#Bird man go brrr

[rookisit]

Minecraft men be opon yee

Based on @isaac031 ‘s the crow beast on ao3!

[hystericstar]

Good girl

a quick revali smut I whipped up cause silly bird man make brain go brrr 😩😩

no bcuz he would literally be SO comfy n soft like- 😭😭

Cw: fem reader, ‘good girl’ is used, mean birb (obvi), overstim, thigh humping

! MDNI !

Your body twitched and trembled against the warm-feathered body that engulfed you. “C’mon, dove. I know you can handle it.” He purred into the crook of your neck, feathered fingers tickling and prodding at your clit as he rocked you back-and-forth on his thigh.

You gripped his wing and whined as your legs trembled shamelessly in his hold. “Revali please! I-I wanna cum!” You begged, throwing your head back and squealing when he softly pressed your pearl.

“Hmmm, well, do you think you deserve it? After all, you were being such a brat earlier.” He growled, bouncing his knee to please you just right, but not enough to send you over the edge just yet.

“Yes! Please please please- I’ll be a good girl I swear!” drool dribbled down your chin at this point, yet you were to overstimulated to care.

“Then show me with your actions.” His tone was firm in your ear, and it only made you wetter. “I suppose you get to cum, but don’t think I’ll let you off easy. I do believe I deserve an apology.” He sped up his fingers as if he was strumming your folds and snickered when you started trying to hump his thigh. “I hope you remember my name with that fucked out head of yours. You will be saying it a lot tonight.” His feathers couldn’t help but puff out slightly in pride when you shook in his arms, body seizing as you finally reached your climax.

“Good girl.” He whispered, nipping softly at your shoulder as you desperately tried catching your breath.

~《☆♡•°•°♡☆》~

def likes to be called a pretty bird he just doesn’t wanna admit it. 🙄

ugh I lob him sm 😫😫

[wolveria]

The Raven's Hymn - Ch 46

Pairing: SCP-049 x Reader

Series Warnings: Eventual smut, dubcon, slow burn, violence, horror, death, monsters, human experiments, dark with a happy ending

Chapter Summary: “I know it’s a lot to take in, but really, I thought you’d be happier to see me.”

AO3

You bolted, your body acting before your mind could catch up.

SCP-035 was free. You hadn’t quite thought through the implication of releasing all the SCPs and how they might react to said freedom. You’d thought at most you’d have to worry about running into 173, not 035. Especially when all the cells had just opened, which led to one conclusion: 035 had escaped before 079 had opened the doors.

These thoughts flashed through your mind, the implications trailing behind your body’s visceral reaction to his appearance. But 035 anticipated the move and snatched you around the middle, forcing you round to face him. He held you in a mocking parody of an embrace.

“No, no, none of that,” he tsked. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but really, I thought you’d be happier to see me.”

“Let go!”

You tried prying yourself from his grasp, unsuccessful with your panicked attempts, and 035’s face immediately flickered into a frown.

“Brrr. Cold reception.”

A groan came from your left. 035’s frown flipped into a grin in the blink of an eye. He released you, sauntered to the veteran guard who was trying to reach for his gun despite being in a pool of his own blood, and pulled the trigger. A single bullet ripped through the man’s neck, assuring his death but not granting it swiftly.

The white mask turned upward to face you with a grin.

“Stay put, little bird. If you take flight, I’ll have to clip your wings.”

He tapped his rifle in case you didn’t get his meaning.

You looked away as 035 began to pick things off the bodies, specifically the keycards and whatever else was in their pockets. You could try to run, but you didn’t trust him not to shoot you for the inconvenience.

Instead, you picked up the laptop where it spilled from the bag, placing it back inside after checking it over to make sure it was intact. Luck was on your side as none of the bullets had punctured it.

After placing it inside and looping the strap around your neck—an awkward affair with your hands still tied—you held the device to your chest when you caught sight of 035 eyeing it.

“How sweet,” he cooed, “you really do have a soft spot for the strays, don’t you?”

He held one of the keycards, twirling it between his fingers like a cheap magic trick.

“You shouldn’t trust him, you know,” the mask continued, the card dancing across his gloved knuckles. “079 might know how to open some cages, but he doesn’t know the way out.”

“And you do?”

035 snapped his fingers and pointed the magically appeared keycard at you.

“Bingo.”

You weighed your options, but really, you both knew your choices were limited and he was the one with the guns and the keys. You held out your arms, offering up your bound wrists.

“Can you let me out of these? Please?”

He perked up at the plea and rubbed his porcelain chin with a thoughtful hum.

“I’m sorely tempted, especially when you ask so sweetly. But… no.”

He grabbed you by the arm, happily dragging you along despite you trying to plant your feet, the smooth soles of your slippers not adding much traction. Somehow, you’d found yourself in an even worse situation than with the guards.

“035, listen to me,” you tried. “You don’t need me, you can clearly handle yourself and navigate the facility. Let me go—”

“Hush,” he bit out, his face now hidden as he flipped down the ballistics visor. “Stop complaining. And stop dragging your feet. I’m helping you.”

His version of “help” was probably as useful as a hole in the head, but when he gave you a forceful yank, you picked up your feet. He was strong, much stronger than his host body should be. It must have been one of his anomalous properties, but that gave you a chance. If you could only touch his skin or the mask itself, you might be able to pry him away from his host.

“With all the skybridges retracted, we’re stuck in Heavy Containment,” he commented, his pace solid and even, as if he had a destination in mind. “But there’s a way out through the archival section. I know it, and so does your man.”

“…My man?”

He snorted.

“Well, less a man, more a beaky pain in the ass.”

After being caught by the guards and then 035 showing up, you’d almost forgotten about your original rescue mission. Shame heated the back of your neck.

“If he knows a way out, then… we should go to him.”

035 barked out a laugh.

“Yeah, no. You can get your beau after I get the hell out of here.”

You growled and tugged at his hold, but he simply gave another chuckle and continued to drag you along.

“I’ll let you go once I’m free and clear. I’ve gotta look after number one. You understand, don’t you, Reid? You’d throw me under the bus to save your own skin, seeing as you’ve done it before.”

He shoved you inside an opened room, and you struggled to stay on your feet. You caught a glimpse of a bank of surveillance screens before 035 pushed you against a computer console, the grin of his covered mask hovering inches from your face, barely glimpsed past the darkened shield.

“Stay put, sweetheart.”

Your silent glare followed him to where he stood before the wall of screens. 035 began to flip through them, and you realized they were various facility cameras, showing the corridors and mezzanines. None of the cameras had access to the interior of containment cells, as they had their own dedicated observation rooms, especially for SCPs labeled as cognitohazards.

What 035 was looking for, you didn’t know. There was the occasional security guard, and on one screen the actual MTF team, most likely the one that had been stationed underground near 682’s chamber. It was the only explanation for how they’d gotten on site so quickly.

You eyed 035’s uniform, about to ask him how he’d gotten out of containment before 079 had opened the cells, but his full attention was on the screens, working the controls that moved the cameras.

You inched toward the door.

“Do you understand what you are?”

You went still and looked over your shoulder. 035’s back was to you, his focus on the monitors, but you still sensed the uncanny weight of his attention.

“SCP-001.”

“But do you know what that means?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

He turned around to face you, bracing his hands back against the console as he eyed you with a tilt of his head. You almost wished you could see the mask. That blank slate of a shield was somehow more disturbing than his frozen grin.

“Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

You pressed your lips together and stared back.

When enough time had passed to indicate you weren’t going to answer, he pushed himself away from the computers, his steps slow and mocking.

“Would you like to know? I’ll tell you right now. All you need to do is ask.”

“No.”

You shrank against the wall, the solid surface against your back as he crowded your space, towering over you. Of course, he couldn’t pick a host body that was smaller than yours. Showmanship and intimidation were just as important to him as a functioning body.

“I’ll tell you anyway, little bird.” 035 raised a hand to your face, rubbing a gloved finger against the side of your cheek. “You… are the answer.”

You turned your face away from his touch, unease crawling over your skin, though you frowned at his cryptic words.

“But the answer to what question?” he mused. “Now, there’s the mystery.”

You scoffed. 035 was either stalling for some reason you couldn’t see, or he was simply so arrogant as to think the breach would operate on his schedule. Either way, you didn’t have time for this.

Your attempt to push him off was met with an amused chuckle.

“Who do you think locked you in that cell with 049?”

You froze. Your body was locked in place, air trapped in your lungs. 035 tilted his head and gazed off to the side, as if trying to recall a particularly elusive piece of information.

“Who influenced poor… oh, what’s his name. Kevin? Kelly? Kenneth, yes, that’s it. Who pushed the unfortunate boy into sealing the door, cutting off your escape from our good doctor?”

Kenneth, who had been acting less and less like himself as time went on. Kenneth, with his nosebleeds, his unusual fear of 035, and his apparent infection with Pestilence.

Why hadn’t you seen it? Or sensed it? You still didn’t fully understand the extent of your abilities, but wouldn’t you have known if something was wrong with him?

A worse thought occurred to you. What if you had sensed it but had been so focused on 049, you’d simply ignored it?

“That was you?” The words were a wheeze in your throat. “Why?”

035’s tilted head drifted back to you, the shadow of the mask barely glimpsed beneath.

“Maybe I was curious. Maybe I was bored. Maybe I just wanted to see what would happen when 049 dug in his claws. If you would fall prey to his cure and blow this whole fucking circus sky-high, or if you would fizzle out his deadly touch.”

Another sinister chuckle.

“I certainly didn’t expect you to become an adverse amplifier. You’re only supposed to neutralize us. Make us harmless, inert. Not reverse our abilities. It’s all dreadfully fascinating. 049 never spoke of it, did he? There’s a name for what you are, and we all know it.”

Your attempts to shake him off were as successful as the first time, and you bared your teeth at him.

“I don’t care. I don’t care about any of that shit. I’m going to find 049, so either help me, or get out of my goddamn way.”

035’s head moved away as if he was genuinely taken aback, but his words were light.

“Bossy for someone in zip tie bracelets.”

He moved closer, a sinister undercurrent to his words.

“Now, come along, sweet girl. It’s time for you to make yourself useful. You owe me for that lie you told the Site Director. He stuffed me in an airtight, lead-lined box, and I did not care for it.”

He flipped up the shield, the grin spread wide in contrast to his angered words.

“But… I’m a generous man, and you’ve caught me in a good mood. If you give me what I want, I��ll point you in the direction of your precious doctor. Deal?”

You swallowed compulsively, eyeing the smooth porcelain. There was no glimpse of the MTF soldier underneath, nothing but black holes for eyes and a mouth.

“And what is it you want?”

It was dangerous to even let him entertain the possibility of a deal, like trying to barter with the Devil and come out ahead, but if there was a chance he knew where 049 had been taken…

He perked up, previous chipper attitude bubbling to the surface.

“For you to be my meat shield, as it were. Lots of nasties in this place, and I’d rather not have to burn through bodies. You’re the perfect cover for me to slip by.”

Oh. Well, that didn’t seem too bad. Which, of course, immediately raised your suspicions.

“Tell me where 049 is first, and I’ll do it.”

035 clicked his tongue with a playful head-tilt.

“That’s not how this works, little bird.”

“Stop calling me that.”

The grin seemed to spread wider even though it didn’t actually move.

“Well, I can’t call you big bird. That name’s already been taken by our tall, feathered friend. You do know he has feathers, don’t you?”

You said nothing beyond your silent glare. 035’s glee seemed to grow.

“Did you not get him naked enough for that? I had no idea you were both that repressed.”

Bile and rage burned in your throat, equally choking.

“Fuck you.”

“No, thank you. I’d rather not have big bird’s sloppy seconds.”

An angry noise ripped out of you as you launched forward. But 035 was quicker than the Site Director, jerking back before your forehead could collide with his.

He shoved you against the wall without care, a cackle erupting from the mask despite the tragic face that appeared within the blink of an eye.

“For being the one who introduced you two, you’re awfully uncooperative with me.”

“You locked me in!” you screamed. “You tried to kill me!”

“You were already dying,” he hissed, the humor dropped from his voice. “Because of me, the good doctor healed you. Because of me, Kenny-boy let you out so you could go stick 079 in a socket. You’re here, able to whine about how unfair your life is, because of me. You should be grateful.”

Rage burst from your rib cage like dragon fire. You kicked as hard as you could, colliding with his knee and pulling out a surprised grunt. You shoved him off-balance with the force of your full weight behind it, and then you were free, running out the door and down the hall, your rage curdling into biting fear.

035’s voice followed, echoing off the walls as if he surrounded you on all sides.

“Not very sporting of you, sweetheart.”

You didn’t stop. Your breath burned in your chest after months of inactivity, but you pushed your legs, feet pounding against the tile. The corridors were cleared out, empty of personnel, guards, or even SCPs. If you’d been thinking clearly, it might have given pause.

You recognized the double set of doors ahead of you: the entrance to the Heavy Containment cafeteria. Bursting through the unlocked doors, you ignored the stairs to your right that led down into the dining tables and kitchen, instead running across the raised walkway that spanned the spacious room.

A hand clamped around your wrist just as you made the halfway point. 035 yanked you backwards, back to him, and you didn’t resist.

No, you didn’t resist. You ran straight at him, using your momentum and his pull to carry you forward. He realized what you were doing too late.

The walkway lacked any sort of traditional railing, but what it did possess was a glass wall barricade, blocking it off from the cafeteria below. Not acrylic, not polycarbonate, but real glass.

Your shoulder collided with 035’s chest, and he crashed back through the glass, carrying you both over the edge into the open air.

Next Chapter

[switch-writer]

Could we get some tk headcanons for Doflamingo, smug bastard needs to be brought down a peg (but also he makes my lee mood go brrr)

Donquixote Doflamingo Tickle Headcanons

A/N: Thank you for the One Piece request! I do enjoy Doffy and looking into his character, although I prefer his brother, his mischievous personality was always fun to play around with! His character is unique, and while I have a favoritism to another warlord, MAN DOES DOFLAMINGO MAKE A GOOD CHARACTER AND VILLAIN. I will say due to my bias loving to Corazon, Doffy will have a few HCs relating to him. But gotta love Doffy. Thank you for the request!

• Doflamingo is always going to be mischievous, so of course tickles aren’t quite abnormal. Especially with his family/crew.

• He enjoys randomly shooting out strings and then dragging his ‘victims’ as he calls them, over to him. Like a cowboy who lassoed a horse in.

• Doffy truly just finds it amusing to tickle people, whether it’s in passing down a hall, or full on hunting them down and tickling them.

• He’d often wiggle his fingers at people to tease them.

• However, he still finds the activity something to be more… ‘intimate’ in the sense of he’d never tickle someone unless it was someone who could be/is family to him. If someone isn’t close to him, not a chance it’d happen.

• He’d often sit all of the members of his family down just to have dinner or have bonding time due to his actual family never having those moments, however, there’s also been times where he’ll randomly pounce on them.

• Doffy, believe it or not, still has brotherly instincts. So he’ll occasionally run up behind Sugar, due to her occasionally childlike personality, and swoop her up just to tickle her in his arms. His job is to playfully bully his family, especially younger siblings.

• Speaking of Younger siblings… Corazon was often the victim of tickling from Doffy, even back as children. So Doflamingo will often think Of Rosinante when tickling people, which occasionally will make him in a bad mood. Its a 40 percent chance.

• That being said, Doffy would often give raspberries to Corazon, he’d rapidly switch where he’d tickle him up and down his torso, and so on. However, afterwards? Usually he’d end up hugging Corazon, as much as a brat and devious person Doffy is, he still loved his brother.

• Corazon however was always his favorite person to tickle due to his silly laugh and expressions, even when they both grew up he was his favorite.

• On the flip side, if his clumsy brother had a chance to, he’d get revenge on his devious big brother.

• Doflamingo’s laugh when being tickled still sounds a tad evil, but it sounds much nicer and happy and less plotting something devious.

• He’s a kicker, other than that, he doesn’t resist much. Mostly because his arms flail up and down like a bird or simply freeze due to not expecting the attack.

• He’ll often make quips like “Ohoho! You’re truhuhuly a little brahat, aren’t you? Fufufu.” And call whoever happens to be tickling him a child before dismissing it.

• RARELY one to let his crew tickle him, so most tickles he got was from his family. So he holds those memories fondly since he’s only had mostly negative experiences with his true family. At least in his eyes it’s negative.

• He’ll occasionally think of the memories and miss the simple times where him and Corazon would chase one another around to tickle one another.

• Doflamingo’s weak/worst spot would probably be his knees, and under his arms/armpits. A honorable mention would be his soles.

• Rosinante used to have to tackle him so he could actually tickle him, so he’d usually tackle him (accidentally fall on him), then make sure he would laying on his belly, just to straddle him. It made it much easier to tickle around his brother’s knees and drive him up the wall.

• Doflamingo would only let his brother get him like that, mostly because he had a bond with his little brother, always. His crew could get him, but he’d object and fight back. So Rosinante is the only one to have the joy of hearing the squeaky giggles and happy laughs escape Doffy.

• Nonetheless, as fond as those memories with tickles are to Doffy, he’d likely only give out tickles than receive them. He prefers it that way due to regrets and memories… however, if you’re lucky, he’ll allow it if he’ll get revenge afterwards.

Hopefully you enjoyed!

[skywarpie]

“you didn't have to step in and help me, but you did, and i appreciate that.”

But with whomever makes your brain go brrr

Send me a prompt

[ I have been given too much free will with this ]

Copia's room is a mess. It almost rivals that of his office. Almost.

It seemed that he not only adored his pet rats, but tended to live like them too. A few wrappers decorated the floor as did an ungodly amount of pre packaged Ramen off to the side.

To be honest, it gave off mild hoarder vibes, but Aether ignored those thoughts as he helped the smaller man reorganize the room, cleaning it as they went.

Each time he found something and held it up (mainly empty chip bags), Copia would laugh nervously and snatch it from his hand to toss in the trash himself.

"Sorry. It is -- uh dirtier than I thought." His voice sounded tired. Aether was used to hearing that but this time it sounded different.

"Hey, it's okay."

Copia's face twists and he goes back to cleaning. He stops again after a few minutes. "You didn't have to step in and help me, but you did, and I appreciate it."

When Aether looks at Copia, he's startled to see that the man looks on the verge of tears.

"Little bird," Aether winds his arms around Copia and looks down at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's stupid." He dabs at an eye, trying to avoid the paint. "I just -- I just should have kept a better handle on this is all."

Aether's heart nearly shatters as the words sink in.

It's no surprise that Copia is victim to bouts of depression. Sometimes they're so bad that they leave him isolated in his bed, alone in his room for days, before he emerges. The fact that he thinks he has to apologize for that makes Aether feel horrible. He shouldn't be apolozing for his feelings.

"You've had a rough couple of days." He squeezes Copia in a crushing hug. "Things like this are okay to happen."

[fruiteggsaladit]

Brain going brrr a yyh fan may speak at length on how Keiko and Kuwabara are parallels of a close and romantically coded bond with Yusuke and from there speak on how the two may mirror each other with Yusuke as the plane of glass and metal, but who will speak on how Yusuke and Yukina are parallels of a romantically coded bond with Kuwabara?? And could therefore be parallels too!

Something something about needing to take care of yourself when you're at your most vulnerable and need to forgive yourself for having vulnerabilities with Yusuke needing to accept Puu, only for Toguro to pull Yusuke two steps back from that huge leap in self-acceptance because he doesn't want Yusuke at his personal best, he wants an executioner that mirrors his own past self, overlaid over the scene of Yukina's birds being crushed* before her own eyes when she had decided she wasn't going to "allow" Tarukane to benefit from her pain anymore and then she was forced into doing so anyway. And Toguro tells her to train herself to cry**

Something something Yusuke speaking with Kuroko the first SD and when she expresses that humans are inherently good, Yusuke thinks out loud that he thinks some humans are fine to kill and Kuroko interprets that in the most bad faith way possible, and Yukina telling Hiei she thinks that if a society is made up of cold-hearted people then those people should die only to seemingly give up when he tells her that she shouldn't rely on her brother when it might be more likely that she was exaggerating for the sake of hearing his opinion (you think a character can lie in a narrative without the narrator stating that they are lying? No, not possible, surely...)

Something something Yukina apparently leaving Hyouga to seek her brother for greater understanding and/or assistance of power... when this was a story initially told by Koenma, who we know by the end of canon has lied and omitted significant information from Yusuke and the others before, why wouldn't he now? And it's some time before we see Yukina again, having apparently returned to Hyouga after the rescue, surely enough time for Yukina to potentially have heard what "the official story" from the Spirit Office is and adjusting her story from there when she tells it to Shizuru, Botan, and Keiko. ... And Yusuke, who is forced to leave Earth because of his new status as a Mazoku distantly related to one of the Demon Kings, and chooses to leave before he strictly needs to be escorted from there in the hope that he'll return sooner if he does.

* Yukina's birds being crushed: Interesting, because Toguro comes across as someone who knows how to torture someone? He has a whole company of individual people who want him dead because he seeks someone "who will give him a worthy fight" (fucking liar if he meant that he would have settled for forcing Genkai to fight him or if it had to be Yusuke, he could have issued an invitation when Yusuke was an adult and not fourteen years old! This man pisses me off! I digress!); at many points he's fought a person and then left them alive so they'll return to him in the hope of revenge, even inviting them into this silly company so he can keep easier track of them and they of him.

I said I digress and then I lost my tangent!! My point was that if this man seems well-versed in torture and using a person's loved ones against them for a goal he has in mind, why kill all the available birds at once? The anime sticks to two birds, the manga has three and may be implied to be more than that, but I feel like he could have said "kill one" or "leave the other/rest alive" to use them again. By murdering the birds all at once, this was just one instance of getting Yukina to cry, when Tarukane has asked for a way to make her cry again, implicitly not just once.

** And Toguro tells her to train herself to cry: Where are the yyh-fans w daddy issues on this topic, one would think they'd eat this part up! An initial first-time reading of this could be that he's telling her to harden her heart because he feels for her and the only advice he knows is to turn oneself into a killing machine as a response to grief. This is annoying to me bc that's far more sympathy for Toguro than I feel he deserves (I hate this man! He's an effective antagonist in that way). Also, it just makes Yukina yet again into a reactive subject?

Idk, all I know is that I had the thought the other day that Toguro hadn't seen or fought Yusuke yet at that point, and had the following thought of "What if Toguro intended to have Yukina join his stupid evil lackey company bc he saw something in her that reminded him of himself" (namely: the determination not to let herself be harmed; the inability to protect her loved ones in spite of that determination; finally, the despair that washed over her following it). Also notable, is that Tarukane stole Yukina from Sakyo. One can wonder what would have happened if Yusuke and the others hadn't arrived when they did: I think the original plan in-narrative by Sakyo was to re-capture Yukina from Tarukane. And I think Toguro considered Yukina for being an executioner candidate. Aaah this might not be a very radical theory out there but I see so few speculations about canon that isn't "who would win" or "whats the best ship" or "kurama: demon and human but mostly demon" or "hiei my comfort gremlin".

[one-leaf-grimoire]

"Child of the Sun"

Chapter 6

masterlist

Synopsis: Julia follows the young Spade princess into the night, and gets into trouble

Four Hours Earlier

It was on nights like these that Julia wished she had inherited her mother’s flame magic. Her own flame was far from hot; it burned with an icy cold frost, a burst of cool purple before a black void appeared. No warmth existed in that place.

“Brrr…. Cold, cold, so cold…”

Julia paced around the palace gardens, rubbing her arms vigorously to generate any kind of warmth. Inside the Spade palace, laughter and music could be heard; warmth. However, for whatever reason, Julia had found herself unable to enjoy it.

Why am I even here?

She sighed, pacing around in a circle, past the frost-bitten roses.

This trip had been a great experience, sure. Emperor Yuno and Queen Fleur had been amazing hosts, and Julia had learned a lot about how their neighboring kingdom worked. However, something about the whole place gave her an unsettling feeling.

This is where that battle happened, right? Over 20 years ago.

It wasn't hard to imagine the cold stone walls of the castle crackling and creaking with magical power as a battle raged inside. The whole fiasco was barely talked about now, but Julia, curious, had asked her mother about it a few years back. She told her about the devils, about the gate to the underworld… and about the Zogratis siblings.

Julia could keenly remember where that conversation led.

"There… was a fourth one. A fourth Zogratis. He was the one who planned everything, every last detail. With his time magic, he was able to see the future. It's a miracle that we managed to defeat him."

Her mother didn't like to talk about it, either. Later, Julia learned that Lisa had been kidnapped by that man, earning his trust until it was time to betray him. But, something about that story never seemed quite right.

"Mom… Dad used to have time magic too, didn't he?"

"... he did."

That was all Lisa would say on the matter. When Julia was older, she learned the rest of the story from someone else.

"Lucius Zogratis took over your father's body. That's how he was able to trick us."

She had learned about that when she was 15. She was 18 now, and the thought still made her queasy. She mentioned it to her parents once when they were alone, and the sad look between the two of them told her everything she needed to know.

They never wanted me to find out about this. How… hurt they both were. Not just dad, but mom…

Julia was suddenly jerked from her thoughts by the sound of crunching footsteps in the snow. Startled, she looked up just in time to see a tiny figure dash across the garden and into the hedge maze.

Huh? What was that?!

Worried and intrigued, Julia took off after the shadow, glad to move around to ward off the cold. She followed the footsteps by their sound, until she turned a corner and caught up.

"Hey! What are you doing out here? Are you-"

Julia froze up when the figure suddenly stopped and turned to look at her with wide amber eyes.

"P-Princess Aurele?! What are you doing out here by yourself?!"

The tiny kid was much younger than either of Julia's youngest siblings, yet didn't seem too bothered by the cold. Maybe that was because of her thick little coat, or maybe because she had lived here all her life. However, Aurele shook her head, her black hair fluffy and dusted with snowflakes.

"No! I'm not going back!" she said before Julia could suggest such a thing. Determined, she turned around, and pointed ahead. "Bell flew away! I have to catch her!"

Bell? Julia thought, wondering if that could be a pet bird, or possibly an insect. Either way, it wouldn't fare very well in the cold snow. However, she wasn't about to let Emperor Yuno's only daughter run away into the cold night. "Er- princess," Julia said awkwardly, putting on a smile and bending down to look at her more directly. "I'm sure Bell will come back, but you need to get somewhere nice and warm!" And so do I. "We should head back before-"

"No!" Aurele demanded, before turning around and sprinting off once again. 

"WAH! Come back!"

Without a second thought, Julia sprinted after her again, determined to bring her back to the castle safely.

Aurele was surprisingly fast for a child who couldn't be more than 5 years old, but Julia eventually caught up, jogging behind her and desperately trying to convince her to turn back. However, nothing worked. Eventually, they slipped out of the grounds through a gap in the gate, a secret entrance that Julia hadn't seen before. "We really shouldn't be leaving!!" she told Aurele, wondering at this point if it would be permissible to just grab the girl and run back to the castle. "Please, Aurele-"

They were in the city now. Darkness cloaked them as Aurele navigated around corners, across empty streets, through alleyways-

And then, suddenly, she screeched to a halt. Julia nearly tripped over her, but managed to skid to a stop in time. "What is it?" she whispered, peering up ahead. Slowly, Aurele, who had gone silent, raised her hand and pointed at the junction ahead of them, where four alleyways connected. Julia saw shadowy figures there, seemingly unaware of their presence. 

"Bad men," Aurele whispered. "Daddy knows them."

Julia gulped, wondering what exactly these men must have done to grab the attention of the Spade Emperor himself. Slowly, she knelt down into the snow, her hand touching Aurele's shoulder. 

"Listen to me, Aurele. Run back and grab help. Get your parents. I'll make sure they don't follow you."

Aurele's amber eyes widened in shock. Julia smiled confidently. 

"I'll be alright, don't worry. I'm the daughter of a Wizard King, after all."

"W-whoa!" Aurele whispered, stars appearing in her eyes. "Really?" Julia nodded, and the little girl smiled, before turning around. "Okay! I'll get help!"

"Good! Run quickly!"

As the girl ran off, Julia redirected her attention to the intersection, closing her eyes to listen more carefully to what they were whispering about.

"We almost had it."

"Damn… so, you have no idea where the Spirit went at all?"

"No. We got it separated from the Emperor, but then it just flew down into the city and disappeared. Probably hiding somewhere…"

There were three of them. Julia frowned, her heart pounding. Spirit? They could only be talking about Sylph, the Wind Spirit that had a contract with Yuno. Bell, she suddenly realized. That must be Bell! What do these men want with Bell…

"She's not going to be happy," one of the men said. "This is the one Spirit we may have been able to catch, while it's between users."

Julia didn't want to hear any more. After sucking in a deep breath, she straightened up, and stepped out into the opening.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The men whirled around, eyes widening.

"A magic knight?!" one exclaimed. "All the way out here?!"

"Kill her!" the other yelled, his Grimoire out.

"Wait!" The third one's eyes were fixed on Julia's face, recognition flickering like flames. "That's-"

Julia had already attacked, flashing by them with pops of purple and black.

"Void Magic: Violet Plague."

The men cried out as black spots trailed behind Julia, causing them to fall over. However, one of them seemed unfazed, raising his hands and deflecting the voids with a shimmer of sparks.

Not good! Julia thought. My magic can be canceled out by Spatial Magic like his. I need something more powerful, to overwhelm him…

With a sly smile, she turned on her heel, her Golden Dawn cloak flaring out behind her.

"Mana Zone: Dark Battlefield!"

All at once, voids burst open around the intersection, warping the space around it and blasting cold air onto them. Julia felt her skin prick with mana, and she willed herself to stay in control.

Control it. Control it.

"Ah!!! I can't move!" one of the men yelled, frozen in place as the voids tugged on his body, taut with fear.

"Hold on!" The spatial magic user tried to move his hand towards his grimoire.

Control it. Control it.

In a flash, Julia raised her hand, willing her mana to burn through the space around the grimoire. 

Control it. Control it.

The grimoire disappeared into the darkness, causing an anguished scream to ring out from its owner.

Julia grinned, happy to have captured one of their weapons. Now, I just need to knock them out! By the time help arrives, I'll be sitting here waiting for them!

"Ice magic!"

Someone yelled out a spell, and Julia turned just in time to see three deadly-sharp icicles shoot at her.

So deadly-sharp, they would impale her in an instant.

Her eyes widened, panic and adrenaline clutching her heart.

No!

She threw up her hands, and a wall of void was burned in the spot, swallowing up the icicles. However, her heart still pounded, the girl caught off-guard by the near-deadly attack.

Breathe- breathe-

The void stuttered.

Control it. Control-

And then it exploded.

Unable to control the surge of mana from her body, Julia could do nothing but cry out in pain as it engulfed her, too, leaving her suspended in nothingness.

Nothingness…

Why…

Fear. Panic. Anger. Regret.

Each emotion caused the void to get bigger, to consume her body further.

She had always heard people talk about how your life flashes before your eyes before you die, but Julia hadn't believed it until now. The images, the memories, only increased her despair, until she couldn't tell where she began and the void ended.

Regret, after regret, after regret flooded in.

I'll never see the twins join a squad.

I'll never be a captain, or even a senior magic knight.

I'll never see Juno again. Or mom, or dad.

It was so cold. Her eyes were open, but she couldn't see anything.

No… no… not like this…

And then, it was warm again.

Julia was being held. A soft voice wafted across her soul. With a shaky breath, she started to cry.

"No, no, it's alright, my darling, my love… Julia…"

That was her name. Julia.

"There's no reason to cry. I'm here. I'll protect you… from everything. I promise."

She couldn't see her mother's face, but she knew it was her. Lisa had been the first soul she felt, seperate from her own.

The memory was fading. Julia would return to that warm nothingness once again.

Someone else was there. A man.

Who…?

He was gentle. His hair was black. His voice was like her father's, but…

That was the last thing Julia saw, before the darkness returned, and there was nothing but starlight.

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

Four Hours later, Lisa and Julius rushed into the hospital, followed by Marx just behind them. Lisa didn't head Julius's shout as she arrived outside the room, bursting inside without hesitation. What she saw made her cry out and fall to her knees.

Julia was laying in the hospital bed, her skin pale, almost blue. Her eyes were glassy, staring at nothing, but the worst part was the voids. Numerous splotches of black, inky space were drifting across her skin, causing parts of her body to disappear and reappear again. As if she were fading in and out of existence forever.

"W-w-w-"

Lisa could barely form words. Owen was there, alongside Mimosa and Annick. Mimosa was crying openly, her hands spread over Julia, green healing magic flowing down on the unconscious girl. Owen looked up sharply as he saw Lisa enter, quickly rushing to her side. 

"She's alive, she's alive," he repeated, but Lisa could barely hear him. She felt Julius's arm wrap around her, gently pulling her back to her feet. She looked up at him, still in shock, only to see that his eyes were locked on Julia, his face completely devoid of color.

"What happened to her?" he asked quietly, although his voice was wavering, far from calm.

"She was fighting a group of criminals in the Spade Kingdom," Owen explained quickly. "We don't really know how, but her magic expanded rapidly… almost like an explosion. She fell inside…"

Oh god… no, no, no-

Memories of that terrible day 16 years ago flooded Lisa's mind. The day she almost lost Julia to her own magic. And now…

"Yuno was able to contain it, and save her. If it weren't for Fleur and Mimosa…" Owen's voice trailed off, before he shook his head, disregarding the possibility. "Luckily, she's stable now, but we will have to contain the rest of the void stuck to her body. Lisa…" The older man sucked in a breath, before gesturing at the bed. 

"We need your magic… with me, you, Mimosa, and Annick, we should be able to save her."

Save her…

"I-I'm sorry," Mimosa suddenly said, tears still in her eyes. "I-I-I was supposed to protect her on this trip, I sh-shouldn't have-"

"It's no one's fault." Annick took Mimosa's hand, giving it a squeeze before she looked at Lisa. "This is our only chance. We have to do it now."

"... right."

Lisa gulped, still short of breath and blurry-eyed with tears. She looked up at Julius.

"Together. We need as much power as we can muster- to- t-to-"

"To save our daughter." Julius finished her sentence, nodding solemnly and brushing tears out of his own eyes. Lisa could feel the panic washing off of him, too.

They both closed their eyes, still hand-in-hand. Then, mana burst forth, their marks glowing so bright it dimmed the rest of the light in the room. Owen flinched, but looked back to see that the pair was looking at him, their eyes ablaze.

"... I'm ready."

They walked to the bed, raising their hands over Julia. Mimosa, Annick, and Owen did the same, before unleashing the full force of their healing magic upon her.

I failed her… I failed her…

"No, you didn't."

I did! I was always supposed to protect her!!! And now…

Two pairs of arms were around her as she sobbed, openly and bitterly. Their warmth was the only thing keeping her together right now.

"You did everything a mother could. And now, you'll save her. You're protecting her, even now."

Slowly, the dark splotches of void began to disappear from Julia's skin. Her breaths shuddered, her hands trembling.

But Lisa could not stop crying, even as power surged through her, as those arms held her soul so, so close.

Please… please… don't let my daughter die…

[mish-mash-marsh]

Not everything is ABOUT love. Or ABOUT the lack of it

sometimes things are about “man, I’ve been feeling tired today” or about “here’s how to code a cat with real physics” or even about “wheeee big scaly bird go brrr”

That’s not ABOUT love. that’s just the existence of life.

"everything is either about love or the absence of love" what an incredibly boring and one dimensional way to view the world and all it's complex and endless mechanisms. Also I do not trust you.

[emmychee]

Since it's October, the second 'brrr' month I've been itched to draw a good ol' spirit to bring Samhein aka Halloween closer. The banshee.

An Irish fairy-woman who is known to announce people passing away by their loud cries known as "keening". It's sad that these ladies are given a bad rep thinking they CAUSE said fates on people, and in fact, how their "keens" or wails sound like in many things, could have been inspired by how a barn owl screeches when active... at night since they're nocturnal birds. Prepare yourself if you do go and listen to a barn owl, cute as they are their voices are cacophonic at best.

So, I drew this lady on how it somehow describes, a sad lady who had to tell heavy news. Her arms are underneath her grey poncho, so I was lazy to draw them. The lil' note at the bottom is reference to Reaper Man, one of the Discworld novels which I've read recently. Goes to show how these creatures (even the rare males) are usually misunderstood in a way.

I haven't thought of a good name for her yet, mainly an Irish based one. And who knows, I could develop her more.

[mo0n-water]

hey!

i agree, maths is useless if you don’t want to be in that field and i certainly don’t so i’ve always hated it. also i love the fact that you actually respond with good long answers, it makes my day every time :))

quite simple questions today because i’m feeling lazy:

- what is something you’ve never told anyone before?

- where do you like to go when you’re feeling overwhelmed?

- what time do you wake up/go to sleep? are you a morning or night person?

- do you have a favourite fic/fic writer/fan artist? i want to branch out more. any ships are good (but no snape or anything crazy lmao)

- what can i call you?? i want to give you a nickname but i think you should suggest it ;)

also, who do you think i am?? i’m very intrigued, i think you should guess ;)

i hope your day is brilliant and you also make my brain go brrr, i love it (and you)

this is going in direction i did not expect

no such thing as a simple question if you ask me, only simple answers! or maybe you really do just ask good questions lol

it’s hard to think of something that i’ve never told anyone before. i’m a chatty person & i talk to a lot of people, so i feel like i just end up telling people different things about me? i don’t know how to explain that. one thought that’s been in my head lately that i’ve been too embarrassed to share with anyone is that i think i’d like to put my music on spotify. feels like a lofty dream, but well… we are planning to record it, & people like it at shows, so who knows.

when i’m overwhelmed, i tend to seek out people rather than places. usually one of my best friends. if not, though, i like to go on walks. walking is a safe haven to me. sometimes i hike down to my favorite spring or cliffside, sometimes just to a church i live near. if it’s night i’ll sit in the empty bathtub though haha rather classic

my sleep schedule is incredibly inconsistent. last night i went to bed at around 6 am & then woke up at 3:30 pm. but there are some days where instead i wake up at 6 am lol. i’m the queen of all-nighters honestly, & sometimes i feel like I work better when i haven’t slept. i get the most done between 2 & 9 am. i don’t know if that makes me a night owl or an early bird - i literally just don’t sleep!

oooh, i love this question. idk what ships you’re into, but i’ll tell you some of my faves.

some medium sized fics & wips i’m following: i like starvin darlin, which is a rosekiller roadtrip au in which evan has cancer & barty is a cannibal. then i really like stay in your lane, which is a jegulus olympics au that has every background pairing you could dream of. & i also must recommend a violent kind of spin which is jegulus enemies to lovers during the war. whatever she wants is an AMAZING pandalily coffee shop au.

for longfics my favorite is black mass, as well as probably pink lemonade. i read a lot of longfic but if i had to narrow it down to two, it would be those. black mass is a wolfstar road trip au, & it’s pretty dark but i really love the way the characters are written. lots of classic music. pink lemonade is a jegulus band au (background rosekiller, established wolfstar & dorlene iirc) where the marauders are a band in emergency need of a concert photographer… regulus just so happens to BE a photographer. gasp.

& in the realm of one shots, i really like heaven has a curb perfect for smoking on which is a canon-compliant wolfstar fic where remus & sirius have a angsty chat in the afterlife. also!! slow endings where harry is cleaning out grimmauld place & finds a strange photo of james & a man who looks an awful lot like sirius. that one’s jegulus obviously.

you should also read my jegulus band au… definitely not biased in that recommendation, no way. click here for that one.

as far as fan artists go, i have a lot? you should check my art tag. i tag pretty meticulously haha. but my absolute favorite is theinvisiblemuseum for the genius rarepair content & beautifully dark ideas.

whoops sorry that was a LOT but i hope you find something you like within all that xx

as for what you should call me - my name is whatever you decide, as the taylor song goes. up to you; what do you think of when you think of me? (i’d love to have something to call you as well, though - i’ve gone with question anon in my head & when sharing theories with my bestie lol.)

& speaking of theories, i’ve gone through so many! i feel like you’ve got to be someone i know, but i feel like i’ve pretty much ruled out everyone i know? you don’t talk like any of my irls, or rhea, so i have ruled those three out. my only guess that i think would make sense is @saturninebutalive, but i genuinely have no clue. (sorry for the tag betty, hope you’re having a nice day <3)

anyway, have a lovely rest of your monday, question anon! let me know what you think of the fics if you read them. it’s so nice to hear from you

[yuichi-ro]

oh my god hawks;;; i was literally talking to a friend today about zeno robinson mouthwatering good delivery of hawks, hanma, kagami and genya (he also voices a character from fire emblem heroes called zihark and😩😩😩)

but anyway- hawks. totally not the monsterfucker in me obsessing over his wings. he would totally use them to shield you from rain while he walks you home or keep you warm. they are so soft to touch and the base where they connect to his back is so sensitive that its enough to make him cum just by brushing through his wings. he thinks you don’t know but of course you do- he is so obvious about it. it makes him feel super embarrassed but it feels to good to hold back- you can see his wings tense up when he cums😩

just hawks w some bird habits is the best <333

hawks wings make me think sm ughhh <3 good brainrot good brainrot

-🌌

i'm just such a Zeno Robinson simp at this point it's embarrassing. Lets be honest almost all my fucking favs were him before I even realized it was him (Genya? Immediate crush but didn't know until last week it was Zeno Robinson) This man holds a death grip on my puthy and I mean c'mon at least gimme one baby at this point man?? Anime or cartoon universe he voices like 90% of my favs I'm so?? Offended??

ugh monsterfucking and Keigo's wings fuuuuck. And touching a birds back almost always tells their little brains its sexy time. Keigo with just enough bird in him that doing the same to him instantly turns him on 😩

no abusing this. No no you don't wanna outright let him know that you figured out his sweet spot or tease him about it or anything really. It's just such an endearing trait that makes you feel so special bc you know damn well this man hasn't let anyone else touch his wings like this. So you always time when you're going to pull that little trick on him.

hard days when he's really not feeling himself. Rubbing his back is nice but not a fix all. Letting your hand slip down a little first to stroke the guard feathers of his wings. Seeing and feeling Keigo tense up under your touch but almost immediately relax when he knows its you who's touching him. Slipping that touch further down until you inevitably having your hands rubbing along the conjunction of his back and wing. Dragging Keigo out of his funk bc how can he feel bad when he's now fighting everything in him to not cum in his pants simply from your touch. Beautiful gold eyes glazed over with a thousand yard stare as you rub him down. Coming completely undone when you lean down and kiss between his wings. That's the key to it. Your lips faint and warm against his most sensitive area. Keigo unable to keep to himself now because if you goal was to rile him up and make him cream in his boxers then you've thoroughly succeeded. And he's just so cute when he's embarrassed and palming at himself bc all you did was touch his wings ♡

[siennaditbot]

I love all of them

Wave having corvid DNA makes sense since they're smart and I love them so 10/10. Also he's cool and reminds me of my dad if he was young and cool lol

Darla is cool and I want her to be my aunt-like person. These two are.... BEAK

Lol, get it? Peak, but, birds...

Opal and Adam seem like a power couple lol. Adam physically, and Opal is a... Wild one, and we love her for that lol. Also size difference things, bugbear style. 10/10.

Brando seems like a sad little man but the tophat and monocle would do him wonders. I see some of him in Jet. There's coolness in there but HAHA LOSER

Gemma might have been the most familiar, aside from Carey, and I still love her. Silly meta bird. Yes girl, break all the walls! Also, perfect mom for Bean. He would not have a "normal" mother. Also I have nightmares about what the two would be like together. What was Bean's childhood like?? Also, hello Gemma! Lol

Thank you for replying <33 I love when creative brains go brrr, so no worries about the briefness thing :>

Could you make a brief description of your main/favourite OCs or other important things, I have a bad memory and am confused 👉🏻👈🏻

HELLO! hi hi hi uh. hellow sienna :3 yes of course. i will choose a VERY MINIMAL AMOUNT OF OCS just the ones i’m always ranting about. ALSO I KNOW YOU SAID BRIEF BUT. I AM VERY BAD AT THAT SO HERE’S WHATEVER THIS IS:

1. GEMMA. (Gemma the ??? technically)

Gemma is a green… bird. We do not know what kind of bird she is. She’s Bean’s mom and she runs the criminal underworld of hybrid mobians, trafficking, and mobian puppy mills. She’s not particularly mean or violent though, the joke being that she’s also omnipotent and can break the fourth wall, just with the dark twist that she’s always known everything ever and knows she’s an OC and that I’m even talking about her right now, hence why doing the immoral shit that she does is not ultimately a bad thing since no one she hurts is real. ALSO, she’s based off of Gemma Teller-Morrow from Sons of Anarchy so if you ever draw her, try to make her look like a bird version or Katey Segal :)

2. BRANDO. (Brando the Hawk lol)

Jet’s Dad. Looks like Jet but if he was an alcoholic who somehow manages a receding hairline. Hansu once drew him with a monocle and top hat as a joke but I found it so hilarious we might just keep it. He sounds like James Lance (actor) if his voice was more broken and growly and mumbly, and if he was human he’d have Lance’s hair as well. (He misses his wife, Sienna)

3. ADAM!!! (Adam the Albatross)

Adam is Storm’s dad and he looks like him but instead of being round and fluffy strong, he’s abtastically ripped. You see how I draw mobians you know what’s up LOL. anyways, he was a teen dad and did a really good job, and he works at Prison Island. Well, he did, now it’s blown up, so he works at the inland prison instead. He’s a bit of a manchild and his girlfriend is Jewel’s mom Opal (hehe Lea’s OC) because he sorta has a milf problem. He’s like if Jesse Pinkman was an adult instead of an oversized teenager, yet is still quite childish (in a cute way! he eats dino nuggets for dinner). Think “drawing Storm but for a thirsttrap” and you’ve nailed him

4, CAREY AND DARLA!!! (Carey the Jackdaw & Darla the Swallow)

You really think I’m gonna just include one??? These are Wave’s parents and I’m in love with their designs. Carey is a jackdaw with vitiligo which means he gets patches of white feathers in certain places due to black pigment being a recessive genetic trait due to the Salem trials (long story, you asked for the short version lol). He dyes his front feathers red to be like Party Poison from Danger Days, and often wears a pair of working denim jeans that are kinda stained with oil and paint but that makes them look cooler. He’s Eggman level smart and super witty, but extremely humble and only wants to use his knowledge to help other people. It’s a jackdaw thing. He loves shiny stuff (read: he loves machinery) and also adores his wife. Such a wife guy but in the genuinely good and wholesome way. SPEAKING OF, DARLA IS A BUBBLEGUM PUNK TO ME! She was part of all the mobian riots in the 80’s and operated an illegal shelter for homeless youth via her massive roller rink that’s dead centre in her city that she refuses to sell for luxury condos or parking lots. That is HER block of land and she’s not moving it, so she helps keep kids (especially mobian youth who are disproportionately affected) off the street. She loves wearing full denim and is an array of blue colours. Also, despite her husband being super fucking tall, she’s also pretty tall for a lady! Very round too though, like a feathery ball, very cute and round and pudgy I love her.

I actually have acceptable fanart of these two on hand because Infifi drew them once so here’s that:

[catboybatman]

if you catch me drawing chisaki no you didnt

[bottledbamboo]

mini persona doodles!

[ddejavvu]

Could you write something where Eddie comforts a reader with PTSD? Mines been going brrr lately and I just need the comfort.

Also, I found your blog pretty recently and omg ilysm, everything's so beautifully written :') <3

come celebrate 5.7k with me!

i'm sorry your ptsd is acting up, baby! i hope this helps, and i'm so so so glad you enjoy my writing :) i love you too <33

--

Your room is stuffy, the curtains draped over the window and gathering dust while you keep them closed. There's nothing outside that interests you, but there's really nothing inside that interests you either. Your room is boring, but there's nothing better to do than to lay down, sleep having escaped you for days.

You wish you were capable of functioning normally. But anytime you try to engage with people it's like your eyes glaze over, and your brain shuts itself in and refuses to contribute to your life.

So you're left motionless in bed, despair weighing heavy on your heart.

That is, until someone knocks at your window.

You panic. You're scrambling off of the bed in seconds, the sheets tangled around your legs and coming with you. Whoever it is hears the telltale thump of your body hitting the floor and curses, but the voice is familiar enough that the panic in your chest dies down.

"Eddie..?" You realize he can't hear your breathless whisper from outside, so you rush to the window, throwing the curtains open. Thankfully, it is the boy you'd met only weeks prior, his hair frizzy and slicked to his face with sweat.

He looks relieved to see you and pries helplessly at the edge of the window. You tug it open for him, tucking an arm underneath his own and helping haul him into your room.

"Eddie," You repeat, this time to him, "What.. what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Eddie deflects your question, brushing a stray leaf out of his hair from the tree he'd climbed, "You're supposed to be in school."

"I haven't been in a week." You groan, burying your face in your hands, "Why would I go today?"

"Yeah let's talk about that," Eddie perches on the end of your bed, his eyes drifting over an array of crumpled up tissues on the floor by your trash can, "You sick or something?"

"Or something." You sigh, sitting beside him on the bed. There's space between you, but only as much as your small mattress allows, so not much.

Eddie isn't sure what to say, and you hate that he's glancing around your room, probably noticing the cups stacked on your nightstand and the dirty socks strewn about.

You deflect his attention, "Again, what are you doing here?"

"When someone's missing in action for one out of the four weeks you've known them, it's a little freaky." He levels you with a stern glance, "No one knew where you went, man!"

"I haven't been sleeping well." It's not a lie, it's just not the full story, "I don't really feel up to a day at school.

Eddie hums sympathetically, "You take melatonin? That shit knocks you out if you take enough."

"Anything will," You scoff, "But yeah. No luck."

You hesitate to tell him that it runs deeper than simple insomnia. That sleeping scares you, both the images you see while your eyes are closed, and the possibility of them becoming a reality again if you let your guard down like that.

He seems to put the pieces together, though, from the disarray your room is in. You're well aware that you look like sadness personified, a t-shirt you haven't changed in four days wrinkled against your chest and loose shorts hanging low on your hips.

"Have you tried, like, listening to music?"

"And rain, and ocean sounds, and birds chirping, and a heartbeat." You list off the white noise you'd enlisted for help, each one of them failing miserably.

"A heartbeat?" He looks intrigued, glancing at you from the side of his eye.

"Yeah, it's supposed to, like, remind you of being inside the womb." You explain, your hands shifting to accentuate your point, "It's comforting, I guess. Just not comforting enough."

"Right." He nods, trailing off into thought. You're not sure what you're supposed to do, because being upright for longer than two minutes to use the bathroom is now foreign to you, and you kindly prompt him to make a move.

"Well I'm fine, so you don't need to worry." You offer him a careful smile, and he surveys you with the same disbelieving look that he'd given you before.

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving you here." He scoffs, cautiously glancing at you again before he swallows. You watch his adam's apple bounce, but your eyes flick back to his own as he finally speaks.

"That.. that heartbeat stuff. That really works?"

"Well it didn't for me," You remind him, "But I dunno. Maybe it's better on babies or something."

"Or like.. with a real person?"

"I guess?" You shrug, "I'm not, like, an expert on white noise. There could be some weird specification for- what are you doing?"

Eddie's arm curls around your shoulders, tugging you closer to him across the mattress. You stiffen in his grip and your eyes widen, your hands pinned at your sides as he crushes you to his chest.

"Shut up," He mumbles, "Put your ear on my chest."

"Eddie I don't think-"

"Just do it," He huffs, "I'm trying to do a nice thing for you."

You can't argue with that. You press against his chest first, slipping out of his awkward grip and readjusting yourself so that you're leaning comfortably over his lap. He settles against the wall behind him, the window still open on his other side, and your head comes to rest just above his heart.

You have to admit, the warmth that he radiates is much more soothing when paired with his natural heartbeat than your cold pillow is with a simulated one. Cold against your skin doesn't bother you as much, though, when it's the metal bands of Eddie's rings pressing into your back, just beneath the hem of your shirt that's ridden up. You hear the light thunk of his head against the closed portion of your window, letting out a deep sigh as you both decompress.

"Did I miss anything at school?" You ask idly, your eyes fixed on the frayed strings on the knees of his jeans.

"Uh, yeah. Like, a week's worth of work." He teases you, his fingernails digging into your skin lightly. You would be panicked, but you know he hasn't done it either, so you brush off his condescension.

"That's not what I meant," You berate him, "Like, anything interesting!"

"Some cheerleader got into a fight with her boyfriend in the cafeteria yesterday." He recalls, "And we all dared Dustin to eat one of the fries she threw at him 'cause it landed on the floor."

"Did he do it?" You feel bad for the poor boy, but the image of him succumbing to a stupid dare does make you giggle.

"Of course he did," Eddie laughs, "It was gross. There was, like, hair on it."

"Ew!" Your face wrinkles into a sour frown at the information and Eddie's chuckle reverberates through his chest, his hand pressing tighter into your back, "You guys are so mean to him."

"Hey, you were laughing too!" He reminds you, "Hypocrite."

You fall silent after his biting remark, but not out of hurt. It's more out of a sense of serenity, the first genuine bit of happiness you'd felt in days. You're reluctant to admit that his heartbeat is soothing you, but you're certain it wouldn't work if it was anyone else. It's not his heartbeat that's soothing you, it's his heartbeat that's soothing you, and you don't know how to tell him that without sounding like you like him.

And maybe you do, you realize, as your eyes flutter shut slowly against his chest, maybe you do like him. But you'll have to ponder that later, because he's murmuring a soft, 'Sleep for a bit, babe, then we'll get you some food.' and you're following his instructions to the letter.