes to where they're all looking. It's Mingi. And he's freaking SHIRTLESS. (O.O)

"Shut up." He says as he takes a sleeveless shirt wear to go with his ripped jeans.

"Everyone!" A professor opens the door. "You'll be next after this one band so get ready!"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheers.

"Oh." The professor suddenly sees me from afar. "Excuse me... I thought we agreed on no girlfriends or boyfriends are allowed in here?"

Wait. Me? Girlfriend?

I stand up to my defense. "Sorry... I'm not anyone's g--"

"She's with me." Mingi stand in front of me. "We had a project together. We had to finish it so we had to do some of the work here."

He partially lied.

"Ah, okay. But she needs to go. Only contestants are allowed here and their club members."

"I understand." I weakly answer. And as soon as the professor left, "I need to go now..." I mumble behind him as I hook my bag over my shoulder.

I walk pass him already when he catches me by my wrist. "You will watch right?"

I smile. "I will. I promise."

"Okay." He smiles, his thumb caressing skin

"Mingi? Smiling?" One murmurs

"Goodluck." I whisper before I go.

I shut the door close and briskly walked away from the area. My brain is about to explode. What the fudge is going on? Am I dreaming today?

"Y/n?"

I stop walking as I heard someone call my name.

"It is you!"

It's Kristy. My old classmate in from last semester. She transfered this semester to a different university because she broke up with her ex and she don't want to see him ever again. So she decided to leave.

"Hi!" I shyly wave back, thinking that she will probably not approach me but she did. She even hugged me. She's very into skinship and I'm not so it feels weird.

"What are you doing here?" She asks

"I... Well..."

"Did you just came out from the contenstants area? Are you dating a someone competing?"

"Dating.... I... no... I don't think so?"

We start to chat a little bit, to catch up from what we've been up to lately. And while we're talking, I keep noticing how guys heads keep turning. They're probably looking at her. Kristy is hot and cute. She is really pretty too and fashionable so, I can't blame guys if they all like her.

Ugh. This hurts my feelings. Because, if you look at me and then her. Hay, they probably wish to go blind than see me. I'm a chubby, short and I don't dress very girly. I know I look fine and normal but in this world, being in my level is like I'm not even existing. This is the harsh truth.

This is one reason, I don't have much friends nor even dated. 😬

Then the screams suddenly got louder. People start to gather in the floor to go closer the stage. Oh right! Mingi's band is next!

I said my goodbyes to Kristy and went separate ways. I was in a hurry. I didn't go with the crowd but I decided to climb up the bleachers on the sides so I can see them clearly and less human.

The members one by one gets on stage. The cheers are consitent. I never knew they are this famous. But holy smokes! When Mingi came in, the screams got violently LOUD-LOUD.

HE'S SO HOT!

I'M DROOLING!

HOW CAN HE BE SINGLE ??

CAN WE TRY TO GE THIS NUMBER?

so on and so forth...

Girls are literally going gaga over him.

I can even see Kristy and her friends from my spot, going crazy.

But them aside, the music the band is playing is definitely vibe. I could listen to this song everyday if I have too. Even the lyrics is so beautiful! I hope the crowd hears it too and not just thirst over men playing instruments.

**

After the battle of the bands, I stayed where I am. I watch the crowd disappear and slowly spreads out. They will probably all be hungry now and find food stalls to eat.

Me? Well, I don't know.

I look at the time. It's pass 9pm now. I should probably get going now. If I leave now, I could still catch the bus 9:30pm bus.

I should right? I'm not waiting for anything.

Yeah. I should go.

"Where are you going?" Mingi suddenly appears in front of me, making me yelp. "Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you."

"What are you doing here?" I ask

"I'm here to see you..."

"Ahm, why?"

"What do you mean why?" He looks confused with my question.

Dude. Your confusing me. We are just partners in class. We were just supposed to be studying. Now I am here , still in school at night, watched a bunch of bands and waited for you when I don't even have to because... I don't know!

"Tell me what you're thinking..." he says as he takes my bag from me.

"Nothing..." I quietly answer. "But yeah... great show..  the crowd loved it."

"Did you?"

"Hmm?"

"The songs... like... the last one... did you like it?"

"I did. I loved it actually."

"That's a relief." He smiles.

I try to take my bag back from him, "I need to go. I need to catch the bus home."

"Oh." He looks a little disappointed.

"I have an early class tomorrow. I need to crash now or else..."

"Can you please stay a little longer?" He takes my hand, sending shivers. "Please..."

I pull my hand away. "What are you doing?"

"Touching you..." he takes my hand again and then suddenly kisses the back of my hand.

What is he doing? We just met last monday!? I'm not complaining though. No guy had ever given me attention like him before... but... is this even real?

"Come with me?" He says, almost a whisper

"Ahm..."

"Don't worry... I'll take you home. I have a car."

"Okay..."

Here I am again. Dazed. Like I'm under some spell. Whatever he says, I just say yes and listen. Is this the effect of having a dry ass lovelife?

"You know, I would pay a money just to know what you're thinking." He says as we walk. "I feel like... you say a lot in your mind than you speak..."

I blush. "I do..."

"Whenever you're comfortable... just talk... I'll listen."

"Why though?"

"Because, I'm curious..."

"Why?"

He laughs, "You always ask me... why..."

"Because it's odd."

"Odd?"

"We just met last monday..."

"So?"

"Well... one... you are holding my hand very comfortably since earlier... and second... we suddenly became friends like you invited me to your show and..."

Both of us stop in front of the library door.

"And...?"

"And... why are we here?" I look around. "It's closed already. You want to read a book at this hour?"

"Sshh... lower your voice."

He unlocks the door with the key he had. We entered the dark room. I barely see anything. I just rely on him. I follow where he takes me.

"Y/n...?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you... trust me?" He whispers. I could feel his breathe on my ear. "Y/n...?"

I look in front of me, squinted my eyes and trying to see with the minimal light coming from outside is giving, what's in front of us.

"A door? Is this... the short cut...?"

"You... haven't...answered me yet..." I stiffen as I feel his breath at the back of my neck. His plump lips lightly brushing on my skin is already making me melt. "Y/n... do you trust me...?"

I take a deep breathe and try to slower the beat of my heart. "I know... I should not... but..."

He spins me around, his hand on my chin "but...?"

"I do... trust you..."

I could hear his smile. "Can... you be mine?"

End....😬✌🏻

**

<In mingi's POV>

The crowd is loving our set. I'm glad that all our practice and hardwork to compose these songs are all worth it.

But... why does it feel empty still. Like, yes I am happy that people loves our new song but I need to know her reaction. Does she like it? I want to know if she likes the song I made because of her. My wallflower

The girl... I've been eyeing since the semester started...

The quiet girl... who thinks no one ever notices her...

I do.... I notice her... I see her... I only see her... I can't take my eyes away from her...

This is my first time experiencing this... is this what Love at first sigh actually feels?

Oh! There! On the bleachers. I can see her now. (^^,)

[lestappenforever]

Ooh 14!!! For the prompt :)

Ohhhhh, thank you so much. ♥

And I'm sorry, this turned out so fucking stupid and silly.

---

14. “No one’s ever… for you before?” “Never.” ~ Lestappen

It comes up in a completely random conversation that actually has nothing at all to do with the topic.

It's the night following the Japanese Grand Prix 2023, and Charles is sitting in the lounge of the incredibly fancy hotel Ferrari and several of the others teams are staying in for their stint at Suzuka. He's nursing a beer, leaning back into the incredibly soft and comfortable chair he's been occupying for the past hour and a half.

To his right, Carlos, Lando and Oscar are sprawled out on one couch, while Pierre, Esteban, Alex and Checo are occupying a more reasonable amount of space each on the couch to Charles' left.

There's a long, low table between all of them and directly across from Charles, at the other end of said table, Max is sprawled out in a chair identical to Charles' own. He has one leg hanging over one arm of the chair and he's balancing his bottle of beer on the thigh of his other leg, which is stretched out on the floor.

He looks almost obscenely comfortable, Charles thinks to himself, and then immediately pretends like that thought never popped up in his head.

They're talking about the race and their plans for the coming week off before the race in Qatar at the beginning of October, when Lando suddenly looks at Max.

"Hey, your birthday is this coming week, right?" the McLaren driver asks, sitting up a little straighter in his seat.

Max nods as he takes a swig of his beer.

"Saturday," the Dutchman confirms casually, as if it's nothing special.

Given how their birthdays are only 16 days apart, Charles knows very well when Max's birthday is. But, it hadn't registered in his brain that Max's birthday - and his own, he might add - are actually just around the corner.

"Do you have any big plans?" Charles asks, and the rest of their group now has their attention locked on Max, who shrugs.

"Not really. Daniel is trying to convince me to let him host another one of his ridiculous parties, but I'm honestly still traumatized from last year."

There's a collective mutter of agreement at that, as every driver sitting around this table remembers Max's birthday party from last year. There had been an obscene amount of suspicious-looking jello shots that Daniel had been weirdly insistent on serving all night, a broken glass table, and a very angry goose who had chased Lando into the pool and then disappeared off into the night.

To this day, nobody knows — or will admit to knowing — where the goose came from.

(The goose had been found safe and sound the following morning, and returned to its flock.)

Lando visibly shudders, as if the memory still haunts him.

"So, just a simple celebration with breakfast in bed, then?" Oscar suggests.

Something crosses Max's face at that, but only briefly. Max is schooling his expression into something unbothered mere moments later, assuming nobody noticed. "Something like that."

Charles, however, does notice, but he doesn't ask because Lando is already moving on to the next topic that catches his interest, which just so happens to be anime. And Charles decides to nope the fuck out of that conversation before it even starts.

Max seems to have the same idea, pushing himself upright and getting to his feet. "Anyone want something more to drink?" he asks, taking note of the number of raised hands before disappearing in the direction of the bar.

"I'll help," Charles says as he scrambles to get out his chair and half-jogs to catch up with Max.

They stand at the bar, waiting for the bartender to get their drinks ready, Max leaning his forearms on the bar top and drumming his fingers slowly against the mahogany. Charles is standing next to him, with his back towards the bar.

"What's with the breakfast in bed thing?" the Monégasque asks casually.

"What?" Max responds, and Charles can feel those blue eyes on him.

"Back there," Charles says, nodding in the direction of their group. "When Oscar asked about you celebrating at home with breakfast in bed, your face did a thing."

The word is emphasized by a vague hand gesture in the air.

Max raises an eyebrow at him. "My face did a thing?" he echoes, snorting.

Charles rolls his eyes.

"Yes, your face did a thing. Like the mention of it bothered you," Charles tells him, turning his head so he can look at Max. He narrows his eyes at the Dutchman. "You're not one of those psychos who doesn't like getting breakfast served in bed on your birthday, are you?"

Max barks a surprised laugh, which makes Charles smile, and his heart do a little flutter in his chest.

Which, okay, he kind of thought he'd successfully pushed his feelings for Max far enough down that he could ignore them altogether, but that apparently doesn't apply when Max laughs.

Damn Max Verstappen and his stupid, gorgeous laugh.

The sound dies down quickly, though, and Max's expression shifts into something more sombre. Almost sad.

"I've just never actually had anyone serve me breakfast in bed on my birthday before. Or at any other time, for that matter," he admits, voice a little more quiet than before.

Charles gapes at him. "What? Sure you have."

Max shrugs for what seems like the millionth time that night.

"My exes have all been vocally opposed to any food items in bed," he explains, frowning a little. "And my father never believed birthdays were worth celebrating, because a birthday is not a victory."

It's Charles' turn to frown, then.

"What about your mom?" he asks carefully.

"Like I said, my dad didn't believe birthdays were worth celebrating. He didn't exactly give my mom much of a chance to argue with him," Max explains, as if that's normal. As if that's healthy.

"So, no one's ever served you breakfast in bed on your birthday before?"

"Never."

That should not break Charles' heart the way it does.

Their conversation comes to an end when the bartender puts the last of their drinks on the counter in front of them, and Max grabs half of the bottles.

"Come on, if we don't go back soon, Lando will start a riot," Max tells him, the seriousness of the moment seemingly forgotten.

But Charles hasn't forgotten, even as he picks up the last of the bottles and follows Max back to the others.

---

When Max opens the door at 10:15PM on Friday, September 29th, he doesn't expect to see Charles Leclerc standing on the other side with a bag full of groceries.

And yet, that's exactly the sight that greets him.

"Hi," Charles greets him as he makes his way into Max's apartment without actually waiting for Max to invite him in.

Which, rude.

"Hi?" Max asks him as he shuts the front door and locks it.

When he turns, Charles has already made it into his kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" Max asks as he joins the Monégasque in his kitchen, leaning against the door frame and watching as Charles is already in the process of unloading the groceries onto the kitchen counter.

Eggs, bacon, a wide array of different bread rolls, chocolate, and what looks like the entire baking section of the Carrefour just down the street from Max's building.

"Tomorrow is your birthday, and I am going to make you breakfast in bed," Charles announces, as if that was blatantly obvious.

Max just atares at him.

"And —," Charles continues, turning to Max and holding up a massive bag of flour in one hand, and a box of cream cheese in the other. "— I'm going to make you birthday cupcakes."

Max blinks repeatedly, as if that's going to help him understand the situation. Or make Charles disappear, because Max must be hallucinating this.

Neither of which end up happening.

"But Charles, you can't cook," is the only thing Max can think to say.

Charles would feel hurt, if Max wasn't absolutely right.

"Yeah, well, you've gone 25 years without getting breakfast in bed on your birthday and I'm not about to let that become 26. So you'll just have to shut up and settle," the Monégasque says, grinning widely at Max.

Max continues to stare at him. Charles takes that as his approval because he puts the flour and cream cheese down and starts opening cabinets and drawers to find bowls and utensils and whatever the hell else he needs to make bake cupcakes, making himself right at home.

Max is powerless to do anything but sit at the kitchen table and watch.

And even as he watches Charles almost burn down his kitchen three times in the process and the cupcakes come out burnt to a crisp on top and somehow still liquid on the bottom, Max has never felt more loved.

[tobiasdrake]

Still making my way through all the Episode Battles of Sparking Zero. Playing Frieza's big Resurrection F What If and it's got me thinking.

Yeah, this is gonna be me venting about how bad the What If scenarios are again.

How narrowly protag-focused these What If scenarios are feels like it's holding them back. Like, especially in a Tournament of Power environment, it feels like there's a lot of missed opportunity for really cool fights with Frieza's resurrected forces.

Like.

I don't know how you bring Captain Ginyu to the Tournament of Power and not have him Body Change Jiren.

I mean. I know how you do that, and the way you do that is because nothing that isn't Frieza-centric is allowed to happen. Despite the big "Who does Frieza bring to the Tournament of Power?" choice, nothing that isn't directly about Frieza is allowed to happen.

So the choice in practice winds up meaning little more than "Which set of cheerleaders do you want to hear the voices of while Frieza's fighting random ToP characters?"

Frieza winning Resurrection F and then getting to pick his own team for the Tournament of Power feels like it should be an incredible What If campaign in its own right. But in practice it's just "What ToP character would it be cool if Frieza fought?"

Also, I talked about this before but the What If scenarios of Sparking Zero feel weirdly handcuffed to original canon and unwilling to truly go in their own directions. Pretty much all of the Tournament of Power variations seen in the What Ifs demonstrate this in the wildest way.

Like. No matter who wins the Tournament of Power, it's universally agreed by all participants that they'll wish to restore all universes. The only difference is whose idea it is. Even Frieza's aforementioned What If insists, in all routes, that he's "scouting other universes" for people to join the Frieza Force as if he already knows their erasures will be reversed at the end of the tournament.

Seemingly every single character has read the script from the original series and adheres firmly to 17's last-second hail mary to restore the multiverse. Not a single character, not one, fails to think of it or wants something else.

(Well, maybe. I still have Goku Black and Jiren to go. But there's a lot of unanimous agreement that this is U7's wish, as if they'd discussed it before the tournament.)

Also I kinda wish there were bad endings too? Every What If ends triumphantly for your character no matter what happens. Goku can choose to forego teaming up with Piccolo or skip the RoSaT training and go fight Cell directly, and it always works out great and he saves the world.

Frieza can bring Zarbon and Dodoria to the Tournament of Power. And it works out great! Zarbon and Dodoria carry Universe 7 to victory and they restore all the universes and I guess Frieza gets some new multiversal recruits out of it or something. It's not actually possible for these characters' choices to be wrong.

These are some of the most unchallenging AUs, totally disinterested in sincerely exploring alternate takes on what could have occurred, that I've ever seen.

[alina-dixon]

A Fable

Pairing: Morpheus x Male reader

Warnings: violence, blood, captivity, fluff.

Requested: Yes / No

Part 1

A/N: The reader is the Hero from Fable 2! I really love the game Fable 2! So I thought why not? Have fun reading!☺️❤️

___

It's a cold winter day in Bowerstone, you and your Sister Rose are standing at a fireplace. You and Rose are homeless. You are only nine years old and your sister is fifteen. You were just trying to get warm, when suddenly something fell on your head and when you touched it you immediately knew it was bird poop! Your eyes went wide and tried to get rid of it while making a disgusted sound.

Rose looked weirdly at you while having her arms around her body to stay warm. “What was that? Oh! Yuck.” she said while taking a step back. When you stopped she put her arms back around her and so do you with yourself. “Well… That’s lucky. Like finding a four-leave clover. Although I think I'd prefer the clover.” her voice sounded a little awkward when saying that.

Then she looked at the castle amazed that stood in the center of Brightwood. “Look. little Sparrow…Castle Fairfax looks so nice in the snow. Imagine the grand dining hall. I bet Lord Lucien’s having roasted duck at this time of the year.” She ranted while you just kept quiet while putting your hands over the fireplace and listened to her ranting.

She put her hands on her hips. “But he must be really lonely since his wife and his little girl died. In that big castle, all by himself… If only we could live there.” She looked at the castle with a sad expression.

Suddenly there was the sound of loud cheering heard from behind the houses. “What is going on over there? Come with me, little brother.” she said while running in the direction of where the sound came from. So before you could say anything you followed her, but you were a little behind.

When you turned into the alleyway and went farther down you saw a man talking to your Sister, You saw him talking to her a few times back then. “Hello there, young Rose. You look hungry. Have you reconsidered my offer?” he said oddly nice but also very weird. You of course do know what he's talking about.

You approached them slowly. Rose had a disgusted and angry look on her face. “We’ll never be that hungry. The answer is NO!” That angered the guy. “You’ll be back. And I'll be waiting for Ya.” he said with an angered tone, then walked away.

Rose sighed and looked at you. “Come on, little Sparrow. Let's see what's going on.” she said as we both ran again to where the sound came from. Rose sighed again. “That filthy creep… I hate him.” she spat.

You finally arrived only to see a crowd around a taider. “Oh… It's just a trader. I can't see anything through the crowd.” She was clearly disappointed.

“A-ladies and a-gentlemen… I have traveled the land accumulating wondrous and mysterious objects! Which I now offer to you for the modest price of five gold coins!” he said proudly.

“Consider this. This is truly a magical mirror. For as long as you look into it, it will make you beautiful!” he said lowly. “I'll take it!” a random guy screamed from the crowd. “Very wise! Now just remember: the magic only works if you look at it in complete darkness.” He had a smug look on his face.

The trader turned to something that looked like a music box, but it was completely made of metal. “Ah, now this is truly a marvel.” he said smiling at it. “This small, unassuming box is actually a device created by the ancients. As was used by the old rulers of the kingdom themselves! Turn the handle three times, and you shall be granted a single wish!”

Rose looked unamused at this and scoffed. “There’s no such thing as magic!” she said and she thought that nobody heard it because they were busy watching the trader, but hooded women turned towards us. When you saw her eyes, you noticed that she was probably blind.

“We live in grim times indeed, if the young doesn't believe in magic anymore. Most children your age believe eagerly.” she said in a calming voice. Rose looked at her weirdly but you thought that she was right, only because you believed in it yourself. “Look, I can see your eyes are bad, but I'm telling you, that magic box is rubbish.” while she said that the crowd beside us was getting smaller and smaller until everyone was gone.

“That's what the seller thinks. He has no idea what he stumbled upon. But you have an inkling, have you? Some part of you wants to believe it's magic.” Her voice still calm as before, she turned around already walking away from us.

Rose looked looked at he women surprised. “What? You… you really think it could be?” she asked hesitantly. The woman stopped but only turned her head to the side. “For five gold coins, you could have your own answer.” Rose looks dumbfounded at her answer. “For five gold coins, we could eat for a weak.” Rose frowned.

The women started walking away. “Listen to me, Rose. At the end of the week you and Y/N would be no closer to your dream- no closer to the inside of that beautiful castle.” she started. ‘She, is right actually…’ is all what you thought to yourself.

Rose turned to face you frowning slightly. “What if it is real? I bet we could get five gold coins… and maybe this could be a way out of here, after all. What is there to lose, little sparrow?” she sounded confident. I smiled at her. “Probably nothing!” Rose laughed then nodded. “All right! Come on, there must be someone around here who will pay us to… do something.” with that we went around town to earn some money.

After about half an hour we finally had our five coins to buy the music box! Rose and I went back to the trader. The Trader Murgo looked at you smiling. “Hello children.” he said happily. Rose and I smiled back at him. “Hello, we’ve come to buy the music box.” she started still smiling.

I walked towards the man held my hand in front of him showing him the five coins. “Very wise, little ones! Go ahead and turn the handle- but mind you go somewhere quiet, like.” he smiled at the both of you. “Okay thank you! Bye mister!” you waved at him. “Let's go make our wish, little Sparrow!” she said excitedly, as you both started walking back to your little stay.

You put the music box onto a box wooden box that was around half of your height. “Alright turn the handle!” Rose was a nervous as you started to turn the handle. “I wish… I wish…” After she said her wish the box opened and started glowing in a bright golden color. A beautiful sound was playing but then the music box started rotating and the music got faster, the golden color was turning red and then all of a sudden, the music box lighted up in a bright golden color and disappeared right in front of our eyes!

You and Rose we're shocked. “But… where did it go? Why are we still here? Five gold pieces… Let's just go to bed.” she sounded sad and disappointed. You yourself were sad at this, but still you followed her. “Oh. I was so sure this was it. I had this feeling like… that we weren't going to be stuck in Old Town anymore! Why didn't the box take us with it?” she still sounded sad but tried to push it aside. “Come on, Sparrow, go to bed.” so you both lay down to end the day. “Good night! Love you big Sis!” you said turning to your side. “Good night. I love you too, little Sparrow.” and with that, you both went to sleep. You only hoped that tomorrow would be a better day, and Rose won't be sad anymore.

It was still nighttime when Rose woke up to the sound of footsteps, scared that it could be a thief or something like that. She carefully opened her eyes and stood up, and when she saw who it was she was relieved, I was only the guard that they helped to earn some money for the now gone music box. “What do you want?” asked Rose the guard curiously.

The guard cleared his throat. “I work for Lord Lucien, miss. And would very much like to see you in his castle. I've been sent to collect you.” With that, he walked away, and Rose walked up to your sleeping form. “It did work! Our wish came true! Come on little Sparrow, wake up.” So you opened your eyes and stood up still a little tired. “What's happening, Sis?” you asked her with a yawn and rubbed your eyes.

Rose smiled brightly at you. “Everything is fine. We're going to Lord Lucien’s castle! Now come we have to go little Sparrow!” she said as she ran in the direction of where the guard went to wait for us. When I ran after her I saw her standing with a few guards waiting for me.

“Let's go to the castle!.” Rose said happily, and so we were guided to Castle Fairfax. “What do you think does Lord Lucien wants from us?” I asked her confused. “I don't know, but we will find out shortly, Little Sparrow.” she said looking to at the big doors of the Castle.

The door was open and an old-looking Butler stood there waiting. “Evening. Jeeves. Here are the children Lord Lucien asked for.” he said proudly. The Butler smiled at us. “Excellent!” was all that he said to the guard, then turned back to us. “Hello, young masters.” This confused you but you ignored it. “Hello, sir.” both you and Rose answered politely.

His smile tightened and turned around. “If you'd follow me please.” he said and started to lead us into the castle. We look up at this castle every day and think how nice it is. We both do. But inside it's even more beautiful than I imagined.” Rose told him dreamily. Jeeves chuckled. “It's quite wonderful, isn't it?” it was more of a statement than a question.

Then we saw a man walking past us. “Ah, hello. Master Garth.” Jeeves greeted still walking while the other male said nothing. “Huh, Man of few words.” He led us further into the castle. “Where is the grand dining hall?” Rose suddenly asked curiously. “Oh, in the north wing. Lord Lucien hadn't been there since… Since the tragic deaths of Lady Fairfax and little Amelia.” he told us as we claimed some stairs and further down the hall. “Oh, I heard. That was so awful.” Rose’s tone was sad. Jeeves nodded. “Yes, he misses them terribly.” Rose raised a brow. “So where does he eat?” Jeeves looked at her. “Actually, he takes most of his meals in his study. He's in there working all hours, doing research...” You frowned. “What does he research?” you asked him curiously. “History, mostly. Lord Lucien is quite keen on antiquities of all sorts, but he is chiefly interested in things relating to the Old Kingdom.” Rose nodded understanding. “There was a Trader in Old Town who said his stuff was from the Old Kingdom.” Jeeves nodded. “Yes… yes, I believe Lord Lucien… heard about that.” he told us hesitantly. We were standing in front of some big doors now. “We bought a piece of it and we made a wish and now we're here!” She smiled brightly.

Jeeves smiled again. “That's wonderful. Now, when you meet Lord Lucien., you must show respect at all times. Address him as “my lord.” Speak only when spoken to.” he told us, You and Rose nodded. “Yes sir.” she awnsered shortly. Jeeves stood in front of us “And do not mention Lady Fairfax or Amilia.” he said a little more sternly. Jeeves opened the door to the study. “Here we are. Lord Lucien? The children are here.” Jeeves informed as me and Rose walked in and the door closed right behind us. ‘I don't like this’ is all I thought as I tried to push a weird feeling away.

Lord Lucien turned towards us. “Children. It's come to my attention that you have some sort of magic box. May I see it?” he asked looking at us curiously. “It vanished m’lord. We were winding it up, and we made a wish, and then it started to glow and it disappeared.” she said sadly. “After you used it?” is all he asked. Rose nodded. “Yes, m’lord. The man who sold it to us said it was magic.” Lord Lucien looked a little interested.

“The box is of no interest to me, what's remarkable is that you were able to use it. What was your wish?” he then asked. Rose gasps a little scared. “Well, speak up… what did you wish for?” he asked nicely. Then she looked up at him confidently. “To live in a castle… like this one.” Lucien smiled. “Perhaps that could be arranged. I working to rebuild… well, I'm working on something wonderful, for which I need individuals with particular talents. Let us find out if you have them. Would you kindly stand in the circle, please?” Rose looked at him nervously “Erm…” Lucien Looked at her reassuringly. “I promise, it won't hurt you.” This made my weird feeling grow but Rose still obliged and stepped inside the circle, while you still stood at your spot behind Lord Lucien. Behind the circle were also very big colored windows.

Suddenly the circle started to glow in a bright blue. “What's that?” asked scared. “Nothing to worry about.” Lucien answered. You looked a little scared at the circle. Lord Lucien looked at me with reassuring eyes. “Go on. Stand in the circle.” Then Rose looked at you. “It's all right, little Sparrow. Don't be afraid. It doesn't hurt.” Her tone was soft. So you made a quick nod and stepped into the circle.

When you stepped inside there was some sort of a blue glowing wall. You were trapped. Lord Lucien stood in front of you, his face was full of shock and relief. “It's true. Your blood… you are Heroes.” This of course shocked you and Rose. “Heroes? You mean like in the old stories?” she asked amazed. Lord Lucien then tried to touch the barrier and it sent some shocks to him. “Ah!” he screamed out pulling his hand away and holding it. When this happens the circle suddenly starts to glow bright red. “What are you?” he asked angrily as he walked to a table with many papers and a book on it.

He started panting. “Wait. There was, there was something here…” mumbling to himself. “M’lord, what happened? What's that light?” Rose asked seemingly scared. “Quiet! You're heroes… but you're not any of the three…” he would us while looking through the papers. “What's happening?” asked terrified as Lord Lucien suddenly pulled a gun out. You froze as he suddenly pointed it towards Rose. “This isn't what I wanted… but nothing must stand in my way.” he said darkly. Rose looked even more terrified now. “No, wait. Don't! Nooo!” she screamed in agony, but it was too late he pulled the trigger and she fell to the floor. Tears were now streaming out of your face as you realized what happened, You looked at your now dead sister but you still couldn't move, you were to terrified.

Lucien then pointed the gun towards you. “I can't allow you to live either. I'm sorry.” is all that he said. You pulled your arms in in front of you as you backed away towards the window. And then he shot you which made you crash out of the window onto many roofs before crashing into the street.

When you laid there on the street you barely moved Your fingers. You then heard footsteps and a voice. “Death is not your destiny today, little Sparrow… Y/N” You knew that voice… it was the blind woman from the market. Then you felt how you were picked up into her arms, then you blacked out cold.

Suddenly you woke up to a familiar face it was the woman she had a dog with her that licked your face. It was the dog that you and Rose rescued once. Then time went by fast you reached out for the comfort of the dog’s warm fur, ready to take your first steps in a new life.

Ten winters blanketed in Albion, ten summers filled the air with the sounds of insects and laughter. With time your pain turned to strength. Your grief became will. A will to change the world. And to avenge the death that haunted your every dream.

Now you are 19 year old. You got your revenge for your sister with the help of the other three heroes.

Hammer is one of the other three heroes. You and her were taking a walk with Theresa. “Today is very beautiful, it's not too warm and not too cold! So it's the perfect weather to take a little walk.” Hammer breathed out with a satisfied smile. “Mhm” You nodded in agreement.

“How about we go into town and eat something? My treat!” Hammer asked. “Seems like an nice idea.” Theresa agreed. “Yeah sounds good to me!” you cheered happily. “All right, let's go!” Hammer said while laughing at you, so does Theresa.

So when you were halfway there about to reach the town something felt off as you three talked to each other. Suddenly you noticed your surroundings started to glow. “What's happening?” Hammer asks confused with a little hint of worry. “I don't know!” you answered back. “I feel magic behind it, and it's not yours. It's not good either…” Theresa said as you all stopped. Then the wind started to get stronger, the glowing got brighter, and started to circle around you very fast. You put your arm over your eyes to see something but the sight was getting less by every second that passed.

You, Hammer, and Theresa started to panic. “Help me! Please!” you begged inside the glowing mist. Hammer with half tears in her eyes looked at you then at Theresa panicked. “You have to do something. What's happening to him!?” Hammer screamed. “I can't do anything. This is way against the skills I have.” She said trying to sound calm. “What-” Hammer was about to say something as the mist disappeared, and you with it. Hammer stood there wide eyed. “What happened? Where is he? Theresa where is he!?” She screamed as she fell to her knees. Theresa walked to her side putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “He will be alright. He will find his way back home.” Hammer was in tears as she looked at her. “You think so?” she sniffled. Theresa nodded. “Let's go home for now.” Her voice was even calmer now. Hammer nodded because she knew that Theresa was right.

Far away in a mansion in America was a Man. Roderick Burgess, he and other people stood in a dungeon under the house. They were a cult and Roderick Burgess was the leader of them. They stood around a summoning circle. They spoke in Latin, then the circle started glowing.

Right next to them was Morpheus held captive. He saw what they were doing. He laid there motionless watching them. As they summoned something, or someone. Then a little explosion was seen above the summoning circle and a bright glowing was there but when it vanished, there was a boy lying on the floor unconscious, on his belt was a well made sword and on his back was a crossbow.

“Take his weapons! And his clothes!” ordered Burgess. One of the cultists stepped towards you and bowed down to grab your sword, and another one grabbed your crossbow, then two others came and started to undress you, which led to you opening your eyes. “Oh, you're awake. Let's talk about business then.” You only glared at Burgess but stayed silent, you were now fully naked. “My Name is Roderick Burgess and I want you to be my personal guard, and hear on every command I give you. If you accept, you will get your stuff back. But if you don't, we will put you in a cage and you will rot in there until you die or eventually give in and accept.” again you stayed silent and didn't respond. Burgess let's out a disappointed sigh, then he nodded at the others and walked away.

While you were put into the glass ball you saw a another male that was also naked, in the cage next to yours. He was tall, and skinny, had black hair and bright blue eyes that stared right into yours as you now laid there.

Out of nowhere, Burgess stepped right in front of your view. You looked at him but didn't dare to move a muscle. “I have that you will rethink about my offer. Even if you don't want to, in the end, you will starve and start to beg for it. I hope you're smarter than this.” then he left again.

When he and everyone left it was only you and the other caged male. You both starred at each other again, only that you didn't really look at him because you thought about Theresa and Hammer, and the fact that you miss them and only wanted to get out of here and back home. Your eyes started burning so closed your eyes and silently let the tears slip.

Morpheus watched you as the tears slipped out of your eyes, but after a short while they stopped, and then he noticed that you probably fell asleep, which was probably better that way, is all what Morpheus thought.

The next day you opened your eyes and sat up slowly. Right now you tried to stay calm so you closed your eyes again. And while sitting there you felt the other males eyes on you but you ignored it.

Then Burgess came in and walked in front of Morpheus's cage. Two other people sat in the back playing a game. Burgess held himself on the cage. “The woman who lives with me has gone and robbed me of my fortune. She’s also robbed you. She's taken your helm, your sand, and your ruby.” this made you open your eyes and look at them. “Now I can unlock this, you can go after her…” Morpheus looked up at Burgess with a glare. “If you give me what I've been asking for. Wealth, youth, immortality. Oh, your a god. These things are nothing to you. Don't you want your weapons and freedom? Just like you Hero?” Burgess said lowly looking between the two of you.

So when you and the male in front of him didn't answer he got impatient and angry. “Speak to me! Speak to me! Speak to me!” he screamed and banged his stick against the glass, which caused the male to flinch shortly. A boy came walking from behind. “Come on! Speak to me!” he screamed again. “It's all right, Father.” the boy put his hand on his shoulder tho stop Burgess of what he was doing. ‘That asshole has a kid?’ is all you thought.

Burgess pushed him away. “Get away from me! If you were any kind of son to me…” he told him as he held the stick in the air and lashed out to the boy, but he dodged it, but hit him with the second one. The boy grabbed the stick so they both held it and faced each other. “If Randell was still alive today-” Burgess was cut off by the boy. “If Randell were alive, he would hate you as much as I do.” he said with hatred, and pushed Burgess back as he tried to attack the boy again, which led him to lose his balance hand his head hit the cage.

Burgess let the stick fall hand put his hand on the back of his head and saw blood when he looked at it, then he fell to the ground, with a big wound on the back of his head.

The to other man and the boy rushed to him. “Sir?” one of them said in panic. But when the boy put his hand on Burgess’s head as he saw a pool of blood leaping out of the wound. You and Morpheus only watched the scene. “You won't get out of there. Never.” Burgess looked at You and Morpheus one more time, then his eyes closed. “Sir can you hear me? Sir?” one of the male askedand tried to shake him but Brugess didn't answer. He was Dead.

The boy looked shocked and looked at his father as he sat there on the ground. “He isn't moving. Is he…” one of the males said. “He's dead.” the other one answered as the boy stood up, Looking at his bloodied hand and back to his dead father.

The Boy stumbled away a few feet but stopped between our cages. He stopped at the cage of the other male and turned to look at him. Morpheus stared back at him and slowly stood up, Your checks got red as you saw that but you wanted to see the interaction.

Morpheus reached his hand out. ‘He’s probably asking him to open the cage.’ is what you thought. The boy turned his head a bit as he reached out too. “Don't do it, sir. He’ll kill us.” one of the males said. “What would your father say?” the male spoke again, Before the boy's hand touched the glass he stopped and put his hand back down, and looked at the ground.

The male in the cage looked disappointed, as the boy looked back up. “I need to think.” he said and looked at the other male then to you, then he left. Morpheus also had put his hand back down watching him leave.

You were angry, but still, you stood up slowly wich made Morpheus look at you. You were a bit ashamed because you had no clothes on but you pushed that aside as you both looked at each other. You held sadness in your eyes as you slowly reached out and put one hand flat on the glass. Morpheus did the same while staring into your eyes. When you looked at him you immediately felt safe.

Then nine months later the door to the Dungeons door was heard which made the guards stand up and open the gate. Alex and also another boy came in. “How are they today, Rogers?” Alex asked. Rogers sighed. “Moved his hand this morning. Right hand. And the other one is also just sitting there but didn't move.” Alex nodded, as the other boy walked in. He had a look of shock on his face and gasped. “Oh, my God.” he looked at Alex and back to you and Morpheus. “Alex?” he asked.

Alex then walked in looking at the both of you. “Hello. This is my friend, Paul.” he told you as they walked further in. “Paul, these are our unwilling guests.” he said looking at his friend shortly.

Alex was getting a little nervous. “Look, we've been talking, Paul and I, and if I let you out, will you promise not to harm us?” he asked calmly while looking at us. You both didn't move not answered his question. “If you could just speak to us.” Paul said a little nervous himself, but again silence.

Alex looked at Paul. “You see, I told you.” he was a little disappointed. “I'm telling you, you have to keep trying. Show them that they can trust you. Show them that you mean it.” Paul softly awnsered back.

Alex nodded at us. “I do mean it. Just promise that you won't hurt me or Paul, and I will let you out.” Alex tried to reason. But again we didn't answer. We just looked at them this time.

Almost eighty years later you had developed feelings for the Male in the cage next to you which was weird because you didn't even know his name, but little did you know that Morpheus also grew feelings for you.

Also the guards started to change every now and then until they looked very modern. And you, you were still looking young and didn't age which you thought was weird and not normal, but Alex was old now just as Paul was, they both married year's ago. They were in the dungeon again. Alex stood in front of Morpheus's cage and had his hand on the glass. “I could have asked you for wealth or Power, and protection, like my father did. But all I wanted was to be free of you two.” He said softly.

You and Morpheus looked up at him. “Surely you want that too.” Paul walked into view pushing a wheelchair in front of him. “Alex, darling, please.” he said softly mentioning to the wheelchair. Alex put his hand away from the glass and sat down in the wheelchair, Paul's hand on his shoulder. He looked at us one more time. “Take me upstairs, Paul. I won't be coming down here again.” is all that he said as Paul started to push the wheelchair, and now there was a gap in the protective circle. Paul stopped a few feet away and looked back seeing it, then he looked at us and made a small nod. He then around and and left with Alex.

Morpheus looked at the gap and wondered why Paul would do that, but in the end it doesn't matter, he can free himself and you now and that's all that matters to him right now.

So when they got out, and the door to the dungeon closed, it was only two guards left inside. “Old Dracula here’s not moving an inch. Just like the other weirdo.” the Female guard said quietly, looking up from her book she was reading. “Why do you call it Dracula and weirdo?” The male guard said tiredly while looking up from his newspaper. “Because I think they are. What do you think they are?” she asked quickly.

The male sighed. “I try not. You know what I think about?” he asked her, again looking up from his newspaper. “Majorca. Four days… and I'll be on a beach. Stinking of suntan lotion.” he said and smiled to himself at the thought.

Morpheus leaned forward holding himself on the glass while glaring at the guard. And you were just watching. “Lucky bugger. I was on Corfu on holiday once.” the female guard told as the other one yawned and fell asleep. Suddenly something weird starts to happen as Morpheus stares at the guard. The guard stood up from his chair and shot both of our cages and they started to break. You sat there wide eyed. “Fred!” the female guard screamed.

She ran towards him to stop him. “Fred, stop it! You'll… Fred!” she screamed but it was too late Both of your cages exploded into many pieces and our surroundings were glowing. You and Morpheus got out of your cages. “Don’t move! Stay where you are!” the guy called Fred screamed. “What… what's he got in his hands?” the female screamed. You looked at Morpheus and saw that he had something in his balled fist but you couldn't see it.

Morpheus slowly put his hand up where he held something in it right in front of his face. The guards already had their weapons aimed at us. “Oi! Open your hands, now!” she screamed at him.

And so he opened his Hand and you saw him blowing some sort of sand towards them, which made them instantly fall asleep. You were watching the scene curious. But then all of your strength suddenly left your legs and you fell to your knees right next to Morpheus with a thud. He instantly looked at you and kneeled down to your hight.

He slowly put his hand on your cheek and his eyes looked at you softly. “I'll get us out of here.” he said and his tone was smooth but very deep. You melted into his hand and nodded at him. Then he slowly picked you up bridal style. Your arms around his waist as you were sucked into the glowing. You… you were getting your revenge now.

Then in a room a black cat came in and sat on a chair in the middle of the room. There also came Alex into the room he looked young again and he curiously looked at the cat with his head tilted to the side. Suddenly the cat disappeared and Morpheus sat on the chair and you stood beside him both fully clothed as you looked at Alex darkly. “Hello” Morpheus said.

Alex was scared you could see it in his eyes. “It's... It's you two. You're… you're free.” he said quietly. “We are.” Morpheus simply awnsered as he stood up and the wind started to blow through the open window. “And have you any idea what it was like? Confined in a cage for over a century?” he asked as he slowly walked towards Alex. “Do you understand the damage you've done to your world?” he asked again. Alex was more then just scared now, he was terrified. “I'm sorry. I… I didn't know. Please.” he said backing away a bit.

Morpheus looked at him unbothered just like you. “Your punishment, then, shall be a gift.” when he said that Alex turned to a little boy. “I give you this, the gift… of eternal… sleep.” when he finished the sentence he blow some sand in Alex’s face and he fell asleep.

Morpheus looked looked back at you holding his hand out. “Let's get out of here.” That's all you needed to hear and took his hand as he teleported you both.

A voice was heard. ”Sir. Sir.” It was the panicked voice of Lucienne. “Oh, my goodness.” she kneeled down to turn him onto his back. “Sir. It's me!” she panted as she saw his eyes opening. “It's Lucienne.” she said as Morpheus looked at her and started to smile and took her hand. “Lucienne.” he whispered weakly. “Your home, my Lord.” and that's when Morpheus started to frown. When he looked beside him he noticed you weren't there. “My Lord? What's wrong?” she asked worriedly.

Morpheus started to stand up. “A boy, he was held captive. Just like me. I brought him with me.” He said as he started to look around. Not even a minute later he saw you laying a few feet away from him, and he immediately sprinted towards you with Lucienne. “A Human? Why was he held captive?” she asked confused. Morpheus shook his head as he turned you around and saw you breathing normally. “He is not fully human, it seems. Because he didn't age for almost a century. The man who held us captive once called him Hero.” Lucienne looked at him baffled. “Do you think he is one of the three heroes? My Lord?” she asked. “I don't know.” is all he awnsered as he gently put a hand on your cheek which made you open your eyes.

When you saw him you started to smile. “Your safe now.” Morpheus said softly as he helped you off of the ground. You looked around and saw the woman with pointy ears and smiled at her. “Hello, jung Man.” she smiled back at you. You were a little scared to speak because you didn't talk since you were held captive, but you decided to still try it. “H-Hello.” you said but your voice didn't sound raspy or broken as you thought it would be. Morpheus and Lucienne smiled at you. “Thank you, for taking me with you…” you started but you trailed off because you didn't know his name.

Morpheus smiled softly at you. “My name is Morpheus. And this is Lucienne.” he told you. “Thank you, Morpheus. And my name is Y/N.” you smiled at both of them.

You started walking over to very huge gates on a massive wall. On those big gates were some pictures in it it looked well made. It made you look at them amazed with your mouth wide open. Morpheus looked at you and chuckled. “You like them?” he asked which made you blink before realizing, and looked at him. “Yeah! I-I mean they look astonishing!” you smiled at him nervously.

Morpheus then raised his hand and touched the gates, they began shaking and started to open up. “Forgive me, sir, but… the realm, the palace… they are not as you left them.” Lucienne said as Morpheus looked at her. Morpheus looked through the gate as it opened. His look… he was shocked with what happened to his Realm… his home.

You, looked shocked too, even if you didn't know how it looked like before. You saw the dead trees and bushes, the land looked like as if it was completely dead. Then you saw that a piece of the roof from the half destroyed castle fell down. “What happened here? Who did this?” He asked not daring to look away from his destroyed home.

Lucienne let out a sigh. “My Lord, you are The Dreaming, The Dreaming is you. With you gone as long as you were, the realm began to… decay. And crumble.” she looked at him sadly as he looked back at her. “And the residents? The Palace staff?” Morpheus asked with a little hope. “I'm afraid most have… gone.” she looked at the ground. “Gone?” he asked rising his eyebrows. “Some went looking for you.” she looked back at him. “And the others?” He asked walking in front of her. Lucienne looked back down to her side, then back up. “They thought, perhaps, you'd grown weary of your duties and…” Morpheus stopped her. “What? Abandoned them? Had they so little faith in me?” he asked in disbelief.

Lucienne didn't know what to say. You on the other concentrated on the view that was in front of you, as the conversation went deff on your ears. You slowly started to move away from them and towards the destroyed landscape. You felt welcomed even if the view in front of you didn't look welcoming in the first place. You closed your eyes whilst you took in the fresh air.

Lucienne looked towards you, which made Morpheus look behind him and he sees that you are walking away from them. When suddenly they saw some tears rolling down your face, when you turned your head sideways.

Lucienne looks worried. Then you felt a hand on your shoulder which made you open your eyes and look at the person who's hand was on your shoulder. It was Morpheus. You look at him puzzled. “Y/N?” Morpheus asked. “Yes? Is something wrong?” you tilted your head. “You seemed lost in thoughts. What's wrong?” he asked softly. “Didn’t notice that! I'm happy to be free again and out of this tiny cell in that weird Dungeon… Aaaand I'm probably a little tired after some sleepless nights.” You laughed awkwardly while scratching your head.

Morpheus nodded. “How about a little sleep then?” He asked while rising a brow. “Hmmm, no. Not before I helped you rebuild your realm!” you said grinning and put your hands on your hips. “But if you want to help him, you will need your sleep.” Lucienne reasoned. You humed. “You're probably right. Okay, I'll sleep once we’re there.” you smiled. Morpheus nodded again. “Let's go shall we?” you nodded at his question and walked beside him.

When you arrived at the castle, Morpheus turned towards you. “Come with me, I show you where you can sleep,” he started as you part ways with Lucienne. “Can I ask you something, Morpheus?” you look at him. “Of course. What do you want to know?” you thought for a short second. “I wanted to know who you are besides Morpheus, you know?” you asked nervously. Morpheus smiled and made a small chuckle. “I am an Endless, Dream of the Endless to be exact. People also call me the Sandman. Also we're here.” he said opening a door to a bedroom that was still intact. When you went inside you saw that the room was painted in black, but it was held simple.

You pulled your shoes, coat, and shirt off. When you sat down on the bed, Morpheus follows you and stands in front of you. “Who's room is this?” you asked looking around. “It's mine.” he simply answered. Your head shot into his direction while standing up. “I didn't know. I can sleep on the floor too.” you tried to say as he already put a hand on your shoulder and sat you back down. “It's alright. I told you to sleep, didn't I?” you looked baffled as you nodded at him. “Now, lay down.” you did as you were told and pulled the covers over you.

Morpheus kneels down to your height, and holds a closed hand in front of his face, which makes you realize what he was about to do so you stop him. “Wait!” you said which made him raise a brow. “Yes?” he asks while looking into your eyes. “We can share the bed if you want! I mean if it's okay with you…” you said shyly. This catches Morpheus off guard but he starts to smirk slightly. “If that's what you want. I will. But I will go and talk to Lucienne shortly, then I'll be back.” he says and you give him a closed-eyed smile. “Yeah, I'll wait.” Morpheus gives you a nod as he stands up and leaves the room grinning to himself.

About ten minutes later he returned. “I'm here now.” he says and you simply nod at him. So he pulls his shirt and pants off but leaves the boxers on. He walks over to the empty side of the bed and gets under the covers. You both stare at each other until you slowly fell asleep. Morpheus smiled at your peaceful sleeping face as he slowly touched your cheek with his hand. Then the next second, you had your arms around him and snuggled into his chest. “Good night, Y/N.” Morpheus had a small smile on his face as he laid his arms around your body.

[beevean]

hiii i dont really have anything to say this is just an invitation to ramble if you ever want to. for freebies. talk at me ill take notes. rattle on about anything ill be quite gleeful about it. this is your free talking ticket (not that you need one per se but i thought the note that i like reading about your thoughts might be nice if nothing else)

Awwwww I appreciate the free ticket a lot 🥰 you're right, it's always nice to have confirmation that others care about your ramblings, so thank you :3

I'm using it because brain got stuck on a random thing: while I was in my phase of gorging on CoD fanfics, I found interesting how different fans interpreted the in-universe reasons for Isaac's appearance.

(sir. sir why do you look so good in a random ass mobile game)

He clearly cares a lot about how he appears. He styles his hair in a certain way, he wears eyeliner (red eyeliner that matches his hair even, which implies he put thought into the best color), he wears impractical but stylish high heels, and in the MF manga he's shown having long nails: while I interpret this as him striving to imitate vampire claws, it still would take a lot of manteinance, and he even hides them under his gloves. I have also pointed out that in PtR his uniform is kept more prim and proper than Hector's, weirdly enough. And with the exception of his uniform for obvious reasons, Isaac still puts care in his appearance after going insane with the Curse.

But what does it say about him?

Some fans seems to simply think he's kind of a peacock. He's vain, he's flamboyant, he knows he's the hot stuff, maybe he's really trying his hardest to hit on Hector lmao. It fits with his arrogant attitude. Maybe he's even a bit of a perfectionist/tryhard: he doesn't need to waste time putting on eyeliner, but damnit, he wants to look his best to work. A king, if you ask me.

Others seem to think it's a sad form of overcompensation. Isaac is not particularly pretty, especially compared to the very beautiful Hector. He has traits that others might see as ugly, like slanted eyes, a large mouth and a big nose. Even worse, while silver hair is obviously unnatural but can be seen as fascinating, red hair in that era was 100% seen as the mark of the devil - and Isaac's red is bright, attracts even more attention. It's not impossible that Isaac was abused for how he looked like, and has some sort of complex about it. In fact, we all know Isaac is the incarnation of the inferiority superiority complex: he has an arrogant, cocky attitude, but he's also extremely insecure about himself, his skills, and being seen as second best/not good enough. So maybe he spent most of his childhood hiding and being ashamed of himself, but now in the place where he truly belongs he has rebounded in the opposite direction: oh, you think I'm unsightly? Have all of me in glorious display! You think my hair marks me as a demon to extirpate? Why yes, I am a demon, and I'm not letting you forget it!

With this mentality, no wonder he'd cover himself head to toe in demonic tattoos that prove his utter loyalty to Dracula, and no wonder that, after he dies, he lets his clothes rot off his back to show even more of his self. He has nothing to hide anymore.

And he still wants to hit on Hector, obviously :P

[nitewrighter]

Okay Idk if this question is allowed and it is very random, but what would Sombra and Annie do if Cassidy was captured and brainwashed by Talon. Which leads to them confronting the brainwashed cowboy who has the direct order to kill them.

(Cole's brainwash is the same as Bucky's from Captain America: Winter Soldier)

It's not that random--I mean with Widowmaker's origin story being what it is, I've gotten so many "What if [insert character here] was brainwashed?" asks over the years. (God, there was a period where one asker was just like... obsessed with Rei turning evil and it's like... that's not the direction I want to take her character, my guy--the whole plot of 'Breach' is literally addressing then promptly sidestepping that mess.)

And as far as Sombra and Annie go like... I know this whole trope usually has a very tearful and romantic, "I know you're still in there!!" fight, but Sombra and Annie, as much as they love Cass, would just... immediately knock his ass out. No discussion. No arguing. They would knock him out so fast. This is a Watchpoint that is very aware of how much damage Widowmaker did while brainwashed and there would be zero hesitation. And then when they have him safely incapacitated and restrained, then they would work on the de-brainwashing.

*Cassidy is tied to a chair*

Sombra: I didn't want to have to do this, Vaquero, but you leave me no choice. *takes out Annie's tiny baby cowboy hat*

Annie: Mami, I don't think that's going to--

*a single tear is already rolling down Cassidy's blank and hollow face*

Annie: ...wow, really?

Sombra: He was like, weirdly fixated with it.