#I mean it would be protected speech anyway

[griseldagimpel]

I am absolutely tickled that The Magnus Archives made a character's villainous monolog an act of religious worship.

If Elias Bouchard went to the U.S., his villainous monologing would be a constitutionally protected act under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

[lobpoints]

some boring lc thoughts in dm with friend ig

Click ALT if you can't read the text

[aphel1on]

the longer i look at this panel the more deranged i feel about it. this is environmental storytelling at its finest.

the eodio stand-in doll in particular makes me crazy. where did it come from? did thistle just pop into the village like "hey ungrateful wretches, one of you needs to make me a life-sized mannequin, For Reasons". did he make it himself? seems quite unlikely, yet the possibility haunts me. i mean, i guess there could've been one just lying around the dungeon somewhere. it's the act of replacement itself that really gets to me. (edit: it's been pointed out to me that the eodio doll also could have been left behind as part of delgal's escape plan. slightly different kind of madness but tbh, just as funny-sad to me if that happened and thistle went Ok, Guess That's Eodio Now.)

both the wives are there too. we know very little about them, which makes me tend to assume thistle wasn't all that close to them, but they're still included. when did they end up here? did he kick their souls out of their bodies at some point, or were they among those who left their bodies voluntarily to try and escape? when did yaad become an effective orphan, delgal an effective widower? women in the margins of the narrative, tell me your stories!

and the fact that they're surrounded with the living paintings, which thistle habitually wanders through to relive the past. this truly is his inner sanctum, his place of utmost comfort... and it may as well be a tomb.

that panel is so creepy when you first see it. just a sense of "ohh jeez, there's a lot to unpack there".

and actually, yeah, it remains creepy from pretty much any angle, but the more you think about it the more it's also tragic.

this is where many of thistle's happiest moments took place. everything he had in that picture is now gone. first he lost their warm regard, then one-by-one their bodies became hollow shells. before the end, none of the people here needed or enjoyed food anymore. the dinner table, as a center of both family life and nutrition, became obsolete.

a line from someone else's excellent post about thistle has stuck in my head ever since i read it: "to eat is to live, but to eat together is to be loved". to me, this is the sentiment and symbolism at the core of everything that happens in dungeon meshi.

it makes this bit all the sadder and more disturbing.

there's several things to note here:

thistle has gone from seated and eating with them as part of the family, to a lonely and ominous figure hovering over delgal's shoulder

eodio is conspicuously absent from view, and his body would have been a husk by now, but yaad says parents, which forces me to assume that they are sitting at the table with eodio's soulless body, hidden under yaad's speech bubble

they're not actually eating anything.

those plates are empty. you could assume that they've already finished eating, maybe, but yaad refers to it as sitting around the dinner table. in fact, he compares it to what he's currently doing; sitting at the dinner table watching the touden party eat, not eating anything himself.

it paints a pretty grim picture. for some time even after the fantasy had fallen apart, even after there was no need or desire to eat, they kept gathering around the dinner table. at that point, i'd guess only so as not to provoke thistle's wrath.

but even that last happened a long, long time ago.

this is a callback to what senshi said in the golden kingdom: the reason the people keep maintaining their fields and silverware and so forth is that they need to do so in order to stay sane.

paradoxically, the dinner table is the most striking evidence of thistle's insanity, and at the same time, it's the only anchor to sanity he has left.

he kept enforcing the ritual of dinner together long after it lost significance. when even that was impossible- because almost everyone's souls were gone- he kept their bodies at the table anyway. it's fine. it's fine! he's protected them, physically, just like he set out to. they're all still breathing. at a glance it looks like they could wake up and resume dinner at any moment. like this, it's easy to pretend.

isn't that what being a dungeon lord is, at the core of it? rejecting reality, staying in the prison of one's impossible desires. it's just one long game of pretend.

thistle did all this to protect his loved ones. no matter how obsessive and twisted he became in pursuit of that over the years, his core motivation never changed. this is all he has left of that dream: his loved ones' bodies gathered around the locus of their happiest memories together. like this, he can tell himself he's succeeded.

when eodio's body vanished with delgal's soul in it- when he couldn't even have that anymore... well.

i want to reach through the screen and shake him. no, they're not, thistle. THISTLE, NO, THEY'RE NOT! the doll of eodio is the closest thing to him in this panel, underlining the point. when that final illusion was shattered, he became completely unable to cope with reality.

therefore casually forgetting the creepy eodio doll isn't real.

thistle isn't stupid. eodio's body vanished at the same time as delgal's soul. shortly after, more adventurers came pouring in than ever before. deep down, he knows what happened. if he didn't, being confronted with the truth by mithrun wouldn't have made him panic so hard he summoned chimera falin to the first floor.

yet still...

he absolutely can't admit that to himself. he is clinging to the last scraps of the illusion with everything he has.

this is a dungeon lord at the end of desire. this is a lotus-eater machine left running long after its conclusion. this is mithrun lying listlessly in his bed, his replica lover having given up any pretense of being human. the illusion is all that's left. (an illusion is all it ever was.) thistle and the citizens of the golden kingdom- they're ghosts just as much as the ones who wander the dungeon floors. and if it weren't for thistle sealing the lion away, he would've been eaten by it long ago.

all of this encapsulated by that single panel of the dinner table.

[avicecaro]

see. okay. this is true about chairs. and while i personally think “adult human female, female meaning of the sex which produces ova” is a very clear and comprehensive definition, not everyone agrees. and, for the sake of argument, that’s fine! but that’s not how the law works. lawmaking bodies agonize over the precise definitions of terms to ensure that the law does what they’re hoping it will do, and is not easily misused. that’s their job.

in ireland, the bread that fast food restaurants use is legally considered cake because of the sugar content. cake is regulated differently than bread. do you and i need to argue the finer points of cake and bread? how sweet do you think something has to be so we can consider it cake? does it matter? not really. but it does when you’re trying to tax staple foods and non-staple foods differently.

there have been multiple court cases in the US determining if a taco is a sandwich (as of May 2024, it is, as per the superior court of indiana, fun fact). is a taco a sandwich? i don’t know! i don’t really think so. if someone said “hey i made sandwiches” and gave me a taco, i’d be confused. and anyway, does it matter? not really. but it does when i’m trying to determine if a taco restaurant can open in a space that won’t allow sandwich shops.

is a barbershop different than a hair salon? i think so. i go to a hair salon, my brother goes to a barbershop, if we switched our appointments we’d both be unhappy. it matters for the sake of communication, but is it a super important distinction? not really. but what if i signed a non-compete agreement with the barbershop i work at that said i wouldn’t work at any nearby barbershop for six months after terminating my contract? can i work at a hair salon? now it matters.

if i needed fifty chairs for an event, and the company i contracted with sent fifty horses, or fifty tables, they could argue “but it’s something with four legs that a person can sit on!” and they’d be correct. but i would know i’d been given something different than what i asked for, and i would expect the chair supplier to know that, too. so if i want to demand a refund/return/exchange on the basis that i’ve received the wrong product, do i have a claim?

so, okay, you feel we can’t define the term “woman” perfectly. or maybe we can define it, as in we know what we’re trying to talk about, but we don’t have a good term for it. wouldn’t be the first time it happened! but if we are creating a legal category, it does in fact need to have parameters. meaningful parameters.

if i want to give some speeches promoting radical gender acceptance, i could probably get away with never outright defining the word woman. but what if i want men who kill women to have their crimes classified as hate crimes? i need to have a meaningfully defined category of what a woman is and what makes one different from a man. mexico requires that congressional candidates be split 50-50 between men and women to enforce gender parity. “woman” has to be a meaningfully defined category, or else … well, you’ll end up with the same problem they keep having to deal with.

if we want protections or resources for women, “women” have to be a meaningful legal category. if it is a category anyone can opt into, then it is a category that includes anyone, which is not a meaningful category when it is meant to include only half of people. also women aren’t chairs.

[theyluvlyss]

𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐥...

batman's cape (and any of the other batfam member's capes) are heated/can be microwaved :D.

...yeah, probably not the most original thought. surely someone has come up with this before, and hey, maybe it's even canon - but that doesn't really take away any of the ideas I have, so on we go anyways lmao.

I imagine that you, y/n, reader (lol idk-) is often found all wrapped up in bruce's cape (ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S FRESH OUT OF THE WASH) and he'll be TEARING the manor apart looking for that shit because why would it be anywhere else except in the bat-cave, in his bat-suit vault, right there clipped onto the specific bat-suit he's choosing to wear for whatever mission he's finna go on, just to eventually find you on a couch somewhere above the bat-cave all rolled up like a worm in it with the glow of your phone emitting from underneath the fabric and your little giggles muffled by it because you're probably laughing at memes or something idk.

bruce is definitely the type to think it's silly and lowkey can't even blame you because it do be cold in the mansion, but he also refuses to drop the "I'm so hardcore and a brute and stone cold" act so he's yanking that shit offa' you and you're just BEWILDERED, suddenly exposed to the light and cold like, "😮⁉️🫨⁉️" and before you can even process wtf happened, bruce is already whisking around the corner, gone and out of sight💀.

dick would also think it's silly, but lowkey actually be annoyed, though, and he'd make that KNOWN. like, sure, he'd initially be VERY stressed when he can't find the cape (even though it's not thay big of a deal but for some reason, he just doesn't feel "complete" without it😭) but then he'd see this huge lump all wrapped up in it on a bed in one of the many rooms or something. at first, he'd think it's one of the handful of pets owned and living in the wayne estate, just to peel back the fabric and see YOU.

"...Hi😃..."

"...🙂Why are- Nevermind. You do know that I need this, right?"

"I mean,,, you don't need it, you just-"

*YANK!!*

"NO, WAIT, IT'S COLD!!"

"THEN GET A BLANKET!!"

I'm sorry, but I feel like dick don't play 'bout his cape, and you're just either gonna have to find different ways to sneak it or just leave it tf alone😭✋🏽. but when it's not currently in dire need by him, he'll happily return it to you and smile when you squeal and wrap yourself back up in and under it while it warms up.

BARBARA GETS IT FR. SHE GETS ✨️🩷YOU🩷✨️. but also, she is attached to it in the way dick is, so don't be surprised if and when she needs it, she's taking it from you with zero mercy and under the excuse of, "I'm on duty tonight, I'm not showing up out of uniform lol." and you're just left there like "☹️...". but outside of those times, the both of you can be found very happily and contently under her cape as you watch horror movies or something and rambling about who knows what, a common interest lol.

and I'm pretty sure in some strains/universes or whatever of dc, she ends up becoming oracle because she's paralyzed or some shit, right?? I could totally be wrong, but if I'm not, I feel like in that case, she just GIVES it to you. she makes it a huge deal, too, she acts like she's passing along the magical ashes of a dead ancestor that grants you infinite knowledge and protection or some shit and has a whole speech prepared, just for her to hand you this neatly folded up cloth and you're just like, "...You're giving me your cape😀??" and she's like, "Ya🙂♡." and you can't even be mad because ...

IT'S A HEATED CAPE like idk what else you could want from her like plz✋🏽.

(*casually skips over Tim bc idk enough about him and if I mischaracterized him I'd have to delete this account and then me off of the face of this earth bc I refuse to be that bitch who doesn't know her shit😃*)

jason will see you with his cape, and whether you're awake or asleep, he'll loom over you menacingly until you sense his presence, and then not even give you the chance to give excuses before he's like, "I'm on watch tonight."

you don't dare protest lmao. and he isn't giving it back to you later on. it's one of those things that if you really want it, you gotta go get it. and then expect you won't have it for very long, so whatever you plan on doing with it, you better make the most of it😭✋🏽. that's literally all I can say for him lmao.

DAMIAN (my fave) (^3^)/. I feel like he'd make it seem like SUCH an inconvenience for himself even though he doesn't actually care about the cape itself and if anything, finds it very sweet and endearing that you literally use it as a blanket because "it gets so warm" and "it smells like you" and "it's here when you're gone and I miss you". but, much like his father, he just HAS to keep up the, "I'm so stone cold and no nonsense and eternally vexed" facade, so if you're awake and you have it, he'll just hold out his hand expectingly and - like jason - you don't dare argue because you're just gonna lose🥲.

but if he finds the cape and you're asleep with/under it, he'll actually let you keep it. like, he'll just leave it and either go about his superhero duties without the cape entirely, or he'll just use another one from a different suit. sure, it might possess different capabilities (no pun intended), or he might feel a little... off... without a cape, but he'd rather that than interrupt your comfortable state.

and you'll be so bent up about it when he returns, and you're like, "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TAKE IT😭💔?!" and he's like, "you were obviously very comfortable, I didn't want to disturb you😐..........🫶🏼."

so um.... yeah, I honeslty dk where all of that came from, but do with this info what you will.

byeeee /ᐠ^ω^マ~ !!

[look-at-the-soul]

Every little thing you do- Part 9

Tommy Shelby x reader

Series master list

Hello again! Thank you so much for the love to this series 🙌🏻 I’m enjoying so much the process for each part, and trust me, your feedback is super valuable (I sometimes take inspiration from your POV, like this part…) let’s give an amazing character the best welcome 🥰✨

Also special thanks to @blondie-22 for the gif!!!! (Always portraying what I have in mind ♥️)

Word count: 3,350

“Are you sure you don’t want my company?” Tommy asked for the third time as he pulled in front of the market.

“No, because you’ll start complaining as I go through the stands, but I appreciate the offer.”

“And what about the basket? You’ll have to carry it by yourself on your way back.” He tried again, feeling a bit uneasy for leaving Y/N alone.

“Tom, I’ll only buy cherries, apples and sugar, grandma has the rest.” Y/N gave him a deep frown in response by his overprotective attitude.

Giving up, Tommy raised his hands from the steering wheel. “Fine, but I’ll send someone to join you anyways.”

Y/N wanted to ask if something was wrong, but deep down she knew Tommy wouldn’t tell her much, so she decided to just thank him for the ride and step down of his vehicle.

“I’ll meet grandma at the Garrison and then we’ll go over your house.” She announced leaning down.

“Looking forward for that pie.” Tommy smiled right before driving away towards Watery Lane.

The market wasn’t too crowded as she expected, people trying to sell a bit of everything invaded her personal space, Y/N tried to keep the basket in front of her tummy, in an attempt to protect her baby. She just kept walking to the fruit stands since they were in the middle…

Passing by the stand with the rugs, another one offered jewelry, the sellers were shouting, inviting everyone in, making special offers to get the customers attention.

Reaching the fruits and vegetables stands, she closed her eyes relishing in the smell for several seconds, it was hard to hide she was mouthwatering so Y/N decided to hurry up to get the items she needed and go back to start baking as soon as possible.

“Do you need anything else?” The kind woman offered, making the count in her head.

“That would be all, thank you.” Y/N noticed as more and more people started gathering at the market.

She was now aware of her surroundings, especially after Tommy explained that he didn’t trust Father Hughes. That she needed to be more careful

“Actually… do you’ve any sugar?”

The woman shook her head. “A few stands down they might have though.”

“Wonderful, thank you so much.” With a smile, Y/N paid for her items and as she was about to move forward, she almost bumped into someone. “Lee-Anne!”

“Y/N!” Her sister squealed in delight, arms wrapping around each other immediately. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed some ingredients for a pie.”

“How’s the baby? How are you feeling? Grandma just keeps me updated with bits.”

Y/N couldn’t help but look down, she should have been a role model for her sister.

“We’re both doing okay, Tommy and the Shelby’s had been nothing but kind to us… Although, I wish we could be together and I’m sorry for the way this happened.”

“Mum and Dad shouldn’t have kicked you out.” Lee-Anne stated.

“Don’t blame them, I embarrassed them…“

But before her sister could protest again, their mother’s voice resonated.

“Mum it’s fine, I was just happy to see Y/N.” Lee-Anne explained.

“Happy? How could you be happy? She doesn’t even care to keep a low profile, she’s showing her sin proudly.” Her mother’s words cut like a knife.

“Look, I know this isn’t ideal or what you wanted for me, but this is my reality now.” Y/N tried to keep her voice down. “And I’m trying to do my best.”

“Is it the speech that gánster prepared you to repeat?” Her mother shook her head slightly. “Being so close to him only confused you, to see right what is wrong by all means.”

“Why are you even blaming him now? Tommy has been nothing but a real friend to me.”

“You don’t even care that people have been talking about you hmm? Your honor rolling from mouth to mouth, having everybody in Birmingham whispering about you and him, I thought your reputation would be over as the word would spread about Scott not marrying you, but now people are wondering if the baby is a Shelby.”

Y/N gasped too shocked by what her mother just said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Please don’t even try to hide it anymore, all of that secrecy between the two of you, going out for a ride in his horse since you were younger… he acting so protective the day he took you from YOUR house without your father’s permission.”

“He was defending me!” Y/N exploded.

“That’s what they call it now?” With a scoff her mother looked away. “I overheard one of the women that washes clothes, she was talking to someone else who works for I don’t know who and basically they were gossiping about you… and him.”

Y/N was trying to process her mother’s words, taking her time to let it sink in.

Where the hell did that rumor came from? She had been so engrossed in the foundation project and her baby that barely had time to have tea and gossip about anyone.

“I never thought you’d be someone’s mistress.”

The disappointment in her mother’s statement was like a punch in Y/N’s gut, she felt anger raising inside of her.

“Who said that? That’s not true!”

Y/N felt so upset, but at the same time she tried to remain respectful of her mother, wherever she was in the wrong.

“I made a mistake, but my father shouldn’t have hit me like that, I was bleeding, had marks all over my back for days.”

“The way you behaved, what did you expect?” She found tears in her mother’s eyes. “Can you imagine how your father felt for a second?”

“And what about me? What about how I felt?”

“Don’t talk to me like that!”

Y/N let out a shaky breath slowly, trying to regain control of her emotions.

“Think whatever you want Mother.” Y/N adjusted the basket in her hands, while a tear slipped down her cheek. “Tommy saved me and my baby that day… what people think or say about me isn’t my business.”

Walking past her sister, Y/N gave her a half smile, wishing they could get the chance to spend more time together, but she understood Lee-Anne still had to obey their parents and live under their rules.

So now people just assumed she was Tommy’s mistress? How easy it is to talk about someone else behind their back and destroy the good things they had done in a few minutes. Just because Tommy decided to support her and her baby.

As if Tommy would see her differently…

Leaning against the wall after walking for a couple of minutes, Y/N finally allowed herself to crumble, the facade of strong, independent woman was slowly overshadowed by the truth, her mother was right. She wasn’t able to push away the tears any longer.

“Are you alright? Can I help you?” A soft voice called after her worryingly.

“Yes, just getting emotional over something silly. Thank you.” Y/N lied at the stranger wiping the tears with the sleeve of her dress.

The woman looked at her not buying her answer, but decided to change the subject. “I might just take a break, do you mind if I wait here?”

“Not at all.” Y/N replied absently, her mind replaying her mother’s words over and over.

She was right though, as much as she wanted to pretend that everything was alright, that she could take anything life decided to throw at her, not having her parents by her side was a consequence she never imagined, she had failed them terribly and their distance was understandable.

“Is someone you know around? You look pale.” The woman studied Y/N’s features.

Y/N shook her head. “I just feel a bit dizzy, it should pass in a minute.”

The woman looked around not really knowing what to do, what if she got sick? What if something happened to the baby?

“I’m Frances, what’s your name dear?” The woman asked trying to think of something in case she needed help. If she knew her name, at least she could look for her family.

“Y/N!” Scudboat shouted from a few feet away. “There you’re.”

“She isn’t feeling alright.” Frances explained.

The blinder took off his peak cap and started rolling it in his hands nervously.

“What’s the matter?” Polly intervened as she joined them.

“She’s dizzy, I was just keeping her company ma’am, in case she needed help.”

Polly stared at the woman for a second, before fishing inside her handbag and retrieving a small flask. “Here, smell this.”

The strong alcohol aroma hit her immediately, Y/N was fighting a silent battle within her heart. The truth that slipped from her mother’s lips, her own reality she couldn’t deny, everything came at her suddenly.

Polly wrapped her arm around Y/N, poor thing looked so lost.

“I think you need to lay down.” Polly suggested in a motherly tone, but she regretted her words, Watery Lane was full of cops searching every corner for evidence, they took Tommy and John as a warning, scared the hell out of Esme, the place was now a mess and with Tommy out of the picture, she knew Y/N couldn’t deal with that right now.

A worried look crossed both Scudboat and Polly’s eyes.

“My place isn’t far away.” The kind Frances offered shyly. “It isn’t much, but she can rest for a while.”

“Yes, wonderful idea.” Polly exclaimed relieved.

“You’re an angel.” Y/N added knowing she really needed to calm down.

“This way, please.” Frances smoothed her skirt, before offering her hand to Y/N. The blinder following their steps carrying the basket.

And it was indeed very close, the kind woman immediately offered Y/N to lean against the cushions and lift her feet up.

“Can I offer you water or some tea?” Frances asked walking towards the window to let some air in. “My home is modest, but there’s always food and tea for anyone.”

Polly thanked her for her thoughtful gesture but had to turn down the tea offer.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, but I really need to go out right now.” Polly apologized, thinking she needed to sort out everything at the betting shop.

“Oh, she can stay here, I live by myself.”

“Polly I don’t want to give Frances any troubles, I’m fine.”

Polly shot Y/N a knowing look. “You need to rest.”

And with that, Y/N knew she wouldn’t win that argument. Polly was the boss and she had to obey.

“What were you buying if you don’t mind me asking?” Frances asked Y/N with interest once that Polly and Scudboat left, she brought the girl a biscuit, the last one she had for the week.

“Some cherries and apples, my grandma and I would bake a pie but I forgot the sugar.”

“I could give you some.”

Y/N lost it in that moment, she started crying inconsolably.

Without asking anything else, or pushing her to talk, tentatively Frances rubbed Y/N’s back in a comforting motion.

“Sorry.” Y/N sobbed, embarrassed by the sudden outburst. “I’ve just been holding it for so long.”

“What is it?”

“Moments before we met at the market, I had an unpleasant encounter with my Mother, she doesn’t approve nor support my pregnancy. I hadn’t seen her for several weeks and I know, I know this is far from the ideal happy family but there’s nothing I can do to turn things around, we had a disagreement and I guess that made me feel sick.”

Y/N took a deep breath and looked at Frances through her wet lashes. “I’m just touched by your generosity, a complete stranger offering me a hand when my own blood doesn’t care about me nor my baby.”

Frances studied her for an instant, then covered her hand in hers.

“I’m sure your mother loves you and this baby, but she’s tied to strict society rules.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that, she does just as my Father’s says, she breaths if he says so.”

“Why don’t you tell me about this woman, Polly?”

Y/N’s eyes sparkled. Polly had always been like an aunt to her, she always had a comforting hug to offer and a word to say when things were wrong.

“She’s Tommy’s aunt, they’re my chosen family now.”

Taking a bite of the biscuit that Frances offered, Y/N adjusted herself to face her. “May I ask about you Frances?”

“We’ll I’m just a newly widow, I went to the market get the ingredients to make jam and tomorrow I’ll go from house to house to sell it.”

Y/N swallowed hard, she was only noticing her completely black attire. How hard it must’ve been to lose her partner and finding a way to make money.

“I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you. There are good and bad days, but I need to do something to have an income.” Frances let out. A heavy sigh. “I’m running out of my husband’s savings.”

Y/N gave Frances a smile full of sympathy, thinking of a way to help her.

“Can I help you to make the jam?” She offered.

“Only if you’re feeling better.”

“Well if you’ve the courage to make and sell jam, the least I can do is try to help you.”

She always wanted to learn to make jam actually and this was exactly what she needed right now to clear her mind and focus on something to find some peace.

“Do you mind if I ask you who is Tommy?” Frances asked with interest as she started cutting the fruits she’d use for the jam.

A genuine smile spread rapidly among Y/N’s lips. “He’s the best man I know… picked me of the ground and provided me with more than I deserve.”

Frances noticed how the young girl’s eyes lit up as she talked about this man, she assumed he wasn’t the father but a very close person to her heart, but decided to not cross the line and ask anything too personal.

Hitting the steering wheel with his fists, Tommy cursed under his breath. For being so weak, for not anticipating his enemies moves.

The moment that Hughes mentioned Y/N and her baby before Tommy was released from the cell, he felt his blood raising, tensed, alarmed and scared for the first time. He didn’t like the fact that Hughes knew about Y/N, the threaten he slipped didn’t go unnoticed by Tommy.

“It would be a shame that poor Y/N goes through the same that happened to your aunt…”- he had been so close to punch him in the face and smash his head against the brick wall, but Tommy knew he was trying to provoke him.

Parking outside Arrow House, he stormed inside the property, terrified to learn by Hughes that they delivered the baby’s furniture that afternoon.

Aware of this failure to protect her, Tommy rushed upstairs, heart pumping against his ribs, worry installed on his shoulders.

Finding Y/N stepping outside her bedroom, she was telling him about the furniture delivered and that her grandma had been visiting earlier, but he went straight to the crib, frantically looking for something.

“What’s wrong Tommy?” Y/N asked not understanding his actions.

“Has someone been here?” He demanded out of breath.

“Just the delivery men.”

As he lifted the mattress, he stopped abruptly at the sight of a card.

There it was, the direct threat towards an unborn child. Tommy decided to hide it inside his suit jacket. Defeated, he walked backwards until his body found the opposite wall.

“Tommy?” Y/N’s voice trembled. “You promised to leave the illegal stuff behind.”

“And I’m trying, I swear I’m trying.”

Y/N saw his recklessness fade away, he was just a man trying to do the right thing, but it was just him against the world.

Eliminating the space between them, Y/N caressed his face.

“I know you’ll keep us safe.” She assured him. “Hmm?”

Fixing his eyes on her, he knew he’d get a bullet for her in a heartbeat.

But now he could only think of her baby, Y/N couldn’t even come close to imagine the risk she was facing.

“Listen to me…” Tommy stated breaking their embrace, taking her face between his hands. “I won’t let anything happen to you, do you understand?”

Not waiting for an answer, he kissed the top of her head softly and pulled her back into his arms. Looking around the nursery, it was slowly coming together, it now had the furniture, Y/N talked about knitting a blanket and her grandmother was making a piece for the baby.

He needed to find out who the hell leaked Y/N’s information to Father Hughes and how did they manage to walk into his house to place that note in the crib.

And he needed to do it before they could hurt Y/N and her baby.

Two days later, she was back to thank Frances for her kindness.

“I won’t take long.” Y/N announced at Tommy’s driver. He had been adamant about her not being alone for a second so now she had a chaperone watching her every move.

It had been a busy day at the institution, Y/N had lots of work to do, unfortunately she had been feeling sick most of the morning, so she gave up and decided to get some air. Heading to the market, she bought a sack of flour, vegetables, eggs, milk, a couple of fresh baguettes and headed towards Frances’ house.

It wasn’t her intention, but since the window was open, she overheard the conversation unfolding inside.

“If you know what’s best for you, you’ll accept my proposal.” A man said before walking outside.

Y/N tried to pretend she was knocking on the house next door and waited until the man was out of her eyesight to call out for Frances.

“Frances, are you alright?”

Y/N rushed without waiting to be invited inside, leaving the basket next to her feet.

“No… that man says my husband, my Bert gave him the papers of our house in exchange for some money he needed, but he didn’t get the chance to pay for the loan.” Frances cried.

A gasp escaped Y/N’s lips, this was a mess.

“Take a deep breath.” Y/N proposed not knowing what to do. “Do you’ve someone who can help you?”

“No… I’m on my own.”

With a sigh, Y/N took a look around the small unit, Frances came from a harder background than her, her whole house was the size of her living room, and she had everything there; kitchen, bathroom, bed and the living room. Pondering in the options, decided to do what Tommy had done for her; help without asking questions.

“Why don’t you prepare a bag with your essentials and we’ll figure out the rest later.” Y/N proposed straightening her back.

“But I’ve nowhere to go.” Frances explained.

“You do, I’m taking you somewhere.”

Eventually, they arrived at the Institution, Y/N explained Frances she could stay there while it started operations, it wasn’t properly a house, but there was a sofa to sleep on, and a kitchen with the utensils she might need.

“How can I thank you for this?” Frances needed answers, feeling overwhelmed.

“No need, you helped me the other day… I’m just returning the favor.”

She would see later if there was an open position that Frances could take either at the Institution or the betting shop with Tommy, but for now, she had the day covered.

Next part

🥰 I hope you enjoyed reading this part! Let me know in the comments what you think? ✨

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[i-cant-sing]

10 year old Spider girl reader is tiny and mean. She’s like a chihuahua.

Fr, and like imagine a villain being a platonic yandere for small spidergirl. Like this villain is always ready for duels and everyone is like???? Why is your nemesis a CHILD???? And this dude does not give a crap what anyone thinks, he is doing his homework and preparing well to give you epic battles that never really cause you any harm, it's just for theatrics. Maybe the villain in question here is Miguel? And maybe 10 year old spider girl resembles his dead kid so he is trying hard to bond with you and only fights with you because he has already eliminated every other real criminal and he would never let them harm you, but you're dead set on becoming a hero, so to fulfil your dream, he'd play the role of a notorious villain WHILE ALSO ACTING LIKE A FATHER IRL BECAUSE HE OBVIOUSLY KILLED YOUR REAL DAD AND REPLACED HIM AND YOURE CONFUSED AS TO WHY YOUR DAD (miguel) is suddenly so caring and attentive and protective towards you unlike your dead dad who wasn't so bothered to raise you properly but you appreciate the change of heart.

Anyways, you don't know that Miguel and the villain are the same guy, so you are going out everyday to fight him, and Miguel is lowkey impressed with your fighting skills, while also going the whole nine yards to be the BEST VILLAIN ever, like my man has a whole speech prepared, full on dramatics.

Miguel, disguised as the villain: You won't be getting away this time, spider girl! I HAVE PLANNED-

10 year old spider girl: can we skip the speech? I have a curfew at 8 and my dad made my favourite for dinner🥺🫶👊

Miguel, internally clutching his heart in awe: of course, sweetie, whatever you want-

[roboticchibitan]

I remember when same sex marriage was legized in my state (3 years before obergefel vs Hodges which legalized it nationwide). It won by a very narrow margin.

People who had taken care of me when I was young, people who were like second parents to me, (along with half the other people I knew) were saying it was the end times because I could now get married. And I couldn't help but wonder... would those people have protected me, cared for me, let me play with their children, if they had known I would grow up to be queer?

I came out in 2011. I was lucky. My parents were accepting. My mom was clearly uncomfortable at first but she made it clear she loved me no matter what.

Except.

My dad didn't care if I was queer and assured me that didn't mean there was anything wrong with me (in a speech I didn't need to hear but I think he needed to say). But he still said "that's gay" and "that's faggy" anytime my little brother showed vulnerability.

And I was a lucky one. My father used homophobic slurs around me regularly. He turned the word gay into a slur with his homophobic mouth. And I was a lucky one.

When I came out publicly, my grandmother stopped speaking to me for a while. I'm lucky that she changed her mind. I'm lucky that my grandparents let me bring my girlfriend with me when I went to visit them in October. October of 2022 and I still consider myself lucky that my grandparents let my queer partner into their house. My other grandma likewise visited with us, and was polite and friendly, but she still refused to call my gf anything other than "your friend." Still lucky. Incredibly lucky.

People don't understand just how bad things were as much as ten years ago. When I came out at school, I was lucky. No one bullied me. No one shoved me into lockers or called me slurs. They all just stopped talking to me. I became invisible. I went to a small school. I was the only person who was out. Exactly one person talked to me the rest of the year. And I was a lucky one.

When I was in middle and highschool, the go to insult was "that's gay." I heard it constantly. Every day. Sometimes people said it to me to insult me, long before I even knew I was queer.

I was lucky because the worst that happened to me was social isolation and people using slurs around me or turning my identity into a slur. No one called ME faggy. No one beat me up behind the school bleachers. I was incredibly lucky.

I have experienced the word "gay" used as a slur far more than I ever heard the word "queer" used as a slur. Young "queer is a slur and only a slur" people need to know the world you live in is not the world the rest of us live in. Why is "queer" a slur but "gay" isn't? My homophobic father thought the word "gay" conveyed just as much offense and disgust as the word "faggot." So why is queer the horrible word that can never be reclaimed but people say "that's gay" as a compliment now? The loneliest I have ever felt was in a room full of teenagers who thought my identity was the height of insults. So why is gay fine but queer isn't?

I am a fat butch queer and I do not hide that. My shoes have a pride flag on them. I have a masculine haircut and wear men's clothes. I look queer.

And I am afraid. I dress like this anyway, because I want other queer folks to know I am a safe person. I dress how I do partially because I like it but also partially so any queer person in the room, no matter now closeted, can see me and feel a little bit safer. Because I will protect other queer people with my life if need be.

Because I am openly and visibly queer and live in a world where being queer can get you killed. Because it can. Gay bashings still happen. The alt right are getting bolder in their violence, and that includes homophobic/transphobic violence. There are organizations in the US that are actively pushing to make homosexuality punishable by death in Africa. They know they could never accomplish that here. But they would if they could. People want us dead.

Young people need to understand that. And they need to understand that the people who did the most work to free us from criminalization were queer. They identified as queer. And they weren't the perfect law abiding queers toeing the line of what's acceptible. Because being queer itself was illegal. You could end up on the sex offender registry for being gay. In fact, there are queer people who are STILL registered as sex offenders just because they were queer in 2001. Pride wasn't a permitted parade with wells Fargo floats. It was angry queers illegally marching down the streets, screaming "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it."

Being openly queer is a radical act. It is still a radical act.

I did not live through Windsor vs the united states, the referendum 74 debate, my father punishing my brother for being human with homophobic slurs, and the pearl clutching fearmongering about "the gay agenda" (that was a go to phrase for 2012 homophobes) for some LGBT kid to come at me with TERF bullshit they got off tiktok about how my identity is a slur and I'm a horrible person for using it.

I was a lucky one and I'm still saying "no, absolutely not" to this bullshit.

Queer is more inclusive. Queer accounts for any possible fluidity because people change. Identities change. Queer is there for people who know they're Something Different but are not sure of the details yet. Queer is intentionally vague. When you're young you want everyone to know exactly who you are but as you get older you realize actually my identity is none of your business. In fact, sometimes when you tell someone your identity, you're handing them a bludgeon for them to hurt you with.

If you have trans classmates, you do not understand the world the rest of us grew up in. Trans people were not a public topic. They were not even acknowledged as existing by most people. I didn't know what being trans was until I was like 17. I'm nonbinary now and consider myself trans 10 years later.

And I didn't even have it that bad. But you know what? It still sucked and it was still hard and I can't imagine what it was like to grow up a decade before I did. I had it easy compared to most people.

If you can jokingly say "that's gay" when someone expresses queer love, then you can fucking handle people using the word queer as their identity.

The infighting and policing each other has to stop. You're oppressing queer people with this bullshit. It does not matter what words queer people use to describe themselves when there are people actively killing us. What are you doing? For fucks sake look at the bigger picture. Direct all that rage at our oppressors and the people who mean us harm. Queer people and he/him lesbians and bi lesbians and people who use neo pronouns and whoever else is the discourse of the day do not deserve this kind of treatment. Punch a homophobe and maybe you'll feel better.

[txt-trash]

bad impression | choi yeonjun

summary: choi yeonjun knows he’s a heart throb, it’s not hard for him to get someone he wants once he sets his mind to it—except you won’t even give him the time of day. he should just move on to the next, right? well he can’t, because he’s determined to prove your bad impression of him wrong.

➣ college au, smüt, fluff

➣ fuckboy!yeonjun x f!reader [she/her]

➣ 9.4k words

warnings: college, minors dni, fluff, smüt [oral {both recieving}. foreplay. breästplay. use of protection. riding. makeout. missionäry. honestly fluff at the end. yeonjun is whipped and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. y/n is very cold toward him in the beginning.] jealous Yeonjun.

song inspo: obsessed — mariah carey [finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress]

He looked dumbstruck. His lips were parted just slightly as he stared down at you in what looked like shock. A small laugh caught in his throat as he brushed his hair out of his face, licking his dry lips trying to figure out what you just told him.

“Are you um… you know, are you busy? Is that why?” Yeonjun asked you. He looked down both ends of the aisle just to make sure nobody was around to hear him being rejected. It would ruin his street cred. Maybe he just caught you at a bad time, you were in the library after all and maybe he interrupted your work. Yeah that’s probably it.

“I’m not busy,” you told him as you put a book back into its spot, pushing the cart of books down the aisle, “I just don’t want to.”

“Why? Wait, um, did I do something to you?” He asked, looking like you shot an arrow straight through his ego. You shook your head releasing a small laugh as you kept working while he followed you. His brows scrunched together in confusion as he moved a couple books so you could put another into the space.

“No Yeonjun, you didn’t, I’m just not interested,” you told him, finally looking at him. He looked visibly taken back by the last statement you made and he was at the point of desperation so he needed to stop. He gave you a mere nod as he began to step away. You gave him a charming smile as you went back to work.

“Alright, I get it,” Yeonjun said with a dramatic sigh, “I’ll stop annoying you.”

“Thank you.”

He still can’t believe it.

“Am I ugly?” Yeonjun asked his friends the next day during lunch. They looked at him with expressions that immediately made him regret asking but it was too late to take it back.

“Yeah,” Kai said right away while Soobin just checked him out as if really contemplating how to answer the question. After much debate Soobin said, “Not usually, why?”

“Because Y/n said no,” Yeonjun told them as he checked his appearance with his front camera making sure to fix his hair and everything. The other two looked at each other with confusion before Soobin was the one to ask, “No to what?”

“Going with me to the party tonight, remember I told you guys I was gonna ask her out?” Yeonjun reminded them and the two made a unanimous ‘ahh’ sound. There was a party tonight at a friend’s place but Yeonjun couldn’t even tell you all about it because you were very quick to reject him! And he means quick like flash lightning. He hadn’t even finished his speech before you told him no. Then when he tried going into more detail you just told him you weren’t interested. It had his mind whirring.

“I remember but who cares? You’ll probably find someone else tonight anyways,” Kai said with a shrug as he stuffed his face with whatever lunch he bought at the cafeteria today. Yeonjun was still distraught by your rejection yesterday that he’s not even hungry.

Maybe he’s just being dramatic but he’s never been rejected before, he doesn’t know how to take it. He’s still thinking about the way you just straight up told him you are not interested in him. And okay, to be fair he’s only really been into you for the last few days and he was really seeing another girl just a couple weeks ago but that’s the past. You’re the one he wants right now and yet you rejected him. Him?!?

“But I want Y/n,” he released a loud whine that had him stomping his feet under the table in a mini tantrum. Why did you reject him? He doesn’t get it. He’s a total catch, ask anyone—literally.

He kept thinking about this all day and when he got to the party he was still sulking. Girls were talking to him about anything and everything yet his mind was stuck on you. He’ll admit his feelings aren’t deep for you but you’ve just really hurt his ego and he doesn’t get why. Do you have a partner? Are they even your type? Is he even your type? Do you not have time because of school or work? Are you just not feeling well? Why wouldn’t you want to come out with him tonight? He knows you said you’re not interested but how? He’s a catch. He needs you to know he’s a catch!!

“Guess who’s here,” Kai told Yeonjun practically running into him as the older tried to distract his broken heart with a game of Beer Pong with some girl he didn’t know. Yeonjun couldn’t even bring himself to be excited at what sounded like potential tea being spilled and ignored his friend instead choosing to shoot a ping pong ball straight into a red cup, immediately being cheered on.

Kai had to hit Yeonjun’s arm repeatedly to get the guy to react until finally he snapped and turned to the younger, “Hit me one more time I dar—“

Kai slapped him on the cheek lightly but enough to make Yeonjun’s head turn to the side and that’s where he saw it. Lo and behold, none other than L/n Y/n stood there chatting it up with some friends wearing his favorite colors. How could you do that to him? How could you stand there wearing lavender and powder blue while having drinks with someone else?

“I’ve gotta go pee,” Yeonjun lied as he left them all at the Beer Pong table ignoring their boo’s in order to go find you. He chugged back the rest of his drink giving quick waves to whoever said hi to him.

You were just minding your business trying to have at least one drink before you dipped out on the party and went home but apparently you couldn’t even do that. The universe wanted you to have to suffer and that’s why Yeonjun magically made his way to you and tapped your shoulder like some old lady asking if she could cut in line.

“Funny seeing you here,” Yeonjun said with his usual arrogant yet pretty smile, “I thought you were busy tonight.”

“Um,” your brows furrowed as you turned to look at him, “I'm pretty sure I said I wasn’t busy, I just wasn’t interested.”

Yeonjun’s eyes narrowed in thought ignoring the way your friends Taehyun and Beomgyu made ooo sounds like you gave him a good burn. He shook his head, “No I’m pretty sure I heard you say you’re busy and totally interested in me.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure you have hearing problems then because I never said that,” you responded looking a little annoyed now.

“I do have hearing problems,” Yeonjun said, never once backing down or stuttering over his words, “It’s called Selective Hearing, look it up.”

“I know what Selective Hearing is,” you told him, trying very hard not to smile because he was being so damn ridiculous right now.

“I’m just making sure,” he, on the other hand, had a shit-eating grin knowing that he’s getting to you, “So why don’t you tell me what you’re drinking so I could go get us more.”

“I have a full cup,” you said, “Besides I’m here with some friends.”

“What friends?” Yeonjun asked dramatically, looking around you. You rolled your eyes at his joke and turned to where Beomgyu and Taehyun should be. Keyword: should. They’re gone and when you looked around for them you found them playing Beer Pong pointing at you mockingly as they laughed. They knew how much Yeonjun grinds your gears and they left you here with them.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me,” he said with a smirk that you just wanted to wipe off. You shook your head, “Looks like I’m going home actu—“

“Y/n!” He called out to you as you made your way to the door but before you could get to it he cut through the crowd of party goers like a man on a mission and placed a large hand flat against the door, “Why do you hate me?”

Your brows furrowed, “First of all I don’t hate you.”

“Then why won’t you say yes to one date? Hell you won’t even say yes to one drink with me! If that doesn’t seem like hate I don’t know what does,” Yeonjun said honestly. Why do you keep rejecting every single one of his efforts?

“I’m just not interested, Yeonjun, I don’t like wasting my time,” you told him honestly, “And you’re the type of guy to lead someone on, waste their time, and never speak to them again.”

He was so visibly taken back by what you said that he couldn’t even react in time to you moving him back so you could open the door and leave the party.

Listen, you weren’t president of the Choi Yeonjun Hate Club by any means, seriously. It’s just hard to take the guy seriously when all you hear on campus is how much of a player he was. You’ve had a couple classes with him the last two years and yeah you know him but not like you really know him. He’s never shown interest in you before so why is he doing it now? You have no clue.

Also, you’re pretty sure just two weeks ago he was on some girl’s Instagram story with hearts all around it. He’s so clearly a fuckboy and those just aren’t your type. Between school and work you don’t have time to waste on some guy who’ll probably ghost you after getting you in bed. It might sound harsh but it’s probably true. So, like you said, better to not waste your time on a guy like him.

“So what did the Campus Crush want last weekend?” Taehyun asked as he and Beomgyu played some game on the PC while you scrolled through your socials. You were currently all sitting in the library on some lounge chairs wasting time till your next lecture. You released a deep sigh, “He keeps crying about a date.”

“Ooh, does this mean you’re gonna get laid?” Taehyung asked and both you and Beomgyu glared at him. You rolled your eyes, “First of all I said no. Second, why are you talking about getting laid if you’re a virgin.”

“That’s what im sayin,” Beomgyu said, “Yeonjun’s a fuckboy and Taehyun’s virgin ass shouldn’t be telling you to go for it.”

“First of all I’m not a virgin, second, because Y/n’s been in a dry spell for weeks,” Taehyun said, “Sorry I’m the only one looking out for her sanity.”

“You saying you’re not a virgin is exactly what a virgin would s—“

“I’m not a virgin!” Taehyun said a little too loudly and all heads turned in your direction. He released a loud groan as his face began to redden, “Alright whatever, I hate you guys. I hope Y/n stays single until she’s 60 and all shriveled up.”

With that he left, leaving you and Beomgyu to laugh on your own. Beomgyu pointed down at Taehyun’s snack that was sitting on the table, already reaching out to take it only for Taehyun to come back and snatch it. He left the two of you alone and you kept scrolling while Beomgyu played a single’s match now.

Taehyun was a muttering mess as he stomped out of the library, going on and on about how his best friends suck and hate on him because he’s the youngest. The only reason why he put a pause on cursing you both to hell was the tall frame blocking the entrance to the library as they came in. He looked up, an evil smirk on his face, “Hyung.”

“Taehyun,” Yeonjun said, looking around him almost immediately to see if you were around. The younger got the best idea ever and as he left he said, “If you’re looking for Y/n, she’s in the resting area in the back.”

Yeonjun nodded, thanking the guy blissfully unaware that Taehyun will probably get murdered tonight for telling him that. He was actually in here to escape some girl he ghosted who was just outside and the only place he could go was the library. It seems like the universe was on his side though since now he knows you’re here too. He followed Taehyun’s directions and found you right where he said you would be. Your back was to him and Beomgyu saw him coming first and he could see the way the guy told you about his arrival yet you didn’t turn.

He took Taehyun’s old seat with a simple, “Hey.”

“Hey…” Beomgyu said awkwardly as he looked at you, who only glared at Yeonjun. “What are you doing here?”

“Taehyun told me you were back here so…” Yeonjun said making himself comfortable, choosing to ignore the way you cursed at Taehyun who was only here in spirit. Yeonjun looked at Beomgyu expectantly and the guy just sighed, seeming to understand what he wanted and began gathering his things. You released a deep sigh, “Yeonjun.”

“Yes, cutie?” Yeonjun said with a flirty smile that he knew would annoy you but he’s come to realize you’re cute when you’re annoyed with him. You rolled your eyes, “What are you doing?”

He looked down at himself, “Sitting?”

You huffed in annoyance as you sat up to gather your things and try to leave but a sudden hand over yours stopped you. He smiled, “Come on Y/n, just give me one chance.”

“Are you always this desperate?” You asked and although it should be taken as a jab to his character he saw it as an opportunity. “For you? Yea—Wait, wait wait!”

You were both standing now and Yeonjun was in front of you, “Look, I just want one date. If it’s terrible you don’t ever have to speak to me again. If it’s good… well… um… you know.”

“What? If it’s good I’m supposed to sleep with you? Fat chance Yeonjun, I’ve gotta go,” you told him, putting your backpack on and walking away but he was hot on your trail.

“I was gonna say if it’s good we’ll go on another, y’know, get to each other and shit,” Yeonjun said clearly new to this. He’s never had to beg someone to go out with him and please don’t ask why he’s so stuck on you. You sighed clearly wondering the same thing and finally turned to him making him stop abruptly before you bumped into each other.

“I’ll tell you what, give me a month to decide and if you’re still interested by then, then I’ll say yes” you said and it took everything in him not to release the loudest most annoying gasp in disbelief. A month?! If this was a cartoon he would have an arrow shot through his back.

“And well… if you’re with someone else then I guess it wasn’t meant to be, right?” You said with a nice smile now. There goes a second arrow right through his chest and if this was that cartoon then he would be on the floor bleeding out already from being rejected. Sensing his distress you decided to throw him a bone, “You do look good today.”

With that you left like you were never there in the first place.

A month? He can do a month, sure. Yeah. Easy as pie—except he doesn’t know how to make pie nor does he know if it’s easy at all! And he doesn’t get the saying and he doesn’t want to wait and he doesn’t know what to do!

“You okay there bud? You’re looking a little blue,” Soobin said right before Yeonjun crashed into his arms with a loud dramatic cry. Soobin struggled to catch him, nearly dropping the guy as Yeonjun gasped for air.

“A month! Y/n said in a month she’ll tell me if she’ll even consider a date! Who does that? Who puts someone on lay-away? Who would do that to me?” Yeonjun said pushing Soobin away so he could throw himself down on Kai’s couch ignoring the shout of the younger one cursing at him for making him miss a hit in his game. He held a hand up to his forehead like he was in a fainting spell, “Is something wrong with me?”

“Aside from your obnoxious dramatics, screechy laugh or ugly face? Probably no—ow!” Kai was cut off with Yeonjun pulling on a strand of his hair.

It was a Sunday, four days after you basically told him to fuck off for a month and he has no clue how to handle this rejection. Soobin knew this too and that’s why he said, “I’m meeting up with some girls to ‘study’ later, you should come with and forget about Y/n.”

“Can I come?” Kai asked and Soobin just nodded. Yeonjun shook his head no, “I don’t wanna.”

“Oh come on, yes you do,” Soobin said, reaching out to cling to him, “One of them has been begging to meet you. Why don’t you go for someone who likes you?”

“Fine, if you insist,” Yeonjun said, forgetting in that moment why he was so upset and what he was supposed to do for a month.

He joined the others at this little coffee shop later on in the day. He had to show up fashionably late for his own aesthetic and reputation and walked in like he was the coolest guy in the room. Soobin and Kai, of course, rolled their eyes but the girls were loving it.

“You’re late,” Soobin said with narrowed eyes because they had all been hanging out just a couple hours ago. Yeonjun just shrugged, “Can’t rush beauty.”

“Sure I can,” Kai said, kicking Yeonjun’s butt to hurry him along. Yeonjun glared at him but took a seat anyway. He looked at the three girls in front of them and he could immediately tell which one wanted to get to know him. She was practically sending him hearts with her eyes.

“Hyung this is Mina, Jisoo and Yeaun,” Soobin introduced him and he just nodded saying his name before looking down at what they were all doing.

“I thought we were studying,” Yeonjun said knowing damn well he didn’t even bring his backpack. He really just thought it would be funny to call them out on it since that was apparently the whole reason they gathered. He knew it was just an excuse but still. If you were here you wkd have brought your backpack, he’s just saying.

“Oh,” Yeaun laughed nervously, “We forgot our things.”

“It’s fine, Yeonjun is just messing with you guys,” Kai said, waving the older one off. Someone came by to get Yeonjun’s drink and that’s when they all started talking.

“I think I’ve seen you before,” Yeaun told him and he had to look at her closely to see if that was true. She gave him a flirty smile, “Dance class.”

“You’re a dance major?” Yeonjun asked in a questioning tone as he looked her over. She was cute, actually very close to his ideal type but hm…

Hm…

“Well no but I’m a theater major and I just want to expand my performance level, y’know?” She said trying to have a better conversation with him but he wasn’t all there.

Yeonjun knew he rejected Soobin’s offer to come out for a reason. Okay? At first he wasn’t even sure why he said no and that’s the only reason why he agreed—because it was so out of his character to turn it down, y’know? Like he said, they’re all cute but he just… he’s just not feeling it. That deal you made with him is really stuck in his mind.

You’re acting like he really is fickle. He knows he's dated a lot in the past [past as in a few weeks ago] but do you really have such little faith in him? You just had to say that if he dates someone else in the meantime then it’s not meant to be? What kind of shit is that? You won’t even give him a chance and he’s taking the challenge. He’s decided right now that he’ll show you. You think he’ll get over it in a month? You think he’ll go on to the next girl in line? Yeah alright, he’ll show you.

“Yeonjun,” Soobin called out to him and he snapped out of his own thoughts about you and caught everyone staring at him. “Huh?”

“Oh um, I was just wondering if you could help me with vocals some time, I heard you’re a good singer too,” Yeaun said brushing her fingers through her hair. Yeonjun looked her over, “Uh sure.”

He shook his head thinking of something else as he stood abruptly, “You know what, I’m not feeling good so I think it’s better if I just head home.”

“Oh wait, can I get your number?” Yeaun asked and he looked down at her outstretched hand with her phone in it. He wanted to say no but then he would look like a dick so he silently nodded and typed his number in before leaving without another word.

Once he was out of the café he was notified about her contact info. He scrolled through his notifications while he waited for the bus and he couldn’t believe it. No wonder you had no faith in him. He had dozens of people in his DMs like a lot. You think he’s a fuckboy he gets that but damn he really was. He’s embarrassed that he’s shocked. Okay, he’s gonna really have to put in the work this month.

You honestly thought Yeonjun got over it. It’s almost been two weeks since you last ran into him and you’ll admit part of you was happy but the other part felt kind of bored. Like… where’s that annoying bug that wouldn’t leave you alone?

“Watch it,” Beomgyu huffed as he quite literally pushed you aside so he could leave the room first. You glared at him as he laughed, “You’re walking too slow.”

“I’m thinking!” You yelled, “I can’t multitask.”

“It’s walking…” Beomgyu said as he stood straight, “Are you dumb? Anyway, where’s Yeonjun? Shouldn’t he be popping up around the corner somewhere?”

You rolled your eyes, “I don’t know, he’s probably moved on.”

“Awe, that makes you want to cr—ah!” Beomgyu shut up the second you pulled on his hair and began swatting you away, “I’m kidding! Damn, you little demon.”

“Whatever,” you sighed as you began to walk away from him, “I’m gonna go to work.”

You said your goodbyes and you left toward the bus stop. Maybe you just jinxed yourself or this was some sort of sign because the only other person waiting for the bus was none other than Choi Yeonjun. He didn’t notice you at first but when he did he looked genuinely surprised to see you.

“Hey,” you said casually as you sat about a foot away from him. He took his AirPods out and put them away, “Hey.”

After some time of awkward silence Yeonjun cracked a smile, “Miss me?”

“What? No,” you told him with a roll of your eyes. You even turned yourself away from him a bit but Yeonjun was quick to bring you back to him, “Kidding.”

“So what are you doing tomorrow?” Yeonjun asked, already getting the annoyed look from you that he really liked, “I’m not asking you out. It’s an invitation.”

“For?”

“Soobin’s having some people over at his place, you and your friends should come,” Yeonjun said casually but he had this smell sense of fear that you might think he’s asking you out. Which, okay, maybe he’s cheating and if he hangs out with you all night then it would be like a date but… no. You stared off in thought and he felt the need to rush out, “Not a date. I swear.”

“Hm… alright,” you said with a shrug. He couldn’t help the curl of his lips with a smirk as he nodded, “Cool.”

Saturday night you were joined by your two besties at Soobin’s place. There were definitely more than a few people but it also wasn’t crazy packed either. There were enough people here that you didn’t really see Yeonjun since he was somewhere off doing whatever he does at parties.

“Can’t believe you got Y/n to come,” Kai said as he watched you play some drinking game with Taehyun. Yeonjun was watching too but his eyes were more focused on one of your opponents who was watching you closely like you interested him. He doesn’t like that. You also seemed to be entertaining the guy, laughing at his jokes or letting him ‘help’ you in the game. Yeonjun knew what he was feeling but he’s not used to it. He’s not used to feeling jealous.

It’s only been two weeks that has been holding himself back from talking to you and he’s quite literally cut everyone else off. He understood that if he wanted you to take him seriously then he would have to change some of his behaviors and he’s been trying. Even tonight when girls have come up to him trying to get him to be with them he’s been very bland. He hasn’t entertained them like he usually would. He’s not giving them flirty smiles or arrogant eyes. He’s just not caring enough for them. Yet here you are talking to any guy who approached you. It was driving him insane.

“She’s here but not for me, clearly,” Yeonjun said bitterly as he took a big swig of his drink, watching you intensely, “Who’s that guy she’s talking to?”

Kai looked over, “No clue, why? Am I sensing some jealousy from the Choi Yeonjun?”

He rolled his eyes at that as he took another drink, “Shut up.”

“He is jealous, everyone! Choi Yeonjun is jea—ow!” Kai whined when Yeonjun smacked his arm and rubbed the irritated area glaring at him in the process. Yeonjun thrusted his drink into Kai’s hands as he left.

“One more Y/n, please!” Taehyun begged as he tried playing one more round but you were tired of the game already. The guy who you were playing against was cool but he was sort of touchy. He kept checking you out in a way that made you feel slightly uncomfortable but you tried your best to be nice to him. You were just over it at this point.

“Yeah Y/n, one more,” the guy winked at you as he appeared right next to you, a hand on your lower back making you inch away from him, “You can be my partner.”

Taehyun’s eyes narrowed but before he could try and save you from this creep, a hard hand landed down on the guy’s shoulder making him turn already looking annoyed by the touch. Yeonjun stood there with a cocky grin, “Sorry man, I think I’m gonna take over from here.”

“What are you talking about?” The guy said glaring at him, “Y/n and I are about to get some drinks.”

Your brows scrunched together in confusion, “I’m not interested.”

“You heard her?” Yeonjun asked, standing between you two now, “She’s not interested so you can run along now.”

“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are to bring your ass over he—“

“I can tell you who I am right now,” Yeonjun was getting more irritated by the second. He already had to watch the guy try and flirt with you from across the room and now he’s annoyed because the guy is right here trying to get you to drink more with him. It’s like he’s going into protection mode at this point and he wants the creep to go away if that’s what you want.

“Yeonjun,” you called out to him but he was too busy staring the guy off as if ready to act whenever the guy did. You had to tug on the side of his shirt to pull him back but he was like a stone, “Yeonjun. Come on, show me where the bathroom is.”

It was just an excuse to get out of there because you can see it right now that he is not happy. Taehyun sensed this too so he tried to help, “Yeah come on, let’s go man.”

You wrapped a hand around Yeonjun’s arm and he was finally able to retreat even though the guy had him pissed off. He was barely able to notice the hand you had on him until he was walking away trying his hardest to ignore the guy’s curses that were geared toward him. Taehyun left the two of you alone and Yeonjun led you down a hall past the guest bathroom toward Soobin’s room for more privacy.

“You okay?” He asked as you opened the door to the master bathroom, leaving it open as you fixed your appearance.

You gave him a nod, “I’m fine, you’re the one who seemed pretty upset back there.”

He leaned against the doorframe watching you, “Was I as pushy as that guy?”

You looked at him through the reflection of the mirror deciding to be honest, a smile even cracked on your face, “You’re pushy but not like him, he’s a creep.”

He chuckled but still looked wary over it. You released a small sigh as you walked up to him, “Thank you though. He was weirding me out the whole game.”

Yeonjun looked surprised by that. This entire time he thought you were responding to the guy's advances and it wasn’t until the end that he realized you didn’t like it. He licked his dry lips as he looked down at you and how close the two of you were now. He kept glancing down at your lips but he knew he shouldn’t even try. But then you were moving closer and he acted before you began to doubt it and he was so close… so close that your lips merely brushed against each other and as he dipped his head down to capture them—the moment was ruined.

“Move! I’m gonna barf!” Soobin yelled, cutting right past you two and practically pushing you out on his own. You stumbled into Yeonjun and he glared at his friend, annoyed that you were pushed and interrupted too. He held you by the waist for longer than he needed to but you didn’t tell him to move. With an annoyed sigh he led you back out of the room scratching the back of his neck nervously, “So…”

“I’m gonna go sto e if the others are ready to go yet, I’m um… pretty tired,” you said making him frown a virgin but he just nodded. He had about two weeks before you took him seriously, right? So was the almost kiss just a fluke or something?

He just let you go as he stood in the hallway all by himself debating what he should do now if you left. He’ll probably just leave too then.

You hated that Yeonjun was really getting to you. You wanted to spend more time with him but you were still hesitant about it. That’s why you left to find your friends but neither one wanted to leave yet. You were over this party so you just wanted to go and when you found Yeonjun about to leave too, you rushed.

“Wanna get a cab together?” You asked him, catching him off guard but when he saw it was you behind him he was quickly agreeing. So the two of you headed downstairs while Yeonjun made the call and you waited silently. You got in the car together once it arrived and gave both of your addresses, which weren’t far from each other.

“You know it feels weird not having you ask me out every five seconds,” you joked and Yeonjun attempted a smile.

“You said a month, didn’t you?” He said looking over at you, “And it sounds like you did miss me after all.”

“Maybe a little,” you laughed softly as you brushed your hair out of your face.

When the car arrived at your place first it was very clear neither one of you wanted to part ways. So you decided to bite the bullet and say, “Wanna come up? Hang out a little more.”

That’s all he needed to be rushing out the car behind you, tapping his phone on the screen to pay the driver before you could. You laughed at the way he hit his head against the top of the car but he just smiled along with you. The two of you went up to your place and he felt nervous for some strange reason. It’s not like he’s never been to a girl’s house before but this felt different.

He could see your personality all over the place and he took his time remembering some of things you had like your backpack and laptop which sat on the small sofa. Your mail at the entrance table, blinds drawn, one cup in the sink. You chuckled, “Are you looking at my sink?”

“Maybe,” he smirked, “I’ve got to remember everything in here in case you never invite me back.”

“You’re so weird,” you said as you sat down on your couch after turning the lights on. When Yeonjun was done looking at everything he joined you.

“So…”

“So…” you repeated what he said and the both of you broke out in smiles. He licked his lips in thought. Would he have been reading it wrong if he leaned in for a kiss again? Was that just some sort of… fluke?

“Are you going to kiss me yet or do I have to go fo—“

That was all Yeonjun needed to cup your face in his hands and press his lips against yours. You were taken back by his eagerness but you did your best to match it.

It was messy, a little too eager for a first kiss between you two. In his eyes, and maybe yours too, it had been anticipated, even if you rejected him a lot he knew there was tension there between you.

You swung a leg over his lap until you were straddling him and dragged his lips back to yours. Finally. You could feel the slightest hint of excitement throughout when you ground your hips down on his lap making him release a low groan and dig his nails into your hips, guiding you. Using his gasp to your advantage you let your tongue poke inside exploring the warmth of his mouth. His eyes fell shut deepening the kiss with his tongue and yours relishing in your make out.

Your hair fell to one side as you kissed along the corners of his mouth, a hand flat on his shirt while you trailed down toward his jaw. He licked his dry lips when he felt the tender affections on the angle of his jaw as the hand over his t-shirt ran over his chest. He let his head fall back trying to catch his breath when you playfully nipped at skin, kissing away any pain and sucking lightly. He readjusted you on his lap feeling a slight sense of uncomfortableness and let his hands fall back down to your waist keeping you in place.

"Fuck," he sighed out when your hand began to touch the end of his shirt sliding underneath to run over the ridges of abs. He'd gotten so muscular it was hard to not want to touch him all the time.

He always knew you were a great kisser and eager too. It had him wanting to forget everything and just live in the moment but he couldn’t. You made a deal.

One month. That’s how long you were going to make him wait for your answer and at this point he’s determined to wait that long even if he has you sitting pretty on his lap. The whole point was about him moving onto the next before you even gave him a chance so he has to prove he’s willing to wait for you to see he’s serious. When did he become so serious over getting one date? He doesn’t know.

“Wait,” he couldn’t help but release a small gasp when you kissed his neck but he had to stop, “Baby…” It slipped. He swears.

You pulled back immediately looking down at him with furrowed brows. He cleared his throat trying to sit up straighter without getting you off his lap, going as far as wrapping an arm around your waist for you to know he wants you there. He licked his lips, “Um… I don’t know what we’re doing but if it’s y’know… uh, I think we should stop.”

You looked visibly offended and he winced at your glare as you began to slide off him despite his attempt to keep you in place, “What?”

“It’s just, you told me a month, right? That in a month you’ll tell me if you want to go on a date and it’s only been two weeks so I know you probably haven’t decided yet and I don’t want you to think I want to sleep with you,” Yeonjun said watching your face contort to disbelief, “I mean, I do! But I’ve got to show you I’m serious about that date, right? Well I can’t really show you I’ve changed if I give in the second you let me come close.”

“So you don’t want to… tonight?” You asked shyly now as he moved to stand up.

“I do, I want to so fucking bad Y/n, but I want to prove to you that I’m serious even more,” Yeonjun told you honestly, “So I think it’s better we just call it a night before I do something that’s going to push you away all over again.”

“Okay…” you said as he looked down at you, “So you’re leaving?”

“I’ve got to, or else you’ll tempt me too much,” he said but he still leaned down so he was hovering over you and kissed you once again.

It was short and sweet and he just had to do it a couple more times before he called it a night.

“Mmh, this is so hard,” he groaned against your lips, “But I should go, right?”

“Yeah…”

He smiled as you stood up with him to lead him out. He left with a promise to text you once he’s home and you were left alone to wonder what the hell just happened?

You honestly did not expect to catch feelings for Yeonjun. Like first of all, the guy’s a fuckboy so obvious when he first approached you, you did not take him seriously at all. That’s why you kept rejecting him over and over again but the last few weeks he’s seemed to change. You don’t know if you fully trust it yet but it’s been a month.

Now you’re here at some VR studio yelling loudly because you’re both scared of the horror game you’re currently playing. He’s practically clinging to you and then yelling when you touch him. He nearly walked you in the face with the controller.

“Wait!” You yelled trying to get away from his flying hands until it actually did hit you, “Ow.”

Yeonjun has never taken off a headset so fast as he looked over at you with a huge pout. He grabbed you and pulled you into him immediately, “I’m sorry, fuck, I’m so sorry, let me see. Where did I get you? Are you okay? Are you bleeding? Oh my god did I cut you?”

“Relax, I was exaggerating,” you chuckled and despite smiling at that he still squeezed you in his arms.

“Poor baby, let me kiss it better.”

“You don’t even know where you hit me,” you joked but he still held your face in his hands and pressed his lips against yours. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at his excuses and kissed back. The screen flashed red signaling your deaths in the game. You sighed when he pulled away, “Now we died.”

“Rest in peace, let’s go,” Yeonjun said, helping you take off the headset fully and set it down next to his. He took you by the hand and led you out.

“What’s the plan now?” You asked as you left the studio. Yeonjun shrugged as he began to swing your laced hands, “Ice cream… and then a movie at your place?”

“Alright.”

It was supposed to just be a movie at your place in your bedroom but here you were kissing now. There was a hint of a smile into the kiss as he deepened it, dipping his head low. You straightened your back hoping to get closer to him, your hands going to his thighs for support as you sat criss crossed across from each other.

Just as you were moving closer to his groin area he reached for one of your wrists. Not stopping the kiss he pulled your hand away leading you to lay back. You followed his movements laying down on your bed as he hovered over you. He kissed down your neck, sucking softly on a spot he felt you twitch at. Your hands tugged on his shirt and though it was a quick pace he sat up pulling the shirt up.

He yanked it off feeling your hands fly to his belt loop but he stopped you again. He was slightly out of breath as he spoke, "Y/n..."

"What?" You asked self consciously, bringing your hands away. Leaning over you again, trapping you under him Yeonjun looked down. He tugged at your shirt, inching it off and you lifted your head to help remove it. He threw it on the ground moving to lightly kiss your neck again, "Let's take it slow, alright?"

Nodding feeling a little flustered you agreed, licking your lips as his hand trailed your side running over your bra. His mouth left wet kisses down to your collarbone and between your breasts. You let out a soft sigh feeling his gentle touch. You moved to unclip your bra, sliding it off. He left a gentle kiss on your right breast.

His hand cupped your chest kissing on the sides, "Just taking it slow..." He was telling himself that more than you.

His voice was airy as he let his tongue poke at your nipple. His thumb swiped over it feeling it begin to harden and let his other hand cup your other breast too. He repeated the action a couple times letting his hair tickle your neck before his lips circled around the hardened bud.

"Yeonj—ngh," you whined, wriggling around a little for more. He looked up at your face, tongue flicking your nipple as his other hand groped the flesh of your left breast. He didn't say anything but didn't move quicker. You wanted to rub your thighs together but with him laying between them it was hard to. Instead you ended up just trying to rut up against him.

When he pulled back a small string of saliva connected his bottom lip to your boob and before you could say anything he moved on to the other. You felt strange, getting so turned on with foreplay. You touched along his back wanting to feel more of him pushing your breasts in his face. He eagerly sucked on your nipples, coating them in spit that made you feel dirty in a good way. Once your nipples were as stiff as they could get he moved along down your stomach. He never once pulled his lips off your skin, not even when he tugged at the fabric of your shorts. He yanked them off, sitting back again looking down at your wriggling body.

Below him you looked so pretty.

Hair splayed across your bed sheets. Expression full of lust with darkened eyes. Exposed breasts moving with every pant of breath you took. Your frilly underwear that left little to imagination and with a smile he leaned forward to capture your lips with his again.

After a short kiss he pressed his face against yours. He licked the shell of your ear as a hand trailed down to the hem of your underwear.

He grunted shortly, finally removing your underwear as he went back to your breasts hungrily latching onto a nipple again. He slid your right leg up until it was bent close to your stomach, exposing more of your wet pussy. Silky strings of arousal coated his fingers as he ran them between your folds and over your clit. At the hint of some stimulation you began to meet the efforts of his hands with a roll of your hips. Unable to keep himself from a taste he dropped to be faced with your count.

With a groan, he pushed his nose into your wet pussy and inhaled deeply. Some slick nipped at the tip of his nose. Yeonjun just wanted to please you and make you feel good. His mouth closed over the stiffened clit suddenly and he began to lick and suck you, feeling the outline of your slit get his chin wet. He was lost in his own world, hips rutting against the bed as his tongue worked to taste your raw essence.

You were the sweetest thing to ever grace his tongue. His thick tongue lapped at your juices, running through your slit and pushing into your warm hole. He was quite literally tongue fucking you with a hand to your chest groping your tits again. If he could suck on them while feasting on your pussy he'd be in heaven.

You were in ecstasy with his mouth slobbering all over your cunt making you fuck up into his face. Yeonjun swirled over your sensitive bud using his other hand to spread out your soft folds. His tongue fucked into your pussy as far as he could go before feeling your walls clench around him. It only made the hand on your tits rougher groping more into his hand holding your hips anchored down to the bed as you began to shake.

"Yeon—" you moaned softly, hands in his soft dark hair keeping him in place. He didn't say anything, only heightening his movements and with a final call of his name you slowly unfolded before him. He eased you through your orgasm with a hand stretched across your body letting your hips guide him in a rhythmic motion through your high. Yeonjun pulled back for a moment, swiping his tongue on his lip, licking a small drop off as you caught your breath.

With an effort to lean up and kiss along your neck, you caught him off balance making him land on the bed instead. Quickly before he could try and stop you you were yanking his button open and tugging at the zipper. He hissed at the sudden friction of losing the thick layer of denim from his member. He let you slide them off, muscles tensing when he tried to lean up to kiss you.

You met him halfway, a messy tongue kiss mixed with the taste of your arousal and spit. Distracting him enough with the kiss you let your hand go over his bulge from his briefs.

Yeonjun’s breath caught in his throat at the first feel of your palm over his cock. His eyes glazed over as you smiled seductively at him kissing the tip of his nose before letting your hand slide past the briefs and touching him directly. You start with a couple experimental strokes, his mouth drawn open in a silent moan, "Should I stop? I can’t hear you.”

His brows are knitted together, a hand over your hair and the other fisted up to his forehead. He shook his head licking his lips, "Don't," his voice was hoarse, feeling you bring your face closer to his tip, licking it gently, tasting the bead of precum on your taste buds.

You flatten your tongue on the underside of his cock, a teasing long kitten lick from his base to his tip. You stopped at the head letting spit pool in your mouth and onto his cock keeping your eyes on his. Then, his eyes meet yours slowly and you swallow more of his length into your mouth. His eyes scrunched closed in pleasure, biting the back of his hand to stifle the loudest moan he's ever felt bubble up in his throat. It was something in the way you teased and looked him in the eyes while doing it.

Holding the base of his cock with one hand, you begin to bob your head setting a good pace, with your other hand on his thigh keeping yourself from losing balance.

Your eyes lock on the obvious muscles flexing under your touch. Your hand helps jerk the rest of him, your other hand coming up to massage his balls.

Yeonjun watches the way his cock disappears into your mouth, the feeling of your mouth, your hands working other areas. It took everything in him to not let out everything and instead released shaky breaths and soft groans. He was close.

You press into him, hand on his thigh once more as your nose pressed into his pubic bone. You took steady breaths through your nose doing your best to relax your throat and flatten your tongue. You stayed still for a second, letting yourself get used to his cock so deep in your throat, jagged breaths in and out. Yeonjun panted lightly, feeling the throb of his cock as his tip hit the back of your throat. He can’t believe you made him wait so long to have you like this. And he can’t believe it really was worth the wait.

You roughly swallow around him, suppressing a gag as you resume to deep throat him.

"Fucking hell," he groaned tossing his head back in bliss. Moans were pouring out of his mouth, his groan muffled into his hand, "I'm so—close."

His pants come quicker, more jagged and out of breath. His mouth hung open, hips almost locking from how hard his muscles flexed. With his cock twitching in your mouth Yeonjun slowly comes down from his high, hand petting your hair. His eyes were hazy and his mouth dry. It felt like he couldn't move a muscle and yet he was yanking you off his cock and smashing your lips onto his. He could taste himself on you and with your aftertaste on his he wished to kiss more. He was still hard, probably in anticipation when rummaging was heard.

Yeonjun pulled back to catch his breath letting you search for a condom tearing into it immediately.

He hissed in discomfort as he dragged his body into a sitting position, back pressed against your headboard. He let you slide the condom on his member watching it come back to life. His eyes locked on the spread of your legs moving to sit on his lap. Yeonjun kept a hand at his base and the other on your waist while yours gripped his shoulders.

He watched closely as you lined yourself up watching the head enter. He quickly looked at you as your mouth drew open, sinking down on his length. He didn't push to move even if he really wanted to and instead let you adjust. He wanted this to be pleasurable to you too. He whispered softly, "I want to make you feel so good.”

Your smile turned into a soft moan at the first expert roll of his hips digging his cock a little further into your walls. You ground your hips letting your head fall forward when he took a boob into his mouth fucking up into you.

He nipped at the bud playing with it as he looked up at you to the best of his ability. Your pouty lips moaning softly has him pulling away to kiss you again, "Am I making you feel good?"

He groped at your ass, spreading the soft cheeks apart and rammed into you when you threw your head back in a moan, "So fucking good."

You returned to him feeling lightheaded holding his face in your arms forcing him to look at you as he bounced you on his cock. A hand on your ass and another on your tit letting you pull his face into you. Your already erect buds tightening as he pinched and pulled at them. He left wet, sloppy kisses over your throat, moving his hands to grip your waist harshly. Yeonjun’s nail dug into your soft flesh as he lifted your hips up and down on his cock.

"Just like that," he bit into his lip, staring down at the way your hips gained a more determined rhythm to get him off. You pulled on his hair making him look at you, "I'm gonna cum."

"That's okay baby," he talked you through it, eyes locked on yours as he felt your warm walls begin to tighten around him. A familiar ring of nerves clenching around his member as it sucked him into your folds. He wasn't going to last much longer either.

He hasn't slept with someone and felt this good in a long time.

His voice was soft as he caressed the side of your face, "You're making me feel so good Y/n."

When you didn't respond and he felt himself at his peak he added, "Please, won't you let go for me?"

He let you snuggle your face into his neck, a hand still on your jaw as his forehead rested on your shoulder.

It was like a wave washed over you, the final words to put you over the edge. Just like that you were releasing, biting back a euphoric moan as Yeonjun hugged your sides talking you through it. In all your past hookups not once did they treat you so softly while tossing you around too. It made you want to show him other sides to you too.

When yours had calmed enough, the last squeeze of the ring was enough for him to let go into the condom. He grunted softly into your ear guiding your hips up and letting himself slip out. Your thighs shook as you crawled over to the side of the bed taking a moment to catch your breath.

Not caring much for the mess, Yeonjun took you by surprise when he laid down next to you. The condom long gone tossed off somewhere and he let his legs tangle with yours. As the sex haze wore off you began to question this, not because you regret it but because you don’t know where this leaves you two.

And the way Yeonjun was pulling you into his arms snuggling up against you as he let sleep began to take over his body, you debated if there was anything worth questioning.

By morning Yeonjun had processed last night through dreams. He rolled over to pull you to him once more and hit an empty bed. The blanket loosely covered over his lower half as he looked around the vacant bedroom.

With furrowed brows he looked on the floor sliding jeans on not caring for the briefs thrown on the floor and made his way out the door. He looked visibly taken back at the sight of you sitting on the couch working on your laptop. You hadn't even bothered to wake him up.

"Hey," you said blandly, going back to your work. Yeonjun picked up on your tone and no, he wasn't going to let you brush last night off.

"Why aren't you in bed?" He asked to check the time seeing it wasn't even seven yet. You shrugged. With a sigh he shuffled over to you, "Y/n."

You didn’t answer him right away, not until he took a seat next to you and pulled you into him, “Come on, let’s get back in bed. Or better yet, let’s get breakfast.”

“Yeonjun I don’t know…”

He rolled his eyes playfully, “That you like me? I know you do. I like you too and I thought last night was enough proof of that. So why don’t you put this away and please just have pancakes with your boyfriend?”

You matched the roll of his eyes as you cracked a smile, “Boyfriend? Since when?”

“Oh I’ve been your boyfriend for a while now but you’ve been pushing me away for over a month so I had to hide it.”

“You’re crazy.”

“For you? Yeah, I am,” he laughed.

::.

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omg I’ve been wanting to do a txt blog for the fattest minute but I’ve been too lazy to start so I have finally decided to start lmao. give it a read, tell me what you think!

[books-and-omens]

Okay okay, so I really want to talk about S2 Crowley.

I’ve been thinking about who Crowley is in the book and who he is in the show, and the gap is significant. (@tbutchaziraphale has fantastic meta over here which I think is spot on.)

Book!Crowley is an optimist, yes? I mean, we’re outright told this:

“Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist. If there was one rock-hard certainty that had sustained him through the bad times—he thought briefly of the fourteenth century—then it was utter surety that he would come out on top; that the universe would look after him.”

Honestly, what a thing for a fallen angel to believe! And to me, it’s powerful, yes, but it never quite answers the question: where is he getting that certainty?

Tv!Crowley, in the meantime, is emphatically not this. He’s never been an optimist, not even in S1—although in S1, it might have been easier to look at A & C and consider them essentially similar to their book selves if a little out of sync.

In S1, Crowley gives the whole “don’t test them to destruction” speech. He cares about humanity deeply, even if he won’t admit it. He will try to stop the Apocalypse.

And there is still a moment when he feels helpless. When he has no innate optimism to carry him through, no deep belief in the universe looking after him or anyone. When his instincts tell him to run, and he tries to follow them. When he despairs. Aziraphale pulls him back out of that despair; they make a stand together. As we know, it works.

But the thing is, the thing is. I find tv!Crowley’s lack of optimism so very relatable.

I find despair so very relatable, too.

We live in an age of deep anxiety. (Climate change, anyone? Just for starters! The promise and wonder of the Moon landing and the end of the Cold War are far in the past; day to day, we deal with the effects of capitalism, of reactionism, of continued exclusionism. It’s far too easy to feel helpless.)

So in S2, Crowley is very much the same character as he was in S1, except we see it even clearer.

He is not an optimist. He wants to run; he wants to escape when faced with Gabriel’s arrival; he wants to protect Aziraphale and himself, and believes that the best—perhaps only—way to do that is by them retreating as far away from the problem as they can.

In Heaven, Crowley finds out about The Second Coming. His need to escape and to keep his angel safe become overwhelming. But he doesn’t tell Aziraphale about the Second Coming, does he? And his repeated offer to run away together doesn't even make sense to Aziraphale. (Not that Aziraphale would want to run if he knew. Quite the opposite, in fact, which Crowley must know.)

Anyway, Crowley already knows that the clock is ticking. Aziraphale is about to find it out. (Do you notice how often, in the last fifteen minutes of S2, we hear nothing in the background but the ticking of a clock?)

And just—the despair, the desire to retreat and escape when you are faced with overwhelming odds, with a fundamentally broken system, are so relatable.

And yet escape has never been the answer.

I hope, of course, that this is what we’ll see in S3 if there is a S3. Crowley deciding, emphatically, that running away is not the answer. 

We didn't get there yet. We were dropped out of the story at the darkest point.

But I think being at this point is precisely what makes Crowley’s confession at the end of S2 transcendent.

Because it’s the same conflict, isn’t it, except on a personal scale. Despair in the face of overwhelming odds, followed by the decision to not give up.

Crowley, who’d been ready to confess, sees what is likely to happen. He sees the way the deck is stacked against him, sees that he is unlikely to get through. He feels the coming loss. 

And then he does it anyway. 

He confesses anyway. He says what he has set out to say, gasping and clawing for every word. He does it at the point when everything appears lost.

And no, we don’t see the effects of it, not yet. We don’t see what he has launched, the hook that sank into Aziraphale, the change it has wrought in Crowley himself.

But his bravery won’t be lost.

We live in a dark timeline. I maintain that this is precisely what makes this story so compelling.

Be brave. Do the difficult thing anyway. Do it anyway. Do it anyway.

Even in the face of overwhelming odds. Especially in the face of overwhelming odds. While not being an optimist in the slightest.

This is what hope is.

This is what we have to do.

(And to all of us who’d lost a comfort story: I’m so sorry. I, too, am still grieving for it. I know, I know.

Emphatically: all is not lost.)

[balladingbard]

How Deryk Solved the Problem of the Ancients

When we talk about the Myths of the Realm finale, I think many of us went in expecting how the story would end.

We knew the Twelve were former Ancients from Venat’s faction. We knew they were getting ready to pass the torch to mankind. Heck, we even knew Deryk was Oschon.

But despite the predictability of the story, I think Myths highlighted a nagging problem Ancient society was plagued with and never could get over: the inability to enjoy life simply for what it was.

When we think about it, the Ancients based their lives on their work and purpose. Once that purpose was done, death awaited. We saw it in Ancient society with the Elpis arc. We saw it with the Ascians, like Emet-Selch and Elidibus and their speeches on duty. We also saw it with the Twelve, who after all these millennia of guiding mankind to stand on their own feet again, decided to call it quits and return to the Star.

Work becomes life, according to the Ancients, and once that work is done, what life is there left to live?

But then Oschon came along.

Like the rest of the Twelve, Oschon (or Deryk, as he called himself) was like the other Ancients. His work was wrapping up, and after a final test for mankind, he was going to return to the Star with his friends like the other Ancients before him. But unlike the rest of the Twelve, rather than observing and keeping communication to a minimum with mankind, he reached out and became one of them - joining their travels, breaking bread at the table, listening to their hopes and dreams.

Though still at work, he got to do something the other Twelve had little chance to do - see the newly created world not from the eyes of a protective deity, but of a man. And when he allowed himself to glimpse a life outside of his work, it awakened a desire to remain. While the other Eleven returned to the Star, Oschon decided to stay, embracing Deryk’s identity and finally taking the time to simply enjoy the world and people he’d spent lifetimes protecting.

In short, Oschon learned a lesson the Ancients ignored - how to see the beauty of life outside of work.

Though the Ancients weren’t wrong in celebrating their purposes and finding joy in what they did, we saw in the Elpis arc and Hermes how damaging it was to make life solely about work. Would Hermes have been as distraught in taking Fandaniel’s seat knowing it didn’t mean the end of his mentor? Could the Eleven have gotten to know their people had they stayed, and thus find new purpose in the world they helped shape? Menphina says in her final battle, “Let’s delight in the simple things,” but does she really allow herself to?

No. Instead, it’s Oschon, the wanderer…the loner. The one who really wasn’t supposed to be around people much, but chose them over his purpose as an Ancient anyways. And despite still having love for the Eleven, he allowed himself to do something no other Ancient (except perhaps Elidibus) could do: remember the Ancient world, but still embrace the new.

[kopifurann]

read from left to right ⤍

Francis, i think it's hard to take ur world seriously when ur cradling my face so lovingly but maybe it's just me

Saying 'i love you' it's so embarrassing, plus when you're a nation, that kind of words can be quite a heavy burden for both parties since they need to put their people first over their existence and feelings as a 'human.' At least that's what Scotland believed. He called himself Alasdair for fuck sake, he mean to protect his people.

But proclaiming 'you're willing to die for them' was a different story especially if you're a nation. Well, even humans sometimes wouldn't really mean it and take said words as figures of speech anyway. Not every human would be in a dangerous scenario where they need to sacrifice themself for their beloved.

Nation can't die.

And so Scotland thinks, there's nothing wrong to proclaim his feelings in such a way, especially to a boy who already has many suitors who have said the same thing and even had themselves really died just for him.

Yet when he finally gathered his courage to confess, rather than being basked with a warm laugh, he was faced with a scowl.

(ScotFra is honestly probably the only France ship (that I incredibly adore) that I can't entirely ruin with horrible toxic relationships. So anyway, they're very in love but have no idea how to properly communicate. Well, they're just teenagers after all. It's expected for them to be clumsy, especially when the two of them were quite aware how different they were. Alasdair was intimidated by Francis' beauty and his experience with people and love. While he wanted to be more than just an 'alliance' in politics, he feared he couldn't really reach Francis in a way he wanted it to be. Because of how easily Francis would come and go with his lover, he feared that if he ever finally stepped into the boundaries, he would never be able to mend everything back together and even ruin it. Francis thought Alasdair never really liked him, at least not in a way Francis wanted him to. As a nation, he seemingly always put his people first than himself, so he thought the alliance was simply just another political shit the humans want them to have. After all, as sweet Alasdair can be, it seems the he is always keeping distance between them. What does he really mean to 'die for him?' Did Alasdair think he's way too weak to be a proper ally?? Is it why he seemingly always acts quiet when he's with him? Did he think he's that repulsive that death would be an only escape?)

[alicerosejensen]

Another you

Warning: reader mutation (c-virus), angst, blood, slight aggression, acquired albinism, fem/reader (not an agent, an ordinary civilian who worked at the museum), Leon has plot armor, more narration than dialogue, the text contains an antagonist like Simmons (male character), Ada is helping Leon again, relatively happy ending.

Synopsis: You didn’t want to change, you loved him, just as he loved you, but against your will, your love turned into hatred and animal anger towards him. However, Leon still hopes that you will remember him...

A/N: This is probably my biggest work. Tumblr told me to fuck off a few times while editing, but I came out victorious in the fight, although I had to re-write the text into the draft a few times because Tumblr for some damn reason published it without my knowledge. I hope feedback if anyone liked it, because I have been burning with this idea for a long time!

The text also contains an excerpt from Byron's poems (I adore him)

He promised himself first of all that nothing would happen to you. That his work won't affect you in any way and you won't get hit by the corporate bastards, and you really didn't. However, something else happened...

But people whom Leon loves or simply cares about tend to leave or even die.

Everything was fine with you. Ideal in his imperfect life and you were this perfection that he valued and protected. A prudent person would not keep an expensive diamond in front of everyone, so Leon did not scatter information about you and who you are to him. You were loved and dear to him more than all the treasures of the world, he appreciated your tenderness towards him and kindness, because it was you who helped him get out of the hole of despondency in which he buried himself. His personal little guardian angel. Still, he has something to continue his fight against bioterrorism.

A normal working day, except that the museum where you work was supposed to host an exhibition of some very expensive collection for which you were so carefully preparing, forgetting about yourself. It seemed to Leon that you were burning with enthusiasm and love for the work you were doing, which made you walk around too excited, forgetting about food, so he had to remind you to eat. This exhibition had no meaning for Kennedy, but he did not belittle your efforts thrown into this preparation, especially since you were so happy that you were incessantly talking about all these paintings, historical activities depicted on them and objects: a pendant with a strand of hair of some queen - you explained to him that this is a symbol of affection that was previously used It's like you're giving a piece of yourself to your giver, a kind of connection with a loved one, but this is just one of the meanings of such a peculiar gift. Silk fans, a clock, a desk, some items of clothing that, in Leon's opinion, were very strange and he was just glad that fashion had moved far ahead.

Although he could interpret all this in one word: beautifully.

And you were beautiful too. He would have liked to spend more time with you, but you were completely absorbed in your work, and he was overwhelmed with paperwork that he couldn't stand, but anyway, at least he could come back to you and listen to excited speeches and new facts that he didn't know anything about and would hardly remember if he told him about it someone else.

And everything went to hell when there was another outbreak, less global, but most importantly - human lives. And yours.

He was trying to save you, even if someone else had survived this exhibition, he would still have saved you first and not someone else. Mini Raccoon City, that's what he called it, making his way with you to the emergency exit while you kept up with him on your heels, because today you were supposed to shine and glow and not cry with fear looking at the pale corpses of history and art lovers. The light from Leon's flashlight illuminated a small part of the space while you walked quietly thinking about Leon's words, "I wonder how much time we have before they get up?"

"Were they poisoned?" you assumed, because how could you kill such a huge number of people without weapons. Leon, watching the ventilation grilles in the rooms, suggested in his head only one quick way.

"It must be gas,"

But then you would both have died too, you decided, but you did not voice your thought, because shortly before the tragedy you were invited to discuss something by the sponsor of this exhibition. A man who managed to collect so many magnificent things with a rich history. The man who gave you flowers and flirted with you from the day you first met, despite the fact that you made it clear to him that you were not interested in any relationship with him, except for work.

However, Leon also remained silent when he saw the luxurious bouquet of scarlet roses on your work table, which filled your entire small office with their aroma. But right now that simply wasn’t the main thing. He needed to get you out of the mess that happened, and then ask about flowers from rich strangers.

You walked slowly, trying not to make any noise or cry behind him while you clung to his jacket, partially managing to wonder why Leon's gun was with him when he had no reason to carry a gun. All this, of course, was secondary, given how stress, coupled with imagination, turned the exhibits into various frightening figures that frightened, made you scream, thinking that the fallen armor, which was probably simply poorly secured to the stand was another dead man. I didn’t even want to think about what happened in the exhibition hall, much less imagine. Leon had to take you by the hand and at times drag you along with him because the panic really aggravated everything, he was afraid that you would start to go hysterical, but it seems that despite the periodic stupor, you kept yourself well under control, exactly until the moment when Leon’s flashlight went out, leaving you in pitch darkness.

“Leon?” you called out anxiously, feeling noisy ragged breathing behind your back. Was this what Leon was talking about? Until recently, you hoped that his words were just another stupid joke and the dead do not rise, but here behind you is the living embodiment of a nightmare who is ready to grab your neck and feast on warm flesh. Have time to scream? You didn’t even have time to fully scream when a strong grip grabbed you by the shoulder and roughly threw you to the side from the line of danger because you fell, hitting your thigh on the marble tiles, after which a series of deafening shots and the muffled groan of a dead man was heard, three bullets or maybe be more? You didn't count.

As if in slow motion on a large screen, it was impossible to take your eyes off what you saw. All sounds died down, leaving the silence of your own mind and the smell of blood.

All you could do was watch how the beam of light from the flashlight shines directly on the corpse and how Leon’s hands are trying to bring you to your senses, because you knew the one whom he had just completely killed. Richard, your colleague with whom you had coffee this morning and discussed the latest news, sometimes often joked at lunch... was now dead and you were crying without knowing it. Tears just flow uncontrollably from your eyes even as Leon wipes your face with his thumbs, trying to lift you off the floor and make you go outside.

“Come on, sweetheart, I know it’s hard but we have to go"

"I... I can't... why here?" You ask more into the void than from him

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here.” Leon grabs you under the armpits, helping you get to your feet, dragging you towards the exit.

Better yet, this would all just be a nightmare. The noise from the shots makes you cover your ears with your hands while Leon once shoots people, at the same time trying to protect the slow-moving you. They scream, moan, attack and you feel like you are in a horror film with high-quality special effects and good acting, but you realize, albeit reluctantly, that all this is not a joke but an evil reality where Leon almost at the very exit asks you to pull yourself together and you don’t even you can stand on your feet. Before your eyes, everything collapsed and the world went crazy, trying to grab you with it.

"I can't... can't... I'm so scared..." your hands grab Leon and he hugs you to him, which only makes you want to cry harder and ask him to do the impossible - to return everything to the way it was. He hugs you tightly, kissing you on the top of your head, giving at least some reassurance given the fact that he has always tried to protect the little that he loves from his work, but you accidentally found yourself in the epicenter and your reaction is quite expected.

"Everything will be fine, please look at me," he asks in a soft tone, lifting your head and forcing you to look into his eyes, "It will be difficult, I do not know what is happening outside and what kind of virus it is, but you must not leave me alone. I shoot, and you stand behind me or hide if I tell you to. If you see a dead person, don't you dare approach him!"

"Is it like this everywhere?"

Leon didn't quite understand if you were talking about the whole city or just the upcoming race, in any case, he only nodded briefly, giving you a little more time to catch your breath while you listened to the rapid pounding of the heart in his chest. He was afraid too.

It could have tried better. You really pulled yourself together, but after contacting Hunnigan, Leon exhaled for a second, saying that the virus had not spread so far and in fact the appropriate measures had already been taken, she sent the two of you to the evacuation point where doctors could examine you and give you a vaccine injection in case it really was gas, as Leon said, which logically you were both breathing anyway. So the virus could have entered your body, the scariest thing you reasoned while you were following him, is that you are both alive by a lucky chance, because if Leon had not been attacked by an attack of tenderness, it would probably have been the last day of his life. You no longer even thought about the fact that that sponsor called you somewhere... Emerick. You smiled when you remembered that Leon called him a high-dimensional asshole, but he probably became a victim like everyone else, so there's no need to speak ill of him.

You thought that because you didn't think he was a bad person. You and Emerick had common topics of conversation, he knew a lot and he had a rich collection of rare things bought from auctions for a lot of money, besides, as he himself said, much of what he actually has was inherited in his family, which made you think that he probably was some kind of hereditary noble. His manners were really perfect.

It took about an hour before Leon left you in a quiet place. There were only zombies outside and a few survivors who, no matter how hard Leon tried, still couldn't help. They always died in front of his eyes, even now leaving a sense of guilt in his soul, because he should protect and not kill, but now this is the best thing he can offer them to the infected. Wide windows on the third floor of a God-forsaken warehouse protected from enemies and if you believe Ingrit, then this is the C-Virus that Neo-umbrella created, not so old, but in the terrorist market, in fact, it is already junk.

"At least there are no cocoons and lepoticas, otherwise I would have big problems"

You were sitting on the crates risking tearing your nylon tights while Leon was talking via video link on his work smartphone, waiting for his colleague Ingrit from F.O.S to plot the safest route to the plane that should pick you two up. Leon thought you were safe with him. You just sit quietly next to him trying to catch your breath while he does the main work and he was really calm until you screamed sharply falling off the box, forcing him to turn to you when he saw you holding your neck.

The phone immediately fell to the floor.

"What happened? Are you in pain?!"his eyes widened as he pulled out the dart that was the cause of everything. "Baby, can you hear me?! Everything will be fine, hold on!"

There was no one in the window. By the way, there was no time to search for the culprit. Thoughts were flying crazily in his head, Leon picked you up in his arms, hiding you behind drawers so that you would not get into anyone else's lens, noticing how quickly your breathing becomes shallow.

Was it a new virus or an improved one from before? You curled up crying from what seemed like your organs were turning into a burning cauldron causing hellish pain that made you moan loudly.

"Hunnigan! I need a vaccine, urgently! Where's the damn helicopter?!" Ingrit shot up for a moment. The women's painful moans in the background were ready to make Leon burst into tears and she was almost sure that tears were stuck in the corners of his eyes.

"It will take time to figure out what it is..."

"There's no time!" he shouted into the phone. Ingrit's fingers immediately clicked on the keyboard.

You sobbed. The bones seemed to melt, which made you literally lie on the concrete floor until Leon shifted you onto his lap, feeling your body temperature rise from normal to high.

That's probably why you threw up and blood gushed out of your nose. Your heart was pounding wildly, you didn't hear Leon screaming in panic, hugging your body to him, realizing that if you don't inject the serum soon, then everything will be over. You're dying, but Leon's brain refuses to accept it when he picks you up in his arms trying to save you because with your death, life won't make sense to him.

"You're not going to die!" the words expressed through clenched teeth echo in the spacious building as Leon picks you up in his arms and carries you outside in time. "Everything will be different"

He couldn't let this happen again. It was as if everything was being repeated again from hell to hell, only now in Helena’s place he is himself and he definitely won’t have enough strength to put a bullet in your forehead, and if he does... then he’ll shoot himself too.

Every minute was precious and if it weren’t for the infected, Leon would have instantly reached the right place and injected you with the serum, but luck was not on his side again, just like on the first day of work in Raccoon City. You were heating up so much that he could feel the heat emanating from your body, even through your clothes. Once the virus enters the human body, the incubation period varies for everyone: Deborah Harper lasted two hours before she mutated, for some it takes about a couple of minutes, even God himself does not know how much time is measured for you.

Having reached the helipad, Leon cursed everything in the world since the helicopter was not even visible anywhere. The situation was clearly not going in your favor. You again let out a painful groan, feeling like your body was literally burning and your head hurt so much that you wanted to be hit with a huge hammer. Leon stroked your back, holding you close to him. God, your temperature was already colossally high!

"Just a little more, be patient, honey" Leon doesn't believe it, he wants to, but he can. You scream and cry, trying to tear off your skin with your nails just to make this heat go away. He would like to change places with you, it would be better if he were dying now and not you, and not so monstrously.

The virus flows through the veins, attacks all defense mechanisms, mercilessly rebuilding the entire body in a new way, creating an aggressive weapon out of a person capable of mass murder without any remorse. Leon's affection does not destroy you, right now it is the only way to save yourself, but even if by some miracle an active medicine fell on your head, what is the chance that it saved you? The probability of healing, even with side effects, tends to be no more than 5-7%.

"D-don't want to d-die"

A pitiful groan, through the agony of pain you see Leon’s crying eyes, the skin peels off unnaturally under the influence of high temperature, but this is not visible under the clothes, but face...

"No no no no!"

Leon fell to the ground from your sharp push, but immediately jumped to his feet, running up to you after a wild, painful cry. Just one second and the body was suddenly engulfed in a flash of fire, turning the flesh into a hardened cocoon. You are gone.

It was all over.

Leon sees double. It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this! The gun is lying somewhere a couple of meters away, having fallen out of the holster when you pushed it away from you, and if this was a standard work situation, Leon would have tried to quickly run up to it or pick up the Sentinel Nine, but his hand did not rise. His knees hit the concrete floor painfully, along with the realization that he had lost again. The hard cocoon transforms the caterpillar inside itself into a beautiful butterfly, which is destined to fly, but Leon knows that everything human in you has burned out and only a monster will hatch from this cocoon, at best only vaguely reminiscent of you, so maybe it’s better to just tear it apart and then let him go on his own a bullet for himself?

The rain continues to pour, gradually calming down. The guys from B.S.A.A are already somewhere down there clearing the city of the infected and saving the survivors because there is a vaccine, there are ways to destroy the trash that Neo-Umbrella created. The sounds of gunshots mix with a frenzied rumble in his heart, which is why Leon doesn't want to hear anything anymore, preferring instead to stretch out his hands to your still warm cocoon, where some movement is already visible. Watching this, Leon was ready to miss even the deafening sound of the helicopter, but the light made him close his eyes and lift his head up.

Even without looking closely, he immediately realized that it was not the helicopter that Hunnigan had sent.

For the sake of love, people really do the most cruel things.

Leon immediately realized who was behind all this when the helicopter landed and several armed men jumped out of it, their faces hidden by masks. He slowly got to his feet, looking at the culprit of his suffering, dressed in a snow-white suit, with an impudent grin that Kennedy remembered from the beginning of the evening, when everything was still fine. Leon could have sworn that he had never felt such rage before, although a painful scream stuck in his throat.

No one pointed a gun at him. Everyone just froze, waiting for something.

"It's a small world, Mr. Kennedy," he said, waving to one of his assistants, and he and two mercenaries pulled a cryogenic capsule out of the plane. "But it was stupid to think that a man like you would die from a bunch of mindless zombies. I must admit, I didn't want to go to extreme measures until the last moment, I liked today's event, but because of you, I had to cancel everything. I've lost most of my collection"

"So it was you after all…" Leon muttered through his teeth, not yet grabbing the gun, realizing the risks. He is alone in the open space - a wonderful target. "I didn't see your corpse in the museum."

"A distraction," he explained, watching the capsule's preparation from the corner of his eye.

Emerick… Leon suddenly remembered how you recently confessed to him that he began to take care of you by giving you flowers, then inviting you for a cup of coffee, listening to music or general topics of which there were too many. But in the end, when the attentions began to exceed the standard amount, hinting at something more, you refused him, saying that you already have someone. You didn't notice, but Leon has been catching his obsessive glances at you all evening… How sometimes you looked at the exhibits behind the glass case, which you can not touch, despite the ban.

But you didn't even choose between the two of them. Leon always came first.

"For what?"

Emerick smiled as he looked at the cocoon and Leon's question disappeared by itself. Because of jealousy? Because a rich bastard couldn't get what he wanted, even with a giant bank account?

"You won't believe it, Mr. Kennedy, but for love. Death took away a dear person from me and I want to return what belonged to me, however, you will not understand this"

Leon grinned, clenching his fists.

"Why? Why her? If you wanted to take revenge on me, then you would have taken revenge on me and not on her!"

"Who said it was you?" asked Emerick, looking at his interlocutor as if he were an idiot. "For the most part, you just annoyed me like an annoying fly, but no more, although you encroached on something that does not belong to you."

Leon was about to answer and pounce despite the machine guns pointed at him, but the movement below and the sound of the cocoon tearing attracted all attention. He has seen it many times and your hand was reaching out to break free from the tight shackles of the past flesh, forcing its way out. Everyone is closely watching the birth of a new life, but only in the eyes of one of those present there was delight, not fear and regret. Leon couldn't bear it… He didn't understand what was wrong. The transformation was different.

"Happy birthday, Ada,"

A memory flashed through his mind.

History repeats itself. Only it turns out that besides Simmons, there is another bastard who looks like him in everything.

Leon reached out to you, as if trying to grab you, to help you get out and take you away from here. A brief moment of hope still lit up in my soul like a small smoldering flame, my mind seemed to be clouded, and yet deep inside there was a glimmer of awareness. He couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was wrong while you were trying to get out, muffling all his annoying voices of caution. Wrong smell, wrong body color… Leon squints his eyes, the cocoon breaks and before he can grab your hand, he freezes.

The slimy, sticky naked body lying in front of him looked more like a white marble statue with a thin network of blue veins protruding under the skin. The mercenaries looked at each other, clutching their guns tighter but still not pointing them at you. The sight is really amazing. Leon comes up to you lying down, at first glance it seems lifeless, but looking closely, your chest quietly heaves and he kneels down again, pulling you to his shoulders, peering into familiar but still changed facial features.

There are no appendages behind the back, from which ugly claws protrude, no razor-sharp claws, no fangs. But instead, unnaturally pale skin and hair… the structure is thicker, and the color merges with the color of the body. The same discolored ones, but stuck together due to the transformation in the cocoon. You open your eyes a little, and instead of the usual iris, two red lights rush at him without a shadow of anger and aggression, just fatigue, something that Leon used to see when you stayed up late at work.

"And, when the grave restores her dead,

When life again to dust is given,

On thy dear breast I'll lay my head—

Without thee! where would be my Heaven?"

Ignoring the familiar lines of poetry, Leon remains silent when he gives him an order in a harsh voice.

"You won't understand," Leon has no doubt. He doesn't want to understand these motives. "You're not even worthy of the dirt under her nails, let alone touching her!"

Leon picks you up in his arms, turning to face Emerick, meeting with loaded guns.

"Did you infect her with the C-virus so that she would become your toy?"

"A toy?!" he snapped back.

Now it already looks like a confrontation between two men for the heart of one woman, almost a joust in modern realities in all its dirty manifestations and meannesses, but Leon does not feel the advantage. A fairy tale with a bad ending. One madman decided to use a virus to change the girl's memory and her appearance, making you the one who died a long time ago, and he…a brave man with a valiant heart who somehow thinks that even after death, Simmons is also connected with this. Even indirectly. Sold the idea of resurrecting someone else's personality in another person?

The rain is hitting your body in drops, and Leon wants to cover you, hide you, hoping that this is his second attempt. It seems that consciousness is returning to you, but you are still disoriented, not understanding who you are and what is happening. You became a part of the darkness that Leon carried on his shoulders.

"All for love," one wave of his hand, and the one standing behind him makes Leon bend painfully, crying out in pain, almost dropping you, his fingers dig into your skin, causing a barely audible moan from your mouth, but you are still snatched from his hands, carried into that capsule, after that, Emerick turns away from his opponent, putting something like an oxygen mask on you, stroking your cheek gently with his fingers.

"What the hell kind of love?!" Leon knows for sure that the other person is smiling even if he does not see it himself.

"You may not believe it, but I'm one-woman man, Mr. Kennedy. It took me a fortune to improve the C-virus so that it would affect her body without turning her into a vile insect-like creature. There was only one side effect after the final result - loss of pigmentation, but this is not significant, in all other respects it completely met my expectations. All THIS is for her sake."

"You sick... "

"No, I'm a heartbroken husband who lost his wife prematurely but now we will be reunited." Emerick looked at you lovingly before closing the capsule, which they began to load back into the helicopter. “And you, Mr. Kennedy, are just one of millions. You saw a work of art and decided to grped it when you had no right to do so. Someone like you will never understand her value, you were never able to give her everything she deserved!”

It’s hard to disagree when the muzzle of a machine gun is pressed to the back of his head, but Leon still fights as he watches the cryogenic capsule ahead being shoved back into the helicopter.

Adrenaline is pumping into his head and his palm is itching to get the second gun out of the holster, but Leon realizes one wrong move and this will be the finale in his story. You will drown in a pool of false memories, considering yourself the person you have never seen or known, you will begin to be called by another name, carrying antibodies to the improved C virus in your new body and you will give yourself into the arms of a man distraught from his loss, considering yourself his true love.

Leon walks on the edge, but now the feeling that a thin rope can throw him into the abyss, from where there is no return, feels more acute. If only Hunnigan's helicopter had arrived, but intuition suggested that the delay was caused not just by technical circumstances.

"Do you think you injected her with a virus and she will start to adore you? You gave her the power to smear you like a bug on the wall as soon as she wakes up." He does not know the properties of this virus and what abilities it can give, but experience suggests that minor adjustments in appearance and lack of pigment like albinos are not the whole potential obtained.

"You've dealt with many terrorists, but I'm not one of them, Mr. Kennedy," still pretending to politely hide his hatred for some American sharing a bed with his woman, whom he considered his own, Emerick retorts: "I don't want to turn people into monsters, although I don't want the world to be on fire, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. This virus was tested on many before my trusted person injected it to her, and before using it, I tested it on many."

Leon clenches his teeth, glaring at Emerick, letting him finish. Truly, big money creates lawlessness.

"As I said, everything is for love"

But there is no love here. Just an obsession.

Emerick no longer intends to continue the conversation, sits back down in his seat in the helicopter next to the cryocapsule, again signaling his people to get rid of the last witness, besides, he no longer intends to dirty his hands, especially about someone like Kennedy. Although he may still have the desire to end Leon on his own, but looking back at the capsule, his lips are touched with a mocking smile. The project must be completed, and the finishing touches are always needed so that the creator can enjoy his creation.

"But so be it, I'll leave her memories of you. The most bitter and unhappy, she will remember you and be glad that I saved her from you. See, I can be generous even to those who don't deserve it."

"I will refuse your generosity."

The situation was turning into complete shit. Emerick probably hoped to clean up all traces of himself, which is why he left the mercenaries to clean up after him, while he himself rose into the air with a last contemptuous glance at Leon.

"I'll find you, you son of a bitch."

He'll find him and kill and then bring you back.

Fortunately, sometimes Leon has a guardian angel with a smoke bomb behind his back, covering him with shots from a crossbow bolt while Leon quickly pulls out his spare pistol, getting rid of the last two mercenaries. A familiar style and a familiar fragrance when the haze clears allowing you to see the savior in the flesh in his unchanging red outfit and Leon would even smile at her if the plane with you did not move away from him every second. Ada is the red queen of today who postponed the execution of her former lover, smiling at him gently and a little cunningly wondering how fate brings them together and separates their paths from time to time. Leon does not thank out loud, but words of gratitude to this woman who clearly spent her personal time on him still freeze in the air.

She looks at the remains of the cocoon, clutching the crossbow tighter, roughly imagining what could have happened, seeing Kennedy's wet eyelashes, although the rain could have been to blame for everything, which fortunately had already calmed down, as well as the noise outside, although occasionally groans and shots were heard in the distance. Today, her calculated accuracy saved him again.

 "Long time no see, Leon" The velvety voice sounds soothing, but a little tired. In any case, Leon definitely owed her more than double the fare for his rescue.

A princess must have a knight in love to protect her from evil. In fairy tales, a kiss of love usually solves all problems, but what if the princess herself does not remember losing herself in the memories of her own and others? A suppressed personality cries out from the depths, not wanting to be forgotten, fighting with the one who took the pedestal and two names… two girls cannot merge into one, causing you only panic attacks and uncontrolled aggression, forcing the creator to believe that he is not so skilled even if he was filled with desire and endowed with money.

A charming man who calls himself your husband bends over her, holding out his hand decorated with antique rings to you, and you look at her with a puzzled look, pressing your back against the wall, trying to create distance between you. Because no matter how hard they tried to suppress your personality, but the feeling of uncontrollable fear, fused together with a new body, did not leave you, so you did not believe. Neither to him, nor to himself, nor to anyone else, and the dagger in the white palm hidden behind your back does not seem so heavy. The reaction is faster, the senses are heightened, and although the virus does not give the princess strength, you still resist, wounding your "husband", allowing scarlet drops of blood to bloom like roses on a white dress that has merged with the color of your skin.

Contrary to that, you have not become perfect, but you are still a passionate obsession for two men: one with pure thoughts and the other with a mad desire that has been tormenting him for a long time. It's hard to escape from the mansion, but thanks to heightened senses, it no longer seems impossible. However, it is even harder to ignore your true self, which screams and tears your head apart, as well as to separate two personalities from yourself.

You're confused. Not in luxurious rooms and corridors, but in yourself.

Something screams from the inside telling you to run away from here, and then it calms you that this place is your home, you know every corner here, every crack on the vase, these outfits in a separate dressing room tailored specifically for you, everything is familiar and at the same time alien. Your husband said that he saved you from a bastard named Leon, and after saying this name, the image of a blond man with beautiful blue eyes immediately stands in your eyes, but your heart overflows with rage, forcing you to tighten your grip on the dagger hilt.

You still have at least one sincere emotion, as you thought, however...

Leon is intently examining the analysis result from the remains of the cocoon that was sent to him. It really was what he was thinking, but Ada had already revealed a little secret to him.

"Maybe years will pass, and her real personality will somehow begin to manifest itself. I still don't know how Simmons fixed Carla's memory."

Leon puts the phone back in his pocket, looking at Ada with a slightly offended look, although she knows that he holds a grudge only against himself.

"But she's an exact copy of you," Leon reminded her, saying that when you pulled out of the cocoon, your face remained almost the same, yes, the features changed a little, but it was still you.

"But it will explain your new friend's obsession with your girlfriend," she chuckled, teasing him kindly, "If she looks so much like his dead wifey, then why would he change her appearance when they are almost identical to each other."

"And if it was an extreme measure, as he said... " Leon continues, scolding himself even more.

"You provoked him to infect her yourself. If he was hitting on her and she turned him down because of you, then it makes sense. Maybe if your girlfriend had been more mercantile and greedy for money, everything would have been without the virus."

However, was it Leon's fault or yours? Ada didn't blame anyone.

Leon may never guess at the ulterior motives, which may not have existed at all, but who else but she helped him again, however, leaving all the dirty work to Leon himself. After all, you were his concern, not hers. Although she followed you and your strange behavior a little, she finally sent him the coordinates of the place and your photo.

"I wish I could say that she remembered everything, but it seems that the virus did not affect her the way it was originally intended. Be careful, your beloved is a little aggressive."

Is it a consequence of the virus, or do you still remember who you are? Leon wants to believe in the latter when he collects equipment for the road, no longer hoping for anyone's help. But your new house looks more like one big clever trap and all the working staff have disappeared somewhere. In Leon's opinion, there should be more than one butler here, but there were no corpses either. Holding a gun at the ready, it was essentially a trespass on private property, but in the report he would later indicate that he was getting evidence. It won't be easy to find you, although you might make a little noise to attract his attention.

And you? You are sitting in a silent garden in the sweet scent of roses, standing out against the background of bright colors as a white spot, listening to the noise of the fountain, which still somehow calms you down after the last scuffle with your spouse. Alone, barefoot, you walk along a stone path, fingering strands of hair between your fingers, trying to compare in your head incomprehensible pictures from the past of two different people. You cannot love that person, for some reason you are afraid and angry at him despite his care. He took the knife away from you, letting you wander around the house like a ghost humming an annoying melody from his own past to himself, letting Emerick hope that manipulation and time will do their job. You hate Kennedy and that's been enough.

The support group is ready, but Leon still prefers to pick you up and then let the guys from the alliance work, having their own personal accounts in this matter. This could be the easiest capture of a terrorist in all his professional experience, but when his presence becomes known, the situation becomes complicated in the form of additional traps equipped with deadly devices and gas for which the anti-C vaccine is useless. In the end, Leon remains even without light and the flashlight does not save well. He looks into every room in an attempt to find at least some hint of your stay here after almost six months of absence.

And he finds in one of the inhabited rooms where only one bed occupies a quarter of the space. There is a beautiful comb with precious stones with traces of white hair on the dressing table, and Leon, picking up the jewelry, is sure that you are here somewhere, just like he is wandering among the dark corridors, although he really regrets that he did not find you in this room. However, another thought comes to his head when a thin lace pale pink negligee lying on the back of the sofa catches his eye… you only walked around in such things with him alone, and clutching the fabric in his hands, Leon can't help but think that Emerick slept with you in this bed.

The funny thing is that he's ready to forgive you everything now. He won't even remember that another man touched you afterwards because you're a victim and Leon, even if you don't remember him, wants you to at least return to a relatively normal life.

But the silence is suddenly cut short when a creak is heard behind, barely perceptible to the ear. A secret door? He does not turn around, freezing in one position, continuing to hold your negligee in his hands, feeling someone's sharp gaze on his back, but out of the corner of his eye catches a familiar silhouette, in the darkness of which two red eyes are burning.

You.

Leon tenses up. The sound of the blade breaks the silence, and your light tread turns into a sharp jerk as you rush at him with a sharp hairpin, hoping to plunge it deeper into his back. Your reaction may have improved, but Leon's reflexes are still faster, Kennedy dodges to the side, which causes you to fall directly onto your dressing table, knocking it over with you, forcing him to open his eyes in amazement.

"No, no, no, you couldn't turn into a monster," a thought runs through Leon's head.

The mirror breaks into many pieces and dig into your skin, causing the blood to contrast brightly on the light skin, which seems almost an unnatural sight. But through the pain, you hiss again trying to pounce on him, which causes Leon to fall on his back, rather out of surprise, managing to intercept your hand that aimed the clip directly at his eye. Pushing you away is not too big a problem, but the point is that you will still continue to throw at him and he does not want to use weapons at all.

"Bastard!" you growl, "Don't you like being hit back?"

"Stop, it's me!" he shouted, still holding your wrist so that you couldn't hurt him.

It was as if you hadn't heard. Leon pushed you away a little, hoping that being farther away would allow you to get to know him better, but what he didn't expect was for you to lash out at him over and over again, and honestly, if it were up to him, he would have removed the threat quickly, but it's hard to hurt someone you love. He'd had to kill Marvin and the President in the past, that in itself still weighs on his soul, but if he had to kill you… Deborah was easier. She was Helena's sister, not his, so his hand didn't shake when he pulled the trigger of the shotgun, but you're different. You're impossible to shoot at.

"Stop it!" he begs twisting your wrist so that you scream in pain and that scream tears his soul causing a lump in his throat. "It's not you! I beg yoy don't make me hurt you."

He doesn't even want to think about the estate being so deserted because of you. Leon still thinks it's just a virus, and somewhere inside you remember his, you just need to trigger it somehow. Ada said the virus affects you differently than it does Carla, but she didn't mention that you're aggressive to anyone who tries to touch you. Leon keeps his guard up, but despite your tight grip, you've apparently acquired some sort of ability that allowed you to break free and run down the hallway. He's not sure if you can throw people against the wall like baseballs, but your regeneration is enviable, because the only reminder of the wounds from the broken mirror on your body are drops of blood.

No abrasions.

So, after a little scuffle, as a result of which the antique dressing table is smashed to pieces along with all the bottles standing on it, Leon gets to his feet trying to figure out what the hell just happened. However, your trail has already disappeared. The house is huge, but despite this, Leon still puts the safety on the gun, afraid to instinctively shoot you if you attack him again. In hand-to-hand combat, you have little chance, but his reflexes can work faster than his brain. But abrasions and wounds a couple of centimeters deep, your body is able to regenerate itself. So cold steel will be the best thing, in case he meets other inhabitants of the estate besides you.

As already mentioned, the flashlight did not save the situation too much, of course, fanatics worked in some places, especially in the garden, but Leon did not find anything except small supplies, although his gut instinct encouraged him to pick up a gun to feel confident. But in the backyard, after several hours of searching among the marble statues and the damp fresh air that hit in the face, somewhere among the bushes in which some cautious movement is heard. It's like a wild cat sneaking up to its prey and Leon realizes - you're here!

Behind him again, so Leon straightens up. If it were daytime or even evening, he would have no problem finding you, but there is a starry night overhead. Rage is growing somewhere between your ribs, inside, but everything is different for him, because despite the internal contradiction, Leon is to some extent convinced that it is useless to fight with you.

There is nothing in his chest but regret and delayed words that he rarely said.

And yet at some point you look at each other continuously. You notice that he has only one knife in his hands, just like you, although Leon hides it back in the case, taking two small steps back trying to talk again. White hair is blown away by the wind and it annoys you that there is no elastic band or barrette to put it in a bun or tail. There doesn't seem to be anything in this damn house for your comfort!

The most painful thing is the way you look at him, but Leon still grins hiding his pain behind an inappropriate joke, standing in a fighting stance preparing to deflect blows.

"Well, I'm not against role-playing games, I really liked it when you were my bunny last time."

It's confusing or rather discouraging that it stops you for a few seconds and Leon uses this time to take the knife away from you, but you dodge so deftly and still more scared, almost dropping the knife to the ground.

"Come on, drop it, sweetheart" Leon asks, taking a step towards you, then you, on the contrary, retreat trying to find your advantage. "You know I'm not the one who's going to hurt you. I'll take you home."

"fucking dog," you growl in response, seeing how he swallows the insult, "Do you think I'll go with the one who made me like this?!"

Your voice is almost hoarse with hate. At the same time, Leon's face takes on a painful appearance, as if he was hit from the inside in the most painful place. That's what that son of a bitch told you! Okay, you can scold him with the most vile words, most of which he'll really be surprised that you even know, but... No buts!

"See?! I'm not afraid of you anymore! "

"You've never been afraid of me."

"You loved me, and I still love you," he wants to say, but the words are stuck in his throat. And after all, somewhere in the whirlpool of memories, these frames sometimes pop up in your head. Not the Stotholm syndrome...

You weren't afraid of him, but of the other one... the man who is your husband calls you by a different name, although Leon calls you by a completely different one, and what you hear from the agent seems much more familiar, more correct and more familiar.

"Baby, I don't want to hurt you! If I wanted to, I would have shot long ago, right? "

"I'm not your baby!" you're snarling, and your red eyes are burning even brighter in the dark.

Bad word.

Leon wants to bite his tongue. He still doesn't know about all the properties of your mutation, but he hopes that now you won't have claws behind your back, God bless him who left him many years ago, but it seems you don't have anything like that. Although when you attack him in a fit of anger, Leon really hurts like hell, which makes him even clench his teeth trying to hold back a moan of pain.

Probably, with strong malice, the power also somehow increases... A lot of times, because it looks like you broke his rib.

"Yeah, you never liked that word, but at least you didn't rush at me with a knife before," Leon still jokes, realizing that talking clearly won't help here. He doesn't want to use force, but it seems that there is no choice. He agrees that you may never love him more, but he won't leave you here either.

It is not even necessary to move to radical measures. Your head is bursting with pain again, causing tears to flow from your eyes and everything inside screams with fear, making you want to cower into a ball. Therefore, Leon does not expect you to bend at the knees and cry and start running away from him, just as you ran, according to Ada, all over the estate from Emerick. The wind licks wet tracks from your cheeks, scratching your skin when you run along the garden path, running out into a small open space before freezing in a frenzy, pressing your palms to your chest, as they did in a previous life, before mutation, when you were worried.

Cocoons.

A nightmare come true. Your heart was pounding and forehead was covered with sticky sweat, as were your palms from which the knife slipped.

"It's scary..." an inner voice echoes. You hear Leon running up to you and stopping too, looking at something he hoped to forget someday. Tears involuntarily flow down your cheeks, as if the real you are making your way, pushing someone else's personality into the background. Fire, pain, fear, a dart... This hellish pain that turns people into monsters, you haven't seen the staff, the estates, but now you understand what happened. Just like a divine epiphany.

Maybe it's just one of the reactions. Leon remembered from his own experience that not all individuals hatched from cocoons, but this was a huge rarity, and here as many as twenty if not more, however, this was the trigger. You remembered something.

The wet paths glowed in the light of the moon on your cheeks. If the situation had been different, Leon would have immediately tried to console you, but it seems that this could have become another stupid idea, on the other hand, your stupor could have been turned into a plus and they could have simply picked you up, put you in a helicopter and then calmly dealt with this crap. A tempting thought, of course, but... Something like a phantom pain... a feeling as if the whole body was burning again and being reshaped under high temperatures. Even the same hellish headache that sends a painful pulsation into the eyes. You were again struck by a short flash of memories, how someone’s strong hands held and stroked you while your body was changing and it definitely wasn’t your husband... his hands are icy, and his voice is dry, devoid of emotion... Maybe..

"Аt least it's clear where everyone has gone," a voice sounded from behind. It was getting harder to breathe and the world was spinning wildly in front of your eyes, so an inner voice told you to find where to land or your head was at risk of injury. This is not the first attack, but the most severe in the last few months. Anyway, your vague consciousness leaves you for a while, turning off, allowing you to get lost in fragmentary memories, but Leon's hands manage to catch you in time, carefully laying you on the grass.

Leon checked your pulse, the main thing is that your heart was beating and your chest was heaving smoothly. Apparently, it was an ordinary fainting fit against the background of a spectacle that caused you psychological trauma. He picked up your knife with which you tried to stab him a couple of minutes ago, was ready to take you away from this place as he had hoped earlier. Those guys who were still alive from his group proved that Emerick was not in the estate, but Leon did not believe.

And it's good that I didn't believe it. Leon didn't believe in miracles at all.

Well, right now he was definitely aiming to just pick you up before you regained consciousness, because trying to explain where the truth is and where the lie is clearly not the best idea. Calling a helicopter for evacuation and picking you up in his arms, hugging you closer to him, Leon quickly jumped up but heard a painfully familiar click to his right, which froze him in place.

“In the past, hands were cut off for theft, but I’ll assume that a colossal imbecile like you doesn’t know that.”

Leon grunts as he turns around. A tactical vest will protect his back and chest, but his head remains open for a shot.

"Then you should have been walking without hands for a long time," Leon retorts, putting you on a bench while delaying your rescue. "Looks like you didn't run away after all."

"I don't like unwanted guests, because of you, my wife and I will have to move to another place. It's a pity, she liked this garden."

"She's. Not. Your. Wife." Leon almost hisses, reaching for his gun, but jumps aside after a burst of three shots that were meant for him. "Bastard"

"I was informed that they did not get rid of you and I assumed that you would look for me at least out of a sense of duty to the country you work for, but please note that there are bigger fish in the sea. You seem to have a weakness for women with Asian features, so maybe you'll focus on your own preferences and not mess with my wife, whom, as I told you earlier, you just don't deserve. You have no idea what a valuable diamond she is, a nugget! One in a million!

Oh, this conceit! His measured and calm tone is annoying, Leon tries to suppress his anger at the fact that the bastard dug up information on him somewhere, but his attachment to Ada is in the past, although they still care about each other in some sense, but now there is you. And you are you, not the woman that Emerick considers his wife. Leon hides behind one of the cocoons and the bullets hit the non-dense flesh, after which a kind of ugly embryo that was once an ordinary person falls to the ground, forcing him to quickly take a better position behind the statue of the goddess Aphrodite.

"You've been living a lie for so long that you've come to believe it yourself!"

"Oh, sure, you know better!" sarcastic laughter makes anger boil from the inside, but Leon looks out of hiding just to look at you and make sure you're still where he left you. "We past even though we always knew that we were made for each other, and only by chance and then you got in my way! "

"I would have felt sorry for you if in your grief you hadn't tried to make an innocent girl into a copy of your dead wife and killed a lot of people in the process."

Leon pulled the safety off the gun. Now the main thing is not to catch a stray bullet and hope that this bastard does not turn into a giant mutated creature, because apart from four spare clips and another pistol, he has nothing and the space is not spacious enough to maneuver, besides, you could also get hurt. He has already forgotten that you can regenerate wounds, but nevertheless, there is no time to find out what is your Achilles heel yet.

"All for the sake of love"

"This is not love"

Leon pulled the trigger but Emerick dodged. There was a smell of gunpowder and something sickeningly acrid in the air, as if something had died somewhere and even the scent of flowers could not completely drown out this smell. You opened your eyes, but your head still continued to spin and the sharp noise of the vystreds only mocked your brain, forcing you to involuntarily pull up your arms and clap your ears with your palms, just like... Like when you were protected from zombies in a museum"

It wanted to hide, curled in a dark corner and not get out until everything resolves itself, although life knows how to throw surprises. You hear someone else's conversation, you hear how the one who came for you says that your husband is a sick cretin who considers it normal to infect people to make a copy of a dead person out of them, whereas he explains his reasons only with grief. The puzzle is not fully assembled and there are still many white spots in your memory, but some fragments have connected to each other despite the fact that you still do not understand who you are.

This shootout will continue for some time, and unnoticed by these two, you will slowly slide off the bench and see Leon and Emerick engage in hand-to-hand combat after they ran out of bullets. It is noteworthy that after losing your knife in battle, which is now proudly stuck in a tree post, he used his own, which he did not plan to part with, but since they are busy with each other, you calmly grabbed the handle and pulled out the blade, looking at your own reflection of scarlet eyes in steel.

You don't love any of them and you don't want to choose someone's side at all, but you also don't want to be tied to someone who actually infected you, having put so much effort into driving you crazy. You need to make a choice, and whether it will be right, only time will decide. Two people are fighting for one woman, although it looks like you are not a princess in trouble at all, and as Ada said, despite the effect of the virus, the real personality will still take everything back under his control, but the old life will never be. All dreams burned down along with that body, so you're also quite sincerely stabbing the family knife into Emerick's back.

The princess does not need a knight to kill the dragon, because she herself is able to stab him when he does not expect it. This is the simplest from the point of view of Leon's combat missions, but at the same time the most difficult. A scarlet stain spreads on the snow-white suit, but that's all. Emerick had not infected himself with anything, although his fate could not be called terrible. It was all for love, and he died at the hands of that love. A stupid death, which is even insulting, but not for you. And walking with you to the helicopter in the living room above the fireplace, Leon really understands why such an obsession arose...

You really look like the smiling girl in the portrait like two drops of water.

He was told that rehabilitation would take a long time, possibly years. You never spoke to him, you didn't even say a word, but you didn't attack him either. You just withdrew into yourself, allowing the doctors to conduct tests and identify whether you are ready to mutate into other stages when you receive any damage, but I was glad that you did not. In their opinion, all your physical data remained at the same level before infection, although perhaps you just deceived everyone well just so that they would leave you behind and not make you an experimental rat, allowing them to drain blood from you, but this allowed Rebecca's team to make a new improved vaccine. A dubious achievement for Leon, given the fact that you persistently ignore him.

He brings clothes, books, even begged for a TV for you to let you kill time and still nothing. You didn't even turn it on until the moment when, with fighting and shouting and after a bunch of official papers, Leon was finally allowed to take you home. They said that you don't have any regeneration and your injuries heal like on any other person, you don't rush at people in attempts to devour them, sometimes you still talk for more than five minutes a day (but not with Leon) and you don't have any unusual abilities. Nothing that would be of interest to the bigwigs of the government. You'd think that you'd literally become a black sheep, people would just start mistaking you for an albino, which is basically true now.

It's good when you can control some of your body's processes. This eliminates a lot of problems. At home, you curiously look at all these little things from your past life, thinking about what it was like to share this apartment with Leon, you look at the bed in which you must have slept with him, and it seems incredibly comfortable, although right now sleeping with Leon causes rejection. He does not climb into your personal space, no longer clings like a puppy, although he whines in the corner from the lost affection of a loved one. He gave you the bed, but he sleeps on the couch, brings breakfast and after a couple of months you get in touch.

It took Jill Valentine several years before she returned to the barn. Chris is so comforting, telling him that everything is still fine, but if necessary, he will let you go. One way or another, of course, he will check if everything is okay with you, but he will let you go if you still do not accept him back into your heart. Leon believes that therapy will help and you will remember your real self by separating the grain from the chaff. You don't have to love him again, although he will be happy if you ask him to stay by your side on a stormy night, hugging you after a nightmare. Then he will wrap you warmly in a blanket and press your face to his chest, gently stroking your back and comforting you with words.

Therapy will help and one day everything will be fine again. Kissing the top of your head, Leon wants to believe it as much as you do. At least you're willing to try.

[dancingpottedplant666]

So you know how Tf2 takes place in New Mexico? Well I’m an animal lover, and I know that there are tons of fantastic creatures there and I’m sure there are a bunch of them they would 100% be hanging around the nooks and crannies of RED team’s base. So I present to Ye:

Scenarios about our beloved mercs and an animal-loving reader handle an encounter with New Mexico’s amazing fauna. 

Part 1: Offense

Scout and the Roadrunner

It was one of those moments where it was somewhat peaceful outside the base for once(this being only a little shouting and an explosion every hour or so) and you where just sitting outside with Scout as he snacked on a bucket of chicken and talked your ear off with anything that came to his mind, all of which you pleasantly listened to. Then, a blur of brown whizzed by the both of you. You bolded up in your seat as Scout looked at you quizzically

“ey, is somethin’ wrong toots? I know my story was great n’ all but I didn’t think it was that excitin’”

You put a finger to his mouth as you pointed to where you saw the blur dashed to, and after a few seconds, a small bird patters into view.

“Holy shit Scout check it out! It’s a roadrunner!”

You whisper-shouted. He gave a puzzled look and then gave the small bird an eyebrow raise

“uh, huh, whazat s’posed ta mean?”

He tried to look like he knew what that was but he did a very terrible job of doing so. You excitedly told him about the little bird as it scampered around the dirt,

“it’s literally a badass Scout, it nests in cacti to protect it’s babies, can run up to 26 miles per hour, and it can kill and eat snakes like it’s nothing!”

He just stared at you as you in amazement as you continue on telling little facts about the tiny bird, until you both froze as it started to ease over to Scout. You told him to not freak out as he was looking a bit intimidated, until the bird plucked a chunk of chicken from his bucket and bolted.

“HEY!” Scout yelled as he jumped up and started sprinting after the roadrunner,

“Unfair! that’s my chicken ya dumb bird! Not yours!”

At this point you were clutching your stomach and laughing as you watched a grown ass man chase after a two foot bird around in circles in the dust.

Soldier and (somehow)the Porcupine

As per usual, Soldiers booming, patriotic, voice was rattling the hallways of the base, so to try and spare some of the other men some peace for a while, you offered to take one for the team, and offer to listen to his “speeches” outside so his voice could be “heard across America more efficiently”.

……….Speech number, what? 19? You couldn’t remember. It felt like you were listening to this man talking about everything striped and star spangled for hours. Until a rustling was heard in the distance. Soldier neck almost snapped in half as he turned to face you,

“WHAT WAS THAT MAGGOT?”

You could just see his eyes under his helmet as they darted every which way. “Uh, I’m not sure, maybe it’s-”

You didn’t get a chance to finish as Soldier sprinted towards the detection of the noise.

“ALRIGHT THEN! SHOW YOURSELF YOU DIRTY BLUE FRENCHIE! I KNOW YOU’RE THERE!”

You ran after him and did your best to keep up, trying to tell him that this wasn’t the best idea, but by the time you caught up to him, he was crouched, face first, in a shrub.

“Soldier! what the hell are you doing! You- oh no..”

Out of the bush came an American porcupine, chittering and squeaking as it bolted in the opposite direction. You didn’t even want to know what happened, but you asked anyway.

“uh, Soldier? You ok?”

He shot up, back facing you,

“CADET, I HAVE CONCLUDED. THAT THAT WAS SOMEHOW, NOT A SPY!”

He turned around, the bottom half of his face was covered in quills. You gasped and put your hand over your mouth.

“oh god, what did you do?”

He very vividly describes how he was fearlessly defending the base from the intruder as you dragged him down to Medic’s office. “SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT WASN'T A SPY?”

“No, it was an American Porcupine”

“SO THAT PORCUPINE WAS AN AMERICAN?”

“Yes, yes he was, and he was surprised that a fellow American attacked him”

“WELL HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IF HE WASN'T A COMMUNIST PORCUPINE?”

“um,”

The conversation carried on back and forth until you reached Medic’s office, and you could say he was a tad bit shocked at Soldiers face, but then he handed you a pair of tweezers and some disinfecting ointment and pushed you two out of his office saying he was busy(most likely to do with a new supply of organs). So you spent the next two hours plucking quills from Soldier’s face as you told him more about porcupines.

“They are the largest rodents in America, and they have poor eyesight so they mostly rely on hearing and smell”

“OW, THEY DON’T SEEM VERY AMERICAN, OW, OTHER THAN THEIR OW, ADVANCED WEAPONRY, THEY OW, SEEM VERY OW, WIMPY TO ME OW,”

“yeah, they would be in more danger if they didn’t have their quills, hey, did you know the reason why it hurts so much to take out is because there’re barbed?”

When finally, all of the quills were removed, you had to forcefully smother his face in the ointment and put bandages on the nastiest cuts. Afterwards, you sent him off and flopped down on the sofa and let out a sigh. This will be quite a story for later.

Pyro and the Desert Centipede

Engineer was working in the garage one evening and you offered to come and keep Pyro company while he worked to make sure nothing was set ablaze. Safe to say you didn’t really understand how Pyro’s funny little brain worked, nor their mumbled speech, but you still treated them like the rest of the mercs and did your best to understand what they say.

You were looking up at the sky while Pyro played with matches and drew little doodles in the dust, until they got up and mumbled a few little words and crouched down near a rock. You got up to see what they were doing when they very forcefully took hold of something with their gloved hand.

“Hey buddy, what do you got there- OH HOLY FUCK”

You jumped back as he turned around and held a squirming centipede right up to your face and cocked their head.

“Hudda hu?”

They sounded as if they were asking what it was. They knew you liked animals, they saw you draw them and talk about them all the time, so if anyone knew what this was, it was you.

“Oh, y-you wanna know what that is?”

After calming yourself down, you sat next to him.

“Mph!”

They nodded a yes as the centipede did its best to try and bite the pyromaniac, but their thick gloves prevented its jaws from ever piercing skin.

“well, uh, you should probably hold it more at the back of the head then holding on to its mid-section”

They looked at their hand and repositioned it so the centipede was curling somewhat comfortably around the glove.

“yeah just like that! Good job!”

They let out a noise of pride and settled down as you bestowed upon them some epic centipede knowledge.

“These dudes are the largest centipedes in North America, and can reach up to 8 inches in the wild, they’re called centipedes because of their one hundred legs, but they actually can have less or even more than that!”

“Hrmpf Hudda Mpf!”

Pyro excitedly listens to every word you say, eagerly waiting for more.

“Not many centipedes are dangerous to humans, but that one is one of the only few that can harm humans. Their venom isn’t fatal to non allergenic people, but they can certainly give you a nasty nip if provoked”

You continued info dumping as Pyro eagerly listened on until Engie decided it was probably time for them to head back inside. Pyro let out a small mumble-complaint but eventually with enough convincing, they let the centipede scuttle back under the rock where they found it.

Now, every once in a while, you and Pyro will sit out side and look for centipedes under the night sky.

Until you needed to go back inside.

“Pyro, what’s in your pocket?”

*several centipedes fall out*

***

Let me know if you guys would like a part 2!

Update: HEY HEY! Part 2 here!

[anxresi]

I Beg To Differ.

Okay, now just because I'm about to embark on an epic rant does NOT mean I think anything bad about you as a person, OP. It's just on this one teensie-weensie most minor of points, I happen to think you're 100% wrong. Just thought I'd clarify that, so no offense intended. Anyway, on with the show...

Nah, they did us SO dirty with Chloe. I hear your above argument a lot, and it WOULD be a fair point… if it wasn't for the fact that there are SO many clear signs this wasn't what was intended from the beginning that it makes your reasoning completely null and void. Chloe's 'arc' was the most blatant case of in-show character assassination I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing, and I'm about to explain why. Read on! (If you want to, that is.... no pressure).

They strung us along for at least three seasons with various hints about her 'traumatic past', her problems with her often absent mother (which Marinette didn't help by encouraging them to bond because 'they're both such awful people'), showed her genuinely apologizing to her victims, protecting Sabrina from akumatization and having times when she treated her as a real friend, sacrificing herself to save the day occasionally, hugging Miss Bustier in a moment of genuine emotion, telling Ladybug how 'useless' she felt in a teary rooftop encounter, saving lives both as a superhero and a civilian (check back if you don't believe me), giving Adrien a moving speech on his phone about how 'she'd always be there for him', sharing a really close bond with her father, telling her butler Jean it was time she started doing things for herself, loving Mr Cuddly, adoring Pollen… I could go on. Not the best person in the world, true.... but a promising start. Green shoots, and all that. Her name literally means that.

S4 simply forgot any of this happened, and literally pushed her burgeoning development off a cliff with Sisyphu's boulder tied to it's big toe. There was NO build-up, NO foreshadowing, NO precedent for Chloe suddenly becoming a one-dimensional total-sociopath irredeemable-monster AT ALL, they simply made her that way on a whim. They had her start acting like a complete psycho for the evilz, made her the most stupid person in the show BY FAR, severed ALL of her few close relationships, wrote AN ENTIRE FLASHBACK EPISODE in incrimate her newfound nastiness even more and 'punished' her by sending her off exiled on a plane in tears with her abusive mother to… what else? Get abused, of course. GREAT MESSAGE TO ALL THE VULNERABLE TEENAGE GIRLS OUT THERE. (I won't even get into how utterly useless and blandly boring her 'replacement' of a plot device Mary S... oops, I mean Zoe is).

And we're supposed to believe the former corrupt mayor Andre, the terrorist Gabriel Agreste and Thomas Astruc (you know him) are the GOOD guys here? Well, I'd like to tell you what I'd like to do to them… but for fear of censorship, I'd better withhold that particular information for now.

The upshot of it is… if Chloe had been bad from the beginning and terrible at the end, I'd have accepted it. Heck, if her so-called damnation arc was even halfway well written and gave us an accurate and compelling look at the moral descent a person who's capable of redemption could take to the light but ultimately chose to stay on the Dark Side, this would've been highly disappointing to me but fine from a storytelling perspective.

But they didn't give us anything like that, did they? It was just… 'pretend the last three seasons never happened, develop amnesia, hit yourself repeatedly on the head with a shovel… we don't care. Just accept this is the NEW Chloe without question despite past evidence, because you won't be getting any answers. Now let's go back to what we're REALLY here for… Marichat, Ladynoire, Adrinette and that other stupid ship name. SWOON!'

Thanks, but no thanks. Did I ever tell you how much I HATE this stupid show? Apologies if I didn't make that clear enough.

[batbabydamian]

🐱 Nightwing #110 rambling AKA wailing about how Dick and Jon love Damian

backtracking to 2 weeks ago in Titans #6 for a sec when Dick expressed how he wanted to look for Damian - it was nice to get a nod of Dick being concerned, but i was a bit bummed he didn't start a search. and i get it, the world needs saving, Dick's gotta do what he has to!!

different writer/story, but this line popped into my head the moment Babs said Earth needs the Titans

Damian means the world to Dick!! the Titans can take care of the literal world without him for a bit!!

but ykw it's fine since this issue proved me wrong, and Dick looks for Damian anyway!! 😭 basically "the world's still in danger but my brother needs me right now" this was just the start of the issue and i fell to my knees THEY BOTH REALLY DROPPED EVERYTHING FOR DAMIAN

the part where they plan to wait out Damian's match was so funny to me because Dick keeps repeating to Jon that they shouldn't engage, but then Dick just goes "NEVERMIND i'm going in" 😭 he couldn't stand watching Damian be hurt anymore i'm weeping

with context this is actually so sad for Damian orz otherwise i just wanted to say i love these drawings!! it's just a really cool page to me - i love the posing, especially in the hands/claws!! the intense expressions!! also so efficient in showing how the match escalates with Damian quickly overpowering Gail (along with seeing Jon's dread 🙁)

THEY WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THIS WOULD DO TO DAMIAN 😭

just more panels of Dick and Jon worrying over Damian :')

DYNAMIC DUO 2.0!! and ofc they have a dramatic entrance haha

HEAD IN MY HANDS...CRYING... i'm assuming Damian's hands are still supposed to be covered in blood since the first thing he thinks about when he returns to being human is what he had done without his control. and this bothers him to the end of the issue 😭 (HIS EXPRESSIONS EVEN WITH THE MASK ON 😭)

not sure if it's intentional, but Dick's speech to Damian in B:WFA ep 113 is kinda brought to canon here through both Dick and Jon

this was a sleep deprived reactionary rambling, so not much thought is left in my head lol i was hoping for some cute cat Damian shenanigans, but i'll happily take Dick and Jon being protective over Damian! 🥺

one last duo pic for the road :)