#BUT TA-DA! Sorry this took so long! Hope you like it!

[little-de-vil]

19, 20, & 22 for dealers choice!

Babe, this took me so long so I really hope you like it!🥺🥺🥺

From this ask game:

19. How do they silently/subtly express their love for each other? I’ll be talking about both The Happy Couple (Celeste and Vance) and 27 (Madon and Lathe Sheraton) I have a thing to S last names, I guess, his partner from 7. I wanted to differentiate they way each couple expresses their physical love not just because they are their own couple, but because of their circumstances and the way they move about the world. For Celeste and Vance, I wanted their relationship to be around consent. When Celeste first saw Vance after he won, she asked if she could take his hand; from then on, I realized that their love comes from consent and autonomy, especially with Vance! To quote my girlfriend 3 times when I first told her this: “like the idea of acknowledging that u will never fully know another person’s comfort levels within a specific moment is so real! and genuine and humble!!!!” / “and Lest asking that question is such a lovely question bc it’s telling the other person: i have your best intentions in mind and this is not a solely self-serving, righteous act i’m going to do by offering comfort. and acknowledging that they’re going to do what’s best for the other person.” / “BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCEEEEE (of consent). AND NEVER MAKE IT SEEM LIKE A HASSLE. ITS HOW THEY SHOW LOVE!!!” I really just wanted them to be open about how and when they are confutable with showing their love. As for 27, they are the opposite side of the spectrum depending on their location! If they’re in 7, they are not as open with their physical affection because they don’t really need to be, they don’t have to prove their love. Not to say that the Happy Couple needs to prove theirs, but it’s different for the boys. They aren’t watched the same way they are if they had met in the Capitol, it’s honest, not voyeristic. They’re usually apart, not physically close, but they treasure quiet moments together, whether it be working side by side at Lathe’s family shop or just in the woods, a few yards apart, taking in the beauty. But when they’re in the Capitol it’s a whole different ball game! They are not overly affectionate, but they can seem to overcompensate their love by being very physical.  Wren is so antithetical to his parents love. He's so aware of him and his partners body and how their love is so open and unasked; so fully known by both parties. To once again quote my girlfriend, “at some stage in a relationship, there’s blanket consent. like u don’t have to ask ur partner every time if u can kiss them bc it’s implied yes :’).”

20. What clothes/accessories do they steal from each other? This has been so hard for me to answer because I’m so not silly/goofy about my OCs, I take this very seriously & this is such a cute silly/goofy question lol. But if I really had to think about it, I would say Lathe usually steals Wren’s fancy jewelry in the Capitol, which he doesn’t really care about EXCEPT FOR HIS EARRINGS, DON’T TOUCH THOSE! Madon tends to take Lathe’s flannels so much so that Lathe’s grandmother stitches Madon’s name onto one of his to designate it as his own. His old Peacekeeping buddies there joke around that he looks more like a tradesman than an army grunt, but then again he’s never been one for uniforms.

22. How do they apologize after arguments? This is usually the case for the Happy Couple, after lots of separation to process not only the argument but their response, they tend to come together and just talk. A lot of their relationship is based on communication and honesty, and because they are both two people with vasts knowledge and experiences of truly horrific things, they know it’s best of not hold that all in. So, they talk over a few drinks and maybe a cigar when the kids are asleep, sometimes late at night walking around the gardens.

[hwanchaesong]

Still Into You

Kim Hongjoong X Reader

genre & warnings: fluff, smut (sorry, this was supposed to be suggestive but i got carried away 😩), hongjoong and reader is married here, cunnilingus, fingering, implied breeding kink ig since hj is a dom here, unprotected sex, mdni

word count: 1.4k

a/n: thank you for requesting again~ i hope you'll like it 💚

The sound of jingling keys made you stand up from the sofa, hurriedly walking to the door to greet your husband.

When he entered your home, you immediately threw yourself at him which he gladly reciprocated.

"Welcome back." you mumbled in his chest, feeling giddy when you felt him kiss the crown of your head.

"I'm home." he replied, pulling away from you to hang his coat and put his bag away. "I smell something delicious."

You giggled and held his hand, dragging him to the kitchen, "Ta-da!" you held your head high, satisfied with the feast that you made.

"You really went all out, huh?"

"Of course, It's our first anniversary."

Kim Hongjoong. Friend since childhood, boyfriend since highschool, and now you can proudly call him your spouse.

"Let's eat then, I can't wait to taste everything that you made."

It was a fairly simple dinner, small conversations here and there but it mostly consisted of comforting silence as you both chewed your food.

When dinner was over, the two of you agreed to wash the dishes together. Putting bubbles on each other's noses, him giving you back hugs as he kissed your neck (he did that to tease you, knowing that you're ticklish), and giggling like children.

It was fun, more so when he called you to the bedroom after you took your shower.

"Turn around and close your eyes." he instructed, pushing you towards the mirror and shuffling around. Soon, you felt something cold around your neck and you gasped.

It couldn't be.

"You can open your eyes."

The moment you did, you almost bawled your eyes out.

He had gifted you a silver necklace with a diamond pendant. It was subtle, but you can see the engraved initials on the stone. A sign, a promise that he's yours and you're his.

"Hongjoong, this must be expensive I-"

He cuts you off with a kiss on the lips, cupping your face in his hands, "You deserve it. I want nothing but the prettiest gift for the most beautiful girl in the universe."

Your heart swells with adoration, and before you can think, you lean forward and connect your lips with him once more.

The kiss becomes more passionate every second as he swipes his tongue on your lips, asking for permission. You gladly open your mouth for him to explore, his wet muscle massaging yours before he sucked on it.

He disconnected from you for a moment for some oxygen, but he couldn't keep his hands to his self.

He removed his hands from your cheeks, sliding it to your waist as he gently guided you to your shared bed.

Soon, you found yourself lying down. His mouth latched on the sensitive part of your skin while his free hand groped your chest, his fingers twisting your nipple through your thin shirt.

A moan escapes from you and you feel yourself getting soaked down there, "H-Hongjoong."

He hummed against your skin, "What is it baby?"

"I-I want to suck you off." you admitted shyly, a blush covering your cheeks when you heard him chuckle.

He lifted his body and gazed at your hazy orbs, "No can do, princess."

"But-"

"No buts." he puts a finger on your lips to shut you up, his other free hand trailing down to your lower area, prying your legs open.

You shivered when you felt him remove your shorts along with your underwear, "You did so much for me tonight, let me return the favor."

You were so out of it that you weren't able to reply fast, his effect on you taking a toll on your body. What's more is that he moves fast. One moment he's on top of you and now he's in between your legs.

"Let me do the work, okay?" he smiles at you, making eye contact before his tongue darts out to lick a long stripe of your slick folds.

"Ah! H-hong-" you cried out, your hand shooting out to grip his hair, "Oh god!"

It has been a minute since he went down on you but you're already writhing underneath him.

He groaned against your core when his tongue went inside your heat, the vibration and his nose prodding at your clit adding to the pleasure.

You complained when he pulled away from you, making him laugh at your begging state, "Don't worry princess, I'm not done yet."

True to his words, his mouth went back to your wetness, this time aiming for your sensitive bundle of nerves. His tongue that was previously in your core is now replaced by his fingers.

He lapped up all of your juices while his fingers stimulated your insides, the scissoring motion stretches you so well.

You were close, so close, and Hongjoong felt that when you clenched around his fingers but like the devil he is, he decided to halt his ministrations and smirk down at you.

"Why'd you stop?" you whined, tears pricking in the corner of your eyes due to the high that was stolen from you.

"I'd rather have you cum around my cock, princess."

Well, that doesn't sound so bad but you were desperate for some release. "Then what are you waiting for?"

You heard him click his tongue before he took off his clothes. He went to remove your shirt as well but he sees that it's his.

He'd love to fuck you while you're wearing his shirt, just shows that you belong to him. So he opted to raise it just above your collarbones, showing your delectable chest in the process.

"What's up with your attitude today?" he lined himself up in your entrance, his left hand snaked around your neck, choking you a bit while the other harshly fondled your boobs. "And here I thought I'll make love to you tonight."

"Wha- Ah!" you let out a booming moan when he entered you in one swift motion. Your head is empty and is filled with nothing but the realization that he must have gone from being soft to fucking you silly.

Hongjoong didn't give you time to adjust, immediately setting a rigorous pace as he clutched your hips, effectively pinning you down on the mattress.

"S-slow down!" you cried out but it seems that your actions don't match your words, your body betraying you when your legs wrapped themselves around his waist, pulling him closer to you and allowing him to plunge deeper into you.

He paid no mind to you, too focused on making you both feel good. Besides, his ears could only hear your adorable moans and the dirty squelching sounds that you produce whenever he pounds into you roughly.

"Shit." he cursed, feeling your warm walls grip him tighter, you must be nearing your high and he's not doing so well either.

"Baby," he breathed out, leaning down to whisper in your ear, "don't you think it's time for us to have a child?"

Ah, so that is what he's implying.

You can't ever say no to him now, do you?

You did want to build a little family of yours, and you trust Hongjoong when it comes to that.

You laced your arms around his neck, pulling him closer and giving him a peck, "Yeah, it's time."

He softly smiled at you (a vast contrast to how he's rearranging your guts below), grabbing your hands and lacing his fingers with yours, "At the same time?"

You nodded and within a few more thrusts, you both came at the same time.

It took a few minutes for you to catch your breath while Hongjoong instantly got up, providing you the best aftercare.

"Are you okay?" he asked, putting an arm around you and you cuddled at his side.

"More than okay." you craned your neck to look at him, and you were suddenly filled with overwhelming emotions.

It made you question some things. How you're still in love with the same guy even after all those years. How he manages to make you blush like a teenager. How he makes you feel so loved and accepted.

"I love you, always and forever." he returned your stare and smiled at you fondly. Then there it is, you felt those butterflies again.

Maybe this is why you're still together despite all the challenges and problems you've encountered.

In a world that is full of bullshit and confusion, Kim Hongjoong makes sense. He's the only one where you could find happiness, peace, and warmth.

[hopleii]

I heard you wanted requests so here I am (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

You've only written for the karasuno boys so far but I hope you're okay with writing for bokuto!!

I'm sick rn so if I can, I want to request bokuto taking care of reader when they're sick (and possibly failing considering how he's like)

Please and thank uuuu💙

(also don't mind that i accidentally unfollowed you for a sec D: )

bokuto koutarou with sick reader . . .

content: bokuto x gn!sick!reader, not proofread, fluff, mentions of medicine, sickness, etc. silly bokuto, short writing, lmk if i missed some!

a/n: first time writing for bokuto ! :00 thankyou for ur request mwuaah ! sorry it took so long waahh >__< hope ure feeling better noww

it was the end of the day and your boyfriend just got home, bokuto's boisterous laughter echoing throughout the the room. instead of the sweet greetings and hugs you give him, only the sound of occasional sneezes and coughs were present. bokuto's enthusiasm had somewhat dimmed when he saw it was you, his playful self turning (well, attempting) into a concerned caretaker.

"hey..." he says softly as he walks closer to you in the corner of the couch, "you okay there?" his brows furrowed, eyes wide with worry as he examined your current state.

"yeah..just a cold, i think" you managed to voice out with your sore throat, rubbing your neck after you talked.

bokuto puffed out his chest dramatically, he dashed around the room, gathering blankets, pillows, and a plethora of snacks in attempts to make you feel better.

"ta-da! this'll be enough...right? ah, you want anything else? want any drinks i--"

"koutarou..." you mumbled as you draped multiple blankets over your frail body, "i need medicine...and antibiotics.." you couldn't help but chuckle at his antics. despite his sometimes simple-minded nature and mood swings.

bokuto ran back to the kitchen and into your medicine drawer to get what you needed, he grinned, placing the medicine on your table. "did you know i read somewhere that laughter is the best medicine?"

you groaned at this, putting a pillow over your face, "where are you going with thi--" you get cut off before his fingers start poking your waist, where you're most ticklish.

a series of laughs escaped your lips, soon followed by dry coughs and groans. "bokuto..."

" 'm sorry, baby." he says before pressing a kiss onto your forehead "feel better soon, okay? " he declared before smiling at you,

throughout the day, bokuto's mood swung from goofy jokes to genuine concern. he brought you extra pillows, made sure you took your medicine on time, and even attempted to feed you soup he made.

and in that moment, as you watched the sunlight filter through the curtains, casting a warm glow over the room, you realized just how lucky you were to have bokuto by your side.

[gl1tchy-4rt]

does john and gerome (separately, don’t take this the wrong way) have their own children in the spaghetti family au? they’re always forgotten about and i’d love to know if they do have any kids!

They do have kids!

But before I show them to you I need to tell you about some Pillar Lore ;)

Not only did PizzaMan curse John when he took over The Tower, but he also pretty much killed all the pillars, minus Gerome.

After John was revived, he and Gerome moved into the town, finding works and scavenging the remaining of The Tower, becoming friends with Peppino and the rest of the cast, eventually to the point that the kids (like Giovanni and Valentina) call them Uncle John and Uncle Gerome.

Years later, after The 2nd Crumbling and PizzaMan's death, Gerome and John recover The Pizzamanzer's Pocket watch, an extremely powerful artifact that holds the Pizzamanzer's Power.

Slowly but surely...

John and Gerome rebuild the Pillars folk civilization, Reviving the dead Pillars in John gutter and making a new (and smaller) Tower (3rd Tower)

Pillars are have extremely long life spans (Gerome and John are 430-ish) so they don't have kids very often but due to the circumstances (and the Fact that Pillars naturally rise their kids in community) the idea was there....

Besides Both John and Gerome have lots of experience on taking care of kids so one day, John decides that he is ready and he wants a kid of his own.

A bit of magic, Rock, Rubble and a bit of blood from the parent and Ta-da!!

The first Pillar baby is born, and soon later Gerome decided that his niece shouldn't be alone...

Here are the babies!!

Jennifer and Gregory Pillar, the Pillar cousins.

Jennifer is the oldest (1 year old) Gregory is the youngest (7 Months)

Despite of being cousins, they are very close, like siblings, and due to how Pillar culture works, they would consider the rest of the community as their Aunt's and Uncles.

So yeah those are the Pillar Babies and what happened to John and Gerome after Pizza Tower.

Hope you enjoyed and see y'all later!!

also disclaimer I don't think I'm making the Pizza-tober I'm sorry but I can never finish those things :/

[ciaossu-imagines]

Fun idea to think about:

What food "atrocities" would your faves get up to?

For example my brain went straight to: Yamamoto is the type to put ketchup on Pasta and get instantly banned from the entire country of italy.

These do not have to be only italian crimes. As a german for example I feel my toes curl outwards when I hear of "sweet Pretzles", and i know for a fact that sticking your chopsticks into rice is not just rude, but a straight up taboo in japan.

So I wondered if you could think of anything. Doesnt have to be KHR related.

Just wanna give you something fun to think about

You are right! This is definitely a fun idea to think about! I’m sorry it took so long to get the reply out to you, but thanks so much for the request and for allowing me such freedom within it. Also, totally not feeling called out by the ketchup on pasta comment. Totally not…for what it’s worth though, a bag of pasta and a large bottle of ketchup costs about $10 where I live, so it’s cheap and does a lot of meals, which is good for when you’re a broke bitch but still want to live. I hope you’ll enjoy some of the thoughts I have on each of my current favourites or focuses from a variety of my fandoms!

From KHR, two words – blue steak. Because it’s certainly one of Bel’s favourites. His steak? Yeah, he wants it to have just been mooing like, two seconds ago. He wants the steak and the pan it was cooked in to have had just the barest, briefest hint of a romance. They barely kissed, in other words. The level he eats it at isn’t just rare, but even below rare, and it sometimes kind of grosses other people out. Of course, Bel being Bel, he kind of delights in this fact and it makes him even more enamored of this particular ‘food crime’.

From K Project, I think Fujishima eats Kit-Kats without ever breaking any of the bars. He just unwraps the top part of the Kit-Kat bar and takes a big bite out of it.

From Servamp, Tsurugi eats with his hands a lot of the time. Unless it’s absolutely inconceivably to eat something with just his hands, like hot soup, he’s probably eaten a dish using solely his hands before. He does know utensils exist and he’ll use them, only sometimes when it’s a more casual setting, or most of the time when he’s in a public setting, he just vastly prefers eating with his hands.

From Iruma-kun, Sabnock has eaten hard-boiled and soft-boiled egg with the shell on. More than once. He doesn’t even really see much a difference in eating it whole or peeling the shell off besides that there’s more flavour and texture with the shell on.

From Bungou Stray Dogs, when Dazai really feels like pissing people off, or is just extremely lazy, he makes tea completely incorrectly. He’ll just pop a teabag in a cup, run the tap water until it gets really, really hot, and fill the cup and ta-da, tea. He makes sure to let everyone around him know how delicious it is while he drinks it. He also reuses teabags…just never for his own cup of tea.

Rock from Nanbaka definitely puts ketchup on his eggs. He also kind of really digs French fries dipped into ranch dressing.

Togano from Eyeshield 21 is just kind of really guilty of forgetting to season any food he cooks. Despite what people think, he can cook more than just cup noodles, but all of his cooking is pretty unsatisfying and bland, though he doesn’t really understand why, which is why he eats prepackaged foods or takeout so often.

From The Vampire Dies In No Time, Satetsu really likes mayo. He’ll eat just mayo sandwiches – just bread and mayo. He also enjoys it on rice, but he only indulges that guilty pleasure when he’s alone.

Charles Bernard from Jujutsu Kaisen scrapes off the frosting from Oreos and throws it away because he thinks it tastes gross. He then just eats the chocolate parts of the cookies, but instead of chewing them, he kind of just lets them slowly dissolve in his mouth.

In another Oreo related crime, Fenrir Godspeed from IkeRev would eat Oreos with honey mustard unashamedly.

[loversj0y]

For your 200 follower event you should do Invisible String with Wil! Maybe inspired by him being on tour, and once you guys connect, you realize all the similarities/close calls you’ve had to each other?

invisible string

event masterlist

pairing: wilbur soot x gn! reader

tws: bars/references to drinking

notes: this might be tphe longest one bc it felt wrong making it Not long, i guess so i hope you enjoy :3

word count: 2.5k

taglist: @l0veb0mb1ng / @core-queen / @zooone / @lillylvjy / @melunnek

You hated heartbreak and the way it seemed to accompany you like an old friend. Several bad breakups led to the collective feeling of needing to leave, wanting to run, so you did. It wasn’t hard to find a university you could study abroad in and accommodations, especially with the proficiency in your courses meaning a scholarship wasn’t hard to find. Choosing a place to go was the hardest part; you knew you wanted to go to the UK, but you didn’t know where. Thankfully, there was a pretty simple solution: throwing a dart at a map. Leading you here: Brighton. The taxi drove you to your new apartment, and there was a rock song playing you’d wished to have gotten the name of before you got dropped off. 

After a week of unpacking and settling in, you’d gotten notably bored. So you decided to look for a place to go, or something to do, and you stumbled across a pretty small club that seemed quite nice. You walked in, and at first it reminded you of the dive bars back in America, but a bit nicer. You went up to the bar and ordered quickly, trying to speak a bit quieter given the glaringly obvious American accent. It wasn’t enough to entirely hide it, though. Once you got your drink, a blond boy who’d been next to you at the bar spoke up, loudly.

“Are you American?”

You looked at him and nodded. He seemed a bit younger, but given that he was in here meant he was probably at least 18. “Yeah, I just moved here.”

He perked up, grinning, “Follow me!” He didn’t give you much a choice before grabbing your arm and dragging you over to his friends, “My name’s Tommy, by the way! My brother Wilbur loves America, so he’ll be excited to meet you, c’mon!”

You chuckled, allowing yourself to be dragged over by him. He brought you to a group of five people, two of whom were incredibly tall. All five of them were giving an incredulous look at Tommy, making you laugh a bit. 

“Wilbur!” Tommy basically yelled as he pulled you over, “I found an American!”

You fought the urge to hide your face in your hands, instead taking a sip of your drink.

One of the taller guys, who you presumed was Wilbur, sputtered at Tommy, “Tommy! You can’t just drag someone over because they’re American, for fucks sake.”

“Yes, but you love America and you needed some cheering up, so ta-da!”

Wilbur just facepalmed, sighing and looking over at you now. He was an attractive guy, light brown curls and a tall frame, plus a good fashion sense if the Doc Martins were anything to go off of. “I am so sorry he abducted you. He is a child with no sense of manners.”

You chuckled softly, especially as Tommy gasped dramatically in response. “It’s alright,” you smiled softly, “Beats the alternative of sitting alone at the bar for an hour, so.” You shrugged.

Wilbur gave you a bit of a thoughtful look, but before he could speak up, the girl next to Tommy spoke.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, even if he literally just dragged you over. I’m Molly, Tommy’s girlfriend.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” you smiled softly, before Tommy took charge once more.

“Yes, right! Introductions! I’m Tommy, obviously the coolest one here, Molly is my wonderful and only wife, Jack over there is an dick, don’t be friends with him, but that’s his girlfriend Ellie, she’s too cool for him. You spoke to Wilbur, my lame brother, already, and the only one taller than him is the very gorgeous Ranboo,” he explained.

Not a single person looked pleased with his explanation, but they also didn’t exactly look surprised by him.

“Right, well, nice to meet you guys. I’m Y/N.”

“So, you’re actually from America? Are you visiting?” Jack asked, a kind smile on his face.

“Yeah, uh, I just moved here actually. I just needed a change of pace, I guess, so I actually transferred to the university out here.”

He nodded, and you could feel the entire group’s eyes on you for a moment. It was a bit unsettling, but that was more just the nerves.

“Cool, fellow American,” the tallest one, Ranboo, spoke up. You looked up at him (he was really tall), and you smiled. 

“Glad to know I’m not the only one out here. How’d you end up out here?”

“Uh… work, actually. It’s kind of a long story, but I had to move out here for my work stuff, so I did.” He shifted his eyes a bit as he spoke, and you just nodded, assuming he didn’t want to be pressed on the matter.

“Wilbur,” Tommy spoke, “tell them some cool America facts.”

“Tommy, they very likely know them better than me given that they actually lived there.” Wilbur chuckled softly.

I smiled softly at Wilbur, “I’d still like to hear them. Maybe I can tell you if you’re mistaken about any of them.”

He looked over and gave you a grin, and the conversations paired off. You and Wilbur discussed America and where you lived, and the fact that Americans need to stop building parking lots, which you agreed with.

After nearly an hour and a half, he disengaged, turning to Tommy, “I have to head out now, Toms. I’ll see you tomorrow though, yeah?”

Tommy nodded, then gave Wilbur a bit of an evil grin, turning to you, “Did Wilbur tell you he’s a big musician? He’s got to leave early because he’s got a gig tomorrow and has to do boring musician things.”

“Really?” You grinned softly, “That’s really fucking cool.”

“Yeah, well, Wilbur’s lame, but his band is cool. You should come to the gig!” Tommy exclaimed, and Wilbur’s cheeks dusted red, eyes widening at Tommy.

“I’d love to, but, only if it’s okay with you, I guess,” You looked up at Wilbur, raising your eyebrows.

He nodded a bit stiffly, “yeah, no, that’d be great. The more the merrier. I’ll see you both tomorrow then.” He waved, heading off quite quickly after.

“Is… he going to be mad at you for inviting me?” You chuckled, looking over at Tommy.

“Eh, he will be at first. I’ll probably wake up to an upset text, but it’s just because he gets nervous playing in front of people he wants to impress. Once he does fine after, he’ll text me all ‘Oh, Tommy, you’re so smart and right, thank you for inviting them since I was too much of a pussyhole to ask myself,’” he mocked Wilbur’s voice, and you laughed a bit. You blushed slightly at the implication that Wilbur wanted to impress you.

After a bit longer, the group dispersed, and you headed home. You actually ended up living pretty close to Tommy, who was about two blocks down from you. As you headed inside to your apartment, you smiled and got excited at the idea of going to the gig tomorrow and seeing Wilbur again. You fell asleep excited and wondering what type of music you’d hear from him and pleased with the people you’d happened to find. 

You managed to get to the gig without too much trouble the next day, and you were shocked by the sheer amount of people waiting outside. Tommy had texted you about going to a back entrance, which thankfully wasn’t too hard to find. He was waiting by the door to help you in as well, and you felt immediately starstruck. 

The place was pretty big, and Wilbur was already standing in the centre of the stage, practicing something on his guitar. The lights were hitting him perfectly, and he looked like an angel. You struggled to look away, until Tommy came up and basically draped himself against you.

“Stop simpin’ after Wilbur, c’monnnn, we’re heading backstage. He needs his little ‘rockstar-practice time’ or whatever.”

You flushed, turning away from Wilbur, “I’m not simping, I’m just in awe. This is really cool.”

“Yeah, yeah, well,” he walked further backstage with you following him, “you should’ve seen how long it took him to get used to it. Whole band did a bunch of fake shows to get used to performing.”

“Really? That’s smart, actually.”

Tommy just shrugged, taking you to room backstage where there was a much larger group of people than the night before. You recognized Molly and Jack, but the other three were complete strangers.

“Oh, Y/N, you came!” Molly grinned, waving. You waved back at her, nodding a bit. 

“These lot are more of the band. They are much cooler than Wilbur, you’ll find. That’s Ash, Leandra, and Mark.”

You waved, saying a quick hello, before allowing yourself to become an observer of the conversation.

The show started not too long after, with you, Jack, Molly, and Tommy watching from the side stage. You quickly discovered that the band, Lovejoy, was incredibly popular, and their music was fantastic. And Wilbur.

Wilbur was something else on stage. He was fully in his element, lights covering him in halo glows. His voice was melodic, and it made you want to melt. From the side stage, you could see how he leaned against the mic, the passion in his voice, and the intensity he matched in each song. It was about halfway through the show though, that you felt you blood run cold.

The song you’d heard in the cab when you moved in. It was their song. And if that wasn’t just the biggest coincidence slapping you in the face than god knows what was. You didn’t know what to make of it, other than feeling incredibly overwhelmed by fate and the new friends you’d made.

By the end of the show, you felt strange. You felt incredibly uncertain about your place in the world most days, but for some reason, as you watched Wilbur approach you and the group, you felt like there was no where else you belonged.

“Hey,” he walked over with a grin, “You came! What did you think?”

He looked almost nervous as he asked, sweat still dripping from his forehead as you chuckled, “It was amazing! I actually recognized one as well!”

A startled look crossed his face for a moment, “You did? Which one?”

“The, ah, I didn’t catch the name of it originally, but I want to say it’s Call Me What You Like if the setlists are correct. It was playing in my cab when I was dropped off in Brighton.”

He grinned, “Really? It was on the radio?” 

You nodded, “Yeah! I thought it was fantastic, but I didn’t have time to catch the name. At least now I don’t have to worry about forgetting it.”

“Oh, trust me, I wouldn’t let you,” he gave you a grin that shined brighter than any light on that stage, and you felt butterflies flood your stomach as you considered that maybe it was fate that brought you here.

Sometimes you didn’t consider the ways that time worked. In the span of one year, so much more had changed than you’d ever even considered. You moved to a new country, started a new school, made new friends. You cut your hair, changed your wardrobe, got a better music taste. You became much more social, started dating Wilbur, learned to feel more confident in yourself. 

The relationship probably was the most shocking of anything to happen. But it happened quickly, and it felt so right and so easy, as if your previous heartbreaks never occurred. You still had problems, mind you, however, there was something within you telling you it was fate constantly. 

You thought about fate a lot when you thought about your relationship. The random effect of the universe tended to have a weird way of making you think about stuff like that. The statistical chances of choosing to move to Brighton by throwing a dart at a map, of hearing Wilbur’s song play in your cab. Then there were the numerous things you’d learned over time, small coincidences that pointed to a string of fate tying you together. Of the color of his first album being the color of your first prom dress. Of the time he visited America and ended up staying twenty minutes from where you lived. Of your first boyfriend sharing Wilbur’s middle name. Of all these tiny clues of parallel moments within your lives that you could only see now in retrospect. 

The biggest thing within this string was the connection you felt to him that first night. It felt like that little string pulled you straight into that bar. When all of a sudden, all the stress and feelings you’d had about heartbreak and needing to run felt soothed, all past mistakes feeling fuzzy in comparison to something that was so right. 

“Darling,” Wilbur chuckled softly, “What are you thinking so hard about?” He smiled, walking over to where you were already laying down, ready for bed. 

“Do you ever think about fate?” You asked as he gently pressed a kiss to your forehead. 

“Not often, I guess. Why?”

“I just think about us, and I just feel like there’s been a string connecting us, tying us together, and we just couldn’t see it.”

He smiled softly, slowly getting into bed next to you, “You think?”

“I don’t know for certain. But I know that there’s way too many coincidences to be normal. And that in one year, just by moving here… I don’t know it feels like I wasn’t living before being here, and even more now that I’m with you. I actually feel in charge of my life. Like time just changed everything for the better, and I have to at least believe that maybe it’s because fate brought us here.”

He wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you into him, “Yeah. I’ve never quite thought about it like that. I like that idea though. I mean, the chances of us actually meeting were so slim. As much as I don’t love the concept of fate, I’ll love fate for this. Because if fate is what brought me to you, then I owe it so much.” 

You smiled lovingly at him, leaning forward to kiss him gently, “I owe it so much too. That- that little thread of gold tying us together.”

He held you a bit tighter, turning off the lamp next to him, “You think it’d be gold?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

He chuckled, “Why is that?”

“Because it’s your last name. And the leaves were gold when I moved here in the fall. What about you?”

“Hm,” he hummed, “Gold could be fitting. But I think it’d be some sort of blue or purple, like the sunset we watched on our first proper date.”

“That’d be nice,” you smiled softly, “I’m just glad it was there, if it is real.”

“Me too, love,” he whispered, before pulling you into a slow and gentle kiss. 

[bluetorchsky]

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Andy, the beloved Postman!

I had finished this yesterday for his birthday, but I like adding stories to my art, so here it is now with the story! (under the read more!)

Andy Vinke and Squeaks the Duck belong to @yunaisky

"Here you go, kid. Your...pet, safe and sound."

Squeaks honked angrily, ruffling their feathers as the gruff Toppat passed them to Andy, who carefully cradled them in their arms while juggling the clipboard he held.

"Thank you, sir. I apologize again, I swear she was at home with my cat." Andy said, a blush of embarrassment on his cheeks. He coughed in his hand before handing the clipboard to the taller Toppat. "Please sign here and I'll be out of your hair in just a bit."

The Toppat snatched the clipboard from his gloved hand and signed it, mumbling under his breath. As he did, a female Toppat came out of the shop and spotted the postman.

"Oh, you are the postman, hm?" She asked him in a thick Danish accent. She motioned for him to come closer. "Wait here, there is something for you."

Andy raised an eyebrow as the clipboard was shoved back into his hands, making poor Squeaks honk repeatedly in annoyance at the sudden action. The postman did his best to soothe his feathery friend when he was presented with two objects from the female Toppats.

"Ta-da! A couple of packages for the postman himself!" She helped Andy rearrange the items he had, letting Squeaks stand on his shoulder, while she pressed the two boxes into his hands.

Andy looked down at the packages, carefully gauging their weight and making mental guesses on what could be inside them. "For me?" He said softly, bringing one of the boxes up to shake it a little. "I wasn't expecting anything from the Toppats...well, there is one I can think of but–"

The female Toppat giggled and patted his other shoulder. "No, it's not from your little flower man. You should learn to do your work and read the name on there, silly!"

The grey-haired postman blinked in confusion until he heard a jingle playing over the intercom in the underground black market. Looking at the time, he gasped and tipped his hat to the Toppat. "S–Sorry, I have to go! But I'll check it out soon!" He shouted as he turned and ran to the train station, hoping the last train would still be there when he got there.

---------------

He sighed and sat down in an empty spot in the train car. "That was close." He murmured to himself as he set Squeaks on the plush seat next to him. He took his mailbag off and placed it on his other side, before looking at the two packages he received from the female Toppat earlier. Now that he wasn't running to catch train to leave the underground market, lest he be stuck there for the night surrounded by criminals, he had a chance to breathe and inspect the boxes.

Both were cardboard boxes, almost as long as his mailbag and big like Squeaks in size. They were securely taped but had no return address. All it had was his name and the names of who the packages were from. Well, they weren't really names, but they were actually initials that Andy recognized from the sea of signatures and names he kept filed away in his brain.

"From Mr. Accordion and Mr. Violin?" He questioned out loud to himself. "What could they have gotten for me?"

Squeaks took the opportunity to honk at her master, nudging his left hand towards the box he held. He chuckled and smoothed down her feathers, making her quack softly and bury her head into her wings to rest. "Alright, I'll at least open one of them."

Andy pulled out his cutter tool from his bag. Double checking his gun was still in the bag (with the safety on), he turned his attention back to one of the boxes. He carefully sliced through the packing tape, being mindful of the jostling of the train car. The train made its way out of the underground tunnel and back out into the outside world, passing through green fields on one side and the deep dark ocean on the other.

After a minute, Andy carefully pulled apart the flaps of the box and peered inside, gasping at what he saw. Inside was a penguin plush, dressed up in a version of Andy's postman uniform, covered in a plastic wrap and additional white foam pieces to keep it secure. He carefully pulled the plushie out of the box, tore off the plastic wrap and set back into the box before closing it tightly and setting it aside. He stared at the plushie, admiring every detail of it, until he noticed a birthday card stuck to its back with a white bow.

He pulled the bow off, kept it in his pocket, and opened the card with his left hand while he held the penguin plush close to him with his right. Inside the card was a message that read:

"Happy Birthday Andy! We hope you're not working too hard. We wanted to thank you again for delivering our packages to us in the past, as well as the new ones you delivered to the space station recently. The twins are enjoying their new toys, and we have you to thank for that. Fredrick did slip that your birthday was soon, so we wanted to give you something for all the hard work that you've done, and to show our appreciation for everything you do. We're sure he has something for you already, but we'll let him be the one to deliver that to you.

We hope you enjoy the plush and the sugar cookies we made for you. Have a great time, Andy, and please take care and stay safe!

From, The ArcCoil Family (Accordion, Violin, Aurelia, Florence)"

Andy reread the card again and smiled at the squiggly doodles that were no doubt drawn by the twins. He leaned back in his seat with a soft sigh. "I almost forgot about my birthday." He said softly as he flipped the card over to look at the front that had a yellow decorated cake on the front. "I got caught up in both my jobs again, I didn't notice. Guess that's why the boss gave me an extra slice of cake at the cafe today."

Looking up at the time that flashed on a screen above him, Andy pocketed the card into his mailbag and pulled Squeaks and the other package, which had the duck-shaped sugar cookies inside, closer to him. He would worry about Fredrick later, but now the day's work was catching up to him and it would be another forty minutes until his station arrived. With a yawn, he looked down at the penguin plush and brushed his thumb against the soft polyester. "Thank you." He whispered to the plush and closed his eyes to rest until the train conductor would announce his destination.

---------------

(For some context, in my AU there is an underground black market owned and operated by the Toppats called The Ivory Market. Big Boss Joe of the City Division keeps an eye on it (and where one of his offices are set up), and lets other criminals into the market area but only those who are approved by the clan and Reginald. People like Andy are allowed in since he has to deliver mail that can't be delivered by the Transportation Division. He is protected inside the City Division, but he still has to leave at a certain time and watch his back just in case a non-toppat criminal tries to get him.)

[blackhairedjjun]

sorry i keep sliding into ur inbox 😭 its just that every jjunie thought i have i think of you

childhood bsf yeonjun’s mom owned a quaint little restaurant, a place that became their second home. yeonjun loved inviting you over, his heart pounding with excitement every time you agreed to come.

yeonjun’s mom adored you, her heart warming every time she saw you two together. she secretly wished for them to become more than friends, seeing the spark in yeonjun’s eyes every time he looked at you.

jjunie loved cooking for you, his heart swelling with pride every time you complimented his cooking. he’d spend hours perfecting a dish, all to see the sparkle in your eyes when you tasted it.

he often insisted on feeding you, his heart fluttering every time you accepted a spoonful from him. he loved the way your eyes lit up with every bite, your happiness making him fall for you even more.

you often found yourself blushing around yeonjun, his caring gestures making your heart race. you loved his cooking, your heart fluttering every time he looked at you with those sparkling eyes.

yeonjuns mom often caught you two sharing these intimate moments, her heart swelling with joy. she loved seeing them together, her heart secretly hoping that you two would realize your feelings for each other.

jjune loved the way your face lit up when you tasted his mom's cooking. he’d often find himself lost in your laughter, your happiness becoming his favorite sound.

every time you visited, jjunes mom would make you and jjunes favorite dishes. she loved seeing you two enjoy the food, her heart filled with joy at your shared happiness.

AAAAAAA THIS IS SO SWEET 🥹 i wrote a lil scenario i hope you don’t mind!!

— 

"ta-da~" with a flourish, yeonjun laid down a plate of freshly baked melon pan in front of you. "my mom and i baked it together, for you!"

yeonjun watched you intently, his heart skipping a beat as your eyes sparkled at the pile of bread in front of you. you started to reach out for a bun only for him to pout and stop you with his own hand. all you could do was give him a teasing smile and a giggle, which didn't help his already soft heart.

he chose the biggest bun for you to eat; he laid it down on your plate and tore off a piece to feed to you. at the first bite your eyes scrunched up in delight, and you couldn't stop yourself from smiling in between your chewing. the melon pan was still warm from the oven, soft and chewy, and the cookie-crusted topping melted in your mouth.

yeonjun loved watching you eat, and now he felt light at the sight of you enjoying the bread that he and his mother had baked together with so much care.

you gushed over his baking as you took a few more bites. "it's so good! the bread is so soft - like you!" you reached out to pinch his cheeks.

"hey!" he squealed but giggled anyway at your fingers giving his cheeks a firm squish.

you couldn't help laughing too. "you're so cute, jjunie," you cooed. "you're softer than my bread."

your words made him flush pink, and even you noticed his cheeks growing warm from the touch of your fingers. you let go and it dawned on you just how close his face was to yours.

"um... you have a little..." yeonjun reached out and placed a warm hand on your face, his thumb brushing away a stray crumb from the corner of your lips. he didn't take his hand off after doing it, instead cupping your face, and your own gaze drifted from his eyes to his own lips. your heart raced, and the feelings you'd had for him for so long began to bubble to the surface.

"yeonjun..."

his face inched closer to yours. he was testing the waters. could it be that he felt the same way? you leaned forward, your eyelids drifting shut...

"y/n! you're he-- oh, was i interrupting something?"

"mom!"

both of you snapped back to your seats as yeonjun's mother approached you. first she hugged her son, his cheeks still flushed as he leaned to hug her back, then you. she always gave you an extra squeeze when she hugged you - you were family to her, after all.

"so," she said, "how was the melon pan? it was my healing's idea to introduce it to the pastry menu!"

"it's lovely, so soft and sweet. i'm sure the customers would love it."

"oh, they better!" yeonjun's mother giggles - it sounds like a fuller version of her son's own laugh. "we make our bread fresh and with so much love, you know."

maybe it was just your mind reeling from your moment with yeonjun, but you couldn't help but notice the way she drawled out the word love. she squeezed your shoulders one last time before wishing you well and heading back to the restaurant kitchen. as she left, yeonjun glanced at her and she gave him a knowing smile that even he couldn't decipher.

she knew about the love between you, even more than either of you did, and it was only a matter of time before you both realized it too.

[risingshine]

“/)///v///(\” (Iyana and Chi-chi pls uwu)

"Caitlyn is everything I aspire to be: Intelligence, confident, beautiful, charming, observant, fashionable, supportive, obscenely wealthy ..yes, she might be more of a workaholic than I am, but given her work I can hardly blame her.

The fact she took any interest in me is rather flattering...especially given she's pouring money into my project now. I do hope she gets a return on investment - dont tell anyone I told you this, but she has requested hawk features in the past-"

-

"I'm gonna miss her...hmm? Oh, she ain't dead, sorry! My brain is just funny sometimes, ne?"

"She's smart, observant, kind, determined: ya can fill up ever wall in her mansion with everything ta love about her - and it is a big one! Really took after her oba - if her oba was also a genius!

She's one of those people who are in a good place ta help people and goes all the way with it, ne? Sometimes it feels like most of her life is fa other people! She donated a whole buncha her money ta charity, she'll drop most things ta help a friend, she funds shelters and donates blood, her entire day is often spent tracking down missing people - I think the only way she could help more is if she found a cure fa every disease on earth!

But she also doesn't think she's long da the world, ne? Not cause of a disease or nothing: but private detectives aren't exactly known fa retirement. And I wanna help her in any way I can - I'd even make her a superhero if she wanted! But she doesn't, so the best I can do is not let her age or lack of self care catch up ta her, ne? And let her live through some of the stuff that she might not otherwise.

I'd have her living of sunshine if she wast indoors all the time!

If she ain't gonna give out until her body does, I'll make she still got at least a decade of tickin'..and then I'm really gonna miss her."

[nerdvanacrafts]

Fan Expo Chicago 2024 Recap!

Ta-da! The Fan Expo recap is finally here! Sorry it took so long, but there was a lot to cover. I hope you enjoy!

So, first and foremost, the trip down there was relatively uneventful. Except for some construction and my GPS taking a nap en route to the hotel, I managed to get around just fine. Check-in went very smoothly, and I chilled in the hotel for roughly half an hour (it was a long drive for me, y'all!) before heading over to the con.

Parking at this venue was...a nightmare. On Friday evening (like 4pm), it took me 10 minutes of circling the parking garage in search of a spot before someone finally came to redirect us to overflow parking. Saturday was by far the worst day, which I feel is fairly normal for most conventions, but this felt....excessively underplanned. Not only did it take me 45 minutes to get from my hotel to the venue on Saturday (hotel was a mile away for the record), but it also then took me roughly 10ish minutes to walk across to the other side of the garage to get to the crosswalk for the venue. And it was very hot that day. Like 80s-90s Fahrenheit hot, and humid af. It was like walking through soup. Sunday wasn't nearly as bad. I still had to park in the sticks, but it was the closest of my parking spaces for the weekend.

Now for the actual fun stuff:

The first step of getting inside any location is figuring out where everything is, right? So that's what I did. Once I got my badge and got in, I spent most of Friday orienting myself on the venue's layout. Because it was huge. And not just huge, but also packed almost elbow to elbow with people. There were, quite frankly, too many people in too small a space. Honestly, I was thankful for the water bottle hanging off my wrist because it kept most people at bay. Anyway, the first place I went to was, of course, Artist Alley! Since I’m not artistically gifted, I love seeing what other people can draw and create. I spent most of Friday wandering the artist alley looking at what everyone had to offer. I had to make several loops though because it was so crowded and some booths were really popular, so I had to come back to ones I was interested in.

The most surprising thing I discovered in my wandering was a booth run by an artist I know of! I got to meet the lovely LeonDoodlez, who does amazing work (please go have a look at their socials) and who I know from another artist I help mod for. We had a good chat while I was picking out prints, and I ended up going back later in the weekend to get more from them. They are a lovely human, please go show them some love; they truly deserve it. Here are some of the prints I got from them:

Since there weren’t really any panels of interest to me on Friday, I decided to bump one of my autographs to that day and it was a very good decision. Despite having to wait in line for roughly an hour (I sat on the floor for a good chunk of that), because they had to go do photo ops while we waited, I did get to meet Alan Tudyk and have him sign my Firefly sketchbook. He gave a good hearty chuckle at me telling him that I was going to bring two dinosaurs to say hello but one of them ate them on the ride down, so he was in timeout. (It’s a Firefly reference, for those who don’t understand.) And despite saying I had to keep an eye on those silly dinos, Alan did also say it was a good thing I was, instead, keeping an eye on the road since I was driving by myself. We had a good handshake, I thanked him for being there, and then I went on my merry way. Had to keep the book open for a little bit to let the ink dry, but I pretty much did one more small pass through the exhibitors hall and then headed back to the hotel for the night. (I had to shower both nights because egads…turns out the AC was broken up until Sunday, and even then, it didn’t feel like it was doing any good. But I wasn’t going to meet people smelling like I did.)

Saturday! Saturday, I met up with some Twitch friends! Another pair of lovely humans, ThePhoenixPath and PunkleNix, both variety streamers (please go check them out both here on Kofi and on Twitch!). Phoenix brought her kiddos with her, and this was the first event of this kind they all had been to, so it was a bit overwhelming for them. Once we got inside, I kind of let them wander around and followed behind to both help keep an eye on the kiddos, and to let them experience the chaos. We met some wonderful and amazing cosplayers who took the time to talk through some of their process with the kiddos, one of whom is interested in cosplay themselves, and overall, I think everyone had fun. They did have to leave about halfway through due to overstimulation, which I completely understood (seriously, that shoulder-to-shoulder crowding was worse on Saturday). We hugged and said our goodbyes, and I made a snap decision to get a surprise gift for my sister, for which I stood in line for roughly another hour. But I made some line buddies, had an idle chat here and there, and got what I came for. Then I went up to the main theater floor to have some food and chill for a bit before the cosplay contest.

You probably don’t know this about me, because I don’t post about it much, but I love cosplay. I can only wish I had the time and energy (and money, let’s be real) to put in the work some of these cosplayers do for their outfits. They are stunning and I am in a constant state of awe at seeing just what can be accomplished. While I was having my chill time, the entrants for the cosplay contest started to gather and pretty much all of them were phenomenal. (I really only stopped one because I didn’t realize she was in the contest until I saw everyone else lining up.) Plus, once the line for the previous panel had gone inside, we were allowed to line up for the next one, which was the cosplay contest, so I gathered my things and parked myself in the line. And because I had roughly 45 minutes to wait again, I sat down with most everyone else who came early. I ended up making small talk with the pair in front of me (shoutout to Becca and Rachel, wherever you are!) and they even offered me some of the fudge they had bought. The mystery flavor tasted like candy corn, even though they had said it was supposed to be marshmallow, and I needed something to get the taste out of my mouth! Anyway, they also let me sit with them for the contest and showed me some highlights from the Twilight musical parody from the night before (apparently it was hilarious). I won’t spam you with the photos from the contest, because there’s a lot, but if you’re interested, feel free to DM me and I’ll send you a link.

Another shower and night of sleep, and I was back at it on Sunday. I’d like to say Sunday was by far the chillest day of the con, and I guess in a way, it was, but also…all I did was stand in line for five hours…You may be wondering why.

Well, half of the reason for me taking this trip was to get a very particular gift for my sister. An autograph from one, Neil Newbon, the voice actor of Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3. That was my entire Sunday, y’all. Again, I made some line buddies, chatted about the wait and how ridiculous the line was (and how it had been like that all weekend), and eventually parked my butt when he went off to do photo ops for an hour. Now, I could’ve done what some of my line buddies did in that hour, which was to ask to have my spot held and go get another autograph, but I didn’t, and in doing so, missed the other one I had planned for. The good news, though, was that I was able to at least get a refund, so I didn’t exactly lose money because they had left by the time I got there. And I made up for it by getting myself an autograph from Neil for having endured the gauntlet, as I’ve now heard it called.

My interaction with Neil was far more lowkey than I had expected, but through no fault of his. As someone who had also been there the entire weekend (and probably got better sleep), I understood his demeanor fully. He looked and sounded as tired as I felt after five hours of standing/sitting in line. He’d also strained his voice from what I heard, so I understood the lack of his usual chaotic enthusiasm. 

That being said, I did get a hearty chuckle when I plopped my little Goostarion down on the table for him and told him that despite needing context from friends, I made him his own little angry goose. (It had a tag around its neck that said “Careful, I bite,” as well as my info as the creator and the pattern designer’s info, but it fell off somewhere while I was in line and I’m still mad about it.) 

He was also kind enough to scribble a Happy Birthday on my sister’s print because I had mentioned it was a birthday gift to her and we’d technically been cut off from quotes and selfies by then. Mostly so they could get through the line faster. He was truly a sweet human even with all his fatigue, and I don’t regret anything about meeting him. I feel like I got to see the most human side of fame and that’s honestly very special, as someone who deals with a lot of mental health issues and doesn’t always want to be perceived but still must promote themselves for work. 

I did, however, learn to come earlier. Like, Friday early.

This trip was an experience and a half, but it was all worth it in the end. I feel like I reclaimed a part of me that went missing years ago, or at least went deep into hiding, and I feel like I have the confidence to be able to try to do it again at the very least. Of course, it would be better to go with friends so I have other, familiar people to nerd out with, but being able to go alone proved that I could do it, and I needed that confidence boost.

I’d say sorry this got so long and rambly, but I’m not sorry. You guys made this possible and I wanted to share the experience with you, most of it anyway. Thanks for making this happen and keep your eyes peeled for some new merch coming soon! It could be...Karlach approved ^_~

[mellomak22-blog]

An angsty fic with Ethan from scream 6, where the reader is there for the reveal of him being one of the Ghostface's!

I'm sorry this request took so long! I am dealing with ongoing issues with my laptop, and if that wasn't enough, I am running out of Google drive storage and I wasn't able to right any more. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Reader is Ethan's s/o. Angst, brief implication of s3x between reader and Ethan.

“Behind you!” Kirby forces out in a scream. Officer Bailey doesn’t say a word or move an inch, firing off his gun and shooting her mercilessly. Shot after shot. The room goes quiet for a minute, but it doesn’t last long. There’s too much terror. Both Ghostfaces slow down and enter the room, one dragging your writhing body along for the ride. Ghostface tosses you over to Sam and Tara; you choke out a sob of both relief and panic as they hold you while you slump back against them on the floor. Bailey puts an arm around both of his little helpers.

“Good job.” He looks at them both. “Both of you.” Tara is the first to break the silence. 

“You?!” He has nothing left to do but smirk a little. He shrugs. “Ehh, o’ course, me. Frankly I expected more from the three of you after what you did to us.” The three of you look at them with quizzical shock. “What do you mean ‘us’?” The ghostfaces pull down their hooded masks and your heart plummets into your stomach like a bowling ball. There in front of you in ghostface attire…stands your beautiful boy. You try to swallow the enormous lump in your throat, but to no avail, it survives. Then suddenly all at once… “NO!” It hits you. You feel like you might be nauseous but also maye you’d faint. It was too much to handle. Officer Bailey takes in the scene before him and chuckles. “Ta-da!” With almost no hope left in your tired body, you watch Ethan speak, a comforting hand from Sam landing on your shoulder.

“Mindy was right. It was easy to juke the room-mate lottery.” He nods. “I mean, all I had to do to meet you? Was room with a condescending alpha- literally named Chad. FUCK, it felt good to kill him!” He shouts victoriously. A few more tears stream down your face and you don’t bother to wipe them away. Tara and Sam stand there defensively as everything unravels. You put a hand to your stomach wound from earlier, the one that matched Mindy’s. There’s nothing left to do but stare as the show unfolds even further. Ethan takes out the mask of Nancy Loomis, mocking Sam. “Really runs in the fucking family, doesn’t it? Speaking of family…” He trails off. “Wait for it. My name’s not Ethan Landry. Is it dad?” He says cheekily. Frustration begins to settle in your stomach instead of pain.

Bailey chuckles, caressing his boy’s hair. Your eyebrows furrow. “Wait… that only leaves…Mindy?”

“Heyyy, roomies. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?” She says to Sam and Tara, but then she turns to you. “Aw I’m sorry about your boyfriend, babe. He must’ve forgotten to tell you he killed people.” Quinn says with mock sympathy. With no words, you just glare daggers into her eyes.

It turned out that Quinn had faked her death, and her father, Bailey, had switched out the bodies so she’d look innocent. She had attacked Gale. Quinn had started the rumors about Sam in Woodsboro. All at once, you snap out of it and join back into the conversation. 

“It’s the perfect alibi! Because like all the best lies, it’s based on a truth- you’re a killer, just like your father was.” He grins ear to ear and Sam’s frustration visibly grows in her face. “I’m not-” Quinn butts in, and it’s like all the veins in her head pop out as she furiously interjects. “Yes, you are, you motherfucker! You killed our brother!”

Your eyebrows knit together. What???

“But your brother died in a car accident-” You blink rapidly as the feeling that you felt in your gut creeps its way up and out and takes the form of a chill down your spine when Ethan laughs. Hysterically, at that. When he can speak, he turns to you, and the same kind eyes that he always gave you- you finally see them transform into someone you don’t know anymore. 

“Oh no, no, no, you sweet, dumb thing! He died in Woodsboro at the hands of your bitch of a friend, here.” There’s a beat of silence, and you and Sam look at each other trying to decide who should speak up. Sam does. “Richie? You’re Richie’s family?” Suddenly, Ethan lunges at you, slashing your arm and drawing blood. You wince and clutch your arm, the blood spilling between your fingers holding the wound. “I always wanted to see you bleed, pretty girl.” He looks at you with a wicked grin. Quinn speaks in a sarcastic snarl. “Ding ding ding! Now she’s finally getting it.” 

Detective Bailey looks between Quinn and Ethan and then to the crowd in front of all of you.

—

“He was pathetic, you know.” Sam grins, Bailey stopping dead in his tracks. “That’s not true-” Detective pouts angrily.

“He was a man-baby who made his girlfriend do almost all the killing-”

Bailey’s face morphs into anger and hurt. Defensiveness. “He was a strong, virile young man!” Sam looks him directly in the eye, challenging him. “He was a limp-dick little fuck who cried before I slit his throat.” Her voice is laced with venom and it doesn’t take much before Quinn charges at them, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” coming face to face with Tara’s brick. It hits her hard, teeth flying out as the brick collides with the side of her face and sending her collapsing to the floor. Kirby stands, shooting Bailey in the chest with little-to-no time before Ethan runs at her, flashing Charlie’s knife at her. “Recognize this?” He plunges the knife into her stomach, raising it again. You run at him, smacking him with a brick to his head of curls, sending him reeling.

He gets up to run after you, but Sam approaches and stabs him over and over with a knife. He’s down, and Sam climbs up the ladder with Tara onto the balcony above.

You’re trying. Trying so hard to get a grip of what’s happening right now. You don’t have much time. Weapon, weapon… you run to the nearest display, breaking the glass and taking… Jill’s knife. The shot of Bailey’s gun jolts you and you spin around to find Ethan right behind you. You point the knife at him, and his eyes land on it. “See?!” His tongue glazes across his teeth in a bright, unnerving smile. “I knew you had potential somewhere in there, baby. You could joi-” You grimace. “Fuck you!” You roundhouse kick him in the chest, sending him backward into one of the displays. The sound of glass shattering onto the floor ripples through your ears and you run at Bailey from behind, stabbing him multiple times in the shoulder.

Tara dangles off the balcony, blood pooling on her shirt from the new wound in her arm. Ethan is right below her, swinging his knife. She drops down, crying out in pain. She had landed on it. “GOTCHA!” Shit. Was killing your boyfriend really gonna be up to you? You ran over and luckily she had gotten up. The two of you run a few steps backwards, preparing to fight him. Tara looks over to you. “You wanna do this?” You glance over at him, then back to Tara. “I can’t.” Tara nods with gentle, understanding eyes. Ethan runs at the two of you, and it feels like time slows down, viewing everything in slow motion. He cackles, and Tara shoves the knife into his throat.

It pains you. It pains you because his face is frozen in shock and fear, and for the first time in a rough while, you see the eyes of the boy you love. They aren’t crazy, or obsessive. They’re Ethan’s. They are the ones you grew to love when the two of you went on coffee dates and he’d get a foam mustache. How he’d look at you with a twinkle in his eye and ask “Do I have something on my face?” and you’d both laugh. They were the eyes you stared into for hours after you’d slept together. You were laying in bed, admiring each other’s features with the covers pulled up all cozy. They were the eyes that softened as he apologized over and over when you guys had that big fight two months ago and he couldn’t stop crying after hurting your feelings.

They were your boyfriend’s eyes for a moment, frozen in time as he stayed on his knees, Tara’s hand wielding the blade. What you had was real. At least that’s what you’d hoped. Tara twists the knife, and a forced gurgle and cry of pain came out from deep within. You pressed your lips together, fighting to keep your eyes on the scene in front of you but instead you clasped your hand over your mouth and involuntarily screwed your eyes shut, turning your hea

“Now die, you little bitchboy.” Tara yanks the knife out and he drops to the ground with a disheveled thud. Catching her breath, she runs over to you. “Are you okay?” You open your eyes and Tara feels like the only one who cares. Her hand comes up to your shoulder, resting there. “Yeah, I just need a minute alone.” Your eyes flicker down to the stab to her stomach. “Shit, you gonna be okay?” She’s panting from the pain, but she nods and takes her leave. 

You shuffle over to Ethan’s nearly lifeless body, kneeling down by where he lies. The puddle of blood spilling from his mouth is huge; it pools out, getting onto your jeans at the knee. His breathing is so incredibly labored, a death rattle of his last few breaths coming out and everything finally stops. A whirlwind of pain comes your way. Betrayal, sadness, shock, disappointment… you thought you had felt it all, but not like this before. Not all at once and not regarding a dead boyfriend. Ex. That’s what you’d decided on now. It made things easier. That’s what you told yourself in the back of your mind. You could never see yourself dating a murderer. This… this, you didn’t know about. I mean fuck, he hid it so well. 

Had he only been dating me to get closer to the Carpenter’s? 

It’s a sharp pain, a burn at the thought that maybe that’s what it was. Tears prick at your eyes, and you sit there and look at the man who was once yours. You think back to his eyes when the knife was shoved in his throat… They were true. The last little drop of him left when she twisted the knife, and the moment was gone. You rip yourself from your thoughts and see his face against the cold, hard, floor. Tears prick at your eyes, and you decide to give in. You sit there and sob. You sob at what happened in front of you, and you sob at what could’ve been. What you were supposed to be. With a shaking hand, you caressed his face. His cheek still felt just as soft as when you first kissed him:

your hand cupping his face when you planted one on him at a Christmas in July party back at Chad’s house.

Touching his cheek felt like the same boy, and it did you in. You bawled, hunched over his body. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you help sooner…” The tears roll down your cheeks and drop onto his arm while you’re leaning forward. “God, WHY DID IT HAVE TO END LIKE THIS?!” You wail out in despair, turning away so not to look at him. It was only making it worse seeing his corpse in front of you. You stood up, eyes glancing around the room. Bailey was knocked out on the floor, and Sam was gone. Nobody else to be found. 

Your face hardened. You take out Jill’s knife. Perhaps it was time to move on, take revenge on the only Bailey left. After all, he was partially responsible for the making of your madman boyfriend. EX. Boyfriend, that is.

[astra-galaxie]

for the weird hcs, may i ask for karen knight? :)

Of course, you may! Sorry, it took so long; my to-do list was longer than I realized!😅 Enjoy my weird headcanons for Karen Knight!

What they smell like: Warm vanilla or citrus depending on the soap and moisturizer she's using

How they sleep (sleeping position, schedule, etc.): Karen has a good sleep schedule but sometimes has to get up earlier or stay up later than usual for work. She sleeps on her back and occasionally suffers from nightmares about losing her daughters. When this happens, she doesn't go back to sleep and will find things to do around the house while waiting for the sun to rise

What music they enjoy: Karen enjoys most instrumental music, but her go-to is classical music

How much time they spend getting ready every morning: 15-30 minutes. She is nothing if not efficient

Their favourite thing to collect: Retro and antique technology

Left or right-handed: Left

Religion (if any): Agnostic

Favourite sport: Karen's not big into sports, but she enjoys boxing to relieve stress

Favourite touristy thing to do when travelling (museums, local food, sightseeing, etc.): Visiting local shops

Favourite kind of weather: Early summer before it gets too hot

A weird/obscure fear they have: Reckless drivers (e.g. intoxicated drivers, stunt drivers, distracted drivers, etc.). I don't think I need to explain why she has this fear

The carnival/arcade game they always win without fail: Guessing games

Ta-da! I hope you liked them!🙂

[erismor-iok]

Trade Matchup with mysteriawrites

Content Warning:

OOC for both sides

Authors note:

I am so sorry it took this long!!! But uh, Ta-da! Motivation just struck me like a day ago and I finished it in two days after putting it off for so long (Sorry) Anway, Extra's is literally just extra ideas I had that I didn't know where to put so that's why there a quality dip there always, I hope you enjoy it!

(also please forgive me for killing off your sisters, I needed them dead please don't hunt me down and kill me in return.)

Word count: 2169

I, Eris, match you up with

DILUC (Genshin Impact)

Overview:

  "I used to believe... If I were to stamp out evil, I would have to walk alone in the darkness. However, seeing your perseverance, I know I was wrong. Friend, I owe you my thanks."

 🔥 He is the sun, charging into the abyss. A raging inferno that runs throughout the night, keeping Mondstadt warm and enemies at bay. A bartender who hates alcohol, a brother to a man he loves and hates, and a boy who couldn’t protect his father

 🔥 He is a man molded by tragedy.

How you two first met:

 🔥 You met him at his lowest point.

 🔥 With blood caked into his dull red hair and a gash across his chest, he was the picture-perfect image of a dead man walking. Only barely clinging onto the thin thread of life.

 🔥 If it weren’t for you, perhaps that thread would’ve snapped, ending a flicker that has yet to burn.

 🔥 Dragging him away from the fight and into safety wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. Combined with a harbinger on your tail, it was a blessing that the two of you even came out of it alive.

 🔥 Nursing him back to health wasn’t the easy part either. He is a stubborn man at the best of times, so you can imagine the headache it was trying to convince him that ‘No, this soup isn’t poison; why would I kill you after spending so much time trying to prevent your death?' 

 🔥 But when the third month of you nursing him came to a close, he eventually relented in his mistrust of you, and that is when you finally moved the pawn to the other side.

"Why did you help me?" The sun shines down, bathing the room and the two of you in its glow. Around you, piles upon piles of unread paper lay about, with secrets untold, and yet you can’t even glance at them as you stare at the man in front of you. His red glare burns at you, and you know that one wrong move would destroy the month of fragile trust he holds for you. One wrong move and this whole relationship crumbled before it even had the chance to bloom. Why did you help me? Maybe in a different world, a kinder one, one where you didn’t fail to hold onto your heart until it was ripped away, in part of your own ignorance, you could’ve claimed because you wanted to, because it was the right thing to do, and the words would’ve rang true. But those words are hollow even in your head because that kind of world is out of reach and touch due to your own foolishness. And so, willing your beating heart down, you give him a grin and extend your hand over the desk that was never yours. "I want your help," You say this, seeing a door closing and a new one opening right in front of your eyes. "Join the information guide and help me bring down the fatui."

 🔥 Under the scorching gaze of the sun, the two shook hands as the tree branches anew.

Friendship:

 🔥 You two weren’t friends after that, instead becoming business associates of sorts.

 🔥 He knew the relationship, and so did you. The game of manipulation isn’t that bad when both sides are playing. Sure, you cared for each other in the same way you cared for a queen in chess. Lose it, and the chances of victory decrease rapidly.

 🔥 But, as the day came and went, a small flower of friendship began to bloom before the two of you even realized it, and before long, the line of friends and business partners started to blur.

 🔥 Shifting through every conversation, he found nuggets of information about you and your past. Of how you despise spiders, how you care for stray animals on the streets, and how you tell yourself you're the reason why your two younger sisters are buried 6 feet under the ground you walk on.

 🔥 Of course, the last one didn’t come from a friendly chat or passing line to alleviate boredom. No, this one came from under a dying yew tree as the blank snow blanketed the two under its cold embrace. The sun setting as if it knew it had no right to witness your sorrow.

 🔥 He should’ve gone too, vanishing under the horizon like the setting sun, and yet his feet refused to move, rooted in the ground as he stared at you, leaning against the old, decaying yew tree, nursing a bottle of rum.

"I thought you didn’t drink?" You grin at him, all the humor and light in your smile gone, leaving behind the bitterness that only those who chain themselves to their ghosts harbor. "I don’t," you answer, taking another swing.

 🔥 He doesn’t know what compelled him that day, what rooted him to the ground, or what pushed him to move—not away but towards. Draping his coat around you, he slides down beside you, ignoring your look of surprise as he steals the bottle and takes a swing for himself.

 "What?" He asked, stomping the urge to smirk at the sight of your confused look. "I don’t drink either." Pressing the lip of the rum bottle against his own, he made sure your eyes followed his movements as he took another swig, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he felt both the burn of the liquor and your gaze on him.

 🔥 A soft chortle escapes you as you turn your head back, and he can’t help the pleased grin on his face as he passes the bottle back to you.

 🔥 And so he sat there with you, watching nothing and everything. There was no sound but the howling current and yet, he can’t bring it to regret sitting down next to you. 

 🔥 But after minutes, or perhaps hours, did you open your lip, and unveil the secrets of your past to him.

 🔥 Of how it was your sisters who established the guild, and it was they who held all the dreams and ambitions while you supported them from the sidelines.

 🔥 A decision you regretted dearly, for in your mind, it was your lack of action that caused their early demise. For if only you joined their cause or stopped them before they angered the harbingers and drew the ire of the Tsaritsa, may they still be smiling and you still hold your heart.

 🔥 But the past is written in stone, and no matter how much begging or crying, time will continue to march on, with or without you.

 🔥 And so you had to learn to live on with a hollow cavern where your heart once lay.

 🔥 Seeing you sharing a tapestry only meant for one eye alone and the eyes of the dead with him, he can't help but give his own to you.

 🔥 And so, under the old yew tree, the two broken souls shared a single bottle of rum, reminiscing and mourning their ghosts as the sun started to peak over the horizon. But, blanketed under the warm glow of the rising dawn, the two souls found new light.

In a romantic relationship:

 🔥 After that moment, your relationship truly changes into something more. Of course, it didn’t happen spontaneously, for Rome was not built in a day. But as the days came and went and as the trees' soft green leaves shifted into warm hues as they fell, you found a spark ignited between you and him. 

 🔥 It would take another 3 months, however, before his patient ran thin, confessing to you in the most unromantic manner possible.

"Go out with me." "Sorry, say again?" "Go out with me." "Diluc, we are hunched on the ground as we try to remove as many shit stains your bird has left on my favorite jacket as possible, and you think this is the best time to ask me out?" . . . "Is that a no?"

 🔥 After that shitty (pun intended) start to the relationship, did you find yourself surprised that not much has changed between him and you?

 🔥 Perhaps it’s because the lines were so blurred before you got together that you found yourself acting just like before. There were changes, of course, in how he always had an arm around your waist or how he slowly phased out your name, calling you ‘darling’ or ‘honey’ when he was feeling particularly playful.

 🔥 He has always been a man of action, and that fact is truly highlighted in a relationship. He is not a man who’ll wake you up with a soothing serenade like a bard, but he will bring you breakfast in bed and share a cup of tea as you both enjoy the quiet tranquility an early morning provides.

 🔥 In the afternoon, you both parted ways, with him fulfilling his duties as head of Dawn Wineries and you as head of the elusive information guild. But it is not uncommon to find your workload lightened due to a certain red-haired man. (Don’t mention this fact to him if you don't want to see his face light to the color of his hair.)

 🔥 The evening can go one or two ways; the first is the quiet retreat back to your guy's little bubble of peace. He’ll read a book sitting on the floor as you sit behind him, breading his crimson locks as you two soak in each other’s presence.

 🔥 Or perhaps you two would be gliding down the halls, your movements easily syncing together as you dance and dance until your feet are sore. Some days, you two would take turns belting out lyrics off-key, and some other days, you would dance to the sound of your heartbeats becoming one.

 🔥 The other option is when the evening drags a touch too long and the silence becomes defending, and so you find yourself seated at the bar, chatting away with friends as you catch glimpses from your peripheral of him, and every time he catches your eyes, he can't help but smile back at you.

 🔥 And when the sun has truly left the sky, the last bight of light bleeding out of the cold, dark skies, do you watch as the Darknight hero rises and descends down on the sinner and scum, protecting those in the sun’s absence? Is that even a question? Of course.

 🔥 You may have lost your first heart, but it was due to him and so many others that you were able to find it in yourself to pick up the shattered shards and make a new one from the remains of the old.

 🔥 To see the world, not through the haze of the ghost of the past, but with clarity to see a new dawn rising and a new branching future for yourself and him, you can’t help but smile.

Extras:

 🔥 You moved in with him after three years of him living at the base of the intelligence guild. At the time, you weren’t together, but you two did firmly have feelings for one another, so when asked, you accepted, moving the base and you to Mondstadt.

 🔥 Kaeye at first had mixed feelings about you; seeing as he already knew you due to his past dealings with the guild, he originally thought you were using Diluc until he saw the genuine love you two held for one another, at which point he backed off, becoming the supportive but ‘You know you can do better than master Diluc, right?’ friend.

 🔥 He usually is always holding you in some way. His preferred way is hand-holding if you’re out and about, but when in the privacy of your own home, it’s not uncommon to feel his arms wrapping around your waist for a surprise hug from behind.

 🔥 He is not a picky eater, not caring for what is being put inside his mouth as long as it isn’t poison, but he makes sure to make notes about your food preference.

 🔥 Whenever he notices you getting nauseous, he hands you a drink, claiming it’s a secret ‘family recipe', and every time, it clears your abdominal migraines in seconds. (You swear it’s the nectar of the archons.)

 🔥 At first, when he noticed you singing, he would quiet down or stop talking altogether, content with listening. After a while, he joined in, at first with hums barely audible, before signing full duets with you. (In the privacy of your own home, of course.)

 🔥 He loves your hobbies and greatly encourages you, buying you anything and everything you would need. (Which devolved into you also giving him gifts back, and now you two are stuck in an endless gifting cycle.)

 🔥 Knowing your love of sweets, he wanted to try to bake some for you, which caused…Let’s just say you were lucky the kitchen didn’t burn down. After that incident, however, you always made sure to join him in the kitchen, and now it’s a fun bonding experience baking with Diluc. (If you can overlook the fact that he somehow burned water.)

[anglophiletraveler]

In My Life

Chapter 27

“Getting to Know You”

I’m so sorry that it’s taken so long for this chapter to post.  I had that mishap with accidentally deleting half of the chapter, so that was frustrating.  And of course, it was a chapter that was somewhat easier to write than normal, and trying to get that back was harder than I thought.  Going back and forth because of the feeling that I had already written something was very frustrating, and of course I didn’t want to repeat myself.  So in the interest of getting this out, I haven’t attached a song for the title.  Also, just to warn you, the rating on this chapter has gone up to an “E” because of the love scene towards the end.  I hope nobody gets offended.  Thanks again to my Italian beta, Karen Brockius.  You totally rock!

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

“Hello sister,” the man said.

“Hello Luke,” Demelza said.

There was an awkwardness in the room between the three of them.  Finally Ross stepped forward to shake hands with the gentleman, “Ross Poldark, I’m your sister’s boyfriend.”

Demelza shook her head, “Judas, I’m sorry.  Ross, this is my brother Luke.  Luke, this is my boyfriend, Ross.”

Luke has a small smile, “Hiya, nice to meet you.  Sorry about earlier sister, I didn’t mean to scare you at the buffet line.”

“Right.  I felt like I had seen a ghost for a minute.  Thank you for meeting me.  Do you want to sit down? I’m sure Caroline’s uncle won’t mind.”  She motioned for them to sit on one of the sofas.

Luke sat down on one sofa while Demelza and Ross sat on the other, “It’s a fancy room.  But, I guess it’s a fancy room for a fancy house.”

“Yes it is,” said Demelza.  

“You look real pretty Dem.  Real pretty.” Luke said.

“Thanks.  You look good yourself.”  

Ross could see that this conversation was going nowhere fast.  He cleared his throat, “So Luke, have you been working for the caterer long?”

“ ‘bout three years now.  I mainly work at his restaurant in the kitchen cooking.  Maybe you’ve heard of the restaurant, it’s called The Purple Onion, it’s in Truro,” Luke said.

“Um no, I’m afraid I haven’t heard of it, but I don’t get back this way very often.  We live in London,” Ross said.

“Oh do ya now?  I wondered what e’re happened to ya.  I avn’t really kept in touch with the family much lately,” Luke started to explain.

Demelza finally spoke up, “Luke do ya keep in touch with da?”

“Wha? Christ no!  I live in Truro now.  I moved there ‘bout four years ago and avn’t looked back.  Evry once in a while I run into him in the shop and then he asks me for money, but there’s no way in hell that I would ever give that man money.  I work hard for me money and the last thing I’m gonna do is give it to him just to drink it away.” Luke’s voice got louder as he spoke about their father.  

“Okay, okay, I didn’t mean to upset you.  I just needed to know, because I really don’t wanna run into him this weekend while we’re down here visiting Ross’s parents.   I don’t want him knowing where I live or work or anything about me.  I don’t want him in my life at all.”  Demelza was starting to breathe harder and it didn’t go unnoticed by Ross.  He started to rub her back hoping to get her to calm down.  

“Look sister, you don’a have ta worry about him hearin anythin from me.  I have a good life now, I love what I do cooking at the restaurant and me boss is checking out culinary schools for me.  Maybe someday hopefully I can go to cookin school.  Eh that would be grand wouldn’t it?  Imagine that!  Me a chef!” Luke said.

Demelza smiled at the excitement in her brother, “Oh Luke, that sounds wonderful!  I hope it works out for ya.  I’m that glad for ya.  Truly I am.”

Luke took a quick look around and got up to sit in the chair next to Demezla.  He dropped his voice low so that nobody outside of the doors could hear him.  “Sister, have, have ya still any scars from the beatins?”

Demelza looked down at her hands, “Yes.  I have some on me back tha ne’vr went ‘way.”  Ross took one of Demelza’s hands in his.

“Aye, I still do too sister.”

Demelza looked up at Luke puzzled, “You? No, no that can’t be Luke.  I thought that I was the only one who got the beatings?  To save the rest of ya from gettin ‘em?!”

“Well, after ye left fer university, I guess the old man decided it was my turn.  He skipped o’er preacher Sam and let me have it.  I don’t remember if the others got whooped.  Maybe he jest didn’t like red hair?”  Luke could see how much this upset his sister.  “It’s okay sister, we’re out of that hell hole now.”

Demelza had fresh tears on her cheeks now.  “Oh Luke, I am so sorry, I didn’t know.  Why don’t you give me your number and maybe we can keep in touch, yeah?” Demelza handed Luke her phone to put his number in it for her.  Ross was stunned listening and watching the siblings talk about their beatings.  It was something that he had a hard time comprehending.

“Tha would be nice Dem, really nice.  Hey ya never told me what kind of job you have?” Luke asked.

“Your sister is a brilliant cellist for the BBC Orchestra in London,” Ross said with pride.

“Wha!  No way!  Demelza, that’s brilliant!  Glory be!  Maybe someday I can make it up there to watch ya!  I’ve never been to London, but I reckon I could make it up there to see my sister play her cello!  You always were good on that thing!” 

“Oh gosh, thank you Luke.  I’d love for ya to come up and visit us someday.  We have an extra room you could stay in.   That will be somethin to look forward to, yeah!”  Demelza was relieved by Luke’s news about his life and that he was trying to make something out of his life, and that he wasn’t in contact with their father.

Just then the door to the study opened and Luke’s boss came in, “Luke, we need help loading up the vans.”

Luke stood up, “Right, I’ll be right there boss.  Well, I better get going.  It was grand to see you again sister.  Nice to meet you Ross.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you as well Luke.” Luke and Demelza gave each other a hug before he left.  Ross and Demelza watched as he went out the door.  Ross let out a big sigh and looked at Demelza, “Do you want to go back to the party, or would you just like to go home, love.”   

“I’d like to leave, but we need to say goodbye to Dwight and Caroline before we go.  Did you need to say something to your cousins before we go?” Demelza asked.

“Cousins?” Ross had completely forgotten that his cousin and his wife were at the party.  “Oh bloody hell no, I don’t need to see them again for another decade.”

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

Ross and Demelza found Dwight and Caroline and said their goodbyes.  It was only 10:30 when they left but it had seemed later than that with everything that had gone on at the party.  They were on their way back to Nampara under a clear sky filled with stars. 

“Ross, I’m so sorry to make you leave the party early.”

“No need to apologise.  I made small talk with the partners from the firm and danced with you a couple of times.  That’s all I needed to do.  I’m glad to finally be alone with you, love,” Ross said.

“Ross, I was wondering, is there someplace that we could go around here, where we could be alone?” Demelza asked.

“Let me think.  I’m sure that there’s a bar open somewhere in the area.  But that’s not what you had in mind is it.”

“No, not really.”

Ross could tell something was bothering her.  He was sure that running into her brother had really rattled her.  They were used to their privacy at the London flat, but things wouldn’t be that private back at Nampara, especially if his Mama was still up.  She would want to know the details of the party and who was there and who wore what.

“You know, mama and papa might not even be up by the time we get home.  We can sneak a pot of tea and some biscuits up to our bedroom.  Maybe even a bottle of champagne,” said Ross.  He reached over and held her hand.

“Yeah maybe.  It is getting late, maybe your parents don’t stay up late anymore.  Oh Ross!  We didn’t get a chance to talk with Dwight about your mother’s condition.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure we can make time this weekend to go out for lunch or something.  Tonight probably wasn’t the right time to talk about it anyway.  Hey, did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight?” Ross was trying to change the subject.

Demelza smiled, “Yes Ross, you did.  And you were definitely the most handsome man at the party.”

“Well, if I was the most handsome man at the party, and you were the most beautiful woman at the party… do you know what that makes us?”  Ross had a huge smile on his face.

“No Ross, what does that make us?” Demelza was bracing herself for Ross’s answer.

“That makes us Ken and Barbie!” Ross was laughing at cracking himself up. Demelza loved it when he laughed like this, his eyes light up and twinkle, his mouth gets wide and his whole face lights up with his laughing.  

“Ross, that’s terrible!!  I wouldn’t want to be like Barbie with her perfect smile, her perfect hair and her tiny waist.  Although I wouldn’t mind having her penthouse or her camper!!” Demelza joked.  

“Oh, and don’t forget about her corvette!  You’re going to need the Barbie corvette for when you get your driver’s licence!” Ross was egging her on now.

“You twat!” Demelza smacked him on his arm, “I am not getting my driver’s licence!”

“We’ll see, we’ll see.  Don’t forget you promised me that you would have another driving licence tomorrow.”

“What?  I did no such thing Ross Poldark!” Demelza was getting riled up now.

“Oh yes you did.  I remember you distinctly agreeing to another lesson tomorrow when we got back from getting the champagne.”  The smile never left Ross’s face.

“You liar!  I never said no such thing Ross Poldark and you know it!”

Ross pulled into a parking spot at Nampara, “Most of the lights are off, Dem.  That’s a good sign.  The elders may all be tucked away!”  Ross leaned over to kiss Demelza.  He made sure that it was a deliberate and long kiss. When the kiss ended they were both breathing heavier.  Demelza noticed that the windows were a little steamed up.  She giggled, “Ross, we steamed  up the windows!”  Ross joined her giggles, “How about steaming up the shower door with me?”  Ross was kissing and nuzzling her neck.  He knew this would get to her.  “Mmmm I do want to get out of these clothes and take a shower, and put on my sweats before I climb into bed.”  “Your sweats?  What do you mean by that?” Ross wondered.  “Did ya forget I have my period?”  Ross sighed, “C’mon love, let’s get you in those sweats.” Ross kissed her hand and then opened his car door and walked around to open Demelza’s door.  Demelza stood up and put her hand on Ross’s cheek and kissed him.  “I am sorry Ross.”  “Nothing to be sorry about, love.  It’s not your fault.  It’s just life.  C’mon love, I’ll give you a back rub.  I think we’re both beat anyway.”  He put his hand in hers and led her into the house. 

He opened the door quietly trying not to wake anyone up.  He looked around and saw that the coast was clear, no parents and no Jud and Prudie.  The fireplace had been banked and there were just a couple of lights left on to lead the way.  They quietly walked into the kitchen to pick up supplies to take upstairs.  “Are you hungry Demelza?”  “Aye, I’m starvin.”  Ross chuckled, “Of course you are babe.”  Demelza put her hand on her hip and gave him a sour look.  “Sorry Dem, I can’t help it!  You’re always hungry, I swear you have a hollow leg!  Let’s check the fridge and see what we can find to take upstairs with us.  Do you want to put on the kettle and take a pot upstairs with us?” Ross asked.   “Sure, I’ll get that started.  There’s still some biscuits in the cookie jar.  Is there anything in the fridge?  Something to make sandwiches out of maybe?”  Demelza’s stomach growled and they both laughed.  “There looks to be some ham, some cheese, mustard, pickles, some roast beef.  We could make some sandwiches out of that.  There should be some bread over in the bread box,” Ross started pulling everything out on the counter.  

Demelza found the bread, “Oh Ross! I love this kind of bread!  It smells so good!  Here, smell it!”  Demelza shoved the loaf of brown rye bread under Ross’s nose.  “Yeah, it smells fine.  Since when are you into rye bread?”  

“Mmmm I don’t know. Probably uni.  It’s a treat.  It’s kind of expensive, so I don’t get to have it very often,” Demelza said. 

Ross stopped where he was standing, eyebrows furrowed looking at Demelza, and he held both of her hands in his and looked in her endless blue eyes.  “Demelza, love, you don’t have to  skimp on bread.  If you want rye bread at home, then buy it.  If you want 10 different types of cheeses, then buy it.  We can afford it, and we’re not going to go broke buying food.”  He saw that her eyes were shiny, and the look on her face was almost one of fear.  “I promise you. Okay?  We’re fine financially.  We’re not struggling.”  He pulled her into him for an embrace.  He gently kissed her forehead.  “Why don’t you take this bottle of champagne and two glasses upstairs and get in the shower, and I’ll make us some sandwiches and bring them up, yeah?”  Demelza quietly shook her head yes and took the champagne and glasses upstairs.  

Ross watched her go and then sighed.  He shook his head and started making sandwiches.  He hadn’t realised that Demelza had been holding off buying certain groceries because of cost.  When they first started living together Demelza had tried to insist that they split the cost of groceries and utilities 50/50 but he tried to explain to her that it wasn’t necessary.  Besides, he knew that her salary from the orchestra really wasn’t that much.  He had finally convinced her that he would keep on paying for the utilities because he was already paying for those, but they could split the groceries if she wanted.  They still had their own bank accounts, but Ross thought it would be easier if they opened a joint account for the groceries and any other expenses, and then have two cards to use for groceries.  He hadn’t paid close attention to the balance and the transactions.  It just was never something that he was worried about because he knew his share went in automatically, but it made him think that maybe he should check the online statements to see if there were any issues that he should know about.  But now wasn’t the time, so he made the sandwiches to take upstairs.

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

Ross opened the bedroom door carrying the tray and shut the door with his foot.   He heard the shower still running and thought about joining Demelza, but then decided against it in case she wanted some privacy.  He peeled off his tux from his sweaty body and slipped on some pyjama bottoms, and opened the champagne and poured out two glasses.  He turned down the bed and placed the tray on it and turned on the TV to watch the New Year’s countdown show and climbed into bed. The shower turned off and soon after Demelza came out of the bathroom in one of Ross’s t-shirts and her knickers, combing her hair out.  

Ross smiled at her.  He always loved it when she wore his clothes.  “Hey you.  Feeling better?”

Demelza sat gently on the bed, “Yes, I do, much better.  The food looks good.  What did you end up making?” 

“Well, we have a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard, and a roast beef and cheese sandwich with mustard, with pickles on the side.  Not too exciting.  I like both so you pick what you want and I’ll take what’s left.”

“Oh I’ll have the ham and cheese, and some tea.  Thank you very much.  What are we watching?” Demelza took a large bite of her sandwich and took a cup of tea from Ross.

“Oh, it’s just some New Year’s countdown show.  We can turn it off if you want,” Ross took a bite of his sandwich.

“Oh it’s fine, I don’t really care.  Ross I just happened to think, we didn’t see Seamus when we came home,” Demelza said.

“Oh I’m sure he was in mum and da’s room.  He usually stays close to them when we’re here visiting.  Hey, you never mentioned that you and your brother look so much alike.  I felt like I was seeing double!” Ross said.

“Oh, I guess I never thought about it much.  It’s not like there were mirrors everywhere to look at ourselves,’ Demelza took another bite of her sandwich.

“Interesting.  Is Luke next to you in line?” Ross asked.

“No, Sam is next in line to me, then Luke.  I felt bad tonight when he told me that father used to beat him as well.  I really thought I was the only one.  I mean, I knew that all of us were hit by him, but I really thought they just got a back hand every once in a while,” she explained.

Ross picked up her hand and kissed it tenderly.  “I wish that I could banish all of that away from your memories.”

Demelza smiled at those kind eyes, “I know Ross.” 

They sat in silence watching the tele, eating their sandwiches for a bit.  Ross set aside the empty plates and sat up in bed.  “Why don’t you come over here, I think I owe you a back rub,” Ross gently pulled Demelza in between his legs and started massaging her back. Every once in a while he could feel the scars still left on her back, but tried to avoid them.   It didn’t take long for Demelza to start moaning from the rubdown she was getting.  “Where do you hurt more, hmm? Is it your low back?”  Ross moved his hands lower.  “Oh yes, Ross, right there.  Harder please!”  Ross chuckled lightly, “That’s what you said last night!”   “Haha, very funny.  But seriously, rub me harder there.”  “Alright, alright.  I don’t want to hurt you.”   “Oh yeah, that’s it.  Judas, that feels so good.  Thanks babe.”  Demelza sat back up.  “You are quite welcome.  I’m sure if there was anyone standing outside the door listening in, they were probably wondering what we were up to!” Ross laughed.  

Demelza climbed on top of Ross’s lap, “You mean something like this.” Demelza grabbed Ross’s face and planted a sensuous kiss on Ross’s lips.  Ross opened his lips to let Demelza’s tongue in his mouth to tango with his tongue.  Ross pulled back to catch his breath, “Well, Happy New Year’s to me!” Demelza smiled at him like she had something on her mind.  She pulled off the t-shirt that she was wearing and pulled Ross close to her so that they were bare chest to bare chest.   “Oh God Demelza,” Ross moaned.  Ross’s hands were caressing her bare back as he stared up in Demelza’s eyes.  Ross started kissing Demelza’s neck causing her to moan.  She laid her head back to allow him more access.  “Oh Rosssss.”   He found her rocking against his lap.  She heard a low moan, a sound that she didn’t recognize was coming from herself, and Ross was moaning right along with her.  He grabbed her hips and was helping her move back and forth.  She would have bruises from his fingers in the morning, but she didn’t care.  She laid back in his hands at her waist, her head laid back with her fire red hair draping down.   Her ivory skin glowing.  Ross couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.  “Demelza, you are so fucking beautiful.  You look like a goddess laying like that.”  Demelza sat back up and grabbed Ross’s hair to lavish more kisses on him, “Ross, I want….”   Ross couldn’t believe Demelza and what was happening, “What do you want, my love.  Tell me what you want!”  “I want you.  Oh God.  I need you so much Ross,” she cried out.   Ross looked her in the eyes, “But you are… are you sure?”  Demelza looked back at him, “Oh God yes, that is, if you don’t mind trying it?”  “I’m willing if you are.  Go to the bathroom and take care of yourself, and bring a couple of towels back out with you, yeah?”  Demelza shook her head and ran into the bathroom.  

Ross wasn’t sure what got into Demelza but he wasn’t going to question it. Ross had never thought much about a woman’s period let alone make love to her while she was having it, so he googled it quickly to find out more about it to make sure that it wouldn’t hurt Demelza.  He found out that it wouldn’t hurt the woman, and that it is a natural thing to happen and could even ease the woman’s pain during her cycle.  It just depended on the couple and how they felt about it.  Well I guess I’m going to find out! He thought to himself.  Ross got out of the bed and pulled the covers back even more and took a large drink from his champagne glass and refilled it.  According to the countdown, midnight was getting closer.  He turned off all of the lights except one bedside lamp and lit a few of the candles just as Demelza came out of the bathroom holding the towels crumpled up in front of her, and a wet washcloth.  He smiled to himself because she still had issues about standing naked in front of him.  He walked over to her and gave her a gentle kiss, “Are you sure about this?  I don’t want you to feel like this is something you have to do.”

Demelza laid the towels on the bed, “Oh Ross, I don’t know what’s come over me, but I really need to feel your love right now, please.”  She was almost begging and it almost broke his heart.

“Oh my darling, you always have my love.  Why don’t you have a drink of your champagne and I’ll spread the towels out.  It’s almost midnight!”  Ross spread the towels down on the sheet and noticed that Demelza drank most of her champagne and poured more in her glass.  He turned the tele off and removed his bottoms and climbed back into bed sitting against the headboard.  Demelza found some soft music on her phone and quickly joined him.

Demelza took her place back sitting on Ross’s lap.  Ross took a moment to look into her eyes, smiling at her as he stroked her hair lovingly.  

“Happy New Year’s babe,” Ross said. 

 “Happy New Year’s Ross.” 

Ross thought Demelza’s eyes seemed darker than usual, “Our first New Year’s, the first of many I hope,” Ross leaned up to lay a soft kiss on her lips.  “I am your humble servant and  at your beckon call.”  His kisses continued lovingly one loving kiss after another.   Demelza was smiling and enjoying Ross’s attention.  Her breathing was a little faster and she was hanging onto his shoulders for dear life as if she was falling over a cliff with him. “Let me love you Demelza.” Ross’s lips moved to her left nipple and gently sucked on it while squeezing the other gently in his fingers.  Demelza let out a soft “Ooohhhh”.  Ross wondered if Demelza realised that she was rocking her hips again on his.  He was enjoying every bit of it and wanted to make sure that she did too.  He moved his mouth to her other breast and ravished it in his mouth, causing her to yell out, “Roosss.  Oh I love you!”  She grabbed his hair and was holding his head against her breast.  He couldn’t help but moan out.  He slowly licked up her neck again and again.  She began to shake a little bit and he wasn’t sure if she was cold or just overwhelmed, “Are you cold my love?”   She shook her head, “No, I don’t know why I’m shaking.  I need you Ross, please!”  He helped her raise up a little and then she reached back behind her and took his cock in her hand and lined it up and lowered herself on it.  They both moaned at the same time as she bottomed out on him. He had wrapped his arms around her so that she could feel even closer to him.    

She lowered her head to his shoulder and could smell his cologne mixed with his sweat. She began to rub her cheek in Ross’s beard, biting at his jawline.  Ross let out a hiss at the feeling that she was stirring in him.   “God Ross, I love this feeling.”  Ross couldn’t stop laying soft kisses on her head and face.  “Oh Demelza, I love it too.  I love it too.”  Demelza finally was able to raise herself up a little and then come back down on Ross bringing out another moan from Ross.  They had only made love in this position a couple of times so it still felt new to Demelza.  She raised up again, only this time with Ross’s help at her hips.  She came back down again and moaned.  She adjusted herself so that she could raise up easier.  Ross planted his feet on the mattress so that he could rise up in Demelza to help her, and she loved the friction that he was causing.  “Mmmmm Demelza, you feel so good, so hot inside” Ross whispered in her ear.   Demelza was trying to go faster to reach her climax.  Ross let out a slight chuckle, “Slow down babe, we have all night.  Yesss, that’s it Demelza, nice and slow.”  Demelza was finally getting into the rhythm of things.  Ross could hear little whimpers coming from Demelza.  She was running her fingers through her hair, throwing her head back enjoying the feeling.  “Fuck, you’re beautiful Demelza, so beautiful.”  Ross had sped up their rhythm, Demelza rolled herself back up to embrace Ross and bite on his neck.  “Ross, I’m close, but I can’t…”

All of a sudden Ross flipped them without losing connection so that Demelza was on her back and Ross was on top of her, “I’ll take care of you my love, don’t worry,” he whispered into her ear.  And with that Demelza raised her legs up over his back and locked them at the ankles.  The different angle made Demelza moan even more.  “Demelza, I need you to look at me.”  Demelza left her eyes closed, “Look at me!”  She finally opened her eyes to look at her lover.  It was almost too much.   She felt like she was falling deep into his bourbon coloured eyes, and there wasn’t anything around them, no sound.  Just the two of them, together, feeling each other’s love.  Ross leaned up on his left elbow and reached between them with his right hand at the spot where they were joined and helped Demelza come to her climax.  He had lost all rhythm now as Demelza came, tears streaming down her red cheeks. “Rosss.”   It wasn’t long before he joined her in his end, moaning her name, “Mmmelza, I love you, so much.” 

Ross was finally able to slow down enough to stop, his hips stuttering at the end.  He started to climb off Demelza when she stopped him, “Don’t go Ross, please stay.”

“Demelza, I’m too heavy to lay on you like this.”

“No you’re not, please don’t go.”

He smiled down at her and kissed her tears away.  “Alright, for just a minute.” Ross raised up, “Are you alright, love?  Are you in pain anywhere?”  Demelza smiled at him, “I am absolutely wonderful,” she said.   Ross smiled and laid his forehead against hers feeling so emotional over what just happened between the two of them.  He knew that guys weren’t supposed to get emotional over sex, but he couldn’t help it.  What they just shared was so intense, so…. He wasn’t even sure what words he could use.  Powerful maybe?  

Ross soon rolled off of Demelza when he thought she had fallen asleep.  He had taken the wet cloth to clean her up, and then himself.  He laid back down and pulled her into his arms. 

“Goodnight my love.”

“Goodnight Ross.  I love you.”

“I love you too sweetheart.”

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

*Note:  My parents owned a restaurant when I was growing up.  When I was a little girl, I always thought that if I had a restaurant, I would name it The Purple Onion - the name of the restaurant Luke works in lol.

[katsushika-division]

It was very late into the night and Touya Kisaragi’s birthday was nearly over but there was still one more present he had yet to receive. A knock on the door to the residence of Death Row Block and Akari was heard and Akihisa, being the one who was closest to the door, went up to check who it was through the peephole, after all, who in their right mind would go to the place where known and infamous serial killers and murderers lived. A minute later, he sighed and opened the door, revealing none other than Kaiji Sano of Kobe Division’s Lovesick, in his usual feminine get up and holding a number of pink and black colored bags. “Surprise!” The crossdresser sang and stepped inside. “Sorry for coming in late, I was booked photo shoot after photo shoot for this upcoming anime but never mind that…” His icy blue eyes scanned the room, looking for a familiar head of blue hair. “Where is our beloved birthday boy?”

“KAI-CHAN!!!” As if on cue, the white haired boy was immediately tackled into a hug by said birthday boy. Touya squealed and nuzzled his cheek against Kaiji’s, grinning widely. “Kai-chan! Kai-chan! You came! I was afraid you forgot!”

Kaiji laughed and did his best to hug Touya back while being mindful of the bags still in his hands. “Of course, darling. I could never forget about you!” Kaiji pressed a kiss on his cheek before signaling him to let go. “I also got you something, well, somethings to be more accurate. Wanna open them?”

Touya’s eyes shined at the thought of presents and nodded rapidly, taking Kaiji’s wrist and pulling him towards his room and shutting the door. Once the two of them were situated on Touya’s bed, Kaiji gave the bags to Touya which he happily took, opening one bag, it revealed…

A pair of new and shiny knives, not only that, they were beautifully crafted, one taking the appearance of a butterfly and the other had hearts carved into them. “I know you have a bunch already but you could always have more, they’re a matching set so you can gift one to your beloved.”

Another bag revealed a beautiful bouquet of pink roses. “Beautiful right? Well, those are actually from Max. He’s really taking up gardening recently, he wanted me to tell you happy birthday and that he’s sorry he couldn’t be there but he had somewhere to be, he didn’t say much about it only that it’s something important and that he’ll be gone for a few days.”

Another bag revealed a gorgeous looking gothic Lolita cake. “Looks yummy right? I had to call in a favor and man did they deliver, and judging by the drool coming from your mouth I’d say that favor is well worth it hehe!”

And finally, the last bag revealed a high quality and accurate Draculaura cosplay outfit. “Ta da~! An outfit just for you! It’s from this doll brand in America called ‘Monster High’ and it’s something I wanted to cosplay for a while but I just couldn’t find the right idea what to show until I thought back on wanting you to show on my livestream one day. The character that outfit belongs to is called Draculaura and the moment I saw her I immediately thought about you! I made the myself and trust me, with a bit of makeup no one will even recognize you! I have it all planned out don’t worry.”

With all the gifts now revealed, Kaiji wrapped his arms around Touya in a tight hug. “Happy birthday, lovely. I know we’ve only known each other for a year but you’ve become so special to me, like you couldn’t even imagine. I hope you know that.” Pulling back, he gave Touya a bright smile.

Happy Birthday Touya! 💖

Suggestive Themes Ahead.

"You're always so good to me, Kai-chan," Touya purred, bringing the white-haired cosplayer into a kiss. It didn't take long for the kiss to get heated, with Touya licking at Kaiji's lips, begging to be let in something that Kaiji was more than willing to oblige. The two of them were lucky that Katsushika didn't have any neighbors because there was no doubt that the police would be called due to the downright sinfully loud noises coming from them. 

It wasn't hard for the two of them in the middle for their heated passion to maneuver closer to the bed, with Touya pushing Kaiji to lay down on it. Giggling as he straddled Kaiji's lap, Touya ran multiple kisses down his throat, stopping only when he felt the thrum of a vein. It's with a coy smile that Touya runs his tongue across it, tasting the pulse that sat underneath his partner's pale skin. 

"Let me show you how much I appreciate it." 

Meanwhile Downstairs…

"Are they?...."

"Yes."

"While we're still here?" 

"Yes." 

"Fucking gross. They're gonna be like this all night long. Great. Akari? Where are you going?"  

"My hideout because I am not listening to that. You two wanna join?" 

"If you don't mind." 

"Holy shit please." 

[realm-sweet-realm]

Bendy’s First Train Ride

A one-off request for @theluckoftheclaws: Post-BATDR, Adurey takes Bendy to the train station to learn about one of his favourite things in the real world.

After this, I’ll be back to working on “The Infiltrator.” I hope you all enjoy this!

---

It was a beautiful day in the early fall, the cool breeze perfectly balancing out the warm sun. As Audrey enjoyed the weather, she watched as Bendy played with a little boy who looked to be about five years old. They were knelt on the wooden platform of the train station, drawing, and the boy seemed to be perfectly relaxed in Bendy’s presence. Audrey loved to see that.

Bendy tapped the boy’s shoulder, getting his attention. Then, he held up his pencil like a showman about to do a trick and stuck the pencil in his mouth. He swallowed, lifted up his vest, stuck his hand into his stomach as though it were fluid, and took out the pencil, holding it up as though to say, “ta-da!”

The little boy burst into tears and ran to his mom, who was seated a bench away from Audrey.

Bendy looked at Audrey helplessly, and Audrey went to go pick him up.

Bendy buried his head into Audrey’s chest. I thought he’d love that, he communicated to her. She didn’t know how he could do that, just that he’d always been able to.

“I know. I know,” she whispered to him.

Suddenly, a woman appeared in front of Audrey, the little boy Bendy had been playing with holding her hand. “Excuse me,” she interjected, tone sharp, “what is that thing, and why are you letting it around children?”

Audrey put a protective arm around Bendy and looked the woman in the eyes. “He’s a child. That’s why I’m letting him around children.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t. He makes people uncomfortable.”

“Maybe his right to exist in public is more important than your comfort, and you’re just going to have to get used to him.” Audrey put Bendy down and started walking. “Come on, Bendy.”

Once they were out of the woman’s earshot, Audrey spoke up again. “Sorry about that. But hey, you know what we’re here for, right?”

Bendy’s eyes lit up. Trains!

“That’s right! I checked the train schedule. Our train is coming at one, but starting at noon, there’s going to be a different train coming by here every fifteen minutes. And it’ll be noon in...” Audrey checked her watch. “Twenty minutes. We probably have time to hit the candy store if we hustle.”

Bendy nodded vigorously.

Soon, the two of them were exiting the candy store and the first train was beginning to chug by. A block or so away from the train station, they decided to watch it from where they were. Its engine car was red and black, and it was followed by numerous cars that were red and rectangular. Bendy was transfixed.

“That’s a grain train,” Audrey explained. “It’s probably headed for a flour mill somewhere to grind tons and tons of wheat into flour. And then the flour will be taken to stores across the country so we can bake with it.”

Without taking his eyes off the roaring vehicle, Bendy nodded to show that he was paying attention.

Soon, the caboose had gone by, and Bendy and Audrey were walking back to the station together. They took a seat on the bench and let the next fifteen minutes pass in peace as Bendy licked his lollipop and took peeks at Audrey’s watch every thirty seconds. Maybe she ought to get him a cheap watch sometime soon- one she wouldn’t sweat if he lost.

The next train came by three minutes late (though to Bendy it might as well have been hours). Behind its red engine car was a seemingly endless string of black cylindrical cars.

Can we ride in that one? Bendy asked. It looks like the ones we have in the ink realm!

“No. That one transports oil. The next one will be a passenger train, though. It’ll even stop for long enough for us to take a look at it.”

So it was, and so they did. Once the passenger train came to a halt, Bendy was off like a bullet. Audrey had to run and scoop him up so that he wouldn’t get underfoot of all the people lining up to get on. Audrey suppressed horror as she felt Bendy begin to grow and melt so that he could escape her arms and be free to look at trains as closely as he wanted.

“No. Bendy, people are watching!” Audrey whispered to him. He’d gotten as heavy and cumbersome as a large dog and was still growing. Audrey glanced around nervously, catching the curious and judgemental eyes of a few men and women. “I’ll take you around to look at the train, okay? I just don’t want you to get hurt. If you get hurt, you’ll have to regenerate in the studio, and we won’t get to ride the train.”

Reluctantly, Bendy shrank back into his toon form, leaving not a spot of ink on Audrey.

Wheels first? Bendy requested. Audrey took him over to where the wheels were and knelt down so that he could get a good look at the coupling rods and other metal parts that Audrey couldn’t name. After a minute or so, he pointed at the diesel engine, and they went to look at it. And then the counterbalance. And then a metal box on the cab that Audrey couldn’t name. She’d read up a little on trains for Bendy’s sake, but she was by no means an expert.

The train left. Fifteen minutes later, their train arrived, and Bendy was practically bouncing up and down at the prospect of actually riding a train. They boarded and found their seats.

“Alright, now, Bendy. I should warn you: riding on a train can actually be pretty boring. It’s like riding in the car except that I’ll have my hands free to play with you. And I brought you some books.”

Audrey dug out Bendy’s books. Aside from his train almanac, he had a few colouring books mixed in with a famous artist’s guide on pencil drawings, a pocket encyclopedia, and a few children’s chapter books. Bendy accepted them eagerly.

“Are you ready to hear where we’re going?” Audrey asked.

Bendy nodded and whistled.

“We’re going to see a couple that will be very happy to see you. One of them is named Allison Connor. She’s a voice actress who loved the ink machine and the idea of creating life. She’s going to be really happy to see that two happy and healthy beings came out of it. And then there’s Thomas Connor. He’s going to be so relieved when I tell him the machine is in good hands, and that no one’s hurting because of it anymore."

Bendy frowned and gave a nervous whistle. It was the reaction Audrey expected- Bendy didn’t like meeting new people very much. It rarely went well.

“Hey, it’s okay. They know what to expect, so they’re not going to stare at you and ask weird questions like some other people do. And I’ll be with you the whole time. They’ll like you, so long as you behave. Can you promise you’ll behave?”

Bendy nodded, slightly less nervous now.

“Good. They’ll even have rabbits for you to pet.”

The train cranked into motion. Audrey looked out the window as the train left the station, beginning to chug along the tracks, occasionally looking over to Bendy as he took in the landscape. She’d mostly had Bendy in her workplace or at home before, sometimes the park, so this was the most of the world he’d ever seen. Hopefully one day the world would be accepting enough for him to go to school. One day. But for now, all she could do was to stay on the path of making everything right again.