#I actually had more tags originally but I couldn’t figure out a good way to word them so I deleted them

[hmmihaventdecidedyet]

:O

thank you to the person in my rbs who joked abut my gpt kinda looking like jon sims i am. being insane about it

[heartpascal]

the world is brighter

▹— joel miller x platonic!f!reader

▹— summary: joel is trying to be someone he’s not.

▹— a/n: so this is meant to be the reluctant daughter fic…. and it didn’t turn out exactly the way i planned :( not sure that i like it at all honestly, but i wanna put smth out for y’all and this is 13K words that i cba to rewrite so… love you.

▹— warnings: references to suicide attempt, familial loss, previous good relationship with (assumed) biological dad, blood, so much blood, murder (you kill someone), fighting, i think you could class this as dissociation/blackouts but i’m not sure (pls tell me if it’s something different), fighting, canon-typical violence, angst — please tell me if there’s more, ive been trying to keep up to date but i’ve written this fic over so many days. be mindful, this one might be kinda heavy.

▹— tags: @auggiesolovey @just-kaylaa @evyiione @lemonlaides @fariylixie0915 @erensloveinterest @dazedshoon @faceache111 @randomhoex @canpillowscry @sleepygraves @pedropascalsrealgf @star-wars-lover @coolchick333 @soobsdior @ilybbg @rvjaa @oliest19xx @pedropepsi @sunflowersdrop @truthfuleeyours (if you’ve been tagged it’s because you requested to be on my general taglist! if you want your tag removed, drop me a message! <3)

masterlist

howl’s song associations!

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Living in Boston QZ hadn’t been your idea. No — you never would have chosen the so-called safety of the walls, which were only filled with bad people and worse authority, but you had been left with no other choice.

Pronounced an orphan on your way to the QZ, you didn’t know what else to do. With nobody to guide you or advise you, you had gone ahead with the original plan, walking the final twenty-something miles alone, in some sort of absent state.

The journey was a blur, and so was the arrival, you only really remember seeing the green flash of the cordyceps tester, reminding you of all you had lost. Every time you closed your eyes after that, the shade of green haunted you.

They had put you up in a FEDRA school, and so you began your training to become an officer. You hated it, hated the FEDRA organisation as a whole, and hated being in Boston when the person who had wanted to be there didn’t make it.

You tried not to make a habit of sneaking out after the first time, but you couldn’t help yourself. Most days, you were so exhausted from your nightly adventures through the QZ that you got everybody into doing more drills. Not many people were a big fan of you, but that was the way you preferred it.

You liked being alone, really. Enjoyed the silence that echoed through your room, the absence of other people letting you simmer in your own feelings. Your father had always reprimanded you for wallowing in your own self-pity, but he was no longer around to do such a thing. So, you wallowed.

Between climbing out of your bedroom window, jumping across rooftops to reach a particular apartment building with an actual view outside of the wall, you spent your time disconnected from the hellscape you lived in. Everything felt so far away, so out of touch, and the only moments you blinked back to reality, you were dripping in blood. Down your face, your hands, so much of it that you didn’t know where it started or ended. Or if it was your own.

Everything coming back into focus at once was dizzying enough, and sometimes that feeling was so closely related to blood loss that you had been sure somebody must’ve stabbed you, must’ve finally managed to get past your survival instincts, must’ve brought you to your end, at last.

But then you’d wake up, blood dried, no sign of the looming figure of death in front of you. There was only one occasion where the blood must’ve been mostly your own, and that was a broken nose. You pretended not to be disappointed, each and every time. Despite everything you had done to survive, everything you still do, there was a darker part of you that hated yourself for it. That blamed you.

It was one of those times yet again, where one moment you swore you were paying attention in your FEDRA classroom, and the next you blinked, eyes opening to the sight of bloodied hands in front of you.

It was everywhere, you would swear on it, underneath your fingernails, between each digit on your hand, even dripping down your wrist. It was warm and clung to your skin, even when you wiped your hands against the jeans on your legs. You blinked again, finally moving your eyes away from your sticky hands, and you gulped down a lump in your throat at the sight in front of you.

You recognised the man — a snarky guard at FEDRA, one who always had it out for you. You could see a slither of the face that always glared over at you underneath all of the red blood.

It didn’t take much realising to know that you wouldn’t get away with this thing, that this would be something that killed you. If they found out, if, then you were dead.

You needed to know, had to be sure, if this was going to be the final thing, your final action, if you had actually killed a FEDRA guard. But despite that, despite knowing that you didn’t have another option than to look if his chest was rising and falling, you couldn’t draw your eyes in the direction. Even when you tried, your chin fell to your chest, eyes back on the hands that were cradling one another in your lap, feeling far too heavy for your arms.

With the sharp way your breath was coming into your chest, you were starting to realise that your hearing hadn’t returned with your sight, and you jumped when the realisation brought it back, a rush of sound hitting you all at once.

The distant sound of gunfire, the whirring of a generator nearby, the sound of your own hyperventilating breaths, it all echoed too loudly, far too much going on for you to comprehend it all. So much so that you missed the footsteps heading your way, missed the sound of crunching stone as somebody else stepped foot on the rooftop.

A hand against your shoulder had you rearing around, fists drawn back and pushing forward until they hit the person, hard, and the hand was immediately withdrawn. You continued forward, eyes blinking closed in a flinch as the hand grabbed your wrists, holding tight until you stopped trying to pull them away.

“Jesus Christ— Tess, get on out here!” The voice belonging to the person holding on to you yelled out, about as loudly as he dared, and you bared your teeth with clenched fists at the woman who pulled herself up from the fire escape on the apartment building.

“Jesus,” She echoed, looking between you and the FEDRA agent with raised eyebrows, a slight grimace, marring her features. She looked over at the man who was grasping your wrists in a bruising grip with a questioning gaze. “What the fuck went on here?”

“Get your fucking hands off of me!” You spat out, tugging your arms, trying to get out of the man’s grip as you grit your teeth, your mind still reeling with everything that was going on.

He stared sternly at you, “You gonna calm down?” When you responded with a more than angered nod, he nodded, releasing your wrists and stepping away, leaning to look at the FEDRA guard still lay at your side. He kicked the guy in the side, and there was no hint of a reaction. “Dead.” He told the woman, Tess, with an odd look on his face.

“Well, shit, kid.” Tess sighed, hands on her hips as she looked at the situation before her. She shook her head with a tut, and approached to have a look at the guard herself. “What happened?”

You just continued baring your teeth, metaphorical hackles raised high, and Tess just responded with a blank look on her face, a dismissive purse to her lips as she moved her gaze over to the man.

He tilted his head, looking between you and the body, “Could’ve been anyone.” He suggested to Tess, rocking his head from side to side in something like deliberation. You stared hard at the two of them, confusion still buzzing through your head.

“Could’ve been.” She agreed.

They shared a look, communicating between only their eyes, and they had no reaction to the way your hands clenched, your head snapping between them. You didn’t know what had happened, couldn’t understand what was going on, and you had no idea who these people were. It really didn't provide any reassurance, and your eyebrows lowered over your eyes, a glare prominent on your features as Tess huffed.

“C’mon, kid.” The man said to you, offering a hand to help you up from the ground. When you stared at him, that glare on your face, he raised his eyebrows in annoyance. “It’s either you come with us, or you’re found here with him and hung. Your choice.” He told you, hand still offered out, and you grit your teeth as you took it, letting him pull you to your feet, and steady you when you stumbled, everything feeling a bit too real.

You focused on where you were going, rather than who was leading you there, as the two of them took you down the fire escape, hurrying you into an open window on the second flight down from the top. You didn’t take any notice of the bloody handprint Tess wiped away after you had managed to get yourself through the gap, instead looking for the doors.

“You can calm down, kid, we ain’t gonna hurt you.” Tess said, sounding snarky as she moved past you to their kitchen, where she helped herself to a glass of illegal alcohol. You raised your eyebrows, knowing that wasn’t a FEDRA-supplied bottle.

You huffed, watching the man look around the area before he shut the window, flicking the lock into place. “Can never be too careful.” You murmured in response.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Tess said, somewhat amused. “I mean if anybody here’s showed some aggression, that’d be you. Gonna tell us what went on up there?” She asked between careful sips from her glass, measured, or maybe, savouring sips.

At her question, your eyebrows furrowed once more, and you pulled your bloodied hands close to your chest, jaw clenched.

“No?” She asked, leaning forward with an expectant expression, and she opened her mouth to ask some more questions, say something else, but the man cut her off.

“Tess,” He warned, eyebrows raised, “Take it easy.” He glanced back to you, to the hands you held close to yourself, and frowned. With a nod of his head, clearly expecting you to follow, he headed down the hallway. You looked at Tess, hesitantly following the man as she nodded with an exasperated scoff.

He opened a door, revealing their bathroom, which had certainly seen better days. You wouldn’t exactly cheer for the bathrooms at FEDRA school, but jesus — at least it was better than what the general public got. “Head on in, clean yourself up. Don’t want anybody seein’ that on you.”

With some reluctance, you kept a hostile expression plastered on your face as you stepped into the bathroom, flicking on the tap in the sink and running your hands under it. Up until that point, you had remained ignorant to the way the blood clung to your skin, sticky and not quite cold, but now there was the opportunity to be rid of it, you became desperate.

The water helped, slightly, but not fast enough for your liking, resorting to the scraping of your dull nails against the drying blood, up until flakes of red started to melt away, colouring the water as it drained.

Their mirror was broken, and you couldn’t have been more glad. You were sure that if it had been there when you glanced up, if you had to look yourself in the face, you would be sick. You didn’t want to face the fact that all of this was real. You had just killed a FEDRA guard.

“Alright, that’s enough of that, now.” The man said, reaching into the sink and pulling your hands away from the stream of water when you ignored him. He shut the tap off, staring at you with that same strange expression, only glancing away to grab the towel that hung over the door. You took it, drying your hands hastily before you shoved it back towards him.

You were shoving past him before he could get another word out, barely even able to grab the towel as you passed it back. He blinked, a frown forming a deeper crease than usual between his brows.

“Listen, I—I really need to get back. Curfew is going to be over soon, I think.” You fumbled around the words, hurrying down the hallway you came from and spinning around in the room to try and reorient yourself. You finally saw the door you believed to be the exit, and headed towards it.

“Well, hold up,” Tess said, frowning and reaching out to you, stepping back with a slight scoff when you moved away from the reaching arms. “Daylight’s gonna break any second, you’d be better off waiting for curfew to be over with. And,” She added, tilting her head at you with a stern look, “You still haven’t told us what went on. We’re covering your ass, right now. If anything goes to shit it’ll be us keeping you safe. You realise that?”

You did realise something — and that was the kind of people you were dealing with. You’d heard from them, and not from the FEDRA teachers, but from other trainees, other students.

When the world went up in flames, FEDRA had been the first to seize onto power, and they held on to the pretence that they had never let go. But the world was still burning, and the people had begun rioting, and there was another opportunity for a power-grab. It was people like this who had taken that opportunity, who had made something of themselves in a world on fire.

You knew then that the way she had likely gotten that bottle of alcohol was through her own network. She was a manipulator, clearly, a blackmailer. She used the resources she had, and she definitely made the most of them. She wasn’t bluffing.

“So, what? I don’t tell you and you sell me out?” You ask, despite knowing the answer. Part of you wants to hear her say it, though, wants to hear the admission of being a bad person. Then again, maybe she was the good guy, you thought, after remembering the blurry image of that guard, lay still on the roof above where you stood.

Tess tilted her head, “Pretty much.”

“Well, fine. Be my guest. As much as I would love to comply with your blackmail, I couldn’t tell you. Don’t have a fucking clue what happened up there. I’d say try asking him, but…” You snarked in response, another bare of your teeth, another raising of your hackles. Tess was looking more frustrated by the moment, if the slight twitch of the skin of her brows said anything. She held herself together pretty well. If it weren’t for the stark difference between times like now and the times of blacked out memories, blurred images, you likely wouldn’t have even noticed. But it was like everything was so clear when you actually looked, and you noticed details that most people wouldn’t.

“Joel,” Tess sighed out, and even the cadence of her voice revealed the annoyance that was growing within her. “Help me out, here?” She asked, because despite every front that the man put up, he was still better with kids than she was. There was something about him, an authority, she wondered, that just made people fess up.

You looked over to the man, to Joel, to see his eyes looking at you with more recognition by the second, a pull to the frown on his lips that suggested he knew something that you didn’t. You weren’t a fan of the look.

He gritted his teeth at the whole situation, his chest aching with familiarity. Joel knew, probably better than anyone, that look in your eye. “I believe her,” Joel answered Tess, hesitantly, rolling his eyes when the two of you immediately looked at him with dumbfounded expressions. “Look, Tess is right. You’re better off sticking ‘round here ‘til curfew drops.” He told you then, his voice gruff as he leaned to look out of the window, seeing the light outside growing brighter each passing minute.

You huffed, but crossed your arms in defeat, shoulders slouching where you stood.

“But remember, you owe us.” Tess said scathingly, a crease running along her forehead before she turned away, heading down the hallway. She pretended that she didn’t hear the way you scoffed at her words.

You and Joel stood opposite each other, the room tense. He cleared his throat, uncrossing his arms so the two of you didn’t mirror each other quite so accurately, and he turned to grab his own glass of booze. “So, uh, you go to school? FEDRA?” He asked, talking over the sound of liquid being poured into his glass.

“Yeah.” You responded lamely, tapping a foot against the floorboards of their apartment, avoiding looking at the man.

“You know the guy, then?” He questioned, eyebrows raised as he turned back around to look at you.

The look you gave him was scathing, but you gritted your teeth and responded anyway, seeing no other choice. “I guess. Gives me— gave me a hard time for dumb things. Don’t know what happened last night, before you ask.” You said, correcting your words to the past tense, and your chest felt hauntingly empty, despite what you had done.

Joel shrugged at you, “Wasn’t goin’ to.” He responded, mouth set in a thin line before he took a long sip from his drink. “Get some rest, kid. Got an hour or so, yet.” He told you, seeing your exhaustion before you had even felt it, apparently.

You blinked at him, surprised. The idea was tempting, you could admit, but it didn’t feel like a good idea to go to sleep around two strangers. At any moment, they could have a change of heart. It was best to stay on guard, to be ready to run at a moment’s notice. That was the way you always played these type of things, and it worked out.

He drained his glass, shrugging at you when you didn’t move to head towards the sofa he had vaguely gestured at, and said, “Suit yourself.” Before he walked down the hallway, following Tess.

You waited there for more than a few minutes, so still, making sure you didn’t make a sound, waiting to hear when one of them would come back to keep an eye on you. You had never felt more confused when they didn’t.

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Ever since then, the world seemed to blur around you even more. And despite getting out in the hold at school after getting caught trying to sneak back in, it didn’t deter you, and they didn’t seem to suspect you of anything. You had heard the whispers about the dead FEDRA guard, though.

You tried not to listen.

Instead, you spent even more of your time sneaking out, but allowed that haze to fall over you with even less of a fight each time you went out. It was easier, that way, to let the world fall away and leave you with memories smudged in blood, that you certainly didn’t remember acquiring. Nothing in them was clear, and the cycle of waking up covered in blood didn’t stop.

More often than not, though, it was beginning to be your own blood. Apparently, your hazed self had become terrible at picking the battles you fought, and you’d blinked back to reality more than once when sparring at school, the jolt of pain when somebody caught an injury bringing you back faster than anything else had.

When you blinked back into reality this time, however, it was with warm blood dripping down your face, a hand gripping onto your head and keeping it upright when it began to fall to one side. You didn’t expect to see a familiar face, that was for sure.

“Joel?” You asked, incredulous, your voice slurred as you spoke through blood in your teeth.

“Well, she’s alive.” He said, not to you, barely even acknowledging your questioning tone as he glanced behind him to somebody you couldn’t see. Tess, presumably. “What have you gotten yourself into this time, kid?” He grumbled, voice gruff as he looked over your head for injuries, a grimace on his face at the amount of blood dripping down your temple.

His hand left your head a moment later, and you just about caught the weight of it before your chin could hit your chest, leaning back and settling the crown of your head against what felt like a brick wall.

A hand against your shoulder caught your attention when your eyes had been drifting closed, without you knowing they had even begun to do so, and you blinked them back open. “Jesus, how many times are we gonna have to save your ass?” Tess asked rhetorically, a grimace that matched Joel’s on her face as she looked at the state of you.

“‘M fine.” You grumbled, moving to try and push her hand away but only pulling your hand back with a hiss at the sudden throbbing pain that bloomed in your fingers.

Tess smiled sarcastically, “Yeah, sure you are. Those are broken, by the way.” She said, nodding down to the fingers on your hand which were bloodied and bruised, swollen and now so painful you had to grind your teeth together. Your knuckles were split, and you looked around, seeing no sign of a body, but you couldn’t help wondering what the other guy must look like.

You didn’t say anything else to her, just focusing on keeping your eyes open and attempting to remember whatever had happened to lead you to such a state. Nothing came up.

Even when Joel lifted your arm, hand gripping your wrist tightly as he pulled your elbow around his neck until he was holding most of your weight. He stumbled slightly when you did, and let out a gruff comment about you handling some of your own weight.

You did your best, but he ended up practically carrying you all the way back to their apartment, which was a couple of blocks. You vaguely wondered how they had even come across you, but figured you were in no place to ask questions.

“Remember what happened this time?” Tess asked, opening the door to their shared apartment so Joel could pull you through it, his arms straining to keep you upright. It was a much harder task when you were conscious but barely in control of your own limbs. He had thought about carrying you, but decided that was much too strange.

You shook your head, but realised she was facing away from you, and you hoped Joel hadn’t noticed your mistake. “Not a fucking clue.” You slurred out, tongue feeling heavy in your mouth as it tried to spell out the words.

Joel huffed out a breath through his nose as he set you down against their couch, his shoulders slouching as he finally relaxed his muscles, feeling a distant ache in his arm from being so tensed. He went down the hallway a second later, disappearing from your view.

“You are one lucky kid.” Tess drawled, the scene so familiar to the first time you met the two of them, as she held a glass of alcohol loosely in her hand. Distantly, you wondered if they had a glass every day, and if that meant they had shitloads of the stuff stored away somewhere, but decided you probably shouldn’t be thinking about it.

You scoffed, brows furrowed in aggravation despite the fact they had probably saved your lives. “Yeah, lucky. Sure.” You said, likely the clearest you had been able to speak since you’d woken up. Or become aware. You weren’t really sure which was more accurate.

Tess smiled, a sarcastic one that was full of humour and annoyance, “Oh, you don’t think so? Should we think about what could’ve happened if somebody else had found you there?” She asked, eyebrows raised, and you grit your teeth to stay silent.

You, better than anyone, knew what could’ve happened. You knew what people in this QZ — hell, in this world, — were capable of. So maybe you were lucky that Joel and Tess had found you, considering that they hadn’t ratted you in to FEDRA just yet, but you knew that the one thing this world would never generate is trust. They could be just as bad, or worse, as anyone else who might have discovered you there, bloody, injured, and completely unaware.

After all, you were at their apartment, with no idea why.

“She knows, Tess,” Joel grumbled, reappearing from the hallway and looking just as unhappy as ever. He sighed, drawn out and heavier than you had expected, and held up a wet cloth. “Come on, kid, get yourself cleaned up.” He handed it over to you, and ushered Tess to follow him back down the hallway, where they spoke in harshly whispered voices.

You wiped the side of your face, getting rid of the sticky blood that was coming from the side of your head. It was kind of difficult to do with no mirror, but you wiped as much of it off as you could get to before you stopped, breathing through the pain in your head, your fingers, the left side of your chest. You grimaced as you tried to wipe blood away from your split knuckles, your broken fingers. It hurt, and it was too real of a pain.

You paused when you heard Tess’s voice raise, “She’s going to get us caught, or killed, Joel!” She said, before her tone lowered once more, further discussion happening between them. You wondered what they could be talking about — they held no obligation to pick you up off of the streets. They didn’t owe you anything. As far as you were concerned, you didn’t owe them anything, either. Everything they had done was of their own volition, meaning you hadn’t forced them into anything.

For whatever reason, they felt the need to help you. You couldn’t pretend to understand it, but you did know that this couch was much more comfortable than the stones of whatever street you had been lay on were.

Joel came down the hall soon enough, a crease between his brows, and he grunted when he saw the poor job you had done of cleaning yourself up. “Get to the bathroom, kid. We’ll patch you up there.”

“Why?” You asked, before you could help yourself. They didn’t need to be doing this, so why were they? Tess was right, you were only a danger to whatever operation they had going on, so why?

“It’s either that or you carry on bleeding out on our couch.” Tess called out, rustling through something as soon as she emerged from the hallway, busying herself in drawers and cupboards.

You figured it’d be in your best interest to not bleed out on their couch.

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Weirdly, it was the fourth time you ran into Joel and Tess that everything seemed to fall into place. Except this time, it was you doing just that, running into them. Or more accurately, him.

You had hit against shoulders in your fast pace, sending various people tumbling backwards or stepping out of your path. Helpful for you, yes, but also helpful for the group chasing you. You tried not to look back, but the footsteps chasing you were growing louder and you had to know how close they were.

One look over your shoulder led to you colliding with somebody, and you cursed as it sent you spilling to the floor at their side. With a scathing glare on your face, your heart going a mile a minute, you looked up to see none other than Joel fucking Miller.

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.” Joel murmured, eyes wide as he looked to where you had fallen after running into him. The alarm in your eyes made him move to face where you were looking, and there were three of Robert’s goons. He noticed, quickly, the knife that one of them was holding.

Without a second thought, he stepped between you and the group approaching, his hands clenching into fists as he grit his teeth. He wasn’t good at negotiating, at talking — that was more of Tess’s side of the deal. If it came to it, though, he could take on these fools. And he could play it off as if he was defending himself from the knife they were carrying, if need be.

They sputtered to a stop in front of him, a wary look exchanged between the two men, as the woman behind glared daggers at him. “Come on, Miller, move outta the way.” The man holding the knife said, tilting his head to one side as if that was going to make Joel listen to his directions.

Joel’s eyebrows set lower on his face as he looked back to you, with your wide eyes, and the way you scrambled up to stand just behind him. He huffed, a tired sigh leaving him, and turned back to the goons.

“Not happening.”

The three of them scoffed, incredulous, and the woman stepped forward with a sneer on her face. “What? You some kinda saviour now, Miller? Gonna start defending all the helpless little girls?” She said, voice venomous, but she stepped back when Joel went to move forward.

You, however, were not having that.

“Helpless?” You questioned, a scathing heat burning its way down your throat, “I’d like to see you go and ask your boss how helpless I am.”

Joel’s hand blocking your path stopped you from stepping towards the woman, your teeth bared at her, but you remained behind the man. You may not like listening to him, but he seemed to know what he was doing far more than you did.

“You bitch,” The final man said, no weapon held in his hand, but there was something dark about him that even Joel could see. Joel pushed against you, putting you further behind him as the man stepped forward. “When I—”

Joel’s eyes darkened considerably, and he knew from the expressions on the group’s faces that they had seen his face harden. “When you what?” He asked, looking down at the group before him, something violent in his words, as if daring the man to finish his sentence, to say something that Joel didn’t like, to give him the excuse.

“Can’t you just mind your own goddamn business, Miller?” The one with the knife asked, his lips drawn back in what was almost a snarl as he tried to catch a good look at you from around Joel’s shoulder.

“This is my goddamn business. Now run yourselves back to Robert before this gets out of hand.” Joel said, the threat in his words clear despite him having said nothing particularly violent. It was explicit in his tone, apparently. His gruff words were somewhat of a comfort to you, though, a slight relief that you could stop running, for now. You were also hoping that this meant your messed up shoulder would be your only injury of the day.

“Are you having a fucking laugh?” The woman asked, incredulous, as she stared at where Joel stood tall in front of you.

“Do I look like I’m laughing?” Joel asked, being met with nothing but deadly silence. You peeked around his arm to see the three of them looking like fools in front of him, their cocky, entitled attitudes falling apart under the weight of his words. The three of them shared a glance, gritted teeth and angered glares, and looked to Joel with a more than annoyed expression.

The man with no weapon caught sight of you looking around Joel, and pointed his hand at you, “Just you fucking wait.” He threatened, putting his hand down when Joel’s shoulders straightened, his legs moving to take a step towards the man, who quickly backed away alongside his two companions. They left without another word, throwing angry looks over their shoulders until they disappeared out of sight, at which point Joel turned to you.

“How is it that I always find myself savin’ your ass?” Joel asked, mostly to himself, as he looked at where you stood, a hand holding your other and close to your chest. He sighed, heavily, “You hurt?”

“I’ve been worse.” You admitted, though Joel knew better than anyone. He could see on your face that the swelling from around your black eye hadn’t long faded to almost normal, he could see the stitched cut along the back of your forearm, could see the way you winced as you attempted to shrug, give up halfway.

Joel nodded, studying you for a moment, his eyes drawn to the way your clothes had been ripped after your fall to the ground. He frowned. It was getting colder as the days went on, and he was already sceptical about the lack of layers you wore. He huffed out another sigh, a frown pinched between his eyebrows, and looked back down the street to ensure the goons hadn’t decided to come back. When the coast was clear, he turned back to you where you stood almost nervously, and he realised this was the first time he had seen you out during the day time. Every other time he had discovered you it had been the midst of the night.

“C’mon, let’s get back.” He murmured, keeping the mean look on his face in case anybody else came after you. For once, you didn’t say anything, just following along at Joel’s side, wincing every time you moved your arm.

“I remember what happened this time,” You offered, when the two of you finally reached Joel and Tess’s shared apartment, with you taking your seat on their couch with a half-repressed sigh. Your feet were aching, and your shoulder was killing, but at least you could rest here for a while.

Joel looked up from his rummaging at that, surprised by not only what you said, but the fact that you had said it at all. Each time, one of them prompted you for information, and you never remembered. Or you weren’t willing to share the small details you did recall. It was strange for you to offer such information to him. “Yeah?” He prompted absently, continuing to look through drawers after his slight pause.

“Yeah,” You answered as you raised an eyebrow at his actions, wondering what he could be searching for. Before you could lose your nerve, you continued, “Got into some stupid business with some guy called Robert, and then he tried to rip me off. I got kicked outta school trying to get what he needed, too.” You scoffed as you spoke, paying less attention to Joel’s reaction and focusing more on your annoyance at the whole situation. “I just… got angry, started hittin’ the guy. Then ran away, and they started chasing me.”

“What were you goin’ into business with him for?” Joel asked after you had finished, his eyebrows creased together. Robert had a way of getting to old world stuff, but everyone knew he was dodgy. Often times, it was double-sold, or broken. He was a scammer, and that was coming from Joel, who had upped prices to ridiculous amounts on the shit he and Tess smuggled in, per her order, of course.

You huffed, “I dunno, just wanted something. Doesn’t matter, anyway. He didn’t have it.”

“Well, you tell me what it is and I’ll see what I can do.” Joel offered, unsure as to why. He hated himself for doing this, for letting you in, for feeling some inexplicable reason to help you each time you were hurt. He couldn’t understand it. Perhaps, he could say you reminded him of someone who’s name he refused to speak, but that wasn’t right. You shared very few similarities with her, in fact, Joel would argue that you looked more like him. That lost look in your eyes, the blurred vision you saw through when he found you covered in blood, the memories lost to bloodshed… it was like looking in a mirror.

He felt some sort of responsibility towards you — as if helping you could heal his own wounds. Joel figured he should’ve known by now that something like that would never work.

Perhaps, he just wished that someone could’ve pulled him out of that state, when he was in it. He couldn’t say your reasons for being like this, hell, it could just be a product of the apocalyptic world you lived in, but he figured that one day, you’d grow to be like him. And god, he was hoping that you could avoid it. So if him helping you could do that, could steer your path away from seeing him in your reflection, he’d do it.

“I said it didn’t matter.” You responded, snappily. Clearly whatever you had been after was personal, held close to your chest. He couldn’t blame you for not wanting to reveal it.

Joel said nothing for a moment, but looked at you from where he stood across the room. “You got kicked outta school?” He asked, instead of pressing the subject. He saw a weight lift off of your shoulder at the change in topic.

“Yeah, got caught sneaking out too many times. Said I must have some place else to go, and that I’m old enough to know what the fuck I’m doing.” You said, rolling your eyes at the memory. You weren’t all too bothered about it. Learning about the world through a government’s perception wasn’t all that mind blowing, and you hated drills. You didn’t want to be a FEDRA soldier. So, in reality, it was quite the gift.

You had to think that way, too stubborn to remember how your father had always talked about you going to those kind of schools, about you getting an education that was more than him just pointing out words and teaching you basic math. He had never quite understood that you learned more from him than you would from anybody else.

Joel’s eyebrows pinched, a look that was almost concern shining through his eyes. “You’re just a kid.” He said, having no reaction to the way you glared at him.

“I can take care of myself.” You told him, firmly, trying your best not to think about how many times he and Tess had pulled you out of shit, likely saving your life. It didn’t matter. At the end of the day, all you had was yourself.

“Where are you staying?” He asked, eyebrows raised at you, as if he was proving his point by asking it, especially when you didn’t answer immediately. All orphans went to FEDRA school, until they were old enough to get sent to a position as a guard or they were kicked back out to the street. He knew you weren’t old enough to be put in that position just yet. After all, FEDRA didn’t allocate housing to people of your age.

You looked to your hand in your lap, picking at the blood still stuck underneath your nails. “Not important.”

“No?” Joel asked, just a hint away from mockingly. You furrowed your brows at him, a frown pulling at your lips in defence.

“No.” You answered.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

You think now, that you would have never been in this situation if you hadn’t accepted Joel’s insistence that you stay with him and Tess. It had gotten to a point of normalcy, something so close to domestic that it had you sneaking out of their apartment, up the fire escape back to the roof where it all began to unravel, all those nights ago.

The stain of blood on the ground is still there, and you had been staring at it long enough that you were starting to miss where it began and ended. You still couldn’t pull the memories from that night from your skull, and you were starting to think they weren’t in there at all.

It had all led you to here, to where you sat, legs swinging over the edge of the air-conditioning unit on the roof of the building. Or at least, that’s what Joel told you these things were. You frowned at the memory.

You hated the way you had let all of this happen, had let yourself get closer to the people who seemed to always be there. They were more present in your life than any other figure, even before you moved in with them. It had seemed as if you only woke up from your haze when they pulled you out of it. You couldn’t begin to understand why, and honestly, you didn’t really want to.

All you knew was that this was exhausting. You had been present for the longest time you could remember since before your father had… well, since before everything changed. And it was all because there was a ball of anxiety in your chest, hammering loudly within the beat of your heart.

Maybe it was selfish, or foolish, maybe it was both, to feel so dejected over something that should be good. But it was all feeling too familial for your liking, and it was like a constant waiting game, constantly wondering when the other shoe would drop. There had to be some sort of catch, something would surely go wrong, because life with Joel and Tess was becoming too comfortable. You should’ve been happy for it. Perhaps any other kid your age would have been, but all you could think of was the time before Boston.

Images of a house, a father who cared about you, who bought you paints and brushes even when that would have been better spent on new boots for himself. You could remember the way the sole had been peeling away when you had last seen him, remember the way he had yelled at you, begged you to leave him behind.

Sure, you had listened, had walked away from him slumped against the wall of a decrepit convenience store, but you had never truly left him behind. All the times you had spent in Boston, in a subconscious state, there had been no more memories. Before Tess and Joel, the most vivid thing you could recall was your dad.

If you closed your eyes, shut out the image of the blood staining concrete, and focused hard enough, you could hear his laugh. Reluctant laughter was something you had often drawn out of him, because he found the only joy he had left in the world within you. But there was always that nagging worry, at the very back of his mind, reminding him that things weren’t okay.

Hell, the whole reason he had insisted upon leaving the house where you had spent most of your life was because he believed you would be safer in Boston, in a QZ rather than a small community with not enough firepower to cope with any hordes.

He’d been a firm man, with a furrow between his brows that you could now see in Joel’s face, and you hated it. Your dad had given up everything for you. Why were you seeing similarities between him and Joel?

“Come on, it’s time to get going!” Tess called to you, dragging you from where you were trying to conjure up an image of your dad that wasn’t his last moments. You huffed, pushing off of the air conditioning unit, and headed down the fire escape, taking your backpack from Tess where she held it out to you.

It hadn’t been your choice to go along with Joel and Tess, more of an order, given that they didn’t want to leave you alone at their apartment. They were running low on ration cards, not enough for you to survive alone, especially if anything went wrong. That was the whole purpose of their trip, they had told you, to get something they could trade for more cards. The two of them hadn’t explained to you the radio and music catalogue that sat in their apartment, but you had figured out that it must’ve been some sort of communication system. If you were going to go off of the way Joel’s head had snapped up when some song you didn’t recognise came on.

The three of you were setting off the next day, so it must’ve meant something to them.

Joel had said something about you being in for some kind of treat, assuring you that the trip would be worth it, despite the way you remained unconvinced. You didn't want to leave the QZ again, but part of you, that stupid childish part, was curious.

So you followed them.

You were quiet most of the trip, despite Joel trying to encourage conversation with you, a crease of concern to his face the more checked out you became.

In your own defence, you seemed to be on guard well enough when you retreated to that state where it wasn’t really you, and the whole trip was too familiar. If you didn’t focus hard enough on your surroundings, you would wake up and be with your father again, or you’d lack attention and hear that gunshot as you walked away.

It was easier this way. Safer.

You also didn’t expect for Joel or Tess to notice anything different, but then you were blinking back into reality some time later, though you couldn’t tell how much. Joel’s face was in front of your own, his eyebrows furrowed, expression angrier than you had seen it in a while.

Looking around the area, over Joel’s shoulder, you saw a burning building some ways behind him, and your eyebrows raised in surprise. “What happened there?” You asked, your throat sore as you said it, your chest aching, and you were more confused than anything else at the sensation.

“What were you thinking?” Joel seethed, seemingly becoming angrier at your question, and you tried not to pay the emotion any mind. You looked around again, squinting your eyes and catching sight of Tess stood before the building, her gun raised to the doorway as if expecting something to come out of the blaze. “Huh?” He questioned, drawing your attention back.

“What are you talking about?” You asked, getting more confused by the second. You looked down to where your fingers were apparently covered in soot, and slowly connected that with the burning building across the way. “Wait, did I—”

“You can’t check out like that! You’re gonna get yourself killed.” Joel said, and you felt his hand squeeze your shoulder far more gently than the way he was speaking. He seemed… frantic, almost. You frowned, because nobody had ever really noticed you blanking out before, or at least, nobody had ever said anything to you about it.

Your awareness came back to you fully then, and you could feel the heat from the fire even all the way over here, so you couldn’t imagine the heat Tess was feeling. With a huffed breath, you pulled yourself to your feet, shrugging Joel’s hand off when he tried to help you as you stumbled slightly. Your bag felt lighter than it had before, but at least you still had it.

Joel grumbled, his hard expression unchanging as he turned away from you to go and grab Tess, nodding at you to follow them as you hurried away from the burning building, blinking as you tried to remember what had happened.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

Arriving at Bill and Frank’s compound was… overwhelming. Which was probably the biggest understatement ever.

Tess and Joel didn’t think it pertinent to tell you where you were headed before leaving Boston, and you weren’t all that well versed in where smugglers got their items to smuggle. You figured it would be some run down place, that was mostly untouched by the outbreak.

You didn’t expect this.

Initially, it reminded you of the small community you had lived in with your father, all that time ago. Though this place was guarded much better, with that electric fence that Joel warned you away from. The houses looked good, and there was one down the street, with a wide porch and old kids toys piled in the garden, which made your heart clench.

You wanted to retreat back into yourself, to hide in that haze, to let the blanket of emptiness cover you, but then Frank was emerging from the doorway of their house, his grip tight on a walking stick, but his smile was wide. He was tailed by Bill, whose hands hovered hesitantly as he followed Frank.

“Tess! Joel!” Frank called, and held his arms out for Tess when she approached, sharing a hug like they were family. You were pretty sure that they were just friends, had no connection before the outbreak. It was strange, really, to think of hugging someone that wasn’t a relation. Or perhaps it was the caring part of it that had your brows creased. “And who’s this?” He asked, smiling at you.

With a nod from Joel, you introduced yourself to the man, trying not to shrink into yourself at his cheerful demeanour, and the suspicious glances of Bill from beside him.

“Bill, it’s fine,” Frank sighed, a roll of his eyes as he turned to the man. “Go get started on dinner! We’re going to sit out here, while the weather is nice.”

Bill grumbled, eyes darting between the three of you and the man he loved, but he turned with a resigned sigh. Frank grinned, a fond look on his face.

Tess busied herself setting the table, ignoring the way Frank scolded her for doing his job, only shooting him an exasperated smile. After a moment, Frank realised there were only four chairs set around the small garden table.

“Oh, I think there’s another in my art room.” He said, as he looked between you and the four chairs.

Unable to help yourself, “You have an art room?” You asked, which was probably the most you had spoken for the past few days. You ignored the way Joel seemed to perk up at your words, a glance going between him and Tess.

Frank smiled. He seemed to do a lot of that. “You wanna have a look?” He asked kindly, nodding his head and starting towards the house.

“Go on.” Joel encouraged with his monotone murmur. You hesitantly followed Frank into the house.

You didn’t look around much, instead opting to focus on keeping close to the man in front of you. If you looked to closely, you think you might see similarities to the home you had with your dad, and after already shutting down once on this journey, you figured that Joel wouldn’t be too pleased if you did it again.

It was wracking your nerves, the closer you got to Frank’s art room. You wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, not even your father, had he been here, but you were scared. You had gotten so good at removing yourself from a multitude of situations, but the concept of art had you grounded in place no matter how much you might have wanted to fade back into your mind. You can remember nights spent staying up late, dipping brushes in colours that resembled the world around you almost too accurately. The gentle swipe of paint across paper, canvas, walls, wood — whatever your father could give you, at the time.

It was the best thing you had.

You realise, now, that you had been escaping from the world for your whole life. Only back then, it had been to nicer lands, beauty put down on different mediums so you could physically touch it, could know it was true, it was real. The only thing that had changed was your method of escaping, really. Where you had once clambered for colours and depictions of the world in a different light, you now escaped to the very depths of your mind, hidden deep under sadness and fear and loneliness. Somewhere that you couldn’t be disturbed, wouldn’t have to think about the world and what it had taken from you.

You’re scared of wanting that old method of escape back.

When you enter the art room, you know your fear is valid. You know that the longing you have for paints and pencils and whatever supplies your father could get his hands on was back, or perhaps it was just the longing for your father returning full force from where you had buried it. Whatever it might have been, it was overwhelming.

It made everything feel like it meant more. Like the careful brushes of meticulously selected colours on white canvases was personal to you.

Frank’s art was covering the entire room, a stack of empty canvases in one corner, dwarfed by the amount of wooden frames that had sketched or painted pictures stretched over them. It was bright in here, the colours seemingly glowing from the light that was shining through the large windows, looking out on parts of the garden.

“This one isn’t finished,” Frank said, his voice quiet, and you looked to where you had forgotten he was standing. He leant heavily on his walking stick, gesturing with his free hand toward a canvas stood upon an easel — the first easel you had seen. When your dad first encouraged your interest in art, he had told you all about what his time in art class at school had been like. He’d told you about the easels, the shitty school paints — which were heavenly compared to what yours had been like — and his own art teacher. But easels weren’t the most common thing, and so you had never used one.

The painting that stood upon the strange-looking three legged stand looked like the beginnings of Bill’s face, blue eyes surrounded by carefully mixed colours to bring about the contours of the man’s skin. It was much better than anything you had ever painted.

“Have you ever painted?” Frank asked, after a few moments of hesitation. He’d lived in the apocalyptic world, too, but he hadn’t grown up in it. The man had more awareness than you expected, given his presence in such a protected home, but you supposed that if he knew Tess and Joel, it made sense that he would be sensitive of the world’s horrors.

You looked at the paintbrushes set out to dry beside an open window, and quickly drew your gaze away. “Yeah,” You responded, voice uncharacteristically gentle. You cleared your throat, annoyed at your own involuntary vulnerability. “My dad used to get paints, before I got to Boston.”

If Frank noticed your choice of pronoun ‘I’ and not ‘we’, he didn’t comment on it. He let your words settle for a moment, and you realised this was probably the most open you had been, the most you had spoken of your life before Boston. It was almost… sad. You think your dad would’ve loved Bill and Frank’s home, and the knowledge that nobody else would ever be able to consider what he would like was a painful admission.

“Well, I’m sure you could take some back with you.” Frank offered, a gentle smile on his face. He seemed to know more than he let on, even when your words were limited and he didn’t know you, hadn’t even met you before today.

You tried to brush your discomfort away, tried to unwind the stiffness to your shoulders. “That’s okay.” You said, fiddling with a button on your jacket as you took one more glance around the room, an uncomfortable tightening in your throat. “We’d better get back.” You prompted, walking to the chair in front of the easel and picking it up, gesturing for Frank to lead the way back to the garden.

“You alright?” Joel asked quietly as you set the chair down by his side, taking a seat in it a moment after as Frank and Tess began chatting away.

“I’m fine.” You snapped.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

It was on the way back from Bill and Frank’s that everything seemed to go wrong. For this portion of the journey, you made sure to cling on to every slither of awareness you had, digging your claws into consciousness and not letting go. You wouldn’t admit it, but the whole situation on the way there had shaken you.

You supposed it was different to the way blanking out in the QZ had been. After all, there was a certain amount of control in the QZ, much less of a wild factor than there was in the outside world. You could anticipate everything that you might come into contact with at the QZ, and each time, nothing was scary enough for you to even consider holding on to consciousness. Out in the real world, that was very different.

Despite travelling in it to the Quarantine Zone, there wasn’t a whole lot of that you could remember after the incident with your father. Everything was unpredictable, out here, and you were foolish to forget that. Especially after what it cost you the first time.

There may have been something else, though, something that had your fingers grasping onto reality so tightly you didn’t think you would ever let go. And that was the fact that it wasn’t just yourself that you were putting in danger, anymore, but Tess and Joel, too. And would you ever be able to forgive yourself if you came to awareness, just to see their blood on your hands? To find their bodies lay still? To be at fault once again for killing the only people left in the world that would see you safe? You could pretty confidently say no, you would never be able to forgive such a thing.

Even with your best attempts to cling on to your own awareness, it was clear that Joel and Tess didn’t quite trust your efforts. Given the fact that they refused to let you take a watch when night fell early, stopping to wait the darkness out just over halfway back to the Zone. Tess had already taken first watch, shaking Joel awake despite your offer to watch the area for him, so it was just you and Joel, Tess’s breaths long-since evened out.

“You can get some rest, y’know.” Joel said, his voice low to avoid waking Tess. You were well aware that she was a light sleeper, though you couldn’t blame her. It was the apocalypse, after all. Besides, it wasn’t like you were able to catch much sleep, too hyper focused on staying present to drift even into slumber, fearing you wouldn’t become conscious afterwards, fearing you would just wake.

“‘M fine, Joel.” You grumbled in response, eyes flitting around the rustling grass surrounding you, as if something was going to jump out at any moment.

Joel huffed, something between exasperation and vague amusement in it, and shook his head. “Sure, you are, kid.” He responded, adjusting his grip on the gun and resigning himself to the fact that you were going to stay up, no matter what he said. “Not gonna let anythin’ hurt you, you do know that, right?” He asked, after a long pause, and ignored the unpleasant way your face twisted.

“Why do you two help me? I don’t get it. Not done anything to help you, so why?” You questioned, instead of answering his question, too desperate to know to avoid the opening in the conversation. Joel sighed, a roll of his eyes, a deflection, as always.

“So impossible to believe that we could just be good people?” Joel replied, after your expectant silence lingered on uncomfortably. He shuffled, pausing when Tess moved, but only turned in her sleep.

You huffed, and Joel tried to ignore the way he was sure it sounded just like him. “Yes, it is impossible to believe that. You found me after I…” You paused, unsure how to go about admitting something you didn’t even remember. “After that FEDRA guard. Good people wouldn’t help me, after seeing that.”

“Been in your shoes, kid.” Joel said, at last, and you furrowed your brows at his answer. And the nickname he had taken to calling you. Joel didn’t exactly want to talk about it, both for the unpleasantness he had experienced and the worry that you’d retreat if he was honest. He could barely even explain the why to himself, so he had no idea how he could formulate it into words to tell you. “Not a good place to be, even worse if you’re alone.” He admitted, though he hadn’t been alone for as long as he could remember. There had always been Tommy, and after Tommy there was Sarah, and then his brother returned, but even then — he had Tess. But despite all that company, Joel knew exactly how it felt to be isolated, to be alone in your situation, to feel no other option than to retreat into yourself to get through the day.

He wouldn’t wish it upon anyone, let alone you.

You wanted to deny it, to tell Joel that you weren’t alone. That you already had a family you loved, that you already had a dad who cared about you, but what could you say? The truth was, he was gone.

“Get some sleep.” Joel said, dismissing the conversation before you could figure out anything to say. You just frowned at him, staring at him like his expression held all the answers, but as always, Joel revealed nothing. No reasoning, no answers, nothing. Finally, you turned away from him, resting your head against your backpack, eyes remaining open so you could keep an eye on the forest ahead of you for the last few hours of the night.

When the light finally a swept the last of the darkness away, the three of you set off again. Now, you were at the final stretch of your journey — so close to the QZ you could almost smell the pungent scent of fire and unrest. You never thought you’d be glad to see the decimated land around the Boston zone, but here you were, five steps ahead of Tess and Joel, who shared secret glances, communicating in a language you couldn’t understand.

They joined your side when you paused, waiting for them, just along the edge of where FEDRA usually patrolled. You looked to the two adults expectantly, not sure where you’d be entering the Zone, and figuring you must’ve been out of it if they had ever actually told you that part.

Now this, this was where it all went downhill.

“On your knees.” A voice from behind the three of you said, and you recognised the sound of a familiar FEDRA officer, from your time spent as a trainee. You just hoped he wouldn’t remember you. “I said, get on your knees!” He repeated, when the three of you had hesitated a moment too long, stepping forward and jabbing the end of his gun into the back of your knee. You grit your teeth as your knees buckled from the hit, dropping to the ground with your hands raised. You watched Joel and Tess follow when the guard moved towards them. Joel’s jaw was clenched.

“We’re just lookin’ to get to the QZ, man, that’s all.” Tess said, keeping her hands in the air and her head tilted as she tried to negotiate, as usual.

“Just a precaution, ma’am.” The guard responded, a snark to his voice. Despite what he said, when you first arrived to the QZ, there was no precautions this far out. In fact, it was only when you stalked towards the gate that guns were trained on you, your wrists bound until they got you through the main gate to test you.

He was patting down Tess, and you would’ve sworn you could hear Joel grinding his teeth together, clenching his jaw shut so tightly you wouldn’t have been surprised if it had broken. Meanwhile, you focused on trying to remember the name of the guard, trying to recall his temperament, whether he was easily swayed. You blinked your eyes shut, trying to see through the haze that clouded your memories as the guy moved on to Joel, but without seeing the guy’s face, it was too difficult.

“What kinda QZ has precautions this far out?” Joel grumbled as the guard moved along, checking the distance towards the gate with squinted eyes, and trying his best not to clench his fists as the guard moved towards you.

“You born yesterday, man? World’s fucked.” The guard answered, stepping away from you and moving to go around to see the front of the three of you. “Well, I never.” He chuckled, catching sight of your face as it fell, finally putting the voice to the face as you looked at him. “Don’t recall seeing your name on the exist list, trainee.” FEDRA had a bunch of awful guards, but this guy… Jerry, you were pretty fucking sure, was amongst the worst of them.

“Not a trainee, anymore.” You bit out in response, practically feeling the two adults beside you tensing up at the FEDRA guard’s recognition of you. “You even know my name, Jerry?” You asked, tilting your head upwards with your best reinvention of the careless expression that used to rile the man up so much.

He smiled, a grin full of rotten teeth and breath that stung your eyes as he leaned towards you. You resisted the urge to throw up over his shoes as he said your name, proving your hopeful taunt incorrect.

“Alright, now, no need for trouble.” Joel said placatingly, trying to keep the grimace off of his face in exchange for a more… reasonable expression. “We ain’t Infected, just a couple of folks tryin’ to be on their way.”

“Shut your mouth, and mind your business, fella.” Jerry spat towards Joel, before he looked back to you, a grin on that ugly face. “I’ve been trying to get the dirt to have you hung for months, now. Unauthorised exit? Well, that ought’a do it.” He said, morbid amusement dancing across his face. You just bared your teeth at him, a sarcastic expression donning your features.

“Careful, Jerry. You’re soundin’ awfully obsessed. Didn’t they out you for that, once already?” You asked, sarcastically, recalling the way he had been shamed outright by a higher up for getting on the trainee’s cases too much. FEDRA was strict already, so if he was getting publicly scolded for his obsessive behaviour, you figured it must’ve been bad.

You saw the way Joel was tensed up out of the corner of your eye, but didn’t dare turn to look at him, or even attempt to see how Tess was fairing.

It was when Jerry reared back, his rotten teeth bared, a sneer pulling at his features, that you saw Joel move. He’d noticed a second before you did, the way that the FEDRA guard was reaching for his smaller weapon, his handgun, barely getting it out of the holster before Joel was launching up and forwards, pushing Jerry and falling alongside him as they rolled down the slight slope to go towards the QZ gate.

“Joel!” Tess yelled out, a curse falling from her lips as she grabbed the stuff that Jerry had been attempting to confiscate before realising who you were. She dug through her bag, looking for her own gun, too risky to have it on her person this close to the QZ for this goddamn reason. You glanced between her searching frantically and the duo fighting slightly below you, before you caught a glint of metal in one of their hands. Did Joel have a knife? Did he have a knife, or was that Jerry’s? Was Jerry about to fucking stab Joel, who had tackled him to protect you?

You stumbled down the slight decline after the two of them, just as Jerry was catching the upper hand, something red trickling down his sleeve. You pulled the very gun he had tried to pull on you from its holster at his side, before he could even react to you having moved from where you were. He was slow, this guy, but that didn’t mean he was incapable. He was freakishly strong, and he bared bloody teeth at you as he moved to swing the blade in his hands down.

A crack interrupted his movements, blood dancing a crimson path down the side of his forehead.

Jerry’s body slumped backwards, falling away from where he had been about to fucking kill Joel Miller, all for what? His helmet made a dull thunk against the ground as it connected, and Joel was groaning, shoving the deadweight off of him with a bit of a struggle.

“The fuck were you thinking?” Tess asked, grasping onto Joel’s shoulders to help him up, only for him to hiss and pull away, and you vaguely saw Tess’s hand covered in a sticky sheen of blood that had leaked through the material of Joel’s jacket. “Jesus, Joel, you could’ve gotten yourself killed.” She scolded, pulling the jacket away and unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt to look at the wound. She dug through her bag to pull a few rags out of it, pressing the material against the fucking stab wound, and waiting for Joel’s steady hand to take over before she moved away. “Come on, we can’t wait around. If they’re patrolling this far out, something must’ve gone down, and I doubt anyone’s far enough to have not heard that.” She said, nodding pointedly towards the gun gripped tightly in your fingers.

At her reminder, you shivered, taking the knife from Jerry’s limp hand and replacing it with the gun. You wiped the blood — Joel’s blood — off of the blade onto the side of your jacket, before shoving it back in its place on Jerry’s vest, which you hadn’t even realised was there. You wondered if Joel knew, before he decided to attack him.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

You blinked, and realised you were already back at the apartment you stayed in with Joel and Tess.

Joel was sat at the table, med kit set out open in front of him, with Tess being nowhere in sight. He barely spared you a glance as you stood up from the sofa you didn’t remember sitting on, your brows furrowed as you looked around the room, as if the answers—the memories—you wanted would be revealed.

“She went to trade what we managed to get from Bill and Frank’s.” Joel told you, not even looking in your direction as he focused on fixing himself up. He had the rag in his hand once again, wiping at the blood still trickling from his wound. You wondered if Tess didn’t tell you where she was going, or if Joel just knew you weren’t present if she did.

You didn’t even know what had sent you back to the depths of your mind, this time. Was it shooting Jerry? Killing somebody whilst actually being fully responsible for your actions? Was it his threats about getting you hung? Or was it that very wound that Joel was tending to right now? The fact that once again, somebody got hurt, and it was your fault?

“Can you hand me the, uh…” Joel trailed off, gesturing over towards the counter where amber liquid sat in a glass bottle. You went over and grabbed it, placing it down on the table in front of Joel far harsher than you realised you were going to. You hadn’t quite noticed the way anger, or something defensive at least, had settled in your chest, stirring that brimming pot of guilt until it was almost flowing over the edges. “Thanks.” Joel said gruffly, splashing some of the booze onto the rag and pressing it to his shoulder.

You stared at him, waiting for him to say something, to explain himself, but he made no move to do so.

“What is wrong with you?” You said, finally, your voice loud and echoing around the barely furnished room, like it had burst from your chest, like you had no choice in the matter.

“Got stabbed, in case you didn’t notice.” Joel quipped, which seemed even further out of character for him. You vaguely wondered if you had just lost your mind, if this was all some made up scenario playing out in your head.

“Why did you attack him? He didn’t attack you, I—I don’t understand!” You told him, gritting your teeth when Joel just continued tending to his wound, not acknowledging your questioning. Part of you wished Tess was here so she could dismiss you before you could continue, but she was clearly nowhere nearby, given that she hadn’t burst into the room to stop any conflict. “Joel, answer me.”

He finally looked up, shaking his head. “What do you want me to say, huh? Somebody’s gotta protect you! Lord knows you don’t do it yourself! Rilin’ that guard up— it was reckless. He could’ve killed you, kid, and what would I have done then?” Joel questioned, his voice louder than your own, a booming thing that had you wanting to retreat. You refused, pushing it down in favour of the confrontation that you’d been putting off for months, by now.

“I can take care of myself.” You answered, spitting the words out like there was a semblance of truth to them. “I’m not your goddamn kid, Joel, there are plenty of other strays you could help out if I had died.” You continued, throwing the nickname back in his face, watching the way he recoiled, something unfamiliar flashing in his eyes.

“Now, you listen—”

He tried to say, only to be interrupted by you continuing on. “No! You’re not my dad, Joel! I already had a dad, okay? I had a dad, and he’s dead, and that’s on me. I won’t go through that again. You gotta stop puttin’ your life on the line for me!”

“Kid…” Joel trailed, the confession not exactly surprising him, but he felt a twinge in his chest nonetheless. He had figured all of this was catalysed by some kind of loss, just going by his own experience with the matter, but he had never known for sure. You were closed off — another way you were just so similar to him, and you’d never spoken about any family.

You closed your eyes, tears brimming in the edges, slipping down your face, and you wiped them away with a rough swipe of your sleeve against your skin. “You don’t understand. It was my fault. If it weren’t for me, he’d—… Every day I’ve been here, I’ve just been wishing we could’ve swapped places, wishing that he was here instead of me, because I can’t do this without my dad. But—But he could’ve, without me.”

“When my Sarah died,” Joel started, gritting his teeth against the pain in his chest that just her name brought. “I gave up. I—I lost any will to live, I prayed that it wasn’t real, prayed for God to switch our places, to trade her life for mine. Tried to end it, and when that failed, I got numb. Got lost in my head, ended up fightin’ anybody I crossed paths with, usin’ any excuse to hurt people, even while I was with Tess. Barely even remember it,” Joel continued, a strained laugh falling from his lips, his hand held to his chest in hopes of soothing some of the ache that originated there. “Just remember wakin’ up, covered in—in blood, not knowing who the hell I hurt. So, when I saw you, not even present in your own goddamn head, I figured that wherever you came from, whatever family you might’ve had, they wouldn’t want you ending up like me.”

That pot of guilt in your chest felt like it would explode, even as you blinked back tears, only getting harder the longer Joel spoke, the more he told you. You had never taken him for a religious man, but you supposed you could relate to that, that desperation to just save your family’s life.

“I’ve got too much blood on my hands, kid,” Joel told you, the words going past the literal sense of his own blood, spilled across his palms from that wound that you had caused. It was deeper than that, it was something you related to, like he knew that sensation of fresh blood that plagued you, like it was dripping over your hands all the time. “You gotta wipe yours clean.”

Clearly, that wound on his shoulder wasn’t his only open one. It was there, gaping in his chest, weeping waves of guilt and suffering that hit you with such familiarity. My Sarah. You couldn’t help but think about your dad, couldn’t help wondering if this was how he’d feel, if your places had of swapped.

“He was my dad,” You said desperately, like it could explain everything, like the simple statement could convey everything you couldn’t put into other words. That’s not something you can replace, something you can change, something you can forget. You opened your mouth to continue, but all that happened was the tears stinging your eyes fell, and you turned your head to the side, hoping Joel wouldn’t see the way your lip was trembling.

Joel’s arms were warm when he wrapped them around you, blood still tacky on his shirt where it pressed to your jacket, but you barely noticed it. “She was my daughter.” He said in response, and suddenly it made sense.

If anything about your relationship with Joel was true, it was that you were mirror images. Reflections. Two sides of the same coin, two sides of the same story, one that told of grief and loss and pain that would never go away. His response was the answer you didn’t even realise you had been waiting for. He was my dad, and she was my daughter. Not replacements, not something to try and fill the gaps. The acknowledgment was everything you needed to wrap your arms around Joel, to squeeze his shirt between your fists and cry, to cry for the dad that you lost, for the daughter he lost, for everything the two of you would never have again.

You weren’t Joel’s daughter, and he wasn’t your dad.

That much was true, and you knew it, because you had each other. And maybe, come morning, you would still leave the apartment like you had been considering doing all along, or maybe you would stay. Maybe, you’d let yourself have this, this little family made up of torn apart pieces, of members too damaged to fit just right, of a dad who lost his daughter, and a daughter who lost her dad.

[missmarveledsblog]

Not just a flower child huh ? ( Logan Howlett x reader ) part 6

summary : After the discovery her parents are alive and constantly trying to get her brother bring her to them logan figure it time she got out of the mansion to explore more than the ground of the school while he thinks of feelings that been growing like the flowers she grew

warnings : none weirdly enough , logans a big softly in this and scotts bike is " borrowed " but i think the series needed a fluffy part for once. grammatical errors also not proofread .

previous part

Her parent alive and kicking  to make it worst they were closer than she originally thought which was dead . Her brother  always spoke of them in a past tense and well in away they were dead to him  and to an extent to her as well but she had question , she yearned  for answers that they only had . From little information  she could extract from her brother which honestly was getting blood from a stone on the subject  but what she did learn was they were well off living in a nice area where all the other rich people living it lavishly which was probably from the money they gotten . the price of her childhood gave them  she was always curious to see the price tag that was attached to her suffering.  

“ why won’t you bring me” she asked seemed like she was a broken record  the same words on  repeat since she found out and  seem her brother were on the same record. 

“ because nothing good will come from it “ piotr sighed . “ you are not ready malyshka” he tried being gentle , tried to get her to understand where he was coming from . 

“ don’t call me that i’m not baby , i should decide if i’m ready it my answers not yours “ she huffed . 

“ you don’t think i want answer why i had to think i failed you , i couldn’t protect you  i want answers but we are not ready little one” he patted her head only for her to glare. 

“ i am ready it’s not like they could hurt me more” she rolled her eyes . 

“ they are colder than before “ he pointed it out. 

“ i can set them on fire warm their hearts” she shrugged. 

“ i am protecting you by not bring you there not them , i didn’t before but now i am whether you like it or not “ that hurt and finality in his voice that stop her pushing further it made her storm off with one word coming out of her mouth . 

“ suka” . 

Logan in all his years  which was a lot of living , he’d never been this way it was a strong sense that ran throughout his body warming the cold metal of his skeleton if it was possible. Intrigued by the woman who was so fierce , so strong and yet so soft and vulnerable . it was scary and amazing all in once not that he would admit that outloud . 

Even now she was storming around probably giving out about her brother  but he couldn’t tell seeing when she got like that well it wasn’t in english she spoke . 

“You know she gonna catch on to you gawking at her” scott voice startling him from the train of thought or more so infatuation he found himself stuck in . 

“ not gawking , checking to see if she ok don’t need a jungle of vines on the ground there” he shrugged . 

“ so that isn’t drool on your cheek or are you actually more animal then man” . 

“Fuck off and what did i tell you about sneaking up on me” he growled . 

“ nothing because i never have , too busy with the heart eyes it cute really” scott smiled only for jean to slap him  only for logan well to head exactly where they knew he would. 

“ least now he’ll finally stop looking at you like that” it was almost relief in the mans tone as he spoke . 

“ no he never looked at me like that” jeans head shook as she watched the man she well had a complicated relationship with a start  looking at someone with something more. Whatever thought he felt for jean he was actually feeling for y/n , jean just hoped he would accept it and see he was worthy of something more in his life then all this. 

“ whats got you storming holes through the grass , you know hot wheels takes pride in his garden “ he called making her pacing halt. 

“ well if he and my brother would just help me out and took bride  in letting me see my parents well” she growled . 

“ it’s pride with a p … look maybe it for the best parents are overrated” .

“ americans always think that” she rolled her eyes. 

“ well i’m canadian “ he chuckled confusing her more. 

“ it’s not like i’m looking for a happy family , i .. i just want answers like what makes a person wake up one morning  think oh  lets sell the child and live happy in america” she looked down at the ground. 

“ easy their assholes , selfish assholes and they call mutants monsters yet people discard or sell their offspring like it’s nothing” . 

“ well i wasn’t nothing i came with price tag “ she flopped on the ground it was everything and nothing all in once .

“ look sweetheart people like that only care for themselves not the people around them even if it is their own kids , you are worth more than anything they could of gotten “ he sat beside her not caring at the looks he was getting in the distance because he was slowly getting use to them seemed to happen a lot since she came to the mansion . 

“ you are good guy but i’m not giving up on this “ she watched the sky above it wasn’t as beautiful as the night scare but it was beautiful in it own way . 

“ i’m not a good guy . good guys get taken home to mom and pop and well men like me are flirted with “ he laughed dryly remembering it as clearly when those words where spoken to him . 

“ if mine didn’t sell me i would totally introduce you to them “ she laughed . “ you are good man even though you pretend your not “ she smiled up at him .

“ you must be getting cabin fever how about we take a trip” he stood up abruptly . 

“ are we allowed to do that?” she asked almost hushed like whisper. 

“ it not a prison bub and i’m not bringing you to your parents but maybe getting out of here will help” he held his hand out watching and waiting , hoping she would take it. 

“ lets go “ she smiled  as he pulled her up . 

Almost cat like as the two walked into the garage  she seen the jet for first time since well she was unconscious when they found her.  She never been in this part before which was weird but yet she stood in awe at all the vehicles . the only one she been in other than the jet was a windowless van with a hood on her head, she could hear the world pass bye but she never got to see it hell since coming to this place she  almost forgot there was a world.  The two stopped and her eyes looked down to see a motorcycle sitting then up to see logan coming at her with a contraption in his hand. 

“ i don’t like hoods” she stood back . 

“ its not a hood look you can see out here , you don’t have a metal dome like your brother so you need to wear it , trust me” he explained as she stood as he lowered it over her head it wasn’t heavy like she thought it would be and she could actually see out of the little slot like he said. In all that her heart was beating so fast she felt like it was going to come out of her chest. He’d never been so close , so much so she could see the extent of the hazel color of his eyes  or the scruff that was starting to grow on his face. 

“ you sit here and hold on , ok like good now no need to be scared “ he smirked as he felt her presence on his back and his claw coming to the ignition bring the bike to life . “ here hands here” he smiled pulling them to his waist kicking the stand and heading off. He felt her grip tighten as her fingers bunch up on his shirt. 

“ this isn’t you bike is it?” she asked as they were driving out the school gates . 

“ more shared custody “ he laughed. 

“ has anyone seen y/n we had another argument” piotr asked . 

“ anyone seen my bike” scott asked almost a second later causing jean and ororo to share knowing smile knowing exactly that both were with the same man . 

“Both are safe with logan “ charles spoke up. 

“ it might do her good to get out see there is more than just the school take her mind off it all she is here with just the thoughts of it all a distraction is what she needs” charles looked between the men . 

“ what about my bike “ scott whined. 

“ also safe probably more safer with y/n on it” storm smirked . 

“ he needs To atleast  use the keys before he breaks it” scott Hid the small smile on his face.  

The world was beautiful ,  it was almost magical all the greenery she passed by the wind on  her skin as she took it all it , soaked It up Like a sponge Then the transition  To the city it was almost like something out of a movie or pages  in a book .  The different contrast From greenery to the tall building almost Like they were in the clouds . 

All different colors and shapes , so many People walking going about their day . All the different scents hit Her nose some amazing , some Ok and some She wished never graced her nostrils . Then it was obvious to the man that was currently in front of her  , the feeling of his shirt at Tips of her fingers , the scent she Slowly got excited to smell each night while she sat or was walking to the kitchen. She didn't realize Lost in the feeling of Well everything , her hands gliding Along logans tshirt , comforting Motions Yet it was doing anything but such . Only for the bike to go faster and the feeling Her hand grabbing The material tightly Once more. 

He enjoyed the closeness , the feeling of her touch on him , her chest laying Against his Back it was good , too good he didn't realize he Pulled the accelerator  as hard As he did but then again it worked in his Favor too having her more Close to him . She was special he couldn't  deny it  And couldn't deny he felt something More than friendship with the woman . He wasn’t  shy if he could he would tell her not a problem , it wasn't the time she was going Through the other side of a life of hell so instead of it all he would help her as much as he could . Build A friendship he Was happy with that for now and meant It . She first person not to see him as a project , subject  to examine Or something to play with when life got a little boring . Although they were good friends now at start it was exactly how jean made him Feel .  

The bike pulled to a stop she hopped Off looking around making him chuckle. 

“ here you'll see it better without this” he chuckled Taking the helmet off her head . Her eyes looking up At the big gate . it was what she remembered well from the print of it  from her grandmothers album . she always said when she  was  older every landmark in that book she was a going to see for herself . Now here she stood  at one of those landmarked moments in her grandmothers album . the same exact place only in color and not in the print she was looking with her own eyes it was a surreal moment.  Something that felt so far removed  and yet it was happening in real time .  she could help the smile that over took  face it was probably biggest smile logan seen on her face that was for sure . another surprise how energetic she was  almost bouncing from foot to foot to even get start and yet she stay in one part til logan got close once he did she put her hand in his and pulled him forward eager to explore they place she only heard of in a stories .  not once  did her grip on his hand pulled away even when she was looking at statues  and getting him to read the signs she couldn’t .  her eyes wide and curious watching people pass by or dogs on their leashes she almost hid , she forgot all this existed  it was a bittersweet thing to being free was relearning the things that existed animals , people and places.  Even ducks and local park life was so foreign to her mind and yet she knew what they were but it was like it was imaginary in away . some parts reminded her of the mansion she wondered if this park was where charles got inspiration .  He watched , talked her through everything frankly he was torn  between sad and thinking the reactions were adorable . small things that were almost a luxury to her where as he and many people in the park or even mansion . all the things that usually didn’t really get a second thought and now he realized he was kinda grateful to experience it all again .  then she froze completely her brows arched like she was trying to figure out something  til the first time she let go of his hand and walked ahead almost running leading him to follow.  She went to the bushes and disappeared and reappeared before he could even react to what was happening. 

“ you know you can’t take that home” he chuckled as she looked up and little fluffball in her hands . 

“Why not he’s alone , isn’t that what the school is for” her head tilted” she smiled looking down. “ i already named him logan meet bub” she beamed holding the kitten out poor thing was in a rough shape almost  resembling her when he first saw her in the cage  and yet a little cute. “ i will deal with professor man ” she shrugged taking his hand again .

“ oh this i will want to see” he chuckled following after her slightly disappointed til she took his hand again . 

“ can we come back here” she asked softly . 

“ yeah we can come back anytime you want sweetheart” `he smiled instantly he knew there and then she was the one for him . 

" he can't say no to bub" she giggled as the kitten nuzzled into her arm.

" i call you bub though " logan smirked .

" i like sweetheart more" she smirked walked a head pulling him behind her .

part 7

taglist : @oscarissac2099 @ayamenimthiriel @mega-kittyglitter-1

[boba-at-323]

[04:16AM]

Note : Hi everyone back from the writer's block!! Ignore any mistakes lol idk what this is I couldn't sleep so I wrote this for him <3!!

The dark night sky above displayed millions of stars, twinkling unusually under the absence of the moon. The most absurd hours were always the best times to find inner peace, especially on nights like these. When life seemed to be at its toughest, bringing with it countless restless nights, you had always found yourself under the open sky accompanied by a cup of tea and the silence the night brought.

Sitting in a chair on the balcony felt eerily peaceful, it seemed like today you were the closest you had ever been to the stars. It was always lonely, but you enjoyed getting to escape the stress in your life and get some time to yourself. However, tonight felt different. It felt more hollow, more empty, more lonely.

Trailing off in your thoughts with eyes glued to the sky, the click of the balcony door startles you a little. You whip your head around to check the source of the sound, only to be met with a worried silhouette.

“What are you doing up so late?” Wonbin asks quietly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

You smile at your boyfriend's barely visible sleepy state as he makes his way towards you. Even though you did feel bad for being the cause of his disrupted sleep, secretly you wished he’d wake up to find you hiding in plain sight.

“Couldn’t sleep…” you reply with a shrug, looking back at your original view.

Taking a seat next to you on the ground, his gaze follows yours to the darkness overhead. Bringing his knees to his chest, he asks with a suppressed yawn,

“Is something on your mind?”

You don’t need to tell him how you feel, somehow every time it seems like Wonbin magically already knows when you aren’t feeling your best.  

“A lot, actually”

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not right now”

“I see…” His eyes make you their subject now, his arm propped up against his knee and his palm supporting his face.

You tilt your head slightly to look at him. Even in the dark of the night with no moonlight to provide a glow, he looks as ethereal as could ever look. You can barely make out his features, but his eyes are shining even through the tiredness they bore.

You don’t realise how long you’ve been staring at him until you hear a soft chuckle from him. Leaning forward to brush a few stray strands of hair away from your face, his fingers slowly trace down your face, hand eventually resting there.

The smile painted on his lips is one thickly laced with love and adoration for the person he cares about the most, you.

“You know, you can tell me when you aren’t feeling good.” He says in a quiet, yet concerned voice, “Even if I’m not much of a talker, I’ll always be here to listen.”

Your hand makes its way up to find his, gently placing itself on top to feel his warmth, his presence. You nuzzle your cheek into his touch, looking back at him with the same smile that never left your face.

“I know” you mumble softly, not wanting to disturb the peace the night bore, “For now, let’s just stay like this.”

Once again, he gently smiles at you, a nod tagging along as he obliges to your request. Pulling his hand away from your touch, he repositions himself next to you. Instead, his arm snakes around your waist, bringing you closer to his figure. In response, you lean into him, resting your head on his shoulder, the best spot to find comfort. He too, places his head on top of yours, closing his eyes to take in as much of the moment he could.

The night brought you comfort, but being in Wonbin’s embrace was your one and only safe space.

Title : [04:16AM] || Word count: 642 || Genre: comfort/fluff!! || Pairing: bf!Wonbin x implied Fem!Reader (though I tried to make it gender neutral I think)

Tagging: @armysantiny @koishua @mosviqu (hope you don't mind bae <3)

[bricreative]

Thoughts on Life is Strange: Double Exposure so far (SPOILERS) because I think about this stupid series way too much

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings. Some of it’s good, but I’m mostly just sad and disappointed about the whole thing. I’ll try to keep it just about the game, but I also want to talk about the build up, how the marketing (so far) has mislead fans about certain choices and characters, how fans have been teetering on harassment to the devs, and what I’m hoping for in the chapters 3-5.

I'm sure there are others out there who can articulate these points better than I can and I'll probably repeat said points, but if you want to see a rare ramble from me, here are my thoughts, either in full paragraphs or bullet points ->

EDIT: Leaks are already coming out so half the shit I say in this probably doesn’t even matter 🙃

Early access has been out for more than a week now and I was only able to finish parts of it until I had to go on vacation. Parts of the story were spoiled for me before I got around to finishing the second chapter. So any “ twist” or revelation that did occur wasn’t as exciting as it could’ve been. And that’s mostly on me because I never really feel the need to block words/tags to avoid spoilers, unless I actually cared about said story.

And well, as much as I try to give Deck Nine some grace, the outlook for this game wasn't looking great to begin with…

Like the fucking break up with Max and Chloe?? While it wasn't a total shocker, the marketing has been leading towards that, it still left me heartbroken that this is how it's playing out. I was trying to be hopeful (delusional) that maybe they were going to do the long distance route. I thought that just made the most sense. I thought that’s why they were only releasing the first two chapters.

(I also know it was to get people to buy the ultimate edition, I know, I know)

I can see a route where taking some time apart could make sense given the overwhelming guilt, pain, trauma they obviously faced. But the way Chloe is currently written just feels so ooc? I don’t think she would’ve thrown so much shit Max’s way, especially about her rewind powers. I would think given it's been 10 years after the events of Arcadia Bay, she would trust Max completely. It’s also crazy considering Deck 9 made a whole ass prequel game revolving around Chloe?? And made a cute DLC with Max and Chloe as kids. It’s just baffling me how they’re treating her character.

I wonder what the reason was for not including Chloe more into the story. Did Square not want her in it at all? Did they even attempt to try and bring Ashley Burch back? I figured, they probably couldn’t get her to reprise the role full time, so maybe they opted her for a part time role, or a meaningful cameo. Are they hiding Chloe because they only have Rhianna and they’re afraid of disappointment/ backlash? 

And now we have lines from the original game redubbed by her, so it’s looking more and more like that’s the case. It’ll be Rhianna...

And look, I don’t hate her or her performance in Before the Storm, I’m just not crazy about it. She has some powerful scenes in it for sure, but I do think it is the weakest game of the series. At the end of the day, Ashley will always be Chloe, and she has the best chemistry/dynamic with Hannah Telle.

It doesn’t help that we barely know what happened in between the events of LIS and DE. It’s crazy to me that the writers didn’t even bother to put simple dates on text messages, some journal entries, etc. They have in the previous games, why not now? Are they hiding something or was it just an oversight or lack of care? And don’t get me started on the artwork in this journal....

It’s not bad but it's SO not Max’s style. It’s so cartoony? She’s writing less and less. What would’ve been cool to see is a portfolio of all of her previous work so far. She would’ve had SO much from traveling the country? Such a missed opportunity. AND an actual photo mode, hello?? What we have right now is kinda lackluster

I don't like that this series is becoming a glorified dating sim.The romances that did work in the past were built off of genuine connection and chemistry? They just jump right into this one?? 

While I actually do like Amanda, I can see them working in a BAY route only

Max would not go for a guy like Vinh in any timeline. Holy fuck, he’s so gross

It's just so obvious they had to shoehorn his romance route last minute

At this point, i'm agreeing with the argument that Max is a lesbian rather than a bisexual (even though I love the pattern that all lis protags are bi)

Or better yet, we don't have to go the romance route at all

I know all fandoms are annoying but the way certain fans have been acting towards the official accounts/ developers has been frustrating to witness?? I'm not saying you can't be critical, especially when it's on your own personal posts/accounts, but it's getting to the point where y'all are harassing them for every little fucking thing. I don't know, I just don’t have the energy to pester or harass accounts this fucking much. Don’t yall have better things to do? There are bigger things going on in the world

Focus all of that energy into creating art, writing, etc.

Remember that these characters are made up, it is a game

There’s a difference between thoughtfully criticizing and just plain bashing people

While I do think it’s frustrating, I can kinda understand why Square/D9 decided to be cagey about Chloe’s appearance. They’re walking a thin tightrope right now

There have been issues revolving around leaks even before the official announcement of the game came out AND there are leaks going around as we speak

They went the Last of Us II marketing route and essentially tricked people, yes. It sucks, it’s frustrating, I get wanting to build hype, any press is good press I guess

Maybe Chloe will have a bigger role in the later chapters? I’m more than prepared to eat my words but I’d rather maintain a little bit of hope here

I also think it's important to point out the things that I do like, at least to keep me sane:

The performances, especially from the first chapter, are pretty strong! Particularly from Safi, Max, Amanda, and Moses. Like that performance capture technology doesn't get talked about enough! The level of detail, the expressions, it’s incredible! You don't even see that in AAA games sometimes!

I do love that D9 brings in talent from outside the gaming industry, really makes the performances feel well rounded. True Colors did this very well, especially with Erika Mori

The doppelgänger power that’s being hinted at is SO cool imo. Every time I think that there aren’t any other worthwhile powers they can bring into this world, they surprise me. I’m interested to see where they’ll take it

Maybe they’ll do something fucky with Bay/Bae route. It’s hinted that timelines are overlapping. Maybe something crazy will happen.

What if we encounter multiple Max's (again) maybe another Chloe, were already jumping between timelines

Maybe they’ll bring Rachel back, maybe the doppelgänger ruined Max and Chloe’s relationship. We don’t know!

And look, I love this series. That much is obvious. The brain rot has always been there. I can joke and jest that this new story makes me sad and depressed, (even my playlist that I made is hitting different knowing that they broke up Max and Chloe,) but at the end of the day it's a GAME

I feel like I need to reiterate this for people but the game is still not fully out yet! I, at least, want to reserve some judgment before I fully decide how I feel about the game. Maybe they’ll surprise us, maybe Chloe will show up in the later chapters, maybe there will be a positive twist.

If it doesn’t turn out that way then that’s fine too! There are other games and comics and books to fall back on. There is so much more to this series than just Max and Chloe. I wish more people would realize that and give the other games a real chance

[its-in-the-woods]

The Woman Who Couldn’t Die Part 5

master list

Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,

Pairing: The Ghoul/Cooper Howard x Original Character 

Alternative Universe where I make things up cause I can only research so much

Synopsis: Getting out of town can be tricky, but is out of the settlement any better? Murmurs in the woods have both our traveler's ears perked.

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning: This is based on fallout except typical: Canon divergence, hints of SH/SA/NONCON, Slow Burn,

Note: These will be spaced out as I am heavily editing and researching them. Each chapter will be 2-3+k words. Tags will be edited based on the chapter, please make sure you read them.

Also, note that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

Thank you all for the love <3 You're likes, reblogs and comments keep me posting.

***

It was so warm, as light poured into the room. Jade tried to move but found herself completely enclosed in arms. Panic set in and she froze her breath caught up in her chest. Opening her eyes she took in her surroundings, peeled water-stained paper, and a duster hanging on a hook. Her eyes looked down to see large red hands wrapped around her, the Ghoul. Sometime in the night, he had pulled her tight against his chest. She could feel and hear the sound of his breath at the back of her neck. A small whistle every time he would exhale, he was incredibly warm. Like a small furnace against her back, Jade figured that was due to the radiation. Just like a sunburn would feel hot, a Ghoul was permanently sunburnt. Trying to relax Jade untensed her shoulders and shifted slightly, as she did this his hands pulled her in tighter. It was almost hard to breathe. She knew that Ghoul had mentioned having excellent hearing, but when was the last time she saw him asleep?

There was also a huge chance that if she did wake him, he’d be out the door faster than she could roll out of bed. If the way he had moved the previous night was any indication. Ideally, she didn’t want a repeat of the kiss incident, she also would greatly appreciate breathing. Jade wanted to continue whatever this was, her learning how to bounty hunt from him. At least that’s what she was chalking it up to be, a companion, a friend, or something. Though right now, her mind lingered on ‘something’, she could feel how ridged his body was. Tight lines of muscle could easily crush her, but at the same time, she felt safe. Why? She wasn’t going to dwell on that. 

Her head felt foggy and the decision to wake him was taken away when his arms loosened and he rolled away from her. Jade didn’t move waiting to see if he would be the first one to get up. After a moment she let herself slide to the edge of the bed and stand up. Jade tried her best to be as quiet as possible. Her bones ached from lying in the same spot, but it was the best night's sleep she had in weeks, probably months. Stretching she made her way to the bathroom, at least it had a bathroom, not some hole to squat over. She only briefly glanced at the Ghoul, who had already placed his hat over his face. At least he hadn’t taken off this time. Sometimes you had to take the tiny victories where you could. 

***

The Ghoul heard the door close and was immediately up, waking up wrapped around Jade was not planned. Hell he had slept for the first time in months, usually he dozed, maybe drifted a bit. But actual unconsciousness was not normal for him, he grabbed his inhaler and took a breath. The numbing sensation fills his lungs, and he relaxes rolling his shoulders with a few clicks. Grabbing his pack he sat on the bed dumping the content beside him. He moves through the stuff mentally going over what they need. Ammo was a top priority and a good amount of it. Thread, stimpaks, chems, maybe see if someone in town sharpened knives. There was also food. He went over in his mind how far they would have to go. Maybe they’d go north a bit, hit more of the central area, and see what had been happening up there. He hadn’t ventured that way in years. 

He grabbed his cleaning kit, dismantling and cleaning each weapon with practice ease. It felt good to do something with his fingers, to be moving. It didn’t stop his mind from drifting to the morning. Shifting slightly in his seat, she smelt nice like the herbal soap bar. The way her body fit against his, molded tightly against his, the sound of her breathing. Feeling her move against him. Swallowing, he pieces his weapons back together feeling tension run down his spine. 

It felt nice.

“Yeah you can fuck right off,” He muttered to himself, starting to put all the various pieces back into their place.

You are allowed to feel lonely

“Not lonely with you rattling around in my brain,” He cussed, as he grabbed his inhaler. The Ghoul wanted the voice gone, the last thing he needed was a second opinion from his mind. 

Stop lying to yourself

“The only person lying is you,” He spat, anger sneaking out as Jade entered the room.

“You okay,” She said, standing there looking at him confused, her hand laying on her weapon that rested against the set of drawers. It was unloaded but he got the gist. 

“Fine,” He bit out, his words harsher than he meant them to be. “We need to get going, wasting daylight.” 

He grabbed his inhaler and took a drag, rolling his duster onto his shoulder the heavyweight felt comforting. He grabbed his saddle bag and headed to the door. Jade had wrapped her jacket around her waist with her backpack, gun, and machete on her as they made their way out of the INN. 

The town was bustling, and Jade kept close to him moving more like his shadow than a person. The place was a constant buzz of people moving back and forth, so many eyes following them around. The girl had adapted to things quickly, probably why she had made it this far. In some ways, she was like him, adapt or die, kill or be killed. Maybe she would outdo him as a bounty hunter one day. That is if she lived long enough to get to that point. 

The first stop was to drop off their knives and machetes. The blacksmith gave them a deal on them as they had so many. Then it was over to the armory, they swapped out their weapons for something with a wider selection of ammunition. Meaning they could buy in bulk for less. Ghoul had grabbed a handful of explosive rounds just in case, one never knew what one might run into out in the Wastes. Next, it was off to look for meds and chems. 

The Ghoul pushed open the door, the place was just as pieced together as anywhere. He walked over to the counter, taking in the man standing there. He wore what would have once been a white doctor’s jacket. The name tag had long faded away, the wisps of hair sticking out the top of his head as he looked at the ghoul over his glasses. The man snorted as he took in the Ghoul and his companion. 

“Not welcome Ghoul,” He spit gesturing at the door dismissively looking back up from his papers. 

“Say who,” Piped Jade, pushing right up to the counter, and standing in front of the Ghoul. She was small but her voice carried. She crashed some caps onto the counter, more than a fair amount for what they were interested in, “Caps are all the same from everyone.”

The man rolled his eyes, moving to leave the counter, “Yeah, yeah, monster fucker. Get out too.”

“Or what?” Jaded snapped, glaring at the man, placing her gun on the counter. It was enough to stop him in his tracks. “You give us what we need or we will take what we want.”

The Ghoul felt a grin tug at the corners of his face, the girl was not taking no for an answer. He leaned against one of the shelves watching her get into the man’s face. She stood near tiptoes, gun aimed right at the man's crotch. Despite the baggy clothes Jade still looked good like this. 

“I’d listen to her, girl is small but she is five ferrets in the bag when she’s pissed.” He smirked, making sure that the wannabe doctor saw his sidepiece. The man’s eyes went between the two of them.

The doctor grimaced, looking between the two of them, he huffed and raised his hands in defeat. “What do you want then?”

“Some of that snazzy Ghoul Jet, make it twelve we got a long way to go, and half a dozen stims for the lady.” The Ghoul spoke, making sure to watch as the man moved, if the good doctor tried to do anything he had no qualms about blowing a hole through him. 

The doctor busied himself grabbing what they had asked for, before slamming the meds onto the counter, nearly crushing the vials, “I should have you rounded up, no better than raiders.”

Jaded cocked her gun, the Ghoul wasn't looking to be sidetracked so he grabbed the meds and stuffed them into his bag. Adding a few more caps to the pile Jade had already left. His free hand worked on moving Jade out the door. 

“There you go asshole, a few extra for you to keep your mouth closed” He clicked his tongue, Jade keeping her weapon and eyes on the man as they moved out the door. The street outside was busy enough that they blended in with the crowd. 

“Well, fuck, Tiny, didn’t take you for the hold’em up kind, ” the man grinned making sure to stuff the stim-paks into Jade’s bag. 

“Guy was being an asshole, had no reason to be treating you any different from anyone else,” Jade's face set sternly, as they moved towards the food vendors. 

“Used to it,” The Ghoul shrugged as they went over to grab some food for the trip. Ghouls had always been outcasts of society, humans didn’t like anything different from their box. A noseless, rotting, talking corpse was well outside their box. There was also the feral aspect of things, it wasn’t until recently that there were even chems that could stave off the feral process. It wasn’t perfect, nothing was out here, but it sure took the edge off. You didn’t live this long without side effects, but if the chems staved off those effects so be it. 

***

Once outside the town, the Ghoul felt himself relax, his companion seemed to do the same. She had still been pissy about the Ghoul hate comments, to the point where she almost stabbed a lady for looking at him wrong. He wasn’t sure why she was so adamant about it, but he didn’t mind. Something about her getting so pissy over him made him, well it made him feel something. He wasn’t about to dwell on that, nope, the wasteland had enough complication without adding in some fluffy fuckin’ feelings. Make his teeth rot faster than they already were. 

He watched his companion walk ahead, her clothes baggy and loose. Pocket loaded with various bits and bobs, her black hair braided and curled into a small bun. Her backpack was just as heavy, yet she walked with her head held high. She didn’t care about people commenting on her scars and never tried to hide them either. How she was okay, he wouldn’t have known. Then again how was anyone okay here, the whole world was one big dumpster fire. Kill or be Killed. Adapt or die. She was adapting, surviving, and maybe even enjoying herself. The Ghoul let himself enjoy the moment, it would only be a moment. Before long something would crawl itself out of the dirt looking to kill anyone that crossed its path. 

They camped out in a big field high on a ridge, it was a good spot for the evening. Jade didn’t seem to mind, besides the wind blowing through the clearing. She had inquired about sleeping closer to the tree line, but the Ghoul had heard things moving through there as the light had fallen. Even with the wind, it was best to have a quiet camp for now. 

“Fuckin cold,” Jade grumbled bundling herself up and laying the other coat over her legs. Trying to make herself as small as possible. 

The Ghoul chuckled, “No fire tonight, pip-squeak. Somethin' been moving around out there.” 

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t cold,” Jade mumbled from beneath her layers. It was almost hard to see her underneath the mountain of material she had buried herself under.

Sighing the Ghol scooted over to her, he took the duster and draped it over her. Jade’s brown eyes looked up at him as he sat closer to her. “You gonna freeze to death old man,” 

Ghoul raised his non-existent eyebrows at her, he pulled off his gloves and placed his hands right beside her face. “Radiation keeps me warm,” 

He watched her eyes follow his fingers as he moved them around in the dirt before she snuggled in closer. “If you’re dead in the morning I am keeping the duster.”

Wheezing slightly the Ghoul pulled his hand back placing it in the glove. He watched the last of the light disappear, more rustling came from the woods. Something was moving through there, he took a hit of the inhaler and continued to watch. Without the moon as full, it was hard to make out exactly what it was, west of Appalachia could have a world of weird shit. He hoped it wasn’t those giant toads, they were big slimy, and took a lot to kill. He was loaded up on ammo, but it would be a while before they saw another town. Another disadvantage of traveling north was fewer settlements. The scorched plague had left a lot of places empty, which meant more critters and taking up residences. He had heard about settlements pushing in and trying to take back space, but it was slow. 

He dug around in his side pocket, checking that all his vials were still there. If he wanted to stay up, he’d need to hit more chems. Humming he continued to listen, the place had gone quiet. Crickets and other bugs buzzed but besides that it was silent. He lay down looking up at the stars, a little napping couldn’t hurt. 

***

He woke up when he heard buzzing, his hand immediately tapping Jade’s shoulder. Looking around he couldn’t see anything but the trees were swaying. It was not in the direction of the wind either. Either something big or a lot of things were moving through the trees at a good clip. 

The Ghoul wanted to be in the other direction of whatever it was. 

“Time to go, Tiny,” He spoke, Jade sitting up grabbing her bag and swinging it on before standing. How did she have all the clothes tucked away so quickly? His duster pushed into his hand. 

“What yah think it is?” Jade said swaying a bit, her eyes a bit glassy from sleep. Eyebrows knitted as she tried to peer into the forest. 

“Not sure, but I think we shouldn’t wait to find out,” The Ghoul said, swinging on his duster and saddle bag and heading in the opposite direction. 

They decided to backtrack northeast, skirting around the forest. The buzzing was starting to fade, but it was still there. The Ghoul wasn’t sure but it seemed like they were heading south, what it was he didn’t want to find out. There was going to be enough trouble anyway.  The road they were on was going to be entering into the forest. Something at the back of The Ghoul’s neck perked up. 

“I do not like this,” He said, the woman beside him slowing down a step. She looked as concerned as he felt, her goggles pushed into her hair. The two of them looked at the destination ahead of them.

“Something wrong isn’t it?” She replied with her hand resting against her pistol. “Felt it all morning, like something is watching us. But I can’t see it, or hear it.”

The Ghoul nodded, the little lady’s instincts were correct, something was wrong. Something was waiting for them to enter that forest. He gritted his teeth, normally he’d reroute, maybe head back east then circle south, but it wasn’t like they had endless supplies. Plus whatever critters had woken them were heading that way. Go too far north they’d end up near Reavers or Slavers. None of it was good. 

“We don't got alotta options here, we can go south but probably run into whatever woke us up. Go too far north, reavers or slavers. Back east maybe find a place to hole up in. Or we go there.” He stated, he knew there weren't many options. 

“Well let's go kill some forest mutants,” Jade said, her hand resting on the pistol. 

Ghoul nodded, as much as he liked her confidence he was worried. The emotion felt almost surreal.  After years of looking out for himself and himself alone, he was worried about her. About the tiny fragile human, who couldn’t just shrug off gunshots like he could, who could easily be killed by a falling tree. 

“Jade,” He said quietly as they started into the forest, his heart hammering in his chest as he watched her move ahead. 

“What?” Jade asked her eyes looking forward to scanning the roadway. Always on the look for whatever was coming next. 

“Nothin’, ladies first.” He bit out, he wanted to tell her to turn around. Go back east and find a place to hole up in. That if something happened to leave him, that if she needed to run to, to run fast and far. But he didn’t. Instead, he made a sarcastic remark and pushed forward. 

“Pretty sure it's Ghouls before girls,” Jade smirked striding along the road with a small smile.

“Keep with me and you'll be both,” Ghoul chuckled, his jaw clicking as they took steps towards whatever was next.

part six

*little plot-heavy, in next chapter we have some action coming

*as always thank you so much for reading, let me know what you thought of it.

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

Tennessee Orange

Fandom: Elvis Presley, American Musician, RPF

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Reader

Characters: Elvis Presley, Reader, You, Original Female Character

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 2407

Summary: I met somebody, he’s got blue eyes.

Tags/Warnings: Young Love, Established Relationship, Romance, Angst, Fluff, Leaving home, Baby Boy Elvis, 1950s Elvis, Comfort, Song Fic, Tennessee Orange // Megan Moroney, Idk what football teams where around in the 50s so lets just lend some artistic license to it k?

Notes: Oh to have a whirlwind romance with baby boy Elvis

This is linked to Die From A Broken Heart

ELVIS MASTERLIST // SONG LINK // HALLOWEEN MASTERLIST

I was nervous, the knots in my stomach growing tenfold with every passing second and every unanswered ring of the phone. It wasn’t that I’d been waiting long but I’d built up my nerve and it was losing momentum the longer the call went on. Not to mention how the idea of my daddy answering the phone sent me into a cold sweat.

Fortunately I didn’t have to worry much about that as when the line clicked on it was my mother's soft voice that answered, ‘hello?’

‘Mama?’ I asked.

‘Darlin’ is that you?’ she said with a smile in her voice.

‘It’s me,’ I said and though my nerves hadn’t completely vanished they dulled as I allowed the comfort that only a mother's voice could bring to wash over me.

‘Well isn’t this a surprise,’ she chuckled, ‘we figured we wouldn’t hear hide nor hair of you for a least another couple of days.’

‘I got a spare minute,’ I mumbled as my nerves amped up once more. She was right given that the moment I had touched down in Memphis my thoughts of home seemed to vanish and they probably would’ve stayed that way if I hadn't been forced to make this blasted phone call.

‘How is it going?’ she asked.

‘Good,’ I said which technically wasn’t a lie. I was having the time of my life here but that wasn’t what I had called to talk about. My mother however didn’t seem to grasp that as she continued to ask, ‘are you girls having fun?’

‘Yeah, actually-'

‘Behaving?’ she mused.

‘Yeah, Mama,’ I said attempting to get to the point only to find she once again beat me to the punch.

‘Because I won't have you putting Betty out you hear me? You’re a guest in her home-‘

‘I know,’ I said hoping I could nip whatever rant she was going to go into in the bud.

‘Because-'

‘Mama I’ve got some news,’ I said, the words tripping out of my mouth without permission though they seemed to do the trick as she fell quiet on the other end. I fell quiet too, my heart hammering in my chest as I realised that there was no way I could back out now.

‘Oh?’ she said. It wasn’t an outright question or even a statement but it was enough to know that she was waiting for whatever information I was going to lay on her.

‘Yeah,’ I said hesitantly, ‘it’s important.’

‘Oh,’ she said again and I was stunned at how she could keep her tone so even. How she could make it that I couldn’t sniff out anger or happiness alike. How she could remain unphased whilst I was sitting on the other end, knots in my stomach as well as the phone cord I had taken to twizzling around my finger the moment the call began. How she didn’t betray her feelings as I did when I rushed to say, ‘but you can't tell Daddy! Not yet anyway.’

Only then did I hear her falter, a hefty sigh escaping her lips as she asked panicked, ‘What is it? Are you okay? Oh Lord please tell me you are not in some sorta trouble.’

‘Of course not! You know you raised me right,’ I protested feeling a warmth in my cheeks at the thought of her picturing whatever mess I’d gotten into.

‘Well then, what is it?’ she asked.

‘Mama…I met someone,’ I mumbled.

‘Oh,’ she said softly and though it was nothing more than a word I could sense the emotions in it because it was one of surprise.

I didn’t blame her of course. She had sent me to spend time with my aunt and my cousins not to get involved with boys but it wasn’t as though it couldn’t happen. And suddenly my protests of her having raised me right reared their head because if she had I wouldn’t have been keeping him a secret. I wouldn’t have kept his existence in my life on the fringes. They would’ve gotten some inkling of what was coming.

‘You remember the boy from summer I told you about?’ I asked hoping that if she recalled my having mentioned him, if only once, it would make me feel less guilty.

‘Elvis? The singer guy?’ she said making my heart flutter at his mere mention, ‘the one whose concert you and June went to?’

‘That’s him,’ I agreed feeling slightly better that at least he hadn't come totally out of the blue as I carried on explaining, ‘Well, we’ve been talking and writing all the time since and well…Mama he asked me to be his girl.’

‘Well,’ she said before she paused for a moment causing my emotions to buy another ticket for the rollercoaster they were currently on until she said, ‘That’s good. What’s he like?’

‘Oh he’s amazing,’ I said, the damn finally breaking as all the happiness and love I’d been terrified of admitting to spilled out, pouring from me and down the phone line in gushing sentiments, ‘I’ve never met a boy like him before at all. He’s sweet and charming and handsome. I mean you should see his eyes, Mama, he’s got these gorgeous blue eyes I swear could hypnotise ya.’

‘Well he sounds quite the guy,’ she said in the way that mothers do. The way that makes you wonder if they’ve ever felt that way before though at some point they must’ve otherwise you wouldn’t even be here to be feeling it yourself.

‘He is,’ I said trying not to feel embarrassed by my gushing and rather to see them as an aid in making her see just how much I loved him.

‘Well I’m happy for you baby and don’t worry about your daddy, I’m sure he’ll be fine with it,’ she said and for a moment I forgot about all the worries I’d had about telling her. She was happy for me. And if she was happy it would only take some cajoling from her to get daddy on board which was why I had ventured to tell her first, to lay the groundwork for any further conversations.

‘Doubt it he’s a Vols fan,’ I giggled.

‘Oh Lord help you,’ she mused.

‘I know! Actually, he took me to a game the other day, he even got me wearing that horrible orange jersey,’ I teased making her laugh.

‘So long as you don’t bother learning the words to Old Rocky Top I think your daddy will survive,’ she said.

‘I won’t,’ I promised though as her laughter died down my nerves crept back in. I’d gotten lost in the conversation, lost in getting her on board with the mere idea of Elvis that I’d forgotten that wasn’t why I was calling.

‘Mama?’ I asked earning a hum from her that signalled she was listening, ‘that’s not all.’

‘What is it?’ she asked in a voice so earnest I could picture her sweet face, plastered with confusion waiting for whatever bombshell I was about to drop. And once again I felt the need to defend myself as I rambled, ‘you gotta understand. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before and I don’t think I ever will for anyone else.’

‘Baby what is it?’ she said hesitantly.

‘Well Elvis’ singing career is getting real big and he’s doin’ real well-'

‘Okay,’ she murmured.

‘Which means he’s all over the place workin’ which is why when we have seen each other I’ve always had to come to Memphis and well it's not gonna get any easier or at least it doesn’t look like it will what with him doing so well-'

‘Honey you’re rambling,’ she said stopping me in my tracks.

‘He asked me if I’d want to move here…to live with him,’ I said quietly unable to gauge any reaction before I whispered, ‘and I said yes.’

And with that she fell silent meaning that all the nerves I had alleviated with her happiness came flooding back only ten times worse. I could picture her now, trying to work out how to dash my dreams but to do it in a way that didn’t break my heart entirely. That had been why I had been scared to tell them because I worried they’d ask me not to. And I couldn’t do that because when Elvis had asked I had said yes without question and though it was a big change I knew it was what I wanted with my whole heart.

‘Oh baby I don’t know,’ my mother said quietly.

‘Mama I know it's soon but I promise you he’s a good guy. And it's not like I’d be on my own. Betty’s here in Memphis and he lives with his whole family so it’s not like it’s just us. And they're all so sweet to me you’d really like ‘em,’ I said hoping to reassure her. Hoping that if she saw that I’d thought about it thoroughly she’d see it wasn’t as bad as it sounded on paper.

‘But it's just so far and you're so young sweetheart,’ she said.

‘Not that young,’ I said feeling a pout fall on my face as though I was a kid who’d acted rashly when that wasn't the case at all. In fact, I’d been chewing on the idea for days.

‘Young enough,’ she countered and with that, I felt my sorrow turn to irritation.

‘As young as you were when you married Daddy,’ I refuted feeling immediately guilty as I realised it was a dirty move, ‘besides it ain’t like there’s much waiting for me back in Crawford.’

‘What about your family?’ she bit back making the guilt hit another level.

‘Mama don’t be like that,’ I sighed.

‘I’m not being like anything you’ve just told me you want to run away to live with a boy you barely know, one that your daddy and I haven’t even met!’ she said heatedly.

‘Well, what if you meet him?’ I said hoping the conversation wouldn’t spiral any further. I hadn't meant to hurt her with my words but I could tell that she was hurting anyway. So I tried to compromise, I tried to offer something that would make her see I was happy, ‘how about you come to Memphis and meet him and his family? I swear you'll see this is good for me I promise.’

‘Why don’t we talk about this in the morning?’ she asked cutting me off.

‘But-‘

‘Look I just some time to think about it okay? To think about what I’m gonna say to your daddy,’ she said quietly.

‘You’re saying it can happen?’ I asked trying desperately to pick apart what her words meant.

‘I’m saying you're a grown-up. I can't stop you and I won't,’ she said, ‘but if it’s what you want…’

‘It is,’ I said.

‘Then we’ll figure it out,’ she said, ‘it’s just a lot you have to understand that.’

‘I do Mama,’ I said, ‘but I promise this is good for me. I know once you meet him you'll understand.’

‘You're probably right,’ she said, a tad flatter than I’d hoped. I could hear her moving now, no doubt itching to get me off the line. A suspicion that was confirmed as she said, ‘Look your daddy will be home soon. I should go.’

‘Okay,’ I said trying to sound as understanding as possible.

‘Okay,’ she replied, ‘I love you.’

‘Love you too,’ I said quietly.

‘Bye.’

‘Bye.’

And with that she was gone, the line going silent as I slipped the handset back into place. As I thought about it all I flopped back on the bed exhausted by the mix of emotions flooding thought me. I supposed it could’ve gone worse. It wasn’t the best it could be sure, but she could’ve said no. She could’ve told me I had to come home which would only leave me heartbroken, not by the prospect of leaving Elvis, but by the fact that I would choose him, I knew I would.

I knew how it looked. I knew I must sound crazy to move hundreds of miles away from home for a boy I had only just met and that as my mother she had every right to be concerned. But as my attention was pulled to the door where I found Elvis poking his head around it, a lopsided grin coming to his face as he found me splayed out on the bed, I knew her concerns weren’t warranted. Because as hard as I had fallen for him he had fallen for me just as much.

And though we could try to do long distance it wouldn’t be the same. I'd be stuck moping around Crawford, my days spent waiting for him. At least here I was in his world and that world was one I never wanted to leave, because no matter how mixed up I was feeling at that moment everything felt okay because he was there.

‘Hey,’ he said coming into the room and sitting next to me.

‘Hey,’ I replied as I pushed myself up, looping my arm through his as I placed my head on his shoulder.

‘Everything alright?’ he asked with concern making a small smile come to my face.

‘Yeah,’ I murmured, ‘just got off the phone with my mom.’

‘Ah,’ he said understandingly, ‘how'd it go?’

‘Could've gone better,’ I admitted, refusing to look up though I felt him glance down at me. It was true, it could’ve gone better but I supposed it could’ve gone worse too and for that I was grateful.

‘You told her I was a Vols fan huh?’ Elvis asked making me giggle, his own hearty rumble soothing against my ear. Though as quickly as my laugh came it went and he must have heard the deep breath that came from me as no sooner was it out did he put his hand on my knee, providing me with comfort I could never repay. Comfort that only continued as he said, ‘They’ll come around.’

I smiled, wondering how on earth he always knew just what to say.

‘I hope so.’

He ain't from where we're from,

But he feels like home, yeah,

He's got me doin' things I've never done,

In Georgia, they call it a sin,

And I still want the Dawgs to win,

But I'm wearing Tennessee orange for him 🧡

ELVIS TAGS

@girlblogger2002 @sania562 @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics @notstefaniepresley @artlesson8892 @18lkpeters @velvetelvis @jaqueline19997 @elvispresleyxoxo @amydarcimarie @presleyenterprise @everythingelvispresley @elvispresleywife @lillypink @richardslady121 @lettersfromvenus @louisejoy86 @ccab

[lady-potato-ninja]

Prowling the inbox like a half tame thing, just confessing that I saw your art tutorials and was like "Neat!" and then saw the potato in the name and that clinched it for me <3 /origin story sharing for free!

Anyway! I'm asking you to this dance of an ask game, because I enjoy the stories in the tags you write and then I was like, there is a function built in for being more candid~ Please tell me more lady-potato-ninja lore, as they say. ^^ Referring to this post here: >> https://www.tumblr.com/shreedle/762344461629112320?source=share <<

🧠🌂👀🌹 Okay bye! See you on the dashboard!

Ah 🙈🙈🙈 I'm so glad you liked my tutorials! I am actually in the mist of making a new one on how to better your artistic workflow! I'm not done yet- still trying to make it make sense but I hope it might help you in some way once it's out😉!

🧠- What fictional character do you relate to the most?

I’m gonna be extra because you said you liked my rambling and go for more than one character. I’ve mostly been into podcast fandoms thus far and it feels like those characters were really easy to relate to.

Mollymauk Tealeaf from Critical Role: I learned so much about myself throught this character. He’s the embodiment of change and self-love and just living life the way you want it. I was very envious of the joyful way he lived his life and it stayed with me long after I stopped watching Critical Role and I feel like now I got to this point where I love myself and the multitude ways in which I change everyday.

Martin Blackwood from the Magnus Archive: I think we’re awfully similar; in a made from the same cloth kind of way. He’s a very attentive character who tries his best to provide help, care and support to the people around him and it’s something I pride myself to do as well, one of my friends said I was an approachable person and I wear this quality as a badge of honor. I strive to be a kind-hearted person.

At a time, I was also really relating to his loneliness which I sometimes still am. Hearing about how he felt made me realise that I felt the same about me. And it actually made me take care of myself more because I couldn’t let such a deep sadness continue on in me! But don’t fret, now I’m a much happier person and I feel like it’s in part because of him, weirdly enough.  

Jang Hee-Soo from the kdrama Moving: This kdrama is so good and it really struck a chord with me for multiple reasons but mostly because I had never seen a media better portray the relationship between a parent and their child.

With her dad, Jang Hee-Soo sees what he does for her and his sacrifices and she understands him, she takes the time to know her dad as a person more than just a parental figure and she tries to give back and sacrifice what she can to help him. I feel like it’s the same way I love and cherish my parents. I see myself in the careful way she takes care of him while supporting his dreams and cheering him on. (It honestly made me cry and that’s why I haven’t finished this series yet I KEEP CRYING!)

She also has this whole motif about rage that really speaks to me. A part of me is like a fire that is inextinguishable and she’s the same.

Special mention to Hong Cha-young from Vincenzo because my gf said I was like her > The style, the goofiness and the evil not evilness🙈

🌂- You have to choose three fiction characters to help you survive in the apocalypse, who are you picking?

Senshi from delicious in dungeon: I need someone who knows enough about fauna and flora to know which plants/animal parts are good to eat in the wild and which ones are poisonous! I know how to cook and bake well enough but not enough to utilize everything in the best way and how to keep food well stocked. I feel like we would get along well plus he would remind me to actually eat and drink which is fairly important.

Aragorn from LOTR: Having a ranger in the team is essential because I lack most of what he has to offer and while Senshi might cover a similar ground, I feel like Aragorn would be helpful in many other ways such as, finding/creating shelter and keeping us from getting lost. He would be longing for his wife; I would be longing for my wife; we would be partners in long lost love stories.

Doctor Mccoy from Star Trek: I know how to give first aid + CPR, take care of burn wounds and other small wounds but in this situation, I feel like a real doctor should be a part of the team. Plus, Bones is used to critical situations with the amount of bathshit crazy things happening on the enterprise and he quickly adapts to changes. He also has great bedside manners so if I end up dying well at least my last moments will be nice lol. I almost forgot his massive balls of steel – this man is unshakable!

I think we would make the dream team: I know how to fish, mend/make (bad) clothes, bake and cook, ect. And three out of four of us know how to fight: I am a green belt in karate + I can throw handheld axes; Senshi has his axe + his shield/cauldron and Aragorn got his sword skills. I mean we’re pretty much covered in terms of leadership, nutrition, health, living quarters, troc strategies and defense… We could survive this!

👀 -Most tame ship you enjoy

Daisuga? Maybe? It’s very soft, they’re basically already married at this point lol. It’s a sweet, no conflict ship!

🌹 - What's a small fanbase you're a part of?

Gekkan Shojo Nozai kun: I watch this every summer and I can’t wait to see more if there’ll ever be more…. It’s just such a charming and chaotic show! The characters all have hilarious gimmicks that make them so endearing and you just want to see them succeed. It’s honestly really worth the watch if you haven’t seen it already!

Professor Layton: I think about replaying the games every other week < I could ‘cause I still have my DS and multiple games but I want to be able to cast it on the TV so I can play with my gf or watch her play!

[training4theapocalypse]

A Nest of Vipers Ch2. (Cormac McLaggen x Original Female Character - Slytherin)

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 4.2K

Warnings / Tags: Smut, Secret Relationship

Summary: Una Montague discovers a fellow Slytherin is up to no good. Cormac McLaggen isn't sure what he's let himself in for.

A/N: Me? Giving members of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad a redemption arc? Never. Unless...

Masterlist

Tag list: @countlambula, @ratsys, @aweidlich, @navs-bhat, @stainedpomegranatelips, @chiaraanatra, @xxvelvetxxxx, @ohnoitsrosie, @dracosisteer, @daisydark, @intense-sneezing, @lipstickandloveletters, @ichorai (let me know if you want removed at any point btw!)

Chapter 2: Struggle

The next day, Una Montague and Cormac McLaggen sat side-by-side in Transfiguration silently answering the essay questions that Professor McGonagall had written on the chalkboard. Which was a pity, thought Una, because at least practical lessons would have meant the rest of the class were distracted. Not that she was particularly interested in hearing anything Cormac McLaggen had to say but rather, she wanted him to continue whatever it was they had started at Slughorn’s dinner party.

When the bell rang, the classroom erupted in chatter but Una just shut her textbook and touched up her lipgloss. She was determined not to make the first move. She’d be damned if Cormac thought she was more interested in him than he was in her.

She didn’t have to wait long.

“So, what now?” asked Cormac.

Una pursed her lips thoughtfully in the mirror. She wasn’t sure exactly how they could meet up. The trouble with having best friends like Sabine and Meridith was that they were always around. And Cormac being in another house just made sneaking around even more difficult.

“Do you know somewhere we could go?” asked Una, putting her things into her book bag.

He grinned. A wide, stupid grin that showed off his perfect teeth and made dimples appear at the corners of his mouth.

“I actually meant what lesson do you have next?” Cormac laughed, seeing the horror-stricken expression on Una’s face.

“Arithmancy,” said Una quickly. “I mean free period. No wait, Arithmancy. Eugh!”

Mortified, she grabbed her bag and turned as fast as she could to leave. She felt a large hand grab her upper arm before she could walk any further.

“Wait, Una. I’m just - “

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed through gritted teeth, shrugging him off quickly before the other students could see. 

And before Cormac had the chance to say anything else, Una marched quickly out of the classroom and into the throng of students in the corridor, her cheeks burning. She felt humiliated. But what was more concerning was the fact that she couldn’t shrug off the feeling that she sort of - maybe - liked it. 

Una shook her head, feeling flustered as she made her way to the shortcut to Arithmancy. She was being ridiculous. Of course, she didn’t like Cormac humiliating her. She bit her lip, stamping that feeling down as hard as she could.

She was confused (which didn’t happen often when it came to boys). Normally they were simple creatures, easy for her to understand - even manipulate when she needed to. She had thought he was attracted to her when he touched her under the table at Slughorn’s dinner party. But now she supposed that he just liked purposefully trying to embarrass her. Especially when he didn’t kiss her in the corridor, choosing instead to squeeze her face and smear lipgloss on her chin.

That egotistical, arrogant piece of work. There was no way she was going to let Cormac McLaggen make a fool of her.

Una pulled back an old tapestry, revealing the hidden shortcut to find a crouched figure in the dark passageway, sobbing. Her heart sank sadly. She’d recognise those hunched shoulders anywhere.

“...Graham? Lumos.” Her wand illuminated the dark passageway and her brother looked up, wiping his tear-streaked face that looked almost ghostly pale in the wandlight.

Graham Montague breathed shaky, shallow breaths as Una approached him carefully. 

“The passageway... Stupid,” he said, shaking his head. 

“It’s not stupid,” said Una gently as she sank down on the wall opposite him.

Her brother had almost died last year. Someone - he couldn’t remember who - had shoved him into a broken vanishing cabinet on the castle’s first floor. All Una was able to find out was that they were a member of Harry Potter’s stupid club - Dumbledore’s Army. Una had flipped between plotting her revenge against the D.A. and being so worried she felt sick when he went missing for almost a month until he was finally discovered in a bathroom by his friend Draco Malfoy. 

It spread around the school like it was hilarious. “Did you hear Montague was found in the U-bend?”. But to Una, it was no joke. 

He was stuck in the magical void between a pair of vanishing cabinets for weeks, almost starving to death until by some incredible miracle he had managed to apparate - without so much as ever having taken an apparition lesson before - within the boundaries of Hogwarts. When Professor Snape rescued him, even he couldn’t understand how it was possible. 

Afterwards, Una spent every spare moment in the hospital wing visiting him, helping him drink a vivid blue potion from Madam Pomfrey. Their parents, of course, had tried to take him to St. Mungo’s but Graham was insistent on sitting his exams so stayed at Hogwarts. 

After the entire ordeal, all Graham had to show for it was three O.W.L.s and a crippling fear of tight, dark spaces. And all Una had was a bitter taste in her mouth that she and the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad had never found out who did it. 

“I just need a minute. Til the corridor clears,” said Graham, resting his head against the wall.

“I’ll wait,” said Una.

“Aren’t you going to your next lesson?”

“I’ll be late,” said Una with a small shrug. “Where are you friends?”

“I ditched them. Draco wouldn’t stop pestering me about the vanishing cabinet so I ducked in here and then…” he trailed off but Una pursed her lips.

“Why does he care so much about the cabinet?”

Graham hesitated. 

“Graham - tell me.”

“He says he’s got a job to do. From the Dark Lord.”

Una gave him a serious look. “Graham…”

“He saved my life, Unes.”

“You don’t owe him anything. Don’t get tied up in whatever he’s up to.”

Graham sighed. “I already told him everything I knew last year. Not that I can remember much… I don’t really want to.”

Una and Graham sat quietly for a long time as the footsteps in the corridor outside became less and less frequent until they couldn’t hear any more.

“We should go - I’m good, I’m good,” he stressed when Una opened her mouth to argue. “I need out of here.” 

“If you’re sure.”

Una got to her feet and opened the tapestry leading to the next corridor and extinguished her wand when light flooded the passageway. She held it open as Graham climbed out. 

He took a deep breath in the fresh air of the corridor. Una looked up at him. It was hard to believe her little brother, this big, burly Quidditch Captain could have ever been trapped in a cabinet, never mind turn to a crumbling mess when faced with a dark passageway.

She gave him a quick squeeze around his shoulders.

“Una,” he groaned. “Get off me.”

“Alright, alright.” She resisted the urge to hold on tight and never let go. “I just worry about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Just no more shortcuts, alright?”

“I won’t.” 

He gave her a stiff nod and they departed in opposite directions. She just hoped Professor Vector wouldn’t dock too many points from Slytherin for her lateness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac and Eddie sat in the library a few evenings later comparing Ancient Runes notes.

“Nah mate, you’ve translated that one wrong. It’s Umma, not Una,”

“I didn’t write that, did I?,” said Cormac, pulling his parchment back towards him and looking at those three little letters. Una. “No, yeah, you’re right. Dunno how I managed that one.”

“Still thinking about Slughorn’s party then?” Eddie grinned at him.

“What do you mean by that?” bristled Cormac.

“Steady on,” said Eddie, taken aback by his defensive tone. “Just meant that you were sat next to her, didn’t I?”

“Oh, right. Yeah.”

“Is there something going on there, then?”

“Nah. Nah, definitely not.”

“You’re a shitty liar.”

Cormac hesitated. Eddie Carmichael was a Ravenclaw and Ravenclaws didn’t have the same anti-Slytherin sentiment that his other friends in Gryffindor did. He trusted Eddie more than he trusted the Gryffindors to be objective. Plus he was Head Boy. If any of his friends knew anything about the Head Girl, it would be him.

“I mean, she’s fit, right?” asked Cormac, scoring his quill back and forth over the word Una, determinedly ridding it from his parchment.

Eddie let out a long exhale. “Psht, yeah. The three of them are. But she’s genuinely fucking awful.”

He wasn’t expecting that. 

“You don’t think it’s just Sabine?”

“Nah,” said Eddie darkly. “Sabine gets the bad rap because she’s the loudest. Always in detention, that kind of thing. But I think that’s what makes Una more dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Bit dramatic, Ed.”

“Forgetting about Umbridge’s Inquisitorial Squad last year, are you?”

This shut Cormac up. He did forget that Una was one of Umbridge’s flying monkeys last year. He and Eddie, along with the rest of the D.A. had ended up in detention for weeks after the Inquisitorial Squad had apprehended them.

“And this year, Christ, I barely open my mouth when we’re doing the Prefect meetings. She loves bossing them about, dictating the corridor patrols. I mean, I’m not complaining - less work for me, innit? But still. I think she knows how to latch herself on to people with a bit of power and now she has a bit of her own, well, it’s the only time I’ve seen her smile.”

Cormac looked up from his parchment, brows knitted together. He’d seen Una laugh and smile in Transfiguration. And as for latching herself onto people in power…

“I’m not sure she’s like that. She didn’t even want to go to Slughorn’s thing.”

Eddie shrugs. “She probably just wants Slughorn to think she’s too important to be there. Make him more interested.”

Make him more interested. By pretending she wasn’t. Maybe Eddie was on to something.

“How did she even end up as Head Girl anyway? I mean, before this year, the only time I saw her in class was when she was getting told off for whispering with the Vipers.”

“That’s the thing. I think she likes being under-estimated. Have you ever seen her raise a hand in lessons? Or even study in the library? Then she shows up in sixth year with nine outstanding O.W.L.s. Just coasted it.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” grinned Cormac.

Eddie raises his arms in exasperation. “Where are we now? And you can check your own bloody Ancient Runes homework then.”

Eddie tossed his book at his head but Cormac reacted quickly and caught it.

“Alright, alright! Just winding you up,” laughed Cormac.

“Shh!” came an irate voice from the librarian’s desk. Cormac turned around in his seat to see Madam Pince glowering at them furiously.

Cormac hastily resumed his homework but Eddie kept his eyes up, looking behind Cormac’s shoulder.

“So much for never coming to the library,” he murmured. “Keep edgy.”

Cormac looked again discreetly. Sure enough, as if summoned by their discussion, the Vipers had slithered their way into the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It stinks of old books in here,” pouted Meredith when Sabine had chosen their table. 

“Well someone didn’t want us to sit in the common room tonight,” said Sabine sharply.

“I told you I’d explain,” whispered Una, sitting down and looking around to see if anyone was within earshot. With a jolt, she saw Cormac McLaggen and Eddie Carmichael several desks away.

“Well? Go on then,” demanded Sabine loudly, causing the two boys to look over.

“Sab,” Una hushed, glaring at Eddie and Cormac until they averted their gaze. “There are more important things than our usual seats... Like what exactly has Blaise told you about Draco Malfoy?”

“Malfoy? Nothing, why?”

“It’s for good reason. First of all, his dad’s in Azkaban for being a Death Eater -”

“We know that already,” huffs Meredith. 

“Let me finish. I’m just saying his family is dangerous. And apparently, he’s been bragging about being given a job to do at Hogwarts by The Dark Lord.”

“When did you hear that?”

Una didn’t answer. She trusted Sabine and Meredith but she wanted to protect her brother more.

“What kind of job?” Sabine looked sceptically interested. “What’s a sixteen-year-old going to do for him?”

“That’s the bit I’ve not worked out yet. But what I know for sure is that Malfoy is unreliable, inexperienced and he’ll probably need help. He doesn’t come to Prefect meetings anymore - Carmichael’s useless so I’ve got my work cut out for me trying to organise cover for Malfoy’s corridor patrols. So whatever it is he’s doing, I don’t think he’s doing it very well.”

“What’s that got to do with us?”

“I just think,” said Una quietly. “I think we need to keep an eye on the people we care about spending any time near him. I’m convinced he’s roped more people into helping him with this job.”

“Your brothers?” asked Meredith looking cautiously between Una and Sabine.

“As if either of them would help him with that,” scoffed Sabine.

“They need to be careful,” Una pressed on.

“If I find out he’s getting mixed up in this pure-blood supremacy nonsense I’m going to kill him.”

Una, Sabine and Meredith looked at each other seriously. Una extended her pinky across the table and Sabine and Meredith linked it.

“If we can’t keep Graham and Blaise away from this - we do what we do best.”

“Come hell or high water,” starts Sabine.

“Through thick and thin,” adds Meredith.

“For snakes don’t drown,” says Una.

“They know to swim,” they finish together.

This was their ritual. What had started off as a silly little chant they’d made up in first year was now a solemn promise. Of course, these days they’d ditched the accompanying dance routine borne from jumping on the dormitory beds as eleven-year-olds but the words remained. An oath to protect one another whatever the cost. 

If one of them stuck their pinky out, the others knew it was deadly serious. No more questions, no more bickering. Just mutual, unwavering trust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac and Eddie exchanged baffled looks.

“See! Look, they’re doing Dark Magic,” whispered Eddie.

“Maybe they’re in a thruple,” suggested Cormac, watching the Vipers unhook their fingers and cease their hushed murmuring.

“Nah, mate. I told you. Dangerous.”

Cormac wasn’t so sure. Maybe he was wearing Slytherin-tinted spectacles but that didn’t look like Dark Magic to him.

They returned their attention to their homework again but when a pair of heeled shoes clicked past their table Cormac lifted his eyes up slowly. Una had wandered off towards the bookshelves at the back of the library. Alone. This was it.

Cormac waited a few moments and pushed his chair back.

“Mate, don’t…” said Eddie warningly.

Cormac grinned. “I’m doing it.”

Eddie dragged his hand down his face as Cormac vacated his seat. “Oh, you great big bloody idiot.” Cormac clapped his shoulder and meandered in the direction Una went.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Una, stood on her tiptoes trying to reach a book on a high shelf. Where was a ladder when you needed one? She looked left and right, groaning when she saw Cormac McLaggen striding towards her.

“You can conjure birds but can’t do a simple summoning charm?” he asked, grabbing the book she was brushing with her fingertips. He was so tall he could do it with annoying ease.

She eyed him suspiciously as he held it out to her, expecting him to pull it out of her reach again like he did with her mirror.

“I left my wand at the table.” She took the book tentatively. “Excuse me,” she said, refusing to look at him as she made to leave.

He stuck his arm out against the bookcase to stop her. She scoffed and tried to go around him the other way but he rested his forearm on the shelf, boxing her in. He was close. Much too close. His aftershave overpowered her senses, the smell of artemesia and sandalwood unexpectedly filled up her lungs.

Una looked up, bringing herself to meet his eyes and sticking out her chin defiantly. “Get out of my way.”

“Or else what?”

“I’ll scream.”

Cormac turned his head, looking along the aisle to make sure the coast was clear. He turned his attention back to Una.

“You wouldn’t.”

Oh, wouldn’t I? Thought Una. 

She opened her mouth and inhaled a large breath, but he clapped a hand over her mouth, roughly pushing her backwards into the shelf. He pressed his body against hers and she felt her knees tremble as her wide eyes met his smirking ones. His green eyes glittered while he watched her struggle.

“Shh, shh, shh,” he murmured. Una felt heat surging in her abdomen, feeling his body trapping hers so closely. Una let go of her book but it remained pressed between their bodies. She grabbed his wrist with both hands, trying to wrench it from her mouth but it wouldn’t budge. Cormac pushed into her harder still as she attempted and failed to fight him off. 

“Are you going to behave?” he whispered, watching her trying and failing to pry his grip away.

With a prickle of realisation, she felt his hard cock pressing againt her throbbing pussy. It made her falter slightly. So this was turning him on as much as it was affecting her? Una relinquished his wrist and tried to nod but was so constricted by his hand it was barely a jerk of the head.

“Good.”

He removed his hand and she gasped for breath, feeling her chest rising and falling against his, the book the only thing separating them.

“So, when do you want to hook up?” he asked.

Una scoffed, mustering all the derision she could. “I don’t want to hook up with you.”

“That’s not what you said in Transfiguration.”

With a flare of annoyance at being reminded of her earlier mistake, she glared at him. “You’re crushing me, dickhead,” she said, pushing his chest to no avail. He put his hands up, yielding, and took a step back. The book between them fell to the floor with a ringing echo in the quiet library.

Una crossed her arms and looked from him to the book on the floor expectantly.

Cormac stared silently for a few moments. He brushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, surveying her but still Una waited. He tutted and crouched down to pick up her book. When he stood back up she snatched the book from his hands.

“So?” he asked.

“I’ve changed my mind, Cormac. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

This was a lie. But she hated him thinking he had any control over her just because he was bigger and stronger. Especially after her earlier slip-up. She was the one calling the shots. Not him.

“Come on, I know you want me.”

She shook her head slowly from side to side.

“Una… Una,” he soothed, taking a step towards her again. The way he said her name was oddly melodic. It made the hair stand up on her arms as she clutched her book to her chest.

“I already told you, I wouldn’t be caught dead with you.”

“Nobody needs to know,” he murmured, looking down at her. Una’s heart raced. His face was so close she could feel his breath on her lips.

He cupped her face, his thumb brushing her cheekbone as she looked up at him with parted lips. She felt butterflies in her stomach as he leaned in closer still.

The way he was holding her reminded her of their encounter after Slughorn’s party. Was he going to kiss her? Or do something worse again? And which would she prefer? 

“Do you think about fucking me, Cormac?” she whispered, her lips almost brushing his.

“Yeah,” he breathed, his eyelashes dipping to look at her lips. “All the fucking time.”

Gotcha. Excitement rose in her chest as the scales tipped in her balance again. “Show me. Right here,” she breathed, pulling him close to her. She wanted to feel his body closing in on her against the bookcase again.

When her mouth met his, he let out a gratified exhale that made Una’s skin feel like it was on fire. God, he was a good kisser. He might have been holding her firmly but his lips were softer, gentler on hers than she’d expected. She almost felt bad about what she was about to do.

She sucked his bottom lip, rolling it between her teeth.

“Mhm,” he groaned, running his hands downthe sides of her body. His hand found the back of her thigh and he gripped under her knee, pulling her leg up to his waist. She could feel his hard cock again pressing into her open hips. 

Payback.

She sank her teeth into his bottom lip and his arousal turned to shock when she bit down - hard. He let go of her abruptly, .

“Argh!” he winced but she didn’t let go. She felt her teeth penetrate the soft flesh of his lip until he stumbled backwards, pushing away and freeing himself of her.

Cormac tried to compose himself, looking dumbfounded. He touched his hand to his bloody lip and looked at his fingers.

“I’m bleeding…”

“Lay a hand on me again and that won’t be the only thing that’s bleeding,” said Una haughtily, shouldering him out of the way as she went back out into the aisle with her book under her arm.

With difficulty, she wiped the satisfied smirk off her face as she sauntered back to Sabine and Meredith’s table, ignoring Eddie Carmichael’s eyes on her as she passed.

“What happened to you?” asked Meredith, taking in her dishevelled appearance.

Una fixed her hair hastily. “I left my wand and had to climb one of those big ladders,” she said quickly. “Nearly fell off it.”

Sabine laughed fondly. “You’re so clumsy, Una.”

“I hate the library,” complained Una sitting down.

“Can’t we just go already?” asked Meredith.

Sabine nodded and the two of them stood up and followed Una to Madam Pince’s desk.

“Just this, please.”

Cormac McLaggen passed them, keeping his head down and covering his lip with his hand.

“God, did you see him?” asked Meredith when Una had stuffed her library book in her bag and they were out of earshot. “Looks like he got into a fight with the same ladder as you, Una.”

Una laughed and refused to meet Sabine’s gaze lest she give anything away.

“Give me some credit. I’m sure my ladder was bigger than his,” said Una, linking each of their arms as they walked back towards the dungeons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac sat down and Eddie’s face split into a smile when he clocked his flushed face and bleeding lip.

“Don’t…” warned Cormac.

“Oh come on, please? Just once.”

Cormac sighed.

“I told you so,” said Eddie. “I fucking told you so-“

“That was twice.”

“What happened?”

“She bit me. And it bloody hurt.”

“Blood sacrifice. Dark Magic. I told ya, didn’t I?”

“It wasn’t like that... I sort of started it.”

“What, you bit her?” Eddie pulls a disgusted face. “Eugh, mate. Do I even want to know?”

“No, of course I didn’t bite her.” He thought about his hand stifling her scream as she blinked up at him, her eyes wide and pupils blown out. “We were arguing - I think - the next thing I know I had her up against the bookcase to shut her up -”

“Nope. No more,” said Eddie waving his hands and screwing up his face again. “I definitely don’t want to know. And you know if her brother finds out he’s going to kill you. Have you seen the size of him?”

Cormac sighed. 

“Can’t you just find a nice girl? One you don’t want to fight?”

There was a loud thud and they looked up to see a sixth-year, Hermione Granger, picking up her dropped books. She gave them a wide-eyed look in alarm before retreating away, back between the bookshelves.

“Keep it down, Ed, you’re scaring the birds away.”

“I’ll see if I can scare Una Montague away next time for you.”

“What? No, don’t do that,” said Cormac.

“Really?”

Cormac shrugged his shoulders and gave Eddie a cocky grin.

“Fine. You keep doing what you like and I’ll keep telling you I told you so. Because it’s a bad idea. She’s bad news.”

Cormac thought it more likely that he himself was the one who was bad news. He touched his swollen lip again to see if the bleeding had stopped. It had.

“So you’re not gonna put in a good word for me at the next Prefect meeting?” Cormac asked, feeling his pulsing lip under his fingers.

“You’re mental. Absolutely fucking mental.”

“Just keep it quiet though, yeah?”

“Oh, trust me, I’m already erasing it from my mind. In fact, next time you tell me about Una Montague just Obliviate me right after, will you?”

Cormac pretended to resume his Arithmancy homework. He knew exactly what Una was up to. Eddie was right - the same old method she’d used on Slughorn. Pretending she wasn’t interested to make him more so. 

The irritating thing was that it was working. Too well. 

Chapter3: Service

[hollywoodxwhore]

Mine | Chapter Fifteen

Colson x Original Female Character

Synopsis: Presley may look sinful on the outside, but deep down, she's innocent, guarded, and terrified of intimacy. Colson, on the other hand, is living up to his womanizer reputation as a way to cope with heartbreak. When his new guitarist invites his twin sister to join them on tour, Colson discovers that he's actually capable of feeling. Will Presley and Colson be able to push past all of the barriers trying to prevent them from happening?

Content/Warnings: very brief mentions of smut, swearing, the sappiest fluffiest shit you've ever read

Tag List: @triplexdoublex @jaxbreaker @mgklove99xx @jinx-on-mars-19xx @iamnotanearthlingmotherfucker @missamericanaxx @anonymousme86 @whiteleoqueen @feroniakutenpuu

And with that, Mine has come to an end. I cannot thank you all enough for reading this and showing me so much love and positive feedback. I loved every second of writing this fic and I'm not ready to be done with it. That being said...

OURS COMING SOON! You all asked for more smut and more Presley and Colson cuteness, so @triplexdoublex had the idea of writing a second series that follows Presley and Colson in their new life together living in LA. You can expect smut and fluff, minor angst (unless I decide I need some. Ya girl loves writing angst). Serious shoutout to Roxy for the title idea and the idea to write a second series! I can't wait to see what y'all think of it. Thanks again for all the love you've shown Mine. Enjoy this last chapter!

Colson

It’s the last night of the tour and I couldn’t be happier.

Our biggest tour yet. A new guitarist who we all love. And the best part for me – the girl waiting backstage for me to finish performing so she can jump into my arms. 

It’s become our little routine since we’ve been ‘out of hiding’ from our friends. The world doesn’t know yet, and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But every time I come offstage, Pres is there, and she jumps into my arms, wrapping her long limbs around me, and I swear, nothing makes me happier than kissing her and holding her in front of our friends, showing everyone how happy I am. 

Cash came around quickly. He and I are closer than ever, and all of the tension has melted away. These past couple of weeks have been a great time, and I’m a little disappointed that the tour is ending. But now, Presley and I can figure out our lives, and that makes me really excited. 

After our encore, we leave the screaming crowd behind and head backstage. My eyes search for her immediately, almost frantically, and there she stands, intent on taking my breath away. 

She wears her hair in twin buns, soft tendrils of her black hair framing her face, and she wears leather pants (my favorite) with boots and a crop top. Her face lights up when she sees me and I open my arms. She grins wider and runs to me, throwing herself into my arms. I grin widely as I snuggle her, supporting her weight with my arms tucked beneath her butt. 

“You did so good!” she gushes, and her breath smells like bubblegum. I shiver a little, fighting the way my dick already wants to harden in my pants. 

“I love you,” I mumble into her neck, pressing  a kiss to her skin.

“I love you, too,” she says, resting her head against mine. “I’m so proud of you, baby.” I smile, heart bursting. 

“Yo, Kells, Presley,” Sam calls. “Can I take some pictures?”

“Hell yeah,” I say. Pres pulls back from the hug a little and I raise a brow questioningly. She nods, smiling, and presses her cheek to mine as we face Sam. We smile and then he takes one of us kissing. I let her down onto the floor and she hugs my waist for another picture. We fit so perfectly together. Suddenly, I want the world to know. I want to post those pictures on the internet for everyone to see, so everyone knows I’m spoken for. 

Arm around Presley’s shoulder, we head back to my dressing room where I strip out of my sweaty clothes and go into the adjoining bathroom for a quick shower. I’m sweaty as hell, and we’re going out tonight. Presley sits on the couch with her phone while I shower. 

I’m singing in the shower, so fucking happy with my life. Once I’m done, I towel off and then head over to my girlfriend. She lifts her eyes from her phone and drags them from my head to my feet. Jade eyes darken and her pretty lips quirk into a little smirk. It sends a shiver through me and I give the base of my cock a squeeze, gulping. Not now. Everyone’s eager to go out. Maybe I can sneak her into the bathroom again.

Presley giggles with satisfaction and sits back, looking at her phone again. Flustered, I quickly get dressed in a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt, sliding into my Vans. “You ready?” I ask, and she nods, getting to her feet. I offer my hand and she takes it, but when she starts to leave the room, I tug her back into my chest. My arm goes around her waist and I rock her slightly, looking down at her. She softens immediately and smiles up at me.

“Hey, pretty girl,” I murmur. 

“Hey,” she says, cheeks pink with pleasure. I smile and lean down to kiss her softly, slowly. She sighs and presses on her toes to get closer, her hands going to the back of my neck. “Mm, do we have to go out?” she asks against my lips.

I chuckle. To be honest, I don’t really want to go out. Pres, Cash, Olivia, and I leave tomorrow to head back to Michigan. We’re going to help Presley get packed and Cash is going to be able to grab a few more things to bring back with him to LA. I want a good fuck and a good night’s sleep before that happens, but it’s the last night of the tour, and it’s tradition. I sigh and she nods, resolved. 

“I promise we’ll have so much time just the two of us,” I say, twisting my fingers gently around the strands of hair framing her face. Fuck, I want to grab one of those buns while I’m behind her– “With the tour ending, it’s all us, baby.” I interrupt my own dirty thought process, knowing how easy it would be to hole up in the hotel with my girl. 

“Alright, let’s go,” she mutters, and I bite my cheek to stop a grin. She’s cute when she pouts. 

We leave the dressing room and go out to one of the waiting cars, climbing into the back. As we settle in and the driver takes off, my phone vibrates and I pull it from my pocket. It’s Sam. Thought you might want these bro! See ya later! I scroll up slightly and my chest warms. They’re the pictures of me and Pres backstage.

“Hey,” I say, tapping her thigh. “Look.”

She leans into me, looking over my shoulder, and smiles. “Aw, those are so cute!” she gushes. “Send them to me!”

“Can I post one of them?” I blurt. 

Presley looks surprised, lips parting a little as she looks up at me. “You…you’re ready for that?” I nod, studying her expression. “Are you…not?”

Presley considers, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth. Then, slowly, she nods, meeting my eyes again. “I think so,” she says. “I mean, I don’t want to hide us.”

I grin and lean in for a kiss. “Me neither,” I agree. “I want the world to know you’re mine.”

Pres grins and nuzzles into my shoulder, giving my thigh a squeeze. “I love you, ya big sap,” she tells me, and maybe I am a sap, but I don’t give a fuck. It’s worth it for Presley. 

As we head to the bar, I take my time creating an Instagram post. My caption is all about the tour and how thankful I am for how it went. I don’t include anything about Presley in the caption, but I figure the pictures of us kissing and me holding her are enough for people to get the idea. “Can I tag you?” I ask, and she nods. I add the tags, scroll through the photo set once more, and take a deep breath.

“You sure about this?” I ask her.

“Positive,” she says. “If you are.”

With that, I hover my thumb over the post button and then tap. 

XX

By the time our flight lands in Detroit the following evening, all four of us are running on fumes. 

It’s late and the airport isn’t very busy, so it’s easy enough to grab our luggage and find our way to where Presley and Cash’s parents are waiting for us. I’m a little nervous about meeting them for the first time, especially with how exhausted I am, but I’m excited, too. Presley is my future, and I want to know her parents. 

We walk outside into the frigid, early December air and immediately, Cash starts laughing. He drops his bags and jogs over to a waiting car where a tall woman with short, black hair hops out of the car with open arms. Presley runs over, too, and an even taller man circles the car with a grin identical to Presley’s. 

“There’s my girl,” he says and catches Presley as she throws herself into his arms. He kisses her cheek and I can’t help but smile. I follow her as Cash introduces Olivia to his mom, waiting a bit anxiously. Presley lets go of her dad and turns to me, putting a hand on my back. 

“Dad, this is Colson,” she says, looking up at me lovingly. “Colson, this is my dad, David.”

“Colson,” her dad says, reaching out a hand. I take it and shake it firmly. “It’s so great to finally meet you.” He pulls me in for a hug and I’m surprised but relieved. “Thank you for being so great to my kids.”

“My pleasure,” I tell him. He pulls back and gestures for his wife to join us. 

“Colson, this is my mom, Scarlett. Mom, Colson.”

Presley’s mom is just as gorgeous as her kids and she smiles brightly when she sees me. “Wow, you’re even cuter in person,” she says, stepping forward to hug me.

“Mom!” Presley hisses, embarrassed, but I just snicker. 

“Oh, Pres,” her mom tuts, reaching out to fix a loose piece of her daughter’s hair. “I’m old, not blind.”

“What do you expect?” David says. “We send our kids on tour with a band and they come back with beautiful partners.”

“Exactly,” Scarlett says, wrapping an arm around Cash. 

“Can we go now?” Presley asks around a yawn. “I’m about to fall asleep standing up.”

“You got it,” David says, going back around to the driver’s seat. We all pile into the SUV, Presley and I taking the far back. My legs are squished and I’m so tired my eyes burn but I don’t even care. I’m so happy right now I could burst. 

Presley looks over at me once her dad starts driving, and her smiles is so affectionate and loving that it turns my heart to mush in my chest. I wrap an arm around her and tug her close, pressing my lips to her forehead. “I love you,” I murmur, loud enough so only she can hear over the other conversations happening in the car.

“I love you, too,” she replies quietly, resting her head on my shoulder. 

Before I know it, we’re pulling into an apartment complex. Presley straightens, which tells me that this is her apartment complex. We’re at her home. David parks in front of a building and he and Scarlett both hop out to help us get our things. 

“We’ve got it,” I assure them, but Scarlett shakes her head.

“I insist,” she says. “I know you kids are exhausted.”

I can’t argue there.

We say our goodbyes to Cash and Olivia, and then Presley leads the way up to her second story apartment, unlocking the door. She flicks on a light and immediately, I love it here. It’s so Presley. 

“Alright,” Scarlett says, wrapping an arm around Presley. “We’ll see you tomorrow for dinner, right?”

“Right,” Presley says, hugging her mom. “Thank you so much for the ride, you guys.”

“Of course,” David says, giving her a squeeze. 

“Yes, thank you so much,” I add, and Scarlett hugs me tightly.

“Thanks for taking care of our girl,” she says, and my heart warms. 

“Always,” I tell her. We share a little moment, her expression one of admiration, and then we bid her parents goodbye. 

Presley locks the door behind them and sighs heavily, slumping. “Holy shit,” she mutters. “I need to go to bed, like, five hours ago.”

I chuckle and nod. “Come on. Show me your bedroom,” I insist. 

She flicks off the light and uses her phone flashlight to illuminate the way. She flicks on her bedroom light which is somehow wired to be from a lamp rather than the overhead fixture. “Wow,” I say as I look around. No wonder she never wanted to leave the house.

Her bed looks like the comfiest bed I’ve ever seen in my life, full of well broken-in pillows and soft blankets. The decorations are tasteful and comforting, and it smells sweet, just like Presley. I come up behind her and wrap my arms over her shoulders, squeezing her. “I like your room,” I tell her.

“Me too,” Presley agrees. “I love my room. I love my bed.”

“Yeah, that looks like an amazing bed.”

Pres turns in my arms and wraps her arms around my neck. “Let’s get ready for bed,” she says, giving me a kiss. I nod and let her go. 

Ten minutes later, after brushing our teeth and taking off most of our clothes, Presley’s fan is on and we’re snuggling up under her blankets. It’s a little cold in here; Presley had the heat turned down to save on energy, but the bed is warm and so is Presley. I snuggle up to her, pulling her back to my chest, and sigh, closing my stinging eyes. 

“Thanks for letting me come home with you,” I murmur, kissing her shoulder.

Presley hums. “Thanks for coming with me,” she says sleepily. “I love you,” she adds after a moment.

“I love you,” I agree, smiling. Minutes later, we’re asleep in her bed, and it excites me knowing her nights here are limited. Soon, we’ll be falling asleep together in our bed. 

Presley

Leaving home is going to be bittersweet. There’s no doubt about that.

As Colson and I drive into the city to my shop, I can’t help but take my fill of my surroundings. I’m going to miss all the pine trees, the heavy snow. I’ll miss my quiet apartment complex with its pool and its noisy air conditioner. I’ll miss being so close to my parents. But honestly, that’s about it. 

I’m not sad about leaving the tattoo shop. I loved it here and it served its purpose, but I’m ready to move on. I used my job as a way to hide from life, and I’m not interested in hiding anymore. I want to embrace my life, to enjoy my twenties with the man I love in a city I love. 

Colson’s hand rests on my jean-clad thigh as we drive into the city. He stares out the window the entire time. “It reminds me a lot of home here,” he says. “Cleveland.”

“Yeah?” I ask. “How so?”

Colson shrugs. “I don’t know,” he admits. “Just does. It’s nice.”

“Do you miss it?” I ask, glancing over at him.

Colson nods. “I do,” he says. “I mean, I’m happy to be out of there, don’t get me wrong. But I do miss simpler times.”

“That makes sense,” I reply.

“Are you going to miss it here?” he asks.

“Not really,” I admit. “I’ll miss my parents. But otherwise, I’m not really sad to be leaving this behind.”

Colson looks over at me and smiles, and I steal a glance at his gorgeous face, cheeks pink from the cold. “Good,” he says. He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. 

I pull into the tattoo shop and park in my usual spot in the back lot. No one knows I’m coming today, but it’s a Sunday, so I know several artists will be here, as well as the other piercer. I lead the way inside, Colson’s hand in mine, and Emmy behind the front desk spots me first.

She gasps. “Presley!” she says, hurrying around from behind the desk to hug me. “Oh my god! You’re back!”

“Hey, Emmy,” I say, smiling as I hug her. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Wait, Pres is here?” Derek appears from his room and opens his arms for a big bear hug. 

“Hey,” I tell him. “It’s so good to see you guys.”

“You too,” Derek says. He raises a brow. “Um, Presley?” he asks.

“Yes?” I ask, pulling away to study his face curiously.

“Did you bring Machine Gun Kelly into our tattoo shop?” he asks, his eyes on Colson.

I grin widely and go over to my boyfriend, wrapping my arm around his waist. “I sure did,” I say. “Emmy, Derek, meet Colson. My boyfriend.”

Emmy’s eyes widen. “Are you fucking serious?” 

“Shit, we heard the rumors but I didn’t know it was true!” Derek says. “That’s awesome, Pres! Welcome to the shop, man.” He reaches out a hand and Colson shakes it.

“Thanks, man,” he says. “It’s dope as fuck here.”

“We like it,” Emmy says. 

“Is that Presley?” Blaze calls. I can hear the sound of his tattoo gun buzzing.

“Sure is!” I call. “Come say hi when you have a break!”

“She brought Machine Gun Kelly with her!” Derek calls, and I stifle a laugh.

“No she didn’t!” Blaze calls.

“Come see for yourself!” 

Blaze’s machine turns off and he appears around the corner, peeling off his gloves. He freezes mid step when he sees Colson, and Emmy, Derek, and I burst into laughter. “Hey, B,” I greet.

Blaze looks shocked as he hugs me. “Holy shit,” he says, reaching out to shake Colson’s hand. “Welcome, dude. It’s so cool to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too,” Colson says, smiling. I know he’s wary about meeting new people. Not everyone has a very positive opinion of my boyfriend, even if their opinions are unfounded. But I know Blaze is a fan. He played Tickets almost every single day in the shop when he found out Cash was going on tour with them. 

Gracen appears from the back and her eyes are wide. “I heard Machine Gun Kelly was here,” she says. “Oh, and you too, Presley.”

“Bitch,” I say with a grin, and my other piercer smiles widely as she hugs me. “It’s good to see you.”

“You back for good?” she asks. “Because no offense, but I’m making good ass money.”

“Keep on making it,” I say. “I’m moving to LA.”

“What?” Emmy and Blaze say in unison.

“Shit, Pres, that’s awesome,” Derek says with a grin. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Can I come visit?” Emmy asks. 

“Of course. Is anyone else here?” I ask.

“Sadie,” Emmy says. Sadie is who I brought with me to the show. She’s another tattoo artist here. “She’s finishing up right now. Should be out soon.”

“Taking care of our girl?” Gracen asks Colson, a stern look on her face.

Colson chuckles and nods, looking over at me. “Doing my best,” he says.

I smile and wrap my arm around his waist again. “To be honest, I’ve never been happier,” I say. My friends all look delighted for me, and a part of me is a little sad to be leaving them. Colson drops a kiss to the top of my head and I know I’ve made the right choice to move in with him. 

“Well, I just came to get some of my stuff and say hi and bye to you all,” I say. 

“Damn,” Derek says, shaking his head. “How life has changed.”

“It certainly has,” I agree. 

We all chat for a while longer, and after goodbye hugs all around, Colson and I leave the shop. We spend the rest of the day packing up my apartment with the help of Cash, Olivia, and my parents, and with all of us working together, we get everything packed. Most of it is going to my parents’ house, but some of it is coming to LA with us. 

We eat dinner at my parents’ house, watch movies together, stay up late talking, and finally, Colson and I retire to my old bedroom. The bed is far too small for us, but we don’t mind snuggling so we can both fit. We had very sneaky and hopefully very quiet sex, and now we’re lying naked in bed, wrapped up in each other’s arms. I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.

“Are you ready to leave tomorrow?” Colson asks me, his fingertips stroking lightly up and down my arm. 

I nod. “Yeah. I am,” I say. “It’s bittersweet, like I said, but I’m ready to start a new life with you.”

Colson smiles against my hairline. “Can’t wait,” he says. “My house is so lonely with just me living there. It’ll be nice to have you with me.”

I smile and press a kiss to his chest. “I can’t believe this is real.”

“Me neither,” Colson agrees. “I never thought anything like this would happen. Thought I’d be alone forever.”

“Me too.” I trace one of the tattoos on his chest. “You sure you’re ready for a lifetime of this?”

Colson smiles and kisses my lips. “Yeah, Pres. I’m positive.” 

In less than 24 hours, we’re standing in the doorway of Colson’s house, now my house, too. The sprawling staircase that leads up to our bedroom is welcoming. A gigantic sectional in the living room promises endless days of reading and snuggling. The pool in the backyard tempts us to go for a late night swim. And even though I haven’t even officially moved in yet, this feels like home.

Colson wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my head. “I love you, Presley,” he says. “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“I love you, too,” I say happily, covering his hands with my own. “Man. I can’t believe this is even real life.”

“Look around, baby,” Colson says, rocking me in his arms, reminding me that I’m home. “This is all ours.”

[once-in-a-blood-moon]

Cats Can Bear Rings, Right?

Satan x GN! reader

Summary: You and Satan discuss some interesting ideas for the both of yours wedding.

AN: I had a busy week, so I didn't get a chance to write. But I'm back! And don't worry, I don't see Satan as just a huge cat guy. But the thought of this was kinda funny so here, take it. 👐🏻

TW: None

“Okay, that’s the last of the invitations mailed out.” Letting himself into the study of your shared apartment, Satan came to stand behind you, watching as you browsed through the many pages of wedding decor. “Though I still think we should’ve excluded Lucifer from our guest list.” He added with a grumble. 

You giggled before spinning the chair around to face your now fiancé. “Well, think of it this way, with him at our wedding you can gloat all you want that you got married before him.” 

A wicked smile spread across Satan’s face. “You are devious, my dear. Why didn’t I think of that?” He chuckled. “What would I ever do without you?” Leaning down he softly placed a kiss on your temple. 

“You’d be alone with only the company of books. And a house full of cats.” You watched as he playfully rolled his eyes at your remark; his focus shifting to the computer screen just behind you. 

“So, what’s next in our planning?” Your mouth flattened into a straight line in thought as you swiveled back around to the desk. You grabbed the notebook that hadn’t been closed since the day after your engagement, and began to gloss over the long list of things you still needed to do. 

“Umm… next we need to figure out who the ring bearer is going to be.” You stated. Satan placed his hand on the arm of the chair, leaning over your shoulder to take a look at the notebook. You watched his emerald eyes scan the page. His eyes met yours shortly after, a softness reserved only for you swimming in their edges. 

“You’ve already gotten your wedding attire?” 

“Yes, that’s already been taken care of. Courtesy of Asmo asking every five seconds if he could tag along. And even when I said yes, he continued to call and message me about plans- giving his opinions on what designs and fabrics would be best. So, I got it done early to get him to leave me alone.” You let out a laugh at the memory. Satan added a chuckle of his own, reminded of Asmo’s ways.

The softness made an appearance across the demon’s features once more before he spoke again. “I can’t wait to see you when you walk down the aisle. I just know you’ll take my breath away.” 

A blush consumed your cheeks at Satan’s sweet words. He was too romantic for his own good. After successfully flustering you, Satan straightened himself as he brought the original subject back up. 

“Well, if you want my opinion on a ring bearer, I can’t think of anything more purrfect than having a cat escorting the rings to us-” Satan paused. “Even better, we can have two cats. One for each ring. Not a bad idea, right?” 

You looked at the blonde incredulously. He couldn’t be serious. What a terrible idea, not to mention the terrible pun he added as if it would help seal the deal. 

“Umm, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I was actually thinking of asking Luke to do it.” Now it was Satan’s turn to mirror the look you had previously given him. 

“So, no cats… But you’d rather have the chihuahua deliver the rings instead.” A light biting undertone wove itself through his words. You gently swatted his arm, huffing out a playful breath. 

“Be nice. I think Luke would be a wonderful ring bearer. We certainly wouldn’t have to worry about him running off with the rings like the cats might.” 

“Are you implying that the cats would steal the rings?” Satan’s hand made contact with his chest, almost offended at what he was hearing.

“No, but cats kinda do what they want when they want. I’m sure the cats would wander off somewhere with our rings. Dogs, however, are loyal and stay when asked. Luke probably wouldn’t let himself leave our eyesight as long as he was in possession of the rings.” You giggled at the thought of Luke following the two of you like a little, lost puppy. 

It wasn’t too far from the truth with the way he trails Simeon around. 

Satan guffawed. “I was only joking about the cat thing. I’m certainly not opposed to having Luke be our ring bearer. I think it’s a wonderful idea.” 

“Great! I think we should ask him in person. I’ll send him and Simeon a message and invite them to have lunch at our place.” You picked up your D.D.D that was sitting off to the side and began typing into The Angel’s group chat. 

Satan hummed in agreement. A few beats of silence passed before the demon spoke once more. 

“I do think we should incorporate cats into our wedding. It’d be a nice touch. Maybe we could have one cat per guest.” 

He could not be serious. 

[here-there-everyfuckenwhere]

Fic prompts!

I’m not sure how specific you want them, so here goes:

All of these are for Ted/Trent, can be established relationship or not, rating’s up to you, whatever you want!

-snow

-they spend the night at a hotel room

-they are apart for whatever reason, and they miss each other

-celebrating each other’s birthdays

Okay okay, so I got this request almost a year ago and I never ever responded to it even though I had something just sitting in my WIP folder this entire time. I didn't think this one was good enough to post considering I took quite a diversion from the original prompts, but in honour of Ted Lasso Season 3 Teaser Trailer Day, I have decided to break my year-long silence.

Enjoy

+++

Title: ???

Pairing: Ted Lasso/Trent Crimm

Prompt: Hotel, snow, apart, birthday, missing each other,

Word count: 1.7k

Other tags: fluffy, oneshot

+++

Read on AO3

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To anyone else looking out at the dark streets of Richmond from their window, it appeared to be like any other Winter afternoon. The air was the sort of cold that would bite at your skin if you stood outside for long enough. Thick, white snow delicately framed every window in town, including the window that Trent Crimm, formerly of The Independent, sat beneath, longingly staring at the reflection that seemed to be staring back at him.

The day itself shouldn’t have felt significant to him anymore; he managed to make it through 41 other birthdays just fine after all, and his 42nd was shaping up to be no different from the rest. Trent was never really in favour of celebrating his birthday. As a child he never really enjoyed celebrating his own birthday or having parties with his friends from school (not that he ever seemed to make many…), and the habit of ignoring his birthday until it finally washed over him and became just any other day had well and truly followed him all the way throughout his adult life. 

On this birthday in particular, Seraphina happened to be staying with her grandparents. The situation seemed unfamiliar to Trent; having a completely empty, quiet house all to himself without having to write a detailed report on Richmond’s win the night before in Liverpool as a deadline drew closer and closer. In a way it was oddly freeing, but simultaneously terrifying, and Trent found himself unsure of what to do. Which explains why he sat, staring out of the window at nothing for at least half an hour that night. 

Fortunately, a sound snapped him out of his trance, startling him at first until he realised it was the  specific ringtone he had set for whenever Ted called him. Which, he had noticed, had become his nightly ritual. 

Trent picked up his phone, taking a deep breath before answering. 

“Trent Crimm, The Inde-“ he stopped himself. Old habits. He cleared his throat gently. 

“How may I help you?”

“Aw, I know who I’m calling,” he heard the familiar voice of Ted Lasso assure him. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“How is Liverpool?” He asked, genuinely curious despite having been there himself what felt like a million times to attend various football matches during his career. 

“I’ll tell ya, Trent, it’s a lot more fun being in a city right after you’ve actually won a game,” he answers, followed by a low giggle that makes Trent’s heart race a mile a minute. 

“And the hotel…?” He asks. Decades of working as a journalist leads to some terrible habits, like not being able to hold a normal conversation without just firing questions at the other person. Ted doesn’t seem to mind it, handling each one with the same sincerity and charisma he brought to the press room where they first met. 

“Nice. Almost a little too nice, if I’m being honest. Which reminds me, I’ve got something I need to give to you,” Ted tells him, which is.. strange, to say the least. 

“That’s very kind of you, but.. why?” Trent asks, fidgeting with his glasses in his hands absentmindedly. 

“Well, I know you said you don’t like gifts, but I figured it was the least I could do,”

Trent stops fidgeting. 

“…for what?” He asks. A strange feeling, something between dread and excitement, took a hold of him as the question comes out far more stern than he intended. 

“Aww, come on now, Trent, you didn’t think I’d forget your birthday did you..?” 

Trent sighs. Of course he would never forget. He tries his hardest not to read too much into it- Ted probably remembers all of his friends’ birthdays… right?

“I’m not totally sure how you even remembered in the first place,” he said, returning to fidgeting with his glasses again, this time more anxiously. 

“Remember that time Keeley was trying to guess what your star sign was…?” Ted prompts him. 

Trent cringes at the realisation that yes, he actually did volunteer that information and yes, that was the context. 

“Thank you very much for calling, but you should know I am staunchly opposed to celebrating birthdays. Mine in particular,” he attempts to explain, though he’s almost certain he’s not going to get very far. 

“Now, why is that…?” Ted asks, his signature, almost child-like curiosity laced through every word of his question. It was hard not to want to tell him everything. 

He wasn’t like Trent; he didn’t ask questions to manipulate or make people feel a certain way. He asked questions simply because he wanted to know what the answers were. 

Trent takes a moment to consider this before answering. 

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe just the thought of being.. older,” he shrugs even though Ted can’t see him. 

“Aw, there’s nothing wrong with getting older, Trent. It just means you’re finally growing into your reading glasses,“ 

Trent gasps, taking mock offence, but can’t help laughing slightly. His day definitely seems to be improving. 

“So you’re sure there’s absolutely nothing you want for your birthday..?” Ted asks, but in a way that makes Trent think he’s definitely planning something. Some grand, Lasso-style gesture that would probably just embarrass the hell out of him. 

“Yes, I am quite certain, Coach Lasso,” he says carefully, making sure that there is no way any word in the sentence could be misconstrued. 

“Nothing at all…?” He repeats. Something inside of Trent lights up, either fear or excitement. Or possibly both. 

“Yes, I am sure. Nothing at-“ before he can finish his thought, the familiar sound of the doorbell permeates the silence in the apartment. 

“-all,” he finishes, before carefully inching towards the door, completely unsure of what to expect. 

Of all the things he might have suspected before opening the door, Ted standing by himself, beaming at him on his doorstep was not one of them. He was holding a cupcake, topped with a lit birthday candle. 

Trent hangs up on the phone call, standing in utter disbelief at the scene before him, trying to remember this moment as best as he could. A million questions flooded into his mind, 

Like “Aren’t you supposed to be coming back from Liverpool tomorrow?”

But instead of asking any of them, he stared in silence just for a moment, trying to savour it for as long as possible. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Ted asks him, gesturing down at the candle. 

“I- what?”

“Come on! You have to make a wish!” He smiles expectantly. As Ted holds the cake out towards him he can see something on his face that he has never seen before- something fond, and soft, and truly happy. Trent could feel the slight sting of tears in his eyes that he choked back as he eventually blew out the candle. 

“Woo! There ya go! Now, for obvious reasons you can’t tell me what you wished for, but-“ 

“Ted...” He said gently, cutting him off from whatever digression he was bound to launch into. 

He took a step closer and shut the door behind him. 

He suddenly felt a wave of new-found confidence come over him in that moment as he slowly dragged his gaze eyes up from the unlit candle, all the way to Ted’s eyes, which were widened in curiosity and anticipation. 

Ted could feel his heart thumping against his chest, and suddenly he felt as though he was witnessing Ms Scanlon’s tan lines again for the very first time, but this was new. Different, somehow. Because this was real, and it was with Trent Crimm, formerly of The Independent, the man who he had been thinking about since the moment he saw him in the press room on his first day at work. 

“Thank you. For everything,” Trent smiled at him slightly as he gently plucked the cupcake from his hand and placed it down on the small table just inside his front door. As he reached for it, his fingertips grazed Ted’s just for a moment, but it felt like maybe just a moment too long, and now Ted’s insides were twisting and knotting. It was a feeling he was familiar with, whenever the panic would settle in and it felt like he couldn’t breathe, but this was different. This was comfortable and warm and good and he never wanted it to end. 

He tried to keep his imagination from going wild; Trent was a good friend of his, and he just wanted him to have a good birthday. Nothing else. But he couldn’t help but wonder if Trent was thinking the same thing. 

“Oh, no, that’s okay, I just swung by to-“ Ted’s words are cut off by Trent’s warm hands cupping the side of his face, curing the chill with his gentle touch before pressing his lips against Ted’s in one swift motion.

Ted stands there for a moment, stunned, before reaching for Trent’s waist to gently pull him closer. After all, he has only really kissed Michelle, and felt completely unprepared for this scenario. Even though he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it once or twice.. 

Something inside of Trent felt as though it was bursting at the seams, as if months of wondering if all of Ted’s grand gestures and late-night phone calls and little nods to each other in the press room meant what he thought they meant this whole time. What he wanted them to mean all along. 

Ted feels his breath catch in his throat as Trent takes his bottom lip between his teeth gently as they pull away from each other. 

They stand for a moment like that, in Trent’s doorway as Ted stares at the ground nervously and shoves his hand in his pockets, trying desperately to ignore that  every single cell in his body felt like it had caught fire.  

Trent studied him for a second, unsure if maybe he had made a huge mistake and ruined any shred of trust the two of them had only moments ago. 

Then he remembered the candle in Ted’s hands, how he had been told to make a wish and blow it out. How he wished for just a moment, a brief moment in time, that he had the courage to say how he really felt. 

He took a deep breath in before filling the silence that had settled in between them. 

“Would you like to come in…?” 

Ted nodded before slipping politely past Trent and in through his living room. 

Maybe Trent could come around on this whole birthday thing after all.. 

+++

[summerwritesfics]

💥And I Know You Won’t Remember Memories In Ember, Chapter 1 - I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 4228 Words Rating: Mature Warnings: Canon Divergence (Takes place instead of the MKX comics Kamidogu saga to be exact), Gaslighting, Whump, Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Abduction, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, NSFK (Not Safe For Kuai), Like really not safe for Kuai, He will be suffering.

And I Know You Won’t Remember Memories In Ember Masterlist

Notes: Hng, finally managed to get out one of the requests from my winter giveaway. Holy shit lol. This one is for @thetrueweaveroffate who requested a first chapter to a WIP I’ve previously posted on my personal tumblr. The WIP’s were originally posted under the working title of “Hanzo’s Dad”, so if you’re impatient for the next chapter feel free to dig through my WIP tag and see if you can figure it out lol. I will note however I pretty much intend to completely rewrite everything already posted so ^^;; I’m also trying out new techniques for editing with this one so hopefully it’ll be a little easier on me lol, and there won’t be as many typos :) Title is from “New Cydonia” by Starcadian (Altho I will admit I am VTuber trash and was actually listening to Vox Akuma’s cover when I chose the title lol) and the title of this chapter is from “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell.

Kuai Liang could not escape the intense feeling of unease that seemed to be following him everywhere he went.

It had started subtly enough that he believed the feeling to be completely irrational. Even while on the run from The Lin Kuei, he shouldn’t have been feeling like something or someone was constantly following him. Because The Lin Kuei wouldn’t bother quietly stalking him, they’d lock onto his location and immediately begin their assault.

So, initially he had no clue why he felt something was so wrong. He couldn’t see anyone at first, not even out of the corner of his eye. Until he walked into a town one day and spotted a man in a black suit. Anywhere else in the world, he wouldn’t have batted an eyelid at that. But in the middle of a rural Chinese town, where people generally wore more casual or traditional clothing?

The man stood out like a sore thumb.

And after that, he kept seeing more.

In every village, town and city, there was at least one person in a suit. Out in the wilderness, he would spot someone standing off in the distance. He even started to recognise some of them too. One was a long haired blonde white man who almost looked like he’d be at home in one of Johnny Cage’s movies. Another was an Asian man with a very notable birthmark on his neck. There were so many of them, of all different races but they all had at least one unique feature that he picked up on. A lip ring, a tattoo, an unusual hair colour, freckles.

It was getting to the point that he was starting to tally how many times he saw each of them.

And the fact the numbers were starting to get into double figures was concerning.

They never did anything to him, never actually approached him, but it was so obvious that he was the one they were watching. Even behind the dark sunglasses they all wore, Kuai could feel their gaze on him, watching his every move. He didn’t know what they wanted, if they were friend or foe, but either way, it was beginning to weigh on his mind, making him increasingly paranoid.

As he entered the threshold of the latest village, he kept his head low, even as a couple of the locals gave him distrusting looks. Still he made his way down the street, trying to get through as quickly as he possibly could. He hadn’t been able to take a rest in a few days however, so he decided he’d need to stop somewhere. In the distance he could see a sign that read “Inn”. Maybe I should stop for the night? Get an actual good night's sleep for once.

As he passed by an alley, from the corner of his eye, he saw the familiar black suit.

He paused in his tracks, head snapping over to look directly at the man. It was the Blonde man, standing and staring at Kuai with his hands hidden behind his back. Even with the man’s eyes hidden by large sunglasses, Kuai was sure they were making eye contact. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, feeling bile rise in the back of his throat.

He couldn’t keep going on like this, feeling like he was constantly under surveillance.

He turned himself to fully face the man, staring him down as best he could. He could have sworn the asshole actually smirked at that. He clenched his fist, just barely stopping himself from encasing it in ice. This is it, he thought as he began to storm towards the man. He’d either get answers or at the very least confirmation on if he was really being followed.

To his surprise, the man didn’t react much to his approach. He didn’t begin to run, or otherwise attempt to avoid the incoming confrontation. If anything, he just looked incredibly amused. When Kuai actually got close enough to be standing directly in front of the man, he realised he had no idea what to do. If the guy had run, he could have pursued, he hadn’t anticipated the man not reacting at all.

“Can I help you?” The man asked him smoothly, although the tone slightly condescending, like he was addressing a child rather than a grown man in his 30’s.

“Why are you following me?” He growled, desperate to seem dangerous, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. You and your little entourage of suited pricks.” Without really thinking he reached a hand forward, grasping the black fabric of the man's clothes in his fist. “Why are you following me?”

The man smiled slightly, “a coincidence, I’m sure.”

Kuai grit his teeth, his grip getting ever so tighter.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” he bit out, pulling on the man slightly but finding he barely moved for it. “You and the others have been there at every turn. Every path, every village, you have been there, watching me. I demand to know why!”

Kuai was suddenly aware he was standing on his tiptoes, desperately trying to get in the man's face despite their height difference. It must have looked ridiculous to anyone who happened to be watching him. The man smirked down at him, looking like he was seconds away from just laughing in Kuai’s face.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The man tilted his head, and switched the tone of his voice to faux concern. “Are you okay? You appear to be experiencing an increased level of paranoia currently.”

Kuai laughed. A loud bitter angry laugh right in the man's face.

“Maybe you should take a rest, hm?” The man continued to suggest, as Kuai’s laugh quietened. “I hear the inn in this town is lovely.”

Kuai swallowed, there was something unnerving about that. Like this man was extremely invested in Kuai going to the inn.

What do these people want?

He wasn’t going to get answers, at least not like this. He knew well enough by now to pick his battles wisely, and this was one he had no hope to win. Releasing his grip on the man, he took a step back.

“I will be fine, thank you very much,” he huffed. Now this man had mentioned it, there was no way he was entering that inn. Something was going to happen to him if he went in there, he could just feel it.

As he turned away, he heard the man call out to him, “I really think you should reconsider, Sub Zero.”

Kuai paused in his tracks. Slowly looking over his shoulder, he saw the man wearing a smug look. Kuai had not used the name Sub Zero around this man. Hell he had barely talked to anyone during this entire journey, let alone tell anyone either his real name or codename.

They stared at each other for a long moment, Kuai feeling a twisting in his gut. That was it, the confirmation that these men really were following him. Yet it felt so strange. What did the man get out of revealing it in this way? Other than to mess with him?

So… Did he just say it by accident?

“I never mentioned my name,” Kuai said lowly, hoping maybe to see a look of surprise, like the man hadn’t intended to say that. But no, he just continued to smile at him. He’d definitely done it on purpose.

What exactly could he hope to accomplish by doing that?

“Maybe you didn’t,” the man replied, reaching up to his glasses to pull them down slightly, now squarely meeting Kuai’s gaze. “Maybe I just overheard a conversation, or maybe I’ve been sent by The Lin Kuei to find you, or… Maybe the Shirai Ryu? You have many enemies, right, Sub Zero? I could be anyone.”

“You aren’t with The Lin Kuei,” Kuai spat, fully turning on the spot and concentrating on the words rather than the implications that this man knew far more about his life than Kuai would care anyone to know. “Or the Shirai Ryu. Even if they were still around, if you were with them, you’d have tried to kill me before now.”

“Ah, I suppose that is true,” the man hummed thoughtfully, pushing his glasses back into place. “Then, maybe I truly am just a passerby, hm?”

Kuai didn’t know what to say to that. He was far too freaked out by this conversation and the almost-but-not-quite confirmation he was indeed being followed. Unsure if he could cope with this much longer, his only option was to just walk away, lest he let it eat away his sanity.

He turned his back on the man and began to storm off, hoping to get away as quickly as possible.

Behind him, he heard the man chuckle and shout to him, “you should really consider what I said about resting.”

Like fuck am I going anywhere near that inn.

Yet at the same time, he absolutely needed to rest. He’d been on the go almost constantly and even if his current fears were valid, it absolutely wasn’t helping how tired he was. He reached into his pack, taking a quick look at the handmade map he’d scribbled on a scrap of paper so he’d have some vague idea of where to go. He was sure he’d marked another inn somewhere in the vicinity of this village. There was one, it’d take another hour or so for him to trek to it, but it seemed like the safer bet at this point.

He shoved the map back into his pocket, heading off in the right direction. He didn’t bother to look back at the man, because he knew if he did it would reveal just how affected by this he was.

The sooner he got to the Inn the better.

As he had anticipated, it had taken him around an hour to get to the inn on the outskirts of the town.

And so far everything looked normal. He hadn’t seen any more of the suited men, or anything else really off. The nagging at the back of his mind told him to keep alert. If he really had thrown off their plans by going to a different inn, their stalking would only get more aggressive than it already was.

He paused outside for a minute, leaning against the building and glancing around. There was still no one else around.

So why did something still feel wrong?

He clenched his fist, grinding his teeth as he continued to survey his surroundings. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. Just anything odd, anything that didn’t belong or stood out as strange. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Somehow, that didn’t do anything to quell his fears.

Had he made a mistake coming here? Maybe he should completely forgo the inn and continue on?

He ran his tongue along his teeth, his mouth was so dry that if he didn’t at least stop to get a drink he’d run the risk of dehydration. He sighed, and lent back against the wall. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his map. A glance told him the next closest inn was over two hours away, and he knew for a fact he did not have the energy levels to reach it.

He looked up at the inn, the sign so weathered he couldn’t make out the actual name. Just a drink of water won’t hurt, will it? He went towards the door, gently pushing it open, and peering inside. The place was mostly empty, with just a handful of people sitting around one table, and someone behind the counter. No one was wearing a suit, and none of the people looked like the men he’d seen previously.

Just a quick drink, in and out. That’ll be fine.

He steadied his resolve and stepped inside. The men at the table stopped talking to stare at him for a second, before deciding he wasn’t that interesting and returning to their conversation. He swallowed, adjusting his armour. Just because they didn’t care about his presence right now, didn’t mean they wouldn’t find something to take exception to later.

He made his way towards the counter, the lady behind it looking up as he did. She smiled brightly but it wasn’t a natural one, it looked extremely forced, but Kuai supposed he couldn’t blame her for that. If he had to stand behind a counter serving people drinks all day, he’d probably have to fake a smile too.

“Hello,” she greeted, putting down a glass and focusing a little too intently on Kuai instead. “What can I get you?”

“Just a glass of water, please,” he muttered, reaching into his pocket to find the little money he had left.

“Are you sure?” She asked, tilting her head. “You look like you could do with a meal of some kind too.”

“No, just the water please.” He could stand another couple of days without food, water was far more important.

The woman hummed, sounding strangely disappointed by this. Kuai told himself she was just disappointed she wouldn’t be getting more money out of him. Still she picked up a clean glass and turned her back to him. He couldn’t see what she was doing, but he could hear the rush of liquid filling the glass. Seconds later, she was back to facing him, putting the water on the counter.

Kuai placed down a couple of coins to pay for the drink. The woman accepted them, pushing the water towards Kuai.

“Thank you.”

Kuai took the glass in his hand, just observing the water. It was perfectly still, clear, and looked like a normal glass of water.

So why was that creeping feeling of unease catching up to him again?

He gave the inn another glance, even in the low light, no one was paying him any attention. In fact it almost felt like everyone was making a point to not look at him. If anything, that just made the feeling even worse.

“Is everything okay?” The woman asked, making Kuai turn to face her again. She still had that fake smile on her face, and the more Kuai looked at it, the more anxious he felt. “You seem a little worried by something.”

“Yes,” Kuai muttered, finally picking up his glass of water and bowing slightly to her. “Yes, I am fine.”

He didn’t give her chance to ask again, as he took his glass and walked off. Making his way through the room, he went to a small table in the far corner. As he sat down, he made sure he was directly in the corner. No one could come up behind him that way. He could also see the entire inn, so if one of the suited men walked in, he’d see it immediately and have a better chance to make an escape.

He didn’t even drink for a while, just sat in silence, watching the group at the other table. They were too absorbed in whatever they were talking about to take any note of Kuai.

But his eyes slowly drifted over towards the woman behind the counter. She was trying so hard to make it look like she wasn’t looking at him. He gave her credit for effort but even from afar he could see that while her head was down towards a glass, her eyes were in his direction.

Maybe she was keeping an eye on him for a reason. Or maybe he was just a strange man who’d walked in, asked only for a glass of water and that had made her suspicious of him. In the mists of his own distrust, he never stopped to think about how his behaviour might come across to other people.

Well, I might as well use this opportunity to figure out where I’m actually going.

He took a quick sip of his water, before pulling out his map again. At that moment, he didn’t have a final destination, as such. His only real aim was to get out of China. It felt bitter to think such a thing, he loved his country dearly, but with The Lin Kuei looking for him, he didn’t feel safe staying any longer.

Considering where he currently was, his best option was to try and catch a boat to South Korea first. Then, possibly Japan, even if that idea made him anxious. The Shirai Ryu were no more, in theory it should be safe for him to be there. From Japan, he wasn’t sure. Now that he thought about it, Japan didn’t have many places close by that he could get to. He had possibly gone in the completely wrong direction if he wanted to quickly get as far away as possible.

Maybe when I’m in Japan, I can find a way to get a fake ID and take a plane to America? It sounded like his best option. That or maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to contact Special Forces. Johnny Cage was annoying, but many moons ago, during the tournament, he’d offered Kuai a home. Kuai had turned it down at the time, and then he died, so it turned out to be a moot point anyway. Maybe the offer would still stand, or at the very least, Cage would help him find somewhere to lay low.

He took another larger gulp of his water. Yes. A plan was starting to come to him. First, he needed to get to South Korea. There would probably be some merchant boats he could stow away on. He looked at his map, grabbing a pen from another pocket as he circled a dock a few days away that would be the closest place to go from.

He began to work out a new path. He wanted to conserve as much energy as he could, so he tried to avoid too many mountainous or potentially dangerous paths. Between every couple of lines he drank more of the water, using that time to think over the path he was taking, and changing things if he thought it needed too.

Then, for a fleeting second, he felt dizzy.

He closed his eyes, trying to let the feeling pass. It thankfully did, fairly quickly at that. He was possibly more tired than he had initially believed, or a lot more dehydrated. He drank the last of the water to be sure, and considered briefly if he should order more.

He turned his attention back to his map, but when he did, he realised there was something wrong.

The writing on the paper was blurry. His breathing hitched as he looked up. It wasn’t just the paper, the whole room was blurry.

He blinked rapidly, hoping somehow that would clear his vision but it did nothing. The dizzy feeling came back, stronger this time. He closed his eyes, his head was absolutely spinning. He could feel himself slowly swaying on the spot. When he reopened his eyes, the world was warping around him, almost like he was on a boat being rocked by the sea during a storm.

“What?” Kuai whispered to himself, beginning to feel so very hot.

He needed to get out of here.

He braced his hands against the table, trying to push himself up and onto his feet. He stumbled slightly, only stopping himself from falling by tightening his grip on the table.

The entire world felt unstable, like he was about to fall through the ground at any moment. Yet he still tried to push forward, stumbling over himself as he tried to get away from the table. The heat was getting unbearable, he needed to get outside to cool down.

He tried to move across the room, but found himself very quickly losing his balance. One second, he was upright, then he blinked and the next second he was face to face with the wooden floor.

He desperately clawed at the ground, trying to pull himself along. Why had no one come to see if something was wrong? Surely someone had noticed that he needed help by now, right?

The sounds around him seemed to echo, especially the sound of the Inn’s door opening and several pairs of footsteps approaching him. He was still trying to pull himself along when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Seconds later, he found the world flipping around, and he was staring up at the ceiling.

A face came into view, but Kuai could not make out who was looking down at him.

“Well, well, well,” the person said, and Kuai felt his blood run cold. That was the voice of the suited man from earlier. “I did tell you that you should have gone to the Inn in town, now didn’t I?”

“Y-You…” Kuai didn’t have the brainpower to voice his despair.

This had been a trap, and like an absolute fool, he had fallen for it.

The Grandmaster was right, he really was stupid, wasn’t he?

“N-no,” Kuai croaked out with a sob, trying to push himself back onto his stomach. He needed to get away, even if he had to crawl.

“Now, where exactly do you think you’re going to go like this?” The man cruelly chuckled, moving so that he grabbed Kuai under his armpits.

Kuai felt himself being lifted into the air, realising that someone else had taken hold of his feet as well. He weakly slapped his hands against the arms holding his top half back, trying to conjure his ice only for a few flakes of snow to escape his fingertips. His head began to feel light, eyes so heavy he couldn’t keep them open. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be awake for much longer.

He heard more doors open, and seconds later, he was being placed down somewhere. He felt something metal clip around his wrist and neck. Just about managing to reopen his eyes, he saw the suited man staring at him with a predatory grin.

“Agent X is going to be so pleased we finally got you.”

Kuai didn’t have a chance to compute those words, as a door in front of him was slammed shut and his eyes closed one final time, darkness enveloping him as his conscious thoughts slipped away.

“Alpha team,” Agent Y announced into a microphone, “the target has the drug in his system, he will be ready for pick up in around 5 minutes.”

“Roger that,” the voice on the other end replied.

X sighed dramatically, it had taken a lot to set this plan into motion. Kuai Liang was not an easy man to keep track of, let alone predict his actions before he did them. But it was almost over now, and soon he’d be in their grasps. He had to give Agent Z her due, her plan worked flawlessly. The trick to get him into the right inn by using his own paranoia against him was inspired, and he was honestly surprised that Kuai Liang had actually fallen for it. X was certain Kuai Liang was smarter than that, but he supposed lack of sleep could make an idiot out of even certified geniuses.

“We are still in agreement that I will be the one to torture him, correct?” X questioned, watching on the screen as Kuai’s head started to droop slightly. He swayed, pushing to stand up on very unsteady feet.

“Yeah, yeah,” Y replied in an annoyed tone.

“And that once we have the information we need out of Hasashi, I get to keep him, right?” That was the agreement, and X needed it to be kept to. Kuai Liang was an absolutely fascinating subject, and by the time he was done, X would understand every part of him.

“You’re a really weird guy, you know that X?” Y snipped at him, but X just rolled his eyes.

No one else understood his fascination with the man, and no one else shared it. To them, Kuai Liang was just another magic user in a world overrun with them. But there was something that stood out about Kuai Liang, at least to X anyway. He truly was as like a snowflake as his powers suggested, unique from everyone else in the world, even amongst those that shared his particular skill set. X found himself drawn to him, and when X was drawn to something, he needed to know everything about it.

Regardless of what it took to get the information he desired.

“Once we get the reply from Hasashi, he’s all yours,” Y sighed in defeat, clearly not wanting to stoke the flames or get into whatever was going on in X’s head.

Good.

X turned his attention back to the screen, watching as Kuai stumbled around, struggling to stay upright. Soon, his legs gave out under him, ending up on his knees. Seconds later, he was face down on the floor.

As Alpha Team closed in, manhandling the barely-conscious Ex-Lin Kuei into the back of a truck, X smiled to himself, knowing soon he’d be able to start his research.

He’d been waiting for this chance for far too long, and he was going to make the most out of it.

≛❀≛ Next Chapter ⋟

[detectivejrdude583]

Sunburns and squabbles

chapter 1

AO3

summery: How Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler, Amanda Rollins, Dominick Carisi, and Grace Muncy all ended up on a family vacation together would never be known.

Actually, it would. It was quite simple really: Elizabeth Stabler forgot to mention the name of her girlfriend.

Or: The story of a vacation with way too many people, with way too many things going on, and oh great now we have to make an ER visit.

not centered around a specific pairing rather several pairings and friendships

words: 2531

warnings: None for this chapter, correct me if I'm wrong

How Olivia Benson, Elliot stabler, Amanda Rollins, Dominick Carisi, and Grace Muncy all ended up on a family vacation together would never be known.

Actually, it would. It was quite simple really: Elizabeth Stabler forgot to mention the name of her girlfriend.

……………………….

The trip had been in the planning stage for quite a while, trying to get everyone time off and details set in stone was more of a task than expected, but eventually everyone had managed to pull themselves together for a good old fashion family vacation.

Among the guest were the original stablers: Elliot, Maureen, her husband, and their two kids, Kathleen, Richard- or Dickie, and Elizabeth with her girlfriend who only her siblings had met, and of course Eli.

Then there were the Benson-stablers: Olivia and Noah.

And then tagging along was the Rollins-Carisi crew: Sonny, Amanda, Jesse, and Billie, there was a bit of debate about whether or not Frannie was coming along, but ultimately Frannie was sent to live with a more than reluctant Fin for a while.

Olivia and Amanda had brought up going on vacation together more than once, it just never seemed to work out, and when it finally did work out, ten more people were added to the mix, not that either of them really minded.

Okay, Amanda minded a little, not because she didn’t want everyone there, but because she was going to be in close proximity with Elliot Stabler, and while she was incredibly happy that Olivia has found someone who makes her happy, Amanda did not exactly like Elliot. She had nothing real against him, he just rubbed her the wrong way- and the whole abandoning Olivia thing didn’t help- but Amanda supposed she could put up with him so long as he didn’t do anything stupid.

Looking back on it, Olivia really should have known- she was the one who signed off on Muncy’s time off for god’s sake, she really couldn’t put two and two together.

……………………….

“Tell me why we aren’t just flying again” Elliot said popping his head out of the closet.

“Elliot it was your decision, you said it would be cheaper to drive and a good quote ‘bonding experience’” Olivia pointed out.

“Well why didn’t you stop me”

“I tried El, I tried, but you weren’t having it, now were going to be driving for quite literally 2 days before the trip even starts” Olivia rolled her eyes “It should also be noted that it was your idea to rent an entire minibus so we can all ride together” Olivia said.

“Hey, now that was a good idea, no trying to keep up with each other, plus the bus has WIFI and charging stations, not to mention a bathroom which means we will be stopping less” Elliot defended himself.

“Sure”

……………………….

“Jesse Honey come on, you have to get up” Amanda said softly shaking her daughter, it had been a rough night in the Rollins-Carisi house, Jesse had been having a tough time all around. She wasn’t acting up, but she never wanted to go to school, half the time she ended up in Sonny and Amanda’s bed in the middle of the night and she never seemed to want to be in a room without at least one of her parents. Amanda had talked to her about it, but the 8-year-old didn’t really have a good explanation, but Amanda would keep trying until she figured out whatever was going on.

The previous night had been a long one to say the least, not really by anyone’s fault, but Jesse had refused going to sleep, even when Amanda laid in the bed with her, she had had a bit of a breakdown. Amanda and Sonny had established a solid bedtime routine which Jesse could do mostly independently, but when it came time for her to actually go to sleep, she clung first to Sonny and then to Amanda.

Amanda was never one for just sticking a kid in their own bedroom and saying deal with it, this was not Jesse being defiant, this was Jesse being anxious, and forcing her to sleep in her own bed on the verge of a very real panic attack was not the solution.

They had gotten Jesse to sleep with the promise that one of them would be with her at all times, but she had woken up several times during the night, which thank the heavens Billie never woke up to since they moved and the girls had their own rooms, but it made for several very tired individuals, and Amanda hated the fact she had to wake Jesse up so they could leave, with any luck she would sleep on the bus.

Jesse rolled over and groaned, now that she actually needed to be awake it seemed as if all her body could do was sleep.

“I know, I'm sorry, I’ve let you sleep as long as I can, we got to get up and get ready to go, but maybe you can sleep once were on the road” Amanda said, hoping to entice her oldest out of bed “And Aunt Livia said there will be breakfast”

Jesse rubbed at her eyes before opening them to meet her mothers, “Don’t wanna”

“You don’t wanna get up, or you don’t want to go on vacation?” Jesse hadn’t said anything about not wanted to go, but then again, she hadn’t talked about going much either.

“Don’t wanna get up” Jesse clarified, snuggling her face into the blanket Fin had given her so many years ago.

“I know you don’t, I know it was a bit of a long night huh” Amanda brushed back some of Jesse’s hair “We just need to get you up, I can braid your hair and we need to brush your teeth and pack the last-minute things”

Jesse still didn’t want to, but pulled herself out of bed.

……………………….

With a momentous amount of effort everyone managed to make it to the lot where they could all get on the bus to start driving.

Noah was dragging his feet behind his mother and Elliot, looking like he has rolled out of bed about 30 seconds ago, Eli not far behind him looking about the same. Olivia and Elliot were babbling away about God knows what, probably about how there were only 3 people licensed to drive the bus.

Kathleen rode with Maureen and her family, and she seemed to be about the only one awake in the whole group, except of course for Maureen’s boys who were running in circles around the parking lot.

Dickie- which he was finally okay with being called again- was standing at the back of the bus with Maureen’s husband playing what resembled a game of Tetris but with ungodly amounts of suitcases and duffle bags.

Billie was holding onto Sonny’s hands and being swung around, which in truth made Amanda a little nervous on the hard pavement, but she wasn’t going to stop them, not with the giggles it was producing from the 5-year-old. Jesse was standing against her mother’s side gripping her hand, she knew some of the people around her, but not all of them, but when she saw Olivia, she ripped herself away from her mother to run towards her.

Olivia caught the girl in a hug “Hey sweet girl” she ran her hand over the back of Jesse’s head from where Jesse’s face was against her stomach. “You doing, okay?” she said as Jesse released her.

Jesse nodded “Hi Elliot”

Elliot was a little surprised this being the first time Jesse had greeted him directing without prompting. “Well, hello miss Jesse, can I just say that I think your hair looks pretty awesome”

That got a smile out of Jesse once hand going up to touch one of her braided space buns “Thank you, momma did it”

“Well, your momma did a great job” Elliot said with a smile, this honestly being the longest interaction with Jesse other than the time he was helping her get food at a dinner.

“I like to tell Elliot that his hair looks good” Olivia said with a smirk.

“But Elliot’s bald” Jesse said with a laugh.

……………………….

Lizzie was the last to arrive, but no one minded since she was also responsible for bringing breakfast for everyone, so she got a pass.

“I need some help here, I only have so many hands Elizabeth” came a frustrated, but not actually frustrated voice from the other side of the car where no one could see.

Olivia looked behind her from where she was talking to Amanda, she knew that voice, but there was no way. Amanda had also noticed but she was a little more unsure as to who it was.

Only a few moments later Lizzie stabler walked out from behind the car holding several boxes and bags, followed by a Grace Muncy who was quite precariously balancing drink holders up and down her arms.

Amanda and Olivia looked at each other then back at Muncy who had yet to notice the presence of her captain and former colleague, passing some of the drinks over to Kathleen who had come over to stop her from spilling the drinks all over the parking lot.       

With a more reasonable load to handle Muncy was able to look up and at all the people spread across the parking lot, she quite quickly noticed Olivia and Amanda, and who she assumed was Carisi on the other side- he was running in circles it was hard to tell.

“You knew didn’t you” Grace looked towards her girlfriend who had a little guilty smirk.

“I didn’t want to scare you away, if it makes you feel better Olivia didn’t know either” Lizzie defended herself with a smile.

Grace rolled her eyes “I don’t even like you”

They made their way over to the group, Muncy just giving a nod to Amanda and Olivia, not sure what the protocol was for when you find out you're going on vacation with your boss. “Alright, the drinks have sticky notes with names on them, if you got the wrong drink wait until they’re distributed before we figure out who’s is whose” she said and began passing out drinks.

“This one is for Billie” Grace said handing it to Sonny rather than the 5-year-old. “And this one is for Oli- the captain” Muncy was just reading off names but stopped herself before calling her boss by her first name.

Olivia held back a smile, it seemed as though Muncy was a whole lot more flustered over the whole situation than she was, she took her drink trying and failing to make eye contact with a very focused Muncy.

Lizzie had been setting down the food inside the bus and hopped out walking over to Olivia instead of her helpless girlfriend. “If I'm being honest, I thought it would probably scare her away, it should also be mentioned that she’s never met dad”

Olivia was going to respond but Amanda beside her started chuckling. “She hasn’t met your family and you stick her on a vacation with her boss and Elliot Stabler, now that’s just cruel”

          “Hey all my siblings have met her” Lizzie defended herself. “She’ll be fine”

          Olivia couldn’t help rolling her eyes with a bit of a smile. “Once she actually makes eye contact with someone” she really did mind the whole situation, sure it was definitely a shock and it threw her off, but all in all it wasn’t a big deal- nothing was going to put a damper on her vacation.

          All the drinks had been distributed and Grace saw that she really didn’t have a choice other than to go stand over by her girlfriend. “Captain, Detective Rollins” Muncy greeted with a smile, even if it was a little forced.

“Not a Detective anymore, you can call me Amanda” Amanda said trying to coax a hiding Jesse out from behind her to meet a new person.

Olivia considered messing with Muncy a little, but decided she would be nice just this once “And you can call me Olivia or Liv since we’re not at work”

Muncy nodded- she would still be using captain. She spotted Jesse from behind Amanda, when she had called out her name for her drink Amanda had come up and grabbed it handing it to the girl, so she hadn’t really seen her. “And who is this?”

Amanda tried to pull Jesse out from behind her, failing at first but getting her to where Grace could at least see her face, even if it was still leaning against Amanda’s side.

Grace could see how nervous Jesse and made sure not to step forward to avoid crowding “Those shoes are really cool; I have some just like them with me” the way to a kid’s heart was compliments.

Jesse looked down at her shoes than back up at Muncy “Like these ones”

“Yep” Muncy was telling the truth, they were in her suitcase at the moment “Well, they’re probably a little bigger”

Jesse looked down at the shoes Muncy was currently in, as if to check and nodded back up at Muncy “I'm Jesse” she said after looking at her mother for permission.

“That’s a very pretty name, I'm grace, and do you know Lizzie” she said indicating her girlfriend who gave a little wave.

Jesse thought for a second before decided that she had not met Lizzie, but thought she knew who she was “You're Elliot’s daughter”

Everyone was a little surprised that Jesse had put that together and remembered it but Lizzie nodded “I am, which means I'm Eli’s sister” Lizzie knew Jesse would know who Eli was.

Jesse nodded and turned to point “That’s Billie my sister with uncle Sonny”

Olivia looked at Amanda who shrugged. There had been some debate over who Sonny was to the girls, well not really, by almost all accounts he was their father, and ever since Amanda and Carisi got married they had been living together.

Billie had taken to calling Sonny dad right away, she had been doing it since they day of the courthouse wedding, but Jesse hadn’t and that was okay they were in no way going to pressure her, if she never called Sonny dad no one would have a problem with it.

Jesse knew who Declan was, and had met him a few times, mostly she knew that she would be getting a nice birthday and Christmas card each year with more spending money than she got from anyone else, and she didn’t seem too torn up about not seeing her biological father. Al was a little more involved in Billie’s everyday life, and saw her a good bit even having her overnight sometimes, but Amanda and Sonny made sure always to give Jesse a bit of extra love whenever that happened.

There was a loud slam at the back of the bus indicating that all the bags had been packed in and Elliot got the attention of the group “This bus leaves in 5 minutes if you're not on it too bad”

[koraesdoodles]

I posted 190 times in 2022

That's 138 more posts than 2021!

106 posts created (56%)

84 posts reblogged (44%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@koraesdoodles

@unearthlyfromage

@gobblewanker

@starprincess4

@mother-ofthe-universe

I tagged 173 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#gravity falls - 97 posts

#stanley pines - 79 posts

#stanford pines - 79 posts

#practice makes progress - 72 posts

#stan twins - 47 posts

#gravity falls fanart - 46 posts

#other people's much better art - 31 posts

#ford pines - 19 posts

#stan and ford pines - 19 posts

#stan pines - 16 posts

Longest Tag: 105 characters

#i'm like the dweeb at the middle school lunch table hoping you all don't kick me out since i don't belong

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Heavily inspired/redraw of this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/51228514500114889/ 

EDIT: @eregyrn-falls and  @hkthatgffan found the original for me! Thank you! https://sleepyharpseal.tumblr.com/post/157619413269

84 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

#4

@forduary Week 4: Hug it out

The first time Ford found Stan curled up on his bed with the blanket pulled over his head they’d been six years old. Stan had gotten into the new books Ford had received for Christmas and accidentally spilled paint all over them. Ford was furious, and didn’t talk to Stan for three days. Then he’d walked into their room and found Stan in a ball sobbing his little eyes out. 

Ford sat on the bed hesitantly, looking at the floor while his brother pretended that he didn’t know Ford was there. Eventually, Stan peeked over the blanket and Ford began to talk. 

“I’m still mad.” 

“-- I didn’t -- !” 

“I’m still mad.” He reached out hesitantly then abandoned caution and threw his arms around his brother. “I really liked those books.” To his horror, tears started to roll down Ford’s cheeks. Hiccup’s caught his breath and it felt like he couldn’t breathe. “I can be mad!” Stan held him while he cried. 

Ford forgave him a day later. 

When they were ten, Stan came home sunburnt and angry. Ford had spent the day working on a new project, and didn’t realize why Stan was giving him the cold shoulder until he glanced at the clock. 

“Oh my gosh, Stan I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize it was so late I --” 

“Whatever, Poindexter.” 

“No, I mean it! Did you go to the fair? Did you see any clowns?”

“Leave me alone.” 

“Stan --” 

“Just do your stupid science and leave me alone, Stanford!” Stan shoved his brother out of the way and slammed the door to their room, leaving Ford in the hallway, feeling like a jerk. 

He apologized again that night. Stan said he forgave him. But it wasn’t until a week later that he actually started acting normal again. 

Ford held grudges. When someone wronged him, they were on his black list for life. Crampelter grew up and lived a good life, but Ford never forgave him for his childish bullying. Carla McCorkle would never earn his forgiveness after taking his brother on a date that resulted in Stan getting a black eye and being grounded from the Stan o’ War for three weeks (he never did get Stan to tell him exactly what had happened, but Stan got in trouble enough without some girl making things even more difficult). When someone did him wrong, Ford wasn’t one to immediately jump to forgiveness. 

But he always forgave Stan. When Stan lied to him about taking their Pa’s gold chain, Ford forgave him. When Stan stole Ford’s math homework in sixth grade and copied it, Ford forgave him and even let him copy his other assignments (Pa wouldn’t get as mad at Stan if he got better grades, so he figured it was good for both of them). Ford even forgave Stan’s lackluster excitement when Ford was offered the chance to go to his dream school. 

And he would have forgiven Stan after the science fair. He would have, if Stan hadn’t left (been kicked out, but he didn’t have to leave forever. He could have stayed around, explained himself, something, instead of just leaving Ford behind with nothing). 

But Ford deserved to be mad! Stan had wrecked things too many times. He was allowed to be mad about this. That didn’t mean he was going to freeze his brother out forever, he just . . . needed some time. 

Stan didn’t hold grudges. He forgave easily and fast. But he let the pain linger. He held onto it like it was proof that whatever bad things happened to him were proof of an unfair universe that was out to get him. It wasn’t his fault that his dad was unfairly hard on him, or that he wasn’t as smart as his brother, or that the machine broke after a single punch to the table. It wasn’t his fault that he needed to steal to eat and that the supplies he was able to aquire built crummy vacuumes and worse bandages. 

He just needed a chance, but nobody was willing to give him one. 

It was a perfect storm. And things didn’t get better when they reunited ten years later, and there was no quick forgiveness when Ford stepped out of the portal thirty years after that. Too much had happened, and maybe Ford needed more time or maybe he’d just gotten so used to being upset that he didn’t spare any thought into fixing things. And Stan was willing, waiting to forgive his brother, but couldn’t stand that things had gone wrong for him again. It wasn’t until later that they realized something had to change. And by then, it was almost too late. 

Ford walked into his brother’s room three days after they’d defeated Bill. It was the first thing he did every morning, since Stan tended to sleep in and Ford tried to avoid sleeping altogether. Ford liked having breakfast with the whole family, and he couldn’t do that if his brother insisted on staying in bed all day. 

Ford also didn’t like being away from his twin for long periods of time. He’d spent thirty years holding a grudge against his brother, but he never imagined Stan actually being gone. Stan was always safe, which Ford most definitely wasn’t. He’d gone through the stages multiple times over the decades, forgiving Stan and then being angry at him all over again. But when his brother stared at him with those blank eyes, having no recollection of who he was or what had happened, Ford felt a fear that he’d never before experienced. He’d wanted to grab Stan and shake him, force him to come back to him. He could deal with being apart from his brother, he could deal with being angry at his brother, but he could not deal his brother being gone. He could not handle a brother that didn’t know him, who had sacrificed everything in order to save Ford despite everything. 

It felt like if he let Stan out of his sight for too long, then his brother would revert back to that state. He knew it was illogical, but it didn’t matter. He woke his brother up every morning anyway. 

Stan was curled up in a ball under the blankets. Ford went to shake his shoulder but found that Stan was already shaking. 

“Stanley?” Ford’s voice made Stan jolt.

“Morning already?” Stan’s voice was more gruff than usual, though he was clearly trying to sound normal. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be? Now go away, I don’t have on any pants.” 

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86 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

#3

FINISHED! Late but here. Stanuary Week 2: Identity

96 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

#2

Okay, okay, last one, I swear. I couldn’t let an AU week go by without including @artsymeeshee ‘s adorable Chibi Stan! 

@forduary week 3: AU

124 notes - Posted February 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Whoops I made a chibi!stan 😆

I was looking at poses and came across this super cute one of a person with this little shoulder angel and I thought to myself: oh yeah, I bet I can make this worse.

Stan is not as excited as his brother, but Joke's on Ford when he starts worrying about his brother getting kidnapped and eaten by seagulls, or that he'll wake up in a coffee-needing haze and accidentally step on his mini-bro.

Chibi!stan belongs to @artsymeeshee

124 notes - Posted July 10, 2022

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[thesoulspulse]

I posted 427 times in 2022

That's 82 more posts than 2021!

393 posts created (92%)

34 posts reblogged (8%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dp-marvel94

@ecto-stone

@kennymayovo

@floralflowerpower

@krossan

I tagged 427 of my posts in 2022

#danny phantom - 413 posts

#thesoulspulse - 390 posts

#the soul's pulse - 389 posts

#the souls pulse - 389 posts

#thesoul'spulse - 388 posts

#danny phantom oc - 142 posts

#danny phantom fanfiction - 117 posts

#oc - 114 posts

#danny phantom fanart - 107 posts

#original character - 107 posts

Longest Tag: 80 characters

#but no seriously i love getting fanart from people of my precious cinnamon buns!

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Regarding The Ancients (Part 2)

I think this screenshot says it all. In the last post I talked about the Ancients in general and there are a lot of great candidates for who they were in the Danny Phantom cast. After all, villains could count among them too because all Skulker said was that “...a group of powerful ancient ghosts banded together in a last ditch effort to defeat the King” which when you think about it doesn’t necessarily mean they were all ‘good’ ghosts. They probably had no choice but to become allies to take down someone who threatened the balance of both worlds...

Part 1: https://thesoulspulse.tumblr.com/post/698786699553177600/regarding-the-ancients-part-1

Still, I like to think of most of them as the good guys so we’ll start with them.

Clockwork is obviously the most logical choice because not only is he already wearing a purple cloak that’s extremely similar to the Ancients in the flashback, but he also has statues of the Grim Reaper, aka Death, all over his tower along with lots of scythes. But it makes sense given how he’s probably old enough to have known Death personally. Bonus points if they were brothers since time and death go hand in hand.

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120 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

#4

Got another stained glass window redo! I really like how much better it looks!

P.S. Technically this is for the sequel story but I haven't decided whether to combine it with the current one or not.

Haunted Soul: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14016455/1/Haunted-Soul

123 notes - Posted March 1, 2022

#3

Danny Phantom Randomness (The Way of the Ninja)

“Infinite Realms” is a really interesting episode despite being from Season 3 since it gave us a lot of cool concepts like Blood Blossoms, Frostbite & the Far Frozen, and the Infimap. And in the most recent chapter of my fanfic “Nevermore” I wanted to come up with a way to get Danny and the gang to Salem and figured why not use the Infimap since Vlad wasn’t there to steal it in this timeline? Still, this one scene where Danny was a Ninja always stood out to me for some reason and now I think I know why...

On the surface it looks like he staged this dramatic entrance but what if there was a bit more to it than that? What if the timing was a little off and Danny, Sam, and Tucker got there a bit earlier than Vlad and Danny actually trained with someone in the Ninja ways? Say, a guardian spirit he warned about Vlad trying to take over the kingdom?

To be fair, Danny’s a fast learner so picking up sword fighting probably wouldn’t take too long. And better yet, it would explain how Danny managed to blend in so well in this scene because I’d like to think that if Vlad didn’t already KNOW it was him, Danny learned how to mask his ghost signature Ninja style.

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123 notes - Posted September 22, 2022

#2

To cease the storm… To end the fear… The sword must sheathe… In pumpkin near!

~ Danny Phantom, Season 1, Fright Night

Original:

See the full post

131 notes - Posted September 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Once I got started on this, I couldn’t stop. Literally all I meant to do was make some line art for later out of a title card template I found to redraw from scratch for Halloween, but I got carried away while experimenting with some recolors as you can see...

I did redo Danny’s face since there were a lot of subtle differences between the concept art and the final version. Still, I’m sure you all know how much I love the Fright Knight so here’s another preemptive drawing since October is right around the corner!

Disclaimer, this is purely a work of fanart and Ray Leong gets credit for the original line art since they used to work for Butch. I don’t want to get in trouble or anything for using it so I won’t be sharing the line art template I made for this just in case, I will share a link to the original its based on though so they get proper credit!

Lineart: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ray_leong/2314966970/in/album-72157604059837585/

Official Title Card:

See the full post

133 notes - Posted September 24, 2022

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