#Danny x mel

[seenoversundown]

🎄🥰

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of Year

Warnings: Mentions of minor injury, Fluff otherwise!

Word Count: 2.2k

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams It's the most wonderful time of the year There'll be much mistltoeing And hearts will be glowing When loved ones are near

Daniel POV: 

“Ah, YEP. There it is,” I practically growl as the breaker trips, shrouding my apartment in darkness. 

I should have known better than to try to mash potatoes with a hand mixer when I already have three crock pots plugged in, warming side dishes. 

“Fucking ancient wiring,” I mutter to myself as I rip the plug from the wall before heading into the laundry room to flip the breaker back on. 

The breaker is just the latest bit of misfortune that has derailed my plans for a traditional Christmas dinner. 

First, I severely overslept. Melody and I wanted to wake up at 7:00 to do presents with Iris. Imagine my shock when she strolled into our room at 9:30, questioning why Santa came and we didn't wake her up. 

Then, after we opened our presents and Iris was sufficiently tuckered out and down for a nap, I started preparing for dinner. 

Because I wanted to be fancy, I obviously bought fresh vegetables, which led to me nicking my finger while cutting the green beans.  

After Melody played nurse and left me with one gloved hand, I managed to grab the handle of a pre-heated cast iron skillet with my other hand. Melody was not happy with me when she had to play nurse for a second time in under an hour. 

It had been smooth sailing after that, up until the breaker issue. 

I’m pulled out of my reverie by a tiny hand tugging at the hem of my shirt. 

I look down to see a freshly awoken Iris rubbing her eyes. She lets out a big yawn before meeting my eyes. 

“Can I have juice?” she signs. 

My heart melts as I nod and rush to pull down a Big Girl Cup from the cabinet. I opened the fridge and pulled out the super-special organic apple juice that Uncle Sammy bought for Iris. The glass bottle slips in my hand, but I catch it before it drops. 

HAHA! Not this time!

I pour her juice and hand it over. 

“Be careful,” I ruffle her hair, “Now go play.” 

I look up and see Melody standing in the doorway, watching on with a fond smile on her face as Iris skitters past her. 

She walks into the kitchen and wraps her arms around my middle, “You’re a good dad, Daniel,” she presses a soft kiss to my chest as she nuzzles into my sweater. 

I breathe out a sigh and drop a kiss on the top of her head. 

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” I chuckle, “If stuff keeps going the way it is, I might not even be able to feed our kid tonight.” 

“You’re being a bit dramatic, babe,” she pinches my side, wiggling out of my arms, “It’ll all work out.” 

I pop the turkey in the oven and check my watch. 2:00pm

 Perfect! Everything is back on schedule, and I finally feel like I can take a breath. 

I lean against the counter and feel a smile creep over my face. My dinner is coming along. I can hear the tinkling giggles of my girls coming from the living room. I haven't made too much of a mess in the kitchen. 

I start to put away the dishes I’d left on the drying rack and spot the crystal wine decanter on the top shelf. 

Bingo!

I pull the decanter and two glasses down and glance over the bottles of wine sitting out on the counter, trying to determine which varietal Melody would appreciate most right now.  

Settling on a Merlot, I pour the bottle into the decanter and leave it to open up before venturing into the living room. 

Melody has her back to me, helping Iris change the dress on one of her new dolls, and I tiptoe up behind her. I catch Iris’ eye and bring a finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet. 

She flashes me a toothy grin and tries, poorly, to hold back her giggles. 

Melody stiffens almost imperceptibly, and I already know she will be faking her reaction for Iris’ benefit. 

Regardless, I continue creeping up and grabbing Melody’s shoulders, gently shaking her in the process. 

“AHHHHH,” Melody drops the doll and lets out an exaggerated shout, “YOU SCARED ME, DANIEL!” 

She whips her head around and gives me a little wink.

Iris giggles again, “That was funny.” 

I grin and waggle my eyebrows at her, “More juice?” 

She nods, holding her cup out for me to take. 

I squeeze Melody’s shoulder again before heading back into the kitchen. 

I fill Iris’ cup with more apple juice, diluting it with water. I can’t have her getting an upset tummy on Christmas. Then, I pour some wine into one of the glasses and carry both back into the living room. 

“Thought both of my girls might be thirsty,” I say as I pass the wine to Melody. 

“You thought right, my love,” she grins. 

Iris’ eyes flit between us for a moment, “play with me?” 

And how can I say no to that? 

An hour and a half later, I’m back in the kitchen checking on our slowly progressing dinner. 

Turkey is coming along perfectly. The sides are looking good. I’m incredibly proud of the way I’ve turned this day around. 

Since we’re in the home stretch, I finally decided to pour myself a glass of wine. 

As I reach for the decanter, it slips from my grasp and shatters into a million little pieces. Merlot paints nearly every kitchen surface: the walls, the floor, the fridge, everywhere. 

“FUUUUUCK,” I scream at the top of my lungs. I’ll be shocked if we don’t get a noise complaint from one of the neighbors. 

I hear footsteps walking up the hallway.

“Please stay out of here. There’s glass everywhere,” I grind out through clenched teeth.

“I’m slipping on shoes, then I'm coming to help you,” Melody replies. 

We clean up silently; I’m on sweeping duty while Melody comes behind me with the mop. 

I finally set the broom down, confident I had swept up all the tiny crystal shards. 

“This day keeps getting worse,” I sigh, and Melody pats my arm, “I’m going to text Josh to see if he wants to come get Iris until dinner’s finished. At this point, I’m worried that my bad luck will rub off on her, and she’ll be the next victim of some inexplicable accident.” 

“Okay, big guy,” Melody lets out a small laugh, “I’m sure Josh would be happy to hang out with her solo.” 

Thirty minutes later, I let Josh in. Iris has practically been vibrating with excitement since we told her Uncle Josh wanted to see her. 

“Where’s my favorite little girl?” is the first thing out of his mouth as he steps over the threshold. 

“Well, hello to you too,” I say, rolling my eyes. 

“Oh, forgive me. HELLOOOOOOOO DANNY!” he claps back immediately,  “Now, where is she? Quinn and I have a whole afternoon planned for Iris, and that's more important than your ego.”

“Jesus, dude,” I say, rubbing my chest in mock hurt. 

“I’m just being honest,” he flashes a massive grin at me. 

“Well, thank you so much for your honesty,” I roll my eyes again, “Melody’s helping her get ready. Now, I know I don't need to tell you how to take care of her. Buuuuut, bad luck has been plaguing me all day. So, be extra careful with her.” 

“Gotcha, gotcha. I’ll be on the lookout for any falling pianos or trap doors,” it’s Josh’s turn to roll his eyes. 

“I know you're making fun of me, but with the luck I’ve had today, nothing would shock me at this point,” we share a laugh that’s interrupted by a bundled-up Iris rocketing herself into Josh’s legs. 

I watch as he quickly scoops her up and spins her around before setting her back down. 

“Ready to go, Petal?” he asks Iris with a cheesy grin. 

The second she nods her affirmative, they're out the door. 

Unfortunately for me, not even a minute after they’ve left, the smoke detector starts going off. I sigh for the trillionth time today and head back to the kitchen. 

Walking through the doorway, I see Melody standing in front of the open oven. She’s using an oven mitt to fan smoke away from the turkey. 

“Babe, stop. It's fine,” I start, “we both know that Christmas dinner is pretty much fucked at this point. Just turn the oven off.” 

I lean against the counter and hang my head in my hands, ultimately defeated. 

“It’s okay, babe. I have a plan!” Melody says as she takes my burnt Turkey out of the oven, trying to keep my spirits high. 

I fight the urge to scoff as I watch her open the freezer and pull a Pyrex dish out. 

“What's that?” I eye the dish in her hand. 

“It's a lasagna, Daniel. I always keep one on backup,” she grins at me, dimples on full display, “I know it's not traditional, but who’s gonna be mad about pasta?” 

“You’re a genius, dear,” I gently kiss her temple. 

She shrugs off my praise, “HA! No, not a genius. Just a mother. Moms always have to have at least three backup plans ready.” 

Melody greets our first guests at the door as I put the finishing touches on everyone’s place settings at the table. 

I vaguely hear them laughing together as I walk into the kitchen to add one final layer of cheese to the top of the lasagna. 

“Please make yourselves at home,” I can hear the genuine smile in Melody’s voice, “Daniel is likely in the kitchen if you want to go harass him.” 

The goofiest laugh follows her statement, and I know it’s Sam and Willa. 

“Oh, Daaaaaaaniel,” Sam calls out as he pops his head in the doorway, “it smells phenomenal in here, but nothing like turkey.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Last minute change of plans,” I reply flatly. 

“Josh texted me earlier and told me you were being a ‘Drama Queen,’” he adds air quotes before quirking a brow, “but I didn't assume you’d throw in the towel, buddy.” 

“Oh, get bent, Sammy,” I threw the towel draped across my shoulder at him.

He whips his head around, facing Willa, “Did you see that, Birdie? The fucker proved my point.” 

“I think it's lovely that you were able to solve your own problems, Danny,” Willa adds before smacking Sam across the chest with a smirk, effectively shutting him up. 

They make their way to the living room as our other guests show up. 

Jake and Charlotte show up next, popping in for a quick hello, not wanting to distract me. 

Obviously, Josh, Quinn, and Iris are the last ones to show up. 

“Oh, Iris just got so distracted playing. Sorry, we’re late.”

“That line doesn't work on me, Josh,” I let out a laugh, “I know you. You can't blame my kid for your chronic lateness.” 

“I resent that, Danny. I always arrive precisely when I mean to,” Josh scoffs indignantly. 

“Well, why don't you arrive in the living room and tell everyone dinner’s almost ready?” 

I lock eyes on Charlotte as I set the final dish on the table. 

Her eyes flit across the table, and the confusion on her face grows as she mouths the name of each dish she sees. 

Mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, LASAGNA?

Jake is patting her thigh comfortingly as he holds back laughter. 

I see her confusion mirrored on everyone else as I look around the table. 

Jake pulls himself together long enough to break the silence, “Wow! What a delightful array of food you have for us, Danny Boy! You even have rolls!” 

“Hey! I put garlic butter on them, asshole.” 

“Oh, then, by all means, they belong. Not a single thing out of place here.” 

That gets a round of laughs from the entire table. 

“Yeah, Danny,” Quinn starts, “I’m not trying to be mean, but wasn't this supposed to be a traditional dinner?” 

“Now, Bug, who can really say what ‘traditional’ means,” Josh ponders. 

“Ya know what, thank you, Josh,” I nod in his direction. 

“Oh, I’m not trying to help you, Danny. I’m just getting philosophical.” 

“Okay, everyone,” I pinch the bridge of my nose, “After the day I had, I’d like to see you come up with something better.” 

Melody nods with me as she opens a bottle of wine and passes it to Sam, “He really did have the most unfortunate string of luck. You all are lucky we even have dinner at all.” 

I grab her hand and gently kiss her knuckles in thanks as everyone finally tucks into their meals. 

“I do have a question,” Charlotte whispers, setting her fork down. 

I nod for her to go on. 

“What happened to the decanter we got you for your engagement party? This seems like a perfect time to use it.”

I let out the loudest groan, “I love you, Charlotte, but please never ask me that question again.” 

“It’s a sore spot for him,” Melody pats my hand, “I’ll tell you later.” 

“So, on that note,” I say, gesturing for everybody to start eating, “Merry Christmas, everyone.” 

Masterlist | Taglist

[possuminabathtub]

Mel was weird, Danny decided, really weird. He didn’t pay all that much attention to his classmates, but when she had leaned over in the middle of a Calculus lecture and made a stupid math joke, then looked confused when the professor glared at the both of them for Danny’s loud snort of laughter, he had started to warm up to her.

She reminded him of Sam, with her pitch black hair and pale skin. Or Tim, with that sharp, observant look in her eyes, like she might pick somebody apart to see how they worked. There wasn’t really any one thing he could really put his finger on that made her any stranger than the average Gotham University student, but he supposed he wasn’t exactly in a position to speculate on strangeness, considering his family of assorted bats and birds.

Now that he thought about it, her ectoplasmic signature was one thing he could be certain was strange. It wasn’t like anything he’d seen before. Not pit tainted like Jason’s had been, not strictly ghostly, but also not a halfa like him or Ellie. He could feel what almost resembled a ghost core, nestled comfortably into her ribcage, but it was a void, a blackhole, everything and nothing at the same time, depthless and yet overflowing.

So yes, Mel was weird, but she was also his English tutor, so she couldn’t be all that bad.

----

Trying out something new bc I've delved into the DPxDC fandom a lot recently, and I've been trying to write more with the flow of inspiration and just have fun with it. Mel felt like the right choice for that, since she's got years of character development and writing her comes so easily (and she conveniently fits very well into the setting)

[creampuffs-for-carmilla]

Please reblog with your reasoning so others can vote!

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Did I miss one? Send an ask! Also let me know what Mel x Charlotte’s ship name is or should be ;)

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[terapsina]

Shoutout to the temporary ships that were created with the intention of getting in the way of the intended ship but that I actually liked way more than the ship the writers were trying to get me to root for.

(a.k.a I kinda get a bit salty on this one)

---

1. Laurel and Tommy - Arrow

As soon as they got introduced I felt the feeling of doom. Because they were so immediately adorable and full of chemistry. I loved them from the word go even though it was so clear they were going toward a Laurel and Oliver resolution (and then to add insult to injury they changed their minds on that, but Tommy was taken from Laurel anyway).

---

2. Clara and Danny - Doctor Who

It's up for debate if Clara's relationship with the Doctor was meant to be romantic-coded or not (I personally prefer it as 'not' but they really were very fuzzy with the lines) but either way Danny was still used as the threat that might separate them. And that was really annoying for me because I liked Clara and Danny so much. And then they killed him (which is a scene that still tears my heart to pieces).

---

3. Cordy and Doyle - Angel: The Series

They were short and sweet and I enjoyed them (and though the Cordy and Angel thing wasn't really a thing at the time, there were some signs that it was on the writers' minds... and I wasn't a fan). And then they killed Doyle (...I might have to rename this post to 'killing off the love interests I actually enjoyed to give way to the ships I didn't').

---

4. Rachel and Joey - F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

This ship went past my notice when I watched the show as a kid (my entire obsession rested on Monica and Chandler) but after rewatching as an adult I actually really liked their potential. It might have come up a bit unexpectedly but there really was something quite genuine about it (and Rachel deserved so much better than Ross). I wish they hadn't ended it as such a joke.

---

5. Worf and Troi - Star Trek: The Next Generation

They were created with the sole intention of getting in the way of Troi and Riker. But I liked them better. I just found them more interesting.

---

6. Tamsin and Bo - Lost Girl

They were more fun to watch than Bo and Lauren, had better chemistry and I just enjoyed them a lot more ('and then you see you' living in my head rent free for years now). But instead they gave Tamsin the short end of the stick and used her as a stepping stone (in so many ways, genuinely, even past shipping they just never gave that Valkyrie a single break... and then killed her in the most insulting way possible, because of course they did).

---

7. Wynonna and Dolls - Wynonna Earp

Talk about chemistry. Season 1 of that show was so good and I really did fool myself into thinking this was where they were heading but no, of course not (I should have learned my lesson about Emily Andras after she killed off Hale on Lost Girl). How is an old dude with a gross mustache more interesting than a literal dragon? The answer as far as I'm concerned... they're not (now guess if they killed him off. Guess!).

---

8. Lucy and Flynn - Timeless

A tragic love story happening in the wrong order and out of time because he meets her when he needs something to hold on to and she gives him a crusade. And she meets him while he's zealously following that crusade and thinks he's just a terrorist? Dude. But no, apparently the happy ending is supposed to be the guy that wanted the cake and to eat it too (sometimes I genuinely boggle at how the writers just will not notice when they've hit gold and instead go on beating that dead horse even more to death (and yup, somehow manage to kill the gold)) .

9. Dutch and Johnny - Killjoys.

(First I have to say that I still recommend this show a 100% and this is just quibble of a shipper at heart) But how is it that when you build the whole series around the heart of this relationship, you still end up using Johnny as a brief stop point (a la basically a Married!AU) before you put Dutch back with his brother? Like, yes, they're each other's best friends and always will be but people that are in love can be each other's ride or die best friends too.

---

10. Mel and Abigael - Charmed (2018)

Alright, Mel went through the intended love interests like candy (and I liked most of them well enough) but Abby was the one that intrigued me the most, so it was a great shame that she was never properly Mel's love interest at all and more enemy/antagonist/ally/friend with mostly one-sided feelings for Mel (enemies to friends to lovers was RIGHT THERE).

[cranberryjuice-posts]

Sarcastic lesbian! Man hating! Y/n if she was in tlou

Pairings - Abby X fem! reader, the Salt Lake City Crew X platonic reader

Tw - one of the comments makes a self harm joke

PT 1

———

Manny - hey is that your gun?

Y/n - no, it’s someone else’s gun I just happen to have it and use it and it also happens to be the one I normally use

Manny- …

Y/n - OF COURSE ITS M—

———

Leah - do you think there’s gonna be infected on this route

Y/n - were in the apocalypse, your gonna find infected outside!!

———

Abby - *hands y/n a Package from issac*

Y/n - I don’t want this shit, where the hell is my knife I need to cut it so we can match.

Abby - ??

Y/n - get it cause I’ve cut mysel—- *pretends to look intrested in whatever Issac gave you ignoring Abby’s face* “all right all right

———

Owen - *saying something stupid*

Y/n - hell.. is filled with people like you

———

Y/n - *walks into Abby’s apartment*

Abby - ??

Y/n - so apparently I’m fucking dramatic

———

Owen- y/n what the fuck! You broke my nose

Y/n - *sighs* men are such babies

———

Leah - *sees dead WLF members* OH MY GOD THEIR ALL DEAD!

Y/n - ARE THEY NOW?!

———

Abby - we need a new plan for this route

Y/n - I—

Abby - a good plan

Y/n - damn..

———

Owen - We’re being circled by infected!

Y/n - no we’re being squared — WE CAN SEE WERE BEING CIRCLED

———

Some WLF member - *telling you about some club their making.* and I—

Y/n - *making a sarcastic interested face*

Some WLF member - your being sarcastic

Y/n - *nods and leaves*

———

Mel - y/n you can’t say stuff like that to Owen

Y/n - ok but it was funny he got all in his feelings and took it to heart

———

Y/n - right because I would rather hangout with Danny than you

Abby- oh..

Y/n - I DIDNT MEAN IT 😭😭

———

Manny - *saying good bye to the group for a long assignment*

Y/n - right and if I say I’ll miss you do you promise not to come back

Manny - haha your funny

———

Mel - I really think owens gonna change especially for the baby

Nora - of course he will

Y/n - oh bless your poor delusional heart

———

Abby - *being pinned down by you* oh you think your Funny huh?

Y/n - nah i think I’m adorable

———

Owen - someones Moody

Y/n - someone needs to fuck off

———

Y/n - hey you were in my dream last night it was an—

Abby - no Nuh uh don’t freak me out

———

Alice - *barks for a few minutes at you*

Y/n - .. I think I just got cussed out

———

[ifr1t]

Who Dares To Enter The Mayhem?

DNI/BYF under the cut, or save time and read my Strawpage!! my strawpage is more likely to be updated than this intro!

The name’s Ifrit, I’m an Australian (AEST) teenage artist, actor, cosplayer, writer, and professional cringefail nerd.

I use they/he/she/em pronouns sneaky disguised as any/all

BLOG TAGS:

#ifrit speaks — My normal text posts + sometimes fandom hcs

#ifrit draws — My art

#ifrit writes — Headcanons, concepts, + my fanfic

I usually just scream into the void but I also post fanart or occasionally write fanfic so keep an eye out for that

ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ-

DNI/F:

Basic DNI

Zionists/Pro-Israel/Neutral

Pro-generative AI

Zoophile

Pro-ship/fic

Ableist

Anti-neopronouns

Jutty Taylor supporter

BYF:

I’m autistic w ADHD, I often use tone tags. They’re not required but appreciated :)

I’m mostly active on Twitter

Please no DM unless we’re mutuals or it’s important (eg. i'm following someone problematic, I said/did something that you think I may be unaware of, etc). Ask is OK!

Please don’t tag me in chain posts, other posts are OK!

’m not afraid to discuss my political beliefs

Music:

Ghost

Sleep Token

Hozier

Bring Me The Horizon

Tyler, The Creator

Megan Thee Stallion

Yaelokre

Babymetal

Ricky Montgomery

Will Wood /& the Tapeworms

Joy Division

Maelstrom Black

Joost Klein

Video Games:

Baldur’s Gate 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Trilogy (OG & Reboot)

Detroit: Become Human

Overwatch 2 (sorta)

Movies & TV:

X-Men franchise

Deadpool Trilogy

Venom Trilogy

Spider-Man: ITSV/ATSV

Interview With The Vampire (1994)

probably other stuff im forgetting rn

Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire

X-Men ‘97

X-Men: The Animated Series

House MD

Arcane

Bungou Stray Dogs

Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)

YouTubers:

Kwite

Danny Motta

Russian Badger

Jschlatt

Not Even Emily

Ted Nivison

Tommyinnit

Jack Septiceye

Markiplier

Technoblade

Slimecicle

Other/Hobbies:

Theatre & Musicals

Art

Acting

Hamilton (musical)

Accidental Death Of An Anarchist (play)

The Song of Achilles (book)

Vampires!!!

Favs!˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚:

Ifrit, Zephyr, Papa Emeritus IV (the band Ghost)

Louis de Pointe du Lac, Armand (IWTV)

Hozier (Musician)

Astarion, Karlach (BG3)

Connor (DBH)

Deadpool, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Morph, Storm (X-Men/Marvel Comics)

Viktor, Mel Medarda, Ekko, Jayce (Arcane)

Spider-Man (Marvel Comics)

My twt mooties

My irls

[autistpride]

How many of these famous autists do you recognize? And this isn't even a complete list!

So many amazing wonderful people are autistic. I will never understand why people hate us so much.

Actors/actresses/entertainment:

Chloe Hayden

Talia Grant

Rachel Barcellona

Sir Anthony Hopkins

Dan Akroyd

David Byrne

Darryl Hannah

Courtney Love

Jerry Seinfeld

Roseanne Barr

Jennifer Cook

Chuggaaconroy

Stephanie Davis

Rick Glassman

Paula Hamilton

Dan Harmon

Paige Layle

Matthew Labyorteaux

Wentworth Miller

Desi Napoles

Freddie Odom Jr

Kim Peek

Sue Ann Pien

Henry Rodriguez

Scott Steindorff

Ian Terry

Tara Palmer -Tomkinson

Albert Rutecki

Billy West

Alexis Wineman- Miss America contestant

Athletes:

Jessica- Jane Applegate

Michael Brannigan

David Campion

Brenna Clark

Ulysse Delsaux

Tommy Dis Brisay

Jim Eisenreich

Todd Hodgetts

John Howard

Anthony Ianni

Lisa Llorens

Clay Matzo

Frankie Macdonald

Jason McElwain

Chris Morgan

Max Park

Cody Ware

Amani Williams

Samuel Von Einem

Musicians:

Susan Boyle

Elizabeth Ibby Grace

David Byrne

Johnny Dean

Tony DeBlois

Christopher Dufley

Jody Dipiazza

Pertti Kurikka

James Jagow

Ladyhawke

Kodi Lee

Left at London

Red Lewis Clark

Abz Love

Thristan Mendoza

Heidi Mortenson

Hikari Oe

Matt Savage

Graham Sierota

SpaceGhostPurp

Mark Tinley

Donald Triplett

Aleksander Vinter

Comedians:

Hannah Gatsby

Robert White

Bethany Black

Scientists/inventors/mathematians/Researchers:

Damian Milton

Bram Cohen

Michelle Dawson

Carl Sagan

Writers:

Neil Gaimen

Mel Bags

Kage Baker

Amy Swequenza

M. Remi Yergeau

Sean Barron

Lydia X Z Brown

Matt Burning

Dani Bowman

Nicole Cliffe

Laura Kate Dale

Aoife Dooley

Corrine Duyvus

Marianne Eloise

Jory Flemming

Temple Grandin

John R Hall

Naomi Higashida

Helan Hoang

Liane Holliday Willey

Luke Jackson

Rosie King

Thomas A McKean

Johnathan Mitchell

Jack Monroe

Caiseal Mor

Morenike Giwa- Onaiwu

Jasmine O'Neill

Brant Page Hanson

Dawn Prince-Hughs

Sue Robin

Stephen Shore

Andreas Souvitos

Sarah Stup

Susanna Tamaro

Chuck Tingle

Donna Williams

Leaders:

Julia Bascom

Ari Ne'eman

Sarah Marie Acevedo

Sharon Davenport

Joshua Collins

Conner Cummings

Kevin Healy

Poom Jenson

Amy Knight

Jared O'Mara

David Nelson

Shaun Neumeier

Master Sgt. Shale Norwitz

Jim Sinclair

Judy Singer

Dr. Vernon Smith

Artists:

Miina Akkijjyrkka

Danny Beath

Deborah Berger

Larry John Bissonnette

Patrick Francis

Goby

Jorge Gutierrez

Lina Long

Johnathan Lerman

Julian Martin

Haley Moss

Morgan Harper Nichols

Tim Sharp

Gilles Tehin

Willem Van Genk

Richard Wawro

Poets:

David Eastham

Christopher Knowles

David Miedzianik

Henriette Seth F

[worstqueerbaittournament]

Submission list

organised by @kindalikerackham (THANK YOU)

This is a list of all of the submissions. It will be updated continuously. Italics are still being decided in the polls, crossed out have been decided on “no”, bold have been decided on “yes”

By character name (or ship name if given)

Akira Kurusu and Goro Akechi from Persona 5 Royal

Alix from Miraculous Ladybug

Allison and Patti from Kevin Can F**k himself

Anna and Marnie from When Marnie was There

baron draxum and master splinter   rise of the tmnt 2018

Batman and Joker/ Bruce and John Doe from Batman Telltale

Beca and Chloe from Pitch Perfect

Beca from Pitch Perfect

Betty and Veronica from Riverdale

Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiaolong, aka Bumbleby from RWBY

Blitzen and Hearthstone from Magnus Chase

Buck and Eddie from 9-1-1

Chad/Ryan from High School Musical

Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (aka Professor X and Magneto) from anything X-Men

Cory and Naveed from Ackley Bridge

Dani Ramos and Grace from Terminator Dark Fate

Darling Charming and Apple White from Ever After High

Dean Winchester

Destiel

Drs House & Wilson from House MD

emma woods/emily dyer from identity v

Faberry from glee!(Rachel Berry + Quinn Fabray)

Fuffy, faith and buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Finn and Poe from Star Wars

Firestar and Greystripe from Warriors

foot clan lieutenant and brute  rise of the tmnt 2018 

Ginji Amano & Ban Midou from GetBackers

goro majima and kazuma kiryu -  Yakuza/Ryu Ga Gotoku

Grif and Simmons from Red vs. Blue

Hannibal and will from Hannibal tv show

H.G. Wells and Myka Bering from Warehouse 13

Hikaru Sulu from Star Trek Beyond

hypnopotamus and warren stone  rise of the tmnt 2018  

Ineffable Husbands from Good Omens

Jade and Bella from Rainbow High

Jade and Tori (Victorious)

Jake Peralta (Brooklyn 99)

Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles from Rizzoli&Isles TV series

Janis from Mean Girls

Jeremy and Michael from Be More Chill

Jess/Jules from Bend It Like Beckham

Johnathan Harker and Dracula from Dracula (Netflix)

Johnathan Harker and Dracula from Dracula (1897)

Juleka and Rose from Miraculous Ladybug

Julian Bashir and Elim Garak from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Jun and Tatsuya from Persona 2

Kaoru Nishimi and Sentarou Kawabuchi from Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon)

kanji/naoto from persona 4

keith and lance from voltron

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

klavier and apollo from ace attorney

L and Light from Death Note

legolas and gimli from lotr

Legoshi and Louis from Beastars

leo and adam from tatort saarbrücken

lightcannon, Jinx and Lux from league of legends

Loki from The Loki show

Luca & Alberto from Luca

Luigi and Bowser from the Mario movie

marc and nathaniel from miraculous

Masumi Itachi from blue flag

Matsuoka rin and haru from Free!

Max from Miraculous Ladybug

Mel and Naomi from Vermonia

merthur (merlin and Arthur from the BBC show merlin

Milo and Bisco from Sabikui Bisco

Mobius and Loki from the Loki show

nana komatsu/nana osaki from nana

narumitsu - Ace Attorney

Naruto and Sasuke

Newt and Hermann from Pacific Rim

Nina and Lily from the movie Black Swan

Peggy Carter & Angie Martinelli from Agent Carter

Quentin and Eliot - The Magicians

Ravenpaw and Barely from warrior cats

Raya & Namaari from Raya and the Last Dragon

rei and nagisa   from Free!

Sam and Max

Sam and Bucky from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Sherlock and John Watson from BBC Sherlock

Sherlock and Moriarty from BBC Sherlock

Shiro and Adam from voltron

shiro and keith from voltron

sophie and agatha from The School of Good and Evil

Spirk (Spock and Kirk) from Star Trek  The Original Series

Spirk (Spock and Kirk) from Star Trek  the reboot movies

Sterek  (Stiles and Derek from Teen Wolf)

Steve and Bucky from Captain America

Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams from Hawaii 5-0 (the 2010 version)

stiles stilinski from teen wolf

Supercorp! Lena and Kara from Supergirl!

Superman and Batman from the DCEU

SwanQueen (Regina Mills/Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time)

Sylvie from Loki

Thiel and Boerne from Tatort Münster

Thomas & Newt from the maze runner

troy barnes and abed nadir from community

wednesday and enid from wednesday

Yumihisu (Ymir x Historia Reiss) from Attack on Titan

yu/yosuke from persona 4

Zari and Charlie from Legends of Tomorrow

Zoro and sanji - one piece

By Property:

9-1-1 - Buck and Eddie

ace attorney - klavier and apollo

Ace Attorney - narumitsu

Ackley Bridge - Cory and Naveed  

Agent Carter - Peggy Carter & Angie Martinelli

Attack on Titan - Yumihisu (Ymir x Historia Reiss)  

Batman Telltale - Batman and Joker/ Bruce and John Doe

Beastars - Legoshi and Louis

Be More Chill - Jeremy and Michael

Bend It Like Beckham - Jess/Jules

Black Swan - Nina and Lily

blue flag - Masumi Itachi

Brooklyn 99 - Jake Peralta

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Fuffy (faith and buffy)

Captain America - Steve and Bucky

community - troy barnes and abed nadir

DCEU - Superman and Batman

Dracula (1897) - Johnathan Harker and Dracula

Dracula (Netflix) - Johnathan Harker and Dracula

Ever After High - Darling Charming and Apple White  

Free! - Matsuoka rin and haru

Free!-  rei and nagisa 

GetBackers - Ginji Amano & Ban Midou

Glee - Faberry (Rachel Berry + Quinn Fabray)

Good Omens - Ineffable Husbands

Hannibal (tv) - Hannibal and will

Hawaii 5-0 (2010) - Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams

High School Musical - Chad/Ryan 

House MD - Drs House & Wilson

identity v - emma woods/emily dyer

Kevin Can F**k himself - Allison and Patti

Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon) - Kaoru Nishimi and Sentarou Kawabuchi

league of legends - Jinx and Lux

Legends of Tomorrow - Zari and Charlie

Loki show - Mobius and Loki

Loki show - Loki

Loki show - Sylvie

lotr - legolas and gimli

Luca - Luca & Alberto

Magnus Chase  - Blitzen and Hearthstone

Mario Movie - Luigi and Bowser

Mean Girls  - Janis

Merlin (BBC) - merthur (merlin and Arthur)

Miraculous Ladybug - Alix

Miraculous Ladybug - Juleka and Rose

Miraculous ladybug - marc and nathaniel

Miraculous ladybug - Max

nana - nana komatsu/nana osaki from

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint - Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk

Once Upon a Time - SwanQueen (Regina Mills/Emma Swan )

one piece - Zoro and sanji

Pacific Rim - Newt and Hermann

Persona 2 - Jun and Tatsuya

persona 4 - yu/yosuke

persona 4 - kanji/naoto

Persona 5 Royal - Akira Kurusu and Goro Akechi

Pitch Perfect - Beca

Pitch Perfect - Beca and Chloe

Quentin and Eliot - the Magicians

Rainbow High - Jade and Bella

Raya and the Last Dragon - Raya & Namaari

Red vs Blue - Grif and Simmons

Rise of the TMNT 2018 - baron draxum and master splinter

Rise of the TMNT 2018 - foot clan lieutenant and brute

Rise of the TMNT 2018 - hypnopotamus and warren stone

Riverdale - Betty and Veronica

Rizzoli&Isles TV series - Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles

RWBY - Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiaolong, aka Bumbleby

Sabikui Bisco - Milo and Bisco

Sam and Max - Sam and Max

Sherlock (BBC) - Sherlock and John Watson

Sherlock (BBC) - Sherlock and Moriarty

Star Trek AOS - Spirk (Spock and Kirk)

Star Trek Beyond - Hikaru Sulu

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Julian Bashir and Elim Garak

Star Trek TOS - Spirk (Spock and Kirk)

Star Wars - Finn and Poe

Supergirl - Supercorp! Lena and Kara

Supernatural - Dean Winchester

Supernatural - Destiel

Tatort Münster - Thiel and Boerne

tatort saarbrücken - leo and adam

Teen Wolf - Sterek  (Stiles and Derek)

teen wolf - stiles stilinski

Terminator Dark Fate - Dani Ramos and Grace

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Sam and Bucky

The Magicians -  Quentin and Eliot

the maze runner - Thomas & Newt

The School of Good and Evil -  sophie and agatha

Vermonia - Mel and Naomi

Victorious - Jade and Tori

Voltron - keith and lance

Voltron - Shiro and Adam

Voltron - shiro and keith

Warehouse 13 - H.G. Wells and Myka Bering

warrior cats -  Ravenpaw and Barely

Warriors - Firestar and Greystripe

wednesday - wednesday and enid

When Marnie Was There - Anna and Marnie

X-Men (any) - Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (aka Professor X and Magneto)

Yakuza/Ryu Ga Gotoku - goro majima and kazuma kiryu

[pers-books]

Celebrity Bake Off 2024 line-up revealed: Jodie Whittaker, Danny Dyer and more

Here's your guide to all the celebrities taking part.

By Katelyn Mensah Monday, 5th February 2024 at 8:00 am

A brand new group of celebrities will be getting ready to show off their baking skills, as The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer returns to Channel 4 this year.

Over the course of five episodes, hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding will welcome 20 famous faces we all know and love to the Bake Off tent, all of whom will be vying to impress Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith with their bakes.

Within their groups, the celebrities will compete against one another in order to be crowned Star Baker at the end of their episode.

The likes of Danny Dyer, Jodie Whittaker, Mel B and Oti Mabuse are amongst the celebrities taking to the tent this year.

But who else is part of the dazzling line-up? Read on for all the celebrities taking part in this year’s Great Celebrity Bake Off.

Celebrity Bake Off 2024 line-up: Full cast list of famous contestants

Here is the full line-up of contestants for Celebrity Bake Off 2024. More information on each celeb is available further down the article.

Jodie Whittaker

Paloma Faith

Munya Chawawa

Spencer Matthews

Danny Dyer

Rhod Gilbert

Yinka Bokinni

Leigh Francis

David O’Doherty

Oti Mabuse

Gabby Logan

Suzi Ruffell

Dermot O’Leary

Greg James

Fern Brady

Mel B

The Reverend Richard Coles

Sara Cox

Joe Locke

Adam Hills

Jodie Whittaker

Age: 41

Job: Actress

Instagram: None

X/Twitter: None

Jodie Whittaker is an English actress who many people will recognise as being the Thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who from 2017 to 2022. After three special episodes in 2022, it was revealed that David Tennant would take over as the Doctor for the 60th anniversary special, before Ncuti Gatwa took over full-time.

Whittaker previously told RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party that she finds it emotional being referenced in current episodes of Doctor Who.

She said: “It’s amazing. It’s so emotional as well because, for us, it was such a present thing. We were in it and we were living it in real time, and now to be part of the canon and reference points, it’s really magical.”

Other roles Whittaker is best known for is as Beth Latimer in Broadchurch, Orla O’Riordan in Time and as Tess in One Night.

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer will be available to watch on Channel 4 later this year.

[justmestone]

Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel idea

Plot:

A few months after the events of the first movie, Mario and Peach are developing strong feelings for each other and Mario is planning to tell her how he feels about her. However, Bowser breaks free and accidentally gravely injures Peach during his breakout.

In a desperate attempt to save her life, both the heroes and villains go on a journey to Sarasaland, another dimension within the Mushroom Kingdom, to find the mythical 1-UP Mushroom created by the god Arceus.

At the journey through Sarasaland, the heroes meet Princess Daisy, Peach’s friend from another world, and her bodyguard Geno. And Bowser recruits Wario and Waluigi from the Human World to stop Mario.

Plot Differences:

.Obvious new thing needed like the Super Star: The 1-UP Mushroom

.ACTUAL character development!!

.Mario X Peach moments!!!! (Mostly expressed through flashbacks or at the end where they would FINALLY KISS!!!)

.Mario and DK’s friendship builds up more

.More Mario and Luigi bro moments

.Geno has angst and Spider-Man 2099 vibes

.Bowser’s past is explored more

Cast:

The original cast returns and has some new additions:

Daisy: Hailee Steinfield (Notable Roles: Spider-Gwen from Spider-Verse, Vi from Arcane, and Kate Bishop from Hawkeye) or Jenna Ortega (Wednesday Addams, Brooklynn from Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, and Tara Carpenter from Scream.)

Wario: Danny DeVito (Notable Roles: Phil from Hercules, Harry Wormwood from Matilda, and The Penguin from Batman Returns)

Waluigi: Willem Dafoe (Notable Roles: Green Goblin from Spider-Man and Ryuk from Death Note)

Geno: Benedict Cumberbatch (Notable Roles: Doctor Strange, The Grinch, and Smaug from The Hobbit.)

Arceus the Alpha Pokémon: Mel Brooks (Notable Roles: Vlad Dracula from Hotel Transylvania, Bigweld from Robots, and Governor William Le Petomane from Blazing Saddles)

[catlove-2000]

HELP WANTED!

Hey there everyone, I have a annocement for potential writers out there but before I begin, let me bring some context to all of this so you can understand all of this better.

When a film becomes very popular and gets sequels, they usually get spinoff material to other mediums to make more money like TV shows, comic books, or video games and Shrek is no exception especially when it comes to its most popular character: Puss in Boots which is where The Adventures of Puss in Boots comes in.

Running from 2015 to 2018, The Adventures of Puss in Boots is an American computer animated series by DreamWorks Animation that was developed and executive produced by Dave the Barbarian creator, Doug Langdale, that is kind of a prequel to Puss' 1st spinoff film from 2011.

The show sees Puss in Boots fight off an endless legion of invaders to protect the previously hidden village of San Lorenzo, after his actions unintentionally broke the spell that protected its legendary mystic treasure from the outside world. Subsequently, he must find a way to restore the protection spell that will cloak the town once more.

Since this takes place before either the 1st Puss in Boots film or even the Shrek films, that means well known characters from the franchise don't appear in the series to some fans' disappointment but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have characters that people won't love to the point of having a favorite which is where Dulcinea comes in.

Voiced by Glee's Jayma Mays, Dulcinea is A sweet and innocent female white cat whom Puss falls for and follows to the town of San Lorenzo, starting off the plot. Now, characters who are positive can be a mixed bag since the writers always mixes positivity with stupidity.

However, Thanks to Jayma's performance and her character development, she is able to be a likeable female character that uses her smart and kindheart to solve things then beating the crap out of people like how many modern female characters are today.

Another thing that makes her work is the romantic chemistry she has with Puss which is very sweet and kind of heartwarming to the point, similar to Puss and Kitty, you are rooting for them to get together in the end.

This is also thanks to Puss' voice actor for the series, Eric Bauza, who before this show or Looney Tunes Cartoons was only know for voicing characters like Stimpy in Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon and Lord Stingray in Superjail but this series proved how not only can he pull off a voice that unrecognizable from his own, similar to Mel Blanc, but can have great chemistry with anyone he works with either a well known voice actor like Paul Rugg and Jim Cummings or a well-known big name like Danny Trejo and Jayma Mays.

However, unlike All King Julien which was nominated for a ton of awards and won some, TAOPIB was only able to won one award for Outstanding Casting for an Animated Series or Special and add that to being on a spinoff show to a film on a streaming service, the show wasn't as well known or talked about thanks to the sour reputation of those kinds of shows.

This also goes to Dulcinea that since most film franchises don't acknowledge other film related media, People prefer Puss to be with Kitty Softpaws who appeared both in the 2011 film and it's 2022 sequel Voiced by Desperado's Selma Hayek.

Which to some people makes more sense. I mean not to slam Dulcinea but Kitty seems like the better match to Puss due to being more similar to him in terms of personality, appearing in the films first then the the TV show first, and her actress didn't appear in garbage like Epic Movie or the live action Smurfs films.

However, in my opinion, I prefer Puss with Dulcinea more. Now, I am not saying that Puss x Kitty sucks. I think they are also a great couple and the chemistry between Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek is great but in terms to the Shrek franchise and it theme about opposites attracting like with Shrek and Fiona.

But since Puss and Kitty seem like the endgame if the ending of The Last Wish would suggest, It seems that Dulcinea was always going to be forgotten to the sands of Deamworks Animation history... or is she?

That's where my fanfic comes in.

The Adventures of Puss and Dulcinea was my answer to this dilemma. Inspired by the The DragonSaver's GOTG fanfic, Half Worlders of the Galaxy, this fanfic puts Dulcinea into the events of the films either helping out or having cute romantic moments with Puss.

However, there is a problem with this. With Half Worlders of The Galaxy, that fic was written when the MCU was still loved and everyone wasn't acting like a wantabe Garth Enis taking pot shots at it every 24/7.

Shrek on the other hand....Well, Let's just say that the films between Shrek 2 and Puss in Boots weren't well received or worth remembering. Sure, Shrek Forever After had its moments but ending the film series with a plot inspired by Its A Wonderful Life isn't the most original idea.

That is where you come in.

I am looking for a co-writer or co-writers to help me develop my own version of Shrek the Third where I am going to write it as the last film in the Trilogy similar to others film trilogies like How to Train Your Dragon or Guardians of the Galaxy only everyone doesn't break up in the final film.

I decided to combine elements from Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish into one plot with the 1st Puss in Boots film being a subplot in the past similar to films like The Godfather: Part 2.

Of course, I need some help with trying to make all of this work without it becoming a jumbled up mess so I am looking for someone that a fan of not just the films but also the Netflix Series as well as hating using tired or problematic cliches, women in the refrigerator, that might ruin the fanfic as a whole.

I have doc that has the Synopsis for my version of Shrek 3 and some character ideas for the the story I attached on to this post. I hope they are good ideas to all of you but I am open to some suggestions to improve it if you want to help.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lNXLXpwzSmK6G3fdqPm_JBVat35GT-DhjnjZ1Wr592U/edit?usp=drivesdk

To contact me, DM me on either my Tumblr account, my Twitter account, or my Instagram account if you are interested in being apart of this.

You can also comment on this post as way to apply if that's more easier to all of you.

[seenoversundown]

For Death Or Glory: Chapter Seventeen

Jake Kiszka x Charlotte (Fem OC)

Warnings: 18+ Smut (I’ll sneak the sexy warnings in at the end so you can look away if you want) Mild Anxiety if you squint, drinking/alcohol, discussion including sex references, gentle brotherly bullying, a lot of pointing and laughing at Jake (lovingly), Pirates Of The Caribbean references, Tall Tales from our Short King, Fluff, wholesome family time, silly banter amongst the boys.

*smut warnings*: sexual language, praise kink insinuation 😏, fingering, use of captain/daddy (it’s mild) thigh riding, Jake is sexy as hell, everyone.

Word Count: 5.1k 🤭

Summary: It’s Trivia Night! Charlotte decides to hang out with everyone for the night and gets to hear plenty about our favorite little pirate man.

Author's Note: ITS A FAMILY EPISODE 🥰 This was honestly way too fun to write 😂 I hope you enjoy getting to hang out with everyone because it was fun finding ways for them to interact with my main girl, Charlotte. 💕

(I listened to Bed Chem and Juno by Sabrina a lot also while writing parts of this chapter so do with that what you will! 🤭😘)

Nonsense - Sabrina Carpenter "I'll be honest, Lookin' at you got me thinkin' nonsense, Cartwheels in my stomach when you walk in."

It took some mild convincing from Quinn and Jacob, but I’ve decided to participate in Trivia Night with everyone. Not going to act like I'm not a little nervous to hang out with everybody again since the only time I saw them all together was at Halloween, and I was drowning my nerves with whatever drink ended up in my hand.  

“You’re already friends with Quinn, and I’m sure the ladies love you,” Jake quietly tried to pep talk me as I sat in my usual seat at the bar. 

“No, I know,” I sigh. “It’s more the boys that make me nervous.” 

“They’re just louder than me,” he laughs. “They’ll be nice to you though, don’t even worry about them.” 

I take a deep breath as I look at him. 

“I’ll spit in their drinks if they’re mean to you; how’s that sound?” His eyebrow raised as he said it, and I couldn’t help the laugh that fell out of me. 

“You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re not clocked in, so,” he says with a dumb little smile on his lips. 

“Oooo Lottie, you’re hereeee!” Quinn yells as they step foot into the bar. The rest of them slowly trickled in behind them.  

They wrap their arms around me, practically swaying the barstool with them. “Come sit with us?” Okay, okay, okay. I nod and follow behind them. 

Once the booth has been claimed, the boys apparently wander off to grab drinks and queue up songs on the jukebox. 

“Since the boys aren’t here for a minute— have you two.. y’know?” Quinn asks with a dramatic wink, and I can feel the blood rushing to my face. They already know you’ve kissed him; what’s the harm?

My hand covers my mouth, trying to hide the smile growing while I nod. I practically received a standing ovation at the confirmation. 

“You have to tell us how it went because we’ve never really even seen any girl that he’s even been on a date with! Let alone actually sleep with,” Willa says, leaning into her hand with a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. 

“Oh, um, well,” I hesitate, not really knowing what to say. This was easier with Cass because we just didn’t have a filter with each other, and I’m still not sure what is too much with them. 

Quinn can definitely sense the panic so they cave and ask, “Does he know what he’s doing?” 

“YEAH,” my eyes go wide. “He’s probably more deceiving than you’d think.” My eyebrows practically touch my hairline at the thought. 

A collective giggle from the table made me laugh. 

Mel whispers, “Did he make you–”

“Three times in one night.” 

“JAKE, YOU DOG,” she whisper-screams back to me. 

Willa and Quinn just look at each other before Willa finally lets out, “.. must run in the family.”

“What runs in the family?” Sam asks, handing Willa her drink. Danny is next to him, handing Mel’s drink over to her, and then takes off to get trivia night going. 

Mel’s eyebrows shoot up as she lets a quiet “Being a little bitch,” slip out before she sips on her drink; the smirk on her face is undeniable.

“Oh, fuck off,” Sam laughs, sitting in the booth next to Willa. 

Josh isn’t far behind him, holding three drinks. Setting them down, but quickly handing Quinn’s over to them and then sliding one over to me.

He leans down to me, whispering, “I was given the task of bringing your beverage from a secret admirer of sorts.” My stomach filled with butterflies at his comment. 

“Hey! This is the family table, no secrets!” Sam pipes up. 

Josh whips his head over, “I was just politely asking if I may squeeze in next to my little lovebug over there; otherwise, I will take the shortcut!” He steps his foot onto the edge of the table, making everyone panic for a moment. I quickly slide out of the booth while Mel and Quinn trade spots to make it easier. 

Danny starts explaining the basics of trivia night to everyone; hearing his voice like that was so odd because he’s been so quiet around me; it’s almost like I hadn’t heard him speak before. 

“Tonight’s theme is Pirates of the Caribbean! “ His enthusiasm is rapidly met with a collective groan from everyone. I glance over at Jake, who is just beaming over the theme—of course, he’s excited. 

A few patrons, including Linda, hollered, ‘Not fair!’ 

“Hey now,” Danny chimes back in, “Before everyone gets too mad, Jake will be bartending as his handicap for tonight’s trivia!”

Everyone I’m sitting with is pointing and laughing at Jake as he dramatically pouts behind the bar. I can’t take my eyes off him as he finally breaks the sad face, laughing with someone sitting in front of him at the bar. It’s adorable how much he loves his job. His eyes meet mine, making my heart stop for a second, as he smiles and shoots me a little wink before turning to grab another drink for someone. 

“We’ll start with an easy one- a warm-up, if you will. Which movie was the infamous mermaid scene in?”

The fourth one.

“Charlotte, has Jake told you about the first time he got drunk?” Sam asks, already laughing at the question. 

My eyebrows raise, and I glance over at him behind the bar. “He has not, and I’m fully ready to hear it.”

“Oh, it’s a treat– TRUST,” Willa chimes in. 

Sam and Josh whisper between themselves before turning back to me, “Okay, so Daniel was actually at the house with me because it was a weekend, obviously.” 

Oh, he’s locked in, I’m ready.

“We were what, like thirteen or fourteen at the time, right Daniel?” 

“Something like that,” Danny quickly answers. 

“Anyway- so we’re just playing video games, as teenage boys do, and then Josh knocks on the door.” Sam looks to Josh, who is always ready to take over a story. 

He leaned forward, looking over at Jake and then back at me. “This guy over here decided that he would just drink anything that was handed to him at this party. Lo and behold, he ended up walking like  a baby deer by the time we got home.” He barks out a laugh, “He ended up eating shit in the front yard because he swore he didn’t need my help.” 

It was my turn to laugh, looking over to Jake, who was bright red at this point; he must have had to sit through this story often because he was taking it like a champ.

“Oh, and it gets worse,” Danny chimes in. 

“Yes! So, I ran inside quietly and grabbed these two,” Josh points at Sam and Dan, “To try and help me get the drunk out of the yard before our parents woke up.”

“But even with all three of us, we couldn’t get him stable enough to walk into the house carefully.” 

“You guys don’t have to tell everybody this story, you know?” Jake shouts from behind the bar. 

“Oh, but we do!” Josh rebuttals.

“After a few minutes of trying to get him up, we realized it was a lost cause and went and got our dad for help.” 

“Oh my god, no,” slips out of me before I can stop it. 

Making them all laugh because they know what’s coming next. 

“Well, our dad surprisingly didn’t get that mad,” Sam starts, “But he did insist on taking pictures before carrying him inside.” 

“Mom added them to a scrapbook!” Josh adds. 

My hand flies up to cover my mouth as I laugh at the thought of drunk teenage Jake passing out in the yard. My self-control ran low when I finally let out, “Please tell me she would send you the picture right now; I need to see it.” 

“Oh dear, I thought you’d never ask!” Josh laughs, pulling out his phone. “While we wait for the glorious photo, may I offer you another silly Jake story?” 

“You really don’t have to,” Jake says, setting down a tray of new drinks for the table. “Feels a little unfair; you’re airing out my dirty laundry, and I can’t even defend myself.”

“But, Lottie needs to be caught up on the Jake Lore!” Quinn pipes up, making the whole table laugh. His head drops back when everybody laughs, but his smile creeps through as he tries to scowl at them. 

“Can you at least throw in one redeeming one?” 

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see, kid.” 

‘What is Will Turner wearing when he’s rescued?’ 

Oh.. the pirate medallion that Elizabeth takes. 

“Look who came to say ‘Hi’ for a few minutes!” Mel announces as she approaches the table with her daughter. I’ve never seen a group of people get so excited over a child. I watch as everybody takes turns hugging her. Josh definitely took the most time, spending time talking with her. They are the most precious little buddies.

She’s sitting on Quinn’s lap when I see her eyes light up as Jake comes over to the table. She quickly stands up in the booth, pointing to him with a big cheesy smile. Jake reaches out, stealing her away from Quinn, and despite the fact she probably couldn’t hear him, he lets out a, “Come here, sweetheart.” 

Why is that sexy? My hands start to sweat a little as I watch him hold her; he has her propped up with one of his arms. He brushes the hair away from her face as she just beams at him. Oh my god? 

“I’ll get you,” he mouths to her before tickling her little neck and then her belly. I can’t stop myself from noticing how big his hands look right now, as his palm seemingly takes up half of her tiny body. Her laughter fills the air as he plays with her for a minute. I don’t think I’ll be able to get this out of my head now. Why.. How is he so good with kids? 

She wraps her arms around his neck in a hug, his hand rubbing her back as Mel walks back up. 

“Oh, how sweet,” she says, “She was asking if you would be here tonight, Jake.” 

“She hasn’t figured out I live here yet, huh?” he jokes, looking at her and smiling so big at her. I’m not even in a relationship with this man; why is this so–

His voice pulls me out of my head, “Char, do you want another drink?” Hearing him call me by a nickname catches me off guard. He hands Iris over to Danny as I’m nodding at him, and he steals my glass from me. 

“Oh, perfect timing!” Josh boasts, sliding his phone across the table. “The requested photo.” The way I picked it up could have been at record speed. 

And what a feast for the eyes it was; there lies a baby version of Jacob, absolutely obliterated in the grass. 

“You can swipe for another good one,” Josh pipes up, his cackle quickly following.

Hesitantly swiping to the next one, it’s of him thrown over his dad’s shoulder with Sam cheesing next to him. Jake’s eyes are shut, and his hair is all over the place, but the way you can tell in the photo alone that he has just given up is hilarious. It’s cute that his family didn’t yell at him for it, and if this was the worst punishment he got, he was pretty lucky. 

“Oh god,” Jake’s voice suddenly next to me again. “Not my best moment, clearly.” I laugh quietly as I look up at him, his face softening a bit when he looks back at me. 

“Didn’t pin you as a sloppy kind of drunk, Jacob,” I tease. 

His smile grows quickly, “He’s a different breed– I don’t like to let him out very often.” Oh, I need to see him a little drunk at some point. 

‘What is Jack’s last line in Dead Man’s Chest?’

Jake leans down, his mouth hovering over my ear before saying, “Hello, beastie,” in his finest Jack Sparrow accent. The sound of his laugh graced my ears as he stood back up. Not entirely proud of how the English accent affects me, but he doesn’t need to know that.  

“Oh!” Josh pipes up, “Jacob, remember when you planned that one date in high school?” 

“Haha, oh boy, I have a bar to tend to, unfortunately,” his eyes wide as he walks off to escape this story. 

“So what about this date?” I lean into my hand, looking over at Josh. 

“It was really very cute,” he starts. “He asked this girl out, and she actually said yes. So, he spent like a week and a half planning out this date-” 

A collective ‘awww’ coming from the rest of us. 

“Well, she never showed up. He was devastated. Our poor Jake has been getting ghosted since the beginning of time.” 

How does he have such bad luck with girls? 

“He did get stood up— what was it like three months ago?” Willa asks, looking at Sam. He nods mid-sip of his beer. “Poor guy moped around for a week.” 

“It’s honestly baffling; he really is such a sweetheart,” Quinn adds, with Josh nodding along with them. 

“How come Quinn can say that and it’s okay, but I tell him he’s handsome ONE TIME—,” Willa starts, her face back towards Sam. 

“Wrong– you’ve said it twice,” he corrects her with a smug look on his face. 

She rolls her eyes, “Sam, be so serious right now,”

“YEAH, that’s right, I’m keeping track!” his voice raises for a second but immediately drops when he says, “Plus, you’re MY very beautiful and hot girlfriend, we don’t need to give him any ideas.” He side-eyes Jake while he wraps his arms around her shoulders tightly.

“He’s not going to try and steal Willa from you, Samantha,” Quinn giggles, watching him hold her hostage.  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

After finally being able to get away from the storytime table, I hustle to the bathroom: two drinks plus  Josh’s storytelling skills, a recipe for disaster. 

“Oh, excuse me,” I back away from the bathroom door as an older lady walks out. 

She stops in front of me for a second, her eyes lighting up, “Well, it’s about time I run into you.” 

“Um..” I hesitate. 

“I’m Eleanor,” she grabs my hand gently, “Or El, whichever the boys feel like that day.” The realization of who she is hits me; this is the one Willa said Jake was going to marry. 

“Oh! Hi, I’m Charlotte,” I shake her hand lightly, “I’ve heard about you, nice to officially meet you.” 

Her smile is contagious, “What a pretty name for such a beautiful girl.” 

“Oh, you’re too sweet.” 

“It’s nice seeing him so happy, you know?” She starts, “I’m not trying to tell all his secrets, but the poor boy has just had no luck the last few years. Constantly being let down by all these girls— which is such a shame because he’s such a charming young man.” 

My heart hurts hearing her say that. Why would girls not like him? 

“Oh really? I didn’t realize it had been that bad.” 

“Yeah, the poor thing had basically given up on dating. He really just invested himself into being here, which is admirable of him, but between you and me,” she leans in, “Linda and I are so glad that you’re getting him out of here a little. He needs it.” 

“He really is something special,” I admit to her, “It’s a loss for all the girls who didn’t give him enough of a chance.” 

“You said it!” she giggles; it seems her voice is just quiet by nature. “If I were younger, I’d be trying to take him home with me.” Her little wink made me laugh. 

“I’m not one to kiss and tell,” I whisper, leaning closer to her, “But you’d be making the right choice.” She giggles with me this time. 

“Well, let me not hold you up any longer! I’ll see you out there,” she squeezes my forearm gently as she turns to walk away.  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

As I’m walking out of the bathroom, I catch him coming from the back room and promptly make myself in his way. 

“Hey you,” he whispers. 

“Hi,” I say quietly back, “What are the odds I can steal you away?” Letting my hand run down his forearm, he subtly grabs it while he listens.  

“For work or..” his voice trails off, and that damn eyebrow of his popping up. 

Shaking my head, “Mmm.. definitely not work.” I pull my bottom lip in with my teeth as I look at him. 

“Ohhh, I see,” his shitty little smirk coming out. 

“So, is that a yes?” 

He looks down the hall past me, “I don’t know about that, Red.”

“We could just sneak upstairs real quick,” I don’t even care how desperate I sound at this point because I am a little desperate. 

“The bar’s kinda busy, I don’t–” 

I quickly cut him off, “What about your office?”

“Someone’s eager?” His eyebrows pull together for a second as he looks me up and down. 

Hooking my finger into his belt loop, tugging him toward me, “Baby, please,” batting my eyelashes at him.

“What’s gotten into you?” his laugh lacing the question.

“Just seeing you with Iris, I don't know..” trailing off, I lean forward into him, my hand holding the side of his face, “I just think you’d make a cute daddy.”

 Pink creeps into his cheeks rapidly before he spits out, “I’ll meet you in my office in five minutes.” ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

He backs me into his desk, slotting his leg between mine. He leans against me, letting his weight press into me. 

“Jake, please,” I moan as he leans even further into me, making my hips grind against his thigh. 

“Needy little thing,” he whispers as I moan into his mouth, still trying to resist riding his thigh. He glances down for a second as my hips betray me, “Does that feel good?” 

My face warms up, and a small “mhm” escapes me. The smirk on his face makes my stomach turn, nervous about whatever is going on inside his head. He leans in, the kiss feels more heated than before. His teeth lightly grabbed my lip, which sent a little shiver through my body and caused my hips to start moving a bit more forcefully. 

“Keep going,” he whispers against my lips, “use me, honey.” 

“Fuck me,” falls out of me, the friction making my head spin. 

He quietly laughs, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” 

God, he needs to never stop talking. 

His lips leave kisses down my neck, finding every sensitive spot he can get to. I’m doing everything in my power to refrain from moaning too loudly, but he’s making it increasingly more difficult. The waves of pleasure shooting through me every time I roll my hips are only made worse by the feeling of his smile against my throat. 

“Jake–,” I whine. “Touch me.” I slide my hand down the back of his arm, trying to pull it from behind me. 

“Oh, you need my hands?” He teases me, whispering a breath away from my ear. “Is that what you want?”  He unbuttons my pants but hesitates to do anything else. The amount that I want, need rather, him to just touch me, is bordering painful.

“Baby, please,” I moan into his ear, “You’re just so good at it.” His hand immediately slid into my pants at the praise, running his fingers across my panties that are practically drenched at this point. 

“All that for me?” He coos into my ear, sliding the soaked fabric to the side; his fingers gently rubbing against my throbbing clit, causing a louder moan to slip out. “Gotta stay quiet for me, honey. Unless you want everyone to know how good I make you feel.” 

His voice was killing me as he added pressure with his fingers; the build of my orgasm was quick once he got involved. His hand slides down as he hooks his middle finger into me. Letting his palm rest against my clit as his finger pumps into me, the friction was just enough to keep inching me closer. 

“I’m so close,” I quietly whimper. 

He leans in closer to my face, hovering just above my lips, “Let me have it, honey.” He slid his ring finger into me as he said it and then leaned in to kiss me as his hand moved faster. I can feel the orgasm about to snap inside me when he lets his tongue gently dance across my lip. My jaw falls open as my release finally hits; I can feel the wetness against his hand as he works me through it. As I come down from it, his hand slows with me. 

He carefully pulled his hand back, grabbed my jaw with the other, and pressed one slow kiss into me. He lingers close to me for a second and, with his cheeky little smirk, asks, “Feel better?”

I giggle against his lips, kissing him a few more times before deciding to add fuel to the fire, “For now.”

“For now?” 

“Oh, Jacob,” I tease, sliding my arms around his neck. “I’ll be ready to actually ride you later.”

His eyes light up at my comment, “You may be the greatest friend I’ve ever had; I hope you know that.” 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

I managed to slide back into the booth with minimal questioning, though I think Josh knew what had happened with the way his eyes were burning a hole into the side of my head for a moment. 

“Oh, I did think of something wholesome for Charlotte,” Sam announces to the table. 

“He’s not here,” Josh reminds him, “You don’t have to suck up to him.” 

Sam’s laugh makes me laugh when he comes out with, “No, I know, but don’t we want them to get toge—“ 

“What were you going to say, babes?” Willa, wide-eyed, cuts him off before he finishes his sentence. Wait- do the boys want us to..? 

“I was just thinking that- he’s always been the one we go to,” he says, his tone feels different. “Like, with anything. He’s typically the first one I’ll think to call if I need actual help with something.” 

“No, that’s so true, actually,” Quinn chimes in. “He will do so much for the people he cares about. The amount of times he’s texted me to let me know that he left the door unlocked for me or that he bought more of the coffee creamer I like since I was at their place all the time anyway.”

Danny was lingering near us while they all talked about the exuberant amount of nice things Jake had done for them. 

“He got me the job at the shipyard and then basically created a job for me here; I feel like that speaks volumes about who he is as a person,” Danny says quietly. 

I look over as he’s at the opposite end of the bar; his smile is so wide. He must be talking to Linda and Eleanor– always taking time to talk to everyone while they sit there, but for those two specifically, he really makes sure to dote on them a little extra. 

The table falls quiet, well- quiet is subjective, and I take my chance to ask the question that I’ve definitely been sitting on. 

“Is there a reason for the Bob Seger cut out?” I ask. “Actually- there’s just a lot of Bob Seger that happens here? Because I’ve been here near closing time, and Night Moves, I think..has been on every time.” 

Everyone looked at each other; it was almost comical the way they all paused when I asked. 

“Jake!” Josh hollers, “Your presence is needed!” I watch him move through the room, slowly moving through people to get to us. “Someone is asking questions that..you should be here for.”

“Okay, shoot.” 

I look up at him, “What’s with all the Bob Seger?”

“Oh!” His eyes darted over to Josh. “Haha, well–.”

Willa chimes in, “Oh, this should be good.” 

“It started with Night Moves and, uh,” He pauses, looking down at the table for a second. 

Josh quickly chimes in, “Mind’s slipping away from you?” 

His head whipped up to look at Josh, “No no, just want to make sure I recall it correctly!” 

“Well,” Sam pipes up, “we got ALL night.”

Danny bumps into him, whispering something in his ear. 

“Ah! Yes, thank you, Dan,” he says, patting Danny’s arm as he walks off. “Have you heard the lore of the Old Port Pirate?”

“Obviously not,” I giggle. 

Sam pipes up quickly, “Really!?” 

“Oh! Charlotte, you’re in for a treat,” Mel says, leaning into her hand, ready to hear this story. 

“Josh, do you mind watching the bar for a minute while I explain this?” 

“Oh, but of course!” He quips back.  “I do love this story, so I’ll be lingering over here!”

I let Josh out of the booth, with Jake sliding in next to me as I sat back down. He turns to face me a little with a smirk on his face. 

“So, there’s this man who wanders around the Old Port, typically found sitting in front of one of the stores nearby. We’ve been told that he thinks he’s a pirate, so..that’s where the name comes from,” he chuckles at himself.  “Well, he wandered in here the day we opened, and obviously, from one pirate to another, I wasn’t about to send him on his way.” And a precious little pirate you are, Jacob. 

“Of course not! Pirates are always welcome in a tavern!” Quinn chimes in. 

“Exactly– I’m glad you understand,” he says. “While he was here, he barely spoke. Just kept to himself the entire night until Night Moves started playing.”

I glance around the table; Sam, Willa, and Mel are all fully invested in this. Wait..

He excitedly continues his story time, “He waved me down and proceeded to tell me about how Night Moves was his favorite song. Said that he actually knew Bob at one point– which I’m not going to tell him that I don’t buy it because.. well, if you saw the guy, you’d understand.”

“So you just…play it every day?” Why do I kind of believe him?

“Well, we never know when he’s going to come back or if he will,” he tells me. “But I want to make sure he feels welcome!” 

Willa asks, “Didn’t he pay with a doubloon?” 

“He did! That’s why it’s framed over there!” Josh hollers from behind the bar. 

“Oh,” I try to collect my thoughts. “Well, um—”

“I know it’s a pretty exhilarating story- take your time to process it,” he says, double-tapping the table. “I do need to go take the bar back from Josh, so if you have any more questions, you know where to find me.” His hand gently squeezes my arm before he scurries back to the bar. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“Alright, be honest,” I say as he walks over to me. “Is this pirate man real?” 

“Of course, he is,” he says, no hesitation in his voice. “Do you want more to drink?” I nod as I’m trying to figure out if he’s lying. 

I let out a small, “Mmmm..” folding my arms over my chest as I watched him make a fresh drink for me. 

He slides it over to me, “Have I lied to you before, honey?” 

The way I want to kiss- I mean, smack the smirk off his face. My arms drop, and I can’t fight the smile on my face any longer, “Alright, I’ll believe you.” 

He leans forward onto the bar, resting his head in his hand, “While you’re here.. you should stay with me tonight.”

“Mmm.. I don’t know if I should,” I tease him.

He blinks slowly at me, a little smirk on his lips, “What if I promise to make you breakfast?” 

“Well.. that does sound nice but..” trying to sound dramatic, but let’s be honest- there’s no way he wouldn’t win this battle. 

“Josh is going to Quinn’s,” he pauses and lowers his voice “.. we can have sex.” His eyebrows shoot up, making me giggle. 

“Now we’re talking, Captain.” I lean forward into my hand now; we probably look ridiculous right now. 

“What was the other name you called me?” He winks at me, pulling his bottom lip in with his teeth. 

“Oh, you liked that, huh?” 

“Might need to try it out later and see,” he says, giggling to himself. It’s cute how excited he gets over little things like that. I wave him closer, and he leans a little further. I stand on the little supports of the barstool to meet him in the middle. 

I whisper into his ear, “Whatever you want, daddy.” 

His jaw goes slack, as he stares at me, slowly shaking his head while that devious little smile of his grows on his face. I just raise one of my eyebrows at him, waiting for the truth to come out. 

“If you keep talking like that,” his voice trails off. 

I can’t stop myself from asking, “What about it?”

“I’ll be making sure you let the neighbors know.” 

I gasp before I can even think, “Jacob!” 

“Yeah, it’ll sound kinda like that,” he says; the smug look on his face as he backs away is killing me. 

I know my face has to be red at this rate; I let out a fairly loud “Um!” Glancing around at the people near us, including his brothers. 

“They didn’t hear, don’t worry,” he laughs; I hate how sexy he is sometimes. “I only want you to hear me anyway.”

Oh, this man is on one tonight. 

“Charlotte!” Willa yells from across the room, distracting me from him. Thank god.  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Spending the rest of the night laughing and hanging out with everyone. Jacob still managed to school everyone on his Pirates of the Caribbean knowledge, not that anybody was shocked. It was nice getting to just spend time with people, even if it was a lot of them having to fill me in on the backstories of most conversations. They were so welcoming to me. 

And amid another Josh story, I hear the sweetest sound faintly over the chatter in the bar and even cutting through Josh’s voice; the opening chords of Night Moves started to play. I glance over to Jacob, whose eyes are locked on me, and something about his stare makes my heart flutter. 

‘Workin’ on our night moves—“

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Eighteen

FDOG Master Post | Masterlist | Playlist

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[possuminabathtub]

Spooky Scary Stem Majors - A light kidnapping & family dinner

a/n - This is a part of my Spooky Scary Stem Majors series, which is becoming less of a series and more of a collection of scenes and vague chapters, and probably won't turn into an actual fic but is fun to write anyways, so. It's mostly dp x dc, but also involves my oc Mel from another universe.

The Masterpost

Wordcount - 3.2k

---

Mel wasn’t one easily caught off guard. In fact, she’d been frequently accused of hypervigilance, by both her therapist and all of her closest friends, among others. So being drugged and kidnapped by Gotham thugs was just plain embarrassing. She was sure she’d get around to being embarrassed when the heavy haze of the drugs wore off. Her power felt far away, slippery and out of reach, a buzzing swarm of bees that danced around her fingers as she tried weakly to grab them. She was in a chair, could feel the rough wood against her back, no that wasn’t right, because she wasn’t sitting. Was she? She could barely feel her body, much less determine if she was sitting up. She could definitely smell wood though, and fuel, like a gas station in the middle of a forest. A laugh bubbled up, turning quickly to spinning nausea. Her thoughts faded out as a wave of lightheadedness overtook her and her ears started ringing. Consciousness faded again, or at least drifted far away.

A shaft of light pierced through her eyelids, sending another wave of nausea washing over her before a cracking sound echoed through her skull and more light streamed in. Squeezing her eyes closed against the light, a thin groan escaped her before she clamped her teeth down on her tongue. A modulated voice said something that escaped her twisting, drug hazed reality, and she was moving, hauled upwards and thrown over a shoulder. Ignoring the way her thoughts scattered around her brain like sand, refusing to become coherent, she acted on instinct instead. Her limbs weren’t listening, so she cracked her eyes open enough to find the nearest chink in the kevlar armor, and sunk her teeth in with as much strength as she could muster. She didn’t break skin, but it hurt enough that the modulated voice barked out a curse, and a gloved hand came up to pry her jaw loose. “Jesus fuck, I’m trying to help you,” The modulated voice snapped as she cracked her eyes open again.

Red and black greeted her, a red helmet. Red Hood. She knew him. She loosened her jaw, ignoring the way threads of fabric stuck between her teeth. Damn, that would probably bruise later. A streetlight blinded her, and she shut her eyes again as the world spun and twisted. She couldn’t remember how she knew him, but as the drugs pulled her back under she couldn’t find a reason to care. The next time she came around enough to move, she found herself being hauled through a window. Failing to suppress the urge to dry heave, Hood shuddered as he quickly set her down on the couch. “‘M not gonna throw up on you,” She protested as he moved out of sight again. “Oh good, you’re awake again,” He said, setting a plastic trashcan in her lap as he moved back into sight. “Fucking hate gettting kidnapped,” She snarled, or tried to snarl, it came out pitful and drug slurred. She fucking hated drugs too. “Happen often?” Hood asked conversationally as she stared at the ceiling, watching the patterns her brain was conjuring swirl and dance. “Not in a while, got all scary n powerful, thought that’d fix it,” She mumbled, mesmerized by a blinking red light. “Fat lot of good that did me, one goddam tranq dart and ‘m back there.” Hood was silent for a while. Or it felt like a while, she couldn’t exactly trust that it wasn’t just a time stretched couple of seconds. She hated being on drugs, couldn’t be hypervigilant when you couldn’t trust your own brain. The red light on the ceiling blinked again. Maybe that was real. “Back where?” He finally asked, his voice no longer modulated.

  “With the other girls, those stupid fucking warehouses and buildings and cities, concrete and fear and blood and rage and pain and and and,” Her brain stuttered, and she took her gaze off the red blinking ceiling, instead peering over at Hood, then beyond him. A few spirits clung to him, not out of malice, but pain, regret, longing, so much longing. “You have a lot of pain and rage,” She mused, still watching the shadow of one spirit hovering behind him, “And the same spirits as Jason, Danny said she’s a shade, but we’re not supposed to bring her up.” At this, Hood physically recoiled. 

  “Don’t worry, ‘m not in your head,” She tried reassuring him blearily, “You can just tell a lot about someone by the things that follow them.” 

  He peeled his domino mask off, and she absently wondered why Jason had even been wearing one. Danny’s literature loving older brother didn’t seem like the dress up type. It took a long several moments for the dots to connect, and she hummed thoughtfully, tilting her head at him. 

  “Yeah, you’re high as a kite,” Jason said with a half chuckle, starting to peel his kevlar armor off. 

  “‘M not happy about it either,” She said, trying to manifest a scowl but failing miserably if the amused expression of Jason’s was anything to go off of. 

  “You wouldn’t be, Danny mentioned you’re a control freak,” He said, starting to unholster guns and knives and all sorts of weapons and lay them out on the table. “Don’t worry, you fit right in with the rest of the family.”

   “I don’t need a family.” She said firmly, and Jason just shrugged. 

  “Danny already half dragged you into it, I don’t think you have a choice at this point.”

  “No.” She repeated. “Absolutely not. I’m getting my degree. Not getting dragged into another squad of child soldiers.” 

  “Another?” He arched an eyebrow and she resumed staring back up at the ceiling and hoping the world would stop spinning soon. 

 “Why is the ceiling watching me?” She narrowed her eyes at the blinking red light on the ceiling, paranoia making her bones itch. “

  “That, is the smoke detector,” Jason said with barely restrained humor. She rolled her eyes, and immediately regretted the action as her stomach and brain both flipped and twisted. 

  “Is not,” She protested with a scowl, “‘s watching me. Hate being watched. Makes me itchy and crawly. ‘Specially when that shit is in your brain, and wants… fuck, what did they even want? World domination? Total eradication? Weird creepy cohabitation? Honestly wasn’t clear,” She babbled, frowning to herself. 

  “The ceiling is not watching you, pinky promise,” He offered out a degloved hand with his pinky outstretched. She went to feebly swat it away, but her hand passed through his like smoke. Staring at her hand, she felt herself go weightless for a split second before she sunk halfway through the couch. “Shit, you’re glitching.” Jason barked in surprise, “Is that new for you?” 

  A giggle escaped her before she could cage it in, and she tried to move her hand through the couch only to hit the cushion uselessly. “Old problem actually,” She said thoughtlessly, then groaned, “If I can’t control it you should avoid touching or phasing through me, or me phasing through you, whatever, just keep your distance,” She let her head fall back against the couch cushions, far less bothered by the situation than Jason seemed to be. As much as she hated drugs, the nice side effect was she wasn’t entirely conscious of just how fucked their situation was. 

 “Why? What the hell would happen?” He asked, eyeing her warily. 

  She lolled her head to the side to look over at him again. “You ever microwaved a grape?” His face paled and she sighed, “Okay bad comparison, that’s on me. You ever seen matter instantaneously inhabit the same space where other matter already is? Shit gets fucked and pushed out of the way and too much pressure in the wrong place and okay just listen to me, it’s just no bueno, capiche?” 

  “Got it,” He backed up a few steps, “Wait so,” He glanced at where her torso and part of her legs were still halfway through the couch. 

  “Honestly don’t think about it too much and it gets a little easier,” 

  He was silent for a long few moments, stepping out of sight again. Her headache was getting worse. A few moments later he returned with a plastic cup of water, holding it out to her. Thankfully, her hand didn’t phase through it as she went to grab it, just shook wickedly as she held it, just staring at it. 

  “You got a straw?” She asked, “I just,” she held up the shaking cup, “can’t uh, deal with water on my face or up my nose or anything. You get half-drowned a few times and suddenly you can’t stand the water, crazy how that happens.” Why had she said that? Jason didn’t seem to react, just grabbed a straw from the kitchen and dropped it into the cup before dropping himself heavily into the chair across the room. 

  “If I were a worse person I’d be asking you questions,” He said, clearly conflicted as she sipped on the water. 

  “I would.” She tilted her head to the side, straw forgotten against her lips, watching him run a hand over his face. 

  “We all make terrible choices, for those we care about.” Mel turned her gaze to watch the lights dance outside the window, “I assume this is about protecting your family, your city, your people. Sometimes we have to sacrifice, to make a better place for them, and sometimes we destroy ourselves in the process, and sometimes it doesn’t even matter, sometimes we’re the only ones left, and we’ve destroyed it all, and we don’t even have our morals anymore, and we just have to hope, to know, that we’ve done what we could, for them.” 

  The safehouse was silent for a long few moments. 

   “Have you considered poetry?” He asked, only halfway joking.

  “Mmmm, I’m more of a painter,” She replied, “Words always end up depressing and clunky and way too meaningful, color and shape just exist. Interpretation is on the observer, so it’s their problem if it depresses them.” 

  A snort escaped him just a moment before a knock sounded on the door. 

  “That should be Danny,” He said as he stood from his chair, but the door swung open before he could go open it, and several set of footsteps were distinct, Mel wondered if it was too late to go invisible and sink through the floor. 

  “Mellll,” Danny’s voice called through the apartment, safehouse, whatever, and she groaned in response, scowling at Jason. It was bad enough that she was drugged out of her mind around Jason, and Danny would’ve been a welcome comfort, but the rest of the batbrood was distinctly not.   

  She dragged herself out of the couch, forced her body kicking and screaming back to full tangibility, and kicked one foot up over the farther arm of the couch, then swung an arm up over the back, sprawling herself out across the entire space territorially, nobody else needed to even think about sitting on it. It was her space right now. 

  As Danny rushed in she bared her faintly sharpened fangs at him, but he wrapped his arms around her anyways and she reluctantly gave in, enjoying the physical contact while it lasted. He was cold, so blessedly cold, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder, letting her eyes fall closed. 

  “I gotta go grab your food now,” He said, a bit muffled, and she only snaked her arms tighter around him, locking her grip. 

  Even as he started to stand up again, she refused to let go, slipping halfway back into intangibility and only moving to settle against his back like a backpack, arms draped loosely around his neck and most of the rest intangible and floating, perfectly comfortable. 

  “What did they dose you with?” He mumbled to himself with a deep sigh, but she could sense that deep down he was just as content as she was. 

  “Dunno,” She replied, and he just shook his head as he started walking. 

  “Is she phased halfway through your back?!” Dick’s voice was appalled, and she almost cracked her eyes open to see his expression, but decided it wasn’t worth it

  “She told me not to even get close when she accidentally phased halfway through the couch or I’d explode like a microwaved grape!” Jason added, somehow more insulted than concerned. 

  “Can’t kill what’s already dead,” He said, a non answer, and she heard a chorus of annoyed scoffing and muttering, “She’s full intangible, won’t hurt me,” He continued, “and if she does accidentally solidify, I’d just go intangible in response, easy fix. Besides, she’s clingy, you try to pry her off. She can’t do any real damage right now anyways,” 

 She mumbled a curse at him and considered biting his ear but didn’t want to expend the energy, so settled for mimicking him childishly. 

  “‘Can’t do any damage’, my ass, could pull your organs out if I timed it right,” Mel mumbled bitterly, cracking her eyes open and squinting at him. 

  “Sure you could,” He said sweetly, reaching up to pat her on the head. This time she did bite, snagging his index and middle finger with her teeth and clamping down enough to bruise but not to break skin. He went intangible and her teeth clacked together suddenly, turning into a halfhearted scowl. Danny just grinned at her. 

  “Please tell me she’s joking,” Dick said as Danny walked the both of them over to the bags of groceries on the counter. 

  “‘M not,” She said before her mixed up brain could catch up with her goddam mouth, “‘s messy,” 

  “Removal of internal organs isn’t the most efficient,” The tiny stabby one, Damian, agreed formally, “And typically far more messy than it is worth.”

  “Didn’t have much other choice,” She snapped, and he arched an eyebrow at her. The kitchen was silent. 

  “Jay, you got a can opener?” Danny asked easily, and she closed her eyes again. 

 Tomato soup was quite possibly the best thing she’d ever eaten, Mel decided as she sat on the couch with the warm bowl in her hands. She’d returned to tangibility about twenty minutes ago, and had stolen somebody’s sweatshirt off the counter before slinking back into the living room while the sibling argued over cooking. They’d finally emerged with a dozen bowls of soup, settling down into spots across the living room to start eating. 

  “So, your first Gotham kidnapping,” Steph said conversationally. 

  “Not much worse than my prior kidnappings, the meta-drugs were new, but points off for shoving me in a crate, that was just plain rude and basic. They still got the drop on me though, so final score of 5 outta 10,” She determined with a resolute nod.

  “Not your first ever kidnapping then,” Tim mused, and Steph elbowed him. 

  “Not even close,” Mel replied as she dipped her grilled cheese into the soup. 

  “Gotham can usually be a special brand of awful that likes to surprise people,” Danny pointed out, and she hummed thoughtfully. 

  “Not nearly as weird as the last place I came from, promise, I’m used to some fucked up shit,” She said, and she could see the gathered Waynes varying expressions, from surprise to heavy skepticism. “Killer clown was new, but I did get turned into a human spy bug by a being that possessed some of my friends and trapped them in their minds, so,” She shrugged. 

  “That’s a new one,” Steph and few others mused, and Tim tilted his head to the side. 

  “Where are you from?” He asked, and she could see intelligence behind his eyes, scrutiny. 

  “Texas,” She answered easily through a mouthful of crumbs. Danny recoiled, turning to look at her, confused. “I unlearned the accent, but yeah, born ‘n raised Texan.” She let a little bit of an accent slip through, a mischievous grin tugging at the edge of her mouth as she chewed. 

  “This happened in Texas?” Tim asked skeptically. 

  “Oh no that happened in California,” She could just see the wheels turning in his brain. 

  “Mel please don’t break my brothers,” Danny asked halfheartedly. 

  “Me? Why I would never,” She pressed a hand to her chest and looked insulted by the accusation. He just rolled his eyes. 

 “Are you an alien?” Damian asked point blank, and if she’d been any more of a stable mind, she’d be annoyed, but she wasn’t, and hell meta-drugs took a while to wear off. 

  “Kid, we’ve been over this, ask me nicely and I might just tell you,” She replied, and the room went dead silent. She looked around, confused by their varying frozen expressions, until Jason burst out laughing, nearly choking on his grilled cheese. 

  “Ohhh, nooo, I didn’t know all of you were vigilantes,” She said dryly as it dawned on her, “I’m actually blind and your family is just normal rich people crazy, not the punch people in dark alleyways crazy.” 

  Danny actually did choke on his grilled cheese at that, coughing it up a moment later as the rest of the family stared at her. 

  “I can keep a secret, damn.” She said defensively, “I genuinely couldn’t care less.” She said with a wave of her hand, a lie, but they didn’t need to know that, “Child soldiership is your prerogative, unless it wasn’t your choice.” Her expression darkened considerably as it swept across them, and they all shook their heads. “Okay, well then we’re cool. You need to stay in school though,” She aimed her gaze at Damian. 

  “So Father tells me,” He retorted, “I do not see why, but I will continue to attend as needed.” 

  “Cause kids deserve to be kids, and school is important, mmkay? Some of us didn’t get even that much, don’t take it for granted.” She said before downing the rest of her soup and standing up. “And no I’m not an alien, I’m a demigod,” She walked into the kitchen to rinse her bowl out in the sink, listening to the eruption of whispers that followed her announcement. 

  Walking back into the living room, she picked her way back over to the couch and picked up her boots, dropping herself back onto her spot on the couch to start sliding her boots back on and lacing them up.  

  “You’re a demigod?” Jason finally asked over everyone’s whispering, and they quieted, “Like Wonder Woman?” 

  She finished lacing her other boot and looked across the room at him, settling a hand on Danny’s cold arm. 

  “I don’t know if the gods are the same in every universe, but yes, possibly,” With that, she stood up and dragged Danny into intangibility and invisibility, sinking the both of them through the floor and to the ground level of the building. Danny was cackling and she grinned at him. 

  “They’re gonna be so pissed,” He wheezed, nearly putting his flickering hand through a wall as he leaned over to stabilize himself. “I’ve told you how Tim gets with a puzzle,” 

  “Problem for future us,” She tossed over her shoulder, “Now come on, we’ve got class tomorrow.”

[gretasimp]

Compound Compliance VIII

Pairing: Reader x Jake Kiszka

Word Count: 5.7k

Warnings: Angst, Violence, Drug use, Alcohol use, Weapons, Gore, Blood, Death, Apocalyptic References, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Mental Illness

Chapter Seven, Chapter Nine

18+ Minors DNI

Chapter Eight

Y/N shoved her face back into her pillow as the loud bickering pulled her from her dreamless sleep. Mindless words being thrown around the busy house made it nearly impossible to sleep at any other time than the night. The light in her room was dim, the evening drawing close as her body eased out of its afternoon nap. She squeezed her eyes tighter and heaved a heavy sigh into the linens of her bed.

It was her turn to keep watch in the evening and she was not looking forward to it. She insisted that there was no need to keep watch at night but Jake and Danny were insistent, especially after seeing the infected so close to the property. She figured that if she was to be awake all night, she could try to get some rest during the day. Her plans didn’t go according to, as Sam and Charlie felt their plans of yelling at one another were more important.

She turned her head to the side and opened one of her eyes to peek at her surroundings. Her room was hardly lit, dusk nearly reaching its end. Finally willing herself out of bed, she groaned as she pushed her palms into the bed on either side of her and sat up. The warmth of her own body heat vanished as she pulled the covers from her body. The residual temperature of the house was slowly dropping day by day.

The days that followed the events in town became shorter as winter approached. The evenings seemed to come faster and faster as the sun’s evening ritual changed. This meant that the farm had to follow suit, duties needing to be updated as the seasons bled into one another. Each group member had taken it upon themselves to take one of Y/N’s responsibilities as their own, finally becoming accustomed to their new reality.

Slipping on her shoes, Y/N stood from her seated position on the bed and made her way out into the hall. Walking down the stairs, the cause of her rude awakening only grew louder, an end nowhere in sight. Rolling her eyes, she released her grip on the banister and stalked her way into the kitchen. She found exactly what she expected, Charlie sitting on the kitchen island, holding a can of corn above her head. Sam was swatting his hands at hers, the scene bringing a smile to Y/N’s face.

Passing the bickering, Y/N walked out of the kitchen and out the back door. The evening was crisp as she walked into the night air, her lungs stinging as the atmosphere changed. The front porch creaked under her shoes, catching the attention of Danny and Josh in the garden, leaning against the well chatting. The two of them waved her over, pushing off the well and walking towards her as she did the same.

“Get any sleep?” Danny asked, stopping with Josh as they reached each other.

“Oh yeah, loads.” She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. The two men laughed at her remark, knowing exactly why she didn’t seem to be rested.

“Good, Mel is with Ben now. You and Jake will take her place tonight.” She tried not to let his name falter her. Ever since they returned home from town, Jake had been extremely distant, not even batting an eye in Y/N’s direction. It started when they finally got home late after they found the others.

*********

“Charlie!” Evelyn yelped happily as she ran towards the blonde. Charlie reciprocated her actions, running feverishly to Evelyn, slightly slipping in the evening dew that lined the tall green blades surrounding them. Almost knocking her off her feet, Charlie jumped into Evelyn’s open arms, wrapping her thin legs around her waist. Evelyn’s weak state brought the two girls to the ground, dropping to her knees, she clutched tighter onto Charlie as they fell onto her back. The scene warmed the evening, bringing soft smiles to everyone who witnessed. The two girls laid in the overgrowth, feeling perfectly content just being in each other's arms. Laugher could be heard from every inch of the farm as the party split ways to get ready for a much-needed night's rest.

Sammy, Josh, and Jake were holding each other in one big bear hug. Their limbs wrapped around each other in a chaotic mess, grabbing each other in any way that they could. Danny joined them, squeezing himself among the brunette boys. Y/N hadn’t realized that this was the first time that any of them had been separated. The small family held one another for a few minutes, while Y/N and Mel made their way to the barn with the four horses.

The big barn doors were already open when they arrived, Arty and Stella eagerly stepping into the warm space. Greeted with a small screech, Idris yelled from his stall, running with excitement as his parents entered the barn. The scrawny horses strained slightly against the ropes, confusion washing over them as they were pulled into the old wooden building.

Mel took it upon herself to sooth the large animals before trying to get them to enter again. Stoking their necks to comfort any stress of the confined space. Once Arty and Stella were back in their stalls. Y/N grabbed a handful of feed in each hand and walked over to the starving horses, letting them eat out of her palm. Once she gained their trust, she again walked over to the feed and began filling two empty stalls with it. The horses didn’t wait for Mel as they walked into the barn to where the food was.

Unbenounced to Y/N, Jake had walked over to the barn and quietly watched as the girls put away the saddles and got the new additions comfortable in their new home. He leaned against the rotted wood with his arms crossed over his chest. He watched as Y/N brushed the matted manes’ of the poor animals and watered them as best she could. Mel assisted, brushing Stella and Arty before exiting the barn after hearing Danny call for her.

Jake caught Y/N’s attention as she watched Mel leave the barn. A small smirk danced on his face as Y/N exited the Red Dun’s new stall and into the openness of the barn. She locked the stalls, keeping her eyes off of him as he walked right to her, stopping only inches from her frame.

“Have you thought of any names?” He asked, looking down at her as she clicked the last stall into place.

“Hmm,” she hummed, placing her pointer finger and thumb under her chin as she turned to face him. “Sarcastic, rude, abrasive… shall I continue?” She said, smiling to herself, her bottom lip tucked in between her teeth.

“Oh, you think you’re funny, don’t you?” He said, reaching for her hip. His hand grabbed onto her jacket, lightly squeezing on the cloth before guiding his hand up her back, pulling her closer to him. She didn’t take a second to think before she too reached for him, fisting his thick jacket into her hands and moved closer to him. His other hand cupped her cheek, making her eyes move to his, guiding her face up. He stared down at her, his breath mingling with hers as they stood there together.

Her hands ran up his chest and up to his face. Her fingers skated across his jaw and up to the apples of his cheeks. Her thumbs gently smoothed up to the crows feet that were perched on the corners of his eyes. Closing them, his breath caught in his throat as she continued to touch him so intimately. Her hands moved up, raking her fingers through his hair, down his scalp, and ending at the back of his neck. Her fingers combed through his hair easily, the softness of his locks astonishing her.

He smiled once more as he opened his eyes, goosebumps appearing on his arms as her fingers laced together around him. He leaned down and captured her lips with his, both of them sucking in a breath through their noses at the contact. He was so addicting, his presence alone igniting a flame inside her heart. Their chests connected as his hand on her back moved up, and cupped the back of her head. His nose slotted perfectly next to hers, like the final piece of a puzzle, completing the perfect picture.

Pulling him closer to her, their bodies turned so that her back was pressed against the wood on the stall door, his body weight pressed against her. Her hands untied themselves from his neck and ran themselves down his back, meeting again around his middle. She held onto him like it was the last thing that she would ever do. Jake pushed on of his legs between hers, effectively grazing her heat. His leg instantly became warm as she lightly ground on his thigh, the pressure to her core egging her on. Jake broke the kiss, his breath wildly unevenly as he began slipping kisses down her chin and neck. She tilted her back back, giving him more access as she let out a slight whimper.

He pushed himself further into her, groaning into her neck as he felt her ride his thigh. The scene becoming extremely arousing, Jake couldn’t stop himself as his hand gently pushed up the hem of her jacket and shirt. His fingers pressed deep into the flesh of her hip, grabbing onto her and pulling her further on his leg. A heavy sigh left her as she could feel herself lose all control, letting him guide her in any way he wanted. Moving further down, he laid gentle kisses down the chain of the necklace that she wore and into the collar of her shirt.

“Jake, I…” she said, gaining his attention. He pulled back slightly, moving back to his full height and looking down into her eyes. She looked at him with such passion, the small spark in her eye inches away from lighting a wildfire. Her eyes begged him to continue his previous work, her eyebrows turned up in need. They stared at one another for a minute, letting their breaths calm and intertwine.

“I…” she stared, before stopping again. She never wanted him to stop, but she didn’t want to sound desperate. She knew that her feelings for him were genuine but were his for her? She couldn’t help but hesitate as her growing want for him pushed the boundary of no return. His softened gaze turned sour, his jaw clenching slightly as he looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her eyes.

His gaze focused on the wooden beams that surrounded them, the rotten planks barely keeping the structure sound. He saw the question in her features, not having to ask why she stopped. Releasing her from his grip, he stepped back on his heels, the loose hay crunching under his step.

His throat bobbed as he looked at her from afar. He shouldn’t. He couldn’t. He knew this, but he couldn’t stop himself. Her presence alone was so distracting yet so very addicting. His expression held nothing but pain as he continued to back away from her.

“Don’t leave. Please.” She begged. Her brain was foggy as his back began to turn to her. Her breath pushed out of her mouth as he started for the door. Her face crumbled as his back grew more distant, the night consuming his figure as he walked back to the house.

That night was spent alone, tears free flowing down her cheeks. Embarrassment and resentment stung her eyes as she tried desperately to let the tears rock her to sleep. She knew he couldn’t give her what she so desperately craved, but she didn’t know why. She laid heavily on the bed, the events of the last few days with Jake running her mind to rest.

*********

“Why’s it have to be both of us?” She asked a little too quickly. Josh picked up on her uneasiness, noticing her frowned brows and squinted eyes. He saw how she looked at her brother, but he also saw how his brother looked at her. His twin was never the most proficient with communication, but the back and forth between the two was giving Josh whiplash.

“Ben is close to waking. If he wakes in the night, one of you needs to be there for him while the other continues to watch.” She only huffed in response. Her arms still crossed over her chest as she leaned her weight onto her left leg, effecting popping her hip out a tad.

“Does it have to be Jake? Why can’t Sammy stay up with me?” She asked, fruitlessly continuing to argue with the two of them. Danny and Josh looked at each other before looking back at Y/N. She couldn’t read their expressions as they guided her back into the direction of the house.

“Sammy stayed up with me last night, so I highly doubt that he will be willing to get no sleep for two nights in a row.” Josh said, placing his soft hands on her clothes shoulders and pushing her onto the porch.

“Then what about you Danny? Or Evelyn?” She said, walking behind Danny into the kitchen, Josh following in toe.

“What about Danny and Evelyn?” Charlie asked, still planted on the kitchen island, now lacking a tin can. The aroma of sweet corn filled the kitchen, making Y/N’s mouth water slightly. She could see Sam stirring a small pot of yellow kernels over a small fire in the sink.

“I need someone to keep watch with me tonight. What about you Char, wanna hang with me tonight? Y/N said, forcing a cheeky smile as she watched the blonde descend off of the counter. She looked at Sammy and then back to Y/N before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She laughed slightly as she walked right past Y/N, patting her condescending on her shoulder before walking out of the kitchen.

“I think that was a no.” Sammy said, not taking his eyes off the food on the makeshift stove. Y/N tucked her lips into her teeth, a ridged smile forming as the three boys laughed at her. Deciding to not sit down for dinner, Y/N walked over to the silverware drawer and fished out a big spoon. Walking straight over to Sammy, she sunk the spoon into the pot, scooping up a large amount of corn.

“Hey!” Sammy yelled, a look of pure betrayal washing onto his face. Y/N shoved the spoon into her mouth as she bolted for the hall and back up the stairs. Climbing the stairs, she swallowed her mouthful of food and made her way to Bennett’s room. Pushing the door open, she found Mel and Evelyn, sitting in the same position they had been a few days ago. They seemed to be chatting about nothing, keeping one another company while they watched Benny and the wall.

Y/N tried to push the jealousy down that threatened to peek out. Her and her sisters were as thick as thieves before the illness, and it was hard for her to see Mel confiding in anyone else but her. She knew that the separation had grow them apart, she just hoped that one day her younger sister might come to her instead of her friends. She knew it was wrong to feel this way, that’s why she buried it deep and walked into the room.

“I am here to relieve you of your duties!” Y/N said, coming up behind Mel and squeezing her shoulders. She heard her little sister chuckled as Evelyn spoke up.

“We will wait for Jake to get here before we leave.” She said, not looking at Y/N as she spoke. Y/N gulped down the lump in her throat, straining to keep her eyes from traveling to the back of her head. She held back any semblance of annoyance, choosing to take the high road in an attempt to get on Evelyn’s good side. Mel, not holding anything back, gave Evelyn a swift kick to shin. Evelyn hissed in reaction, getting up from her chair and walking out of the room.

“She’ll come around” Mel said, patting the now vacant chair next to her. The interaction felt all too familiar, Evelyn never hiding her disdain for Y/N. Taking a seat in the old chair, she crossed her legs over one another and faced her sister.

“I’m not worried.” Y/N said, shoving her true feelings about the ginger onto the back of her mind.

“Where’s Jake?” Mel asked, bringing up the only other sore subject. Y/N shrugged her shoulders, her mouth already becoming dry at the thought of him and her being in the same room all night. It had been a week since the night in the barn and neither of them had spoken a word to each other.

“Weird, he’s been so distant lately. Don’t you think so?” Mel asked. Y/N could feel the roof of her mouth run completely cold, her throat closing up as she shrugged her shoulders again.

“I don’t really know him that well.” Was all Y/N could muster. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but the taste of the hidden truth was bitter.

“Really? I didn’t take you for the kind of girl that goes around kissing men she doesn’t know.” Mel said, her quick wit catching Y/N off guard. Looking away from her sister and to the ground, Y/N eyebrows met in the middle as she contemplated on what to say. Being caught in a lie was probably the worst feeling in the world, especially when it’s your sister.

The mood in the room shifted as the minutes drowned on. Y/N couldn’t tell if her sister was angry or amused. Her blank expression didn’t give any indication, causing Y/N to second guess everything she wanted to say.

“How long were you standing there?” Y/N asked, not knowing how to pick the conversation back up. Her sister didn’t respond, causing Y/N’s ears to ring in the silence of the room. Mel sighed and turned her head to the window next to her. The night sky was dark but the stars poked through the blackness, illuminating the sky in ways that were impossible to see in a lighted city. The deep blues and purples crossed over one another, creating intricate paintings across the sky.

“Does it even matter?” Mel asked, her head still turned away. More time passed with no word spoken, neither of them wanting to make the first move. Y/N’s stomach was eating itself alive, twisting in knots as she sat in unbridled anticipation.

“I’m not mad.” Amelia started, “but I need you to be very aware of your actions,” She said, finally looking at Y/N, her pupils blown to cover her entire iris. Y/N knew she was lying, anyone could hear the malic in her tone.

“I’m not a child Mel-” Y/N started, but was immediately cut off by her younger sister. Her words died in her mouth as she watched Mel’s eyes widen.

“Then don’t act like one. Jake is my family, not some random guy you can catch feelings for.” Her voice raised an octave, but her demeanor remained the same. Her emotions were on the peak of boiling, steam already radiating off of her.

“I understand that, but I-“ Again, Y/N started but again was stopped short.

“No, I don’t think you do. This isn’t a game I am willing to play with you. There are no “buts”. “ She said, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing loudly. “Benny and I have worked very hard these last two years to survive, every action thoroughly thought through. I’m not going to sit here and allow you to jeopardize that.” Mel said, standing up from her chair and walking over to Bennett’s bedroom door. Her steps echoed in the room, the floorboards squeezing unnaturally loud. “I trust that you will learn to start thinking with your head instead of your heart.” She finished, closing her eyes and opening the door.

“You’re my sister, Y/N. I need to know that I can trust you to make the right choice, regardless of how you feel.” Amelia ended. Y/N couldn’t stop the words as they stumbled out of her.

“Is that what’s happening with you and Danny? You’re using your head instead of your heart?” She turned in her chair, meeting the gaze of Amelia. Mel’s face remained stern, her eyes wavering before they met the ground. A shallow breath poured from her as her sister's words teased her brain.

“Vulnerability means weakness.” Amelia said, opening the door wider to make her exit. Before she could leave the room though, Y/N spoke up.

“That’s the dumbest thing you have ever said. What am I then if not your vulnerability?” All of the oxygen in the room was made dry, her throat burned as she took a breath.

“My older sister. Start acting like it.” Amelia, not looking behind her, shook her head and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. The instant that she left, Y/N regretted what she had said.

Y/N stared at the closed bedroom door for a while, sitting in the pain she felt in the pit of her stomach. She hated how grown her sister had become in her absence. She hated how she wasn’t able to be there for her when she needed her most. Most of all, she hated that she knew her sister was right. She was being reckless.

Y/N was yanked from her thoughts as the door opened again. She could only assume it was her watch partner, finally joining her in the room they would be nestled in for the next couple of hours. She didn’t look back to confirm, her emotions too heightened to see his face. It was like his very presence intensified everything she felt. The distance between her highs and lows widening so drastically, it was nearly impossible to keep up.

His form crossed the bedroom behind her, swiftly grabbing the chair that sat next to her and taking it over to the window. He placed the chair in front of the opening and planted himself there. He had his back turned towards her, his attention on the outside of the house. The evening was quiet, making the room heavy with silence. The only sounds breaking the intense void was Bennett's soft breathing. Y/N grabbed her brother’s hand and squeezed. She missed him so desperately, her heart ached in her chest.

She didn’t want to believe that she let her siblings down. She didn’t want to think of the “what ifs”. The circulating thoughts of blame that needed to be placed. She wanted to be happy that her siblings were back in her life, but it was so difficult knowing that they had been through all of this without her. How they lost their brother without her. She wasn’t the one to dry their tears, they were.

Jake and Josh. Sammy and Danny. Charlie and Evelyn. They were the ones that walked with them. They were the ones that cared for them, wept with them. It was such a hard pill to swallow, knowing that her siblings found a new family. She tried to push the ever flowing thoughts out of her head as she grasped her brother's hand tighter, squeezing her eyes shut in the process. The salty stink of tears pushed itself forward, the liquid silently training down her face. She didn’t want to cry, she didn’t want any of it.

Her soundless weeps halted at the perfectly tuned stum that gathered around her. Her eyes remained shut as she listened to the melody of a song she had never heard. Soft and quietly spoken, the picks of the 6 strings relaxed her shoulders and lightened her grip on the hand in hers. Her facial features eased, sucking in a massive breath, filling her lungs again.

Her eyes fluttered open, the darkness surrounding her lifting only to be met with more darkness. The room had gotten dim since Jake came in, his body covering most of the natural light. Not having the courage to look back at him, she leaned back in her chair, her head tiling to the side. The tear tracks dried on her worn, sun worked skin. Her legs felt weak as she listened to Jake play and hum along to a song she could only assume was his own.

It was sweet and languid, the notes swimming together so peacefully. It was quite yet boisterous, a sound of simple celebration. It brought a smile to her as she watched Bennett’s chest move up and down. Whether or not he knew that she was crying, his ingenious guitar playing eased the tension in the room. As her eyes adjusted, she brushed her thumb along his knuckles, growing to courage to speak up.

“I never thanked you for saving my family.” She paused, as did his playing. She could hear him move in his chair, his head turning to the side to hear her. “You didn’t have to help them when they were strangers, but you did. And you brought them back to me. I can never repay you for that.” She said, not moving, barely breathing. She honestly didn’t know what came over her.

“It wasn’t my idea to help them,” he spoke softly, almost silently, as if the thoughts in his mind accidentally slipped from him. She huffed a small laugh as he continued. “Danny, of course, wanted to help them.” He finished, starting a new riff, this one much less complex and more subliminal.

“Still,” she breathed, not moving in her seat. “You helped.” Her shoe covered foot played with the blanket that hung off the side of the bed. “And for saving me. I owe you twice over.”

“You owe me nothing.” He responded so quickly, it was like he knew exactly what she was going to say. She shook her head in defiance, sitting up and releasing Bennett’s hand.

“I do, Jake.” She turned to face him, expecting him to be turned away, but he wasn’t. He had turned in his chair, his head down but his eyes cast up at her, his hand slowing its strumming. “I do.” She said, staring deep into him. He sat up as they made eye contact, his guitar sliding down his knee slightly.

He didn’t say a word. The longer the pause, the harder it became to hold his eyes. Y/N looked back at Bennett, then closed her eyes. She wanted so desperately for him to wake up. For him to show her any sign that he was still alive. The constant rise and fall of his chest wasn’t enough.

“You owe me nothing.” He said again, sitting back in his chair and strumming once more. His lullaby soaked into her skin, the warmth of his music radiating around the room. Y/N opened her eyes and peered at him again. He was so majestic and cool, the notes playing as if they were coming from him and not the wooden instrument. It made her smile.

The night dragged on from there. Jake sat with his back to her for most of it, playing while watching outside. Y/N took to Bennett, keeping a log of his pulse and water intake. The two didn’t speak much to each other, content to sit in the music and chill of the night. The quietness didn’t break until Jake sat his guitar down and brought his chair over to Y/N.

She was sitting with her head in her hands, elbows perched on her knees. She didn’t realize that Jake had moved until she heard him clear his throat. Looking up, she noticed that he was sitting backwards, his arms resting on the back of the chair.

“Want to switch?” He asked, gesturing his head to the window. She laughed and shook her head.

“Not really.” She replied, amused as Jake planted his face into his arm, groaning in the process.

“I can’t look at that window any longer.” He said, shaking his head and looking back at her. She let out another laugh, rolling her eyes at him as she stood up and stretched her back.

“Then don’t. You're not going to see anything anyways.” She said walking towards the window. She laid her hands on the windowsill and breathed on the glass. The glass fogged up, prompting her to take her finger and draw a smiley face.

“Did it bother you?” He asked, standing up from his chair and meeting her at the window. “Being alone?” He finished, looking at the side of her face. She didn’t look at him though, she kept her gaze trained on the grassy property in front of her. The question caught her off guard. She knew the answer instantly, but was unsure of how to respond to him.

“Yeah.” She began. “Yeah it did.” She looked at him then, pain fitting her features. She liked feeling vulnerable around him, he made her feel so secure and safe.

“Why didn’t you leave with your siblings to begin with?” He asked, leaning down on the windowsill to meet her height. His eyes were so captivating, she could feel her soul being stared into.

“I couldn’t leave Abraham, or the farm.” She said, her head now facing the ground.

“He didn’t seem to have a problem leaving you.” He breathed out, his words hardly making an appearance.

“He was beside himself. I don’t blame him for what happened.” She looked at him with her brows frowned. His eyes narrowed on her, realizing he clearly struck a nerve.

“You should, he broke up your family, then left you to die.” He said, standing up straight. Y/N followed suit, standing up straight with her arms crossed over her chest.

“You don’t know anything about that! Abraham was just doing what he thought was right. It was Bennett that chose to leave.” She said, trying desperately to keep her voice down, knowing how paper thin the walls were.

“I do know about that. In case you've forgotten, I’ve just spent the last year with your family.” Jake breathed out, rubbing his forehead. “Bennett was doing what was best for them, not Abraham.” Jake said, moving to sit on the bed next to Bennett.

“And look what good it did them Jake!” She yelled, not being able to contain her anger any longer. “Issac is dead! Half of my family is gone!” She stood in front of him, her breathing heavy as she registered her own words. “You still have your brothers, but what about mine?” She said, her shoulders slumping. His jaw tightened, and his eyes fell to the ground.

“Sorry, I just…” she started, sitting next to him on the bed. “I’ve lost so much. I can’t hate my brother, even if he did leave me.” She hated how emotional she got when talking about her family. They meant everything to her, and now down to being the last three surviving out of seven. It tore her apart.

Instead of responding, Jake looked over at her and placed his lips on hers. He took his hand and caressed her cheek, savoring her. He had never been so gentle with her before. His touch was feather light but still ignited the same fire in the deepest part of her. She reciprocated the kiss, letting his mouth encompass hers, but she didn’t move. She let him lead the kiss, letting him make every move. He pulled away reluctantly, placing one last peck on her lips before tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Mel saw us.” She said, knowing it would ruin the moment. She knew he would get up and leave like he always did, so she closed her eyes so she didn’t have to see him go. She didn’t feel him move though. No squeak of the bed as he stood up, no floorboards shifting as he walked away. All was still.

She cautiously peeled open her eyes, only to find Jake where he was before, sitting next to her, him looking right into her face. Her breath hitched as she realized just how close she was to him.

“I know.” He whispered, moving his head to peer down at his hands.

“You know?” She asked, her voice merely audible.

“We saw each other when I left the barn.” He said, twiddling his thumbs. “She told me to stay away from you.” He said, his voice slightly cracking.

Y/N let his words wash over her. She stopped looking at him and focused on the window. She knew it would come to this. Her feelings for him had grown so much over the past two weeks. It was incredible how quickly she fell for him, but now all for nothing. Jake hated how quiet she had become, so he spoke again.

“I know how hard it is to lose your family. I think about my sister everyday. My mom and my old man too.” He said quietly. “Ami is just scared of losing more people. I know you know that.” He said, placing his hands on his knees, whipping the sweat off his palms.

“I've lost a lot too, Y/N” Jake said, grabbing onto her hand and pulling it into his lap. “but I can’t lose you too.” His words echoed like a sweet dream. A vague memory of warm summer days spent on the beach.

She peered up at him again, meeting his eyes. Their small smiles reciprocated one another as they’re foreheads connected. Y/N shut her eyes but Jake kept his eyes open, staring down at her features. He took at every detail on her face, from her freckles to the small mole on the side of her jaw. He was so enraptured by her presence that he didn’t feel the movement of the bed underneath them.

“Y/N?” Bennett asked.

I know this is a smaller chapter but the next chapter is massive and is what’s been taking me so long to write. Also sometimes my ADHD brain fills in misspelled words, so if this chapter needs spell check, lmk -Much Love, Liv

[cinewhore]

The Take Over - chapter two

Pairing: Marcus Pike x fem!reader

Rating: mature

word count: 2.5k

read the first chapter

warnings: mentions of body horror - peeling skin, sticking fingers down someone’s mouth, general angst

Summary: You investigate the body in Danny’s house and pay a visit to an old friend. 

A/N: This is an Invasion of the Body Snatchers AU. You don’t need to watch the film to understand what’s going on. Credit to the gif maker(s). No beta.

You regard the body with immense disgust and a slight intrigue. You were one hundred percent sure that Danny had called to fuck you, yapping your ear off about a body in his house that happened to look like him. Didn’t seem at all possible. Until you dragged Marcus out of the house with you, all the way to Danny’s and Sydney’s place, just to start at this thing on his floor.

“So, can you tell me what it is?” Danny prompts, scratching at his face. You frown, cocking a head toward him.

“I’m a fucking doctor, not a forensic expert.”

Danny shrugs. “Same thing, isn’t it?”

“Is it going to kill us?” Sydney rambles on, body shaking nonstop.

You breathe out slowly through your nose, pinching the bridge of it with two fingers. Marcus reads your gesture clearly, grabbing Sydney lightly by the elbow.

“Let’s go make some tea, that should help us calm down. Give them some room to work.”

Sydney agrees and follows Marcus to the kitchen. You shed your coat, pushing the coffee table back to create something semblance of a workspace. The body looked like Danny but there was no indication of it having any sort of sentience.

“Was it always lying here?”

“As far as I know. Sydney got up to get some water and then I heard her scream. Came running with the fucking bat and she’s cowering in the corner, pointing at this.” Danny lowers himself down into a squat. “I can’t believe this. It’s like a wax figure.”

An idea sparks.

“Dan, get me a paper and some ink, please.”

It takes a moment to find loose ink but Danny returns with the items faithfully, catching onto your scheme. He’s careful as he lifts the arm of the body, observing as you wet the fingertips, pressing them down on the paper.

“Huh, no fingerprints.”

“Freaky.” Then, “what does that mean?”

“If you ever really wanted to leave no traces, you’d burn your fingertips. Old school but it’ll do the trick. Unless, there were no fingertips to burn.”

Sydney and Marcus return, Sydney more at peace. Marcus offers you a cup of tea but you deny it, too keyed up to get distracted. To be honest, your stomach had been doing flips since you had gotten the phone call and you didn’t plan on vomiting anytime soon.

“What do we know so far?” Marcus asks you.

“I don’t know.”

You didn’t like giving that answer but it was the truth. Quickly glancing at Sydney, you change your tone.

“I don’t think it’ll cause any harm, though. At most it seems that it's still growing.”

“Can you move it?” Danny pipes up, holding the cup near his mouth to take a sip.

“I wouldn’t want to, im not sure if this is an active crime scene I’m fucking with and i don’t think the cops will be appreciative of me tampering with evidence.”

“The cops?” Sydney tightens the robe around her body. “Why would you call the cops? They’ll take one look at this and send us straight to the mental institute, I'm sure of it.”

Your annoyance flairs. “Well what else am I supposed to do? Listen, here’s what’s going to happen: my husband and I are going to go back home. You two are gonna sit here and monitor it, see if anything changes. If it does, call the cops. If it doesn’t, call the morgue.”

“So I just call the hospital and tell them that I have a dead body in my living room that looks like me but isn’t? C’mon, there has to be another way we can handle this.”

You glance at Marcus then back at Danny.

“Fine. Move it someplace more isolated but where you can keep a good look at it. If it wakes up or moves, call me or Marcus. We’ll deal with it, all of us, together.”

Sleeping didn’t come easy afterwards. You popped a few melatonins against Marcus’s judgment, not caring about the time but just wanting a solid sleep. You slip into unconsciousness an hour later, Marcus curled up near your back. You awake a little later, absolutely still in the throws of the heavy weight of slumber. It takes you a minute but you drag yourself out of the bed, your bladder screaming for attention. Trudging to the bathroom, you stop when you notice a light on in the kitchen downstairs.

You hadn’t remembered leaving a light on and even though it was out of your eyesight, the thought of a light being on made your teeth rattle. Taking it step by step, you make your way down the stairs, rubbing your eyes with the hope that it would make you more alert. For all you know there could be a thief in the house and you’d have no willpower to stop them in this state.

You halt in your steps, eyebrows drawing tight together upon noticing Marcus’s figure on the couch. He was asleep, some book long forgotten in his lap. You open your mouth to wake him but no sound comes out. Out of the corner of your eye, you detect a slight hint of movement. A figure emerges from the darkness of the adjacent hallway, you.

It was you and it wasn’t you. You were you, half asleep and dressed in an old t-shirt. The other you was completely nude. You stare in horror as she slips gracefully into the light fully, grinning at your expression. You don’t dare move an inch as she saddles up to you, taking a hand and delicately ghosting it over your face.

“You’re not real.” you barely mutter, voice hoarse.

“And you are?” she retorts.

It even laughed like you.

“What do you want?”

She scrunches her face in faux thought, humming. “Better. For you.” She tilts her head back at Marcus. “For him.”

“Please,” you beg. “Don’t involve him in this.”

You swear you see her face morph into something damn near demonic as she slinks towards your husband. She places herself on his lap, shushing him as he fidgets.

“He deserves so much more than what you have to offer. After all, he did give up his life so that you could have your dream.”

You shake your head. “No, this – this was our dream.”

“A silly little thing you keep telling yourself to make it through the day. With me, with us,” she fans her hand out to you. “We can have unimaginable things. You just have to let me in.”

“No.”

“Is that so?”

Your heart rattles in your chest as she advances upon you again, your feet finally cooperating with the rest of your body, allowing you to take a small step back.

She studies your face - her face - with a softness you had never experienced before. Is this how you actually looked to other people?

“Don’t be scared, it won’t hurt. We’ll start slow, ok?”

She pecks your lips, admiring the string of silvia that hangs from both of your mouths. She comes back in for another kiss and this time, you let her in further, parting your lips. Her tongue dances across yours, eliciting a tiny moan from you. She smiles as she pulls back, satisfied.

Her thumb rubs your bottom lip, teasing you as it slips in and out of your mouth. She pushes it further down, what started out as genuine curiosity turning into panic as she sticks more fingers in, her hand other ripping at your skin and tugging pieces of it off, the slight slap sound vibrating off of the kitchen floor, body fluids squelching and-

“Baby?”

You lurch forward, eyes flying open and lungs working overtime to push out more oxygen as you dry heave. Marcus sits in the bed next to you, the dark sky now replaced with sunlight streaking through the blinds.

You claw at your chest, mouth and face before lowering your head into your hands, a sob escaping your lips.

Marcus pulls you into his arms, leaving kisses in your hair.

“It’s ok, it’s ok, you were just dreaming. You’re ok.”

You take a few more deep breaths, extracting yourself from Marcus. Glancing at the nightstand, you snatch your phone off the charger.

“Did Syd or Danny call?”

Marcus shakes his head, clearly troubled by your behavior. “Are you alright?”

You know you should tell him what you saw, what you felt but figured there was no use in scaring him as well. You were going to get down to the bottom of whatever the fuck was going on but first you had some business you needed to handle.

Hitting 3 on your speed dial, you bite at the skin around your index finger. Janie picks up on the second ring.

“Where the hell are you? You promised coffee and I purposely skipped making any this morning.”

“I’m not coming in today, feeling a little under the weather. Have Shannon and Peter pick up any extra patients.”

“Of course.” a pause. “What’s going on? Really?”

You sigh. “Did Linda call?”

Janie pulls the phone away from her ear, blowing out an aggravated huff. She hated when you left her in the dark, especially when it concerned your work. You agree that she has a right to know but only when you’re absolutely sure of everything yourself.

“Yeah, she did, actually. Said she was being dramatic and that Joe is just fine.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope, she just canceled her appointment after and hung up. Sounded pretty chipper about it.”

“Fuck.”

Janie grunts. “Will you just tell me what in the hell is going on? I will show up to your doorstep, so help me-”

“Janie! I need you to shut up and listen to me for a second, ok?”

She settles down. You continue.

“There’s something strange happening in this town and I’m trying to understand it. When I know more, you’ll know more. For now, I just need you to promise to keep your mouth shut and eyes open. Can you do that for me?”

Janie swallows harshly, poking her tongue out to lick her lips. Usually she had some sort of snarky comment on her lips but the waver in your voice let her know that this was serious business.

“Yeah, yeah I can do that for you.”

“Good. Call me if you notice anything.”

Click.

You avoid Marcus’s glare boring a hole in your back, moving from the bed and into your closet.

“Where are you going?”

You nearly chuckle at your own response. “To see a doctor.”

Dr. Narduzzi’s office was situated near the edge of town, partially hidden by the overgrown greenery. Despite his shy exterior, Jean was quite the socialite, known to frequent many of the bars and taverns. Upon meeting the scrawny gentleman, you were unsure of what to make of him. He rubbed you in all the wrong ways, his loud and boastful personality clashed with yours directly.  Over time you began to see beneath the surface and learned to appreciate his eccentric methods.

Honestly, he had become one of your closest confidants.

As you entered his office, you noticed his secretary, Margot, was not present. The entire place was empty, except for a repeating thud sound coming from Jean’s study near the back of the building.

The door was open and that’s where you find the psychiatrist, launching darts at a board.

He flicks his wrist and sends a dart flying, narrowly missing the bullseye.

“You’re a very busy man, I see.” you remark, sitting down in an armchair. You applauded him for the velvet material, you would purchase something like this for your own office but loathed the cleaning process that came with it.

“As always, my dear. As I remember, we have not scheduled our regular tête a tête, so this is a business meeting,” he throws another dart and misses, landing in the outer right corner. “What can I help you with today?”

“I think I’m losing my mind.”

Jean’s toothy gap smile almost covered his whole face. He haphazardly throws the remaining darts in his hand all at the same time, not caring where they end up as he sits at his desk. “Tell me more.”

“Last night, I had this dream where I was antagonized by..myself. I was looking at my reflection except it wasn’t in a mirror, she was standing right in front of me.”

Narduzzi squints his eyes as he nods, hanging onto every word you said. You don’t spend much longer describing the dream, the recounting of the story sending chills down your spine.

“That’s very interesting.” Jean thinks, rocking himself back and forth in his chair.

“I don’t need interesting, I need a solution.”

Jeans tsks. “A solution only comes when there’s something to be fixed.”

“Oh, don’t give me this metaphorical bullshit now, Jean. What does this mean? I haven’t mentioned it before, not even to Marcus but I’ve been having hallucinations and dreams like this prior to last night. I just assumed I was dehydrated, stressed or whatever but this is clearly something.”

“Mhm. Well, I know that the mirror and our reflection show us our true selves.” He rubs at his jaw.

“Are you saying that a part of me wants what she wants?”

“Potentially,” Jean gets up from his chair, coming to stoop in front of you. He grabs your hands, rubbing them in between his own. “While I do think there are some clear signs of stress and exhaustion, I think you should listen to your body. Give in. You may be surprised to see what you discover.”

The smile on your face fades as Jean squeeze’s your hands tighter, his grip pinching at your skin.

“Jean-”

You struggle in his hold, unsure of what to make of this.

“Jean, please, let go. You’re hurting me.” you breath out a panicked laugh, mustering up all of your body strength to throw him off of you.

“Don’t you get it? All the signs, practically handed to you on a silver platter. Let her in and all will be well. You can be one of us.”

Your fight or flight instincts kick in and you tackle Jean, the both of you tumbling around on the ground until you manage to escape him. You scoop up your keys and cellphone, dashing out of the door.

You don’t dare look behind you as you enter your car, skirting out of the parking lot and onto the main road. You barely let your feet up off the gas until you reach home, throwing your car in park and making a run for the front door.

You were in such a state that you didn’t notice the extra car in your driveway.

“Marcus? Marcus!” you yell, tearing through the kitchen and living room. Marcus emerges from his office, Sydney and Danny in tow.

“We have a problem.” you pant, short-winded.

Marcus looks grim. “Yeah, we do. That thing, it woke up.”

[jcmarchi]

Jeffrey Wright, The Voice Of Isaac, Will Play The Character In The Last Of Us Season 2

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/jeffrey-wright-the-voice-of-isaac-will-play-the-character-in-the-last-of-us-season-2/

Jeffrey Wright, The Voice Of Isaac, Will Play The Character In The Last Of Us Season 2

HBO and PlayStation have found their Isaac for The Last of Us Season 2, and it’s Jeffrey Wright, the actor behind the voice of Isaac in The Last of Us Part II. Perhaps best known for roles like The Watcher in Marvel’s What If…?, Commissioner Gordon in The Batman, and Bernard in HBO’s Westworld series, Wright will return to Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic world to give Isaac another go. 

HBO announced this today with a quick post on X (formerly Twitter) that you can see below: 

We’re beyond thrilled that Jeffrey Wright is joining the cast of The Last of Us Season 2, reprising his role as Isaac! 🐺 https://t.co/g7tlLBrHWe

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) May 24, 2024

The news of Wright’s casting comes a couple of weeks after we got our first look at Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie in The Last of Us Season 2.

Wright joins several other newcomers to this series, which premieres next year. Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever will play Abby, while Young Mazino joins as Jesse. Manny, Mel, Nora, and Owen will be played by Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Top Gun: Maverick), Ariela Barer (Runaways), Tati Gabrielle (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), and Spencer Lord (Riverdale), respectively. 

We won’t spoil these characters’ roles in The Last of Us Part II, which is likely to match their roles in HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2, but if you know, you know. 

Fans of Naughty Dog’s Last of Us games eagerly await the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. The first season debuted in January of last year, covering the events of the first game and its Left Behind DLC. HBO quickly confirmed the show would be getting a second season, which is set to premiere next year.

We loved the first season and can’t wait to see how it adapts The Last of Us Part II, which got the remaster treatment in January. It seems we aren’t alone either – The Last of Us’ premiere was HBO’s second-largest debut since 2010, and viewers stuck around for the entire season. 

The first season of The Last of Us won eight Emmy awards. For more, read Game Informer’s review of The Last of Us and then read Game Informer’s review of The Last of Us Part II. 

Did you like Isaac as a character in The Last of Us Part II? Let us know in the comments below!