#BANGING MY HEAD ON THE WALL. WHY DID I PICK THIS LIFE

[littencloud9]

i am so painfully behind on all my schoolwork so i am forbidding myself from coming online and i will only do my work until the bsd chapter drops. bless 🙏

[jinwoosbabyboo]

𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗', 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗' 𝚠/ 𝙽𝚘 𝚂𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝙽𝚎𝚝

My headcanons of the lads men with a clumsy reader [Requested by: Anon]

𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎

this man is damn near giving himself an anxiety attack worrying about you when you're not with him

covers the corner of the table with his hand when you lean down to pick something up

cuts your food for you now because you cut your finger one time and gave him a heart attack

his reflexes have sharpened from having to catch you every time you trip

keeps a pair of sneakers and flats in his car in case you drink when you two are out because he knows you'll stumble and fall in a pair of heels

would switch out his sharp cornered coffee table for an oval shaped one because you kept hitting your knee on it

places all your extra pillows on the floor on your side of the bed after you rolled off one night

keeps first aid kits everywhere because you're a walking hazard to yourself

does not let you grab a glass from a shelf you can barely reach

doesn't let you carry more than one bag because you tried to make one trip with the grocery bags and fell head first into a wall

𝚁𝚊𝚏𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚕

still laughs every time you trip or fall "are you okay?" "stop laughing!" "I'm sorry the noise you made was funny"

holds your hand or waist when you walk up/down the stairs because you've fallen one too many times

if you drop something at the table he'll pick it up for you

gets rid of the rugs you somehow keep tripping on

is fighting for his life trying to keep you off the counters when you can't reach something

you slipped in the shower one time and gave yourself a concussion now he won't let you shower alone

subtly childproofs his house

is always confused whenever you trip, fall or get stuck "now how the hell did you do that?" "I don't know Raf help me!"

constantly pretends to toss you stuff "Think fast!" " STOP IM NOT GONNA CATCH IT!" he's already cackling on the floor

side steps you to throw you off balance on purpose; always catches you when you start falling

𝚇𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚛

you fell down the stairs once and now he happily carries you up and down them whenever he's with you

covers the corner of the table with his hand when you drop something and lean down to pick it up

also showers with you now after you slipped one time

doesn't let your carry more than one plate

gets a google home or Alexa so you can speak to turn the lights on because you tend to run into walls looking for light switches

grabs everything you can't reach after you pulled an entire shelf down on yourself in public

sends you check-in texts to make sure you haven't hurt yourself when he doesn't see you (not that you'd admit it anyway)

is so used to your clumsiness he can almost sense when something is about to go wrong

secretly finds your clumsiness cute and now he has another reason to have you in his arms at all times

𝚂𝚢𝚕𝚞𝚜

Sylus is probably the perfect man to be with because his evol would be perfect for protecting you

places his hand on your head when you lean down to pick something up to stop you from bumping it on anything

buys you fluffy slippers to wear around the house so your pinky toe stops banging everything in the house

wraps his evol around you when he catches you climbing on something

you cut yourself with a knife once and he hid them for only him and the chef to use after that

has the twins keep an eye on you when he's not around

replaces any tables with sharp corners for smooth edged tables

has his shower renovated with pebble stone flooring so you don't slip

takes your heels and carries you when you start stumbling

keeps a hand on your waist when going up or down the stairs

is so used to you falling all the time its almost like his evol acts on it's own to catch you

uses your clumsiness as a reason for why he should go with you everywhere

gets rid of every rug in the house and opts to get heated floors because you keep tripping on the rugs, but he knew you'd complain about the cold floors

[leebitofficial]

spoiled it

hyunjin x reader, fluff - wc: 566

barging into the studio, you’re shakily greeted by a confused christopher bang.

“where is hwang hyunjin?” you ask sternly.

“i- i don’t know… probably in the practice room across the hall…” he replies, a bit disoriented after your sudden burst through the door.

you thank him before quickly leaving, forgetting to close the door behind you. chan grumbles as he gets up to close it himself.

opening the door to the practice room, you immediately lock eyes with your lover through the mirrors on the surrounding walls.

“y/n? you’re supposed to be home resting by now, what are you doing here?” he questions, quickly standing from where he was sitting on the floor to greet you.

“don’t be mad.” you hesitate.

“why would i be?” he replies.

“well… you know how we were gonna wait until the baby’s born to know whether it’s-”

“y/n! don’t tell me you spoiled it!” he interrupts.

“i’m sorry! i swear it was an accident!” you exclaim.

“don’t tell me! i don’t wanna know!” he tells you, putting his face in his hand and turning away from you.

“hyunjin… i know you wanna know.” you tease, creeping up behind him as he remains facing away from you.

“you’re right… i do wanna know… but i’m still mad.” your boyfriend sighs, turning to face you once again.

he remains still, his head tilted downward with his dark hair in his face. you kiss his pout away, brushing his soft hair from his forehead. he instinctively wraps his arms around your middle.

“tell me.” he speaks amongst the silence.

“i thought you didn’t want me to?” you tease again.

“y/n… you’re not gonna be able to keep it from me for two more months. you might as well tell me now.” he huffs.

“i know, i know.” you reply as you continue to brush your fingers through his hair.

“she’s already given me lots of attitude, and people always say first born daughters are most like their fathers, so i had my suspicions.” you whisper as if there were anyone else in the room.

at first he doesn’t say anything, processing what has to be the second most life-altering news he’s ever heard (the first being when you’d told him you were pregnant at all. it was all very unexpected considering you hadn’t even made plans for marriage yet).

your delivery of the news may have seemed a bit backhanded in a way, yet hyunjin thought it was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard.

“it wasn’t an accident, was it?” he asks softly.

you give a weary laugh. “i couldn’t help myself.”

“i think we were both gonna break at some point anyways.” he giggles.

as the news settles, hyunjin’s eyes brim with tears that threaten to spill. he doesn’t know how to express his excitement so he’s resorted to this.

“i can already tell she’s gonna be such a daddy’s girl.” you tell him.

that broke him. he whines, tears beginning to fall as you pull him close. it's ironic that he's the emotional one right now, considering you're very pregnant and always moody, and he's always the one to comfort you.

if he’s honest, he was hoping for a baby girl. he was hoping that one day he could pick flowers with her, dress her up, keep her as his lock screen, dance with her, draw with her, laugh with her. and the answer to his hopes was handed to him on a silver platter.

then chan walks in, confused as ever.

“what the hell did you do to him?”

[drdemonprince]

For the last eighteen years (the entirety of my adult life), I have never lived in a place longer than twenty-four months. 

If you’re a renter, you know the deal: one apartment has leaks coming from the ceiling, thanks to a bathtub upstairs that the landlord never sealed up; in the next, you can hear skittering in the walls. I get a new job, so I have to head a mile south to find a commute that is tolerable. The relatively affordable one-bedroom on the corner where the ambulances are always blaring gets bought out, so the rent shoots from $900 to $1200 per month. Over and over the leaf blower of economic progress has expelled the flimsy debris of my life from the corners where it has settled.

There were less prosaic reasons for the many moves, too, like the 55-year-old roommate who would bang on my door at six in the morning accusing me of sampling her milk and let her dog shit on my rug. Or the boyfriend who stalked me after we broke up in graduate school, who would sit in the parking lot outside my window curled up into an angry, devastated ball, shrieking and crying until somebody came out the back exit and he could rush in to get me. I left the rug behind when I moved, because it had gotten stained. And when I escaped from the boyfriend, I left behind all the books from graduate school that reminded me of him, too. 

As a renter (especially one with a limited income) you never have any control over your surroundings. Where you live, how much space you have, what pests reside there, what works in the building and what doesn’t, how things get fixed, if things get fixed — it’s all determined by market forces and landlord whims. Nothing is permanent, and everything is uncomfortable, so you learn to keep your life light and ready to be picked up and dashed away with at the first sign of trouble. 

I never really learned to settle down into a place and let my weight expand gently all over it. It was better not to count on anything. Every time that I moved, I culled my possessions: the vintage exercise bike that I brought with me from Ohio got left behind when I darted from a depressing, windowless spot in Roger’s Park to a tiny studio in Lakeview. When the studio in Lakeview had cockroaches crawling up the bathtub drain, I found a dupe of a subletter and left behind my desk and half my kitchen items, and used a $40 folding table from Aldi as my counter, dining room table, and workstation for the next five years. 

That’s one thing that people don’t talk about, when they complain about landlords: how much disregard for your surroundings that renting breeds in you. It’s not only that the owner of your building never cleans the pipes. It’s also that you have no reason to feel invested in the pipes’ long-term functioning, and every reason to feel bitter about the thousands of dollars you’re already wasting on a broken building each year. 

And so you buy the Drain-o, even knowing it does damage. You don’t invest in a hair trap, because it shouldn’t be your job. Maybe you even flush kitty litter down the toilet, as one neighbor of mine did, because why the fuck shouldn’t you? It almost feels like revenge to wreck a place that was never yours, even though the only people who will suffer the consequences are the poor broke renters who come after you. 

There is no gratitude, no sense of continuity — only a steady march of expenses and breakdowns that never stop, until you’re kicked back on the street again.  

But this June, after almost twenty years and fifteen moves across various apartments and sublets, I have finally arrived at a place where I might be able to stay a long time. I’m no longer paying a landlord’s bills with my wages. I have become, as Eula Biss puts it, the husband of a space. This home is my duty to protect, to build up into something that might last for me and everyone else who passes through it. 

Suddenly I can see the consequences of my actions: A stick of incense left burning on the bathroom counter leaves three small, orange marks I have to buff out with a scrubbing sponge and a layer of Barkeeper’s Friend. When I ignore a leak from the hot water spigot that runs over the side of the tub, the liner swells up with moisture and has to be cut out and replaced. Life is no longer lived in pay periods, but in years. Unattended problems only get worse over time, and everything is riding on me. 

I wrote about making a home, adopting a cat, and learning to let my life have weight. You can read the full essay for free (or have it narrated to you by the Substack app) at drdevonprice.substack.com

[omega-e123]

Aftermath of this. Shadow’s prequel here

Immediately you hauled your ass home after the incident. What have you done?! Okay, back up. Somehow you caught Shadow off guard. Somehow you kissed the ultimate life form. Smooched! Pecked!

Then he disappeared. Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he? This was a breach of personal space! But it also felt like he was returning the gesture. No, you must have been imagining it.

The awkward situation has you pulling on your hair in distress.. There is no way you could face him now. Flee the country. Change your name.

You hug the flowers close to your heart. At least.. he was thinking of you. If only you didn’t pull that move, maybe things could have slightly gone back to the way things were. It’s too late.

After being placed in a vase, your eyes study each and every individual flower. How you wish you could thank him for them. These particular flowers feel awfully familiar.. You can’t place your finger on it but it’s on the tip of your tongue.

In order to relax and calm your mind, you decided to take a long nap. Hopefully when you wake up, it was all just a dream. Climbing into bed, you bury yourself under the blankets and silence your phone. Sleep over takes you in an instant.

The sound of your doorbell ringing over and over pulls you from your slumber. It felt as though you slept a thousand years. When you pick up your phone to check it, it flash bangs you in the dark of the room. It was the middle of the night.

Your doorbell stopped ringing on your way over to the front door. You rub your eyes as you answer it, ready to give whoever was there or even the empty air a good yelling.

It opens and is slammed shut right after. What is he doing here? The day definitely was not a dream.

He bangs on the wood, “Open up.” An exasperated sigh leaves you. This guy is not going to give up. If Shadow really wanted to, he could have chaos controlled into your home by now.

You open the door just a crack, enough to see him. He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Locking eyes, he shifts his gaze away. After moving the door further open, he says, “Walk with me.”

While you rush to put on your shoes, Shadow is waiting patiently and watching your every move. Strange. You expected him to have left you behind to catch up.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

On the way to the park, it was filled with awkward silence. Not a single cough, squeak, or word between the two of you. Night air cools your burning cheeks while walking side by side. Eventually you both spot a bench to rest at, overseeing the wide grassy area. The sky ever clear as the stars above twinkle.

Shadow allows you to sit first before taking a seat right next to you. Leaning forward, his fingers intertwine, opting to stare at them rather than you. Likewise, you pick a random tree to observe.

“I’m,” he pauses, unsure where to begin, “sorry I left without a word. These kinds of things, I’m not good at.”

“I thought you’d hate me after doing something like that to you,” you reply in the softest whisper. A wry smile appears on your face.

His head snaps up to look at you. Eyes widen in shock. He instantly protests, “No, I could never!” Placing a hand over his chest, he continues speaking, “I wouldn’t— couldn’t lose another person dear to me.”

Your breath hitches. You did hear that clearly right? Shadow considered you dear to him? Important?

You can feel his intense gaze on you. At the moment, you don’t have the courage to look him in the eye. “That’s.. a relief to hear. I also need to apologize.”

“For?”

“Avoiding you for so long and making you worry. You really didn’t do anything wrong, Shad. I let my feelings for you get in the way”

“Hmph. Consider it accepted once you realize what a fool you’ve been,” he says plainly. There was no bite in his words, rather a hint of playfulness.

What? You turn to him, absolutely astonished, “I’m sorry?”

Shadow leans against the back of the bench, arm over it. His other palm covering his face. He groans, “So you really haven’t noticed. Looks like I owe that damn bat fifty bucks.” His hand drags down to cover his mouth, “I noticed so many people eyeing you. A disgusting feeling constantly clung to my chest. Instinctively I kept myself physically closer to you. When I asked Rouge about it, that’s when...” Shadow trails off, not wanting to elaborate further.

So this whole time… You two were pining for each other, completely clueless that the feelings were mutual. The thought of it forced a laugh out.

“What’s so funny?”

“That’s why you had such a stink face glaring off in the distance!”

An exhausted sigh was his only response.

It feels a bit mean, but you couldn’t help but smile. You take a moment to look up at the stars. All of the tension dissipates into the air. How beautiful… Sort of reminds you of— ah! That’s why the flowers were so familiar. They’re the same ones at that field you and Shadow gazed at. He remembered. How thoughtful of him. You didn’t take him the type. Goes to show how much this whole ordeal flew over both of your heads.

Now that the air has been cleared, what next?

…

“Hey Shadow?”

“Mm.”

“You said you haven’t had much experience,” you begin.”

“Correct.”

You reach out to hold his hand before laying your head on his shoulder. “Can the ultimate life form handle a date?”

He gazes down at you, thinking about his next words: “If it’s with you, I have no doubt.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

[letstalkaboutshtufff]

In another life pt 2

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x Reader

Summary: A visit to Nanami and trip down memory lane

Warnings: Language and suggestive themes but only a bit lol

Part 3

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

A/N: was so overwhelmed by the amount of love I received for part one!! Thank you all so much for the support😭🩵

“This is definitely a first” Nanamis gaze travelled up and down your body.

You shuffled uncomfortably from your place on the couch. Gojo stood leaning on the wall behind you.

“Yeah I’ve been hearing that a lot today..” you sighed.

“Hmm, well from what I know. This curse has been known to travel through dimensions, which is why he’s been so hard to catch in the past. He disappeared several years ago after somehow escaping from a seal. Looks like he ended up in your universe.”

“That makes sense, it was only a couple years ago he appeared and Satoru subdued him. A couple months ago he told me he found some weird residual energy on the seal but otherwise everything was ok… I guess the theory of the spy was correct but…” you brought a hand to your chin.

“Go on” he encouraged.

“We placed three seals on them. There’s no way an amateur broke through them… I wonder if he has any clue on who it could be...”

BZZT BZZT BZZT

“Another call?” Gojo tilted his head forward.

You picked up the phone and read “Weird Bangs” well speak of the devil!

“Nope just a text.”

-Hey you ok? Satoru just told me what happened. Don’t worry, we’re investigating as we speak. We’ll have you home in no time.

You smiled warmly and replied,

-Thanks Sugu, I have complete faith in you two. And don’t worry I’m ok.

“Anything important?”

“Not really, Sugu was just checking in. By the way, is he on a mission or something? I haven’t sensed your version of him yet. Unless you don’t have a version of him which would be honestly so weird since I swear you two are like your own couple..”

Little did you know the room had gone from warm to freezing cold.

“What did you just say…”

“Huh?” You tensed seeing the mood was a bit off now.

“Wait…don’t tell me he’s…dead?” Instant dread washed over you.

“No..he’s very much alive…” (excuse me while I change the timeline a little)

“Then what’s-“ you tilted your head.

“Nanami, what can you tell us about the curse transporting other people?”

You blinked at his sudden change in topic.

“Honestly nothing.” Your shoulders slumped.

“Really?”

“Yes but I promise I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you get home safely”.

“Thanks Nanami…” you tried not to feel to sad, after all you had so many people working hard to figure it out.

“Well it’s getting late, why don’t we continue this tommorow, Nanami you’ll reach out if you find anything yeah?”

He nodded, “I’ll dig into some of the old archives, and let you know what I find.”

“Thank you Nanami” you smiled and followed gojo out of the room.

“So what now?” The sun had set and you realized that for the first time in years you were not going to sleep in your own bed, cuddled next to your husband.

“Well… I could take you to one of the spare dorms here but considering the curse is still out there I think it’s best if you stick with me”

“So back to your place?” Haha that takes you back.

“That ok with you?”

“Mhmm” not like I’m used to anything else but being with you…

“Ok then, hang on” he touched your shoulder and suddenly you were transported to a place that smelled like fresh linen and his cologne.

“Oh wow this takes me back” you flicked on the light and took in the old place.

Gojo raised a brow that you seemed to know your way around.

“I take it you’ve been here before?”

You nodded fondly while taking in the place once again, “yeah, we spent so much time here back while we were dating…I lived in a really crappy apartment that you had to bend down in.” You laugh at the memory.

You turn to look out the floorlength window and promptly scream.

“AHH is that me!?!? Have I looked like this all day!?!” You could barely see your skin it was covered in dirt and grime from the previous fight and your hair was basically inviting birds to make it their home.

“I need to shower…” ah crap I didn’t think to stop and get clothes.

“I’ll find you some clothes… the shower is over the-“ but you were already beelining towards the bathroom eagerly to wash the filth off of you.

“Right you already know… so weird” he crossed his arms.

The second the steaming water hit your body you sighed in relief. It took a good 15 minutes for the water to run clear.

Using his body wash sure took you back to the days you’d sleep over. Those days were some of the best of your life. Watching movies late into the night, eating junk food, making out, falling asleep tangled together…

You shut your eyes before the tears could come.

No, none of that, you had the best and strongest people on the case. You’d be home soon, so let’s think of this as a weird mini vacation.

After your shower you dried yourself off and peeked into the bedroom where the door connected to. Sure enough you found a set of his pjs on the bed.

His shirt engulfed you, looking more like a dress. You thought for a moment to forgo the pants but realized you probably shouldn’t go pantless and underwearless around new Gojo.

Once you were decent you stepped outside into the main living space.

A delicious aroma immediately invaded your senses.

Wait… no fricken way!?

“You cook!?!?”

“Huh?” Gojo paused to look back over his shoulder. “Of course I cook… does your Gojo not?”

“He- he tried once but burnt everything… and anyway I’m home way more so I usually do the cooking..”

“Well I hope you like seafood, I haven’t gone shopping yet so there wasn’t really many options.”

He turned back to the stove to continue stirring.

You sat on one of the counter barstools and watched him in awe.

He even has the towel thrown over his shoulder and everything...

“So tell me about other Gojo. How did you guys meet?”

“Well… actually it’s kind of embarrassing…”

“Oh well now I have to know”

“Well I was jogging by this old elementary school and this curse popped out. It was so cute tho it looked like a super fluffy puppy. And then suddenly you popped in, ready to blast it to smithereens when I jumped in front and defended it….” He paused his stirring and looked over at you again.

“Yeah I know.. it was crazy but the curse really wasn’t that bad. So anyway I picked it up and started running away from you…”

“Pfft seriously?”

“Yeah… you should’ve seen your face haha. I made it about 10 steps before you warped in front of me”

*Flashback*

“Uh listen lady, that thing your holding is very dangerous so it’s best if you-“

“No way!”

“Huh?”

“No way, he’s just a little baby, he hasn’t hurt anyone!” You hugged the curse tight to your body and for some reason the curse seemed… relaxed?

“Lady… it’s a curse.. we can’t exactly just leave it to roam free..”

“Well then….”you thought for a moment..

“I’ll keep it!”

“You’ll keep it…” he repeated to himself in disbelief

“Mhm hm” you nodded.

“Uh…” he watched you snuggle the curse closer and the curse for whatever bizarre reason seemed content.

“It hasn’t hurt anyone has it?”

“Not that I’m aware of..”

“Then it’s settled! I’m keeping him.”

“Uh…”

“Don’t worry, I have some skill in exorcizing curses if anything goes wrong but it won’t will it little cutie?” You rubbed under its chin and it started to purr.

“Ok so you’re serious…uh well here’s my number… in case he decides to turn murdery and you can’t handle him”

You smile and hand him your phone, when he hands it back you glance down and let out a little gasp.

He smirked, you must’ve realized who he was now.

“You have the same screensaver as me! I love that show!!”

Oh

“Haha well it is a good show, even if the heroine sucks.”

“What- what did you just say?! She’s the best one!”

“No way, if you ask me the best friend should be in the spotlight.”

“That snobby bitch? No way” you made a face.

“Snobby? I see it as confidence.”

“You must’ve gotten knocked in the head too many times by a curse..”

“Well it doesn’t really matter, I think she’s gonna take that job in the next episode.”

“Wait you think so? As much as I hate her, she makes the story interesting.”

“Yeah I-“ BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT

“Ah sorry hold on”

You watched him turn and take the call. Looking at him now, even without seeing his eyes you could tell he was good looking.

“Sorry, duty calls. Make sure to call me if…that thing suddenly decides to eat you ok?”

“I will, thanks”

He whooshed away and you looked down at your phone.

Satoru Gojo….

Oh my god

No fucking way…

He had the same name as your favorite book character! What a small world…

“Alright cutie, let’s get you home. I wonder what you eat?”

*End flashback*

“Don’t tell me you still have that thing?”

“That thing has a name and his name is cutie. And to this day he hasn’t hurt a fly! Well actually that’s a lie because he does eat all the bugs around the house.. but other than that he’s harmless. He does chew the furniture though..” awe I hope he’s ok..

“You’re a little strange you know that?”

“You’re one to talk..”

“Hey, you shouldn’t insult the hand that feeds you.”

“You’re right sorry chef” you bowed jokingly then went to grab plates to set the table.

“Oh I hope you don’t mind me touching stuff.” You retracted your hand afraid he might get upset.

“Be my guest.” He waved nonchalantly.

Ten minutes later you were sat across each other.

“Oh lemme grab some drinks” he stood up and disappeared into the kitchen again.

You nodded and began plating your dish and his. His having three times the portion like usual.

Gojo came back and sat down with his mouth slightly open.

You realized your mistake and felt heat rise to your cheeks. “S-sorry it- I did that out of habit. Didn’t mean to make you feel weird..”

“It’s fine it’ll just take some getting used to is all…” he smirked and dug in.

“Thank you for the meal.” You twirled your fork around the shrimp and pasta and took a bite.

Oh

Oh

Oh hell no

“Something wrong?”

“Satoru this is amazing… like really really amazing”

“Glad you like it”

“No but seriously this is so good…Why can’t my version do this??”

You took another bite and swooned, maybe you’d leave your version for this one…

BZZT BZZT BZZT

“Oh it’s you! Well other you..”

“Satoru?”

“Hey babe you doing alright?”

“Yeah, I’m alright… we met with Nanami earlier, he said he’s going to do some more research and let us know if he finds anything..”

“Same here, Suguru and I are tracking the curse down but it’ll take a little bit of time, he’s a slippery one that’s for sure”

“Mm, sorry for putting everyone through this trouble…”

“Don’t worry, I have plenty of ways you can make it up to me later”

“Ah geez I need to stop putting you on speaker..”

“You’re not alone? It’s pretty late..”

“Yeah well other you thought it would be best to keep me close for safety reasons. I’m here at the old penthouse actually.”

“….”

“Toru?”

“You’re with other me?”

You blinked. “Uh yes?“

“Hey other me!”

You tilt the phone closer to this Gojo so he can hear better.

“Uh yes?”

“I know it’s tempting but no canoodling my girl alright?”

“S-satoru!”

“Not even a little touch, I mean it.”

“Satoru what are you talking about?! I just met the guy!”

“And? Do you remember how I was back then?”

“Well...” yeah a manwhore..

“Oh yeah and another word of advice, no girls over to the place. She gets suuuuuuper jealous, one time she even told our pet to attack and-“

“I did not! That was-!-you know that was an accident!”

“Mhmm sure”

“You know cutie feeds off my feelings, I didn’t tell him to bite her arm!”

“Of course sweetheart of course..”

“You- what about that time you hijacked my date!”

“That was purely coincidental, I was in the area.”

“Sure you were…”

“Anywhoooooo, did you take your meds?”

“Y-yeah”

“Liar”

“Hey make sure she gets those pills, she’ll faint without them and I don’t need her falling into anyone else’s arms”

“S-satoru good night already, I’ll talk to you later…”

“Alright sorry, you know I worry. Night baby, don’t feel too lonely without me”

*click*

“Ugh annoying jerk” you words didn’t match your soft tone.

Gojo leaned back in his chair and scanned your form.

Did he? Did a version of him really fall in love and settle down. You were certainly beautiful but he’d been with a lot of beautiful women.. did your strength draw his attention? He supposed he hasn’t seen you fight yet, maybe he would fix that soon..

“Oh uh sorry you had to hear all that again, I hope it’s not too weird”

“Well I’m not gonna lie and say it’s normal but..”

You smiled and brought another forkful to your mouth.

“Thank you for everything, really… you don’t even know me and you’re doing all this..”

“Well hey don’t worry about it, any alter ego/universe me’s wife is a friend of mine”

“Heh thanks” glad to know all Gojos humor are the same across universes.

After dinner you helped clean up and were lounging on the couch while Gojo went to shower.

He wouldn’t mind if you turned on the tv right?

So far this Gojo was 99.8 percent a carbon copy of yours so no he wouldn’t mind.. plus tonight the new episode of “Wishing I was yours” was airing and you couldn’t miss it..

And that’s how Gojo found you 20 minutes later, arms wrapped around your knees cuddling a pillow, tearful eyes glued to the TV screen.

‘No! No you can’t leave me. You can’t give up after everything we’ve been through’

‘Forgive me my love, you’ll have to continue this journey without me…’

‘No! I need you!!’

‘I’m only going to put you in danger… it has to be this way… I’m sorry’

‘Noooooooooooooooo!’

How can she watch this crap…

Gojo made his presence known and stepped in front of the couch.

“Oh hey, I-i hope it was ok that I- ah no don’t go!!” Your focus was quickly redirected back to the gripping scene. You groaned when the credits rolled.

“Dammit you were right about the ending…now I have to do that thing… ugh” you mumbled into the pillow.

Gojo couldn’t help but be curious what that thing was but stayed quiet.

“Don’t tell me that I actually watch this kind of stuff?”

He sat on the other end of the couch watching as you paused the tv and turned towards him.

“Well not at first but we worked out a deal, every week we watch one of my picks and one of your picks… but ugh you always choose the scariest stuff…”

“Better than unrealistic lovey dovey crap…”

“Unrealistic?? Says the one who spouts the most corniest lines 24/7”

The title screen for another episode started playing and he swiftly grabbed the remote.

“Allow me to show you what true cinema is.”

Uh oh, you had a bad feeling about this..

1 hour later

“Ah no way no way no way” Gojo smirked watching how you hid behind a pillow shaking like a leaf.

“Oh come on, it’s not even the scary part yet…”

“Liar! Ew ew ew I accidentally looked again”

“Human snake vs Octogator is a masterpiece , you’re insulting one of the greatest films of all time!”

“You just chose this because you knew it would scare me!”

“Lady I barely know you, is that something I would do?” He smiled, glowing eyes peeking behind his glasses.

“Yes, that is exactly what you would do..”

Well you sure did seem to know him he was realizing more and more…

After the movie you were basically half asleep so Gojo decided to call it a night.

Sleepily you rose up and followed after Gojo to the hallway. But instead of turning right to the guest room you automatically turned left to his room and bumped into his back.

“Huh”

You froze, eyes shooting up to his.

“A-ah s-sorry!” Embarrassed you darted to the guest room and shut the door.

BZZT BZZT BZZT

Hm?

*NEW MESSAGE*

-Since you’re all alone, use this to tide your appetite over xoxo

*image loading*

“Ah-!”

The heat rose to your cheeks immediately.

(I’ll let you imagine what kind of picture he sent lol)

-Don’t send anything back tho ok? Don’t want the creep next door spying on you and catching a glimpse of my pretty girl~”

-he’s in another room obviously..

-wait he wouldn’t look through the walls with his eyes would he??

-would- did you ever do that??

-ah gotta go baby, the line is bad, nighty night!

-We’re texting idiot, what line?! And answer the question!!

-xoxo 💋

Ugh jerk… you threw the phone on the bed then slowly got in the unfamiliar bed.

You hated sleeping alone… even when he was out on overnight missions you were surrounded by his scent, his clothes, his everything…

You grabbed a pillow and snuggled it for comfort.

“I miss you idiot…”

Part 3

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

Aaaaaaand that’s chapter 2! What did you guys think about Suguru’s mention hehe. The angst boat is coming y’all, but first came a little fluff before the storm. Please lemme know what you thought! Until next time!

@gojosatorulover7 @goaway-plzz @goldenglow149 @taakt17 @kneesheee @yumii-34 @ritsatoru @generalstephkenobi @author20 @bitchycloudstrawberry @hojoslutoru

[ju1cyfru1t]

Heeeeey! First of all, I wanted to say that I love your writing style! It's amazing and it's making me feel emotions♡! Second - I hope you have an excellent and nice day or night!

Can I request headcanons about Leo crushing on reader? And that he is so in love that it causes annoyance to his brothers, especially Donnie, that he decides to help his twin get the Reader?

If it's too much, you can ignore that, that's totally fine!

(and I'm sorry for any grammatical errors, English is not my first language, Haha!)

THANK YOU POOKIE I REALLY APPRECIATE IT 🤭🤭🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 HOPE YOU LIKE IT

Rise! Leo x gn! reader crush Headcanons + Drabble

fluff :D, contains swearing

- literally eats up any and all attention you give him

- maybe just slightly very delusional

- like you could just brush past him and he’s like

- “did you guys see that? they’re sooooo into me.”

- whatever you gotta tell yourself, pal.

- Him? Laying awake at night thinking about you? Whaaaat? That’s crazy, couldn’t be him.

- except for the part where it is, and it’s interrupting his precious beauty sleep.

- def would wake up one of his brothers *COUGH*DONNIE

- “Psssst…Donnie~..DONNIE! Are you awake? Great! Hey, did you notice earlier when Y/N-“

- someone tell him to shut the fuck up about you. Jk not that they haven’t tried, Leo just doesn’t listen.

- ABSOLUTELY believes that he is incredibly smooth

- The worst pick-up lines you have ever heard in your entire life + just him (trying) to flirt with you ALL DAY EVERY DAY bitch doesn’t let you have a moment of peace

- You have no idea what you’ve done. To him sure, but mostly to Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and even April.

-“Aaappprriiilll, did Y/N say anything about me when you saw them?…No? Oh.🥲”

- Leo is forward and confident towards you, he ain’t trying to hide anything. Trust me, you don’t know how anxious this makes him because of his deep rooted insecurities BUT THAT’S A STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME-

- esp if he can’t tell if you are feeling what he is, yk?

- MEANWHILE, Donnie is one “Y/N” away from finally snapping (and becoming a mad scientist)

- EVERYONE is growing tired of this. It’s not that they aren’t happy their brother found someone he’s interested in, but oh my god.

- But Donnie would do anything, and I mean anything, for more than 5 minutes of peace.

——————————————————————————

So there Donatello was, peering around the corner watching you, Mikey, and Leo in the kitchen. It had been a lovely afternoon! You guys watched a movie, and now you were making brownies.

“You know, Y/N..” Leo had a cocky smile, leaning against the counter, “I don’t know what’s sweeter…you or these.”

You and Mikey both rolled your eyes, “Shut up, Leo.” It was completely fair for Mikey to be annoyed, he’d been listening to this all day. Like, take a hint.

Donnie was fiddling with the door, and glanced down the hallway, making sure to look out for Raph because he wasn’t sure his eldest brother sound agree with his…plan.

“Oh, Angelo, could you come here for a moment?” Donnie stared intently at Mikey, motioning his head towards you and his twin.

Mikey looked back and forth between you and Leo confused for a second, before shrugging and heading towards Donnie who then pulled him straight out of the room. He slammed the door shut, and activated his digital lock. No one was getting in or out unless Donnie disabled it, which he did not plan on doing anytime soon. This ended NOW. I mean, he thought it was pretty obvious that you both liked each other and just needed to get it over with! Mostly because Leo’s painful obsession was getting really old.

Banging and muffled yelling could be heard from the other side, and Mikey grabbed Donnie by the shoulder. “Donnie! What are you doing? My brownies are gonna burn!”

“Trust me, Michael. This is for the best and they’ll be thanking me later.”

.

.

“ Dammit…we’re locked in.” You let out a deep sigh, letting yourself slide down the wall to sit, the smell of baking brownies still in there. Why would Donnie do this?

“Yeah…” Leo was trying really hard to keep his cool, but the panic coursing through him was undeniable. I mean, he was actually alone with you. There was always someone else with you two, whether it be one of his brothers, his dad, or April.

“But…I mean, it’s not all that bad, just you..and me.” He winked, with his usual confident, sly smile even though his hands were shaking.

“Ugh, will you stop that?” Your tone and expression was annoyed, and confused, Leo’s stomach sank.

“Stop whaaat?~” His voice trembled a bit, but he was still keeping up his playful demeanor.

“The…the flirting! Seriously, it’s not funny.” You looked away from him. “I’m not trying to be funny-“

“Seriously, shut up! Stop playing with my feelings, Leo. You’re so confusing…I can’t tell if you’re just toying with me or what- God, why do I even bother?” Of course you were frustrated, who wouldn’t be?

Leo was taken by surprise at your outburst, and it was obvious. As soon as the realization of you were saying hit, you were embarrassed. “Just…forget it, Leo. I shouldn’t have said anything-“

“Wait, no- Y/N, it’s not like that!” What the hell was he saying? Was he really about to do this right now?

He kneeled in front of you, taking in a deep breath. “I care about your feelings, ok? I’m not ‘toying’ with you, I really do like you!” Even as his anxiety rose, Leo felt like a weight was be lifted off of his chest. He couldn’t believe he really just said it…

Now, it was your turn to be surprised, staring into his hopeful eyes. “Leo…I don’t know what to say…I mean..” Leo swore his heart stopped, and he felt like he imploding right then and there. He couldn’t handle rejection like this.

“ I like you, too.” You grabbed his hand, taking it in yours. “What? For real?” He swiftly wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you tightly. “..ohgodthankyouthankyou…”

“So, what now?” You couldn’t help but smile, leaning your head into the crook of his neck.

Leo laughed, “I don’t know, I never really thought I’d get this far.“

——————————————————————————

TY FOR READING!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Some requests from my inbox will be posted very soon. I stared school again this week, so I’ve been busy but I’m trying to catch up! Sorry it’s been taking a hot minute. :)

[narcissarina]

Darkened Desires

Prologue and Chapter 1: The sun || Chapter 2: The moon || Chaoter 3: The moon || Chapter 4: The sun

Pairings: Mafia!Scaramouche × Barista!Reader

Word count: 1,814

Tw: praise kink, degradation, kidnapping, tourture, dub/non-con, forced breeding, dismembering, gore, deaths, age-gap, corruption, use of force, trauma, use of drugs, stalking, mentions of human trafficking on the near chapters, slowburn.

Warning: This fanfiction may contain kidnapping, torture, dub/non-con, forced breeding, dismembering, age-gap, corruption, vigilante Scaramouche, use of force, trauma, use of drugs, stalking, and more. This fiction will continue grow darker as chapters goes by.

Your mental health matters.

CHAPTER 5:

THE SUN

My head hurts.

My ears were ringing and it hurts so fucking much.

Am I dying?

My head is all fuzzy and heavy as I feel my body lean against a wall, my eyes flutter open slowly as my vision was a little blurry and trying to focus on one object to another. I shake my head, from left to right and crack a muscle from my stiff ass neck.

The heavy feeling in my head slowly fades away and my vision finally focus on one person that’s been sitting before me, I can only move my legs.

My legs? What about my ar— shit.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! My hands are tied and panic sets in, adrenaline rushing through me as my heart began to speed and beat fast. Is he going to kill me?

Kill me witnessing that he killed a man?

Question and scenarios swirl in my head. Shit, fuck, my heads getting heavy again, I’m going to be dizzy, again. My breathing picked up and I tried calming myself down.

“Easy, sunshine. You’re not hurt nor we’re going to hurt you.” A voice spoke in front of me, the man with short hime cut purple hair finally walked in the room, the man in the chair stood up and greet him with a bow, the man who I assume is his guard spoke, “She is not harm nor bled, she is stable.”

This fucker talking about me?

It felt like my life will flash before my eyes before this bitches stab me or torture me to death—or worse.

My breathing paced, chest rising up and down as if I exhausted myself from struggling. I could see amusement in his grin and eyes, fucking sicko.

“What do you want from me…?” I manage to utter those words out, lips quivering as I spoke. Eyes pleading mercy and that screams to let me go.

He smiles from ear to ear, flicking his cigar on the ground and let out an amuse sigh left from him as he walk towards me and crouch down, “I don’t want anything from you, sweetheart.” He grabs my cheeks, squishing them together with his fingertips, grabbing me and pulling myself to his, he grabbed so hard that he'll left a bruise to my cheeks.

“I just don’t want you telling other people what you saw, that’s all. Even the police.” He added, and harshly tilts my face to my right, “You’re much prettier up close, and I’m so right about it.” He muttered to himself, sounding like a creep.

“I..” words caught up from my throat as I try to swallow, “I-I won’t tell anybody, I— I swear!” desperation in my voice, pleading that he’ll take my word and let me off, but he didn’t. Instead, his demeanor changed, his eyes from soft and wicked to cold and full of intent to murder, that’s not the answer he was hoping.

He whistles, letting my face go with a harsh push as he stood up. He fixes his sleeves and took out a gun, “no- no, no, no.” I panicked, tears streaming down, my faces feels hot and my heart beats faster.

He points, finger on the trigger. I closed my eyes, this is the end.

Eyes glued shut, quiet sobs broke down, in suspense I hate the silences and there.

Bang—

“Open your eyes, sunshine. Relax, you weren’t hit.” A laugh come out from his lips, I open my eyes and see who did he shoot. An unfamiliar man beside me, he’s severely bleeding, the bullet penetrated to his skull. I broke down in tears, not knowing why this is happening to me, I whale and cried.

Maybe I’m next.

“Don’t kill me, please..” I plead, my voice cracking and my sobs uncontrollable. “I’m not sure about that, love.” He said, grinning to himself as one of his men took the gun from him hand to store it to a fluffy cushion.

“Tell me how could I trust your words when you have witness enough?” he asked, sitting down to a chair that his guards provided, legs crossing and fingertips on his chin.

“You want to be free?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm and amusement, I nodded in response—calming my heart down and my sobs. “Sign a contract with me.”

I blinked, wrist brushing my remaining tears to dry as I just look at him. “Do as I say and you won’t be harmed, heck. You would even receive my protection.” He continue, taking paper and pen with him from his guards hands and stood up to walk to me.

He kneels, paper and pen right in front of me. I just stared at it, if I sign that contract by means me being free and additional protection, I would be happy to.

But doesn’t that also means that I am submitting myself to him? That I now belong to him.

Questions flashes in my head, asking it all at once. His voice broke me away from my thoughts, “Also, whenever you go, I’ll come with you or my guards 24/7.” He smiles, “the choice is yours, darling.”

I took a deep breath and look at him, trying my best not to break eye contact—even though his eyes screams more than me signing and agreeing to his piece of shit ass paper, it screams lust and possessiveness.

“O-One question..”

“yes?”

“W-What did he do to get what he deserved?” I point to the dead man beside me, he snort and smiled. “He abuse women, harass little children and a threat to someone who he finds delicate and weak.” My eyes widen to his answer, I scoot away from the corpse and got to him, I swear I heard him hum to me. “There, there, darling. I got you.”

I whine, wanting to break down another sob. “Now you see what I do,” my back on his front, his hand on my head and caress my hair to my neck. I didn’t knew that his lips were now in my hairline, “Pretty thing like you deserves to be protected, huh?”

I just listen to his praises and twisted words and before I knew it, I already signed the contract, and he lets me go. Gave me a tour to his home and gave me a room, he said he’ll give me a ride home tomorrow morning but for now. I should take a bath and get some sleep, no monsters will get me tonight—he says, and that he’ll always be there in the shadows… Watching.

I hear birds chirp, the light of the sun illuminates the room. I hear footsteps in my room and swung the window curtains open, “Up, up.” The voice said, my body is too tired to move, I let out a groan and taste the air, “five more minutes, ma..” I subconsciously said and roll over and hug a pillow, pulled a blanket and cover my whole body to it as I curl up like a yarn ball.

The voice snickered, “ma?”

Then it shot me, fuck. I’m not in my own home right now, I pulled myself awake and scan my surroundings, this room was a luxury, everything me and my mother dreamed in a house but we were already content on how me and her lived.

“S-sorry.” I apologize, fingers fidgeting as I look down at my lap, he chuckle and fold his arms, “no need.” Then he snap his fingers, “take a shower, I already prepared the clothes that you’ll be wearing.” He points to the dress beside me, neatly folded and with accessories, “then come down stairs and have your breakfast, time is ticking, sunshine.” He added and left the room.

I inspect the clothes he prepared for me, it has a pink top and white sleeves, white mini tulips decorated in the mermaid skirt and it has a mandarin collar, long puffy sleeves.

He has styles, I get it.

I brush it off, stood up from the bed and stretch my muscles out—holy shit, that was a good crack. Then got in the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a shower then get dressed with his pick.

I look at myself in the mirror, twirling around to see the finish product at the back and front. The white long ribbon at the back of my hair and a choker that has a tulip design on it. I hum myself at this aesthetic choice and left the room as the way it is, neat and clean.

Heels click as I made my way down stairs, guards lime up and greeted me with high regard. I got startled when they yelled my name to greet me a happy good morning, many that was his doing.

We ate, talked, then escort me to his car.

His driver is the one driving, not him. Maybe he’s too delicate to drive on his own, “where are we going?” I asked as they took a wrong turn to my house, “Let’s stroll a little, you know? Maybe pick out some flowers for your decoration in the café?” he teased and got out of the car, he circled around and open my door.

What a gentle creep.

I got out, rolling my eyes but before I knew—he took me to the place where me and my mom would constantly buy flowers from, the shop owner: Ms. Historillo managing the shop—who is also one of my closest friends and her mom and my mom are as closed as two peas in a pod.

She noticed me, “Oh my!” she screeched and yelled in excitement, I do too as we collide in a tight hug, “Oh my god, it’s you!” a hard and long you as she embrace me.

She offered me a seat and quickly grab a glass of tea, Scara on the other hand—or is that even his real name, lean down and whispered to me, “I’ll be right back.” I nod and hum at him, I don’t know what he saw nor suspect but I’ll stay out of it. I don’t want to get involved.

He crossed the road and entered inside an alley he disappeared to, I pay no mind when Historillo came back with a tray and we chatted along the way.

Meeting up with a friend and catching up wasn’t bad, her tea was amazing and she asked me, “who’s that guy that’s been following you?”

“just a friend.” I lie.

“Looks more like a bodyguard to me.” I laugh at her remark and time flies.

Bang—

Gunshot was heard across the road, Historillo flinched and a calm oh god left from her lips as she quickly got inside the shop, motioning me to follow her but the guards shield me with themselves.

A little girl was running at me.

But where is he?

Link:

Chapter 6: THE MOON

[the-broken-truth]

Blot-Mates: Yuu & The Overblots [Part 4]

SEGMENT: JAMI

Summary: Jami is struggling with his innate programming of servitude, but he has no one to serve. Consequently, he is finding it difficult to relax and function properly. What would happen if Yuu decides to teach Jami how to live a life where he is no longer a servant but rather spoiled?

[Note: The Yuu Variant is Male with Enma Yuuken's Body Build, Yuuka Hirasaki's Fighting Skills, and Yuuta Mito's Cooking Skills.]

[Note: This Storyline will be written in Script Format.]

Parts: [Prologue] - [Ri] - [Leo] - [Azu] - [Jami] (Here) - [Vi] - [Idi] - [Mal] - [All] - [Epilogue]

[Coal-colored eyes were fixed on the ceiling while serpents made of dark locks of hair hissed in irritation or struck at each other, showing their displeasure. Jami placed his hand on his forehead and ran his inked hand through his bangs before sitting up from his bed and perching on the ledge with his head hanging. He lifted his head and looked at the digital clock on the wall of his room: it was 6:45 in the morning. This was usually the time The Prefect would get up to make breakfast for the Overblots. The thought of the Prefect making breakfast for all of them, just as he and his Original Body would make breakfast for Scarabia Dorm and Kalim, was overwhelming. Jami wasn't sure how to cope with it..]

Jami (Hearing something coming downstairs): Prefect... (Stands up and leaves his room)

[Jami walked down the hall and down the stairs as silently as he could to make sure he didn't give away his location. He crept to the opening of the kitchen and hid around the corner while listening to Yuu speak to himself.]

Yuu (On the phone with Sam): Hey, Sam. I know you're getting the shop ready, but do you have cookbooks or teas from the Land of Scalding Sands?

Jami (Thinking): 'The Land of Scalding Sands? Surely, he is not thinking about...'

Yuu (On the phone): Did Ace and Deuce tell you about what happened in Potion's class? Yeah, The Overblots got separated front their original bodies and I offered them to stay at Ramshackle; I wasn't going to make them uncomfortable with dealing with their hosts in their dorms.

Jami (Thinking): 'He cares for our comfort? After we attempted to kill him? (Looks at the ground in shame) After I used him for my personal vendetta?'

Yuu (On the phone): I noticed that Jami seems uneasy and I want to do something to make him more at ease here. I thought of making him some food and tea from the Land of Scalding Sands, as he's not much of a coffee drinker. Also, I noticed a Mancala Board and I'm interested in buying it. Can you tell me how much it is? (Sam Talking) Great, I'll also take the Cookbook, Tea Canister Bundle, and Silk Bundle. I think I can make Jami some new robes with the silk. When can I pick up the items? (Sam Talking) Yes, I'm willing to do all of that for Jami, just like I would for the others. He deserves just as much as the others do. Can I come get the items now? (Sam Talking) Perfect, I'm on my way. (Hangs up phone)

[Jami silently moved away from the kitchen opening and around another corner just as Yuu left the kitchen, grabbed his wallet off the table, and walked out of the first door. Jami looked around the corner and stared at the door for a while before the same question began to haunt his mind.]

Jami: Prefect... Why are you willing to do so much for me...after everything I have done to you? All the pain I caused you? Why are you doing so much for me - A Servant?

[The front door of Ramshackle opened, and Yuu walked in with his arms filled with stuff; he walked over to the sofa and placed everything down before reaching into a bag and pulling out the Cookbook from the Land of Scalding Sands before he walked around the corner, only to see Jami sitting at the table with his hair snakes constantly hissing.]

Yuu: Jami?

Jami:...

Yuu (Placing the book on the table as he walked over to Jami): Jami, are you okay? I've never seen you up so early.

Jami: I had a hard time sleeping - the snakes are very...aggravated at the moment and their hissing is making it hard to sleep.

Yuu (Looks at the hair snakes with a thinking expression on his face before snapping his fingers with a knowing smile on his face): I know - They are dry.

Jami (Raises an eyebrow at Yuu): Dry?

Yuu: When was the last time you oiled your hair since coming here?

Jami: I... I hadn't.

Yuu: Give me a moment. (Walks over to the bags on the sofa, reaches into one, and pulls out a bottle of Hair Oil that came from the Land of Scalding Sands - Sam gave it to him for free) Found it. (Walks back over to Jami) I'll give you a hand.

[Yuu whistles, gaining the hair snakes' attention as he pours some hair oil into his hand and holds his hand out to the snakes, showing them what is in his hand. Once the first snake came close enough, he rubbed his hands together and rubbed the oil on the hair snake, making it hiss in pleasure. Yuu continues this process with all the hair snakes until he reached the top of Jami's Head and massaged the hair oil into Jami's dry scalp, making the Overblot hiss in pleasure.]

Jami: This... This feels nice...

Yuu (Smiles): I'm glad you like it, Jami. I'll make you some tea after this.

Jami: I have been meaning to ask you about that, Prefect: Why are you doing so much for me after everything I have done to you? Used you for a personal vendetta I had against Kalim? Why do all of this for me, a mere servant?

Yuu: You are not a servant here, Jami. Ramshackle Dorm has no servants and I will not allow you to speak about yourself in such a matter.

Jami: But... My entire life, I have served...

Yuu: And that was a crime done to you. It's no wonder you and Jamil overblotted; who would want to live like that? Forced to hold themselves back for the betterment of someone who doesn't deserve their staion?

Jami: You don't think Kalim deserves to be Housewarden of Scarabia?

Yuu: In all honesty: No, he doesn't. Listen, I have nothings agsint Kalim personally, but he is too immature to hold the position of power he does; constantly throwing parties at the slightest whim and leaving the aftereffect up to you and the other members of Scarabia; it's pitiful, really. The only reason he is in his position of power is because he was from the Asim Family. You are clearly a better choice of Housewarden, considering all the work you do.

Jami: You... You really think so?

Yuu: Of course, you are. Jami, you are skilled in both magic and cooking, your memory is sharper than a blade, you are skilled in multiple languages...

[4 Minutes Later]

Yuu (Making cups of tea and breakfast for Jami from the cookbook): You are able to craft an antidote from plants within a matter of mintues before the poison can actually kill someone, and don't even get me started on your Mancala Tips...

[5 Minutes Later]

Yuu (Placing the food in front of Jami with the tea): All and All, you are a amazing person, Jami.

Jami (Staring at Yuu): Prefect... You just spent 9 minutes praising me...

Yuu: Of course I did. I would say more but we would be here all day and I have to make breakfast for the others. Jami, you deserve every bit of praise I can give you and I shall give you as much as you wish. (Pets the top of Jami's Head) You are brilliant and loved, Jami. (Goes into the kitchen)

Jami:...

[Later that day]

Leo (Pounding on Jami's Door): OI, SERPENT! GIVE ME BACK MY LITTLE BROTHER! WE'RE GOING TO PLAY CHESS!!

Ri: No, Rose and I are going to tend to the Roses!

Azu (Shouting downstairs since his pot can't go upstairs): PEARL AND I ARE GOING SWIMMING!

[Inside The Room]

Jami (Moving his stones on the Mancala Board): Your turn, Little Flower.

Yuu (Thinking of his move while Jami's Hair Snakes are wrapped around his waist - preventing him from leaving): Jami, when can I leave? I need to make lunch.

Jami: They can order-in.

Yuu: But...

Jami: You are not leaving me until you beat me in Mancala, Desert Flower. Listen to your brother.

Yuu: Jami, you've beaten me over 20 times. I'm not gonna beat you anytime soon.

Jami: Then, you won't be leaving anytime soon.

Yuu: Okay. (Makes a move on the Mancala Board)

[END - TO BE CONTINUED]

[seungrem]

Bang Chan x m!reader

‘Life Without You’ - Part 1 of 2

anon request - masterlist - Part 2

summary: Male!reader and Chan share a special connection in their teen years, though a difference in goals and family disapproval cuts their time short. Years later, someone attempts to pick up the pieces they both had left behind.

( overview: student & idol chan, student & non-idol reader, breakup, right one, wrong time trope )

( slight mentions: homophobia and family issues, arguing, and closeted feelings )

ty anon for being my first request! Very happy to write for you. <3 Part 2 soon!

emoji code:

+🫧 (angst)

🌿 (around 4k words, part 1 of 2)

☁️ (means y/n)

likes, comments, & reblogs r appreciated ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

The sun hung high toward the west, glistening above thin clouds. Chan rested his head on the school desk as he watched those clouds linger past the window. With only a few minutes of class left, the boy tuned out whatever the teacher was saying. He thought about the boy he was going to be meeting after school- the one with the beautiful smile and soft touch.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of books closing and zippers sliding, him quickly picking his head up and packing his bag. The bell rang, the students hurrying to depart as it was now the end of the day. Chan was the last to leave as he threw his backpack around his shoulder and patted down his school uniform. He moseyed out of his class, catching eyes with that extra-special boy.

☁️ rested his back against the wall right outside of Chan’s classroom, eyeing the boy up as he smiled. Chan smiled flirtatiously as the boy in front of him gave him a sudden boost of energy. It was almost as if ☁️ was the sunlight to Chan’s plant cell, or whatever the teacher was saying. He approached ☁️ and greeted him.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” ☁️ replied slyly, his back still against the wall as Chan placed his body only inches from ☁️’s.

“Ready?”

☁️ nodded, the two then strolling side by side down a hallway of tans and browns. They stepped outside into the crisp air as clouds began to block the sun. ☁️ and Chan settled at the nearest picnic table, many other students having already done the same. Talking amongst themselves or doing schoolwork, they paid no mind to the two boys. Chan looked around nervously, though he always did this when around ☁️ in public. The two sat across from each other, ☁️ placing his head into his hands.

This pattern of sitting outside after school became tradition as the two boys had been spending a lot of time together recently. Having met through a group project, the two very obviously felt something for each other. After becoming friends, that feeling was more than platonically mutual. Both were scared to fully act on it, the fear of what others would think restraining them.

The two talked for a while as the clouds departed from the sky, the sun’s rays now shining through the tree branches above. Chan periodically lookedaround, resulting in ☁️ becoming irritated.

“Why do you always do that? Am I that embarrassing to be around?” His tone didn’t change as to not start an argument.

“I always tell you this- I’m not embarrassed to be around you, I’m just..”

“Paranoid?” ☁️ said without much emotion, trying not to roll his eyes. Chan sighed and shook his head, looking down at the table. The two argued about the idea of them together in public pretty often.

“It’s fine, though. Do you wanna go?” ☁️ grabbed his backpack strap and threw the bag over his shoulder. Chan did the same, the two waking together out of the school’s patio and down the sidewalk. With ☁️ to his left, Chan discreetly analyzed his friend’s face and figure.

“You’re going to come over, right?” Chan asked, him still looking over to his friend.

“Would you like me to?” ☁️ responded, almost sarcastically. He kept his head pointed forward.

Chan sighed and grabbed the boys arm. He wrapped ☁️’s hand around his bicep as they continued down the empty sidewalk.

“Of course I would.”

“Hmph.” ☁️ scoffed at Chan, though he couldn’t help but smile afterward. He wouldn’t glance over to Chan until they finally arrived to Chan’s house. ☁️ let go of Chan’s arm to walk up the steps behind him, the two stepping in and taking their shoes off. Chan ran over to the kitchen where his mom was, which he usually did to greet her and let her know that his friend was over. The two then ran upstairs, holding hands as they did so. Walking into Chan’s room, ☁️ placed himself on top of Chan’s bed as his friend closed the bedroom door. Chan walked over to the boy, pushing his shoulder back and softly falling next to him on the bed. ☁️ smiled and wrapped an arm around Chan’s neck as Chan pulled the two closer to each other. Now lying on their sides, the two rested while holding each other. Chan placed a kiss on ☁️’s forehead as he laid with his eyes open, admiring the beauty of his friend.

He thought about the idea of him becoming something more with ☁️, dismissing it as he thought about his future. He didn’t want to address his goals as it would probably cause the two to split permanently, and he enjoyed ☁️’s company too much. He knew that the both of them would be devastated, more so himself.

The boy in front of Chan fell asleep in his arms, Chan using this opportunity to replace his arm with a pillow. He draped a warm blanket over ☁️, watching as the boy rested peacefully.

☁️’s eyes opened to see Chan laying on his stomach beside him, typing on his computer. The window’s blinds were closed and a lamp light was on. ☁️ darted upwards.

“How long have i been asleep?”

“A good hour.” Chan grabbed ☁️’s shoulder and pulled the boy onto his back, cuddling him close.

“You should probably head home.. you know how your family gets.” Chan looked down and smiled as he climbed over ☁️, resting his face into his neck. ☁️ laughed at the tingly feeling and moved his hand down Chan’s shirt.

“I thought you wanted me to go home.”

Chan lifted his head. “I don’t want you to go home. But you should. I’ll walk you.”

“It’s fine, I don’t think my family is very fond of you.”

“Oh, why?”

“..No reason in particular.” ☁️ looked at Chan, who looked taken aback, as though he was offended. ‘He would be more upset if he knew why..’ ☁️ thought to himself.

He lifted Chan’s arm from his body as the two climbed off of the bed. ☁️ stretched and grabbed his backpack, Chan shutting his computer screen.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” ☁️ announced as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.

“At least let me walk you out.” Chan sighed with an emotionless expression across his face. He opened the room door, motioning the boy to walk through first.

The two made their way back downstairs, ☁️ opening the front door and stepping outside. Chan leaned against the door as ☁️ walked out, ☁️ waving behind him as he walked down the porch steps. Chan waved back, though ☁️ had already turned around and made his way home.

-

The sky was transitioning from orange to purple as ☁️ walked home. There was a slight breeze again, causing him to shiver slightly.

☁️ approached his home, sighing. Just as he reached for the door knob, the door swung open, his mother on the other side.

“☁️, where were you?”

“I was at a friend’s house. You know I always hang out with friends after school.”

“Which friend?”

“Mom..”

“Which one, ☁️?”

☁️ walked through the door, walking past his mother as he dropped his bag down. He hesitated to answer her question.

“It was Chris.”

“☁️ you know how I feel about that behavior.”

“I wasn’t implying anything, he’s just my friend.”

“I don’t believe you.”

☁️ sighed and took his shoes off, turning his back to his mom. He grabbed his bag and turned to face her again.

“I don’t want you hanging out with him anymore.”

“Mom, I don’t see him that way..”

“You can like boys when you have your own home, not while you’re in mine.”

☁️ remained silent and nodded, turning around and walking to his room. He shut the door and climbed into bed, the weight of his emotions rendering him immobile.

Chan and ☁️ had been “seeing” each other for the past few months, but it’s been very hard to move past this awkward phase they were in. It could be because of ☁️’s family and their beliefs, or it could be because Chan thinks that he has an image that he must maintain. Regardless, a decision had to be made soon, which stressed ☁️ out.

Hopeless and tired, ☁️ skipped dinner and decided to get ready for bed early. He quickly fell asleep after changing and brushing his teeth.

☁️ walked down a school staircase alone, though he quickly spotted the boy he was meeting. The boy smiled and waved from a table in the cafeteria. Smiling and waving back, ☁️ took a deep breath as he walked over to him.

Chan’s best friend since, well, forever, Felix knew everything about him. This included ☁️ and Chan’s “friendship.”

After asking to speak to the boy privately, ☁️ sat down at Felix’s table. The two of them sat alone while everyone in the surrounding tables disregarded the world around them.

“Thanks for doing this, Felix. I wanted to talk about Chris.” ☁️ placed his bag beside him and looked at the boy, who had a small carton of strawberry milk in front of him.

“Sure, what about him?”

“I know that you know about us, and we’ve been very stagnant in our relationship. We aren’t.. anything, but I used to hope that we would eventually be.. something. Does that make sense?”

Felix nodded his head in understanding, looking around him as he thought to himself.

“Where would you say you two stand, as of right now?”

“I’m not sure, we just hang out sometimes. And spend time alone occasionally.”

Felix raised an eyebrow, ☁️ not sensing judgement from his action, but rather a suggestive thought.

“So like, a situationship..?”

“No, it’s.. more intimate than that. I think.”

Felix nodded again, looking down at the table.

“I don’t think you should take it personally, Chris has a lot going on. He recently got recruited into an entertainment company, and plans on becoming an artist.”

That news shocked ☁️ as he thought to himself. “Why wouldn’t he tell me that..”

“I’m sure he planned to, and I’m also sure it’s difficult to choose between his dream and a life with you.”

☁️ felt his throat become dry. He was upset that Chan would hide something so important. Realizing that they haven’t communicated their future with each other, he knew they had always been happy to just be in each other’s presence.

Felix watched as ☁️ became lost in his own thoughts. He felt bad for both ☁️ and Chan. The two had so much love to give, especially Chan, as he’s told Felix in private. Chan also informed Felix about ☁️’s family and their beliefs, Chan also ranting to Felix about the family’s odd dislike of him. Felix knew that fate had other plans for the pair, but kept it to himself.

“You should really talk to Chan. I’m sorry he didn’t tell you about this.”

☁️ looked up from Felix as the boy dragged him out of his thoughts. “Thanks Felix. I appreciate it.”

Felix nodded with a sympathetic smile, ☁️ then grabbing his bag and taking off to his next class.

-

Chan took his time to pack up as the bell rang. The last one to leave the class, he saw ☁️ across the hallway, except his expression was different today. The boy didn’t have a playful smile as he usually did, but rather a gloomy gaze. Chan approached him, stopping only until they were a few inches apart.

“Chan.” ☁️’s tone wasn’t aggressive or annoyed, but rather the opposite. His voice was soft and precise, causing Chan to become hesitant.

“You okay?”

“Yes, I spoke to Felix today. He told me about your recruitment into an agency.”

Chan didn’t say anything and looked from ☁️’s face to the floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me about that? I didn’t even know you were interested in music.”

Chan took a few steps back from ☁️, avoiding eye contact.

“We should walk and talk.”

☁️ pushed off of the wall and threw his backpack over his shoulder. ☁️’s eyes never leaving the Chan’s, the two began down the hallway in silence.

Annoyed this time, ☁️ asked again.

“Is that why you didn’t wanna be more.”

“There’s more to it, ☁️.” Chan replied almost immediately. ☁️ stopped walking, though Chan took a few steps forward and turned around.

“Like what?” ☁️ raised an eyebrow at him.

“Your family. The people here at school. My agency. I can’t..” Chan took a pause. “I need to protect my reputation to become an artist. I can’t afford to have rumors spread. And your family wouldn’t let us be together, anyway.”

“So you didn’t plan to commit at all?” ☁️ was frustrated, this frustration leaking into the tone of his voice. Chan looked around and sighed aggressively.

“☁️, please don’t put the fault on me. If everything was perfect, I’d want to be with you, forever. But everything isn’t perfect. You also need to think- you could get in so much trouble if your family found out about us. I don’t want that..”

☁️’s heart sank, knowing that he was, at least somewhat, right. If they lived in a perfect world, people wouldn’t see them differently. If they lived in a perfect world, they could be together, and without worry. Tears formed in his eyes as he quickly wiped them away.

“Yeah, I get it.”

“I don’t regret.. my time with you. I just don’t…” Chan paused again, not sure how to word what he was trying to say without hurting ☁️’s feelings more.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to explain yourself any more.”

A few students walked past the two, Chan grabbing ☁️ by the arm and softly pulling him against the wall so they wouldn’t see him upset.

“I didn’t want to make you upset, okay?” Chan wiped ☁️’s face with his shirt.

“I was just really scared to tell you. I was avoiding it and ended up making you upset anyway. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, I had my expectations too high.” ☁️ was now the one avoiding eye contact with Chan.

“When you said that I should be realistic, especially about my family, I realized..”

“I didn’t say it like that..” Chan said with a light chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. The two stood in silence for a moment, Chan still in front of ☁️ against the wall. ☁️ noticed Chan’s eyes shimmering in the sunlight, as if he held a vast ocean inside.

“I guess this means we’ll go our separate ways, then?” ☁️ wiped his face with his sleeves one last time. Chan grabbed the boys hand.

“I’ll respect any decision that you make.”

“It’s not like I really have options, Chris.”

“Oh, yea.. Sorry.”

☁️ let go of Chan’s hand and moved off of the wall. The two stared at each other for a while, admiring each other for what seemed like the last time. ☁️ watched as rays of sunshine hit Chan as he looked from ☁️ to the floor. ☁️ could tell Chan was defeated, though, so was he.

“I guess.. I’ll see you around then.” ☁️ looked over to Chan expectantly, the boy nodding and muttering a ‘yea.’

“Would you at least let me walk you home?”

“I don’t think I need you to. Thanks, though.”

☁️ turned his back to Chan and walked to the staircase, slowly making his way down. He didn’t turn around, but assumed Chan stood motionless, watching him walk away. ☁️ had a lot of thoughts going through his mind, but tuned them out as he stepped outside. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, though the wind was heavy and cold, for springtime anyway.

“Did you stop talking to that boy?” ☁️’s mother walked into his room, where the boy laid flat on his bed once again.

“Yes, we don’t talk anymore. Partially because of you.”

“I’m just trying to protect and teach you.”

“Protect me from what? And teach me what?” ☁️ spoke calmly, rising up slowly to face his mother. He was already agitated.

“Teach you that this.. behavior.. is not okay. Liking boys is not okay, ☁️. You do whatever you want outside of this house, but you will not bring that here to your family. I love you and I’m trying to show you that there is a better world out there for you.”

☁️ mentally rolled his eyes as his mother continued to curse his existence. He felt just as bad for her as he did for himself, though. She truly did mean well in her mind, though she couldn’t see that there was a world beyond her point of view, too.

“I’ll.. look into it.” ☁️ looked at his mother with a blank expression, him just wanting her to leave at this point. She nodded emotionlessly and closed his room door.

As he laid his head back down, his door opened again. He didn’t pick his head up, but knew it was his father by the way he threw the door open.

“☁️.”

“Yes?”

“I know you already talked to your mom. I expect better from you moving forward.”

“Okay.”

☁️ laid on his back as he stared at his ceiling, his dad slowly closing his room door. ☁️ sighed as he curled up around his pillow, allowing his emotions to finally consume him. The ocean in his eyes began to shimmer this time, with small streams leaking out. Flowing along the side of his face, gentle streams became harsh rivers.

☁️ wandered school halls and streets alone in the months following his departure from Chan. Now the first one out of his classes, ☁️ quickly left the school and walked home everyday. This was to please his family, but more-so to avoid Chan and his friends.

When the two would catch the other’s eye in the halls, ☁️ would look away. He didn’t want to be reminded of the time they spent, or wasted, together.

No contact was made a bit easier by the block button below Chan’s number. Social media became less interesting, not that Chan ever used it anyways.

-

Graduation approached quickly. ☁️ celebrated with his family before preparing to leave abroad for higher education.

By the end of the school year, ☁️ managed to make new acquaintances while also keeping busy. Chan was still rummaging through his mind, though, making a mess of his thoughts. ☁️ was no longer upset, but still held on to a bit of the love he wanted to give Chan. The boy now had his own ambitions and goals, focusing solely on working towards them without distractions.

The move came quickly as ☁️ was prepared to start fresh. A new country, with new people, and new opportunities. Eventually, the Chan that made a mess in ☁️’s mind began to fade out of existence, ☁️ only seeing the boy as a lesson learned. Occasionally, though, he would visit Chan’s social media account to see if anything had changed.

-

After a few months of moving abroad, Chan’s account became unavailable. ☁️ assumed Chan had blocked him or deactivated it. This resulted in ☁️ checking his friend’s, Felix’s, account every few weeks. After a year of moving, Felix’s account became unavailable as well. ☁️ gave up on trying to keep up with the two, deleting the app entirely as it no longer served him. He was sure to keep his account, just in case of course.

-

Attending classes, meeting new people, and working a simple side job occupied ☁️ so much that Chan was no longer a thought. ☁️ would forget what he sounded like, and what he felt like. Initially, it was a terribly despairing feeling, ☁️ eventually deeming it necessary to finally move forward. It took graduation, a summer break, and a college semester, but ☁️ had finally leaned to be content in his independence.

Now, ☁️ lived in control of his future. He was away from his family and no longer yearning for someone special. Nothing could throw him off pace now.

likes, comments & reblogs appreciated ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

a/n: part 2 coming soon, come back in March. ~*+ Thanks for reading!

[ebongawk]

"Just Chrissy comforting Eddie through something" for @kirasometimess

(I actually wrote this before, but it was serious so I'm gonna make this one more lighthearted 😘😘)

The door banged open, startling Chrissy and making her slosh her tea onto the blanket she was wrapped in. Squeaking out a little, "Oh, nuggets," she set the mug aside and stood up to greet her boyfriend.

"Hey!" she said, waving from beside the couch as Eddie kicked the door closed behind him as aggressively as he'd kicked it open. "You're home early!"

A grumble was his only response. Eddie shrugged out of his jacket, letting it drop to the floor as he toed off his shoes. He paused, looking down at the crumpled leather as though it had personally offended him, before letting out a heavy sigh and swooping down to grab it. Hanging it up beside her tea coat on the wall rack.

"Long day?" she asked, weaving her way through their eclectic spread of belongings – his guitar stands, her knitting supplies, their overflowing shared bookshelf – and standing just beside the entryway.

"Longest fuckin' day of my stupidly long life," he huffed, bending down to press a kiss to her cheek before stepping around her and heading for the bedroom.

Chrissy pattered behind him, watching amusedly as he fell face-first onto their bed. He let out a low, muffled groan.

"Take it the new drummer wasn't up to snuff?"

The groan, which had never really quieted, grew louder against their mattress.

"Did you kick him out, or did Jeff?"

Eddie shook his head. Still face down, and she had to wonder how he could even breathe.

"Grant?"

A nod that tangled his hair against the sheets. Chrissy stuffed a laugh into her elbow, trying to disguise it as a cough, and Eddie rolled himself enough to send a single glaring eye her direction.

"S'not funny," he mumbled. "At this rate, I'm gonna have to pick up more stupid shifts at my stupid corporate job."

Chrissy hummed, gliding across the room and hoisting herself onto the bed. She shuffled up, bracketing her knees on either side of his hips and sitting down on his lower back.

Eddie worked as a part-time mechanic for a chain company that worked on small engine maintenance. He mostly did oil changes and tune-ups, and she knew he didn't hate it, but he also only worked enough to pay half their bills and rent studio space for Corroded Coffin practices. Which was perfectly fine – Chrissy made plenty to cover the rest. Eddie had supported her fully while she was in school. It was the least she could do to return the favor as he chased his dream.

"The horror of having to work full-time like a real adult," she mused. Eddie wiggled, halfheartedly trying to buck her from her new throne, and Chrissy giggled. Her hands fisted in his t-shirt like horse reins, waiting until he calmed down before she began gently massaging his shoulders.

"I don't wanna," he whined, burying his face in their comforter. "Why did stupid Gareth have to go and get his girlfriend pregnant. 'Oh, sorry guys, I know the label is finally sniffing around after our latest demo, but I knocked El up and gotta quit.' Who does that?"

"Someone who has to take new responsibilities into account after their priorities change," Chrissy responded, grinning when Eddie gradually began to relax under her touch. The stiffness in his shoulders easing with the gentle but firm rolls of her palms into his spine.

"Rude," Eddie huffed. "It's like he didn't think at all of how this would make me feel."

"How dare he," Chrissy agreed sarcastically.

"I know you're joking, but–– fuck that feels good," he moaned, adjusting until he was sprawled like a starfish beneath her touch. "But, Christ, it's like we've been doing all this shit for the past decade for nothing."

"You recorded your first demo in Jeff's garage when you were sixteen," Chrissy retorted. "I know that's technically a decade, but I don't think it counts."

"Ugh," Eddie grunted, his bucking wiggle even less effective than the last one. "Leave me alone to rot, Cunningham."

"What if I," she began, curling over his back and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, "become a Chrissy Backpack instead!"

Nose pressed against his nape, she inhaled his familiar scent. Rugged and pine and a hint of sweat from playing in the studio all day. It was her favorite smell. She wanted to figure out how to make a candle out of it and take it to work so she could smell Eddie all day long.

"You know you're going to do great things, right?" she asked him after a moment. "That label would be ludicrous not to pull you guys in. And maybe they have an incredible drummer on hand who's just waiting for the perfect band to come along, and it's Corroded Coffin, and you bring Gareth back in the future for reunion tours but you also become great friends with the new drummer, and you get to be an amazing uncle to Gareth and El's little bean."

He sighed, but turned his head a little, displaying one open eye and his cheek. Giving Chrissy enough access to lean up and kiss it.

"And then I'll be able to quit my stupid corporate job and open up a craft store where I sell hand-knitted and crocheted goods, and I'll call it 'Corroded Crochet', so everyone knows I'm with you."

"What about the people who don't know us?"

"I'll be sure to inform them in depth, don't worry."

Eddie huffed a laugh beneath her, the sound making his ribs quake and his skin taste like happiness. After letting her play backpack for another minute, he suddenly rolled over, pinning her beneath his body. Her legs kicked out and the wind whooshed from her chest.

"Ack–– Eddie! I can't breathe!"

"Backpacks don't even have lungs, Cunningham."

"But I have legs!"

"Ow, fuck, sweetness, my poor tummy!"

"Revenge, Munson."

"But it's so empty already!"

"Does it want conciliatory Chinese food for dinner?"

"Shit, baby, I love you so goddamn much."

Chrissy screamed in delight when Eddie suddenly stood, keeping her attached to his back as he galloped into the living room. He grabbed the cordless phone, depositing her on the couch as he dialed their favorite takeout place.

"Hey, Eddie?"

She could hear the phone ringing through the line when he looked at her.

"I love you, too," she reminded him.

He smiled that huge, goofy grin that made her insides melt, eyes softening and head tilting to one side as he looked at her like he'd never seen anything quite as lovely in his life. Like he wanted to pounce on her, lay himself across the couch and hold her as close a physically possible. Just as he moved toward her – probably to do exactly that – the voice on the other end of the phone spoke louder.

"Hello? Ming's Chinese?"

"Oh, shit, uh. Yeah. Yes. Hello? Fuck, sorry, sorry. I, uh, wanna order takeout?"

Chrissy laughed all the way through his order.

(inspo ask 🥰)

[justagalwhowrites]

Lavender - Ch. 14

Tommy comes into the clinic and you offer your medical skills to both him and Joel. Continuation of Lavender Ch. 1-13 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Descriptions of injuries and treatment of injuries from canon-typical violence. No use of Y/N. Minors DNI!

Length: 5.4k

Sunday, October 4, 2009 - 3 months later 

You came out from the exam rooms and frowned. It took you a second to place the song just starting on the speakers in the waiting room. 

“Marta!” You said. “Is that Back in the U.S.S.R.?” 

“It is indeed,” she leaned across the front desk. 

“I haven’t heard that song in years!” You resisted the urge to dance in a waiting room with half a dozen patients as witnesses. The CD case was sitting on the desk and you gaped at it. “Is that the whole White Album? Where did you find that!” 

“I didn’t,” she smiled. You smiled too, shaking your head. “Andrew told me to keep my mouth shut about it until Sunday afternoon. Said you’d need it.” 

“He’s a sneak,” you said. 

“He also said you work too much, that you need to stop changing his schedule and that you need to stop conspiring with Jess,” her smile shifted to a smirk. “But I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that today.” 

“Oh I’m sure he’ll tell me himself later this week,” you rolled your eyes, still smiling. 

“You’ve got one in exam four,” she handed you a chart. “And Kristen is in with one in exam seven when you’re done there.” 

“Well, as long as we have The Beatles,” you said, tapping the file on the countertop in time to the music before heading back to the exam rooms. 

It was a small miracle that Jess had actually kept Andrew away from the clinic that day. He’d been almost unreasonably protective since Joel had left three months earlier and with your birthday the next day… You didn’t want to disrupt his life any more than you already had. He needed to do things like have a day off. His life was on track. 

The day after Joel left, you didn’t move. Andrew came by to make sure you were still alive. His knuckles were banged up. You stared at the wall. You slept. You stared at the wall some more. Andrew came back Monday morning, letting himself in your apartment and all but dragging you out of bed. 

“You can come to our place or you can go to work,” he said, standing at the edge of your bed, your face pressed against his stomach as he ran his hands over your tangled mass of hair. “Those are your choices. You need to get cleaned up, you need to get out of bed, you need to eat something. You’re not going to just rot here.” 

“I’ll go to work,” you said softly. 

“Then let’s get ready for work.” 

He walked you to the school, stood outside until he saw you go in the doors to make sure you didn’t just turn around and go back home. You didn’t go get your cup of bad coffee or stop and say hi to other teachers. You just went to your classroom and stared at the wall. Unlike in the schools before the outbreak, they’d let you paint your room. Andrew had helped. There was a solar system in one corner and a forest in another and flowering vines that framed the cracks in the cinderblock. 

Your room was the only one in the building like this. The FEDRA teachers were different than the teachers you were used to before. Everyone decorated their rooms before, doing everything they could to keep students engaged. From what you gathered for the regular schools in the QZ, that was still the case - or as much as it could be in the end of the world. But at what amounted to a military school for orphans of the war on humanity, the bare necessities were all there was. It was part of why you decided to teach at this school. Someone, you thought, needed to be invested in these kids. Why couldn’t it be you? 

So you’d decorated your room. Made a bookshelf and stocked it with things you picked up on the black market that had been brought in by smugglers and let the kids borrow what they wanted - everything from old copies of Scientific American to the Harry Potter books (you were still disappointed you’d never find out how those were going to end.) 

As you stared at the vines you’d painted four years ago, you decided that you couldn’t shut down on these kids. They had no one. You couldn’t just be one more person to leave them. You could be the one person they knew loved them. 

You made yourself smile as your students came in. Just because you didn’t matter to anyone else doesn’t mean that they didn’t matter to you. They were worth it. 

You threw yourself into your work. You picked up extra shifts at the clinic. Before, you had Sundays and Wednesdays off but now, you were there every day. Elias had talked to you twice already about burnout but you’d just shrugged him off. All you cared about was finding something that forced you to keep going, something that made you feel something besides hollow. The clinic and the school could be those things. You’d make them be those things. 

You quickly knocked on the door of exam room four before letting yourself in. 

“Hi there,” you smiled, without looking at the patient for a moment, just opening the chart. You froze. 

“Hey Kid.” 

The door closed and latched behind you. Dear Prudence was playing. 

“Hey Tommy.”

You stood there looking at each other. 

“I didn’t think you’d be in today,” he said eventually. “Thought you didn’t work on Sundays.” 

“I do now,” you shrugged. “I like keeping busy. There are no other doctors here right now but I can do a quick eval and see if a nurse can handle what you need or…” 

“No,” he waved you off. “I don’t have a problem with seeing you if you don’t have a problem seeing me. Wouldn’t blame you if you did but…” 

“I don’t,” you said quickly. He smiled. It reminded you of Joel in a way that made your heart ache while making everything seem lighter. You went to the sink and washed your hands, looking over your shoulder at him as you did. “How’ve you been?” 

“Tryin’ to stay out of trouble,” he said. “Don’t know how good a job I’ve been doing at that though.” 

“Not one of your considerable talents, I will say,” you teased. “What brings you by today?” 

“My inability to stay outta trouble,” he smirked. 

You laughed

“Alright, let’s see it.” 

He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of one side of it. There was a makeshift bandage  around his bicep and you frowned. The blood was dried and the bandage looked like it had been on for far longer than it should have been. 

“Well that’s coming off,” you frowned. “And it’s probably going to hurt. The hell have you been doing, Miller?” 

He just looked sheepishly at you while you unwound the dressing, trying to do so as gingerly as possible. He still winced as the dried blood and discharge pulled on the open wound. 

“Are you fucking kidding me, Tommy?” You shook your head, looking over the injury. “The hell didn’t you come see me sooner?” 

“It didn’t seem that bad at first,” he said. “But it hasn’t been getting better and…” 

“Yeah, it’s infected you idiot,” you rolled your eyes, dropping the bandage in the trash. “When did you get this?” 

“Last week?” He winced. You sighed. 

“And why was someone shooting at you last week?” You asked. He went to respond and then glared at you. 

“Never said I got shot,” he said. 

“Yeah, I’ve had a partial shoulder shot, Tommy,” you glared at him. “I know what they look like. Who was shooting at you and why. Please tell me I’m not conspiring against FEDRA by treating you right now…” 

“It wasn’t FEDRA,” he rolled his eyes. “Just… had a run in with some bad people is all.”

You looked at him for a moment. 

“It wasn’t in the QZ was it?” 

He paused. 

“No.” 

You groaned. 

“What the fuck, Miller?” 

“Can you spare the lecture, Kid?” He asked. “Can you fix my arm or not?” 

“Nope, I’ll have to cut the whole thing off.” 

He rolled his eyes. You sighed. 

“Yes, I can fix your arm,” you said. “But it’s going to be a process because you didn’t come see me sooner. It needs debridement, I’m going to do some fairly intensive antibiotics because right now your shoulder is a goddamn Petri dish for a super bug and I want to nip that in the bud and then you’re getting stitches. And I swear to God Tommy if you don’t follow my directions for wound care…” 

“You’re not as scary as you think you are, Kid,” he smirked. “But I’ll listen to ya.” 

You glared at him but went and got what you needed from the supply room and scrubbed in before gloving up. 

“You’re lucky I like you,” you said, sitting next to him on the exam table as you injected his arm with local anesthetic. He winced. “Otherwise I’d just do this without numbing you up just to teach you a lesson.” 

You got out a scalpel and forceps, testing his arm after a minute before starting in on the infected tissue. 

“That’s disgusting,” he sounded a little sick. 

“Yeah, well, this is the price you pay for being a dumbass,” you said, focused on his arm.

“Your bedside manner is shit, Kid, anyone ever tell you that?” 

“You’d be the first,” you replied, depositing some of the tissue on a sterile cloth and going back in. He laughed. “Hold still or I will take off your arm.” 

He looked straight ahead for a moment while you worked, eyes narrowed, trying to make sure you were getting all the infected tissue while not taking any of the healthy with it. But after a few minutes he looked at you. 

“So how’ve you been?” He asked. 

“Busy,” you said noncommittally. 

“C’mon,” he said. “You know what I’m askin’.” 

You were quiet for a minute. 

“He told you then,” you said eventually. 

“Yeah.” He was still looking at you. You resisted the urge to cry. You couldn’t fuck up your sterile field. 

“Well, I’m still here,” you shrugged as you deposited more tissue on the cloth, giving the wound a final look. You grabbed the saline and went back to it. “May not want to tell him that, it’d probably be a let down.” 

“Look, Joel’s a fucking asshole but he’s not that much of a fucking asshole,” he said, sounding a bit defensive. “He wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.” 

“He said he never wanted to see me again,” you irrigated the wound and looked it over again. “A lot easier to do if I dropped dead or left town.” 

Tommy didn’t say anything. You put the saline away and got out the suture kit. 

“I’m going to stitch you up now,” you said. “Let me know if you feel anything, I can add to the anesthesia…” 

He just nodded and you started stitching. 

“How is he?” You asked after a moment. Tommy paused a moment before answering. 

“Survivin’,” he said eventually. You nodded slowly. 

“He going outside the QZ too?” 

“Not sure I should be telling a FEDRA doctor anything about that,” Tommy said wryly. You glared a him. “But yeah. He is.” 

“Tommy,” you groaned. “Jesus Christ…” 

“You think I can control a damn thing that man does?” He asked. You glared at him. “We both know he’s going to do whatever the fuck he wants, whatever he thinks is the best thing for everybody because no one else can take care of shit like Joel fuckin’ Miller can…” 

“Been sitting on that feeling for a while there?” You half smiled. 

“Something like that,” he muttered. 

You finished stitching his arm and gave him a shot of antibiotics.

“That’s going to start clearing the infection,” you said. “But I’m sending you home with pills, too. You take every single fucking one of them or I swear I will come and shove them down your throat like I’m drugging a dog. Bacterial infection is a shit show here as it is, I will not let you make it worse because you create an antibiotic resistant strain of super bacteria by not completing your meds…” 

“I’ll take the drugs, Kid.” 

“Good.” 

You wrapped his arm and sat back, looking at your handiwork. 

“Come in like that again and I’m not giving you the anesthesia,” you said, cleaning up your supplies. 

“Well there’s some incentive for you,” he laughed, shrugging back into his shirt. You threw away the trash and your gloves and leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching as he buttoned his shirt. 

“How often are you leaving the QZ?” You asked.

“Don’t exactly have a set schedule,” he said, cagey. 

“Tommy.” 

“Bout twice a month.” 

You nodded slowly. 

“And how often are you getting fucking shot at?” 

He laughed a little and gave you a cocky smile. 

“Bout twice a month.” 

“Jesus Christ…” you muttered.

“They’re bad shots, Kid.” 

“Not that bad.” 

You sighed. 

“I’m only saying this because I know you’re going to keep going out there regardless of what I say about it,” you said. “But next time one of you is hurt and you don’t feel… comfortable coming to the clinic, please get me. I’ll come to you, you can come to me, I don’t really care. Just please don’t get yourselves killed because you’re stubborn idiots.” 

“That go for my idiot brother, too?” He asked, watching you. 

“Course it does,” you said. “Just hit him over the head with a frying pan after taking a thorough medical history so he doesn’t have to see me when I treat him.” 

Tommy snorted, shaking his head as he got down from the exam table. He looked you up and down, a sense of sadness on his face. 

“He’s an idiot, Kid,” he said, meeting your eyes. “I love him but he’s the biggest fuckin’ idiot I know.” 

“He’s not,” you half smiled at him. “But I appreciate the thought. Try to make sure he stays in one piece? Look out for him?” 

“I will,” he said, leaning in and giving you a kiss on the cheek.

You pressed the bottle of antibiotics into his hand and watched him leave the exam area, staring at the door he left through for a moment before going to the next exam room. 

Your birthday was a Monday. It was hard to not think about the year before, the day that Joel and Tommy made it to the QZ. You’d thought, for a while, that it was a sign that the day might not be cursed. It could hold the best and the worst of life, it didn’t matter. It felt less good now. 

This year, a long workday helped. Your students were particularly well behaved for a Monday. You weren’t sure if they sensed that you were off or if it was just a coincidence but either way, you were grateful for it. The clinic was good, too. Enough patients to keep your mind occupied and body moving, not so many that you were overwhelmed. 

“Not a bad day all things considered,” Andrew said as you finished with your last patient’s chart a few minutes before 10. The White Album was on again. 

“It was not,” you said, perching on the edge of the desk. He leaned beside you. “Thank you for The Beatles, by the way.” 

“Course,” he kissed your temple and you rested your head on his shoulder. “Knew you’d need it.” 

“I come bearing cake!” Jess sang as she came into the clinic, plate in hand. “Andrew said it wasn’t really that kind of birthday but I figure hard days are an even better excuse for cake so…” 

“Any days are a good excuse for cake,” you smiled. 

“My sentiments exactly,” she smiled back. 

The three of you walked to your place and you put on the AC/DC album that you kept at the apartment specifically for when Andrew was being a jerk about your music or needed some cheering up. 

“Awww, real music,” he said as you cut the cake. “You DO care!” 

“Don’t read into it,” you shook your head and smiled a little, passing out plates. You poured each of you a beer and you gathered around your small table. 

“To an honestly not bad birthday for the shittiest of birthdays,” Andrew raised his glass. You shook your head. 

“If society ever returns, you’re not giving a toast at my wedding,” you teased. 

You’d only gotten halfway through your beer and your slice of cake - Jess, as it turned out, was a talented baker - when there was a sharp knock on your door. The three of you looked at each other, frowning. Andrew gestured for both of you to stay put and tiptoed to the door. He checked the peephole before opening it, holding the door against his side so whoever it was couldn’t see in. 

“Are you the Kid?” A woman’s voice you didn’t recognize asked. “I was told to come here and get the Kid, it’s urgent…” 

You got up and went to the door, ducking below Andrew’s arm. He groaned. 

“You couldn’t just stay at the table…” he muttered. 

A woman, about 10 years older than you, was standing there. Her lip was swollen, blood at her arm where her shirt was torn. She looked you up and down, assessing you. 

“You’re the Kid,” she said instead of asked it this time. “Jesus, you are young.” 

“I’m 31,” you said defensively. 

“Huh,” her eyes lingered on your hair. You’d put a ribbon on the end of your braid. “You look younger.” 

“Thanks,” you said wryly. Andrew pulled you back against him, his hand on your shoulder possessively. You crossed your arms. “I take it you know Tommy?” 

“And Joel,” she said. Andrew’s hand clenched you harder. “They need help and Tommy said I should come to you…” 

“No,” Andrew said before you got a chance to respond. “I don’t care what shit they got themselves into…” 

“I don’t think I was asking you,” the woman said. “Look, I don’t have time…” 

“How bad is it?” You cut them both off. She looked you over again. You sighed. “Before the outbreak would you call an ambulance or drive to urgent care?” 

“Ambulance.” 

You shoved past Andrew and went to grab the go bag you kept stashed under your bed for emergency situations where they called you into the field from home. The woman had followed you inside. Jess waved awkwardly from the table. 

“Celebrating?” The woman asked. 

“It’s her birthday,” Jess nodded in your direction. The woman winced a little. 

“Sorry about that.” 

“Hasn’t been a day worth celebrating in a while,” you shrugged. “Don’t know why that should change now.” 

Andrew grabbed your arm and you frowned up at him. 

“You don’t need to do this,” he said. The woman stiffened, sizing him up. You ignored her. 

“Yes I do.” 

He pulled you in for a tight hug and sighed. 

“Don’t let it destroy you.” 

You gave him a stiff nod and hurried out into the night with the woman. 

“Where are they?” You asked, walking quickly to the stairs. “Their apartment?” The woman nodded once. You started down the stairs and you looked her up and down. “Can you run?” 

“There’s a reason I was the one to come get you,” she said. 

You took off for their place the second you were down the stairs, glancing back to see that the other woman wasn’t far behind.

It had been months since you’d ventured into this part of the QZ. You’d actively avoided it. You tried not to think about the fact that it had been more than three months since you’d last seen Joel but you knew it would hurt. His picture was still on your bedside table. You thought about him all the time - when you found a clever line in a book you’d share if he were reading beside you, when you remembered the way he’d touch you without thinking about it because touching you was the most natural thing in the world, when you tried to channel his blunt way of moving through life when something about the QZ was especially frustrating. You’d missed him desperately before he came to Boston. It was worse now. He was so close, close enough that you could be touching him in just minutes and he’d never been further away. You were worried you were going to be stuck like this - longing and alone - forever. 

And you were still running to his side. 

The woman let you into their apartment. Joel was flat on his back in the middle of the living room floor, Tommy beside him with a towel on Joel’s side. 

“Hey Kid,” Tommy said sheepishly. He was bleeding, too, what looked like a shallow knife wound on his ribs. You glared at him, going to the other side of Joel and dropping your pack next to him. 

“I just patched you up fucking yesterday, Miller,” you said. “And this is what you do?” 

“Can you lecture me after you save this asshole?” He asked. 

“Move the towel,” you ordered. “I need to see what I’m working with.” 

He obeyed, pulling the cloth away and revealing a bullet hole in Joel’s stomach. 

“Son of a bitch,” you breathed. “You just had to fucking go outside the QZ again, didn’t you?” 

“I know, I know,” he said. “Please say you can fix this…” 

“I sure fucking hope so,” you looked between him and the woman. “Which of you is better with blood? Both with seeing it and have lost less of it?” 

“I think I’ve lost less,” the woman said. Her fingers were winding around themselves. She was nervous. 

“Good,” you said. “Tommy, move.” You grabbed the bag and went to where he’d been and looked at the woman. “You… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” 

“Tess.” 

“Tess,” you repeated once, nodding. “You’re with me. Go wash your hands like you just swam in a sewer and you’re about to eat a sandwich. Tommy, I need light, a fuck ton of light. And boil water, I’m going to need sterile water.” 

They both rushed to obey while you assessed the situation. Joel was unconscious. You tried really hard to not think about the fact that it was Joel who was unconscious. The bullet wound was your primary concern. You checked his pulse. It was a lot weaker than you wanted. 

“Tommy,” you called. “How many towels have you gone through?” 

“Three, I think?” He called back, running in with flashlights and depositing them next to you. 

“Shit,” you muttered. Tess came back from the bathroom and you pulled a pack of gloves from your bag. “Put those on, hold pressure on the wound. I need to go scrub because I need to get in there.” 

You pulled off your button down shirt leaving just your tank top below and left Tess there, trusting her to follow your instructions. You were still fighting not to panic about the fact that it was Joel bleeding out on the living room floor. You focused on the water running over your fingers, the soap, anything but whose life you were about to try to save. 

Tess was holding the towel against Joel’s stomach when you came back in and you pulled on gloves, getting on your knees beside his body. 

“This is going to be messy for multiple reasons,” you said, looking between Tess and Tommy. “Either of you ever drawn blood before?” They glanced at each other but were silent. “Either of you happen to know his blood type?” 

“You don’t?” Tommy asked. 

“Why would I know Joel’s blood type?” You looked at him like he was crazy. 

“Weren’t you studying for that doctor exam when you were…” 

“Yeah, I didn’t go around memorizing everyone’s blood types!” You closed your eyes for a second. This was going to take a small miracle. “Doesn’t matter. I’m O-, either of you O-?” 

They shook their heads.

“Why’s that matter?” Tommy asked. 

“Because I’m basically a walking blood bag,” you said, cracking your neck. “And he’s going to need a transfusion…” 

“How are you going to transfuse him while operating?” Tess gaped at you. 

“Fucking carefully I guess!” You snapped. “This is going to be a first for me, too, but unless you guys want to move him to the clinic and get potentially executed by FEDRA for leaving the QZ…” 

“Right,” Tess nodded. “Right, OK…” 

“Any other emergent injuries that I should know about besides the gunshot wound?” You asked. They were silent. You took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright, let’s do this. Tommy, I need light.” 

He held the light over Joel’s stomach and you palpated his stomach, finding the bullet. 

“Tommy,” you glanced up at him. “I’m not sure how unconscious he is, but if he starts moving, you need to hold him down. I don’t have anesthesia and I can’t have him thrashing around when I’m wrist deep in his abdominal cavity. If the call is light or holding him still, drop the light and hold him down, got it?” 

He swallowed hard and then nodded. You picked up the scalpel, took a deep breath, and cut. Tommy made a gagging sound and you ignored him. You located the bullet quickly, lodged in the large intestine. All things considered, he got lucky. It had missed the pancreas, the stomach and the small intestine. 

“Tess,” you said as you got ready to extract the bullet. “I need you to try to monitor his pulse. If it gets any fainter, we’ll have to start a transfusion now. Once I start pulling the bullet out, the bleeding could get a lot worse.” 

You pried the bullet free, trying to move it as cleanly as possible down the path it had entered his body through - easier said than done without the proper tools. And he did start bleeding more. You just hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. 

“I need gauze, from the kit, in the sterile packs.” 

Tess moved quickly ripping it open. You yanked it out and stuffed the wound, giving you time to repair the damage to the large intestine without flooding the abdominal cavity with blood. “He’s getting pale,” Tess warned. 

“Pulse?” 

“I think it’s OK…” 

You nodded, swapping out gauze. 

“Tommy,” you said. “I need that water…” 

He grabbed the still warm kettle, handing it to you. You splashed some on your skin. It was hot but didn’t burn. You cleaned the area and watched to see if he was still losing blood, if there was a repair you’d missed. You were pretty sure you’d caught everything. 

“Good news,” you pulled the gauze from his body. “Damage was pretty minimal and it was a simple repair. I’m going to close him up, then we can just tap into me and finish this up…” 

You stitched him up quickly and yanked the gloves off before switching them for a clean pair. 

“In the bag, there should be a needle pack, alcohol wipes, some tubing and a tourniquet,” you said. “I need all of it.” 

Tess moved quickly again, handing you the supplies. You didn’t have a bag to transition the blood from you to Joel, so you were going to have to settle for a direct transfusion. It wasn’t something that was ever really done anymore, but you’d read enough about it, you were pretty sure you could figure it out. You got everything set up and sat down, your back against the couch, before putting the needle in your own arm. You removed the tourniquet and blood started flowing from you into him. You slumped over a bit, finally able to take a breath. You kept his wrist in your hand to monitor his pulse. 

“He should be largely out of the woods,” you said. Both Tess and Tommy visibly relaxed. “He’s going to need to take it easy for a while. Tommy, those antibiotics I gave you yesterday? Give Joel the same dosage. Track how many you give him, come by the clinic sometime this week when I’m there and I’ll give you another bottle.” 

“Thank you,” Tess was watching you. “For doing this. Your friend was right, you didn’t have to…” 

“Yes I did,” you closed your eyes and leaned your head back against the couch. “But I would have anyway.” 

Tommy brought you a glass of water and you chugged it, trying to pay attention to how long you’d been transferring blood and how strong Joel’s pulse was. His color was getting a bit better. Tess and Tommy were talking in hushed tones in the kitchen but you didn’t care. 

You hadn’t realized how long it had been since you’d seen Joel without tension in his face. He was soft and beautiful like this. It reminded you of life with him in Texas, when the biggest problems you had were whether or not Sarah should do regular soccer or travel soccer. You had to resist the urge to touch him, kiss him. Fuck, you loved him. You’d always be stuck loving him. 

You decided to enjoy it. You doubted you’d have a chance to see him like this ever again, so you quietly memorized his face, the flecks of gray coming into his beard, the creases around his eyes, the precise arch of his nose. You looked away for a moment to check the status of his incision - relieved to see that it wasn’t oozing blood - when the hand that was in your fingers started to move. 

You tightened your grip on him - not wanting to disturb the transfusion - but watched his face. “Tommy,” you called over your shoulder, still watching Joel.  He and Tess both rushed over, the three of you watching as Joel slowly came round. 

His eyes found you first and you braced yourself for his wrath, but it didn’t come. 

“Hey Baby,” his lips tugged up at the edges. “Did I die? What are you doin’ here?” 

“Not dead,” your heart was racing. “You’re very much alive, despite your best efforts.”

“He doesn’t remember,” Tommy said. “Why doesn’t he remember?” 

“He will,” you said. “He’s just out of it. He probably won’t remember this at all, which is just as well…” 

“Always remember you…” he muttered. He tried to sit up but you pushed him back down. His eyes drifted over you. “Even dead you’re so fuckin’ pretty…”

“Not dead, Joel. Giving you a blood transfusion right now,” you said. “And you just had surgery. You need to lie still for me, OK?” 

“Knew you’d be a doctor,” he mumbled, closing his eyes again. “My girl the doctor…” 

“That’s me alright,” you said, feeling light headed. You looked up at Tommy. “Hold him down for me? I think he’s got enough blood now and I can’t stand losing much more…” 

Tommy listened as you stopped the transfusion and got everything cleaned up. Joel was unconscious again, but no longer bleeding out. 

“He’ll need to be monitored for the next 48 hours,” you said, writing out some basic care instructions. “Anything goes to shit, Tommy, you know where to find me. And don’t forget about the antibiotics. We can’t have him getting infected…” 

“We can pay you when we cash in from this run,” Tess said, her hands in her back pockets as she watched you. You frowned. 

“I don’t want your money,” you said. 

“I’m not comfortable owing someone,” she replied. You read between the lines. She wasn’t comfortable owing you, Joel’s ex. Something told you that Tommy hadn’t mentioned the specifics of your relationship to Joel. And Joel had moved on. Of course he’d moved on. There was a stabbing pain in your chest that you’d have to cry about once you were out of here. 

“You don’t,” you said, desperate to go home. “Really. Hippocratic oath and all that…” 

“There has to be something you need,” she said. 

You looked at her, thinking for a moment before settling on something. 

“Can you take me outside the QZ?” 

A/N: Soooooo please excuse any and all medical errors in this sucker. I word for a living (that's right, I write all day at work and then I get on my personal laptop and write all evening because why not.) I know jack crap about anything medical beyond what some googling does and the fact that I binged watched both Grey's Anatomy and E.R. at the start of the pandemic. This is probably a medical disaster area but just act like I know what I'm talking about, OK? It'll be way more fun that way.

Thank you as always for reading! We're into the QZ era of the story which I might be weirdly excited about given the realities of it. I have lots planned for this chunk of the fic and I hope you all enjoy it. I love love LOVE reading all your comments and seeing what you respond to and connect with. Thanks so much for sticking with this story! I love you all!

Taglist (just comment below if you want to be added!): @paleidiot @ayamenimthiriel @ginger-swag-rapunzel @drewharrisonwriter

[echo-of-damnation]

Life on the Nightfall with Echo #51664613

Tavs was sitting at one of the workbenches in the armory when suddenly the door was slammed open, the heavy metal bouncing off the wall in its back swing sending out a deafening ring in the small room. He snapped his head to see what just happened, the weapon he was cleaning pointed at whatever had apparently infiltrated the ship. To his confusion the doorway was empty but the sense that something lurked in the darkness continued to send tingles through his muscle fibers.

"Show yourself," he barked out into the void beyond the doorframe.

He held his breath, straining his super human hearing to pick out anything out of place. Tavs was about to get to his feet to go investigate until a soft metallic rattling snapped his attention to the wall the door had hit.

"Echo?"

He could see the tiny beast crouched down by the door. They were in the small casual clothes he had commissioned while they were stationed on the planet they had just brought to compliance. The midnight blue sweatpants already tattered around the feet and covered in dust and dirt while the black skin-tight top sported a suspiciously dark wet spot near the bottom hem.

Echo rose slightly on their animal like feet, walking over in their odd hobbled way. They stopped at Tavs' knees and moved their clawed hand as if trying to pat a small animal, "Shh Shh. Echo not here," they whispered in their rough little voice.

Tavs was about to ask just what was happening until the roar from his brother Torment rumbled down the hall, "ECHO. WHERE ARE YOU."

Tavs watched as Echo's already wide eyes grew wider. Quicker than he had ever seen, Echo returned to the door and slammed it shut again.

"Echo what are you doing? Why is Torm yelling?"

But Tavs' question went unanswered as he watched the small creature drag one of the large weapon lockers over to block the door before frantically looking around the room. The muffled sound of Torment's running steps leaked into the room before a loud bang shook the locker blocking the door.

"I KNOW YOURE IN THERE YOU LITTLE BEAST. WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I SWEAR I WILL RIP EVERY NAIL OFF OF YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE HANDS," Torment said between slams against the door. He was making quick progress of the shoddy barricade.

Tavs watched in confused silence as Echo frantically ran over to the far wall, climbed up one of the other cabinets with their makeshift bag in tow, before using their sharp claws to rip at the bolts holding one of the vents.

"Shh shh. Brother Torment not happy. Echo not here. Brother Tavs, Echo not here," the little creature called out in their husky voice.

Just then the door was slammed open for the second time in less than five minutes, this time sending it and the locker blocking it flying across the room. Torment barreled in, whipping his head around the room before finding Echo attempting their escape. In two large bounds, he was at the bottom of the cabinet Echo was perched on.

Tavs looked on as Torment reached up and caught Echo's small foot as they tried to quickly squirm through the small opening. Echo hissed and swiped at the hand holding their foot causing his brother to pull it away in sudden pain. Giving Echo just enough time to completely crawl through the vent.

The only sound in the room was the scraping of Echo's nails as they fled through the vent system, no doubt, Tavs thought, on their way to their little hide out.

Torment roared in frustration before taking off his boot and throwing it at the now empty vet opening.

"That damn CREATURE."

"What...did I just witness?" Tavs said after a moment of silence.

Torment's head snapped over to him as if he hadn't seen him there when he barged in. His pale face comically red in his rage.

"I had just finished cleaning and replacing parts on my chainsword. I went to grab a rag to wipe up the excess oil when that BEAST," he turned to yell the word toward the vent before continuing, "disassembled it and stole the new parts."

It took Tavs a moment before he realized what actually happened, "Ah. They were new parts huh."

"Yes," Torment hissed.

"So they were shiny."

Torment squinted his eyes at Tavs as if accusing him of some how being involved, "...they were."

Echo loved to rile up and, well, torment Torment, and taking his new shiny parts to his favorite weapon was a great way to do just that.

Torment pointed a finger at Tavs, "You should have never taught it how to service weapons."

Tavs just shrugged and turned to put his own weapon back onto the bench to finished what he had started, "Father wanted me to train them."

Just then another roar bounced off the walls of the entire ship, causing both men to cover their ears, "TORMENT."

"Speaking of Father..." Tavs said.

Torment growled, "That little rat. He coddles them too much."

Tavs just chuckled as he listened to his brother storm out of the armory. He went back to his own maintenance of his weapon before he heard another tinkling sound coming from the vent Echo escaped from. Turning around to see if the little trouble maker had come back, he found he was still alone the the room. Brushing off the sound he turned back to the bench to find a large tooth, a feather, and a childlike drawing of himself and Echo smiling and holding hands sitting next to his weapon. A small smile spreading across his face,

After pocketing the tooth and feather, he folded the drawing with care so he would be able to add it to the others he had received over the past few months before he went back to his work. Keeping an ear out for scurrying in the vents.

[hiyokuma]

Tsun... izumi..? | Izumi Sena

reblogs are appreciated ☆

Izumi sena x gn!reader - domestic fluff, light-hearted teasing.. just things I believe Sena would do around his partner ie put his hand on the corner of a table whenever you try to pick something up etc

dating Izumi Sena is an absolute dream, he has it all, from the pretty face to the golden heart, sure he loves to scold you! but that quality sits at the very top on your list, after all, how could anyone resist smiling when he scolds you for small things such as not cutting your nails properly? Especially when goes ahead and does it for you?

however Izumi Sena and his tsundereness is not an easy thing to understand at all, why does he call you stupid through the whole day but then kisses your forehead and make sure you’re all tucked in under the covers when he believes you’re asleep? why is it that he gets irritated at you for being clumsy and yet everytime u lean back, his hand flies behind you, just in case you fall? why does his hand fly to the corner of the table everytime you lean down to pick up something you dropped? and mostly, why does he only do these things only when he believes you won’t found out? what’s so bad about showing your love, to the person you love?

“AH Fuck!” something tells you trying to figure out Sena’s love language whist cooking was not the best idea, the something being a bleeding finger

“are you alright? oh god” Sena gasped out

“did you just .. jump off the last 3 stairs for this?” you spoke softly as he ran your hand under cold water

and all you could do whilst he fixed you up was just stare at him with a gentle smile, his bottom lip was held tightly between his teeth, and his eyes were squinting, making sure he’s disinfecting everything properly, and him leaning down slightly? gave him the cutest fluffed up bangs, so who could blame you when you decided to pat his head?

“y/n.” he spoke up, in a serious tone too, but why does he look so timid right now? is he perhaps shy? is this what all of this has been about so far?

“senasenaaa” u giggled at the nickname as he stood up straight

“you know this is all your fault right?” you continued on

“oh? how so? was my pretty face keeping your thoughts too occupied?” he leaned back against the wall smiling, almost smirking as he boasted about his pretty pretty face

“no actually, i was wondering why my boyfriend kisses my forehead every-night when he thinks i’m asleep but chooses to flick my forehead all the time during the day?” you deliberately chose on not mentioning him looking out for you since you knew he’d only flip it back on you by mentioning how clumsy you are

“.. you’ve gone so stupid that you’re hallucinating is all that i’m getting from this conversation” he spoke back, the tip of his ears going red

“oh is that so dear boyfriend?—” you interrogated whilst walking closer to him

“—or is it just that THE Izumi Sena might actually be shy when it comes to showing his love? or might be too shy to admit that the love of his life has him whipped?” you spoke teasingly, your hands on the sides of his face as you made him look at you, your noses almost touching now

“it’s not that.. see you’re already teasing me now!” he groaned and leaned back on the wall again

“aw is my baby shy? does he need a hug?” you laughed as you pulled him into a hug, his head on your shoulder as he continued groaning (whining)

“it’s not that i’m shy about being rejected by you, or that i don’t like admitting how in love i am with you, it’s just that scolding you and teasing you makes me feel closer to you, and it’s less scary to tease than be vulnerable, and not to ignore the fact that you look adorable when whining” he ranted on, mumbling the last part, his hands now placed on your waist, holding you tightly as his face warmed up at his own confessions

“ ‘zumi, you know you have my full attention at all times right? and besides, we already said we’re taking things slow, you don’t have to open up straight away andddd you don’t have to tease me to get my attention, although your teasing can be cute sometimes” you laughed softly whilst playing with his hair, his head still on your shoulder, face hidden away

“yeah yeah well! i hope you got your answer as to why your boyfriend is so hot and cold, can we eat now? and don’t go thinking you won’t be getting scolded for what you did to your finger today” he spoke up pushing himself off you, still refusing to make eye contact

“only if you to promise to cuddle me after dinner, with no teasing” you spoke looking back at the boy who was setting the table up

“hmm~ i’ll try my best klutz” he spoke back with a small and fairly timid smile on his face, erupting a giggle from both sides, maybe.. just maybe knowing that your boyfriend does all this to feel closer to you, just maybeee does something to your heart, he’s truly a dreamy boy huh..

[shih-coulda-had-it]

DELIRIUM with Nana and young Toshi if you'd like?

WAYYY LONGER THAN 10 SENTENCES, but you were also the only one who asked for the fic prompts so. :D

context: Toshinori noticed his Quirkless friends were signing up for a sketchy summer camp (like, you know those paper ads taped on street sign posts with the numbers? Do Not Emulate This Behavior), and realizing that pro-heroes didn't have jurisdiction over non-Quirk issues, didn't tell Nana and Sorahiko ahead of time that he would 'infiltrate' and take down the program from the inside. It is due to sheer luck and a nagging instinct that Nana goes, "Hey, where is my apprentice."

//

When Sorahiko told Nana that she had picked up a trouble magnet, Nana wisely made the decision not to correct him. Young Toshinori did not attract trouble; he chased after it with all the passion and single-mindedness of a bloodhound, armed with nothing more than his fists if he couldn’t find a convenient meter-long pipe. Giving One for All to Toshinori was going to enable his terribly blasé approach to self-preservation, but at least it would give him a tool to save his life.

She regretted not having given One for All to him already. If he’d had it, maybe he wouldn’t be trapped in this cabin, waiting for a ‘camp counselor’ to unbar the door from the outside. 

Yeah, she was definitely giving Toshinori One for All when he turned fourteen. Sorahiko could scream into his hands all he wanted.

Nana let herself into the unlit cabin, closed the door behind her, cracked a glow stick and tried not to scream herself, seeing Toshinori’s body sprawled on the wooden floor. She bolted to his side and scanned for injuries, but the light from the glow stick was dim and green. The most she could discern were the zipties around his wrists and ankles.

Her young successor flinched awake when Nana touched his shoulder. He stared at her, uncomprehendingly, with his mouth partially opened in a gasp. He looked his age for once.

“Toshinori-shonen,” she opened, intending to sound brisk and business-like, because the alternative was to sound like his mother, which she clearly was unqualified to be. Before Nana could get another word in, Toshinori scrambled to get further away, pressing his back to the wall.

“You can’t be her,” Toshinori said. His voice trembled, and the automatic shaking of his head made his bangs swish back and forth. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “You’re not really here. Oshishou wouldn’t come get me, because I got myself into this mess, and I have to get myself out. I didn’t--I didn’t even leave her a message. Who are you, really?”

“Kiddo, it’s me.”

“I’m not falling for that!”

“Shh!” Nana looked back towards the door, raising her hands like she could stifle the sound. Distractedly, she said, “Toshinori-shonen, you haven’t answered any of my calls for the past week, and you left a paper trail. Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“A paper trail?” he echoed. “I didn’t! Who are you?!”

Nana shushed him again but was startled by his clumsy tackle, and the ineffective flailing of his pointy elbows and knees. She yelped and dropped the glow stick.

“I’m not gonna let you trick me,” Toshinori babbled, thrashing like a fish out of water. “Oshishou isn’t coming for me, because I didn’t tell her anything! She’s not going to waste her time trying to find some stupid Quirkless kid! And--and--!”

“Toshinori!” she snapped, and grappled her kid so he was flat on his stomach. Without hesitation, Nana reached up and broke the plastic around his wrists using One for All. “All Might, it’s me. Seventh Wonder. I’m here.” She let Toshinori up to roll around, and she sat back on her heels as he slowly, painfully propped himself upright.

“But you can’t be. I--I lied to you.”

“You did say you needed a vacation,” Nana said in a tone so dry, Toshinori cracked a nervous smile. She gestured towards his ziptied ankles. “You okay to handle that? We’re jailbreaking this camp, and I thought you’d like to free yourself first.”

“Did Gran Torino come with you?” He rubbed his forearms, chafed his palms, and then leaned forward to look at the restraint. It was digging into the skin. Nana hoped that Toshinori would ask for help--that he would believe that Nana had come to rescue him.

“He’s raring to kick some ass.”

“They’re not using Quirks,” Toshinori told her. He found one end of the ziptie and started tightening the loop. “That’s how I know you’re not real. I have to do it. Oshishou and Gran Torino are pro-heroes, they wouldn’t risk their licenses breaking the law. I’m handling it. I’m handling it, I swear.”

Okay, next plan after giving Toshinori One for All: a secretive lecture about Gran Torino’s historical breaking of the law.

Nana intervened with whatever harebrained idea Toshinori had about ripping the ziptie by jamming one gloved finger between plastic and flesh. It was easier to do so with the ankles than the wrists, especially with how bony Toshinori was. Her kid froze.

“Gran Torino’s out of uniform right now,” she reassured him. “He’s going to pretend to be a speedster, call an anonymous tip to the local heroes, and beat the snot out of the counselors for as long as he can. I’m going to smash into the scene like I’ve been chasing my arch-nemesis once I get you secured.

“With a little bit of theatrical flying and property damage, we’ll uncover the barracks and get the kids out. You have the choice of joining Gran Torino in the getaway car, or staying with the kids to provide a soundbite and evidence. Understand?”

He blinked, several times. And in a small voice, Toshinori asked, “Oshishou?”

She smiled at him, and with a flash of One for All, broke the second ziptie. “That’s me, Toshinori-shonen.”

[lexosaurus]

Twelve Hours: Chapter 2

Part 2 of 5 of my fic for Ecto Implosion, the DP reverse mini-bang (artists go first, writers go second).

read on: [ao3]

[see all chapters]

Characters: Danny Fenton, Harriet Chin, GIW (mentioned a lot) Tags: Identity Reveal, Flashbacks, Runaway Danny Fenton, Angst WC: 1937 Summary: When the GIW revealed Danny to the world, the only thing he could do was run. Run and run and run until he escaped to Chicago, trying desperately to disappear. Too bad it didn't work.

****

“I see you reacted to that,” Harriet said. Where Danny expected that greedy journalist spark behind her eyes that he’d grown used to over the years, there was none. Instead, she tilted her head, regarding him in earnest. “I take it you’ve seen this before.”

There was no use in lying. Not when he’d finally come so far as to agree to do this interview. “I’d love to sit here and say that I was the perfect therapy patient, that I never went digging up videos and posts about myself online. But I did. And I watched this interview and others just…I don’t even know. A lot.”

“And what was going through your mind back then when you would watch it?”

Danny didn’t even have to try to put himself back in his younger shoes to feel the spark of rage that shot through his chest. He just hoped that the long exhale that followed didn’t get picked up by the microphone. “I felt angry. And depressed. Yeah, like I wasn’t even human.”

“And yet, you kept watching it,” Harriet observed.

“It’s a cycle, you know?” Danny leaned back, looking up at the bright studio light. Behind it were the ceilings that Danny was sure were white, but looked more like a cream with the warm lights and red walls surrounding them. “I felt so alien. At the time, I mean. Just, so low. And here I had a video of the man who made my life a living hell for so long saying all these things that hurt me. Then I’d get paranoid, so I’d go reading the comments and watching more videos. I just had to hear everyone say why they thought I was a horrible monster, I guess. It was addictive. Sort of…” He almost stopped himself there. “Sort of like this weird self-harm cycle.”

“Did seeing that video today bring any of those emotions back?”

“I’d be lying if I said no.” 

****

10:00:00

Danny touched down on the pavement and released his hold on his invisibility. The alley was humid, and with the dumpster next to him, it smelled revolting. A rat must have died in it.

But that was exactly the sort of problem he needed right now—one that ensured an empty alley. If anyone caught him triggering his detransformation, he’d be dead.

Bright rings flashed over his eyes, and he stepped away from the dumpster. He rolled his shoulders, sore from holding his arms in position during his long flight over. His hoodie was still scruffed, and his eyes were probably surrounded by deep circles, but—maybe with a sick sort of internal sarcasm—he realized that those attributes wouldn’t make him stand out so much here.

Of course, that didn’t keep the terror from freezing his legs in place. 

No, this was his only option now, as counterintuitive as it seemed. Rural communities were too tight-knit, too interested in newcomers. And worse, they were full of anti-ghost sentiment. There was no way he could hide in a small community, no matter how hard he tried. It would only take one person, one old neighbor who watched too much anti-ghost news, to pick up their phone and turn him in.

But here in Chicago, it would be safer. He wasn’t Danny Fenton here; he was just…another kid, another runaway, another sore sight people quickly averted their gaze from.

He had everything he could need here. Places to hide, stores to grab things from with the help of his powers, and corners to sleep in. Even if someone recognized him, he could easily slip into the crowd and disappear.

He took a shuddering breath, unlocking the muscles in his calves. He would be okay. Everything would be okay.

Internally, that mantra sounded more pleading than not.

He threw his hoodie over his hair and walked toward the sidewalk. Maybe doing something with his hair wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Should he dye it, maybe? That’s what people did in the movies, right?

Though, how would he turn his black hair brown? He would probably have to bleach it first. Damn, Sam would be such a good resource to have right now.

He almost swiped his phone from his pocket to call her. Almost. But he resisted.

Now at the precipice of the alley, he peered out to the bustling street before him. It was full of people shuffling to and fro, cars zooming by in the street, voices and shouts dancing in the open air. Packed around him were skyrises, proudly showing off their clean windows and pristine bricks.

Danny had come here last summer, he realized. His parents had taken him to the Sears Tower. His dad had complained about the “normal people” clothes they were forcing him to wear (even though he still managed to defy the odds by sporting a Hawaiian T-shirt, much to Jazz’s chagrin).

Jazz and his mom had been so excited to see the top of the tower. Jazz even had her pink Polaroid on her—a birthday gift from their parents. She wanted to get a family photo of all of them with the skyline in the background.

Danny had complained, of course. As the younger sibling, it was his job to complain about the silly tower and his sister’s silly “fun” historical facts about it.

“Who cares how many windows it has, Jazz?” He remembered asking.

Jazz had cared, though. She’d cared enough to tell him. But…he couldn’t remember what it was she said. He might never get the chance to hear her talk about the dumb tower again.

A sting began knocking on the corners of his eyes, and he blinked, forcing it away. His parents weren’t here this time. Neither was Jazz, or Sam, or Tucker. He’d probably never see any of them again if the Guys in White had their way.

But no, surely the GIW wouldn’t chase him around forever, would they?

He thought back to the way they’d cornered him at school. All the officers and agents in the school’s main office surrounding him as soon as he stepped in. All the guns pointing at him. And then Operatives O and K stepped out from beside Principal Ishiyama’s desk, their sunglasses burning holes in his skull.

“Game over, Phantom,” Operative K had said.

Danny had taken a step back at that, locking eyes with Ishiyama who seemed unable to do anything but stare back at him in a mixture of disbelief and…fear.

Danny crouched down, his skull between his hands. “Stop thinking about that,” he hissed, curling his fingers to tug at his hair.

He wasn’t at the school anymore. He was in Chicago, alone, at the edge of some sidewalk in the Loop because he needed to blend into a crowd, and he needed to find some place that had food because he was so tired, so hungry, he was running and he was done and broken and—

“Jesus!” A pair of high-heeled boots stumbled over him, nearly sending his skull straight into the concrete.

He caught himself with his palms, his knees only barely scraping the ground. He hadn’t even felt the woman make contact with him. He must have been too caught up in his head.

That was dangerous. He would have to stop thinking so much.

“You okay?” a masculine voice asked. 

Danny turned his head up, a polite response ready on his lips. But when he saw the tall man reaching out to the fur-coated woman, her handbag outstretched in his palm, the response died in Danny’s throat.

The woman accepted the purse with a breathy, “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” 

“Watch where you’re going. These addicts are everywhere these days,” the man said.

“Right, sorry,” the woman said, but she wasn’t talking to Danny either. Instead, she nodded to the man and continued on down the street.

Leaving Danny there, still on the sidewalk, his whole chest now emptied of any sort of feeling.

Because…right.

That was just it.

…

Right.

He surveyed the crowd, but no one gave him a second glance in return. And why would they, in his scruffy hoodie, stained jeans, pale face, and dirty fingers? He wasn’t one of them. He could never be one of them again.

He should have been upset. He had been distressed just moments ago, but not anymore. There was simply nothing left to feel other than blank, white, nothing. 

Dragging his hand across the sidewalk, he picked himself back up, slowly, because he was tired and no one was stopping to help him anyway. Who cared how long he took? It wasn’t like he had anywhere to go!

Across the street, a billboard screen dissolved, changing the advert to a familiar metallic green background he’d become hideously acquainted with. On one side of the billboard was an artist's rendition of Phantom with dark, sickly gray skin, vicious eyebrows, and piercing green eyes. His mouth was missing, only adding to his menacing glare.

No, it was more than that. He didn’t just look angry, he looked downright dangerous.

As if to drive that point home, the advert circled and slashed face in red. Beside the Phantom imagery were the bold, green words reading, “ANTI-ECTO LAWS. Don’t let the ghosts haunt you, call the GIW.”

The slogan taunted him, just as it had been doing since the laws began passing. And what was once just a minor annoyance—just another thing to add to his growing list of bullshit to deal with—had festered into a scar on his whole existence. That stupid slogan had transformed into an entire media campaign featuring him as a monster with an impending future he could only dream of escaping. And he had to live with all that, all their mockery in his ear saying that no matter how far he flew, or how well he hid, he would never be free.

He turned away from the advert and began walking down the sidewalk. Countless people passed by him alone and in groups. Some bustled by dressed in suits with phones to their ear, and others laughed to each other, walking in the hurry of someone on vacation. 

But if there was one commonality in the passersby, it was that everyone gave him a wide berth. Not because he was a stranger or even because he was Fenton Phantom, but because he was just one of those people. A social outcast, someone who—with hardly a touch—wouldn’t just sully their clothes, but their very souls.

He turned another corner, and another billboard—one in print instead of on a screen—glowered back at him. This one was like the other, with the silhouette of Phantom slashed out in red as if to tell the world, “We may not have him yet, but we will soon.”

“You won’t,” Danny said, not caring if anyone saw him talking to himself. He was just a homeless addict anyway, wasn’t he? One of the crazies? “You won’t get me.”

“You can’t make those kinds of promises to yourself,” the billboard seemed to say back to him, its deep, derisive voice nearly identical to Operative O’s. 

“I can. I’m smarter than you and your whole stupid organization. You had me surrounded, and I still managed to escape from you. Nothing you try will get me.”

The billboard’s laugh reverberated around the street in a show of revolting arrogance. “We underestimated you, child, but we’re a branch of the federal government. We have the money to not make those mistakes twice.”

“You won’t get me,” Danny whispered.

“That’s not up to you to decide.”

****

previous / next

[read more of my work here]