#I only had a pocket knife because my brother gave me one of his

[eatember]

I need some friends that also want to go fuck around in the woods making cool forts and trying to make bows and arrows out of sticks because we didn't get to do that as kids

[his-angell]

Strike 3. (s.cb)

plot; You never had a good relationship with your parents. So when they invited you to a family dinner, you were unsure of whether to go or not. Changbin said you should at least try. So you did. You went. But you end up wishing you hadn't.

pairing; Seo Changbin x fem!reader

genre; angst, comfort

word count; 2.7k

warnings; mentally abusive parents, weight insecurity, knifes cause cooking is mentioned, one small blood mention, alcohol mention, trauma reminders, cursing, established relationship, description of panic attack, crying, pet names

request; no

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As you stared at your phone, your thumbs hovered over the keyboard. Your mother had texted the night prior, her text reading, “We’re having a family dinner at home tomorrow. We would like you to come.”. Which would have been great and all, if you had a good relationship with them. 

Ever since you were young, your parents were hard on you. Always belittling you for such small things. Praising your older brother, since he seemed to be getting further than you were. You were always jealous of the way he was treated. He always got the praise and love you never got. 

When you brought it up to Changbin, he said you should go. He knew of the way they used to treat you. But he assumed maybe this dinner was gonna be different. That this was their redemption. So with some convincing, you finally agreed. So here you sat, texting your mother a simple, “I’ll be there.”

You didn’t wear anything special. Looking at yourself in the long way mirror you and Changbin had in your room. You wore one of his white hoodies, black cargo pants and your converse. You weren’t gonna try and impress them. You didn’t wanna seem like a try hard. 

You sighed as you grabbed your phone and lanyard which held your keys. You walked over to Changbin who was cleaning up the kitchen. “I’m heading out.” You said as you leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Alright, tell me when you're on your way home, yeah?” He turned to you. You nodded and gave a soft kiss to his lips. 

As you walked out, you heard him call out. “I love you!” You giggled a bit. “Love you most!” With that, you headed out. As you walked to your car, you were really contemplating if you wanted to go or not. But you guessed you had already made your choice when you texted your mother back. You sighed as you got in, starting the car. 

You drove in silence, needing time to mentally prepare for what was to come. You parked on the side of the road in front of the house. You turned off the car, stuffing your phone and keys in your pocket, the my melody lanyard hanging out. You walked up to the door, slowly holding your fist up to knock. 

It was only a few seconds before your brother opened the door. He stared for a second. “You look fancy.” He said sarcastically. “Yeah, thanks.” You rolled your eyes as you walked into the house. You gave a small smile to your mother who came to greet you. 

You bowed your head and hugged her. “Hi momma.” You said quietly. “Hi, Jagi.” She said back, leaning back to cup your cheeks. She pinched at them. “You’ve gotten some extra chub to your cheeks.” She said, huffing disappointedly. You frowned. “Oh- I..” You just cleared your throat, knowing better than to talk back. 

Your father was next to walk to greet you. Except there was a noticeable grimance on his face. “You look lazy.” He motioned to your outfit. “Yeah. It's to hide all that weight she gained.” Your brother leaned against the wall. 

Strike one. Did you really look that bad? “Sorry.” You bowed your head down, holding it as a deep apology. “Anyways! Come help me with dinner, dear!” Your mother patted your head. Your father and brother headed out to the living room. 

As your mum explained to you what you were gonna be doing, you nodded. You were gonna be cutting the vegetables for the salad. She handed you a knife and you began to cut the vegetables.

You seemed to be zoned out, because as you were cutting, you cut your finger pretty good. “Aishh! Shibal-!” You cried out, dropping the knife onto the cutting board. You whimpered as you held your bleeding hand over the sink. 

Your father whipped around, glaring at you from the other side of the bar counter. “Don’t you curse in my house!” He yelled, gripping the glass of whiskey in his hand. You opened your mouth to speak when you were slapped upside the head making you wince.

“You know better! That is unlady like! It's disgusting!” Your mother spat at you. You looked at your brother as he chuckled, leaning back in his chair, sipping at his glass of whiskey. “You need to grow up, dude. It's a small cut.” He scoffed. You clenched your jaw. 

Strike two. You stormed out of the kitchen, rushing to the bathroom. You cupped your hand below your finger, attempting not to drip any blood anywhere. Once you got to the bathroom, you closed the door with your foot. You held your hand in the sink and let cold water run over it. 

You felt your eyes get fuzzy as you let the water run. Nothing changed.. It was the same thing when you were younger. Walking in crying, having scraped your knee on the pavement. You were told to grow up. You weren’t dying. You weren’t broken. Get over it. 

Never did you get a kiss better. A mother to hush your cries as she bandages your knee with a bandage and neosporin. You took a deep breath. You shook your head, blinking back your tears. You grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink and began taking care of your finger. 

You picked up your mess, putting the kit away and looking at yourself in the mirror. You wiped your eyes and huffed. You walked out of the bathroom to see the table set and ready, your parents and brother sitting down. 

“Took you long enough.” Your father scolded. “Sorry, dad.” You apologized as you sat down. It was normal to let the men at the table grab their food first. Then your mother, then you. You started to put food on your plate. “Should you be eating that much?” Your brother spoke, mouthfill of food. 

You sighed, placing the main course back in its bowl, just sitting with salad on your plate. You weren’t really hungry now.. So you picked at the food on your plate. There was only so much patience left before you hit strike three.. You were like a ticking bomb. 

You stared at your plate, waiting for someone to start a conversation. As if on cue, your mother spoke. “Are you still working as a kindergarten teacher, (y/n)?” She asked. You pursed your lips before nodding. “Yeah. I like it there. The kids are the sweetest.” You forced a small smile. 

“Aishh.. So disappointing.” Your father tutted. You looked at him. “You know, your brother is climbing the family company chain. He's about to be vice president next month.” He praised the male. tick tick tick…

You nodded a little. “Good job.” You nodded to your brother. “Thanks,” He shook his head a bit. You grabbed your glass of water, taking a sip from it. “Are you still dating that Changbin guy?” Your mother asked, covering her mouth as she chewed her food. 

This might be better. They were asking about your lovely boyfriend! You smiled a bit and nodded. “Yeah! We’re about to hit our four year anniversary.” You said proudly. You faltered though when your brother cackled. 

“Wait, you mean that idiot in the band? The one who got mad at the last dinner we had?” He pointed. You glanced down. “He wasn’t mad. He just wasn’t comfortable with how you were treating me,” You said matter of factly. “Don’t you dare talk back to your brother like that!” Your father raised his voice. tick tick tick…

You balled your fists, your leg beginning to bounce under the table. “You’re so dramatic, jagi. We treat you just fine.” Your mother said. You scoffed. “Yeah, do you?” You said, your fuse getting smaller by the second. “Yes, we do.” She shot a glare at you. tick tick tick…

You stared her dead in the eye. “You guys belittle me like i'm a bug!” You laughed in disbelief. “Not true, (y/n). Like your mother said, you're just being dramatic.” Your father piped in. “It's your stupid boyfriend. He's putting lies into your head to make us look bad.” Your brother spat. tick tick tick…

You stared at all them in utter disbelief. “You're joking! You did nothing but belittle me all night. The second I got here, you degraded me!” You raised your voice. “And you praise him like he's so much better than me!” You pointed at your brother. tick tick tick..

“Because he is better than you!!” Your father yelled. BOOM. 

You shot up from your chair. Your stormed out of the house, slamming the door. The tears in your eyes stung. Your chest was tight. You got in your car and started it, immediately driving home. 

As you walked in the door, Changbin could already read your body language. The way you angrily untied your shoes, throwing them on the floor once they were off your feet. The way you tossed your keys on the counter instead of hanging them up. He looked at you as you just walked to your room with not even a hello. 

You shut the door of your shared bedroom. You didn’t even make it to the bed before your legs gave out, sending you straight to the floor. All of what you held back in the car was coming out now. Your chest was tight and you couldn’t catch your breath.

Your lips became tingly and dry as you clutched your chest. A choked cry escaped your lips as you closed your eyes tightly. Your head was so heavy. You felt as if you were gonna vomit. You gripped onto the hoodie, coughing as you choked on sobs. 

You were unable to hear anything, due to the ringing in your ears that gave you a pounding headache. Changbin was in front of you, trying to get you out of it. “Baby! Hey! Breathe! Please breathe for me!” He tried. 

His voice echoed in your head. You slowly opened your eyes. “I’m right here, Jagiya.” He said, holding your hands tightly. “Bin!” You sobbed. “Gh- hurts!” You still couldn’t seem to catch your breath. Still choking and coughing as the sobs escaped your throat. 

Changbin nodded, rubbing gently over your knuckles with his thumbs. “I know, I know..” He mumbled. “Can you breathe with me? Like we practiced.” He said. You nodded quickly. “In.. One, two.. Out. One, two, three..” He said. You did as he said, following his breathing. 

“Good.. You’re doing so good, baby.” He said. After a few more, you were semi calm. You hiccupped. “Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked. “Can.. Can I shower first?” You asked. He nodded. “I’ll sit in there, if you’d like.” He offered. You nodded. 

He helped you up and you walked to the bathroom. You pulled off your jeans and socks. Changbin sat down on the toilet after setting the lid down. You slowly took off the hoodie, nothing but a bra under it. So there you stood, in your bra and underwear staring in the mirror. 

Changbin squinted at you for a moment, watching how you stared at your stomach. He stood up and walked behind you, hugging your waist. “Binnie.. Do-Do you think im-” He was quick to cut you off. “No. No. No.” He said. He kissed your shoulders, kneeling down and turning you around. 

He littered your stomach with kisses. “You’re so gorgeous, Jagiya.” He hushed against your skin. “Your stomach is so beautiful. All of you is beautiful.” He nibbled at your tummy a bit. You giggled softly, running your hands through his curly hair. “That tickles-” You hummed. 

He looked up at you. “Mmm.. I wanna hear you say it,” He said. You frowned. “Say what?” You mumbled. “That youre beautiful.” He stood up and went back behind you, hugging your waist again. You blinked. You stared at yourself in the mirror, shaking your head. 

“I can’t..” Your voice cracked. “Yes, you can, baby.” Changbin kissed your shoulder gently. “I-I..” You looked at Changbin in the mirror. He was giving gentle eyes to you. “I’m..” You started. He nodded gently. “I’m beautiful.” You finally said. Changbin gave a gentle smile. “So beautiful,” He said. 

“Now get in the shower, yeah? I’ll go put your towel and pjs in the dryer so they're warm for you.” He said. He kissed your cheek and left the bathroom. You couldn’t describe how grateful you were for him.. You stripped out of your garments and got into the shower. 

You spent a little while in the shower. Scrubbing a little harder than normal to get the disgusting words from your parents off your body. Changbin sat outside the shower, humming to a song he had stuck in his head as he scrolled through his phone. 

Once you were done you turned off the water. “Bin, can you go get my clothes?” You asked softly, poking your head out from behind the curtain. He nodded and smiled at you before heading to get them out of the dryer. 

You stood in the shower as you waited, thanking him when he returned. He left the bathroom so you could dry off and change. After you did so, you brushed your hair and teeth. You looked at the door, closing it a bit. 

Even having heard Changbins words from before, you couldn’t forget the ones from your family. You leaned closer to the mirror and pinched your cheeks. You turned, tracing your jawline. You sniffled and gripped the sink. You groaned, leaving the bathroom quickly. 

Changbin had made the bed nice and comfy for you to come back to. You smiled softly and sat down next to him, leaning into his chest. “You smell so nice,” He giggled as he ran his hands through your damp hair. You laughed softly, rolling your eyes playfully. 

You took a deep breath. You promised you’d tell him after you shower.. So that's what you did. You began to tell him all of what happened. From how they bashed you the moment you walked in, to the moment you left. 

When you had mentioned your finger, he gasped loudly. “Oh, Jagiya!” He frowned, taking your hand gently. He had seen the bandage before but he was too focused on calming you down. He brought your finger to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to it. 

He had listened to all of what you had to say. Humming here and there to let you know he was listening. He would wipe your stray tears with his thumbs when they fell down your cheeks. Deep down he was pissed. Rightfully so. He hated how your parents treated you. 

He had witnessed it first hand when they invited the both of you to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was disgusting how they shit talked her like it was nothing. Then to turn around and praise their other child just as easily. He hated it. 

He rubbed your back comfortingly. “I’m so sorry sweet Jagi.” He sighed softly. You shrugged. “It’s whatever.” You sighed. “I knew better when I decided to go.” You mumbled. “Still. You don’t deserve that,” He said. “Get some rest, yeah? I’ll treat you to a better dinner tomorrow?” He smiled. 

You smiled softly, looking up at him. “Thank you. Bin. I appreciate you more than you know.”

You whispered. “Aishh.. No need to thank me.” He gave that nervous smile. You giggled and kissed him softly, which he happily returned. 

You pulled away after a moment and hummed. You both crawled under the blanket and tangled your legs together. He reached behind him and turned off the lamp before wrapping his arms around you and pulling you close. 

“I love you, Jagiya.” He whispered. “I love you more, Bin.” You hummed and closed your eyes, drifting off into a comfortable sleep. He would stay awake though.. Just for a few minutes. Taking you in. Admiring you from the dim streetlamp that shined through the window. He didn’t understand how anyone could be so rude and unkind to someone like you. So pretty and sweet.. He sighed softly and closed his eyes, kissing your head and falling asleep soon after.

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im so proud of this tbh :0 i literally thought of this as i was falling asleep and i wa so excited to write it, i love angst. i hope you guys enjoyedd! stay safe, loves! muwahhh!!

all writing rights are reserved to @his-angell do not repost or translate my work without my permission.

[bloodyquillink-blog]

hi i’m not sure if your taking requests, but if you are can you do a logan walker x reader where the reader and logan were engaged before logan got taken by rorke, and when he gets saved he’s a completely different person and is closed off and even more quiet, but when one of rorkes members send a message to the ghosts team saying they want to take the reader now aswell, logan gets super protective and opens up to her about eveything that happened? if not totally ok!! thank you so much!!

A/N: I am and thank you for being my first tumblr request! I hope I’ve done you justice with this.

Warnings: Big angst, hurt/comfort, descriptions of injuries and torture methods (if I missed anything please let me know)

Word Count: 4.4K

To Be Changed, Logan Walker x Reader

Your marriage was so happy and perfect, even though the world wasn’t. Despite the fear of your whole wedding being destroyed before you and Logan even put on the rings and said your vows, that didn’t stop either of you. If you were going to die, you might as well die tied to one another, surrounded by the people you treasure most. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. The wedding went without a hitch, ignoring the occasional pitches of anxiety that bubbled in everyone's stomachs. There was a beautiful mountain that overlooked a nearby beach, it felt like the clouds parted just for you two that day. The sun shone down on the white you and Logan wore. The red rose in his breast pocket, the artificial one you gave him when you went on your first date, was accentuated by the surrounding colors of blue water and green grass. 

Logan was usually fairly quiet, but that day when he said his vows, he spoke more than you did. He managed to avoid stuttering, though you could feel his hands shaking. You were so proud of him and each word from his lips warmed your heart. That alone let you know that this was the right decision, the only one. 

Before you cut the cake, he whispered to you, “I can’t find the words to describe how much stronger you make me feel.” You looked at him, confused and curious, before he continued. “I barely speak to my own family and brothers, maybe because I don’t need to… but you changed that. Now, I’m just droning on and on about whatever’s happening at the moment. Because of you. Hell, my mom barely heard me talk this much.” He wrapped his arms around you, cupping your hands that held the knife for the cake. “I bet she’s watching us now. She’d love you so much.” And with that, you both cut the first slice. 

A quote floated through your mind, “To be loved is to be changed.” and by God, did you change Logan.

That’s what made today so painful.

That’s why you sat on the floor in front of the front door to you and Logan’s home. That’s why David held you, holding the back of your head so you didn’t see him silently crying while you sobbed. You held Logan’s mask and dogtags close to your heart. Eventually, Keegan and Merrick had come out of the car they drove here. Keegan knelt down to rub your back, attempting to comfort you as best as he could. Merrick told you more than he, as a Captain, should tell any civilian. He’d made an exception for you. Seeing as he had a job to protect his best friend's children in the most dangerous job they could all have now, you joked that Logan and David were his adopted kids.

He never denied it. Because of that, you might as well have been his adopted kid, now in-law too. And as that in-law, it was his job to tell you that Logan was, for better or worse, not dead. You looked up at him with tears still falling. He explained what happened from the beginning. A man, a horrible man, named Rorke who was a former Ghost that the Federation destroyed and turned into something repulsive. David added that it was Rorke who had dragged Logan away on that beach. That fucking beach. He explained how it was his own fault for not doing more, for not saving him despite his injuries that, even now, two weeks after, he was still healing from.

You almost slapped him. You wanted to slap Merrick too. You were heartbroken and afraid and every negative emotion you could possibly feel nearly boiled over. You sat on the couch, the men around you as they tried to help you breathe. When you calmed down enough to speak coherently, you asked a simple question:

“Will we ever see him again? Alive?”

Merrick answered, as hopeful as he could be.

“We’ll do everything we can to make sure we will.”

That’s all you could really ask for. David moved and carefully dug into his front pocket before he pulled out his hand and offered something small and shiny. It was Logan’s ring. Both of your rings were made of titanium for its durability, Logan was worried about scratching or otherwise damaging it, so he chose titanium. Strong and durable. You had told him it reminded you of his personality, how he just kept going under all circumstances. You would’ve started crying again if this alone hadn’t already exhausted you. As much as you wanted to hold all of Logan’s things to try to feel like he was with you, you handed his mask and dog tags to Hesh. You knew where the mask came from. Who originally wore it.

“I think they’d want you to hold these.” you said, quiet as ever. David knew you weren’t just talking about Logan, but their father, Elias the “Scarecrow”, as well. He grabbed the mask and tags, putting the tags on and clutching the mask like a lifeline. As everyone stood up and walked to the door, you hugged David and whispered to him, your voice still shaking.

“It’s not your fault. I know he doesn’t blame you. I don’t either.”

“Thank you,” He paused, “I’ll do everything in my power to bring him back to you.”

You hugged Merrick and Keegan before they walked back to the car.

“Be safe!” You called out. A useless but well-intentioned farewell to the soldiers. They waved back before pulling out of the driveway, leaving you alone.

That night, you took Logan’s ring and put the chain of your favorite necklace, one he had given you before your marriage, through the ring and laid it around your neck. You cried, holding his cold pillow and wearing an old hoodie you’d stolen from his closet while he was gone. Your body ached with every sob.

Three months later, you began cleaning the house before the depression that kept you in your room most of the time got too bad. It helped a little, going through every nook and cranny. You even went into the attic. Any time either of you traversed into the usually dark storage, it would end with you holding the giant vacuum, claiming you saw a spider the size of your head while Logan chuckled. After a bit, he’d go up with a flashlight only to find some critter that got stuck up there because of a hole. Once he’d patched up the hole and cleaned out as much as he could, it all felt more comfortable.

As you looked through old boxes, you found pictures. The oldest going back to when you both first met. It was a charity for veterans in your old town where Logan, David and Elias were stationed. There were games you and your friends played, competing. At one point, Elias jokingly joined in which pulled David and, naturally, Logan. As the night went on, you and Logan got closer. He barely spoke but his chuckles at your comments were enough for you.

“I was so close to winning! You gotta give me credit for that!” You argued, cheeks hurting from smiling so much. You turned to see Logan looking at you, his brow raised and smirking.

“How? You’re 25 points behind me.” He remarked.

“I would’ve won if… if I had been playing with someone other than you!”

“Like who?”

“One of my friends, probably Ash!”

“You have 10 points.” Each time the tiny basketballs went in the hoop, it was 5 points. 

“Yes and I would be 10 points ahead of them which means I would win!” He practically wheezed at that as you giggled. You looked  over to see David and Elias staring at the both of you, wide smiles plastered on their faces.

You kept looking through the box. Finding photos from the day you met Keegan and Merrick, then the day you visited Mrs. Walker’s grave for the first time. You stared at that picture of Logan and David sitting together in front of the stone. It was so peaceful.

You held the photo to your chest and thought of Logan. You whispered to yourself, “Please, please protect him. Keep all of them safe. I just want them to be happy… Elias and Diane, please watch over all of them.”.

Another three months later, you hadn’t heard from David, Keegan, Merrick or any other military personnel. It had been a total of eleven months since you last saw your husband. You were Logan’s emergency contact and many people aside from the Ghosts knew you, so if something happened then someone would contact you. This should be comforting. No one calling you means no one’s dead, right? Nothing bad. So why were you so anxious? You couldn’t reach anyone so maybe something did happen and-

Your phone rang. It was David. You answered immediately.

“David? What happened? Where have you been?”

“Come outside, I have to show you something.”

It’d been a long time since you ran that fast. David sat in his truck, as you ran over to the passenger side, he leaned to open the door from his seat. As soon as your door closed and you buckled in, he began driving.

“David, what’s going on?”

He inhaled through his nose, you noticed how hard he was gripping the wheel and that he was going a bit fast. He was a careful driver normally. If he was amongst civilians, he was calm and never dared going above the speed limit in case there was a child or a dog or pedestrian walking when and where they shouldn’t be. This drive, however, was different. Something happened.

“We got him.” He looked at you, your eyes wide as they slowly filled with tears. “He’s back.”

“W-when did he get back?” You stuttered.

“Almost two weeks ago-” You opened your mouth to speak but David put his hand up. You waited. “Knowing Rorke and his history, we kept Logan on base to heal some and do some mental evaluations.”

“David…”

“I need to warn you right now, he’s not gonna be the same man you knew before all this shit happened. He’s gonna have a lot of recovering to do.”

David went on to explain Rorke and what the Federation did to him. You were quiet.

“Did he do all of that to Logan?”

“We aren’t sure. We just know that whatever it was wasn’t good. He’s clear to come home today if both of you are ready, but I just needed to tell you.” Good thing the house was clean.

“Thank you, David. I know this has probably been harder on you than anyone.” David tried to laugh.

“I mean it’s my job-” You put your hand on his shoulder.

“You know what I mean. Thank you. Seriously.” He exhaled slowly, he seemed to relax a little.

“You’re welcome.”

“You can come by whenever you like if Logan comes back. Maybe just give me a warning, ok?”

“I will. I promise.”

David parked the truck after you checked in at the front gate. Your heart beat rapidly despite the slow walk through the base. You recognized some of the men and gave a half-hearted wave when they greeted you. You could already tell. They knew why you were here.

You walked into the base hospital. David took you down numerous hallways you knew there was a chance you’d see one day but never expected, never wanted to walk down. But this was for Logan. David opened the door to the room you stood in front of.

You couldn’t tell if your heart was breaking or if you were having a heart attack or what…

There he was, sitting against the bed he must’ve been in since returning, looking at you.

Logan was in a hospital gown, his arms and legs below the knee exposed. The skin was covered in jagged scars and stitches that were still such a dark and aggressive red. Along with that were numerous bruises, a painful variety of purples, yellows, and green in some spots. His right arm in a cast and sling. On his other hand, his ring and finger are wrapped, probably broken or dislocated. You notice how his left shoulder and upper arm seem to be wrapped with gauze. You don’t want to imagine what injuries he must have that you can’t see.

His face. His handsome face. He looks so tired. Logan turned towards you and tried to limp over, using the bed for stability. You rushed forward instinctually. Once he was close enough, he slowly wrapped his unbroken arm around your back. You looked at him. He had dark circles under his eyes, faded bruising on his left cheekbone, two intersected scars ran across his face. One started between his eyebrows to his cheek. The second from the middle of his chin, across his lips until it passed the other scar on that same cheek. His skin was cool and pale, unlike the warm complexion he had prior to the kidnapping. 

You ended up staying for about two hours before you got a list of medications from doctors, some extra gauze wraps and a pamphlet detailing how to handle a deep second degree burn at home. That was why his shoulder and arm were wrapped. You said goodbye to David, Keegan and Merrick soon after.

The first few weeks, Logan mostly stayed in bed. Every day you checked his injuries, the stitches and the burn, to make sure there was no infection and they were healing properly. By the fourth week or so, the burn had healed, leaving behind a large patch of discolored skin. At nearly the sixth week, his cast was removed. His arm and fingers had healed well and correctly. David had told you that when Logan was taken, his arm was broken. When he was found, his arm had healed incorrectly as a result of improper care, assuming any care was given, so the doctors had to re-break it before putting it in the cast. 

After the seventh week, Logan was able to walk around without limping. However, he mostly just stayed in your room. Sometimes, you’d spend the day in the living room in hopes it would coax him out. It didn’t work. You cooked his favorite meals but he would usually bring the food back to the room. When it was time for bed, you essentially snuck around the room to avoid scaring him in case he was sleeping. You were pretty sure he wasn’t sleeping, at least not as much as he should’ve been. It remained this way for a few more weeks.

A month and a half into Logan being back home and he’d uttered a scarce amount of words. “Okay”, “alright”, “yes”, “no” and whatever else kept his sentences short. He barely talked to you anymore. Of course, you kept David updated as often as possible. You felt like he just wasn’t there. Now, he was more of a ghost than ever.

Two months in and he started going to the base again. For what? You don’t know. You had asked where he was going, dressed in his “soldier getup” as you called it.

“I’m going to work. Can’t be late. I’ll be back later.” He’d stated hastily before heading out. This continued on for another two weeks until you decided to talk to him before he left.

“Logan, honey, can we talk?”

“Um… sure, but I have to leave before 9.” He was trying to rush again.

“I wanted to ask about that actually…” He looked at you, mostly expressionless. “You were just gone for almost, what, six months? Why are they having you back at work when you might as well have just finished actually healing?”

“I… There’s still work to be done.” he stuttered. You cocked your head. You turned to him from your position on the couch.

“What work?” you asked slowly and quietly. You knew he wasn’t lying. You didn’t want him to think you thought he was lying. You wanted to keep the conversation calm so he wasn’t overwhelmed.

“It’s a lot. I don’t think- right now isn’t the right time.” he began to turn.

“We can talk later if that’s better, but I just want to know. I’m worried about you.”

“You don’t need to worry, I just need to do some things.” His voice carried no emotion. He was almost at the door when you stood suddenly.

“Logan, I just want to understand!” Logan stopped in his tracks. You stared at his back. “I want to just talk, please… I know your job is important and I don’t want to get in the way with complaining…” Your voice cracked. You wrapped your arms around yourself. Logan was here, in the same house as you. You stared at him but you felt lonelier than ever. “You’re so far away, Logan… and… and I know there was so much that happened and we didn’t know if we’d ever see each other again, but we’re together now!” You walked closer to him. He heard your steps but he stayed still. “We don’t have to act like nothing happened. We couldn’t if we wanted to, I know that… but please talk to me again. I married you because I love you. I married you and everything that came with you. I said those vows and ‘in sickness and in health’ because even when you’re hurting, I’ll be there. I’m here right now! But I need you to let me be there. I need you to stop hiding yourself away from me. I want to know you again, Logan.” Your breathing had picked up as tears welled up in your eyes.

Time just stopped. You turned and sat back on the couch facing away from him. You quietly wept into your hands as everything just seemed to spill over. You had reached your boiling point. You didn’t hear the footsteps coming to you until you opened your eyes and noticed the giant boots that faced your much smaller feet. A large pair of hands slowly removed your hands from your face, one tilted your head up.

You saw Logan’s beautiful eyes, a sort of hazel that seemed gold in the light. He slowly knelt down in front of you and hugged you. Not like the barely there hug he mustered at the hospital when he couldn’t even walk on his own. He pulled you tight against him and you immediately curled around him as you sobbed. He let you. Logan pulled back after a moment and held your face. He wiped your tears with his thumbs. 

“I love you too… more than anything.” He stared into your reddening, tear-filled eyes for a moment before sighing as he sat next to you. You held his hand, his thumb stroked your knuckles as he thought about his next words. “A couple days ago,” he started, “something happened. I can’t tell you what yet but it was cause for concern. Especially with Ghost team.” He paused and looked at you, directly into you. “I want to tell you everything, but it’s going to be a lot to process and it’ll probably be scary. I don’t want you to deal with this, with all the problems coming to us because of Rorke but you’re right to want to know what’s happening and you deserve to know.” You looked at the time, 8:55 A.M. You stood, Logan followed, still holding your hand. He pressed your hand against his chest and over his heart.

“I love you.” You whispered.

“I love you too. I’ll talk to Merrick today and I’ll try to get home as early as I can. We can talk about everything while we make dinner.”

“Together?”

“Together. I’ll call you if anything comes up and if you need me to, I can get groceries, ok?” You nodded. This is all you asked for. You hugged Logan tightly as he wrapped himself around you. You walked him to the door where he kissed you goodbye, on the lips. It felt like it had been forever since you’d done that. You stopped him before he moved. He almost retorted when you pulled off the necklace you still had on. He stared at the ring hanging from it. You took the ring off and put it back on his hand. He stared at it for a moment and smiled. A tired little smile that took so much weight off of you. Logan grabbed the necklace and took the time to put it back around your neck before he kissed you again.

“Thank you.” He whispered, still smiling. You smiled back as he walked to the car, waving when he began to drive. It had only been 10 minutes at most but those 10 minutes were so freeing. The rest of the morning you spent outside, reading and occasionally texting your friends when they checked in. The sun warmed your skin and the air was so fresh. You went back inside around 3 P.M when Logan called you:

Logan: “I can come back home around 6 tonight.”

You: “Sounds good, any ideas for dinner?”

Logan: “I could really go for lasagna.”

You: “Can you stop at the store on your way back? I have a list!”

Logan: “Yeah, just send it to me.”

With that, you texted everything you needed before moving to clean up the kitchen and free up space.

Later that night, Logan returned with everything you asked for plus a tub of ice cream. Your favorite flavor. You got to cooking, boiling the sheets and preparing the sauce while the oven preheated. You cooked together, like old times. It had been so long. Music quietly played as you both took turns tasting everything. A little extra salt and paprika here, with some pepper too. You laid down the floppy lasagna sheets while Logan poured the sauce over top then you both spread your favorite cheeses before adding more sheets and so on. While the lasagna was in the oven, you sat on the couch together. Logan held you in his arms as you stroked the hair on the back of his neck. After savoring the peace of the moment, Logan started talking.

When he was kidnapped, Rorke had put him through the same trials he himself had experienced. Being force fed poisoned food was the start until Rorke seemed to grow bored and eventually forced him to eat the plants the poison had been extracted from. Logan told you everything. All the grim details. At some points, you actually felt nauseous just hearing the horrors. When he was almost done talking about what he was forced to endure, you just held him and continued to encourage him to talk. He held you tight as he explained. The beatings he was put through. The way his arm healed wrong and he could hardly use it without feeling pain.

Then he looked at you. You felt so fragile with the way he looked at you with his tired eyes. He spoke again.

“Rorke knows about you.”

You never met this man in your life, never saw pictures. But he was like a boogeyman. He could appear from under your bed at any moment. 

“His soldiers… left us a message… Threatening to take me again. They said this time they’d take you too.”

That’s why he was going back to base. To work with his brother and everyone to make sure nothing happened. You didn’t live far from the base but they were thinking about bringing you on post to be cautious. That’s why Logan went back to work so soon. To protect you. That’s why he was telling you all of this now, to further protect you.

You were scared. Hearing about something like this happening was one thing, but knowing the man who stole your husband and almost broke him from the inside out was completely different. Especially when you knew that he wanted you too. Oh god. Logan held you and told you that the two of you could always move on base where you’d be protected and closer to him. You’d be amongst him and the other soldiers and Riley, Hesh’s dog. They wouldn’t let anything happen. And so you agreed. That night you just focused on being together, holding one another and eating your delicious lasagna as you reminisced together. 

Over the course of the next week, you brought as many of your necessities over to base where you and Logan continued living together. You met some friends of his and their partners, gaining your own group of friends not long after moving. Some had even assisted in bringing more of your things over when Logan had to work.

Later down the line, the Ghost team flew out. You weren’t told anything about what the mission entailed, but when Logan came to you, mask on, and put his ring in your hand before kissing you goodbye, you had an idea.

“I will make sure no one, not a single person touches you. Not a single damn person. I will keep it that way. I promise.” He whispered, voice more stern than ever. 

Your friends on base were all a wonderful support system during the next week they were gone for. You weren’t able to reach out again but you believed in them. You took care of Riley, who’d grown to love you.

When the week was done, they came back and Logan had made a beeline for you. You were reading, his ring back on your necklace when the door opened and your husband walked in, covered in dirt and other unidentifiable muck and alive. You rushed to jump into his arms and kiss him, ignoring the weird taste of said dirt in your mouth. You gave his ring back, ignoring the dirt that was on his hands too. While you held him, he whispered in your ear, “It’s all over now. We can go home.”.

So you did. David, Keegan and Merrick were kind enough to assist with moving your things back over and checking your house for anything that wasn’t meant to be there, anything that indicated a break in. Shit, they’d even checked the vents too. When that was all done, you made lasagna for them and spent the evening laughing together and savoring the peace that had finally come over the world again. Later, you and Logan laid in bed together, happy as ever and whispered sweet words to each other. Both of you could finally get some rest.

The end, thank you for reading! I will also post this on my ao3 @ RiversSong82

[athenagrantnash]

What do you think about girl dad Bobby because it makes my heart melt 🥺

Omg girl dad Bobby has my ENTIRE heart!!! I mean dad Bobby in general has my entire heart, but GIRL DAD BOBBY!!!

He’s been preparing to be a girl dad literally from the second that his 15-years-his-junior sister who is totally canon and I absolutely did not make up was born. He took one look at that squawling red-faced little baby and decided that she was is. His parents already got to raise him and his older brother… this one was HIS!!

He insisted on teaching her all the most important things that his parents taught him. He’s the one who taught her to cook, and by the time she was 4 she was good enough to make (slightly singed) cookies all by herself! And Bobby had never been more proud. He also was the one who taught her to ride a bike, and who kissed her scraped knees better when she fell. Mama Nash and Dad Nash insisted that he at least sometimes be a normal teenager, but Bobby was just too enamored with his tiny sister to want to be a normal teen. More than once, Mama Nash or Dad Nash would walk to the nursery in the middle of the night to soothe the crying baby only to find Bobby had beaten them to it, gently rocking his sister to sleep while singing under his breath.

When little Brook was born, his sister gave him the warmest, gentlest hug and told him that she knew he was gonna be the greatest girl dad in the world, because she gave him all the practice he needed. So really, he should be thanking her.

And before his injury and the subsequent dependency on pain killers and alcohol, Bobby’s greatest joy was in spending time with his kids. He dusted off the skills he learned as a teenager, and no little girl had prettier braids than Brook did (when her hair was long enough). When she got a little bit older she started to be a bit of a tomboy, so Bobby (a little sadly) put away the ribbons and bows and instead bought her a whittling knife. Marcy was concerned about giving a 6-and-a-half-year-old a knife, but Bobby and Bobby Jr were busy arguing over who was gonna get to teach Brook. “You already taught me, dad! It’s my turn!”

(As a side note, if Bobby Jr had survived, he would have also had the biggest dad energy).

At Brook’s funeral, Bobby pulled the tiny little bow that he always carried around in his pocket (even during the worst of his addiction)… the very first bow he had ever put into her hair… and tucked it carefully into her hands. He didn’t deserve even that little reminder of the joyous times he had spent with her. He had lost his wife… lost his son… lost his daughter… and it was all his fault. He didn’t deserve joy anymore.

His entire family tried to help him, and his sister… the one who made him decide from the time he was a teenager that he would someday have kids of his own… was the closest to being able to get through to him. But he was too caught up in his guilt and his grief. He didn’t deserve the unwavering love and forgiveness she offered him. She was the last one to get a text from him, a fleeting “I’m sorry” before the Nash family lost track of him and eventually had to assume that he had drunk himself into an early, and unmarked, grave.

He truly believed his time of being a dad should have ended there, but then he met Athena and her beautiful family. And he would never presume to claim May and Harry as his kids… not out loud. But they were his. May was his daughter just as much as if he had been there from the start, braiding ribbons into her hair like he had done for Brook. But he would never never presume.

“I have two dads, and you’re one of them”.

And with those words, another part of Bobby’s heart… a part he didn’t even realize was still aching… healed just a little bit more. Because May saw herself as his daughter just as much as he did. Because that was the first time anybody had called him dad since that horrible night where he lost his family.

And maybe… maybe after his much needed vacation cruise with Athena… maybe he’ll reach back out to his sister again. Maybe he’ll say to her “Sis, I want you to meet my daughter, May.” And maybe his sister will smile, eyes shining with unshed tears, hugging him tighter than she ever has before. “I knew you could find yourself again, Bobby”

Because being a girl dad? That’s as much a part of who Bobby Nash is as being a firefighter.

[blackout-criminal13]

BROTHERS LOVE

⚠️Abuse. Cursing, SH!⚠️

frank abuses his daughter  and her oldest brothers come to help her.

your name in this is lizzy or liz.

————————————-

Usually when i come home my dad is passed out in the floor or he's at the alibi getting drunk. My dad has never hit me. he had hit my older brothers tho, they are the ones i feel bad for the most. i know you might be thinking "what about Fiona?" and trust me i feel bad for her a lot. but lip and ian and even carl have beaten frank multiple times to protect me. I feel as if i'm a burden to them, if they are annoyed they will snap at me and Fiona doesn't like me that much and i barely talk to debs. I understand that i shouldn't take it so seriously when the boys snap at me but it makes me think that they don't like me, Every time they yell at me or get mad at me or snap at me i cut or burn myself. I finally got home after the longest day of school EVER!! i expected to be home alone or to have a passed out frank in the floor but i was not expecting for my dad to be wide awake and waiting for me. i walked in and took my black converse off. i put my bag down and walked into the living room where my dad was. "Hey dad." i greeted him as i went to turn on the tv. i reached for the remote only to have my hand ripped off of hit and to be pulled onto my dad. "you think you can get away with everything?" he yelled as he threw me down. "what the hell are you talking about?" i asked. "your failing!?" he yelled. "d-dad i'm failing math cause it's not my strong suit." i said. "cause  your to busy slutting around!!" he yelled. he towered over me and started hitting me relentlessly. i got up and ran into the kitchen only to be beaten even worse. my head was slammed into things i was slapped and punched and it was finished by me being thrown on the ground. my dad put his shoes on and left. i couldn't barley get up so i reached for a knife and started to slowly cut myself in the kitchen. i heard the door rattle and i threw it down. Ian walked over to me, "what happened?" he asked in concern touching my bruised eye. he looked into my teary eyes and let me hug him, "d-dad hit me." i whimpered as lip walked through the door. "what the fuck happened.?" lip asked, "dad hit her." Ian answered as he picked me up. he brought me too Lip and i didn't even realize  my sleeve lifted up, Ian saw my entire arm and he pulled me back over to him "what the fuck is wrong with you?!" he yelled making me flinch, "what do you mean?" i asked. lip stepped forward and saw my arm. "What is all this?" lip asked, "what?" i asked, "don't play dumb! look at your fucking arm!" Ian yelled. i looked and saw it then i looked at my brothers, they were both angry "ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!" Ian yelled, "SERIOUSLY!?" Lip yelled. i couldn't handle the yelling so i tired to walk away, only to be grabbed my lip and pulled back into his chest. "DONT WALK THE FUCK AWAY!!" Lip yelled again. I slapped him and walked upstairs. i locked myself in the bathroom and took out my razor blade. i began cutting my arms. Lip and Ian came upstairs and started pounding on the door "Lizzy open up sweetheart." Lip said trying to calm his little sister down. i didn't answer and kept cutting. "Liz please." Ian pleaded, once again i didn't respond. suddenly the door was kicked open and my brothers were running towards me, one grabbed my body and the other started fighting me to get the blade out of my hand. Lip had been holding me for 5 minutes and Ian still couldn't grab  the blade. i finally let go when Lip pressed down on one of my wounds. i let out a heart wrenching scream. Ian put the blade in his pocket and Lip continued holding me so he and Ian could talk to me. i continued to punch and kick and scream heart wrenching screams so they would let me go. i know the sound of each scream made their heart shatter, especially because there little sister was scared and upset. They didn't let me go and continued to hold me so i gave up. "i-i'm so sorry." i whimpered in Lips ear. "for what?" he asked. "for acting like this, and for cutting myself." i answered. lip held me tighter and Ian rubbed my back. "it's alright. we understand." Ian said. Lip carried me to their room and laid me on the bed. they bot

[pics-and-fanfics]

Looking back at all the “every version of me” posts I’ve made since I started talking about it on here, and I think it’s kinda funny but also sad that the blogs I followed when I first got into this hellsite are blogs I don’t interact with anymore because I’ve drifted away from Marvel

I mean, I still love the Marvel fandom, but it’s just not my thing anymore, you know? And I’m getting so into DC, and I’m really hoping I don’t have that happen again

But that’s not why I wanted to make this post, I wanted to look back at the original idea of Every Version of Me, back when I was just seeing a bit of batfam stuff in my feed and I was just curious (help I’ve been yanked down the rabbit hole)

The original document, which is what I use, but I basically erased it and rewrote it, bc at the time I really started getting into this fic was like early/mid last year, and I wanted to just have a fresh slate

The original idea/doc was put into words in October of 2022 (wow over a year ago) (no, that’s not my real name, deal with it)

And the first picrew I ever made of Skyler (which I still have) was made on May 11, 2023

The original idea of Skyler was an AFAB transmasc with anxiety, depression, ADHD, possible PTSD, asexual, bi-romantic, and a lot of trust issues

His biggest fear was never being good enough, and that Bruce would realize that Skye wasn’t “perfect” aka good enough, and would toss him aside, like everyone else had done

He had trauma from being raped as a kid multiple times and nobody believing him

I think he had an eating disorder? I’m not sure anymore, it’s been practically forever

He had tried to kill himself before, he’d been shoved into hundreds of foster homes between the ages of 7 and 13, bc almost none of the foster homes lasted more than a week. He still has the pocket knife he stole.

He idolized Red Hood, bc that’s who saved him one night when it was cold or he was getting beat up by bigger and stronger people. I don’t really know how or why, but I know that Red Hood saved Skyler, and now he idolizes him, he wants to be just like him. (Think the “big brother I wanna be just like you” edits)

Skyler never changed his name, because it’s something his parents gave him, and it’s one of the only things he had left of them, besides the languages they taught him when he was itty bitty.

Skyler was (and is) Italian and Russian, and knows how to flip you off in more than 3 languages.

Skyler is one of the blorbos that has lasted the longest, even if they did take a back burner a few times, but they never left.

I love Skyler, and I hope you do too.

❤️✍️

[segaynus]

Hear me out, a list of my tbosas headcanons because I wanna share even if im the only person stämning the characters lol. A mix of hc based on movie and books

- Bobbin and Tanner had a double reason to hate the Capitol. Bobbin lost his hand and Tanner lost his eye during the Dark Days, with the help of Capitol's weapons. The same explosion of Capitol's bomb that injured Bobbin killed his parents.

- Lil and Spruce were twins, born December 28th. Lil was born first and she was the more stubborn and outgoing of them. She could talk for hours uninterrupted unlike her rather withdrawn brother. Both loved animals. If there were memes in Panem, Spruce loved them. When they were teenagers, they both had a crush on the same guy which ended in a few fights lol (this guy later supported the capitol during the rebellion so the crush disappeared). Lil cared about her health and constantly scolded Spruce for smoking, but he never gave up, just kept rolling his eyes.

- Lil and Arlo were supposed to get married like four months after his execution, on her birthday

- Lil and Arlo met during the Dark Days. She helped take care of the wounded rebels when one of them, hallucinating, started attacking nurses with his pocket knife, mistaking them for Capitol soldiers. Spruce was around and went to stop the man from harming Lil and got stabbed, hence the scar. As he was being transported for a surgery room Lil stumbled upon injured Arlo and it was ✨love at the first sight✨. As soon as she made sure her brother was fine she left him on his own because she's gonna have him forever but if she doesn't talk to Arlo now, then never

- it was Billy Taupe who was behind the mine attacks, not Arlo. Billy Taupe had beef with mine bosses, as he came to work drunk and got punished for it. He used Mayfair to get a scapegoat. The reason Arlo was chosen is that he was responsible for the death of Mayor Lipp's second daughter, whom he accidentally shot during the rebellion while aiming for someone else. Since then the mayor has been trying to get rid of him, but not openly, he didn't want to seem petty. So a perfect occasion arose. The reason why Arlo did not protest during his hanging is that he was basically threatened into it. They used Lil to force him into submission, threatening with harming her if he dared do something. Spruce gave her the nickname of BACKSLILDER

- the reason why Lil was so scared during her execution was not only because she loved life and she didn't want to die. she WAS AFRAID TO DIE. During her times as a nurse she saw so much suffering before people passed away, in all manners but peaceful, that she developed a frantic fear of death.

[robin-the-blind-sniper-rifle]

As a former dedicated member of the TWD fandom, I give you part of my Stranger Things/Walking Dead crossover. This is Ronance endgame, and Steddie too. If anyone’s interested in this, I’ll keep going.

xxxxxx

December 15th, 1983

The streets of downtown Hawkins were deathly quiet. Brown leaves swirled around in circles, piles of them collecting on the curbs. Barely a sound echoed in the still air, no sound beyond a soft, rasping breath.

Nancy relaxed her fingers against the notch of her bow, relishing the sound the arrow made as it sank deep into its target. Swinging the weapon back over her shoulder, Nancy gave her surroundings a once over before moving to retrieve her arrow.

Once she was certain she was alone, she dashed into the middle of Main Street. Leaning down with expert speed, she pulled the arrow swiftly out of her kill, ignoring the squelch it made before wiping it on her shirt. Nancy loaded the bow again, adjusting her hair so that it sat higher and away from her back.

Hawkins was empty this time. She had a feeling.

“I thought we were meant to be hunting today.”

Nancy scoffed, turning around to face a lanky, brown haired boy. He was carrying a large backpack full of supplies and a map he had been charting for them for the past few weeks.

“We were meant to be hunting? I think you mean me, Johnathan.”

Johnathan rolled his eyes. “Same difference.”

Nancy pointed to the body by her feet, shoving it with her heel for good measure. “Same difference goes for biters, then. The less of them there are around here, the better. Fuckers can sneak up on you at any time.”

Johnathan glared at her. “We knew some of these people at one point, Nance. Don’t you think it's a bit callous to treat them like monsters?”

Nancy sighed, looking off into the distance. She didn’t want to have this conversation with him for the hundredth time. It wasn’t particularly easy to put a bolt through your English teacher’s head, but it was either that or have your face ripped off.

“They *are* monsters, John. They’re not people anymore. Besides, what if…what if one of ours comes back? Shouldn’t this place be clear for them?”

Johnathan pursed his lips, but said nothing. Instead, he turned back to his map, furrowing his brow as he looked at the X’s they had marked in every direction. He pulled a pen out of his back pocket and made two small lines across what looked like a doodle of the general store.

“That’s the last one on Main Street, it looks like. It took awhile to clear it out, but I think we’re all set for heading out. We’ve taken what we can carry and boarded up a stash of supplies in case we ever need to come back.”

He glanced at her, his eyes filled with sympathy and an equal, resigned acceptance. “We’ve done all we can for them, Nance. I wouldn’t blame them for not coming back here. They don’t know we’ve been taking the biters out, they probably think the place is still overrun.”

Nancy sighed, not wanting to admit he was right. It had been a month since everything had fallen apart, and Nancy and Johnathan were the only living left in Hawkins. The people that managed to get out scattered in a mad panic, taking what they could and leaving the rest behind.

Some didn’t make it.

Others went missing.

Johnathan’s entire family had been separated in the chaos. The only reason they were sure his mother and little brother had made it was because they hadn’t been forced to kill them a second time. As long as there wasn’t any evidence to prove otherwise, they had a chance of being alive.

Nancy wasn’t so lucky.

Her mother was among the first to go, turning naturally in her sleep and moving straight for her father. In the terror, Holly was also taken, since her room was the closest to their parents. Nancy survived purely on instinct and her adrenaline driven action of stumbling down the stairs and grabbing her mother’s largest steak knife.

Mike’s room was empty except for a large pool of blood seeping into the center of his carpet. Nancy hadn’t seen any trace of him since the night before the end, and she could only assume the worst if he was on his own.

Nancy didn’t like the idea of leaving home without Mike, but there was nothing left worth saving. Resources were already running low, and Nancy noticed that the deer she brought down were growing scarcer every day. Johnathan eventually convinced her that their time would be better spent looking for their people instead of waiting, and Nancy agreed that it was logical enough to move forward.

What Johnathan didn’t know was that she was also looking for someone else.

Someone who should have been in his place, but wasn’t.

Because she screwed it up.

Nancy shook her head, determined not to waste any more time. She slung her crossbow over her shoulder, checking right her hip to make sure she still had her knife, and her left to check the pistol she took from her father’s drawer. It was time to get the fuck out of here.

“Are we still traveling on foot?”

Johnathan nodded. He had pulled out the map of Indiana instead of Hawkins, scanning it with a discerning eye. “I’d say we should avoid the freeways if we can. There will be more biters the closer we are to the city. If we’re following your plan with the trees, the forests should be our best bet.”

Nancy made a noise of agreement. “As long as we have those ropes from the War Zone and tie our shit up properly, it should be a safe bet.”

Her idea for sleeping at night, because traveling tired was like shooting yourself in the foot, was to sleep in the tall pine trees of the Indiana forests and tie their waists to the middle so they wouldn’t fall to their deaths.

“Right.” Johnathan shifted awkwardly, as if he wasn’t sure what to say next.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Spit it out. We need to move before dark. What are you trying to say?”

“I-I left a note. In my old house. In case they come back.”

She nodded, not wanting to entertain hope the way he did.

“I wrote Mike’s name down, too.”

Nancy looked at him, keeping her expression neutral. She had never seen herself pairing up with Johnathan Byers for anything, had never even talked to him before he’d shown up on her doorstep, covered in blood and looking for Will. She hadn’t expected they would stick together, that he would have given her the time of day.

But he had. And now they were searching for the same people.

Nancy bit her lip, clearing her throat. “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

Johnathan gave her one of his small, rueful smiles. “I did. He’s just a kid. They both are.”

She nodded, willing herself not to lose her composure.

So were we.

[theobsessiveloser18]

Headcanons of being best friends with Tory Nichols

•She was Miguel's girlfriend when you met her (as his best friend and almost older/younger sister, he think it was appropriate for you to meet her) she was too different from you, you don't know if because of that, or because she was an overly conscious teenager (unlike of Sam that you hated, maybe because she was too similar to you) you loved her and she loved you

•They became fast friends, spending time together without Miguel being involved.

•You were also Aisha's friend, so the 3 of them became the best friends of all time, it was weird for people not to see them together, they became the best-known trio of school friends (the karate girls and their chick the protected)

•Tory opens your eyes to the evil of the world, how important it was to develop character to survive, and since it's not bad to not always be the best person of the day (a topic that tormented you) you help her survive, you support her with your brother and his mother, looking for a way to have their pockets full at the end of the month, getting to work together (sometimes you give her part of your payment, she doesn't like it very much, but you don't need the money as much as she does), you are her greatest moral compass, she always comes to you for advice, comfort and a good listening ear, she knows that deep down you condemn her bad girl behavior, but also that you have never shown any double standards with her.

•If they aren't hanging out together, they'll be on long phone calls (with or without Aisha) so you were quite surprised one day when you texted her, at the time you knew she had left work and she didn't reply (After a day work, Tory needs to vent, but now the hard thing for her is not to survive the injustices of the world, the hard thing is to breathe in a world which is inhabited by Samantha Larusso

"It's a real pain in the womb, but I think the reason I can't stand her, is because I'm more like her than I'd like, 2 stupid girls who have never worked for what they have, and can't understand the behavior of a certain 'type of people' to whom life has treated them like a bag of garbage, and they do not deserve your attention, only your criticism for their 'troublesome' aura and 'low morality', so pathetic ”and the real Tory nichols was so upset you thought she was going to slap you

"Listen to me carefully, why if I have to repeat this to you again, when I finish speaking you will have a knife buried in your vagina, Larusso would beg to have some of your human decency in her fingernail" you swallowed dryly, she sighed tired and more calm she continued "It's not your fault that life has been fairer to you, in that sense I suppose 'Sweetys princess' isn't either, but the difference between you and her is that you listen to people, you try to understand them, and you're not only concerned about your point of view, you and Aisha are the best people I've met in 17 damn years of life, even my boyfriend doesn't make that list, don't torture yourself, you really are a good person”

"Thank you" was all you could say

Her confrontations with the princess make Tory feel like a mess, and you walk in to comfort her.

"Don't worry Tory, it wasn't your fault, Sam shouldn't have accused you of stealing her mom."

either

"I understand your anger, but I think that pushing Sam on the track was not the best option, his enmity will last longer, and Miguel can get angry with you"

"He was on my side, he's great"

"He is, but... sorry for saying this, but I think he still hasn't gotten over it" you noticed the pain in her voice when she said

"Someday he's going to have to get her out of her mind, right?"

"You shouldn't be the girl I used to get over her ex-girlfriend" she leaned back on your shoulder.

"I don't think she's going to get any better from the world"

"Believe me, you'll do it, you deserve it" you gave him a small kiss on the head)

Your suspicions were true when you found out about the fight at school the next day, you didn't know whether to thank God for missing, or curse under your breath , you could have stopped Tory

•You visited her while she was in juvie (also Robby, you were so upset that Johnny had almost abandoned him and so frustrated that they wouldn't let you bring her practically anything from the outside world) she appreciated visiting time, you told her a lot of things (minus the fact that Miguel and Sam seemed to have reunited, after the boy woke up, for obvious reasons) you brought him certain things and took care of his family until they released her

•You wanted Tory to have a party in case she came back but Aisha had recently moved away, and your friend is very sad about it, and she wasn't in the mood for noisy and lively moments even with you, but they took her brother to the park and ate liters of ice cream while watching the embarrassing romantic comedies of all time.

•Miguel was pretty mad at you for continuing to hang out with Tory, but you weren't abandoning the girl.

•you were quite surprised that he was still practicing karate after all that had happened, you thought Kreese was a cynical son of the devil, kyler was not right in the head, and the other students seemed like a horror comedy, but she was firm about it

"Karate is the only thing that motivates me not to give up now, neither this nor Sensei Kreese are to blame for what happened, Miguel and they are going to get what they deserve, everyone who bothers me is going to wish they had been aborted.” His words worried you, but then Robby entered the dojo and you caught a glimpse of peace.

•Sometimes you go to look at the keys, the sensei doesn't bother you, and the cobras have a neutral opinion about you

•You love watching robby try to make progress with tory

"He's fascinated with you, I'm serious Tory, if you don't care, when you least see him coming he'll steal a kiss from you"

"don't talk nonsense , no boy who cares a bit for his cheap ass would even think of trying to steal a kiss from me."

"You haven't seen how he looks at you, not even Mr. Darcy could look at such a passionate look, my holy God, It's sooo comely" your friend laughed a little at your attitude

"It's striking" she answered with a nervous smile, they both noticed it, and she changed the expression on her face to a stoic look that lately you've been seeing frequently "But I think she still doesn't surpass the princess, and sometimes he behaves way too pure to be a cobra definitely wouldn't notice me”

“believe me the girl left her mind a long time ago... and tory we all noticed you”

•You were the happiest person in the world when your friends started dating and when Tory won the championship, you waited for her to come out, you hugged and you rolled her in the air, you walked home in a side hug

"It was obvious that you were going to win, none of those fans had prepared as much as you"

“Thank you for staying until the end”

"Whenever you want... are you alright?"

"Just a little tired, mopping bitches is fun but exhausting. You know what I mean?" you laughed a little

"Yes, I think a little"

"But I do not reject a hamburger combo, you stay to sleep"

"Yes my lady" she gave you a kiss on the cheek, and rested her head on your shoulder

•Winning the championship did not bring any positive change in Tory, what's more, you could say that she made things a bit worse, she had never been so depressed, you didn't know what to do to help her

"Y/N believe me you have already done a lot for me, you are the person who has made me smile the most in life, and that will never change"

•Shortly after you found out about the problem she was having with Cobra Kai, and it all made sense to you.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I thought you might be hurt"

"Okay Tory, you did what you thought was best for everyone."

"But it wasn't worth it, Silver and Kim continue to rot minds and Larusso ended up demotivating me, I don't know how I could have thought that he would help me, she is still a dancer in his glass box, instead my best friend would surely have encouraged me to leave this stupid plan long before, really sorry”

"Calm down Tory, I'm sure what you did will be worth it... in the meantime let's pawn our dresses and buy cheap land" Your friend smiled excitedly, game night for you

•After Silver fell you had the perfect idea, it was time for Tory to take a break from so much crap, 'Day off for Nichols', it was hard but you managed to convince her, Robby and Mrs. Larusso would take care of her brother and mom

•They started the trip in a car, you drive while your faithful co-pilot marveled looking out the window, it had been a long time since he had taken a trip, and he was definitely enjoying it, they sang the songs you had listed at the top of their lungs: try, Carreles whisper, i will suviver, Billie Jean, among others

•You hadn't told her where they were going so she was really excited, they walked a long time to their destination

"Here it is"

"Wow I don't know what to say, I was hoping for anything but you would buy me a house in Santa Barbara, 5 hours from where I currently live, you want me quite far from you, huh?" she gave you a mischievous look and you rolled your eyes "But hey who would protest in front of a Free house, so thank you" hug you

“Lummox, the gift is not the house, it is who is inside it”

"And who is there?"

"You will tell me" You knocked on the door before Tory's confused look, after several seconds, Aisha opened the door as surprised as the blonde, they both screamed and hugged each other, still with the girl in her arms, she said.

"When you said that they would visit me one day, I did not imagine that they would or that they would come without warning"

"Hey!, best friends never forget, also what is the point of surprises if you know they are going to happen"

"Come here arrogant genius" They pulled your hands, and you joined the now group hug

•They talked non-stop for hours, they had a lot to tell each other, they watched a movie, and they got to know Santa Bárbara, the most impressive thing... they did a lot of shopping, they wouldn't go home empty-handed

•They spent the night at Aisha's house, and after breakfast they began the return trip

"I love you"

"It's mutual, you know, Tory."

[pruszided]

Uh oh, what is this?

It's an England AU, that's inspired by this version of Neru's Tokyo Teddy Bear. Oh, and I have a "sketch" picture as well.

The drawing with motives and the AU explained:

Basically, the music is about to change the situation the singer is in. It's not explained how though, we can think of several possibilities. The lyrics gave me this idea, the suffering, and the determined decide of end it all. Positive, right?

Okay, the motives, there are numerous of them. Let's start with the ground, from left to right. Yep, bloody tissues, some bandage, a math test (grade: 1/F), and poppy flowers in a broken vase. Poppy flowers' meaning is consolation, on the drawing the consolation is death. Then some cones broken apart. Cones' meaning is life, on the drawing it symbolizes the life's shattering, as the cones are broken apart.

The background has several items, the closer part to the ground. First, the rubbish, with bunch of crumpled papers. I do that, when I'm unsatisfied with something really bad. Then a cupboard, with chess figures, from down to up is pawn, knight, bishop, rook, king and finally queen. It symbolizes a hierarchy stuff. And why is queen upper than king? Well, king is a weak figure, I mean, the queen is much more cooler. England thinks so here, he's rebelling against the system we have (I mean, some people will still be the most precious ones, even when others do much more than them). Then, a drawer that's capsizes. The cones are falling from this drawer. On the top, is a knife, stabbed in the drawer.

Upper background is simple. There's a desk, what every kid has, England does as well. Upper is a telephone in a pocket of a writing that says "Bye". In the original clip, Rin types her farewell in her phone, so in the AU, England did it too. The right side has a poster of a human skull. It symbolizes death. A counting can be seen on the wall, it counts until 5, and a clock that shows 0:00.

The window part is actually easy too. A pine, where the cones are from, and the moon, that gives light in the night. From a physical view, the structure of the window is messed up, but I wanted to make it big, because the kid will jump out from it. Yeah.

And the main figure. He stands rigid, his expression doesn't represents his feelings. His gaze is more sarcastic, but he feels more uncertain about his life, unloved and unsatisfied sentiments are going in him. His clothing is sewed at some parts, the sewing's colour is red, like a scar that won't stop bleeding. He holds a scissor, refering the "I'll find some tougher scissors; And cut out my face" part. His legs are also having some wounds, those are patched.

He holds a Teddy Bear, that representates the singer, here it does it with England. The Teddy is bleeding too, and has sewings, but his head is like having a missing piece of brain, refering to the "Tell me I don't need anything but my brain" part of the song.

Explaining the base TTB England AU:

As I said, he is a kid, 13-14 years around. Arthur wasn't a compeletly normal kid, not then and now. He is a bit schizophrenic, I mean, he sees the flying mint bunny, and some dark shadows sometimes. Normally, he only senses his Teddy speaing to him.

His life was a bit tough. He has a brother, Scott (Scotland) and a sister, Diana (Nyo! Wales). His parents had a good relationship, until they divorced (refering to the falling of the British Empire). Arthur and his siblings started to got always switched between the parents.

The divorce was in the 7-8 years of Arthur, so he didn't really understood what happened. It was surely hard for him, because his grades started to be worse than expected. Then teachers and parents get unsatisfied, and tried to "motivate" Arthur to get better. This was the time when he started to feel unsatisfaction.

Until 13 years, he tried extremely hard. Everyone loved him because of the intelligence he had. He still felt unsatisfied though, so he worked more and more to be better, and being the best.

At 14 years old, he wanted to try something; If he's so intelligent and logical, as everyone told him, he should be able to solve a logical mathematical question, right? So he didn't learned and paid enough attention at mathematic class, so his test became a big 1/F. All the gazes with hatred, from the parents, the dissapontment in the eyes of teachers, the surprised look by his classmates. He managed to think that, because of these actions..That everyone lied to him. No one respected him really, they just passed responsibility on him. This is the time when he started to feel brutally unloved.

He needed to express himself, though he didn't wanted to do it. As early as he could, he found his Teddy bear from his childhood. A beautiful icebear without any damage from the outer world.. He saw his childhood himself in it. But he grew up, so the Teddy has to grow up as well. Arthur harmed himself through the Teddy, that was the first time when he heard the Teddy speaking to him. He stopped, just to listen what the Teddy says. Then, they got used to harm "each other" then talking about literally anything that came to mind.

Then Teddy once came up with the idea.. If no one respects Arthur.. Wouldn't it be easier for him to just end it all? Aand, that was before the drawing's happens.

Yeah. I have happy thoughts, right? But nah, if you have some better idea to the AU, please, tell me! I'm always all ears ^^

[sweet-lost-husbands]

Caged - Chapter 1 - Medical whump - Whumper turned Caretaker - Omegaverse - Supernatural

Alright, we made it! So this is already posted on ao3 and its still continuing, I'm just writing each chap as I go so any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

{ Synopsis: Dean is sick and not like any omega the world has ever come across but Cas is willing to try and save his life. Only one problem: Dean is feisty and refuses to be helped, each treatment is torture. He fights and runs every chance he gets, hurting himself in the process. (:

Basically, Dean being sick and injured and Cas caring for him. Not consensually tho. Essentially just 'Forced Care'.} 

warnings: See masterlist for each chap warnings

Chap specific warnings: Forceful kidnapping, Non-consensual administration of drugs. Restraints. Needles.

Everything hurt.

Agony was all he knew.

It had been for a while now.

It felt as though his very insides were trying to twist their way through his flesh. Violent ripping sensations that spread to his entire body.

Often, he wondered if plunging a knife in there would dappen it somehow… If anything in this world could make it ease just for a moment.

He had long since got used to covering it up, even now, Dean faked a smile and continued to sip his coffee. It was one of his all-time favorite brands, a little more expensive than he could afford but worth it, nonetheless.

“I’m not lonely,” he said quietly, sitting at their dining table. Usually, he wouldn’t worry about Sam catching onto his pain, but today something was different.

“Yeah, I know.” Sam placed a plate of bacon in front of Dean and then took a seat himself. “It’s just that we haven’t seen Dad in weeks because of business, and I have late shifts in the hospital. None of us are ever really home except you. It’s not like you have a mate or… an alpha, despite your intense heats. The last one almost killed you.”

“No, it didn’t.” Dean shot back.

Sam gave him one of his many bitch faces. “Yes! It did. I was out working, and you told nobody how bad it was. I found you on the floor, writhing like you needed to get out of your skin yet nearly unconscious from the pain, with a fever that way surpassed the normal temp. Your lucky my friend Cas who is a head doctor at an omega stabilization facility had come home with me for drinks that night or you would have been toast.”

Dean brought a piece up to his mouth, ignoring what Sam had just said and savoring the smell before taking a bite. A stray drizzle of grease rushed down from the corner of his mouth. He quickly swallowed the bacon with another mouthful of coffee.

He turned his gaze back to his brother. Something wasn’t right.

“Sam? I thought you told me that you have morning shifts all week?”

“Uh, I do.”

Dean completely abandoned his food, narrowing his eyes on him. He swore he could see tears brimming in Sam’s eyes. Why was he sad?

The silence nudged Sam to continue.

“I took a day off. I need to be here for this.” The last part was barely a whisper. He waved it off. “Just eat your food Dean.”

Dean wasn’t one to let a plate of bacon get cold, so he started back at it. Each piece warmed his insides and made him feel cozy. God, he could live like this forever… he had everything he ever wanted. Sam, Baby, bacon, an actually decent apartment instead of a crappy hotel and hella good coffee—the essentials.

Across from him, Sam kept picking at his rabbit food, playing with it more than eating. It wasn’t like him, but it wasn’t unusual either. The thing that was unexpected though, were the sad smiles that kept flicking on his face every time he looked at Dean.

What the hell was going on? Did he accidentally scratch baby or something?

They finished up and Sam began to put away the plates. “I found something the other day. You know, I think you’d want to see this, Dean.”

“Sure.”

Sam returned, fiddling with his pocket before fishing out a picture and tossing it in Dean’s direction. He made sure he captured the smile that crossed Dean’s face.

He picked it up so carefully in his hands, running his eyes over every pixel with a sad fondness. “Me, you and Mum, at the beach... Your just a baby here.”

“Yeah..." Sam chuckled. "I was pretty small. I don't remember that day but Mom looks so happy in that one.”

Dean nodded in agreement, staring at the image for a while longer. He needed pictures like these… He remembered her vividly but sometimes he couldn’t figure out how certain features looked, her nose, her eyes, her smile, they got distorted in his head from time to time. It was a sweet image really, Mary holding little Sammy in her arms while Dean played in the waves just behind her. She held a smile that was so impossibly bright, it made Dean crumble as he looked. In fact, he was so focused on the image that he almost missed Sam checking his phone and his brother's face saddening further.

“Talk to me.” He comforted.

Before anything managed to leave Sam’s lips, he stood up from his seat and wandered over to Dean, pulling him in for a tight embrace.

They didn’t usually hug.

Sam’s voice was patchy as he spoke. “I’m so sorry, I hope that someday you’ll thank us.”

Dean shoved him off and levelled with him. His tone dropping lower and harsher than intended. “Cut the crap Sam, what’s going on?”

Just at that moment, the doorbell rang, and Sam jumped away, hiding his face from Dean. The room fell sickly silent, and yet it was so loud that it seemed to echo and bounce off the walls, only interrupted by the fleet of footsteps making their way in.

The first thing Dean noticed were the two bulky men dressed in white scrubs and how their faces resembled empathy but also a unique sternness. The next thing that drew his attention was a guy in a suit and trench coat, rather than the usual hospital attire. His eyebrows were creased at just the right angle to scream nothing but unyielding concern.

A foreign part of Dean found his presence slightly comforting but the rest cowered.

He knew what this meant. Where they came from.

He stood, his fists clenched at his sides and a burning feeling of rage bubbled up. He tried to hide it as best he could, but clearly not enough as the orderlies exchanged a glance.

The guy in the trench coat extended his hand. “My name is Dr Castiel Novak but you can call me Cas, it’s nice to formally meet you Dean.”

No, no no no nonono.

“Yeah, well forgive me if I don’t feel the same way.”

He could already see this playing out in his head, and he was NOT going to go. He wouldn’t allow himself to become some vegetable rotting in the Omega stabilization facility for all eternity.

This was exactly what Dad was trying to protect him from. Why he wasn’t allowed to be an omega in the first place.

He knew what happened to omegas in these facilities, how their autonomy was stolen away like a thief in the night, followed by gradual dehumanising treatments designed to get you to yield or break… but perhaps by the time you’d yield, you were already broken. Some part of you forever gone and unrecoverable. That was not the type of life he wanted.

He took a step back.

The bitch had the audacity to take a step closer, cocking his head to the side, acknowledging Dean’s distress, making it almost irresistible not to find a sense of trust in him, even if just from his eyes alone.

His voice was gravely but gentle, “I understand that you've been struggling lately, and we are worried about your well-being and physical health. The higher ups in Omega Care have reviewed your case and there is a warrant out for your stabilization. For your own safety, it has been declared that it would be best for you to receive care in a special omega trained facility.”

Dean took a few more steps backwards until his back pressed up against the wall. Fuck<.i>. He was cornered. His body betrayed him as it began to shake.

He could do it; he couldn’t go there.

His life would be ruined.

Before he had a chance to control his mouth, words shot out. “No! you can’t do that!”

“I’m afraid we can.” He neared again; it was suffocating. Suddenly the whole world was closing in on him. His hands waved around his chest in the universal language of not getting enough air.

Castiel took another step, but Dean screamed to stay away, flinging his arms about trying to control his breathing on his own. He was growing more desperate by the moment as everything sunk in.

“Sam?” He looked to his brother for help but was met with nothing. He was standing on the other side of the room, useless, tears flowing out of his eyes.

“I’m sorry Dean, but you need help.” He said in between wiping the water away. “I’ve seen how you refuse to be submissive even though it’s in your nature, how you refuse to get help during your heats, how dad forced you onto high dose suppressants at an early age and so now your body is all out of whack form being wrongly treated, this way you live, its unsustainable. It will kill you.”

“That- I can explain that, please don’t do this.” He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, he would have hit Sam had there not been orderlies in the room who would use it as another thing to lock him away for—to fix.

Dr. Novak held his hands out in front of him, the palms of his hands facing up, an open gesture to show that he had no ulterior motive. “I know this feels unfair, Dean, but we genuinely believe this is the best course of action for you. With proper care and treatment, you can find the stability you deserve.”

“How dare you.” He hissed towards Sam. He wanted to smash something—to just get away.

“Calm down.” One of the orderlies spoke with authority laced in his voice, trying to maintain a safe environment.

Dr. Novak held eye contact with him, his posture calm and collected like he wasn’t repelled by his anguish. “It’s understandable that you’re feeling betrayal at this time. but we’re here to help you, not punish you. Deep breaths okay, just like me.” He started to imitate the breaths as an example, hoping Dean would follow.

“Go fuck yourself.” Dean cried, pressing his back into the wall, wishing he would just sink into it.

But the Doctor continued, “We get that this is hard to accept but we have your best interests at heart. The facility can provide the specialized care and support you need.”

He had to get out of here. Now.

Dean's eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape route. His heart thundered in his chest, and a sense of urgency welled up inside him. He couldn’t go there, he needed freedom. He’d do anything for freedom.

The two orderlies, strong and composed, stood nearby, their eyes trained on Dean, prepared for any sudden movements.

Dr. Novak’s expression softened, but his resolve remained firm.

“Dean, just come with us, okay? Let us help you.”

“I will never let you help me!”

His head spun, nothing seemed reasonable anymore except for escape. It was his only option.

When their dad got sloppy drunk and left them for weeks on end to fend for themselves after their mother’s death, Dean had stayed because he had to. Sam still needed him. But now, nothing was keeping him here.

He lunged forward, but the orderlies reacted swiftly, grabbing hold of his arms to prevent him. He used every ounce of energy he had to struggle against their grip, his eyes wild with desperation.

“Easy, easy.” One of them grunted.

“Let me go! Pleaseee.”

The orderlies overpowered him, restraining him with gentle but firm strength and eventually his resistance wavered.

He wasn’t strong enough…. Well, that’s what they thought.

“We don’t want to hurt you, Dean, but we can’t allow you to endanger yourself. It’s for your own safety.

“You don't understand... nobody does. I just want to continue living my life.”

Sam spoke up from the back. “Don’t fight them Dean, it makes this harder on all of us.”

How dare he! How fucking dare he!

Dean knew what he was going to do when the time presented itself. So, he took one last glance at their house —at baby —at Sam, focused on the taste of bacon and coffee that still lingered on his tongue, so no matter how long he would be there for, he would remember all the things he loved.

Dr. Novak approached him with empathy, his voice filled with understanding. He took one of his hands and squeezed it, letting him know that he was not alone.

“It's not forever, just a step towards finding the freedom you're searching for.”

There was his opportunity. In a heartbeat, he shifted his weight and flung his elbow straight at Dr. Novak’s face. A small cry escaped the doctor's lips as he staggered backward. Dean turned, dodging the orderlies quick attempt to control him. They were trained —but he was trained better. He’d been taught to fight since the day he was born. His father had made sure of that.

He quickly gained leverage and punched one in the face then kicked the other in the stomach to release his arm. He didn’t need to think before he pelted for the door. Strong forceful hands found their way around his waist and jolted him away. Sam was holding him and goddamnit that kid refused to let go.

“Sam!” Dean screamed breathlessly. “If you don’t fricken let go, I’m gonna —”

His pants and struggles outweighed his words. He was freakishly aware of the orderlies gathering themselves and approaching. He had to do something now, but Sam wouldn’t give.

“Please!” A breath, nothing was happening, “Sam, if you let them take me, I can never forgive this.”

The sting of something sharp being stabbed into his shoulder made him hiss and throw his weight in a last attempt to get away.

He was too late.

“Sammy, please.” He cried, aware of how his body started to unwillingly weaken. “Don’t—” He felt himself go limp in his brothers’ arms; a stray tear rolled down his cheek. “Don’t let them take me.”

Dr. Novak's remorseful face despite the blood that flowed down from his nose, was the last thing Deean saw before his eyes forced themselves shut.

~

When he edged on consciousness once more, he started to hear voices around him and feel the sensations around his body. Something was pressing against his waist then the length of his legs, a second later it was pulled away. A persistent beeping faded in and then some voices.

“Good.”

Oh god, he recognised that voice—Castiel. That son of a bitch. He wanted to wrap his hands around that doctor and squeeze. Hard.

Dean tuned into the conversation. Perhaps it could offer some information he could use as leverage.

“Run the measurements up to the manufacturing sector, tell them I don’t care about costs, I just need the equipment mentioned in my previous email. Tell them that it must be the perfect quality and I needed it yesterday!”

“Yes, of course, Cas. I have also put the rest of Mr Winchesters team on standby, they will come within moments notice if you press the button.”

“Thanks Gabe.”

Dean could hear a set of footsteps fade then stop. The screeching of a heavy door as it was opened and then shut once more, not failing to miss the dreadful sound of it locking. His body betrayed him, he could feel as panic set in. He was completely trapped and without escape.

He hated that the beeping from the machine beside him immediately increased, which drew Castiel’s attention.

“Dean?” He could tell by the way Castiel had said it, that it was filled with worry and a hint of dread. That only made Dean so much more furious. He didn’t want to be pitied, he didn’t want to be looked down upon, he just wanted to go home.

A what-was-supposed-to-be comforting hand came to rest on his shoulder. White hot anger boiled up in Dean so fast that he shot his eyes opened and lunged. Firm restraints restricted his actions and to his dismay, no matter how much he struggled they didn’t give.

No no no no!

Cas took a step back, calm as he fucking aways was, that prick. “Dean! Dean, stop!”

Some weird feeling hinted on the surface, something about his commanding voice made the words linger on the tip of his head. But it was only slight, barely even noticeable and Dean was able to power through it and keep struggling.

Needed freedom…At any cost… … can’t be here… not a weak omega made to be bred.

Cas was quick to fasten all the restraints so now he could barely move and then throw himself on top, trying to halt Dean’s desperate movements with his weight.

Again, the strange feeling pulsed, too small to truly understand it but enough for him to recognise that something was different. Perhaps Cas’s body was kind of warm against his.

“Dean.” Castiel said firmly.

His head shifted back. No no no no no.

He struggled.

He wouldn’t give in; his father would be furious. He was a solider, he wasn’t allowed to be weak—to submit.

Cas spoke with urgency, boarding on the edge of begging. “You must stop. We are trying to lean away from giving you any drugs, but we will if we have to. You understand we cannot let you hurt yourself.”

Dean could barely make out the words behind the thick layer of hatred he had for him—this place.

He almost wanted to cry at the sound of a small crowd rushing in. From the little that he could see whilst struggling, they all looked like headless chickens. Some—most, found their way over and began to help hold him down. He hated it.

Must get away must get away mustgetaway

“Cas!” One man yelled in a heavy English accent. “What do you need?”

“Stop Dean, please.” But the man underneath him, never wavered his defence. “Goddamnit. Alright Ketch give him the sedative.”

There was uncertainty in the other man’s voice. “But Sir…”

Cas cut in, “I fucking know, but we are out of options here.” He paused as Ketch began to administer the sedative. “And you.” He pointed to a red-haired woman currently holding Dean's forearm down. “Tell Gabe to hurry the fuck up, I don’t think he'll survive another dose.”

Was that worry in his voice? Did he generally care? Fuck him!

They all eased off as Dean became limp once more.

Originally Omega Care wanted them to stay at a facility but once it was seen that Dean was much worse than previously thought, they allowed Cas to treat him at his own house as long as it was properly accommodated to Dean’s needs.

The house itself was spacious, the walls were an off-cream colour except one which was a faded green. Most of the floor was empty bar a couple of medical cabinets, draws, chairs and the bed Dean was in currently. The rest was going to be filled up with new medical machines which were tailor made to Dean’s measurements.

There was a widow overlooking the estate with a nice garden and pool, that maybe one day Dean could have the luxury of going in and a meeting room off to the side.

There was a one big door on one wall which was the exit and a stream of smaller doors on another. The first and last were bathrooms while every other was a bedroom for Dean’s new team of professionals. Cas’s room was in the middle and the biggest since he owned the place. It would be a nice place to stabilize the omega boy. Nicer than some facility.

A taller member of the team which held a badge with the name ‘Benny’ on it, spoke up from the crowd. “Poor mate doesn’t realise how badly he’s hurt and that by struggling he’s just making it worse.”

The all seemed to mumble in agreement.

Cas moved away and then turned to address all of them. “Before you all came here, you got the briefing on the patient.” Their eyes wondered over to Dean unconscious, looking far to pale and vulnerable and then back to him.

“But now I shall give you the more accurate and updated status of the patient.” They all seemed to know what that meant, that he was worse than previously thought.

Regardless, Cas continued: “Dean Winchester, aged 32, male, submissive omega. His father John Winchester was arrested earlier today for neglecting and abusing Dean in his early childhood and then throughout his life. It is estimated that he gave Dean a heavy dose of suppressants from an early age, which completely wrecked his system. Then possibly a ton of other meds in order to hide the damage that he had caused. There's also suspected brainwash, where Dean doesn’t think of himself as an omega and is severely sacred and hating towards alphas. A lot of stuff remains unknown about his case and history, so there could be many complications.”

Their faces had all saddened.

“It was the hospital who reported him to Omega Care after an almost fatal heat. The overall damage that has occurred throughout his life makes him not able to: react to Alpha commands, drop, be submissive—and in most instances, it even causes him distress and fear… Either way, as a result of this, the internal and irreversible damage to his body along with the fact that he hasn’t received any neutralizing alpha pheromones to counteract his overactive omega ones, his hormone levels are declining rapidly. It suspected that with a dialogises like this, he won’t last for more than two weeks and it’s our job to change that.”

Cas took a breath, hardly believing what he was going to say next.

“Usually the omega hormone 'Omedicstrone,' sits between 72-100 in a normal omega, anything below 50 his considered dangerous, well Dean’s is at 15. Its by far the worse case ever recorded. If we can’t get Dean to fall into submission and soon, his body will start failing him. Omegas are designed to be submissive—some more than others and by not, it can cause extensive harm.”

“Poor sod.” One guy muttered.

“Now this won’t be easy—hell he doesn’t even respond to anything that usual omegas respond to, but we are here to try to help him. Every single one of you is an Alpha so that’s a start, we’re hoping that will begin to revert his mind back to his natural state and give us hopefully a small chance for his defences to weaken. Now what we are going to have to do to him, is not going to be pretty and there’s a high chance he’ll even hate us for it, so if anyone wants to leave then the door is behind you.”

Nobody left.

And so, it was sorted, these were the people who were going to try to save Dean Winchester.

[taintedevesayori]

⚰️ Diatober ⚰️

Day 30: Karlheinz | Prompts by @fruit-of-infidelity | Masterlist

((This is an excerpt from chapter four of Tainted Eve. TW: knives))

As she stepped inside the living room, she noticed all of the brothers were there. Kou, Yuma, and Azusa were sitting down on the couches….while Ruki was standing next to someone else. Her teeth grit together. Karlheinz was standing there, calm as can be, even when his eyes met hers. The brothers had thought she was hostile before, but that was nothing in comparison to the rage that filled her eyes now.

“There you are, child. I have been waiting,” he said to her. 

“What are you doing here?” She tried to calm herself down. “Didn’t you get what you wanted? I’m already here.”

“You know that is not all. I came to see if you have finally accepted your role as Eve.”

“You are out of your mind if you think I’ll say yes.”

The tension in the room was making even the brothers uncomfortable. They had never seen anyone interact with Karlheinz in this way. He acted as if it was completely normal…which it was. 

“It has already started whether you accept it or not. You will stay here and find your Adam.”

“Not gonna happen,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “You can try to make me stay here, but you can’t force me to find Adam. Don’t forget that it’s your own fault that your game ended before it could even start.”

He was silent for a moment. “Are you referring to what happened ten years ago? I took something dear to you. I cannot change the past, but I can say I regret my actions.”

“Is that supposed to be some half assed apology?” She glared, shoving her hands in her pockets. “It’s way too late for that now. You only regret what you did because I don’t want to go along with your plans!”

“Do you really see no happiness in finding your Adam?”

“The only thing you bring is destruction. There’s no way for happiness to be down any path you have a hand in.”

“You cannot say that for sure.”

“Hm…I suppose you’re right. There is one thing that could bring me happiness,” she suddenly grinned. 

She charged at him in a flash, pocket knife in hand. He dodged before she could stab him, but she wasn’t about to back down. She turned on her heel, trying to get his side this time. The three brothers stood in shock as Ruki moved to stop her. 

“Do not interfere,” Karlheinz held his hand up to stop him. 

He wasn’t fazed no matter how many times she attacked him. 

“I know you wish to kill me, but this is hardly productive. We both know you are unable to.”

“What did you say again?” She scoffed. “‘You cannot say that for sure’?”

As she went for his chest, Karlheinz caught her wrist. However, she wasn’t done. Her hand swiftly grabbed her other pocket knife, hoping that would catch him off guard. He caught her other wrist as well.

“Tch…”

“I will say, you have gotten better since the last time you attacked me. Using both knives is a good strategy.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t attack you again just because you gave me a new knife?” She glared. “You’re completely idiotic.”

“On the contrary, I was sure you would try again at some point. I gave you the knife in hopes you would feel a bit safer. You have demonstrated your skills to them quite nicely.”

Sayo glanced back to see the brothers were staring at her, unsure of what to think. They didn’t expect this at all. How was a normal human girl ballsy enough to try to go against the king of the vampires?

“No way…Was that your goal all along?” 

“I thought they might have a hard time believing you’re willing to attack me if they didn’t see it for themselves,” he replied, releasing her arms. 

She glared him down, but put her knives away anyway. It would be pointless to try again. He was on his guard and she had played right into his hands. 

“Don’t misunderstand me. One of these days, I will kill you,” she stated.

He only chuckled in response. “Ruki, I suppose I must leave the rest to you. She’ll probably try to stab me again if I linger any longer. Unless you would like me to explain some things, Sayori?”

“Just get out of here.”

“I bid you all farewell,” Karlheinz said as he left the room.

Image made in neka

[sparatus]

Late to the party but whoops, for the dragon asks: Ice and/or Breath!!

well now im even later cause im answering this like a month and a half late oops

dragon asks

putting under a cut for length

Ice: share a snippet where a character is taking a risk.

hmm lots of good options but let's do this bit from broken mirror ch55:

--

“Here.” Viktoriya tossed Shepard the bag, and they caught it automatically, brows popping up in surprise. “The big box is a complete clone of Hislop’s terminal. Everything he knew about or had a hand in. Do not let it connect to the extranet. Cerberus codes all their high-ups’ stuff with bio-keys that run a self-deletion protocol if anything happens to them. As soon as those files get the signal he’s dead, you’re right back to where you started. There’s an OSD in the front pocket with a virus to scrub the keys off it, just put them together in an isolated server and let the virus do its work. Don’t let it touch your stuff.”

Shepard and Nihlus shared a look, and Shepard hastily started patting the bag down to check for anything else. After a moment, they pulled a small data drive out of a mesh pouch on the side, and Viktoriya pursed her lips. “That’s the formula for the antidote to the poison in that knife,” she said, gesturing to the hilt still sticking out of Saren’s knee. “I wanted to steal some of the actual stuff, but that’s a bit harder to swipe than some data.”

Shepard’s eyes nearly bugged out of their head. “It’s poisoned?” they yelped, practically choking on their tongue from the sound of it.

“Ricin mixed with something from Tuchanka,” Viktoriya confirmed. “I don’t know all the details, but it’s slow-acting. They like their subtle, slow methods so they can get away before you realize what they’ve done. Fucking cowards. You have a week, ten days if you’re lucky. I’d send that ahead if I were you.” She looked between them, and there must have been doubt somewhere in the picture, because she scowled. “For fuck’s sake, I’m not going to booby-trap an antidote, no matter what you think of me. Scan it for viruses if you want, I don’t care. It’s a terrible fucking way to die.”

Shepard swallowed and stuffed the drive back into the pouch. “Thank you,” they said, slinging the bag over one shoulder. “Really.”

Viktoriya snorted and rolled her shoulders. “You want to thank me? You’ve only taken out one of three. Eva Coré and Jack Harper are the other two. Find them and put them down like the fucking dogs they’ve stylized themselves as. I’ll take care of the rest.” She jammed her helmet back onto her head and adjusted it until she was comfortable, then shook herself and nodded to Saren’s body in Nihlus’s arms. “Get him home. I don’t know what the beef is with his brother, and frankly, I don’t give a shit, but nobody deserves to die like that.”

Nihlus had, quite honestly, been starting to wonder if anyone was going to remember Saren’s desperate need for medical help, and didn’t need to be told twice to gather the bundle of albino twigs close as he rose to his feet. “Come on, Saren,” he urged, running one hand over his crest. “Come on, we’re going home.”

He chose to take the faint pressure against his palm as a good sign.

Shepard adjusted the bag and made to follow, only to pause and look back at Viktoriya. “What about you?”

To Nihlus’s surprise, she actually gave a frustrated groan. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, would you go already? I can take care of myself. I have to remove all traces of me being here, or I’ll be in a hell of a lot more danger than you are.”

“But-”

“Look, I appreciate how many fucks you give about me, but I don’t need a knight in shining N7 armor, got it? The only hero in my story is me.” She barked a short laugh. “Hell, maybe I’ll make the carnage worse, hammer in why nobody came out to help. Don’t feel bad about making Earl’s cat an orphan, he stole the poor thing from his ex anyway. Being headless is a fucking improvement, you should’ve seen the stupid fucking mullet they made him shave off.” She shook her head, apparently realizing she’d gotten onto a tangent, and flapped her hands at them. “I can handle myself. Now, go!”

--

like. she's literally giving away vital information on her ruthless employers who've already been shown to remove body parts and enforce obedience so aggressively she's basically only a step or two above being classed as a slave, but she wants to be free and see her family again so badly she's willing to trust shepard despite knowing what will happen if she's caught, and we see in the post-script she is caught and we're gonna find out pretty soon in itlog what the consequences are but god that show of desperation and wanting to believe in something is just :justright:

Breath: share a snippet that makes you laugh.

well last time i shared the ol' "saren gets lifted bodily off the ground because nihlus fears neither god nor death" from rabbit so let's revisit this bad boy from itlog ch12 shall we:

--

“Agent Kryik, if this is some elaborate ruse to announce your intent to retire, I'm not amused.”

Shepard suppressed a snort. Nihlus hadn't even particularly wanted to tell the councilor what they were about to do, and had only reluctantly made the call so Sparatus could let Saren know if things went belly-up. They'd put it off to the last possible minute – they were currently loitering in the system maybe half an hour's flight from Purgatory, and were waiting on the ship to confirm permission to dock.

Nihlus at least had the courtesy to fight his mandibles back down his face before his smirk was too obvious on camera. "Ierian, believe me, when I retire, I'll tell you so from the comfort of my own bed, already holding Saren like a stuffed toy. There's no Saren in this picture, so I'm afraid I'm entirely serious."

Sparatus took a moment to stare into his hovering camera. Shepard couldn't decide if the look in his eyes was annoyance or resignation, but either way, there was definitely a healthy dose of I can't wait until you aren't my problem anymore. Then he looked down again, back to rubbing his face with a washcloth. Nihlus had texted them an explanation that it was soaked in an oil that kept his scars from getting too stiff and was applied every night; they had apparently caught him just before bed. 

There was something surreal about it, even moreso than talking to him in his own living room the week or so before. That had at least still had a level of separation to it; everyone was clothed and prepared to talk business, takeout boxes aside. That version of Ierian Sparatus had still felt like Shepard's boss, a dignified old prosecutor grouchy about being disturbed but willing to do his job. On the other hand, there was something... intimate about seeing the old man at such a simple point in time. He wasn't even wearing a shirt, the sprawling cultural tattoos across his arms and torso (xepoa'väch, Nihlus explained in another text, very Tiirti and very closed to outsiders) on full display. His vincorit glittered cheerfully in the light as it clinked around his old-man-bony wrist. He'd set his camera against the mirror so he could have his hands free, and Aediteia occasionally wandered past behind him as she went about her own routine. Peaceful and domestic, quiet and normal. No pressing matters except whether or not he'd taken the meds waiting for him on the counter. There was no councilor here, only an elderly turian getting ready for bed.

And then there was Nihlus, feet kicked up on the dash and grinning like the hoodlum Sparatus almost definitely thought he was. Shepard actually pitied the old man.

Sparatus grumbled as he pulled the washcloth from his face. "I'm going to impose a moratorium on calling me outside office hours. Call Valern. I have to be up early for a doctor's appointment, you know."

"Valern would just tell us to call you, and you know it." Nihlus uncrossed and recrossed his legs. "Besides, would you rather know ahead of time so you can give extra orders, or find out afterwards and complain about what we didn't think to do while we were there?"

"I have so few pleasures in my day-to-day, Nihlus, you would really take complaining away from me?" Sparatus tossed the cloth off to the side and picked up his toothbrush from its holder. "I suppose you have a very good reason for this very bad idea?"

--

rabbit/exdiff nihlus is really just. a menace. i love him so much

[daughter-of-melpomene]

⌨ + flo — @xoteajays

Thanks a bunch for this ask!!

Before Shaw could get out another syllable, Flo had lunged forward and shoved him up against the wall, her grip on his collar so tight the veins on her hands popped out. He let out a small, pained grunt as the back of his head bounced off the solid surface, but for some reason that only served to increase the fury pulsing through Flo, and she gritted her teeth.

“You think this is funny,” she hissed, leaning in until her nose was practically touching Shaw’s and all she could see was the slight surprised widening of his eyes. “Dom’s gone, this Cipher chick wants to kill all of us, and you’re getting a goddamn laugh out of it.”

“Sure am, love,” Shaw replied, voice slightly strained from the tight grip Flo had on him - and all of a sudden, their stances had been reversed and Flo was the one pressed up against the wall, an impressive-looking pocket knife that must have come from one of Shaw’s pockets pressed against her throat.

“In fact,” Shaw practically purred, leaning in just as Flo had done, “I think this is pretty bloody hilarious. You wankers put my baby brother in a coma in the name of family, and now you find out your leader’s left everyone to go shack up with a hacker.”

Normally Flo would’ve been a little more cautious with a knife at her neck, but indignation gave her strength, and she brought one of her booted feet up to slam it back down onto Shaw’s toe. When he jolted from the sudden pain, she took the opportunity to reach up and jerk the knife out of his hand, pushing forward and spinning around in the same move so that their positions were once again reversed and she had Shaw’s own knife poised a hair’s length away from his jugular.

“Let me tell you something,” Flo snarled, regaining her hold on Shaw’s collar and shoving him further against the wall. “Your baby brother was an asshole with a god complex who was willing to sell a device that could’ve caused a natural disaster to a bunch of even bigger assholes with more money. I’m not saying he deserved to be in a coma for that, but I’m sure as hell not sorry for helping to put him there. And it does not-” She nudged the blade a little ways forward, laying the tip lightly against Shaw’s throat without breaking the skin. “Give you the right to laugh at my family falling apart. ‘Cause I’ll tell you something, not one of us was laughing about what we did to your brother. We were just doing what we had to.

“And if you screw us over… if I even get a sense that you’re gonna betray us…” She pushed off from the wall, releasing her grip on Shaw, before stabbing the small knife into the fabric of his collar, pinning him in place, before leaning back in so their noses were just barely touching.

“Then I won’t hesitate to do what I’m gonna have to do. Because no one in your family is gonna hurt my team again if I have one fuckin’ thing to say about it.”

And with that, she spun around and walked away, not looking back, leaving Shaw to struggle free of his own knife.

Send me ⌨ + an OC and I’ll write a snippet for that OC!!

[youngcheesecaketale]

Clonetober #27 Clone Medics and Low Supplies part 17 (18 on Archives)

Here’s 1-15 Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7 Part 8 Part 9  Part 10  Part 11  Part 11 Bonus Part 12 Sneak Peak Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

When Cut saw Cody, he knew that there was ONE REASON why Cody was here. He was going to take him away from his family and put him back in the Clone Army and he did not want to go back. He might have abandoned his Brothers but he's not going to abandoned his family he has now. He worked so hard making his dream. A dream that Clones wish they could have. Their own families.

"I'm sorry Rex but I think you guys should leave. I'm not going to let anyone take away my family. Especially not from this guy!" Cut was huffing after what he said.

Everyone in the room except Cody, had a shocked look on their face. Cody was smiling and started to chuckle then shook his head. That made Cut more angry that he was about to pull out his pocket knife to defend himself but stopped when Cody put out a sealed envelope.

"You might want to read this before jump to conclusions. This will explain why we are here." Cut took the letter from Cody's hand and used his pocket knife to open it. 

"Dear Mr. Cut Lawquane,

We want to thank you for your service in the Republic Clone Army. As a thank you for your service, I have writing a check for $50,000. This should be enough for you to use for whatever you choose to do with it. You have earned it Solider.

                                                                                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                     Chancellor Bail Organa

                                                                                                                              𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓸𝓻 𝓑𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓞𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓷𝓪"

Cut mouth drop when he read the letter. He would look at the letter, look at Cody, then look back to the letter. He did this 3 TIME just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He even asked Cody to "PINCH" him to see if he was dreaming. Cut was so happy that he ran gave Cody a big hug and telling him thank you which Cody hugged back and saying your welcome. Cut gave the letter to his wife and she was also surprised that she gave Cody hug and a kiss on the cheek. Cody just told her your welcome.

"Since it's getting late, you guys are welcome to join us for dinner unless you have somewhere you need to be." Suu wanted to make sure that they didn't go home with a empty stomach.

"Are you guys OK with us having dinner with you guys after what just happened to me in the bathroom?" Everyone turned to see Jesse helping Kix exit the bathroom.

"We would be Honored to have you guys for dinner." Cut chimed in. Kix was worried that he would throw up again if they had dinner with them.

"Don't worry sweetheart. I'll make something that you can eat. It only take 10 minutes. Can you wait that long?" Kix nodded. Suu smiled then told the kids to go play outside and for Kix to sit outside on the porch to get some fresh air. Kix did what Suu said.

As Kix & Jesse left the house, Kix thought that he heard them say something about a baby surprise or if he was just his imagination. Or that he was being order to leave for a bit after what he did in the bathroom. He wanted to apologize to that he made a mess in their bathroom but didn't get to because Jek grabbed his hand and wanted him outside. Kix just smiled and let the kid bring him outside. Once they were outside, Jesse helped Kix sit on the porch so he could watch the kids play. Watching the kids interact with Jesse made him smile knowing that he will be a great father to their child.

After 30 minutes of being outside, Suu called out saying that dinner was ready and for everyone (including Jesse & Kix) to wash their hands. The kids ran to the inside to wash their hands in the bathroom that was now clean while Jesse helped Kix get up. Both Jesse & Kix went to the bathroom to wash their hands then sat the big table with everyone. The food that Suu made smelt good and looked delicious. Kix was worried that if he ate something that she made, it would end right back into the toilet. Suu smiled then handed Kix a plate with something different from what was in front of everyone else. Suu gave him the plate.

Kix was still nervous but gave it a try. As soon as he took his first bite, he was in food paradise. It was so good that he thanked her for making it for him. He hasn't had a good meal that he was able to hold down and not throw up. Suu just smiled.

"I'm glad that you like it. That was one of the few things I was able to eat when I was pregnant. I can give you the recipes if you would like." Suu said to Kix who nodded yes.

"That would be great because I think our kid is starting to get picky on what Kix eats." Everyone laughs after what Jesse said. Kix did elbow Jesse but just chuckled then gave Jesse on the lips.

Once dinner was over, Kix asked Cut and his family if they would like to come join them for their gender reveal. Cut was hesitant at first but nodded. Kix & Jesse were so happy that they gave Suu & Cut a hug. After Kix gave Suu & Cut a hug, he started to yawn. Kix told them that he is sorry as he excuses him from the table and asked them if he could lay down. Suu told him that that's fine. Jesse helped Kix walk to the ship and into their room so Kix could take a nice nap. Hopefully he get's some rest and not have to be in the bathroom. As soon has Kix head hit the pillow, he instantly fell asleep. Jesse kissed Kix's forehead before sleeping next to his Husband on the big air mattress that they shared.

[heirofgriefalwayspresent]

Start of Chapter One: Same Feeling, Different Situation.

Opening his eyes to Spring's blinding morning sun, Ariel tried lifting his head from the bed, only to realize a hand quickly came down and smacked him in the face. Rubbing his forehead, he tried to get out of bed as discreetly as humanly possible; Ariel's mother had been very clear that, as he was the eldest, he had to set an "example" in regards to the way he conducted himself. Nevertheless, the sound of a burp that escaped the mouth of one of his younger brothers tried his patience as an umpleasant smell permeated his nostrils. Rubbing his eyebrows, Ariel stepped lightly over the various beds that were tightly cramped inside the bedroom. In spite of the space's size, eight beds gave little room for anyone to walk in, which did not annoy the other children due to them being quite small. His father and mother knew that, in a few years, they would eventually need to move them to separate rooms.

Stepping out into the hall, the young man was able to see a window in which his reflection was shown. A boy of around fifteen years of age and hair that looked like a cow had licked it stared back from the glass whilst he picked up a brown poncho that hanged near the door. As Ariel felt the familiar feeling of the cloth draping over him, his hands touched the pockets that were sewn into the insides of the fabric; inside it, a few trinkets rested, the pride of Ariel's collection.

Scoffing, the young man felt one of his pieces to be missing, and so he stormed towards the kitchen, where the smell of beef broth and vegetables rested on top of a pot with a lid half-open, smoke steaming out from it. His mother stood there, watching from the window as her ears perked up, noticing Ariel's presence immediately. He did not know how to pop the question, for he was well aware that both of his parents did not agree with his hobby of collecting old junk.

"Well, look who's up this early! You sleep well, hun?" Dalilah smiled, rubbing Ariel's hair as she walked towards the outside to check on a few clothes that had been hanging to dry. In the sunlight, It was quite clear to see that Ariel took very little from his mother aside from her hazel-coloured eyes, because her tanned skin and bright brown hair wore little resemblance with Ariel's pale complexion and black cowlick.

"Ma, have you seen my knife? The one me and Ramon found the other day, you know? The one with the green-"

"Carla came by earlier to tell me all about that. Now, why did you hit that Bogdi boy? I thought we agreed that you were going to stay away from him, and now I hear you all fought because of...what, a small piece o' junk? You're going to be coming of age soon, for the Lords's sake. Would it kill you to be a little bit more careful?"

"So what, I'm just supposed to let them step all over me? Nah, that's not happening; Ramon's always been a good friend of yours, hasn't he? What's up with you suddenly starting a fight with him?" Dalilah urged Ariel to check on the stew as she spoke.

"He's an asshole-"

"Ariel, language!" With a low grunt, Dalilah's son continued.

"I've been trying for the last few weeks to get Bogdi off of my back, and all Ramon does is run his mouth and cause more trouble! What did Carla tell you? Why did you even give her my stuff? That's an invasion of my privacy, you know."

"Didn't you say way back then that 'the things we find with the guys are everyone's', mister?"

"Not when one of the guys is an annoying prick and the other is an instigator, no!" Folding his arms, the young man stepped out for a bit to get some air, watching the morning scenery as it unfolded in front of him whilst his mother tasted the stew, a satisfied groan escaping her throat.

The small community in charge of the Whemworth family stood the test of time for a few decades, about five or six generations of rulers and many conflicts with both Devils and other cities in the region alike. As a result, these small moments of peace, like in the Festival that came after the harsh winter and welcoming the beautiful spring brought everyone a pleasant feeling of celebration.

Ariel, in contrast, felt stifled as he recalled what had happened during the last couple of days. He would have to find a small moment of free time during the following days, during which he would confront Ramon and get his newly acquired bauble back; he could tell that his mother was eager to try and stop him from engaging in this particular hobby he had, but he had found it too enjoyable to stop now. In turn, he only needed a small window of time to swing over to Ramon's house to find him and gets his knife back.

"Ah, Ariel! Go and get your father from the town for me, wouldja? He went to buy rosewater but he still hasn't come back yet, so I'm sure the oaf's gotten lost."

"...A small window of time which would not come yet, it seems.", Ariel thought as he took a small club next to the door of the house, walking towards the dirt road a few houses away from him.