#Barnaby's laugh is something else

[tiramegtoons]

recording from Billie Bust Up's kickstarter livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/OcuC7luZhv4?si=9Tizay87HpUoqSmn&t=23898

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i keep scribbling Laughingstock as soft and wholesome, when in my brain they're chaotic and wholesome. Howdy's got that high energy and Barns is always down to clown yk yk

[plleeeepppyyyy]

wally + clumsy and silly reader!

wally likes them silly,,

these are just little ramblings of wally with a silly reader.,,

_____

★★★ — ★★★★★★ ★★★★★★ — ★★★

you were always known around the neighborhood to be clumsy, you were always clumsy y/n! silly y/n, always tripping over everything. which made you frustrated, despite the others giggling and helping you out.

but, this really didn’t stop you from doing a lot! it made you happy that your friends could at least get entertainment out of your clumsiness. so, you didn’t mind much at times. you were always going around making others laugh, without having to break your head.

you were bouncing around, falling, then coming right back up. if anyone could describe you, you would be a bouncy ball.

as you did this, you noticed a certain blue haired fellow. wally, he was.. different. when you would look at him; you just see him staring at something. or remark about something. he was just chill, whenever you would be around barnaby. he was there. just looking at either the two of you. and for some reason, you felt embarrassed as you did a silly thing.

as if he was silently judging you and it made you feel stupid. nonetheless though, you kept your act up. wanting others to be happy. cause thats what you were, silly, clumsy, happy y/n!

so, one day, you were just strolling around, doing daily shopping and whatnot. till you tripped, for like what? the millionth time? maybe nobody saw it, right?

well, not exactly,,

wally just happened to be right in front of you, holding out his hand. which made you instantly nervous, i made how could you not? just looking up at him, with his usual intense stare, those doting eyes, admittedly it made you more embarrassed by the encounter. more embarrassed to be around him.

but, he didn’t laugh, nor tease you, he just held his hand out. calling out in his calm tone, asking if you were fine.

after stammering out a yes, he dusted you off and helped you out. to admit, you never talked to wally much before, have you? yes, you greeted one another, but imagining yourself tripping daily right in front of him was humiliating.

so, you kept your distance more than usual.

after he helped you out and went on his way, it made you feel a bit bad. for practically trying to ignore him, being too careful around him. you just couldn’t help it though! he was so calm, intense at times, maybe you could even say aloof. after that encounter though, you definitely changed your mind.

after many thoughts dawning on you, you decided to hang around him more often. and he drew you in more. he was just alluring,, soo cool, definitely relaxed. more than you usually were. you were tripping all over the place, just making the others giggle, and you were a bit dumb at times,, (sorry

(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

just silly you were, wally definitely thought you were charming. you were just nice to watch, you would do your own thing, usually break a thing or too, he loved watching you.

he would usually be there to help you back up after you fall, watch you, and giggle at you at times. he didn’t want to lie, you were so charming. you really were like a cartoon character.

basically you guys started being attached at the hip, which was a great surprise to the others! they always saw you together nowadays, wally would just follow along while you were skipping around, missing a beat once a while as you talked and talked. while he listened without a care about anything else.

(basically you guys are calm + hyper)

during this period, wally DEFINITELY wants you to be his muse,, his inspiration. it doesn’t matter if you’re always moving , or bouncing your leg, or always bumping into stuff. he wants to paint you, sketch you, just,, to him you’re so fun to look and see. why not paint you daily? he definitely has an art portfolio of just you, ranging from sketches to paintings. it’s totallyyy not because he’s in love wit you.

he also finds himself staring at you 24/7, even if you guys are hanging out with poppy, julie, baranby, or anyone. he’ll just admire you more than he ever did before. back then, he would hum and watch you a bit as you did another silly thing. nowadays, when you would be fumbling with a straw for your juice, doing something silly, or just anything. it makes him kick his feet, it’s just so endearing, you’re so endearing.

it’s not only wally falling in more, it’s also you.

i mean, what’s not to love about wally? he’s so smooth, calm, he definitely is the type of dude whose got it all under control. he was just,, the opposite of you. maybe that was what attracted you to him, he just was elegant. at least compared to you, when you thought about it.

he was good at everything, he drew well, spoke well, walked well too. you weren’t that for sure, it was like he could guide you through anything. and you’d make it out okay. it made you feel better about your clumsiness.

hopefully by your silly antics and such, it would make it worth while for him.

wally notices on how much you try to make him happy, how you always offer to pose for him, give him ideas; always giving him stuff. it warms his heart to be honest, the fact you’re trying so much for him makes him feel happy.

later into ur guy’s relationship, you both def get comfy. a minute with you two and you already know something’s definitely going on.

cause you guys are just basically flirting at this point, well you can consider wally is, idk about you tho,, ur for sure doin something! (٥⁀▽⁀ )

but if we’re being for real, you guys def flirt. in ur own little ways, wally is pretty smooth when it comes to flirting. once in a while,, he’s pretty awkward with it, due to his,, tone at times. but the other times he’s good at it, like he for sure had some practice (≧◡≦) ♡

literally everyone around you two are just sick of it, you two think ur being sneaky with the flirting, nope! they’re basically bystanders wandering if you guys will finally announce that you’re finally an item!!

you for sure did something like,

“this ones for you wally!!(•̀ᴗ•́)و 🏀”

then the ball misses and launches back onto your head, bonking you sillier.

wally is charmed! ♡︎

it took a while for you guys to happen, wally for instance was actually a bit confused. it took him a bit to figure out what he was feeling, he found you silly, charming, cute,,

okay, maybe he thought you were something for sure.

while you,, poor you,, you just got nervous around him and NEVER would’ve talked to him about ur feelings. like., you just felt like he was out of your league.

but, you two eventually happened,, you did it! ( ˘ ³˘)

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

today was simple, just you, wally, and him sketching. you kept peeking over at what exactly he was sketching, it varied to be honest. apples,, a dog, or just some scribbles.

how could he just simply draw? so easily, while the best you could come up with was chicken scratch. nonetheless, wally was patient with you, he just accepted you. even if you didn’t do anything that impressive.

speaking of this, why did he do that? he just accepted you daily, he would just coo and praise you over anything. how he didn’t mind how much you tripped over something or bumped into one of his art supplies. now that wasn’t simple.

“uhm, hey wally?” wally perked his head up as you spoke up, putting his full attention on you. you felt a bit intimidated as he looked at you with those eyes of his. even if you two came this far, you always found yourself flustered by his presence.

“yes, darling?” he asked, keeping his usual smile up. you cleared your throat and spoke back, “not to be too disruptive but.. i’ve got a question.” he watched you as you sat yourself on the grass. you could feel the spring air flow by as he looked at you with question.

“you’re never disruptive, but do tell. what’s got you thinking, y/n?” as you tried to get your words together, you sighed as you felt yourself get nervous. why did you get nervous? he was just your partner, why be so shy? god, if only you weren’t this flustered all of the time.

“uhm, okay so.. you know how clumsy i am? like, to the point where it’s my whole personality?” you drawled out personality, wally hummed. “well, i wouldn’t say that is your whole personality, but go on.” he said with sincerity, which made you cringe at yourself.

“it’s just.. why do you even like me? i just, i’m so.. stupid at times. i’m always fooling myself out while you— you’re just not that. you know?” you winced at yourself at your explanation, it was clumsy as you usually were.

wally paused for a bit, looking at you with an emotion you can’t really describe. maybe it was pity? concerned? you couldn’t really tell, sometimes whenever he looked at you, you just couldn’t say what he was thinking.

all he did was sigh and close his sketchbook, putting it beside him as he patted his lap. you knew immediately what that meant as you shuffled beside him, laying your head right on his lap. as you did so, he stroked your hair gently.

“now, why would you think about yourself like that?” he asked in his usual soft tone, “i think you’re perfect the way you are, not stupid.” wally looked down at you as he stroked your hair.

wally would never understand how you could think of yourself like that. to him, you were just perfect for him.

“well, it’s just— i.. i don’t know why you gave me a chance.” you mumbled out of embarrassment, wally looked at you with an amused expression. “remember that day when, we actually got to talk? when i tripped right in front of you? i tried so hard to stop that from happening. because, well, you’re the type of person. i don’t wanna embarrass myself in front of. clearly i didn’t do such a good job on that, huh?”

you kept your focus on your hands, not daring to look at him. you noticed how his hand stopped, he kept his hand right on your head.

“y/n.. why would that matter? i have seen you trip tons before.. and, plus, i don’t mind how much you bump, trip, or fall. i’m always there to help you back up, right?” he made you look up as he titled your head upward, “i think its charming.. not how you get hurt at times, of course. but, the way you keep getting back up after you trip, it’s.. well, its admirable. you’re admirable.”

you both paused as silence dawned on the two of you, it made you think. he really loved you, didn’t he?

“you mean that, right?” you asked, looking up at eyes he could never say no too.

wally let a soft chuckle out. “of course i do, silly. gee, you’re asking all of these silly questions.. i mean every,” he leaned down to kiss your head. “word. i promise.” his words made you smile, to the point where you could kick your legs and giggle.

“thanks, sweets. sorry, i’ve just been thinking a lot.” you hummed as you felt better about the whole thing. wally nodded and kissed your head again, keeping your head on his lap.

“but, besides that, what really drew you toward me?” you asked another question, wally hummed in thought as he stroked your hair some more. as if he was thinking.

“a lot of things.. but, it was cute seeing you do funny things. you were just a silly little neighbor to me back then, even still..”

“hm, that’s nice.. wait!” you quickly sat up, “what do you mean silly little neighbor?! could’ve at least said lover.” you whined as he chuckled quietly. “ah, yes. you’re right, silly little lover. you’re my silly little lover, right?”

wally hummed in amusement as you huffed, “guess so.. if you’re gonna call me something stupid you might as well make it less stupid.” wally shook his head and pulled you back to him, wrapping his arms around you.

“oh you, it’s not stupid.. and you definitely are the opposite of stupid.” he giggled and kissed your cheek, he definitely was feeling touchy today.

you couldn’t help but relax back into his arms. you were his silly little lover, his. and that made you okay with tripping daily, if it meant that.

as you closed your eyes and leaned against him more, he let out a little gasp. which made you jump a bit, “oh my, i gotta go give barnaby his microphone back..” he sighed and pulled you off of him gently, looking at his watch.

“you wanna come with, love?” wally asked as he grabbed his stuff, you quickly nodded. as he got up, he held his hand up. looking at you the same as he did the first time, admiration.

you took his hand without hesitation, you stumbled over a bit as you stood up.

he hummed in fondness, “you got it?”

“yep, totally!” you huffed in confidence, but after one step almost tripped over. you cursed yourself mentally.

“uhm.. how about i just hold onto you?” you sheepishly asked as you wrapped your arm around wally’s.

“not a problem with me, darling.”

★_________________________________★

(character and artwork belongs to partycoffin!)

okayy,, i made this a bit longer than i expected it to,, but thats fine. anyways i think i figured out how to open up my inbox! sooo,, if you guys want me to write more stuff about wally or anyone else. im up for it!

btw THANK U GUYS FOR ALL THOSE NOTES YOU GAVE ME LAST TIME (•̀ᴗ•́)ミ❤︎︎

[jellysxtarr]

hello!

could you write the neighborhood with a sweetheart! neighbor?

they find trinkets whenever they’re walking outside to relax in whatever spot they find comfy/involved in the regular shenanigans and gift it to their neighbors once they’re distracted doing something else (they remind me of a crow now that i think about it 😭)

whether that’d be a butterfly charm, a pie hair -tie or a pop soda metal cap, they’ll try to make it look like its brand new again if its rusted and the paint is worn off.

share slices of fruit and lend an ear when they find them feeling down or in a pickle

the neighbor can’t tell jokes for the life of them so they pay for their supplies with bets (long time card game rivals with howdy)

people can’t tell if they’re in a romantic or platonic relationship with any of the cast.

for them, its somewhat in between but they love and care for their neighbors regardless

sorry for making this so long, feel free to shorten or decline this req! hope you have a nice day (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃💗

Woah woah woah anon!! Don't worry about it being too long! I love the effort you put into your request!

Welcome Home cast with a gn! Sweetheart neighbor

Warnings: /

𖤐 — Everyone in the neighborhood knew what type of person you were (in a positive way of course!). You looked out for them, frequently gave them gifts, lend an ear for them and hanged out with them as much as you could.

𖤐 — It wasn't surprising that you came back with something new to give them as a gift, handing it to one of your neighbors while saying its something that reminded you of them.

𖤐 — You were right there whenever one of your neighbors was feeling down, listening to what they have to say, lending them advice (if you're good at it!) And giving as much comfort as you could to turn their mood better.

𖤐 — One thing you don't necessarily understand, would be jokes. Whenever Barnaby cracks a joke or two, muttering on how you don't get it while receiving a pat on the back with a chuckle from Barnaby (who tries to explain the joke in the way you'd understand), was something that would happen from time to time.

𖤐 — Not that anybody was really bothered from it of course! You'll understand it some day, for the time being, you'll be hearing Barnabys simple knock knock jokes!

𖤐 — Often it would happen that you'd pay for your supplies with a simple card game, setting bets with Howdy while either winning or losing the bet. It is, of course some small friendly rivalry between the both of you, ending it with a laugh and waving you goodbye after the card games for your supplies.

𖤐 — Something that's entirely different with each of your neighbors, is when you hang out with them. It was a difference experience with each of them which never got boring or too repetitive.

𖤐 — May it be some fun games with Julie (maybe even sports! Of course, if you want to take the risk with an accident), talking about bugs with Frank, listening to Barnabys jokes and attempting to crack one on your own (even though you end up telling your joke completely wrong), riddles or even another round of card games with Howdy, helping Eddie deliver mails around the neighborhood (if he allows it), baking with Poppy, acting out a random play Sally had in mind or even painting with Wally (if you can paint, of course!).

𖤐 — Another thing that has occasionally happened, was that one of the neighbors (or anybody outside of the neighborhood) falsely assuming you're dating someone from the neighborhood, and pop the question the moment they could. Which you nicely declined, shaking your head and saying you guys are only friends.

𖤐 — Everyone in the neighborhood was your friend. You loved them dearly and appreciated them a lot (hence the constant gifts and trinkets you give them). You cared for them deeply, considered them a new found family even.

𖤐 — it's something you never want to change, and hopefully never will change on it's own.

[inbloomwriting]

a calm surrender II Roy Kent

Plot: Roy doesn't love her. In fact, he finds her irritating above anything else. And yet he manages to tell her in so many different ways.

Pairing: Roy Kent x female reader

Warnings: A lot of swearing, mentions of food and alcohol. Reader takes Keeley's spot in some plot points - no disrepect to her though she's my favorite.

Notes: This is inspired by a "100 ways to say I love you" List. It’s 8.3k words, It's a big one.

Likes, reblogs, comments are all much appreciated. I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please

"It's enough for this restless warrior Just to be with you"

Take my jacket, it’s cold & You can have half

She’s irritating. Everything about her manages to get under his skin. The way she’s always smiling that big radiant smile of hers or the perpetual scent of jasmine and vanilla that seems to follow her anywhere. She laughs too loud, she’s a terrible driver and even worse at parking. The music coming from the physio room is mostly cheesy 80s and 90s pop songs that make Roy want to give himself a lobotomy. She’s irritating in every which way you look at it — and maybe that’s the exact reason why Roy can’t keep himself from looking at her.

Tonight is no exception. For some inexplicable reason, his eyes manage to find her across the room and in the crowd, every single time without fail. It’s not like it’s a conscious choice on his part either. It just happens. That sparkly green dress of her’s just seems to call out to him like the damn light across the bay at the Buchanan’s dock.

And the worst part is that she noticed. She caught his eyes on her more than once, even had the audacity to smirk back at him. During the auction, for a small moment, he thought she might bid on him when her hand just barely twitched and her eyes held a sense of infinite mischief. She didn’t though and for a second he could feel a string of disappointment pull at his heart. Not because he wanted her to bid on him or anything, he just wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of having to spend time with Cheryl Barnaby.

He managed to find her across the room all night — except for right now. Everyone’s on the dance floor. Keeley, Jamie, Ted, even Beard. But not her.

No one’s paying attention to him right now, if he were to just slip out of here, no one will notice.

It’s not like he wanted to be here in the first place. Sure, raising money for underprivileged children is something honorable and he would never let his own disdain for overly glitzy social events get in the way of doing the right thing. Doesn’t mean he has to like it though.

Emptying his glass with one last sip he grabs his jacket from the back of the chair and steps out into the chilly air of a London night.

It’s funny, really, how the moment he stops searching, the green light calls back out to him and she steps into his vision. A glowing beacon of refuge, guiding ships through dark nights to safe shores.

The cold air nips at her skin, sharp and vicious and Roy doesn’t even have to get any closer to her to notice that she’s shivering. He can barely suppress the urge to roll his eyes at her. Of course, she’s cold, she’s only wearing the dress and some flimsy chiffon scarf thing around her shoulders. That’s gonna do fuck all to shelter her from the cold. Irritating. She’s so irritating.

The most irritating part though, is that he can’t help but slip out of his suit jacket. The most irritating part is that he can’t help but care.

“Take my jacket, it’s cold.”

There it is again, that smile of hers. The one he sees sometimes when he’s about to fall asleep. How ridiculous, he thinks, how foolish of him. How absurd it is to fall asleep to the image of a smile belonging to a girl that annoys him more than anything and anyone. (Except maybe Jamie).

“Are you — are you talking to me? Little old me? Are you being nice to me?”

“Jesus fuck, don’t make it weird. I’m always nice.”

She giggles and it’s bloody adorable. So adorable that a smile threatens to pull the corners of his lips upwards. See? Fucking irritating.

“You hardly talk more than 3 words to me when you’re in the physio room but — okay. If that’s your version of nice.”

“Take the jacket or not, I don’t care. I’ll let you freeze out here if you’re trying to be difficult. Means fuck all to me.”

That’s not true. They both know it. No matter how much Roy tries to deny or hide it, there is a soft heart buried inside the rough exterior. He just can’t risk showing that to everyone. Can’t have people getting the wrong ideas.

“No, please I — sorry I’m just — you make me nervous and when I’m nervous I talk a lot and then most of what comes out is just stupid nonsense or deflecting humor or something. I would really appreciate that jacket. It really is fucking freezing.”

Roy has been in the public eye for years now, he’s used to people being intimidated, nervous. Usually, it’s strangers though, people who don’t know him. Those that do, that work with him, usually lose that feeling pretty quickly.

“Why the fuck would I make you nervous?”

She just glances at him before turning her face back towards the street “Have you seen yourself?”

He’s not sure how to take that. Is it a compliment? Does she think he’s handsome? It’s not like it matters to him really. In fact, the thought that she might find him attractive is — say it with me — fucking irritating.

He contemplates asking her outright if this is something she does on purpose. If she’s deliberately trying to rile him up. The words are on the tip of his tongue when he notices her shiver once again and all that was on his mind vanishes against the desperate need to keep her warm.

“Jesus. Let me just — “

Jasmine. Vanilla. He smells it when he slips the jacket around her shoulders. He wonders if his jacket will smell like that, like her, when he gets it back. Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Not because it’s her or anything — just because it smells fantastic and Roy is not one to deny himself the simple pleasures in life.

“I really appreciate it, Roy.”

And the gratefulness with which she says it is not irritating at all. It’s endearing. It’s flutters-in-his-tummy kind of wonderful.

Instead of reacting like a normal, reasonable person with a simple “you're welcome”, he gives her one of his signature grunts. That’s as good a normal reasonable reaction as anyone can expect from him, really.

“What are you out here all by yourself for anyway? Trying to get kidnapped or something?”

“No,” there it is again, the giggle. Ugh. “ I’m waiting for my Uber. He’s — “She checks her phone, illuminating her face with the harsh blue light. He thinks she looks wonderful either way. Then scolds himself for thinking it. Some simple pleasures he has to deny himself. “ 12 minutes away.”

Roy isn’t quite certain whether or not he considers himself a good person. He tries to be, it’s a conscious effort each and every day. He helps out his sister, he gives in to all of Phoebe’s wishes even if it means having to play the princess yet again and never getting to be the dragon. He donates more money to charity than the press is aware of, leaves hefty tips whenever he goes out to eat and though he does swear a lot, he still tries to be polite if he can.

He tries to be a good person and a good person doesn’t let a woman wait outside in the cold dark night by herself. No matter how infuriating she is.

“Do you mind if I keep you company? Couldn’t live with myself if you got snatched up and I was the last person to see you alive.”

A laugh tumbles from her lips. A step up from a giggle and god does it send shockwaves through his traitorous heart.

“The press would have a field day if that happened. I can see the headlines, ‘Football legend Roy Kent involved in the disappearance of Richmond sports physio’ and then they use a picture of you from like 10 years ago with the really bad long hair that makes you look a little sketchy.”

“I didn’t look sketchy.”

“You looked a little sketchy.”

Roy glances at her through the corner of his eyes. She really is a dream in forest green, the sequins, and rhinestones reflecting the street lights like little kaleidoscopes. He’s almost certain he’ll dream in shades of green tonight. He’s sure he’ll see her smiling face.

“You look beautiful.”

The words fall from his lips before he can stop them and it makes him want to put his head through a wall. Fuck.

“Thank you —” she replies bashfully, “do you want some sausage roll?”

In all the scenarios running through his head of how this conversation could’ve gone, this is not one of the outcomes he expected.

“What?” he asks, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Do you want a part of my sausage roll?” she chuckles and pulls a brown paper bag from her sparkly clutch bag. “I wasn’t sure if they were gonna actually feed us or just serve us rich people portions so I brought backup. You can have half if you want.”

She breaks the flaky pastry in two and holds one piece out to him. Even her nails are painted to match the dress. If he was any worse a man he would risk it all for just one taste of her and whatever black magic she possesses that gets so deeply under his skin. He is a better man than that tough, so he settles for a taste of the sausage roll.

“You’re a strange woman”

“Strange or smart?”

Taking a bite from the sausage roll, buttery and flaky and greasy, he must admit she has a point.

“Bit of both.”

“I can live with that.”

Silence settles upon them, well as silent as a London night can be. It feels weirdly comfortable. No expectations to be someone or do something. Just her and the city and the fucking Greggs sausage roll.

And — Elton John?

“Oh, I love that song!”

A string of pink lights adorns the top of the rikshaw as it turns the corner, loudly blasting Can you feel the love tonight. The driver catches sight of them and Roy can’t suppress the annoyed groan slipping its way out.

“Good evening can I interest you lovebirds in a — “

“No, fuck off!”

Elton’s voice gets quieter and quieter as the startled driver rides his rickshaw further away and back into the inky black of the night.

Lovebirds, he called them lovebirds. Thought the two of them were anything other than acquaintances. People pushed together by circumstances and coincidence. As if anything between them could ever happen. She’s already getting under his skin, sticks around his thoughts, and ghosts through his head without him ever giving her permission to do so. She’s all he can think about lately and yes he knows it sounds repetitive but god it’s so damn irritating.

“I would’ve liked to hear the rest of the song.”

Roy scoffs “Figures.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

He turns to face her and, for the first time since he’s stepped out of the building and into this tiny bubble they’re sharing for just this fleeting moment, he looks at her. Really looks at her. With her sparkly dress and her lips painted a deep red like candy apples. With flakes of the pastry sticking to her lower lip and his jacket wrapped around her looking almost like this is where it’s always belonged.

He’s never had a heart attack before, he wonders if this is what it feels like.

“You play the worst fucking music when you’re working in the physio room.”

“Uh — are you insulting my taste in music? Are you really out here insulting the legend, sir Elton John? The Lion King soundtrack is a religious experience, okay?”

He hates that he can clearly tell by the glimmer of mischief in her eyes that she is joking more than anything. He shouldn’t be able to tell. Mere acquaintances can’t do shit like that.

“No, in fact, it’s a pretty fucking great movie. It came out when my sister was a kid though and I had to watch that shit a million times. You know how traumatizing it is having to watch Mufasa die over and over again?“

She grants him a look of understanding and shrugs her shoulders in agreement “At least it’s not Frozen, eh? “

“I have a 6-year-old niece.”

Roy Kent has a lot of things in his life that he takes pride in. His career and talent, all the hard work he put in to be where he is today. He takes pride in being a good brother and a loving uncle and maybe even a good friend and leader.

Making her let out a snort as she laughs at his Frozen-induced misery? That might be his proudest achievement to date.

“I’m glad you find my suffering amusing.”

“What can I say? You’re a funny guy, Roy Kent. So funny in fact that I almost bid on you at the auction.”

He wants to let out the most guttural scream in the existence of mankind. She can’t just go ahead and say stuff like that. Not when he is trying so hard to keep their interactions at the most basic level. Not when she already haunts his dreams. She’s irritating, Roy. Not charming or lovable or — beautiful. Or maybe she is all those things but most of all she’s annoying and infuriating and — oh he’s so fucked.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Oh, well I’m just a measly sports physician. Don’t get me wrong, it's good money but I don’t really earn quite enough to throw thousands of pounds at a man to have him spend time with me.”

He’d do it for free. Hate every second of it, naturally. But he’d do it for free.

Can’t tell her that though. Never. So once again he just grunts.

A silver Toyota pulls up to the curb, effectively bursting their little bubble of comfort as the driver leans down to look out the window. “You (Y/N) ?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

She makes a motion to slip out of the jacket, only for Roy to step in and hold it closed, keeping it in place, wrapped around her, and shielding her from the cold.

“Keep it,” his voice comes out all rough and husky. More than usual. It’s probably the jasmine scent getting to him, clouding his every sense. “Don’t want you to freeze on the way home. Just give it back another time.”

“Oh, okay. Well, thanks again. Goodnight, Roy.”

He opens the door for her and closes it softly once she’s settled into the car. Roy tries so hard to be a good man, a good person but in that moment all he wants to do is be a little bit worse, just a little bit. Just enough to rip the door open again, pull her out of the seat and kiss her stupid.

Instead, he wishes her a good night and sends her off before stepping out into the night himself. There is a smile playing on his lips all the way home and it’s so fucking irritating.

I was in the neighborhood & It’s okay I couldn’t sleep anyway

The door leading to her apartment is bright red and there is a little white sign and the picture of a dog with huge fucking ears that reminds him of Gizmo from the Gremlins. It says “Beware of the dog — might cuddle you to death.”

It’s cheesy as hell. He loves it.

He’s not quite sure how he ended up here. Losing is never fun. Feeling yourself slowly becoming unable to do the things you love, the things you were good at, and actively playing a part in your team losing? That’s absolutely mortifying.

Of all the places he could’ve gone, all the people he could’ve seen — he ends up in front of her door. Red and shiny like her lips that night.

It’s almost 1am and all things considered, this is a really dumb idea. She’s probably asleep and waking her up would be fucking rude. He should just go and forget this ever happened instead of knocking on her door in the middle of the night. That’s what the rational part of his brain tells him at least.

Roy was never really good at listening to the rational part of his brain.

Tiny barks, no doubt belonging to the dog on the sign, echo through the hallway before the door swings open just enough for (Y/N) to look at him with tired eyes.

“Roy?”

“I was in the neighborhood I — I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry.”

It’s not a lie, really. He was in the neighborhood. He walked here specifically to knock on her door and see her.

“It’s okay, I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

Now that is most definitely a lie. Her eyes are sleepy, her hair disheveled and he can just about make out the pillow print on her cheek.

“Do you want to come in?”

He does. He shouldn’t but he really does.

The apartment is small but it feels cozy rather than cramped. The walls are lined with pictures, little reminders of happy moments and people she loves.

There’s one of him too, well him and Isaac and Sam and then her at the end of the line. He thinks it was taken at some get-together after a particularly hard-fought win. He likes to know that there’s a picture of him on her wall even if his appearance in the photo is probably more incidental than anything.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.”

It’s a stupid thing to say, there is so much he doesn’t know about her. He doesn’t know where she was born or if she has siblings or if she always wanted to be a physiotherapist. But there are things he does know, like the specific way she likes her coffee and that she always gets a snickerdoodle cookie from the bakery down the road from the stadium, every Wednesday without fail. How she scrunches up her nose when she’s frustrated and that she snorts when something makes her laugh really hard.

“His name is Yoda. He’s a papillon and also my best friend.”

“Don’t let Sam hear.”

“Oh, he’s also Sam’s best friend.”

Yoda, it’s a fitting name. He does look like a Yoda.

“So what brings you here, Roy? At uh — “ she glances towards her open kitchen and the digital clock on the microwave “ 1:04 am?”

Should’ve gotten his story straight before he came here. What is he supposed to say? I felt like proper shit and wanted to see your smile? Surely not.

So he blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind.

“Came to get my jacket back.”

Absolute dumbass.

“Your jacket? Oh uh. sure. Let me go get it.”

She regards him with confusion and curiosity, he can tell she’s not really buying his story.

“Or, if you aren’t in a rush, I was about to pop in a movie and pig out on some popcorn? Do you want to join me?”

This might be the first time he lets her see the smile she continues to put on his face.

“Fuck yeah, what are we watching?”

“Vernon is such a little bitch. Antagonizing fucking teenagers? What a loser."

“Right?,” (Y/N) agrees, taking a sip from her glass of rose before stuffing another handful of buttery popcorn into her mouth. “Bender needed someone to care, not just another adult yelling at him. "Such a loser. Hey, now that I think about it, you do give me John Bender vibes. All broody and mysterious.”

Roy just scoffs in response.

Her eyes fall onto his empty glass of wine resting on the little square table in front of the couch.

“You want a top-up?”

“No, I’m good. I should probably get going.”

He hates to admit it, it’s something he’ll take to the grave with him, but there’s something about rosé that gets to him. It makes him tipsy immediately. He doesn’t want to go home but the longer he stays the more he opens himself up to saying something stupid and fucking this up — whatever this is.

“Did you walk here?”

“Mmh.”

“Oh well I can’t in good conscience let you walk home, half a bottle of rosé in your system and dealing with all the emotions brought on by the breakfast club. Couldn’t live with myself if you got snatched up and I was the last person to see you alive”

Throwing his own words back at him should be infuriating, annoying. It isn’t. It’s lovely. She’s lovely.

“You can stay if you want. My couch isn’t the biggest but I think you’ll fit just fine.”

The sincerity in her eyes hits him like a dart to the chest. It’s something so simple as offering him her couch for the night but it means everything for a man who has grown so awfully accustomed to loneliness.

“If I stay, will you make me breakfast?”

“Fuck no”

Laughter fills the tiny living room and it takes him a second to realize it’s his own.

“I might be up for a Starbucks run tomorrow morning before work though.”

“Sounds great. I love peppermint lattes, those are fucking delicious.”

She grants him another smile as she gathers their glasses and the empty bottle and brings them to the kitchen before returning with a fluffy pink blanket for him. He thinks that smile could’ve just about killed him, thinks he might just die right here on her couch and it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Well goodnight, then. Hope you don’t mind Yoda”

The dog is curled up on Roy’s chest like a little bagel. It’s gonna be annoying later, he’s sure but hell will freeze over before he disturbs the little pup.

“That’s fine.”

“He snores, just thought you should know.”

“Makes two of us then, hope he doesn’t mind.”

Another laugh. Another tiny heart attack.

She’s by the door, just about to turn off the light and plunge the room into darkness, when she hesitates for a moment.

“Hey Roy,”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry you guys lost today and I — I can see you struggling but I just wanted you to know that it was not your fault. I need you to know that.”

The entire way here, he tried to make himself rationalize that. Make himself understand that losing is part of the game and that he did his best. But knowing your best might not be good enough anymore is a hard fucking pill to swallow.

Hearing her say that it’s not his fault, it takes the weight off for a moment. Not all the way, never all the way. But a tiny little bit and that’s a whole lot already.

“Goodnight, (Y/N).”

“Night, Roy.”

He falls asleep with the taste of rosé on his tongue, the snoring of a little dog in his ears, and the sight of her on his mind, all sleepy eyes and messy hair. She never looked better.

It looks good on you & I like your laugh

He’s positively buzzing with euphoria. They won, something no one thought was possible. They won and he scored the winning goal.

Spirits are high as the team and their friends have taken over the Karaoke place. Shots and drinks flow with no regard to the tab they’re raking up or the headache that awaits each of them tomorrow. None of that matters right now. Tonight is made for celebrating. Consequences don’t exist right here and now.

Rebecca burns the house down with her rendition of let it go and after a short intermission by Dani, singing a Spanish song that neither of them managed to join in with their non-existent knowledge of the language, the opening chords to another familiar song fill the room.

“Well, thanks for making us all look like amateurs, Rebecca,” (Y/N) says into the microphone as she takes her place on stage. Her words are laced with happiness and laughter and Roy thinks she must have him under some spell because he can’t manage to not smile when she’s around. It’s a bit ridiculous if he’s being honest.

“I will most definitely not be able to live up to that performance but I thought we could stay in the Disney bubble for a moment.”

Her eyes meet his across the room and when she winks at him it takes everything in him not to get up on stage and devour her. Fucking irritating.

“I know you all know this song so sing along if you feel like it. This one’s for you, John Bender.”

He knows it’s one of the cheesiest love songs ever, written for a movie about a cartoon lion. But sitting on the couch at the karaoke place surrounded by his team, having just scored a winning goal and listening to the girl that haunts his dreams sing straight to him and only him, he thinks Elton has a point. He can feel the love tonight. It’s in the smiles of his friends, and the voices coming together all chaotic and off-key singing along to the song. And there is love in her eyes, clear as day and undeniable.

“And can you feel the love tonight How it's laid to rest? It's enough to make kings and vagabonds Believe the very best”

The night is coming to an end, everyone’s found their way to their respective rooms — or whoever’s room they felt like staying at. Roy’s pretty sure he saw Rebecca’s friend enter Ted’s room but that’s none of his fucking business, is it?

“Okay, you can’t laugh though!” (Y/N)’s voice calls out from the bathroom and drifts towards the main part of the room where Roy is perched on the chair by the window.

This isn’t his room and really he knows he shouldn’t be here. But being alone right now sounded like proper torture. He wasn’t ready to leave this magical night behind yet. Not like this. Not when she sang to him and he had nothing to give her in return. So when she invited him to her room to watch yet another John Hughes movie on Netflix, he couldn’t do anything but accept.

“Are you sleeping in one of those weird fluffy onesies?”

“No, god no.”

“Then I don’t know why I’d laugh at you.”

When she steps into the room, he can see why she’d think he’d laugh at her choice of sleepwear. The white shirt looks not so white anymore, there is a hole at the bottom and a mysterious red stain by the collar. It doesn’t make him laugh though. It makes him fucking hard. Because that’s his name on the back of it. That’s a 2014 world cup Roy Kent England Jersey.

“Fuck me.”

He doesn't mean to let it slip but alcohol and euphoria have made his lips go loose.

“I knoooow, it’s embarrassing. I meant to bring something else but it’s just so comfortable.”

“It looks good on you.”

It does. He thought the green dress was it. Then he thought she looked absolutely adorable, all sleepy and natural. But this? This is the look that pushes him over the edge. This is everything.

“Yeah?” she asks and twirls around the room, not unlike Phoebe whenever Roy gifts her yet another new princess dress. He’s just such a sucker, can never say no when she asks him for something. “You just wait and see, I’ll steal your job soon enough.”

That makes him erupt into laughter yet again, he doesn’t think he’s laughed quite as much lately as when he is with her.

“I’ve seen you attempt to play before. I’m not worried.”

“I like your laugh,” she says, all warm eyes and wistful smile.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Something takes over, an invisible force pulling him to his feet and making him walk up to her. She’s leaning against the wall as he places one hand on her hip, the other on the wall next to her head. This shouldn’t be happening, he knows this. It’s dumb to believe that whatever tension there is between them can lead to anything. That’s just not in the cards for him no matter how much he wishes for it.

Girls like her don’t fall for boys like him. They never did, they never will.

“Roy Kent, you won today.”

Winning the game is the last thing on his mind right now. How could he ever think about winning right this moment when her hand is softly resting on his cheek and her nose gently nuzzling against his and the —

A knock on the door cuts through the moment making Roy let go and take a step back.

“Fucks sake.”

In his defense, Sam looks apologetic as he stands in front of the door, signature smile on his face. Good-natured and lovable. If this was any other moment Roy wouldn’t have been able to be mad at him. But this is that moment and he is a little pissed right now.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to disturb, I was just wondering if you had another phone charger. I can’t find mine and I know you always bring extra so — “

“Uh, yeah let me go get it real quick.” (Y/N) says and turns back towards the room.

Roy’s eyes connect with hers for a split second and it’s like a bucket of ice straight over his head. They both know whatever magical spell they had been under, it’s broken and gone and all that’s left now is a big old pile of what-ifs.

“It’s getting late, I should leave. Goodnight, (Y/N). Night, Sam.”

“We’ll reschedule, yeah?”

Tiny smile on his lips he nods his head in agreement.

He gets a soft “goodnight” in return and though he hates to admit it, the touch of her hand against his cheek lingers there all the way to his room and even further into his dreams.

Call me when you get home & We’ll figure it out

Rain pounds against the roof and windows like tiny bullets. A rainstorm has Richmond tight in its clutches so cruel and unforgiving the team can’t even train right now.

And yet for some reason Roy still finds himself in the workout room, trying to push himself to do just 5 more minutes on the treadmill. Just 5 more.

Actually, it’s not entirely true. He knows why he’s here. Part of him hopes that if he just pushes himself enough, he can overcome the pain in his leg and all the issues it causes. That if he just tries harder, he can go back to being the talented overachiever he used to be.

But it hurts. A sharp stabbing pain rushes through his knee forcing him to step off the treadmill. He hates this. In fact, it’s his worst fucking nightmare. Football is all he’s ever been good at, he can’t lose that. It’s his entire life.

If he’s not Roy the footballer, who is he? Some bloke named Roy with a dead career and no one to come home to? Now doesn’t that sound delightful?

"Roy?"

“Jesus, fuck!”

There she goes again giving him a heart attack, only this time it’s not because she’s being cute or anything.

“Oh shit, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The smile on her face falls as she catches sight of him holding onto his knee. He can almost see the thoughts running through her head. She knows about his knee. If anyone knows how bad it is, it’s her. She told him not to overdo it. Said that would only make it worse.

He knows she has pity on him and he hates it. It’s irritating coming from everyone. Irritating and misplaced. Why would they pity him? It’s his own damn fault for not being good enough anymore.

But coming from her? That’s even worse. No one wants a guy that’s getting too old to do his job properly. That’s falling apart and breaking.

— Not that he wants her or anything. Oh, Roy, who are you trying to fool here? Of course, he wants her.

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m fine.”

She raises her eyebrow in disbelief, in that bratty way that drives him crazy.

“I said I’m fine, (Y/N).”

“I hear what you’re saying,” she says and comes to stand next to him, crossing her arms in defiance. “but I can also see the way you’re holding your knee and that face you’re making. You’re in pain, love.”

Love. He doesn’t hate how it sounds when she calls him that. Irritating for sure but also — sweet.

“I’ll be fine! What are you even doing here?”

He hasn’t seen a lot of her ever since the night in Liverpool and while part of him was quite glad about it because he honestly wasn’t sure whether or not to bring up whatever had or had not happened between them, another part of him had missed her smile desperately.

“I work here.”

“You’re a fucking smartass, aren’t you.”

“I try.”

Fuck, even when she’s being deliberately difficult she manages to pull a smirk from him.

“I had some paperwork to do but by the time I arrived here, the storm was so bad that now I have to wait for it to stop before I can drive home. I hate driving when it rains.”

“Oh you should,” Roy returns, nodding his head in agreement “You’re a horrible driver in the best of weather.”

She responds with a scandalized gasp and a hand placed on her heart in mock upset “I am not a horrible driver! Take that back.”

“It took you 18 minutes to park your car the other day. I know because I saw it, we all saw it. Boys took the time and had bets going. Jamie won 20 quid.”

“Wha — okay I’ll have to have a word with the guys, you’re ridiculous. But don’t think you can change the topic on me, Mister. Is your knee getting worse?”

Yes, and he fucking hates it. Can’t even say the words out loud because that feels like admitting defeat. And that’s a terrifying thing to do.

Fortunately for him, he doesn’t have to say anything. A look is all it takes and she nods her head in understanding.

“That’s okay, Roy. We’ll figure something out.”

We will figure something out. We as in him and her. Since pretty much the beginning of his professional career, Roy had admirers. People who would latch onto everything he did or said and hold him to abnormally high standards he would never be able to reach. They adored him but they also didn’t know him. She knows him even when he tries so hard to keep her at arm's length. She knows him and is still in his corner, still has his back. The only people who ever did that were his family.

It’s an unusual feeling but he really really likes it. Even if it’s a little terrifying.

“What if — “ he takes a deep breath, trying to form the words that weigh so heavy on his heart “What if I can’t go back to how it used to be? What if this is the end for me?”

“Do you want me to be honest or nice?”

“Lay it on me then.”

“Things might not get back to how they used to be and there’s not really much you can do about it other than learn to accept it and then figure out a new place for yourself.”

“Football is all I have.”

“That’s not true but even if it was there is so much more about it than just the players.”

She’s right but it’s still a bitter pill to swallow.

“…and with that smile of yours, you can always go into modeling. I’m sure they’re always looking for new faces in the toothpaste commercial business.”

“Oh fuck off.”

“See! There’s that smile I was talking about.”

“You’re fucking insufferable sometimes.”

She is. He adores it.

“Oh, but you like it — right?”

“What?”

“You do — like it? Like me?”

It’s the first time he’s seen her act insecure. She’s always so bubbly and happy and smiling, he hates that he put any doubt in her mind that he does anything but cherish her.

“You irritate me, woman. Drive me up the fucking wall, every day.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No! Don’t say sorry. I love it. I think you’re a fucking knockout. Best thing since sliced bread.”

He does, he truly does and it feels nice to say it out loud for once. To admit it to her and to himself. It feels nice when she comes closer and when she rests her arms around his neck and it feels fucking phenomenal when her nose brushes past his and he can almost feel her lips on his.

Almost.

That’s until her phone beeps and she pulls away altogether.

“Ah shit, I gotta go.”

“Fuck sake. The universe hates me.”

“The universe doesn’t hate you, Roy Kent. We just have bad timing. ”

He’s not convinced.

“What about the storm?”

“I think the rain stopped, listen.”

Roy hears nothing. Where raindrops were drumming against the roof and windows just minutes ago, there is silence. He’s never wished for a rainstorm to persist more than he does at that moment.

“Well, call me when you get home at least. Roads will still be wet.”

“Aw, Roy, are you worried about me?”

His lips say no, but his eyes and his smile tell a different story.

You can stay & Is this okay? Can I hold your hand?

This is it. This is the end. He’s seen this one coming for a while now but he tried so hard. He trained and pushed and it was all for nothing. They’re losing and his career as an active footballer is over for good.

The door to the locker room opens slowly, almost cautiously and he’s just about to yell and whoever dares to disturb him, when his head snaps up and he sees (Y/N) standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here? Game is still going, you’re the fucking Physio.”

“Good thing there’s more than one of us. I have to make sure all my players are okay.”

I’m not okay. That’s what he wants to say. He wants to scream it from the rooftops. He’s not okay. He’s not sure he ever will be.

“Get out, (Y/N).”

She can’t see him like this. Defeated. Broken. Old.

Instead of listening to him, she sits down beside him and holds an ice pack to his injured knee.

“As a physio, I need to tell you that what you did was really stupid.”

He knows it was. It was a calculated risk he was willing to take and if nothing else, he kept Jamie from scoring and the fans appreciated it. That was all that mattered at that moment.

“But as a friend and Richmond fan, I think it was brilliant. I just wish you didn’t hurt yourself in the process.”

Silence settles over them and (Y/N) is just about to get back up when he grabs onto her arm and pulls her back down. “You can stay.”

“Okay.”

And for a long while they just sit. No words, no expectations. Just them.

Softly, almost like a whisper, he feels her touch against his hand, sliding her fingers between his.

“Is this okay? Can I hold your hand?”

It’s not okay. It’s phenomenal. It’s everything he could’ve wished for in that moment but never would’ve had the nerve to ask. It’s a promise that he isn’t alone in this. There is someone there holding his hand through the darkest of times.

A green light guiding him to safe shores.

“Don’t you fucking dare let go.”

Stay there, I’m coming to get you & I can't wait for tomorrow

Turns out, retiring from a successful football career does not mean you suddenly have a lot of free time. In fact, Roy doesn’t think he’s ever been this busy doing shit he doesn’t like.

Everyone wants an interview, a statement, a “what happens next”. It’s a lot of paperwork and contracts and shit he doesn’t care about. The point is, he’s fucking busy. So busy he hasn’t seen (Y/N) in quite a few days. Nothing has really changed since their moment in the locker room but somehow everything feels different.

It’s exactly 4:12 am when his phone rings. He almost doesn’t want to answer but calls at 4am usually mean bad news and he’d never forgive himself if something happened to his sister or Phoebe or (Y/N) or even (and he will deny this if you ask him about it) Jamie just because he couldn’t be bothered to answer his phone.

“Hello?”

“Royoooo.”

Oh. Oh!

A smirk pulls at his lips.

“(Y/N)?”

“Sorry —” she says and stops for a giggle “Sorry to wake you. I just — I was out with the girls and I didn’t plan on drinking but I did. They had a buy one get one free deal. It would be stupid to say no, right?”

“Right.”

"So, yeah."

“Go on. Didn’t just call me to tell me about the drinks, did you.”

“Oh, no. I just wanted to talk to you while I wait for my Uber. I miss you.”

“Do you?”

“So much!” her words are slow and slightly slurred. “Every fucking day. Like — god, I just wanna see your stupid handsome face.”

“It’s handsome, innit?”

“You have no idea! I just want to kiss you, so badly.”

Kiss him. She wants to kiss him. Sure, it almost happened twice but it’s still different hearing her outright say it. But then again, she’s drunk and by the time she wakes up tomorrow, she probably won’t remember half of what she’s saying right now.

“Where are you?”

“It’s that weird little bar around the corner from Sam’s restaurant. The one with the green door.”

“Go on and cancel that Uber.”

“Then how am I going to get home?”

“Stay there, I’m coming to get you.”

Roy isn’t quite certain whether or not he considers himself a good person. He tries to be, it’s a conscious effort each and every day. He tries to be a good person and a good person doesn’t let the woman he’s absolutely head over heels for wait outside in the cold dark night by herself. No matter how infuriating she is.

“Okay,” she agrees, a giggle slipping past her lips “Thank you. Can’t wait to see you.”

And though Roy had other plans for his weekend than picking up a drunk girl at 4 in the morning, he also can’t wait to see her.

“…and like it was mostly sugar, right? So I thought why not have another one. Turns out it was mostly vodka.”

“Who could’ve guessed.”

She’s cuddled up on his couch in one of his shirts looking into his eyes and retelling her night in vivid detail. Her story is slurred and a bit all over the place, blame it on her tipsy brain. It takes her forever to get to the point and when she does, the point doesn’t even make all that much sense. It doesn’t matter, he’d listen to her ramble forever if it meant he got to spend time with her wearing his shirt sitting on his couch — looking into his eyes.

“You’re going to feel like shit tomorrow.”

“I know,” she shrugs then scoots closer to him and wraps her arms around his “but you’re here so it’s only half as bad really.”

“If I’m feeling generous I’ll even make you breakfast.”

“You really are the dream, Roy Kent.”

She’s clawing at his chest, prying open his ribcage and burying herself where his heart used to be. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

“You have to stop saying shit like that. People are gonna think you’re in love with me or something.”

She pulls away slightly and looks up at him with those big eyes of hers before resting one hand on his cheek.

“Roy, I am. I thought you knew.”

He had a hunch, of course. Fostered a spark of hope in his heart that there could be something between them after all. But once you grow accustomed to loneliness it’s a little hard to let yourself believe.

“Do I need to show you to believe me?”

She pulls his face closer to hers and for a millisecond he wants to let go, but when he smells the alcohol on her breath he pulls back. This isn’t right.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“You’re off your tits. I’m not kissing you like this. Our first kiss is not going to be some inebriated tongue-wagging. You hear me? I’m a hopeless fucking romantic, that kiss is gonna be special. I’m gonna kiss you stupid.”

She bites her lips to suppress the smile from taking over.

“So if I were to ask again tomorrow, you’d say yes?”

“Mh.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

At that she snuggles further into his arms and rests her head against his shoulder, a content smile on her face as she closes her eyes.

“Oh, I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

He doesn’t admit it, but neither can he.

I think you're beautiful & I’ll meet you halfway

“Roy?”

Her voice echoes through his house as the eggs sizzle on the stove.

“Why is there a small child looking at me?”

“Phoebe, stop staring at her you little creep!”

“She’s so pretty.”

She has a point.

10 minutes later the girls join him in the kitchen, walking in hand in hand and big smiles on their faces. Seeing them get along makes his heart grow approximately 12 sizes. That being said, the two of them teaming up against him sounds like trouble to him. Good trouble though. Trouble he loves to deal with.

“Good morning, Roy.”

“Morning. Pheebs, go sit down, breakfast is almost ready.”

“Okay, Uncle Roy.”

Once she’s out of the immediate earshot he turns back towards (Y/N). Though she tried her best to conceal it, yesterday's makeup is still smudged around her eyes and her hair is a downright mess. She’s wearing his shirt though, standing barefoot in his kitchen after bonding with his niece.

Sometimes life is fucking sweet.

“Don’t look at me like that, I know I look like a mess.”

“I think you’re beautiful.”

“You’re delusional.”

“That’s not what you said last night. Think you called me the fucking dream if I recall correctly. Said you were in love with me.”

(Y/N) leans against the kitchen island, her hands flat against the countertop and her eyes trained on Roy.

“I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

Roy mirrors her position, arms resting on the kitchen island across from her. God, she really is so beautiful.

“Remember what you said?”

“Do you?”

“You promised me something, Roy.”

Roy Kent doesn’t make promises lightly. He thinks there’s hardly anything quite as heartbreaking and awful as breaking a promise. He prides himself in keeping all the ones he’s made.

It’s only right to keep this one too.

“Phoebe,” he calls out to the little girl without moving his eyes away from (Y/N) for even a second “Blindfold!”

The 6-year-old slaps her tiny hands over her eyes obeying her uncle's orders with no hesitation and no questions asked. He’s proud of her. Silly little idiot.

Leaning across the counter, his lips almost reach (Y/N)’s. She’s so close. So close.

Only —

“Fuck, I can’t reach. My knee.”

There’s so much love in her eyes as she regards him. It almost knocks him out.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll meet you halfway,” She says and gets up on her tiptoes.

Across the counter their lips meet. There are no fireworks or butterflies or an angel choir singing. But there is her tasting of toothpaste and smelling his deodorant. Her and the feeling of belonging. Of comfort and domesticity and love. He loves this woman, undeniably and irrevocably.

It’s a great kiss. Fucking mindblowing. There is no need for rom-com-induced fairytale fantasies when you have the real thing and it is so much better than any story could ever be.

“Hey Roy,” she whispers against his lips as they come up for air.

“Hmm?”

“The eggs are burning.”

“Fuck!”

“You owe me a pound, Uncle Roy!”

Irritating! Both of them.

They’re his whole entire heart.

I love you & I love you

“I love you.”

It’s a normal fucking Tuesday when she says it for the first time. Really says it. Using those exact words. There’s nothing special about that day but with those words, she puts magic into it. The way she puts magic into his life every single day.

“Fuck you!”

“Sorry, what?”

She’s laughing. She’s always laughing and smiling that goddamn smile that makes him go all soft inside. Beautiful, lovely, knockout that she is.

“I said fuck you. I’ve been thinking about how to tell you all fucking week and here you go and say it first. You’re infuriating.”

Softly she rolls over so she’s resting on his chest, fingers softly tracing patterns into his skin.

“You’ve said it a million times before, Roy.”

“I love you, (Y/N).”

Can’t hurt to say it again.

“I know. I knew. I always knew. From the moment you gave me your jacket.”

Of course, she knew. She took one look at him and it was like she got a view straight into his soul. Straight into his heart with all the vices and virtues, all his triumphs and defeats. All the good and the bad.

How fucking irritating. He loves her for it.

[welcome-to-puppet-hell]

Smile - (OneSided?)Wally Darling x Puppet!Reader

One can tell a lot about someone based on their smile, Wally thinks. Can tell who actually likes you—a wide and warm spread of a mouth, showing something genuine and honest—and who just tolerates you, at most, based on how small their smile is. Even in the neighborhood, Wally is able to distinguish how a neighbor might feel about him, just based on a smile.

Something Wally noticed about you, right away, is that you don’t smile all the time. Even if you’re smiling for customers entering your bookshop, it doesn’t always last long—unless it’s with neighbors you’ve decided are worth smiling for. Unlike the other neighbors, you don’t put on smiles or airs. You wear all your emotions on your sleeve…which is, admittedly, quite a feat considering you exist as everyone else does.

(As a puppet.)

But one day, Wally is watching you talk to Barnaby.

He was a bit distracted by a book about a painter—a man haunted by night terrors and other horrors from his own mind, but still saw the world so beautifully—when he heard you let out this laugh. 

He is drawn back to reality right away, his eyes immediately darting to land right on you. You are still laughing, this beautiful mix of giggles and snorts and a bit of gasping, while hugging your belly and your eyes clenching closed as your mouth widens in this smile—this grin that glows like sunshine, in a way that slams him right in the chest. It occurs to Wally then, not for the first time, that you are beautiful. He always thought so, since his eyes first found you; but it’s all so different now that you’re so close, now that you’re finally in the neighborhood, now that you’re finally within reach after all this time. And your beauty absolutely shines when you smile.

(I just…I wish…so badly…) 

Barnaby watches you with a lazy smirk, his eyelids hooding over to emphasize the mischief in his expression. He bends his elbow right on the counter and leans in a little towards you, his smirk widening a little.

“What’s this? A laugh? At one of my jokes?” He teases. “I thought you said my jokes are so awful that I should be in prison.”

You let out another laugh, then open your eyes to smirk up at him. “And they are! I’m not wrong. That joke was particularly heinous, in fact.”

“Was it?”

“Indeed, it was. I only laughed because I feel sorry for you.”

“Oh, do you?”

“Yes, I find you very pit-i-bull.”

Barnaby’s face falls as he gapes at you, his mouth drops open. You merely smirk up at him, your arms crossed over your chest. Despite being rather short, at least an inch taller than Wally, you look up at Barnaby with no fear or hint of intimidation over his severe height. Wally swallows into his rather dry throat, his hands clenching as his whole being fills with warmth. Gorgeous and brave, you really are the full package.

I just wish, he allows himself to want, if only for a moment. While it’s safe to linger on such thoughts. I wish you would smile like that for me. Just once. Just a little bit.

Suddenly, Barnaby lets out this choking sound, while grasping his throat.

“I think that one did it! Finally found a joke terrible enough to kill me,” he keeps gasping dramatically, spinning to lean back against the counter, one paw over where his heart rests in his chest. As he continues his fake cough, Barnaby’s eyes roll to land on Wally, his expression turning playful. “Little buddy! Remember me as I am…!”

Wally finds his own smile widening, despite the sting in his chest. He steps forward to join in, falling into his role seamlessly.

“What’s wrong, Barnaby?” he asks, his tone innocuous.

“What’s wrong is that a murder is being committed—and they’re the culprit!”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Barn!” you say, still grinning. “A killer joke won’t hurt you.”

“Ah, it just keeps happening! Will my suffering ever cease—?”

Wally’s grin widens, amusement bubbling in his chest and growing as he watches Barnaby rolling on the floor in “pain” and you continuing to laugh. His eyes catch the width of your smile and immediately, his insides begin to melt. All the words he knows he should say—like a script he’d long memorized—freezes in his throat. His hands squeeze tightly around the book he’d previously pulled off the shelf, one consisting of paintings made by that sad Dutch painter with the one ear. Despite the smile forever glued to his expression, every inch of him begins to tremble, his hands itching to hold yours, just for a moment, just once—

(“Waliford?”)

Wally Darling freezes in place, all thought turning to static.

(“What are you thinking?” The voice reaches his ears, despite the distance. Something inside him turns to ice and pulls, almost choking him. “I know you are not thinking of breaking The Rules…are you?”)

No. No, I can’t.

He swallows and turns away before anyone notices.  

But you do. A frown settles back on your expression, your brow furrowing to narrow your eyes.

[factual-fantasy]

29 Asks! Thank you!! :}} 🏇

Ah- yeah that's just a reminder to check the FAQ before asking. :0

I put that notice there because despite having the FAQ, I still got like a dozen asks of things my FAQ already answered...

@caprico54

My Wally does not eat with his eyes, thankfully, XD that cant be good for his vision!

@soulful-rodent

I'm still trying to figure out a way around the 100 link limit.. but maybe someday I will! :0

(Referencing this post)

XDD That makes 3 of us!

@how-am-i-still-here-lmao

The Muppets don't exist in my AU <XD and unfortunately I don't know enough about the Muppets to think of the hypotheticals.. <:( sorry!...💔💔

(Julies monster form post)

If Julie ever did reveal her true form, I'm sure Barnaby would appreciate paw pads! XD Hey! He's not the only one now! :D

AAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDD Hugs are by far my favorite thing to draw, so I'm glad you like them and can feel the emotions I try to portray in them!! :DDD

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDD As for the boops.. that's a good question actually :00

I can imagine Frank, Howdy and Poppy wouldn't like a nose boop <XDD

Wally and Eddie would just be confused <XD maybe don't do it to them either..

You might get away with booping Sally once!

Barnaby and Julie would probably laugh and boop you back!

Home would just stare.. 👁️👁️

@randomgir2020 (Referencing this post)

Aw man, <XD I cant relate! I live for the cold. When I get slightly too hot? I am WAY too hot. 😭😭 But it take's a LOT of cold to make me uncomfortable :00

But hey! I guess that means you might be enjoying the summer we've had this year..? XD

(Referencing this post)

I'm thinking Wally and Frank get along swell! :) Wally is respectful and a great listener. And Frank always has something for them to talk about XD

Something I can see them doing is Wally tagging along with Frank when he goes out to study bugs. Wally makes for good conversation but is also good at staying very still and quiet when they're trying to not to scare away a butterfly.. :0

(In response to this post (?))

I didn't intend for Home to directly project nightmares into Wally's mind or anything. But I imagined his many sleepless nights and constant stress/anxiety is what creates them.. <:(

@minnesotamedic186

XD Factual or Fantasy is fine, also sorry/you're welcome!!(?) XDDDD Either way I'm glad you seem to have liked my artwork!! :}}

Evil Sylvester talks the big talk, but in reality he's such a wimp. XD If he saw an enormous Metagross- even if it was just standing there completely neutral- he'd probably run away screaming XDDD

@ninaandthegames

AAAAAA THANK YOU SO MMUCH!! :DDD And don't give up friend! You improve with every piece you make, it gets easier overtime! :)

@caronaro-flipaclip

I have it saved to my watch later list! :D I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually.. <XD

@charactersnatcher

WAHHGGG THANKYIUUUU!!!! :DDDDDD

@xxanxious-anxietyxx

Thank you!! :DD and it was rather funny XDD, although sorry.. I don't take requests! <:/ But don't worry! I'm guaranteed to draw Foxy again at some point XDDD

@neo-metalscottic (Welcome home character chart) (classic FNAF crew) (Last ask with awesome artwork! :} )

Hello hello! :DD I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying my posts recently, thank you so much!! :DDD As for your questions..

Home is interested in Sally because she's so.. strange.. She's a star.. here amongst common people? Walking and talking and dressing like them?.. how odd...

For Julie, Home looks at her and knows this isn't the real her. She is something else beneath the surface. Something much stronger and bigger than she makes herself out to be. Why is she hiding?.. hmm..

And Eddie, well. Its Eddie <XDD Human from our world an all-

As for Poppy, yes yes! Its because she's been around for so long. It used to watch her sleep through her window when she was a child. Well it did, until she made a habit of closing the curtains every night.. I can also imagine that Poppy helped paint Home and what not. Which furthered Homes interest in her :00

As for the FNAF stuff, it was mostly meant to just be a joke, yes. <XD But I did have some thought/structure behind it! :)) The other animatronics might react similarly to Foxy when they overheat. Getting ramblely and disoriented.. eventually just shutting down. But Foxy is particularly vulnerable to heat-

Foxy moves a lot more than the others do. So he's built up a lot more wear and tear than they have. This also means that even though he's missing a lot of his shell all over his body, he still overheats quite frequently..

In that scene, I imagined that Freddy and the gang had preformed a show that day. So Foxy did his friends a solid by pointing the only fan they had towards them..

Unfortunately everyone was too hot and tired to remember that duh, Foxy's internal cooling is shot :x its okay though they were reminded some minutes later when he started rambling about pickles.. <XD

@errorinside

I've always pictured Freddy having a taste for savory things rather than sweet :0 Like pizza! :}}

@i-dogtor-dawg

I've seen a lot of fanart of it! :00 Cat sluggy bois.... I like dem :)

@glitchhayden418

*snimfle... I love her so much.. 🥹💞💞

@artblock200322022

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD I'm glad to hear it!! :}}}]

I can imagine that Home has been very tempted to lock Wally inside, but its trying not to spook him away-

Since Barnaby's gotten involved, he's been spending more and more nights at Barnaby's' house.. Home knows that if it comes on too strongly, Wally might just up and leave. So for now it lays low and doesn't lock him inside..

@jean-arclight (Referencing this post)

In that comic I was going to show Ingo and Emmet's first close encounter with a Tarr.. Ingo wasn't there to protect Emmet..

Emmet was fine in the end and ultimately his injuries were minor. Ingo did a great job taking charge and comforting Emmet in the aftermath. So Emmet was mostly mentally ok. But Ingo took this whole situation really hard.. thinking that Emmet almost died today. And Ingo wasn't even there.. it was awful..

Usually Ingo covers up his feelings for Emmet's sake. But this time he couldn't help but just break down in tears. Coming in after Emmet had already fallen asleep and just scoping him up in a tight hug. Emmet was tired and it wasn't great to have woken him up.. but at this point hearing Emmet's voice might have been the only thing that could soothe Ingo..

Also yeah, <XD I'm glad/sad to hear someone relates to my struggles! <XDD I got to the battle scene and lost a lotta steam. 😞 although these angsty paragraphs reminds me of why brainstormed this comic in the first place! :00 Perhaps I'll finish it someday! :}}

@i-only-created-this-to-read

ONE GRAIN OF SAND?? Man.. but I see what you mean! :0 I'll have to think about that..

That nail thing is GENIUS! :00 The first thing that came to mind though was Home poking a nail out and Wally steps on it <XD giving Barnaby a good reason to stay longer to help him out-

Or, if Barnaby stepped on it, Wally would spend a day or two at Barnaby's house to help him with chores. Since he can't walk now <XD What a backfire Home!

I can see home being able to move almost its entire body for short intervals. Kind'a like focusing and tensing your entire body all at once. But if it wants to make significant movements it can only move little bits at a time.

As for the lock, it cant meld or change the shape of the lock. But it can turn the inside of the lock so that a key wont go in. Effectively making you unable to unlock it. And yes! Home can lock all the doors and windows that are apart of it >:)

@abaroo

Well as the asker previously talked about, Home could stick nails up through the floor <XD That would leave a mark..

I was envisioning less of a child with a toy and more like... a scientist with their experiment..?

Home is very curious about Wally and is kind'a experimenting with him. Seeing how long it can stare at him before he wakes up. When he wakes up, what's the first thing he does? How will Wally react to certain creaks and groans of the floor boards?

Although it is a little closer to the child thing when it comes to Barnaby. Home doesn't like Barnaby because he's looking out for Wally prying into this situation, And he keeps offering his home as a safe heaven taking Wally away for days at a time. He's messing with its experiment....

(In response to this post)

I've considered an interaction where the two of them wind up in the same area and start to chat. They joke back and fourth and generally have a nice conversation. At this point Eddie starts to feel bad and apologizes for always avoiding small talk with Wally..

He explains that after his little freak out at the Christmas party, he's always just felt uneasy whenever he would pass by Wally's house. He then says,

"I might sound crazy here, but it always feels like I'm being watched by somethin, haha!.. <XD"

That's when Wally would pause and his tone would shift drastically. With fear in his eyes he replies,

"...You feel it too?"

This would change their dynamic entirely. They'd now see each other as a victim to the same weird anxiety. Finally someone understands what they're feeling..

The only thing keeping me from doing this though, is that if Wally knew that someone else felt that way, it would make his anxiety a lot more real. I kind'a wanna keep this whole stalking situation in Wally's head. Which is why he hasn't just up and moved in with Barnaby.

If he thinks he is the only one experiencing this "being watched" feeling.. then he'll be more likely to tell himself its not real and stay with Home.

Other than this potential interaction, I actually don't really have any current plans for them to grow closer <:( 💔

AAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDD Not gonna lie I've been considering it! :00

[coffeexafterxmidnight]

The Token Human - part 1

So that Welcome Home ARG eh? Eh? You know it right, my followers? You should look into it some, it looks like it's shaping up to be something really, really good.

Anyway I'm a sucker for well-made evil children's characters in horror media so I tried to capture the ✨vibes ✨. I don't feel I succeeded, but oh well. Part 1 of a possible series? We'll see.

Reader [gender not stated] pov CW: Body horror, eye horror, size horror[?], creepy puppets, memory alteration, whump? ask to tag Part 2

Nobody else in Home was quite like you. But nobody in Home was quite like anyone else, either! Everyone was different, and unique, and special! That's what Wally told you when you first moved in. And he was right, like he always was. 

But still. Nobody was quite like you. Nobody had hair like yours, on your head, on your arms and legs. Nobody had skin like yours, soft and squishy in a different way than everyone else. Nobody had eyes like yours or ears like yours.

Nobody had hands like yours. And you noticed that right away the first time you held hands with them in a game. You had five fingers total. They had four.

You were pretty sure you were human. Julie was human too, but… a different kind of human, you were pretty sure of that, too. Really, everyone just seemed to be… them. Frank was Frank and Howdy was Howdy, Eddie and Julie and Poppy and Sally and Barnaby were all themselves too.

And Wally…

Wally was your best friend.

That's why when he invited you to his Home, to prepare a surprise party, you jumped right at it. You were always up for a party! You were too big for most of the games they played but you could put up the decorations and light the candles on the cake and clean the hard to reach spots your friends couldn't! You were a perfect fit in Home-

Wally called your name.

"Be careful!"

Bit late for that. In your little thought train you stepped back and right off the little ladder you'd been standing on to clean. It wasn't a bad fall, the step ladder was built for your friends after all. No, it just knocked the air out of you. But it reminded you of something else.

Your friends… didn't really seem to feel pain.

"I'm okay!" You called out as the air returned to you.

Wally had been standing nearby with one hand over his mouth, but lowered it slowly. His smile returned, and he laughed.

"Silly, silly," he said between the distinctive sound of his amusement. "You were thinking too hard!"

Yeah, you were. You laughed with him and sat up. He stood over you now, his soft little hands helping you stand. 

"What were you thinking about?" He asked. "Was it the party?"

You hummed, backtracking your thoughts. What had you been thinking about, really? What set that train of thought rolling…? 

"I think I'm forgetting something again," you said, looking at him.

Wally tilted his head to the side.

"Silly," he said. "You're always forgetting things. What is it this time?"

"I don't know!" You said, smiling. "If I knew, I wouldn't have forgotten it, would I?"

You both laughed, but yours faded sooner than his. Your smile fell. What had you forgotten?

A door creaked and swung open. You and Wally turned towards the sound.

"Maybe," Wally said, "you forgot to eat. Let's go in the kitchen!"

"Okay!" You couldn't remember anything else you could've forgotten so into the kitchen with him you went. 

It was a nice little kitchen, though Wally never seemed to use it much unless you were here. He didn't like anyone seeing him eat. In fact, other than apples, you didn't know what he liked to eat at all. He liked sweets, you knew that much…

As you looked down at the colorful kitchen table, you frowned. You didn't feel hungry, now that you thought about it. You couldn't remember the last time you ate but it didn't seem that long ago. 

Maybe, you thought, running your hand over a scratch on the table, Wally was the hungry one but didn't want to say it. That didn't seem like him though, he was so open and sincere…

Your hand ran over and over the scratch. 

"Hey Wally?" You asked. "What happened to your table?"

Everything seemed quiet.

You lifted your eyes up towards the wall. The quiet stretched on and on. 

You had forgotten something. You had. You knew you had. It was close to you, slipping away from you like dangling strings every time you reached towards it.

It was close to you. Right there. So important. 

What did you forget?

"Wally?"

You looked over your shoulder.

You looked up at him.

Your stomach dropped. With a gasp, you stumbled backwards, away, your eyes wide as you looked at him. Looked up at him.

Wally once proudly told you he was twelve apples tall. You, uh, weren't. You were taller than him by a lot. But now he was tall, taller than you, looking down at you.

He tilted his head.

"Is something wrong, friend?" He said. "You don't look well. Maybe you should… sit down…"

"Wally," you said. "What happened to you?"

His mouth curled up, and your gut churned. That kind of smile didn't fit on Wally's face. That kind of smile shouldn't be possible on his face. He was a puppet - 

A puppet? What was a puppet?

Wally laughed. It shook his shoulders, every syllable moving them in a rhythm. As if string moved his shoulders, but he wasn't that kind of puppet so he couldn't-

What was a puppet?

He tilted his head the other way. Jerked it, really. 

"You're thinking too loud, friend." He jerked his head to the other side. "What do you mean, what's a puppet?" He laughed, ha ha ha. "Silly, silly, silly. That's you. You're my puppet."

His pupils went wide, and it was horrible how familiar it was, the feeling of teeth clenching down on - not your skin not your flesh not your head or your arms or any part of you.

You were. So tired. Like the energy poured out of you into a tiny drain.

My fear, you thought, he's eating my fear.

When he stepped towards you, you heard the click of his shoes on the kitchen tile. Had you ever heard that before? Your mind spun, you stepped away from him again.

"Don't-" you started.

Your name comes from his mouth in a tone you've never heard before.

"I won't," he said. "If you promise to stay."

And you knew exactly what he meant. And you knew you would do anything you had to, so you could go home.

You ran for the door.

It slammed shut.

The handle was meant for puppet hands, not human ones. Your legs gave out from under you as you scrambled with it, nails scratching the wood behind it as you tried to open it. Behind you his footsteps clicked, clicked, clicked towards you.

He said your name again, so sweet, so hungry.

"You don't really want to leave," he said. "I don't believe that at all. I know how much you love it here. We'd all miss you so much."

His arm reached out. His hand, with four fingers, took your wrist and pulled it away from the door. You shook your head, your throat wouldn't make a sound.

"Hey now," he whispered. "No more mysteries this time, okay? Don't go digging into things you don't understand. And everything will be fine."

You felt the teeth again, biting chunks into your mind. The panic. The fear. The dread. Gone, gone, gone. 

My memories - you thought. He's going to eat my memories, too. He's going to eat my memories and put me back at square one. I was so close. I was almost-

You took a deep breath and groaned. Your eyes opened to a strange place, one you didn't recognize for a moment or two. The evening sun streamed in through a window, onto the couch you laid on. You groaned again and covered your eyes with your arm.

"Where am I?"

A familiar voice called from another room. You lifted up your arm, and smiled. Of course. You were at Wally's Home.

"What happened?" You asked.

"You fell off the ladder!" Wally said. "You must've been thinking too hard again. You think too much, I think."

You laughed a bit. "Maybe I do. Falling off a ladder? That's a bad time to get distracted."

You frowned. Wally watched for a moment.

"Did you forget something again?" He said 

You sat up fully with the realization.

"The games!" You cried. "I left the games for the party at my house!"

Wally laughed. Was it just your imagination or did it seem�� relieved almost?

"You can get them tomorrow," he said. "It's getting dark. You should stay here for tonight. I don't want you to trip on anything."

You thought about it, frowning at the patchwork blanket draped over you.

It would definitely be bad if you tripped and hurt yourself in the dark, you thought. Wally was right, like he always was.

"Okay!" You said at last. "Thanks Wally." You smiled. "You're a good friend."

[sleepingdeath-light]

willing s/o hcs ; yandere!wally

requested by ; anonymous (09/05/23)

fandom(s) ; welcome home

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; wally darling

outline ; “Yandere hcs of Wally darling with willing reader? 👉👈 gn reader preferred!”

warning(s) ; yandere character, references to kidnapping, references to drugging, violent thoughts, dark content, some fluff (very small amount at the end), reader willingly enters the relationship but isn’t aware of wally’s darker side at the time

it took wally a long time to realise why he was so dang protective of you — an embarrassingly long time now when he looks back on it

from the moment you moved into the neighbourhood he’d found himself being inexplicably drawn to you

your laugh, your smile, your eyes

he’d spend hours in home, trying desperately to recreate them — the way your eyes seem to glimmer in the sunlight, the way your lips curve perfectly when you bite back a smile, the crinkle of your eyes and the curve of your neck when you start laughing so hard you tear up

sketches, oil on canvas, watercolour, coal, chalk — but none of them worked

nothing could compare to the real thing and it drove him mad — because he didn’t know why he was so drawn to you and he didn’t know why he felt so possessive, but knowing that he couldn’t even have a recreation of you was like a knife in the wound

he’d end each night completely dishevelled: neck tie discarded, face covered in paint, shirt undone and stained, hair undone and hanging loosely over his face - knotted and messed with all of his stressing and frustration

but he never gave up, splitting his waking hours between time with you and time spent with his inferior recreations of you — his obsession growing and festering with every failure, with every second spent in your company, with every second spent awake at all

before long he found himself swallowing down insults and anger like bile whenever he saw another one of his neighbours with you — they were his friends, he’d rationalise, he shouldn’t be thinking like this of them

but still, he couldn’t help it

every time you laughed at one of barnaby’s jokes or jokingly shoved frank’s shoulder or caught eddie before he fell or tackled julie in a tight hug — he found himself fighting off a desire to do something he wasn’t made to

he wanted to scream to cry to frown but he literally couldn’t

he was trapped in a friendly smile that did little to express the unearned anguish hatred that threatened to spill over into violence every time he left home

wally had always been so happy and content as himself before you, but now he couldn’t help but wish himself to be in anyone else’s shoes

he’d happily abandon all things wally to feel your arms wrapped around him or to hear your sweet, angelic voice calling out to him with humour and praise or concern

get rid of everything he loved because he loved nothing more than you

and that was when he realised the depth of his feelings for you

that he wasn’t just being protective over a new friend, a new neighbour, that he was in love with you

and that almost made it worse

because now he had to wrestle with the concept of rejection and ruining all of the friendships he’d built during his time in the neighbourhood

he didn’t want to hurt anyone, of course not, but he was tempted to more times than he dared count

and every passing day brought him closer to giving in to his temptations and just outright kidnapping you

maybe howdy would have some stuff in stock that he could slip into your food the next time you stopped by… surely he had sleeping pills at the very least

and you already loved home — and they adores you just as much — so maybe you’d be fine with just not leaving

you’d adjust after the first few months at least — of that much he was certain

and just as he’d started to talk himself around to going through with it — just as he’d purchased all of the stuff he’d need for his plan, separately of course to not raise howdy’s suspicion — he was startled by a knock at his door

there you were, the picture of perfection that had been haunting him even in the very depths of his dreams since the moment he’d laid eyes on you, stood inches away — close enough to touch, but he didn’t — looking flustered and shy as he’d never seen before

your proposition came out uncertain and filled with backtracking and pensive apprehension as your words shook out of your trembling lips, thick with a fear of rejection

you, his muse, his darling-to-be, were asking him out on a date and you were afraid he’d reject you?

the angel he’d spent so long trying to recreate, the obsession he’d spent months trying to transfer from dangerous thoughts to palpable art

it was infeasible to him, so he spent a good while just staring at you, unable to think let alone speak

which terrified you and led to even more frenzied backtracking until he was finally able to get ahold of himself and stutter out an ‘of course’ that sounded far more confident and calm than he felt

(feeling thankful for the first time in his life for the way he was frozen in the picture of polite enjoyment — a smile he couldn’t shake nor that could stretch enough to portray his overwhelming joy)

and the two of you arranged to go on a picnic the next day, each promising to bring what you had (you, the cloth and a pair of nets; him, the food)

it would be picturesque, idyll, even

a cloudless sky with a sun that wasn’t imposing nor was it too cold (suit weather but not worth layering)

a checkered picnic blanket adorned with one of those old wicker baskets and a dozen containers of food and drink like you’d see in all of those camping adverts howdy had delivered from out of town

wide brimmed sun hats and flowers in bloom every which way, an endless floral ocean dotted with specks of blue and red and yellow that were as abundant as stars in the sky

and, of course, plenty of beautifully decorated butterflies to catch — nature’s own paintings that, though gorgeous, didn’t hold a candle to you in his mind

and that night, for the first time ever, when wally set up a canvas and tried to paint you

he could

he captured the curve of your smile and the arch of the neck

perfectly shaded the depth of your eyes and the scrunching of your nose as you grinned at him from within this snapshot

a celebration was in order, but perhaps that could wait until after your date — maybe he could combine the two somehow, he was sure you wouldn’t mind

and whilst those possessive thoughts still swirled in his head, he no longer felt as inclined to act upon them — he didn’t need to force something that was already underway

you were already his, had been for a while, and there was no need for him to worry after all

(though he did opt to keep those items he’d purchased, just in case)

he knew there was something special about you

you really were the absolute most

and he knew that your relationship would be the most beautiful thing the neighbourhood had ever seen — finally he’d get to feel the brunt of your affection, hear your laugh and be party to your fretting and concern

some dreams really do come true…

[mydearyanderes]

Yandere! Welcome Home Neighbors Headcanons | Part 1!

Headcanons of how all the neighbors in Welcome Home would act as Yanderes!

Characters: Barnaby, Eddie, Frank, and Howdy!

TW: Threats, suicidal ideation, stalking, workplace harassment 

Barnaby B. Beagle 

It would take a lot for him to become full on obsessed with you

He’d act less like a boyfriend and more like an overprotective father

Barnaby wants you by his side 24/7, no matter what

If you don’t? Well get ready for a lot of a lot of passive aggressive comments about how he “just wants to protective” and how you’re being stuck up

He shrugs off any legitimate concern you have for the relationship, instead just laughing off all of your kvetching, as he calls it

Don’t forget that Barnaby is 8 feet tall

He’d never hurt you, no he’d never dream of it!

However

I can see him not so subtly reminding you how much larger he is compared to you, how he could easily overpower you if he wanted

Hopefully this keeps you in line

As long as you’re on his good side, he’s a great guy! Always laughing and joking with you, doing everything in his power to make sure you are entertained and won’t leave him

Eddie Dear

Oh he’s just so smitten!

Definitely a love at first sight type of guy

Stumbles over all his words when talking to you, you just make him so nervous! 

He respects your personal space, after all he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable! 

However he doesn’t really understand the concept of emotional space

Eddie will inject himself into any and every activity you get yourself in to

Talking to Frank? Eddie’s there! Relaxing under a tree? Eddie’s there! Sleeping in the privacy in your own home? Eddie’s there.

He’ll send you anonymous love letters, but it’s really obvious who sent them

Because when he gives the letter to you he says things that make it blatant that it was him 

“Oh this guy really seems to like you!” “I haven’t even opened the letter yet...” “O-oh uhm... uh... I went through your mail?”

Terrible at lying

Overall a pretty harmless yandere, just wants your love and attention, even through rather creepy means

Frank Frankly

His yandere tendencies will only show after you two have been dating for a while 

He’ll whisper things here and there, about how your friends can’t be trusted

Barnaby is annoying. Sally is arrogant. Wally is creepy. Poppy is uptight. Etc.

No one is good enough for your attention, for your love

Even Frank battles with the idea that he isn’t good enough for you

You’ll have to spend many late night assuring him that, yes, he is good enough and that, yes, you do really love him

If you ever try to leave, or do anything that doesn’t involve him, he’ll guilt trip you until you stayed

You’re right, Frank is worthless and unworthy of love, you should just go ahead and leave him

If you call his bluff, and you continue to have relationships with others besides him. Or worse, break up with him, he’ll go mad

At first it’s trying to use logic to get you to stay. Then he get’s angry, yelling and throwing things in your direction and threatening to hurt himself. Lastly he’ll collapse to the floor, crying and sobbing until you decide to stay with him again, even for just a bit longer

He’ll repeat this cycle for as long as needed

Howdy Pillar

It starts out as a small crush, then it snowballs into something much, much more sinister 

You know how Barnaby pays for his hotdogs with jokes?

Well for you, you’ll have to do increasingly more and more elaborate things

Howdy does this purely to enjoy your company, even if for just a few minutes longer

It may even get sexual, assuming you two are already in a relationship

He gives you, and only you, ridiculous discounts on items 

Things in the store that you wanted that weren’t in the store are suddenly there now

Even things that you don’t remember telling anyone else that you wanted

He may even hire you as his assistant in his store, so he can rest easy knowing he’s with you most of the day

Soon, it won’t be enough. Howdy wants you around him constantly now. You’re too perfect to only see for a few hours a day

He’ll coerce you into a relationship with him if you two aren’t dating

If you refuse? 

Well, you don’t want to know what Eddie will resort to if you do that

[tainted-heartz]

Hear me out all the welcome home characters (if possible poly if not das cool u could just do wally) with a s/o who intentionally and unintentionally does the frog blink when looking at people.

I just think it would be funny

| bestie I can do poly no matter what its just gonna be so much to write...ITS WORTH IT THO<33 |

- wally finds it..normal funny enough. if you do in unintentionally he won't mind a bit even if you're staring at him during a conversation. hell he may even laugh and jokingly say “ that's a..interesting blink , dearest. ” “ what do you mean? ” “ oh nothing.. ” now if its INTENTIONALLY done he again , doesn't react in the slightest. he's probably seen much weirder so your silly little frog blink isn't much to him.

- julie can't help but giggle at it even if you're staring at something else or talking with someone else. she finds it silly yet adorable! if you blink at her that way she can't help but gently hold your face and say “ you look like an adorable froggy! ” and give you a kiss on the forehead. even if you do it intentionally it don't seem weird to her , she's going to find it cute in her own special way no matter what.

- frank is more of the ones who gets disturbed ever so slightly by the fact you frog blink at people or objects. sometimes he'll flinch if you blink at him but always quickly apologizes about his reaction and even if he's been dating you for some time he'll still jump. “ oh jeez I'm sorry butterfly , I'm just..I'd rather not say creeped out by it. it's just interesting! ” he tries to say that in a positive way and will make up for it by kisses and hugs...your his strange partner and he loves it in some form.

- sally giggles at it like julie but is a little secretive about how she thinks about it. by the way she acts she finds it unique yet adorable. she can actually keep eye contact with you but does laugh if you look at objects you're interested in and do it. “ you remind me of how moths stare at flames or go to them , starshine! it's adorable. ”

- poppy , being the motherly time , ignores it. it's a gentle way of ignoring it and even can't help but kiss your forehead if you're staring at an object or thing while doing the frog blink. she even lightly asks about it and never pushes it but does let a giggle out or two.

- eddie finds it well..funny yet unique! he says that in a gentle way but seriously he can't help but stare in such a loving way but will..lightly joke. calls you his ‘ froggy ’ and if he ever delivers letters to you expect a frog drawn on it with a lot of hearts on it! he even accidentally makes everyone else call you froggy....

- barnaby can and will joke about it only because that's in his nature . yet it will be jokes that show he loves you , if he doesn't joke around with you he might as well not be your boyfriend- he calls you “ frogster ” and somehow can hold eye contact with you and jokingly mimics you.

- howdy can't help but find it unique and adorable , always making eye contact even if you do it but if its for no reason he may be a little creeped out but just stares back usually. you're always gonna be loveable in his eyes but you're just a frog...a very lovable one.

[youracebuddy]

I'm in Love with my Best Friend

Reboot Wally x Reader

Rating- Teen

Word count- 1,407

This can also be found on AO3!

This oneshot is a gift for @kawaiialeisha!

Sorry if any part of it doesn't make sense, I mostly wrote this one right before I fell asleep!

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

"Neighbor?"

Wally whispered, lavender eyes locked gently onto yours. He had requested to talk to you one-on-one today, but you didn’t have the faintest clue why.

“Yeah, Walls?” You spoke, gently patting the spot on the bed next to you. You tried your best to give him a reassuring smile, but you couldn’t seem to stop your concern from seeping into it.

He returned the smile weakly, taking the opportunity to slip next to you and lean into your side. You were quick to lean into him in return, your heart easing at the sight of a small smile threatening to break his complicated expression.

“So… are we going to talk about it, or just sit around and be mopy all day?” You teased, lifting up your other hand to ruffle his messy pompadour. He simply batted your hand away, seemingly unable to form the words that he wanted. Your smile dropped in return, only now realizing that this might be more serious than the usual shenanigans that are exchanged between the two of you.

After a moment's consideration, you decided to throw caution to the wind to see what on earth could be wrong with your best friend. You yet again reached out with your free hand, this time setting it below his chin. You gingerly pulled his head back to meet you, only to be greeted with a face full of crimson.

You couldn’t help but giggle at the sight, as you’d never seen him that deep of a shade of red before. What on earth could have gotten into him?

“Dude. Are you okay? The last time I saw you this red was when Barnaby made you laugh so hard that you nearly choked!” You prodded, proceeding to gently tilt around his head further to see the extent of it. The strangest thing that you could notice, though, was it increasing in intensity the closer you got to him.

“Wait. Walls, were you always this soft?” You asked, eyes filling with wonder at the thought. Sure, you had held his hand before, but nothing could prepare you for the fuzziness of his face. It was as if it was a mixture of the finest velvet you could imagine, with the squishiness of a cloud.

Before you knew it, your other hand was on his cheek, gently cupping his face in your palms. You ran your fingers over the soft material that he was made out of, stopping just shy from his ears. During your little… discovery, his expression had shifted from shock to something much softer. His eyes were half-lidded, the void black of his eyelids unable to stop the shimmer of his lavender irises in the soft morning light.

To your surprise, he reached out his felted hand to rest on your face, flushing your cheeks with warmth. It was a new sensation, unlike anything else that you’ve felt. It slowly seeped through your bones, filling each and every inch with comfort.

“You… get it now, don’t you?”

He murmured, his smile returning once more to grace his features. He slowly traced his fingers down to the bottom of your chin, leaving your skin tingling in memory of his touch. A deep, silky laugh escaped from his lips as he continued.

“Whenever you touch me, the strangest things happen to me. Before, it was just the same as usual. But now, for whatever reason…” To express his point, he took his hand off of your chin, bringing it up to rest atop of your own hand cupping the side of his face.

…You didn’t want to think about how deeply you wished for him to do it again, or how when he nuzzled his head into your hand it felt right.

“That happens.” He whispered, letting his eyes flutter closed. He sighed deeply, clearly still trying to get to the bottom of this.

You, on the other hand, had some ideas.

“Walls, can I kiss you?”

His eyes shot open, and he practically fell off of your bed in shock. When your brain finally processed what you said, your face felt like it was going to simply melt off from the heat.

“W-WAIT, I KNOW THAT SOUNDS REALLY WEIRD!” You yelped, frantically waving your hands in front of you to try and snap him out of his thoughts.

“Well, it’s usually related to something romantic when you first feel this way, right? Then, if we kissed, wouldn’t it… tell us if we liked each other?”

Wally thought this over for a moment, before slowly nodding in confirmation. It did nothing to stop the blush on his face from deepening further, however.

You thought it was really, REALLY cute.

Taking a deep breath to calm down your now fluttering heart, you silently opened your arms to him for an invitation to come closer. His eyes flicked down to your arms, then back up to your eyes, as if asking if this was really okay with you. After a small nod of confirmation in response, he wasted no time to close the space between the two of you and snake his arms around your torso, gently pulling you close.

You quickly returned the embrace, already feeling your nerves calm down from the hug. The two of you were always affectionate with each other before, but it just felt… different, to say the least.

It felt like you truly belonged somewhere, for once.

After what felt like hours of just holding onto him, he slowly brought his head up out of the usual crook of your neck he kept it in, glancing down to your lips.

“...Of course you’re shy right now, Walls.”

You murmured, unable to stop the affection you felt towards him from seeping into your tone. You brought your hand under his chin once more, pulling him closer with a sense of tenderness that you didn’t even know you were capable of.

Running your thumb slowly across his cheek, you leaned forward, and gingerly kissed him on the lips. His felt was ticklish against your own lips, causing you to pull back out of surprise. You opened your eyes to look at him, only to see him gazing back at you with the saddest expression that you’ve ever seen. Letting out a quiet snort and a whispered “sorry”, you brought your lips back to his.

Now ignoring the ticklish sensation, you allowed yourself to fully focus on the kiss.

His lips were soft, of which was greatly expected due to the fact that he was made of fabric. But, as the kiss continued, you couldn’t help but notice how he was melting into you.

His grip on you slowly loosened as he allowed himself to fall limp against you, leaving the warmth of sunshine wherever he touched. He was completely snuggled up to you within mere seconds, bringing up his hands to pull your head closer to his.

With that final movement, you suddenly started to feel the kiss in its entirety. The warmth of his lips slowly seeped into yours, sending a shiver down to your spine.

You deepened the kiss further without a second thought, slowly moving your mouth against his in a loving, tender dance. Your fingers slowly ran through his now-ruined pompadour, arms keeping him firmly in place.

The kiss continued for as long as you could hold your breath, not wanting to rip away the sheer trust and vulnerability between the two of you. But, just like everything else, it had to end.

Breaking off the kiss, you leaned forward to rest your forehead against his, greedily gasping for air. Your eyes fluttered open, instantly scanning his expression to make sure you didn’t accidentally make him uncomfortable.

To your great relief, there wasn’t a hint of pain in his expression. Instead, his eyes were half-lidded and filled with warmth, his smile goofy and lovestruck.

“I’m in love with my best friend.”

You breathlessly whispered, fresh realization dawning across your mind. When you focused back on him again, any worry about the new development completely vanished.

In the short time that your brain had wandered off, he had settled himself back against you, his body splayed atop of your own. He was gently nuzzling his face into your hair, letting out small, occasional mumbles and whispers that you couldn’t make out. The only thing that mattered to you was that he was happy, and you were too.

“I love you, Walls.”

“I love you too.”

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

well. i can't find my original fic rec list so here's a new (updated) one!

Daily Routines by The Garden of Unusual Delights (Shadowland) A number of people who feel depressed turn to comedy. Routines can also help. / As can having someone to care for. 4k words / oneshot / complete - TOP fucking tier. this rewired my neurons, shifted my view of Barnaby & his relationship with Wally, and also made me Deeply emotional

How to Greet New Neighbours by The Garden of Unusual Delights (Shadowland) He doesn't know what's happening, but he knows it isn't good. 8k words / oneshot / complete - STELLAR. an intriguing and engaging (and heartbreaking!) take on how Wally wound up sending material to the whrp

A Matter of Care by The Garden of Unusual Delights (Shadowland) When Julie is too sad to take proper care of her hair, Frank is happy to help out. 2.5k words / oneshot / complete - this person always gets characterizations Just Right, don't they? this a very sweet and tender moment between the besties <3

What to call it? What to call it? by Anonymous Wally tries to figure out what is different about the Neighborhood. But maybe there is no difference at all. 2.2k words / oneshot / complete - a fascinating exploration / behind the scenes interpretation of the secret 14 audios. the end always has me in my feels <3

Strings Of Fate by A_Cypress_Coffin Frank Frankly lived life by simply trudging along most days, but all of that changes when a new neighbor, quite literally, crashes into him. 27k / multichap / ongoing - a very fun interpretation of Franklydear and how the puppets perceive / experience / handle the true nature of their reality. i Cannot recommend it enough!

To Read a Clock by TurnedWorm Frank and Eddie try to teach Wally to read a clock. They get a bit more than they bargained for. 2.7k words / oneshot / complete - sweet and also Haunting! a stellar combination, and an interesting take on Wally's perspective. ngl it gave me chills!

my chest is bursting with abnormality by springtrap_wiki Wally realizes that something about him isn't as it should be. 1k words / oneshot / complete - a little peek into Wally realizing that he's different than his others neighbors. I like how this is handled - it hits home if im being honest!

Goin’ Out of My Head by 5_24 Picking someone up from the bus station seems like an easy task. But when adding Eddie Dear to that equation and the passenger just happens to be Frank Frankly, the results may vary... 5.4k / multichap / complete - genuinely funny, cute, and entertaining. the perfect read for a laugh!

Inside Jokes by The_PastelVoid In which the puppets are waiting for Sally and discover that Wally apparently has a contagious laugh when Barnaby tells what is called an "inside joke". 2k / oneshot / complete - pure fluff and laughs <3

Goodnight, Wally! by PastelDemon ... But what would happen if, one day, without any warning, Wally suddenly could sleep just like everyone else? 19.5k / oneshot / complete - very sweet with a sprinkling of angst, and an entertaining take on what a new-to-sleep Wally might be like

Welcome Home: Fantasy AU by ImaginatorOfThings What would happen if we took our lovable cast of puppets, and put them into a Fantasy alternate universe? 28k / series / complete - a VERY fun fantasy au with a fascinating twist. it made me tear up, it made me feel some dread, it made me smile! what more could we ask for <3

[blu3-j]

How about everyone from Welcome Home has a sleepover with the human Reader who just arrived in the neighborhood! What would happen if, while the reader is sleeping, he starts crying or says something like this in his sleep: "Please stop this hurting me" (poor reader is having a nightmare). Of course, his puppet friends are going to wake the reader up, but when the reader wakes up he says "no, look over there in the corner there's a monster and he's going to devour me" and after that the reader faints and goes back to sleep..

How would the puppets react? What would happen?

(( Sorry if it's confusing, it's just that I have Sleep Paralysis sometimes when I'm woken up by having a nightmare I see this scary entity that terrified me in my sleep next to me in bed, it's so scary because it seems so real, sometimes I I simply go back to sleep as if nothing happened and I don't remember that accident. ))

Night Horrors

Reader with Sleep Paralysis x Welcome Home Crew

(Headcannon List!)

Oh, goodness! I’m so sorry to hear that, fellow stranger! Well, know that all of the Welcome Home crew would be deeply concerned for you and check up on you the next morning! They care for you so so much! Know that I care for you so much, too! We may be strangers, but I still care! It must be so scary.

Wally:

This dude would just look in the corner you made comment to and investigate

No fear, whatsoever

I can imagine him laughing when seeing nothing and saying aloud to anyone listening “Silly, silly! There’s nothing here.” And just go back to whatever he was doing before he went to check up on you.

Has had experience investigating scary things in the dark to comfort Barnaby

Barnaby:

His eyes would go wide and he’d freeze instantly.

This guy may be a jokester, but he’s not much of a fan of horror

Watching him would be like watching those online gamers play horror games, honestly

He’d slowly turn around and either jump anyway, or he’d walk the other direction repeatedly saying “nope nope nope nope” the entire time

Wally would have to comfort the poor doggo

Sally:

She’d freeze up for a moment and just stare at you as you fell back asleep

The entire time she would just heavily debate on whether or not to look

“D-don’t worry, Y/N, I’ll be your knight in shining armor!”

She’d attempt to go into an acting bit to convince herself to be brave for you

You could hear her sigh of relief outside of the building when she didn’t see anything

Would no doubt refuse to sleep without you or anyone else in the room, though

Julie:

Girly would go wide-eyed and dart around to look, ready to beat the shit out of whatever you saw

Don’t underestimate her, because of her games with random and possibly made up on the spot rules, she’s a lot stronger than she looks and she knows it

She’s more of a fight person than flight, fawn, or freeze

Upon seeing nothing there, she would turn back around and pat you on the head with a smile on her face

“Oh, Y/N, you silly billy! Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you.”

Once she was sure you weren’t having anymore nightmares, she’d skip off to do what she was doing before

Poppy:

Instant panic

This bird is a scaredy bird

She would instantly curl up under the blanket with you and do her best not to look in the corner

She’s shaking so hard, it’s a wonder you didn’t wake up

If she got brave enough, she would rush over to the phone and call somebody over (most likely Howdy) to check the corner for her

Howdy:

No fear

He wouldn’t walk over, but he would definitely look in the corner to make sure there’s nothing there

He’d chuckle when there really wasn’t anything there and then tuck you back in

Like Wally, he’s had experience checking for scary monsters in the house for Poppy and Sally (Sally rarely ever called him to check on something, but he’s had to in the past)

Additionally, he runs a bodega store. There must of been times that were scary as shit

I mean, think about it! He’s most probably heard some things outside or seen things in his store while closing up or during the night when he’s supposed to be sleeping plenty of times!

He’s got to be brave, at least for investigating

Maybe not as much for confrontation, but I can imagine he may know how to stand his ground (albeit a bit shakily)

Frank:

Like most of the others, he would freeze up a bit

Only for a single moment, though

Then he would turn around

When he saw nothing, he breathed a sigh of relief

Depending on how close the two of you are, he’d either lightly glare at you (I doubt it from thinking he’s a huge softy, just a bit grumpy and intellectual), or “smile” at you

“Smile” as in his eyes would scrunch up the tiniest bit in that special way a person smiles at another and raise his eyebrows a bit

Due to his permanent frown, he can’t really smile at you, but he tries on occasion!

For the rest of the night, though, he’d be a small bit on edge

Eddie:

Poor guy would instantly run and call for Frank

If Frank can’t come, he’d attempt to wake you either to assure him there’s nothing there or to run to another room to sleep for the rest of the night

He’s definitely a flight guy, but that doesn’t mean he won’t still try to protect others!

He’d do anything to keep his friends/significant others safe!

Even if it means facing his worst, scariest fears!

Home:

Yes, I’m putting Home in here since they technically count as a character of Welcome Home

That, and Home needs some love, too!

Home would instantly be able to know there’s nothing there

But don’t be fooled! If they were able to breathe like a human, their breathing would have stopped for a moment

Home would tuck you back in with something they can control

If they can’t tuck you back in, they’d squeak out a loving “goodnight.”

[kodared]

☆ Welcome home Neighbor~! ☆

----------

Human Reader x Welcome Home!

The fight begins, but doesn't quite go as planned.

Chapter 11/?

Word Count: 3,255 out of 35,282

----------

The plan was supposed to be simple, Barnaby and Howdy distract Home, while the others grab Y/N and get out of there. If Howdy had any say in the matter, he would do much worse to Home than only distract them. 

                     Howdy and Barnaby went to Home first while the others prepared, as the two moved closer they could see the eyes that were once in Homes curtains now eerily shut. They had never seen Home without their eyes open, it sent chills up both of their spines.

…Barnaby's paw hadn’t even reached the door before it flung open, revealing Wally leaning on the doorway as if he had been expecting their arrival. 

                      “Barnaby! To what do I owe the pleasure?..” 

    Howdy walked behind Barnaby, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. Howdy knew this wasn't Wally, and Barnaby knew it as well. 

So with a deep breath, Barnaby let a small snarl take hold of his face as he spoke to Home. 

“Where's Y/N?…”

Home let out a laugh as Barnaby continued to snarl, a faint growl kicking up in the back of his throat as Howdy pulled him back by his shoulder. Clearly not want a fight between the two breaking out before they could save Y/N. 

“My my!... Whats gotten you so upset Barnaby?...” 

Barnaby wasn’t one to calm down easily, and if Howdy wanted any chance of saving Y/N he would have to distract Home. 

         Howdy pushed his growling friend behind him as he stepped forward, putting himself between the two as he tried to make his tone non-confrontational despite how angry and anxious he truthfully was. 

“...We only ask because... We need them for Sallys' play!.. You of all people should know that Wally, you suggested it to happen tonight,” 

Howdy could feel a cold sweat forming on the back of his neck as Home looked up at him, Wallys' wide eyes looking into his very soul as if they could see through his lie so clearly.

           Howdy knew he had to keep a convincing face, so he tried his best to put on a compelling smile as Home began to let out a stoic laugh. 

“HaHaHa, Of course, how could I forget. Well, I hate to say it but Y/N is not here.” 

Howdy held his breath at Homes blatant denial. He and everyone else knew for a fact Y/N was in there, but without Homes confirmation, he and Barnaby would have to distract Home in another way. 

“...Well that's a darn shame, say Wally whaddya say we head down to Sallys right now!.. I'm sure they could use our help with somethin,” 

Howdy unclasped his hands that were once behind his back to make jazz hands, intentionally bumping Barnaby a bit to get him to help persuade Home into leaving with them. 

They both knew this wasn't Wally. But if they got Home away for long enough, they could restrain him and get more time to save Y/N. 

Barnaby gave Howdy a confused look before quickly picking up on the plan to get Home away from the location. Barnaby gave a small smile to Wally despite the way his eyebrows continued to furrow in anger. 

“Yeah..! C'mon bud it'll be fun, an’ it would do ya some good to get out of the house today.” 

Despite the narrowed eyes, Wally gave Barnaby for the comment of getting out of the house, he seemed to let out a sigh and step out of the House. 

“I suppose it would do some good to Get out, Lead the way!..” 

The smile that Wally wore looked strained. As if there was something nagging and chipping away at the back of his mind, and as Howdy looked at him, he knew he was worried about Y/N escaping. 

And he was right to worry. 

…As the Trio walked away, Frank watched from his window as the group approached Sallys house. Frank quickly motioned for Sally to go out the back and help them distract Wally while they got Y/N out safely. 

Sally gave a determined nod before heading out, and once Frank saw all four enter her house without issue, he began Phase 2. 

Frank grabbed the notepad that Y/N had written on and skimmed it over one final time before heading out with Poppy, Julie, and Eddie. Frank couldn't help but feel his anxiety begin to brim in the back of his mind before he pushed it away with a deep breath. 

He couldn't afford to let his own anxiety get in the way. 

They all approached the front door of Home, Frank turned around and gave a final nod of confirmation before opening the door. 

The inside of the house was dark, it felt a little… Damp as well. Frank didn't know what to think before he turned around and went to motion for the others to follow. 

…But there was no door behind him anymore. 

He almost let out a yelp at the sight of the missing door and wall before stopping himself. Frank also could no longer see any windows. The dampness in the air made his throat feel tight, but he had to keep going. 

Frank turned around and walked forward with his hands slightly out in front of him, he had half a mind to begin calling out for Y/N until he heard a small noise nearby. 

If he hadn't been on such high alert he may have brushed it off to be a mouse or even just the building settling, but despite this, he still found himself confused. 

The noise had echoed. Which was something not feasible with the sheer size of Homes interior, or at least he thought he was inside Homes interior. He had been over to visit Wally a few times, and in all of his memories, he didn't remember it being this… Spacious. 

Frank also had no recollection of the ceiling being as high up as it now was. Frank could see the faintest of outlines of what appeared to be overhead lights that stretched higher than he could see. It reminded him of studio lighting that Sally often used. 

He shook his head and continued in the direction of the noise, his shaky breath echoing through the large building as his dress shoes clacked against the hard floors beneath him.

Frank in his fear didn't think to check where he was walking, and as he progressed he felt himself trip on something with his hands taking most of the damage as he fell forward. 

He groaned as he turned to look behind himself to see what he tripped on, and of course, he couldn't see for shit. 

Frank let out a groan as he sat up and felt around the floor, if he couldn't see he might as well try to feel what he tripped on. His hands met a Cube cardboard texture, Frank was confused before it clicked he tripped on a box that was filled with some items. 

Frank pulled the box closer to himself as he tried to pry it open, and after a few moments, he successfully ripped the tape and put a hand in. 

Frank felt past all of the packing peanuts and finally touched a few plastic boxes that were hidden beneath.

The items inside felt like they were individually wrapped, so without much thought, he opened one of the packages.

It felt cylindrical in Franks hand as he held it, his other hand pushing away the bigger box and the now ripped-up packaging. 

He felt a button on the side and clicked it, Frank foolishly had it pointing towards himself and was met with a blinding light. 

Frank was startled for a moment before he moved it away from his face and realized he somehow found a flashlight, which was going to prove to be useful to him, especially in this dark building. 

After a few seconds of blinking away the small tears that formed in his eyes from the bright light, he finally collected himself to look at the appearance of the flashlight and what else was in the box he tripped on. 

The box had a sun and moon logo Design on the side, most definitely a company. As he investigated more inside the Box he saw it was filled to the brim with flashlights. 

…All of which are customized with different artworks of his friends' faces.

He felt unnerved, to say the least. 

Taking a shaky breath Frank finally stood on his wounded ankle, which became twisted after he tripped over the box. 

Frank was able to see the exact flashlight he was holding now in the light that reflected, and he could see it was orange with small envelopes decorating it. Most definitely an Eddie-themed flashlight, it provided him a slight amount of comfort. 

Pushing forward to what was more important he looked ahead and was able to confirm his suspicion that he was no longer inside Home. 

The walls of this building appeared to be worn and aged with time. Various papers littered the floor and posters that used to have designs on them now hung sadly from the concrete walls. 

It all was much too creepy for Frank, but he had to persist to save his friend and find his other friends that he lost somehow by entering Home. 

He walked forward, his shoes that once clacked against the floor now deafened by the number of papers that littered the floor. Frank took care to not trip again on the boxes that were scattered about in no particular manner, the place looked abandoned. 

Frank heard the small noise again to his left and quickly pivoted on his heel to see what caused it, his ears rang as he focused all his attention on the silence to see if he could pick up any other noise. 

…And after a few moments, he heard it again. 

The noise that followed this time was much louder than expected. It sounded as if a chair had fallen over, with something attached to it.

Without missing a beat Frank sprang into action, quickly running towards the noise with little to no consideration to his own wellbeing. The items on the floor also changed on the ground below him as he continued in the large warehouse, he could see the scattered papers become less and less frequent as he continued.

In Frank's haste, he didn't see the large filming camera on the ground, and he found himself falling for the second time today, he was starting to feel like Eddie. 

….Maybe it was the flashlight. 

Frank's funny thought was stopped quickly as he looked up from where he had tripped, and he was horrified at the sight in front of him. 

He was met with a replica of Home perched in the center of the room atop a metal stand. It make Frank freeze for a moment till he realized it wasn't actually Home, it was only a fake. 

The eyes that he could only assume once opened were now rusted over, from what he could only assume was from years of abandonment. Large puppeteering cranks were positioned off to the side, which again he guessed operated it, like a puppet.

This place held a strong sense of deja vu for Frank that he couldn't quite place… Almost as if he had heard about it before. 

Pushing through his sense of deja vu, he stood and lightly brushed himself off before warily pressing an open hand to the worn-down door. He had a feeling the noise came from inside, and now he could confirm his suspicions. 

—------------------

Eddie watched as Frank disappeared into the darkness of Homes interior, he couldn't reach a hand to stop him before the door slammed shut. 

Poppy was the first to speak after they watched him disappear, Julie was much too frantic to get a coherent sentence out. 

“Oh, I just knew this would happen!.. We should have left it be, Franks now who knows where and..!” 

Eddie knew Poppy was just worried for Frank, but it made Eddie feel a twinge of anger that Poppy would insinuate they should have left it alone. 

“They’ll be alright Miss Poppy, if I know anythin’ it's that Frank is strong, and will save them.” 

Eddie took a deep breath as his hand fidgeted with his wedding ring, he hoped Frank would be okay, actually no, he knew Frank would be okay. His husband was anything but weak, and he had all the faith in the world that he would get through this. 

“Now… I do believe we should be headin’ over to Sallys. They could surely use our help keepin’ Home distracted.” 

Eddie turned to look at Julie who was still shaking like a leaf before his eyes, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze, trying his best to ground her back to the situation at hand. 

It worked to some extent, Julie still looked terrified but as she met Eddie's eyes he could see the familiar determined spark that both her and Sally shared. 

Eddie led the group to Sallys' house, and as they approached Poppy couldn't help but have her feathers ruffled at the sounds coming from inside. 

From outside the neighbors could hear something crash and shatter. 

The Shining Stars door was locked, despite this Eddie continued to rattle the handle in a panic. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal Wally standing in the doorway with his head cocked to the side. 

“Ah, Hello neighbor! You're just in time for the play.” 

Eddie was at a loss for words, this was very clearly not the same Wally he knew and cared for. This Wally spoke more eloquently and more stuck up than the humble and mellow Wally he was used to calling his friend. 

“You're not Wally.” 

The words flew out of Eddie's mouth like venom. The memories and pain of Homes resets stabbing and plunging into his chest like a hot knife.

“And youre off script.” 

Eddie froze at his words and immediately regretted his immediate anger at Home as he felt something melding into his wrist with a burning hot pain, he looked behind him only to see Poppy and Julie wrapped in the same Thread as him. 

“I think its time I fix this Neighborhood.” 

—---------------

Frank's open hand shook as he applied pressure to open the door but to no avail. The rusted door clearly was not going to open without the assistance of something stronger than him. 

He shined his flashlight around the open space to get a better view of what he could use to pry the door open, where his eyes caught something that was hung on the wall. 

Frank's shoes clicked against the concrete floors as he walked to the cement wall with a paper taped to it, his eyes staring in amazement at the poster. 

It was a small article, but it was for some reason taped right in the center of the wall, almost as if it was trying to encapture his attention as he read….

‘Head Producer of Welcome Home missing Overnight!

The PlayFellow Studios' one and only Mr. Domum is nowhere to be found as we approach the busiest season of the year, Many are asking if the supposed Haunted Dolls had anything to do with it! To which we have brought a special guest, Please welco..-!’ 

…Frank couldn't read anymore before he heard something clatter to the ground and shatter inside the replica Home, Frank quickly went back to the task at hand and scanned the area for anything to help him. 

He couldn't find anything, so without a moment to spare he quickly ran to the side window of the house and raised his flashlight, muttering quick apologies to anyone who owned the property before putting his whole body weight into shattering the glass. 

Frank felt the glass give way underneath his light and quickly shined it inside as he pushed the many curtains out of the way. 

“Y/N?!.. Are you there?!..” 

Frank waited for a second in eerie silence as he listened, hearing something slam against the floor with a quiet thump before he decided to go in. 

He carefully grabbed ahold of the shattered frame and hoisted himself inside, he could feel the pressure on his palm as he felt glass go into his hand, but that didn't matter right now. 

Frank made his way quickly to the back room of the house, he knew the layout pretty well seeing as it was almost a direct replica of the Home he's grown to know. 

He could see Wallys' iconic chair sitting in the center of the room turned on its back, and as he shined his light on it he could see torn threads on the arms of the plush recliner. 

He cautiously stepped forward before freezing as he heard a noise coming from the kitchen nearby. It sounded like someone was struggling to stand, and as he slowly turned his flashlight to look at the figure approaching him, he felt his stuffing run cold. 

It was so painfully you, it was you in the flesh. 

And that's why he was so afraid. 

He could see exactly where Home had wrapped their threads into your arms, and precisely where they ended. Thankfully, the red strings stopped as they reached your shoulders, if they had reached any closer to your brain your memories would be good as gone. 

“Y/N!.. Oh thank goodness,” 

Frank quickly walked over to you and helped you stand, he could clearly see you were disoriented and tired. Homes threads act like venom, and he knew it all too well. 

“I know it seems scary, but everything is going to be okay. Just sit for a moment,” 

Frank gently guided you to sit down on the wooden floor as your legs shook, Frank quickly walked to the kitchen and went to look for any sort of scissors to get you out of the situation you were in. 

After finding a decent pair of kitchen scissors he walked back over and propped the flashlight on the floor, he untied his tie and handed it to you as he spoke.

“I want you to bite on this okay? It's going to hurt, but it has to be done, I promise ill be fast unstringing you,” 

Frank spoke with delicate caution as if he had done this before, he hoped you would trust him and not put up a fight with him, and thankfully you where smart enough to know to trust Frank. 

You took the tie in your mouth as Frank positioned himself to snip the first thread that poked out of your skin, you braced and the initial pain didn't come, Frank looked up at you sympathetically. 

“It'll be over fast,” 

He didn't give you time to brace as he quickly pulled out the snipped thread from your skin, an icy hot pain shot through your spine as it unstrung from your very being. You didn't know anymore where Home began and you ended in your mind, you feel as if you've been here for so long. 

Like a puppet loosely strung, you slumped against the wall as you let Frank unthread you, you knew by the end of this you owed him an explanation. 

And oh boy did you have one hell of a story to tell him. 

-------

I hope you enjoyed!! Again sorry this took so long to get out and published! Hopefully since things have slowed down irl i can get some more writing done!

As always i have a Ao3 Where i post too! Feel free to look over there as well!

Koda out<3 ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง

[luis-block]

Can I get fem hellhound reader snuggling with the mob au members!!

I loved the last story!!

Thank you! And I did make the reader more neutral in looks and gender, but it could be for anyone/ any oc's. My ask box are also open! I would love to do more Welcome Home asks

Warnings: None

Mob Au Welcome Home Gang Cuddle HC's

Wally Darling

Once you start cuddling him, you got to wait for him to be done cuddling you. He’s very possessive when in a relationship with you but is happy to cuddle wherever you want. So you get to cuddle softly on his lap with your head on his shoulder as he lounges in the bar, ordering hits on people. Or maybe your both laying in bed, with his head on your chest as twilight comes and goes. “Your mine forever~” and “I will love you, even if you don’t love me.” Will be whispered in the night to you, whether it warms or chills your heart is up for you to decide.

Barnaby b Beagle

Even with his brash and crude personality, is still soft to the thought of cuddling you. Sharing a chair as you sit into his warm side with his arm over you, the feeling of laughs from crude jokes and cigar jokes are a common occurrence. The smell of scotch and your perfume mix when you cuddle on his shoulder as he carries you around in his one arm so you don’t need to keep up with his walking pace. An inappropriate joke usually happens before an ask to cuddle, so it can be seen as an apology to you, but you know he just is embarrassed to ask outright.

Poppy Partridge

When not healing or cooking, she’s got some time on her hands. So an after-breakfast cuddle in back bed is always her favorite after everyone goes on about their days. Helping her preen her feathers as she lays her head on your lap as you two watch T.V. is a Saturday Night ritual at this point. She worries that she is ‘boring’ to you compared to the colleagues, but her stability and constant presence is unbeatable by anyone else in the gang.

Eddie Dear

Likes to take up the couch in the living room and have his arm over you, snoring away like a freight train and holding you close. Will sometimes forget you two have cuddled earlier and will insist for more cuddles. Currently not the worst thing ever, as it makes him happier every time. Though you worry about him memory as it gets worse, you let him drape himself over you as you lay in bed all the same.

Howdy Pillar

Will be ok with or without cuddling, its just in his nature. But if you ask, he will cuddle you for a time. Four strong arms engulf you as your eyes close for a nap, you feel him relax but don’t bring up the drop in guard. When winter comes he is much more fluffy, and laying on one of his arms as he does something else give you warmth when your cold. He will relax more as time goes on, but you will always be the one to initiate.

Julie Joyful

Will come and cuddle you at the oddest times, middle of dinner and out after a hit in the middle of a park are the weirdest so far. She will have an arm around you in bed, explaining chemical reactions and how she’s going to use them for her next hits. Ya she might smell of a lab on a good day, but her back scratches are award winning.

Sally Starlet

Will go batshit for cuddles, I am not joking. At the bar, sitting in one of the lounge chairs with her legs over yours while she vividly tells a story about latest hit as she lays her head next to yours on the chair. Or laying on a bench on the park at 2 am looking at the stars, whispers of love and insane ideas of weddings are shared between you two with giggles.

Frank Frankly

Reading out loud with your head on his lap as you smile up at him always makes his heart melt. Talks of college majors and fields of study are always a favorite topic for you two in the middle of the night. It reminds him of when he wasn’t in the gang when he sees you sleep with your arms around him, it hurts and makes his heart happy at the same time. But his care for you will make his ‘plans’ involve you leaving with him.